Seattle, Here We Come!

Well, at least after I finish my workday, go to the chiropractor, feed and care for the Little Ladies, get the packing done, the house straightened, the lingering laundry washed, the refrigerator cleaned out, and everyone into bed for an early morning wake up to get to the airport in the morning.

But still, we're going.  I hope.  You see our plane tickets that we got with our World Point miles don't have assigned seats.  This is something that worries me.  I've been on too many work trips where I would have been bumped if not for an assigned seat.  I've seen too many people bumped for the same reason.  This is our vacation.  I don't want anything coming between me and a good time with the family, especially after all the training and vanishing Mommy acts because of training leading up to the Ironman 70.3. 

I guess I have guilt about all that training.  I didn't realize how much guilt I had until last night when my back pain was getting to be a 7 on the 10 point scale and I thought to myself that I'd like to do a full Ironman even if it resulted in rather painful nerve pain shooting down my legs afterwards. (Yep, I've definitely drank the coolaid.)  The next thought was that I'd have to do it the year I turn 50 so that way the girls wouldn't be too heavily impacted by my training schedule. The year I turn 50, they'll be 19.  I guess I could do it at 49, but 50 just sounded so nice.  And then I saw Big Daddy Diesel's Monday Movie this morning (guess I'm behind the times), and that sealed the deal.  I'm going to be an Ironman at 50, if not before.  Who knows the little ladies are rather smart, they could be child geniuses and solving the world's problems at the age of 12!?

Anyway, I love to travel and see the world.  While Seattle might not be an overly alluring location to some, for me it is a place I have never been before.  Another state to cross of the list of places to go before I die.  When I was 8, I came up with my list... not knowing this was fodder for philosophy professors and later an author and movie.  My Granny had died of lung cancer and something must have been said about not having regrets in life or something, and it turned into my coming up with things that I wanted to do before I died.  As irony would have it, it did not include triathlon, getting married or having children.  It did, however, include many things I have now done - like skydiving - and those that I am still working on - getting to all 50 states and not just in airports or passing through to somewhere else.  I am constantly adding to the list and crossing off things I have done... but at this point it's more of a mental list... and Ironman is now on it. (Sorry, Mr. Darcy!  Maybe by 50, you'll want to join me and will have drunk the cool-aid that is long distance triathlon.  Or you can just be my sherpa...)

Oh, yes, so I'm excited.  We're going to see Seattle, the Cascades, Victoria (in CANADA), Mt. Ranier, and points in between.  Not to mention the girls' first ferry ride and my eager anticipation of their take on the Pikes Place Market and the throwing of fish.  Ladybug helped me this morning by trying on some clothes that I had bought them for Fall.  The pants fit pretty well for length but the skinny minny had issues in the waist on some of the pants (which means Angelfish who is even skinnier despite eating more than Ladybug on most days will definitely have issues).  Luckily, most have the adjustable waists so we can make due.  Ladybug is definitely excited.  She kept saying "oooh. I want to wear these in Seattle.  They fit be just right and they're so cute" - even if the pants were about to fall off.  The girl loves clothes.  I think I may be in trouble.

All the same, it was fun to see her so excited.  She even decided to wear shorts and a shirt today instead of a dress because she wanted to wear something "new" and saw the Halloween shirt that I bought with the cat wearing a witches hat. : )  Angelfish insisted on a dress because "Seattle is too chilly for dresses."  (I told them that the other day.)  I guess she needed to get her dress fix in before we leave.

So that's where we'll be during my hiatus from blogging.  I'm bringing the camera, so I hope to have photos to go along with stories that I can regale you with when I return.  And we can all dream our IM dreams.... even if it won't be acted upon for another 16 years.  That's what the "List of Things to Do Before I Die" is for... right?