No long bike ride this weekend :(

I've been for the most part grounded for the weekend. I'm working both today and tomorrow...bummer. My riding partner swears I should throw on my spandex and grab a wheelchair (I work in a nursing home) and start racing around the halls trying to get the old folks to race with me...thus causing me to never again be asked to work a weekend due to a "psycho- spandex-biking disease". I love this idea! It sounds very appealing.

I'll be taking the long way home from work this afternoon in hopes of grabbing a couple extra miles. I'm pretty close to my goal for the year so by the end of next week I believe I'll have gotten it! HURRAY!

Oh yeah, and my daughter called today saying that my dog, Brownie had tried to eat our kitty (or rather Gaven's), Grizzly. If he had wanted to she'd be a single bite so I think he was just trying to play.

Just passed the 1400 mile mark

I'm doing a little dance this afternoon. I'm approximately 95 miles away from my goal for the year.
I broke 1400 miles today! Weather is supposed to be nice the rest of the week. I'm working all weekend so no long weekend ride to put me over the top but, that's okay because I should be over 1500 miles in the next week or so.

~~~~~> Doing a Happy Dance <~~~~~~~

World Meet Ms. Grizzly

Gaven's new kitty is named Ms. Grizzly. She's very cute (we hope she's a she), very adorable, and very sweet. She has the longest eyelashes which are WHITE as are her whiskers. The rest of her looks very much like a grizzly bear according to the kids, thus the name.

9/24/07

I turned 33 on the 23rd. Don't feel older just still here :o)

Yesterday we went to court again over the whole thing with B.G.C. He got a continuance until the 22 of October. There aren't enough bad words in my vocabulary to describe what I think of him! Lousy bastard! He didn't even have the decency to come into the courtroom but instead hid downstairs. Bob took the day off to be there so that he could hear him plead guilty instead he opted out and asked for a continuance through his lawyer...I'm certain he saw us walking in and knew Bob had taken the day off to hear him take the plea and have to say he was guilty. It aggravates the heck out of me. I bet he will keep getting it continued until after Christmas otherwise he won't be able to be around her grandkids during the holidays.

Yeah I am a bit angry.

Fun Times at Stanley's

Last night we went to Lord Stanley's. It was a good time, my brothers came out, some of our friends showed up. I ran out of pictures on my digital and didn't want to delete any of the pics that were already on there so there are only a couple of pics.

I think I'll go for a ride today.....

The last bit of summer sun is calling my name.....

Went out with the bike club this morning. It was gorgeous out. Not too hot, not too cool, not too windy but just enough wind to make us work.

Karen and I broke out early away from the group...we cruised into Kirkland doing 24 miles an hour. We were moving! It was fabulous! Felt good!

On the way home we rode with June and a group of the others who rode a little slower than we had on the way in. Our average speed for the ride was 16.88 mainly because we slowed down a lot on the way back. Point though is that we cruised pretty close to and even over 20 mph almost the whole way to Kirkland which is a 16 mile ride.

So, 32.62 miles this morning...that puts me at 1356.56 miles. Only 143.44 miles to go until I've reached my goal. Tomorrows ride is 40 miles so after tomorrow morning I'll be right around 100 miles to go to hit my goal for the year! WOOHOO!

Great stuff. I'm going out again tomorrow morning for a Birthday ride!

Miles

Forgot to mention in the previous post
I'm at
1324 miles

Only 176 miles to go until I reach this years Goal! WOO HOO!

Another Day...not another dollar

I swear it was a really long day, yet I only logged 8 hours of work. Why? Read the post before this one.

I didn't ride home tonight because it was already dark and I have no light on my bike. I didn't want to be the jerk that gets hit while riding her bike because no one sees her. I almost had that happen the other night when I rode home and one of the Huskie Buses didn't see that I was turning right, he started turning left and almost nailed me! That would have hurt ALOT! I rode into work expecting to get off early...no such luck.

I am riding tomorrow morning, I should probably work (I think I discussed this in an earlier post as well) but I won't. Thus, another day, but no money! When it comes to a choice between working or riding I'd just plain ole rather be on my bike than just about anywhere else.
I think tomorrows ride is 33 miles, we would actually get more in if we rode from DeKalb but that's okay I haven't ridden with the club in a while.

Fun times. Get on those bikes people and ride.....safely!!!

Happy Riding to all!
I'll leave some notes tomorrow.

The Best Laid Plans.....

Really just don't work out the way you think they might.

