matt andi loaded up the car last night so we'd be ready to hit the beach first thing this morning. all we have to do is throw the surfboard on top of the car and food and drinks in the cooler, and we'll be off!
it has been really hot for the past few days, a "heat wave", the news stations claim! so we're escaping by going to the beach. along with a ton of other people, i'm sure! but we'll be in encinitas, the least busy beach of all.

mom edwards, good job on your walking! mary and i have found that if you have a training program with a goal at the end it is very motivating.
here is a sample of one: http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kwalk.htm
this guy also has a schedule for completing a 5k, but it seems like you've already been doing a decent amount of walking, you might want to do the 10k training program. and maybe if we do thanksgiving here, you can join in with me and mare and dad and walk the thanksgiving day race! don't forget to do a little bit of cross training 1-2x/week, like biking, so you can give your walking muscles a rest and work some other muscles.

my visit with "the running doctor" (heehee) went well. i'm getting orthotics, which i had when i first started getting injured in high school. where did those things go, i wonder? i went in for a consultation-just to see if he could do anything for me- and all of the sudden he's adjusting my feet, ankles, knees, and hips-whoa. the best thing is, if the orthotics (which are expensive) don't work, he takes them back and we try another kind (free of charge) until we find some that do work! yay! mare, i won't slow us down in the running portion of this race!

last night we watched "shattered glass"-very good movie. plus, it had paul giamatti in it, who i love. and also the softspoken bald guy from high fidelity and jerry macguire (the babysitter).

matt's taking me out on a date tonight so i can wear those great sandals i bought! ha!
welp, time to head out, matt is stirring. have a great weekend everyone!

yum, lobster tacos $1.50!
that's where we went last night---well, we didn't go to a place called lobster tacos. actually, i forget what the place is called, even though i've been there several times. anyhoo, it's on the ocean, so you get a great view and great food and lots of laughing with great friends.

i have felt wierd for the past couple of days now. not sick (i haven't been sick for 3 years now!!!!!, besides a cold last superbowl, and i don't really count colds because you don't miss anything with a cold). anyways, it seems that through all my ordeals starting 6 years ago (strep, sinus infections) and working with kids for so long, my immune system is finally built up. so i just fight things now, i just get a half of a cough, or congestion for a day or two, but i don't ever feel bad in my body. same deal with right now. and i still worked out for awhile today.

by the way, i tried yoga.
which is awesome!
they have this non-new-age yoga at the ymca and i couldn't believe how hard it was!
i thought yoga was just simple positions (with odd names) that you hold.
which is, i guess, true to some extent. however, the stretches are difficult and actually build muscle because you end up holding them for so long. i felt exhausted and great after the class! everyone should try that if you can find a yoga that is not too creepy... :)

tomorrow i have a free consultation with "the running doctor" (mary, do you remember that literature from the marathon?). ha! it is actually a chiropractor who specializes in running injuries--how perfect is that? we'll see if he can do anything for my legs!

i'm excited to hear that mom and dad edwards may be coming out in sept for a long weekend!

welp, matt has a happy hour thing at work today so i think i'll go ride my bike, seeing as he won't be home for awhile!
have a great friday everyone!

i woke up this morning and decided to take full advantage of my ymca membership today. i went to an 8:00 pilates class--and i'm just now starting to feel sore throughout my ab/torso area. not a good sign for the next few days... then i made an appointment with a fitness trainer (i get one hour of free training with my membership) for a couple hours later. since i had some time to kill, i did some laundry, cleaned up the place, took a walk--the sun was out early today-yes! then i went for my personal training, which was basically a weight training program, since i prefer to do the cardio outside. i just can't see getting on an exercycle (or treadmill, etc.) when the weather is beautiful and there are a million beautiful places i could ride a REAL bike (or run/walk on REAL legs, er, REAL ground-heehee)! then i came home and decided to go for a run. ha! apparently, since i've been an exercise slacker for the past week, i decided to make up everything i've missed in one day!!! :) and all this before lunch! so then i went to the beach for 3 hours--i think it was deserved, don't you?

