It's not often that an XC mountain bike race comes to the Triangle area. We've got a few 6 and 12 hour endurance races, but no "real" XC races ever since Devil's Ridge was clear-cut out of the Cane Creek Cup series. And by "real", I mean Norba/USA Cycling sanctioned. No disrespect to Happy Fun Racing's non-sanctioned Huck-a-Buck at Crabtree held every July since forever, which I've never raced for numerous dumb reasons. One day I'll race it...when it doesn't coincide with an open water swim in SC, which is my dumb reason for 2007.
So even though I'm totally out of shape and fat, (yes, I said it: "fat". What else do you call an extra 15 pounds on my 5 foot 8 frame?) I decided I would do the Race at the Reactor XC race on the Hog Run trail system at Harris Lake County Park. My only reasons for doing the race would be 1.) for fun, 2.) to support a local race, and 3.) to be an extra body in the expert women class, so that the other expert women could easily check me off in their mind as a possible contender for the top spot.
Now, since I've spent most of this year (from early April until just 2 weeks ago) in pain from a herniated disc somewhere in my lumbar spine. In addition to the herniated disc, I also had this strange pain in my SI joint which prevented me from being able to stretch my leg out flat, and keep my pelvis straight at the same time. At some points during this injury, I would flat out grab a HANDFUL of my own ass and wince in pain, grit my teeth, holding my breath for 15 seconds or more, waiting for the sciatic pain to go away. Needless to say, I didn't much feel like sitting on a bike and pedaling. When I would muster up the strength to ride, I would ride the ATT, or Crabtree, or just ride to work, all really slow. On average, I was riding once every 2 weeks. That's pretty much like not riding at all.
So now that my pain seems to have gone away, and I can stretch my leg out straight without tilting my pelvis a funky way, I want to get back on the bike. What better way to get my ass in gear than to attend a race? Yeah, that's what I thought.
So I'm all smiles before the race:
Despite the heat we've been having, I'm extremely hydrated, which is usually a very hard thing for me to achieve in August. I'm all smiles because I had just learned that I would be racing with the Sport class women, since I was the only Expert woman there. Experts were supposed to race 3 laps, and Sports, 2. So I was pretty jazzed, since being out of shape means going slower, and I really didn't want to do 21 miles of slowness.
Here I am with the 5 sport women. The woman to the right of me in the picture is Kim, a friend and riding buddy of mine. The other women to the left of me is Jill, who I've raced with before and she is very strong, especially in 6 hour races. The other women were new to me and new to the racing scene, I guess.
When the race started, I shot out like a rocket like I normally do at the start of all races. That's one thing I can still be good at even though I'm fat and out of shape! Hole shot into the singletrack! I kept my lead until the lactic acid started eeking into my brain, which didn't take long (about 10 seconds of singletrack). After that, I let all 5 of them pass me by.
I hung on to the back of the pack for as long as I could, which was like 5 minutes. Sad :(
After that, I slowed way down, got my heart rate into a comfy 165-170 zone and started to enjoy the trail. Wheee! The whoop-de-doo's sure were fun! Here's a pic of me on the upside of the big whoop on the advanced section of the trail:
I got kind of bored riding by myself, so I decided to take breaks all along the rest of the race. I stopped to see if riders who had crashed were okay, and to ask that guy "Type1 Rider" if his blood sugar was okay. I also stopped to pee, which was further proof that I was very well hydrated. I was so bored that I even started singing to myself "99 bottles of beer on the wall". I went through the song twice, then sang it a 3rd time, but changing the lyrics so that it was "bottles of Gatorade" instead of beer.
Finally I finished, and boy was I happy! Here I am sponging off the dirt and sweat and general icky-ness:
So even though I was only the expert woman, and I came in last place out of the combined sport/expert women, I won some money. Here I am at the awards presentation:
And here I am flashing my award money. Rob and I had a great lunch at Ocean Stars seafood restaurant after the race. My thanks go out to the race promoters (Middle Ring Cycles and CSH) and to everyone who raced and made it fun. Maybe next time I race, I'll be more in shape and competitive!
Lifeguarding today was a real drag. A total of 4 people came in during my shift to swim. I guess the early morning thunderstorms scared people off. Speaking of the storm, holy smokes, that was a big one that passed by this morning! It woke me up 5 minutes before my alarm clock was scheduled to go off - and my first thought was "Dangit! Now I can't ride my bike to work!" Oh well, I can ride later today.
