12:55 PM: Well, as you can see from yesterday's lack of... anything... I didn't lift at X-Sport after work. The weather was crappy, so I planned to stay at work a little longer in order to let traffic die down. That plan didn't work.  Icy road conditions made for accident after accident after accident. All of my usual routes were blocked by car crashes! I ended up having to take an alternate route home. My alternate route was so slippery that I almost pulled over a couple of times and just gave up on it. (But what would I have done then? It's not like I can sit on the side of the road and wait for it to thaw! Had to keep moving!) There were people in ditches left and right. I was going no more than 10 mph and when I'd brake, I'd engage the Anti-lock system and just slide along, sort of straight, and sort of sideways. I saw people slide right off the road. Luckily, I'm conservative when I drive in freaky weather, and so were the people around me. I had a good person to follow and the guy behind me wasn't riding up into my trunk. Both HUGE winter driving positives in the midwest. 

Left work about 6 ish, ran one errand, and got home around 8:15. Irritated that it took so long, but realistically happy that I didn't end up in a ditch and that I arrived alive. I will say, however, that my hands and forearms were sore from gripping the steering wheel with such force and tension! 

Remember the Amaryllis? Phyllis the Amaryllis? Well, she continues to flourish, despite the fact that her leaves have long been digested and pooped out by our feline friends. 

She's sprouted 4 huge blooms. They are so heavy that her stalk is falling over. Chris and I rigged a support string for her, which wraps around the stalk and attaches to the hinges of the kitchen cabinets. It's a little bit white-trashy, but it serves the purpose and doesn't look too terrible, I guess. 

Party on, Phyllis. 

10:04 AM: I slept through swimming. Actually, I take that back. When Chris' alarm went off, I woke up briefly, got up to pee, and then proclaimed I was going back to bed. I passed straight out and had dreams about BT's very own trixie and Q. (Seriously!)

When I ultimately was able to pry my ass out of my comfy bed, I found that my calves are SO SORE from stairs that it's nearly impossible for me to walk! HOW? We did a collective 21 minutes of stair climbing over the course of 2 days. What the HELL is wrong with my muscles??? I don't remember being this sore after Ironman! My knee is still a little cranky too, and that prohibits me from pushing off the walls when I swim anyway. So, instead of swimming, I slept.

This right here is mah problem:



I'll lift after work @ XSport.

Tomorrow is a 9 mile walk with Trudy. In the freezing cold. It's supposed to snow tonight and we're supposed to have a high of 21 degrees tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll have to wear an actual coat for our walk. Athletic-wear might not cut it, since we don't work up that much of an actual sweat, like we do when running.  

10:50 AM: Working from home. The goal for today will be to work/walk/get nails done/and (get/mail) a cashier's check for our marriage license. I'd also like to lift a bit if possible. If I can't get it all in, the nails will go to the wayside.

Perhaps I will be more productive if I make....

A LIST!!!

• Work (in process)
• Nails (lunchtime?)
• Cashier's Check (lunchtime)
• Walk (after work?)
• Lift (@HBFC after/before walking)
• Vacuum
• Laundry
• Pack bag for swimming tomorrow
• Return (another) dress (couldn't decide what I wanted to wear for our GNO outing, so I bought 3 dresses. I've finally decided, so 2 need to go back to whence they came. Returned one yesterday. The next one goes back tomorrow.) 
• Make spray-tan appointment. (Agnes has a girl. She does a great job.)

8:16 AM: Oh crap! I almost forgot about WEDDING WEDNESDAY!

1:58 PM: Got our wedding reception invitations all finished up and on order! w00t!

Here are a couple of unrelated photos from miscellaneous weddings. 

Dancing with Whitney @ Amy's wedding, 1999. I miss those shoes. 

Standing around @ Suzi's wedding, 2004. No visible boobs on me. 

Me and a long forgotten groom. (I have no idea of his name) but clearly his wedding was in early October 2004. Some friend of the "ex". I am clutching a Motorola "V" phone. It was all the rage back then, and a gift from Rachael, who works for Motorola. I was ahead of the curve. Sorta.

Gaze upon my technological prowess, circa 2004. ^^^

Girlz, sporting some mad cleavage @ Lisa's wedding reception (the one in the black and white dress) October 2010. 

10:06 AM: Up and out the door for another Tuesday swimmy. Now I'm off the hook until Thursday in terms of workouts. This pleases me.

We've been together for 64 months today! It's our Monthiversary! If we were a 5 year car loan, we'd be paid off! (And then some!)

2007, our trip to Washington State, and the Grand Coulee Dam for the Grand Columbian Triathlon. Chris did the Iron Distance and I did the Half.

"...Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that has yet to come."

Stew on that for a moment, will ya? Then... click on this:

Our very own StartingToTri always finds the best websites and blogs. I haven't had much of a chance to peruse the whole thing, but I'm liking what I see so far. Insightful. I like it. You will too.

7:11 AM: I had been so impressed with the size and tenacity of my amaryllis (it has bloomed 5x in 3 years! It bloomed 2x the first year!!! Amazing!), that I took a photo of it and posted it on FB. I made sure I stipulated that the cats were not interested in eating it... because in 3 years they have never touched it. Look how awesome it was: 

(Oh, and note the use of the word "WAS")

I was very impressed with this piece of flora and my ability to keep it going year after year after year! 

We went to the Baker's in Chicago for a little Superbowl party last night, leaving the fantastic amaryllis unattended, as we'd done so many times in the past...

We returned home to this:

The leaves were chewed off and hanging down. Some of them were completely severed!

They really gnawed the hell out of it! After 3+ years of ignoring it completely, the VERY DAY I post a photo of the lovely thing on FB, the cats destroy it! Little evil ass weasels! It's like they understand English, they just don't speak it.

There must have been a fight as well, because Molly has some new scratches on her face. No hair tufts lingering around, so it couldn't have been that bad.

I'd say that they DESERVE a little vomiting and diarrhea for chewing on my favorite plant... but, you know, I get to clean up whatever comes out of their upset stomachs and intestines... so the joke's on me again!

Hmmmmmpf. Jerks.

10:42 AM: Soooooooooooooooooooo... Chris and I originally had plans to go out to Duke's for a low key dinner last night. But then we started talking to the Schmeisers, and then we had a couple of Chris' homebrew beers... and then it was all over. We ended up calling the Schmeisers to see if they'd want to come over for a beer or 3. They did, we hung out, chatted and drank, and this morning Chris and I woke up with HANGOVERS. Blagh. I guess that homebrewed beer really works! 

So. Instead of going to the 6 AM spin class at HBFC I am going to ride my MTB up and down the path for as long as I can tolerate. Then watching the Superbowl (or maybe just halftime and the commercials) with the Bakers and the Schmits and their respective canine children. In case you were wondering, we're leaving the cats at home. 

MR. BILL BREAKFAST @ CHEZ PARKER THIS MORNING:

OK, now must go ride bike.