Swimming

I came into work today after swimming at the Marie Reed pool, feeling good about getting up early and enjoying the early morning weather, feeling strong after swimming about 1,400 meters.

Then I came across this article.

Second triathlon!

Completing a triathlon was one of the first things I crossed off the list. But it was way too fun not to do again. So Catherine and I are doing another one in August, this time with longer distances and for a great cause. We're doing the Iron Girl Triathlon in Columbia through Team in Training, which raises money for leukemia and lymphoma research.

We went to the welcome breakfast this morning, and it was so awesome. We heard from some blood cancer survivors and a bunch of people who have participated with the group before. I read about the 11-year-old cancer patient who is our "honored teammate" this season (she is so cute!). I am SO excited about this. We'll be training with other Team in Training members, and coaches, for the next few months (the race is in August), all while raising a minimum of $1,600, which is a little daunting. So, I don't know who still reads this silly blog anymore, but if you do, please consider donating to get me closer to my goal, and you can also come see us race in August! Hopefully I don't drown in Centennial Lake.

And thanks to Angie for the first donation!!

Progress in the patio

I'm thinking that by tonight, I'll have crossed one more item off the list: Grow and eat my own veggies. My spinach is looking pretty good now, and I'm planning on sauteing some tonight for dinner. Here are some slightly outdated photos of the patio progress. The "garden" is a fair bit more overgrown at this point. I have some planters that I'll be hanging from the fence, so perhaps once I have some flowers in there, I'll take new photos. I'm loving my patio :)

My spinach and a few other things I can no longer identify.

Ikea patio furniture, rug off of Amazon.com. The plants are much bigger than this now.

This is probably closer to what the plants look like now. I made my self a burger last night on the new Craigslist grill! The little green table Mom got me is perfect for holding the raw meat and veggies while I'm grilling.