Today I'm sitting at work looking at the heap of stuff I have to do from having missed 2 days earlier in the week when I get a call from my landlord....the electrician is able to come out this morning or early in the afternoon....can someone be there or does he have permission to come in....

Okay for starters I'm a weirdo and really hate having people in my house if I'm not there...just how I am...too many years of having a wack job for a stepfather who went through everything of mine.
Also, I have these 2 dogs, one who will lick you to death and the other who is really gentle for the most part but won't let any guys walk in the house and might bite someone he doesn't know or run and hide...I haven't tested the whole thing out so I'm not quite sure how he'd react.

So, I get a lift home from one of the kids that was leaving work. I call him to tell him that I'm home...(he had earlier offered to pick me up but I hate having my landlord giving me rides...that's kind of...ghetto. Plus I didn't really want to ride my bike back again just to change clothes then have to ride back...what a pain in the rear.

Okay, So he says do you want to just put the dogs up and I can give you a lift back to work...okay sounds good but there's still my issue with people being in my house when I'm not...so I say no but thanks...

Now, I'm stuck here until the work is done. I still have to go back to work to get stuff done and I'm super short on hours but don't want to tell my landlord this or sound like a huge jerkoff...so here I sit...Hurray...maybe I'll watch Days of Our Lives today since I have nothing else to do until they get here....

Oh, and kudos to my kids for all having made their beds and picked up after themselves this morning. I got home and vacuumed the front room but that was about all the picking up I've had to do...Big Cheers to the kids!

A Good Day....

That's what today was. It was gorgeous outside. Joyce was not at work...she's a little coo key sometimes...a perfectionist who is super nosy about what everyone else is doing. I like her, she just drives me a little nutty sometimes. Particularly when I'm stressing about other stuff.
I actually got a lot accomplished today because I didn't have anyone bothering me.
All the kids went to school. I also rode my bike into work. I love riding...wish I was independently wealthy so that I could just ride all day (yeah I know the first part of that is everyone's dream). Wonder if I could find a job riding my bike around .... I could become a test rider for Trek Bikes or something (any trek people out there..seriously email me I'll send my resume :o)~ .

Okay, So seriously, it was a good day. Quiet, productive, and busy, before I knew it 5 o'clock was there and I took off.

Cassy and I later went to Borders...I could spend SO much money in that place. I love books and I love paper and pens and all that stuff (yeah weird I know).

We stopped on the way home to get cappuccino's ....yummy! Now she's left me to sit on the phone with Lucas....Where is the love? lol!

Okay, that's it for now. I'm in a happy mood, things seem to be settling down a bit and so on and so forth!

The boy on the bike

Yesterday as I was waiting for the bus to drop off the boys, some college kid was riding his bike along the sidewalk. He came across the street and suddenly his back tire went up over his front tire. He did a SUPERMAN in the air landing on his chin and chest. He jumped up running into the street for help. A girl who was driving by had grabbed her phone and called 911. Poor kid, he was probably only 18 or 19. I gave his mother directions to the hospital. I hope he's okay. I called the hospital to tell them that I was putting his bike in my garage.

Bob looked at the bike last night and thinks his chain locked up on him which could have caused the bike to flip.

Oh yeah, and he wasn't wearing a helmet....yeah they look dorky but they can save a lot of trouble....kids entire chin was ripped open. I'm not sure that having a helmet on would have made a difference in this accident, although it makes one think no matter how quick of a stroll you're taking accidents can happen and better to be safe than sorry!

Feeling Good

I'm not sure if I posted or not about getting a treadmill. I picked one up on FreeCycle (really great idea check it out at FreeCycle.org). Anyway, it needed the belt tightened but that was the only problem with it. Well, hubby finally got that done. I got a run in this morning. It was only a mile, and it wasn't a very fast mile but I got it in. It's amazing to me that my legs can get tired after running just a mile but I can bike 100 and still be walking around...crazy huh?

Anyway, I'm really trying to take all this extra weight off. I'd like to be down to 145 again. I look great at 145 and have actually been accused of being too thin at that weight. So, I'll track my progress on here. Having to give everyone updates is more likely to keep me working hard.

So, there it is for now. Thankfully I think everyone is going to school today, and I'm going to be on my bike and heading to work shortly! WOOHOO~

Sunday is my birthday, I'd like to get a good ride in on Sunday Morning. Gonna see if my riding partner wants to take a spin out the back side of Shabbona and put on maybe 50 or 60 miles before I come home for the day. Gotta log those miles on it's starting to get cold and really windy again.