So after I get off work, I stop by Ghetto Food Lion to pick up a few items. The usual stuff, like yogurt, fruit, tortillas, salad, flavored coffee creamer. In addition to the usual things, I picked up some stuff for the 2nd annual DAMA end-of-summer BBQ that's happening the day after tomorrow. I volunteered to bring the plates, utensils, cups and napkins. While exiting the last aisle after getting the picnic supplies, I push my cart right past a special display of Twinkies. Now, normally, I would just push on by without stopping to look because Twinkies aren't exactly a favorite snack of mine or anything. But there was a special word in that display that caught my eye:Banana. Oh Lord, give me the strength to resist things I know I shouldn't stuff down my pie-hole, the courage to walk away from Banana-flavored "foods", and the wisdom to make the right choice between artificial "food" and real, healthy, good-for-me foods.
Dangit, I can't resist, so I buy a package of special Banana-Creme Filled Twinkies. Plus, it was on sale, and those of you who know me, you know I can't resist something on sale!
I save the Twinkies for my breakfast dessert. My real breakfast is a yogurt/fruit smoothie, which is something I've been making for myself every day for the past week and a half. Today I blended blueberry yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, a banana and soy milk together for my creation. It was excellent.
So I drink my smoothie and unwrap my banana-flavor-filled-golden-cakes so they can get some air. Poor things have been trapped in that plastic wrapping for God-knows-how-long. Okay, maybe not that long, since it's a special flavor variety. I rub my finger over the top of one and I notice just how greasy they feel. Eeew. Why am I going to eat this again? Oh yeah, because it's banana-flavored, and I can't resist things that are banana-flavored.
Banana Nut Crunch cereal, Banana Moon Pie, Banana pudding, banana bread, banana-nut shake from Cook-Out, banana-and-creme flavored Quaker instant oatmeal, banana-nut flavored cream cheese, banana-flavored milk from Nesquik...holy smokes, this list could go on and on and on!
So I ready my taste buds for a banana-out-of-this-world taste explosion. Open mouth, insert Twinkie, chomp down, banana-flavored goo squishes out and I'm in heaven. Ahhh! Ain't life grand?
Gunnie is watching me the whole time, practically drooling. Check her out:
It was totally worth it. I shall never again eat Twinkies, at least in the next 3 years, unless someone offers me one of the lead contestant spots at a banana-flavored Twinkie eating contest. Which I would probably win. But I don't think I'd wanna see my eating contest results after I puke them up. That reminds me of a sort-of-eating-contest/run held every year in downtown Raleigh. The Krispy Kreme Challenge:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krispy_Kreme_Challenge
Maybe I could make my own crazy athletic/eating contest combo, and do it with a banana flavored treat like Twinkies, or Moon Pies. Hmmm, I'm thinking: bike race around the Duke Cross Country loop, do 2 laps, eat a dozen Twinkies, then do 2 more laps to finish.
So the summer is winding down towards the start of school here next week...and so goes the winding down of the private swim lessons I teach at the Duke Faculty Club pool.
I had my last lesson today with Harry (11) and Jennifer (9), who've been great. I've had them once a week for about 10 weeks. I've taught them just about everything you can for their skill level and age. It was very rewarding today to see Harry execute a pretty good breaststroke open turn, and to see Jennifer finally do a standing dive where she keeps her chin down and her toes be the last thing that enters the water. Their mom, Jin, is very nice. Almost every week after our lessons were over, she'd invite me to go to the snack bar with them and she'd buy me whatever I wanted to eat. The first time she offered, I declined, saying, "oh, no, you don't have to do that for me. I'm planning to eat at home anyway when I go home." But she wouldn't take no for an answer, so I gave in.
So today before our lesson starts, Harry and Jennifer tell me that they have something for me and that I should turn around and close my eyes while they get it ready. When I turn around, they have a big flower bundle and a bottle of wine for me. Very sweet. So I make a big deal out of it and thank them for thinking of me. They were a little wilted from the 98 degree heat outside, so I ran into the office to keep them cool.
Here they are in a vase sitting on my kitchen counter. I so rarely have live flowers in my house that I must blog this!
We're having a glass of the wine they bought, and it's really good. It's something called Buenas Ondas Malbec/Syrah, from the San Juan area of Argentina. Yum.
