The sun will shine again

Sorry for the absense of blogging and posting comments. I have been checking in every once and a while; reading some of your post but haven't had much motivation to post comments. The times I have commented, have been random and few and far between; usually when I haven't had the concentration to sit and do paperwork.

I was out of town this past weekend and there was no internet access to be found. Even if there were, I know I probably wouldn't have been posting or commenting on blogs. I was busy with family, and trying to make most of our time together.

Things are still a little rough around the edges here, but clouds are starting to part and the sun will shine again... so to speak. I am sure it will be then that I will be ready to share what's been going on, but until then, bear with me.

Welcome Home Party (Weekend Recap)

It was a nice long weekend in the Twin Cities, welcoming my brother-in-law home from Iraq. Technically, he's been home for a couple weeks, but the partay was this weekend! Here's a run-down of the weekend, bullet-style:

• Left Fargo right after work on Friday afternoon, with the 'rents and baby sis.
• The roads were a bit slushy, but we didn't have much trouble getting there.
• Met up with sister and BIL, as well as his brother, parents, and a couple of friends for dinner at the American Legion in Chanhassen.
• Great burgers, good drinks, and wonderful company.
• Saturday I got in a 3.25 mile run on the ancient treadmill in our hotel room.
• Relaxed all afternoon.
• Partied it up Saturday night with 30+ some people - friends and family.
• Played a few games of beer pong, winning 2 out of 3 - one of the wins was against my Dad and a friend.
• It was awesome.
• Slept in Sunday.
• No workout.
• Finished Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
• Relaxed.
• Watch the Superbowl with family and friends.
• Left the cities at 830 Monday morning.
• It only took us 5.5 hours to get to Fargo, which usually only takes 3.5 hours.
• Saw more cars in the ditch, roll-overs, and accidents than I have ever seen before in my life. It was horrible.

I will leave you with a couple more pics from the party:

Family photo - together again! :)

And here's the painting I did for my BIL's return gift.

You can't see all the details, as this isn't a great picture, but it's a patriotic sunset with a silhouette of a soldier. There are 50 starts in the sky, and on the soldier's sleeve it says 34ID - for the unit he was deployed with this time around, and 957 on the ankle - representing the unit he was deployed with the first time.

We're so happy to have him home, safe and sound! We're very proud of his sacrifices, as well as my sisters, but we know he is very happy to be done with the military! We love ya, B!

Weekend is almost upon us!

Yesterday I got my flu shot and today my arm is extremely sore. She gave it to me in my right arm, since I am right handed, with the idea that using my right arm more would keep it from getting sore. Not so much. Oh well, let's just hope I don't get the flu. We have so many kids home sick with the flu already, probably averaging 5-7 kids from each classroom. It's crazy.

Today I got in another run. Only 1 mile, but it was a glorious pain-free run. I want to make sure I am taking baby steps, working my way back into running again. It feels so goood!

Tomorrow I am heading to GF for cousin's weekend.... spending the weekend with one of my sisters, and 4 of our cousins (which are two sets of sisters)! It should be pretty fun. In the midst of the weekend up there, my sister and I snagged a couple hockey tickets from Dad and look forward to cheering on the Sioux as they take on our rivals - MN Gophers!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Family, golfing, and training

This past weekend was spent celebrating my grandparents 60th anniversary and my great uncle's 50th ordination. My mom's side of the family is quite large and it was the first time almost all of us were home in the last 10 years. There are 28 grandkids (and then a good number of spouses and significant others) and 6 great grandkids. All of us were present, minus my brother-in-law (who's in Iraq) and then a cousin of mine, her hubby and little daughter. It was pretty impressive. A lot of my grandparents friends and siblings were also there. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful and close family.

Sunday morning we had our annual family golf tournament and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. It wasn't too hot like in years past; just a nice 70-75 degrees and sunny. We had teams of 4 or 5 people and just play a game of scramble. It was a great time! I even came back with a nice sunburn. I am not proud of it, but it made me realize that summer was finally here.

