Martha Would be Proud: 2008

Our Gross Halloween Party meal was a total success. Mara and I managed to really creep out the kids, hubbies, and even ourselves with our efforts. Amazingly enough the kids tried almost all of the menu choices and even had seconds. I have some fun ideas already planned for next year. I have more fun with getting this meal together other than any other throughout the holidays. Although at the end of the meal Mara and I were already thinking how we could make Thanksgiving preparation more fun (for us all) so we threw around the idea of making everything miniature. I'm tired of the turkey year after year that hardly anyone enjoys in our own house. Here are the pictures because words do the meal no justice.

"Ogre toes" were buffalo wings and if I had more time I would have put out a sign for the blue cheese that said something like "Ogre toe jam" :) The "mashed boo tay toes" should have been piped nicely onto plates with some olive eyeballs, but things got a little hurried. In the picture above were our "creepy creature eyeballs" (deviled eggs) and next to that was a creative macaroni dish with "bugs, worms and snails" (hotdogs, olives, and mac and cheese).
Mummy toes were simply mini cocktail sausages rolled in crescent dough from the can.
Mara made this delicious soup/bread/cheese concoction for the "Jack-o-Lantern pot". It tasted like french onion soup. I'll have to get the recipe from her and have this for another time.


These "bat wings" were most probably the grossest item and surprisingly delicious (soy sauce, brown sugar and food coloring).

Jumble Jambles

I think Jumble Jambles means that I'm going to have a bit of what some may call a stream of consciousness. I have some verbal vomitus that needs a purge. Thank you ahead of time blog for listening.

Kombucha is dead and dumped due to furry growth. Sad news to me. However, there is hope. I found a scobi source and I'm going to try try again.

My running. After going to California and having my road trip extravaganza I was sure my "other goal" of running the Run Like Hell Half-Marathon would be nixed due to some very poor training. I however, am lately a girl of my word and after numerous attempts at trying to back out of the 1/2 and into the 10k I failed (at the back out). I ran the whole 1/2 marathon and more. I somehow managed to follow the 10kers through the finish line, but oopsie I had committed to running the half, so back out of the finish line I ran and back to the split. The girl at the split had inadvertently told me the WRONG WAY because the stupid number patches or whatever the hell they are called were so close in color (light orange 10k and one shade darker orange 1/2 marathoners) that I got to go through the finish line twice...um not so cool, but whatever. I'm not bitter I ran more that the 1/2 that day and 14+ miles are more than these little legs have trucked in a single shot evah! Okie dokie, done with the vent and on to the fun details.

I ran the first 6 miles with Saori my bff. She did so fantastic for not having trained at all. She was going great and at mile 5 she got reallllly quiet. I looked at her and thought she needed a talking to, so I joked with her a bit and tied to get her to laugh, but to no avail. She just shot me some really funny looks like: shuddupbitchi'mtryingtobreath...so I backed off, because I have totally been there and I was just proud of her for joining us this frigid morning. We're good and we joked about it later. I left her after the dirty looks and ran throught the finish line. Then back out of the finish line to the split I went :grumble grumble:. The next few miles went all up hill and it was nice. I don't mind running uphill, but by mile 9 I was starting to experience some knee pain which would stay with me for the next 5 miles and just get worse as I trotted back down hill for the last 4 miles. Ugh. I'll spare you all my complaints. It hurt, I didn't walk any of it and I made it back across the finish line to the cheers of my family and friends (Saori and her Mama) . The icing was that my oldest 2 kiddos ran through the finish line with me!! Fun stuff. I'm not a runner, but I did it and I need to thank Mara for holding me hostage to my commitment :) Thank you Mar!!
Heres my mug shot. It looks like my feet are barely leaving the pavement :P

Last news on the Jumble front...my bike is back on the road with me on it fo shizzle and I'm all decorated in soft merino wool :swoon:. My new affections lie in my comfort. Fo rizzle...out.

Road Trip through the desert!!...er I mean Crewing for George as he rode his bicycle 509 miles

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Furnace Creek 508: My crewing perspective from a comfy air conditioned Kia mini van.

A few weeks ago Brandy had asked me to help crew for George who would race in the FC 508. That is 508+ miles in a 48 hour time period and 35,000 ft of elevation gain. Yes, insanity on wheels. After some consideration I thought it would be fun spending time catching up with Brandy and I'd be motivated by watching all these crazy ultra cyclists on their bicycles riding through the desert for 48-ish hours.

The race would begin on Saturday morning at 7am and officially end on Monday morning at 7am. Brandy picked me up at my Mom's house on Friday morning and we headed over to her house with a couple detours (Grandmas', Coffee, and Target). We got to her house where George was going over the route with Jason. I had met Jason at the Anthill Crit in Irvine when we were last out in California and he seemed like he would be good company for this adventure (read: he seemed able to tolerate our constant blabbering with great finesse and little complaint). George asked us to bring out the tub of FC "stuff-gear-etc" and take pictures of all we were going to stage in the van. My job was going to be helping out however I was told and to "Act like a tourist" of which *I* know how to do. What a great job for me. We loaded up the van and headed up to Santa Clarita where registration and vehicle inspection would take place at the Holiday Inn.

George registered and collected his goodie bag of stuff, took his pre-race photo, had his reunion moments with other riders and then we headed out to hunt down Cindy (a race official) to inspect our van. I learned quickly that she had no system, but rather a parade of people getting progressively impatient trying to get her attention toward their vehicles. If I could suggest anything it would be that she carry around a little batch of numbers and give them to people as a way to create some order in this little chaotic parking lot circus act. I just told someone: "I'm behind you", this caught on and we all acted like school children barking who was next and who we were after lol. It took a long time.

After our vehicle inspection we headed over to the Best Western, checked in, dropped off the bikes and headed over to Denny's where I witnessed an amazing feat of belly stuffing dynamics. George consumed 2 full meals (some breakfast taco concoction of pancakes, sausage, bacon AND a bacon cheeseburger with french fries). All I could think was how I hoped he wouldn't pay for this tomorrow on the race day. That's a whole lotta food for a guy his size; um for anyone any size.

We came back to the hotel where we dropped George off to try to sleep and Jason, Brandy, and I headed to the grocery store to stock up on food. We were full from our dunch or linner meal so picking out the food that we would be offering George and eating ourselves proved very challenging. We got into a lot of conversations that were funny.

Here was my favorite:
Jason: I love these.
Brandy: Do you want them?
Jason: Nah!
Brandy: Get them if you want them.
Jason: No, it's okay.
Next isle...
repeat above conversation :)

We walked out of the store with cases of Diet Pepsi, regular Pepsi, cheese its, marinated salmon steaks, bread, bagels, woven wheat's, dill cheese, turkey, provolone cheese, mayo, beaver deli mustard, pickles, bananas, pretzels, and stinky feet chips aka: Salt & Vinegar chips.