That's all for now. Oh wait, my bug bites are still killing me. I think we've come to the conclusion that the bugs that bit us are called chiggers. And apparently we're supposed to smear paint thinner onto the bites and it heals them. ??? I'm not sure if I'm gonna try that...sounds kinda sketch.
But I have the worst case of itch-itis from whatever it was that bit me on my Eno River hike on Saturday! The first thing I did this morning, even before scratching the crust out of the corners of my eyes, was slather a palm-full of Benadryl gel all over my body. Ahhh, now that's how you spell relief! Then I went about my day, scratching the crud out of my eyes, putting in my contacts and only then realizing, owww, Diphenhydramine Hydrocholoride Topical Analgesic doesn't mix well into eyes. D'oh!
I hope the chlorine in the pool makes it feel better. If not, I guess I'll try soaking in a tub full of Aveeno colloidal oatmeal stuff.
Once upon a time, maybe a year or so ago, Rob treated me to a pedicure. Up until that point, I think I could've counted how many times in my life I'd painted my toes, on my umm, toes. I'm just not a girly-girl, therefore, I don't go to get girly-girl things done to myself, like this.
Anyway, Rob came with me to the pedicure place and sat next to me in the vibrating chair and watched TV while I relaxed and turned my feet pretty. I remember telling Rob that someday I'd treat him to a pedicure (sans nail polish, of course) because he'd love it. If you've ever seen Rob's feet, you'd know that they're pretty yucky, and yes, if I were a pedicurist (is that their job title?), I'd be doing Rob's feet and thinking, ugh, my job sucks sometimes!
I don't mean to sound snotty, so let me explain this a little bit different. I think most men do not care much about their feet, and the look and feel of them suffers, gets crusty and calloused. Rob's feet are so calloused that he can walk on 130 degree beach sand without wincing. And for as long as I've known Rob, I think I've only seen him use real clippers to trim his toenails maybe 5 times. He prefers to tear them off, which I just shudder at when I see.
All this talk reminds me of that one Eddie Murphy movie, Boomerang, where he judges the women he sleeps with as a "keeper" if, in the morning, when he pulls the sheets off to expose her toes, a beautiful, pedicured set is revealed. I think that Sally Hansen, OPI, and other beauty companies that manufacture nail polish should try a new spin on selling product, and expanding their client-base. They should market "manly" colors and produce TV commercials that are similar-but-opposite to the Boomerang movie, where it shows a man lying in bed with a beautiful woman, and maybe they could have those little Pop-ups (ala VH1's Pop-Up Video) where it shows what the man is thinking. It could be like "Wow, she is amazing. We had such a connection. I think she could turn out to be the woman I marry." Then the woman pulls the sheets off the bottom to reveal his toes, and it shows them all crusty and gross. Then the woman storms off, thinking to herself in those Pop-ups, "How disgusting! I can't believe I let those feet touch mine last night! I'm going home to soak in epsom salts and I'm never calling him again!" Then the commercial could flash - Got Crust-itis on your feet? Take care of it with Sally Hansen's Pedicure For-Men-Only brand, available at CVS and Rite-Aid nationwide. Clever idea, huh? That's it, I'm quitting coaching....
Anyway, back to my story: I decided to treat Rob to a pedicure yesterday. We spent the afternoon together hiking on trails near the Eno River, then swimming in a small hole that looked really gross, but once we got in, we realized it was great! It was a little dirty, but it's rare to find open water out here that's not dirty, so whatever...it was surprisingly cool, given how many days above 100 degrees we've had in the past 2 weeks. Here I am checking out the water, while Rob was still on the trail, deciding whether or not he wanted to get in:
After the swim, we drove through Cook-Out and got a pre-dinner snack that was really like lunch, since we'd missed lunch altogether by hiking. I had told Rob that I had a surprise in store for him, and he kept trying to guess what it was, but I wasn't letting him. I had him drive down Roxboro Street, turn into the Wal-Mart shopping center, then directed him around to the end where the nail salon was, right next door to a Subway. Rob said, Subway...but we just ate? I said, nope, I'm treating your feet (and mine) to a pedicure, c'mon!
