When Cousins are Two of a Kind.....

 

 

They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike, what a crazy pair....

You know the song -- you know the show -- and quite possibly you know the cousin tandem known in these parts as "Givi" -- that's Gabriella and Livi all rolled into one. So we just threw them one pool party together for their August birthdays. (They never even notice anyone else, so we actually didn't even need to invite their other cousins and preschool friends.) It was a lazy morning of just hanging around and visiting while the kids splashed.. I really like this summer birthday thing. And the gigantic matching mermaid cakes were just GORGEOUS!

A Perfect "10"

Now, I know no Olympic gymnast will go home with a perfect "10" this year -- but I am feeling like I scored one.

Okay, it wasn't perfect. It was actually, awfully slow. But it was 10. 10 Miles.

The 10-Mile mark has been this Iron Curtain for me. I can knock on the door but never hit the other side. But there was something about Saturday. Low humidity. A suggestion of a breeze. Hip Hop on the iPod. Just something that whispered "GO". So I did. And I guess I finally crossed the 10-Mile threshold.

Map My Run called it 9 and change. But Joe assures me the trail portion of my course can't be measured correctly since it is so far off-road. He called it an "easy 10". So I celebrated with a Starbucks Vivanno on my way to meet my family at the pool. (260 calories yet 21 g of protein -- and Travis the Trainer Boy is sure I am sadly lacking in protein in my diet.) Got to the pool and Gabriella was shivering and telling me it was "cold". That's what happens when it's only 91 and the humdiity is low.

My day was overshadowed by Joe's 16 Miler (show-off) and his waistband of chafing (still sweats like a pig, in case you wanted to know). But I'll always have my perfect 10. And maybe soon, my perfect 13.1.

The Sunny Season

It is finally Sunflower Season here at the ranch. Much of the crop was snack time for those &$%#@$ deer that believe "My house is your house". But some strategic planting combinations did save one particularly mammoth row of the gigantic flowers.

I have this picture of one flower , and the bees feasting in on it, because Sophia dragged me outside at 6:30 in the morning insisting we take a photo to add to an insect photo collection being created at school in the Media Center.

It was a good stopping point for me in a week that included:

-A new battery for the CAT (Carla Area Transit) Bus (really -- how long do those things last these days???)

-A new spring for the garage door( when the old one snapped it could not only be heard from here to Fuquay-Varina -- it trapped the cars behind closed doors for an entire day -- thus trapping us in with it!) And again, I ask how long should those things last?

-A 101 degree fever accompanying the Kindergarten Krud that kept some of us at home for days.

-Never-ending PTA Open Houses (are all the tracks finally back in???)

And of course the entire list brought my training to a near-halt.

So I'll try to remember and stop and admire the sunflowers. Even if I'd rather admire them at a more respectable hour than my oldest early-bird will allow!

Baby, it's Hot Outside

Yup -- it's August in the sultry South. The humidity is as high as an elephant's eye and so is the mercury! It's time for the hot recess policy to go into effect at school and I've got 72 freezer pops chilling right now that are headed to Kindergarten in the morning to provide a few days of cool snack relief.

So here's what you do in the South when it feels like this. Go to the pool. Dip your toes in and then mention to everyone around you, "Sure is HOT today". You tell them that like they don't already know. But misery loves company.

So stock the fridge with some of those summertime light beers and go ahead and pile your hair up high on your head. Before you know it November will be here and you'll have to do something crazy like -- I don't know -- wear sleeves!