My first house guests!

Last weekend, I had my first set of house guests for the weekend. My sister came up w/ the girls to visit college and grad school friends and brought the girls with her. My sister's first comment was that I finally was in an adult house. The best was that I had places for everyone to stay! She was in the guest room, Leah was in the office, and Alex was with me in my room. It worked out really well, except that somehow, little Alex manages to take up the entire bed. Amazing. I was hugging the edge just to get some room. Katie has a great picture of Alex lying horizontal on the bed. And I thought I moved around in my sleep a lot!

Leah was a treat and loved being thrown in the air. Here we are playing around one of the mornings.


I had a few toys, perfectly placed in drawer and Leah was great at not just taking things out, but also putting them away. I was impressed. Even I still have problems putting things away!

On Saturday, we started out at the Please Touch Museum where Alex proceeded to show her mom all the cool places in Alice's Wonderland, including tea w/ the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit.

Queen of Clubs . . .

Leah had a great time shopping in the market.

Afterwards, we left Katie and Leah, and Alex and I went to the Academy of Natural Sciences and then the Franklin Institute. At one point, Alex exclaimed, "Scientists are my most favorite people, ever!" Oh my.

I was sad to see them go on Sunday morning. It was a great visit and I look forward to the next time they come up, which will be more often since they finally have a place to stay!

Hip to be square

I am terrible at checking out my friends' projects and copying them. Jen posted about her new Noro obsession that Jenna got her hooked on. I saw it and immediately thought it would be the perfect traveling/commuting project. Basically, it's the Log Cabin squares, knit with different skeins of Noro Kureyon. It's great b/c you never know what color combinations you are going to get. I started this last Friday and now have 4 squares finished.

I will say, it does help that I had a 2 hour flight on Sunday and I've been in 2 days straight of CLE on bankruptcy. It's all I can do to stay awake and follow what's going on. Especially when they are talking about chapters (i.e., chapter 13) I don't work on.

Then, I've been participating in an afghan square swap with the Friends of P folks on Ravelry. These are the last 2 squares I made for my pals.

Pals are making me squares and I'm supposed to make some for myself, so we'll see what happens and whether I actually finish (or start) that project.

House Update

In the past few weeks, I've begun to settle into my house. Marissa made me this beautiful drawing of my rowhouse to use as my new address cards. I'll eventually have it framed and hang it in my house.



I moved my stuff in and am now wondering how it's all going to fit! This is just the tip of the iceberg before the boxes were unloaded from the truck. Boy is my couch big!


I then went to IKEA and got some stuff to better utilize my kitchen cabinets, including this carousel for the corner cabinet and this pull-out shelf for the deep corner cabinet.

My friend Jason moved the wardrobes around that were left behind and attached them to the walls in my bedroom and in the office, blocking the door b/w the two rooms. This is helping to maximize space.

I then went back to IKEA and got shelves and drawers to put into the wardrobes so I could finally begin to unpack. I still have to put stuff in the other closet, but for now, here's how 1 wardrobe looks in my bedroom. (it now is filled w/ clothes)

It turns out that the wardrobe in the office is perfect for storing my craft (aka, knitting) supplies. It's not nearly as deep as the bedroom wardrobes, so not as functional for clothes. But, for knitting, it's perfect. I need to go back and get some more of the sectional shelves and maybe another drawer before it's finished. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the books in there or if I'm going to move the bookshelf in there.

I think I've managed to unpack about 20 of the 75+ boxes I packed. I have a long way to go . . .

New additions

Tomorrow is D-day. The movers are coming and clearing out my apartment and I'm finally moving into my new house! I've been taking a few things over this past week (mainly plants and perishisbles), but 2 main things arrived today to really make it feel like it's my place.

First, my bedroom furniture arrived this morning. The delivery men set it up and I'm really excited about it. Wish I could sleep in my new bed tonight, but I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow night -- my first night in the house.


The second new addition, are the window treatments. Until now, every time I've been at the house, folks have been able to see in and see what I'm doing. Now, I've got privacy! I had cellular blinds installed in the living room. Instead of getting the basic set up, I opted to add the feature allowing you to drop the blinds down from the top. This will provide light, while also providing privacy when I want it.

