Catching Up

Ok, so it's been awhile. Almost three weeks in fact.....

The reason I haven't been in front of the computer is because I have been in the pool. And they won't let me bring the computer in with me. In case you don't know, I am training for a triathlon in May. It's called the Wildflower Triathlon and it is held in California every year, at Lake San Antonio. I'm training for an olympic length race, which means I have to be able to swim a mile or about 1500 m. And no, I can't have floaties. I asked. After the mile swim, I have to bike about 24 miles and then run 6.2 miles. In my wildest dreams, I think I can do this in under 4 hours. I have to be honest, the swimming part scared the hell out of me, I've never been a strong swimmer, but rather a talented sinker. Thankfully, I started training for this back in November, and now I feel a lot more comfortable in the water. But to stay on track, I swim about 4 days a week. 1 day with instruction, and 3 days of training. Not a lot of time to blog. And I miss blogging..... Regardless of whether anyone reads this, it's fun to talk about your week to the amorphus internet cloud.

On top of this, I am studying for my Professional Engineer Licensing Exam. It will be held the weekend before the triathlon. Only in my world, does this kind of luck show up so regularly. The good news is that my job exposes me to very diverse projects, so most of what I am studying, I have already seen and am familiar with.

Thursdays are fun, as I am now an official member of the Austin area WAKA Kickball league. I thought I would be a champ with all those years of soccer, but between the BARELY inflated dodgeball and the pre-game two beer minimum, I lose my "historically pin-point" accuracy. At any rate it is a good time. And the team names are so ridiculous that I fear mentioning them here.

Movie I will see this weekend: Milk or Frost/Nixon

Weekend in Dallas :)

I spent this past weekend visting family and friends in Dallas. My mom's birthday was Feb 4th and we all went to dinner to celebrate saturday night. I love spending time with my family and my Uncle Rudy's family as the two families have been close since I was very little. Earlier on Saturday, I was able to have breakfast with the May family and I have to say that Gabe enjoys trying to eat as much he enjoys actually eating.

Cafe Brazil had delicious food, I don't blame Gabe for his enthusiam :) I was also treated to Molly's modern rendition of the alphabet song, which includes a couple of extra letters and additional lyrics. I always find it amazing how quickly children learn things. Miss Emma has decided to make my folk's place her vacation residence. As you can tell she makes herself at home quite easily. With the additional activity I put her through on weekends and a leaner diet, she has lost a noticable amount of belly, and probably tips the scales at about 75 lb. I sometimes wonder if she really wants to come back to Austin to our 700 sq ft. apartment, but she looks content to be home.

1/25/09

Some believe everything happens for a reason
Others say you get what you can handle
I think we are each born free and able
to bring both joy and pain into this world.

When sorrow brought me to my knees,
and all of life's certainties became questions, I prayed:
God, give me the strength to stand
and countless hands lifted me up.

The tears dry
and the wound heals
Yet answers to many questions
stay locked in silent hearts.

Faith allows us to hope,
hope guides us to love,
and love brings us boundless joy.
A four stop journey that can last a lifetime.

Never forget who you are.
and always hold tight to the blessings which remain.
Despite an indescribable loss, I found my way.
I stand unbroken.

Hahahahahaha - You have to be kidding me

Ok so guess what showed up at my apartment today? Just guess. I'll give you a hint. It weighs 20 lbs. It has seen more countries in the last month than President Obama. It managed to befuddle airport authorities worldwide. It has about 12 days worth of clothes in it.....

Ta Da!

You know I had totally given up on this thing. It wasn't so much what was inside of it, but the bag itself that I regretted losing. I wanted to take it hiking/camping this year. I was going to call AirFrance this week about compensation, but this just arrived from Detroit via Munich. When the office manager at the apartment left a message on my phone, I was like, "Maybe.... no, no, there's no way; how ridiculous would that be". Well, very ridiculous.

The obligatory shot of Emma lounging on the balconey and enjoying the unusually warm weather:

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.....

The next step of the triathalon training has commenced! Cycling seems like the easiest of the three stages, but I'm not sure if that will prove true. However, I have given myself a decent ride with the purchase of this thing:

I took this Specialized Allez 18 speed for a ride at Austin's Veloway. The veloway is a paved trail that is only for cyclists and rollerbladers. If you live in Austin, it is located next to the Lady Bird Wildflower Center down south Mopac. I rode 15 miles today on this thing, and it was the most fun I have had training since I started 2 or 3 months ago.