We realized that we were running late dilly dallying through the store and we had to make this pre-race mandatory talk or orientation or whatever Chris Kostman calls it. He is a crack up by the way in his Lone Ranger boots demonstrating a proper hand off. Just sayin' The talk by John Marino was especially motivational. I enjoyed that part as well as watching ALL the riders get on stage for the group photo. That is a whole lot of ambition up there at one time!

We headed back to the grocery store again after dropping George off at the hotel to go to bed and try to sleep. We decided to get the ice and a few other odds and ends. We got back to the hotel where Brandy figured out how to stage the van. She really had a great system back there with everything organized well. It took very little communication to find everything because the system made very logical sense. We went to bed or I went to bed, Jason slept on the floor???, and Brandy went off to find a computer to blog update.

Saturday Morning

We were up bright and early. We headed over to the start where we found George a bit upset over the food choices and generally a bit anxious (must have been the pre-race adrenaline). Brandy and I took photos of the start line and we watched all the riders launch out on a very long bike ride. We ran to the van and headed out to the "canyon"; however, we were shortly after pulled over by a race official letting us know that we needed to cover up our triangle..DOH. Thank goodness this would be our only oopsie the whole race. I took the first "leg" of driving. I figured I couldn't screw up too much, um wrong! When we got to the top of the canyon to yell our shouts of encouragement George wasn't looking too happy with us. We would explain later that we weren't where he expected us due to being reprimanded about the triangle. So I was instructed to "leap frog". Well, my understanding of leap frogging was not what George was expecting. I thought leap frogging meant I drive ahead a few miles, pull over, await further instruction, pull ahead another mile or more and hand off, etc...repeat. Um, NO. George pulled up to us on a pass and shot a very frustrated and angry look. He told us or me :P "I'm only going to tell you this once: If you can't see me you are not helping me." I quickly agreed "okay okay" as he told us how he made a wrong turn and we should have been there, etc. I felt really bad that I had screwed up so soon in the "game". Then I looked over at Brandy and Jason and apologized profusely telling them they should tell me what to do. Tell me in detail exactly what to do and I'll do it. After they schooled me on exactly what leap frogging meant I got it and even got an approving shout out from George on our next pass. This little road bump was the only real problem we would have for the remainder of the race, oh yeah there was one more when my sleep deprivation kicked in and I miscalculated a summit and a climb, I'll get to that too.

George has all the details on his blog and website. I can barely find time to get this crew perspective out let alone remember all the places we were, the climbs, etc. I do know that most of the day went smoothly and George was looking strong and alert until the first signs of fatigue, but also elation came over him at the top of Towns Pass. He was very excited to get to this climb in the daylight. It was great to see how he and Brandy smiled knowingly as they celebrated this victory. The wind was so bad as he would come around curves on this climb that he was literally blown off the road at one point. I had a hard time watching this, it was making me really nervous. I think I shrieked a few times as he was blown over the yellow line or off the road. The luminous rain clouds and thunder and lightning added to the dramatic climb. At the summit we took pictures to capture this victory. He was looking tired, but knew he had a big descent to refuel on. Through the night we just helped support his nutrition needs which Brandy was totally on top of and knew what he needed when he needed it. She was awesome and could read his body language very well. We had to pull up next to him a few times and sing some Snoop Dogg to wake him up. We kept ourselves awake and alert by drinking buckets of Diet Pepsi and loudly assaulting poor Jason with many many hip-hop tune age. I hope he doesn't have post traumatic stress disorder when he hears Jill Scott and friends on the radio in the future ;). We were just trying to provide some culture and entertain anyone who happened upon our party van at 2am. Hey, we stayed awake. George seemed mildly entertained as he cracked a smile at our serenade. He was tired and the desert is a big big place both day and night. Brandy drove the whole night shift. She did awesome. I was terrified of driving at night and running over her boyfriend (that would be quite unforgivable) following so close was not something I had had much experience at. I would get a try at this "direct support" when the sun came up on Sunday morning. The other exciting event of the night was that I got a stick up my ass peeing ON a prickly bush rather than behind it doh! Oh the surprises that await in the desert in the dark of night, exciting and blog worthy stuff I bring you.

Sunday Morning
I took over driving sometime when the sun was just starting to rise. I was sooooo sleepy, but after the beautiful sunrise I became more alert. From here on out we all rotated our driving responsibilities. Priority #1: Don't run over George. Priority #2: Let me not have to poop in the desert behind sparse foliage. On the way to Baker George was becoming increasingly agitated. The heat and exhaustion was kicking in strong and the road to Baker was just so long. After a break of water over his head, some massage & kisses from Brandy, and some encouraging words from all of us he smiled again and got back on his bike. When we arrived in Baker we quickly refueled the van with gas, George checked into the time station, brushed his teeth, changed his kit, we got a burrito for him, then we went to Jack in the Box for the much needed solid food consumption. He had gone ahead of us and we caught up to him to feed him. Back on the bike he went and we provided direct support for the rest of the day and evening. Our driving shifts were getting much shorter as we were feeling the sleepies. My brain cells just stopped working at about 6pm and I couldn't even do simple math. On the way up "Sheephole Summit" (the last leg of the race) George asked what the stats were and I gave some really odd numbers like the climb was 1,500 ft and the summit was 800ft lol. Yes, that makes no sense unless he had wings I know...sleepy sleepy dumb dumbs were in full force. The last major road back into 29 palms was heavily traveled and it was dark. We were being passed by very fast moving traffic and that was stressing me out. People were flying by with big ATV's on trailers and at one point Brandy saw a "little green person driving a quad". I was seeing lights directly behind us that I couldn't make out and we concocted a story about the little person on the ATV who was "chasing us down". Can we say h.a.l.l.u.c.i.n.a.t.i.o.n. Poor Jason, see what he had to endure.

The FINISH LINE! As we made our way to the finish line and up over the last big hill we saw another rider approaching so we told George so that he would step it up knowing he was being chased down. So on to the finish line we trekked and we parked the van quickly and went scrambling to run through the final 20 ft all together which was fun. George was congratulated, pictures were taken, medals received and we got back in the van to hurry up and feed the man a big burger with bacon.

The OTHER Finish Line: The victory was not over for us as we still had to safely drive this van and it's human contents back to Huntington Beach (and Jason had to continue on to San Diego). I could not imagine trying to drive without losing my valuable cargo so I begged Jason to please drive us home or at least partially home. Brandy and George drifted off and on into sleep while my head would bob and I would wake up in a panic that I had inadvertently fallen asleep AGAIN AND AGAIN. I had no control over the nodding off. This has NEVER happened to me and was so scary. Again, Jason was patient with my crazy lady antics and accusations that went over and over like this: Are you OK? Jason, are you okay? Are you sure? Do you need to pull over? Should we wake up Brandy to drive? Are you okay? Repeat. Thank you Jason for getting us safely home ... really really. That was the longest drive of my life coming back from 29 palms to HB and when we got off the Euclid ramp I felt like we had truly crossed the finish line :)

It was fun and I would totally do it again!

