235th Annual Johnny Appleseed Croquet Invitational Championship of the Known Universe is awash

The 235th Annual Johnny Appleseed Croquet Invitational Championship of the Known Universe (which Lia covertly turned into my birthday party), sadly, was rained out Saturday morning. It's all right. Rain happens. We had an impromptu gathering at the casa instead. Fun was had by all.

The Briggs contingent representing the old Alma Mater.

Richard and Paul holding down their wives.

Ned and Mark, current buds. Dave and Will, future buds.

Photo by Lia. Nice diagonal.

Daisy, Anna Rose, and Kerith all wearing Anna Rose's clothes.

Help, My Wife is a Triathlete

Lia made the transformation from extraordinary female to extraordinary female triathlete this past Sunday. She competed in the Angels Foundation Triathlon at Tanglewood. It was a sprint distance: 300 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike, and 5 kilometer run. She finished in 1:25. Pretty impressive in my opinion.

When I took this picture, I was running beside her. She appears happy and at ease. However, I learned later she was actually at that moment fighting off a stomach cramp. About five seconds after this picture she told me to leave her alone because I was stressing her out! For some reason the fact that I was sprinting by her in our double jog stroller made her feel worse.

What can I say? I was excited. I may have lacked compassion and come across a little over zealous. At least I was behaving in character. How could I react any different? I was watching my wife fulfill one of her lifelong goals. And she was doing with style. The bike photo below captures it I think. Here she is: zooming up the hill, gliding into her second transition, smiling from ear to ear. What joy! What an accomplishment! And one thing is sure, one triathlon will not be enough. I caught her perusing websites last night before bed.