Monday, November 27, 2006
Is this really November?
Made it out for two little road rides in spite of my nasty cold. it was just too nice to not go! is this really November? Rode the cross bike. I got late starts both times and ended up in the dark with lights for part of each ride. It was actually really relaxing to ride in the dark with the lights. There wasn't too much traffic (relatively) and there was something peaceful about it. Except for the potholey part, and the people who wouldn't dim their brights. But even the potholey stuff didn't bother me as much as usual, I was just happy to get out and ride.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Gobble, gobble....
Yes, gobble gobble is what I did on Turkey Day! And I was not the only one. Thanks to Julie and Carlos, along with the help of CBD, for a tasty Thanksgiving meal. Their friends Nuria and Christophe (and their kids) joined all of us for a festive meal. Little Jordan was much quieter than usual, wondering, I think, why all these people were invading his kitchen! He really did seem to be looking around, taking it all in, not sure what to make of all the commotion. Adjusting to not being the center of attention.... Keeping him away from the stove earlier in the day when the turkey basting was going on was almost impossible. Nuria and Christophe were really interesting to talk to. Her job in artificial intelligence research sounds fascinating. Very cool guests.
I didn't think I'd really like the chocolate cake thing that looks like a loaf of bread, but I was wrong. It was really good and the not-quite-cooked spongy texture of it made it even better.
By then it was clear that I was catching Jordan's cold, in spite of all my efforts not to. The overwhelming urge to sleep on Tuesday and Wednesday should have been my clue.... So instead of going for a long walk like I should have to work off that huge meal I pretty much turned into a blob. I did build quite a nice little train course (not sure what else you would call it?) with the toy trains and wooden tracks. I don't think he is quite old enough to appreciate it, I think he would prefer to have my attention on him rather than on putting together train tracks at this point....but we had fun. He is such a cute kid, with a very strong will.
The weather in Seattle was pretty miserable, compared with the surprise warm up the Midwest was enjoying. One day it was really windy and they even had a rare thuderstorm! I must have brought that with me. The sun only peeked out now and then. Lots of rain. My long walks (in place of workouts) around Green Lake (nice view when it's nice) ended with me being pretty waterlogged. Rain parka, waterproof shoes, and one day Julie was kind enough to lend me her rain pants. I needed them, the day before my track pants got soaked! Me and the ducks. Lots of ducks. I did see kayakers and rowers out before it got dark. I walked mostly in the dusk/dark. Considering the yucky weather, there were alot of people out there with me. A guy in a team kit on a cross bike that I must have seen 7 or 8 times - meaning he made at least 7 laps around the lake. Hmmm, would that be a more exciting 7 times than our local road route? Yep, I think so. maybe. People with headlamps on and blinkies on their dog.... runners, walkers, a few bike commuters with panniers and/or messenger bags and blinkies.... I wanted to go check out Gregg's Greenlake bike shop and Title Nine, but it was hard to see in the rain and with my hood on, so I missed seeing where to leave the path to find the shopping area. At that time I thought we would be going to the REI sale later, so I didn't try that hard to find the stores. Interesting how some of us were all covered up and others were running in the cold rain with shorts and t-shirts. Forgot the ipod on the first walk but listened to Plans (Death Cab for Cutie) a couple of times on the second one. I lasted for about an hour and a half on each one. Feet started to ache in the new trail running shoes that were supposed to fit just like my last pair. I wish they would keep shoes the same and not change them! I missed my turnoff the first time in the dark, glad I had the map with me and that I could find a streetlamp to look at the map. I do wish I had gotten alot more exercise on this trip.
