Getting in the Christmas Spirit

The weekend before Christmas Ron decided we would go out to dinner, then take a ride in the Corvette, but he wouldn't tell me where. He likes to keep me guessing sometimes, but I know him so well it doesn't take me long to figure things out!

After dinner we headed down 485, and once he took a particular exit I knew where we were going. We went to see the Christmas lights at "Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden". We also took a horse and buggy ride, which sounds all nice and romantic. It was not! Ron was sadly disappointed. I, on the other hand wasn't expecting much so I was fine with the ride. The carriage was for 6 people, and there were 2 couples that talked the entire time~ blah, blah, blah...I just wanted to hear the horse clip/clop on the road in the dark. It was so soothing & quite except for the loud people in the carriage with us. They didn't have a carriage for two. Lesson Learned: I won't do that again!

Anyway, the lights were what I expected. Ron again, expected a bit more. Here's a few pics.

Late Blog --- How we spent Thanksgiving

Ron's brother(Jeff), Chase & Jake(Ron's nephew)














Ron's Mom & Dad















Brittany & Drew














Chase & Drew playing in the water

















Chase & Drew horsing around. They were friends before Brittany & Drew started dating.










My wonderful family enjoying the beach......


Happy belated Thanksgiving!

We had lunch with mom the Sunday before Thanksgiving, as usual. It was a great meal. We missed my brother being there because they were on a trip in the TN mountains somewhere.

We left the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for the beach to spend time with Ron's family. His mom and dad spend the whole month of November at the beach, along with his aunt and uncle and cousins. Drew, Brittany's boyfriend of 2 1/2 years came, along with Chase's new girlfriend, Ashley. Even though our kids live at home and go to school, we never hardly see them. We get up and leave before them each morning. When we get home from work, they are either at school or working. By the time they get home we're in bed.

Here are some pics of our Thanksgiving beach trip. We also celebrated Ron's mom and dad 50th wedding anniversary while we were there.

I'm still here......

Oh my, I just looked at my blog. It's been a long time since I've blogged. So sorry, but does anyone really care. lol

I promise I will post what's been going around the Griffin household in the next couple of days.
Work has been crazy trying to finish up 3 projects by end of the year. I've been spending a few weekends working. When I'm not working, I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping done.

Right now, I'm wrapping a couple of last minute presents for the kids, cooking for tonight at my mom's. Cleaning up a bit. Candlelight service at church before we go to mom's. Tomorrow will be breakfast here at home with the family, Stanie and Brittany's boyfriend Drew, if he can get out of bed and get here by 9am! And of course the ole' bowling alley lunch, with a gathering afterwards at Ron's family. I'll try to take a few pics to share.

Merry Christmas~ Love and miss you all.

Whew~ It's been a busy couple of weeks! Half Marathon, NYC, etc.

My view from my hotel in NYC at the Ritz.

Hello all - It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Let me try and recap what's been happening.

Well, I've been real busy at work for one. I work all day, come home eat dinner, and then usually log back in for a couple more hours of work, then bed. Then get up and do it all over again!

I guess I'm not complaining though. It's nice to have a job the way the economy is going.

Did I tell you that Ron went back to work a couple weeks ago? Wachovia called him back for a 3-month contract. It may last a little longer, but we're not counting on it. That'll get us through Christmas and the new year. This time of year is kinda tough to find a job since it's year end, so we're hoping things will open up the beginning of next year.

I did complete another half marathon since I last blogged. It was in Charlotte, nothing exciting. I've gotten so slow since I have been focusing on TRIs, and not running like I use too. I seem to only get in 2 days a week of running and it has really hurt me on my time and the way I feel when I run. (Slug) I've got to get back to 3days a week! I say that, but this race was a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't run ANY until day. I've been so busy with work. And when I'm not working I just want to sleep! But I have been lifting weights and cycling some, but not much.

I'm going to try and get back on track. I've got about 3+ weeks of vacation left this year, but I was told that I may not get to take it, since we're so busy at work!! Bummer! But I think I'll be able to carry some of it over to next year.

