The Story of the Smart Phone

About a month ago, my husband came home and told me that his cell phone was about dead and he would buy me that iPhone I had been pining for if I would give him my phone. Or, he suggested, if I really wanted to keep my current phone, he would just buy a tuffy type phone so he could be harder on it without concerns of breaking it.

In all honesty, the first time he told me this, I did not even believe him………at least that he would buy me a smart phone anyway.

After he mentioned it again, I got to thinking that Ramone’s phone is a total POS so maybe we could give my phone to her and I could buy my husband a tuffy phone and me an iPhone. Everyone is happy that way and this would save him some money up front. I was willing to pay for the phones since he pays the monthly operational charges.

He wasn’t real excited by my new plan so we stewed on it all a bit longer and in the meantime, Ramone got a new phone for free by having her dad renew her contract. She was thrilled with her new phone that has a touch screen instead of a number pad; not a smart phone but still very cool.

So now I was back to looking at phones for me. I considered my options and started thinking I really only need a phone for phone calls, since I spend every day at work parked in front of a computer with lightening fast internet, so it is just a waste of money to pay an extra $30 a month for a smart phone. I went home and told my husband I was not really dying for an iPhone despite my previous comments. That I was really just whining because everyone around me had one and I was feeling left out. But did I really need one? No. Did I REALLY want one? Not enough to pay $360 more a year for it.

Again, the subject was shelved for a while. Then one day, my husband did not get some groceries or something and then later wanted me to pick them up. I am convinced he does this systematically to save himself some money because, really, we have our own accounts and we don’t actually “share” our money. We have things split up like he pays for groceries and utilities and I make the house payment. So, every time he can trick me in to buying groceries, it results in more money still in his checking account. Then I started thinking about the phone again and how he would be paying the extra $360 per year, not me. Maybe it would make me feel less used when I pick up that extra mid week load of groceries if he were paying for my fancy smancy smart phone.

Fine, I DO want a smart phone; now to decide on which one. We currently use AT&T and we need to stick with them so I only looked at what they had to offer and it boiled down to two choices: The iPhone from Apple or the Android equivalent which is the Samsung Captivate. It was a tossup for me and finally my husband told me he would rather not buy an Apple product so I declared….”I want the Samsung Captivate!”
We went and picked it up last weekend. I still could not believe he was being so nice and generous by buying me this $200 telephone. It is just not like him to put forth any effort or money for anything that does not benefit him directly. (I am still wondering what his real angle is????)

Then, 3 days after I got my new phone, his secretary and I had a brief conversation and I marveled out loud about how generous my husband had been for buying me the phone. She replied that he had told the office that I MADE him buy it for me. When I heard this I wasn’t surprised, in fact, it is totally what I should have expected. He has a tendency to want to make himself out to be a martyr; a non selfish person despite the fact that he really is a VERY self centered soul. But to do it at my expense made me rather angry. I mean really, how does that make me look to his office mates?

So, now the shiny joy of receiving this selfless phone from my husband for my birthday has been replaced by the gnawing feeling that everyone at his office thinks I’m one of those demanding selfish, bitchy, wives who manipulates her husband into doing everything her way.

Sigh.

Breath Deep

Today my husband was called into work all day so I was left home, alone with a crabby, oppositional toddler and a new phone that is super cool yet frustrating the hell out of me. In the long run the phone will be great but the learning curve is killing me. This phone is very different from my old one.

For some reason I was very short on patience all day. I wondered if it was just stress from the phone, but I really don’t think that was it. I am also very tired from the big bike outing so that may be contributing to my feeling irritable. Deep down inside I suspect it is just feeling trapped in this house with a toddler and nowhere to go and nothing to do and feeling lonely, depressed, bored.

Also, a super sad event happened today……some wild animal snuck up out of the woods and took one of our chickens for dinner. We found a pile of feathers where a struggle had occurred and our poor little Rhode Island Red is gone. I am really sad at the loss of one of our sweet little hens and more importantly, I am worried that the wild critter will come back for another meal now that he knows how yummy our fat, happy chickens are.

Biking Date & Birthday Present

A month ago I signed me and the husband up to do a fund rasier bike ride together......like a real couple, you know, doing things TOGETHER. I was really looking forward to this and it was well timed given the depressing day I had yesterday.

So, this morning we had Ramone keep the Bean and we headed out with our bicycles. The ride started promptly at 7:30 and we stuck towards the front and drafted in with the fast guys. It sure is fun to ride in a pack when you know what you’re doing. You can really go faster than you ever imagined.

