Archive for April, 2009
Monday, April 27th, 2009
March 31, 2009
Sauerkraut. Pickled cabbage. No matter what word you choose, language you use, or how many times you say it, it translates the same–GROSS!!!! I am writing this on April 27 and it is still in the fridge and Paul says it is still good. Ironically, I also found out today Olestra, the super food substitute from the mid-1990′s that caused anal leakage, is back on the market. This time as an industrial lubricant. Charming. Almost as charming as the picture of me trying sauerkraut. Notice the look on the kids’ faces.
Not a crowd favorite
Tags: Food, Susan
Posted in Food | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
We have some easter pictures online now if anyone is interested http://picasaweb.google.com/sanders1745/Easter# .
Tags: Easter, Photos
Posted in Holiday | 2 Comments »
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
As Susan said yesterday we raced the Belews Lake Tri, and all things considered things went well. As expected the water was freezing but it did feel a little warmer than last week when we went to swim. Other than the cold water we couldn’t have had better weather. It was sunny and in the mid 70′s by the time we finished. Susan and I haven’t done too much training lately so we weren’t sure how we would do. In the end Susan finished 2nd in her group and I finished 3rd in mine. Susan has been having some problems with her cycling shoes lately where her big toe has been going to sleep and she had that problem again today. I am going to move her cleat a little which should fix the problem but she wanted to wait until after the race to make the change (the golden rule is never to change anything before a race). Obviously a numb big toe makes running difficult but she still did well. I on the other hand had a horrible race. All three of my events were much slower than I expected (although I still finished with the fastest bike split in my group). The past few days I haven’t been feeling good, but we have had a ton of pollen out lately so I thought that is what was bothering me. During the race I felt horrible and when we got home from the race we took a nap. That is nothing unusual for Susan but I never take a nap. When we got up I still felt bad so I took my temperature and I was running a fever. For Susan to have a numb toe, me to have a fever and neither of us with much training we are both happy with 2nd and 3rd.
My friends Tamara and Bryan from work also did the race with us and they both did good also. This was Tamara’s first triathlon and she looked strong when she finished, even sprinting it out with a guy that was trying to pass her. This was Bryan’s second triathlon and he looked like he felt much better this time. All and all a good race day!
Tags: Belews, Cycling, Races, Running, Swimming, Triathlon
Posted in Races, Triathlon | 2 Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
We are working on packing for the race tomorrow. I am having a beer in my winners pint glass from this race last year (yes, I placed in my category). Paul is going to ROCK, he is fit and focused (and not having a beer). I updated the goal thing–check the column to the right. We both are sketchy about the freezing water. Paul is going to save so much time in transition not putting on all his cycling stuff now that we have turned him into a triathlete, he will surely win his category! OK, almost pasta time. Here we gooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tags: Belews, Races, Triathlon
Posted in Races, Triathlon | 3 Comments »
Monday, April 13th, 2009
Yesterday turned out to be a great Easter day. The kids woke up around 6 excited about the Easter bunny. After they ate way too much candy for breakfast we made a trip to the grocery store then came home and played outside with the kids.
Around 1 we went out for a 64 mile bike ride. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Our plan for the day was to go exploring new roads which is one of my favorite kind of rides. We found a few new good roads to add to some of our current rides and a few dead end roads (but they were still nice to ride down). When we got home we did a easy 1 mile run which went well.
After the workout we ate grilled salmon, asparagus, and couscous (all at Susan’s request). On a side note, when Susan’s parents bought their new house they no longer needed the grill they had at the Crown Point house so they gave it to us. This is the first time we have had a chance to use it and it was much easier to cook on than our old one which was really nice. We sat outside to eat, relax and enjoyed the weather. That is about as good as a day can get!
Tags: Cycling, Easter, Food, Holiday, Running, Training, Triathlon
Posted in Cycling, Family, Training | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Week of April 6
I thought I got off easy when Paul and I went to Food Lion Wednesday night and he got Cheese Waffies (Googols–its like the southern version of cheesy poofs, but in a bag). I tried one and did not really care for it. Then, came yesterday–the day before Easter.
I ate rabbit. I originally thought it was THE rabbit, the Easter one. It must have been Roger Rabbit instead because the kids had their baskets full of candy and toys this morning. Back to the rabbit though. It seriously did taste like chicken. Like a chicken thigh. I am partial to white meat though so the thigh is edible (especially when I am setting an example for the kids!), but much more than that. Then I started thinking about the rabbit-ness of it. My belly had been rolling most of the day as it was, but the rabbit really put me over the edge. I actually ended up leaving the table. But not before Tyler said thoughtfully as he gnawed on the rabbit leg, “Whoa! I can taste the rabbit poop!”