I really wanted to go to the REI sale at the huge REI flagship store. I enjoy looking at all that outdoor gear in one place. Multi-floored with all the gear goodies.... climbing wall, bike test trail, hiking test trail, and best of all, a kiosk with many flavors of chocolate covered cherries....mmmmm! I got some cherries at the airport but they seemed kinda stale. Shoulda been way chewier!! But it didn't work out so I had to content myself with staying up too late last night looking at all the stuff online. Thanks to Wendy M. for giving me a description some of the stuff I saw online from the dressing room of the store, and for trying it on, and for bringing what she bought over afterwards for me to try, too! Sorry I was such a bad influence - but you were going there to look at the same stuff yourself, I know you were!
J and C's house looks great. They really made some good choices, the first one being choosing that location and that house. If I figure out how to post pictures, I will someday put up a pic of the basement workout area. They cut part of the walls out of the basement bathroom to make room for the rowing shells. The double was a little too long to fit before that. I don't feel so bad about having bikes all over the place at home, etc. - we all make modifications for the things important to us - and it's different for everyone! C has a nice area to meet with his future coaching clients and videotape them on the erg. I think his business is going to be very popular, there seems to be a need for what he has to offer and I think he'll do a great job.
We helped J read student's papers and make corrections. I think I never learned how to write a "proper" paper! I just sat down and did it and no one ever said I should do it another way. She said the same thing- that we never learned the official way to do it, it was just sort of expected that we would write decent papers. Apparently alot of people learn a certain structure and that's what these college level papers were supposed to follow. I found it hard to concentrate on the papers - I think my brain is fried. I found it easier to correct the technical stuff - grammar, etc. than the content. One thing I did notice is that the papers seemed to be written at a high school level, not the college level that they were supposed to be. how do you tell someone their paper is seriously lacking in the content and research area? I got to see a little bit of a video of her practice teaching session before her first class. I'm glad they don't throw them to the wolves like they have done to alot of people I have known. A lot of professors I have known have said that they didn't get any training in actual teaching - they had to figure that part out when they got there. I think she will be very good at teaching. I am glad she is doing something that she is really enjoying, although juggling everything seems really stressful right now.
The flight home was good in that I had two empty seats next to me. On the other hand, It was awful in that my cold was full blown by then. On the descent, which seemed to take forever, I felt like someone was drilling holes in my head as the gunk was forced into my ears. It really hurt. really. alot. Until about two am I felt like I had earplugs in or a brick in my head or something. I couldn't hear very well and it seemed like I was underwater or something. Reminded my of how my ears felt in scuba diving class. Ugh.
At the airport the cab came within minutes of calling them. I lucked out, the guy's fare had bailed on him. This elderly couple had been waiting for an hour, so they asked if we could share a cab, which we did. The driver used to own a tavern, but standing all the time was killing him. So he is driving cabs now. Then I went and got food at the store. The one I wanted to go to was closed early for the holiday weekend. Then caught up on Gray's Anatomy and Ugly Betty from Thursday night until very late. This episode of GA was really disturbing to me. The deterioration of Cristina and Burke's realationship was painful to watch. And the end where she came home and he closed the bedroom door in her face after she betrayed him..... arrrrgh..... Wendy M. was wondering if they are going to retire Burke from the show. I hope not. I also hope that heart surgeon from the other hospital does not accept the chief's offer of a position at Seattle Grace.... she's no Addison or McSteamy....
I hope a good thanksgiving was had by all.
I didn't think I'd really like the chocolate cake thing that looks like a loaf of bread, but I was wrong. It was really good and the not-quite-cooked spongy texture of it made it even better.
By then it was clear that I was catching Jordan's cold, in spite of all my efforts not to. The overwhelming urge to sleep on Tuesday and Wednesday should have been my clue.... So instead of going for a long walk like I should have to work off that huge meal I pretty much turned into a blob. I did build quite a nice little train course (not sure what else you would call it?) with the toy trains and wooden tracks. I don't think he is quite old enough to appreciate it, I think he would prefer to have my attention on him rather than on putting together train tracks at this point....but we had fun. He is such a cute kid, with a very strong will.
