Reunion

My little friend Griffyn returned! He is on his way, slowly, back to New Zealand. We had a delighful lunch together where he actually fed me 3 crackers. He really did!
Three Generations, all at once! Mom, me, the little guy, and my sister Julene!
This is Uriah. Do not be afraid, he is just showing off his newly lost tooth. The one next to it was soon to follow. One day i will post a picture of him and his dad Jason, he you will see why we call him Mini-Me

Another Day Off

The children have been released from school for yet another holiday. This one is intitled "Semester Break" which means all the kids are just slacking off somewhere cool like Mammoth or Laguna, leaving us teachers here to slave away on our grades, where i try to recall to the best of my recollection of Suzie Q was actually in her PE uniform on November 16, who really knows.

BASKETBALL:
Here is the much-awaited update on the Bulldogs girls basketball team We are sitting strong in 3rd place for league, boasting a 10-7 overall record, 3-2 in league. We had a devistating loss on Saturday night at the hands of 2005 league champs, Mesa Grande, located in the high caliber town of Calimesa (runner up, of course, is Mentone).

DOZER:

Is still my favorite dog, ever.

SNOW:

Yah right, this is all we got. The only excitement was Wednesday when it took 30 minutes to go 3 miles due to the ill-prepared CalTrans who left our roads without sand way too long. Result - Trash truck in the ditch, short school bus sideways in the road, one head on collision with both cars totalled, one PT cruiser in a tree and numerous other things sliding out of control. Pretty entertaining actually and it gave the very popular Forest Falls Fire Department the time to shine.

GROUP RIDES:

First off, they freak me out. Nobody introduced themselves, so I had no idea who these people were. I recognized Colleen from spin class after about 45 minutes and of course I had the usual wing-men of Christie, Jill and Bev. There were about 10 men and 11 women, pretty strong showing. Problem is, you never really know who is truly strong, just a "clydsdale" and ends up at the bottom of the hill first on the descent and last on the climb, who is rude and who hates young girls who decide to randomly show up for a Saturday morning ride. I found myself on the lower end of the age continuum which i soon realized was BAD, you always HAVE to respect the older female rider, they can throw down like none other. I have come to believe that the years of working, bearing and raising children and dealing with idiot men have molded these women into creatures that i not only idolize, but fear.

It ended up being a very splendid ride and the people were actually really cool, except for the guy who wouldnt even hold the door open for me at McDonalds (poty break SWEAR) or even look at me. I wanted to ask him "Hey, werent you just sucking my wheel for the last 45 minutes, at least you let ladies go first in that situation." But of course i just got out of the way.

MASSAGE:

I have kept this a secret for quite some time, as I do my ACTUAL training hours/workouts. I can not afford my arch-enemies the pleasure of knowing my weaknesses or strengths, but this one diserves discussion.

Since the week before Christmas i have had fantastic lower back pain. I attributed this to the longer rides, cold, not enough minerals in my diet etc. But now it has come to the point that a sneeze or cough and land me on the floor it hurts so bad. I also can not pick basketballs or other PE implements up off the floor, it is just too far away and i can't get there, so i usually kick it at some kid and make them carry them for me. But i got fed up, so Sunday instead of riding, i decided to go to a massage therapist.

Now at this establishment i had to be cleared by the overseeing Chiropractor before the massage, and OF COURSE i need to schedule an adjustment.

In I go for the massage. She was yawning the whole time, talking about her runny nose and how the picture on the wall makes her tired. She could not find a single knot on my body! She finally found ONE in my calf and proceeded to mutilate it. She then informed me that my right shoulder was higher than my left and that my spine was crooked. No its not! That is just called BAD POSTURE!!! She did find a gaggle of knots though, UNDER my scapula! She made me put my arm back as if i was going to be cuffed and proceeded to stick her little fingers under my shoulder blade. Thanx for that.

I signed up for an HOUR and when she found nothing, she cut me short at 40 minutes. Then when i signed out they only charged me for 30 minutes.Whatever. Are you supposed to TIP a massage lady? I went to a houty-touty one in the Napa Valley, and it was required. But i thought laundry quarters would be rude, and too much.

Speaking of laundry - i am headed out Hulda Crooks for some hill intervals and then over to the Mentone laundry mat, coolest place in town.

He's a Walker!

Little Nephew Griffyn is now walking! I guess he made his first big steps on Monday and hasn't stopped! He is about 11 months old i believe, so not bad!

Checking in, checking out

This is the FIFTH blog attempt! I keep deleting, closing browsers and otherwise destroying my art work! They were all REALLY good too. A few puns, some photos, lots of links, which i just learned to do, but alas, i am left with a clean slate.

I am also DONE. It is 6:30pm on the nose and i am checking OUT. The wind storm last night left with two hours of sleep to go forward into an extreme day. The night tortured me with visions of the previously destroyed cabin here in FF during the last storm. As the branches smacked against all sides of my square, i almost slept on the floor with Dozer, where our only hope for survival would be that the bed and dresser would brake the fall of the timbers as the crashed to the floor.

I got to go to spin at 5am, where i always have to show my best. Then i did some serious abs, cause what else to do on my day off? Lifted some weights, then headed to work where I promptly lost my coffee on my desk and almost had a huge "issue". I then began basketball practice with all the flowers and princesses from my work, where i had to run with them because we only had nine.

