Camp Pendleton Sprint Tri - August 4, 2012

Team Skil - 2012

We have a bit of a tradition in our family.  Every year we do the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon--which is held the first Saturday in August.  The first year that I did it, we had 5 of us (myself, two of my brothers, a sister, and a brother-in-law).  This year, we had two new participants my sister R. and my sister-in-law N.

I love seeing my siblings on the course and our Team Skil jerseys make us pretty easy to spot.  I wasn't sure how I would do this year, given that I had not really had a chance to train.  For example, I was at Scout Camp the whole week before the race and only got to do one afternoon of mountain biking (half of which was spent walking one of the YM's damaged bikes back up the mountain!).

My goal is always to improve my time every year, so I would have been bummed to not be able to improve on last year's time (1:41:48).

Swim:

The swim at Camp Pendleton is always a bit of a challenge.  You start off on the beach and run out into the surf.  You have to work your way out to the breakers and then swim around the buoys and back into the shore.

Swimming back in is not as easy as you would expect.  I always like to think that you can body surf the waves coming back in to really speed things up, but those breaking waves can be really, really big.  Last year, I got tumbled head over heels in the surf zone twice.  Both times, my lungs burned as I struggled to figure out which way was up and to get a new breath of air.

A friend of mine--and experienced triathlete--got so turned around last year that he actually started swimming away from the finish line.  He ended up with a terrible swim time and overall bad race because he got off to a bad start that he just couldn't shake.


I'll never forget watching the start of the swim two years ago during my first triathlon.  The wave consisted of all the "young bucks" and they were young and eager to get the race started.  They jumped in the water and swam with all their might.  About halfway out to the first buoy, they looked up and realized that they waves and current had pushed them almost to the second buoy!  They had to turn and swim into the current to get back on course.

I, along with a bunch of the older and wiser competitors, decided to run up the beach a hundred yards or so so that we could let the current push us toward the buoy rather than away from it.


This year brought a new challenge to the swim portion.  I saw that a couple of participants managed to get stung by stingrays before the race even started.  Their race was over before it even started.  I'm just glad it didn't happen to me!

The swim portion this year, however, could not have been more perfect.  Or maybe I'm just getting stronger in the water.  The water was warm like bath water.  The ocean seemed calm and I managed to make good time through the surf zone and into the finish line for the swim.  My time for the swim (13:49) was nearly two minutes faster than last year!

The thing is that I know that I can go faster.  I'm bummed that I was holding back a little during the swim.  I cruised into transition and found my brother S. still getting on the bike.  S. is the best swimmer in the family and I can't remember a race where I've been in the swim-bike transition with him.

Bike:

I was most worried about the bike portion of the race because I hadn't even been on my bike since the Ironman St. George experience.  That was three months before!

I did do a short mountain biking thing with the scouts at Scout Camp, but I mostly rode down hill and then swapped bikes for the ride back up the mountain after one of the scouts crashed and ruined his bike.

(Actually, the bike was so bad that I had to carry it most of the way because the wheel had been ruined!  That was easily one of the lowlights of Scout Camp!)

However, I got on the bike and took off.  I made surprisingly good time during the bike portion.  I think the major reason was not that I was in better shape for the bike ride--but rather that my biking technique has improved and I am more efficient on the bike.

I also credit my friend Royal for helping me come up with a great strategy for attacking the bike portion of the course in this race.  I felt like it worked like a charm!  One thing that I love about the bike portion of this race is that the last two miles of the course you ride past all your friends and family who are gathered on the tarmac of the base to cheer you on!  It is invigorating and energizing.

On the home stretch!

I was really hoping to beat my bike time from last year, even though last year's time was really, really good.  I didn't think that I had any right to have such a good time this year given my lack of preparations.  However, my time was only 5 seconds slower than last year.  (55:15).

Run:

Finished!