The weather in Seattle was pretty miserable, compared with the surprise warm up the Midwest was enjoying. One day it was really windy and they even had a rare thuderstorm! I must have brought that with me. The sun only peeked out now and then. Lots of rain. My long walks (in place of workouts) around Green Lake (nice view when it's nice) ended with me being pretty waterlogged. Rain parka, waterproof shoes, and one day Julie was kind enough to lend me her rain pants. I needed them, the day before my track pants got soaked! Me and the ducks. Lots of ducks. I did see kayakers and rowers out before it got dark. I walked mostly in the dusk/dark. Considering the yucky weather, there were alot of people out there with me. A guy in a team kit on a cross bike that I must have seen 7 or 8 times - meaning he made at least 7 laps around the lake. Hmmm, would that be a more exciting 7 times than our local road route? Yep, I think so. maybe. People with headlamps on and blinkies on their dog.... runners, walkers, a few bike commuters with panniers and/or messenger bags and blinkies.... I wanted to go check out Gregg's Greenlake bike shop and Title Nine, but it was hard to see in the rain and with my hood on, so I missed seeing where to leave the path to find the shopping area. At that time I thought we would be going to the REI sale later, so I didn't try that hard to find the stores. Interesting how some of us were all covered up and others were running in the cold rain with shorts and t-shirts. Forgot the ipod on the first walk but listened to Plans (Death Cab for Cutie) a couple of times on the second one. I lasted for about an hour and a half on each one. Feet started to ache in the new trail running shoes that were supposed to fit just like my last pair. I wish they would keep shoes the same and not change them! I missed my turnoff the first time in the dark, glad I had the map with me and that I could find a streetlamp to look at the map. I do wish I had gotten alot more exercise on this trip.
I really wanted to go to the REI sale at the huge REI flagship store. I enjoy looking at all that outdoor gear in one place. Multi-floored with all the gear goodies.... climbing wall, bike test trail, hiking test trail, and best of all, a kiosk with many flavors of chocolate covered cherries....mmmmm! I got some cherries at the airport but they seemed kinda stale. Shoulda been way chewier!! But it didn't work out so I had to content myself with staying up too late last night looking at all the stuff online. Thanks to Wendy M. for giving me a description some of the stuff I saw online from the dressing room of the store, and for trying it on, and for bringing what she bought over afterwards for me to try, too! Sorry I was such a bad influence - but you were going there to look at the same stuff yourself, I know you were!
J and C's house looks great. They really made some good choices, the first one being choosing that location and that house. If I figure out how to post pictures, I will someday put up a pic of the basement workout area. They cut part of the walls out of the basement bathroom to make room for the rowing shells. The double was a little too long to fit before that. I don't feel so bad about having bikes all over the place at home, etc. - we all make modifications for the things important to us - and it's different for everyone! C has a nice area to meet with his future coaching clients and videotape them on the erg. I think his business is going to be very popular, there seems to be a need for what he has to offer and I think he'll do a great job.
We helped J read student's papers and make corrections. I think I never learned how to write a "proper" paper! I just sat down and did it and no one ever said I should do it another way. She said the same thing- that we never learned the official way to do it, it was just sort of expected that we would write decent papers. Apparently alot of people learn a certain structure and that's what these college level papers were supposed to follow. I found it hard to concentrate on the papers - I think my brain is fried. I found it easier to correct the technical stuff - grammar, etc. than the content. One thing I did notice is that the papers seemed to be written at a high school level, not the college level that they were supposed to be. how do you tell someone their paper is seriously lacking in the content and research area? I got to see a little bit of a video of her practice teaching session before her first class. I'm glad they don't throw them to the wolves like they have done to alot of people I have known. A lot of professors I have known have said that they didn't get any training in actual teaching - they had to figure that part out when they got there. I think she will be very good at teaching. I am glad she is doing something that she is really enjoying, although juggling everything seems really stressful right now.