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Four days until the Detroit Lakes Sprint Triathlon and I am ready to get the show on the road. A part of me just wants to be done with training, now that things are starting to get busy with school. But, I know as soon as it is over, I will be looking for my next event to train for.

This race is shorter than the triathlon I did last month, so it will be interesting to see how things play out this time around. Like any other event, here are my goals:

Swim 1/3 mile - 14 minutes
Bike 10 miles - 38 minutes
Run 3.1 miles - 35 minutes

The goal times I have for all three are very reasonable and doable. If I were to really push myself, I would love to finish the swim in 11-12 minutes and the bike under 35. We'll have to see what the race conditions will be like. Last year it was raining and cold with white caps on the water. As of right now, there is a 40% chance of scattered T-Storms, but like any other forcast for the midwest, that will probably change a half dozen times between now and Saturday.

Heading Out, Again!

This past week's training has gone super. I am happy with what I have accomplished! Throw in two nights of volleyball and one night of softball and I am one happy camper!

Yesterday, some family came into town and we hit up Rib Fest for some grub before hitting up the Redhawks baseball game. It was in the 80's yesterday, a bit windy, but perfect weather for outdoor fun!

I am off to the cities again this weekend for a cousin's graduation! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! It's been a while since I have posted any pics so I will leave you with some from the past week or so!

Dinner in Uptown Minneapolis last Sunday... for my sister's birthday! Happy 25th Birthday, Stephi!

The girls sharing a snow cone...

I swear the only thing kids like about going to sporting events is the junk food!

My 10 year old god-daughter... going on 17, but she still likes to cuddle with me...

Training and Long Weekend...

Last week should have been my recovery week, since I missed 3 of my workouts. Here's what was we're lookin' at...

Week 4 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 2.53 miles
Tuesday:
REST - Softball
Wednesday:
Swim - 1500M, 28:00, 1:52/100M
Thursday:
Bike - 26 miles, 1:20:00, 19.5mph
Friday:
REST
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
REST


Most of my long weekend was spent up north, visiting my Dad's side of the family. We don't get up there too often so it was nice to see them for the weekend and catch up with my Grandpa! It was also nice to take a drive through the cemetary to visit my Grandma's burial sight. I was very young when she passed away, but still have some memories of her.

I had good intentions of running while I was up at the farm, but it just didn't happen. The gravel roads didn't sound too appealing. I was thinking about increasing my workouts a bit this coming week, but decided to just stick with the plan and get over it....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I know I sure did, spending it with my family. Unfortunately my favorite soldier was not there, but we were thinking of him all weekend. Miss you B! Did you take time to remember all soldiers, past and present?

Only 4 more days left of school! Then, I have two weeks off before I begin teaching summer school and doing some tutoring! I have many plans for the next couple weeks, like cleaning the house top to bottom, hanging some pictures, looking at additional furniture, etc!

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!

Long Weekend in the Twin Cities

This past weekend with the family was great. Friday night we had a bit of nasty weather to drive through but arrived safe and sound. What's new, considering I was in the car. After spending a good chunk of Saturday shopping, we relaxed at a local Wine and Bistro in Chanhassen and enjoyed wonderful music by Alison Scott. I tried finding a really good clip on youtube, but this is the best I could find. It gives you a good idea of what kind of music she performs:

Sunday we did a bit more shopping and then headed downtown for the Timberwolves/Lakers game. The Lakers currently have 46W and 10L, while the Timberwolves have 18W and 37L. It was a close game the entire night and the Timberwolves gave the Lakers a run for their money. However the Lakers pulled through with a win, 111-108. Here's a few pics from the game.

Tomorrow I am back to work AND I have my PT appointment. I will post more about that and my thoughts on my new Yoga Strong knees video tomorrow!

A little bit of this .... and a little bit of that....

....Last week I received a wonderful gift in the mail from my aunt. Supposedly she just found out about my purchase of a home. I don't know how she missed the news, but the gift was very thoughtful! She is totally catering to my addiction. Thank you thank you thank you!