After this, i washed my mountain bike and met up with Christie for a Crafton/Wash ride for about 2 hr 15....completing my 3 total hours for the week...wink wink...

But now i am SOOOO tired! I ate, stretched, showered, stretched, ate, and i am just not comfortable yet. So, im going to bed. Hopefully i will rise ON TIME to iron work clothes, coaching clothes, eat breakfast, make lunch and snack and dinner all before departing at 6:55am!

Outside

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: "Being bored is sooooo exhausting!" Jason

LOW POINT: Mentone Stater Bros packed with people. I got hit with carts twice in the isle and three times in the checkout line! Very disturbing!!!

I am now teaching outside for PE, we started softball. This will increase my ever-growing "special tan" and probably give me melanoma. But since this is killer weather, its actually pretty nice. I just sit on the bleachers, tell girls what to do and eat snacks. awesome.

HOW TO SPEND A DAY OUT WITHOUT SPENDING ANY MONEY:

Jason and I both scored big time in the gift card area for Christmas. Here's a little run-down of day out on the town for two adults and one child

LUNCH: Mill Creek Cattle Company (i know, the B and all, but i just got a grilled cheese) $20.00 - the food is cheap

COFFEE: Starbucks (I DO NOT support this particular Monopoly - they are the only American Company in New Zealand that DOES not support the local economy - all products are shipped in from the US.) BUT...2 Venti delicious drinks and a small hot chocolate - a lot left on that card.

ENTERTAINMENT: Best Buy - 4 DVD's purchased, about $0.30 left!

BASIC: Home Depot - Although Jason's brother and sister work at LOEW'S you got to go with what people hook you up with! Jason got work gloves and a hammer for under $50.00.

WEEKEND OUTING: Claim Jumpers Half of dinner for four paid for!

So thank you to my anonymous sponsors for making life a bit more comfortable!!

CYCLING: I only ride about 3 hours a week......

Now here's the real story. Hopefully my arch enemies stopped at the above line, thinking I am defeated, over weight and un-motivated. We have created a dynamic group of women riders that are becoming quite exciting. Besides talking about boys, food and sleep, we actually get some good riding in!

Saturdays ride took about 5 hours with Teri, Christie, Jill and myself. I saw some new turf and we all enjoyed the clean area and warm weather.

Sunday we added Toni to the mix and Jill rode elsewhere with husband Art. But we also collected 5 boys. They are scary sometimes, but they behaved very nicely. Vey polite and they even rode clean-up, incase someone at the end of the group needed to be "cleaned up" or scrapped off a rock or two.

Then to spin class this morning. This is the most daunting of my duties, ever. Rising at 4:30am is just not natural. But when i arrived, it ended up that i had 23 students! Pretty steller showing! I was so motived that i may have overworked myself, but in the end, tomorrow is a rest day.

Mountain Life

Hello Friends and non-friends (i know you are stalking me...)

Happy New years!

NON-SNOW:
I think we actually getting what they call "weather" up on the hill today. I had to vacate in the NON-rare event that if I stayed over night the over-saturated boulders/sand/dirt/trees would make their inevitable desent to Valley of The Falls Road and block us Hobbits from leaving. It happened a few times last year, and well, i really need to be at work tomorrow. bummer though. When i left there was debri all over the roads, snow on the wind-sheild and heaving sleet falling.

FLASHBACK:
Last year was my first winter in Forest Falls. I was driving a front wheel drive Subaru wagon, pretty killer if you ask me. I came upon a perilous situation late one evening in January. There was a whopping 1 1/4 inch of snow on the ground and i was being pounded with relentless flurries. My time in eastern Washington gave me the much needed skills of snow driving. However, as i accended the mountain, i saw cars off to the side, mangled in trees (not really) but there was this guy about my age who was walking, so of course, since i am a hippee and all, i gave him a ride. At about the Elkhorn Store i decided I really needed to chain up. Since i am proficient in everything, i can do it myself, 3 minutes, like a flat fix. But to keep my passenger entertained, i asked him if he could give me a hand. It was snowing you know. He said NO and walked up the road.

NEW YEARS FUN:
I hit up a Backbone ride! I got up at 5:30am on the 1st! To drive all the way to Van Nuys where i could meet up with the other riders. We did the Santa Monica mountain thing, Topanga or Tehachapi, whatever, you have probably been there. But it was great! They kept telling me the ocean was right there, but i think it was just some more city. It was super foggy, at least not raining, so i had no clue where we actually were. Awesome ride though! Excellent mix of technical, climbs, and descents. It was great to go with people that know it so well so they could give me the heads up on all the poopy sections!

PROBLEM: I used to love and go out and play in the fog up in the Napa Valley but here, it is Toxic Fog like "Roy the Toxic Boy" (On excellent story by Tim Burton). I think that my skin may be damaged now.

LOW POINT: My basketball players thought i was aTEENY BOPPER!!!!!! They thought I listened to music like Britney Spears, Kelli Clarkston ETC... I was appauled! Why couldn't they think i listened to Bette Midler or Amy Grant? THAT would be more respectable! Just because I teach them and am exposed to all the horrific things they believe to be entertainment and that i can sing every song on the radio, does not make me a teeny bopper! I am going to TOTALLY have to revamp my image, like, this sucks!