Old friends, more spider bites and Happy Birthday wishes!

Matt and I visited my friend of now 23 years and her family this past weekend. She and I have been friends since she was 10 and I was 11. Her oldest kid is now 7. It won't be long until he's the age that we were when we met. Jen has moved all over the place because of her husband's job and while her residence has always been drivable, it isn't as close as I'd like. She now lives in Michigan just over the border from Toledo. I head up that way at least twice a year, so hopefully, we'll see each other more often now. Regardless, she is still a dear friend of mine and when we are together, it is like no time has passed at all. You have to love people like that! She and I have so much in common (besides our name) and I really love the lady she has become. And, she has a wonderful husband who cooks like a gourmet and two very well behaved children. Her daughter and son treated me like one of the family and her daughter told me she loved me before heading off to bed. My goal is to see them enough that the kids don't forget me.

So, I still have inflamed, extremely itchy spider bites on my legs. I found more this weekend. I hope that they are just ones I overlooked and not that he is staying in my bed snacking on me. Matt has no bites, but he says he is a friend to spiders and they know that. I bought some Cortizone, but they still itch like a mother at times. I found this information on the internet today, so I'm not making it up that he sampled me up one leg and down the other:

• "Spider bites - these are the largest type of bite, often creating a large, raised, circular area with a visible pinpoint bite mark in the middle. They can grow in size and redness for several days, and tend to be quite painful. They can number from just one to 5 or 10, often in a straight line or confined to one body area. Spiders often travel across a body part at night, snacking along the way. The initial bite is often painful, but not always."

On a much happier note, today is the birthday for two of my favorite people. One is my pal Nicole. Happy Birthday Nicole! And, the other is my fabulous husband, Matt. For the next 11 days, he will be 35, while I can happily stay at 34. Of course, USAT rules has had us both racing as age 35 all season, so I'm a little more prepared than I might otherwise be to turn that dreaded age. Happy Birthday honey! I love you and I hope you like your presents.

Finally, I'm back to training again. I made it through rest week successfully. Actually, it was kind of nice. I didn't have the greatest run this morning (experienced some hip, hamstring and knee pain), but hopefully after visiting the ART guy on Friday, he'll fix up what remaining issues rest week didn't cure.