Tennis anyone?

It is finally here - the start of tennis season. Leagues start this week, and I couldn't be happier!

I miss my team during the summer, I miss the competition, I miss the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Sure, we play a little during the summer, but in the fall and spring, we fight it out with other teams for that coveted bag tag that says Ladies 5.0 League Winner!

I tell Lane this is the cheapest therapy there is. I can play tennis, or go shopping. I figure the tennis is a little easier on the bank account.

Love, love, love it.

So glad to be back on the court! :)

Another quiz- since you like them so much! :)

So insomnia seems to be running rampant between Lane and I at night.  Wonder why?  Probably because your mind can be your best friend or worst enemy.  Especially when you can't turn it off!   Oh well, one of us had insomnia the other night.  Let's see if you can guess who it was, and what they did at 2 in the morning instead of sleep.

Here are your hints.  This is Lane's closet:

This is my closet: 

You figure it out?  

If you guessed that Lane was up, and he cleaned and organized his already pretty clean closet, then you are right!  Remind me to give you a Tootsie Roll the next time I see you for getting it right! :)

Yup, I am married to the neatest, cleanest person I know!  Poor guy is married to me :(  He tries so hard to help me be less cluttery, but I guess my clutteriness (is that a word?) is in my genes as much as his umm, passion for cleanliness is in his!!!  I didn't even dare take a picture of the wall of shelves with my folded shirts on them.  I don't need to air all my secrets here! ;)

Anyway, I thought of having him straighten and organize mine, but then he'd find the clothes that have tags still on them because I haven't worn them yet because the perfect occasion hasn't arisen yet.  Then, he'd start to realize I really do have too many pairs of shoes, which maybe I do, but the shoes match the perfect outfit in the closet that is waiting for the perfect occasion!  And heaven forbid, he may uncover a bag of stuff I have bought and haven't put away yet!  AAAA! 

So, looks like I won't let him touch my closet, but anyone want to hire him out to come do yours?  He is awesome at it!

Mean girls we aren't!

If 2 is company and 3 is a crowd, what is 16 teenage girls and a bunch of leaders?  Estrogen overload! :)

Friday night we had a Personal Progress night with a sleepover with all the girls.  We started off with pizza and tons of junk to eat. (Isn't that always what a party has?) Then we spent about 2 hours with the girls breaking off into groups to work on their PP goals.  I hear they knocked out a bunch of goals, so it was a very productive night.

Then, we sent them all up to our balcony to sleep under the stars.  What a gorgeous night it was, and I think they had a lot of fun.  I, of course, curled up in my own bed, but got up early to make the whole gang my dad's awesome whole wheat waffles with homemade maple syrup and buttermilk syrup.  I'd say everyone was pretty well fed by the time they went home.  I know I had to roll me over to the soccer field where I sweat up a storm watching Savannah play soccer.  Man, will this *&$@# summer heat ever end?  (sorry for the pretend swear word! :) )

Can I just say these girls are so awesome?  They get along so well, treat each other with respect, love, and tolerance.  You know, we don't get along with everyone in this world, you just have to learn to tolerate and look for the good in certain people, and I'd say these girls are well on their way!  They are pretty darn awesome, and I love being one of their leaders! :)

A rare quiet Saturday afternoon . . .

This is one for the record book. I literally have nothing going on this Saturday afternoon, and it is kinda nice and very rare. (Although I probably should be concerned that I don't know where Addi is - it is too quiet. I'm going to hope she is safe and sound with a sibling somewhere! :)

Saturday mornings are never empty. Triathlon training and soccer games have taken over the mornings, and this morning was no different from that, except that I had to squeeze in the funeral of a dear friend.

Last Saturday night Lane and I were at the ASU football game - (Feeling extremely overdressed in my shorts and shirt. Apparently I missed the memo to get a T-shirt and cut it all up and wear it as a dress!) We were leaving the stadium when Kayla called, freaking out telling me Shelby's mom just died. What, what, what?????

My friend Leigh, is Shelby's mom. Kayla and Shelby got to be very good friends in about 3rd or 4th grade. I remember meeting Leigh and thinking how beautiful and nice she was. We gradually became friends as our girls became inseparable. She was such a neat lady. Very kind and caring, and a great friend to go shopping with! We talked on the phone a lot, shopped together, went out for lunch, and talked and laughed about our drama queen girls who were so beautiful and talented.

Unfortunately, about a year later she started getting sick quite often. I wasn't sure what was happening, but she just couldn't get out and do what she used to do, and started kind of withdrawing. It was hard, but I understood that she was ill and home a lot. I would visit or bring things over to see her, etc.

It seems like for at least a year they couldn't figure out what was wrong. They finally diagnosed her with Lyme's Disease. Unfortunately, it has crossed over the blood-brain barrier into the brain, and would be very difficult to get rid of. She started a long road of heavy duty anti-biotics which made her even sicker, and she just never seemed to recover from any of that. I know she went to doctors all around, and specialists, etc. trying to kick this stupid infection.

Through it all, she would call and check on us and ask about Lane and how he is. They "heart attacked" our house one night, and brought cookies another night. We would laugh at how we each kept trying to do stuff for each other because we each were going through our own health challenges. We didn't keep in touch as much these last couple of years, but I still talked to her a few times lately.

Finally, after about 6 years of fighting this disease, she died rather suddenly last Saturday night. She was 45. Her funeral today was almost as beautiful as she was. She was such a bright light and good friend. You know how you find those people who you just open up to and tell them everything? She was one of those people. They talked about how you could tell her anything and she would never judge. It is true - you just felt safe talking to her. What an amazing woman and mother.

