Some of the stuff I've been leaving out...

1. I've been rock climbing. No pictures. I need to figure out how to carry a camera (or phone) when I climb. Anyway...my instructor-turned-friend paid me a huge compliment the other day, and I am feeling so good about deciding to give climbing a try. And I climbed 2 routes rated 5.11a that evening :)  Meaningless to most of you awesome readers, but it's improvement and it's got me excited!

2. I have not been running much at all. And I am planning on organizing an Ellimpics for us injured athletes. Look for details coming soon, and submit suggestions for events. That said, I am increasing my running miles this week so my training for the EGames™ will be limited ;-)

3. I have been working out a good deal, though, and the other day set a completely pointless PR on the elliptical...speeding 3.1 elliptical miles (yes, that is 5K) in 20:03. It would be so amazing if elliptical speed translated into running speed...but it doesn't.

4. We went to the beach and everyone had fun...not just Miss C and her Squishy...

~soft frisbee necklaces, playing with sand crabs with cousins, getting buried alive!~

~boogie boarding and a wicked riptide...this was the first time in 15 years that I've gone in~

yes, it was very cold

~digging a trench...guess which picture shows the fight...hint: all four kids are in it~

they spent literally all day off and on digging this

~then they planted a really big stick~

~Big G and Miss C paid homage to the planted stick~

and that bottom left pic is what the beach looked like when we left

...and this is what we drove into. Northern California coastal summer weather at its finest! 

Vecchio Venerdì... young and happy at the beach!

Before I had kids, back when I was young... like, 35... I took a whole lot of classes at a local community college. I already had a degree and a half, but I love school. And I had a huge pile of student loans and a crappy job...which meant paying those bad boys off was a real challenge. I found out that by being a full-time student, I could defer my loan payments...until I stopped being a full-time student. Enroll me, please!

I took things that were fun and interesting to me. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Drama, and Photography... all in the same semester. It was such a blast. I was even in the school play. Really.

But this post isn't about the play or the languages. This post showcases my photographic skills... such as they were. This was pre-digital...darkroom work required.

The assignment: a set of self-portraits...

1. what the world sees, 
2. what you see, and 
3. I forget.

Today, I am sharing with you... which one? Let's make it fun... you guess :)

I set up a tripod on the beach. This really is a self-portrait. Cool, right?

The weird thing at the base of the rock is Nereocystis.

I promise to show the other one where I am actually in the freezing cold water in late October of 1998. But you'll have to wait until next Friday.

As far as my workouts... yesterday's run sucked wad. Leaden legs, hip injected with sulfuric acid, husband ran with me for the last 2 loops... we have 'issues' when we workout together :P And tonight's bike ride was just there. Nothing different from the other night except no video. I am hoping that this weekend's hilly extravaganza run is incredible and that my body is just knowingly saving itself ;-)

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of the Moving Comfort Giveaway! and I will show you some awesome stuff I did and saw with my kids over the past couple of days. Yeah, I'm a tease. 

Happy weekend!