Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Preacher's leaving dammit!!


Damn it! As usual I'm the last to know. Vince Antonucci is leaving Forefront. Just like that..leaving! Apparently it would seem that there are those on the strip in Vegas who need a preacher more than we do. Okay so maybe that's true. Still! Now what am I supposed to do? What about me!! Me, Me, ME!!

Damn it!!


Friday, July 25, 2008

Kitty news


In an effort to like my kitty better; her name is now Little Scrappy by the way and it suits her perfectly, I trimmed her claws today. Those razor sharp claws were definitely coming between us. It worked. And not just for me. I think the whole family likes her better without talons!


Anyway the two kittys seem to be developing a sort of love/hate relationship.


Good News - Bad News


Some good things:

I swam 1,700m in the pool tonight; and even more incredible; I liked it!

I worked a hot dog stand at the ampitheater last week during the Warped tour with some folks from my gel group; earned money for the homeless people and had alot of fun. (all part of my effort to prove that it is possible to have fun without swimming/biking/running or talking about swimming/biking/running)

I have a great new student. A 'little person'. She has deformed arms so she can't swim the way I'm trying to learn to swim, but she is part of the reason I felt so great in the pool tonight. She gave me great advice -"you gotta trust yourself in the water". (out of the mouths of babes...and little people)

I checked off almost everything on my 'to do' list this week and did every single swim/bike/run in my training plan.

Some Bad things:

Sarah went to Florida for the next 4 days; I miss her already!

In my quest to study the entire bible (which I started 6 weeks ago); I'm still plugging my way through Genesis! (at this rate I'll be 90 before I even get to the new testament!)

I keep forgetting to do the work in the on line class that I'm taking!

I really do not like my new kitty - not at all!

I haven't been a superhero all week : {

Vince is leaving to start a church on the Las Vegas Strip! (I actually cried over this one!)

Goals for next week:

More good things...Less bad things...



Monday, July 21, 2008

Superheros!

Steve started calling me "Super M" because my exploits down at the courthouse really made me feel like a superhero! I was saving people from Jackass towing!! Sort of like the Dark Knight on a smaller scale.

Unlike Batman; a superhero alone in his mighty deeds. I'm surrounded by superheros aka Ironmen! Congratulations to all my superhero/ironman friends. Kate who came damn close to breaking the 12 hour mark on her very first IM in Lake Placid no less! Kevin (or the Green Kevlin as he is affectionately known) for completing his third IM in torrential conditions; and Superhero Steve Herron for his Lake Placid IM win this year after a heartbreaking DNF last year!
I was glued to my laptop all day yesterday and it was awesome! Thanks you guys for a truly exciting, inspiring day.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Towing the line

Well I'm not at Colonial Beach this weekend and I'm not racing. Do I feel badly about it? Sort of...I would have liked the chance to try another swim start before the Patriot Oly in September. Maybe I'll do the sprint at Timberman. One thing for sure, I'll be getting into that lake at Placid next weekend, hopefully more than once. I haven't had a chance to open water swim since Morgantown which made me a bit reluctant to try it in a race tomorrow. I sent Steve off on his own. I need a weekend when I don't have to pack and I don't have to take a long car ride.

We had a good ride this morning. He said it was going to be an 'easy' ride. Of course it didn't turn out that way. Which only confirmed my decision not to race. I haven't tapered at all this week and I don't want to.

Anyway the real story of the week is a heck of a lot more interesting than my non-racing antics.

Sarah had to go to court Thursday appealing a guilty charge for failure to yield from her accident in March. No way we could let that one stand when she already has a speeding ticket (and she's only been driving a year!) So I insisted she appeal it. The officer dismissed the charges...awesome!! But then we come out of court to find our car gone; towed actually. There had been no parking in the courthouse parking lot so we parked in the Harris Teeter across the street, as did several other unfortunate souls. Here's the kicker though: The no parking signs were small enough to be almost nonexistent.
Sarah and I had to call Steve and he had to leave work, drive all the way out to the courthouse and then take us all the way back 25 miles to S. Witchduck road. Oh and let's not forget the $125 we had to hand over to these fools.
I was furious. I had not seen any sign. I told the woman who answered the phone there were no signs. (Later I found them after significant searching). I asked her how they knew the people who were towed were at the courthouse...she tells me that someone from Jack's sits in a car and watches people park and leave! And he couldn't tell me I wasn't allowed to park there!?! How f*&!king low! I felt so helpless, what could I do? I had to have my car back and these idiots had it! They were rude and vicious as junkyard dogs. One of the drivers did his best to goad Steve into a fist fight.
Think, think I told myself. How can I get these people where it hurts? Small claims court?

