Image & Word

I received the most beautiful book in the mail yesterday. It was sent from my Aunt Deb that lives in Boulder, Colorado. It is titled "The Luminous Buddha: Image & Word" with Photography and Compilation by Deborah Bowman.

When I opened the book and read the forward , I felt as though my Aunt had written this book just for me to arrive in my hands at just that moment.

"Open this book when you need a moment of rest and clarity.

Each page offers an opportunity to create a mindful gap

between the jumble of worry and fear." -Dzogehen Ponlop Rinpoche

I've been a bit of a jumble lately and was needing a mindful gap!

http://luminousbuddha.com

A little Technology and a bit of Training

It's a funny thing knowing that this blog is sitting here waiting for me. Over the past few days I have had several silly inspirations for topics. The only kicker is actually sitting down and putting my thoughts into words. I find myself today at the Classic Bean, the local coffee shop eatery that has cheap PBJ's on wheat and free internet! I never thought that would be the combo that got me excited. A few things that I have been up to lately involve technology and training for Ironman Arizona.

A couple of months ago I realized it was time for me to get a real cell phone. My husband and I have been getting away with a pay-as-you-go Tracfone for quite a while as neither of us are 'talkers'. Recently starting my own business changed that in a HUGE way! I never knew I had that much talking in me, or as I recently discovered, via dwindling minutes not even half way through the month, that Jeff was a talker too. We both now have cute little Blackberry's which in order to afford, we cancelled our landlines. I had heard others talk about horrendous cell phone bills and trying to make the most of precious minutes. I never wanted to join that club. We'll, I am now an official card carrying member! With over half the month left and little time left until the .40 per minute started, the panic led me to an amazing discovery...SKYPE!!! I know...I know, I am probably a little behind the times in this find, but I see it as my salvation. I signed up for SkypePro and now I can call any # for FREE. OK, there is that $3 a month charge but compared to .40 per minute, that means FREE in my book. It is soooo fun! I can call anybody and set up conference calls without the worry of racking up the charges. As long as I am with my computer and on-line I am good to go. If I can keep the calls on my cell limited (and I get Jeff to do the same) we just might not break the bank with this months cell bill.

My second discovery (again a little behind the times) was YouTube! I had a 6.5+ hour workout in my basement on Saturday of which 5.5 were on my bike. My mom had been telling me about all the YouTube Ironman posts (she is obviously much more hip than I am). Since I was all set up on the Computrainer staring at my laptop anyway, I plugged in YouTube and started watching. WOW...I was so inspired and entertained as well as terrified by all the Ironman journey's chronicled on the web for anyone to replay. I did not do the best job of holding my steady 110-120 watts. I would find myself caught up in the videos and riding along with these other amazing athletes that have gone somewhere that I hope to go. Sorry coach, I just spiked the watts for a little while, I swear!

An Entry from the Yummy Files...

Oh My Gosh! I don't know if it was because I ran 20 miles starting at 4:45am this morning and my taste buds were delirious for something...anything...even semi quasi delicious this afternoon before I hit the pool, but I hit on an amazing combo!


Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie
+ 2 Tbsp

Hodgson Mills Wheat Germ with Cinnamon and Milled Flax Seed

= Heaven!!!!


I'm telling you, it was just like there was that ubber wonderful graham cracker crust mingling perfectly with the utterly creamy lusciousness of the Boston Cream Pie!!!!!!

Why did they have to make those darn Yoplaits so itty bitty dinky small?!?!?!?!?! Not only are you not even close to wanting to stop when you're scraping the sides, but it's just plain dangerous to even try to lick the last of it off the edges!

My very first blog!

I made a stop at my parent's house in Lawrence today. I was on my way home to Topeka and was hungry. My Mom was outside in their new backyard envisioning what Spring would bring. The first thing she said to me was 'You must start a blog!' She has been reading the blogs of my fellow Camp HTFUer's. Camp HTFU was held Feb 28 - March 2 in Greenville, SC. I still can't believe that I was able to take part in such an epic, amazing and totally incredible event. I was the only non-blogger in the group and felt more than a little intimidated by that fact. The only thing I could really contribute was a little bit of blog fodder for the others to write about. My Mom's main concern was that I would lose touch with my new friends and miss out on any future HTFU happenings. That struck some fear in me. So here I am, staying up way too late before a 3 hour run tomorrow morning, hunt and pecking the keyboard to create my first blog.

I just want to shout out a great big Hi!!!!! to Liz and Jen and Mary and Marit and Ashley!!!!!!! Thank you all so much for not only waiting up for me after I got dropped (I was the oldest one after all...but sheeesh, I've never felt the need to use that excuse before!) but also letting me be a part of something Legendary! I learned so much from all of you and came back home to Kansas a different and better person and athlete.

:-)