our next visitor is mike harr, from BG, in a week and a half... visitors are pretty well spaced out this summer. well, that is, unless people do some impromptu visiting, which is fine as well... :)

i got this great new pair of sandals at target so i made matt promise to take me out on a date this weekend so i can wear them.
speaking of target, matt and i are headed there in a few minutes, so i must get going!
have a great week everyone.

p.s. i'm on another modest mouse kick again. it reminds me of staying in austin with justin, when mary and i took over his apartment and his life. "justin, can we do (fill in the blank)?" "justin, can we go (fill in the blank)?" "justin, can we...?" poor guy. the two of us never stopped talking or asking him if we could do things!

i had a fun time with amanda henry and her 2 friends. great catching up and showing them around san diego. i actually got to see the "real world-san diego" house for the first time, since they wanted to see it-ha! it really is huge, i must say. we ate at a great italian restaurant and i showed them around OB, la jolla, and downtown. very fun time!

man, justin, i wish i could have seen denison witmer live---i'm so glad to hear he is fantastic live! someday i'll see him...
i feel like we were seeing live music almost every weekend there for awhile and now it has slowed down. well, for me at least. matt had his nerdfest-er, i mean, rush concert--earlier this week. the next thing on the list is jet. we'll be seeing them for free at the del mar racetrack--2 fun events in one. and then for an epic pixies reunion later in september. it will be so fun to see the band that i loved as a junior high school student, and a band that was influential in so many bands today.

matt and i had a perfect day today.
we went up to encinitas and hung out by the ocean, took a long walk on the shore, played aerobie, ate a pizza, and read good books.
ahhh.....

tomorrow i'll get some household stuff done, hopefully get to the beach, and get back on my training program---huge slacker over here!!!!! oh well, my body is in decent enough shape and it is early enough in the program that i'll be okay. i wouldn't want to be pulling this in a couple of months, though!


it's a beautiful day
-U2

it's thursday and i'm waiting for my friend/(family, really) amanda henry to get into town.
more visitors and me still without my guestbook done. dang! i keep setting goals to have it ready by the time the next guest comes, but i keep forgetting or other things come up, etc. etc....

but i'm making a light dinner, since i don't really know when they'll arrive. then we'll probably go out to pacific beach or downtown later this evening. they'll be heading to the zoo tomorrow but i'll meet up with them later for some possible beach time and dinner.

it's fun to catch up with family and faraway friendsand it seems like it happens all at once.
of course i was visiting with the peeps back home for a nice long time and then i got to have a nice long chat with emily the other night!
i do miss the entire edwards clan, as well!
mare, i need to talk to you--i'll probably call in the next couple of days.
i was doing so well with my training but i have now become a slacker, due to a bunch of reasons that i don't feel are real excuses.
time to get back on the plan tomorrow!

michelle--nice job on the new you! i KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!

welp, i must finish cleaning this place up.
have a great weekend everyone!

um, dad edwards, i am really disturbed by that bird mask. yikes!
but on a less disturbing note, at dinner tonight there was a guy sitting next to us who was talking about how he attended a jackson browne concert (late for the sky tour). we thought of you.

wow.
i've been a blog slacker!
but that's how summer goes, eh?

i just arrived home from a long visit in cincinnati. and i still didn't get to see all the people i wanted to! ridonkulous!
it was a fun time, highlighted by great times with family, (especially watching baby hannah be so cute), catching up with some old friends, and just enjoying cincinnati. it was hard to be away from matt for 3 weeks, though, so next year it will be a shorter trip--i missed him so much. and i got homesick for san diego. i haven't been homesick since my freshman year in college! :) it was so nice to arrive back here and breathe the salty air and see the ocean again. ahhhh....

i can't write much now due to mail and bills and household stuff, etc. that have piled up for the past 3 weeks, so i must be a grownup and get things done! it's been fun to catch up on everybody's blogs.

friday night!!!
last day of school---woooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
and it's been such a fun week that it feels like my vacation started early.

i know most of you reading this also read mary and matt's blog, but i'm also going to give my report on the past week. so some of this stuff will probably be repetitive, but with my own commentary and perception...
*saturday: mary arrived around 1:00 and we hung out for awhile, then napped, then went up to solana beach to see phantom planet. a good, fun, and relaxing show that started off the week of great music. we came home and ate some food and had some drinks and chatted and laughed some more....

