A Note from DH

DH went out of town for a few days. He left me a little note, stuck to a package of toilet paper. It said,
"I'll miss you. Here is toilet paper for our bathroom. The newspapers go out tomorrow. Love."

What a guy. How did I ever get along in this world without him. Obviously, without toilet paper and never remembering the recycling. Seriously, one of the reasons I love him is because he is just the right mix of romantic and pragmatic.

An Ordinary Thursday

Thursday is my day off. It was a rather ordinary day. I went to the gym in the morning and then ran errands. Errands included picking up the produce from my organic food coop. What a lovely sight! an overflowing basket of fruits and vegetables in a vast array of colors. After I got it home, I set about cleaning out the frig and then deciding what to cook. I made 3 bean salad, Caribbean carrot soup and My First Frittata. I chopped up 2 tomatoes and a big pile of swiss chard. Added some garlic, cilantro and grated feta cheese. Oh, and eggs. Wow, it was really delicious. This was a vegetarian dinner done right! and I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow. It was in keeping with the spirit of the Local Food Challenge. Most of the vegetables were grown locally and all the ingredients were in my house-- and I consider that local.

Other ordinary events and errands included getting DH to take 2 big bags of clothes to the Salvation Army. There were 75 articles of clothing, yes I made a list. So, even though it all went in one week, I think I should get "credit" for at least 5 weeks for the 7 Things Project. I'm not being greedy, I didn't ask for 10 weeks.

Things I Want and Don't Want

One of the perks of working in midtown Manhattan is lunchtime in Bryant Park. Today was a great day to sit there and engage in some serious people-watching. A woman walked by sporting a pair of pink headphones. The first thought that popped into my head, was “wow, I would like some pink headphones, too.” Second thought was “well, what else would I like?” Third thought was much more revealing: “don’t want that much, but there are many things I definitely do not want.” So here is my list of Things I Want and Things I don’t Want as Seen in Bryant Park at Lunchtime.

Things I Want
1. Pink headphones
2. Slick shiny new laptop
3. Native American friend
4. Lunch at Bryant Park Grill
5. Knowing how to play chess

Things I Don’t Want
1. Big overstuffed tote bag with name and logo of a large corporate entity
2. Pants that are neither full length nor capri length
3. Friend that does not speak more than 10 words during entire lunchtime in the park
4. Husband wearing socks and sandals
5. Bra with clear plastic straps to wear with tank top
6. Very high high heels of any type, but especially with animal prints
7. Teeny tiny but fashionable handbag
8. Very large sunglasses
9. Sandwich from Subway

Boom Boom Tap

Have you seen Under Armour's new commercial? The company has started a new marketing campaign, nicknamed Boom Boom Tap, directed at what they feel is an untapped resource-- team girls. The commercial features female high school and college athletes in a wide range of team sports-- softball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer.

On one hand I love this commercial. I love seeing women involved in sports, strong and fit and competitive. Title IX was enacted when I was 16, so I grew up with little or no emphasis on women's sports. Neither my parents nor my older brother were especially athletic, so I had little encouragement to get involved. I never played on an organized team. Aside from the health and fitness benefits for women, I think playing sports, especially team sports, teaches girls incredibly important skills and life lessons. Teamwork, being coached, yes that is important, but so is PLAYING TO WIN, developing a competitive edge. That's what I find so appealing about this commercial. It's shows women playing to win.

On the other hand, the commercial features almost entirely tall, attractive white girls. There are few women of color and no women carrying a few extra pounds or "vertically challenged." Yes, I know, its all about marketing and featuring real female athletes is less likely to sell skin tight athletic wear. But it sure would be nice if Under Armour would sponsor some girl's teams from inner city high schools and put them in their commercials.

I was in my local sporting goods store a few days ago and I did notice that Under Armour products have a much bigger presence in the women's clothing section than even a few months ago. I'm sure this has everything to do with Boom Boom Tap and fall sports on the horizon. It's OK with me, the less Nike I see the happier I am.

Monday Misc.

