Fall and Remembering David Again

On September 30, my brother David would have turned 48. On September 25, we held a second memorial in our hometown, Indiana, PA. So many people turned out to remember David. It was something I dreaded, but then something I was so happy we did.
The day was lovely, a touch of fall already gracing the hills of Western Pennsylvania, a place I know David just loved.

I miss David often. Just today, while on a walk, I found myself mentally composing an email to him, an email about food of course, and then I remembered it won't get sent.

This Robbie Williams song is on a playlist we put together for the first memorial service. Eva, David's wife, said he loved this song. The lyrics are hauntingly appropriate. (The video, not so much)

Catching up...I did it (two-plus months ago, that is...)

Poor little Babette Feasts blog. I tell you, I have not been feasting much lately. August and September were an absolute whirlwind of travel, starting with the NYC Triathlon.

That was SO much fun. And exhausting. Here's the thing. The swim? Fine, no big deal (although choppy...I worried about people without experience, then found out my cousin Amy finished faster than I did. And that is my strong event. Her weak one. I guess I really am old....but that's okay, because guess what? I did the NYC Triathlon!)...I did the barefoot run by grabbing the swim shoes I'd stashed under a bench right by the swim exit...then I stopped and used a bench to sit down and get out of my wetsuit...then I toweled off, put on bike shorts and headed out...my transition time for swim to bike was something awesome like 15 minutes.

What? It's not like I was angling for a medal!!

Anyway, then came the bike ride. Now mind you, I had really worked myself up into a state about the bike ride. They were predicting rain and all I could think of was how very bare the tires on the road bike are. Skid city is really what I was thinking. But what really happens is that you get on ...and you RIDE. You don't think you are going to fall, you just RIDE. You avoid people and you RIDE. You are very glad you are wearing the sunglasses, even though it is too dark, because wet roads kick up sprays of water right into your face and you RIDE. Then it starts pouring rain and you still RIDE. You ignore the fact that your sister, after she dropped you off for the event the day before, took note of the turnaround point and thought.."Far." You hit the turnaround point. The rain stops and the headwinds pick up...

Oh, man, I was so tired at the end of that ride. I do hilly-er hills in Charlotte, but these were loooooong, slooooowwww climbs and they took a toll.

But I got into the transition and I changed socks (so smart, to have read that it's a good idea to have some dry socks on hand), said hey to Sam as I exited the transition area (he was waiting for his relay team member to send him on his way) and promptly DIED.

Duh. uh. IED.

You start up a steep hill and I walked. You get to 72nd Street and I walked. I tried to jog and happily, I was actually jogging when I passed my little band of cheerleaders (Pat, Sushil, Simone, Gary, Julien +1, Gabby)...and then I had to walk again. All I could think was I have 6 miles to go. I was my own worst enemy. All the positive reinforcement thoughts went out the window.


I made it to each mile marker by running to the next tree down the way. Then walking. Then running to that lamppost I could see. Then walking...Then running to that big rock. It had been cool (ish) and raining during the bike ride. Now the sun came out and it was like running in a steam room and the temperature just seemed to rocket up to 90.

That is some hilly park, Central Park. Finally, around mile 4.5 Sam caught up with me. I was really feeling all kinds of crap so I said hey and see you at the finish. Sam kept running (again, when he caught up to me, I was, surprisingly, jogging)...then turned around thinking I was right behind him only to see me walking.

He waited. When I caught up to him, Sam made me start jogging and didn't let me quit. He kept me going by saying, "Come on, let's pass these two.." Then he would set his sights on the next runner or two and we'd pass them.

It was hard, but I was so touched. We crossed the finish line together and I cherish that moment.

but I gotta say, I felt awful. I wanted to cry. The volunteer who met me at the finish line asked me how I felt and must not have believed me, because he asked me my name...Truth? I should have told him I felt like crap and taken all the help he had to offer.

Scenes from the day:

Waiting in line for bus to the starting transition zone...where you then had to walk a mile to get to swim start. Yes, I was almost late...

Sam around 4:30 a.m. while waiting for the bus.

I actually stopped on the "run" to take a shot. Stupid to carry the camera at all.

Look, that's me saying hi..and trying to look like I'm having fun.

Me, Sam, Gabby, Gary

Still, I am glad so very glad I did this. The feeling of accomplishment in this cannot be matched by other things I do, mostly because this is so far out of my own comfort zone. To all of you who supported my efforts, you are so appreciated.

You MUST check out Amy's highlights, one of which was Amy, her sister Jill and I riding our way from hotel to transition zone through the streets of NYC. AWESOME. (I didn't make any of the photos because I felt like such ...yuck.)

Go, Paul's Posse, Go!! Hey: How Hard can the NYC Triathlon BE????

photo courtesy Debra Rothenberg: Some ofLast Year's Posse!!

Hey, all--thanks for sticking with me over the summer. It has been a sad time for me, but I've focused on some good stuff...you've heard a little bit about my new passion, tango, and we even went to Argentina (and Uruguay), where I tango'd my little heart out.

The other passion? It's the Nautica NYC Triathlon, which I am swimming, biking and running in this coming Sunday.

