hello mr. ripley...??

yes thats right. you can believe it!
I DID FLIP TURNS AT PRACTICE LAST NIGHT. yes that is correct. me who most closely resembles a t-rex in the pool managed to do somewhat medicore impersonations of a real swimmer. who knew?

and i've come to realize that my house has become more of a stop over point and less of a home. i say this because between work and training and meetings and friends - i do three things there:
1- sleep, but not nearly enough in my opinion
2- shovel food in my mouth, as "eating dinner" would mean actually sitting at the table and using actual dishes
3- store my gear - an ever growing supply of stuff, most of which never gets put away - much like my bed getting made - i mean whats the point if you are just going to use it again!

Its been a tough week, what with my arms falling off in the pool and my legs disintegrating on a run... i've become humpty dumpty - post fall..but its all good.

have a great weekend! Tampa here I come!!!
thanks for the picture cindy :)

My nuuns are breeding

All of a sudden I am finding nuuns everywhere. Yesterday next to the computer, in my back pack at masters last night, in the car this morning, unpacking my suitcase. And I don’t remember buying that many. Its freakishly reminding me of the night the gremlins got fed after midnight and multiplied into all those crazy little monsters (though the one with the Mohawk was pretty cool..)

I spent the past week in Utah, gorgeous place. Great skiing. Though all the fantastic scenery and winter wonderland sports were ruined with my pesky little job. Booo. We did manage to yuk it up quite a bit though.





In other more important news.. I am going to the SUPERBOWL! Yes. Yes. Yes. I could not be happier. I have never been more excited for anything. Ever. My terrible towel is ready to wave. I’m not talking for the next 4 days to save my voice for “defense” chanting. Work is being put on hold as I read up on everything steeler, superbowl, tampa or football related. Its turning into a family affair as my brother is also going to the game, my dad is in tampa visiting, and my grandpa lives there. Good times. Now if everyone would just shut up and quit saying “what if they lose”. Really people, must you be so mean? and so WRONG!

2 hour delay. no morning kindergarden.

that is the story of my growing up. in pittsburgh. where no matter how much snow we got, school was never cancelled. we used to wake up SOOOOO early and watch the news and PRAY that our school would be closed, but it never was. throw the chains on the buses, kids you're going in today!

so living in the south snow and ice bring on a whole new feeling.. panic! ha. well not for me seemingly for everyone else, since even now, with snow in the forecast, everything from day care, to church, to heck probably even my job will be closed tomorrow. and i'm sure the harris teeter is completely out of milk and bread (really people what are you going to make with milk and bread. at least get some peanut butter and some good wine or something!) BUT as luck would have it i'm on a 7 am flight out of here. tomorrow. so i'm having a bit of dread at the thought of being stuck in the airport with a postponed departure.. oh and did i mention that i have 147 (yes i weighed it!) pounds of luggage! 3 suitcases and my back pack. man i love my job (read that with as much sarcasm as you can muster...)

this past weekend my tried and true adidas trainers crapped out on me. so off to fleet feet to get some new ones. several test runs later, i'm proud to be the new owner of some really sweet mizunos. lighter, lower, l --- like em.

whats a post with out mentioning ben and the boys. who by the way was mentioned several times not only by the girls i was with but by several others as a "man's man" at the bar last night. nothing like a little chatter during the breaks. anyway - a brutal, hard hitting game, cold and snowy, action packed. i'm trying without success to get my brother to sell me his superbowl tickets...i guess blood only runs so deep when you are talking pittsburgh football..

bruised and batter

So once again I have uncovered the secret to getting injured in a non contact, completely otherwise non dangerous situation (some will remember the impeccably timed ankle sprain while running with a bag of dirt last summer -1 week out from worlds...hey- I had really tall shoes on) anyway the lastest has resulted in a necetrine (yep that's about the right sized fruit) bump and bruise on the inside crook of my right arm. how does that area of one's body get beaten up? I slapped my arm a few (ok several) times on the lane rope monday morning.. i thoguht that sucker was supposed to give a little bit! Maybe I was still asleep, maybe I was too concentrated on swimming well.. Maybe I am just an idiot ... ok that one. anyway good thing its winter and i'm wearing long sleeves.. no need to explain away domestic violence...