1. My heart rate monitor died, so I bought a new one. This one measures kcal burned. For some reason, I really like knowing this number, to see how high I can take it! I wore it when I went out for a run (2 miles, 181 kcal) and I wore it when I went out for a club ride yesterday. This is the first time I wore a heart rate monitor while cycling. We rode 29 miles and I burned 880 calories. After hearing that number, one of my cycling buddies felt justified in going home and eating anything she wanted. Dangerous. Very. Dangerous. Probably more important was that I discovered that my average heart rate was quite a bit lower than I would have guessed, which means I am getting my ass in shape. So far this season I have ridden about 550 miles, which really is not all that much, but it seems to be paying off. Yesterday’s ride also felt easy, like I could have ridden faster or longer.
   

2. I am still doing the little things to try to lessen my environmental impact. I don’t use a paper towel to dry my hands and I try not to use paper towels in the kitchen. I bought a body scrubber thingie that holds a bar of soap so I don’t have to use bath gels that come in plastic bottles. I try to use less of everything that comes in plastic bottles, and I am buying the biggest bottles I can find of all those things. I don’t turn on the hot water as often and I am trying to take shorter showers. I pack a cloth napkin in my lunch bag and a real fork. I keep a tote bag in the car so I can avoid plastic bags. I use only cold water in the washing machine and I try to run full loads as much as possible. I shopped at Mrs. Greens and bought grains and beans from the bulk bins. On Saturday I had to run some errands and I contemplated taking my bike, but ultimately I got in the car. I just didn’t have enough time to get everything done. But, maybe another time I will. DH and I went to a BBQ/party yesterday that less than a mile from our house and we walked! There are always people out walking, even though our neighborhood is not walking-friendly. I’m so used to seeing everything from a bike, it was actually quite pleasant to walk down the road for a change.
   

3. In my quest to get rid of stuff (7 Things Project) I joined my local Freecycle and I already freecycled 1 thing—an iTrip for an iPod Mini. My Mini died and I replaced it with a Nano, so I had no use for the iTrip. It has been promised to an autistic boy who loves music!

Armonkattack

Yesterday DH and I led rides for the club. We started in the same place, and we both made our way to the town of Armonk. His ride took the long way home, adding 6 miles to the total. So my ride was 24 miles and his was 30. In addition to more miles and more hills , his version had more speed. So when we set out on this adventure, he rode at the front and I happily rode at the back with the slower riders (that was fine with me). And along the way, I picked up his stragglers, 2 people fixing a flat, and 3 or 4 who had enough climbing by the time they got to Armonk and wanted to take the short route back. Both rides were VERY hilly which was why they were lower mileage. There are 4 "evil hills," the kind where your legs are burning even if you get off your bike and walk up. Then you start to feel like you are going uphill even when you are on flat road. The ride was very challenging for some of the riders in my group, and a couple of them were complaining about their shoulders hurting, probably from pulling on the climbs to try to get your upper body to do some of the work. That's why cyclists need to think about core strength and not just legs to be strong riders.

I did this ride about a month ago and it beat the crap out of me, the hills won. This time it was
a little easier, but still a challenging ride. I might have to do it one more time this season, so I can come out the winner. If you want to be a better cyclist (in my neighborhood), you have to take on the hills 'cause there ain't no way to avoid them. DH says I obsess over the hills, to just get out there and ride. I think that is good advice, so I'm going to make this my personal Dab the Wussy Challenge, to embrace the hills because they suck and they make my legs hurt and the sweat run into my eyes and because when you get to the top, its a beautiful thing!

Kick A$$ Tour de Spin

During the Tour de France, all spin classes are designed to mimic the profile of that day's stage. Yesterday the tour rode from Waregem, Belgium to Compiegne, France. It was mostly flat, with a very long category 4 hill (that's the easiest climb, with category 1 going up mountains in the Pyrenees). There were also 3 sprint lines. This profile was perfect for an endurance (75 minutes) class. We rode a flat road for most of it, and really picked up the pace for 3 minutes when we were approaching the sprint lines. Then we climbed that category 4 hill, for 13 minutes. In the end we pushed for the finish line, to try to win the stage! This was an absolutely kick a$$ spin class. Riding hard on a flat road can be tougher than going up and down killer hills. It was relentless! It was Dab the Wussy for sure. I forgot to bring a towel, and we had only been riding for a few minutes when I realized I needed a towel way more than I needed my shirt, so I took off my shirt and rode in my sports bra (something I very rarely do). I produced a man-sized puddle of sweat despite the towel/shirt. We were all wiped when we were done. It was totally awesome. What a great feeling to bring it and deliver it. I'm ready for the mountains, whatever spin class brings, I'm riding it!

