Housekeeping

I've been chastised by a few people over the course of the last few weeks for my lack of posts.  I'm going to get you all caught up here and then I promise to be more on the ball.  Thank you for caring so much as to call, email, and corner me at wedding receptions to remind me that you care. :)

• After my disasterous half marathon, I took it easy and then did my annual Stansbury Days Tri the next weekend.  I wasn't expecting any great times, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was only 15 seconds slower this year than I was last year, mainly because I have finally mastered my transitions and not necessarily because I was any faster in one discipline over another.  The swim was longer, so that ate up the time I would have gained from last year.  The biggest shock was when I dropped from 8th place overall (last year) to 23rd.  The competition has definitely stepped up and I'm looking to step up for next  year. 
• My ankle reared it's ugly head during the run portion of the race and I made the difficult decision to pull out of the duathlon I had scheduled for September.  I'm bummed, but I definitely don't want this injury to blossom into something worse. So, I guess, aside from a 5k here and there, I'm done racing for the season.  It's a bittersweet moment because I didn't do as well on any of my big races like I had hoped.  Luckily, they'll defer my registration to next year so I have something to look forward to.
• J. started 1st grade last Tuesday. He only went half a day for the first week, but today was his first full day.  I'd be lying if I said that I haven't been counting down the days until school started.  He has become increasingly more of a homebody and it's been difficult to get him to willingly accompany me to the grocery store or the gym without a full out tantrum.  So far (fingers crossed) he hasn't been taking fits about getting up in the morning and getting to the bus, though I'm fully expecting that to change soon.  I think he's enjoying 1st grade even though according to him they just sit there and do nothing all day. 
• A. was lost the first day J. went to school, but I think she's enjoying the one on one attention with mom and having the house to herself.  It's definitely been a lot less noisy and chaotic.  She's always been easy to cart with me on errands and doesn't request a treat and/or toy at every stop.  For the most part, she's really pleasant and is talking up a storm.  She's also (fingers crossed again) potty training.  We had a rough start, but today, she actually went into the bathroom and did her deed all by herself.  I know it's a battle of wills and she will be a lot harder to train than J, but I consider today a win.
• I've been writing a new book.  Hopefully this one is a little better than the book I churned out last November.  Now that I have a little more free time, I've been spending it doing that. 
• We're (read:  I.  Wade would be more than happy to rip out all flower beds and plant grass) looking at changing our front flower bed.  It's been quite the process removing all the flowers and trying to decide what to do.  Plus the heat hasn't helped at all.  I've split the yard into six sections and every day I go out and weed a section.  The only problem is that the weeds seem to be sprouting at an exponential rate and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.  It's about this time in the year where I'm looking forward to winter and not having to do any yard work.
• I won another speech contest last week.  This time is was a Tall Tales.  I told a story about a monster in the Stansbury Lake that I saw while we were doing our triathlon.  I move on to the next level--Area--at the end of September. 
• We went camping this last weekend up at Mirror Lake with some friends.  It was a lot of fun, despite the rain and the Dutch Oven potatoes that refused to cook.  I'm always happy when I'm up camping, but I hate getting everything together and then putting it all away.  It seems easier just to go to a hotel.
• We rented a canoe for our camping trip.  Wade found someone online and we laughed when we pulled up to a house and out walked a 12 year old, owner of said canoe rental company.  Apparently, he's renting out the family canoes to make some cash.  That's a pretty ingenius idea.  It's $12 a day and comes with the paddles and the life jackets.  He has two canoes and both were gone this weekend.  That's $50 for the weekend and all he had to do was help lift a canoe on top of the car.  The neighbor kid has to mow 5-7 lawns to bring in that kind of cash.
• My productivity level has gone out of the roof.  I'm doing all sorts of things and so much of it that Wade has quit being surprised by it all.  I realize now that I need to dial it down some.  I don't want him to think that I could, in fact, live without him.  Not that I would want to.  Just that I could.
• Check out my brother's website, http://woobossbuckles.blogspot.com/  I'm going to put up a link on my sidebar.  He makes belt buckles.  It's kind of a weird thing if you're not in Payson or know anyone who wears belt buckles, but he's been a belt buckle collector for a lot of years now, and now he's making them. I'm surprised by the number of people who have bought one.  They make kind of a unique gift for that person you don't know what to get for Christmas or a birthday.  He also sells stands so you don't actually have to wear the belt buckle to show it off. 
• It's my parents' 40th wedding anniversary next week.  40 years seems like an eternity.  But a big shout out to them.  We're all getting together this weekend to celebrate and I'm sure I'll have some stories to share.

Okay, you've all been sufficiently briefed on my life in the last two weeks.  Tomorrow we're going to dissect my lastest half marathon picture.  It should be an interesting post.  Sometime this week, I'm going to get all controversial and discuss home schooling.  Now THAT should be an interesting one to tune into.