The flight home was good in that I had two empty seats next to me. On the other hand, It was awful in that my cold was full blown by then. On the descent, which seemed to take forever, I felt like someone was drilling holes in my head as the gunk was forced into my ears. It really hurt. really. alot. Until about two am I felt like I had earplugs in or a brick in my head or something. I couldn't hear very well and it seemed like I was underwater or something. Reminded my of how my ears felt in scuba diving class. Ugh.
At the airport the cab came within minutes of calling them. I lucked out, the guy's fare had bailed on him. This elderly couple had been waiting for an hour, so they asked if we could share a cab, which we did. The driver used to own a tavern, but standing all the time was killing him. So he is driving cabs now. Then I went and got food at the store. The one I wanted to go to was closed early for the holiday weekend. Then caught up on Gray's Anatomy and Ugly Betty from Thursday night until very late. This episode of GA was really disturbing to me. The deterioration of Cristina and Burke's realationship was painful to watch. And the end where she came home and he closed the bedroom door in her face after she betrayed him..... arrrrgh..... Wendy M. was wondering if they are going to retire Burke from the show. I hope not. I also hope that heart surgeon from the other hospital does not accept the chief's offer of a position at Seattle Grace.... she's no Addison or McSteamy....
I hope a good thanksgiving was had by all.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Congratulations, Good Luck, Happy Birthday, and Get Well!
Hello! I have been wanting to try this since I discovered this past summer that I enjoyed reading other people's bike racing blogs. I had lots of hours in the car driving to races thinking of names and such. The first name I picked out was Bloggity Blog Blog. A google search and I quickly found out it was hardly an original idea! Then I came up with some other ideas. I saw a t-shirt that caught my eye - the Singletrack Superstar t-shirt by Twin Six. That name stuck in my head. Being really terrible in the singletrack, however, I felt that in my case Singletrack and Superstar don't belong in the same sentence. I like the alliteration of the S's though. So the next obvious choice was Singletrack Slowpoke! Unfortunately that is an apt description of my mt bike skills..... as one friend said when I was saying that I had trouble in the singletrack in a particular race - "but you always have trouble in the singletrack". Ouch, and how true! Anyway, I signed up for this almost a month ago. Life has been crazy the last few weeks, but here I am at last. I think.
Before I get to the congrats, etc. I want to mention something that has been weighing heavily on me the last couple of weeks - many, many get well wishes to my friend who went into the hospital for a rather long and complex surgery and has contracted several serious post-surgical infections. He has since had to have another surgery to save his life. He should have been out of there in 3 days, but instead he is still there after three weeks, barely able to move, breathe, or eat. He just had the tube that was draining his stomach fluids removed, which is a good sign. The tube went into his nose, down into his stomach. That alone is enough to make him feel terrible. Please keep him in your thoughts or prayers (whatever works for you) for a full recovery!!!
Lots of congrats are in order - congrats to Brian for completing his 31 mile run of the DPRT last weekend. Quite an undertaking! I enjoyed being part of the support crew for part of the run, riding my bike alongside. I hope you raised lots of money for Leave No Trace. It was interesting trying to ride for several hours at a running pace, too.
Congrats to Wendy and Kristin for successfully climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in the last few days. It sounds like it was an amazing experience, climbing to the top at night and watching the sunrise from the summit! Wendy, I loved reading your emails with all the safari animal sighting details.
Congrats to Craig, Kristine, and Dan for their impressive runs in the Marathon!
Congrats to Holly on her recent cross wins, and for a getting a mention on VeloNew's web page for her win. She had a great first mt bike season, and now she's setting the cross courses on fire. And good job to Scott for also making the results in VeloNews and having a great placing despite a little air time....
Congrats to Julie and Carlos for winning the Masters National Championship in rowing in their age group this summer. I know that happened a couple of months ago, but I think it's really cool....
Congrats to my teammates for their WORS overall placings!