Seven Things Project

I found this website, Seven Things Project, written by Earthchick. She pledged to get rid of 7 things every week, for 1 year. But no throwing things away. She gave them away, donated or recycled them. Her year ended on 7/7/07. She hasn't posted for a week or so, but as of late June, she got rid of 359 "things." It was an experiment in owning less, buying less, needing less, and wanting less.

I am not a saver. And yet, sometimes when I open a closet I can't believe all the "things" that are packed away in it. It's just that it's easier to stick something in a closet than to contemplate how to get rid of it. So, I am going to embrace the Seven Things Project and start getting rid of everything that is cluttering my life. I can so do this. DH and I put aside clothes that we no longer wear (or no longer fit) to give to the Salvation Army. Right now we have amassed a tower of clothes that, if I donate 7 items a week, I'm probably good for 10 weeks!

To get things started, last week I sent a pile of children's books to a Bookcrosser who needs them for some sort of charity event. This week, I shall begin to attack the tower of clothes!

GSIU Week #27

I stepped it up this past week by riding 90 miles. I took advantage of the July 4th holiday and rode 35 miles with the Ladies of C. On Friday evening, DH and I rode the Friday Fling (show up at 6 pm, break into groups based on how many miles you're going to ride, be back before dark, then go to dinner at a local eatery) for another 17 miles. Yesterday, the Ladies of C went out again, this time with some gentlemen friends, for a really nice 38 mile ride. It moved faster than my usual pace, which was good for me. Not only did I have to push the mileage, but I had to push myself to keep up with the group (I was still at the back most of the way). I am getting stronger and more confident. I am motivated to eat better and as a result my weight is starting to come down. I hope to use the momentum from this past week moving forward.

Big Foot

Over the last week, I have been thinking about my environmental footprint, and quite frankly, I feel like Big Foot. We live in the suburbs and have to drive everywhere. We have not 2 but 3 cars. Our house is not small, and heating and cooling the house requires big hunks of energy. We are very plugged in: 4 computers, 3 TVs, Tivo, Playstation, 3 iPods, 4 cell phones, you get the idea. We do make the effort to do somethings right: setback thermostats, CFLs everywhere, recycling as much as possible, again you get the idea. But the last few days I have really opened my eyes to the resources I consume without even thinking about it. Everything is disposable. I am finding I have to be incredibly vigilant to decrease my footprint-- it's not easy! But I am definitely putting more thought into consuming less resources. I have adopted the BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) philosophy. I am trying to think about combining errands so I don't have to drive as much. I'm a vegetarian. Every time I put a disposable container of any kind into the garbage I try to think of how I could have avoided using it. I am trying to use less of everything that comes in plastic containers so I don't have to buy them as often. I'm not ready for really big changes, but I am trying to make small changes that are easy to live with. I'm not sure how far I will go with this, but I would like to think that even small changes can add up.

Local Food Challenge

I belong to an organic food co-op. I get a basket of food every 2 weeks. The co-op buys the food from farms near (blueberries from New Jersey and far (bananas from Ecuador) and distributes it to the various "pods." I'm not sure how many pods there are in the co-op, but each pod has 15 members. Each pod is responsible for dividing the food into 15 shares. In our pod, members volunteer to do this job (you save $15 if you pack). Anyway, you cannot pick and choose what you want, you have to take whatever the co-op buys that week. I don't usually buy much other produce. It takes me about 2 weeks to use all the food. I am facing this local food challenge without the opportunity to shop at a local farmer's market. So, I have decided that in addition to the local food I get in my co-op order, I am going to concentrate on using up food that I have in the house-- can't get much more local than that. Time to cook all the chicken breasts in the freezer and add salsa to the tofu scramble and make salads with barley or wheatberries. I am going to cook and pack lunches for DH and I. Eating out will be more of a special treat.