I went to NYC on business last week. That was nice, but tiring. I meet an old friend who I've known for about 30 years. He lives in the city, so it was nice to know someone who could show me the city. It was good catching up with him and see what he's been up too.

We were in Times Square on election night. Now, that was a hoot! I love NYC!

Ron and I was able to ride with our cycling club on Sunday. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. That's going to end pretty soon with the cold weather. Back to spin classes, I guess. We had a year end party last Sunday night. That was fun seeing everyone without their cycling clothes and helmet. I barely recognized some of them!

I've also did a little shopping. I needed some work clothes so I bought a few things, and 3 pairs of shoes!

We also had another birthday over the weekend, so we spent some time at my brother's home to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday Teresa!

PJ Party

It was so nice spending some time with Sally this weekend. For several years we've talked about having a "Hotel PJ Party" so we decided to do! Sally finished up working in High Point a bit early so we met her at the hotel around lunch time. Gina, Sally and I had a nice lunch. Stanage couldn't make it until later in the afternoon because she had some "dog walkin" to do. :-)

After lunch we decided to go back to the hotel and rest/hang out even though we were in the middle a of good shopping area. Sally's feet were beat up, and I was feeling pretty darn rotten with a nasty cold, fever. Felt like I had a bit of the flu. I sure hope my buddies don't catch it! :=(

Stanage came to the hotel Saturday afternoon. We hung out and caught up with what's going on with everyone. Also enjoyed some "ice tea" that Sally brought from High Point. Stanage really like it, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I felt better.

For dinner we went to a nearby Italian place and met Ron, D'ann, and Danielle(D'Ann's daughter).

Sunday morning Gina and Sally went for a nice long walk. Stanage went home last night because she had more "dog walkin" to do. I stayed in bed still not feeling well.

For breakfast we went to an awesome nearby breakfast place. Stanage and Ron joined us. Gina and Sally had some delicious pumpkin/pecan pancakes. They loved them!

We said good-bye to Sally, and I headed home and snuggled up on my couch for a 2-hour nap!

I plan not to move for the rest of the afternoon, trying to rest up and get over whatever I have!

Great seeing you Sally! I know I was a bit of a party pooper. Wish I felt better!!

I did exactly what I wanted this weekend

After Baltimore last weekend, and the crazy busy days at work last week, I wanted to do NOTHING this weekend. I got exactly what I wanted!
I ran twice last week, amongst other things, and both times I fell. Gina said I must be tired. I think she was right. We decided to run Friday morning, so we could stay close to home on Saturday and not have to get up early to run. I slept until 7am Saturday morning, and Ron finally dragged me out of the house after lunch to run a few errands. After we were out, I talked him into going to Home Arama. WOW, the houses are awesome. My favorite was the 3million dollar house.!! What a house!!!! We also picked up our first Christmas gift!
Sunday morning I slept until close to 8am! Basically, I've done a lot of sleeping, and resting this weekend. I big difference from last weekend. lol....Not sure I'll get any exercise in this weekend, which is a HUGE change for me!! But I'm okay with it. :-)
Ron and I got in a couple of movies the last week or so. Like Dick and Angie, we also watched Ironman again. Good movie~. And we watched "Run Fatboy Run". It is about a guy training for a marathon in 3weeks. It was a very corny movie, but we did have a few laughs, which is exactly what I needed. Nothing to think about, no serious plots, just a few laughs!
Oh, and my new dishwasher was installed! YIPPEEE~

Hope you all have a good week.

Fun in Baltimore

We all left early Friday morning for a trip to Baltimore to run a Half Marathon for most of us and one brave soul ran the Full Marathon! It was the most hilly course we've ever run. I think about 75% of the course was uphill. One leg was a 4-mile uphill. I kept telling myself I will stop and walk at the top, but couldn't see the top of the hill! It was a great running festival! They have the full, half, 5k, and relay. There was GREAT support on the route, with lots of cheers on the sideline. (Not enough potta johns of course) I saw 2 'tigers' dancing on top of a car, with music of "Eye of the Tiger", a huge man in the middle of the road doing a funny dance, which I couldn't help but laugh, and much more. The massage at the end was nice also! It was a very hot race. Salt was visible on our faces and clothes after the run. I don't recall getting salt crystals on my face unless I was marathon training long distance. Most of us didn't finish the race without a mild sunburn also!