.....Friday I woke with a cold. Remember when I thought I was getting sick a couple weeks ago and I drowned myself in Airborne? That seemed to work then, but this cold came out of no where, and with a bang. It couldn't have come at a worse time, not that there is ever a good time to get sick, but I had busy plans for the weekend.

....my parents, younger sister, and I took a quick trip to the twin cities this weekend for my brother-in-law's going away party. It was bittersweet. He will be leaving in less than 2 weeks for his 2nd tour of active duty. We cannot dwell on the fact that his time in the military was to be up in a matter of days, but support him in every way possible for the next year. We will miss him so so much and will be counting down the days for his return home. Fortunately, my sister has a wonderful support system and plans to keep herself very busy and active while his is away.

....Today was the first day I worked out in 4 days! It was driving me crazy. I went out for a short run to test out my new kicks. It's amazing how wonderful new shoes feel. Aftwards I hopped in the bike for a little while. It felt pretty good.

Today's Workout:
Run 2.5 miles, 31:00, 12:24/mile avg.

Bike 7.11 miles, 20:00, 21.33mph

Today's Song:

Rihanna - S.O.S. (in sidebar)

Happy 30th Anniversary

Happy 30th Anniversary to the best parents in the world!

I hope you both have a wonderful day! Good luck on your Half Marathon in San Antonio this coming weekend! We all hope you enjoy your anniversary gift in Texas!

Weekend Recap

It's been a busy past few days... with little to nothing in the area of running, biking, or swimming. So, I will update you on everything else.

• Friday we headed off to the cities. We did some shopping at the Outlet Mall in Albertville... I was excited to find some nice back-to-school clothes for a reasonable price.
• That night the family hit up the horse races at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. It was a beautiful evening and a lot of fun to do some betting on the horses. At least some of us had luck.... ehem.. Dad.
• Saturday we headed downtown and ate a late lunch at Brits Pub. We have been to this restaurant numerous times and it is still one of our favorites. The environment (watching lawn bowling on the patio) and beer is wonderful! I highly recommend if you are ever in the area. From there we walked to the Metrodome to watch the Twins spank the Mariners. It was a pretty good game.
• Saturday evening we did a nice dinner at Maynard's in Excelsior (suburb of Minneapolis). Another restaurant that I was extremely impressed with. I enjoyed my Canadian pan fried walleye...
  
• Sunday, after church, we ran a couple errands, enjoyed some cake in honor of Dad's birthday, and headed home.
• This morning I was able to pull myself out of bed at a decent time and got in a swim. I was ready to call it quits after 1200M. There were only 2 lanes up for lap swimming because all the water arobics classes were sharing the pool ... the small pool was closed for cleaning. Thus, the big pool for lap swim was heated and too warm. But, J pushed me to do 500 more meters when I was most definitely ready to be finished.
  
• After a semi-decent swim, I headed into work and spent well over 8 hours there. It is going to be a very busy week with getting back into a routine and attending teacher workshops and staff development meetings. 6 days and the kiddos start back up!

OSN: 1700M, time.... very slow.

Good Time

Just letting y'all know that I will be heading out again this weekend. Parents and littlest sis are coming in tonight and we leave for the cities tomorrow.

It will be a nice weekend celebration for Dad's birthday. We will be attending the horse races friday night, and then the Twins games Saturday and Sunday ... With a little shopping and good food in between!

It should be a Good Time.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

P.S. Did I mention that I have to go back to work on Monday and the kiddos start a week from then? What the? Where did our summer go? And I can't believe Javamom asked when it's going to start to get cold here... I don't even want to think about it. I have noticed the temperatures starting cool off a bit more in the evenings already. It's only a matter of time...

Family Trip in Pictures

This past weekend was wonderful. We have been to Lake Itasca State Park before, but it had to have been at least 15 years since! The weekend consisted of a lot of relaxing, a bit of walking and hiking, grilling, games, cards, ladder golf, rest, and a lot of laughs! Here's a handful of pics from my camera.


Mississippi Headwaters....
My family... minus me. hehehe.

The beginning of a 2 mile hiking trail... that was beautiful, but full of bugs!
Steph and I kayaking on Lake Itasca. It was a gorgeous evening!