*sunday: we went to ocean beach and it was more windy than it has ever been since we have lived here! i thought i was in big sur! matt and mary bucked up and went surfing (i did not, due to mary using my wetsuit--and you're crazy if you think i would go in that freezing cold water without a wetsuit--i was wearing a hooded sweatshirt while i was on land, for goodness sakes!). so matt and mary got beat up in the ridiculously choppy waves. when they had enough, we went to hodad's for a yummy lunch and the world's best chocolate milkshake!!! then we headed downtown to watch a padres game, which was sold out. :( but we shopped around and messed around and ate some more before we went to see the shins concert. wow. such a fantastic show!!!! i loved every song on their cd anyways, and they really are even better live. such clear vocals and guitar and great stage presence, as well. i would go see them again any day...

*monday: matt and i worked. when i came home, mary and i went mountain biking in tecolote canyon. the mountain biking book i have said it was "rolling hills". apparently, "rolling hills" means "straight up and down hills". it was a fantastic workout--so exhausting and fun (and scary) on the steep downhills. not quite as much fun on the steep uphills! we have some great pictures that capture the ruggedness of the place. then we went to filippi's italian restaurant for yummy pizza and then to our friend eddie's to see his new puppy. so cute!!!! we came home and watched (er, fell asleep to) the season finale of sopranos.

*tuesday: after work, matt and i each raced over to our encinitas campground, where mary had set up camp earlier that day. we charged out to the waves (this time the water was warm enough for no wetsuits for some) and caught some great waves. we all stood up on our boards many times and it was sunny and so satisfying. exhausted and happy, we cooked out hotdogs over the campfire. ahhhhh.... as it grew dark, we listened to music and chatted and ate campfire chocolate eclairs. then matt left around 10:30 or 11:00. i hadn't planned to spend the night, but it was too perfect to leave, so i slept there with mary and woke up the next morning at 5:30 (due to ridiculously loud crows--didn't they know my alarm wasn't going off until 6:00 am) and drove home to get ready for work.

*wednesday: raced to encinitas for more surfing directly after work again. the waves were really rough and the undercurrent strong. we all took a shellacing from the sea, and when we had enough, came up and showered and ate some more hotdogs and grilled cheese. then there was a beautiful sunset, which we watched as we played aerobie, tossed the football, and played horseshoes. matt stuck around until 10:30 again and we had our routine of chatting and laughing and listening to music. i slept over for real because i took thursday off of work to hang out with mary...it was a much better night of restfulness.