A little more drama to round out my month

The school called shortly after my post earlier today. My son had fallen in the bathroom (floor was wet and he slipped)....hit his head...apparently no one knows if he lost consciousness or not. So, I take him to the Er because while I was on the phone with the nurse I talked to him and he couldn't hear me or quite comprehend what I was saying. I'm like oh good grief. Even the school nurse was like "Um, yeah take him in."

After SEVERAL hours in the ER (the staff at the hospital was WONDERFUL!) and a CAT scan they sent him home telling me to monitor him over night (yeah for sleepless nights). Anyway, fun times...he seems okay though for the most part. Obviously still complaining that his head hurts...which happens when you've been brained!

So, I guess I needed a little more drama. LOL!

Randon thoughts.

Well, as I'm sitting home with a sick kid today (who in the past half hour doesn't seem nearly as sick!). I've been dinking around on the computer, cleaning, planning a nice dinner instead of something I throw together at the last minute and thinking about a few things. So you all are now going to be bored with my random thoughts.

It's almost Halloween time. I need to figure out costumes for the three stooges (Gaven, Brendon and Cody). I also need to figure out what I'm doing as far as decorating since I have an enormous house!

I am only 190 miles away from my goal for the year. Another 190 miles and I've ridden 1500 miles this year. That rocks! Next year I think I'm going to set my goal at 2,000 miles.

I think I'm going to make Chicken Orzo tonight but will have to get to the store to get shrimp...someone seems to have eaten all the shrimp I had in the freezer...probably Cassandra Lynn!

My puppy has to go for her yearly shots in 1 month.

My birthday is only 5 days away. Start sending those cards people! LOL! I can't believe I'm going to be 33. What the heck? When in the world did that happen? I'm pretty sure at 33 the plan had been that I'd be a kick-ass attorney by now putting all the bad guys in jail. Something went wrong somewhere along the way or right depending on how you look at it. I mean, I'm 33 with 4 great kids and a wonderful husband...so what if I don't make a great salary! ; o )

I've come to the conclusion that laundry is the most horrible of household duties which I have to do. I deplore doing laundry, all aspects of it, the washing, drying, carrying it upstairs, folding it, getting it to the right persons room and putting it away. .

Okay that's it for now I should go downstairs and see about cleaning the sliding door windows or some other womanly type duty : P

Furball

Sassy Cassy has a new friend. It's a little grey furball, that is kinda cute...even if I do think cats are evil. There are actually going to be 2 kittens because people think I run a boarding house for animals....Sheesh!

So, here's a pic of Cassy's new kitty Ms. Binx (ever seen the movie Hocus Pocus?)

Okay, will post the pic of the other kitty when I pick it up next Tuesday.

Bus Troubles

As some of you may know from conversations recently, we had a problem on the bus the other day. Another little boy grabbed Brendon by the back of the neck and was choking him. The school and the district really dragged their feet on this. There was even a tape from the bus, that the bus company told me they had on the day it happened. The school didn't review it until 2 days later, that was after trying to tell me that those tapes only run at the districts request etc.
At first they weren't even going to kick this kid off the bus at all....Well, since some of you know me pretty well, I would assume you know I about had a coronary about that. I also received a letter (email) from someone I know in the district who said that the schools have been told by the district to be very careful with punishments to black children in our district unless there is a video tape because there are prominent leaders in our community who would like nothing better than to scream racism. Now this really ticks me off at a couple of levels. 1. My boys were kicked off the bus for 3 days last year for yelling at each other. 2. All of the children should be expected to behave at the same level of expectation, behavior should not be based on the color of your skin or the language you speak. ALL CHILDREN SHOULD BE HELD TO THE SAME LEVEL OF EXPECTATION FOR BEHAVIOR.
I threatened to call the local and/or national media about this. I was livid. Only after I threatened to do that did they (the district people) move their butts into gear and actually view the tape with the school principal and suspend the kid. I have since been told by the district people that I don't have a right to view the tape (Load of crap because I am the parent) plus the transportation liaison informed me prior to the districts assistant superintendent talking to me that I had every right to view the tape.
I am very unhappy with this district, with the lack of expectations, and with the general attitude I was given during this whole thing. Even the police officer that took the report agreed with me that this was a load of crap! Oh, yeah did I mention he was a black police officer.
