It's been so long since I have written in this thing! To tell the truth, I am not even sure why I am writing today...at this point, I feel pretty certain that nobody reads this anyway. But yesterday I had a day that made me want to write about it.

Yesterday I did the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon here in San Francisco...and I had the thought yesterday that I had last year, which was, "there is no reason to do any other triathlon." Except, of course, Ironman. What a fun event. The distances are relatively short (1.5 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 8 mile run) and therefore entirely manageable. So training didn't run my life for the last month...it was just a part of my life. And then race day was a gift from God. In fact, as I looked out over the San Francisco bay from the San Francisco Belle (the boat we took out to Alcatraz island to start the race) I thought, "God gave us today as a gift." And for the rest of the day (well, the next three and a half hours, anyway) I kept that in mind. In fact, at one point as I was running down to Baker Beach and chatting with Natan, a fellow racer, I said, "Look at this day God has given us," and he looked up and then he said, "Thank you for reminding me to look. I somehow forgot to take a look around at this amazing day."

I loved this race last year (my first time doing it) when the weather was freezing and the water was scarily wavy...so naturally I loved every single second of it this year, when it was a shining, sunny day and the water was not only calm, it was moving in my favor. I swear I was smiling the entire time. I cannot wait to see pictures of it. I only wish some family was here to enjoy it, too. I know how much they all loved watching it last year and this year it was such a glorious day that they would have really had a blast.

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Ronald Reagan died. I know it's a big deal because he really was one of the most popular presidents America has ever had. And it's sad, too...it's sad when anyone dies (no less sad is the fact that Buzzie's grandma died today). And I do feel for Nancy, as she has been taking such care of him these last years and has managed to do so with grace and class (neither of which she got much credit for having while she was First Lady). I do feel for her and the rest of the family.

I am not looking forward to the next week, as the American media shoves Ronald Reagan down our throats - and not the real Ronald Reagan and his real legacy of trickle down economics, the Iran Contra affair, Star Wars, etc. They even did it with Nixon when he died. Given the fact that the Republican Party has tried to rewrite Ronald Reagan's true history and impact on this country (the fact that they attempted to take FDR off of the nickel and replace him with Ronald Reagan proves this point), the sad death of this American leader will instead become pathetic election year fodder for ghwb and his henchmen who will try to say that the current pResident is like a latter day Reagan. Ugh.

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Looking forward to my summer of leisure and travel...really looking forward to the PS 207 reunion...it's going to be INSANE seeing everyone after all this time. Other than Stephen Markman, Joe Macri, Rob Sena and Julianne Kowalski, I haven't seen any of these people since about 1986 when we graduated from Junior High School...it's going to be HILARIOUS. I think on some level it will also be cathartic for me...many of these people, especially the girls, have (without their knowledge, I am sure) had a major impact on my life - and not necessarily good. Going and seeing some of them as a 31 year old woman who is happy and successful and whose life is heading in a good direction will, I think, shut down some of the residual feelings I have about they way they treated me. Not that I feel like I have something to prove. It's more like I want to see them and, as I look into their eyes, I want to know that they never got the better of me, hard as they tried.