*thursday: i woke up around 6:30 and watched the ocean from our campsite (did i mention that we could see it? so relaxing, and great white noise to fall asleep to, as well!). then i went for a nice long walk on the shore. when i got back, mare was still asleep, so i made some eggs and read "my utmost for his highest". then mare got up and we had an early morning surf session. the sun was shining, the water was nice, the waves were still a little choppy, but not as strong--so we had a great session. such a great way to end the camping trip... then on to sea kayaking. you can read mary's blog for her rendition of her fiasco with getting out into the calmer portion of the ocean :) hee hee. yet i was not laughing in about 30 minutes from then. we kayaked out to some sea caves, which were very cool looking but too dangerous to kayak into. we saw a friend called a sea lion who popped his head out of the water about 10 feet from us and stared at us for awhile. so cute!!!! more sea lions on a big rock quite a ways away, barking and yelping. then i started feeling a little queasy so i put a little cool water on my head. "do you have a migraine?," asked mary. "i'm just a little seasick," i said. "me too! i was trying to buck up since i had a hard time getting out, but..." the we both started paddling back to shore as fast as we could (which was about a half an hour away, which may not sound long to you, but when you're battling nausea on a rolling ocean, every moment seems like an eternity), taking breaks and trying not to throw up. we finally made it back to shore and sat there, trying to recover for awhile. we didn't even use our kayaks for the full rental time. a waste, you may be saying to yourself, but so much better than the sickness option. we got in the car (more motion) and headed home. being home was so refreshing that we got our second wind after 45 minutes and we headed out to sunset cliffs and watched the ocean and chatted. then matt called us as we were on our way home and we went to play tennis. i was sort of losing steam but i bucked up and played (and may i add, very poorly?). remember, i had been doing constant activity since 6:30 am, people!!! then we showered, ate wahoo's with our friends sue and tom, and went to see our 3rd concert of the week. stellastarr was great (the portion we saw, at least), the killers were fantastic--the lead singer was such an entertainer. then the yeah yeah yeahs were funny at first--insane--and then just too dark and scary and sad for me to handle. i had to go wait outside in the hall until it was finished. then back home to collapse into bed. whew!!!!!

*friday, today.... i worked my last day--yes!!! then when i got home, mary and i went up to torrey pines and had such a great hike and more great chats. we came home and had chicken tortilla soup and sangria for dinner-so yummy. now we're getting ready to go see "saved"--the first movie we've seen in a theater since i can't remember even....
it's been an awesome week--thanks mare, for the fun and talks and laughs and pre-triath training!

i head to cincy on tuesday!!!!!!!
can't wait to see the good side of the family!!!
i'm out.
tracey

p.s. hi kim! i do read your blog--i hope that's not too creepy!!!! :) but i enjoy hearing what is going on with you!!!!

hello everyone.
it's friday night and i'm cleaning and matt is doing some editing work for scantron.
mare will be here around noon tomorrow-yay!
and then on to see phantom planet play in solana beach in the afternoon
(and maybe see the stills play in the evening)
and then sunday we get to see the shins
and then camping in encinitas
and exercise/triathlon training mongrels of mary and tracey throughout the week....

oh yeah, matt sort of got guilted into helping a friend's wife paint their new house tomorrow morning (but his friend will actually be out of town and he called a bunch of people to go help his wife--ha!) so wierd. not the best timing, but this guy and his wife are so nice, so i guess it is hard for matt to say no.

this week i met the boy counterpart of myself at age 6. nonstop talking from his teeny little mouth.
he was so cute, though.
when i went to get him in his classroom i said, "you get to come with me to my room today" (i see another little boy in his class, so he knows who i am). and he yelled "woohoo!!!" in the tiniest little voice! i was cracking up!

i love working with elementary aged children, but i really do miss working with babies (16 months +), toddlers, and preschoolers. that was one of the best things about working at toledo hearing and speech center. the little ones are too young to follow direct instructions with speech and language, so you have to address it all through play therapy. it is the most fun thing in the world--plus, you get to see their little brains actually working and language literally developing before your eyes.

anyways....

inspired by justin's top ten list of music this year, here's my own list (in no particular order)
-snow patrol
-the shins
-all things bright and beautiful
-belle and sebastian
-deathcab
-postal service
-(new) get up kids
-the killers

that's all for now...
have a great weekend, everybody!!!!
ry and michelle--have fun in myrtle beach!

