Quick Sand(man)

We're at my sister's house in Chesapeake playing Wii and getting ready to order some pizza before Marty and I make the drive back to Cary. The race went good - for both of us! Marty ended up 5th overall and showed how he can race with just a few weeks of semi-serious training. I was first for the women and brought home the bacon for Marty. It was HOT! I'll write a race report sometime for those who like the details, and for those of you who think race reports are self-serving, I give you the following picture ;)

Gas Freakout

This whole run on gas thing makes me so angry! I don't know if this is going on in other places but here in the Raleigh area most residents thought it would be a good idea to stock up on gas because of Ike, then the stations decided they would raise prices (isn't that illegal?!) So I'm driving home from work yesterday and there are long lines at the gas pumps and the prices are $4.19 -- the night before it was around $3.60. Come on. And I heard that some stations near NC State were charging $4.99!

Marty left this morning and was able to top off the Fit at a local station where he said it was coming out in a dribble. I hope he can get back here and then we can get to Virginia! This is so ridiculous.

Doodle's

Tassie is a goldendoodle, but I'm frankly embarrassed by that name so I usually tell people she's part golden retriever, part poodle when they ask. A lot of people then exclaim, "Oh! A labradoodle!" which I totally don't get but there you go. We're watching Tassie's best friend, Cider, tonight through Tuesday. Cider's mom, Kristy and us always watch each other's dogs when we go out of town and they play with each other at least once a week if not more. They've been playing together ever since they were puppies and I really think they think they are sisters. I tried to get some pictures of them tonight but it was impossible to get both to sit still and look at the camera. Cider was busy doing a trick because she thought I was going to give her a treat and Tassie wouldn't stop wiggling and trying to head-butt Cider.

Here they are when I was able to snap a quick pick before they knew what I was doing. Cider hasn't had her last summer haircut yet...

Cider, sit! Tassie, no!

Almost sitting pretty together

Best friends :)

Back home

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous beach day. The water was comfy and warm and dead calm. They could call it the Lake of Mexico instead of the Gulf of Mexico! After a final breakfast with the fam, Marty and I went for another open water swim where he once again swam right next to me. Afterwards we played in the water for a bit, acting like little kids and having fun. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at my mom’s house where we also enjoyed a great nap. I love vacation.

I’m always amazed at how easy (and quick) it is to fly down to Florida, and with a direct Southwest flight, it’s also pretty affordable. This next weekend we’ll be up in Virginia Beach for the Sandman Triathlon. I’ve been looking forward to this race and hope to walk away with a bit of $$ if I have a good one. It will be nice to have my sister and my nieces out there cheering for me, too. The rematch between Marty and I is not going to be too exciting, I can tell you that. With the longer swim, flat bike and run, I don’t have a chance of beating him. This is a very good thing and means he’s actually training again. -
and Leon is NOT getting larrrrrgerrrr.

St. Pete Beach

I'm hanging in the hotel room waiting for Marty to get back from the horse track with the boys. The girls and I (and my mom) went to International mall in Tampa where Bri made out like a bandit (thanks Mom!) We've been having a great time here in Florida and I've had the best sleep in our dreamy bed at the Don Cesar. This is totally not a hotel you will see Marty and I staying in at any other time of the year except for an excursion like his dad's birthday. We would usually be in the Super 8 down the road. So I'm not complainin'!

Yesterday we did some short intervals on the beach which was quite tough since the winds were strong and the sand was sugary. Then we had a nice family/birthday dinner and after that Marty, Tim (bro-in-law) and I hit a beach bar where I not only found $10 on the ground (total score) but I also got to drink Boag's beer which is made in Tasmania. Yum yum.

This morning we met my dad for a run and a swim in the gulf. The swim was so refreshing and when I thought I was done, Marty came in to swim a bit (he ran longer than I did). He convinced me to swim out to the buoy which wasn't too far but I got about 3/4 of the way out there and got a little freaked and shouted "MARTY I DONT WANNA GO ANY FURTHER!!!" It was deep and we were out from shore with no one around us. So funny how we can get mental quick! He calmly said, "Don't worry, I'm right here." He swam easy so he was right next to me the whole time. Then I laughed at my little freakout and continued to the buoy.

We're headed to dinner soon and another beach bar I'm sure! Our flight doesn't leave until 8pm tomorrow night so we still have another day to enjoy.

De-Fluffed Again!

Here's Tassie in all of her fluffy gloriousness this morning:

We're not sure she could even see the past few weeks...

And here she is this afternoon after Marty took her to the groomers and they shaved her entire body

Look at her ridiculously skinny tail!

Short Wii-k

We finished off the Labor Day weekend playing my sister’s Wii at our friend’s house. I LOVE guitar hero! It’s so fun and now I’m begging Marty to get us a Wii, too. It’s a super short work week for me because we’re heading to St. Pete this Thursday evening to celebrate Marty’s dad’s birthday. It’s just coincidence that’s we’re celebrating in St. Pete – his dad lives in Miami, but this works out well for me so now I can also see my parents. We should be able to get some beach running and hopefully some open water swimming in while we’re down there since we’re staying at the Don. It will be a fun weekend and we’re looking forward to seeing our 10 month old niece as well.

I forgot to mention that we got a good laugh at Tassie’s expense on Friday evening. She had played with her best friend Cider earlier in the afternoon and then was of course so excited to have all these new people in her house for the happy hour. But I guess she got a little worn out with all the excitement and right around 10pm she was no where to be found…she had decided enough was enough and headed upstairs to her bed and was fast asleep as the party was still going on!