I think I'll go for a ride outside now the summer suns calling my name...

Okay, yeah I borrowed the title for this evenings entry from the Brady Bunch Movie and then changed a work...

So, today was indeed a gorgeous day for a bike ride. I left the house at about 6:15 a.m. I took the route through the park and as I was rounding the last corner as the gas station comes into view I saw 3 young deer standing along the bike path. I pulled out my camera but was unable to get a good shot because it was still pretty dark out. I wish I had been able to get a good picture because I'd love to share how beautiful it was.

After I got off work I rode the Sycamore to St. Charles bike path. I've never been out on it before - isn't that sad? - I really enjoyed riding it. This weekend is definately feeling like an Indian Summer. I rode the commuter bike out there -and the battery on the computer needs to be replaced - so I have no idea how fast or slow I rode, how far it was or what my cadence was - but it was once of the most enjoyable rides I've had in a long time.

I was totally exhausted when I got home though - I've never ridden that far on that bike, which weighs about ten pounds more than my road bike (before adding the weight of all the crap in my panniers...which were full because I had worked before riding out). I'm thinking it was probably about 50 miles on that bike total but I could be wrong...I'll try to figure it out...Bob says he thinks 50 or more...not too bad...I'm proud of myself. I certainly miss the lightness of the Trek though. lol!
Thanks to John for suggesting I ride it - I probably wouldn't have if he hadn't said how nice it was. I'm really tired now though :)
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Other things...I turn 34 on Tuesday. My baby sister had her birthday this past Wednesday, my uncle shares my birthday and then my little brother will be having his birthday on Thursday. It's a busy time of year for our family. For my birthday I'd like a million dollars...K? haha!
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We went to the DHS Football game last night...of course we went, Cassy plays in the band! The JV team won 15 - 14 (ran a two point conversion) it was a really good game! The Varsity team won as well - I can't remember the final score I think 32 - 14 (?) but either way it was also an exciting game! Fun stuff!
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I went to the doctor the other day - lost 5 lbs in a week. That's totally stress related, but will take whatever weight loss I can get! I actually need a bunch of new clothes - everything is just hanging off of me right now. My slacks all look sloppy because I've lost so much weight and my jeans are sliding off of me -which makes them longer than they already are (I have very short legs so I don't need longer pant legs).

Anyway, that's it! Have a super weekend!

Happy Riding!

Tired Dogs....

Pic of Vivian sleeping on Brownie....
and yes I'm aware that the couch has to be the ugliest thing ever - but it's super comfy and the cover is in the dryer this morning...but I had to take the pic it was so darn sweet!

I've got nothing else.
Have a great day!

Happy Riding - 80's all week - I so need to get a good 50 miler in this week!

A Little Flooding Along the Kishwaukee RIver

The Kishwaukee River has overflowed it's banks once again following many days of rain. The weather man had called for an end to the rain yesterday around 4:30 p.m. ...He was wrong- It continued to rain through most of this morning.
The boys and I rode our bikes to school and of course I was soaking wet - it was a bad scene - especially since I didn't look outside but had taken the weather guy at his word and figured it certainly had stopped - HAHAHA! What a dumb thing to do - so my makeup was a bit of a mess by the time I made it to work. UGH!

Anyway, enjoy the pics. I jumped off my bike while going over the wooden bridge on the bike path to take these. I'm off to look for what in the world I should make for dinner!

First night of R.C.I.C.

I may have mentioned in the past that I am teaching a class at church. Tonight was the first meeting of the R.C.I.C. group - It went really well. I've got all teenagers - this is so much easier for me - I know that may sound bad -but you can talk to teenagers (they are high schoolers) in a way that you can't with younger kids, you can be more open about subjects, you can expect that they will question and converse and reason things out - I like that. It's stimulating - I enjoy that kind of interaction. So, I'm happy to say that the first meeting went off without a hitch - and that we enjoyed ourselves. I really like the group I've got - and I hope it continues to go well!

Okay, I'm exhausted. I've got to get a blood draw in the morning for the doctor - he wants to find out what else is going on with me before we go anywhere about my heart murmur... I do wonder if that is somehow causing me to lose some of my speed with riding - it seems like the last month or even month and a half I've been slower than I was before and seem to have to struggle a little more to hit the speeds I was hitting before....UGH!

Ride Safe!

Ron....

So, today I heard from Ron - it doesn't happen all that often. He stopped by tonight. Hung out a while - the kids all love him ---of course the kids love him - all kids do...well, Cassy excluded- but if she were around him long enough she would again too. She's just mad because he took her Aunt Missy away from her and now Aunt Missy is still gone but Ron is back.