welp, we're back from mexico.
such a fun, fun weekend.
it was one of those deals where the days seem so long.
we just hung out on our own beach (the house was right next to a nature preserve, so there were miles of untouched beach beauty (i.e. no houses, condos, highrises, etc.). our house was awesome, just the right size, and with a huge deck outside. the weather was perfect--sunny and breezy (a little windy the first day, but not out of control--enough to make cool patterns in the sand). we relaxed and read, played horseshoes, bocce ball, aerobie, and cards. one night we went out on the town to ensenada, which was crowded and not a lot of english spoken. slight culture shock, but we had so much fun. then we went to a cool place called la boufadora. there is a formation of rocks along the shore that when waves come crashing in, there is somehow a pocket of air that gets pushed up and sprays water maybe 100 meters into the air! they call it the blowhole, because that's what it sounds like. but on the way to that spot, many vendors have set up shops and it was bargaining time for tracey! it reminded me of nairobi's city market. i did end up getting a prada purse for a good price and some earrings for matt's boss, who gave him $ for me to buy her stuff (a little bit of pressure, i must say...) hopefully she likes what i bought her...
i ate so much good food (and probably more lard in those 3 days than i have in the rest of my life put together!) we went to this big fish market that was right on the bay and ate at a taco shop right there. the fishermen were literally bringing the fish into the restaurant and the workers were preparing it right then. so fresh and so good. mmmmmmm.....
i enjoyed runs and walks on the shore by myself every morning (of course i was the first one up! but no one slept in really late--i think the latest was 10:00, so not bad). i didn't mind, though. early morning walks on the beach by myself are one of my favorite parts of this life on earth.
tracey

p.s. can't wait to see mary in a few days!
p.p.s. finally! a blog from casey! er.. i mean... from bo!

i hear american idol in the background.
dang, that diana chick is annoying.
the only thing good about her being on stage is matt's funny and horribly mean comments about throwing an apple up on stage so she can have it in her mouth (uh, like a roast pig). sorry, matt. after your blog where you just got right with god, i had to go and blow your cover. but i'm worse, because i laugh every single time and then yell, "matt, that's mean!" as i'm still laughing.

just a few more days to get through until we are relaxing on our beach in mexico.
matt bought a big aerobie and horseshoe set (rydogg, you'll be into that when you come out here, eh?), our friends have bocce ball, our other friends have snorkel gear, the house has boogie boards, and we're all bringing cards, catchphrase, etc. it's fun to have friends who are gamers. there's always some fun game or competition going on. for example, this house we're staying in has 3 bedrooms, but the master bedroom has a jacuzzi and other fun stuff. so to be fair we played roulette to see which couple got which room. and then while we were playing we decided each couple could have the master bedroom for a night. matt and i won and picked the last night (we're working our way up from the ghetto rooms!!!). but i love that instead of being awkward and trying to figure out who deserves the best bedroom/who needs the best bedroom, etc., it turns into a game and no one even cares about the bedroom anymore--it's all about the game (michelle, i think you can relate!).

i'm off to ice my shins and read harry potter (#3). i'm saving #4 for the beach this weekend.
hey justin, remember when you were on the junie b jones kick and we would sit in the living room and read them? and then one of us would laugh and the other one would say, "what?" and the one who just laughed would read the funny part out loud to the other one? (you and me had some fun that year....)
today in speech i read "three billy goats gruff" and thought of my granddad, who used to read me that story all the time when i was young.
and then i thought about my first boyfriend who had a mechanic's coat and he had written in the name "billy" where the name tag was supposed to be, and then he said, "it's my billy coat!" and then i thought of kevdogg, who shares my love of goats, but to the extreme!!! when we were in high school, we tried to talk my dad into getting us a goat for the back yard. he didn't go for it, surprisingly....

have a great night, everyone.

another monday down...
and only 1 more monday left to work, since i have next monday off! yay!
12 more days total....
yikes. how will i fit it all in? oh well, i have to.

lately when i check on peoples blogs, it keeps giving me a url not found error message. maybe blogger is updating? or having problems? anyone know?

