Here's the Deal ....

Here's the DEAL on Wednesday 3/12/08 .....


We walked to school this morning. Of course we had to walk really, really fast because the fire breathing dragons were chasing us. This is a very interesting way to start your day. Needless to say we got to school in record time. It's amazing what a little sunshine and an imagination can do to brighten your day.


Oh, got 6 miles in after dropping off the kids. No wind, no ice, no snow. YEAH!

Well, the friendly lady, from Deal or No Deal, that I wanted to win the million didn't. I was so bummed. I watched until she made the deal. She had the million dollar case. She sold it for $206,000.00 UGH! She seemed happy to get the money she got. Wanted to be to the pool by 8 p.m. so I missed meeting the next contestant. Scott ended up watching until the end and he thinks the guy is going to win on Monday. Now he's hooked too. :)


We finally worked out an agreement with the local Masters Swim group for the tri club to swim on Wednesday and Friday nights. We have the blessed fortune of having 2 very experienced swimmers coaching us. Bernie and MJ. They aren't asking for anything. NOTHING. ZIP. I've said before and I'll keep saying how much I appreciate what they are doing for us. I was disappointed that they didn't make it in the paper. Oh, did I mention the local paper did a short story on our group?
http://www.frankfortstation.com/Articles-c-2008-03-11-175516.112113_Athletes_go_for_three_times_the_fun_with_new_triathlon_club.html

I love the picture of the gang in the pool. Aren't they a handsome group? :)

M O N E Y ! ! !

So I'm running Sunday morning with Caroline and Dennis. Caroline has to make a pitstop. We trying getting into the local high school but it's locked up. So we head over to Dunkin Dounuts. She goes in. It's pretty chilly so we start running around the parking lot to stay warm. We travel about 200 yrds from the building and I see a dollar on the ground. Then I see another one and another. MONEY! I squeal. It was all over the ground. It was the weirdest thing because it was blowing but it wasn't going anywhere, part of it was frozen to the ground. I ended up with $4 and Dennis with $8. He was lucky enough to get a $5 bill. He offered me a $1, I think to even the find but I couldn't take it. I didn't pick it up in time :) He told Caroline he never saw me move so fast. FUNNY! Really, because I some how saw myself trying to balance on some slippery spots of ice and pick up the money at the same time. Not pretty.



I was happy to get 2 hours in Sunday. I hardly coughed and felt pretty good once we got going. I moved slow but it was all good. Next week-end is a long one. 4 hours Saturday / 5 hours Sunday. I'm doubling my vitamin C and trying to get as much rest as possible. :)



Oh, if you read this on Monday. Be sure to watch Deal or No Deal tonight. I think someone's going to win the million dollars!!! I'm so excited. I'll keep you posted :)

Another Confession

Ok, I've got to get everyone healthy and get out of this house. I'm watching TV with the kids and laughing at the programs they are watching. If you've ever seen "That's So Raven" or "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" you'll know why I'm getting worried, Scott's very worried.

Hopefully, this is my last confession. I'll see father Tom before mass on Saturday so you guys are subject to anymore of this.

Confession Time

Ok, have to put this out there. After spending a week in the house with sick kids and a sicker hubby I have been reduced to watching a lot of TV. Which can really turn your brain to mush. With that said, I have a new addiction. I can not get enough of "Deal or No Deal". Have you seen it? It's like watching a live scratch off lottery ticket. The contestants start out so certain they have the million dollar case and by the end of the show are crying because they have to decide if they should settle for less than what the fantasized they had. Now that's great TV huh? Soon I'll be back out there in the real world and Howie, his girls & their cases, and the ultra secretive banker can suck somebody else into the world of game show TV.

Sicker Than a Dog

Who made that expression up? Sicker than a dog? My mom used to say it when I was a kid. "I talked to so and so's mom, they won't be in school for a week - they're sicker than a dog". It's a weird way to put things but I find myself saying it now. The end of this week my house was "sicker than a dog".