We had a great time, laughing and joking all weekend! Friday night we carbo loaded at a Italian restaurant in Little Italy, and hung out and played Yatzee. Early to bed in preparation for the run on Saturday morning. We didn't get back to our hotel room until around 3pm, from the race festival. We all rested a bit, showered, and left for an early dinner and a bit of shopping along the Inner Harbor. The pic above is our dinner at the Inner Harbor on Saturday night. We headed back to Little Italy for some dessert at a recommended spot, then back to the hotel for a good night sleep!

Sunday morning we had breakfast and headed to the airport to close our fun weekend.

We all had a good race, and had tons of laughs over the weekend. All in all, it was a great fun weekend with friends.

Weekend update - Last TRI for the season/year

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having a good week. Work, work, work....that's about all I get done through the week. Wanted to give you all a quick update before this weekend comes!!

Last Thursday night we had a 'girls dinner out' to celebrate Gina's birthday which was in September!! Everyone was so busy we just got around to it! I enjoyed having dinner with the girls. I always look forward to it.

Saturday night was spent at a "work party". Uneventful, and I called it an early evening since I had to get up at 4:30am to do my last TRI for the year. It's the first/only TRI that I did last year. One of my favorite. (Ramblin' Rose). I plan to spend the winter working on my swim. If it don't get better, I may not do any TRIs next year!! boooooo

Finding gas around here is getting a better. That's a good report!!!

Ron is still looking for a job. Charlotte job market isn't very good with what's going on with the banks around the country.

Stay tuned for the "Balitmore weekend" report. Gina, Melinda, Jay, Mike and I are leaving Friday for the race. Mike's doing the full marathon. YIPPEEE for Mike. The rest of us will do the half...YIPPPEEE for us!! lol
Have a great rest of the week!!!

Fun In San Francisco

Hello everyone!
Last Saturday I did my last long run for the Baltimore Half Marathon, which is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Sunday Ron and I flew to San Francisco for a week. I went for a "work" Oracle Conference, and since Ron wasn't working he decided to come with me. We had a great time! Ate at too many nice places and hung out at some fun places.
The hotel was fab!!! We stayed at the newly built InterContinental San Francisco. It was hard to leave the room. We had a corner room, so basically 2 walls of the room was ceiling to floor windows with awesome views of the city. It's probably the best hotel I've ever stayed in. (It's a tie with the Hyatt hotel in Kauai. :-)
Wednesday night was an appreciation party for the approx. 45,000 people who attended the conference. That was a blast! It was a carnival on Treasure Island, full of free carnival games, Ferris wheel and lots of other rides. Also, several concerts, which included UB40, Elvis Costello, Alan Jackson, Seal. Ron and I decided to hang around and drink some complimentary wine and listen to Seal. Of course, Ron found the boiled shrimp and had his share of that and cotton candy! Sounds like a great combination, doesn't it?
Oh, and a surprise speaker at the sessions at the conference was Michael Phelps! That was fun.

We arrived home last night and went straight to bed. We slept 10 hours last night. The plan was to get up and go for a run since I haven't done anything in a week. That didn't happen! Before I knew it, it was time to meet some friends at SouthPark Mall for a fun appearance by Clinton Kelly, with 'What Not To Wear'. I ask Ron to call while I was working in SanFran, and see if he could get me tickets for the show. He was able to get 4 tickets, so Katherine, Stanage, and myself went to the show. Gina was going to go, but called me on the way to the show and couldn't make it because she didn't feel well. It was a good afternoon with the girls. I don't see Stanage or Katherine much anymore, so it was so nice seeing them and catching up! Great "girls day".

