FABG!

C'est fini

2008-12-29T12:53:00.003-05:00

This is what my calendar has looked like for the last four months and I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy that it's all over. As of Dec. 20, I am officially done with school. Although I am a little nervous about starting the new job and taking the board exams, I definitely feel better than I would if I were registering for classes and scraping up tuition for another semester. So now the game turns into studying, studying, and studying some more. My goal is to have all three of my board exams taken (and passed) by the end of April.

It's so hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. I was really hoping for a nice, relaxing holiday this year but it turned out to be anything but stress free. The extreme weather (including snow, fog, wind, rain, and ice) was a huge hassle for all of the holiday traveling we had to do. Even more of a hassle, though, were the multiple car issues we had during the week. Long story short - Steve has no heat or defrost in his car and my car blew it's water pump on Christmas morning and I'm still waiting to hear if the head gasket is blown as well. We spent the better part of Christmas day trying to limp my car to the repair shop to avoid crazy Christmas day towing fees. After that, it was champagne and whatever scraps of food we had in the house. Not the greatest Christmas but it could have been far worse, that's for sure!

So here's hoping for an excellent start for 2009 - it's impossible to know what's around the corner so there's no use worrying about it, right?

Desiderata

2008-12-18T14:44:00.003-05:00

In 1927, an unknown aspiring writer named Max Ehrmann wrote a poem called "Desiderata," which in Latin means "things desired as essential." I have an ugly 1970's-inspired wall hanging with this poem on it that used to hang in my grandma's kitchen when I was little. I rescued it from her garage sale several years ago because it was the first time I had actually read through the whole thing. It now hangs in my house and I read it quite often - each time, something different speaks to me and all of it is applicable to every aspect of my life. Sorry this is a bit on the sappy side but I wanted to share it.

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy."

650B ya'll

2008-12-01T15:52:00.006-05:00

So not much has been happening these past few weeks - a little bit of school, a little bit of work, a little bit of traveling, and so on. I'm in the final push of what I hope is my last semester of school for several years. Three weeks of night-shift neonatal ICU rounds and that's it. Gettin 'er done.

A new and exciting addition came along this past week, though - it's a frankenbike project that's been in progress for over a year now but Steve made it happen after some frantic digging through his bike parts bins in the basement. So I give you..... the Salsa Ala Carte single speed complete with 650B Velocity Blunts. Daaaaaang.My coworker Dave took some great photos of it for the Velocity website - check it out here. Luckily that was before I took it out in the muck at Luton Park over the weekend. It's definitely going to take some getting used to - not only is it a rigid singlespeed but the wheels are bigger than I'm used to (650B's end up somewhere between a 26" and a 29" wheel - probably around a 27ish" wheel). Add that to having zero moutain bike miles in the last few months and I'm just happy to report that I'm still alive. It was actually a ton of fun and I can't wait for this spring, although the tires I'm running (Pacenti Neo-Moto) make this bike more like a hovercraft in the snow and slush. Many more good times to come with this bike, I'm sure :)

Because of the snow we got these last few days, I did break down and put the studded tires on the Surly this morning. I'm planning on taking it into town a little later this afternoon to get some school stuff wrapped up before the MMBA meeting. Although now that it's started snowing again, I'm not as excited about this as I was this morning. Oh well - slushy roads, here I come!

Not much else to report - I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from this fall. Some Halloween, some chilly waves, some hockey game craziness, and some muddy riding. Nothing too exciting but I'm sure I'll have some good stories in the next few weeks!

So.....

2008-11-10T21:26:00.002-05:00

Are you tired of looking at Steve and George Dubya yet?? Margo yelled at me today for not updating my blog often enough so here I am, nursing a very strong cocktail and celebrating my big news for the day - I got a job! I finally heard back from Butterworth hospital and I accepted a full time position in the respiratory department starting on January 5th. I could not be happier about this - it will make this last month in school so much more enjoyable knowing that I don't have to be pounding the pavement every waking moment trying to scrounge up some work. Besides that - doing my clinicals there made me realize that there's no other hospital in town I'd rather work at. I'm so excited :) So as it stands now, I have the last of my adult critical care shifts this coming weekend in Saginaw and then three weeks of neonatal critical care after Thanksgiving at Butterworth and then I'm done! Graduation is December 20th. I don't plan on walking in the ceremony - mostly because I work the night shift the night before and don't get out until 7am that morning. It will be sooooo nice to be able to relax and enjoy the holidays for a few weeks before I start up at my job. Two board exams later I will be a full-fledged, licensed, and registered respiratory therapist. With a job. Kinda makes the last two years of craziness all worth it.....

Another One

2008-10-16T20:23:00.002-04:00

So this one's grainy since someone took it with their camera phone but I just thought I'd put it up anyway. For those who are confused, President Bush made a surprise visit to the bike shop (where Steve works) yesterday while he was in town for a fundraiser. Steve had the chance to shake his hand and tease him about riding a Trek (a brand they don't carry) before he left in his bad ass limo and headed off to do more important things. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime moment, whether you agree with the man or not.

Dude..... Seriously?!

2008-10-15T21:11:00.003-04:00

So when exactly did I marry a VIP?

Wound Up but Winding Down

2008-10-13T11:44:00.003-04:00

Too much coffee + pre & post-job interview jitters = choppy blog post. Sorry.

Just got done with my interview. It was a phone interview - blegh. I'm not a fan of talking on the phone but overall, I'd say it went just fine. It was very short and to-the-point with a "We'll be in touch" at the end. Hopefully I didn't sound too much like a blathering idiot :) Evidently there are no 'open' positions at this point but they're gearing up for some positions that will be available toward the end of the year. That's good for me since I still have a crap load of school work and clinicals to get through in the next few months.

Speaking of clinicals, though, I only have this week and next week left in my adult ICU rotations. It's crazy how fast that time went. Five more shifts is all I get to learn as much as I can. After next week, I have a few random home-care and pulmonary rehab shifts followed by three shifts at a neuro ICU in Saginaw and then it's on to my neonatal ICU rotation. And after that - I'm DONE! Sure do hope I have a job to report to by then :)

For now, though, I'm trying to enjoy the beautiful fall weather we're having. I spent most of Saturday doing yardwork and planting tulip, daffodil, and iris bulbs. Now the trick is keeping them in the ground so they'll bloom this spring - seems like we have a lot of hungry little animals in our neighborhood. On Sunday, Steve and I took a break from our housework to ride our bikes for a few hours. It was a beautiful sunny day when we left the house and a cool, dark night when we returned. We stopped for "one" beer at Founders on our way home but ended up staying much longer - although it's never a bad thing when you combine good beer with good friends.

We also had the chance to catch up with our friend Mackenzie who just got back from Beijing last week after competing in the Paralympics (see the previous posts). It was so cool to see her and the medals she and her tandem partner won - Kim threw quite the homecoming party and I was so glad we could attend :) Here are a few photos - it was hard to really do justice to the medals but they were pretty amazing.....So now it's on to the rest of the week - I took today off for my interview and to take an exam that has to be proctored by a licensed respiratory therapist. I have to get downtown by 1:30 to start the test - it's a practice board certification exam and I'm really hoping to pass it this first time so I don't have to take it again. Perhaps I should study a bit before I go?

Quickie

2008-10-08T09:01:00.002-04:00

This is a brief nod to the blog since I'm a little short on time this morning.... I want to make sure I leave enough time to put the fenders on my bike so I can ride to work in the rain. It may not sound like fun but it may be the only 10 miles I get this week so I need to take the opportunity when I can, right? I consider it a success to even leave the house for work today since I've felt like crap since Sunday. Evidently what happened in Vegas didn't stay there since I've caught the cold that Steve brought home with him a few weeks ago. I stayed home from work on Monday and discovered my new favorite thing in the world - instant movies on Netflix. Staying home was not an option yesterday since I had a clinical shift at the long-term care hospital. It was a good day - I actually saw quite a few patients that I had at Butterworth hospital that have since been transferred to the long-term care hospital. Some looked very good, some did not. Tomorrow and Friday are shifts at Butterworth and who knows what's in store for this weekend. The randonneurs have a GR-Saugatuck-GR ride on Sunday that I may attempt - although 100+ miles may be a little more than I can handle at the moment.

And a quick job interview update - my interview was rescheduled for Monday the 13th so I have to sweat it out a bit more. As far as I can tell, though, I'm the only person interviewing for this position. But regardless - I need all the positive energy I can get! More later :)

Rolling Along

2008-09-29T21:29:00.005-04:00

It's definitely been awhile and to be completely honest I don't have much to say. The last few weeks have been a blur of work, clinicals, and sleep. It doesn't seem possible that I'm already halfway through my clinical rotation in the ICU at Butterworth Hospital. But here I am, staring Week 5 in the face. So far it's been an amazing experience with some truly heartbreaking patients and I've yet to see one single promising outcome in the patients I've been caring for. But all sadness aside, I'm realizing that the decision to go back to school and go into a field centered on caring for people in need was the best decision I could have made at this point in my life. I'm so excited to be done with school so I can dig my teeth into this field. That said, I'm even more excited to have my first job interview on Monday. Holy crap - wish me luck.

In between clinical shifts, work at Velocity is still busy as ever. Last week even more so since most of the guys were off in Las Vegas for the big Interbike trade show. Steve was there too and for those who know Steve, the picture below should sum up this year's trip:
The man next to Steve is none other than Eddy Merckx who is quite possibly the greatest cyclist this planet has ever known - and Steve's hero. Every year it seems he gets closer to being able to shake Eddy's hand but has always missed out. Not this year :)

So yeah - riding bikes. Not much to report on that front. The first few Kisscross races have come and gone - the first one being at Highland Park while the remnants of Hurrican Ike passed overhead. Quite a nice day for a bike race, although I left the racing up to Steve while I roamed around with my coffee mug full of PBR instead. I think it was a good choice....
I did get to join in on my first randonee a few weekends ago. A few guys from GR have been creating all-day rides in the West Michigan area for the past few months. While the concept of randoneering is still a little lost on me, the group ride from here to Holland and back was a great time. I was desperately in need of spending 70-ish miles on my bike. I'm looking forward to the next ride - GR to Saugatuck to GR - that's happening in October. Hopefully I'll meet another nice guy like the one I met on the way to Holland.Anyhoo - that's really about it. Not a whole lot ahead but more school and more work and hopefully a little fun thrown in the mix. The leaves are starting to change the weather's been a little more gloomy - and for some strange reason that makes me happy. Here's to fall weather!

One of Each

2008-09-14T11:23:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Mackenzie and Karissa - silver medal in today's road race!

Gold Medal!!

2008-09-13T18:14:00.004-04:00

The picture above is GR cyclist Mackenzie Woodring (left) and her tandem partner Karissa Whitsell at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. They won the gold medal in the women's time trial on Friday. Steve and I have known Mackenzie for several years and throughout her cycling career and we couldn't be prouder - she was chosen to be the tandem pilot for Karissa (who is blind) last year and has been training like crazy for this. They have also taken bronze in one event (pursuit) and have one more event (road race) to go. Pretty freakin' cool - way to go!!

Phone Home

2008-09-08T08:46:00.008-04:00

Sighhhh..... Not even sure where to start with this one, although I'm sure everyone has long since given up on me because of my extended blogging hiatus. So let's see here - what the heck has happened since July 22? Perhaps what kept me most busy for a few weeks back there was lots and lots of overtime at work. We (at Velocity) completed a move from a 3,000 sq ft warehouse to an almost 16,000 sq ft warehouse in the course of a week and managed to work through it. Additionally we received the biggest frieght container yet a few weeks later and got to unload - by hand - about 8,000 rims only to ship nearly half of them back out to customers over the following week. All this on a short staff. Good times.....

On top of that, I was also busy finishing my last semester of classroom classes at school. Now I'm officially in my last last last semester of school and looking forward to the next three months since it's all clinicals from here on out. I'm currently in my adult critical care clinical rotation, working two to three 12-hour shifts a week at Butterworth hospital and a few shifts at various other hospitals throughout the semester. I had my first two shifts last week (at Butterworth) and they were amazing - I'm again using the clinicals to really solidify (to me) that respiratory care is something I will want to do once I'm done with school. So far, so good. It's amazing how quickly 12 hours can pass. I had my first shift at a long-term care hospital yesterday and it's quite different than the ICU at Butterworth. In the ICU, people are fighting for their lives. In the long-term, it seems that many people are fighting to die peacefully. After nine weeks of adult care, I have three weeks in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units and then I graduate! Hopefully by then I'll have a job lined up and will be well on my way to passing the two board exams I must take in order to be licensed and registered. All in time, though. I have a lot to learn in the next several weeks.

I'm still going to be working at Velocity throughout my clinicals, or at least until I burn out. See - the thing with clinicals is that instead of being paid to work, you're actually paying someone to work for them. I pay tuition to the school, they send me to a hospital to work, and I either work a different job or pick through trash cans in order to eat. I keep telling myself it's only three months and I know it will be okay.

It hasn't all been work and school, though - we've had some fun in these last few weeks of summer. We spent a weekend up in Glen Arbor to do some camping and check out Margo's one-woman show at an art gallery up there. The paintings were spectacular, the camping was relaxing, the water was warm, and the waves were huge. (Thought I took some nice pictures but now I can't find them.....) We also had a sweet little wedding to go to and managed a stop at our favorite place before the reception. Here's proof that we do clean up pretty well.
We also spent a week up in Canada travelling along the east and north shores of Lake Superior. We loaded up the car with a boat, two bikes, and three people (me, Steve, and our friend Rob) and drove up to a little town just north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario where I dropped them off with their bikes. I continued on in the car to set up camp about 75 miles down the road and wait for them to arrive. Two more days of this (and about 220 miles later) we were at the northern point of Lake Superior with two broken bikes and lots of rocks to hike on. Overall, it was a great trip. The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful (as always) and the brown gravy was flowing. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Oh - and I almost forgot! I had the opportunity to see my most favorite band of all time right here in GR at the end of July. Steve and I got some last-minute tickets to see Blind Melon and it was so awwwwesome. I know, I know - one-hit wonders with the bee girl and all that crap. But I am proud to be one of the five people in this town who own and know everything this band has ever put out and with their new lead singer, they put on a pretty great show. I definitely made a huge ass of myself and enjoyed every minute of it :)

Finally - my last domestic project for a while (that I had to keep secret until a certain little baby was born....)I think that's it - cyclocross season starts this weekend and although I'm not racing, I'm looking forward to spectating and catching up with some friends I haven't seen in a looooong time. Riding has taken a major backseat to other priorities lately and I'm sad for that. But there's not much I can do about it except sneak in some miles when I can. I do plan on joining in with a new group of randonneurs here in GR to get some longer rides in before the snow flies. And as always I will promise to keep current on the blog but we all know how that turns out. Happy (almost) fall to you!

Cutest Cat Ever

2008-07-22T16:47:00.003-04:00

Sorry this is so lame but I love my cat. Things are good but super busy so this is about as good as you're going to get from me for a little while..... enjoy!