So we walk in and request 2 pedicures. There's a couple of women getting their nails done and they look at us. I ask one woman, "men can get pedicures, right?" and she said oh yeah, her boyfriend had gotten one a couple years ago and he loved it! I think this comment may have made Rob feel more comfortable. While the owners of the salon are busy cleaning out the tubs where you soak your feet, I'm picking out my toenail color and Rob picks up a TigerDirect.com catalog. They call us over and we sit and soak our feet for a while. Ahhhh.
They did everything for Rob that they'd do for me during a pedicure, except for the nail polish. I really think they should reduce the price a bit for a man-pedicure, but eh, who am I to argue about cost-to-value ratios with a little, old Asian man who doesn't speak English all that well and who works hard for his money? By the way, we paid $22 each for this 30 minute relaxing and beautifying treatment.
Rob's feet responded to the lavish attention by turning bright red - I wish I'd brought the camera inside so I could've snapped a picture for you all to see. When we were finished, I asked Rob how he liked it and he said it was real nice. But I doubt that when Rob goes back to work on Monday morning, when his co-workers ask him what he did over the weekend, that he'll say, my wife and I got pedicures!
Afterwards, we went home to shower off the gunk stuck to our skin from the Eno River. I gave Rob a haircut, too. Then we went to Kyle and Jess's housewarming party. We arrived 3.5 hours late, oops. By the time we got there, the only people left were Kyle, Jess and Jason. It was a fun way to spend an evening, though.
Now, to start Sunday, I'm heading to church, where I haven't shown my presence there since the month of May. I'm taking my bike with me, too, and hopefully I'll feel like riding my bike somewhere afterwards.
Well that was fun! I scored some free tickets to tonight's game against the Charlotte Knights thanks to Gretchen. They were cool tickets, too. They were in the picnic section out in right field. They had hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, beans, the works. Normally these would cost us $20 per person, so for us to have a fun night that ended up only costing us $3 for parking and the half-gallon of gas we burned in getting there, that's a pretty cheap night.
After we ate the free food, we found much more comfortable seats out in center field, 3rd row back, right next to the lawn seating (which never seems to be open every time we go - what gives?) There were some goofy high school or early college-aged kids sitting in front of us who were fairly funny most of the game, heckling the center fielder from Charlotte all night. He was some nobody dude who probably just moved up from double-A, and he got his first RBI in the 4th inning. Those guys were having a ball of a time "congratulating" him on his achievement. Sort of mean, but it proved okay with us since the first 6 innings of the game were a snooze fest. In the 7th inning, some newer Bull hit a nice one out of the park, and Rob of course went to retrieve it. We had just been talking right before that about how neither of us had ever gotten a ball at any of the baseball games we've been to. So when we heard the crack of the bat and saw it flying out into the lawn seating area, Rob hops up and leaps over the fence in one fell swoop and runs about 50 yards to get it. Some of the annoying boys got up to fancy the idea of trying to get it, but "old man" Rob beat them to it.
Here's a pic of Rob as he's coming back from getting it. Look at how boyishly happy he looks!
Then, during the 7th inning stretch, we were featured on the jumbo-tron screen for about 3 seconds - yah! Sorry, no pic of that!
Here's another pic of Rob with his "lucky" baseball - if you can't read the writing on the ball, it says "Official Ball International League". Some of the annoying guys joked that he could put up for sale on craigslist and could probably get about 64 cents for it!
That's all for now. It's late and I'm tired. I better get some sleep before I coach tomorrow's big breaststroke workout.
Yesterday I went to Lake Gaston with a handful of my swimmers, and a couple from the other local teams. There was a 1-mile open water swim called "The Crossing" that we participated in, and afterwards, we went to Bill Kerns' lake house, for lunch and fun on the lake.
Here's the link to the swim race info: http://www.lakegastonchamber.com/Text_files/THECROSSING2007info.pdf
Notice the part that says There will be prizes for the first male and female out of the water, and the most outrageous entry. Since I'm so, umm, not fast, I figured it'd be fun to have a little fun and try to win the most outrageous competition.
So I borrowed a 6-foot long inflatable killer whale that belongs to the Duke Faculty Club pool. It barely fit in the back of my truck! Then I did a little shopping at Party City and picked up some fish accessories: a clown fish pinata, a pack of 3 small inflatable fish and this gooey, super-stretchy thing called an "inside-out ball".