Ok so the other thing I have to say is that I can no longer make choc chip cookies at home. Not only can I not exhibit any self control with the batter (to hell with salmonila), I have seriously seen every bit of that goodness end up on my a##. Yep blown up like that chick veruca at the wonka factory.

and for my closing statement, apparently i have been named a chair on the NC roadrunners board...had no idea as i'm used to just doing a bunch of design work for them (race t shirts, brochures) oh well just another reason to get together with some fun peeps!

bring on the birds!!

one short on the virtue list

i have been told not one not two but three times in the past 48 hours that i have no patience. really people come on. thats like saying hey michael phelps you are a good swimmer or gee mr Orville redinbauker you make good popcorn or wow hilary you do look like a man. its a GIVEN! its really not a terrible thing, i mean i make things happen, get things moving, keep things exciting. but then again, it can get me in trouble.. take for instance when making a grilled cheese sandwich - in order to make the perfect golden brown color you have to s-l-o-w-l-y cook the sandwich on each side.. turn up the heat too much and whamo - scorched! trust me i have been burned (ha) on this one.

anyway some quick training notes, as that is the intention of the blog after all... went to masters this morning and as horrendously painful as it was to get up before any other living creature, i think it was a good thing and will be a good thing.. though i did have to rekindle my love affair with starbucks early afternoon... i enjoyed the company, though i do need to learn how to circle swim.. that kind of freaks me out a bit having someone on your tail.... then a bike and a run this evening. so all in all a good day. have a bit of a hammy issue. just tight and a bit sore.. might be nursing that a little this weekend... hope to catch up with my running group in the am, my campaign to convince them to push the start time out a bit on the weekends was a complete landslide.... against me.

virgin no more

ok so not what you think... tonight i went to my first masters practice. after some poking and prodding from jen, and perhaps a few strong suggestions, ahem... i knew i had dragged my feet long enough. so not to bore with details but i really felt like i had a productive swim workout. maybe it was the fact that the facility is gorgeous. or maybe that the coach on deck was hot (please we all notice these things!). or maybe that i got some great advice on my stroke that i could actually feel working. who knows. but alas. i have hoisted the white flag and i too will be going to masters. now the kicker is... after a post mortem with jen, it was MY idea to change over to the morning group - of course she agreed. yes me, grumpy mc grumps. ok ok ok. so i havent actually gone in the morning yet, not till friday, but the promise of a post swim break fast was too good to pass up. and if anything is going to make me get out of a warm bed and jump into a cold pool, its pancakes.

resting and testing

doesnt seem like they could happen in the same week. kind of like accidentally on purpose, or jumbo shrimp or pretty ugly. but after a somewhat busy, ok CRAZY, week at home in pittsburgh for the holiday i was willing to take any part of the word rest into consideration. this was the week of redefining my boundries and reassessing my capabilities. basically, see how much suffering i could really dish out. and how much i was willing and ready to take. its funny how your mind can absolutely shut down when you are grinding your guts out on the bike or about to puke in the pool. how all you can see and feel and hear and think is your heart beating. ka-chung, ka-chung. all of this comes at an opportune time, when resolutions and new beginnings seem to be on everyone's mind. for me though, its not about a list of things i want to change, its a commitment to be true to myself, and let the potential that i know is there come out.

sianara comfort zone

enough. enough playing it safe. enough of the routine. enough of the proverbial blanket. enough.

i've been kind of sticking my toe in the deep end lately, well for a while, and its time i jumped in. jump into masters. jump into design. jump into french. jump into a big room full of colored plastic balls. whatever it is. there is more for me out there and its time that i went and got it.

"OK, Dad, let's do it. Let's go get the sh** kicked out of us by love."
love actually. i know, random. but good.