ONE WEEK TO GO

Two words come to mind, the first is Holy and the next i'd rather not say in case small children are reading this. It begins with sh and it ends with it. It was quite a week. My shoulder seemed to really act up and I was in spasms for about 3 days. That meant I had to take muscle relaxers which makes me a puddle until the next day around 2.

However this week I was also able to watch some of my kids at school participate in the Special Olympics. It was quite inspirational and very exciting for us and the kids. As I was taking pictures of the kids participating and then holding their medals with such pride, it put things into perspective for me. And no its not that I should be participating in the special olympics like I have heard some of you joke. Its that I am just a girl, trying to make a difference. It does not matter whether I have to walk up a hill, it does not matter if I have to walk a little in a race. What matters is that I am putting myself out there. Each year I do something that is difficult for me, and unnatural for my body. This is always the time where my body starts acting up and reminding me that I am really not supposed to do this. I do this so I can hopefully inspire just maybe one other person to take this on. Or to help someone going through what we went through to realize that your life does not end when your loved one does. You carry on, you grow, and you take the risk of doing things that you never would have because life is just too short.

Yesterday our team wiggled into our wet suits. I slit a hole in my knee so that it was more bearable. We went to Walden Pond, a place where I have gone many many times. And none of those times did I even contemplace swimming across it. We practiced getting kicked and people swimming over us. I definately peed in my wetsuit at least 8 times, so that was quite a thrill for me. Hey it keeps you warm. Once the team was done with our drills they went out for a bike ride. A few of us wanted to swim across and get over the feeling of "holy crap I cannot see the bottom" feeling. So, 5 of us took off, had that feeling, overcame the feeling and just kept swimming. It was quite fun and I am taking off on a nice bike ride today. Tomorrow a group of us are meeting back at the pond to do a swim and bike together.

As Memorial Day approaches we cannot help but think about all the loved ones who have left. Memorial Day was the last day I was able to talk to my mom. I was away and had to put the petal to the metal and drive home because I knew something was up. It is a decision I am so glad I made, because once I got to the hospital, I was told to say what I needed to say. I will never forget those words my mother spoke to us that day before her ventilator was placed. It was simple, and it was short. "I love you all, and please don't cry." I knew that would be the last time, and somehow it was easier to say what we needed to say and we did so for weeks. I never have to wonder if I said what I needed to say. I know it was said, and it was felt. And plus, it was the first time that my mother did not get the last word!!!!!

Happy Memorial Day to all. Summer is here!!!!!

Devil Hill...WHAT??!?!?

Okay so this week has been a bit crazy. Lots of things going on. Nana has to go into a nursing home and it has been suggested that she go to a dementia unit. We have family parties up the wazoo and Brian's friends coming next weekend with their three kids so we are going to attempt to make the place more user friendly this week. Anyhoo I was supposed to go up to NH with Heather and Kim this weekend and do the bike ride that we are doing in two weeks. Since the weather has sucked, I felt like crap, and felt way too stressed with the weekends festivities so I backed out. Anyhoo I heard from Heather, and she said she was moved to tears twice, Kim fell off her bike, and they had to clip out a few times because the hills were so steep. Sweet. I am officially worried.
I made it to practice this morning and oh wait a minute I must back track. We got our wet suits last weekend so I tried it on the other night. Well I had it on backwards, and felt like the guy in space balls when his ass was in his front. It was very awkward, but I must say that even when I put it on the correct way, it still felt awkward. I lathered on some body glide today before putting on the suit. Managed to pull it on, was told that "cameltoe" was a necessity, and that if you didn't have it you were not wearing it correctly. So I was definately wearing it correctly. Made it into the water, felt like I peed myself with the warm water rushing through the suit. Attempted to swim in it and could not even make it a lap. Since I have floating kneecaps, and long legs, where the bottom of the suit should be at your ankles, its just below my knees. So its super tight around the knees and forcing them in directions that is not natural. I felt alot of pain and could not swim with my legs. Obviously a problem that I need to fix in the next few weeks. I was told that I may need to cut holes in the knees or just cut it above the knee. Not sure what is going to happen since the water is still 50 degrees. Can you tell i'm stressing about all of this?!?! We have a open swim next Saturday at Walden Pond so that should be fun. I know this will all pan out, and that in the grand scheme of things it is not about the swim or the bike or the run, but about the feeling when I cross the finish, knowing that I have made a difference in something that has taken away so much from me. I will continue this battle as so many patients do each day. This battle with the suit is nothing. I will treck my sorry ass up "devil hill" and if I have to clip out of my pedals, so be it. I will finish, and I will be that much closer to my future goal of raising 100K for this cause.
I am looking forward to hearing if a few friends have signed up for the San Francisco marathon in October. They will be training with the TEAM, and if so, I am going to sign on to mentor and help out this summer. I think Belle would make a super cute water girl.
Much love to all and Happy Birthday to Heather and Dad!!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Well to all the moms out there Happy Mother's Day. I had to add a picture of my baby Belle! Can't figure out how to make it upright but you can still see how cute she is! It is a day to celebrate the wonderful women in our lives that we call Mom. I honored my mother by turning on some Michael Bolton as I drove home from Mohegan Sun. It is hard to experience this day without thinking about my last Mother's day with my mom. I remember it well because my brother and father were away for a race and I was home with my Mom caring for her. It was the first time that I got her to try Thai food, and she quite liked it. It was also the day that a young mom from Waltham died suddenly leaving four young children. I remember seeing my moms face when I told her, and how sad she felt "for those kids." Little did I know that a month from that day, I would lose my mother. This was also the Mother's day that my wonderful friends created a book for her in which they shared stories with her and just told her how special she was to all of them. It is still a book that I read often, and it meant so much to her and to me. This is a difficult time of year because you cannot help but think about difficult times that came for my mother that month. If I knew what we were in store for, I probably would have stayed home that night hanging out with my mom, but she knew that I was still just a 23 year old and she made sure that I was able to go out with my friends and have some fun. I cannot believe that it will soon be five years without having my mother here with us. It does not feel real, and in a way I hope that it never does. I do have a mother, she is wonderful, and funny and at times a real pain in the you know what, but she is my mother and will always be. So Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

