wow

My Pal's Kerry and Mark had their first baby today at home with the assistance of a midwife. I came over shortly after to help keep things going after the midwife came home - this little guy - was actually a HUGE guy coming in 16 days late and weighing 10 lbs 22 1/4 inches long - Mom, Dad and Baby Jack are all doing awesome!!!

surprize!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!! My friend Marie orchestrated a surprize party for me for my birthday! I was so stunned - I didn't know what to do...I had some suspicions -but her 4 year old daughter so convincingly lied to me all on her own, I totally believed her. (something to think about in about 10 years)

summer days

Nothing says a Michigan Summer than a paddle boat on a lake - This was one of the first times 2 year old Toby was on a boat - he's a little nervous - but his mom, Marie, was close by to comfort - Helena who has a couple years on Toby was very confident and wanted to swim off the boat - ....frankly....so did I -

The Island

After a stressful week of watching the news on K2, my Mother and I took a retreat to the island. We are so fortunate to have a place where we can completely relax and see amazing sunsets! (my Mother is waving hello)

k2

Below is a photo of my brother Chris at the top of Mt. Everest. As many of you know he recently attempted K2. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the story is told he was not able to Summit K2 on August 1st. He turned around somewhere between Camp 4 and the Summit. Between time constraints and other issues he decided to turn around and wait for another day for a summit. A difficult decision, and one I am very happy he decided to take. Disaster struck K2 shortly thereafter and 11 climber did not return to base camp. Chris was part of the rescue efforts from Base Camp and assisted with the rescue of 3 other climbers. I am so thankful that my brother is safe, but it is with a heavy heart as my sympathy goes out to the families whose brothers, husbands, sons, friends did not return.

Big Fun & what not to do after a 1/2 Ironman

So I went out to visit my pal's Heather, Ryan and Aria this past weekend which was big fun - we hung out, went to the City - went to this cool neighborhood in providence, called Federal Hill - it was straight out of the soprano's and a very delicious place to eat dinner!

I also went out to run a 10 mile road race. I will admit that when I originally signed up for the weekend, I had thought the 10 mile run was a 10K race, not a 10 mile race. Turns out that 5 days is not quite enough recovery time for me from a half Ironman to run a 10 mile race - one med tent trip later is proof to that effect - The photos are of sweet Aria, -then Ryan, Heather and I pre-race and pre full body shut down for me

finally - the last photo is of Ryan getting ready to get on the highway to the danger zone - you can't see it -but he is sporting some aviator sunglasses...circa top gun with his new classic ride -

OUCH!!!!

Its amazing what you will subject your body too, because you said you would do something. I signed up for a 1/2 ironman in Racine Wisconsin, first with my buddy Adam last year. Unfortunately I got strep throat, so I skipped that race. So this year, my friend Anne and I signed up for it. Sadly, what goes around comes around. Anne had an accident on her mountain bike and broke her elbow. So I went to Racine on my own instead. I took the ferry across Lake Michigan, which is v. expensive, but pretty cool.

The weather in racine was not ideal - it was foggy and cool and the water temperature had dropped 15 degrees in a week to....55 degrees.....let me just say - NEVER SWIM IN THAT COLD OF WATER!!! I survived the swim, but barely I almost had to drop out b/c I couldn't catch my breath - I finally got my act together, but ended up missing a buoy in the fog and had to swim an extra 300 meters...grrr....the ride, I will admit was awesome and fun, but the run was a slow hot slog - I actually put ice in my bandanna and wrapped it around my neck - that seriously helped cool me down. The temp by the end of the race was almost 90 degrees and sunny - which made my body very confused and angry at me -since I started out freezing it and ended it by cooking it .....

at any rate - I had my best 1/2 ironman time and did it under 6 hours - which was good -:)

Up north with Sheri and Paul

Sheri and Paul invited a bunch of us for a w/e of bike riding and sunsets on Lake Michigan in Manistee, MI which is next to traverse city last weekend- it was awesome and I will say that the water was the perfect temp!!!

Rothbury 2008 - whew

So my Pals Jen and Neal from Phoenix (Jen and I went to High School Together) did our annual music festival trip this summer along with Neal's friends Dave, Chris and Jeff - it was a total trip - music, fun and little sleep - below is just a bunch of photos to give a flavor of the w/e!

K2 and my brother

chris in tahoe & Chris at the puga for Everst - and Tibetan Woman below

So - some of you know and some don't - my brother Chris is climbing K2 this summer. Unfortunately I googled K2 and came up with all sorts of scary information and also some information that made me realize how incredibly challenging it is to even attempt to climb this mountain. Its only 600 feet shorter than Everest, which Chris summitted a couple of years ago, but its a lot more difficult. It has a lot more vertical and its with a lot less support. Most people summit without oxygen and so far only 198 have summitted compared to just about 2000 who have summited Everest.

Chris has a long summer of snow and wind and danger and adventure ahead of him, so please keep him in your safe thoughts and follow a long - you can sign up for his blog through the links below. You can also go to the team website and see the other fella's he is climbing with.