The run was definitely a challenge.  This was where my lack of preparation and training hurt me the most.  I started the run even though both of my feet were numb from the bike ride.  I didn't regain any real feeling in my feet until I'd gone about a mile.  My goal had been to finish the race in less than 1 hour and 40 minutes.

I did some quick calculations in my head and figured that if I could pull off 9 minute miles, I could hit that.  Easier said than done!  Also, I wanted to finish ahead of my two brothers and, even though I had passed S. on the bike, I knew that he was not that far behind me.  I could feel him gaining on me during the run.

Part of me worried that he would catch me and pass me in the final stretch as well.  Somehow, though, I managed to rally and increased my pace for the second half of the run.  I finished the race in a new PR for me--1:39:50!  I made my goal!

Also, S. finished just 17 seconds behind me, so I didn't really leave myself much room to spare!  All in all, it was a good race and I had fun.  And it was fun to cheer on my siblings who ran as part of Team Skil.

Here are the final times for the 500 yard swim, 18.4 mile bike, and 3.1 mile course:

• G - Swim - 13:49; Bike: 55:15; Run: 26:15 -- Total Time: 1:39:50
• S - Swim - 12:29; Bike: 1:01:06; Run: 23:49 -- Total Time: 1:40:07
• L - Swim - 13:34; Bike: 1:03:14; Run: 23:59 -- Total Time: 1:44:50
• R - Swim - 20:01; Bike: 1:12:00; Run: 32:55 -- Total Time: 2:10:04
• N - Swim - 18:02; Bike: 1:12:48; Run: 37:57 -- Total Time: 2:15:06
• E - Swim - 14:22; Bike 1:24:53; Run: 33:30 -- Total Time: 2:17:33

S:

I love this picture of S. on the bike!

 L:

 R:

N:

I feel like N.'s face just glows when she smiles!

 

E:

The End!  See you next year!

Princess in Pigtails

Happy Bday E!  I love the look of wonder and joy on her face.

We celebrated E.'s birthday today.  I've referred to her before as a princess and she couldn't have looked cuter than she did today in her little pigtails.  She turned 4 years old (recently)!  It was fun how excited that she was the whole day as we celebrated her, even though I'm not entirely positive that she understands exactly what a birthday is.  She just knows that it was fun and boy was she excited for it!

Here are a five simple tips for making a fun birthday celebration for a four year old girl:

Pink!

1.  Think Pink:

Little girls love the color pink.  They also like sparkly things and they like princesses.  Please note that E. got a pink princess cake and got to wear a pink sparkly shirt.  We're already off to a great start!

Here's a funny little story about E.'s birthday celebration.  She picked out the pink princess cake all by herself.  When it came time to pick the balloons for her birthday, however, E. picked some Angry Birds balloons because she said that she wanted R. and S. to enjoy them.  I thought that that was very sweet and cute of her to think about her brothers on her birthday.  Sometimes you just get lucky and you get kids that are a lot more awesome than you deserve as a parent!  :-)

2.  Keep the Festivities Ongoing:

That way no one gets too bored.  E. started by opening presents with the fam earlier in the day.  Later, we went to Chuck E. Cheese.  All in all, the festivities lasted 6-7 hours.  Nearly enough for dad to come home with a headache from all the booyah at Chuck E. Cheese's!  E., however, didn't seem to mind--at least until bedtime.  At which point, I realized that maybe getting her all tuckered out might not have been the best strategy after all!

Opening Presents...

3. Let Someone Else Do All The Work:

And by someone else, I mean Chuck E. Cheese!  Yes, nothing says "Keep it Classy, San Diego" like taking your kids to Chuck E. Cheese for their birthday party.  I remember going to this fine establishment when I was a kid, but I think the place is even more white trash now.

The kids, however, don't seem to mind.  They run around, grubbing after those tickets that the skee-ball games (and other arcade games) spit out and then you get to spend 30 minutes shoving tickets into the ticket counter so that your kids can get a 25 cent prize like a cheap pair of plastic fangs or an eraser.  Remember to bring some friends to keep your kids occupied.