Now, this little boy who attacked my kid will be back on the bus at some point during the year, so I will have to worry about backlash to my kids, especially since they get on and off at the same bus stop. What a crock. He shouldn't be allowed back on the bus the rest of the school year! Also, he should be put in counseling...any kid at the age of 7 that is grabbing someone by the neck has some serious violent tendencies and needs some help and guidance that he obviously isn't getting at home....especially considering I saw him across the street playing at the park the day after his mother was notified about what happened. I guess her expectations for him are pretty low.
We also know this family and the fact that she didn't come down to our house with him in tow to make him apologize has me very aggravated. This is part of the problem, the attitude of the parents anymore....
So, off my soap box but still unhappy/unsatisfied.

Birthday Wish List

I'm going to post my birthday wish list...which will spill over onto my Christmas Wish List. I'll add to it as I go...since I'm always finding new and interesting things I'd like.

1. Anything Bike Related
2. Gift Card for DeKalb Cyclery
3. Winter Cycling Pants with the butt pad in them...
4. Nice waterproof backpack to take my work clothes with me to work.
5. Computer for my bike that includes cadence.
6. Brand new Orbea bike (any takers?)
7. Small coffee maker for my office
8. pretty pens/stationary
9. Gift Cert. for family pictures at a photography place
10. Winter Cycling Jacket for those cold winter days
11. Cycling gloves with fingers so that my digits stay warm and functional during my rides this winter.
12. aerobars


Okay, that's all for now, I'll add stuff as I find it or remember that I've been wanting it.

Company Picnic and Kite Festival

Yesterday afternoon was Bob's company picnic, we had a blast. The kids got to go in those blow up jump rooms, they had a softball game, Gaven was the only kid that played in that. They had football, beanbag tosses and even prizes for some of the games (for the kids). It was a great time. Good food, got to meet some of the people I hear about daily, always nice to put a face with the name.
We came home and everyone was tired but we watched the Cubs game (I fell asleep on the couch after about the 5th inning). It was a good day!

Today we rode over the the university to watch the Kite Festival. What an awesome site! We rode our bikes over, and so I'm over 1,300 miles this year, I was a little worried once the kites were in site that they might not pay attention to where they were riding and crash, but we managed to safely get the festival.
They had so many kites, huge ones, small ones, cartoon characters, animals, plain kites. It was a really neat thing to watch, we just hung out in the grass watching all of them fly.
On top of that it was FREE! Who can beat that?
We had a great time then rode home and we are waiting for my lasagna to come out of the oven then everyone can have a piece of the banana nut bread I made before they go to bed.
Sass of course bailed on us, Luke obviously is much more important! :o)

Only 202 Miles to go.........

As anyone who's been reading my blogs knows that I ride bikes. If you belong to bikejournal.com and have come here through my link there, you know that my goal this year is to hit 1,500 miles this year.
I was pretty much off my bike for about 3 weeks in August and just got back on the bike last week (logging more than 10 miles a week). So, today I did 33.55 miles with Karen and am now at 1,298.02 miles for the year. It was damn cold this morning. Started riding before it even hit 40 degrees today and when we got home it had just gotten over 50 degrees, strong wind, so it's CHILLY! I degress... So, I'm almost there. I figure if I can even just ride my 9 miles a day 5 days a week I can hit it before I have to stop riding due to the cold.
I wouldn't mind surpassing my goal for the year though. I will not change my "goal" for the year though, everything else will just be bonus so that I can have an overinflated ego for a few months before setting a new goal for the new year.
Speaking of goals for the new year...I got my mileage log from bicycling magazine this morning in the mail HURRAY! That means I can write my goal in there and I now have an "official" biking log other than online....I mean, really what if my computer crashes and I'm unable to log miles for a week or two or longer :( YIKES! So, always good to have a hard copy.

This afternoon I'm on my way to the hubby's company picnic - couldn't have picked a colder day in September if they had planned it that way! Sheesh it's not even 60 degrees today :( What happened to those beautiful warm fall days? BEsides, it's not even fall yet....not until my birthday which is now only 8 days away!

So, for my birthday if you'd like a list of things I'd like to get please email me or maybe I'll post a list on here for everyone to look at..... ;)

Okay going for now might post that list yet today or at least get started on it.

Not much happening

Friday night was the Dekalb Vs. Sycamore game...DeKalb won after a 7 year dry spell! This was exciting.

Saturday I picked up my new treadmill so I can run in the mornings before the kids wake up. In the evening Bob and I went to the race track...kinda cool- 50 laps with the Super Late Models on the big track...and The Hudson Hornet was there (think of the movie Cars).