Team Website
http://www.thealtitudeexperience.com/k2/

Chris's website
http://goalexploration.com/HomePage.html

Ithaca is Gorges

I visited Sheri and Paul this weekend in Ithaca - Can you even believe Sheri is 6 months pregnant in this photo? Seriously! This is also where she can walk too on her lunches at work - sure beats the Bariatric Hospital I look at every day in wonderful Ypsilanti! We had an incredible meal at the famous Moosewood Resturant - the carrot cake was incredible - I am still thinking about it -

They have quite a big summer ahead as they gut and rebuild the house they just bought and prepare to become parents in October - it was so great to hang out with them and help a little as they get ready for everything!

What really happened

So, I have wondered how the whole credit crisis was allowed to happen. It seemed to me like a no-brainer - of course, if you gave away risky loans, it will eventually come back and kick you- So I understood the global idea of what went wrong, what I didn't understand, was why - My supersecret boyfriend Ira Glass did an episode on it - and I highly encourage anyone who is interested to listen to it

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242

here is the summary:
The Giant Pool of Money
A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

Host Ira Glass talks with an NPR business and economics correspondent about two gatherings he attended—one at the Ritz Carlton and one at a community college in Brooklyn. The first was an awards dinner for finance professionals who created the mortgage-based financial instruments that nearly brought down the global economic system. The other was a non-profit conference for people facing foreclosure. Ira explains that today's show lays out how the finance guys and the people facing foreclosure are connected by a chain of middlemen, and that together, they all brought about the current housing and credit crisis.

This American Life producer Alex Blumberg teams up with NPR's Adam Davidson for the entire hour to tell the story—the surprisingly entertaining story—of how the U.S. got itself into a housing crisis. They talk to people who were actually working in the housing, banking, finance and mortgage industries, about what they thought during the boom times, and why the bust happened. And they explain that a lot of it has to do with the giant global pool of money.

me, my brother and 34 hours on the road

So - Reno to Ann Arbor in 34 hours with a 5 ton trailer attached to my brothers car - that is what my brother and I did on Sunday and Monday of this week. We left early on Sunday morning and arrived late last night.

Above the photos are of Nevada, Utah, the Great salt lake, wind mills in Wyoming and a barn in Nebraska. I have to say after driving through Nebraska my desire to take photos completely ended - what a long freaking state -

another set of stitches

so while out in Tahoe, I stayed at a wonderful woman's home, named Joan. Within minutes of meeting her I had an unfortunate accident with a blender that resulted in 4 stitches on one finger and 5 on the other......I am sure Joan will never use the blender again with out fond memories of my blood....ugh.....9 stitches.....

65 Years of Marriage!

My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this past weekend in Reno, NV - their advice is: Grandma "have patience and forgive and FORGET" my grandpa's advice "she says 'jump' I say 'how high" They had 40 people from all over the country out to celebrate - it was quite a party!

10 Year Grad School Reunion

So - its hard to believe, but its been 10 years since I graduated from Grad School at Washington University in St. Louis, so my friends Stef and Heather and I went to St. Louis to have a look around. Turns out the only thing that has changed was us. It was totally fun and completely surreal to be back in town. Thanks to Heath and Stef for such a wonderful w/e!

I also had the wonderful oppotunity to see the Katzman family whom I babysat for while I was in graduate school - it was so wonderful to see them and reconnect with them. It was a trip to ride in a car with both Charlie and Matt as they were 6 and 8 when I left St. Louis 10 years ago.

Dali Lama and Friends!

So, last Sunday, I had the great honor of seeing his Holiness, the Dali Lami. Its funny because I had a lot of hesitation of going to see him. Everyone in my yoga studio and other places were all going to see him and I felt like a poser to do so. It seemed like the hip thing to do, which is the exact opposite of why I thought I should go see him, if that makes any sense.

But as fate would have it, I had a trip cancelled and a ticket made available to me. So I went unshowered right after a bike ride and I have to say it was well worth the trip. Despite, the Chinese Protesters (I wanted to ironically ask them how they liked the right to protest, but didn't), the Dali Lama was humble, wise and funny. The dude cracks himself up, which is refreshing. His message of compassion, love and peace was very welcome. He defined love as simply wanting joy and happiness for others. He defined fear as the opposite. From fear, stems violence. Its so simple.

Its also funny because my friends from around the world were all like "what is the Dali Lama doing in the midwest, in Ann Arbor of all places" and I have to say, I am very thankful to be in a town big enough to invite guests like the Dali Lama, and small enough so that the entire town takes notice of such occasions.

On another note, my friends Paul and Sheri came back to visit Ann Arbor for the weekend and I realized how much I really miss them. I truely miss you guys!!! I had the distinct pleasure of running with two of my pregnant friends who are due 2 1/2 weeks apart - September 20th (Kerry Sheldon) and October 7th, (Sheri Hall).


here is a photo of them in Bird Hills - thanks for the run you two!!!

Klinke