Note to self: work on better hand offs, go back and study how to read those elevation charts, review 3rd grad math :)

Feeling not so Peachy on this century

On Sunday I completed my 2nd century ride: Peach of a Century. It was 102.66 miles and I was sick that day.

When I got to the registration table I realized that I had no checks, not cash and they didn't accept credit. I had driven 1 1/2 hours down to Salem to do this ride and here I stood looking like a big dufus with my wallet wide open and no payment. The very kind lady said that I could write them a check and mail it from home and could do the ride. Thank you so much kind registration lady!! Check is in the mail.

After I got all geared up and on my bike I rolled out. I have no idea what time it was, but I did start my watch to keep track of time. I was not going to keep track of the time, but I couldn't resist. Even though I was sick and was going out to enjoy myself a little voice told me I just needed to do this ;)

The first rest stop came up rather quickly (22.4 miles) and I had only gone through 1/2 of my water and 3/4 of my Accelerade. I had only had a couple bites of my breakfast (a bagel w/ peanut butter) and had 2 cups of coffee. I was not fueling very well. The bathroom line was soooooo long. 3 porta potties and over 1,000 people on this ride??? Shifty from Bike Forums was there and gave me a hello hug and encouragement. So I stood there waiting for what seemed like eternity, but had a nice chat with a girl behind me who was very friendly. I ran into my biker buddy Chalrotte and her friend Kim their smiles gave me encouragement. I topped off my water bottle, topped off the fuel bottle with some more water and popped 2 more Dayquils and was on my way. About 5 miles before the split for the metric people and century riders I latched on to a tandem who already had 2 other riders firmly attached. I totally get the sweet spot now. The guy in front of me was about 6'2" tall and created a HUGE wall. I will be a better wheel sucker in the future. I was flying with them and getting a full recovery while boogie-in at 25-27mph! Too bad they split off on the metric course. I was sad, but at least they helped me escape these 2 stubborn guys who got mad every time I passed them and had to pass me and then slow down. Hate that.

The next rest stop came up at mile 54.7. I had gone through only 1/2 of my water and 1/2 of my Heed and one gel. I refilled my water bottle, filled my fuel bottle with some Heed, grabbed a handful of pretzels to stick in my jersey pocket and made a 1/4 bagel with cream cheese and jelly. I saw another couple of friends at this stop, but one particular gave me a great laugh. Ernie came up with a friendly hug and with his chest all puffed out shouting: "I feel great! I feel like a ROCK STAR!!". This made me giggle and I told him I wanted some of what he was taking. So he gave me some electolytes and that was so nice because I stopped cramping in my calves after those. I got back on my bike after a quick potty break and went on my merry way. Oh almost forgot Mary, I saw Mary D. also she swore she had seen Mara, but indeed she had not (Mara was enjoying the comfort of her home--lucky girl). She told me of her adventures in wheel sucking.

I was feeling okay at this point, certainly not my best, but o.k. When we hit mile 70ish there was this really nice climb up from Stayton to Silverton and I loved it. I really needed some hills by now. I was starting to ache all over and focus on all my little body aches (neck, wrists, ankle, calves, etc). When we hit that climb I was just feeling energetic again. The endorphins totally kicked in...yay adreneline! Right after the climb was a nice descent into the little town of Silverton and the 3rd rest stop at mile 77.7...I MISSED IT.

I should have turned around and gone back to the stop, but all I kept thinking was: I have 1/2 a bottle of water and 1/2 the Heed, I'll surely be fine to make another 25 miles, it's just another group ride. I've done a group ride on a total of only bottle. I just want this thing to be over. At mile 85 I was DONE. I had no more water left, it was now in the high 80's, I had to pee like nobody's business and I still had 17 miles to go and I was allllll alone. I was not feeling the love. In the distance I saw a golf course and hoped there would be a porta potty on the green...there was and I ran through the ditch to get to that bad boy! Thank goodness for old man bladders that it was there. The other saving grace was the John's (not toilets), the John's (John C and John D) who heroically came by, stopped, smiled and then told me to ride back with them. I would not have made it back w/o a few tears had they not towed my spirits back to the finish. They rode slow for me which I thought was very nice considering John C's love of hill attacking and normal fast pace.

The last 3 miles I just changed my computer because I couldn't look at how slow the miles were ticking by any longer. We finished all together and I ran to my car to chug a V8. Then...I indulged in a giant slice of peach pie.

Conclusions: I should have fueled better. I should have eaten a bigger breakfast. I should not miss rest stops on accident any more. I need to do more sit ups. I need a new set of lungs. I need to not drink wine the night before a century. I really need to learn more about this base building stuff :) Smiling faces on a ride can get you through.

This weeks project: Start a "flocculent mass"

I'm going to grow me a mother of a scoby. A certain mama on one of my forums has inspired me to try my mad skillz in the kitchen with bacterial experimentation. The best tutorial I have found is of course on youtube.
So here we go with Part I:

and part II

I'm planning on pickling with this Kombucha brew in a few weeks. In the meantime I'll make my flocculent mass. All this kitchen chemistry is so fun that next week I know I'll have my sourdough starter fermenting alongside the Kombucha brew :) Pictures in a few weeks to update those who actually care lol.

Molasses

That is how I would describe M Ward's voice. Sultry, smooth, smokey, sweet, thick, lovely lyrics roll out this man's throat like molasses. His guitar sings and his fingers nimbly run all over that instrument. Mara and I went to see him at the Crystal Ballroom last night and we went under his spell. He is incredible live. Here is the best I can offer up for now: M Ward.

Asthma Sucks Sweaty Balls

I'll be most likely flagged for another questionable blog title, but indeed asthma sucks balls, big hairy balls. Yes, Ma I know you read my blog and you will most likely send me the thesaurus giving me numerous other intellectually descriptive alternative for: big sweaty balls. I will graciously accept those words and remain firm in my alternative beliefs in speaking my mind.

On to the subject of asthma. My terrible allergies of August have decided to derail my attempts at my peak of fitness. My body is rebelling. How convenient. Along the lines of rebellion my "shin splint" problem appear to be more then ice will fix. After much reading I think I have the beginnings of "stress fracture" on my tibia's...yes both of them, but my left leg is ultimately demanding my full attention at the moment. They don't bother me on a ride. So let's not write that off. I'll take some run time off and see if I feel better. Oh I hate to actually admit this and write it out.

