The Power of Words

This morning I went to the pool for a swim. First, I went into the fitness center to lift and there I encountered my buddy Jack who will be 86 years young next month. Jack is a little hard of hearing, which you'd certainly expect at age 86. I think Jack is amazing and I told him as much this morning. When I tell him that, he always kind of "pooh poohs" the comment but I think it makes him happy. I asked him if he was going to swim today (I had to "freestyle" my arms to get him to understand) and he said he was, after he'd ridden the bike for 30 minutes. And he always swims freestyle, with a pull buoy, for a whole hour. This is his M/W/F routine each week after driving in from St. Charles. THAT's why I think he's amazing. And, he's a sweet man. Later in the pool, I was swimming in the lane next to Jack and he motioned me over. He had some very nice things to say to me. Just his two little sentences made me feel so good. It was a great way to start my day. So ... thank you Jack. You are amazing.

A few other words that made me happy ... "These are the best cookies EVER." "This pie was one of the best I have ever, I mean EVER, tasted in my pie eating life. 5 Stars!" "Thanks again for the cookies. They were fantastic and they won a blue ribbon among the discriminating palates of my kids. My younger son had suggested that you sell them at the Farmer's Market as they are much better than the current 'cookie lady's' cookies!" You all brought a little sunshine to my cloudy weekend and I thank you.
 
And, I got in a 5.10 mile run. Considering I ran more than 28 miles this weekend, my legs felt good. I think I'll do my hill workout tomorrow, swim and lift (no legs) on Wed and Fri, run a few miles on Thursday and take Saturday off in preparation for TC10 on Sunday.

Yesterday 6 or so of us ran a preview of the Lace-Up half marathon route. Basically it's the same as last year but going out a little farther on the Mayowood trail and only circling Silver Lake once (hoorah!). It came out to 12.70 miles from the north drive of Mayo H.S. back to that spot, so John will tweak it a little bit to hit 13.1 miles and we'll be good to go. BTW: Our committee is now a few people short. If anyone would like to join us, please email John. We'd love to have you join us.

Then I fnished my baking and it was off to Pine Island for the "PI Ride". There were some last minute cancellations and some of the "maybes" didn't show, but there were 6 riders (I did NOT ride) and a total of 15 eaters. Thank you Millie for keeping me company. :-)

There was plenty o'food to go around. None of the raspberry pie pie made it home. But I did have 2 pieces of blueberry left for Matt which was his only request. He loved it. Still have some peach cookie cobbler left. Thanks to everyone who participated!! I didn't do a very good job of taking photos. I don't think I got any good ones of Paul T, Zach and friend, Paige ...

The only downside was that I got stung on my right little finger by a "bee" ... actually a yellow jacket or wasp or whatever. I don't know my "bees." And it REALLY hurt. The whole finger got all red and swollen like an overstuffed sausage. I couldn't bend it at all. And it still hurts today, but the swelling and pain are lessening.

I have a busy week. Tonight, home. Tomorrow: dedication of Melby/Brookhaven Park in Byron. 6 PM. (All are invited, with a 5.5 mile CC run followed by social time at The Bear's Den.) Wednesday: Book Club. Finished The Heretic's Daughter this afternoon. What a dark story, but I finally finished a book club book so I'm proud of myself. Thursday: TriRochester at Glynner's at 6 PM. (All are invited). Also, Team R.E.D. will be gathering somewhere (see http://byronteamred.blogspot.com/) for details. (All are invited). Friday: A Going Away party. Saturday: I'd best get to bed early for TC10 bright and early Sunday.

Time to fix supper. Until next time ...

My new Facebook profile pic ... me as a youngster