What a weekend --- Saturday morning, we had Andy's First Communion retreat. I was totally dreading it, especially since I had to dedicate two prime bicycling hours to this. In my opinion, it wasn't really a worthwhile thing to go to. We learned about the names of the various things involved in the Eucharist (tabernacle, chalice, corporal, etc.), and then we talked about the 10 Commandments. The woman who was in charge of this section was particularly pious. Then we learned about Passover and the Cedar supper eaten by the Jews (also known as the Seder by those of us who know how to read). Finally, we had to attend a little workshop on how to receive the Eucharist properly -- one hand on top of the other, curled up so as not to drop the host. (This direction, by the way, is totally against what Sister Angelista taught me at Notre Dame Elementary. She always said -- very emphatically -- that Father doesn't want to search for your hand -- put it up there and lay out your palm flat so that there is a wide landing area for the host. I talked to Andy about how to take the host the Sr. Angelista way after the retreat.) All in all, it was awful, but not totally horrendous, just tedious. I know, I am not supposed to feel this way about spending two hours at church.

We also had two baseball games this weekend and Ron participated in the Tour of the Tucson Mountains 70 mile bike ride. He was pleased with his final time, but if he had been a minute and a half faster, he would have been thrilled since then he would have been under 4 hours. The guys and I left the house at 6:30am this morning to cheer Ron on -- what an experience. We had thunder sticks and cowbells for noise making and we also were yelling and screaming for all the cyclists that went by. The guys had a great time, and I think Ron was happy to see us both times we cheered for him. We had gone to a spot on the route that was only about 20 miles in, and then after we saw him there, we went to another spot and waited for him to pass again. Once that was done, we headed back to our side of town for 9:30am Mass (after all, one week before your First Communion, you do not skip Mass).

Swim team has commenced and I think it is going really well. All of last year's coaches are back and the boys are thrilled. So am I -- these college age people are so, so good with the kids and encouraging to the nth degree. All three of the guys have a soft spot for Coach Ricky who plays with them as much as he teaches them -- lots of rough-housing in the pool! Baseball season is still going on, and there are only 4 more games. I am so grateful that the end is in sight! However, the guys are having a fantastic time, and things have gotten even better since Benjamin got his very first hit for the season this past week. Ron was so excited that he called me from the baseball field to tell me that Benjamin had finally hit the ball!

I am trying to stick to a schedule of 3 road rides a week so that I am really ready for my big race on 2 June. I am also beginning to get a little sick to my stomach every time I think about it. The big issue I am mulling over now is whether or not to rent a wetsuit. I don't want to, but everyone is going on and on about how cold the lake is and a wetsuit is a necessity. I looked up the temperature of the lake and it is expected to be 67 degrees. That doesn't seem that cold to me, and I really don't want to hassle with a wetsuit, even though there will be wetsuit strippers available to help getting out of the thing. So, Uncle Marc! What do you think?? Wetsuit or no wetsuit?? I only have to swim 1500 meters.

The only other thing going on is that I think I may keep the guys home from school this Wednesday. We have XM radio and our favorite deejay, Kenny Curtis, is going to be doing a live broadcast from Phoenix on Wednesday from 12-5. I think the guys would be really excited to see a live radio show, and I love Kenny Curtis! I may send them to school for an hour and a half and then pick them up... that way I can get ready for the trip by myself. I figure that I have to bring a bunch of food, water, and at least one DVD, for the trip home. We do have one of those DVD players in the car, but I never wanted it. We have used it probably 3 times since buying the car, but I have to admit, those 3 times it was really, really nice to have -- resulted in TOTAL SILENCE in the car for the entire two hour ride. I will let you know how it goes!