E. Took Ride After Ride on the Merry-Go-Round

I don't think that I could have kept E. off the merry-go-round if I'd tried.  She must've pumped about $10 worth of tokens into that thing.  At one point, I had to get her off of it so that another group of kids could use it.  I wasn't sure if she was ever going to forgive me--or get over her despondency!

Luckily, we found the "Etch-A-Sketch" machine (see the first pic above) and I was able to distract E. for a few minutes until we could get back on the merry-go-round.

If you're really lucky, your kids' friends will bring their parents so you have someone to talk to--thanks Royal and Nicole!

4.  When in Rome?

Try to maintain a sense of dignity at a place like Chuck E. Cheese, even though that can be hard to do.  Here are my top 4 white trash moments from our afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's:

#4 - Having to kneel down to shove literally hundreds of paper tickets into the ticket counting machine so that my kids could by their cheap plastic prizes.  Not only did I have to wait about 30 minutes to complete this ordeal (between waiting for the people in line ahead of me and then to get my own tickets counted), but--to make matters worse, I was getting trampled by the people waiting behind me in line.

Literally, the parents of these kids just watched their kids step on me, trip over me, and trample over me.  I couldn't believe it!  I was never so happy as to see the last of our tickets get sucked into that dang machine!  Then I got out of there as fast as I could!

#3 - Seeing a dad take his kid into the bathroom and then whisk him out of the bathroom with nary a glance in the direction of the faucet.  I sure hope that they weren't planning on eating off those hands!  Is it any wonder that I made sure to wash my hands very well before I ate?!

#2 - Getting the high score in both the basketball shooting game and the football throwing game.  I guess it's a measure of how few games there were that were even somewhat interesting for adults.  Mostly, I played with R. and that was a lot of fun.  The white trashiness is that I was actually proud to pull off those accomplishments.  But I couldn't really help myself!

#1 - Many of the people themselves.  Sorry I couldn't get any pictures, but my favorite was the woman with 3 inch letters--in gang-style font--tattooed over her chest.  I can't even imagine where she came up with the inspiration for that!

5.  Remember It's About the Kids:

My personal belief was that we stayed about 30 minutes too long, but the kids were having a blast.  E. is only four, so I wonder whether she will remember anything from her bday celebration this year at all.  But I'm pretty sure that if she does, they'll be happy memories.  And that's what matters the most!  :-)

I Can't Ride 55

Miracles never cease.  Some friends of mine convinced me to go on a bike ride this morning.  The ride was set to leave at 6:30 a.m., which meant that I had to get up at 5:45 a.m.  I'm still not sure how I did it.  My riding buddies were doing a 90 mile ride.  I couldn't go that far because I had volleyball practice--so I had to settle for 55 miles.

Here is my ride by the numbers:

• 197 - # of minutes of total riding time
• 55 - # of miles ridden
• 38 - Maximum mph achieved during the ride
• 17 - Average mph for the ride (including the monster hills the last 3 miles!)
• 10 - # of riders in our group
• 2 - # of times my water bottles fell off the bike (luckily I retrieved them both)
• 2 - # of close calls with vehicles that almost hit me
• 1 - # of drivers that honked to let me know that they were really, really close to hitting me
• 1 - # of times I almost dropped, then caught, my iPhone while taking pictures at 20 mph!
• 0 - # of more miles I felt like I could have ridden by the time I was done!

For the most part, I rode solo--due to a series of unfortunate events.  Riding by yourself is an interesting experience.  It gives you plenty of time to think.  Even though it was dark outside when I started--and cold--I felt like I enjoyed the time to myself.

The Peloton

When I entered Camp Pendleton, I went to ask the sentry if he had seen a large group of riders wearing the same riding kit that I was wearing.  Just then, I looked back to see a gaggle of riders heading up the hill to the sentry check point.  It was my friends!