Upstairs, I had basic mini-blinds installed. I didn't want to go too crazy. If I really want something different than the white mini-blinds, I can change it in the future. For now, they are just fine.

The best is that all of my windows are deep enough to allow for the blinds to be set inside the window frames as opposed to the outside like my parents had to do at their house.

I spent the rest of the day putting together storage shelves in the basement, but have to go back to IKEA b/c I forgot a couple parts that I need for the shelves. Duh.

I'm offline for the next few days until my cable/internet are installed. I'll post photos once I'm back online.

October 13th

October 13th is a big day in my family. Not only is it my birthday, but my Dad and Uncle Eddie were born that day. To top that off, my sister married my brother-in-law that day -- my 30th birthday.

My Dad and I try to celebrate together every year. This year, my sister, BIL, and nieces drove up this year to celebrate with us since it is my Dad's 65th birthday. We didn't go all out, but instead had a very nice dinner.

The birthday boy and girl

I don't know if you can see the vest my Dad is wearing, but that's the vest I made him for his birthday. Not bad.

Family picture

The sibs

It was a quick trip to North Jersey b/c I had to run back and continue to pack (that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now). I stopped off at Bed, Bath & Beyond to get new dishes (1 less thing to pack), new sheets, and other odds and ends. I then stopped at Home Depot to pick up my first set of flowers (mums) for the house. I hope they don't freeze tonight. Later, I went back to IKEA and picked up storage shelves and other stuff for the kitchen. There's still tons more to get and do, but for now, I think this will hold me off for a couple weeks!

I probably should go to bed now. I have to be up early for the handyman who is coming to hook my refrigerator up to the water line. I will have my very own ice maker for the first time. How nice.

Progress?

I swear, I feel like I'm not getting anywhere w/ my packing. Drawers and cabinets have been emptied, but my place is still not packed! I am down to my last 4 boxes from Sherry and 3 boxes from Foodies. I used up all those awesome boxes Melissa and I found on the street in front of Ye Olde Cleaners. If only I could find them again! I refuse to pay money for boxes this time around. I already went thru a jumbo-sized roll of bubble wrap and need more.

As much as I'm looking forward to seeing the family tomorrow and celebrating my birthday and my dad's birthday tomorrow, I need time!!!!!!! Thank god Monday is a holiday.

Totals so far:

45+ boxes
5 plastic drawers
5 plastic bins of various sizes
7 suitcases of varying sizes (all expanded to their maximum)

It seems like there's no end in sight!

Just a spoonful of color

A lot has happened since I last posted, including the closing on my new house last week! I'm very excited and now trying to pace myself w/ all of the things I want to do and need to get.

First thing I tackled was to find a painter and paint the rooms upstairs. The rooms were either a light yellow or a deeper goldenrod color. Yes, they were bright, but I am not a yellow person. So, that meant that I needed to paint the rooms. My painter has finished the rooms and is now tackling the trim in the entire house. The rooms look so good, that I was almost tempted to also paint the guest room, but decided that's the one room I won't be in so it's ok to keep it the light yellow.

Next, I spent many hours in Ikea and Lowes scoping things out and picking up stuff for the house. I also got the new fridge and need to hire someone to hook up the water line to the fridge so I can use the ice maker and water dispenser. The wonderful handyman who is painting my walls can mount my tv to the wall, but doesn't feel comfortable doing the water line, so I'm waiting to hear back from someone on that job.

Tonight I ran home and took some quick pictures of the paint job so far. They aren't the most accurate pictures since they are at night, but they'll have to do for now. I'll post more pictures over the weekend.

Here's my bathroom. I used Benjamin Moore's Pale Almond. It came out really well.

My bedroom has a little more color to it b/c I wanted it to coordinate w/ my duvet cover. I'm still a little nervous about how it will look w/ my new bedroom furniture and the cream leather headboard, but I think it should be ok. Worse comes to worse: I paint it again. Anyway, I like how it turned out so far. It's Benjamin Moore's Pebble Beach.