Later I realized I could wear the inside-out ball, pulled over my head like a swim cap! Sweet! Here's Rob wearing the ball:
On Friday night, Rob helped me put everything together into my costume which I decided to call Shark Bait. I used my triathlon belt to secure the clown fish to my back, and also to attach the rope with which I towed the killer whale behind me. Then we used string and zip ties to attach the small inflatable fish to the straps on my suit and on the back of my inside-out ball/swim cap. Here's a pic of me on the kitchen floor, modeling the clown fish attachment.
As you can see, I had to put cellophane on the clown fish pinata. I couldn't find any packing tape in the house, so I just used scotch tape. I hoped it'd work okay once I got in the water.
So Saturday morning rolls around and I'm awake at 5:45, which is an hour earlier than my normal Saturday routine, but I don't mind, as I'm excited about the swim and the fun we're going to have later. Joe, Derek and Mark Smith meet at my house and we carpool to the lake, which is a surprisingly easy 70 minute drive. I register and then get my costume ready. Once I'm ready, I take myself down to the start area and everyone is pointing, gasping Oh my! Look at that lady! Random people I don't even know were taking my picture, including 3 people from local area newspapers. Everyone agrees that I'll win the most outrageous entry. Here I am modeling my costume for the newspaper dudes:
We have to go off in 4 different heats, since the dock was really small. I waited to go off on the last heat. Going along with me was Sonia, her husband Dmitri, Josh, Mark Smith and about 10 others. During the short boat ride over to the dock, an older man sitting across from me joked that he'd use my killer whale inflatable if "he got into trouble on the swim". I smiled politely at his comment, not thinking anything of it. I had asked Heidi's friend's wife to videotape me during the beginning of the swim, as I was curious to see how dorky I looked dragging around a big killer whale behind me. It did look pretty funny!
So at the start, we jump in and we all start swimming, except for me. I felt my pinata fall off my back (it was only secured by this bungee cord net thing), so I went to retrieve it and it took me about 5 seconds to come to the conclusion that I would just hold the fish during the whole swim. I didn't want to leave it because it was part of my costume, and by dumping part of it at the beginning, it would show that I was more interested in swimming than I was in winning the outrageous costume award. So I grab my fish and start kicking, hoping to think of a way to swim while holding the fish. My thoughts are distracted by the older fellow who made that comment about trouble on the boat -- as he is flailing his arms and yelling out "Help!". I'm thinking, holy crap, this guy is freaking going to drown! I swim over to him and help push him towards the starting dock. Once I realize he's going to be okay, I swim off, carrying my fish pinata in one hand, dragging an orca behind me.
I've got a video of this start/guy almost drowning/me swimming off with orca in tow....and I wish I could post it up for you all to see, but unfortunately it's just a tad too big to upload to YouTube. I need to remember to set the resolution on my camera a little lower next time.
I swim a combination of things - for the first half, I did 1-arm freestyle. I'd take 6-10 strokes with one arm, breathing every other, and thankfully not having to sight very often, as the bridge was on my right, and a bunch of Coast Guard and other boats on my left. Then I got tired of 1-arm Free, so I switch to 1-arm Brst with a flutter kick (can't do Brst kick as I'm wearing fins - dammit!), but that got tiring real fast. Then I notice that my cellophane-wrapped pinata is starting to get water logged, so I put it on my head and the bottom of it sort of molds to the shape of my head, and yeah! My hands and arms are finally free to swim a complete stroke cycle! After that point I did a mix of Tarzan-style Free, some Grandma-breaststroke, and some sidestroke with an awesome fin-assisted scissors kick! Near the end, the current became more of a bear, and the waves were choppy enough for me to swallow more than a few mouthfuls of water. I glanced at my watch near the end and I saw that I'd been swimming for 37 minutes - my heart dropped at that point and I kicked my swimming into high gear. 3 minutes later, I'm finishing, thank God! Here's a video of my finish, which is somewhat theatrical and comedic (listen to what the others are saying about me!)
I check in at the finish area, get my finisher t-shirt, and grab a bottle of water and some sugary Halloween-sized snacks. I completely forget about winning the most outrageous entry award until a little later when I ask Heidi if she got an award for first female finisher (I think she was, not sure?) and she said she didn't see any awards being handed out. Oh well, I figure I don't care to press the issue -- I had fun swimming it, and that's all that really matters, right?
