Hi everybody,

It's been a busy month. Matt spent most of it in Mexico. Then end is near, hopefully! Matt should be finished travelling by the end of July. We really miss him here. AJ started soccer. It's his first team experience and he loves it. I used to ask him,"Do you want to play on a soccer team or t-ball team?" His answer was, "I want to play in the front yard." Once we shopped for cleats and shinguards, he was very interested. After the first game he asked if he gets to play every day. I said, "You can play in the front yard." He said there aren't enough kids. So, it's a success. Erin learned to pedal and can ride all around on her Dora bike now. It has buttons for sounds and those sometimes sidetrack her and she crashes. I competed in the Motor City Triathlon on Belle Isle and took 2nd place in the Athena division!

Matt was home for three days this past weekend and we took the kids to see "Night at the Museum 2" which was very funny. Good family film!

The past week's gone by quickly. The kids, dogs and I picked up Matt from his trip on Thursday evening and continued on to Grand Rapids for the long weekend. AJ and I went to the Public Museum of GR, we all played outside when the weather got nice, talked Grandpa into taking us for ice cream (AJ says,"He always says yes."), went to a parade and the kids swam like fish. Matt's gone to Mexico again today after having only one night in his own bed. I'll be glad when the frequent travelling is over.

Awesomness.

I introduce my new bike, a Trek Equinox 7. Fast as lightning, weighs less than Erin. Just look at it in the last of the evening sun...

Hi everybody, I know it's been a long time since my last post. I'll try to cover everything.

Matt's still travelling back and forth to Mexico for work. He's there until next Thursday. AJ is in the home stretch at school. I think he'll be sad when it's over. Erin's learned how to pedal her big wheel, but is too distracted by it's sound and light buttons to pay enough attention to not crash.

It was warm this past Friday while we were at the Plys and AJ and Erin got to play in the lake for the first time this year. Saturday I ran the Fifth Third Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids. I took 5th place in the women's Clydesdale division (145-155lbs.). I was pretty excited when I logged into the site for results and saw my name on the leaderboard!

I have money saved up for a triathlon bike, but I'm waiting to purchase one until we feel more secure about GM's future. So, I've got it stashed! I did buy a jogging stroller a couple weeks ago and I love it. Erin loves to ride in it. While AJ's at school, Erin and I can go for a run and be back in time to pick AJ up.

I placed 9th of 28 women in the triathlon. Pretty good.

Matt got home yesterday. I just miss him when he's not around. Today we got to see my sister who was in town for just the weekend. I hate it that she goes back to Phoenix and I can't just fly there anytime I want! Ugh! Anyway, the four of us, Jess and Gram had a nice long lunch today and visited. We dropped Jess off at Dad's so she could leave for the airport and the four of us lingered over there for a while. It was a fulfilling day overall.

Matt's home all week and we'll be able to have dinner for my birthday on Thursday!

The triathlon went well today. The results will be posted by Tuesday. My friends and I had a great time doing the race and enjoying chit-chat and smoothies post-race. Later in the day I went to yoga to stretch and it felt great.

Matt made some seriously awesome deep-dish pizza, Chicago style, for dinner tonight. My compliments to the chef.

Matt heads to Mexico (once again) tomorrow. The travelling is better than the alternative: living in Mexico for the duration of the launch. So, we hang in there!

WooHoo! I made some PHAT cash with the garage sale! It took two loads to get all the stuff over to Lynette's house, but only one load plus a few miscellaneous items to get it home! Erin's closet has never looked so empty. It was a little bittersweet selling the kids' old things.

Tomorrow morning is the triathlon and I'm ready for it. I want to beat my score from last year. Three friends and myself are in the same heat, making for a super fun time. I'll post tomorrow after I race. I'll have to check, but I think the results will be available by Tuesday.

Matt will be working in Mexico the week that I wanted the family to take the Chicago trip. Don't worry, though! We're just postponing it until summer vacation. It'll be a pretty affordable family trip.

Tomorrow is AJ's turn to bring the snack to school and, once again, I'll send something healthy. AJ said that some kids throw away their fruit. Don't fault me for trying! It'll be cut up melons and yogurt smoothies. AJ and Erin like those things, so I figure it can't be horrible. I don't force it down their throats and they don't die after eating it!