There were 10 of us at that point and I only knew about 4 of the guys fairly well.  I was struck by how friendly several of the riders that I had never met before were.  They came up and introduced themselves and were very nice.  They had never met me and they only knew that I was part of the "team" because I was wearing the same jersey that they were.  

Riding with the "peloton" was really fun.  It was the first time that I had every really ridden with a group of such a sizable number.  I felt an instant sense of comaraderie with my fellow riders.  I noticed something else as well about riding in a pack. I spent less energy cycling and went faster.  I think that there may be some sort of life lesson in that somewhere.

At one point, one of my water bottles popped out of its cage.  I didn't know it, but one of my fellow riders told me so that I could go get it.  At another point, there was a road sign in the middle of the bicycle lane.  I saw one of the experienced riders make some hand signs to those of us that were behind him, motioning us to be cautious so that we could avoid the (unseen) road hazard.  I thought that that was an amazing display of courtesy, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

My only regret was that I couldn't finish the ride with them.  Oh well, I'm sure that there will be other rides in my future.

I managed to get a few good pics during the ride.  At one point, while riding, my iPhone slipped from my grasp.  I was doing about 20 mph at the time...but somehow I managed to snag it out of thin air before it crashed to the road beneath me.  Thank goodness for another small miracle.  I took a self-portrait as well, but realized I couldn't possibly post it after I saw it and realized how haggard and tired I looked during the ride!  Yikes!

Team Eco Pro

Coming home, I found myself riding alone again.  Thank goodness for my iPod.  The last 3 miles of my route were almost entirely up hill and I was gassed.  Somehow I managed to finish and stumble off my bike and into the house on rubbery legs.  Just in time to change and drive the boys to volleyball practice.  Saturdays--at least at our house--are certainly no day of rest!

Bad Cop, No Doughnut...

Good morning!

I rolled out of bed this morning to drive my kids to school.  As is my custom, I pulled up in front of the school, and took 10 seconds to whisk my kids out of the car, give them a kiss and a hug, and get them off to school on time.  Morning are not my thing and so when I drive my kids to school in the morning, I feel like I'm doing a good thing...and getting a good start to my day.

Today, however, was my lucky day not my day.

As I jumped back into my car, a community services officer (is that really even a real police officer), pointed at me--signalling me to stop.  He then told me that he was writing me a traffic ticket because I had double parked and obstructed traffic.

The reality was that I was double parked, but I had not obstructed any traffic in the 10 seconds that I had stopped by car.  What was ironic, however, was that he then spent 10 minutes writing me a ticket--all the while my car continued to supposedly obstruct traffic. (I wish to point out in my defense that every car that came past during that time period was easily able to continue past.)

The officer was very polite.  As he handed me my ticket, he even wished me that this wouldn't ruin my day or that I'd have a better day.  Gee, thanks officer!  I didn't bother telling him that might have really made my day would have been to get off with just a warning.

At least, I have the right to challenge my ticket in court.  If only I knew a good lawyer!  I just don't think it's worth the time and energy to fight the $48 ticket.  As a highly educated white collar professional someone with a little common sense, I know that my chances of winning in court hinge solely on the desperate hope that the cop community services officer doesn't show up to the trial!

So I guess I'll just pay the fine.  It's too bad I decided to get such a "good start" to my day.  Maybe next time, I'll just sleep in!  :-/

Look Ma, No Cavities!

In the Chair with my Laser-Proof Glasses

Going to the dentist has never frightened me.  I do find it unpleasant, but mostly because dentists have managed to find the nastiest stuff anywhere and use it on your teeth as "polish."

Seriously, I've had my teeth cleaned at the dentist's office before with peach flavored polish.  I love peaches, but this stuff tastes nothing like peaches.  And I'm not sure that there has ever been a synthetic peach flavor that's ever tasted great!  I think they all taste gross and nasty!

My visit yesterday got all high tech on me.  For $35 bucks (not covered by insurance), they offered to use a laser on me to kill all sorts of bad stuff in my mouth.  It wouldn't hurt and would take an extra 5-10 minutes.    Like a sucker, I went for it.