Anyway, Ron is still Ron ... does that make sense? lol not if you don't know him I suppose.

So some history is in order - Ron is Bob's best friend from High School. They always hung out - if Bob was somewhere usually Ron, Chas and I were as well...(Chas used to be Ron's girlfriend). We were a little foursome who hung out - we were all friends, together, separately etc. Ron was always the life of the party - the life of everything - if Ron was around - it was fun...great stories, funny as all get out - just plain FUN! Then Ron and Chas broke up - a couple years later Ron blew town and went to North Carolina...bam - we rarely hear from Ron - we never hear from Chas - (that was okay - she and I got into it there in the end because of her thoughts that she could make decisions about Cassy). So, Ron comes around when his brother got very ill - we hang out - we think Ron has settled down a bit - but that turned out to be an inaccurate assessment of the situation. After his brothers funeral Ron went wild...he was already wild...I'm talking downward spiral wild! During this time he and my sister got together. They were together for several years but it all ended badly - so, he moved back here.

Fast forward a few months - he comes to the house today - 2nd time since he's been back. Anyway, nice visit - but still Ron - at least he is more understanding these days of the fact that those of us with children (or multiple children) can't go hang out elsewhere all the time - if you want to see us you have to come over or set something up ahead of time ...end of story!

I know Bob hopes he comes around more - Bob misses that friendship with him - he misses having another guy that he's close to. So, for his sake I hope Ron sticks around and renews the friendship.

That's it for now - I have to pick up Sassy Cassy from band practice in a few.

Ride Safe!

Cody is sad...cookie is gone

Moment's after I posted my earlier blog my son Cody came out of his bedroom holding his beloved hamster, Cookie, who was a couple of years old had died.. Life expectancy is about 2 - 4 years. He was very upset - crying...okay crying would be putting it mildly - at 6:30 he was still crying! Poor kid!

We will be having a burial for the little hamster - she was very cute (even if she was a rodent).

I feel bad for the kid - He was so distraught. I find this interesting because he told Cassy one day that 'dying is part of life and the life cycle always ends in death' and then went on to tell her that she should stop crying because it didn't make any sense to cry about something she knew would happen....

I guess he is aware now that even though we all know all things die - it doesn't make it easy to accept when it's something or someone you love.

Attached is a picture of him crying after having found the hamster.

Can people live without the drama?

As I was grabbing my things to leave work I received a text message from a girl in another department. She wanted to know if I had shared a note that another girl had written which she had shown me. I saw the note, I laughed, I moved on with my day. After several more text messages she informs me that her department manager told her that I had distributed the note to all the other department heads ( to make her look bad...which I assure you is not something anyone needs to do...she manages that task just fine without assistance)...now I will say this, there is no doubt that I believe this department head is an idiot and I am amazed that she can keep a job...however, sharing a note, which I did not write, nor that I necessarily agree with (she was called an idiot in it but it also went on about other things that I did not feel were issues)...would be something I don't really care to do, if for no other reason than I really just want to go to work, get my crap done and collect a paycheck at the end of the payperiod my agenda does not include being involved in drama.

I am going to go out on a bit of a limb and say that I believe the department head that the letter was written to is still angry because I called her out on some things recently and she didn't like it - as a matter of fact she had a lot of rude things to say about me to everyone else in the building. I wonder how she pulled out of her nether region the idea that I had distributed the stupid letter - again, making her look dumb isn't something others need to do.

I am a little aggrivated that I am being drawn in to some ignorant drama that I have nothing at all to do with. BLEH!

Don't we have enough drama in our lives? I mean do any of us truly need more things to worry about or more problems to deal with? I have plenty...including the busing issue with my kids, their heart condition, my husbands bum shoulder, my own medical conditions, etc etc....I just want to go to work and be left in peace! DAMNIT!

Okay, that's all for now...pouring rain today - so the ride in was very wet and then of course none of my clothes was dry when I went to leave so I was already wet before I even left work - it was really coming down on my way home - which I didn't think was possible since it felt like it was coming down as hard as possible this morning....apparently I was mistaken! LOL ! I was told I was nuts a few times today as people came by and asked if I had ridden my bike today. You would think that after two years of riding almost daily they would know better than to ask me...I'm like the damn postal workers...neither rain nor snow....

Happy Riding folks. I have an Open - House for my 3 boys to go to tonight!