Believe it or not, I think it is one of MY favorite restaurants because I feel that I can eat healthfully there (think BIG plate of salad, and some yummy carved roast beef for protein and iron), and even indulge in some "no-sugar-added" dessert at the end of the meal. Its nice, too because little one actually eats a salad, some green beans, chicken, pasta, etc. No matter what other restaurant we go to, typically the only choices on the kids menu are usually something akin to chicken nuggets and french fries, or mac & cheese. This way, she gets a "complete" meal and at a very reasonable price.

Granted, its not full of "ambiance" and no fine wines are served with dinner, but for our "family night" purposes, the OCB was right on target. :)

After our gluttonous rampage at the "Country", we headed home and quickly changed into our swimsuits. Before you worry, that old adage "you'll get cramps if you swim after eating" is a total hoax.

We packed our towels, goggles, and change of clothes and headed to the newly opened community indoor swim center. It has a large "family pool", just right for little kids to splash around, a lap pool, and a diving well with a "drop slide" flume thing that is loads of fun.

We had such a good time and found it to be incredibly refreshing to swim, then take a hot shower and head home to bed. Ahhhhhh!

It was so nice spending that time together...I think each day our little family is growing closer and that is a wonderful feeling.

I think what is most exciting is I remember my first race - which took almost 2 years of planning, exercise and learning as well as some knee surgery in-between! I was SO excited, nervous, and just wanted to learn as much as I could, making sure to have all of the elements necessary to make it through the event. I felt that same excitement resonate in J's voice as she went over details of the upcoming event and all of the work she has put into training for it.

I will never forget the look on my dad's face when I crossed the finish line. He was beaming from ear to ear with a combination of pride and astonishment. You see, when I was younger, I never had any interest in sports. All I ever knew about "athletics" was field hockey, basketball, and tennis - these few options were what we had at the all-girls' school I attended. I stunk in all of those sports. When I transferred to public high school, I started finding new ways to get exercise and yet enjoy myself. The P.E. teacher allowed those of us who weren't "into" team sports to do interval walking/jogging around the track, which was fun as the little group of us that did it socialized as we "wogged". Then in winter, we were able to do the  "Jane Fonda Workout" video in a little workout room. Again, it was fun and social, plus we didn't feel like outcasts because we were lousy at a given sport.

When I went to college, I was not thrilled with my roommate and found solace in taking long walks with a walkman and my favortie tapes. I did this every day, not even thinking of it as "exercise" but more as a much-needed mid-day break - after classed and before dinner and study time. I ended up shedding my "freshman 15" and then some!

The following year, I brought a second-hand 3-speed bike to campus and rode all over town and into the city. Again, without thinking about it, I maintained pretty good physical shape and great energy levels.

I think things started sliding downhill for me when, at age 22, I actually got a driver's license and a car. I still walked quite a bit but as most people know, sitting in a car burns almost NO calories. I ended up buying a Nordic Track machine to workout each day after work. 20 minutes each day, I did it and loved it and again, got into good shape.

Maybe someday I can even get him to join me in a yoga routine...I think that's definately a "phase two" of this exercise regimen, though!

My sister and I have our fingers crossed that he will join us as part of a relay team for a triathlon on the east coast in August. We shall see if that transpires...

Since I don't want to spread germs, I cancelled my 4th of July get-together with a friend and my father-in-law - or at least we postponed things until tomorrow, to see if I feel better by then. But since I have to "save" the fodd I bought for dinner tonight I have no idea what we'll be having; perhaps just some soup. I think I have a few cans in the pantry.

Our town has its annual canival/festival all this weekend. Usually they have some great "oldies"  (typically some 60's pop group) musical acts but nothing on the bill thrilled me too much this year.

My dad-in-law is coming over to visit on Sunday- we have missed him. Without going into too much detail, he hasn't been over for awhile, due to some issues he is dealing with. I hope everything goes well with his visit and he can get things back together in his life so that we can be a family again.

I feel like I have fallen behind in my workout training, even though the combine cardio and strength training is still at least 5 days a week. I haven't run for a few weeks - rather, most of my cardio has been swimming or biking, which are skills I needed to really work on for triathloning. I might do a 4-mile walk/hike today, pushing kiddo in the jogging stroller. That adds a challenge - pushing a 50 lb kid along a hilly 4-mile trail!

Oh, and since I haven't added anything salacious here - I'll reveal that I was awakened this morning with a 165 lb man on top of me! lol...

Yet another "sneak"...

I was dressed simply in stretch denim capri's, some funky platform sandals, and a kooky t-shirt with a japanese anime cartoonish figure of a fairy on it (I figured it'd be appropriate for the event! FAIRY...get it? ;)  )

I got a nice compliment from my gay pal, Rob ("You look great!") but then as I approached the line for the porta-potty, I was actually hit on by two inebriated aging frat guys.

Huh.

Me, a straight woman, getting hit on by two men at the gay pride parade - now THAT'S a new one! heheheh. I chalked it up as an odd compliment of sorts and went on with my day.

This event does weave its way through some of the most yuppiesque neighborhoods so needless to say, it was a diverse crowd. Actually pretty tame compared to what I expected. But mostly it was fun hangning out with friends outside, on a gloriusly mild day (mid 70's, sunny).

THEN...

The male of that species is very easy to identify, with his epaulets of red and gold and his signature call, "cheeeeeerrrrEEEEEEEEE!" But, as of this afternoon, there was no male companion to the bird at the feeder for me to use as a reference point.

As I took our beagle out for her evening stroll, there he was! The male redwing first on the fence, then sampling my wares at the tray feeder (I put out some cheapo cat food that my cats flatly refused to eat! They are soooooo spoiled!) Apparently the blackbirds really dig cheap, cornmeal-based cat food!

a.) I KNEW IT! (i.e. - I just had a hunch)

b.) I love ultra conservative a-holes getting "busted" (think: Rush Limbaugh, Jim Bakker, etc, etc.)