My First (...and Possibly Last) Triathlon

I raised almost £200 for WaterAid, which brings fresh, clean drinking water to third-world countries in need while completing my first triathlon in the Mazda London Triathlon 2009. JT was there to support me the whole way. I signed up in January, but didn't really start training until April. As I have a mountain bike that is not made for speed, I'm sure with a better bike my time would've been better, but unfortunately I don't have my bike details. As I finished the swim I was transitioning out of my wetsuit to get to the bike and lost my tracking chip...it just slipped off! (Possibly due to the cooking oil on my ankles in order to aid wet-wetsuit stripping.) I finished, and I guess that was the biggest accomplishment of all.

JT's Dad and Carol's Visit

JT's Dad and his dad's wife Carol came to stay with us for two weeks before leaving for Carol's son's home in Ireland for a few more weeks. This was Gordon's second time out of Australia...his first was when he fought in Vietnam after being drafted in the 60s. It was my second chance to meet and spend time with with both of them, and I was whole-heartedly amused at the older, taller, larger, red-bearded version of my husband in our home. JT took them on part of his London tour, and we all did a day in Bath with pit-stops at Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. They'll pop by for a few more days at the end of August before they head home to Australia.

Dom's Visit at the Beg of July 09

Dom came to visit us with his cousin Sarah and we went to the Hayward Gallery's latest exhibit "Walking in my Mind" where we saw Yayoi Kusama's spots and other artists' tunnels of cardboard, a huge human spider web, and other crazy rooms! We also spent a few hours one rainy afternoon in the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street after meeting up with his brother Dan and friend Matt for lunch at GBK. I've really missed him, so we were lucky to steal him to london and away from family for a few days.