It's a Wonderful Life

It's been a slightly odd but entirely wonderful summer. This past weekend I drove up to Lexington to spend some time with the family and compete in a triathlon with my brother and sister. We entered as a team- Tim swam, I cycled, and Kirstin ran. Despite the fact that Tim had never done a competitive open water swim, I had never entered a cycling race, and Kirstin sprained her ankle quite badly twice in the week leading up to the event, we were able to hold our own and put out a fairly descent performance while having a TON of fun. We placed third in the team division and each received a medal- the first for the triathlon collection. :) We've already started talking about next year and whether or not we want to enter individually or as a team again. The event was extraordinarily well run. I was impressed. Volunteers were all over the place in their highlighter yellow shirts. The running/cycling routes were well marked. Police officers stopped traffic at our two major road crossings. Families lined all other intersections to cheer us on and keep us on the right path. It was a wonderful experience and one I would definitely like to repeat! (Pictures to follow.)

While spending the weekend with the family I was reminded of several things. As a family I believe we do love, laughter, encouragement, support, and the concept of family rather well (among several other things). We're not perfect, but it's a pretty great bunch of people to be stuck with for life, let me tell you. I love them. A whole bunch.

In other news, rumor has it that my humble little orange classroom will be receiving a major upgrade shortly. A SMARTBOARD! If you don't know what a smartboard is, educate yourself. http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-us/products/ Think interactive whiteboard. They are simply amazing and I am beyond excited to have the chance to incorporate it into my classes this year.

I'm preparing to depart for home and IN within the next few days. Tomorrow is the last student day for summer school. Friday morning is a teacher workday. Real school begins in less than 2 weeks. Now that is simply crazy. CRAZY I tell you.

I've got the itch for competition again... don't be surprised to hear rumors about 5k races or the like in the future...