Sunday's the LifeTime Fitness Indoor Triathlon. I'm excited!

Yesterday it was cold, but sunny. The kids and I played outside. Erin got too cold and came in to hang with Matt. Meanwhile, AJ and I played soccer for an hour in the front yard. He suprised me with the amount of coordination he had with running and kicking.

I'm participating in a garage sale on Saturday at a friend's house. I've organized all the kids' old clothes and baby items to sell. I hope some of that can be used toward a triathlon bike-fingers crossed!

Sheesh!

Every time Matt goes to Mexico for an extended trip, someting expensive breaks: a car window, this time it was the laptop. DOA at the repair shop. So we did get another computer and are up and running again.

The kids are doing their kids things-fighting, laughing, teasing, being cute for mom, and being nice to each other when I'm not looking. Erin's started correctly counting things and AJ is , of course, still in love with Young 5s.

Matt's in Mexico this week, returning Saturday. At this point he's still employed and that's a blessing.

Tomorrow night the kids have a sleepover at G&G Wolski's house. I'm going out to celebrate a friend's birthday with dinner in Royal Oak followed by hijinks at Boogie Fever. I've proposed a spring trip for the family and this week while Matt's away I'm calculating costs and time in a spreadsheet. Hopefully it's a relatively inexpensive trip. I'm thinking two nights, bringing our bikes for transport around town, and bringing a cooler of sandwich stuff to curb costs. I figure one dinner a day at a restaurant. I'd like to go to the Shedd Aquarium, LegoLand and Navy Pier. I'll keep you posted on what we decide.

Fingers crossed!

It's SUNNY!!!

I know it's been a long time again...

Erin turned three this past Friday! Three!? And, she got a haircut! I'll figure out how to upload those pictures from my phone. Sorry, it's my first phone with photo capability. Right now the kids are watching Madagascar and being nice to each other :)

I'm training for the LifeTime Fitness Indoor Triathlon that's at the end of March. Today was a long, slow, base-building run. Kind of boring, but kind of nice that it's a day of less intensity. I'll go to yoga this afternoon and get a good stretch. I went to the bike shop yesterday only to be disappointed. The type of bike I should get costs much more than I'd hoped. I've seen some used online, but I'd rather buy from a shop that can help me. Anyway, I'm feeling frustrated about that. I need to save more, but what do I do for this summer's races?!

Matt returned yesterday from his week in Mexico. He'll make "Dragon's Breath" chili while the kids and I go to the gym this afternoon. He does like to cook and it's a treat for me as well! Plus, he's a good chef and always getting me to try new dishes.

Blech!

I spent yesterday feeling yucky, with a finale of vomiting. Not a great day. Matt and the kids went to Grand Rapids as we had planned and I stayed home on the couch. I ate a dozen stale oyster crackers last night with no problem. Then I did some puzzle and watched cable (we just got it Wednesday). I feel good today and I'll join everybody in GR. We will celebrate Erin's 3rd birthday with the Plys tomorrow.

The Christmas Season

We had a wonderful Christmas. Of course Santa came to visit us Christmas Eve. Jess and Tom were in town. We spent Christmas Eve with Andi's family and then Christmas morning at home. Then to Dad & Andi's for the rest of the day. Friday morning we packed for Grand Rapids and then drove there in the afternoon. Saturday we celebrated Christmas with the Plys. Sunday we hosted the BBMM+ crew at the Plys for pizza and catching up followed by "the hall" party with Bousha's family. Santa showed up, can you believe that? We returned home on Wednesday. We were all exhausted and rang in the new year quietly at home. Matt kicked some JP hiney at Scrabble, I'll tell you that much.

Friday I got to spend some alone time with Jess having lunch and browsing the mall and just "being." Aaaah. Today we got to get in a little more time before Jess and Tom had to get to their flight home. Boo Phoenix!

Today, I sent registration in for the Arctic Chill Indoor Triathlon on January 25. I'm stoked to train again. I missed the races over the winter. How come they don't make indoor tris in the fall too? Anyway, I've been a bit "lost" with training lately since I didn't have a specific event to aim for. At least one friend has registered as well, and we're hoping we can get a couple more people to make the event.

AJ can't wait to get back to school; Matt goes to work on Monday; holiday chaos has ended.