Charlotte had another celebrity in town, Curtis Stone from "Take Home Chef", but I had no tickets for that event. :-( Too bad, I would have enjoyed that show was well!

She Swims, She Rides, She Runs, SheROX

It's been a fun, but very busy weekend!

Friday morning Gina and Melinda was gracious enough to run 11miles with me before work, so Saturday could be a rest day. So we met at the Uptown Y at 5am sharp and started running so we could get it in before work. Baltimore is coming up very soon and I don't feel very prepared.

We all had a very busy day at work, and was pretty much done by about 2-3pm that afternoon and wanted a nap!

Saturday was a fun day. I met my TRI friend Lesley and we went to Huntersville, Latta Park to checkout the lake/swim and ride the bike course. Then on to Pilates with Gina.

After Pilates, Leslie met Gina and I and we went to lunch, and then to Inside/Out Sports to pick up Leslie and my race packet. We got our t-shirt that we wanted that says "She Swims, She Rides, She Runs, SheRox". That's the whole reason to complete this TRI is for the t-shirt!

Since Ron(golfing) and DavidI(work) are out of town, Gina and I decided to play Saturday afternoon. We went to Chick-fli-a and had a snack while we waited on the movie to start. We decided to go see Mamma Mia. We laughed and laughed. What a great, fun movie~

Sunday, I got up early at 3:30am because Leslie was picking me up at 4am to head out for the SheRox TRI. It was a great TRI. Great t-shirt, great food, great music...and they even give you a braclet when you finish the TRI!

Ron came home from his golf trip last this afternoon. We have been couch potatoes all afternoon!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA!!!!

"Dash for Divas" Sprint TRI

TRI weekend : We thought Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna, who stop us from doing the TRI this weekend at White Lake, which is about 2 1/2 -3 hours East. The race officials changed the race from Saturday to Sunday in hopes it would continue. So we headed down Saturday after lunch, instead of Friday morning. The weather was great! The water was perfect temp, but a bit warmer than I like it at the start. This TRI was a smaller "beginners TRI" race than that Lake Norman TRI that I completed a couple of weeks ago. It was nice being there with all girls and attempting the same goal. A lot of encouraging words from girls. Again, I struggled with the swim, which was less than 1/2 the length of the Lake Norman, but again I got through it! They had a "Luau" Saturday night and played the Kona IRONMAN on a big screen. I must say, that was the saddest event for a luau, I've ever seen in my life! It was pitiful!! But watching the Ironman was inspirational. Here's a few of girls from the "TRIITFORLIFE" group. A couple I just met this weekend!

While I was doing my thing, Ron was doing his :-) He went to some "Auto Fair" at Charlotte Motor speedway. I'm sure he had fun as well. As Forrest Gump would say, "that's all I'm going to say about that". :-)

Off to my weekly Sunday afternoon cycle ride!

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Our Anniversary

Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary. We actually celebrated last night with dinner & jazz at a nice restaurant downtown Charlotte called "Blue". It was fabulous! Here's what we had & I snapped a few pics also.

Appetizers: "Jumbo Diver Scallops wrapped in Prosciutto & over a fava bean puree & lemon marmalade". Ron picked the best appetizer. I ordered "A pastry Crisp Moroccan Chicken Briouat w/Aprioct & Cashews. It's chicken breast & veggies w/fresh ginger & spicy sweet charmoula dipping sauce."

We both had a "poached pear & baby arugula salad w/candied walnuts & gorgonzola dolce." That was very tasty!

For the main course Ron ordered the best. He ordered beef tenderloin. Pan seared & topped w/gorgonzola dolce & onion marmalade w/pancetta & spring pea risotto. YUMMY.

I got Mediterranean Sea bass w/fresh herbs, artichokes(don't like) & pear tomatoes served w/lemon & spinach orzo.

For dessert, we ordered "Cake di Chocolate w/ a warm molten center & vanilla bean ice cream. It was soooooo good, but by then I was so stuffed I could only eat a few bites~

If you noticed a martini in the picture, it was called the "Mediterranean Blue Martini" It was sooo yummy too!!!