Around mile 8 my husband got a flat. I started to stop with him but he told me to stay with the group and he would catch up. So I did, knowing full well he would have a VERY hard time catching up because we were doing over 20 mph.....he was signing up for some suffering.

I stayed in the pack until around mile 15 when I just couldn’t keep it up anymore. I have only been on one really fast ride since Beanie was born so this was hard work for me. I dropped off the pack about the same time that an old friend named Clink did so we rode together until the next rest stop when my husband finally caught us.

After a quick stop, we hit the road again, with the husband pulling, I jumped on his wheel and we were speeding along again at about 20 mph. Clink jumped on too and we put the next 8 or 9 miles away really fast. Then the guys started yapping about doing brevets (super long bike rides) and I just listened. I was glad they slowed down a little because I needed to save a little for the end.

At the next turn off the boys headed down the hill and I did not. They were going to bike down to the river and then back up. It is a BIG, long hill that I have climbed before, but I knew I would just die if I did it now. I stopped at the rest stop and drank some Gatorade and ate a fig Newton while chatting with the nice boys manning the stop. I felt silly with big lumps in my back pockets because I had packed my own snacks forgetting this was a supported ride……duh.

After a 10 minute rest I got back on my bike and headed down the road at a leisurely pace. The plan was for my husband to catch back up again and for me to get some recovery time. As I rode I decided that if he didn’t catch me by the next rest stop I would wait for him. I cruised along at a comfortable speed. This part of the course is really hilly and I even passed a few good riders. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was doing.

When I got to the last rest stop I put my bike down, grabbed a drink and took my shoe off to rub out some soreness. I looked up and there was my husband already. I thought he would be farther behind but I was glad to see him. He told me he had flatted AGAIN on the way down the big hill so he changed his tire and just turned around. He said he thought he could catch me and we could ride together but instead he was right behind me the whole way back. Shoot!! I wish I would have known that I would have waited for him sooner.

We left the last rest stop and again I jumped on his wheel and we hammered out the last few miles back to the start for the complementary ice cream. On this section we saw a huge, 8 foot round, black trampoline out by the road stuck in the fence row. It had obviously blown there in the storm the night before. It was pretty impressive to see.

So my stats are: distance = 45 miles, average speed 17.1 mph. I was pretty happy with that since the route is pretty hilly in parts and I have not ridden more than 30 miles at a time since Bean was born!!

After the ride, we went home to find the girls in good shape and best of all…….Ramone had even been cleaning up behind the destructive little demon. I was soooo proud of Ramone.

Later in the day, my dear sweet husband and I went to the AT&T store and picked up my birthday present, a new smart phone, the Samsung Captivate. It is basically the same as an iphone, but it is from Google instead of Apple. I was excited to get it today so I can spend some time tomorrow getting it all figured out. Funniest thing; we could not figure out how to answer an incoming call with the darn thing, both of us poking it like mad and nothing happening. I finally I had to get on the internet and look it up. You have SLIDE the button, not tap it, to answer an incoming call. Sigh.

It Could be Worse.........

She could look like this!

And there she was looking SO happy!

Today, at work, I was bored so I decided to burn a few minutes looking at Runner's World online. I was just looking for something simple to read or look at.....something about running. On their home page down in the lower right hand corner there was a photo link so I picked it thinking it might be fun to see what was on there. The very first photo was someone named Jill. Now the Xboyfriend’s wife talks about her running buddy named Jill all the time so that was the first person I thought of when I saw the name Jill. I also assumed that there was NO way in hell that it could be the same Jill; I mean really, what are the odds. Then I read a little more to see she lives in Denver Colorado. Seriously? I guess it could be Jill. There was a link to her blog below her photo so of course I clicked in it. She had been a contributor to the RW magazine and that is why she was hooked up to their site. I clicked the blog and sure enough……..it IS the Xboyrfriend’s wife’s friend Jill!!! In fact, they had just done a half marathon in Idaho Springs so the top article was all about the race and it was littered with photos of Tara and her friends having a blast.

Seeing this made we want to cry. Ok, I did cry. I’ll tell you why it upset me…….because I want to live in a glamorous place like Denver and be near the mountains; because I want to have friends who are practically famous; because I want to have a more adventuresome life; because I want a husband that would support me if I wanted to train for a marathon. In short, I am jealous!

I still feel like she stole my life. I know it is wrong. I know it is stupid. I know I need to get over it. I know. I KNOW!! But it still hurts and I am still not happy enough with my life that I don’t give a shit about her life. I hope someday that will come. I really, REALLY do!