They were right.  It didn't hurt and it did only take 5-10 minutes.  They also came out with a pair of "sweet" laser proof glasses that I got to wear for the rest of the visit.  But I don't know if my mouth feels cleaner or not following my laser experience.  They still had to use some pretty nasty polish (mint flavored).  I hate sitting through that stuff even though I know that you have to do it.

My eyes are wide shut...
...hoping the unpleasantness will be over soon!

Fortunately, I have a great dentist.  And the staff at his office is great.  He better be a great dentist, he's been treating me and my family for probably 20 years!  Plus, his office is about a 120 mile round trip from my house and I gladly make the trek, so that's telling you something.

One of the reasons that he's so great is that he is a perfectionist.  I know that the work he does is pristine and immaculate.  And I sleep better at night knowing that my dentist is taking care of me.  Also, I know, with every fiber of my being, that if anyone cares more about my teeth than I do, it's my dentist.  That's a great quality to have in your dentist.

I haven't had a cavity in probably over five years, but every time I walk out of his office, I get the form that gives the "prognosis" for my teeth.  The options are as follows: Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor.

Every single time, my prognosis is "Fair."  I wonder what it'd be if I actually had a cavity!  I think that his motivational style is very similar to the technique used by intelligence officers to break enemy prisoners....the style is called: "Fear Up."  Fortunately, he's so nice that I almost don't mind feeling so guilty about the uncertain prognosis of my dental health!

All in all, I think I'm lucky to have a great dentist and I'm glad I don't have to be in his office more frequently.  I consider yesterday's visit a success--it's just too bad I didn't get to keep the sweet glasses!

Eye, Eye Captain!

Why is R. Excited???

We made a stop at the eye doctor yesterday at Costco.  R.'s teacher had said that he was having trouble seeing the board and wanted to have his eyes checked.  I like Costco because the eye exam is only $49!  You really can't beat that!

What I didn't count on was how crowded it was and that I should have made an appointment.  Just as I was trying to book one for next week, two people cancelled and--just like that--we were in!  Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good!

R. actually wanted to get glasses.  Why, I have no idea.  Having glasses is just a big pain!  He kept on asking if he was going to be able to get a pair of reading glasses.  Luckily, the kid loves to read.  :-)

The doctor told us that we should have his pupils dilated for the exam.  That would cost an extra $29 bucks to stick a couple of drops in each eye.  Something tells me that that's a hidden profit center for optometrists around the country.

Still, what are you going to do as a parent?  If the doctor says that the test will be better if they're dilated, I have to believe that.  I paid the extra money--figuring that even though the total cost of the visit was now up to $78, I was still far ahead of where I would have been if I'd gone to a regular optometrist.

Extreme Close-up!  R. had me take this picture to see what his
eyes looked like with his pupils dilated.

The doctor was very nice and the good news was that his prescription was very slight.  In fact, it was so slight that she didn't even recommend that he get glasses.  She said he could wait another year and see how he was doing.  It was a bit of a relief for me, but R. was a little disappointed he couldn't get any reading glasses.  I'm sure he'll get over it!

It's Fall, It's Time for...Volleyball?

S. and R. are ready to receive the serve...

For the first time in many years, our family is not playing soccer or football this fall.  Instead, we're playing volleyball.  I'm not sure why I'm so surprised by that.  But volleyball is not typically the sport I think of when the leaves start to turn colors and the days start to shorten.

Love you, Nueve!

My sister was an incredible college volleyball player and I'll never forget the year that I got to travel all over the country to see her team play.  Her team had an incredible, magical season.  I was there when the season started in Iowa and I saw her team play that season in such "exotic" locales as Washington state, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Utah, and California.  I always brought the team fresh Sprinkles cupcakes for every match and I'd like to think that that was a fun tradition for my sister and the team that year.