Bah Humbug

2008-07-05T16:44:00.003-04:00

I shouldn't be complaining but I have to say that of all the holidays we celebrate here in America, the 4th of July has to be the most annoying. Of course I like the significance of the holiday and I like America but I don't understand why we have to celebrate it with such stupidity. Aren't gas prices and food prices ridiculous? Isn't the housing market in the crapper? Doesn't Michigan have the highest unemployment rate in the country? Yes to all (at least I think we have the highest unemployment rate.....). Anyway - explain to me how everyone has enough money to buy explosives. It's no different than putting all of your money in a pile and lighting it on fire - in fact, I would have much preferred it if my next-door neighbor would have done that last night AT MIDNIGHT since it would have been much quieter. Instead we got 45 minutes of Baghdad. Sweet. Tomorrow morning he's going to get about 45 minutes of big circular saw......

We've been working around the house for most of this holiday weekend - Steve built a clothesline for the backyard (I'd post a picture but really, it's just a clothesline....) and tomorrow we're making a screen to fit in one of our front windows so we can have a nice breeze in our living room. One project we weren't planning on, though, was to have to scrape and repaint a wall in our basement. During the monsoon we got on Wednesday, our basement wall sprang a leak so we've peeled off all the old paint and repainted it with Drylock. Not much fun but since we're at it, we've decided to paint the same wall with a cool color to brighten up the laundry room. We're buying the celeste paint tomorrow. The storm was pretty impressive, though, and it gave me the opportunity to drive down the sidewalk since our street was so flooded. This is what it looked like just before the wind and rain started. And a picture of our cat helping us out with our chores.

I did manage a ride today - about 3.5 hours on my mountain bike. I tried out a friend's saddle for the ride and immediately regretted it. Nothing like riding around with a 2x4 for a seat. Ouch. But with all the housework and homework I've got piling up, it was good to get out and just pedal for a while. I rode from our house in Alger, picked up a friend downtown, rode out to Egypt Valley, did a lap, and rode home. Probably 35ish miles - not too shabby for not having really ridden much this week.

So that's it for now - more chores tomorrow and back to reality on Monday. I'm going through a slight withdrawal, though. I have my vestibular test on Monday and there are strict instructions to avoid alcohol for 48 hours prior to the test. Now who's the idiot who scheduled this test for the Monday after a long weekend? Duh.

Wrap Up

2008-06-28T09:46:00.003-04:00

In an attempt to be better about keeping this thing current, here I am with another post! I just wish I had something exciting to report. But if you don't know me by now, you'll soon realize that not much is happening in my little world lately. Which is honestly a good thing....

A couple of things from this past week, though. Steve and I attended a pretty cool forum on Wednesday night in downtown GR to put our two cents into the city's new master plan. We were part of a group that discussed how to implement bike lanes into the existing city streets and how to connect different areas of the city by bypassing major traffic routes. Pretty cool stuff. There will be two more public forums in the future and I urge all of my GR peeps to consider attending. Oh - and you may become local celebrities like us :)

Work has been crazy lately. We're currently getting ready to move from our little 3,000 sq. foot warehouse into one that's nearly 16,000 sq. feet. And we're trying to work through it. It will definitely be stressful but I added to that stress yesterday by driving our forklift halfway through the overhead door in the back of the warehouse. The door wasn't pushed up high enough to clear the forklift so as I was backing out to move a pallet, I didn't realize this until I heard the CRACK of the door being ripped out of its frame. Luckily my coworkers came to my rescue with a few hammers and prybars (and lots of four letter words) and got the door back into "shape" within a half hour. I'm so glad I have such a cool boss.

See? Nothing exciting. Although I want to pass along my cousin Brian's blog - he and his wife Shibani are in Nepal to celebrate their one year wedding anniversary and make their marriage official according to Nepalese traditions. They are staying with Shibani's family and have had quite an adventure so far. We went to their wedding last year where they had both American and Hindu wedding ceremonies - it was a gorgeous day.

And finally - Steve and I took a trip out to the lake last Sunday to unwind and watch the sunset. We got kind of bored waiting for the sun to set....

But then it finally did.....So that's that. Hope to have more entertaining news in the near future :)

Damn Can Koozie.....

2008-06-21T10:36:00.007-04:00

Geez - over a month has gone by already. Obviously I never posted my NYC trip report, although I think I've probably seen all three of my blog readers since then so they've heard the story already. It was a great trip, though - I really hope to visit again and do some exploring off the beaten path in the city.

Time is still flying by but luckily there's nothing too crazy to report. School is going well - I'm really enjoying my class this semester and have learned some really cool stuff. Most recently I've learned how to hook someone up to an electrocardiograph (ECG) machine and how to interpret the waveforms of the heartbeat. Pretty neat. We were able to practice with a machine in lab and I'm happy to say that my heart appears perfectly normal - although my heart rate was 51 and it set the machine's "low heart rate" alarm off. I was pretty proud of that.

Although my heart is normal, something in my head is not. (I know.... shocker....) Seriously, though, I've been experiencing progressively worse and unexplained dizziness since April and am finally getting some tests done to figure out why. At first I thought I had a sinus infection but I had no other symptoms and my blood results didn't show anything abnormal (i.e. infection). The doctor cleaned out my ears and I thought maybe my problems would go away. They didn't and have actually gotten worse - I now have dizzy spells every day that last for hours. There is no rhyme or reason to them - there is no pattern to when they occur and they don't improve if I sit down or eat. It's crazy and it's been getting me down but I'm hoping to have some answers soon. I go in for vestibular testing in July.

The good thing is that I can still ride my bike, though, and have been trying to get out as much as I can. Steve and I worked at the Lumberjack 100 race last weekend and I am was utterly impressed and inspired by the racers. Part of me almost wants to make it a goal to train and try to race next year.... we'll see about that, I suppose. Steve and I took a quick trip up to the North Country Trail this week and rode from the M20 trailhead in White Cloud. It was just a nice day to be out and tooling around on a bike. Our bikes seem to have enjoyed themselves, too. Maybe we'll get a few new little bikes out of this excursion......

The day after the Lumberjack we went to my dad's to visit for Father's Day and this is what we found in his driveway:

The trailer is full of the water-logged contents of their basement. Due to the torrential rains that hit the Cadillac area (12 inches in 12 hours), my dad's basement flooded and we arrived just in time to help tear out wet carpet and move out wet furniture. It's awful enough to have 3 inches of water in your basement - I can't imagine what the people in the Midwest are going through. The lake levels in Cadillac rose so high that my dad's pontoon boat was lifted up and off its hoist and floated all the way to the other side of the lake. Many people lost their boats and their docks because the lake rose so quickly. Everything is good now, though. The boat is safe (and undamaged) and the basement has dried out and has stayed that way. Here in GR, we haven't had any basement issues of our own and that makes me happy.

And finally, two more pictures. I've been indulging my nesting instinct and have taken on a few domestic projects lately. One has to be kept secret for a little while longer and the other was just completed last week. It's my first attempt at upholstery and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I found this chair for $3 at the Salvation Army and probably spent about $30 on supplies for it. Not bad for a first try - although the problem now is that the cat has taken up permanent residence on this chair in the living room and has added a nice layer of cat fur to my upholstery fabric.

Anyway - I always promise to be better about keeping up-to-date when I end my posts but it never seems to happen. So no more promises - besides shouldn't you be working instead of reading blogs on the internet??

Happy summer!

I Know, I Know

2008-05-15T08:55:00.003-04:00

Sorry I've been so absent - I promise I'm working on a synopsis of our NYC trip. Just had a lot to take care of when we got home. I love going on trips but I don't like all of the catch up when it's time to go home - and this time it was finals, work, more travelling, ant-slaying, ripping up half of our yard, etc. I did get all of my pictures posted up, though. Click here. Hopefully they're pretty self explanatory since I didn't get the chance to add captions. My semester break this week is whizzing by quickly but the good thing is that my class load this summer is half of what it was last semester. AND it's my last semester in the classroom - the rest of the year (starting in September) will be spent doing clinicals and I'm very excited for that. Time is flying by, that's for sure. I feel like I'm trying to stay on its wheel and not get dropped! Just hope it slows down at some point very soon.....

Stay Tuned

2008-05-05T22:28:00.004-04:00

Just got back from NYC - lots of catching up to do but a here are a few pictures until I get the rest loaded up. Incredible journey, that's for sure.....

Spring Training

2008-03-27T09:10:00.002-04:00

This is what approximately 16 lbs of cat food looks like crammed into a small messenger bag. And yes, I weighed it. I had this strange feeling as I was packing it that my impromptu ride to the Humane Society was going to turn into more of a pilgrimage than a ride. But luckily I was wrong. It was just a slow ride in the swooshy spring wind under a big bright sun. The cat food is what we collected at the alleycat a few weekends ago - one of the tasks during the race was to buy a can of cat food (NOT a can of potatoes as one, er, rider did). The kitties at the shelter have lots of tasty food to eat now. And I'll tell you what - it's a good thing I was on my bike yesterday because if I had driven there, all of those kitties would have come home with me. I made the mistake of walking through the shelter before I started for home - just the cat part since I couldn't bring myself to walk through the dog door - and now I'm trying to convince both Steve and Fausto that there is room in our house for one more cat. I guess we'll see....

Yes No?

2008-03-25T21:21:00.003-04:00

So I bought a new hoodie today. And Steve hates it. I got it for $8 at the hoochie mama store in the mall when I went to the post office to mail some packages for work. I was just feeling like I haven't really bought anything fun and not practical in quite a while and thought $8 wasn't going to break the bank. But when I took it out of the bag at home, you would have thought it was a pile of steaming roadkill by the look on Steve's face. I don't know - I think it's great but I guess you can judge for yourself. Just be sure to tell me it's cool when you see me wearing it about town.

4 Realz

2008-03-20T21:49:00.003-04:00

I didn't take this picture but Steve and I saw these at the hoopty Meijer last weekend and I'm so ticked that we didn't buy one! I especially like Dude Bunny - straight cold playa.

So we're finally past the Kisscross Alleycat and have pretty much recovered from it. What a riot - we had almost 70 racers (although we'd only planned for about 45....) and a gorgeous sunny day. What more could we ask for? For those unfamiliar, an alleycat is basically a scavenger hunt bike race. Alleycats originated in bigger cities where bike messengers would compete to see who could complete all of their tasks and stops in the fastest time. This was the third Kisscross alleycat here in GR and by far the biggest. Steve and I planned the route this year and we included a timed stop, a stop at the top of a 2-story snow pile, and (of course) the obligatory beer-chug stop with the added bonus of having to eat a marshmallow Peep before continuing on. Lots of pictures posted here - we're definitely already looking forward to next year! (And huge thanks to Rick and Cathy for bringing the alleycat to GR!!)

Not much else to report - my spring break is over and it was back to the grind this week. But I think we're pretty much done with winter. I saw my first robin last Friday and, aside from a few stubborn little snowpiles at the end of the driveway, our yard is clear. Now there's no hiding the fact that we didn't rake up the last of the leaves that fell before the snow hit.

Anyway - here's to sunny days ahead and no more snow. At least I hope so.....

I Heart My Surly

2008-03-08T16:30:00.002-05:00

Yeah..... sorry to fall off the face of the Earth, there. Work, school, blah blah blah.....

Today is my first official day of spring break so I thought I'd give the blog an little update. Like I said, school and work have been keeping me very busy. This semester has been a little crazy because some of my classes have been starting/ending at different times and most of them have been accelerated to fit the other ones in. I guess it will be this way until the end of the summer - oh yay. Things at Velocity have picked up to a record pace - we can't seem to work fast enough! It's amazing how many rims and wheels we send out of that place in a day. Word seems to be getting out.

Bike-wise, I've been getting some miles in by commuting to work every day and riding the trainer in my basement. I'm not too sure what my goals are going to be this year - I really have nothing to train for (not yet, anyway) and I really don't want anything to train for since my school schedule is likely to be so nuts over the summer. Last year's training for Rainier just about put me over the edge of my sanity so perhaps this would be a good year to just chill out and enjoy the time I have to play. One thing I'm really looking forward to is heading to NYC in May to do the Five Boro Bike Tour with Steve, my dad, and my brother. What a way to see the city for the first time!

Today was a good day. A little cold (wind chill about 10 degrees or so) but I still managed a three hour ride outside. What started out as a ride toward Middleville (south) with some friends turned into a solo ride to Rockford (north) for me. Riding north to meet the others gave me a taste of the wind conditions and I wasn't really in the mood to ride home into the wind so it was just me and the Surly. The promise of new toe warmers lured me up to Rockford but wouldn't you know that none of the three places I stopped had them?! Dang. I did get a chance to renew my love affair with the Surly, though. Stripped of all its commuting accoutrements (fenders, frame pump, studded tires, etc.) makes it a lean machine and we had a great time. Hope the weather is this great for next weekend's alleycat!

Last but not least - an explanation of FABG. I guess this may be my project this year. FABG = Fat Ass Be Gone. I've realized that I'm not that young anymore and things (i.e. my metabolism, dammit) are just not working the way they used to. So this is my project. As of today, I'm down about 9 lbs since January and I'm looking forward to the weather getting better so I can get out of my basement and do some longer rides outside. Maybe I'll run this year. Ew.... maybe I won't. Anyway - there ya go.

Not This Time

2008-02-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well - after a combined total of 20 hours of travel time (driving, cancelled flights, holding patterns, and more driving) the mountain still emerged victorious. Next time we may not be so nice....I started my trip on Thursday night driving to Chicago in a snowstorm to meet up with Jessica. We woke up at 4 the next morning to find that our flight had already been cancelled. Quick manuvers by Jessica got us on the next flight out at 10:30am - which ended up being cancelled as well. We were finally buckled in and ready to go around 1:30pm. What should have been a 2-hour flight turned into a 3+ hour flight because of the weather in New Hampshire. After our eventual crash landing in Manchester (seriously.... thought it was the end...) we got our rental car and hit the road for our 2 hour drive to North Conway, NH. In keeping with the trend of the day, the roads sucked and about 4.5 hours later we were just pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. Whew! Oh wait..... we still had to climb a mountain the next day.

Team Rockstar was reunited when we met up with Nancy - so cool to be climbing another mountain together again! In total, we had 13 members on our climbing squad - some very experienced and some first-and second-timers (like me). Once again, it was a great group of people and I'm happy to have had the chance to meet them. We met for breakfast early Saturday morning and hit the mountain around 9am. The weather looked promising as the clouds started to break up during our initial ascent. The first part of our climb took us up the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail, which is wide and has a moderately gentle grade. The snow was gorgeous and powdery - more snow than I think I've ever seen in my life. When we came to the Lions Head trail, it was time to put on some extra layers and crampons and get our ice axes ready.
About a hundred feet up this trail is where my underestimation of this mountain became painfully obvious. People may hike this mountain in the summer - but they climb it in the winter. The trail became steep and technical - and awesome. The crampons and ice axes were an absolute necessity as we clawed our way up through the trees toward treeline. As we ascended, the trees thinned out and the wind and snow became stronger.

I was having a bit of an 'in-over-my-head' feeling once we got out of the trees and started climbing in full exposure to the snow and wind. Conditions were not good - 50mph sustained winds with unpredictable gusts of 70mph or more as well as visibility of less than about 20 feet. Add this to the powdery snow (which was not conducive to providing stable footing during the wind gusts) and steamed-up ski goggles (which were not conducive to seeing anything) and I was relatively sure we were not going to summit this time.