Ron cut some yellow roses from our rose bush also. I have them on my end table...they smell so good!!!

My Community Contribution

I mentioned in an earlier post I was also busy with extra work events along with my REAL job. I was task with coordinating a Community work event for my "skip manager". (my manager's manager)

I found a Habitat for Humanity home that we all participated in working at the site last Friday, Aug. 22. I scheduled the event, ordered t-shirts for everyone, shopped for snacks & drinks, provided lunch. It came off without a hitch. So I said to myself, "whew, that's my turn for a while." Nope, I've been ask to coordinate all of the events going forward since I done such a swell job. Oh well. The good thing is that I don't actually have to do everything, just make sure someone else does.

Here'a a couple of pics. One, I'm kinda making fun of my manager while he's talking with his hands on his hips. I have no idea what he's talking about. The other I'm attempting to lift a 40 pound bag of shingles! Actually, I didn't do much work. I spent all my time with the camera in my hand. Besides, it was the day before my Lake TRI. I already told everyone I was going to be the Supervisor!!! haha

Happy Birthday to Ron

Gosh, it's been so long since I've blogged. It's been crazy busy with training, TRIs, birthdays, anniversary, and extra work events/responsibilities, that I haven't told you that we had another birthday in the family! (Our family celebrates a birthday almost every month except Sept/Oct.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ron!~ Ron's birthday was Aug. 20th.

(Ron and I kept our birthdays pretty low key this year.)

Brittany did make her dad a birthday cake!

Pam's First Lake TRI - I finished!

On 8/22, I finished my first "Lake TRI"! YooHoo
No other goals right now except to work on my swim times.
I finished my first half marathon in preparation of my first marathon at age 39.
I completed by first marathon at 40. Completed another goal to complete a TRI at 45, which was a couple of mini TRIs last year, in the pool. And completed my goal to complete a "Lake TRI" at age 46. Yep, I'm getting old. I guess it's all downhill from here!! lol

The swim was what I expected. Hated it!!! I finished the swim in about 27mins, which is not respectable by no means. I would like to swim it in 20mins or less & that's not really asking for too much.

When I came out of that lake and jumped on my bike I was sooooooo happy!!!! I was finally in my element! Especially since I was one of the last getting out of the lake. I LOVE to cycle. I guess because I'm better at cycling than anything else. My running has taken a back seat. :-(

I didn't practice any "bricks" (coming off the bike & run), so it was a little painful coming off the bike and trying to run~

I get such negative thoughts when I'm in the lake. For example: I think I'll raise my hand and get the boat to come get me. Really, I thought about doing that twice. But after completing 3 practice swims, I know my friends and coworkers would have given me a bunch of grief, so that's the only reason I stuck it out!

I was happy with my results. Even with the horrible swim I came in 4th in my category. I signed up as "Women Master Novice", which basically means 'old new triathlete"! But the other side to that story.....I think there were only 8 of us in the category...hahahahahaha

Anyway, I've got another MINI/SMALL TRI in a couple of weeks at White Lake, so that'll be FUN. Only half the swim/bike/run!! Hawaii Luau that evening! I wonder if I'll feel like I'm really in Hawaii........NOT~ :-)

Anyway, To my friends: THANK YOU for your support during my "swim trainings". I was so nervous getting in that lake and I appreciate all the encouraging words!

Lazy weekend & sleep

Last week seemed to be a stressful week, so the weekend I have spent doing a lot of nothing! Which has been good!!

Saturday morning I got up about 5am and met a friend and we headed to the lake again to do one last open water swim before my TRI next weekend. I managed to get through it again. I wasn't as comfortable as the last time, but it wasn't as bad as the first time. I'm a horrible swimmer! I seem to stroke and stroke and barely move! I have taken some swimming lessons but I need more!

