Glowing Bubbles

Along with table arrangements, ceremony site logistics, and reception music, Bryan and I also have to sample ice cream flavors for our wedding cake (Cold Stone!). We spent an hour at the store, trying different combinations of ice cream, mix-ins, and cake. Who would have thought cheesecake ice cream, blueberries, and chocolate cake was so delicious?! And mint ice cream, slivered almonds, white chocolate chips, and chocolate cake? Luckily, Bryan and I powered through combinations to find this out.

Becky, Pam, and I did a night swim with the Tri Club this evening. There was a full moon, and everyone was given a glow stick to attach to our wetsuit pulls. The phosphorescence was incredible! Every time your hand broke the water's surface, the bubbles glowed fluorescent green! There was some funky stuff on the ocean floor at one point that could freak you out, so I just focused on the shiny bubbles. And all was well.

Head of the Class

Tonight was Louie's second day of school. Bryan and I don't want to be those elite, competitive parents, but , honey, he's waaaaaay ahead of all the other dogs. No jumping or barking. And if Bryan and I give a command correctly, he follows! Oh, and did I mention he's also the cutest dog there?

I am furiously working on a story (in between furiously planning a wedding, of course) for Tomales Bay. I've been kicking around some scenes in my head for several months now, and figured it would end up being a 5,000-to-7,000-word story. But as I write, it's seeming more episodic. Maybe closer to novella length? Or...? I can't bring myself to type the other "N" word.

My mom helped me mail out a story to journals this morning. I was critiqued by Michael Jaime-Becerra at Squaw. He really went above and beyond what's required of a critique, and his comments helped me see the story in a new way. I'm optimistic that someone, somewhere, in this vast land of literature, will want to publish it.

My brother is taking an impromptu vacation in Hawaii this week. Carpe diem!

The Frog

I came. I saw. I survived. And conquered. And had a great time.

This race is a blast. The Navy Seals are an impressive group of athletes, and the volunteers are really friendly.

The race conditions (high surf, wind, rain) were not ideal for fast times, but did make the race crazier and more fun. How can you not laugh when the rip current puts you 100 yards north of the intended surf exit point? And then you have to run down the beach and do it two more times?

Bryan, my parents, and Louie came out to cheer me on. While I was biking through wind and rain, they were sitting in it. For hours. It means so much when the people you love support your crazy endeavors. Knowing they would be on the other side of the loose sand section of the run made each step easier.

Legally Binding

Bryan and I applied for our marriage license today. Imagine my delight and his chagrin to read in the fine print that he must cook me an egg sandwich once a week. Further down, it said I had to let him use my bike pump. I now see what people mean about marriage being a series of compromises.

Wedding planning is pure bedlam.

What I Didn't Know

I'm always discovering new things. Last night, I learned the neighborhood dog park has a social caste system to rival the Hindus'. There's the retrivers, labs, and big dogs. They participate in group-fetching, where they vie for the same tennis ball. There's a little-dog clique that congregates away from the big-dog whirling dervish up on the small hill. Their owners seem to know each other, and chat while the dogs sit and look pretty. And there are the parents with children who keep their distance in the playground area.

The whole thing kind of reminds me of high school. It's a good primer for tonight's 10-year high school reunion.

Q

It's freakin hot.

Q + brick workout = hot triathlete.

Because I'm a louse, I postponed Saturday's brick (last long workout before beginning my Frog taper). So I had to do it today.

And since I am this previously mentioned louse, I returned to the house overheated, and took a cue from Louie.


I lay on the tile floor in front of a fan, ice cubes on my pulse points. Louie gave me a "this lady's crazy" look (it's the poodle part of him--very perceptive) and then munched on his own ice cubes.

After Saturday's lament about no responses from literary journals, three rejections arrived today. Don't editors have better things to do on Labor Day, like BBQ meat, than tell me I don't measure up?

The police in Mission Beach are donning riot gear today. The heat does strange things to people. Like cause them to brawl over a keg, or think they can make it as a fiction writer.

So Cruel

What's so cruel? A lifeguard changing the posted temperature as you're walking down to the ocean, from an already chilly 68 degrees to a punishing 65. We got in as soon as possible before it dropped again.

Silence from short story submissions. I'm guessing this is the lull before a storm. What I don't know is weather the storm will bring a downpour of acceptances or malestrom of denials. But surely the cold water that's been flushed into the Cove is preceding a weather change.