As the sun sets on 2005

The sun is slowly going down and the shadows are getting longer. How do you say goodby to a good year? I guess by saying hello to a better one!

Here's a recap of 2005:
Tyler graduated.
We got a puppy.
I rode around the state of Arkansas on a bicycle.
I rode over 5,300 miles this year.
I lost weight (but gained some back when daylight savings time changed)
I rode in Austin, Tx with Lance Armstrong (well, he was there.)
I moved into a new office.
We got a new fence for the backyard.
We went to Denver.
Terri lost weight.
The Bears won the 5a State championship in Baseball.
I quit me second job on the weekends last April. I miss the money.
Terri and I celebrated our 24th anniversary.
Barbrie and Tim moved in with Mom and Dad to take care of them.
Britney is going to have a baby.
Lindsey and Joe got married.
Jim moved to Austin, Texas (Marbel Falls)
Melissa raised more money than anyone else for the hospital during my bike ride.


I'm sure there are a million other things I can't think of off the top of my head.
Some things I'd like to do in 2006:
I used to make a list of 100-and-whatever the year was list of things to do. Some very simple and some required courage or whatever. I think I'd like to do a list for '06. There will be 106 things on the list. Man, where do I start? Oh, it will probably start with "Brush your teeth." I'm a list maker anyway and one thing I know for sure is that if you have a couple of simple things on your list at least you can mark them off quick and feel you accomplished something.

If you are reading this, I wish you and your friends and family a banner new year.
Love, laugh and live!

Now this is a winter!

I think we have hit warm weather records for the past couple of days. It's been really nice outside. Yesterday it was 78 in south Ark! I was really hoping to get a night ride in tonight but opted to take a nother couple days to be sure this cold is gone. Still fighting the sinus part of it. There are so many folks I know that are sick with colds right now. Terri doesn't seem to have it as bad but I can tell it's worn her out from working with it today.

Tyler worked on his demo DVD today and got a little skateboarding in. He was doing a double kick flip or something like that and broke the tail off the board.

Emmy and Sean are out running around.

Not really much going on today. Just your basic Wednesday.

Carve!

I think everyone is still on vacation this week. I've only had a few calls and have pretty much gotten caught up with my work. I'm hoping that the rest of the week will be like this and I can get a lot of stuff done that I've put off.

We are having a very warm day. I would love to be outside riding but the cold is still messing with me a little. Terri seems to be getting it. I hope not! Several folks have told me about weither themselves or someone in their family that has a cold and all use the term 2-3 weeks. I've been off my bike since Mid-December. I can't stay off much longer.

Speaking of bike. I got my Carve membership and uniform today at lunch! I'm excited! I was asked if I was going to race. I laid low and said no just so I can work behind the scenes getting ready. I am going to try to raod race this season. No crits! Just not ready for those!

Well, back to work

Back on!

YES!!! We are back on line! I'll be updating regularly again thanks to the new HP Pavilion we got for Christmas! Actually I bought the family a Christmas gift because none of us could live without a home computer much longer.

Well here's what has happened since Denver... Tyler did graduate and he and Shalyn rode back to Arkansas with us. We dropped the girls off at the airport and then picked Tyler and Shalyn up and headed towards home. The snow was very light but as the sun went down and I couldn't see out across the plains I had no idea what was out there. At one point just before we got to Limon, CO an area with strong wind we crossed. It wasn't snowing but it was heavy blowing snow. I was worried but lucky for us it didn't last long. The rest of the trip to Salina, KS was boring. So boring that I caught myself trying to fall asleep. I finally pulled off and traded with Terri and she drove the last 50 miles to Salina.

The next morning we get going and the strangest thing happened. I was feeling fine then I had to cough. When I did, it felt as though I was trying to cough with barbed wire in my throat. It hurt like a big dog. Sad to say, it was down hill from there. We arrived back in Sherwood at about 4pm on Monday and I felt bad. Went on to work and it just kept getting worse. Terri and I met Gary and Lisa at Trans Sirberian concert and it took everything for me to make it through. It was a great show but I felt like crap!

Finally, Thursday afternoon came and it was time to go home for the long weekend. I felt like I could barely crawl to the car. I figured if I went home and got some rest then Friday morning I could run out and so my Chirstmas shopping. That didn't happen. Finally on Saturday morning I got out and knocked it out as fast as I could and then we had Chistmas Eve brunch at Gene and Betty's and I was feeling rough by then. I kept thinking, how am I going to be come dinner time when all of Terri's family is at our house? I slept all afternoon and into the evening. It hurt really bad just to try and talk so I sat there and smiled. Probably looked pretty funny.