The most recent co-op order did include blueberries from NJ and kale, lettuce, mushrooms, and yellow squash from Pennsylvania. Those are my local foods. Been working on the lettuce with salads, and last night I made some wonderful blueberry pancakes for dinner!

This morning I rode with "Ladies of C." There's a group of us that are 40+ years old, and we are all slow C riders. We rode 35 miles this morning and it went down pretty easy. It felt good!

Misc Monday

This past weekend featured picture perfect weather and the opportunity to ride 50 miles! On Saturday I led a 20 mile D ride for the bike club. I had 20 people show up which is great for the club but difficult to lead. I had a few "cowboys" that were looking for a faster ride, so after a few miles, they took off. Then I had one lady who had to walk up the first hill and decided to turn around on the 2nd hill. I was still left with a pretty large group of varying abilities, so I ended up splitting the ride, sending the faster riders off and finishing the ride with 9 of the slower riders. That worked out pretty well.

Yesterday was the bike club's July 4th event, which featured bike rides for all levels (A, B+, B, C+, C and D) followed by a BBQ-potluck picnic. I found plenty of room at the rear of the 30 mile C ride and a big appetite when we got back to the picnic. DH came along, he did the C+ ride for 45 miles and I was happy to have him there and to introduce him to my bike riding buddies. The potluck buffet featured salads of all types and I was able to endulge in a deeply satisfying vegetarian feast. DH told a friend about the event, and he showed up on a $300 bike, took off on the B ride (50 miles and pretty fast), discovered he had a busted axle which made it impossible to shift into his lowest gears, ended up walking up the bigger hills, and had a great time! Some people just have athleticism in their DNA. I have to work at it.

This was week #26, which means the year is half over! I haven't kept true to my "Gotta Step it Up" pledge, and I am trying to resurrect that theme. I did Step it Up this week, mostly by trying to increase my accountability, writing stuff down, and being more conscious of my choices. The result was better choices, a spin class, and the feeling that I am back on track.

The Change is making me a little crazy. I saw the gynecologist last week for my yearly checkup and she asked me if I "needed anything" to help with the symptoms. I didn't even ask what "anything" meant, I just replied that I didn't think I was there yet. Now I wonder if I am there and if I at least need to talk about some of the options that modern medicine has to offer. If only she could install a switch. I would be all over that "off" button in a hot flash!

Low Impact Lifestyle

I recently stumbled across 2 blogs that I found very thought provoking, both having to do with sustainable living /low impact lifestyles. The first, No Impact Man, is written by a man who has challenged himself to reduce his environmental impact to zero for 1 year through a series of serious lifestyle changes: no electricity, no car, not buying anything new, recycling, etc. The second, Living Plastic Free in 2007, is written by a woman who has pledged not to buy anything plastic for 1 year. Both blogs are fascinating reading, and of course I followed a whole bunch of links to other blogs and ended up spending a couple of hours reading about low impact living. So I am somewhat inspired to reduce my environmental footprint. Here is what I did today toward that goal:
1) I presented my own traveling coffee mug at the coffee cart this morning. I know, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but this simple act kept 1 styrofoam cup, 1 paper bag and a couple of coffee-stained napkins out of the trash pile.
2) And I have also decided to join Crunchy Chicken's Local Food Month Challenge which starts July 1. Here's the basic premise:

During the month of July you're going to increase your consumption of locally and sustainably grown food and decrease your consumption of imported and packaged food.

I don't think I will be making my own soymilk, but local produce is so abundant during the summer months that this should be a relatively easy way to get started. And with the kids GFTS, I look forward to preparing mostly vegetarian meals from fresh local foods.