We did, however, make it up to Lions Head which is a rock outcropping roughly 3/4 of the way to the summit. Above this outcrop, the topography of the mountain changes slightly and the grade levels out into a wide plateau. It was there that the 50 mph sustained winds turned into 90 mph sustained winds - enough to knock most of us off our feet. The top windspeed recorded on Mt. Washington that day was 118 mph! All things considered, I was very proud that we made it as far as we did and very content to make Lions Head our summit for the day.

After a brief rest in the partial shelter of the rocks (and after shoving half of a frozen Charleston Chew in my mouth - yum!), we started to make our way back down the mountain. Getting back to treeline sure was a relief! Perhaps the most fun we had that day was being able to slide down most of the Lions Head trail using our ice axe blades as rudders to navigate the sharp corners. At that point, I felt like we were a bunch of kids playing in the snow. The sun got brighter as we descended and by the time we made it off the Lions Head trail, it had turned into a beautiful winter day. Later that night, we filled our bellies with some wonderful Indian food and beer and talked about next year's attempt. If I am able, I will be there.

Sunday morning came with some sore muscles - nothing that little bit of snowshoeing couldn't take care of. Afterwards, it was time to head back to Manchester for our flight back to Chicago. I almost didn't believe the pilot when he told us that we weren't going to be able to take off because of a snowstorm in Chicago. When we found ourselves getting back off the plane, I realized he wasn't kidding. After another hour of waiting, we were back on the plane and in the air. Smooth sailing? Not quite - 1.5 hour-long holding pattern over Cleveland, uber-turbulence on the descent, and a snowy landing in Chicago around 11pm. I rolled into our driveway at 5 on Monday morning, slightly less than ready to start my week full of school and work. Oh well, an adventure's and adventure, right? I had a great time but I think I'll be staying home for a while..... The rest of my pictures are here - not too many of them this time since it's hard to take a picture with a frozen camera!

Hee Hee

2008-01-31T09:19:00.001-05:00

Weather forecast for Mt. Washington on Saturday: 14 degrees and winds WNW at 50 mph. Yes, five-o. Sweeeeeeet.

Five Days

2008-01-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

Here we go again.... only five short days until I find myself bundled up at the bottom of a big ass mountain with nothing to do but put one foot in front of the other and climb it. Although I'm not really expecting the freakout that I had a few days before Rainier. No - this time around it's just a little bit of stress about the timeline (exactly when am I going to pack between work and school this week?). I suppose I could be packing at this moment, instead of sitting in front of the computer. But that's just not like me.

I'm super excited, though - the weather report seems to change every day. On the summit today, the air temperature is 18 degrees with a windchill of -2 degrees. Last year on Feb. 2 (our climb day), the air temp was 8 degrees and a windchill advisory for temps below -40 was issued. So who knows? I can handle the 18/-2 degrees so if it stays like that - no problem.

Gear-wise, I'm all set. I'm planning on renting a pair of double plastic mountianeering boots once I get out to New Hampshire since I don't think my leather La Sportivas will do the job. Otherwise, I've got my own crampons, ice axe, base layers, outer layers, and a sweet new pair (although they're pink.....) of Smith goggles (many thanks to the Smith rep for Ada Bike Shop).

My training has really only consisted of lots of hours on my bike trainer so I'm hoping that's sufficient since there's nothing I can really do now. I've got a little bit of a soreness issue in my neck after this weekend's Snow Cross race - a few nasty falls where my head sort of bounced on the ground - but it's nothing a little Advil can't take care of. I hope.

So that's where I'm at. Wish me luck - I know it's going to be a great and exciting time whether we make the summit or not. Oh - and I've had a few questions about the new blog title. I'm not really ready to disclose what the FABG stands for as of yet but I'll accept some guesses.......

Tribute to Studs

2008-01-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

Of all the studded objects available in this world, there is one that sets itself apart from the rest. So it is with great love and admiration that I dedicate this post to you, studded bicycle tire. Not content to be just another knobby tire - oh, no. On snowy side streets, you bravely keep me upright and straight. On clear main roads, you make me stronger with your beautiful steel nuggets of rolling resistance. So what if you weigh 2 pounds apiece? So what if you make me look like a slow, out-of-shape moron riding a bike in a snowmobile suit? You don't care - you just keep rolling down the road, squashing and biting every piece of ice and slush that comes your way. So thank you, studded bicycle tire - when all of your sleeker tire friends say "no", you say "hell yes."

Quick Trip

2008-01-16T08:57:00.000-05:00

We had a fabulous time in California! I'm running a little behind today but just wanted to put up a link to my pictures before I leave for school - just click on this. A brief summary of the trip - fog, rain, hills, wine, clay, beer, friends, and sunshine for the plane ride home!

Also check these out - just a few interesting things caught up in the great spiderweb: My cousin's blog, riding bikes with high heels, and Prager Port Winery.

Gah!

2008-01-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

Four things to sum up the last few weeks:

1. Looking for a job. My Christmas present from work was being told that I wasn't going to be put on the schedule due to a lack of billable work. As much as I'm going to miss spending my days working outside in the snow with a metal detector, trying to find steel monitoring well covers in parking lots full of rebar, I know that these things usually happen for a reason - see item #2.

2. Finding a job. I am thrilled to report that I will be returning to work at Velocity within the next week. A little voice in the back of my head has been telling me that I should have never left. But sometimes it takes a sellout to realize that you cannot be bought. I'm also definitely looking forward to commuting again, even if it's only a few miles down the road from our house.

3. Painting. I thought since I had some time on my hands, I would use it to do some home improvements. Although I was successful in killing the lavender on the walls in our kitchen, my sage green paint dried a much mintier shade than I expected. And I like it.

4. Training. My Mt. Washington climb is now a mere 24 days away so I've been working to regain some of my conditioning that's been lost over the last several months. My training has mostly consisted of riding on my trainer until I'm so bored I want to cry. I have managed a few short outside rides since the weather's been decent the last few days, although being run into the ditch by a man in a van makes me want to stay inside for the rest of the winter. Seriously.

So..... happy 2008 to everyone - I'll be sure to post some California pictures when we get back from our trip. For now, you'll just have to enjoy a cat picture (this one's for you, Margo....).

There's Always Hope

2007-12-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

Two very good things that make my heart happy.....

Welcoming my new niece to the world - a healthy and beautiful baby girl!

And this, a poem from one of last year's Big City Mountaineers participants - a teen from the East Oakland Youth Development Center in California:

"Bright lights, quiet nights, taking pictures of beautiful sights. I could not believe we were there, at the top inhaling the clean air. Comfort zones were stretched, we will be and are the best. Don't tell us we can't cause we know we can. Believe in yourself and you can be like us."

I know it doesn't really sound like much but it makes me feel really good about helping this organization reach out to kids and provide them with experiences that make them write things like this.

Have a Merry Christmas and be happy because even though it doesn't seem like it most of the time, this world is an incredible place of possibilities and hope.

Stop??

2007-12-12T21:27:00.000-05:00

This probably shouldn't make me giddy.... but for some reason it does. Should I be nervous??

I Think I'm in Love

2007-12-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

I know I've been absent for the last few weeks but I have a good excuse. Really I do. You see, I've just spent the last three weeks discovering why I put myself through the hell of quitting my stable, well-paying job last year to go back to school. I wrapped up my first round of clinicals this past Wednesday and for the first time in a looooong time, I feel as though I'm finally doing something worthwhile of the time I spend doing it. In my three weeks at the hospital, I worked nine 12-hour shifts full of anything from routine med treatments to ventilator patients to traumas and codes. And it was my job to help them all. Now it's time to hang up my stethoscope for a while and get back into the classroom but I feel so much more motivated now to continue on since I know what's waiting for me when I graduate next year.

It hasn't been all work and no play, though. Steve and I managed a quick overnight at Nordhouse Dunes (just north of Ludington) before the snow started flying. It was perfect backpacking weather and we had a great time - big bonfire and rice and beans for dinner and a quick game of frisbee on the beach to warm up before our morning hike back to the trailhead. Nothing restores me like hanging out with my husband and Lake Michigan.

I know I gave a hint about a new adventure on the horizon and now it's official - I'm headed to New Hampshire in February to attempt a winter ascent of Mt. Washington. It's a 6,288 ft. peak that is well known for its ferocious weather - especially in the winter. I will be climbing with my two Rainier girls Jessica and Nancy as well as a host of others I'll meet at the trailhead. It's not necessarily a guided climb but Nancy's uncle is essentially the group leader and I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. It's a one day climb so it will be a quick trip but no doubt a fun one. The training starts today and I have a lot of ground to make up since I pretty much quit all athletic activity the moment I got offthe plane after Rainier.....

I'm also super excited to go to California for the first time in January. Steve and I decided to forego buying each other Christmas presents this year and buy some plane tickets to San Francisco instead. We're headed out to meet up with our dear friends Jen and Max (and their new kitty Puck) who moved to Sacramento this past July. This will also be a quick trip but will be a wonderful reunion and a nice break from the snow. I'll be sure to post pictures because I have a feeling it will be gorgeous out there.

So that's about it. I'm on break now until January 14th and plan on working like mad to recover from the past three weeks of working without pay. But at least now I know it will all be worth it, right? I'll end with a picture of my new favorite place on the planet - our warm and cozy home :)

Okay, Okay....

2007-11-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Yup - now it's been 2 months since Rainier. I don't know why that's become my new reference date but it has..... Needless to say, it's been a very busy month with a lot of other things taking priority over updating the blog. And without much to report except for a lot of excuses as to WHY I haven't updated the blog, I'm just going to post a few pictures and go. For now.

Halloween (my favorite!) came and went as fast as everything else seems to be going this year but we did attend the MMBA party and had a great time. Our costume ideas always seem revolve around a central theme. If I could only put my finger on what that is...

All is well at the house - we've been settling in slowly but are really enjoying being homeowners, especially when there's fun stuff to do like buying new appliances, cutting holes in the roof, and playing board games in our dining room.

And finally, a hint at the next adventure that began to simmer today. Full boil expected around February 2008.
Now who can guess where this is?? I'll be back soon....

October?

2007-09-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Wow - I can hardly believe that it's already October. It's even more unbelievable that it's been a MONTH since my trip to Mt. Rainier! Time just doesn't stand still for anything, does it?

All is going well on this front - school, work, and unpacking the house are keeping me busy busy busy. Steve just got back from a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas last week and I realized that I cannot sleep alone in this house just yet. Too many noises that I can't identify in the dark.... Since I don't have much to report, I'll fill this post with lots of pictures. The first few are of the house - the new tree we planted in the front yard last weekend, my new mum, and an activity that came to an abrupt end when we realized our climbing shoes leave big black marks on our brick walls....

I have been squeezing in some riding here and there, as well. Not as much as I'd like and definitely not as much as I should be doing to prepare for the Iceman in a little over a month but I'll be stepping it up in the next week. I have been commuting to my class downtown on Mondays and it's a wonderful flat and easy ride. Steve and I rode our mountain bikes at Yankee Springs Rec Area on Friday and had a blast in the early fall weather. Then it was off to Lansing for the Kisscross race downtown along the river. I haven't done a cyclocross race in two years but had a great time in the "C" division, duking it out with a guy on a single speed who beat me by a wheel at the finish line. It didn't matter - I was just happy to be make it over the barriers without falling on my face. Here a few photos:
And it just wouldn't be right of me not to include a picture of Steve in his race. It IS a mighty fine action shot, if I do say so myself.....Have a great week and I'll try my hardest not to let another month go by without a new and exciting post from me!

The Story

2007-09-07T16:10:00.000-04:00

It took a few days but I'm glad to say that I can walk normally again and my feet no longer look like puffy sausages. I figure I'd better do my recap now before the weekend starts and I get busy having more fun.....

I flew into Seattle on Thursday morning (8/30) and met up with my friend Jessica and two other people who were also doing the climb. Although I've been to Seattle before - for a few hours while on a crazy Greyhound bus trip - it was foggy so I had never actually seen Rainier prior to this day. No need to say that I got the chills when I saw it from the airplane window.

From the airport we had an hour and a half drive to Ashford where Whittaker Mountaineering and RMI Guides are based. More spectacular views of the mountain kept us shouting various expletives for most of the ride. Also an interesting thing we learned was how to pronounce Puyallup, which was a town along the way. Surprisingly it's not "Pull 'em up" like we all thought. It's Pew-wallop. Go figure. Once in Ashford, we settled into our bunk spots and got our gear figured out. I ended up renting a pair of crampons (the spikes you wear on your boots for glacier travel), two pairs of gloves, and a big puffy parka. I brought two big puffy parkas with me but unfortunately they just didn't seem like they'd be substantial enough. Thank God I rented one..... more on that later.

On Friday (8/31), we departed Ashford for the Paradise trailhead in Mt. Rainier National Park. From there, we hiked for a little over an hour until we found some snow. For the next few hours, we learned how to hike on glacial snow (with and without crampons), how to hike as part of a rope team, and - most importantly - how to stop yourself in the event of a fall. And not just in theory - we had to demonstrate that we were capable of stopping ourselves using our ice axes and the techniques they taught us. I wasn't able to take pictures this day since we were so busy but here's a mental image: Sue, sliding headfirst downhill on her back, trying to flip over and dig the pick of her ice axe into the snow. And failing miserably..... :) Luckily the guides were very patient with us and allowed us a few tries.

Friday night was spent unpacking and repacking for the climb and trying to figure out if I had enough food to last me through the next two days. My food consisted of a hodgepodge of Pop-Tarts (which do not travel well in a backpack), trail mix, Clif bars, crackers, candy bars, hotdog bun ham sandwiches, and some canned chicken and couscous which was to be my dinner the night before the summit. The gear I packed was my full Gore Tex (pants and jacket), puffy parka, soft-shell pants and jacket, thermal top, wool base layers, extra socks, gloves, overmitts, sleeping bag, and ice axe. All in all, I'd say my fully loaded pack weighed around 30 lbs, a much welcome change from the 45-pounder I'd been training with.

Saturday morning took us once again to the Paradise trailhead. From there, we hiked up up up the Muir snowfield to the high camp (Camp Muir) at 10,000 feet. It was about a 5-mile hike and took about 6 hours. The weather was gorgeous - bright and sunny - the route gave us a steady view not only of the big mountain that awaited us but also views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens in the distance. Here are a few pictures from the way up.....

It was a little after 3pm when we reached Camp Muir. After a short meeting with the guides, we had about 3 hours in which to reorganize our packs (packing only what we would need for the summit which was basically food, water and extra clothes) and eat our dinners. Although I swore it wouldn't happen, I had NO appetite at this point due to the altitude. I was also feeling pretty headachy and nauseous. I made my dinner and managed to choke down about six spoonfuls of it before I'd had enough. The view from the camp was gorgeous, though. You could no longer see the summit - just the Cowlitz glacier that lead up to Cathedral Gap. It wasn't very cold - maybe in the 50's - but the wind was a steady 20-25 mph which made it seem nastier than it was.

