Mary Mary Why Ya' Buggin'

My first triathlon of the season is Saturday, Beaver Freezer. Originally I was going to do this triathlon with my friend C. The day I signed up I found out that my friend was unable to do the race. That alone make me nervous as this race is located in Corvallis on the campus of Oregon State University. I am not familiar with Corvallis at all. Thankfully my friend C and I did a mini road trip and she went over the bike and run course with me. Racing in a unfamiliar location has me a little on edge. As soon as I start to freak out a little bit I remember that I asked for this. I remind myself that this is my year of awesomeness. Stepping out of my comfort zone. I can do this! Did I mention that I hate crowds? Stepping outside my comfort zone with a head cold that is leaving me unable to breath through my nose at the moment. Last week was spring break and I wasn't able to get in all my workouts. The forecast currently calls for rain. Mr. W and Vivian are going to be wi...

My first race of the season was yesterday, Lincoln City 10k & Half Marathon in Lincoln City. I did the 10k. It was a beautiful day for a run. No rain and a brisk 34 degrees at the start. All but one of my races has been without rain. Just one of the many joys of living in the Pacific Northwest! It is a nice sized event. Think small town event. The local Boy Scout troop hands out clam chowder after the race. The fire department's CERT team is out keeping runners safe during the race providing traffic control. 111 runners ran the 10k race and 177 runners ran the half marathon. Lots of walkers as well. The course is beautiful. It begins and ends at Wapiti Park, south of Lincoln City.  In the first mile there was a herd of elk by the road. Common occurrence here, thus the name of the park. I was able to blow past a bunch of people who were busy snapping pictures. My goal was to take this race easy. I ran this race last year and shortly after is when I started having issue...

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day. But then it occurred to me last night that Valentine's Day is when we got Leia. Today marks the one year anniversary of Leia Skywalker joining our family. Mr. W was dead set on getting a dog.  I was less than thrilled. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a puppy. The original plan was that our 2nd dog would be a German Shepard. We soon realized that no way would a hairy, large dog fit in our RV, The Wonder Wagon.  Thank God! We went camping and saw the perfect dog for us, a Swedish Vallhund. Picture in your mind a "low rider" German Shepard, same coloring but only smaller.  Perfect temperament and size for our family after online research. The downside was puppies were extremely expensive.  Mr. W came upon a Swedish Vallhund website and saw that there was a breeder in our area who had a Cattle Dog/Swedish Vallhund mix puppy for free. It took Leia and I a few months to bond. She was Mr. W's idea but she has ended up a...

For those of you who don't know I homeschool. Please, please drop whatever judgement that just popped into your head just now. No, I don't drive a 15-passenger van. No, I do not make my girls write passages out of the bible nor do I wear denim jumpers. Don't get me started about how some women think that yoga pants should be banned. That is another blog post for another day. Since I homeschool that means that I am with my children twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. After awhile it begins to wear on me. Thankfully, I homeschool with a few other moms and we have a mini co-op of sorts were we [GASP] socialize together a few times a week. I love that we have scheduled fun educational activities with other friends my girls' ages like art lessons and book club. It makes for some crazy busy mornings, finishing up schoolwork to meet up for activities in the afternoons. Most days I feel like all I am doing is racing the clock all the while making sure that we have acc...

Tonight I finished up a four week swim class at my local community center.  After my first triathlon in September I struggled with the swim the most, complete with a freak out moment half way through the swim.  I was also having some pain in my left shoulder which had me worried. I am so glad that I signed up for classes as my form has improved and I am no longer in pain. I think I might actually be faster! Up till a few years ago I didn't know how to swim that well. I've never been afraid of the water. I just don't know how to do any of the strokes. I am pretty much still clueless when it comes to swimming but I am in the pool and I know more than I did when I first started on this triathlon journey so I feel at least I am making some kind of progress. My friend Anne was right when she said that swimmers are silent assholes. Have you been to a lap swim lately? I took her advice a few years ago and took lessons which helped a lot not only to help me not choke on water but t...

A month ago I had to say good-bye to Rudy, my very first dog that I've owned in my life. I had sort of prepared myself for our parting one day. She wasn't a puppy when I got her almost six years ago. You are never ready to say good-bye to some one you love.  Her health had been deteriorating the past six months. She was no longer able to hear. Her vision was beginning to fail. Yeah, I know people will say she was just a dog. To me she was my friend. My constant companion, always happy to see me not matter what was going on. If I had a bad day she was ready to snuggle in my lap. She was always ready for an adventure by foot, car or RV.  It's been a month now. I can look at pictures without crying. I can even laugh now when retelling funny stories of Rudy. I know that I will never be able to replace her. No dog will take her place. I am thankful for the brief time that we had together. I am glad that I have another dog in the house otherwise the pain of losing Rudy would ...