A Week of Firsts

A week ago I ran a mile in 10 minutes for the first time. I'd been stuck at 11 minutes for a while. I'm planning to get to 8 minutes a mile-that'll be my spring goal! I could really feel it in my hamstrings and in my side! Ouch. Today I ran a mile in 9 minutes and 33 seconds! And it felt easy and great-until I stopped, then I thought I was going to throw up.

Friday in swim practice I got to dive off the blocks for the first time! That was really fun-I didn't lose my goggles, which they said usually happens the first few times, and I won both of my "races." I swam 50 meters in 39 seconds and 100 meters in 1 minute 25 seconds. One of the other swimmers gave me some tips so I'll start working on that and hopefully get faster! I'd love to do a few swim meets this winter.

Other big news from the swim lane is that on Tuesday I did my first flip turn! A flip turn is used in the freestyle and backstroke. As a swimmer approaches the wall, she/he tucks her/his body into a somersault, quickly rolls toward the wall, and pushes off with her/his feet. Doesn't that sound so easy? And if you watched the olympics you saw how easy they made it look! Well I am here to tell you that looks are deceiving! It is wicked hard and I'm still not doing it "right" or "well."

When you are learning there are many ways it can go wrong. At the beginning I kept doing complete somersaults, ending up facing the wall. Then as I began to get the idea of a 1/2 somersault, I'd be to close or to far from the wall, so I couldn't use it to kick off from. Finally, when I'd time my turn right, I'd hit the wall but end up pushing myself down to the bottom or shooting off to the side. When done correctly it is a thing of beauty and looks effortless, if I were a blogging whiz I'd have a clip on here to show you what it looks like. For now, if you want to see it, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtP8xgzm6do

Bakerwoods

Tonight we met our friends at a local petting zoo type of place, check it out at www.visitbakerwoodsfarm.com We had fun seeing all the animals and taking the gnome trail around the pond. There was plenty to see and do and we can't wait to go back.

Hammin' it up

Today Ethan was having fun and happy to be leaving to go and play with the kids at the YMCA. We go there a few times a week so I can swim and work out while Ethan plays upstairs.

My tropical garden

My backyard jungle continues to grow...Thank you Honey for taking me to Logee's Greenhouse for my birthday! I added 2 more Musa bajoo bananas to the one I planted last year-right now each one has 3-6 baby banana trees growing around it! Two are taller than I am. I WILL have my own banana patch! Inedible, yes, but it's worth it for my own tropics in New England kind of feel. I planted 5 medium-sized colocasias and 1 Colocasia gigantea that truly lived up to its name! Not bad for its first season. Ethan likes to play hide-and-seek with the huge leaves. After a hard frost, the bananas will all be chopped down to 1 foot and mulched 3 feet high and 3 feet wide with hay. The colocasias will all be dug up, and the tubers stored in the basement for the winter.

Ethan the Destroyer strikes again!

Let me just preface this by telling you we have been to the emergency room TWICE this week. Monday he fell off the couch, hit his tooth and was bleeding all over the place. There's a good chance the tooth will discolor-then I'll have to learn to use photoshop so I can change the color back to white-HELLO I have scrapbooking to think of!

Today we got out of the car at church-I turn to get things to occupy him during sacrament-and he closes the car door on his hand. Luckily the bones aren't broken. Have I mentioned that he peeled the wallpaper border off in his bedroom? Maybe broken fingers stuck in a cast isn't such a bad idea....hmmm.

Anyways, he's in the shower with Nate while I'm making dinner-YUMMY pumpkin pancakes-wish you were here to help us eat them-Nate gets out to get dressed and Ethan is having a blast playing in the shower. DO NOT call CPS on us-there's no plug, the water just goes down the drain=no drowning hazard. Nate goes in to get him and realizes Ethan has destroyed the shower in his typical happy and having a great time while he's doing it way.

Somehow 2 tiles are pulled off the supposed wall-yes supposed, because I always supposed there was a wall behind the shower. Umm obviously not, as there just appears to be yucky black stuff, pink insulation, and a hole. We took pictures as proof. Do you have a remodeling project to do on your house? We'll send him over-he works for cookies.

5 Star Triathlon

I did my second triathlon today! It was a blast, and Nathan and Ethan were able to come also! I finished 10th in my age division with a time of 1 hour 25 minutes, and was happy with my transition times. I need to get more fit on the bike-so I can still push it and go fast but not start my run out of breath. I also need to run faster! I'm doing about 11 minutes a mile right now. Above is a picture Nate took as I was leaving the transition area-going from the bike to the run phase. Can't wait to do more!

TIMBER!!!

My neighbor Paige and I went for a jog this afternoon, and as we started up Lyon Hill-about where the red truck is in the picture-we heard this loud cracking noise, we turned around and this tree was falling down-it brushed the wires acrosss the street and they were bouncing and sparking! We booked it up that hill!!! Thank goodness it didn't fall a minute earlier-we'd have been smushed! It wasn't windy at all-it just came down.