Finally, I also painted the office since I'll be in there a lot and it was more of a goldenrod than a pale yellow. I think I could have survived w/ pale yellow, but the goldenrod just did not do it for me. Then again, I don't seem to mind it in the kitchen . . . Anyway, I had no clue what color to use and settled on a dusty mauvish purple color called Frosted Toffee. It's hard to tell how it looks w/ the lighting at night. One picture looks more neutral and the other looks more pinkish, so who knows. Still, it's way better than goldenrod. I think this color would look good w/ dark wood-stained furniture. I'll think about it when I update my office furniture in the future.

Now, I just need to set up cable, get the window treatments installed, set up shelving for storage in the basement, and pack. Moving day is a week from Friday!!!!!

House stuff

I'm up in NJ this weekend and took my mom to a bunch of furniture and blind stores today in search of bedroom furniture and window treatments for my house. By the end of the day, I found a great bedroom set (see picture below). It's a cherry wood finish and the lines are really neat. It kind of reminds me of Alice in Wonderland in a certain way.

I had been looking at a bunch of different sets and really didn't like the leather headboards on some of the more modern models. However, when I saw this one at the store, the leather didn't bother me so much. I guess it's b/c it's not the masculine black w/ the deep, deep dark furniture. The best is that I don't have to pay interest until 2013. Of course, I didn't actually apply for the financing today b/c I can't pull my credit for anything before closing. That would be bad.

The best is that the set can be delivered before I move in, but after I paint. So, next step is to pick my my paint colors . . .

I'm a triathlete!!!!!

That's right! I finished the Nation's Triathlon and here's my medal to prove it!


I guess I should back up and give a little recap since the last time I posted. That post was written in one of several moments of panic before the race.

After my post on 9/4, I went out that weekend and walked and biked, but didn't get back in the wetsuit. When the pool at my gym reopened on Tuesday, I decided that would be my chance to try the suit on again and try swimming in it. This time I was prepared. I had a ton of body glide and made sure to go after 8pm when the pool was pretty quiet. I had some suggestions on facebook to get the suit wet before putting it on. So, my way of doing that was to get the bottom on, get in the pool, and then put on the top and zip up. Bad move in hindsight. I trapped a ton of water in there and it was like swimming with a lead weight all over my body. I took off the suit and it felt so free to swim.

I got home that night and emailed my coach. He suggested I still wear the wetsuit for safety since it's my first tri and the wetsuit gives you tons of buoyancy. So, if I tucker out, I can just float. Great.

I drove down to DC on Friday, checked in at the expo, and then headed up to my sister's for dinner w/ the girls. The next day, I met up w/ the team to ride down and rack our bikes in the transition area and listen to Dave Scott speak. Afterwards, we got into our wetsuits for a practice swim in the Potomac.

This is a picture of me before my "first" open water swim. I look so happy and calm, don't I?

Sadly, that didn't last. I got in the water and tried to swim, but I couldn't breathe. I stopped and floated for a bit, but every time I put my face in the water, I couldn't breathe. Two women stopped to ask if I was alright and if I was having trouble breathing. I explained my issue and the one asked if I was having a panic attack. I hadn't thought of it that way, but that's probably what it was. So, I doggie paddled it across all the swimmers to the swim exit and got out. It was really scary. I didn't know what I was going to do. My coach suggested that it's b/c I wasn't used to open water and that on race day, I'd have a minute or so to get adjusted before the start horn goes off. During that time, I should put my face in the water and get used to breathing. Didn't think that would work, but promised I would try again on race day.

The next day, we were up at 4:30 and down at transition by 5:45. It's hard to get an idea of just how big transition was, especially in the dark, but there were close to 5,000 participants yesterday! It's hard to see, but the sun is just starting to come up behind the Washington Monument in the distance.

At 6:45, everyone had to be out of transition and in the "swim pen" before the first group (elites) dropped in the water at 7:00. I wasn't thrilled about this since I wasn't scheduled to drop in until 8:00. It's not fun standing around for an hour in your wetsuit. I put it on up to my waist and then waited to put the rest on until soon before we were called up. The weather that morning was nice and cool so we weren't overheated trying to get that suit on.