Back to my asthma while I'm in old lady break down mode. Something blooms up here in August that lays me out and I remember it happening last year. Only last year I didn't have such big goals for myself and it didn't leave me feeling so debilitated :(. I have to hit my inhaler 3 times a day. Geeezus. I did a couple rides this week and I was trying hard to ignore my wheezing, but on Saturday I gave up my dreams of climbing Larch mountain to help celebrate a lovely friends birthday with full SAG support mind you to do a local little ride around here because.i.couldn't. breath. :( On the one climb (a mere mile but a steep little 7% grade climb) my lungs seized...even though I made it to the top, I ABOUT PASSED OUT...for the 2nd time this week. AGAIN GEEZUS!

That is all. Bitch session over. That is what a blog can handle though. I like to complain, use excessive ellipses and whine and whine and whine. Now I can move on with next weeks goals.

What a cute visitor

Look who decided to romp through our back yard this afternoon. Our dog started barking and scared it up this tree right off our deck area and right next to our kids play structure. I'm guessing Mama bear wasn't far away and I don't have a zoom lens to get in closer. A couple of months ago our neighbors about a mile down the road said they had spotted 2 black bear cubs in their yard and also had seen a Lynx. I'm guessing this little guy/girl was *one* of those cubs. After it came down from the tree it ran back toward our little creek area and then I saw it run into the road. A car coming down the hill slowed for it and it ran back behind our dogs enclosure. We lost track of it a few minutes after that. I hope it stays off the road!

On Monday when I was running out back I thought of all the creatures lurking in the woods off the road and it gave me a shiver. Right after I had this thought a coyote ran right in front of me crossing the road. Let's hope the biggest animal I see in the future back there is a coyote.

My: "Questionable Content Blog"

Oh Geez! Probably because I mention my "backside" my blog now qualifies as questionable. Hmm. I've never felt so censored in my LIFE.

Whatever, my lungs hurt. Upper respiratory stuff SUCKS <---uh oh questionable word again by blogger standards. My muscles are THROBBING from my short run today....oh shoot, I did it again. Good thing I'm done NURSING on my BREAST and not talking about that I would have a really naughty site.

Holy hell. <---in a HAND basket. Good gracious me.

See: Sign on Backside-->

"Kick here"

Yes, I need the kick. Really, feel free...kick me now. What is up? I'm slacking on exercise. Coming back from vacation is kinda hard. I ran and rode on my camping trip, but wtf happened when I came home? Oh hmm?

In other news my garden has started rockin' out the produce. This is good. Last year, I had NO luck or NO otherworldly knowledge like this year bestowed upon me. Like anyone cares that my thumb is green and I'm so proud.

Tomorrow is littlest child's 3rd birthday. Big news people. We are going to rock it to her request: Pink everything (yes, gag if you must), party go-ers bring their stuffed thingys, and then we "dance to Michael Jackson" <----really her words. I leave you with this very disturbing image.

One goal down, need to start a new goal

My next century goal is for September to ride the Peach of a Century ride and to ride it with a faster time then my last one.

And...since I've been fascinated by the world of cyclocross for the past few months I was thinking I really should start running more if I want to attempt an event this year in the world of cyclocross for beginners in Portlandia :). I'm still on the fence with this one, but it looks like some dirty fun!

In the meantime I need a running goal I think. I'm toying with this new goal thanks to Mara for planting the bug in my ear today. A Half marathon on October 19th sounds reasonable right? It is actually THIS 1/2 marathon. Do I have sufficient time to build up to comfortably finish? That is the question.

Hmmm?

My First Century

Yesterday, I rode the Covered Bridge Tour century. It was a beautiful route on pretty much all country/rural roads. I think there was only one traffic light the whole 101 miles. The route takes you through 5 covered bridges and was so very well supported, thank you volunteers!! There were plenty of food choices at all the water stops and I heard the lunch stop was great; however, I overshot that one.

On to the more interesting details: My details from the bike.

Alarm went off at 5:30 am.
Jumped out of bed, made coffee, gathered my stuff and out the door we went by 6:30 to try to eat some breakfast in the hotel lobby. Nothing looked good to me. I tried a couple bites of PB on a bagel, but I couldn't stomach solid food that early in the morning. The coffee totally sucked at the hotel and I needed my bucket of coffee :(

My friend Mara and I arrived at the registration table around 7am and got checked in, went to the bathroom, met up with Shifty from Bike Forums, and went back to Mara's car to get geared up for the day. Geared up this morning was my short sleeved jersey, arm warmers, Pearl Izumi sugar shorts, bad kitty socks<---very important for a long ride, helmet, mirror (don't laugh) and sunglasses. We saw Dan and Liz from the Vancouver Bicycle Club on the tandem in the parking lot as well as a couple other guys from Bike Forums getting ready (Skip and Dennis). I think we actually left the parking lot around 7:40am. I was already 40 minutes off my plan, but I was okay with that because we had a friendly bunch to start out with which often matters more then having a personal goal I've learned :). After about 7 miles we all kind of split up from each other and into our own pace. I didn't feel warmed up enough to keep up with the BF guys and the tandem so I just took it easy warming up alone. Mile 0-19 was very flat. Perhaps there were some small inclines, but no hills. It was so peaceful and the sun was rising, I passed by lavender and mint fields, farms and rolling hills abounded.

Mile 19 (first rest stop): I had gone through both my bottles of Accelerade so I refilled those, downed a Power Bar gel, went to the bathroom, said good bye to the lingering peeps and got back on the bike. I was feeling great and by about mile 30 I was all warmed up which was good because at mile 36.8 we hit Jordan Road which was a steep hill. We powered up that hill and I felt great, finally a hill to get my legs working. Right after the hill was another rest stop.

Mile 37.7 (2nd rest stop): I went in the fire station, used the bathroom, refilled my bottles, downed another gel and got back on the bike. At mile 40 I thought, wow I feel fantastic I cannot believe I had already knocked out 40 miles. But in the back of my mind I remembered how so many people had encouraged me to take an ibuprofen early so I did. Wow, that I believe was my #1 mistake of the day. #2 was that I didn't apply sunscreen later in the ride...ouch i'm a lobster. So back to the advil mistake. I was doing great, feeling great, so great that I overshot the turn off for the lunch stop at mile 52.7.

Mile 53.6 (Meridian Road): This was a fun little climb up a moderate grade "stair step" kind of hill. There were 3 humps to it and I'm guessing it was about a mile total, maybe a bit more. It was fun, but right after that little climb my belly started giving me trouble. It felt like my intestines were cramping up and a twisting; burning pain like this stayed with me for another 40 miles. I was running really low on water. I only had 1/2 a bottle of diluted Accelerade to get me to the next rest stop which was at mile 69.8 and I knew there was going to be a good climb at mile 64 so I saved it until the climb up Mt. Hope drive. I started taking bites off my bar of choice to help my stomach, but to no avail.

I met a rider back on the stair step climb who ended up riding with me to the end. We both had our ipods plugged in and only had a couple small little conversations which was just fine with me. I enjoyed my tunes, he enjoyed his. He tried to get me to draft him, but I was uncomfortable with his inconsistent pace to be *that* close to his wheel.