this weekend i was so lazy! well, i did finally paint my wine nook purple, which looks very cool. but that was the most exercise i got all weekend. the rest of the time was spent laying around on the couch, in the bed, on the beach.... i did, however, exercise my brain and read the first 2 harry potter books over again. so good! if anyone reading this has not read those, you really should. they're very clever and use decent vocabulary and are so great for the imagination. i think i will always have extra fondness for those books just because i read them in africa when i was awake at 3am, due to time change issues. nothing was better than being awake and reading and seeing matt come down the stairs all sleepy, then mary, and hearing justin and michael upstairs (still hadn't started their night of sleep yet) chatting and laughing about pseudobook (mom and dad were asleep, of course). and then reading some more and playing video games and eating with matt and mary, and then finally going back up to bed around 8 am, when mom and dad were just getting up...

matt and i heard this band called the veils last night on mtv2 and they're pretty good. you peeps should ch-check it out.

well, we're going to go and watch the sun set.
so have a good evening everyone.

i had a splitting headache all day today but now it's finally gone after a nice relaxing run by the ocean with two girlfriends. we now have 3 members in our after school running club (me, a spanish teacher, and the nurse)! yeah! several more interested parties, but none who will actually buck up and get out there with us. they may be intimidated by our "grand finale" of running all the way up hill street (the street my school is on with the, uh, big hill). we're going to do that on the last day of school (maybe, since mary will be here--and maybe mare wants to do it :)!

matt and i are getting ready to go to our friends' (sue and tom) house. we'll be heading down to mexico over memorial day weekend. we rented a cool condo on the beach for so cheap!!! (hey michelle and mary--maybe girls trip? or maybe camping in san luis obispo?) so we're getting together with the other two couples tonight to figure out who brings what. well, the LADIES will figure out what to bring. the guys will probably fool around (ry, i know you've just been through this!)

one of the janitors at our school was talking about how her 10 year old daughter is getting her black belt in karate, so i acted interested (which i was) and made a comment about how t i thought it would be fun to do karate. which i actually do. and matt of course refuses to entertain the thought of engaging in that sort of activity with me. well, anyways, to me it was a passing comment. but to her, it was a committment to now join this karate club and now every single time i see her, she has to remind me of the times and place of the class. and finally i said, "i'm so busy with this end of the year stuff, i won't have time to even think of it until summer." so she said she had my number off the staff directory and would be calling me the day after school got out (she was laughing, but i know she is not kidding!). so then i had to tell her that i was going to be gone for half of summer--jeez! get the point. i guess it is just one of those people who can't take a hint (respect my time and my schedule!!!) and i'm going to have to be blunt and just say, "nope because blah blah blah..."

dad edwards, good luck and have fun with your indians reunion game!!!!

new(er) music that i'm listening to: the killers, franz ferdinand, the walkmen, plus, i love the new beastie boys single--yes, they have to be one of my favorite bands of all time-just when i'm about to forget about them, they come out with something new and fun-always solid and catchy and fresh!

today i heard this great song by kings of leon that reminds me of when matt and i were dreaming of moving to san diego and we wanted to do it ASAP. but we knew that for things to work out perfectly, we had to wait for God's perfect timing:

by giving in
what am i giving up?
am i losing way too much?
california waiting
every little things gotta be just right.

only 14 more days of school left! woohooo!!!!
i can make it!
plus, those last 5 days for me are like the last day of school for teachers (since i see the majority of my kids once or twice/week) and that means party time! and making my cheap slave labor help me pack up all my belongings and tear down my office for the summer! yes!

matt and i went to the farmer's market last night and we did enjoy the OB people, as well as the cutie dogs that were everywhere. matt encountered a silly beagle that appeared to be in love with him. that guy howled and stared and wagged at matt all through our dinner. last week i got a bouquet of flowers for $1 that lasted about 5 days. i meant to try to find some more, but alas, i forgot.

