Sunday, July 30, 2006

MMMMM....sunny Sunday...

Yummy. I just left the pool after 3 hours of sunshine bliss. And I had 4 hours yesterday. I have to say, I'm looking bronzed! :) It's been a good day. I'm glad, because Sunday's are unusually hard for me. I've never been able to explain it, but usually by mid-afternoon on Sunday's, I'm feeling meloncholy--or at worst--flat out depressed. Maybe it's because I don't dread going to work tomorrow, or maybe it's the sun-endorphins....either way, it's been a great day.

It's been awhile...so here's my newest list.

Grateful.

1. Summer. I love seasons--except winter. It's nice to have real seasons up here. And to have a summer that isn't crazy hot--but still has stinkin' hot days like today.

2. God's Word. Heard a great sermon today. Powerful and written just for me. I don't know how many times I've read Phillipians, but today was almost like the first.

3. Wealth. I've spent much of this weekend fretting about money. I have a slight situation that is causing me some pressure. But I know that if worse comes to worse, I probably won't ever end up on the street. I am rich--even tho I'm kind of poor.

4. Pets. I love my sweet kitties and that big, red dog. They make me laugh.

5. Shauna. I'm blessed beyond measure to have a best friend who is so precious. And who loves the Lord so well. And who prays for me so hard. I'm so sad to see her go. But I'm so glad she's going where she wants to be. Besides, odds are good I'll end up in B'ham someday myself! ;)

Have a blessed and happy Sunday. I know I am.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Hard week.

Whew. It's been a furious week! Work has been CRAZY. But good. I've been working "summer hours" which allow me to get off at noon on Friday--awesome. But it makes for a REALLY long day every other day. Have been training a bit this week in the pool--and generally way too busy. Going away happy hours, etc.... I still love my job, and had the pleasure of being joined at Discovery by my good friend Lisa and her friend Jessica (I referred them and will get a little $$!) I'm so excited to have them there! Congrats!

I'm heading to Fayetteville this upcoming weekend. Cannot wait to meet the newest James daughter!!! And to see the new house! I'm thrilled to get to spend some time with Amy and the girls (John, too--don't get jealous, John! ha!) I will go home for one nite to see the fam. Yeah for home!

Shauna sold her condo and has a pretty quick turnaround for closing. Looks like she'll be here thru August 20-something. Sad for me :( but good for her. Congrats, Shauna-belle!

Had a work bbq with my team last weekend--SO MUCH FUN!!!! I love my boss--we had it at her house--total blast. They have a pool--so I swam with all the kiddos. Since I don't have a "significant other" I got to bring Shauna and Anne. In fact, it was Sarah's (my boss) idea to bring them--I think she wants to be friends with my friends! ;)

So here's a fun story to cap off my crazy week. So here it is Saturday--my one day to catch up on my sleep deprived-ness. I'm so excited to sleep in late...and lo and behold Willa, my trusty black beauty kitty spys a stray calico cat in our yard. She FREAKS out and proceeds to almost burst thru the glass door while wailing and flailing away. She proceeds to tear down the blinds and foam at the mouth a bit. Then she attacks Nixon who was sitting innocently nearby. It was so random. So funny. So sleepy. Ahhhh the joy of motherhood. At least I can lock her in the bathroom....you can't do THAT with a real baby!!!

Bath County Triathlon

Finally! At last!!! Some pix from the HARDEST THING I'VE EVER DONE!!! The Bath County Triathlon was about a month ago in Warm Springs, VA--almost WV--in the Allegheney Mountains. Here are some shots from the race...thanks, Shauna!

Susan, Anne and I in the transition area...pre-race (notice I still look happy!)
Looking FLY in a wetsuit!!! NOT!!!
Lake Moomaw--where the swim takes place...gorgeous!
Can you see us waving? From L to R--Anne, me and Susan
And they're off!!!
Coming in from the worst bike ride EVER!!!!
I'm soooo tired!!!! At the post-race bbq.
Susan and her folks...the BEST cheerleaders EVER!!!
Still standing! Way to go girls! Shauna met me out on the run about 1/2 way thru...couldn't have done it without you, my friend!
The sunrise farmhouse we rented for the weekend....so gorgeous. The view behind it is FABULOUS.
I still love the anchovie--even tho she almost killed me in the race!! :)
It's never so bad that you can't get thru it!!!!
I'm not sure what she's doing...but it looks fun, yeah??!!!
After the race we went to the "warm springs"--it was beautiful. Lots of great conversation, good food and great friends. Thanks, girls for sharing it with me!!!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Fun and random pics...