At 6pm, it was time to go to bed. I felt like a naughty kid having to go to bed early! It was still bright and sunny outside and we're all in our sleeping bags trying to get some rest. I'm sure I can speak for everyone else when I say that no one got any decent sleep that night. Could have been the fact that we were all excited or that we were all trying very hard to not have to get up to use the privy outside after drinking tons of water before bedtime. I did finally break down and go outside and I'm glad I did. It was dark by that time and I'm fairly sure I've never seen as many stars as I saw that night. Combined with the light from the moon, the wind, and the subtle outlines of the ridges and rocks around me, it was surreal.

Sometime around 11:30pm that same night, we awoke to the sound of one of our climbers puking outside the bunkhouse. The guides heard it, too, and decided that since we were all awake it was a good time to get up and start getting ready to head to the summit. Still feeling a bit nauseous (although much better off than the puker, who had food poisoning), I cautiously ate what I could of my unrecognizable Pop Tart and slammed a quick cup of instant coffee. Then it was time to put on packs, crampons, and harnesses and rope up. Our rope team - Team Rockstar - was Nancy (from New Haven, CT), Jessica, and I along with Chad, our guide.

We started out for the summit around 1:30am on Sunday (9/2). In the glow of my headlamp, I could only really see a few feet ahead of me as we made our way over rocky Cathedral Gap and onto the Ingraham glacier. It was so cool to see the twinkly lights of the rope team that was about 500 yards ahead of us, giving us a preview of where we were headed. Due to the late season snowmelt, the route descended nearly 500 feet at one point in order to go around a large rocky ridge. The normal route takes climbers up and over the ridge. It shortens the route but is a steep brutal climb and I was definitely okay with going the easier way around the bottom of it. We continued onward and upward after that, steadily gaining altitude. We could see the lights from Yakima and Seattle in the darkness. Before long, the sun started to rise and turned everything orange - absolutely gorgeous.

We would take a break after each hour of climbing to take our packs off and eat and drink. Each rest break was getting colder and colder and I was so thankful for my big puffy parka. It was very difficult to have the motivation to eat or drink since I just simply wasn't into it but I knew I was burning mucho energy and needed the calories to keep going. Here's Nancy and Jessica on a break. Note the slope in the background.... ouch.

The climbing also got steadily harder. Although my breathing was surprisingly fine, my muscles were screaming. The guides taught us how to "rest-step" which basically builds a momentary pause into your stride where you lock your back leg to give your muscles a brief rest. However, there definitely comes a point where rest-stepping is excruciatingly hard and I hit that point over and over again as we got closer to the summit. That's where the mental part comes in - you know your body is absolutely shot and yet you still have to convince it to keep going. I hate to admit it but at any point above about 13,000 feet, I think I would have happily agreed to start the descent.

So after a particulary long, steep, and windy section Chad (our guide) says we're in the home stretch. Since Rainier is a volcano, there is a crater at the top. But you first have to climb up and over the crater's rim. We're climbing up toward what looks like the top of a rim and I'm getting more and more excited as we get closer. Imagine my devastation when we reach the top of the 'rim' only to see that there's at least another 200' to climb. At this point, the wind is blowing 30-35mph into our faces, making each step a battle to get solid footing on the ice. I am completely exhausted - mentally and physically.

But obviously this story has to have a happy ending. There is nothing like coming over the crest of a mountain that you've just given everything you have to climb. We summited around 8am after 6.5 hours of climbing. The group ahead of us was already in the crater, cheering for us when we came up and over the rim. It was very cold (around 20 degrees) and windy at the top but we stayed there for about 45 minutes - long enough to take some pictures and eat a frozen candy bar. Here's Team Rockstar and a very cold Sue.

The descent was next and while it was nice to use different muscles, it was still pretty painful and tiring. But also interesting to see where we were. For most of the ascent, we had either been in the dark or had our backs to the scenery below us. On the way down, it really hit me as to how high we actually were. It also made me somewhat thankful for having done some of the climb in the dark because you only need to step over a bottomless cravasse once to get a bad case of vertigo. I wish I could have gotten a picture of some of these cracks but that would have required standing in a pretty unsafe place. No sense in tempting fate, I guess. Here some of my favorite photos from the descent - once we got out of the clouds it was breathtaking.

We continued down to Camp Muir, where we had about an hour to repack the rest of our gear, eat, and rest. From there, we essentially slid down the Muir snowfield on our crampon-less boots. By far, this was my least favorite part of the climb but what goes up must come down, even if you're tired and in lots of pain! After what seemed like an endless descent, we made it back to the trailhead and onto the RMI bus to go back to Ashford. The mood in the bus was a mixture of exhaustion, pain, and pride in our accomplishments.

After we returned our rentals and received our summit certificates, we loaded up the rental car and took off for Seattle. Jessica and I stayed in a much-deserved posh hotel room with a bed that felt more like a cloud. It was nice to feel hungry again and even nicer to get some sleep. We were only a few blocks from the public market in downtown Seattle so after an amazing $15 breakfast on Monday morning, we spent a few hours exploring and walking off the lactic acid in our legs. I fell in love with Seattle and can't wait to go back.

So there's my story. I still can't say for sure if I'll attempt something like this again - although I have an inkling to believe that I will. It was definitely an adventure in the true sense of the word - hard work, overcoming fear and pain, and enjoying the view from the top. Now it's on to other things for the rest of the year like settling into our house and getting back into study mode for school. But, in a way, this makes it all a little bit sweeter knowing that I've already accomplished my biggest goal of the year. The rest is just the home stretch - and that's the best part.

Dishes Are Done, Man

2007-09-04T22:13:00.000-04:00

9/2/2007; 8am Pacific time; 14,410' above sea level; summit crater of Mt. Rainier...... whew!

It's Heeeeere

2007-08-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..... sort of. The excitement finally hit me today. After the last few weeks of non-stop busy-ness, I'm finally feeling the butterflies of nervousness and anticipation. My plane leaves tomorrow at 5:40am. I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Of course I waited until the last minute to pack everything but at least I had fun doing it.....So, the next few days should be interesting. I'm definitely ready to get on with the adventure and looking forward to coming home to my cozy new living room :)
I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get back - wish me luck!

Oh Crap

2007-08-19T23:09:00.000-04:00

The freak out has officially begun. I had my first full-on meltdown tonight while trying on all the layers of gear I'm intending on wearing for the climb. There's been some faint rumbling of a meltdown for the last few weeks but the eruption began tonight. It's really not a gear issue. Or a travel issue. It's a reality issue - as in the reality of this situation is that I am flying from sea level to climb a 14,411' mountain in 10 days. I am so excited for this but all of the doubts have now taken over - doubts about my training, my endurance, my mental stamina, my bravery. I have not been tested in this way before and I've all but convinced myself that the only thing I will do is fail. I know I've trained hard and I know I'm strong. But how can I know if it's enough?? I've been reading all I can about the experiences other people have had and all of them are different. Some say that it's the hardest thing they've ever done and would never do it again. Others say it's no big deal. Some say that training your ass off for months is the only way to have a successful climb. Others say that they hardly trained at all. Agh....

Maybe I should rather focus on this as simply an event - it will be what it will be. No success or failure - just a trip to a beautiful place I've never been to do something I've never done before...

Sorry to vent - sometimes a volcano just needs to blow off some steam.

Backslidin'

2007-08-16T08:38:00.001-04:00

After a fun-filled two days of working the Velocity booth at the Fixed Gear Symposium, I spent a relaxing evening with my family at a campground in Ludington - only to come down with the flu two days later. Everyone in my family got it except for my sister-in-law (who is on massive pre-natal vitamins) and my dad (who is on massive amounts of Miller Chill). Luckily, it was a quick flu and I'm feeling about 90% today - definitely well enough to head out and try to make up some ground in my training. I can't believe I only have 14 days until I fly to Seattle. Not that I'm freaking out or anything.....

The symposium was fun - great weather, cool people, even cooler bikes. I was happy for the chance to debut the Peugeot and really happy with all of the admiration it received :) Unfortunately I wasn't able to take part in any of the rides or races because of my booth duties but it was fun nonetheless. I can't say the same for my co-worker Matt, though. He was hit by a car on Thursday during the Alleycat race and broke his leg in two places. Judging by the looks of his bike and the fact that the van that hit him was traveling around 40mph, I'd say he's pretty lucky to have only a broken leg. Dang.
A cluster of beautiful steel fixies outside the bar.....

Matt's destroyed seat stay

On the training front, I plan to take it somewhat easy today. Probably just a few laps on my mountain bike somewhere with no hill climbing. The hills can wait until Saturday. I'm transferring my rice bags - all 35lbs of them - to the pack that I'll actually be using on the climb. Since it's a better pack than the one I've been using, I'm hoping it will make my back feel a little better when I get done. Lately I've had a constant dull tweak in my lower back that I can't get rid of. I think it's because of the pack - the one I've been training with (a Lowe Alpine) doesn't have any rigid stays along the back to support heavy loads. I'm switching to my Gregory which has much better suspension and two aluminum shanks along the back to help distribute the weight more evenly. Other than that, it's time to start piling up my gear for the climb! I'll be sure to post pictures.....

Our house is starting to take shape one little piece at a time. Luckily, we haven't had any more bats in the basement. Now we're just dealing with a leaky water meter and washing machine.... The kitchen has been thoroughly scrubbed and the bedroom ceiling is in the process of being painted. I'm not sure if the previous owner burned a ton of candles or regularly lit other things on fire, but there is so much soot EVERYWHERE in this house! I even found black sooty crap in the freezer! Our official move-in date is next weekend, Aug. 25th. I'm definitely looking forward to having some time to settle in when I get back from my trip. Let the nesting begin :)

So that's all for now. Oh, and wish me luck - I'm going to my 10-year high school reunion on Saturday night....

New Pet

2007-08-08T23:34:00.001-04:00

Little did we know that our new house also came with a new pet.... Good times trying to figure out how to catch the bat in the basement tonight. It's amazing what you can do with a broom and a trash bag.

I Won't Soon Forget

2007-08-07T22:37:00.000-04:00

So much happening, so little time to write! Let's see....what's happened these past few weeks? Well, we officially closed on our house AND got the keys (!) last Friday. How crazy to go to a house you barely recognize, pull in the driveway, unlock the door and walk inside! We've been packing a little here and there but really didn't expect to get possession so soon. Our current landlord has been showing our apartment nearly every day which means that between school, work, training, and packing, we also have to try to keep our place clean and presentable. I have to keep reminding myself that this craziness will be over soon!

As far as training goes, I have been doing as much as I can. It's been pretty hard lately due to work and school but now that my finals are done, I hope I can squeeze a few more long hikes in before I leave. My pack weight is currently around 42-ish pounds and it's kicking my ass! I'm still hitting the ski hills at least twice a week. I am really hoping that I can keep it under 25 lbs. (30 lbs. max) for the actual climb - I'm sure the altitude will make up the difference but I need an advantage anywhere I can get it. In a conference call I had with one of the guides I found out that there is a ladder crossing over a glacial crevasse somewhere around 12,300ft. It hadn't even dawned on me that we'd be doing ladder crossings! One more thing to freak out about - I've already had several nightmares where I've either forgotten to pack food, pants, boots, or some other crucial piece of equipment or just couldn't make it up the trail to the high camp. I am so excited but I'm also so ready to just get on with it.

My real reason for writing, though, is because I had a pretty good day today. I completed my first 12-hour shift in a hospital as part of a respiratory therapy department. My final assignment for one of my classes this semester was to spend an entire shift observing different therapists in a hospital. I was at the hospital from 6:30 this morning until 7:00 this evening. It truly wasn't a very busy day but what I did get to do and see really makes it clear that I made the right decision to change my career. I got to care for a ventilator patient, a few post-op patients, three patients who were brought into the ER, and several others who are receiving oxygen therapy. I also got to watch an arterial blood gas draw and run the blood sample through the diagnostic machine. I worked with two different therapists during the day and not only were they competent and professional but they were also incredibly kind and caring to the patients we encountered. I am so much looking forward to spending my days in a setting where that actually counts for something. The vent patient was truly heartbreaking, though, and I'm sure I will remember her for a long time. Seeing someone paralyzed by medications and restrained in a hospital bed on a ventilator makes you appreciate your life, no matter how busy and crazy it may be.

HA!

2007-07-08T19:27:00.000-04:00

Dinking around. Found this. Laughed really hard.

Uh..... June?

2007-07-05T22:48:00.000-04:00

Wow - that month and a half flew by! Let's see.....what's been keeping me so busy that I haven't been able to even consider updating the blog... OH yeah - weddings, funerals, family reunions, school, work, training to climb a big ass mountain, trying to remember the name of the guy I'm married to, and let's see.... I know there's something else...... oh, and buying this house today.
More later when I start to catch up.....

Nope, Not Dead....Yet

2007-05-12T14:48:00.000-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth. More like I've been absorbed into the busy face of the Earth and am finally starting to come up for some air. I had hoped that things would slow down a bit after the Yankee Springs Time Trial (which was three weekends ago and a huge success, by the way....) but the opposite seems to be true. Fortunately, it's been a good productive kind of busy instead of the bad stressful kind.

I finished with my first semester finals during the first week of May and my new semester starts next week already. My new job starts next week as well. I was offered some part time work at the first environmental company I worked for out of college. I'm trying not to feel like I'm being sucked back into the vortex of consulting despair but it is a little bittersweet. Packing boxes at Velocity was the best job I could have had for the last few months but it really did nothing to contribute to my life - other than make my bikes happy with new wheelsets all around! But I am looking forward to more $$, working with my old co-workers again, and doing shorter, more local jobs. I will be working Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sounds a little like the end of the world as I know it....

I'm still having a lot of fun, though. Steve and I have been riding as much as we can - lots of mountain biking this year so far which makes me (and my long-neglected mountain bike) very happy. The new routine is this - we go to Cannonsburg Ski Area, ride a lap on the trail, and then I throw on my hiking boots and my 25lb. pack and hike the steepest ski hill while Steve continues to ride. As much as it hurts, I know that I need to continue to do this if I have any hope of dragging my sorry butt up that big volcano in Seattle.

We also took part in a midnight fixed gear race this past week. There's a local GVSU student who has started a weekly race series - Wednesday night fixed gear/single speed races around Reeds Lake in East GR. Last week was the second race so far and it was a blast! I think I giggled all the way around the lake! It definitely put the Peugeot (and me) to the test but we both had a great time. The race this past week was a relay - random partners were drawn at the start and each person had to ride a lap around the lake. Steve and I ended up being partners and, due to the guy in the lead being hit by a car (he's okay...and really freaking lucky), we won the race! Here's my big dumb face as I crossed the finish line....

Wish you could see the Peugeot better. I have to admit that I have a huge crush on this piece of trash bike. Of all the bikes I own (a total of 5), the only one I want to ride lately is the one I found on the curb down the street. Just look at this magnificent machine.....

Ahh.... Anyway - I'm off. After working on the trail at the ski hill this morning (we shored up a a bad root, built a log pile, and built a huge berm), I'm ready to party down at the East Hills Neighborhood Council's annual Garage Fest party this evening. Then it's up the northland for Mother's Day! I would promise to be better about the updates but we all know that's just not going to happen - hope you all have a great weekend!

A Geek and Her Bike

2007-04-19T14:08:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a break from learning about various fungal lung diseases to talk about a few things I learned from the Peugeot this past week. Although 'lung fungus' is a term I will not soon erase from my memory...... ew.