i had a nice chat with michelle, who called last night.
looks like we have a 3 person adventure racing team for next spring (me, mary, michelle)!
yes!
since michelle posted her thoughts on turning 30, i wanted to put in my 2 cents! ha!
it won't be happening for another year and a half for me, but it does seem to be such a huge event in ones lifetime.
(of course, inflamed by american culture of youth-worship), but really, it is a big deal.
i'm just trying to make it a positive deal. i was considering trying to squeeze a bunch of stuff in that i've always wanted to do in the next year and a half so i could say, "i did that by the time i was thirty". but now, i'm going to celebrate turning 30 by either running a marathon or doing an adventure race, or something else physical--to show that my life isn't over! and how about a great trip to tanzania to celebrate? heehee! matt just informed me that he will not be a father while he is in his twenties. "what?" i said, "how do you know?", "because i'm going to be 30 in january", he said. oh. how did that happen? how were we just baby 22 year-olds when we got married and now he's turning 30?

well, enough of life's deep and mysterious questions.

oh yeah, justin, i want a dvd, please (matt will buy one from you when he comes in june). and so does michelle.

welp, i have to get going.
have a great thursday everyone!

i'm listening to hot rod circuit and remembering the drive up highway 1 on the coast last year. matt slept in the passenger seat and i had a 6 disc rotation of deathcab, travoltas, hot rod circuit, saves the day, ash, and ben folds. my scenery included the ocean, mountains, and vineyards...

matt is finishing the neverending job of painting our kitchen a deep red (cherry cobbler, for those who are interested in the actual name-probably no one :). i apparently am a little too sloppy and when using such a dark color, it really shows. so matt volunteered to finish/made me stop--ha! oh well, he's doing an awesome job. i think i like the way it looks (matt says that i'd better, with as long as it is taking him). it's just a lot of color. i might rag some reddish brown paint on top of it, to break it up and give it some depth and texture. we shall see.....

i received a fun letter from grammy in the mail, as well as a fun motivational packet/running journal from mary!
grammy/aunt deedee, i looked up your vacation condo-it looks fun! that lap pool is pretty neat. sounds like you all will be having so much fun!
and a second entry has been made in the training journal, mary.

matt has a job interview tomorrow, so pray for him everyone!
it looks pretty good on paper and he is really interested in it.

17 more days of school.
and i got permission to take june 10th off to go kayaking with mary!
so really only 16 more days :) yay!

how long is too long?
-get up kids

farewell.

happy birthday michelle!!!!!

yesterday i had another hiking class. this time it was at torrey pines, which i love already!
i arrived early so i decided to park at the bottom parking lot and take a mile hike up a winding hill. so i did, and when i got to the top, i realized that i didn't remember locking my car door. (we have 2 different keys for our jetta, one to unlock the doors and one to start the car--i only had the unlocker, the starter and the rest of my bulky keychain were in the glove compartment). so after considering that someone could drive off with the ghetto jetta with no problem, i ran back downhill for a mile, got to my car and realized that i had, in fact, locked it. by this time i was going to be late, so i did a run/walk back up the hill to meet up with my group. i arrived sweaty and out of breath, but it was quite a workout before the class even started!
it was really an interesting hike and at the end, the instructor bought us all big posters of plants and flowers in the area-so nice!
not something i'm going to hang up, but i will make it into a brochure type thing for next time i go.
when we were at the top of a bluff overlooking the water, we saw a fat, slippery seal bodysurfing in the waves! he was so happy and cute, flipping over and under the waves, going over and inspecting a kayaker (who had stopped to watch him--man, i wish that was me!), and then riding waves in. we also saw some dolphins making their way along the top of the water. ahhhhh.....

since i was already up north, i called matt and he decided to meet me up in encinitas.
we went surfing and i rode a few all the way in on my knees--it was so fun!
then, on my last two runs, i actually stood up at the end (it was all slow motion standing, screaming with glee, then slow motion bailing because i was getting too shallow-i wish i could have been an observer--i would have laughed at that girl!) then a preteen boy told me to watch out, he just saw a jellyfish. i asked him what color it was, thinking maybe he had just felt seaweed or something. he said it was red and white, which is exactly the kind i've seen there (and been stung by before). so i became frozen and matt finally came over to see what in the world was going on. it ended my surf session, but not a heartache, since the waves became so choppy right after that. poor matt got worked!
then we played some aerobie (little disc/ring thing that looks like a frisbie with a giant hole in it) and then i was down for the count--i took a fantastic nap on the beach!!! we finally headed home around 5:00, i listened to cush the whole way, and arrived home completely pooped!