I surely must be nuts.

Last year, I did make the jump into the Hudson, but since I was so SO sure I couldn't run, I knew there was no way I'd ever be doing an entire triathlon. Not me, never.

Of course, never say never, right?

So last August, I started couch to 5K, a.k.a. C25K, a.k.a. (by me at least) Couch Potato to 5K. And it worked. I ran a 5k in November, another one in March (I even led the training for the group of young women I trained with) and in April I ran (albeit slowly) a 10K over the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC. I knew I could go the distance.

Along the way, I continued to swim, I bought a sweet bike and rediscovered how much I really love biking and I continued to run. And now I find myself one day and a few hours away from doing the whole thing and the butterflies are going crazy!

But it has been life changing for me. Is that silly? I am doing something I never ever thought I would do in my life. And that is pretty awesome. I've always said my motto is "How hard can it be?" Now I still say that and add this: nothing is insurmountable.

Nothing.

Neither is the fundraising (ah, of course it was going here!)--I am doing my very best to raise $2,000 this year and I am inching forward. So many of you have been beyond generous in giving--trust me, even the $5 donations count. THEY ALL COUNT. The funds go directly to Amyloidosis Foundation, which is researching ways to fight this terrible disease, the disease that took Paul Hawthorne way too early--from his wife, Amy (who organized this effort) and from his two very young sons.

Paul inspired us all (we are a team of about 40) to do this. We believe in the effort and we've been paid back with new friends, people who are all positive they are making a difference. I see that as one of Paul's legacies, that even his death has brought good people together for a good cause..

So. If you are still reading? Click over to the Paul's Posse Donation Page. Donate in memory of Paul Hawthorne and ask them to notify me (those fields appear after you click the "donation" button.)

Rooftop Asado...

The skies shortly after we started grilling

What did you have for dinner this weekend?
We planned a wonderful, big rooftop grill. Our tango teacher (and now our good friend) Daniel was the grill master. He came with his lovely wife, K, and then we had some good friends we are trying to lure into the tango underground  community come. (Check out Passion for Tango if you live near Charlotte.)

Unfortunately, the numbers dwindled quickly as yesterday's dinner approached ...we had way too much meat for the crowd, but we "suffered" through it anyway. There was bruschetta (thank you, MJ! MJ already has come over to the tango side). Lots of Argentine wine (mostly malbec, but not only; all from Mendoza, if I recall correctly). Morcilla, chorizo, flank steak and ribs. Provoleta (melted provolone with oregano. In Argentina, they grill it). Homemade bread, a big green salad with local tomatoes, Marie Speed's very special recipe for potato salad (can't share it without permission, but it is decadent), homemade peach/honey ice cream, strawberry pie. Chocolate cookies.

It was fabulous, and Daniel was the champion griller. When a storm blew in (and I mean BLEW in), he retreated only a bit (it was torrential and there was lightning. He had to), but went back out with his big umbrella and grilled in the rain. (Ps. It hasn't rained here in weeks. Of course it would rain when we plan the only grill party we have EVER had upstairs...)...

Good food, good wine, great friends. Need I say more??

And I think maybe we got some tango recruits.

Ooh, pretty...

Look what I brought back from Argentina...well, these and olive oil. You know. Because I'm still all about the food!

Wait, What??

Um. Really? A month of posts and then nothing? What's up with that?
Well, what's up with that is:
Still being heart-achingly sad about my brother, David.
A trip to see my rock-solid circle of girlfriends from Dickinson College
A trip to Kentucky to fix up an apartment there to rent it out
Two weeks of "down time" (read: catching up time_
Leaving July 3 for two wonderful weeks in Uruguay and Buenos Aires
One week spent catching up.
Many days and nights spent worrying about my newly graduated (yay!) sons, also newly unemployed (boo!)
Worry about things over which I have no control (what a waste of time)
Worry about things over which I have some control
Working out for the Nautica NYC Triathlon (not bad. I still suck at running.)
Planning trip to NYC--pack bike, order wetsuit, find out who is coming and when they are coming
Worry more. Waste more time.
Get a couple of new gigs (yay!)
Think: I REALLY NEED TO WRITE SOMETHING.


I am just down, you know? May knocked the stuffing out of me and has me re-evaluating many things. There is a lot of NOISE going on in my life and all I keep saying? "I want a simpler life."

So here is a list of things--some writer friends came up with the term Life List, far better than bucket list-- that I must still keep doing:

• Tango--latest passion. Can't stop now--dance as much as I can. It makes me happy.
• Cooking: teaching classes most of all, then developing recipes, the two most favorite parts of what I do.
• Getting rid of STUFF. I definitely have too much stuff in my life. How can I make it simpler?
• Doing triathlons. Best thing (along with the tango) that I've done in ages, doing something so far out of my comfort zone.
• Invite more friends to dinner. My happiest times are have friends over for dinner. It's just that simple.

So now, how do I get rid of all the other stuff that make my life not simple? What are you guys all doing to simplify?

Wordle Curiosity...

Since the last half of the month has focused on my brother, I was curious with what wordle would do with it...I liked it, so I feel like posting it again.