Melissa, Oh?

Much delayed, but I promised to share my experiences from my first triathlon, so here goes:
There’s something that seems very hard-core and intimidating about a triathlete. Which is why I laughed in my brother’s face when he first suggested I race a triathlon.
But the truth is, I very much wanted to become comfortable on a [...]

Things I learned while staying with my grandmother at the hospital and rehab center:
= Nurses at the rehab center are not the same as nurses at the hospital. Nurses at a hospital are nice, with good bedside manner. And they come when you push the call button. And they don’t roll their eyes and act [...]

So, better late than never on the Christmas blog post, right? I’ll try not to bore you with all of the details, but I wanted you to see what my grandmother thought of this present I made for her. Instead of telling you, I’ll show you with pictures, all beautifully captured by Jeff:

 
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Also, I had [...]

So, I’m a little late on the the whole “look back/look ahead” post that comes at the end of the year, but I was too busy celebrating the holidays to take the time to sit down and think about it! So, better late than never, right?
Last year I wrote about some thoughts on 2008, and [...]

How do I put this experience into words? Where do I even begin to describe this moment?
Jeff said I should title this blog post “I beat Superman.” Because I did, in fact, beat Superman at the Thunder Road Marathon on Saturday.

But I know it’s not about who I beat or who beat me. I was [...]

So, it’s Tuesday, and I ran 20 miles on Saturday. Why am I just now writing about it? Because I’m just now recovered!
Ok, that’s not really true. I’ve been busy with work and an out-of-town friend visiting also, but I have been on a total runner’s high since that run and I am so stoked [...]

Years ago, I had an epiphany: Not only could I choose not to have children, but I would choose not to have children.
My reasons for not wanting them could be called selfish. I took a look at adults around me that had kids, and those that didn’t – and I decided I liked the lives [...]

Kids. I don’t have any. I don’t want any.
But don’t say I don’t love them. I absolutely love them.
I’ve spent the past few days babysitting for my nieces (ages 3 and 1) while Kevin and Jenn are on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), and I have learned a few things about kids:
= a sippy cup [...]

This weekend, in pictures and thoughts:
The run:
I didn’t take pictures of everything, of course. I didn’t photograph me waking up at 4:30 a.m. just to get my run in because I knew I had a busy day ahead. I was home before the sun came up, so it would have been a picture of darkness [...]

My dog woke me up at 5 a.m. to go to the bathroom, which seems terrible but the silver lining was that my alarm was going to go off 40 minutes later (yes, 40 minutes is 40 minutes, but still) for my morning run. As I was already up before the moon even decided to [...]