Happy Easter!
Tags: Easter, Food, Susan
Posted in Food | 3 Comments »
Saturday, April 11th, 2009
We have a triathlon at Belews Lake next weekend so we decided to go out there for a open water swim yesterday. We were thinking about not going because the water was going to be so cold but when we got up we had a email from the race saying the water temperature was currently 68. That was the temperature of the water when we did the race last year and it was cold but still manageable so we decided to go. Susan is scared of open water and when we got there we saw some fish jumping right where we swim so she was nervous from the start. When we hopped off the dock the water was FREEZING even with wetsuits on. They were either wrong last year and the water was warmer or they are wrong this year and it was colder because there is no way that was the same temperature. It was so cold it hurt to put my face in the water. With Susan being scared, the shock from the cold water and her asthma I could hear her having trouble breathing so I said we could go back and she quickly agreed. I think that if I ease into the water next week and let my wetsuit warm up I will be better but I am still hoping for a big warm up by the race. I am also hoping it will be warm enough for Susan to be able to breath, otherwise it isn’t going to be a fun race for her.
Tags: Belews, Swimming, Training, Triathlon
Posted in Swimming, Triathlon | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Last night topped of a season that will be hard to beat. Carolina easily beat Michigan State in the national championship game. The game was basically over from the opening tip off. By 4 minutes into the game Carolina was already up by double digits. Susan and I got a good laugh when the TV camera showed one of the Michigan State players on the bench with about 9 minutes left in the FIRST HALF and he already had the look on his face like they had lost. In the first half Carolina set a new scoring record in the championship game by scoring 55 points in the half. In the process they also set a new record for biggest lead at half time in a championship game, they were wining by 21 points at the half. Making the game even better Ty Lawson had 8 steals which broke the previous record for steal in the championship game. The record was previous record was 7 held by both Tommy Amaker (from Duke which is why this is so great!) and Mookie Blaylock.
During the regular season Carolina beat Duke twice, won the ACC regular season and Tyler Hansbrough became the ACC’s all time scoring leader. The previous ACC scoring leader was the much hated JJ Redick from Duke so that makes the scoring record all that much better. The regular season alone was enough for a great season and winning the national championship just adds icing to the cake.
With all of this I was already very happy this morning (although VERY tired from staying up so late). Things got better when I woke the kids up. The first thing Anna said when I went is was “did Carolina win?” When I told them they did they were both very excited. Tyler said that no one should play Carolina any more because they are too good and can’t lose. Then when he came out of his room excited about the clothes he had picked out it made things even better!
Tags: ACC, Basketball, UNC
Posted in Basketball | 4 Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2009
We decided to take a stab at making dirt. Yup, composting. When my parents sold their house in Crown Point, my dad brought the compost fencing (not sure what else to call it) so we could set it up. Paul got it going and continues to carry that nasty stuff out there. We have not mowed b/c it was winter. Not sure we have a grass catcher anyhow. Welp, turns out whenever Paul goes out there to dump the dinner dregs, the ring of fencing is turned over. See, Bluesy (aka Diablo Kitty) likes a snack–so what if it is leftovers, from the drain or perhaps even rotted. Not to mention the fun addition of the game of knocking the fencing down to get to the loot.
BTW–If anyone knows how to keep cats out of the garden, we would love to grow some herbs but the cats seem to love using the beds as a gigantic cat box. That leads the dogs to follow to 1–eat the poop or 2–leave their own, um, mark. Just another day in a zoo, I mean paradise!
Tags: Bluesy, Cat, Garden
Posted in Family | 3 Comments »
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
We have our first triathlon of the year coming up on April 18th at Belews Lake. I am getting a little worried about the race being so soon. Not because of the fact that we haven’t trained much (which we haven’t) but because the mean water temperature of the lake right now is 55. I don’t mind cold weather but I am a big wimp when it comes to cold water so I am really hoping for all this rain to stop and that we get some warm weather the next couple weeks! The water was 68 last year when we did the race and that was about as cold as I want to be in even with a wetsuit.
Tags: Belews, Cycling, Races, Running, Swimming, Triathlon
Posted in Races, Triathlon | 3 Comments »