Afterwards, we go to Food Lion to grab some side dishes and beer to share for lunch. I park next to one of those awful 3-foot tall poles you see in some parking lots that help "safeguard" the shopping cart corral area. Well wouldn't you know it, as I'm backing out of the spot, I turn my wheel to avoid hitting the car parked behind me (it was a small lot), and I hear "Screeeech, bong, bonk!" Oh crap! Joe's laughing and saying "I knew you were going to do that!" We get out to inspect the damage, and thankfully it's not much. No dent, no paint missing, just a light rubbing of black rubbery stuff that can be buffed out later. Whew! I really didn't want to dent or scratch my new truck!
So we eat hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled to perfection by Bill. I love what his shirt says. Check it out:
Here's a pic of most everyone that was there for lunch (missing Erik, his wife and baby girl):
After lunch, it was time to hit the lake on the boat, the jet ski, and to lounge in the float that Bill calls "Party Island". We all took turns getting pulled on this huge float thing. My arms, tired from the swim earlier, could only take so much during this pull. We were pulled along at about 25mph, hitting wake and screaming and laughing the whole time. Here's a pic of me, Heidi and Dawn on the ride:
I took a jet ski ride with Dmitri and we hit speeds of 40mph - funny how speed on water seems so much faster than on land by car or bike! Other highlights of the day included me getting a chance to drive the boat (a feat I've never attempted, nor have I wanted to do before),
a quick 10 minute nap by myself in Party Island while everyone else was out water skiing (something I know I'm not good at, nor did I want to try for fear of falling down and further escalating my herniated disc in my low back!), a full tour of Bill's house (it has 6 bedrooms!), and a pull on another crazy float called "Wild Thing - Ski Trix". The ski trix thing was brutal! I'd love to be able to hang on for longer, but I think I need to build up some more upper body strength before I attempt it again. Here's a video of me being pulled in the Ski Trix torture tube:
The lake was great! And I think everyone who attended the swim and the fun afterwards had a great time. Here's a few more pics of the day.
and one final picture of the lake view from Bill's house. The bridge is visible, as is the other side of the Lake. Even though it doesn't really look like it, that's the mile length we all swam. We hope to make this an annual event, and maybe even try to get the organizers to join forces with us as we make this an official US Masters Swimming sanctioned event!
It was so nice to see Elizabeth Nowak, Erik Crankshaw, Martha and David(?) from the THAT Masters team, and Billy Su from RAM. It was great to finally meet Sonia's husband Dmitri, who didn't seem as socially reclusive as Sonia had led us to believe! Many thanks to Bill Kerns, again, for inviting us and for letting us know about the swim in the first place! I speak for Derek, Joe, Mark Smith, Dawn, Heidi, Karen, Josh, and myself when I say "THANKS Bill! You were a great host! Invite us over ANY time!"
I figured I should start a blog as a way to keep my activities up-to-date for all of my family and friends, and for myself, too. Sometimes I feel like I have such a boring, mundane life...you know, working Monday-Saturday, week in and week out. I mean, it's August already and I feel like I haven't done many fun things yet this year. But it's not because I haven't done anything fun this year, because I have, but I think I just don't remember them as they're already stored away in the long-term memory section of my brain. Just a couple years ago, I used to be able to ramble off a list of 20 or more major fun things that I did in the previous 12 months. I could describe things like how hot/cold it was, what we ate and how it tasted, the exact thing I was doing at 8:07pm on a particular day...you get the idea. But now it's different.
Maybe I do too much to remember it all now. Maybe that's what happens to you when you're finally all grown up. Or maybe I'm forgetting all this stuff from chlorine build-up in my brain -- maybe I should wash my hair more often. It may turn my hair kind of green and gross after a few days of back-to-back teaching days, but who knows, maybe it's seeping into brain and causing short-term memory loss. For example, a few weeks ago, I was reminiscing about our trip to Holden Beach, and I had to ask Rob, "When did we go to Holden Beach, and why?" Rob looked at me like I was crazy. We went on Memorial Day weekend and we went because we wanted to try out the pop-up tent trailer. Oh yeah! Now I remember. But really, if Rob hadn't told me, I would still be sitting here wondering when and why we went to Holden Beach.
So my goal is to post up my activities here, to let my descriptions be chock full of pictures and videos, for the enjoyment of my friends and family. I look forward to being able to reminisce about fun times by scrolling through my blog, without having to ask dumb questions to my husband, who gets them way too often at his job anyway.
