Fabulous!!

So ... where did I leave off?? Fireworks!! Matt and I went to the Rec Center parking lot (great view, no traffic problems.) The lots were parked full but we were out in a minute. Great fun!! We sat on the roof of the car. ;-) They're so spectacular ... just when you think you've seen the best one, another comes along that tops the last. Oooh!! Ahhh!! They're amazing, and I'm curious about how they build them ... some looked like spheres with a ring around it (like Saturn), some were 3 disks in different planes, some burst in the shape of 3 stars, etc.

God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,
to the oceans, white with foam,

God bless America, my home sweet home.
God bless America, my home sweet home.

The beautiful weather today sure made up for yesterday's yuckiness!! I spent every possible minute I could outside, mostly with my son Matt. We started out by biking up to the beach (Foster Arends) ...

which was 6.43 miles by bike trail. I put my wetsuit, cap and goggles in a backpack so that I could do an open water swim. (I want to see whether doing a 1/3 Ironman at the Waseca Triathlon on August 2 is feasible.) When we got there, a young'ish guy on a bike (nice bike, nice cycling clothes) rode up and into the beach area. He also got a wetsuit of out his backpack and put it on. He looked obviously very athletic and fit so I started talking to him. Turns out he's training for his first tri--Waseca! He commented on the fact that his swim was his weak leg of the tri and I said the same. He said he's seen me running around town and that runners seem to be "sinkers" and not good swimmers. ;-) I told him about T.N.T (Thursday Night Tris) and he said he thought he'd come and "test the waters" so to speak. I swam laps for 48 minutes 18 seconds :-) (If that wasn't 1.5K, I've got a lot more work to do ... )


When I got out, we sat on the beach for a while and found myself doing ... absolutely nothing! So nice. We sat on Matt's towel for a while and then we biked home. We took the Cascade Lake trail on the way home as Matt hadn't been there yet.

Ended up with 15.83 miles. When we got home, we went for a 3.02 mile run. My legs were a little stiff the first block or so of the run, but otherwise I felt very good. So there's my little triathlon for today. :-0 I enjoyed spending all that time with Matt.

Speaking of triathlon ... now that I have the itch, I'm wanting a new bike. I was in Rochester Cycling & Fitness on Friday looking for a sleeveless bike jersey. There are some nice bikes in there ... BTW: Wednesdays are $1 days at the Silver Lake pool. If you want to swim laps outside in a long pool, that's a cheap way to do it! Or just take the kids and enjoy splashing around in the pools.

Here's something from a Caring Bridge website, It's about swimming and is so true ...

I swim because I can.
My flawed body nontheless functions.
Stretch, breathe, pull, kick
The intoxicating rhythm propels me.
Massaged by the water, my body and mind disengage.
I concentrate on the count, and, in doing so,
I remove myself from the present.
My mind wanders where it pleases,
Floating in places far away, past and present,
Till I emerge refreshed, renewed, body and soul.
Swimming is like praying.

This afternoon, my brother and family came over for dinner. So today was the day we enjoyed a more traditional 4th of July meal--burgers/hot dogs on the grill, corn on the cob, potato salad, calico beans, fruit. And a strawberry pie for dessert. My niece Kaleigh watered my flowers for me.

This evening I froze peas.

Then I went outside to edge the lawn. The "string" in the trimmer was broken, so I had to fix that. Then I decided to edge the sidewalks (you know how the dirt and grass seem to slowly creep onto the sidewalks?) and trim the birch tree. Two hours later, I'm back to finish up this post. :-)

This week, U-pick raspberries will be available at Sterling Fruit Farm. I can't wait. They're my favorite berry. So much easier to pick than strawberries, too. I'll be out there. You can bet on it.

Thought for the day: "Being a friend isn't a big thing. It's a million little things."

Until tomorrow.