I'm glad that she is released from her sick body. I know she is in a much better place and will watch over her children and husband happily in heaven. It also makes me think how funerals remind us we need to love more, give more and serve more. I started to wonder what people would say about me. Guess I better shape up a bit! :)

Anyway, I don't want this to be depressing, it just impacts you when a friend you know and love is gone.

Now, for those of you who like to get the cancer updates on Lane, I don't put too much on here because I don't want this to be the cancer blog and he doesn't like me to do that. I will mention it and what we are doing, but if you want the more detailed stuff on that, go to carepages.com and sign up then you can go to his page: lanecook, and look at the updates there. Hopefully we won't have too many of them on there - because that will mean he is healthy and good! You know we've had some more decisions to make lately, and happily we are going to watch and wait and do nothing right now. He feels perfectly fine, so the doc yesterday said even though the cancer has grown, it isn't out of control right now, so we need to wait until it starts "misbehaving". Hmm.... we like that idea.

Oh well, the quiet Saturday is over. Kayla needs a ride somewhere, Savannah has a birthday party, Addi has re-surfaced, and I need to go try on wetsuits for the triathlon! Wish me luck!

Tonight Lane is gone to a fireside, so I will lock myself in my room, throw in a romantic chick-flick and eat some chocolate something. :)

A smile quiz. . .

Why are these people smiling? (scroll to the bottom for the answers!)

1)

2)

3)

Have you guessed? OK, let's see if you are right!

1) Kayla got her braces off today! :) yea!! Monumental day for a teenager!

2) Savannah pulled her tooth out all by herself. The tooth fairy better remember there is a little tooth under her pillow tonight! She also got a lot of silly bands.

3) Kathryn played tennis twice today and rewarded herself with an "I'm a chocoholic" Brownie Batter Blizzard from DQ.

So there you have it - happy day at the Cook household! Hope you all had something to smile about today too.

A much needed girls' trip . . .

So we decided we could do this once a month, but seeing how that isn't really that practical, we will settle for once a year.

Every girl needs to do a girls' trip! I can't believe I have never done one with friends before, just my sisters and mom about 5 years ago.

My crazy triathlon girls Beth and Lisa and I decided to run away to San Diego and let our husbands do the kid duty the whole weekend! Amazingly, no one had to pull a gun on their husband or anything! They all agreed without too much of a fight. (Some of us may have had to negotiate a little ;).

Do you know how liberating and thrilling it is to think of 3 whole days without anyone pulling on your leg, yelling for you, walking in while you're in the shower, asking you where their stuff is (because of course you wore their soccer cleatslast, right?) and just having no schedule at all to do anything? It truly was the best weekend!

We rented a beach cottage at the south end of Mission Beach. It was very quiet and turned out to be just perfect! Here's our cute little place.

And here's the collection of what we did:

Bike rides, a long run up the beach walk, eating, shopping, movie, eating, sleeping (uninterrupted! :), more beach, Old Town, reading, pedicures, relaxing, people watching and just soaking up the beauty of the beach.

How I wish I could live there. I really do. All I need is like 10 million dollars to buy a gorgeous beach house and I'd be happy! ha!

Unfortunately, reality and home called. But, not before we realized we were 3 great minds that apparently think alike because we certainly didn't plan this:

Can you say the Bobsey Triplets?

Then, driving home, we saw this rainbow out the window. Guess we were heading back home to our personal pots of gold at the end of this rainbow.



Here's hoping next year we get to go again! Nothing like a fun trip to take your mind away from things you want and can't have, and things you don't want but do have. My battery is charged, and I am ready to face whatever comes our way.

P.S. - 6 weeks until Lake Powell Triathlon. AAAAA!! Ready to be done with it so I don't have to train so much! We swam in the lake today, and . . . yuck! Don't like smelling like fish bait.

Happy Birthday to my dad!

Tomorrow my dad will turn 74 years old (I think!) Wow, that used to seem old, but when it is your own parent, suddenly it is very young!

Right now my dad is in South Africa, serving with my mom on a mission. This is their second mission. Their first one was in Greece 5 years ago. That has always been my dad's dream. To retire and go on missions.

Today, thinking of my dad, I'd like to list all the great things my dad is:

1) Super, duper smart. (If you consider 2 master's degrees and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering super smart!) I passed my math and science classes because I had a very patient and helpful dad.

2) Super, duper patient. He put up with my mom, and 8 kids, and very rarely lost his cool.

3) Way too honest. Let's just say if there was a way to be too honest, he's it.

4) Extremely forgiving. Just ask his older brother . . .

5) Always giving and serving. You need help - dad is there. You need money - dad is there. :)

6) A little too practical. The VP of Sinclair Oil driving a Toyota Corolla? Come on dad! :)

7) Super supportive. He loves and supports me in all I do.

A few of my favorite memories of my awesome dad are:

When I was in 7th grade. I wanted some Levi Strauss so bad. Mom wouldn't let me get jeans. (don't ask) Dad took me down to the store and bought me some Levi Strauss jeans.

For years I took piano lessons. I loved when dad would come into the living room and just stand with a big smile on his face and listen to me play.

Senior year, dad bought me a prom dress. I didn't have to sew my own! That was the greatest ever!

Getting married - dad saw what dress I wanted, and found the one I ended up getting while on a shopping trip with mom. Kinda funny that my dad picked out my wedding dress.

I love, love, love when my dad (who I now "tower" over because he is only about 5'9") hugs me and asks how his beautiful little girl is. I haven't been called little for a long time! :)

So Dad, I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest dad ever! I love you and can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving when you guys get home! :)