And to add insult to injury, I didn’t go looking for an article about the X or his wife……but I just had to accidently get one stuffed in my face. Thanks for nothing Fate.

Here is the link:
http://www.runwithjill.blogspot.com/

the article is Sunday Aug 15th.......Tara is the blonde.

Friday the 13th

Today at lunch time my boss left for the day and I dashed over to Ramone's house to work on the kitchen some more. When I got there she was ready to help so we really dove in deep with hopes of getting the bulk of it done.

She started with the pantry finding many bow tie pasta out loose wandering around and a bag of potatoes trying desperately to get someone's attention with the odor they were emitting……OMG it was gross. We found, and I am not lying, a can of vegetables that expired in 1996 (around the time we got divorced). We vigorously pitched anything that was old, mostly empty, or just plain gross. In the end, there was less in the pantry than in the trash.

While Ramone was busting her butt with the canned and boxed goods, I was working on small appliances, pots and pans. I threw out more than one Teflon coated pan that was flaking to pieces and made sure to explain to Ramone that such pans are dangerous for your health. Don’t worry; they had 6 more frying pans that did not look too bad.

We also pitched out dozens of little spice bottles. Ramone told me they had a huge collection and when I saw them I recognized them as the spices from a rack that we got back in 1991 when we purchased our first home back in St. Louis. Amazing that this stuff has been packed and moved for so many times!

spices before

spices after

We wiped out the cabinets and put things back in more logical locations. We got all the stuff off the counter by making places in the cabinets for it. We stowed the cereal boxes that had been on top of the fridge in the new roomier pantry.

In the midst of this activity, I told Ramone that maybe I was nuts, but I was having fun. She admitted she was having fun too. I was elated. I sure hope these kids take better care of their own homes when they get them. I hope I am a good example for them and I hope that they understand the value of having some order and cleanliness in their lives.

I took a two hour lunch and hauled 6 more bags of trash back to the work dumpster when I returned. In the long run, the ex husband seemed grateful and even promised to clean the refrigerator out this weekend. I guess he isn’t such a bad guy after all.

I am also thrilled that Ramone and I got almost the whole kitchen cleaned and reorganized in our spare time. We didn’t burn up a whole weekend or stay up until midnight like I envisioned it going down. It was all done during lunch breaks or at times when we had a few minutes to kill between scheduled activities. So the other lesson here is……..being clean does not suck up all your free time!

TOO MUCH STUFF

Recently, I read an article on the internet about a couple that gave away most of their stuff. They even decided to get rid of their TV. They live in a small, sparsely furnish apartment in Portland and don’t even own cars instead choosing to commute on bicycles. They say it is the best thing they ever did and that they are happier than ever before. They are debt free and can live off of $16,000 per year!

Call me crazy, but I am jealous of these people and I totally think I would be happier with less stuff and a simpler life. I even discussed it with my husband whose response was “that is why I hate shopping and never want you to buy things”. I took it a step farther and suggested we might get rid of some stuff and he said there was no point in getting rid of perfectly good things that we have already paid for. I understand his point and don’t disagree. And, I already do get rid of things more often than most people…..if I never use it; I want it out of my way. The conversation ended there and I vowed to buy less even when it seems like a great idea.

For example, a few months ago I went out and purchased a new set of queen size bed sheets. We have two queen size beds and two sets of sheets and I had decided that a spare set of sheets was a good idea just in case I had an emergency and wanted to swap to clean sheets quickly. Now the new sheets sit in the closet and are never used. I certainly could have lived without that spare set of queen sheets since I usually wash the old ones on the weekend and then put them back on the bed. If I should puke on the bed in the middle of the night and not be too terribly sick I guess I would pat myself on the back for having a spare set to throw on in a pinch, but the chances of that ever happening are slim to none. In real life if I puke and feel like crap I would strip the bed and move to the couch feeling too ill to mess with remaking the bed.

A few days later I was at my ex husbands house caring for Ramone. I had brought her some dinner and was preparing to drive her up to her high school for band practice. While I was there the kitchen upset me greatly because it was such a disgusting mess. The sink was overflowing with filthy old dishes and the dishwasher was full too. The counter was a sticky mess all covered with debris. The shelves in the door of the fridge are gone and the door to the oven sits askew. Trash litters the place everywhere you look and it appears that nothing has ever been cleaned. In shot……. It’s repulsive.

This photo was taken after some cleaning was done.....it was piled much higher on Monday.