In line, I mentioned my panic the day before and someone mentioned singing a song over and over in my head and that it should help calm me. Jefferson Airplane's Volunteer must have been playing b/c it was in my head during the whole swim. Anyway, I dropped in and did what my coach said. When the horn blew, I did a little crawl, but then flipped on my back. I had originally figured it would take me an hour to do the swim, but was afraid it would take longer. I was ok and pretty calm after about 10 minutes of finding my groove. I did a combination of crawl, a modified breast stroke, and elementary back stroke. Toward the end, I was most doing crawl, but kept stopping to check and make sure I wasn't going in the wrong direction! Needless to say, I completed the 0.9 mile swim in the Potomac.

I was soooooo happy I finished the swim. I walked to transition, stripped off my wetsuit, changed into my bike shoes, and was off. Soon after I hopped on my bike I saw friends of mine there to cheer me on. It gave me a nice little burst of energy to get me started on the bike and boy did I need it. I totally spaced stretching before hopping on the bike and my legs felt like jello. I had to stop 2-3 times to stretch out my adductor which cramped up on my a couple times. I had issues w/ that muscle in 2006 when I did 7 half marathons that year, but it was never anything like I felt on the bike. Once I stretched, I was fine. So, the 25-mile bike course (and the rest of the course for that matter) was touted as a flat and fast course. Yeah right. That bike course was pretty hilly! I was surprised. Still, I kept going.

I knew there were a bunch of people that were supposed to be behind me, but I couldn't understand where they were. I was passed by some folks, but not everyone. I came to find out afterwards that some folks that were in the last few swim waves were turned around on the bike course, even though there roads were supposed to be open until 12:00 (it was 10:30 when they were told to turn around). All these folks went back to transition and moved onto the run. Not fair!

Anyway, I finished the bike and my legs were mush. I strapped on my fanny pack full of water and my race number and put one foot in front of the other. It took me about 5-10 minutes to really get into a groove, but I never made it to the "brisk" walking pace that I do for the marathons. I was lucky that I was average 19-mile minutes. Like I said, I was toast. Still, I was hydrating well, taking my electrolyte pills and eating pretzels and gels.

By the time I came around and was under a mile to the finish, I broke out my camera and decided to take some touristy pictures of myself on the course. Here I am, in front of the Jefferson Memorial.

The nice thing about doing this event in DC is that my sister got to come down w/ the family and cheer me on at the end. They were right at the finish line as I came running down the finish chute. It's not the most flattering picture, but damn, I just completed a triathlon -- WHO CARES????

My sister also took a video of me finishing, but I can't figure out how to link it. I have it up on facebook for now.

Here I am (above) showing off my medal w/ the Potomac in the background. And below is a picture of me w/ my sister, brother-in-law and nieces after the race.


Thanks to everyone who supported me on this adventure. I am now hooked and plan to do more; however, next time I plan to train just a little bit more!

WTF was I thinking?

My triathlon is a week from Sunday and I haven't done crap for it. I have totally slacked on my training. I am so screwed.

Top that off w/ the fact that I tried on my wetsuit for the first time tonight (only got it from the team on Sunday) and felt like Ross on Friends when he couldn't get his leather pants back on.


It took me 2 tries and a ton of body glide to get that baby on. B/c of this episode, I knew not to go anywhere near the powder!

Ok, so I'm in the suit. I then go down in the elevator and out to the pool to test out swimming in it. People were looking at me like I'm nuts. Good thing I'm moving in a month, right? I get in the pool and it feels so weird b/c it doesn't keep the water out.

I get ready to do a lap of breaststroke first and my butt has floated to the surface along w/ my legs. Kind of hard to do breaststroke (at least the way I know how to do it) w/ your legs at the surface. That must've been a sight. Good thing it was getting dark by then.

Then I do a lap of crawl and in a way it is much easier to do crawl b/c your butt and legs are gliding along the surface. Only problem is I did a crappy job of getting the suit on and my arms couldn't fully extend so it was very tiring on my arms to swim crawl.

Any way I can do this thing WITHOUT the wet suit? I would do sooooo much better w/o it. I will say that the good thing about it is I can float upright in the middle of the deep end w/o having to tread water. So, if I do keel over in the Potomac (yes, the Potomac River) I won't sink.



Sigh. This should be interesting. Wish me luck.