So - a few lessons from L'Ecole de Peugeot ("The School of Peugeot" for you weenies who don't know your French):
1. As cool as it looks shiny and clean in my dining room it looks even cooler with fenders and covered with slush, locked up outside the grocery store.
2. I suck at taping bars. Not even close to doing a good job of it - notice how there are no pictures to prove this. Just believe me.
3. Don't coast. Don't coast. Don't coast. Don't coast.
4. "PING!" is not something you want to hear while riding up one of the biggest hills in GR. On my way home from school on Monday, I was almost to the top of the Michigan Street hill when I heard this noise. Luckily, it was just the lockring popping off the bottom bracket cup and not the chain breaking in half. The Peug is sidelined for awhile so I can figure out a remedy for this.
5. Having a project bike is somewhat of a detriment to students. Like right now, I should be concentrating on my lung fungi instead of writing about my bike.

Anyhoo - that's it. I am excited for this weekend since it means the Yankee Springs Time Trial. No, I'm not racing. I've been on the planning committee for the race since last October or so and it will be really good to be on the other side of the race. The weather report is stellar and I hope we have a HUGE turnout since this will be the major money-maker for our MMBA chapter this year. It will be a busy weekend of lots of work so let's hope it will be worth it....

I Got Fixed

2007-04-11T22:47:00.000-04:00

It's cold, snowy and generally crappy and I don't want to talk about it.

I do want to talk about the newest addition to our little family. Nope - sorry Mom, no new grandkids.... unless you wanted a grandkid with wheels and a seat. My little curbside treasure that I rescued a few weeks ago has blossomed into a fly new ride and I'm so excited! That is until I look outside at the four inches of slushy snow we got today but I digress.... It's not quite gallery-worthy yet but it's getting there.

The frame was in surprisingly decent shape for being a piece of trash. I stripped it down to the frame and drive-side bottom bracket cup (which is pretty much fused to the frame) with the help of Steve, Lee, and John from Ada.

Then I rebuilt the bottom bracket with a new spindle and bearings (original cups), took apart the headset to clean and repack those bearings too, and polished the handlebars to a shiny luster with some miracle rubbing compound they had at the bike shop. I also built my first set of wheels at Velocity - thanks to Paul and Sven for the help.

A few spare parts later.....

Fixed gear! Steve and I finished it up around 11 last night and headed out for a spin around the neighborhood. It will definitely take some practice but I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can ride 'er again. Only a few small details left - front brakes, new grips, and I'm going to repaint the gold pinstripes and lugs with some sparkly paint. It's been such a fun project! I guess it's kind of lame to waste a whole post on some junk bike I found on the curb. Perhaps the picture my seven year old niece drew for us this weekend sums it up.....
At least I'm sad with a sweet ride......

Catch up

2007-03-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

Wow - it's been a long time.

I feel really bad that I've let the last two weeks slip by without even a nod to my blog. I guess I don't have an excuse other than being incredibly busy with school and work these past few weeks. And maybe a touch of the spring fever that makes sitting at the computer any longer than necessary utterly unbearable.

A few things of note, though, to catch you all up on the past few weeks of me. Let's see... The long anticipated KissCross Alley Cat took place on St. Patty's day. For those not in the know - an alley cat is somewhat of a scavenger hunt-type bike race where you have specific stops to make or items to purchase as you navigate through the urban landscape. This particular alley cat featured the transport and delivery of a (raw) egg, the purchase of lotto tickets and comic books, and the simultaneous consumption of Pabst and Lucky Charms. Yum. The race started and ended at Founder's brewery where the party continued on well past the end of the race.

The week after the Alley Cat was my first hell week since I returned to school. I had two major exams, a ton of catching up to do, and way too many hours at work. We were short staffed in the shipping department just in time for a delivery of 5,000 or so rims. So much for free time. A glimmer of sunshine, though, came on Wednesday morning while I was walking home from school in the rain. A curbside treasure - an old women's Peugeot road frame, trash tag and all, waiting for me to rescue it from depths of the garbage truck! I brought it home, cleaned it up, and - if we can manage removing the bottom bracket cup that seems to be fused to the frame - will hopefully be my first fixed gear bike. It's really a gorgeous frame and I have big plans for dressing it up nice....

Other than that, not too much else going on. Steve and I got out on our bikes on Sunday for a road ride in the 77 degree weather and I've gotten a decent start at my bike short tan lines. It's hard to believe that the temps are supposed to be back in the 40s by the end of this week. In a way, I guess I'm not ready for this warm of weather just yet. My blood is too thick or something. Poor Fausto can't shed fast enough to stay cool so he just stretches himself out as long as he can to cool off... Steve's shedding his winter coat as well. He's having a lot more fun with it than Fausto is. Sometimes I think I married him just to get a free pass into heaven....

Just be glad you're not married to this freak :) Unfortunately I couldn't convince him to keep the mustache and go to work with it. Dang.

Anyhoo - that's it. I'll try to be better, though I can't guarantee it. I'm going to get my first (of three) Hep B vaccine shot on Thursday, along with a tetanus shot and whatever booster shots I need in order to be able to do my clinical rotation this fall. Definitely not looking forward to feeling like I've been punched in the arms... Have a great week!

Scratching the Itch

2007-03-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh......relief! The spring itch has been lurking for a while now - even the flu I had last week wasn't enough to fully extinguish it. So finally it's been nice enough to really get a bike out and RIDE IT without wearing several layers of stiff clothing or having to avoid huge patches of snow and ice. Steve and I got out on Sunday and got in a nearly 40-mile ride. It wasn't super warm but it was sunny and dry and that's all I need. We rode a loop northwest of GR (redneck country) and ended our ride at Founder's for some post-ride refreshments. Perhaps I would look more like an athlete if I didn't inhale peanuts and beer after every ride....Yesterday was even warmer and I rode to work for the first time in what feels like ages. I tried a new route to work and loved it! It's more of a direct route through mostly residential neighborhoods so it's more of a pleasant ride instead of the angry, trafficky, and pot-holey route I normally take. Today's ride, though, was the best of the week. Although terribly windy, it was sunny and 70 degrees - just the thing my hibernating soul needed. I did hear a cruel joke that it's supposed to snow on Thursday. We'll just see how that pans out but at least for now I'm feeling a bit more alive and ready to push on through until spring gets here for good.

Spring Broke

2007-03-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe my spring break is now over. I wish I had more to report for the week but the truth is I've squandered my break by spending most of it flat on my ass. At promptly 9pm last Friday night, I came down with the worst flu I've ever had and am still recovering from it. It was the kind of flu that left me bargaining with the illness gods to give me something else to suffer from. I would have gladly had boils erupt on my face for a few days than have this flu again. At this point, I'd say I'm about 80% back to normal. Spending 3 days asleep and adhering to a strict diet of diluted Gatorade, oyster crackers, and 'redneck risotto' (cream of chicken soup and Minute Rice) has definitely helped.

Weather wise, it's definitely feeling like spring around here. Lots of dripping water - both outside and inside our apartment. (Long story - let's just say it involves lots of buckets and our landlord on an extension ladder with an ax trying to bust up the ice dam above our bathroom.) I'm bummed that I've missed the opportunity to do some decent outside riding this week. The plan for next week is to get the Surly out and ride to work at least 2 days - especially since the temps are supposed to be in the 50s. I feel like I've lost a lot of ground this past week. I did go to the gym once to walk on the treadmill and felt utterly exhausted after 30 minutes. I'll do my best not to be discouraged this next week but I know I'm going to be bitter over how hard everything is going to feel. I just have to remember that it truly could be so much worse....

Anyway - I'm off to enjoy this weekend and get ready for classes to start up again. This weekend brings a birthday party for my neices (turning 4 and 7) which means seeing my whole family and eating BIRTHDAY CAKE! And if that doesn't cure me, I don't know what will.

Spring Break?

2007-03-02T10:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm officially on my first spring break in five years. Woo hoo. Too bad it looks like this outside.....

It's actually not this bad since this picture is from the blizzard we had a month ago. But we are under some sort of winter weather warning and it's supposed to be unseasonally cold all week. Super sweet spring break.

Not too much going on around here - I'm off the happy pills and my ear is ringing just as loud as ever. Luckily I managed to escape the rumored mullet/flannel shirt side effect of taking steroids. Though I think maybe they had something to do with my ability to hang in on a 30 mile bike ride last weekend. At first I thought that maybe I was in decent shape, but we all know that's just not true. Had to be the 'roids. I'm not sure what to do about my ear now - it's such a stupid thing. But it's to the point now where it's so loud that I feel like other people can hear it when they're around me. I hate to think of going back to the doctor - especially with our crappy health insurance and due to the fact that my car decided to do its interpretation of the Exxon Valdez on Monday and now I've got about $400 of repairs to take care of. I know - boo hoo. I have such a bad life. Wah.

In other news, I am rockin and rollin on my Summit for Someone donations - thanks to everyone who has donated thus far. I've had a few really huge donations - most notably my uncle, my incredible husband, and my best friend - that have really helped me gain some ground. But it's simply the generosity of all the people I know that will get me there and I am blown away by the support! As of today, I have 183 more days of training to go before the climb. I have been doing fairly well with my training - I've finally settled into some sort of routine although I seem to stray at least once each week. This week, I skipped Wednesday night to go for a walk with Steve - which I would have counted as some sort of exercise had we not stopped at the bar for a few beers on the way home. I definitely made up for it with a long, hard workout yesterday - Thursdays are now treadmill and stepmill interval days. I've been adding 5 minutes to the stepmill each week and I'm now up to 30 minutes. If you're not familiar with a stepmill, it's a continuous rotating stairway like an escalator. I hate it but I know that it's going to make a huge difference. I'm also looking forward to chick flick Friday this afternoon, especially since it's crummy enough outside to justify riding the trainer indoors.

Anyhoo - gotta go now. I have to learn my disease for the week so I can get on with my day. Last week it was Guillian-Barre, this week it's Myesthenia Gravis. See how smart I am??

Allez!

2007-02-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am - slacking again. I took a brief break to check out yesterday's results of the Tour of California and now I feel compelled to put some pictures on the blog. The Tour of California is the biggest bike race on American soil this year featuring some of the most important names in cycling - Paulo Bettini (the current world champ), Ivan Basso (who is now the leader of Lance's old Discovery Team), Levi Leipheimer (an American who is currently leading the race), etc. etc. etc. It's kind of a big deal. And our itty bitty little Grand Rapids pro team - Michigan's ONLY pro team - is there and making a pretty good showing among many of the current protour names. The race is a stage race which means that it's run over a series of days and for the first three days, one of the Priority Health riders (Ben Jacques-Maynes) was in third place in the overall standings. Not too shabby, although sadly he fell to 38th yesterday and lost three minutes on the leader. Ah well, I'm still really proud of these guys and wanted to post a few pics:The guy on the far left is Brian Sheedy, a local from Rockford (and a super nice guy) who took the King of the Mountains jersey in the prologue of the race. The other jersey colors are the same as they are in the Tour de France - green is points leader, yellow is overall race leader (Levi Leiphiemer) and white is leading young rider (under the age of 25).The results of a nasty crash - this is Emile Abraham, a new team member and the highest ranking Trinidad/Tobago - born cyclist in the world. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish yesterday's climbing stage within the given time limit and was pulled out of the race.

Go to either Cycling News or Velo News if you want to slack off like me and follow along with the race.

Happy Pills

2007-02-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

Ever since I had a nasty bout with poison ivy last spring, I've been trying to figure out ways to get back on steroid pills without having to deal with itchy, blistery patches of skin. Who knew it was as easy as having excess fluid in your ear? I've been dealing with an annoying ringing in my right ear for the past month. Actually, the word 'ringing' doesn't really do it justice. It's more like the sound you hear when you accidentally dial a fax machine.... Anyway, after convincing myself that I had a brain tumor, I finally went to the doctor today to have it checked out. They did a few crazy tests in my ears, found some fluid, and fifteen minutes later I was on my way to pick up my beloved steriods from the pharmacy. What's so great about steroids, you ask? Well, the last time I took them I was able to sit at my desk in my office for three straight days without getting pissed off at anyone. For those who know how much I 'loved' my old job, that was a major accomplishment. The doctor who prescribed them told me that some people experience a 'heightened sense of well-being' while on the pills. I'll say! Although now that I'm not really angry about anything anymore, I wonder how this round of steroids will affect me. Hope I don't crush the Step Mill at the gym in a 'roid rage......

For Sale

2007-02-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

Well, fortunately the owliness has dissipated. For now.

As many of you know, I am currently raising funds to support an organization called Big City Mountaineers (BCM). BCM works with several national youth organizations to provide positive mentoring experiences - via the outdoors - for at-risk urban teens. In exchange for raising money, I will be participating in a climb of Mt. Rainier in September. With a goal of $3500, I have a lot of work ahead of me. But I know I can do it - and if it means shameless solicitations on the blog, so be it! Here's the first.....

I currently have six pairs of earrings up for grabs for a minimum donation of $10 (each pair) made to BCM. All of the earrings are handmade (by me) and have sterling silver earwires. They're all pretty small, although the pictures don't really show that. I will be making more, I just wanted to see how these go over first. Please let me know if you're interested and I'll provide the donation details. Thanks for the support!

Owly

2007-02-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

Owly - an adjective used to describe an overall malcontent of the mind, body, and spirit. Also defined as "pissy."

I'm owly. I'll write more once I get over it....

Woo Hoo!

2007-02-04T19:17:00.000-05:00

Yay! It snowed! A lot! We actually got the blizzard everyone was talking about. It started snowing and blowing on Saturday morning and didn't stop all day. I attempted to go to my class (which wasn't cancelled) and was all ready to spend the day finishing up my clinical skills lessons but just as we were settling in, the GRCC campus police came by to tell us they were shutting down the campus and we all had to leave. Arg. Good information to have had a few hours beforehand.

So I walked back home and met up with Steve so we could walk downtown to the MMBA meeting. It was a brutal walk into the wind that was steadily getting colder. And I'm so smart - only wearing jeans for a 2-mile walk in subzero wind chill. I thought I was going to lose a layer of skin on my legs. Good thing my husband is so nice and let me wear his long johns for the walk home.

Once we got home, we sat on the couch and watched the on-going news report about the weather and all of the multiple car pile-ups on the highway. After about 45 minutes of hearing the same story several times over, we decided to bundle up and go back outside. Our mission was to walk to the post office to mail a birthday card to Steve's grandma, who will be 101 years old on Monday. Wow. Our walk was great - here are some pictures:

We were pretty worn out once we got home - it's a lot of work to walk through snow up to your knees! We basically vegged out the rest of the day and had a wonderful dinner of pork tenderloin, risotto, and spinach salad. I took a picture of it but it really didn't turn out well so you'll just have to take my word for it - I was pretty impressed by myself :)

Today was a lot of catching up on school stuff and grocery shopping. We went to Margo's yoga class and I think I'll be lucky if I can get out of bed tomorrow. Hopefully the brownies that are baking in the oven at the moment will chase away the pain. We've been fighting with our TV antenna for the last hour, trying to get the Superbowl station to come in clearly. So far, we've moved the TV and the antenna into several configurations and have added some tinfoil accents to the tips of the antenna. But it still pretty much sucks. Anyway - here's to a week of great snow ahead!