I really hate that my kids live this way but mostly I feel helpless about it since it is not my house. I had once considered hiring a maid to clean their dad’s house but my friend volunteered and I could not do that to her……it would just be too cruel. Heck, I would feel awful sending even a complete stranger into that house to deal with the mess. Also, I worry that if I show up and fix things that they will never do anything that is not fun for them instead assuming if they wait long enough I will do it for them. I don’t want to be an enabler!

Suddenly, in a flash, it came to me……….they need less stuff! I know that the kitchen is full of old pans and pots and way more stuff than they need. The more dishes they have the longer they can get by with piling them high instead of washing them. The cabinets are stocked with lids for plastic storage bowls that have long since melted or cracked. The gadget drawer is littered with taco sauce packets and soy sauce packets. The dishes and silverware are all mismatched so they don’t stack neatly in the cabinets or drawers. If there was less stuff and more uniform stuff the place would just have to be in better order.

I though it over and decided I would clean, sort, organize and get rid of stuff in the kitchen for them. It wouldn’t cost me a cent and I was willing to give my time up so they might live in less of squalor. I assumed the ex husband would be grateful for the help since he seems to be overwhelmed by it all. I even talked it over with Ramone who loved the idea. I told her we could buy new storage container if we could just throw all the old mismatched ones out and she was thrilled.

I had a great sense of accomplishment last night when I had a ½ hour to kill and spent it at their house cleaning out two drawers. I threw out the 4 sets of measuring cups that were missing some of the cups and kept only the best looking one. At least one of the sets was as old as Friss! I threw out some broken Popsicle makers, old take out condiment packets, cheap cookie cutters and numerous other junky or repetitive things. I threw out the oven mitt that was half burned up and a partially melted water bottle that was shoved in the cabinet. Ramone told me the blender did not work so I threw it out too and promised them a new one. I hauled 3 bags of trash out and no one even knew it except Ramone who had helped. I felt better already. Two drawers were wiped out and looking pretty sharp.

Today I took Ramone to the store and she picked out a new set of silverware and a silverware tray for that drawer. I then phoned her dad and told him I had bought him a new matching set of silverware and he could throw out the old bent and broken ones. His response was not what I expected. Instead of being grateful, he told me he could not get rid of the old mismatched silverware and that I was just adding to the problem by bringing more stuff into the house. I assured him that he could just pitch the old ones and he would be fine. I reminded him that there were 10 different patterns of battered old second hand silverware that he surely did not have an emotional attachment to so he should be happy that I got him some new. He said he would pack it away just in case, “Just in case….what does that mean?” I asked. I reminded him that saving it would defeat the purpose of less clutter. His voice sounded frantic as he confesses to me that he COULD NOT part with the old stuff. I then realized HE IS A HOARDER!! All this time I thought he was too lazy or lacked organizational skills but what was really going on was……….he has an emotional aversion towards getting rid of things.

We had this conversation on the phone in the middle of the afternoon and the man really irritated me (which is not unusual) but the more it sunk in the more upset I became. I never thought he was good at housekeeping or had an organized bone in his body but I had not realized he was actually mentally ill in this manner. I mean when you boil it down……..he has a mental illness!

I sat at my desk thinking that the only thing I wanted to do was give them a better life by making their kitchen a more pleasant place; by making it easier to keep clean and organized. And the end result is the ex husband is mad at me and I now have the realization that he is a screwed up hoarder type person. Even after all these years, the man can still let me down and upset me with his lack of ability in life.

I actually cried this afternoon………..I cried because I work so hard and I feel like I never get anywhere. I cried because I want them to have normal lives and I feel I am not providing it for them. I cried that all I want to do is help and no one appreciates me, understands my motives or listens to my advice.

My current husband told me that it’s not my kitchen and I should just butt out. I explained to him that it is hard to sit by and do NOTHING when it is YOUR own kids involved. I know he understand to a degree but he is still without sympathy for my plight (no surprise here) which just sucks.

It has been about 13 years since I got divorced and I have been struggling all this time to raise kids back and forth between two very different households. When I was only 25 years old I married this man because he was so kind and generous and only after we had two children did I realize that we were so different we could never be happy living in the same home. I have never regretted divorcing him but I have often regretted not just taking my kids from him, finding a new job (which would have required relocating) and just writing him off completely. He loves his kids and he means well, but I often feel that my efforts to let him be their father have resulted in more harm than good. He certainly teaches them all kinds of things I think are just plain wrong, like it is OK to be lazy, helpless and not care for your belongings.

