Happy Halloween!

Okay, the first pic is of my daughter...who has her drivers license...this actually happened yesterday but I did not post yesterday so thought it still deserved a spot in today's post.

The next two are of my 3 boys - The Dead Doctor (see patch of blood over heart), Indiana Jones (notice whip which I did make myself!) and The Grim Reaper.
They are out trick or treating now - I'm hurting and walking was actually going to be a bit of a problem so of course my daughter offered herself up as the martyr tonight...so she's driving them out to my mom's subdivision so she can see them.

Something I came across

This really does speak volumes and if people don't think so they have been so desensitized to everything that attempting to talk to them is probably a waste of time.

I have friends who have had abortions and have struggled afterwards - one even attempted to commit suicide years later. I don't think it's a decision that most people make without a great deal of struggle...I do however still think it is wrong. I don't look down on those who have had them - I simply pray for them.

Murder is murder - we charge a person who killed a woman and her unborn child with 2 counts of murder - yet we allow the women to kill their own children...what kind of screwed up b.s. is that?

Spooky Science

A few pics from our really fun trip to the Physics Lab at N.I.U. today!

Brendon trying to blow out the candle with the vortex maker thing.

The 3 boys with a top. Funny how things we played with as kids are so fascinating to our kids now. They would have hung out and kept playing with it all day long.

Cody with the Sphere.

Gaven holding on and frizzing out. That boy needs a hair cut in a bad way. Too bad he saw a pic of dear hubby when he was in high school with hair down to his butt! He's now on a mission to be like his dad!

Brendon getting frizzed out lol. I love how his bangs in the middle are still flat heehee!

The 3 of them, Cody, Brendon and Gaven (l-r), following our trip through Faraday Hall.

Gaven with his green slime....I mean pulling that enormous booger out of his nose. heehee!

Website...

So, I was off looking at Tara's website (I've mentioned her before, Tara Llanes, mountain biker who crashed, broke her back, is paralyzed but is working her ass off to walk again) she was recently in the UK and one of her pics had this pic that said bizpain.com, it looked interesting so I checked it out.

You should absolutely check out the October 15th entry about Why the chicken crossed the road...heck check out all the entries...some are fun - some are a little more serious - either way it's a site worth a 'look see' as my family in the deep south would say! Here's a link to the website: http://www.bizpain.com/

Also if you have not done so before and would like to, here is a link to Tara's site as well: http://www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com/
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No riding to speak of today - I'm at home with the kids - Cassy and Zac are heading to the Brookfield Zoo and later the boys and I will walk up to check out Spooky Science at the NIU Science Hall. http://www.niu.edu/news/features/fall08/haunted/index.shtml
Will try to remember to take phone and camera so that I can upload pics of the boys having a blast.

Ride safe!

Summer lovin - had me a blast.

Well, summer is gone - and the Indian Summer seems to have gone by the way side as well, the first good frost was on the ground this morning. It was darn cold out there.

It got up to about 51 today (so they say - I didn't think it felt that warm). I did good today though - I layered well, and the only thing that was cold besides my toes were my cheeks. Not even very cold - just you know, aware of the temps.

I did see several people on bikes this afternoon when I left work. One lady had a really nice set of Panniers on her bike...they looked very nice anyway, I didn't get to spend a lot of time looking at them as the two of us were heading in opposite directions. It seems that people are out trying to get those last few miles in while the weather is still nice enough to be on the bikes.

I left work and headed out to the Salvation Army- it was pretty busy in there. I was searching for the final items for the boys' Halloween Costumes. It was a good day in the Salvation Army - I managed to find a set of scrubs for Gaven's 'dead doctor' costume, black pants and shirt to go under the 'grim reaper' robe for Brendon and khaki pants, khaki shirt and a hat for Cody's 'Indiana Jones' costume. I was pretty proud of myself! I also found a nice Columbia winter coat for the boys - we have several jackets but one of the jackets is a bit tight in the shoulders for them so problem solved for the cheap price of $5.00.

Anyway, went to Wal-mart this evening and got my metformin refilled. While we were there I ran into Chanel and talked to her for a while, later as I was heading for the register I ran into Brett. Amazing the people we run into while in the Wal-mart shopping.

