Captain Jack Sparrow and I

Last night, I did not get to my bike ride.  I went straight from work to volunteer.  It was our last session with the girls at the Callahan Center, and I was bringing cake.  Notice I said I brought cake.  Hell must have frozen over last night because I didn't have one piece, nary a lick of frosting either.  I was will power personified.  Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that we had a dentist speak to the girls and she talked about how plaque is essentially the "poop" from the germs that lives in our mouth.  Okay, no, that wasn't it either.  It really was because I knew we were going for a drink afterwards AND that I know this weekend is my girls' weekend with Little Sister and Adopted Little Sister and while I plan to stay in the Zone as much as possible, girls' weekend usually = margaritas.  And we're going to a beach that is an Old Florida, laid back margaritaville type of a beach.   So I resisted.  And afterwards I had cheese and fruit and a little bit of bread with my glass of wine.

This morning my stomach was not my friend though.  I'm not sure why, but it wasn't conducive to a run or a bike before my 8 an conference call because I needed to be close by the rest room.  By lunch time, my stomach was settled so I did my 60 minute bike with a 10 min w/u, 2x10 minutes in aero while maintaining a cadence of 90 with 5 minutes recovery after each, another 10 minutes hard, and then 10 minutes recovery... all while watching "The Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."  Captain Jack Sparrow and I were pirating it up!  I love that movie so it makes it easier to deal with the trainer.  Why not hit the road for the 60 minute bike?  A few reasons: 1) it was lunch time and around here it's just like it's rush hour for some reason; and 2) it's muggy and hot; 3) I didn't know yet that my 1:30 conference call would be cancelled and sometimes I set out on a ride and despite following the plan end up somewhere farther from the house than I thought I would be and bike longer... I sometimes think it's subconscious; and 4) I was a little fearful of needing the bathroom when I least expected it.  But I ended up being fine.  Tired and sweating like a mad thing, but fine.

I keep thinking that tomorrow is Friday.  I think this is a bit of wishful thinking because I'm ready to sail off like Captain Jack and Will Turner when they steal the Interceptor.  Little Sister and Adopted Little Sister are two of my closest friends in the world (along with Belle and Artsy Girl and my much missed Angela).  To the point that it's like being with family who you picked.  I can be completely myself and they love me all the same.  There's never an awkward silence, always a lot of laughter and talking, and just all together fun.  And we're going to the beach with no plans but to be on the beach or near the pool with a drink in hand and lots of sunscreen.  So I'm wishing I was already there. 

Adopted Little Sister is trying to get back into shape (she just started last week, she tells me) and wants to run with me this weekend so I'm hoping that will be a make up for my missed run today since I have a swim on the calendar for tomorrow and another run on tap for Friday (if I can squeeze it in between taking the girls to daycare ... Mr. Darcy is off to South Florida again for work... and starting work that day).  The irony is that when I first started all this madness it was because Adopted Little Sister did a triathlon several months before and I figured that if she could do it, I could too.  And we did a 5K together and I was falling apart it was so hard for me, and she was so sweet and didn't run ahead of me even when I told her too.  She gave me a good piece of advice that I use when my brain isn't in it on the run to this day, "pick another point up ahead and run to it... when you're almost there, pick another one."  We're going to look for a 5K to do together this year, and then we are planning on doing a triathlon together next year.  I'm excited and totally game, so I hope she decides to stick with it!

Tonight is gymnastics night and the girls are excited!  They even picked out their leotards to wear this morning and promised to be good listeners so they can have a good class.  I have to admit, it's a lot of fun to watch them in class... at least if they're paying attention.

I also love how they tell on themselves.  Evidently, Mr. Darcy took them to Family Night at the Chik-fil-a where they had their faces painted - Ladybug had flowers painted on her and Angelfish had a purple and black butterfly... I'm guessing Mr. Darcy had fun washing that off before bedtime - and played.  Ladybug told me that she didn't get to have ice cream though because she was whining and crying and not eating her food.  I didn't even know they had gone to Chik-fil-a at that point!

Oh and Angelfish and Ladybug got into an argument over toots (aka passing gas).  This literally was their conversation this morning.
Ladybug: I tooted!  Tooty tooty fresh and fruity!
Angelfish: I tooted too!
Ladybug: Nah uh.  I did!
Angelfish (with her hands on her hips and a grumpy little look): I did! I tooted!
Ladybug: No! I did!  Didn't you see the gas come out of my bottom?? (Forgot to mention, she's naked at this point because she's getting dressed for the day... and she turned and pointed to her bottom at this point)
Me: You can't see that type of gas... it's invisible.
Ladybug: Oh.
Angelfish: I tooted, Ladybug.  I mean it!
Ladybug (stomping her feet): I tooted twice.  You didn't toot.
Me (trying to add humor to the situation so they'd stop arguing): Oh, is that what that smell is??
Angelfish: Ladybug, you don't know.  I made that stinky!
Me: Okay girls.  Enough is enough.  If you're going to fight like this maybe we shouldn't go to gymnastics today.
And they stopped.  Angelfish wandered off to find Mr. Darcy because she had finished dressing, and Ladybug cried about Angelfish saying she had tooted and then got dressed and wandered off.  I think they were really arguing about who was going to get attention, but it was hard not to laugh that this was their topic for the argument.

Oh and it's official!  Mr. Darcy turned in his application for the TNT Century Ride this morning.  Now to get him a bike (other than his hybrid... yikes. can you imagine a Century Ride on a hybrid?).  He says he's going to get a road bike and put a cushy beach cruiser type seat on it.  It cracks me up.  I told him he'd probably give my LBS guys a heart attack if he tried to do that.  He'll also need gloves, a few jerseys and bike shorts, and bike shoes, bike socks (he's still wearing those squishy cotton socks) and clip in pedals.  He already has a helmet... and I'll just pull the front visor thing off it so it doesn't look like a trail helmet.  Knowing Mr. Darcy, he'll probably try to convince me that he can just ride in his cotton t-shirts and squishy socks at first.

Anyone have suggestions for a road bike for him? He's 6'1" and pretty thin, and he used to ride a Walmart special all around campus when we were in college.  He even got a ticket on his old college bike once.  I told him to go to a bunch of shops and ride different brands.  That's what I did and when I found the one that was right, it was like putting on a glove.  But I always like suggestions. : )