One second.

One second is what separated me from the girl who finished 5th in my age group at a triathlon this past weekend. One second. How annoying is that?!? The way the start happened (I won't bore you with those details), I had no way of knowing, but I certainly could've gone 1 second faster. Or 2 just to make sure to beat her. Argh.

This summer has certainly been busy for me so far! The weekend after my race in Florida, Hayden and I went to Memphis with a friend. She was participating in and I was volunteering at the Memphis in May triathlon. My legs hadn't recovered yet from the previous weekend, so I was playing it smart and not racing. At no point during that race was I jealous of any of my friends who were racing. My legs were still tired and it was hot. Damn hot. It amazes me how much hotter Memphis is than Nashville. That morning it was 95 degrees. I always feel sorry for the older or heavier people who do that race because they're usually the ones who take over 3 hours to finish, and they get to melt under the blistering sun. This one guy who must've weighed over 400 pounds took 5 1/2 hours to finish (for comparison, I did that race last year in 2:38) and immediately walked right into the lake to cool off. Poor guy, but at least he's out there doing it. Anyway, we got home that night around 8:45. The next weekend I went to Clarksville (about an hour away) Saturday morning to ride with my friends. There was an organized 60-mile ride that was flat and fast, much like Florida, and we had a BLAST. The weekend after that, which was this past weekend, I went with a friend to a triathlon about 1 1/2 hours away. A lot of my friends were there, and I think we all had good races. This weekend I think I'm actually staying in town! Won't that be amazing?

My knitting hasn't been nearly as exciting or productive as my racing. I think I'm in somewhat of a funk. I have yarn all over the house and a couple of projects started, but I feel like I'm getting nothing done. I had started a little tank top out of the Brooks Farm mohair I bought at MDS&W, but I'm planning on frogging it because the yarn is doing something incredibly funky. I finished the back of my Rowan Cricket vest and have started the front, but it's not picture-worthy yet. Hopefully soon. I'm also still working on my Sampler Stole. I need a mindless, idiot project for speech therapy days or days that I'm too tired to think but can't stand the idea of not doing anything, so I may cast on for my Morehouse shawl this afternoon. I need to get back to my Fad Classic and frog my Somewhat Cowl so I can start the Faery Net Blouse from IK, but I really want to finish at least one project before doing that to give me a sense of accomplishment.

And to end this ridiculously boring post, I'll share a conversation I had with a boy from Hayden's school a few days before school let out. When I picked Hayden up at 3:00, I usually let him play on the playground for a while. I'd take my knitting and sit on the bench while he played. The YMCA has an after-school program for kids whose parents work full-time called the Fun Company, and at 3:20 the Fun Company kids would come out to the playground. Hayden loved to be in the middle of the chaos, so we'd always stay until 3:30 or so. On this particular day, this boy who was probably in the 4th grade walked over to my bench.

Boy: So, you're knitting, huh?
Me: Yes, I am.
Boy (who is now fondling my yarn): What are you making?
Me: A vest for myself.
Boy: You know, I've heard that knitting is real mate magnet, so you're bound to get a husband soon.

At that point one of his friends came over and they walked off together, so I didn't get to respond. I was laughing too hard to say anything, anyway.