With the falling temps I gave in and turned on the heater tonight. I got home and I was COLD! I mean downright freezing cold. So, I gave in - Cassy is very happy about that. I had really been hoping to get to November 1st but no luck!

Well, I'm headed to bed. Thinking I'll do the yoga tape again in the morning - I really like it and am getting damned good at the walking stick pose :)

Ride safe!

A weekend on the bike...

Sort of ...

Friday I got home from work late as I decided to stay long enough to make my full time hours without needing to work Saturday!

Saturday - Bob and I woke up - mid morning and jumped on our bikes. We rode around town, stopped by the bike shop, ran some errands, rode around etc. We even picked up groceries with my grocery getting stroller attached to the back of the Wingra.

Sunday we didn't really ride - but we did have a super day - I cooked a huge breakfast - then baked banana bread, later made taco's ...

It was a really nice weekend - totally relaxing and stress free.

As a side note - the damn squirrels really are suicidal!

Ride Safe!

The Book of Job....

Throughout my life I have always disliked the Book of Job. I know and have always been aware of what it was really about - the depth of the meaning behind the book. I'm not a total imbecile - I just always had a hard time with parts of it.

Particularly the part where in Chapter 1 verses 6 - 12 it discusses how Satan goes to God and they basically sit down and discuss Job and his life and almost seem to have a bet going with each other about whether or not Satan would be able to make Job turn from God - indeed even curse the name of God.

This was always a big hang up for me. I mean - I used to think about it in terms of ... 'Wow, are we all just pawns in some game?'

So, it became a book in the Bible that I just kind of avoided for years.

Today as I was working on the lesson for tomorrow nights class and next weeks class (yes, sometimes I work on one even when the other isn't quite finished yet...)anyway, last week we discussed prayer, this week we are discussing The Mass, and next week we are discussing Images of God.

One thing kind of ties into another and I was reading something written by Tom Rutkowski (one of his editorials) titled THANKING GOD IN ALL THINGS...and I was reading an article by a priest that discusses how our ideas of who God is change as we mature etc...anyway, suddenly it was like I was kicked in the butt and my resistance to the Book of Job was totally gone. It hit me that it really doesn't matter how or why a situation happens - suffering is suffering - but staying faithful is what matters. Not the hows and the whys of the suffering but the how we stay faithful in times of suffering and adversary...

Okay you may be thinking, as my husband who isn't terribly religious told me, that I'm a flippin idiot for having had this hang up for so long. Yet I did...

I guess today I had a spiritual kick in the butt - or enlightenment to say it nicer.

I suppose it was good timing considering the topic I will be teaching next week.

Safe riding everyone - the Indian Summer is almost finished - or so it seems - today was rainy and cold. Hopefully we will have some more nice weekends.

Petting Zoo...

Today we had a petting zoo at work. It was really great. The kids had a blast. So, here are some of the pics from the event. I was appalled that my boys were enjoying the rodents so greatly! I took the pictures but jumped about 20 feet backwards when any of them wanted to hand off the little rodents to me. I'm perfectly happy to let them live in nature - without ever needing to touch them! :o)

A few pics from the weekend.

A few pics from the weekend. First pic is David and I out riding. We were on his new Fat Bob Harley Davidson. Beautiful bike - so much fun. That was actually Saturday - we went riding for about 2 hours. Afterwards Bob and I went to David and Theresa's for dinner and had drinks and steak!

The other pic is from Friday night - at Chanel's. Fun times.

Thank Goodness it's Friday.

Another Friday has rolled around. Thank goodness! The last 2 months have been very hectic.

Class went really well last night. The kids actually seemed to love the guided meditation. I was thrilled that they did because I think they are awesome.

I have to decorate for Halloween this weekend. I also have to clean house...good grief. If I'm not home for one single day it seems like things become a massive disaster.

I also want to work on getting some of the projects I have planned as Christmas presents started.

So, that's the plan. Well, not really a plan I suppose...just a list of what I'd like to accomplish.

Karen wants to ride to the Apple Orchard tomorrow -for apple cider donuts. I'm going to try to work late today and maybe avoid having to work Saturday - we'll see how that goes!

Ride Safe!