The kids caught a flu bug early in the week. I kept them home from school on Wednesday. Both kids had temps over 100. Funny thing about a stomach bug is even if you don't have it you start to feel like you do after cleaning up after kids. Sorry, hope you aren't eating as you read this. Thursday Scott starts with a cough. Friday, he's got a high fever, he won't take his temp because, he is a man, you can feel the heat coming off of him just standing by him. He goes to work and comes straight home and crawls into bed. I can feel it coming on too. My ears are plugged and throat burns. By Saturday morning I'm miserable. Everything aches. The head, the legs, the head, my arms, the head, you get the idea.

I call Bubba and tell him I won't be running with him today. If I start feeling better I'll run thru my neighborhood and meet up with him tomorrow. Classic flu. Don't want to eat or drink anything but know I have to. What I do eat, well it doesn't taste. The kids are really good as their father lay in bed and then on the couch downstairs and I do my best to get what ever they need for the day. Dang, the pounding head won't stop. I nap from 2:30 to 4:30. I hate taking a nap when I'm sick. You never really rest. You have strange dreams and wake up off and on the whole time.

It's Sunday. I didn't run at all this week-end. I'm starting to feel better. Food tastes again. Tomorrow I'll get out there and get some miles in. Ugh! I was supposed to taper next week. Well, looks like the taper was this week-end instead.

Willy Nilly

This post is not going to read very well. I'm tired. The week-end was filled with 4 hour run Saturday, 3.5 run Sunday. Waw! I'm tired.

Last week was a weird week that only got weirder. Saturday morning put the cherry on the weird sundae. I can't go into details, it wouldn't be fair to the other person involved to discuss the situation. But it definitely reinforced the fact that life can throw a curve ball right at ya when you least expect it.

Dennis, Caroline and I were running yesterday. It sucked. I was tired physically and emotionally. I wanted to quit, go home and crawl into bed and not get out for a week. I must have twisted my ankle 100 times, ok, I'm exaggerating, 20 times, on the icy, snowy rutted surface we were running on. You know how it works, you run, you twist, you stumble, you try not to use 4 letter words. At about mile 8 Dennis had to fix his shoe/foot. I was helping him and this runner just casually trots by us. Just happy as could be. The way I usually feel when I'm not so freak'n tired. Bouncing his way along. "Show off" I softly said. Well, Caroline and Dennis were shocked. You would have thought I called him a dirty bastard.

Wasted 90 calories on Hammer Gel. I've been trying to watch my calorie intake lately. Nothing extreme. I've noticed when I hit 40 things definitely have slowed down. I used to eat and eat during marathon training without any trouble of gaining anything. Well, those days are gone. Anyway, took the Hammer gel with terrible results. I should remember to stick with what I know what works. I definitely need caffeine with my gel. An hour after taking the Hammer I took the old reliable Power Bar Gel and felt better after 20 minutes.

Saturday's run was great. Got out on the road at 5:10 and was done by 9:20. Caroline joined me again. The run went quickly. We ran about 3 miles on a frozen path but we were cautious. With about a mile or so left Scott calls me and gives me the news that just kind of threw me in a spin. Ugh!!! I get home and have to get Gracie ready for a Hannah Montana Birthday Party. Imagine 25 little girls with blond wigs singing and dancing for 2 and 1/2 hours. Needless to say the day only got weirder.

Week in weird -

Go to see my niece at school. Google map her school to get directions. Print them. Drive down there. The directions take us to a grade school. The kids are excited to see a playground at their cousins college! Um, we are definitely lost.

Go for my run Tuesday. I'm headed up my street and see what I think is a dog. Kind of small and manege looking. Get a little closer. It's a coyote. I live in suburbia. I yell scat and he slowly moves along. He almost looked like he needed a friend or a good piece of meat.

Gracie's looking pale. She fought an ear infection 2 weeks ago. Remember, we went to the Dells. Well just before the trip the infection started. The doc didn't say not to go on the trip but did say "use your best judgement". Well I didn't use my best judgement because she still has the infection. The doc was being nice when he told me "it was the antibiotic failed here". Hmmm . Did he really think that would make a catholic raised mom feel better?

One good thing, one very good thing is the swimming workouts with our club. It amazes me. We have found 2 people that love to swim. They love the sport of triathlon. They truly want nothing more than to watch people improve their swimming. That's it. No money, no clothing, no dinner from time to time. Why is life like that? Some people want you to sign a contract in blood and hand over your first child when they give you something and others do it for the pure enjoyment of just doing.