Slackmaster Sue

2007-02-02T14:03:00.000-05:00

Hi. My name is Sue. I'm a slacker.

I really should be doing some schoolwork at this very moment but I'm really having a hard time buckling down. The half hour break that I took at noon today has now officially been extended to over two hours. I say, what's a few more minutes spent catching up on the blog?

I'm happy to report that this week has been a little more eventful than the past few. Kind of like a rollercoaster, but still better than the same old same old. The good/bad balance worked itself out to be pretty much even. Like on Monday, I skipped the gym (bad) to catch up on some classes, grocery shopping and laundry (good). I got a notice in the mail that my Visa card had been switched to "fraudulent status" since someone had tried to buy a bunch of passports with it last week (bad) but I'm not liable for the $300+ in charges (good). I went the the gym on Tuesday night (good) and then met up with an old friend from high school (even better) but ended up drinking several glasses of gin (good at first, then bad) and was flat on my butt all day Wednesday (very baaaaaaad). I spent all day Thursday catching up after my over-indulgent bar night (good) but skipped the gym (bad again) to go snowshoeing with Steve in the new pristine snow (good). So here's Friday - I actually made it to class this morning (good) only to slack off on the internet all afternoon (bad). Not too shabby, eh?

I'm so excited for this weekend since it will be my last Saturday in class and it's supposed to snow like a mofo. I'm going to be one angry American if we don't get the blizzard that everyone's been promising. I'm hoping to get all my school stuff done today - ha! like that's going to happen - so I can enjoy the weekend and play in the snow and cook lots of good food like pork chops and risotto. Mmmmm.....risoooootttttooooo.

K, back to it. Later!

Sunday "Blah"g

2007-01-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

Well, here's my weekly update! Not a super exciting week for us here - we seem to be settling into the winter blahs. Same old routine, day after day. This is usually the reason I hate this time of year. We've got snow, but not enough to get excited about. We had some sun, but it was super cold and windy outside when it broke through the clouds. Blarg. I'm glad to be so busy with school since it gives me something to focus on. We tried to break out of the routine this week by going hiking on Wednesday night at Egypt Valley - we actually had a lot of fun, although I was thinking about all of the studying I should have been doing while we were out there. We also went out for dinner on Friday night and got treated like dog crap at the restaurant we went to so that didn't help much. I'm officially boycotting One Trick Pony downtown - the food was TERRIBLE and the service was even worse. No wonder there were at least 7 empty tables (on a Friday night!) when we were there. Even worse, the manager was falling all over himself to make the people next to us happy but didn't even bother to ask us how we were doing during one of his 10 trips over to check on them. We left there pretty disappointed, especially since we don't really get to go out that much anymore :(

Today was great, though. We got up early and drove down to Saugatuck to hike on the dunes. We had originally wanted to go snowshoeing but there really wasn't enough snow to justify it. We made our own trail up and over some of the dunes and eventually got to the beach. The waves were big and we could see big snowstorms out over the lake. We also saw some mountain bike tire tracks along the beach which gave us a new goal for the winter - to ride our bikes on the beach! The tricky part will be figuring out where to ride from, since most places involve a significant hike to get down to the water. We're considering a night ride since we'll be able to be a little less obvious because evidently it's illegal or something. We hiked along the beach for quite a while and went back into the dunes along a pretty well-worn trail. The trail took us to a county park as well as the site of a former minimum-security prison. The building is still standing and is covered with grafitti. We hiked over to it to get a closer look. It was so eerie and bizarre - all of the windows were either boarded up or smashed out, there are still beds and various other pieces of furniture in it, and there are absolutely no signs telling anyone to keep out. We got halfway back to the car and decided (after asking some people what the building was) to go back and go inside. It was really creepy - we went in through a window and into a big room that must have been the common area for the prisoners. There were two split level wings of cells and a few smaller rooms that must have been offices. The inside of this place was trashed - everywhere you looked there was graffiti, broken glass, paint cans, charred remains of fires, etc. I would have taken some pictures but my camera batteries were dead - plus it gives me the chills just thinking about it. Wonder what I'll dream about tonight? The wierdest thing, though, was that we only found one bathroom in the whole place - a single toilet and sink. No showers anywhere. Ewww. The whole place was bizarre because outside of the prison, there was a basketball court, an old BMX-racing track, and a gigantic brick mansion (the Felt Mansion) surrounding the county park. We left there scratching our heads as to why any of these things were out in the middle of the dunes and why someone would have thought to stick a county park out there with them. At least it was a good adventure to end the week! Since I don't have any pictures from today, I'll just post the one we took at the end of our Cannonsburg hike -

46 Bottles of Beer

2007-01-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

A nice snowy and cold Sunday - perfect for bottling our first batch of homebrew. Steve started the process almost 2 1/2 weeks ago, with the help of our friend and super-brewmaster Rick. It involved a lot of measuring, boiling, and cooling. Then, the beer went through 2 stages of fermentation - 1 week in a bucket, 1 week in a big glass jug. Today, we finally siphoned the beer from the jug into individual bottles and capped them. Now we have to wait about 3 or 4 more weeks while it ferments and carbonates in the bottles. Here's Steve mixing the brew with a solution of priming sugar prior to bottling. The priming sugar reacts with the yeast in the beer and creates carbonation.

I thought the whole process was pretty cool - I can't wait to taste the final product! We're already planning our next batch.

In other news, this week was super busy with school. I got really scared at the beginning of the week because I felt like I was already falling behind in some of my classes. I seriously underestimated how busy this semester would be. In the back of my mind, I know I'm doing just fine - I'm just not used to this type of learning yet. I've already decided that it's harder than what I'm used to, which I'm glad. I need the challenge to keep me motivated. I have tests on my program material every week and I'm happy to say that I did well on the first round. I will be glad when this semester is over, though, so I regain some free time :)

I did still manage to stick to my workout schedule this week, though. I went to the gym Monday through Thursday and did my Chick-Flick Friday ride for an hour. I swam for about a half hour on Thursday and enjoyed every minute of it - I've missed swimming. I almost bagged on the Friday ride, though, since the chick flick I rented didn't work in our DVD player. I just watched Shrek again and that got me through it. We really need to invest in some more DVDs - Shrek, Shrek II, and What About Bob don't give you much to choose from when you want to watch a movie.

Anyway, it's back to the grind for awhile. I need to get some reading done before I go yoga. Here is a picture of our wonderful cat, helping me study on Friday morning. Have a great week!

B is for......

2007-01-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

1. Boo-hoo: I instated "Chick Flick Friday" this week and will try to continue this all month and possibly all of February. Since I'm not working on Fridays and should have most of my classwork done, I'm renting chick flicks and watching them while I ride my bike trainer on Friday afternoons. This week I rented "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and rode the trainer for 90 minutes at 75% of my max heart rate. I felt great - it's definitely a workout I can stick to for awhile.

2. Boredom: I had the first of four Saturday clinical skills classes this weekend. It wasn't too bad - just a lot of emphasis on things I pretty much already know such as the proper way to wash your hands, how to take off dirty latex gloves, etc. Luckily, the next three classes are about things I don't know so I'm hoping they'll be a little more exciting.

3. Broken: While I was in class, Steve was out doing this to his bike:

For those not familiar with bicycle anatomy, the rear derailleur is not supposed to point upward and touch the spokes of the back wheel.

4. Bummer: I had heard a rumor but now I know it's official - the guy who did the commuter story on me for the local news got FIRED recently and I'm pretty sure that the story is not going to air. I guess I'll just have to wait some more for my day in the sun.....

Uhh....

2007-01-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have a ton of time to write today but I found something very disturbing this morning as I was cutting out some coupons and I just had to share it. Yes - I cut out coupons. Laugh if you will but I'm saving mad cash at the grocery store....

Now you tell me - what ad executive over at Snack Pack thought this would be a great way to sell a new product? It may just be the workings of a dirty mind, but I'm feeling a little offended by this kid.....

My Brain Already Hurts

2007-01-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

This picture kept going through my mind today as I was walking around the GRCC campus, wondering where everyone else was. I was confused about when my class started but I figured it wasn't today since when I went to my classroom, it was dark and locked. Thanks to the guy at the bookstore who told me that classes don't officially start at CC until Thursday. But dang it, I sure do know where to go on Friday morning for my class. Since I was on-campus, I decided to walk through some of the buildings and check out the computer labs. I think I've got a handle on it. The only thing I need to figure out is how to lower the chairs in the computer lab. The one I sat in was so high that my feet didn't touch the ground and when I went to pull the lever to lower it, the back of the chair reclined instead. I can't believe the girl next to me didn't bust out laughing since I damn near fell out of the chair. It's a good thing the computer lab was so quiet since everyone else saw me, too.

The GRCC class (Human Anatomy and Physiology) is the only traditional classroom class I have this semester. All of my other FSU on-line classes started today. I'm still trying to get my head around the on-line forums. I think I'm slowly figuring it out. I don't have too much to do this week besides getting used to posting and replying to on-line discussions and I have one dry chapter of my Health Care USA textbook to read. The biggest problem I'm having is that every course is set up differently on-line and I keep getting them all mixed up.

Everything aside, though, it was a good day. I'll be excited to get past all of this intro stuff and get into the subject matter of my classes. I even dragged my squishy butt to the gym after work today. I'm trying not to be discouraged already - I need to give myself a little time to get used to going to the gym again. It's just disheartening when things that used to be reasonably easy are suddenly ass-kicking hard again. Agh.

Dang

2007-01-07T15:38:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friend Jessica for sending me the link to the Rainier route map. I wasn't nervous about the climb until now. Aside from a bad case of vertigo, this picture also gives me the motivation to train like never before.

I think I got off to a good start this weekend, though. Steve and I did some mountain biking at Yankee Springs on Saturday. It's so pathetic but I don't think I've been down there in two years. I forgot how much fun the trail is and except for a few boggy spots, the trail's in great shape. It still kicked my butt - I don't know if it's because I'm out of shape or because my lungs were on fire. I'm sure it had something to do with the cold, but I've never had such a hard and painful time trying to breathe.

Today was better. I met Margo at her house and we set off on a 20ish mile ride on our cross bikes. It was pretty cold and really windy but we had a great ride. No kamikaze bus driver incidents or dirty rednecks in kidnapper vans licking their windows at us so I gotta say it was a good day. I'm planning on doing Margo's yoga class tonight at the gym. I'm definitely not as bendy as I used to be. I've also started having some issues with my right hip and I'm hoping the the yoga will make it stop hurting so much. It's not a big deal - it's been acting up on and off for the last year or so. I think all of the walking and standing around during the Ford funeral events really aggravated it. Surprisingly, I think all of the riding this weekend made it feel better for the time being. Let's hope....

I'll leave you with some super sweet action shots of Steve and me tearing up the trail at Yankee. We slammed like thirteen Mountain Dews apiece before we hit the trail. Yeah dude!

So Far, So Good

2007-01-03T21:01:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! It's January 3 and this year has already been interesting and new. As I'm sure all of you know, the funeral and burial of President Ford took place over the last two days here in downtown Grand Rapids. The preparations started well before his casket arrived here yesterday. Steve and I walked downtown to the Ford Presidential museum on Sunday afternoon to look at the memorials and sign the condolence book. While we were there, the military band and colorguard were practicing on the lawn in front of the museum. There was a practice casket in front of the burial site. After the practice was done, some of the service people stayed around and talked with people outside of the museum. We spoke to a couple of Air Force guys who had previously been in California and Washington DC and one of them let me hold the rifle that he carries throughout the ceremonies. Pretty cool - and heavy. Here are some photos from Sunday: The military band on the lawn. The practice casket in front of the burial site. Signs, flowers, and a whole lot more at the entrance to the museum.

After seeing the museum on Sunday (and especially after seeing the Air Force jets from the parking lot at work), we felt compelled to go see the casket. Steve and I left our house around 8pm on Tuesday to go downtown and get in line. We were not expecting to wait in line for 5 hours - but we did. I don't think I have ever seen so many people in my life. It's hard to describe. What's even more remarkable was the general patience and peacefulness of the crowd. When was the last time you stood in line with a bunch of strangers and kids and didn't get angry or frustrated? Once we finally got to the museum entrance, a somber and quiet mood swept over everybody. There was no sound. The casket was right in front of us, draped with a flag and surrounded by honor guard standing at attention. It was truly humbling and moving and, for me, a little hard to understand. I've never considered myself to be a political person but it felt very special to be in the presence of not only a former President but in the experience itself. We were exhausted when we got home but I'm definitely glad we were there.

Today, I left work early to get home to see the funeral procession and the Air Force fly-over of downtown. I walked down to Fulton Street and stood just east of downtown to wait for the procession to come by. There were, once again, thousands of people. The motorcade came through very quickly - much faster than I expected - but I did get a glimpse of Dick Cheney and President Carter as they went by. I also got this picture of the hearse -

After the procession was done, I walked up to Crescent Park which is tucked into the Spectrum-Butterworth buildings and overlooks the north end of the city. After waiting about 30 minutes, we started hearing the cannon salute. We couldn't see the cannons but we saw the smoke wafting around the buildings in front of us. Shortly after the salute came the Air Force jets, flying the "Missing Man" formation over the city. I had seen them practice this from a distance the day before but it was quite a different experience to see it directly overhead. It was an incredible finish to an incredible week of events. I'm glad I got the opportunity to experience such a historic event.

In other news - I've been super busy at work the last two days. We received a huge shipment last week and it's been hectic trying to catch up on backorders. I'm cutting my days down to three a week once school starts. And school starts on MONDAY! I still have to buy some books and supplies this week but otherwise I am really ready to get going. This semester is going to be a lot of intro classes so hopefully I'll be able to ease myself back into being a good student :) I'm also planning on starting my Rainier training on Monday. Nothing too hard to start - just a few weeks to get myself back into a routine after two months of sheer eating and drinking and vegging.

Locked Out

2006-12-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

I need a new damn job. Arg. I got all bundled up and rode my bike to work this morning only to find the doors locked and nobody there. It looked as if someone had been there earlier in the day because some of the lights were on inside but not a soul was around when I got there. I'll tell you what, the novelty of having an unimportant part-time job is gone. It's no wonder people get discouraged when they are looking for work and don't have the education or skills to get jobs better than this. I don't care how unimportant the work may seem, people depend on these jobs for their living and it's nothing short of disrespect when crap like this happens. I left a message on the answering machine at work after I decided I was going home since I had stood outside for almost a half hour (in 30 degree weather with sweaty riding clothes on) and do you think anyone has called me yet? Noooooo. That would make sense.

I cringe a little to think of finding a new job after my East Hills job interview experience. I had applied for a weekend position as a locker-room cleaning assistant. Definitely not the most glamourous job but it would have gotten me a free membership and some money. Almost immediately after I met my interviewer, I got the impression that this position was very much below her - both in professional and in social status. She couldn't even say the word "housekeeping" without looking like she had just bitten into something sour. So that aside, she and another person proceeded to interview me for an hour and a half. That's right - an hour and a half interview for a $7 an hour position washing and folding towels. The following week, I heard from several of my reference people (from the job application) that they had been called. I didn't hear anything from East Hills for another week. They didn't call me to tell me that I had gotten the job, though. They called me to tell me that they had decided to not hire anyone for the position and were just going to fill the vacancy internally. WTF? I wasn't too heartbroken since I had already decided that I wasn't going to take the job if it were offered to me - definitely not going to give up my weekends for that. But I'm definitely learning the difference in the way you're treated when you're trying to get a professional job and when you're just trying to get a job that will pay the bills. I think in the long run this will be a good experience for me since it's certainly easy to get sucked into the corporate way of thinking that you're above everyone else because you have a salary and a business card. Yech.