So I was supportive when I heard that S. and R. wanted to play volleyball this fall.  I had little idea of how "supportive" I'd actually have to be, however.  Neither one had a coach for their team, so I got "volunteered."

The only problem is that I don't really have any qualifications for coaching volleyball.  I never played on a real volleyball team as a kid (I don't count church volleyball).  My only claim to fame is that I've watched dozens, if not hundreds, of my sisters' volleyball games over the years, so maybe I manged to pick up something of the claim through the process of osmosis.

Our first practice was last Saturday.  As you can see, our practices our outside.  There is essentially no shade.  The practice was an hour and a half long and the mercury hit over 100 degrees!  Yikes!

This week was a little better.  It was only in the low 80s temperature wise, but we had another marathon practice session of 1.5 hours.  I'm looking forward to next Saturday when the practice will only be an hour!

My main duty as the coach seems to be shagging a lot of errant volleyballs.  That's okay, because I can do that.  I also get to cheer for and encourage the kids quite a bit.  Luckily, they are pretty good.  Heaven help them if they had to rely solely on me

Maybe the best part was that after practice, the boys and I got to hit up McDonald's for a beverage and make a trip to Costco for some food and treats.

R. took the pic and his photography skills are getting really good!

I hope everyone had a great Saturday!

Magic Boots

E.'s Magic Boots

I had an eventful morning this morning.  First I dropped the boys of at school.  I was quite pleased that I actually had them there 12 minutes early--a new record for me!  There was absolutely no risk that they would get a tardy detention today from their teachers!  Also, I managed to persuade R. to do almost all of his homework last night, so we didn't have to frantically complete his spelling and grammar homework on the way to school.

Ok, well, he did leave a couple of things to do in the car still, but he wasn't scribbling frantically after I pulled up in front of the school.  Another improvement.

I got a kiss and hug from the boys as they ran off to their classes. I'm glad that they're not too "old" or embarrassed to still want to give their dad a kiss and a hug before they get out of the car at school.

The other thing that always surprises me is that R. has a backpack with wheels on it.  We got it last year when the poor guy had so much junk in there that I was worried about him getting back issues.  Anyway, I pull up across the street from the school and let the boys out.  Then I jump into the middle of the road to play "Safety Patrol" and make sure that no cars run them down.  R. grabs his wheeled backpack and takes off at a sprint.  He doesn't even pause for the curb on the other side of the road.  He just leaps gracefully and continues to pull his backpack until it collides with the curb...

BAM!  The backpack flies up into the air, lands on the sidewalk, and R. doesn't miss a beat as he keeps running.  The first time I saw R. do this, I was worried that he might hurt himself.  Then the next time, I was worried that he'd ruin the backpack.  This morning, I think I was able to appreciate it for the athletic maneuver and pure spectacle that it was.  Maybe I'll try to get a video of it tomorrow morning!  :-)

For some unknown reason, I decided to go running this morning.  I knew I had to take E. to pre-school, but I had a half an hour so I decided to do my 5k route through my neighborhood.  I think in part, I was grateful that it wasn't hot.  I've guiltily been feeling that I should have been running more lately, but we had an extreme heat wave the past week or so that has had temps in the 90s and above--even at 9 a.m. in the morning!

I finished my run to see E. waiting for me on the front porch.  This little girl really does make my heart melt because I think she is so cute and adorable.  Obviously, I'm biased, but I'm okay with that.  ;-)

E. was excited when I told her I wanted to
take a picture of her and her new boots

She had on these new boots that she just got a few days ago and she could barely contain her giddiness.  She was dancing and skipping around and basking in the sheer joy that she felt to be wearing these shoes.  It must be a girl thing. :-/

But that's okay, because she's my little girl.  I was utterly exhausted, but had her come with me for my brief "cool down" walk at the end of my run.  She even held my hand.  :-)

When we got back to the house, I grabbed my phone to take a picture of her.  I ended up taking a few.  I'm just sorry that the morning sun was so bright in her face, but I think you can tell how excited she is.

