nothing like cramming a whole week into two days...

No kidding. That's what I did this week! The first part of the week was spent in Ft. Lauderdale at a conference. It was a very good conference and I'm so happy I was able to go. The weather was very windy and I didn't spend any time on the beach, but I did spend a lot of time looking at it and enjoying the humidity.

I got back late Thursday and fit an entire week of work into my Friday morning. Then, it was off the Antelope Island. Wells and I joined about 2,000 other crazy people who rode from the marina to the ranch and back at night. It was so amazing!!! The ride started at 10:00 p.m. and we finished about 12:30 a.m. Yup, 12:30 a.m. I was amazing to see all the valley lights and the trail of headlights/tail lights on the island. I thought is was going to be an easy, flat ride. NOPE!! There are a couple of smaller and one killer hill on that there island. We found out that Wells is a better climber than me but I totally dust him on the way down! :) Yup, mass does come in handy sometimes. And we got the coolest event shirt ever! It has that crazy vampire on it.

We got home and got some much needed sleep. Then came today. Wells and Lee planted half of the trees for Wells's eagle project and Kaitlyn and I went shopping (of course!). Once we got home, we kicked it into high gear. We tilled and watered the garden, trimmed all the trees to make it easier to mow the lawn, started scraping the shed so we can prime and paint it next week, watered all the flowerbeds, finally got a bit of homework done, and watched Avatar. Needless to say, I'm exhausted!!

All in all, it has been an immensely productive day. I hope we have many more as the project list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

oh yeah baby

I had a breakthrough today! Well, at least my body did. I've been able to run a 5K on the treadmill several times but when I get out on the road, I completely lose it. I know it has been my inability to pace myself on the road. Pacing on the treadmill is easy, it does it for me! Well, today I found my breathing pace that allows me to run the entire distance and not spike my heartrate. Woot! I can't wait to get home and try it out on the road.

I also found out that Ft. Lauderdale traffic is pretty consistent. And, you count about 800 cars between 0 and 5K.

Now, who wants to join me in my first road 5K ever?!? September is the month. Join me!

where oh where to start

Have you ever had one of those days when you think...uh, what just happened? Today was one of those days. The kids have Youth Conference this weekend. Friday evening and all day Saturday were supposed to be a couple of hours of pure childless bliss. Well, the childless part happened but not the bliss. :(

It all started when I went Visiting Teaching on Sunday. One of my ladies was frustrated because she was trying to put together a job fair and was not having much luck. Well, I volunteered to help. What's the big deal, I thought. I will still have Friday night and all afternoon on Saturday. Three hours helping at Youth Conference will dent but not ruin my plans.

Then, Thursday came. The color guard council has been trying to plan some fundraisers for everyone to earn money for the Washington DC trip. Well, they need help. Like some adult supervision that will help things actually happen. So, we met on Thursday to plan some activities. In the meantime, one of the other mom's decided to get a booth at Nibley Heritage Days and have a bake sale for the guard, without telling anyone her plans. That was fun. So, on Thursday we hurried and planned some stuff for the booth on Saturday. Crappy!! There goes my afternoon!!

So, now what? I'm thinking, "well, I can still run to Sears and look at some appliances. I probably won't make it to the Verizon store, but maybe still make it to Joyride bikes? Oh, and I need a new carryon for my trip on Sunday. I can work Youth Conference and the fundraiser and stilll do all that right?" WRONG!!

I made it to Sears. Yup, that's it. Now, I'm sitting here blogging and wishing I had the energy to go somewhere else. But, then I remember I need to do some laundry or I wan't have any clothes to pack. What happened to my blissful weekend? If you know where to find one, please let me know. I would love to go visit, borrow, steal, something to have one.

On the bright side, Kaitlyn and I went to see The Blithe Spirit on Wednesday. It is so cute. We had the best seats and the actors were really good. Kaitlyn has decided that she needs to ask them if they have summer internships for High School students. She wanted to make some of those costumes--until she saw the one with all the fur. Who knew she was a card-carrying member of PETA???!!! :)

and the craziness continues

No, not the craziness of this past week (although some of that is still here) but the craziness that is CYCLING!! Since we picked up Wells's bike, he has only been able to go on three rides and no longer than about 10 miles. He is so funny, he keeps yelling at the rain! I do that too but not nearly as vocal. Anyway, the craziness is this - today we registered for a few bike rides! Here's our schedule (on top of everything else we scheduled for the summer).