I won't be asking what this week? Can life get any weirder? I know better than to ask that.

Fresh Popcorn

The training program called for a taper last week. It felt good. Saturday the club had to be in St. Charles for a uniform fit. I was asked to get there early and help out with things. So I skipped the group run and ran thru the neighborhood. Woke up at 5:15. Gracie got up to so I laid down with her for a couple of minutes to get her to fall back to sleep. Got back up and she asked me where I was going. "Running" I told her. "Mom" she asked, "are you running in your pajamas". Now that's a sight I thought - running down the street in my flannel jams and slippers. Hmmm. Caroline was nice enough to get out of bed early and meet me. The run went quickly. It was cold. It felt warmer than 4 degrees. I think the fact that the sun was out and there was little wind helped.

Made it to St. Charles. Didn't get lost but it seemed like it took us forever to find the bike shop that was having the fit. St. Charles is a beautiful town. Small, quaint. New buildings mixed in with the old. The shop was on the Fox Valley river. I could have sat there all day looking out the window watching the river go by. I was late but the prez of the club understood. He actually had plenty of help. Before long the store filled up with club members and then our group arrived. It was pretty funny watching them all walk in at once. I still have to double take them, you know seeing them in street clothes as apposed to running or biking stuff. We had a great turn out.



I absolutely hate, HATE trying on bike clothing. And this stuff wasn't just bike stuff - it was "TRI stuff". Which meant if should fit like skin. Oooo, ick. White pasty legs in tight spandex that shows every bump and curve, just not a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. But did it for the good of the team :) Some of the group placed their order and headed out for some lunch. The line was long and I was right in the middle of it. Was hoping I would be able to meet up with the gang but knew it wasn't going to happen. I think everyone was excited about finally getting something to wear that was going to show solidarity.



Woke up Sunday to rain hitting the bedroom window. The wind was strong. Yuck. I had 2 1/2 hours to get in. Good grief. I checked Waterfall Glenn Saturday before heading out to St. Charles. The snow was packed down, it was definitely runable but with freezing rain, well it would make for a slick run. A lot of people said Saturday that if it was raining they weren't going. I called one of the club members I thought would be heading out and got the voice mail which made me think he wasn't going either. Stayed in and decided to go later in the morning. Took the kids to my mom's. She was watching them all day for me so I could run and then Scott and I could have the rest of the afternoon and evening to ourselves. My run plan was to leave my car at with my mom, run home and pick it up that night.



The rain had stopped. Got to my mom's and realized I was way, way over dressed. It was sunny and felt like it was in the 40's. Took off a layer of clothing but for some reason kepted my ear warmers on. The was beautiful. It was windy but told myself that would only affect me for half the run, the other half I would have the wind at my back. Besides I had the sun for the entire time. Snow and ice were melting and water was every where. I stepped in a couple deep puddles, woo it was cold. Was 4 miles from the house when I started to notice the sky was turning. I started hearing was I thought was boxes falling in a large warehouse. It made sense since I was running near an industrial area. Then I thought I saw lightening. Good grief, was that lightening and thunder? Called Scott, told him the weather was starting to turn and it was getting dark. I was going to head back to my mom's and get the car because to get home I would have run on a street that didn't have much traffic but the speed limit was 45 mph. I didn't want to be on with rain, thunder and lightening. Picked up the pace and got about 2 miles from my moms when the sky opened up and let loose. I could handle rain, even lightening but a down pour ice pellets started coming at me. And of course I had to run in the direction of the wind gust. My face wasn't covered and the sting each time my face was hit was harsh. Ugh! Ok, how long is this going to last? Purposely turned down a street I didn't need to go down to get out of the direction of the ice. Winter in the mid-west, ah nothing like it. It only rained/iced for about 5 minutes. Long enough to completely soak me.



The hot shower felt good after the run. Scott and I decided to see the Bucket List. I really enjoyed it. And for the first time in a long time we got fresh popcorn. It was warm when we got it and it didn't taste like cardboard. Woo Hoo! What a way to end the day. Life is good. :)