Tuesday, August 28

Out of Retirement

I think i mentioned, perhaps, that i retired from Coaching sports. Well, i lied. AS of yesterday, i am once again on the roster. i am currently gleaning a group of Junior High Girls for a season of wicked Volleyball. Pictures to come, stories to recap, just let me tell you this: The tears will flow, the fingers will become jammed, but our quest for pure domination begins tomorrow.

We did have an idea though. I can only put 12 on the roster. I have 22 girls trying out. Some ones gonna get the ax. I should have brought the video camera in on day one. Set up the confession room, and let the tape roll. They could try to fight for my time and give me the run down as to why THEY should remain on the team: They are popular, they can hit the ball-sometimes. They look cute in the uniform and many other viable options. Then at the end of every practice, we would come to center court in a circle, and one by one they would be eliminated, leaving only the best of the best, 12 in a row, suited up in their faded blue jerseys. Now thats good TV.

But alas, we serve, set, bump, set, run wind sprints and talk about grandious things like team work, development, playing well with others and great attitudes. Now, that, would be dull TV.

Friday, August 24

Daily Facts

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN UNATTENDED...

The effects of large pet, bored, in the yard, with large cardboard bike box...for the second time.

ASSERT DOMINANCE WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG


A daily battle caught on camera. we were just trying to have some QT, then he got all agro on me, wanted to walk himself and slobber on everyone.

WHY I AM OVER PAID


For the past 3 days, the majority of my work day has been spent assigning these, opening them, attempting to fix the random problem as to why they will not open. I should be 1)Teaching kids how to play 2)teaching kids geography 3)lining the fields 4)surfing the web

MY NEW HOME, don't be a hater!

I got a bit of a storage unit. When you can fit your life in this space, with room to spare, you know you are either a)poor b)just out of college c)conscious of not having too many things d)homeless e)or someone else got all the cool big items that were in your house

Friday, August 17

Sneaky Snakes no more

You would think that a mountain bike ride in the middle of the work day would go unnoticed. Oh contrare. Since Matt is "taking time off" and i am about to stop taking time off, we hit up Loch Leven for some sneaky riding. Only to run into Padgett and another guy (i forgot his name, it happens) at the country store in Angeles Oaks. Of course we chatted it up and they were obviously NOT working either, and probably should have been! After cruising some one track, we noticed a familiar SUV at the store, belonging to Edward. What's up with that? at least we were all able to line out some killer rides for the weekend...maybe someone will work on Monday.

In Other news:

Last night i felt like a Pimp. I took Dozer and his best collar to a ranch down the road. I had him run hot laps, sit, lay down, showcase his hops, and come when he was called. It felt like the circus in a way, and i feel very shallow for it! They seemed to like him, but no call back...yet.

I am the locker lady:

Yesterday I assigned over 300 lockers. This is what i know:

Some things are WAY more important than they should be
Parents are really rude
If there is a spider in your OUTSIDE locker, that is NOT my problem
If you can not open your locker, that is not my problem
If you would like a top locker, show up early, and that is also not my problem

Cool thing is that i have keys and combos to all the lockers. i find contraband. this is fun...

Tomorrow boads long road rides followed by swimming in the pool and lounging on the couch. One could get used to this. But then whose going to fold the laundry and finish my lesson plans???

Monday, August 13

Like You Don't Even Know....

A TRIBUTE TO:

The things too convaluted to explain
The elation too intense to admit to
The angst that is assumed not to exist
And all other things that when truly thought about and delved into, all you can do is shake your head, and mutter, ever so softly "LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW"

Today, I was supposed to report back to work. Instead, i sat at the Denver airport and waited for a flight back home. Is it bad to miss the first day back on the job after having the entire summer off to dilly dally?

But i think i am ready to face the masses once again, smile intact and energy level on the high side.

Between searching for homes for my dogs (DO YOU WANT ONE?? THEY CUDDLE...) to attempting to sell a car and knowing that i have to find a place to live and wondering just what inadimate object i will realize i have left behind, and trying to think just where i packed all my work polos away, racing and the community it brings has become my solace.

Not just racing. Its riding the bike. My most productive therapy sessions over the past few weeks have been in the saddle. Some off the back rolling solo. Others full throttle at STXC pace led by guys i never imagined i could hang with, and then you have the meandering roll with friends.

Knowing that i have the challenges of a race to endure and conquer and to suffer through and possibly miserably fail at has been awesome. my eyes and emotions (which do exist) have been open to an entirely different realm of existance. Some people have backed off, been intimidated by another persons pains, too consumed by their own daily battles or lack there of, or simply neglected to care about the status of my existance.

BUT...there have been others. The others, as they will remain nameless except for in the deepest portions of my soul, have shown me the unheard of levels of exceptance and understanding and support that goes beyond cliches and pats on the back. They have embraced whatever emotion i am that day and showed me in a way that words only cheapen, what friends are all about.

A RUN DOWN OF THE NEAR PAST: THIS COULD BE LONG, like you don't even know...


There is nothing like a race at 9,000+ Feet!



Jeremy and I pre-riding slacker style. We rode the course Thursday and Friday, giving me the feeling that if the race just sucked, my vacation would have been wonderful still!!