Mile 63.4 was my favorite mile of the whole day. It was a great climb up and a fun descent down. Okay, the descent actually would have been much more fun if it hadn't been freshly gravel/oiled or whatever that is they do around here. After this section there were only going to be a few rollers to play up and down. The ride was quite flat. I felt super after the climb up Mt Hope drive. Sometimes the right hill will do that to me, it kind of drains me, but immediately afterwards my body tingles and kind of kicks into a higher gear. I love that feeling, it must be adreneline. So off we sped onto the next rest stop.

Mile 67.1 was very special because now I was embarking into new territory. My longest ride prior to this century was 67 miles.

Mile 69.8 (rest stop 4): Oh how glad I was to pull in here and refill my water bottles. I couldn't stomach the Accelerade any longer so I refilled one bottle with water and one bottle with some old school lemon-lime Gatorade :)--->also YUCK. I ate a half of a banana, went to the bathroom, I put on some Tool on the ipod and jumped back on the bike. Good tunes can really get my mind off the aches and pains. The only real aches and pains were still my stomach, but it wasn't debilitating. The next 20 miles were fun. A few rollers and one fun descent. The day was heating up and I was feeling bothered knowing my skin was getting fried.

Mile 88.6 (rest stop 5): I was absolutely famished by this time so I was so happy to see some lemon poppy seed muffins, granola, and another 1/2 a banana. I literally inhaled those items, refilled my bottles with plain water and got back on the bike feeling so much better. My stomach cramping subsided shortly after.

The remaining 12 miles were VERY flat so my new found riding partner and I took turns pulling each other along that section. At mile 94 I got a second wind and came up to the front for a turn and started pedaling as fast as I could maintain at 20-21mph (that is Ticia fast lol). We must have had tail winds because I never pedal "that" fast. My knees were beginning to ache a bit and I thought that my seat could probably use an adjustment, but I was still feeling like I could have gone on for at least another 20 miles ;).

Pulling into the finish we were welcomed by root beer floats which TOTALLY hit the spot. I was craving those the night before and was surprised to see such a finish line treat. So I parked myself under a tree, layed down and waited for Mara to finish (she ended up riding the full century instead of the planned 85 er)!! I was so proud to see her smiling face when she came pedaling into the parking lot. We did it and I achieved my goal of coming in under 7 hours. My total time on the bike was 6 hours and 31 minutes.

Lessons learned:
-Don't take advil w/o solid food in my stomach.
-Eat a better breakfast.
-Bring sunscreen!
-I didn't need 10 scoops of Accelerade for this adequately supported ride.
-Having a riding partner at your pace can be a huge moral support.
-Don't pay attention and obsess over my mph average ;)
-Training was good, I felt confident and not in over my head which translated to a relatively "easy" ride (by easy I mean a strong finish with energy to spare).
-Check the camera to make sure it is charged. Thus the lack of pictorials.

Now for the thanks...where is my podium? Where are my podium boys? lol
Big thank yous to my dear hubby who supports my desire to go ride all over town and is the studliest Dad and husband ever. He never complains about all the time I've worked on cranking out the miles to achieve this goal. He lets me go on and on about my rides. Thank you to my kiddos for letting your mommy ride her bike. Thank you Mara for motivating me in the mornings ;) Big thank yous to George and Brandy for their constant lectures ;) and fantastic coaching tips, tricks, listening to me go on and on and on about my rides and their constant encouragement. Lastly, but certainly not least by any means thank you peeps of the VBC group rides who have both hung back with me or teased me into chasing them up the hills of Vancouver...you know who you are :P

Another lastly,
Writing this tonight (the night after) I feel good. My knees were sore, but I think I know the remedy for this and I have some mild soreness in my quads. Otherwise, my wrists, neck and back don't hurt like I had anticipated they would.

I just found that someone (Hill pumper) on Bike forums posted some great pictures of this ride. You can view here.

I'll be riding with some more distance in my future ;)

Wheel suckin' ho bags unite

First, let me linky:

Suck in' wheel ex-plan-ation that I relate to.

Usually, I use the excuse that they (the wheel in front of me) should just slow down for a nano second to let me "latch" because I suck...really slow down...no don't slow down, I need to work! Let me catch you and *think* I caught you, even if you really slowed down. See how that works. I think Anthony Hopkins said it best: Quid Pro Quo Clarise. I chase, you run, I get faster, you go faster. That all seems so nice and dandy. Now, should we spray some testosterone around the scene to make it interesting? Of course we should. Let my psychology degree be entertained damnit! Whatever, I'm having fun and in the wise words of Limp Bizkit...keep rollin rollin rollin! Hee hee another linky.

Bright idea # %&*^$),000,000,000

It was 95 degrees today. All 3 of my chillen's are sick (bad sick, with the pukes coming projectile out both ends). Our house smells like a hospice. So to escape for a bit over an hour while all 3 napped. I decide at the peak of the heat today that I should test my riding ability in the hot ass heat of the day. It sounded like a good idea: train in the conditions that you might meet on a pay day (pay to ride day) for me that would be Sunday. Pay to ride that 100 miles that is still daunting me, teasing me, it is the carrot and I am the rabid bunny.

Okay, enough with my dramatic interlude....on to my bright idea to ride in the heat. It sucked. I went 20 miles and it was relatively flat, I've done this ride a few times with NO problems. It is "easy"....20 miles a bit over a thousand feet of gain BUT IN 90 DEGREES I SUCKED!! I was exhausted. I melted. I poured my water over my head. I got heat flush in my face that lasted for hours AFTER my ride. Oh man, I'm not made to ride in the heat. I was once again humbled. I melted, I melted, I melted...I dripped sweat from my head down to my toes...I'm not a sweater...I don't sweat, but only a shine upon the bridge of my nose. However, when you act like a crazy person and go out to subject yourself (speaking about *me* here) to these "extreme" conditions you learn a hot lesson. I had a fever today...it was self induced. Tomorrow, I rest.

I think I can

do a century on my bike. ??? That is a LOT of miles. I've only ever ridden 67 miles.

I was planning for my first century to be in September and it would be this one: Peach of a Century. It sounded tame with promises of mostly flat, rolling hills and moderate climbs. I like hills, but over about 30 miles or so I like them...not so sure about 100!!

So, I got to thinking about my goals. You know those pesky little buggers that guilt you subconsiously into conscious guilt ridden action for setting them or in my case a blatent and frequent sabbotage. One goal for this year was to knock out a "couple centuries". This idea rolls off the top of my tongue like butter. The idea rolls smoothly. In application I'm still unsuccessful only because I haven't even actually attempted the goal. That is of course a very important step in success or failure apparently.

I was toying with the idea of doing the Crater Lake METRIC Century on August 16th. However, we are going camping that day and I was trying to figure out all the logistics to make everyone happy and the traveling smooth and it isn't going to work so smoothly. Although this is a very excellent goal for next year.