This is their laundry room........so gross I can not look at it.

Lies.....more lies

Tonight after work, my husband did one of my best friends a huge favor by going over to her house and cutting down some old trees on her property. He took a chainsaw, a ladder and a pole saw and worked his ass off in 100+ degree heat for a few hours. I was so happy that he helped her out and proud of him for being so generous.

At 8 pm I had to leave to go take Ramone home from band practice at school so I left the husband and the friend on the porch drinking a beer together.

Later, I found out that he had actually smoked some weed with her. Now this alone is not what is upsetting to me……..what is upsetting is that he also told her he had some weed that an old friend had recently given him and that she should stop by sometime and smoke some at our house.

I really don’t care if from time to time he smokes a little pot, but I do care that he is sneaking some pot home from Bill’s house and not telling me what is going on. It is sneaky and deceptive and only adds to my issues with trusting him.

Also, now I know the real reason why he wanted to get rid of me!!

Weekend Recap

Friday night I made a batch of salsa all by myself. The spousal unit did not help me one bit, in fact he even refused to sample it and tell me what else it needed. Yea, although he was not totally ignoring me he was still being a bit of a jerk. On Saturday I gave the salsa another taste and decided it needed more sugar. After that it was just perfect and later in the day my husband did finally eat some.

Saturday morning I did my usual “Krack of Dawn” bike ride at 6 am. We had a great turn out and the ride was super fun. After that I rushed home not knowing what mood the husband would be in. I found him to be pleasant, but ready to leave for his turn at biking. On Saturdays we have adopted this schedule where I bike from 6-9 am and he gets the rest of the day. He ended up doing a 100 mile loop and did not return home until after 3 pm.

Saturday evening everyone was in a good mood and together we did our shopping and cooking for the weekend.

Sunday we drove to St. Louis to purchase a nice fluid trainer for bicycling indoors. My husband had found it on the internet and it was a screaming great deal. In an effort to make the drive more fruitful, we also took the toddler to the Zoo for the first time. She liked it for a few house and then tuned out. Small children have small attention spans……I had almost forgot but she reminded me.

After the zoo and picking up the trainer, we drove to the suburbs so my husband could visit with his old college roommate Bill. My husband asked me what I was going to do while he hung out with Bill and I was a bit miffed that I was getting shipped off, but I understand that catching up with old friend can be really boring if you never knew the guy. So I dropped him at Bills and took the toddler shopping for fun. We went to the pet store and looked at puppies, the toy store and sat on all the riding toys. The Bean also had the best time trying on shoes for about 45 minutes. When I thought I could stand it no more, I went to fetch my husband and got invited in for a few minutes which made me feel much better.

The toddler napped part of the 2 hour drive home and all in all I would say the weekend was pretty good.

Time...Precious Time

This morning, I got up to run and my husband acted totally grumpy about it. Now he is not the type to actually tell me he is angry; in fact, he won’t say a word to me. He just lets the negative vibe come out in full force while simultaneously turning on the “I’m ignoring you” act.

The whole time I was running I was stewing on what had kicked him off his happy train so as soon as I got home I asked him again why the foul mood for the past few days?

This is what he told me…….
“If you run Thursday and Friday morning and cycle Thursday evening and Saturday morning then I can’t work out for over 2 days in a row……….well, I could Friday night, but that is the start of the weekend and not generally a time I like to work out.”

So, this I can believe will make him grumpy but it still did not answer the whole reason of what is going on. For example, why be angry Thursday evening when he did not even know I would be running on Friday morning (we don’t always do Friday runs)? Also, I have had this same schedule for months and he has never mentioned it before. Last but not least, before I started doing fairly regular Friday morning runs he never took the opportunity to go work out. He would just stay home and bother me for sex.

Anyhow, whatever his deal is, this is the information I have to go on so I told him I would not work out on Friday mornings if it is an issue and he said “no I will make do”. He was still being grumpy and I needed to get ready for work so that is pretty much all there was.

I thought about it some more today and this, I believe, is the REAL issue: I have 4 kids and a job and a hobby I want to pursue and I HAVE TO schedule my life to make all that work. He has never had much responsibility, only has one kid and is an only child so he is not used to having to accommodate anyone but himself. He hates to have a schedule. He likes to wake up whatever time feels good and then do whatever he is in the mood for and when my “schedule” conflicts with whatever he is in the mood for we have problems.

