Monday Rundown

I type this as we are all getting "our wits about us" (a favorite phrase of my Mom's), and thinking about heading home to Maryland tonight. Our trip to Florida has been awesome, but I will post more later when I have good pics. I will share a pic of our house in Maryland and one of the orange tree at my Grandparents' house (fresh juice every morning)....you decide where you would rather be! We are very thankful to have missed the 12-hour commutes and power outages that the storm brought!




Rest in Peace, Woody:While on vacation (my sister was with us while her husband stayed back for work), we found out that her beloved horse Woody died. He was 30 (old in horse years), and getting thin, but my Mom rode him Tuesday evening and he was fine. When she went out Wednesday morning to feed him, he was laying down "asleep". I told my sister that after years of working with sick humans, creatures seem to have some semblance of control over when they go. I'm sure he waited until she was out of town so that she wouldn't find him. He also wanted to get the heck out of dodge before the snow came...because animals know such things. He was a great horse and will be missed.

Mere and Woody

Girls Rule
After the downer portion of my post, I have to share a little humor. We have gotten into a battle of the sexes in our family, often beginning with the statement "Girls rule, boys drool." This is sometimes reversed, or sometimes becomes "Kids rule, parents drool." It always makes us laugh. The retirement park where my grandparents live in Florida has a bath house of sorts (they have showers but not big hot water tanks at their house). The other day, the girls were in one bathroom and the boys in the other, with conversation trickling through the ducts. So my daughter and I counted to three and yelled "Girls Rule, Boys Drool!". The next thing you hear is my 4 1/2 year old son yelling "I don't hear anything. Daddy, do you hear anything?". We decided to take it to the next level. The bathrooms have a lock on the inside and one on the outside. I told my daughter to get dressed quickly, and then we locked the boys in their bathroom. Of course I was waiting there to open the door before Tommy busted it down, and then the girls ran like crazy, laughing all the way. Anyone over the age of 8 would think this was a stupid prank, but I've decided it is awesome mother-daughter and father-son bonding. As long as it isn't spiteful, a little teasing and a lot of laughter makes our family that much better.

Editorial note: my husband walked by as I was typing this and made some mumbled comment about girls vs boys....he is just mad that we got him! ;)

Training:
Since this is my triathlon blog and I haven't mentioned anything triathlon related yet, a quick update. I ran 6 miles the other day and am slowly working myself back up. It feels incredible. (Not to mention running in shorts and a T-shirt). I can't wait to get back in the pool now that my sinus infection is clearing and seriously gear up for 2011. I actually feel like I can start planning for the season now. Look for a Team Trakkers post soon!