I was able to spend last night at a craps table with some girlfriends for Tiff's bachelorette party. We were lucky enough to start up at a table at the right time and a wonderful man which we will call "shooter" shot the dice for over an hour winning us rambunctous ladies quite a bit of money. We had a ball and I wish I could post more pictures, but there are only a few that Tiff would approve of. Have a great start of the week and I hope everyone was able to catch the Sox comeback against the Orioles today. Felt alot like 2004!!

5-6-07

Well first off I would like to wish my friend Nicole a happy wedding day. While some of our friends were able to make the trek to Atlanta for the wedding I was unable to. So since I stayed back I had the honor of watching Molly for the weekend. So we have been having a good ole time and I am officially caught up on all the kid shows.

Yesterday was our mock tri. It went really well. We set up our transition areas in Sudbury. It was a little bizarre standing around in tighter than tight spandex shorts and tops, but hey we have to look the part right?! We jumped into the pool, which was rather crowded, I really only felt like I was in race mode twice but that is probably what it will be like race day anyways so I better get used to it. After our 24 laps we ran out of the pool in our bare feet and soaking wet tri suits and got into our bike shoes and ready for the bike ride. We did a loop and we were supposed to do it five times, I ended up cutting mine down to 4 loops because I felt my lower back and knee acting up(and my lady regions were numb, as well as my feet). After hopping off the bike, my legs felt like bricks and we were off for a five mile run. My knee was locking up pretty badly so a mentor told me to only do half of the run. I thought I was going to but then I felt like I could go slow and steady and finish it, so I did. The swim took ab out 20 minutes, the bike a little over an hour and the run was 50 minutes. All in all a pretty productive Saturday.

It was a good feeling to get that under our belts. I feel a little more prepared for the race. In a few weeks we are going up to NH and practicing on the bike route, and then after that we can finally try out our wetsuits in the open water. I heard from someone at the gym that the lake we are swimming in was still partyly frozen only two weeks ago so lets pray for a heat wave!

Hoping to get some gardening done today, and to go see Nana at the rehab. Life is going to continue to be majorly busy until this triathlon is over, but the end is near. Oh and the bike made a HUGE difference yesterday.

I found a great bike route around my house the other day. It is majorly hilly and goes through a bunch of towns and is about 10 miles. I am going to start doing the loop two and three times to get used to being on the bike for so long. Despite padded shorts by butt still hurts pretty bad today!

Have a great upcoming week!

Charge it!

Okay so since I have not really put any major purchases on the plastic since last year's Mexico trip, I ended up getting a little carried away when I went back to the bike store for the fifth time in two weeks. Sooo long story short I tried out some unreal bikes and ended up with one that was just a tad bit out of my price range. Eh whatever, I am already doing two triathlons this summer and may sign up for one in September that is on the Cape. Gotta get my moneys worth!

Other than getting the bike, not much is new. I swam a straight mile the other day, although I am starting to think it is more than a mile, and it took about 40 minutes. I have actually not done much else this week. We are supposed to be taking it easy because of our mock tri this weekend. I am going to test the bike out tonight and hopefully do a "quick" 20 miles. I am really hoping that this bike helps out a bit. I am going to do my best to maintain a good attitude this weekend at the tri. I think I was probably really low on sugar the other day for me to get so cranky, and yes I even cried on the phone to my dad later that day. But that is what you do with parents right?

Oh I almost forgot about my crazy story. While I was waiting for my bike to be finished yesterday, I decided that I should get my tri suit. Now I heard from my coach that they ran small so when I picked up shorts that said 8 on them, I thought, okay this could work. Well they were actually XS and had an 8 inch inseam. I was nearly dying in the dressing room of lack of blood to my lower extremeties. Then I tried a top on, and yes I got stuck in it when I tried to take it off. I managed to wrangle myself out of it, and came out sweating and with red marks all over my face. It was not embarassing at all when I walked out and there were two people waiting to get in. Anyhoo I decided a tight top and bottoms was just not realistic for me so I went with the shorts and bid farewell.

Just want to remind everyone that Heather and I are having a fundraiser at The Chateau in Waltham on Tuesday night, May 8th. You can come anytime between 5 and 8. You will needto bring the coupon with you so that 25% of your total bill will be donated to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We are hoping to see lots of faces, and to get our colleagues and students there as well. Should be a good night! Toasted Ravs all around! Let me know if you are interested in attending and I can send you the coupon on the computer.