Here are some random images....

Pre-swim at the Manassas Mini Tri.
I love this pic of Anne--she looks so devious!
I wish I was in the Outer Banks....with Amy!!!
And Shauna....
And Anne.

Good Things...

So, I'm obviously waaaay behind on blogging. Want to get you caught up on some things I've failed to catch you up on.

First--the Bath County Triathlon. It's taken me 3 weeks to get over enough of the pain to be able to talk about it!!! :) Just kidding--but it was-by far-the most physically demanding thing I think I've ever done. It was almost in W. Virginia-in the Allegheny Mountains-so you can imagine the course. SOOOOO hilly. It probably didn't help that I was completely unprepared. My training was pretty non-existant, so the combo was tough. It was a beautiful race, tho....surrounded by the mountains. We rented a house there for the whole weekend. Racers were me, Anne and Susan Tanagawa. Shauna served as our "support team." I've gotta say, my proudest achievements are that I didn't quit during the bike--cause I wanted to! And, I didn't come in last! Almost, but not last!!! We spent the rest of the weekend at the warm springs pools--kind of like Hot Springs, AR's bathhouses--eating out, hanging at the farmhouse-and we even drove thru UVA on the way home. It was a nice weekend. Pics to come--I forgot my camera and am depending on Shauna and Anne for theirs....it could be years. ;)

Second--Implementation day at Discovery!!! Okay, I don't know if I've said this in a while...but I LOVE my job. I don't mean in a flippant kind of way, either. I mean it in a "I'm totally scared that this is all gonna fall apart because it's JUST too good to be true!" kind of way. It just keeps getting better and better. Anne reminded me yesterday that I was really nervous for my first couple of months there because I wasn't really connecting with anybody at work. Finally, I feel like I really belong there. I've made some great friends there-and have travelled extensively with Sarah (my boss), so I feel like she's a friend now, too. I don't have to call Nancy and Anne and Shauna all day anymore. I love my team--we totally mesh--and Alezandra, my new teammate, and the person I share AR with (so we work very closely) is awesome. She and 2 other girls from work are going to do a couple of tri's with me--we've even started training together (Kristen is my new work BFF and she was a swimmer at Villanova--even made it to the Olympic trials in 2000! And she is coaching our swimming!) My friend Lisa and her friend Jessica start working there on the 24th of this month (and I'll get a nice bonus for referring them!!!). So Monday, we had "Implementation Day" (that's the division I work under)--we celebrated the successes of the last school year, ate well, played, had some guest speakers, did some team-bulding exercises, had a team happy hour--and most importantly--performed the "Rookie Skits." The idea, is that the whole team was randomly divided into teams of 8-10 mixed gender groups and had 2 weeks to write and practice a skit that basically made fun of everybody. The rules were--no nudity. So no holds barred, basically. Now----there were 5 or 6 teams that fit the description above--then there was my team: "the Kristen's." Composed of me, Kristen O., Kristen C. (out that day on vacation), Kristine S., Cristina (who has been there for 2 weeks) and Cristen (who's VERY FIRST DAY AT WORK WAS THE DAY OF THE SKIT!!!) CAN YOU IMAGINE???? So basically, there were 3 of us. All girls. Not funny, right?? At least we thought...........but as it turns out, ours was the funniest one!!! It went over great! I wont bore you with the details that would never go over in writing (although Anne has seen the whole thing like 4 times--so she could tell you!)...instead I'll just give you the premise.

"First Day of Work at Discovery Education"--fitting, no? New girl--Cristen (from above)--she meets all her new co-workers--each named "Kristen". And we proceed to walk her thru a myriad of trials: keeping track of which "Kristen" is which--loud talkers who sound like they may be running a 1-900 hotline--meeting impossibly ridiculous goals--trying to ask questions of people who can't be bothered--trying to learn the "rules"--and trying to get help from the impossibly slippery IT dept (I got to use my famous "wranglin' greased pigs" line here..) It was a great day.

Welcome aboard, Lisa and Jess....you're gonna love it.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PARKER!!!

Yesterday, July 12th, my boy turned 6!!! It's so hard to believe! I remember the EXACT moment he was born!! The whole day, in fact. Here's wishing him a wonderful, blessed life--filled with God's goodness and grace. Happy Birthday, Parker! CeeCee loves you!!!!