Here it is

Tomorrow’s Half Iron race inspiration.

This is really a picture of them

The Bickerson’s are back at it this year…have fun, good luck, happy trails and safe travels to, from and through RAGBRAI.

There is always pay back

This very very very fine, sunny morning, I packed all three of my kids up and sent them off to the first day of Vacation Bible School.  They all were so excited to go and do crafts and eat snacks and talk Jesus and do whatever else they do there.  As a mom, there is nothing better than kids who are excited to go, go willingly and have a wonderful time in a safe environment.

What does this mean for me?  This means I get 3 hours to myself today.  Ok, a little less becasue I have to teach swimming lessons but still, I get to go to those lessons all by myself.

On my way to pick them up, in my ohhhhh sooooo free and happy mood, I was thinking it would be nice to go out to a nice lunch and talk about camp and then go to the library together, then run a few errands and even treat them to an ice cream cone (since the last errand would be very far away).  That seemed like a really solid idea to me.

I gathered my brood, bundled them up into the car and shared with them that we are going to go out to lunch.

It was as if they each were suddenly struck down by the devil himself.  They each had there own ideas of where they wanted to eat and when they wanted to go and instead of taking turns to discuss it like calm little children they all started yelling, which turned to screaming, which turned to hitting and kicking the backs of the seats, which went on and on and on AND ON AND ON.

It is now 3:00 pm.  There has been no lunch out, no ice cream, errands have all been done in silence and a mandatory quiet time is now taking place.

Holy Mosses…what the hell happened?

The newest Village Person

It’s a mix of Mexican wrestler, Batman and a construction worker.

Conservative Roots

I come from a family of Republicans.  And while growing up, politics was never a really big topic that we discussed, mulled over or chewed on at the dinner table.  You knew where they stood, period…strongly Republican.

So yesterday my mom called at 8:00 am:

Me:  Hello.

Mom:  I see they have been through your neighborhood.

Me:  Who?  What are you talking about?

Mom:  The Obama sign in your yard.

Me:  Oh yeah, I gave that to Adam for his birthday! Are you driving around my house right now?

Mom:  No.  Your brother saw it this weekend and then called your dad and then your dad told me.

The big payoff

Ever since summer started, our basement-tv room-kids play area, has been a disaster area.  It was beyond just simply cleaning it up.  It needed to be cleaned out.

That said, last week when it rained, we got to it.  I brought out the 70 qt storage bin and the 16 qt storage bin and a garbage bag.  CT got his own bins, KP and PJ shared a set.

The kids filled the large bin with large toys and the small bin with small toys and anything broken went into the garbage bin.

Each bin had a price tag associated with it.  Large bin, $5.  Small bin, $1.  Gargage (paper grochery bag) $1.  Once we had gone through all the toys and the bins were filled (several times), we bagged them up, put them in the back of the van and dropped it all off at Good Will.

Then we went to Target with the money they had made and they each got to buy ONE new toy.

From the mouth of babes

This past weekend, this is just a sampling of some of the things I heard my kids say:

KP:  This is the best Earth in the whole world. (This said just after shoving a fist full of Sour Patch Kids in his mouth).

PJ:  When I’m old enough, I’m going to get my nose pierced like Auntie Shannon AND get my belly button pierced.  (This said at the lunch table, just because.)

CT:  I’m gay.  I’m a gay baseball player!  (This said while sitting at the dinner table with the WHOLE extended family while celebrating Adam’s 38th birthday.)

A story for the ages…

So I go to pick up my race packet at the convention center today, all nervous and a dither, AND…they can’t find my name.  They send me to the Trouble Table, they can’t find my name ANYWHERE!  They look through all their computers and then call the bat phone and they look on their special computers and there is nothing.  No trail.  No nothing.

First the nice lady behind the table says, oh please don’t cry and then she says, if you can find your confirmation or can show us a bill from a credit card statement you can bring it in but otherwise the race is full and there is nothing we can do for you, I’m so sorry.

I go home, hoping against hope that I can find a record or statement or something, but there is nothing.  I have nothing, no confirmation, no email, no billing trail. NOTHING!

I somehow, between all the other races, did not sign up for THIS fucking race.

Oh my god.  OH MY GOD!

Curses…nashing of teeth…stomping of feet…clenching of fists…how could I possibly be so stupid?

I guess my goals will have to wait till next year.
And as my good friend Jen put it, after listening to me weep and cry and blubber for a while, “You’re certainly fast enough to win, but just too stupid to sign up.”

Thanks Jen, that’s why I love you.

Putting it out there

I typically don’t write about my race goals…until after the fact.  That way, it’s safe.  No one can call me on it.  No one can call me a failure.  Which is really where I am going with this. My fear of failure is great.  So great in fact I would rather keep my inner goals quiet so no one knows, so no one knows that I did not really meet my own expectations.

After reading last years post about the race I’ve decided to change direction. I’ve decided to lay it all out.  So here we go:

This Saturday is the Life Time Fitness Triathlon (Oh God I’m nervous).

This Saturday, I would like nothing more than to kick some serious ass (I’m warming up, can you tell?).

This Saturday I would like to finish the race in 2 hours and 35 minutes (That’s 4 minuets and 48 seconds off last year. Is there anyway I can even make that without a wet suit? What about the transitions I SHOULD have been working on? Have I trained hard enough? Who knows who will show up that day?  What if I have a flat?).

This Saturday (drum roll please) I would like to place 3rd in my division!!!

Pheewwww.  Now you all know the good and the bad (I feel a little tingly).

Now that you know, if you could please send me some good vibes, thoughts, power, prayer, anything you got…I’ll take.

This year’s motto…LEAVE IT ALL ON THE COURSE!

Get-a-way

If I was not hang’n out in Mexico on a white sandy beach reading a book with my most beloved husband, I would figure out a way to go on a girlie week to surf school.