Week in review

Let's do a week in review, starting with last weekend... (Note: I started this post last Friday and then got side-tracked. Now, I'm not even sure if this will be interesting to anyone, but too bad. It's already here...enjoy (or not)!)

Friday, Aug. 3: Mom came over, and we had a nice snack of watermelon and kiwi before heading out to play tennis with our 'oh-so-cute' matching rackets (it was her mother's day gift). After playing for about an hour, we headed over to Carbone's for some salad, pizza, beer and good conversation out on the patio. Good Friday night!

Saturday, Aug. 4: Went on a 20-mile bike ride with Aunt Katie, Rae and Tadd. We took the greenway (former railroad track turned bike path -- like the Monon in Indy) from South Mpls. through Uptown over to Hopkins and stopped for a snack of donuts and coffee at the Depot. (Common theme so far: working out and eating snacks). After the bike ride, I went over to Karin and John's new house in St. Paul and helped paint and sand -- they're totally re-doing this house. I mean, why anyone would want to paint over pink walls and tear up even pinker carpeting is beyond me... They're even tearing down some walls. I'm impressed and inspired by their hard work and can't wait to see the final product. After that, I picked up my brother Rob at his place and we played soccer with Indy for a bit and then headed over to Matt's bar (total dive with the BEST burgers and fries). We had juicy lucys (hamburger with cheese in the middle of it -- it's soooooo good, but HOT! Watch out for hot cheese squirting out of your burger!), fries and some beer. It was fun to chat and hang out with him -- he needed to get out of his house for a bit because he had been pretty down lately. Last week, he had his moped stolen -- he's pretty upset about it. (Side note: people who steal other people's things are some of the worst people in the world. I just don't get it. The only thing I can understand is if it's like the Jean Valjean story of how he needed bread just to survive. Do you think some guy needed Rob's moped or he would die? I think not.)


Sunday, Aug. 5: Looked at potential bridesmaid dresses for Alyse's wedding at the Mall of America. Dress shopping is really fun for like the first hour. After that, it's a challenge and tiring. I needed a nap after that.

Monday-Friday, Aug. 6-10: I worked three days at the U and two days at Fairview. Also tried to keep up with my training for the triathlon (which is coming up in three weeks!). It's really nice living near a lake when training for a tri. Monday, I went for a run for 25 mins, and then went on down to Lake Nokomis (about a mile from my place) and swam for 20 mins. It was good practice for the actual race -- but man, it's really so much easier to swim in a pool so you can see where you're going. The lake is a little claustrophobic. Yikes...Wednesday, I had dinner with Ang at a great BBQ place in south Mpls. called "Caps." Good stuff! Thursday and Friday were "goodbye/good riddance" parties for a friend from high school (Shehan) who is moving to Denver for grad school. I heart the Otter Bar in NE Mpls. It is such a dive, but they have karaoke and it's sooooo funny. Cousin Jess and I got up there and sang Ace of Base's "The Sign." let me tell ya....it was quite funny. My fav moment was when these two random guys got up and sang Boyz II Men's "End of the Road." It was AMAZING! This white guy was bustin' it out just like the real song. I was very impressed and entertained -- as was the rest of the bar.

Saturday, Aug. 11: Red Ribbon Ride victory party took place at a restaurant in Mpls. I got to have a little reunion with the other participants and watch a video that had pics and live-action video footage from the ride this year. They already have 125 or so people registered for next year. I'll probably be signing up here soon. So let me know if you're interested in joining me (or donating $$$). :)

Sunday, Aug. 12: Katie and I rode our bikes up to the U of M rec center (about 7 miles), then swam a little over 1/3 mile (the distance of the tri's swim), then rode back home. I felt great -- a little tired, but not too shabby. So that makes me feel like the training is working. I just need to keep working on the swimming. That's hard work -- I have a great respect for swimmers who can just keep doing lap after lap without a little break. After that, I took Indy down to Lake Nokomis and we just hung out on the beach. Me reading, and her jumping around in the water playing with a bone. It was one of those afternoons that just remind you that life is good. I love relaxing like that with a good book in the sun. Ahhhh....I want to go do that today, but alas, I'm at work. Then for dinner yesterday, I went over to Angie's (friend from high school) for a girls dinner. She combined her two worlds by inviting me and Ashlee over as well as her grad school friends for a nice dinner and good chats. What a great day...