After the swim my friend needed to get home, so I didn't do anything else. No cycling, no running. Just the 30min swim. I came home and bonded with the good ole' couch the rest of the afternoon/night. Napping and watching the Olympics.
It was a great Olympics night!! The marathon race was awesome! Catherine got the Silver, but I was pulling for Deena Kastor. :-( My second choice was Paula Radcliffe. And lets not forget the swimming events! Michael won his 8th gold medal, and Torres(41 year old woman) barely missed the gold!! :-(

Sunday, Ron and I slept to almost 8am!! What's up with that? Napped off and on yesterday afternoon and during the Olympics, then slept in this morning. It really must have been a rough week!! The more I lay around the more I want to lay around...So I'm out of the house this afternoon to cycle!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm glad Friday is only a day away!

It's been a stressful week with work. I had to give a presentation this week. I hated it! But at least that's over!

A couple of my Wachovia friends have been holding their breath this week, in hopes they don't get layed off. Friends at Wachovia called Wednesday, "Black Wednesday", because lots of associates got laid off that day, with more coming. And of course, Ron is on the hunt for another job. He has a few leads, but things like that seem to go so slowwwww. Anyway,,,,,HAPPY FRIDAY!

Since this week hasn't been fun. I have found myself thinking about one of my favorite vacations....What a blast we had.

Family weekend

Friday night Ron and I had dinner with a couple(Mitch & Leslie) from the "BEE team"(cycling group). Leslie has a big heart. She is a mentor for TRITFORLIFE, which is a training group for the Ramblin' Rose. Ramblin Rose is a TRI event for women beginners. She also leads the beginner cyclist for the Bee Team. She's always willing to help in anyway she can. Mitch and I cycle in the same pace group on Sunday afternoons. After cycling we sometimes enjoy cold watermelon after the ride, or if folks are hungry for a bite to eat. And sometimes we all choose to head home.
Not sure what's on the agenda for today's ride.

Saturday we celebrated my mom's birthday at her house. Mike(my brother) & my sister-in-law, Teresa came. All the grandkids were busy, with the exception of Brittany and her boyfriend Drew came. It was a nice night with the family.

Sunday lunch was spent with Ron's parents. Ug,,,I had to much for lunch! The typical southern meal: chicken & dumplins, fried okra(my favorite), green beans, corn, slaw, 2 pies to choose from(apple & choc.) --- YUMMY. I really do need to cycle this afternoon!!! The tough part is pulling Ron away from a golf match on TV, so he'll go with me!

I'm also itching for another trip somewhere. I'm ready for some vacation time. I haven't been off since the Italy trip, so it's time to do something about that!
WHEW~ Airfare is so expensive, especially with one income right now. It's a shame to take vacation and stay at home, but that's an option. I sure have plenty I can do around here!

Invisaligns & another Birthday

A couple of months ago I finally decided to bite the bullet and get invisaligns.
They finally arrived this week. It's day two and they are driving me a bit crazy.
I better get use to them or it's going to be a long 6-7months.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Ron and I took her and Jack out to dinner.
Even though my mom only lives 7mins from my home, I don't see her as much as I want. We do chat via email throughout the week to keep in touch, which is good. She's the best!

You may be thinking--how did that Sat. swim go?

Let's start by saying my Birthday dinner was fun! My birthday was toward the end of June, but my girlfriends were on vacation during the last of June into July. We wanted everyone to be able to come, so we found a date that worked for everyone. That was last Thursday night. My friend Katherine has a huge, beautiful, new home and we all wanted to see it, so she cooked my birthday dinner & Stanage brought some yummy wine. The home is exactly what I expected. It's fabulous! And the outdoor living space is awesome!! She promised, with a little push from other friends to invite us over for a Panther's football game this fall!
We had a great evening. Thank you Katherine for sharing your home and cooking dinner. And thank you girlfriends for a fun evening!!

Saturday was the dreaded swim. I saw my IronWOman friend Ashley. She gave some words of encourgement and was happy I showed up again. I did finish the 750m swim. And no, it wasn't as bad as the first time. It was scary doing it by myself. I had a lifeguard put me back on course once. (I was swimming toward the trees--lol). But I got through it. I didn't like it, but I finished it. Afterwards, I cycled & walked the TRI course with some friends. I'm going back on the 16th for one more open water swim practice before the event on the 23rd.