My biking partner in crime up here suggested we attempt the Covered Bridge ride out in the Willamette Valley. So, I being the geek that I am had to go investigate the elevation gain for the ride and fancy that it is only a mere 3,500-ish feet of gain the whole 100 miles. The first number doesn't scare me....the second number "100 miles" doesn't feel like butter on my tongue anymore! It feels more like indigestion.

I am going to knock this baby out of the goal box on August 10th. Wish me lot's of physical and mental endurance. There, I'm committed I said it out loud.

Really now animals...go away!

Dear Mr. Coyote,

I think you are beautiful, but can you please not stroll out in front of me when I'm going down the hills of Hockinson. It scares me and you were a big ass coyote; skinny, but bigger than my dog and that freaked me out for a nano second. Then I realized I could scare you out of the street by making this really weird noise like this --->whisckpschhhht! Then you ran into the bushes and all I could think of was that you were mad at my noise and were now tracking me.

So can you please be more careful when crossing the street. You could get hurt out there!

Sincerely,
The weird girl who sings to herself while spinning her wheels out in the country.

I ran right off that elliptical and into the woods

I blew off my ride tonight. Mara was not happy with me. I cannot commit to anything. I have exercise ADD. I plan my week out so nicely and then it is any one's call what I'm actually going to do to move this body. Maybe I'm just flexible, easygoing, I can roll with change right? Or is that what I'm telling myself?

Let's back track. My ride was to be at 6pm. So, at 4pm I go out to the garage and start cleaning my bike which is up on the spin doctor. I clean my chain and it is filthy so instead of the basic wipe down and lube I decide to do the full 9 yards and actually scrub it with degreaser and get my bucket of suds out for a thorough cleaning. As I remove my wheels I notice I have another flat! Damn it. This time on the front. I must not be seating my tubes correctly. I didn't have another spare tube so my ride was not looking good. Yes, I could have ridden my other bike, but I wasn't feeling strong enough to do the hills and climbs on my double today in the 91 degree heat. Excuses, excuses...we'll get to that.

I call Mara and tell her that I'm not going on the ride (after I pussy foot around with my excuses). However, now I have a really shiny clean bike to ride tomorrow morning :) She was not amused I'm sure.

I come in the house and jump on the elliptical because I needed to get in some kind of exercise before the days end. ZZZZZZ...BORING! I had my tunes plugged firmly into my ears, but damned if I can ever love boring cardio on a machine. So after 25 minutes on that thing I literally ran out the back door and did a two mile run out on our back hilly road. I didn't tell a soul, I just ran right off the thing and into the woods.

Something is very wrong with me lately.

On my run all I could think of was that I probably should have actually told Edward or one of the kids that I was going to run out back, but that didn't even cross my mind until I was a mile into my run. What if a bear attacked me, what if a lynx decides to pounce on my head and scratch my eyes out, what if I tripped over a bunny and hurt my wittle self? Because those things *could* have happened...right? And nobody would have known where I was. Next time I'll leave a note.

It is smoldering hot and I think it has gone to my brain; the worse thing that would have really happened would be that I would have passed out from heat stroke! Screw the animals, I am my own worst enemy.

Cherry Days

It is July and although the cherry's are "late" this year, but we still enjoyed a day under the VERY hot sun (temps in the high 90's) picking this beloved fruit out in Hood River.

We started the day meeting up with the Hagen's at Cherry Karma's Purple Pit stop where we did some kid crafts, drank delicious cherry smoothies, admiring some glass jewelry/crafts, and ate some little cherry brownies.

Next, we headed over to Lavender Valley lavender farm to learn how to make lavender wands. The smell of the acres of lavender fields was intoxicating.

I love this smell, it reminds me of all of my home births. It was so fun to watch how our personalities emerged while attending to this craft. Some of us had fierce determination to keep at the complicated task of weaving, while others frustration gave up to abandon the wand or put it on the back burner for a later attempt at home w/o the 90 degree heat fueling their impatience :).

After the lavender farm visit we headed over to Alices Orchard where we got our buckets and headed out to the fields of cherry picking and eating bliss. The Rainer cherries were not ready yet so we couldn't pick those. We picked Lapin cherries that grow on very small trees so the kids can reach them.
Time for a break under the shade of the cherry trees to eat some of that hard work. Little cherry pickers sweat fiercely under the pounding rays of the sun and shove mouthfuls of cherries before calling it quits.I think we walked out of that field with over 40 lbs of cherries amongst our 2 families. Satori became over heated and looked like she was dizzy, so I took her back to the car and cooled her off with some ice to suck on and a break in the shade.

She seemed to recover alright and I coaxed us on to our last stop...the winery. The the older kids came up with a plan to end us at Sushi Hana for dinner. We didn't argue with this idea.

We headed over to Cathedral Ridge Winery where Mara and I enjoyed a little taste test of some of their wines which was nice. The kids were not allowed in the building which they were disgruntle about; however, there was a huge and beautiful garden outside to explore, so they did and found an injured butterfly which gave them plenty of entertainment.

After a fun day, we headed back to town to enjoy a feast of Sushi at Sushi Hana. They were having a special "all plates $1.50 so we just filled up on some delicious food. Yummy. I tried a few new varieties that I had never seen before. One was called the Vegas and I have no idea what was in it, but it was so sinfully delicious. Somehow they fry the whole roll which leaves the outside just a bit crispy. Strangely delightful. Everyone was stuffed to the gills as we now rolled out of the restaurant and headed to our homes.

A fantastic summer day with great company.

Playing with Macro

Just some neat shots from the past week.

The dragon fly who kept visiting my garden


And the artsy shot I'm not quite happy with. Playing around with my silloette on the wall at sunset last night. I look pregnant where I was holding the camera. I still like it, I'll work on another one with the tripod.


The flowers in Mara's garden. .

Big A$$ Beaver attack...aka...when animals attack the helmet/lycra clad folk on spinny things

Was that a long enough title or what? So no beavers were involved, but due to my friend who will remain nameless (but is linked in my side bar) we will say the "beagle" in my story sounds so much more exciting when it is a big a$$ BEAVER! Yes, all the Primus people unite and think about Winona's beaver for a moment. Yes, that was lovely can I tell my tale now?

Okay, are you back? Really, because I need you to listen. Here we go...

This summer has been weird: I attract animals.

At the very beginning of summer I did a big ride with some friends and we almost hit a DEER. It just strolled out into our path, thank goodness we were paying attention and going slow enough to see it and slow down for it to meander across the road.

Tues: on my ride a ginourmous toad (that we thought was a rock) jumped into our path on the road barely missing us on a downhill.

Wed: I almost crash, slam on my breaks (going 39mph downhill) smoke flying, back tire fishtailing, but again everything fine. <---no animals, just thought I'd slip in a scary personal moment.