June 26: Wells and I will participate in Antelope by Moonlight. This fun ride starts at 10:00 p.m. and we go around Antelope Island at night. It's a 23-mile ride and should be a good starter for Wells.

July: Training month! :)

Aug 14: Wells will do Bike the Bear. This event is celebrating 100 years of BSA, so lots of scouts and leaders. He is going to try the 50-mile distance (thus the month of training), and he will be on his own as I will be on a business trip (yes, I'm very sad about that).

Aug 28: Both of us are preparing for the 50-mile distance of the Cache Valley Century. My new riding partner (if we ever get together) will ride it with us.

September 4-6: GRUB Fest baby!! This biking festival is held over Labor Day weekend. It has three century rides (of which we will probably only do one and only the half (50) century), a bike parade (totally going to steal Trent and decorate his bike for the parade), clinics, and lots of crazy riding. It is held in Minersville so I hope Pauline doesn't care if we crash at her place for the weekend. This festival will finish out our cycling summer.

November 27: We are considering the Saturday Fatterday Ride. The only fee is food donations for the Utah Food Bank. They call it the Fatterday ride because it is the Saturday after Thanksgiving (and Wells's birthday this year). It is not a supported ride but could be a lot of fun to do. We'll see what November brings.

And, on top of all that, I signed the kids up for a week of EFY. Of course, they are going two separate weeks so they would have more fun! Whatever. I think that's funny. Kaitlyn will go to EFY one week, have music and movement the next week, and band camp the next. She's going to be exhausted. I don't know how these kids are going to finish their summer classes with everything else that is going on. Like I said...CRAZY!!

one bad week having a grand ole time

Wow. This week just keeps getting better and better.

First, I lost my digital camera. The one that had all our Moab trip pictures and my trip to Boston. I called the hotel and they don't have it so I lost it in transit somewhere. I can replace the camera. I can't replace the pictures.

Second, I got a monster of a sunburn during my ride. I usually don't care about sunburns cuz they go away in two days. Not this one, five days later and I'm still super red.

Third, I have a tooth that has been giving me problems for several years. The diagnosis is that when I'm sick of the headaches, come in and they will pull it. I think it is time to get it pulled.

Fourth, Training Conference is this week. This is always a week of loads of stress and little sleep.

Yup, this week is superb. I want next week to be just like this one. :)

whew! what a ride

As you probably know by now, a chunk of my life has been spent training for my first group cycling event. Let's start off telling you about the event. The Bonneville Cycling club hosts the Little Red Riding Hood ride every year in Cache Valley. This is a noncompetitive, ladies-only ride that raises money for cancer research. They cap it at 3,000 riders and I was lucky enough to get a slot (thanks to a big heads up from some facebook friends).

This year, Little Red was a super hero who was trouncing the Big Bad Wolf that is Cancer. One of the things that makes this ride so much fun is the costumes. Everyone is encouraged to dress up for the ride and there were some fun things to see. The wolf himself even came by to see what kinda trouble he could stir up.

If he wasn't such a baddy (aka cancer), I would say he was quite a hunk! Oh well, he didn't last long. :)

I registered for this ride in February and decided to go for the 35-mile distance. I decided this before I had even had a chance to ride my new bike. Not only had I not ridden my bike, I had never ridden more than about 10 miles in my life. I really thought 35 would be a huge accomplishment. Well, as training started and my milage started to climb, I got really excited about what I might actually be able to do!

Memorial Day, I went for a 39-mile ride. I thought I was going to die!!! I thought, "at least I know I can make it 35 now!". Then, I started thinking about it and started comparing the courses. The ride I go one every week is chuck full of hills (big hills) and the 57-mile distance for LRRH only had one. I just started to wonder why I couldn't do that distance after all...SO I DID!!! I rode 57 miles today!!!

Here is me just minutes before my distance was called. Notice how color coordinated I am? Pauline will be so proud when she sees this picture. I got everything (even new shoes) so that I would match. :)

Here I am just feet away from the finish line. Look at that smile!!! I guess it wasn't too bad after all. In fact, when the fam caught up to me at the official finish line, I asked if I could go again. Not today of course, but real soon. It was so much fun.

In other news, we were able to pick up a really good used bike for Wells, he has been asking for one. I told him he has to go 50 miles with me at the end of the summer.