19 more days of school--i can totally do it! it's going to fly, with everything going on.

p.s. i love how God heals everything in us

take that shame back
feel that heart attack
making it new for you
-cush

hmm.
a nice, relaxing tuesday night.
after a ridiculous day at work
(the server for the whole school district got that virus; therefore, nothing got done that needed to get done today. for anyone. and who knows when it will get fixed. really bad timing, i have a ton of stuff to do before the end of the year.)

but enough about that!

let's see, what has been happening?
snow patrol saturday night: oh man! i wanted so badly for it to be awesome, but alas-the sound in that venue was really bad.
way too much bass, too much drums, you could barely hear vocals or guitar-bummer.
it would have been great if the sound was right, though. i'll see them again at a different place.

matt and i spent a lot of time at the beach this past weekend.
we finally bought an umbrella (SPF 100, can you believe it?) so we can stay out all day long and not look like leather skins!
i relaxed and read "the bridge to terabithia"-anyone remember that from late elementary/jr. high?
we went to encinitas and took our little grill and made a yummy lunch of grilled hotdogs, chips, strawberries....mmmm...
why does food taste so good at the beach????
we also went surfing and it felt so great! i could not stop laughing!
the waves weren't that great, but it was fun to paddle around, sit on the board, and try to catch the breakers.
i got up on my knees a few times, so i consider that victory.
i have always felt that i was a semi-strong swimmer.
until i entered the ocean with a 9 foot piece of fiberglass.
that deal is hard to handle when the waves are rough and unforgiving!
absolutely exhausting! but a fantastic workout that you don't even realize you're getting!

i received a fun letter from grammy yesterday! hey grammy, my friend had one of those cool water bottles today and hers was not leaking :)
emily, you will be receiving 2 pkgs in the mail soon, so keep a lookout!

i (like mary) am looking forward to the triathlon, getting mentally prepared, doing research, working out a training schedule (we start june 13th for any interested parties...)

22 days of school left!!!
26 days until i come home to ohio for a nice summer vacation!

happy mother's day mom good and mom edwards!!!!
i love you!!!

yes!
the weekend!
matt and i have had a fun week together.
on wednesday we rode our bikes to the OB farmer's market and bought fresh vegetables, which i stuffed in my little hawaiian backpack (that mary brought back for me from a cali trip, i believe). then we got dinner from some of the vendors there and walked down to the beach to eat it.
then thursday we took a longer bike ride (about 7 miles) over to mission bay area, which was quiet and peaceful.
today we're planning on going up to encinitas to get in a surf session. i'm going to give it another go. swimming in encinitas usually freaks me out because of the amount of kelp and seaweed (it brushes against one's legs and feels like jellyfish tentacles before the fact that you've been stung actually registers the pain to your brain). but i'll be safe and sound in my wetsuit. that is, if i decide to get my lazy self off the sand and into the water. we shall see....

tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice, so yet another weekend of not getting the kitchen painted. oh well...

the physical therapist says i can run, as long as i don't overdo it. and i've been doing the stretches and strengthening exercises she gave me daily and my knees really do feel better. so now i am in triathlon mindset. mare and i are doing a triathlon on october 3rd here in san diego. any other takers? it will be a 500 meter swim, 15k bike, 5k run. here's the web site if you want more info: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1092373

and then tonight---snow patrol!!! can't wait!!!!

welp, i must do some grocery shopping--we have no food in this house!!!!
24 more days of school left! or in mary's 24 hour day converted system = 6.5 more days of school left, if worked hour upon hour.
have a great weekend everyone!