Now, slowly but surely over the past few years, I have gotten him used to accepting my schedule and dealing with it. For example, he always watches our daughter on Tuesday and Thursday morning so I can go run. At first he hated this but now he seems fine with it.

At this point, I know that I still want more scheduling than we have and he would like less, so maybe now we are at a happy medium and a place where we both can be satisfied most of the time. For me, just understanding the issue goes a long way towards making it easier to handle even if I don’t get what I want at least I know what is going on.

I just wish he would communicate better instead of me having to figure it all out on my own through trial and error over time.

We had a Good Run

Monday and Tuesday continued the sweet husband streak. A total of 9 days in a row!

It’s amazing how happy it makes me. I am happier then I have been in years, YEARS…….like 10 years. My life feels good and right when we are loving and sharing like a couple should be. It really makes everything else that goes wrong seem minor and manageable.

Wednesday during the day he was awesome and emailed me many times with cute comments and to find out if my Garmin had arrived. Wednesday evening he was mildly cranky towards me but I was too tired to even care. This morning he told me I was being difficult and negative but other than that he did not elaborate despite my attempts to fully understand what had happened. I don’t recall being difficult or negative so it is possible he just said that to sound like he had a reason to be disagreeable. I suspect he just felt fowl and it was no fault of mine.

Thursday he seems fine all day. After work I did my usual bike ride. I met the group at the water tower and headed out with the fast guys. I stuck with them for 6 miles which is pretty damn good for an old broad like me. Then I hopped in with the B group and rode like hell some more. In the end I did 25 miles with an average speed of 19 mph. That’s fast and I am sure proud of it. I haven’t spent much time in the saddle for the past few years so it felt good to give a respectable showing on such an outing.

I beat my husband and the toddler home and changed into something I thought the husband would find cute. I was just in a great mood and looking forward to sharing my joy with my family. I ate some dinner and had a beer and waited, but they did not show up forever. I checked my Facebook page and posted a comment on my great ride. When they finally got home, the husband did not strike me as particularly crabby, but it wasn’t long before I decided he was not right. He even came to bed, read his book and would not look at me when I tried to speak to him. Finally he left the room without a word and got on the computer. I shut the door and went to sleep. I wanted to cuddle and love but he just wanted nothing to do with me. I felt sad but I was tired. Again, I couldn’t think of anything I did to justify his treatment.

Then in the middle of the night I woke up feeling depressed. I wish my happiness was not so influenced by his mood but I just can’t help it. And it that totally sucks.

My Weekend

1) My husband did not have his normal Sunday aneurism nor was he ever grumpy or disagreeable. I am so elated that we have gone a sold 7 days now with nothing but happiness and agreeability. Did anyone see the person that kid napped my husband? Truly, this is the longest stretch ever that he has been a fantastic husband and a great partner. Net result…….. I feel better than I have in 10 years!

2) Bean dressed herself more than once this weekend and let me tell you, despite the destruction she caused in her bedroom, the toddler came up with some pretty fantastic combinations of clothing that were so entertaining they were worth the mess.

3) I took both my girls to the pool finally and then we had lunch at a local restaurant called Thai Kitchen; which the toddler pronounced as “high chicken” so we laughed like crazy.

4) We cooked bacon to make BLTs and it occurred to me that I really didn’t want to mess up the wonderful flavor of the bacon by adding lettuce, tomatoes or mayo to my sandwich. Also, I was watching a cooking show on TV and they made glazed pork tenderloin and I was just drooling thinking about how wonderful that would taste. That was the moment that it hit me….I love PORK. (Don’t even get me started on prosciutto.)

5) Saturday I had a really great 28 mile bike ride. Kept up with the fast guys. Our average speed was not so hot because we started out pretty slow but we were on fire on the way back. More importantly…….. it was just so much fun.

6) Did a pleasant (slightly painful) 7 mile long run with Julie and Terry who returned from vacation just in time to meet us at 6 a.m. on Sunday.

7) I received my new Runner’s World magazine and already read the whole thing.

8) We made another batch of homemade salsa and our recipe just keeps getting better and better.

And now, the funny story from the weekend. Saturday evening we made the salsa and I reminded my husbands to take his contacts out BEFORE he fished the seeds out of the hot peppers which he did. The salsa turned out great and was quite a bit spicier than the last batch. Later, after the toddler was in bed, we parents were in the bedroom having some grown up time (wink, wink), when I realized that his touching was making me way hotter than usual. Yes, he had not washed his hands since he had sliced the jalapeños!! It almost felt good but then it was too hot. I had to take a break and ice down the area……..we had a good laugh though.