Wow has it been a long time since I posted here... been busy busy busy with life, work, and kids.

Still working at Allstate, amazingly, will be 3 years in August. Probably more amazing is the fact that we've been in the same apartment for over 3 years as well. Ember's turning 3 on April 7th, she's getting so big. Aiyana's been in kindergarten this year, she really likes going to school (for now) and will be 6 in August.

Our crazy little family is going to be heading to IL tomorrow for Easter weekend and to see my parents' new house. We're having to rent a car since our van is deciding to have a fit.

I don't know if anyone will even read this but felt like starting this journal up again.. and I'm thinking I really need to update my userpics.

Standing at my window at work, I watched the moon that was once so bright the night before fade slowly from view as it lost the reflection of the sun. As the coulds rolled by, until finally it was swallowed up by storm clouds.

Slowly it blended more and more into the blue sky, that only an hour ago was still quite dark with a rain storm.

I watched as the blue sky was replaced by grey clouds that took over the whole sky.

The blue sky returned this morning, after the fog of the early morning lifted. The clouds escorted me on part of the drive to work. It's an odd thing to drive inside the clouds.

.

The Ironman triathalon takes places today in our area. It's supposed to be hot and humid today, I can't imagine having to Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles... There's no way I'd ever be in good enough shape to do all that, plus I can't even swim anyway. The whole thing runs from 7am (so it's started as I type this), and goes until midnight (stragglers mostly I'd assume). It's a qualifier for the Ironman in Hawaii, I bet it's even hotter when they do the big one there.. even in October.

"WHO:
Up to 1,800 competitors, ages 18-80, compete from 50-plus countries and all 50 states. Upwards of 50,000 competitors attempt to qualify at Ironman qualifying races worldwide. Another 4,000 enter the race lottery, which awards 150 slots to U.S. citizens and 50 slots to international athletes. In recognition of their athletic accomplishment, age group champions automatically qualified for the next year's race."

I wonder how many elderly people they get in it. I don't know whether to call all the people that enter crazy or very .. would talented be the word? Maybe a mix of both.. very determined at any rate.

"TRAINING:
The average Ironman triathlete spends 18 to 24 hours each week training for this event. A typical week includes seven miles of swimming, 225 miles of biking and 48 miles of running. Many competitors also cross-train with weight training, stretching and yoga, among other activities.

WEATHER:
Average temperatures on race day range from 82 to 95 degrees, with the humidity hovering around 90 percent. Crosswinds on portions of the bike course can gust as high as 60 mph"

(All quotes are refering to the Ironman Hawaii, but I'm sure the training figures apply to both.)

I wonder if anyone (especially elderly, since you can enter at 80 years old) has died trying to complete this? That's a morbid thought, but I'm curious...

Aiyana never ceases to amaze me. We went for a walk today along a gravel path in a park not far from here. She led me down the path quite a ways, carrying a pine cone with her. Whenever she'd drop it, I told her to pick up the pinecone and she did. I've only ever used the word pinecone a few times to her. Then I told her let's turn around, go the other way and she did. At one point she had 2 sticks, one in each hand, and there was a pinecone on the ground. I told her that she needed to drop one of the sticks and she could get the pinecone. That gave her pause for a minute, and she did drop one of the sticks eventually. The only thing she didn't understand was "let's go to the stroller". She started to head towards it, but thought the bridge was more interesting. I let her walk it, until she didn't want to hold my hand anymore. I did take her up the bridge and let her look over, until she tried to take a dive over the bridge. After that, we headed back to the stroller and headed home.

Who's still reading this thing? Yes, I know I don't post much.. and when I do it's all about Aiyana..

GIP, and new layout/theme.

very interesting.. O_o

R	Rounded
A	Amazing
V	Vain
N	Neat
M	Magical
Y	Yum
S	Shiny
T	Trustworthy

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

rounded? O_o well maybe if you count my big belly...

I'm hardly vain.. and I dunno about "yum" either