Whew!

2006-12-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

It's over! We had lots of fun this year at Christmas but I can honestly say that I'm glad all of the busy craziness is over for the year. I'm feeling little worn out....I guess it could have something to do with the five straight days of drinking and overeating, eh? We had parties on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and every one of them involved drinks and great food. If I never see another white russian until next Christmas, I'll be happy :)

So today it's back to work for me, although I'm not so sure that there will be enough work for me to do. I am really excited to start school if only for the fact that it will make me feel like less of a slug since I'll constantly have something to work on. I'm still going to try to work but probably only 3 days a week - hopefully the spring rush will start early and I'll be able to keep my hours. On another note, I bought most of my textbooks yesterday and I'm feeling a bit like a superstar since I bought them all on-line. I looked first at this direct textbook site that's affiliated with Ferris and then compared their prices to the same books on Amazon. I think I ended up saving $150 or something ridiculous like that. One of my books was $77 brand new but I found it on Amazon for $8. I have to go to the bookstores at GRCC and Ferris to get my human A&P books and my on-line course CDs but I still feel pretty good about my savings. I can remember the pain of shopping for books at GVSU and paying $300 for 4 books. What a racket.

Anyway - hope you all had a great Christmas and best wishes for the new year ahead!

Bruises for Charity

2006-12-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

My knees are bruised but my heart is happy. Steve and I woke up early this morning and drove out to a warehouse north of Grand Rapids to volunteer with the Elves and More organization. For the second year in a row (or maybe more??), this group has purchased hundreds of bicycles to give to needy kids at Christmas. They choose one local neighborhood a year to focus on and keep it a secret so it's a huge happy surprise when they show up at Christmas with a semi truck full of bikes. This morning we, along with about 75 other people, built one thousand bikes in a little under four hours. My job was to open the bike boxes and pull all the packaging off the bikes and get them ready to be built. I bet I opened 50+ bike boxes! Once the bikes are built, they are double checked for safety and lined up in the warehouse to be tagged with handmade gift cards. It's pretty cool to see 500 bikes lined up with sparkly hand-drawn Christmas tree and snowman tags that carry happy greetings to the bike's recipient. What's even cooler is that the kids also get helmets and other goodies to go along with their bikes. It was so much fun! We saw so many people that we know from cycling and racing but there were even more people there who just wanted to help - there are truly a lot of good people out there. I can't wait to do it again next year - especially since next year's neighborhood is bigger and there will be 2,000 bikes to build! Here's some photos.....

Unpacking the bikes.....

Craig, doing a double check on a sweet pink cruiser....

The finished product!

Celebrity Update

2006-12-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

So... I guess I was too busy being a celebrity yesterday to update the blog. Such is the life.

Actually, I was too busy getting my ass kicked at work to do anything but sit around once I finally made it home. We received a freight shipment containing almost 5,ooo rims yesterday morning and had to unpack and organize them before we could start on our inch-thick backorder log. We're only a third of the way through it after shipping orders all day today. Aside from being on my feet all day, I'm enjoying the opportunity to work more hours. It will really help, especially since I made my first tuition payment yesterday as well. Ouch.

The commuter thing was pretty fun. The guy (Barnaby - although I'm just going to call him B for typing's sake) and his camera crew showed up at my house around 10am and did a short interview with me in the driveway. B made sure to point out the cat hair on my shirt. After the interview, they wanted to get some shots of me getting "suited up" for the commute. They also mounted a small spy camera on my helmet. Some spy camera - it was attached to a camcorder by no less than 5 big wires. I had to wear an extra bag around my neck to carry the camcorder and ride with the wires dangling from the left side of my head. I rode with the helmet cam for the first half of my commute, through the Eastown traffic and up the hill on Plymouth. Then they mounted the camera to my handle bars to get a shot of my big fat face as I'm riding along. My double chin is sure to be glooooorious on TV. The whole time I was riding, they were driving with the big TV camera hanging out of their van. I had to ride some streets I don't usually ride and my normally 30ish minute commute took nearly 2 hours. Once I got to work, they followed me into the warehouse and asked me a few more questions once I had changed into my work clothes. All in all, it probably took 2 1/2 hours to get enough to run a 5-minute blurb on the news. But yay for bike commuting! I hope this at least gets people to be a little more considerate of me and my friends when we're out there on the roads this winter. My favorite part of the whole day was telling B that I wanted to punch the weather lady's face in with the spy camera on my fist for all of her terrible forecasts. I doubt they'll include that in their story.

Tonight we went to the annual Underwear Party at the Ada Grill, put on by a friend who collects packages of new underwear and tube socks for the homeless. He's been doing this for several years now and tonight's party collected two huge garbage bags full of socks and undies. Lots of friends and food and beer - definitely a good time.

Here's a new picture:

I'm the Big Star Today

2006-12-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

So - a lot has happened in the last week. I'm starting to sense a pattern in my blogging, although it's kind of tiring to sit down and try to recap a whole week in one post. Arg.

Anyway - the beginning of last week was relatively uneventful. On Wednesday, I had a brush with fame when a guy from the local news flagged me down as I was riding my bike home from work and asked if I would help him with a story on winter bike commuting. (Fast forward to today - I'm super nervous since he and his camera guy are supposed to be here in an hour to interview me and set me up with some sort of bike camera for my ride to work. More on that tomorrow for sure!)

I had an orientation thing at Ferris (in GR) on Thursday night and, for the first time in a long time, I actually felt a little bit like a student. I got to meet with most of the people from my 'cohort', which is the group that I will start and end the respiratory program with. At this time in two years, I will be getting ready to graduate and take the state certification exams. Crazy! I got to see the lab that I'll be working in on campus and also learn a little bit more about what respiratory therapists actually do. I'm having a hard time picturing myself in some of those roles and situations but I'm soooooooo excited to start! I was also able to register for my human anatomy class at GRCC (Community College) so I no longer have to drive to Big Rapids three times a week to fulfill that requirement. I'm very happy about that. I'm also very happy to be paying almost $200 less per credit hour (it's a 4 credit class) to take the class locally.

On Saturday, Betsy (Hobbins) and Becky (Husted) were here in GR for a much anticipated and overdue reunion. We met at my house and had lunch downtown before going out to do some shopping at the mall. It was so much fun - especially since we had so much more to talk about than crazy high school memories. Can't wait to do it again!! I also heard a rumor that a 10-year high school reunion may also be in the works...... yikes.

Saturday night brought a holiday party at Kim and Marc's. We had a great time, although I didn't see Steve the whole night since I had beached myself on the couch (aka "Gay Island" - don't ask....) next to the beer and candy. Thanks for a great party - and great meatballs!

Sunday was a relatively lazy day. Steve and I got up late and walked to the gas station for some coffee. On the way home, Steve heard the mewing of a kitty and just had to find out where it was coming from. I kept telling him it was a bird but he wouldn't believe me. Sure enough, out of nowhere comes this tiny little kitty, bounding through the snow. It was really cute - until it started following us home. We tried knocking on the door of the house that it came from and no one was home. In fact, it looked like no one had been home in a long time. So here's this little shit, running along in between us as we're walking home. I didn't want to bring it in the house because Fausto would freak out and probably kill it so we pawned it off on our only cat-less neighbor, promising to take it to the humane society in the morning. When we checked in with her last night, she had already given it a bath and a name. So Gizmo the kitten is our new neighbor and is very happy in his new warm home :)

My mom also came for a visit on Sunday and took us out for breakfast downtown. I ate way too much, especially after my meatball overdose the night before. Steve left for the Velo City shop ride when we got home from breakfast and my mom and I sat around, getting sleepy after having such a huge meal. I continued to sit around after my mom left, and eventually popped in a movie. Unfortunately it was Brokeback Mountain, which meant that I had to sit on the couch and cry for another half hour after it was done. Why couldn't I have just watched Shreck again?

So now you're caught up and I have to get ready for my big debut. OH yeah, and it's my birthday today, too!

Weekend Top 5

2006-12-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

I really need to get better at keeping this thing updated, eh? It's just that my life is so full and exciting that I barely ever have the time to sit down and write about it. Er, something like that. So, I thought I'd do a weekend top 5 to wrap up what was actually a fun and unexpectedly busy weekend. Here goes.....

#5: Cat Bath!

We've been threatening him for some time now but we finally followed through on Friday night and gave Fausto a much needed bath. He did remarkably well this time - much better than the last time when I thought Steve would need stitches for a huge cat gash on his leg. It could have been the nice warm water or the beautiful soothing songs I was singing to him ("Scratchies scratchies scratchies for the kitty in the bath" and other favorites) but I really think Fausto enjoyed his bath. I'm certainly enjoying the fact that he no longer smells like roadkill.

#4: Snorkel Ride

A sunny Saturday morning brought us a Christmas parade in downtown Ada and group ride to follow. There were only six of us who were brave (or dumb) enough to venture out on a mixture of paved and gravel roads in the snow. We had a great time, though, slipping and sliding our way around on our cross bikes. I'll tell you what - the Surly has most definitely proven to be one of the best purchases I've ever made. The ride wasn't dubbed the "Snorkel Ride" until the very end when we found ourselves riding through water up to our skewers where a pond had taken over the bike path we were using. Here we are back at the bike shop, warming up by the fire.

#3: Bluegrass Bonanza

Another group formed on Saturday morning as well. After reading about it in the paper, I suggested to a few people that we check out a bluegrass show on Saturday night at a restaurant in Lowell. The ad in the paper said it was a fundraiser for a bluegrass music association and that $5 at the door would get you food and good music. Cool, right? Well..... let's just say that the picture I had in my mind was not exactly the reality of the bluegrass show. The restaurant was more like some crazy pig museum with no windows and fluorescent lighting. The $5 got us some boiled hotdogs and cookies. Another $5 would get you two cans of beer. And even though there was a bit of uneasiness at the start, we definitely went with the right group of people and ended up having a great time. Here's Tom, Chuck, Steve, Kim and Mackenzie starting the night off right....

Oh yeah, Debby was there too.

Evidently Chloe had a few too many cans of beer.

#2: Christmas Shopping at the MALL

I guess I shouldn't be including this as a top 5 for the weekend since it really sucked. But putting it at number 2 pretty much sums up the experience.

#1: Chili and Biscuits

What better way to end the weekend than with chili and biscuits at Craig and Margo's. Sunday night was really pretty with all of the fluffy snowflakes in the air. Even better was the excuse to make my favorite pumpkin cake recipe again. We had a huge dinner of homemade chili and cheese biscuits and followed it up with cake and ice cream. It's definitely starting to be the time of year when any event with friends is a celebration with lots of food. Yikes. Better get some sweat pants.

Soggy!

2006-11-29T21:42:00.000-05:00

What you can't see in this picture are the puddles in the bottoms of my shoes....

I'm sad to say it but I think we've seen our last warm day of the year. It's been so nice this week with temps in the high 50s and low 60s. I've been able to commute in shorts all week! Ignoring what the weather radar was showing this morning, I commuted to work today, too. Promptly at two this afternoon, following a loud crack of thunder, the sky opened up and hasn't stopped yet. Good thing I put a rear fender on the Surly this morning. Bad thing I didn't take two seconds to put the front one on, too. What a difference the fenders make, even in a monsoon! My feet stayed dry for less than a quarter of a mile but my butt stayed relatively dry all the way home. Tomorrow sounds like all kinds of crap with rain, sleet and snow so I think I'll opt for a spin class and forego the commute. Hopefully Margo won't yell at me if I sit out an interval or two :)

That's Mrs. Sandbagger to You

2006-11-27T10:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's official. I'm married to a sandbagger. Of course, I'm only kidding. Steve competed in his first post-injury cyclocross race yesterday and dominated the B group out at Ridgepoint Church in Holland. He injured himself this past February with a nasty groin pull and re-aggravated the injury in May at one of the first Grattan training series races. This summer and fall have been a bummer since he's been missing the race scene and has only been able to stand by as a spectator. I guess all of that pent-up energy paid off yesterday! So Steve-O, I'm proud of you and glad to see you back.

Here he is, all alone at the end of the first lap....

T-day Weekend Wrap-up

2006-11-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

Wow - it's hard to believe we're on the backside of Thanksgiving already. I hate to say it but from here on out, the rest of the year is bound to be a blur. It was a good T-day this year, though. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - perfect for the early morning urban assault ride from Alger Schwinn. I can't think of a better way to gear up for a huge fattening dinner than with a mountain bike ride on unknown sections of urban trail with good friends. Above is a sign from a trail we had just finished riding. Below is Cathy sporting a special T-day outfit for us all to enjoy... Speaking of huge fattening dinners, I managed to pull off my first attempt at cooking a full T-day dinner. I know it definitely wasn't the full-on turkey dinner and the whole deal and I was only cooking for three people (Steve, my mom, and me) but it was still a sh** load of work and, if I do say so myself, turned out pretty durn good. A day of firsts, I roasted my first whole chicken, deglazed my first roasting pan with white wine, and made my first batch of homemade gravy. Deeelish.

Feeling a little bad about making an absolute hog of myself on T-day, I embarked on a somewhat overly ambitious journey on Friday. I got up early, packed a bag of clothes, tossed my bike on my car and drove north the town (er, village?) of Morley. From there, I got on my bike and rode 28ish miles further north on the White Pine Trail to visit with my grandparents in Reed City. As usual, I made another hog of myself eating various goodies while playing rummy in their nice warm house, which made it all the more brutal to put my sweaty bike clothes back on to ride back to my car. All in all, it was a great day and I'm happy for being able to finish the ride and even happier to have been able to spend time with my grandparents, although I could have done without the headwind on the way south or having to ride the last 5 miles in the dark!

Ooh la la! Here's the Surly in Paris (Michigan) showing off some sassy new purple wheels :)

Today brought a group ride with the MMBA folks at the Edwards Creek trail in Greenville. (And a slight hangover from a night at the bar with Jessica - although I'm sure I didn't have it so bad since I wasn't the one who had to get up early to drive to Ford Field for the Rockford game....) Anyhoo, the group ride was well attended with about 15 people. It was the warmest day yet in this nice stretch of weather and we all had a great ride. Even Molly, a relatively new rider, who managed a scary face plant off a bridge into the creek. Tough girl! This trail is one of the most technically challenging in our area and is full of bridges, berms, planks and log crossings. Here's me completing my first ever teeter-totter attempt...

Tomorrow is the last KissCross race of the season out in Holland. I will be happily spectating and giving my legs a rest. I'm almost a little sad to have to go back to work on Monday, although I'm not really sure why. Besides, what the hell am I going to do when I actually have to work full time again? Yikes!