Sunday I made tacos at noon and we watched football all day. In the evening Bob took the running boards off my Suburban...it looks like a real truck now :o)~

That was my exciting weekend!

Pictures and explanations

Twins Birthday Cake

Birthday Pirates Aren't they handsome?

Vivan with her bandaged leg following the accident...Gaven added the eye patch to go with the pirate theme for the party!

Cody getting ready to jump in and make a splash!

Brendon doing the backstroke at mom's pool.

Gaven and Austin mid-air getting ready to make a splash!

So it's been a while

So, it's been a little while since I've written. It's been really busy! I went on vacation, school started back up, my hours at work changed, my puppy was hit by a car, Brendon and Cody had their 7th birthday, I got a horrible infection from getting too many mosquito bites and ended up having to have a wound on my back packed (extremely painful...I don't recommend delaying seeing a doctor for things like this) and well, it's just been crazy!

I guess I'll start from the top and work my way to the most recent events.

1. Vacation.....was wonderful, the kids and I hung out, went swimming, played games, sat around, took naps...yeah it was great...hated having to go back to work.

2. School started back up.....Cassy is a sophmore.....when did my baby grow up? Gaven is in 4th grade and Brendon and Cody are in 2nd grade. The three boys are all going to the same school thankfully!
With school starting up comes football season which means we have a game every Friday night since Marching band plays at the football games.
With school starting I also switched my hours so that I can get to work later than I was and leave so that I get home around or shortly after the kids, and I'm back to working most Saturday's.

3. Vivian, my sweet little puppy was hit by a car. Our friends were staying with us because of all the flooding in our area...the kids were running in and out of the house and of course one of the dogs got out...it was the same day the kids were moving back into town so it was busy and she was hit. Her back leg was broken. It was a very insane day. We couldn't find an open Vet. office, ended up in Aurora, where those people were horrible. I do not recommend going to the Aurora Animal Hospital ever....they are rude! They don't give a damn about your animal only about money....I was cleaning when it happened and ran outside in my too big shorts and tank top with keys in hand to take her to get some help. They wanted me to pay $200.00 before they would even look at her...fine we pay the $200.00. They then inform me that now she needs x-rays, and in order to do that I have to pay $1300.00 up front! Um...do you have that kind of money around? I don't. When I told them I was taking her to another Vet (a girl I work with gave me her vets number and he told me to bring my dog in and he'd let me make payments on the bill) they brought Vivian out to us and SHOVED her at my daughter...her broken leg ramming into my daughters chest....They are horrible there!
So, the vet sees her and it's a Compound Spiral fracture to the bone between her knee and ankle....will cost about $2000.00 to fix....he sets up for the surgeon that repairs things like this to see her and works out the financing of it for us. Great guy! I will be taking all my animals to him as long as I live in this area! He actually gives a darn about the people and the animals! Very nice guy...need a vet? Email me I'll give you his name and number!
Vivian has had surgery and is recovering nicely, she goes back again on Tuesday to check on her. She seems to be doing well.

4. Brendon and Cody turned 7 the day after Vivian was hit by the car. I had been in the house cleaning when the accident happened. Needless to say on Sunday I was running around like a maniac trying to get everything ready. I didn't make the pirate ship cakes I had planned on making but the whole party was a blast, everyone had fun, and it all went well. We had a good turn out! The boys were thrilled with their gifts and that their cousins were there to hang out with them.
They especially loved the bubble thing that Steve and Jen's kids got them and the bikes that Bob and I got them.

It was awesome to see them so happy and excited. We had a treasure hunt, they had to find the clues around the neighborhood at some of the different neighbors homes, the neighbors were a great help, Michael was really funny and told them when they rang his bell that it was too early for trick or treating! Anyway they found the treasure chest in the backyard by the well filled with smaller treasure boxes filled with temporary tattoo's, candy necklaces, candy, and other such things.

It was a fun filled day and after the party we grilled hot dogs and brats for mom, Aunt Hilda and Uncle Jim. We had a good evening and a nice visit with the family.

5. The infection. I am, apparently, allergic to mosquitoes. A couple of bites I can handle but after too many my body rebels and I got a pretty bad infection. I am on antibiotics and have to have the wound in my back packed daily to help it heal...kinda sucks!

This has been life for the past several weeks.

Last night I was able to get on my bike and take a nice longer ride with Karen, it was the first ride that was over 10 miles in a few weeks. It was nice! I enjoyed it alot!

Next post will be pictures of current events in the family~!