Dana Burland

My team won! The first time they have won a duel meet in more than seven years was tonight. The kids were ECSTATIC and rightfully so! There was mass amounts of screaming and some tears of joy among the older girls who had been waiting since they were 8 & undies to see this happen again. Everyone ended up jumping in the pool at the end of the meet. We (me and the other coach) let the kids push us in, which is always 20 times more exciting for the kids then it really should be. Afterward, the team always goes out for ice cream but it was a mass celebration this time around. I drove one of the older girls there so someone could navigate this foreign area for me. But really though, it was kind of a marking moment for me out here. A lot of the younger kids have warmed up to me already at their own pace but it's much more difficult to gain some common ground with high schoolers. It's pretty great to feel accepted among a group of people who have no idea who you are, l...

Today is the first day this week I've been home before the sunset, yay! I've been very busy this week with coaching, interning and swim meets. It's been a lot of fun but extremely tiring. Thankfully a beautiful FedEx package filled with melty, minty brownie goodness shipped from the cooking goddess of Michigan to my work desk, making me an intensely happy girl. My team has swam three meets and not yet won, but the kids are showing some technical improvement which makes me happy. On Monday I stupidly challenged one of the better 9-year-old boys to a 25 fly no-breather and had to buy him a candy bar for it. Today I raced a 7-year-old who had been talking trash since he met me about how fast he is. He "beat" me and was so incredibly excited about it he ran around the pool to tell everyone. Tomorrow is our third meet of the week and afterward I'm anticipating a collapse into an intense coma that involves waking up in a queen sized pool of my own drool. ...

Today I had my first major adventure since arriving in Pennsylvania! I'll Quentin Tarantino it and tell it in reverse just for maximum effect. Even though it was pouring when I left Easton, PA , I could not resist driving over the Delaware River into New Jersey. I really wanted to add another state to my places-I've-been list, even if it meant suffering through my nerves over a grated bridge and seeing NJ through my windshield wipers. I had just walked back to my car in the pouring rain. However drenched, I managed to snap this photo to display just how thrilling my afternoon adventure had been. Leaving the factory I walked through groups of families; screaming children and pissy parents who were at wits end with the amount of fun and stimulation captured inside one building. The creative stations were plentiful—all busy, dirty and totally exciting to me. I had to resist my temptation to knock little Timmy and Jimmy off the kiddie sized stools to play with the model...

Last week was a week of first for me at my internship. I pitched, researched and wrote my first story , and the video I was in went live. Although I'm a terrible actress, I love video shoot day. I still haven't seen it; I'm saving it for the possibility of a Dana movie marathon so I can suffer through all of my pitiful acting at once over a pint of ice cream with family and friends. The internship, company and people are all still fabulous. I used the company gym for the first time last week and had a nice run while watching a geriatrics aerobic class lift two pound weights and practice arm reaches. The cafeteria is also awesome; everything is healthy, organic and reasonably priced. Even on a desperate hunt for chocolate the worst damage I could do was a pack of mini organic dark chocolate peppermint cups. This is good considering the mass bodily destruction I have planned for Hershey Park in the near future. Coaching is also going well. Thankfully both my bos...

Greetings from the Keystone State! I'm currently without internet at my apartment—which is on par in lack of communication as with falling 50 feet down a dark storm drain in a busy city where no one can hear my cries. I've had a great week out here, despite rain almost every single day. The view from just about anywhere is incredible anyway. I live in the heart of a really cute city built right into the Appalachian Mountains . Basically I haven't been able to pick my jaw up off the ground since I've been here. When it rains, a thick layer of fog and steam come up from the valleys and it looks like this mountainous bowl is full of skim milk—which is just as incredible as sunny skies. Luckily the clouds have stayed at bay long enough this weekend for me to do some exploring by foot and bike. Yesterday I went running and accidentally got caught in a Portuguese Heritage Festival parade. Today I only thought I was going to die six times on my bike ride because ...

Life is a flurry of activity around the house as we prepare for Man of E's grad festivities this weekend. I've been helping out as much as possible by printing a kajillion invites and thank you notes, serving as a vital member of the Plastic Dinnerware Board and running errands that occasionally end in the purchase of a gift to myself for all of my troubles (hello new Red Wings t-shirt). On the subject of graduation, you MUST watch this speech given by Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane University. Ellie, whose father is now famous for reason I won't mention here, sent me this awhile ago and no matter how many times I watch, it never gets old.