Saturday afternoon Ron and I went to the movies to see Batman. We both liked it, but both thought it was a bit too long!

Sunday afternoon was spent cycling with my BEE Team buddies.

All in all, a pretty good weekend!

Week highlights

The week started off with the normal busy work week & with the normal morning workouts.
Friday, the whirlwind started. I have to share the fun, exciting times with the not so fun exciting times.
Not that we were really surprised with how the banking industries are in a really bad position right now, but they ended Ron's contract at Wachovia on Friday. 10,000+ people they are notifiying. Since Ron is a contractor, he would be on the list, of course. YUCK>>> He's very good at what he does. It shows since he's only had 2 contracts in 12 years!! He'll come out on top, I'm sure! We decided to end the evening at our little hangout by relaxing at "Blakney" listening to music outside.

Saturday I completed one of the toughest things I've ever done. I swam 750meters at Lake Norman. They were having a practice event prior to the Lake Norman TRI at the end of August. It's the best TRI in Charlotte & closes in a couple of hours each year. It was sooooo hard. Like me, if you don't know how far that is, it's approx. 7 football fields, or 1/2mile. I hated it!! I went with a few other girls. I looked at the lake and how far out I had to go and back and was getting ready to back out. Then who showed up to swim with me and support me? Ashley, my awesome IRONMAN friend. She just completed the Austria Ironman about two weeks ago. She told me she would come out and swim with me. I told me no, don't bother, I'll be okay. Well, she was my little angel! I would not have finished without her!! I got to the first booie(sp?) and told her I couldn't do it, that I had to go back. She said no, that I could do it and coached me to keep going. I kept going off course, and she stayed right with me and guided me the whole time. She is so strong and such a great competitor. She often wins some of the TRIs. I was so tired, that I had to roll over and float on my back so many times I couldn't even count. I felt like such a "VARSITY LOOSER", as they call it now. That's a loser, with a capital "V"! She was so good and encouraged me and told me how great I was doing to whole time. It was really, really pitiful, but I got through it. It took me 30mins, which don't seem like a lot, but the mental part of it tired me out so bad that I had plan to run afterwards and bailed on that! I went home, and went to bed and slept for two hours! And it was only a silly 30min swim! I'm suppose to go back next Saturday for another practice swim. I'm not sure at this point if I'll go or not. If I don't go, that means I won't be doing the TRI. I'll give it some thought. I'm sure Ashley won't be there next week to support and guide me. Actually, I guess she shouldn't. She can't be there on race day, so I guess I need to do it one time by myself to see if I can get through it. Stay tuned......I just know it wasn't fun at all, so I'm not sure about putting myself through that again. By the way, it was so bad, I had a lifeguard come by on a boat once or twice to ask if I was okay. Sweet Ashley said, she is find I'm swimming with her! So sad! If I go next week, they might just make the decision to pull me out of the water! That' their decision/call when they see someone isn't doing that great!!

On another note, Ron and I did attend a birthday party of one of our new "Bee team" cycling friends. That was a lot of fun. Much more fun than Saturday morning! The girls that swam Saturday morning spent some time trying to determine if we wanted to go back to Lake Norman and try the swim again. We all agreed since misery loves company, but we'll see when next Saturday gets here!

Sunday afternoon we're going cycling with the Bee team, which should be much more fun than that darn crazy swim!

One thing I do love is checking my mail and getting surprises from my CO friends. Angie sent Ron and I a cute little memory of Italy.(thank you Angie :-) I miss my CO buddies, and I've been thinking of a way to get out to see them sometime this fall.

July & Hawaii

A couple of years ago we spent July 4th grilling on Maui & watching the Tour de France on the Big Island. It was Ron, me, Brittany, Chase & Stanage. I can't help but think about Hawaii off and on during the whole month of July. I have a friend who is there right now, enjoying her first visit to Hawaii. I remember the excitement when I first visited Hawaii. Well, I remember my excitement every time I know I'm going to Hawaii!!! What a special place. I love it~~ There is a little store about 3 miles from where I live, that now sells Hawaiian "stuff". I need to go checkout the place and taste their 'shaved ice', which I love as much as Italy's gelato!