Today,

Mara and I are chatting riding the country road and all of a sudden a really mad fat Beagle comes chasing me trying to either bite my ankle or my rear wheel. I started yelling NO NO NO, BAD DOG NO!!!! Which did NOTHING so I had to out pedal him. We laughed about that even though I was shaking.

THEN,

In the last few miles of my ride I was in between groups. I was trying to catch up with this fast group about 1/4 mile in front of me when OMG A HUGE HORSE ON MY RIGHT STARTS GALLOPING AND SNARLING FULL SPEED TOWARD HIS "FENCE" AND.JUMPS.OUT.OF. HIS.YARD AND INTO THE ROAD LITERALLY 3-4 car lengths in front of me and is going all sketchy crazy running up and down the road at me. I kept my pee in...no I did not soak my diaper spandex today and anyways I had on my thin shorts so it would have been apparent. Pshhah, lycra hate-ahs!

I get off my bike and head toward a blackberry bush (because those little thorns will scare away the big ASS horse. Every time I would start to try to get back on my bike it seemed he/she whatever big a$$ horse got mad and seemed to gallop at me.

So, I tapped into my horse whisperer mode<---really I have one and I start saying softly "it's okay, whoa horsey, calm down, whoa, it's okay" and it started to calm down and at least not come rushing me.

Finally, (like 5 mins after the break out), the owner comes out and gets the crazy horse and puts it back into the same area that the thing just busted out of!!! As he mumbles how some kids must have spooked him angry.gif OMG if you have a sketchy horse that is easily spooked, please keep him/her/whatever big a$$ horse locked up dufuss!

Thanks for listening.

I need to report him for being such a negligent owner. People/kids/cars/bikes could be injured for cryin' out loud.

Red

My new bike. goes. so . faaaaasssssssssttt. I luvs her.



My new hair, hmm. Its temporary and fun and also red. I got teased a lot about my new bike/hair coordination.

Geez, A girl has a blog and she...

doesn't update...EVAH!!

Well we have had so much going on, but since this is a knitting blog...kinda and I love the use of ellipses I'm going to go on and on about something.

In this case and as of late it will most likely be running and riding. I had my fastest ride ever today. Please fast riding audience take a breath and do NOT burst out laughing. I rode as fast as my pretty little white and pink Dolce would take me and I'm still not loving her. BUT, I managed a 17 mph average in my little 14 mile commute over to Mara's house for a promise of big mean steaks and wine ;) A girl can pedal for that can she or can't she ;) Today she can, could, would and did.

Face it Ticia

You don't like to go to the "mountain".

I didn't "love" Mammoth.
I didn't "love" Utah.
I didn't "love" Big Bear.

I've been living up here for 2 1/2 years now in Washintonianland. Today, I took my first trip "to the Hood", Mt. Hood for clarity sake. Here is my dirty "Why I hate the mountain list".

1. I hate the drive. My life always flashes before me. When your life suddenly flashes before you it is bad news people. This is when my dear husband looks over at my white knuckles and kindly slows down 1 mph. What a peach.

2. Getting 2 children into snow "gear". Watching 9 year old shrug off my attempts at helping her get on the "right/warm" gear.

3. Watching the 20 some year old boys in the car ahead of us drink 40oz'ers like coffee at 9am to wash out last nights hang over before they go up and snowboard with my husband, my daughter, friends, neighbors (literally--they were there), and all the other innocent victims on the blasted mountain.

4. Watching my 2 1/2 yr old have a near death experience at the hands of a fast moving teenager at the cafeteria and thus following many other 2 year old ummm, issues.

a. Young boy trips over her and luckily (because he at the least has super quick teenage reactions) falls ON her w/o actually bearing weight on my precious precious. Whatever, now she has PTSD.

b. Falls off her precarious perch on stupid cafeteria plate sized stool or large butt plug, whatever. Oh oops, going off. She falls and loses all her french fries and a large tantrum ensues.

c. Since she now has PTSD from Flash the teenager she goes into hysterics if anyone resembling a teenage boy comes within a 4 foot approximation. Thank the universe she is repelled by teenage boys at such a young age. I'm so proud.

5. Hardly, any cell phone reception to call my husband to rescue us with his logic and all that is best Daddy/Husbandness.


6. Teen/tweenagers walking around with their cell phones, with seemingly 4-5 bars of reception and bonking us in the hear with their boards while in their other ear their I-pod is screaming _________(fill in blank band here). If only I could harness that kind of totally self-centered multitasking. Damnit, my kids and I are the center of the universe; walk AROUND us we are definitely NOT invisible. Have you heard a 2 yr old tantrum? Wooo what a good rant.

SIDE NOTE: Dude, I totally need to talk to them and get their cell phone carriers info. ya'know like try to get them to hit me on the down low. ::snort::

Note to self: Cool me is so long gone if she ever existed but only in my mind. I'm not the shiznit beeyotch. Whew, got that out of my system.

7. They don't serve hot forks to gorge your eyeballs out and eat for lunch to sustain absent minded mother's for: (see #8).


8. Parking. I walked that stupid parking lot 3 times and couldn't find my truck (I don't know why everyone has to buy a ****ing white SUV?) C'mon people. Yes, I see the irony. Little one decided to take a nap on this fun "let's find Mommy's car game" and turned into a 25lb + sack of taters. 5 yr old lovely boy holds out pulling my snow pants down and exposing my very attractive muffin topped long underwear shot. Minutes after I realize I've been flashing numerous muffin spectators he bursts into tears of exhaustion. I swear I'm in a nightmare...oh no I look up, it's just my trip to the "mountain".

Wow, I only had 8. There must be so many more loathing thoughts I could put down. Oh, there are; however, I'm feeling so good now that I'm off the mountain that I'll spare you all the time suck.

Why did I think I'd love Mt. Hood?
Could it be the toddler element? Hmmm. I'll get back to you when she is 5 and I dare to try it again.

Off to counsel myself with a glass of wine because HELLO! One day I'm-a-gonna-have-3 of dem dere teenagers...hopefully, not "that" kind. Denial is so comforting.

Back in the saddle again

Lame title, but true.

10 pounds of winter weight gain can really make that blasted spandex feel awful, okay spandex is always awful, but c'mon I'm trying.

The weather has been so beautiful this month that I've gotten out riding my bike ~3-4 times a week. Our weather has been fantastic; blue, clear, skies have been happening about um 3-4 times a week. See any pattern to my riding preferences (cool and sunny rules!)? Last year at this time we were driving back from California in the snow and furious rain.