Chasing these guys around the Aspen made the rides much more entertaining and hard!! I think around this corner we found Heather Holmes from Kenda, she made me hurt real bad too!!



Mom was in attendance!! She was doing her work out on the deck, and i caught her! We also made her galavant all over the mountain, but not on a bike!


This little obstacle snuck out of nowhere! Pretty boring on race day, but friday was full of down hillers doing what they do...roll over stuff.


We realized that Aspen is Palm Springs at elevation, they cruise around with Uggs on while driving huge planet killers. With that in mind, they sure do set up a nice bike wash!!



They even made sure we knew what went where!


Saturday meant race day for MATT which left Jeremy and I with the dubious distinction of doing the feed. Well we sucked at it. If you look way down in the left corner, that is Jeremy RUNNING down the mountain to a trail to get to a road to get to Matt. I was not so hot on his heels in my KEENE flops, but we made it, and Matt got his snacks!!


While HIKING back to a spot to see Matt come through again, we decided to be good stewards of the trails and pick up wrappers. OK, the yogurt was mine, but this is what we found walking about four steps. Ever heard of Pack it In, Pack It Out?!


909 Dinner Crew - Boy's, should we make it a weekly event?? Eric and Adam from PossAbilities made the treck out to CO too, and that's Matt. It was NUTS how many CA people were out there! Always cool to have good friends out at the events!!

I HAD A BIT OF A RACE


This is about 20 minutes from the end!!


This MASSIVE abrassion made me almost DNF the event. Actually, i did have a stellar endo right infront of two junior girls. rad. What a great example i am!


8 seconds from the finish. There was a big bump that went from dirt/grass to pavement, i thought about dying there.


But in the end, i was able to pull out a podium. yeeea!


But i could not have done it without these guys! James, who asked me 12 minutes before the start if i needed anything. Well, my drive train is all out of whack. Whada ya got?? Done. Worked like butter. Then there was Matt, who dutifully did my feeds, even though he was shivering and had to borrow someones fuzzy fleece! I also threw my glasses at him and on the next lap James handed me Matt's glasses, quite complex actually!


Also, whats a girl to do with a dirty bike? Make the Brother clean it! Actually, he just hooked me up. He decided not to race because he is a slacker, i mean Cat 3 road racer so he would have had to buy an expert license, or be a sport sand bagger. It was so cool to ride the trails with him, get some tips, and have all the help i never even thought of. he made me eggs on race day. what a guy.


Although i did not win the race, i had accrued enough points to win the overall series title, which was pretty cool, especially since the family was there.

That concludes the national mountain bike series. I have one more Cal State race and some covert ops, but my Expert Career is almost coming to a close! I am so stoked with how my season went and extremely grateful for all the support and help and love from everyone!!

This was a super long post with a lot of photos. i hope you read it four times, at least, and leave me a comment, because i could have been asleep about two hours ago. and remember, i do have a job, and starts tomorrow....

Wednesday, August 8

Neglect

In approximately 2 hours, i will begin the voyage to Aspen CO for the last stop on the national circuit. This trip will be fantastic! The parents are there, Jeremy and Suzanne, and maybe cousin Kristen and her family. Plus a huge number of SoCal racers will be rolling in. Matt, Adam, Eric, maybe Lisa, and huge gaggle of backbone riders. So why don't we just race in Idylwild of something?!

Funny things of the past week:

1. Uncle Greg, where i stay, got sprayed by a skunk while running yesterday morning.

i guess there was only one, probably more, but i forgot!!

After blowing my fork on sunday and having to wacked out rear wheels fixed, hopefully the bike will pull through for one more thrashing at the hands of a very large, steep, wet, mountain!!

Friday, August 3

Sister Sister and the Return of Lupagus



For starters, here is a shot from NC. THis is funny, probably only to me, because i had just slid/ran/hucked and chucked down some one track to come face to face with Shelli's dad, who promptly yelled that he did not come all this way to see me run. I was going SO fast...that as i jumped onto the bike i actually fell onto it, then off and in some cirque du solei fashion ended up run and leaping on landing with both feet clipping in at the same time. See how parallel my legs are? promise i don't "ride" like that. I guess you had to be there...

SISTER SISTER


My Sister Julene and her husband Rouru are expecting another kid!! Cool, except the first one made her REALLY sick for about 7 months, and this one is well on the way to doing the same thing. Things are not looking pleasant or good for the next chunk of months for her, especially with this little ball of nudity running around wanting to play!! He did however, make a funny. While the family was looking at the ultra sound he said "Look Mum, a bunny!" And that Bunny, will one day be his sibling...



It bums me out that they live in New Zealand. I know it is a nice place and all, i have googled it a few times, but it is hard to help or play or be able to eat the really good island food!

LUPAGUS
although this is not the BEST picture of the Pet, it will have to do. Yesterday i was able to pick him up and he will spend the rest of forever with me! This was in fact, a huge ray of excitement because he is by far one of my most favorite "People"! We have had some walks, cuddled, napped, and rides in the car. He has dropped some LB's due to the whole situation, so now the goal is to get him to EAT. i usually have to SIT WITH HIM to get him to eat and make him extravagent things like oatmeal with bacon, eggs, and part of a burrito. i am not of the school of thought that he should not get human food. He ate the whole bowl...well not the bowl...i would get in trouble for that one!!