Just after I finished taking the pictures, E. started singing--mostly to herself--"Magic Boots!  Magic Boots!  Magic Boots!"

Oh what it would be like to be a 3 year old again!  If only life were simple enough that a cheap pair of cute black boots with pinkilish/purplish laces could bring happiness and joy to one's life.  Maybe that's one of the reasons that Heavenly Father allows us to be parents, so that we don't forget that there is happiness and joy in the small and simple things.

I packed E. off to pre-school and then started my day.  But I'm grateful for my kids and for their excitement and happiness.  Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll even find my own pair of Magic Boots today!

A Year in the Life...

My Uncle and Me

My blog is one year old today.  I never actually thought that I would have a blog, much less be fairly active at blogging for an entire year (despite my dearth of recent posts...). There are things that I've loved about blogging and things that I don't like.

I feel like I'm at my best when I blog about things that inspire me.  I try to keep my posts short and pithy, if for no other reason than to keep The Mostess from complaining about my allegedly neverending Bachelorette recaps...

Sure, it's not all roses trying to keep a blog.  Probably the worst thing is the sense of guilt that I feel about not bogging certain things.  Here's a short list of the blog post topics that are rattling around in my head that may never actually see the light of day: Pumpkinman 2011; Hawaii Recap 2012; Ironman "Glory" Post (not that there is much "glory" for that one!); more posts/pictures of the kids; Cub Scout Camp; Scout Camp; Camp Pendleton Tri 2012, etc.

Probably my favorite picture from our (as yet) unblogged Hawaiian adventure earlier this year...

Also, the very act of creating a post is a somewhat personal exercise.  I appreciate all the more the courage that other bloggers have to share their hopes, dreams, successes, and fears with the "Blogosphere."  I'd like to think that I've had a post or two that have brightened someone's day or made someone feel better.

But there are lots of good things about having a blog.  :-)  So, without further ado, here is my Top 10 Best Things About Having a Blog for the Past Year:

10.  It's a good excuse to shamelessly post cute pictures of your kids.  Justify it by telling yourself that it's for the grandparents to enjoy.  ;-)

First Day of School/Shameless Baby Pic

E. Plays at the Beach on Labor Day

9.  Tell yourself that the countless hours of thinking about, writing, revising, and visiting your blog are worthwhile because you're really just keeping a high-tech journal.

8. When someone asks you what you've been up to lately, you can look at them with a smug face and say, "Don't you read my blog?"

7. It's great to see your blog get visitors from literally all over the world.  :-)

Australia

Nepal, India, and Brazil

6. I think my sense of humor has improved (even if my friends and family don't...)!

5. I get to be a part of the "Blogosphere" even if I'm not really sure what that is...  :-/

4. I feel like the creative exercise of attempting to craft a semi-interesting post for my blog has made me a better writer overall.

3. It's an awesome way to wish Happy Birthday to a friend or family member.

2.  You can get away with taking a picture of anything by just telling people that it's "for the blog."

Random Pic for the Blog

Tito's Famous Tacos

1. Those rare moments when someone tells you that they read your blog and they love it.  :-)

My Brother, My Cousins, and Me

On Saturday, we had a brunch with our extended family at a really nice place up in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.  We were there for my cousin's sealing and I was eating this awesome sweet crepe when my cousin, Ina, started telling me that she had randomly clicked onto some blog post about the past season of the Batchelor.

She started reading the post and was telling us how funny she thought it was.  Then she said, "And then I realized that it was your blog!"  :-)

Bless your heart Ina!  You totally made my day by telling me that.  And the best part was that she hadn't even realized that it was my blog post when she started reading it.  But moments like that make me think that blogging is pretty cool.

But, maybe even better than that is that I have "met" some awesome new (blogging) friends who have read my blog or have put some fun, entertaining stuff on their own blogs.

If you're reading this, chances are that you're one of those blogging friends, so thank you!