Remember that story when Jesus gets all pissed off because they're selling stuff in the temple. He trashes the place and yells at them for making his Father's house into a den of thieves? The way that story is told in Sunday school you come away thinking he went into a rage. But it isn't like that in the bible. In the bible, he went away and made a rope. He made a rope. He was mad, but He didn't react immediately to his anger. He thought about what to do and how He could make the most impact and He made a rope.

I thought about what I could do and how I could make the most impact. Hit them where it hurts, their pocket book!! So I decided that I will go the Harris Teeter parking lot every day and warn people from 8:30 to 9:30 not to park there. Jacks Towing will not make one more penny from this scam if I can help it. I started at 8:30 Friday morning.
The girl from Jack's showed up at about 8:50. She sits in her truck and calls in license plate numbers. Only Friday, there weren't any to call in because I ran around that parking lot telling people not to park there and pointing her out to them. She tried to intimidate me by taking my picture twice with a cell phone. But I saved at least 20 people $125 that day!! And I'm just getting started!
I am beginning to realize that this is quite a lucrative venture. At 9:30 I left Harris Teeter and returned to my car which I had parked in the courthouse parking lot. People were driving in circles in the front of courthouse looking for parking and yet curiously access to the overflow lot was blocked by orange cones in front of the Sheriff's office! Blocked! I contacted the clerk of the court, the sheriff's office and the first precinct. No one had any explanation for the appearance of those cones. Mysteriously, the cones were gone when I circled the parking lot in my own car at 10:30!?
Could someone in the city municipal center be getting some sort of kickback from this tow company? Personally I have no doubt and my resolve is now stronger than before. The people being towed are working people, pregnant women, servicemen and people who obviously can't afford the extra $125.
While it may be take a much more concerted effort to get Harris Teeter to increase their very minimal signage surely the courthouse should be clearly marked. And access to the overflow parking should be clearly marked and available.
I'm heading back out Monday. This time I'm taking pictures. I am starting to feel like a Superhero!!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Get back on that horse!

When Sarah was 12, she was a bit chubby. I was running 60 miles a week and had a chubby kid at home. I decided we should both try roller blading. We loved it once we got the hang of it (no small feat). We would go every night after I got done working and skate in this neighborhood next to the rec center. There was one street in particular that was awesome because it was smooth and closed to traffic after dark. We loved that street.
One night Sarah found a little baby frog and was skating with the frog in her hand. Sometimes when you rollerblade, you fall. That night Sarah fell with the frog in her hand. Being Sarah, her first thought was for the frog; so she fell with her hand outstretched so she wouldn't squish him. The frog was fine, Sarah took a hit to the chin that took 22 stitches to close up.
Two days later I had her back out on those rollerblades. She was so mad, she didn't want to skate, she was scared, her chin still had stitches in it, I was a 'mean old' mom... But she skated, she had to, I made her. I always heard, you fall off the horse, you gotta get right back on or you'll never get back on...
I guess if I'm going to follow my own wisdom, I'd better sign up for the Colonial Beach Olympic triathlon this weekend. Steve's doing it. The swim is only 1,000m not 1,500. The horrible experience of that last swim is still on my mind. I think the only way to get past it is to get back on the horse before I have time to think about it.
I can think of at least 10 reasons not to do it; I guess that means I'd better do it.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Too Many Kittys



We got a new kitty yesterday. We already had one kitty, her name is Kitty. She was getting slightly neurotic from weekends spent home alone and she really needed some company to keep her from going insane. My idea, not Kitty's. Kitty actually doesn't seem too grateful at all. In fact, I'd say at this point she's rather pissed. Of course it probably doesn't help that we are so challenged in kitty naming that we are calling the second kitty, Kitty! Kitty is now Big Kitty. Big Kitty and Little Kitty. Good thing Steve and I never had kids!