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In one week, I will be completely done with my summer courses, ready to take on a month and a half of minimal responsibilities. As of now, that includes working (very) part time and learning how to sew. I'm REALLY excited about the latter, as it ties in very nicely with the Brigman goal of becoming as self sufficient as possible. Because we are not in a position to have a massive garden, chickens, and a dairy cow, I can use this time to focus on other skills, such as baking from scratch (we've been making our own bread for a few weeks now), and now sewing. We want to do the cloth diaper thing, and they're really expensive upfront (but actually are a lot cheaper than disposable diapers in the long run), so I want to get started now on making some. Not that that's an announcement or anything, so don't panic/get excited.

Having more time means I'll be able to train more for triathlons and the like. The triathlon last Saturday went splendidly. The weather was ideal (cloud coverage, little humidity), so it didn't feel miserable simply existing outside. My goal was to get the tri done in an hour, and I ended up getting 1:04:32, which qualified me as fourth in my age group. Not terrible since I was bed ridden two days prior with an illness, but it does motivate me to work a lot harder for the next one. I also discovered that having a panic attack in the open swim really takes a toll on your time. Apparently I do not do well with swimming in a large group of people. Synchronized swimming is not for me. I was fine as soon as there was a gap between the group of people in front of me and the group of people behind me, but at the start and then when I caught up with the front group, my breathing became very erratic and I was convinced I was going to drown. Not really conducive to obtaining a competitive time. The bike and run were fun though.

Speaking of running, we had two additional people at running group this morning. I cannot tell you how excited that made me! Typically, it's the Buhlers and the Brigmans (or "Brigmen" as I think we should refer to ourselves in the plural as), and if we're lucky, the Trunnells are there (they actually are there more often than not). How exciting it was to have two more today (Virginia and Lee). I just feel so much better about life when I'm exercising consistently, and there is an immense feeling of accomplishment when, at the end of the day, your body is just so pleasantly tired. You just know you've done something good for yourself, and it's exhilarating. Others have expressed interest in the nutrition class who have been unable to come due to scheduling conflicts, which is great! I'm glad we're able to send out the powerpoints to everyone so they can get some of the benefits of the class (Bobby does such a great job elaborating on them, though, that going to the class is really the ideal situation for learning the most).

A dear friend from Utah called yesterday, and I got to talk to him for a bit. It made me miss Utah a ton. It was really hard adjusting spiritually, but every other component was fantastic. It was a dream to have the mountains in our backyard (almost literally), and the weather was amazing. I really took for granted that I did not get a single mosquito bite while we lived in Utah (I've had dozens already since being back in Kansas). We also made some really great friends, and it was really nice for Bobby to have people he could talk about cycling with all the time. We've been really fortunate to have such great friends in Kansas already, and our ward is amazing. Those factors almost make up for the humidity. Almost. I look forward to the fall when I can run outside consistently again.

In other news, I'm currently reading It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong (with Sally Jenkins... which I didn't realize until a couple chapters in, and said to Bobby, "Wow, Lance is a pretty good writer" and the "With Sally Jenkins" in the smaller font), and I'm now a little in love with Lance Armstrong. I didn't really care for him, just with the impressions I've gotten with the media (because I'm a sucker for the tabloids), but he's very human. And I'm pretty sure the next time anyone asks me who I would meet if I could meet anyone in the world, my answer will be his mom. Well, there might be a few people ahead of her on that list, but she's definitely on the list. What a fantastic woman. And what a fantastic son for recognizing the magnitude of her influence in his life. I hope to be like her with my kids.

And... super awesome video!