Num Num

2006-11-20T09:29:00.000-05:00

I promised to post the yummy dinner I made on Saturday night. It was even good warmed up for lunch on Sunday. It's sort of a conglomerate of a few different recipes but it turned out really good. The pasta, chicken, broccoli, and edemame amounts may be adjusted to the amount of food you want to make. I think carrots and water chestnuts would also be really good with this. It could easily be more of a stir-fry too. I think that's what I'm going to do the next time I make it. Anyway, try it - it's super easy!

Thai Peanut Chicken and Pasta
1 box whole wheat rotini
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 breast)
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup shelled edemame (raw soybeans)
crushed peanuts (optional)
Sauce
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Put all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Set aside. Cook pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes. Add broccoli and edemame and cook for another 3 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Add chicken and sauce to pasta/vegetable mixture and toss to combine. Serve with crushed peanuts. Yum!

Lazy Sunday

2006-11-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

It's quiet. Steve and Fausto are napping and all I can hear is the ticking of our cuckoo clock. I know we should be doing something other than wasting the day away at home but I can't seem to get up the motivation to go anywhere. It's been a nice day so far - we woke up later than usual, walked downtown to get coffee, and have just been putzing around at home since we got back.

Maybe we're being especially lazy today since we had such an adventurous Saturday. We kicked around the idea of taking a trip on Friday night on our way to see a movie (Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrel - not bad). Not a huge trip but just a car trip to somewhere interesting where we could spend the day and then come home. When we left on Saturday morning, we were aiming for Frankfort, which is north of Manistee. However, we took the long way over to Highway 31 and only got as far at Pentwater. It turned out to be a great choice, though. After hanging around on the beach for a while, we had lunch at a downtown bar called the Brown Bear. Steve had to fight the urge to beach himself after eating a hamburger bigger than his face while we walked through the downtown area and checked out a few of the little shops. Most were closed for the season but it was still fun.

We took the scenic route south on the way home and ended up at the Silver Lake sand dunes. I had always known these dunes existed but had never actually seen them prior to yesterday. They're part of a state park and, in the summer, are usually crawling with dune buggies and other assorted gas guzzlers. Luckily the park is closed for the winter and we were able to hike around without worrying about drunken rednecks running us down. Here are a few photos...

This is Steve hiking up one of the dunes.

This is me coming down one of the dunes. It's a lot steeper than it looks!

Me and tree that's being swallowed by a giant sand dune!

We also stopped at the Little Sable Point lighthouse on our way home. It's a really beautiful lighthouse but was a little spooky with the wind and overcast sky. I like going to the beach so much better when nobody else is around. I'd love to live on Lake Michigan someday. Steve and I better hurry up and make millions of dollars so we can buy some land! The houses and cottages along the lake up there are such a strange mixture of mansions and shacks. There may be a beautiful new log cabin right next to a trailer that looks as though it may have one more rainstorm left before it just disintegrates into nothing. The little towns seem like deserted ghost towns with all of the shops and hotels shut down for the season. But I like that - I'm not good with crowds and chaos. I'd rather see the scenery and hear the wind and smell the air with no one else around. I plan to go back this winter and snowshoe on the beach and the sand dunes. If hiking on the dunes is any indication of what awaits me on Rainier, I have some serious training ahead of me!

So, I guess I'm off to do something now. I was going to post a recipe for the tasty dinner I made last night but I suppose I will wait for tomorrow. Steve's up from his nappy nap and antsy to get out of the house. Happy Sunday!

S'Friday

2006-11-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

I had promised myself that I'd be better about updating the blog this week..... but it obviously didn't happen :( I had the pleasure of a monster migraine on Monday and have been dealing with its remnants all week. If it goes on much longer, I may have to shoot myself. I did break down and take a pill tonight - hopefully this will be the end of it.

Anyhoo - other than that, it's been an decent week. I didn't ride to work all week except for today, which was absolutely wonderful. Much better than my car commute yesterday when I was driving behind some jackass in an Audi who decided it was better to hit the television that was lying in the middle of the highway than to simply drive past it. I managed to miss at least some of the debris but had to hit a big chunk of it. Luckily, no flat tire yet. I realize now how much of my life I actually take into my hands every time I drive to work. Even though it was dark on my ride home tonight, I feel safer on my bike at any time of the day in any weather than I do in my car. I have to remember this for motivation when it starts getting really crappy outside...

I was feeling particularly energetic on Monday morning (pre-migraine) so I decided to go to a spin class at East Hills. Silly me. Not only did I manage to get the last of the 30 bikes in the spin room but I managed to puke and swallow my half-digested breakfast several times before the class was over. Halfway through the class, I decided to sit out one of the sprinting intervals to calm down my guts. At which point, the instructor felt it was necessary to stand in front of me and yell at me to go faster through her microphone. Bad move, bitch. I was able to keep my cool and just said something like "I got it" through clenched teeth. I should have puked on her. I did apologize after the class was over and she was very cool about it. I guess I just don't respond well to someone yelling at me in front of a mixture of East Grand Rapids soccer moms and Ironman triathletes. I kick my own ass enough.

So - yay! It's the weekend. Not sure what is in store for the next few days but the weather's supposed to be decent at least on Sunday. Here's hoping! And here's a picture!

One Down....

2006-11-12T22:45:00.000-05:00

Today.....

One year ago today.......

Well, we made it! One year today. It's so surprising how fast the time has gone by. I hope all of the years don't fly by so fast! It's definitely been a busy year with all of the career-related changes that both Steve and I have made. I hope we don't have so many changes in the next year although looking back on it, I know we've made the right decisions so far.

I had thought that we'd do something really special to celebrate the day but after such a busy week and a busy Saturday, we just decided to do something relaxing and low-key with good friends. After an extremely delicious and greasy breakfast at the Red Geranium with Jessica and Peter (friends from Chicago and my future Rainier climbing partner) we headed out to Holland to join in on a group ride from Velo City bike shop. HUGE turnout - nearly 70 riders! It was dubbed the "Chilly Chili" ride because after the 26-mile ride was done, we all gathered for homemade chili and beer in the bike shop. The weather was fantastic for a November ride - sunny and 40 degrees with a stiff west wind that was barely noticable in such a big pack of riders. The only low points of the day were the coffee-flavored gum and the mucus discussion with the Plites on the ride home. Thanks for the de-sensitization lesson, Cathy!

So tonight we had some chicken stir-fry and warm brownies with ice cream to go along with the celebratory Pabst Blue Ribbons we drank at the bike shop. Not a huge celebration but definitely the right one. Here's to the next year!

Eating Cake Makes Me.......

2006-11-04T16:57:00.000-05:00

HAPPY!

I swear, I'm going to weigh 300 pounds by the end of the year. All I want to do lately is stay inside my house and cook and bake and eat. I made the tastiest pumpkin cake last night and wanted to share the recipe so I won't be alone in my fatness..... It's super easy and cheap to make and it gave me the chance to use my new Bundt pan for the first time. Next time, I'll try not to break the cake in half when shaking it out of the pan. I was so disappointed, even as I ate the big chunk that fell off in the pan. Here's the recipe - enjoy!

Pumpkin Cake

1 pkg. yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil (I used canola but vegetable would work. Applesauce would be healthier...)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 large eggs (or 1 cup egg substitute)

Whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a standard-size Bundt pan, a 9x13" baking pan, or two 9" cake pans. Mix everything together in a large bowl and beat until blended. Transfer to baking pan(s) and bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done.

Voila! Cake!

Everybody Halloween Now

2006-11-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

I'm a little sad today. My favorite holiday of the whole year is officially over and gone. No more candy corn. No more pumpkin seeds. No more Steve in a pornographically-tight Robin costume. (Robin from 'Batman and Robin', not the bird....)

We had a blast this year, though. A great party on Saturday night and an even better Halloween bike ride last night with a bunch of people in crazy costumes! It was a KissCross ride that started and ended (where else?) at Founders. About 20 people were there, ALL in costume, and we had a fabulous time riding through neighborhoods, shouting at kids who were out trick-or-treating.

I'm not sure how many pictures I can post at a time, but here are a few...

I was a soccer mom for the party. Unfortunately, Steve didn't feel like dressing up.

This is how our Saturday night ended. It's actually pretty fun to post bail!

Happier times during the KissCross Halloween ride.

Hmmm.... seems I'm only allowed to post three pictures at a time. So there you go.

Other scary things happened this Halloween week, too. I registered for my first semester of classes on Tuesday. I seem to have forgotten how stupidly complicated going to college really is. Most of my classes will be on-line which will undoubtedly introduce a whole new level of procrastination for me. Unfortunately, I will be driving to the main Ferris campus in Big Rapids three times a week to complete an anatomy lecture and lab class. Hopefully the cadaver work will make the drive worth it.

The other scary thing happened just tonight as I was leaving the house to go to my calligraphy class. Since I've been riding my bike to work, my car has been sitting in our garage. I either rode with Steve or walked everywhere I went this past weekend so I haven't driven my car since last Friday morning when I went to the laundromat. Anyway, I hit the little 'unlock' button on my keychain and realized that my car wasn't locked. Usually not a big deal - I do sometimes forget to lock my car. This time, however, I opened the door to get in and there was stuff scattered EVERYWHERE inside my car. It took a few seconds for me to realize that it was all my stuff - from inside my glove box, my center console, the crap I had tucked in my visor, etc. SOMEONE WAS IN MY CAR! ACK! I didn't really know what to do - I was all alone and the last thing I wanted to do was get in the car. It's such an eerie feeling to know that some stranger has been rifling through all of your stuff in your car. That they actually opened the door and sat in the seat and touched all of your stuff. The wierdest thing - I had a travel mug of coffee in the cupholder. They took the cover off the mug, put the cover on top of the cupholder, and set the mug back down on top of the cover. Not a drop of coffee was spilled. So, thank you Mr. Asshole Thief for not spilling coffee inside my car. No thank you for stealing my Oakley sunglasses and my green Gramicci hoodie - which is a girl's hoodie so you're going to look like a total pansy if you wear it around. Jackass.

Anyway - happy November to you all. Remember to always lock your car doors!

Weakened

2006-10-23T10:59:00.000-04:00

Ugh. I'm beat. It's Monday morning, almost 11am and I'm still in my jammies and just starting in on my first cup of coffee. What a slug am I! I should be getting ready to ride to work. But I'm not. Ugh.

This weekend was great, though. We volunteered at a "Beers of the World" event on Saturday night, pouring beer samples and doing some marketing for West Side Distributing. My friend Cathy and I were the bartenders at the "innovation" table. We had 6 different beers that were either new to the market or not quite on the market in the U.S. yet. We also had these little hotel mouthwash-bottle looking things that are being marketed as beer flavorings. They're 2 ounce bottles of 12% malt liquor in flavors like lime, melon, and chocolate that you add to your beer to make it tastier. And although we weren't supposed to, we did sample all of them. A lot. And they are nasty :( This is what the back of our pouring station looked like....

Sunday morning brought us a lot of rain and wind. And a KissCross race out at Cannonsburg Ski Area. As bad as the weather was, the turnout for the race was huge! The turnout for the first annual Log Pull, though, was less than huge. It could have been due to the rain and the wind and the 40 degree temperature and maybe the fact that the masochists that set up the race course made it so impossibly hard that we saw someone actually crying before the race start and another person quit after the first 100 yards. Oh well. We did have four guys who saw the beauty of the Log Pull and gave it their best. Here's the winner, who was able to manage a full pull.

I refuse to let the Log Pull dream die and I promise that next year's event will be bigger and better. And harder - this guy made it look way too easy!

Well, guess I'm off to work now. It's so great to not have that terrible feeling of dread before going into work. I can actually enjoy the whole weekend now without the depression that used to set in on Sunday afternoons. Hope you all have a great week!

60 Surly Miles

2006-10-20T18:11:00.000-04:00

Ahhh.... just got home from my fourth commute of the week. It's so much more fun on a bike that can handle potholes and tar chips. I love my new bike - even though it's a beast, I have no choice but to get stronger when I ride it. My boss at Velocity is awesome and has offered me a free wheelset on the condition that I stop riding the crappy wheels that all of my bikes seem to have. At the moment, I'm thinking of eggplant-purple Deep V's with black guts. I'm hoping to learn how to build them next week.

My commute to work is so great! It's 15 miles round-trip with a few rolling hills. The roads are mostly residential, with a few hairy intersections and a few busy segments closer to downtown. With my hellish 12-5 schedule (!), I manage to miss most of the heavy traffic and have run into a few friends (on bikes and in cars) on occasion. I'm not sure that I can really say that I've truly adopted the One Less Car philosophy since I love my car, too, but it's a good feeling to know that I've only driven it once this week :) It's also good to know that I'm doing something to burn off all the candy corn I've been eating the last few weeks too.....

A Modest Post

2006-10-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

I had my first calligraphy class tonight and let me just say one thing - I rocked the faces off all the other ladies in that class. Hands down. I'm actually pretty impressed with myself, not only because I'm a decent calligrapher but because I'm actually following through with something like taking a class for fun.

On another note, I'm sad to admit that I actually broke out the bike trainer today and rode for an hour this morning. Riding to work in the rain yesterday should partially redeem me but I still think I deserve a little bit of crap for riding indoors in October. Here's hoping that the rest of the week is dry!

New Addition to the Family

2006-10-15T18:45:00.000-04:00

Got a new bike. Love it. It's a Surly Cross Check - I've wanted one of these things for soooooo long. Steve and I took it for its maiden voyage today. Nothing too crazy - just a nice ride around Grand Rapids and beyond. Great way to spend such a beautiful fall day. Here she is on the 6th St. bridge, just sparkling in the sunshine.......

Raison d'Etre

2006-10-14T13:59:00.000-04:00

I've always wondered what this blogging thing would be like. I've read a few blogs of friends and strangers and found them to be such wonderfully mundane windows into the lives and souls of people who lead such wonderfully mundane lives. I love it when the smallest occasions get a special posting all to themselves - the moments that usually get swept up in the rest of the day get a chance to be shared and remembered. My days seem to be composed primarily of these moments so I thought I'd give this a shot.

I have to admit that I do have a little bit of an inferiority complex about this, though. It seems like all of the other posts I've read are so funny and clever and entertaining and brilliant that I don't stand a chance. It's been a long time since I've really written anything and even longer since I've written anything and allowed anyone else to read it. But as I'm going through a bit of a transformation lately, I guess it's the perfect time to start.

I've entitled this blog "A Big Year Ahead" because, well, I have a big year ahead of me.

Big Thing 1: A few months ago, I ended what I thought was going to be my life's career in the environmental industry. Long story short - I hated it and it hated me. There aren't many other choices in Michigan for a girl with a geology degree so I'm headed back to school in January to start my Respiratory Therapy degree.

Big Thing 2: My friend Jessica recently clued me into a program called Summit for Someone which is a partnership between Backpacker magazine and Big City Mountaineers, a mentoring program for inner city kids. Participants select a mountain they'd like to climb and, after raising money for the organization, are given a chance to summit the mountain as part of a guided expedition. So we applied. And we got accepted! We will be climbing Mt. Rainier next September.

Big Thing 3: Jackie, my best friend from high school, is getting married in June and has given me the honor of being her Matron (holy crap, how old am I?) of Honor. I'm so excited! The wedding will be in Montana and is sure to be absolutely gorgeous.

So that's the year in a very condensed nutshell. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to share it!