Insane Squirrels

The only interesting thing this week was riding home in the rain yesterday. I was soaking wet within a mile of the office. Thankfully it wasn't terribly cold - at least not until I got home and was trying to unpack my bag to see if anything I had was wet...then I began to shiver...so off to the shower which felt wonderful. The interesting part of the ride - you may be wondering- was riding through Hopkin's Park and having a squirrel run out in front of me, dart back (which is the way I had turned my wheel to avoid an accident) and then run back again...quite interesting considering I was on that downhill section that you can get going pretty fast on...and in the rain it's probably a better idea to be on the brakes - but well, you know me, I like the speed. I did see someone on a cross bike riding the cross trail.
John and I discussed the whole cross thing again this morning. My fear is busting my backside during a fall. Okay, this is a fear I've always had - the idea of being laid up with an injury scares the hell out of me! Especially with cold weather approaching since we all know I do enjoy the comfort foods and lots of chili with onions, cheese and sour cream on Sunday's during the football games. However, the more I consider riding cross the more the idea appeals to me. I mean really, it's not that I'm afraid of scaring my body - have you seen my body - it's riddled with scares - most of which I'm pretty proud of. So, I guess it's just this irrational fear I have. I say it's irrational because there are other ways to fall, besides riding cross, which I participate in all the time; such as riding my bike year around - down major roads when there is snow and even ice on the ground...that's beyond busting your rear end - that's busting your head on the pavement and having a car run over your precious cabeca - which usually leads to severe brain injury or death...
Thus, it would probably be more rational to fear that kind of accident yet my fear is going downhill on a cross track and falling...DUH!

John also mentioned that he might sell his cross bike - which is a fixie - which is totally what Bob wants for about $600.00. I know I'm always complaining about money issues- but when it comes to bikes I can usually justify a purchase...Just ask Tobie! lol.

Other than that there isn't a lot to tell. I've made the transition over to Facebook, which I spend way more time on now than I do myspace. My space is very --- high school based where as Facebook seems to be ...well...no offense myspace people but it's just a more mature site.

All right - I'm off to finish getting ready for the ride into work. Taking the Trek Road bike....I've got lots of running around to do after work today and I'd like to be on the faster bike - it's just more expedient.

Ride safe my friends and beware of squirrels!

Cold weather regimine

3 days into October and I'm freezing. I actually decided against going to the football game because I just could not get warm today. The temperature around here has gone from shorts and t-shirts a week ago to long pants and long shirts with a sweatshirt or jacket in order to stay warm. On the bike this means gloves and a hat as well! Even my poor feet were cold this morning during the commute.

I suppose I should be used to this considering I have lived in Illinois most of my life...however, I keep forgetting just how cold it really does get and how quickly - only to be reminded once fall has hit.

So, the need for extra blankets has me considering what to do to keep the 30 lbs I have dropped off. I really don't want to go to my dear doctor in a few months only to be told that I'm fat! Therefore I need to seriously figure out what kind of workout regimine I am going to follow this fall/winter/spring. Don't you love Illinois weather? I mean truly we are stuck inside most of the year if we dislike the cold!

This morning I rolled out of bed at 5:30 a.m. about 15 minutes later than originally planned...because honestly - it was warm under all those blankets and I really didn't want to be cold! So, I took all the clothes hanging over the arm bars on the treadmill and put them over the ottoman. I also took the box of halloween decorations off the pad so that I could run. I ran...and felt like I had run a marathon after only logging 1 mile! When I finally climbed off I had rubber legs...very sad...considering I really didn't go that far. I hit the floor and did 100 crunches to follow up the run - hoping that the pain I would feel in my stomach muscles for the rest of the day would keep me from putting anything that would contribute to calorie intake into my mouth. I don't know whether that logic worked itself out for me today but I do know that it felt good to run...at least until I had jumped on the bike and was trudging up the hill on 1st street at a considerably slower speed than normal because my legs were protesting the extra effort.

By the time I left work my legs still felt a bit tired but I did better. I gave a slight bit of thought to perhaps going to the gym and hitting the pool as well (because for a moment I considered participating in a triathlon...I may have mentioned this before). I often think I'd like to do one...I know however that even if my running and biking are on par my swimming will never be...I'm just not a fast swimmer. So, I usually entertain the idea for a short period of time before laughing at myself and then letting that idea go.

Well, I'm tired and think I will hit my bed. I'm cleaning tomorrow - that's the extent of my plans for tomorrow.

Ride Safe and stay warm!