Misc

1. Son #1 graduated on Friday night. When the graduates marched in, I almost lost it, almost started crying, but I held it together. It's kinda weird, being on the other side. I don't have vivid memories of my HS graduation, but I do remember that I had very similar feelings to what my son has expressed-- that it's alot of hype and that the ceremonies are fairly meaningless. I wasn't unwilling to go, and I knew it was a big deal for my parents, so I did go and I'm sure there are at least 100 pictures (slides) in the family archive to mark the occasion (My dad took pictures galore, all the time, anytime-- I can just imagine if he had lived during the era of the digital camera). So son #1 did the same thing, even coming home to do 5 hours of school service to earn the privilege of attending graduation after the alarm clock fiasco. And my mother and DH and I were able to swell with pride and admire the man he has become. I wasn't expecting to feel this emotional, but it was truly one of the most joyous moments of my life as a parent.

2. After graduation, son #1 went to a party, an all-night event. He called us at 5:45 to let us know he was leaving to drive back to camp because he needed to be there at 8:00. While I was a little concerned about him driving after very little or no sleep, I had to admire his sense of responsibility. I also realized that we have to trust him, his judgements, because he is heading off to college and we won't be involved in these decisions anymore. So joyous moment quickly followed by difficult moment when I knew I had to let go a little more.

3. My mom went back to Florida yesterday afternoon, but not before we indulged in some "retail therapy." My mom is a champion shopper, especially on someone else's buck! We did have fun and I did buy some clothes to fill in some holes in my wardrobe.

4. When I got back from taking mom to the airport, the house was awful quiet. Yes my kids are Gone For The Summer (GFTS). And in celebration, I opened a jar of mayonnaise. Both of my kids hate mayonnaise, they going running at the sight or smell of it. But with them GFTS, I made cole slaw with real dressing with mayonnaise instead of an asian-style slaw with an oil/vinegar dressing.

5. I found this awesome website-- Vegetarian Mealplans. I haven't prepared any of these recipes yet, but they seem to be perfect for weekday meals. I'm already thinking about tempeh sloppy joes!

Back to Basics

First an update on the Montrose 19. Our little suburban school district has made it into the NY Times once again. The students were arraigned and pleaded Not Guilty to the felony charge of placing a false bomb. They are barred from graduation ceremonies this evening. Son #1 came home and did 5 hours of school service in order to regain the privilege of attending his graduation. The principal did get all of the senior students into the auditorium and had a conversation with them about the situation. He did allow them to express their anger and although he will not budge on the issue of them attending graduation, he did listen to suggestions about how they could acknowledge them. I was glad he was at least willing to listen and didn't just lecture them about "appropriate behavior."

Although the events of this past week haven't made it any easier to get back to basics, I have been struggling the past month or so to get all the pieces working together. I have eaten too many bagels! I have not done any strength training for 2 weeks! I have used lack of time to prepare food as an excuse for eating poorly. I have ridden my bike and run some miles, but I haven't been able to do anything consistently. But there's no use punishing myself with negative thoughts. Every morning presents a new opportunity to get it right, and yesterday was one of those days. I went to the gym and purchased another 12 pack of personal training sessions. I then had MPT (My Personal Trainer) beat the crap out of me in 30 minutes. After not lifting for 2 weeks, I am paying for it today. I am sore everywhere. Very. sore. My kids are both now officially GFTS (gone for the summer) so it will be easier to spend time taking care of myself. Son #1 is actually coming home today just for the day because he is graduating from high school, but that won't put a dent in my lifestyle. It does a bunch of other things, like fill me with pride and cause me to pause and reflect, but I've already written about that.

My mom is visiting (because of son #1's graduation), so in the late afternoon we went to the gourmet supermarket and then I did some cooking. My mom never tasted collards so I cooked up a whole bunch of beautiful bright green collards with onions and craisins and toasted pine nuts. I made this gazpacho for my vegetarian self, adding scallions and fresh cilantro and some red pepper too. I made salmon steaks with a teriyaki glaze for the meateaters and we had a delicious dinner. Mom liked the collards.

Black Bean Gazpacho

• (2) 15 oz. cans black beans
• 4 peeled and finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes)
• 1 quart tomato juice
• 2 peeled, seeded, finely chopped cukes
• 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 28 oz can Italian plum tomatoes
• 2 finely chopped onions
• salt, pepper, and sugar

Drain and rinse the beans. Add garlic, vinegar, lime juice, tomato juice, cukes, tomatoes, and onions. Add whatever other vegetables you like in your gazpacho. Blend and chill.