Monday I rode with a really nice group over the bridge to Portlandia and east up the Gorge. The view was spectacular, but the head and crosswinds were practically blowing us over. Combining that with the element of "urban flare": read fast flying HUGE SEMI TRUCKS and I was feeling very skeeeered. The big trucks create this suck into the road affect and combined with the head/cross wind situation I was not happy. When we dropped into the bike path I was fine. Headwinds were still awful, but I felt safe and so I just plugged along thinking what a great experience the whole ride was for me and my "country road loving ways" lol. The high point of this ride was getting onto the 5 freeway bridge and overlooking the giant Hooters billboard. Kidding. It was seeing the 3 volcanoes so clearly snow topped against the blue sky: Mt. St. Helen, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. My new bike was giving me some big trouble with braking fast and I'm not "loving" it as much as my "old" bike.

Today, I went out with a group that was for the most part REALLY REALLY FAST (for me). The ride was advertised as "moderate", but a steady pace :). When I saw the ride leaders calves I was a bit intimidated. I thought he would make a fantastic anatomy model. I could see every muscle fiber and vein. He turned out to be a really great ride leader. He would sprint up and back to both lead and sweep. I would act like a big dork and try to catch him or follow his cadence while he just "cruised" and it was very challenging for me and my poor lungs (why did I abuse my poor lungs for so long--hindsight and all is a bitch).

18 miles into this lovely, pretty, flat, farm animal, country road, (complete with Emu's--I'll get to that distraction later) I was coming up to a stop sign and slowly tipped over. I nailed my left knee really hard on the road twisted my already twisted right ankle. Ouch my pride ;) Later, ouch my knee.

I always unclip on my right side, but I must have had something wedged in my cleat because when I went to turn out of my pedal my leg did a 180 and just still wouldn't unclip. Then as I still lean right I desperately try to unclip on my very unpracticed left foot. Umm, that didn't work. I just hit the ground now giggling like the idiot I am. I heard many jokes and laughed them off as I pointed out the Emu's to distract my riding group from my embarrassment.

So now I sit w/my leg up icing the perfect chicken egg of a bump that was once just a sore joint of a knee ;) and watching "Mean Girls". I'm so mature.

Now that I'm a self proclaimed You Tube Junkie

It's been cold, rainy, I've been sick and I just want to ride my new bike "outside". So I'm going to have a little soap box self proclamation if you all don't mind. I am going to seek help velly velly soon...You Tube is the *new* DEBIL. I'm on my way to recovery, but to all those that I have senselessly forwarded embedded links to "funny" videos I apologize now. I'm getting help. It has been a long 4 days of fever and mucus. Okay, one last one...just watch...it's funny, Margaret Cho is in it and there is cursing:)





Yes I'll go to the gosh forsaken air conditioned realm of stationary spinning sublimation, but I won't like it as much as the great outdoors!

and for good measure..I don't like odd videos so here is another just to keep things even :)

Screwy Dove Campaign

So first I saw this ad and thought: Alright Dove! As I have a young dd who is now just starting to really be fully aware of societies obsession with the female body. Watch, it's great, disturbing, and you shout out "Go Dove! I'm going to buy your soap for all you do to promote a healthy view of the female body."



BUT, then I see this ad and feel ill again...

Brrr..., but beautiful

That was my general feeling about the little 20 mile ride I did this afternoon, cold & sunny-gorgeous. 31-38 degrees is just not comfortable (especially when this amateur doesn't layer properly). Actually, I was okay it wasn't THAT bad. I could see my fingers, I just couldn't feel them. When we started up a few little hills though my blood got warm and pumping and my phalanges were working again. A nice man loaned me a warm little skull cap (my knitted one was too bulky). It was so clear and pretty out today; Mt St. Helen's was clearly visible to the north and to the east we could see a Mt. Hood. I enjoyed the ride and owe Miss Brandy aka: Cyclemama-super-mad-skills-endurance-woman a big thank you for motivating me to get out there. I don't know if I'll be braving the rain and cold, but dry and cold aren't so bad. It was fun to see some familiar faces on the ride today. We had a good sized group of maybe 10-12 riders. Fun day!

Another wardrobe malfunction

So I had a major wardrobe malfunction (it's not the first). I bought a new sports bra which is totally useless when running. By the first 1/8th of my 2 mile run it crept up to my neck. Wearing a sports bra around your neck is just totally asinine when your running up and down hills. Doah! I think it has high hopes of being a scarf or some new fashionable lycra neck warmer. Blasted thing, but if you were a very small person and were looking up under my sweatshirt you would see some mean reverse cleavage ;) Upside down cleavage is better than nothing (or so I'm telling myself today). So my question is: Should I return the vile article? Would you?

Yay me :)

I ran today. I haven't ran for months and I started back to my exercise routine last week. I have been itching to have a run/jog and even though I'm so out of shape I did it. Labored breathing, cursing, and aching knees were my only distraction. All hilly 2 miles (check)! About 5 minutes after I got home it started pouring (frozen ice/hail/rain). Thank goodness I headed out just 5 minutes before or I would have been crying a bit ;)

So, Yay me!

I've never!

Left a comment on a blog for an author, but tonight I did. I recently read Apathy
the book was very entertaining and I read it in 2 nights which for me, well it was that good. Tonight I asked my 2 yr old what "Apathy" meant, yes I did because sometimes all I have to talk to is my 2 yr old.

Me: What does Apathy mean little child that came from my very being (yes I should have said loins, but so what)?

Little child: Oh, it means you are older like this...(she holds up 4 fingers and nods uh huh).

Me: No, not really you should have shrugged your shoulders and had NO OPINION! We have work to do my child, much work to do.

Kidding, I gave her a hug and a kiss and did all the right things that make me Mom of the year while my mind wanders off into the land of subtitles.

See how random I can barely write. This my friends is why I enjoyed this book: articulation! Of which I have nada.

Sharing the bread love

In the fall and winter I do two things consistently, I bake bread and I knit. This year
I have been making the kids this cottage cheese bread and they LOVE it, plus it has a bunch of protein because of the "secret" ingredient :)Just don't let them see you make it if they have a cottage cheese aversion. The stuff just melts into the loaf, they'll never know its in there. Clever Mama's unite!

I make this yummy loaf in my Oster 2lb Expressbake, but am going to attempt it in my new oven soon.

Here is the recipe:

Cottage Cheese Speltish Bread

3/8 cups water
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 egg
2 TBSP of butter, margarine or olive oil
1 TBSP Molasses
1 TBSP Honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup of Spelt flour
2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup of wheat flour
1 and 3/4 cup unbleached flour (i use King Arthur Brand)

Measure and add liquid ingredients to bread pan. Measure and add dry ingredients (except yeast) to the bread pan. Use your finger and form a hole in the flour where you pour in the yeast. Go do that. Yeast should NOT touch the wet ingredients. Snap the bread pan into the breadmaker and plug it in, press select and choose the sweet setting. Press the Crust color button and choose the color crust you want, then push start. Easy peasy....3 hours later yummy goodness.

A new crop

of hats...

Here are a bunch of chilly heads that are now happy for the new year.