My Boy Is Eight!

My first baby, Lance Armstrong, turned eight years old on Monday. We celebrated with special dog ice cream and Sporty Spice and I made up the traditional batch of birthday PUPcakes. Mmmmmmm......Happy Birthday Lance!


On the multi-sport front, I did a FUN little duathlon this weekend at Lake Del Valle in Livermore in keeping with the "train my weaknesses" theme. A one mile swim in wonderfully warm water and a 5K out and back run. An On Your Mark event, which always, always succeeds in providing an atmosphere of fun. Got in my car from there and headed straight for the mountains. Crafty project almost done...stay tuned.

Oh, for goodness sake, does anybody know how to tip these pictures upright? It can't be rocket science!

The Art Of Racing In the Rain by Garth Stein

What an amazing little book, the best part being the story being told from the viewpoint of a dog. For anyone who loves or has ever loved a dog, and wondered about their thought processes, this book offers a touching, sad, and often very funny possiblity. Denny is Enzo the dog's owner, and Enzo chronicles Denny's life through a particularly tough stretch and past it. As the person who recommended the book to me said, "I believe in the philosophy of this book."; which, to me, reflects how life gives us situations, for better or worse, but it is up to us to choose how to deal with it.

I Have A Roll of Cath Kidston Wallpaper and I'm Not Afraid To Use It

Well, I do NOT know what got into ME this past weekend! Perhaps it was the fact that the Mister was entertaining his family and had Sporty Spice in tow, leaving me some kid-free time. Perhaps I was driven by the fearful knowledge that I will be doing not much beyond training and scooping poop for the next 110 days until Ironman Florida. Whatever it was, I not only got in a four hour ride/run brick on Saturday, and a three hour (very hot!) run and a one hour swim Sunday--along with two short naps, but I whipped out projects left and right, those projects that have been on my to-do list forever. This, in addition to my usual animal chores and Tour De France viewing (poor Andy Schleck; I wanted to cry for him yesterday).

My biggest complaint about our new monstrous house is that it feels like living in a hotel and does not reflect an iota of cottage charm, even if it is a cottage on steroids. One roll of Cath Kidston wallpaper later....and voila. In our last house I had done something similar to some glass-doored cabinets in the kitchen with fabric. I....LOVE....IT!

So, then I just kept going! On to paint this pink dresser I bought at a White Elephant sale years ago and it has gone through many incarnations. This is going to go in my "quilt area"--which the Mister keeps referring to as a "Media Room"--silly man. I LOVE this too! Knobs were procured at Target after a statewide (well, almost) search of every Marshall's store to find another set of knobs that I like even better that I only have six of. No luck.



Already wielding a paintbrush, I finally re-painted this white cabinet for the formal living room. I bought it at a yard sale years ago from our neighbor who was a stripper (another story for another day. I've always loved the shape and detail and I think it is happy in it's new spot.



Two other projects had been haunting my list. And they are done...and DONE! I saw this idea for these adorable herb garden markers on Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill Quilts site/blog. The hunt for real silver was the toughest part, and I scored big one weekend at the new thrift store in Arnold--a buck a piece.

And, lastly, these bulliten boards I made for my craft room from the most amazing fabric I think I've ever owned. It was a balloon shade in Sporty's nursery at the old house. I painted these cheap bulliten boards I had lying around and voila! I am scheming on little push pins made from buttons-over-tacks for them. Stay tuned.

Reluctant Model

Okay, yes, I know it is mean to make little Sporty Spice model my yoyo shirt craft project of last weekend since he is a boy. I wouldn't make him wear it to school or anything! I just needed a model. And this one turned out to be especially effective as I wanted to point out that I BOUGHT a women's size LARGE at Target to make this shirt and after it shrunk...it fit a five year old boy. Back to the drawing board. Good concept though.

We Have The Fever....Tour De France Fever

For the first time in a few years, I am doing my darndest to follow this year's Tour De France in the way it should properly be followed. At 5am on versus tv, for three weeks. The voices of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin have always defined summer at our house. The scenery is so stunning, and the race exciting. Brings back SO many memories of our "Trip of a Lifetime" in 2001 where the Mister and I went on a Breaking Away Bicycle Tour to follow the Tour, ride many of the mountain stages, and be on the Champs Elysees to see Lance Armstrong win his third tour. We waited for the tour to pass through atop Luz Ardiden, we rode the Tourmalet and Hautacam in one day, we saw a time trial, we caught feed bags in a feed zone, we got tossed out of restricted areas by Lance's bodyguard, we chatted with Lance's mechanic, we brought a pound of Peet's coffee and managed to deliver it directly into George Hincapie's hands, we came home and saw ourselves on the ESPN coverage.

A once in a lifetime trip, but watching on tv is a lot less exhausting!

....and in the craft room...

And the week sans-kid was not without a bit of scrapbooking. I realize that the crafty part of Craftytriathlete has been less than obvious lately.

Meanwhile, in the garden.....

With Sporty Spice at Grandma and Grandpa's the week after the clinic, I got finally got to a bit of yard work between workouts! I love these hanging cone planters! And I got six of em at a Tuesday Mornings Store for cheap. And I am so proud of my first rose that I am putting up a picture. The gardening here at our new house is a whole different ball game with the hotter temperatures.

Also spotted in the garden....just outside the little house where my relocated feral cats live (who I'm sure are all hiding inside after seeing these!). Can you see the antlers on these three???

It only took us a year to hang these....

We've been in the new house just over a year now. And we hung our first pictures last week. Again, sad.

Happy Belated Fourth

I guess it doesn't matter how late I am in posting our holiday happenings, as I only have two followers....

We managed to do a little bit of Independence Day celebrating, in Arnold for the weekend. We missed the parade (who has a parade on the THIRD?). Got in a beautiful road ride up to Lake Alpine and back and a 3 and a half hour trail run to wrap up the last of 3 loooong training weeks. Came home the evening of the Fourth, and the Mister and Sporty headed out up our hill to look for fireworks to no avail. They came home, flipped on the big screen, and watched the ones over the capital. Sad.

Look What the Cat Drug In

Last weekend, as I headed out for my long run, already feeling a bit pro-crastinate-y, I fell victim to a yard sale just up the street. I actually ran back home and got the car and some money for these...
I was positively smitten with these little metal children's kitchen appliances! Of course the best part is the perfect pink of the little fridge (I must find some itty bitty magnets), but, get this...the stove/oven...has a cord and plugs in! Now I ask you, in what century, did we allow children to play with miniature working oven burners where they could heat up their own cups of tea?!?!? Yikes!