Season with salt, pepper, and a little sugar.

To speed up prep, put balck beans, tomato juice and canned tomatoes in the frig.

Senior Prank Gone Bad

This has been a very interesting week in our school district. My son is a senior and will be graduating this Friday. Since he had no final or Regents exams, he went to work last Saturday (he works at a camp in Pennsylvania). Before he left, he contributed $5 to a "senior prank" which involved placing 100 alarm clocks in the school, all set to go off at 9:15 am on the last day of classes. What he didn't know was that the prank involved breaking into the school on Sunday night to hide the clocks. Well, that's when things started to go bad. The kids set off an alarm, the police showed up, and when they saw alarm clocks duct taped to the walls, they had to call the bomb squad. In the end, 19 seniors were arrested (those that were in the building as well as the "lookouts") and they are being charged with a felony. Their day in court is today. These students will graduate but they are not being permitted to attend graduation ceremonies. An additional 40 students (in a class of 215) who financed the prank (including son #1) must perform 5 hours of Community service (cleaning the schools under the supervision of the custodial staff) in order to earn back the privilege of attending graduation.

Now I have mixed feelings about the way the school district is handling this. They have very clearly drawn a line in the sand and will not back down from these decisions. While everyone knows that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do, even the administration has admitted that they never intended this to be about bombs. And while the police had no choice but to bring in the bomb-sniffing dog, I'm not sure the students should be charged with a felony. I don' think that will stick once they go to court today, but I think it was a bit heavy handed. And as for my son and his cohort, the original statement was that they would be required to do "community service," which my son was perfectly willing to do in Pennsylvania. Having them clean the schools smells more like punishment than community service. These kids were buying into something far more innocuous and are being punished for something that was really out of their control. He is coming home for the day to "do his time," but he has made it clear he is doing this for his grandmothers. My mom is coming up from Florida for graduation and my mother-in-law (who is dying) will certainly want to see the photos.

All of this was, of course, reported in the local paper, but we also got space in the New York Times over the weekend. Unlike the local paper, the NY Times got it right. These events are a commentary on "these times," and the aftermath of Columbine and Virginia Tech. That forced the administration to draw a line in the sand and watch students and families line up on both sides of the line. Two friends of son #1 are among those arrested. I feel for them and their families. I hope all goes well today when they appear before the town judge.

The Short Answer

Son #1 works as a counselor at a summer camp. The staff arrives in dribs and drabs in the weeks preceding the arrival of the campers. They call it "work camp," and I'm sure they do work setting up the facilities, etc. I think it's also a good time. No kids to worry about, nobody cares if you're a total slob, 3 meals a day, and party time. Since he has no final exams (he took AP exams in May), he will be going to camp on Saturday. As in the day after tomorrow. When camp ends, he will be home for a week or so, and then he's off to college! So these are probably the final days of him living at home. I know, some kids return home after college and parents have a hard time getting rid of them! Sure, he'll be home in a couple of weeks for graduation, and then again when he has college orientation. But right now I'm looking through a short lens and I am coming to terms with this reality. So this is it. It has forced me to think about so many things, but basically, did DH and I do good job preparing him for this? And the short answer is yes. Senior prom was last week and when I look at the pictures of him and his friends and classmates, I see grown-ups, adults, beautiful men and women. Yes, there's that whole "where did the time go" feeling, but mostly it's about the future, what lies ahead for them. And because the short answer is yes, I see wonderful opportunities, discovery, and new horizons.

But just short of the new horizons is the beachfront, which right now is littered with piles of laundry, a shopping list, and a very messy house. This is also my reality. I just feel a little bit happier tackling everyday life when the short answer is yes.