On another note....The jeep

Well, Ron decided to sell the jeep. We always jump into the Vette instead of the jeep when we decide to go somewhere on the weekends. He said it was hard to see it go, but why keep something that we don't drive. So after thinking about it a month or so, he finally let it go. He gets so attached to his cars!! He couldn't watch it go down the driveway when the guy came and bought it!!! Oh well, now we only have 5-6 cars in the driveway most of the time now!

Ron says : The depression lasted for only a few days vs weeks with the last Corvette sale. Still look at these when passed on the road. It was a 'Hawaiian vacation feeling' type of ride, for me. Hawaii was where we rented one of these for the first time. I am now pulling the the targa top out of the Vette when the weather permits. Gives me the same convertible feel with a smoother ride.

A friend I haven't seen in a while - Nice surprise!

As for this weekend, it's been a little busy as well.
Friday night we celebrated my neice's birthday(not the one who got married, the other one :-). She's 21 today.

Saturday morning was the usual event. Up early to do a 10mi run with my two running buddies Jay and Mike. Mike is always ready to run, and ALWAYS seems to have a "good run". His motto "Hills Are Our Friends". Jay and I wasn't having that great of a run, so Mike did all the encourgement and pulled us along. It was sooooo HUMID, but we got through it. Then off to Pilates!

Ron wanted to attend one of his "Corvette Club" gatherings Saturday evening, so we went out to dinner with the club. Some of the things they do are pretty cheezy, but Ron likes to get with them and talk "cars", so I went along to support him.

Afterwards we decided to stop by our nearby community shopping area to listen to some outdoor live Jazz/Blues. It's a shopping center and a gathering spot for shopping and dining.
Ron said a lady singing Jazz/Blues was scheduled to be there and he knew I love jazz.
We sit down and to my surprise the singer was a friend of mine (Kim) that I haven't seen in a year or so!! (She has a band and sings Jazz/Blues in the Charlotte area.)
The last time I saw her we were in Georgia running the half marathon. Well, all except Mike, who ran the full marathon! The only reason we ran together was because she was pregnant! She is faster than me of course. Her baby is 8 months old and she's training for NY marathon this fall.
It was so nice seeing her and catching up with her. She'll be back to our area in September, and Ron and I will go back to listen to her band again. We arrived so late last night that we only caught 4-5 songs of the band before they quit for the night.

Today, (Sunday) We spent some quite time on the deck this morning drinking coffee and watching the humming birds. We'll spend lunch with Ron's mom and dad, catch up on some household things, then off to our Sunday afternoon cycling ride with the "Bee Team"! It'll be a slow recovery ride today!!!

Last Weekend was like Christmas!

Sally and I at the Villa in Italy. How happy we are!














Here's my painting on the wall in my Power Room of Venice.














Here's my Chandelier. What do I do now? You won't be
seeing this hanging for a while!

Here's both sides of the great bookmark that Angie gave all the Italy girls! -----------------

Last weekend was a busy weekend. As you can see Ron blogged, but I didn't get around to it.

It was a like Christmas because I got a lot of fun, wonderful, surprising things in the mail!
My friend Angie sent the Italy girls a bookmark of the picture she had painted of our Italian villa. That was so thoughtful of her, and what a nice keepsake! (Thank you Angie!)

A day or so later, I received a nice surprise package from my friend Sally. Sally remembers the little things in life that her friends enjoy. (Thank you Sally)

I am very blessed to have such caring, thoughtful, wonderful, fun, crazy friends!

I also received my painting of Venice, from a picture that we took during our Italy trip.
Angie found her blog and had her paint a picture of our Villa while we were in Italy. It's fabulous!

Last, but not least my Venetian chandelier finally came from Murano!! I've had it a week and finally unpacked it this morning!