flip the switch

as many of you, i have been a devoted swimmer for most of my life. my mom took me to water babies when i was an infant and i would scream as soon as i got the first sniff of chlorine, now i crave it. i swam on the grand rapids gators until i was old enough for the middle school swim team and then swam all through highschool. even in college i swam for fitness and then continued to use it as my preferred exercise through life.

when i lived in lugano there was a beautiful pool at the lido, olympic size. i would jump at the opportunity to catch a ride down there to swim outside surrounded by the mountains. i felt so fancy in that big shiny pool.

i have recently gotten back in the pool. it started out when my heart started acting funny and my doctor told me to stick to the bike and the pool. first it was thirty minutes and 1000 meters. it felt good, but not good enough. then it was thirty minutes 1200 meters, better but still not great. then last week something happened. i stetched my warm-up to 500 meters and accomplished 1500 meters in forty minutes. it felt great! i vowed to try my hardest to arrive at the pool by 7:15 so i could swim just a little longer. and then, this morning, it happend. i flipped the switch. by 7:45 I had already completed 1500 meters in thirty minutes. just when i was about to take off my cap, something flipped on in my head, what is 20 more laps. so, i kept going! 2000 meters before 8:00! it was awesome!

the other day someone asked me how many "up and downs" i swam before work in the morning. when i said 60, they could not believe it. this person told me that they could do "four up and downs" and that was good for them. this morning i swam 80 "up and downs". i hate to brag but that was pretty good! i can tell i am getting stronger and that is something to be proud of! i have to research some new workouts for 2000+ meters because before i know it, 2000 is going to be to short for me! i may not be a fast runner, a fast biker or a weightlifter...but i dare any of you to swim with me one morning!

299.5 grams of fat!

i found this picture on the facebook page of a friend of highschool. her husband recently ate the burger at Fifth Third Park where the Whitecaps play near Grand Rapids. the burger was 1.66 lbs and had fritos, nacho cheese, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, and tomato. look at the calorie count....4889! WOW!!!

spooooooky!

can you think of anything better then a ride in a 1970's Lincoln Hearse through the streets of savannah with cold bud light and eight of your closest friends? i can't!

thanks to abby's planning, we went on a ghost tour last night! i was a little hesitant of this idea because as you all know i am terrified of the dark. abby assured me that it really was more historic then scary.

we loaded up the hearse and headed through the dark streets of savannah. i totally enjoyed seeing all of the sights and learning about savannah's dark history. i mean, who knew that there is a series of tunnels under the city where people were buried alive. the tour even went in our neighborhood...note that this is where i screamed!

if you are planning in coming to savannah...you have to go on this tour. it was so much fun!

This picture was right before we left. Can you see the fear in my eyes?

At first we tried our our smiles!Then our spooky faces!

has anybody seen my brain?

i think i have having a brain malfunction, either that or my brain is MIA.

you see, this all started a few weeks ago. i left my laptop at home on a Monday morning and had to go back home to get it. then, i tried wash my face with my moisturizer. i couldn't figure out why it did not lather. then there was the day i pumped gas and left the cap on the edge of my trunk, luckily it stayed on and i discovered it when i went to leave work 8 hours later. i even fed the dogs dinner twice one night (dixie didn't care) last week.

this morning i got to the pool at 7:15. after my forty five minute swim i headed to the shower. when i went to get dressed, i realized that i had a dirty shirt. the worst part was it was the shirt i had worn when i made fajitas last week and it was a white shirt! there was no getting around it, i had to go home and get a new shirt.

i am not sure what is going on with me. maybe the chlorine is getting to me or something. i need to get my head screwed on straight before i show up to work on accident on a sunday!

amazing parents, amazing friends

you know how you know you are a real adult? besides the bills, the car insurace, the house, the "big girl" job, and all that jazz. it's when your amazing parents become your amazing friends.

it's not like its really a process, it just happens. i mean, they have always been your friends but this is different. the relationship is more mature, the conversations more substantial. it's really special. eventhough growing up sucks, this is a pretty cool part of it.

my parents sure are amazing friends and they sure are amazing parents.

At the beach. Lots of guys playing corn hole, washers and horseshoes. Indigo girls playing on the loud radio. Irony?

long sentences with interesting punctuation

life has a funny way of getting out of control sometimes. i paid bills today, the payment will be processed on july 15th. july 15th? where has the year gone?

the last two weeks have been out of control busy. i get up, i swim, i work allllllllllllllllll day. i go home. i feed the dogs. i make dinner. i chill with aaron. i got to bed. i get up. where does the fun fit in?

the weekends are great. punctuation. fun, filled, energy, sun, friends, wine. the weekends are gone.

so. this morning on my way to work i got stopped by a train. ten minutes later, i came to a conclusion:

life is full of long run on sentences with interesting punctutations. trains, babies, celebrations, emergencies, rest, weekends, KaBOOM! grants, shifting priorities etc. but very rarely ended with a period.

life is good. life is busy. life is lived. period.