GSIU Week #23 and Halloweens Past

I had a great week on the bike. I rode on Monday (Memorial Day), Thursday evening, and Saturday and Sunday. Just under 100 miles. On Saturday I led a D+ ride through my corner of the county. It wasn't that long(22 miles) but it was hilly, so we moved slow, as slow as the slowest riders. We stopped for ice cream at my favorite homemade ice cream shop and there was only 1 person working, so that took a while. Then 2 of my slowest riders missed a turn, and I had to climb back up to the main road to either find them or get cell phone coverage to try to call them, so that took some time. It took forever, but we got thru it. On Sunday I met up with a couple of my riding friends for a 25 miler. None of us had ridden this route before, but when Lady J looked at the cue sheet, she gasped,"Whipporwill?" This ride featured hills aplenty and 3 of them were especially evil (including aforementioned Whipporwill Rd). But if you want to get stronger you gotta Dab the Wussy. So this past week, stepping it up was all about the hills. And it felt good.

On Saturday night DH and I had dinner/BBQ at a friends house with a few other friends. One of these friends brought along a slide projector and a carousel of slides taken at Halloween parties past..... really past... like 20-25 years ago past. With pictures of boyfriends and girlfriends before spouses, and spouses that are no longer spouses, people who could not be identified, and others that made you wonder, whatever happened to that person? But some of these pictures had us howling, laughing so hard we were crying, and remembering the days when we could stay awake into the wee hours. It was a blast, a blast from the past. Now we all plan to dive into our photo collections and do this again. And hopefully we will still be looking at photos of parties past 25 years from now!

My New Hero

Yesterday the bike club had a tailgate party. There were 4 or 5 different level rides all starting from the same location. We all brought something to share, and when we all returned from our assorted rides, we had a lunch party. My ride went to Manor Park in Larchmont, which is on Long Island Sound. Its a lovely spot and I was talking to Lady B, who lives in Larchmont. She and her husband are long-time club members and are both probably in their mid-60s. She commented that she loves ocean swimming. I told her she should do a triathlon and she started to tell me that she has a whole shelf of triathlon trophies at home but she hasn't competed in about 10 years. She grew up in Far Rockaway and would swim long distances in the open water. She started bike riding as an adult, so when triathlons came into existence, she was 2/3 of the way there. Swimming was her strongest event, so she was usually among the first out of the water. She often acted as a therapists for other swimmers who would start to freak out in the open water (lots of novice traithletes have difficulty making the transition to open water after training in a pool), helping them calm down and get pointed in the right direction. Sometimes she was the only woman competing in her age group, so as long as she finished, she took first place! When someone would comment on how difficult it is to compete in a triathlon, she would tell them, "when you're swimming, you're lying down, when you're riding, you're sitting down, and if the running is tough, you can walk!"

Lady B is my new hero. Even though she is no longer competing, she is still riding and swimming and sailing. She competed in triathlons not to win, but to challenge herself and because it was fun and athletic. She just happened to pick up a whole bunch of trophies along the way. And anyone who looks at triathlons as 1 part lying down, 1 part sitting down and 1 part optional running, well, you gotta love their spirit! Anything that keeps you going and gets you to the finish line. And hats off to Mr. B, who gladly served as cheerleader, equipment manager, and photographer at all those events.

The Walking Talking Mommies

On Friday I went to the HS track to run. As usual, there was a handful of walking talking mommies there. These women are my age, maybe even a little younger. They may or may not need to lose some weight. But none of them are fit. Now I realize that something is better than nothing, and some people can't run because of physical injuries. And some people can walk faster than I run! But these ladies were walking at the pace of a supermarket stroll, and I know that they think they are "exercising." For some reason, I found this extremely annoying. I wanted to scream at them to shut the f%$#(k up and move their asses until they sweat! But of course I didn't because I don't yell at people I barely know (I don't often yell at people I do know either). So instead I decided to show them what they are supposed to be doing, you know, lead by example. So I plugged into the iPod, cranked up the volume, and everytime I passed them I made sure I kept my head high and arms pumping. I wanted them to feel like unmotivated sloth-like walking talking track potatoes when they felt the wind as i wizzed by. And don't you dare suggest that 12 minute miles is hardly wizzing and does not generate a wind, because I was definitely wizzing and there was a hurricane on that HS track! The walking talking mommies may not have noticed, but behind the smile and the polite "hello," I was gloating. What a great way to spend an hour on a beautiful Friday evening of a 3-day weekend!