Good Luck to Gabi at XTerra Worlds in Hawaii this weekend! I know you haven't been able to train as much as you would like lately, but I know you have what it takes to do well! I'll be thinking about you on Sunday.
Good luck to Karrie on your presentation this week.
It was great to see Karrie, Renee, Karen, Chuck, Jeff, Marianne, Mike and Mike and many others at the reunion last weekend. What a blast that was! The pics you sent this week were great. I wish I had gotten to talk to Gail, too - by the time I went to find her she had already gone.
Happy B-day to CBD! That was a special b-day dinner. Thank you Mr. S. for taking us to such an amazing restaurant. Sparkly view. It was funny how many times we had to change elevators to get from the garage to the restaurant. We thought maybe we'd have to know the secret password somewhere along the way to get any further....
Happy B-day to Tawnya! Looks like it will be a good year for you, the way things are coming together for you in Boulder.
And something cyclists never like to hear - My condolences to the family and friends of Mike K.. He was an old bike racer friend who was killed instantly at the end of September when a driver turned left in front of him in Oregon. He was a great guy, and he will be missed.
That's is for pent-up congrats, good luck, HB's, and get wells.... g'nite.
Before I get to the congrats, etc. I want to mention something that has been weighing heavily on me the last couple of weeks - many, many get well wishes to my friend who went into the hospital for a rather long and complex surgery and has contracted several serious post-surgical infections. He has since had to have another surgery to save his life. He should have been out of there in 3 days, but instead he is still there after three weeks, barely able to move, breathe, or eat. He just had the tube that was draining his stomach fluids removed, which is a good sign. The tube went into his nose, down into his stomach. That alone is enough to make him feel terrible. Please keep him in your thoughts or prayers (whatever works for you) for a full recovery!!!
Lots of congrats are in order - congrats to Brian for completing his 31 mile run of the DPRT last weekend. Quite an undertaking! I enjoyed being part of the support crew for part of the run, riding my bike alongside. I hope you raised lots of money for Leave No Trace. It was interesting trying to ride for several hours at a running pace, too.
Congrats to Wendy and Kristin for successfully climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in the last few days. It sounds like it was an amazing experience, climbing to the top at night and watching the sunrise from the summit! Wendy, I loved reading your emails with all the safari animal sighting details.
Congrats to Craig, Kristine, and Dan for their impressive runs in the Marathon!
Congrats to Holly on her recent cross wins, and for a getting a mention on VeloNew's web page for her win. She had a great first mt bike season, and now she's setting the cross courses on fire. And good job to Scott for also making the results in VeloNews and having a great placing despite a little air time....
Congrats to Julie and Carlos for winning the Masters National Championship in rowing in their age group this summer. I know that happened a couple of months ago, but I think it's really cool....
Congrats to my teammates for their WORS overall placings!
Good Luck to Gabi at XTerra Worlds in Hawaii this weekend! I know you haven't been able to train as much as you would like lately, but I know you have what it takes to do well! I'll be thinking about you on Sunday.
Good luck to Karrie on your presentation this week.
It was great to see Karrie, Renee, Karen, Chuck, Jeff, Marianne, Mike and Mike and many others at the reunion last weekend. What a blast that was! The pics you sent this week were great. I wish I had gotten to talk to Gail, too - by the time I went to find her she had already gone.
Happy B-day to CBD! That was a special b-day dinner. Thank you Mr. S. for taking us to such an amazing restaurant. Sparkly view. It was funny how many times we had to change elevators to get from the garage to the restaurant. We thought maybe we'd have to know the secret password somewhere along the way to get any further....
Happy B-day to Tawnya! Looks like it will be a good year for you, the way things are coming together for you in Boulder.
And something cyclists never like to hear - My condolences to the family and friends of Mike K.. He was an old bike racer friend who was killed instantly at the end of September when a driver turned left in front of him in Oregon. He was a great guy, and he will be missed.
That's is for pent-up congrats, good luck, HB's, and get wells.... g'nite.
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