Christmas morning was rough and I didn't even go to my family's Christmas. I slept most of the day. I've never missed a Christmas! And man, I hope I don't ever miss another!

I woke this morning feeling better and as the day wore on I began to realize it might be over. There were dizzy spells at times but those had gone away now.

Being sick sort of blew the whole holiday but there will be others. When I was feeling bad and was home alone it did give me a lot of time to think. I have decided not to pursue the fundraiser ride for the hospital this summer. I thought long and hard and it took so much time and personal money to train and then complete the ride. This summer my family is going to Destin for a week around the 4th of July and I'd like to got do that since I missed so much family functions of the past year. This is not to say that I won't be riding my bike. Trust me, as the holiday's conclude next week, it will be time to get serious again.

One of the things I did for Christmas was ask that any gifts be giftcards from Chainwheel bike shop. I can cash them in for my Carve membership. I have wanted to be a part of their club for sometime now and have been invitied to do so but there is still a membership fee. I'm hoping to go over there tomorrow and get the paperwork completed.

This blog is sort of "me" tonight and I'll write better tomorrow as in not so much about me. Sort comes off looking selfish!

Still snowing in Denver

Copied from News9 Denver website:

DENVER - It will be a weekend filled with frigid temperatures and snowy weather for much of Colorado.
9News Meteorologist Marty Coniglio says a surge of cold air has moved into Colorado from the north, and with it comes some snow.
Highs along the Front Range will barely reach 20 degrees Saturday, and lows will be in the single digits. About an inch of snow will accumulate during the day, with an additional inch or two falling overnight.
The northern mountains are likely to get anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of fine powder. The snow will accumulate over a 24-hour period, so no Winter Weather Advisories are expected.
Sunday will see much of the same weather, with more light snow and continued bitter cold.
Temperatures finally move above freezing Monday, and even warmer weather moves in by midweek.
*************************************************************************************


It's still snowing in Denver but this town doesn't slow down! We went out to a huge mall (Colorado Mills) and there is every store you can think of in there. And if it's not in the mall it's in on of the stores surrounding it. It was crowded but we lucked out and got a spot close to the door within minutes of pulling in the parking lot. Now that was luck! Tyler and I broke off from the girls and wet to a place called Julllians which is a game and food hangout. It's like Morgan's in the Destin Mall.

Terri and I spent the morning in Barnes and Noble next door reading and flipping through magazines. I forget how much I enjoy going to bookstores.

We got off to a late start since the girls and Tyler had not had much sleep due to test and stuff. We let them all sleep in. After we shopped we all went to Tyler's and made chili and hung out. Tyler has always had trouble with mice since he lives over the top of a garage and lo and behold one decided to run across the floor and over Melissa's (Emily's friend) foot! It was funny. I met Tyler's friend Jay who lives in the 3rd floor of the main house and talked to Tristian for a little bit out in the driveway. They seem to be good guys.

We got back to the hotel about 7 and it seemed like it was a lot later. Tyler and the girls went down the road to Target and I walked across the street to a sports store that just happened to close at 7?! So there was a Wild Oats right next to it and I walked through there looking at all the organic foods. Those places are always so neat to go in but so pricey. The squash looked out of this world at 2.29 a pound. I would pay that for some of Terri's great fried squash.

I woke up at 4:30 and with the snow on the ground it looked as if it were morning so I got up. I stroked out when I realized I was up that early so I went back to bed and woke up again a little after six. Went ahead and got up since I knew I could go downstairs and eat breakfast and let the others sleep.

OK, I just went to News9 website and what do we have out here as a story? "Little Rock man steals flowers from gravesites" For crying out loud?!

We've changed our plans a little and will leave Denver after we drop the girls off at the airport about4. We plan to drive until about 11 or so and stay at Hampton Inn in Salina and then just have a 8 hour drive home tomorrow. We should be home by the time Emmy gets out of school. I just checked the road conditions for Kansas and it looks ok for driving. Will be slower than the 80 miles per hour we drove out here in, that's for sure!

Denver

I looked and hadn't realized that I've not made a single entry into the blog in 15 days! I've been that busy at work and without a computer at home I just don't have the time to write. I'm sitting here in the Hampton Inn in Denver the day after Tyler's graduation. HE MADE IT!!! I'm really proud of him and his senior exhibit was great and shows a lot of creativity.

Terri and I drove for 14 straight hours with very little stopping to get from our house to Tyler's. We had good weather for driving, a bit windy, but pretty. At one time I was going down the interstate and the cars in our little herd kept getting faster and faster until I looked down and we were traveling at 90 mph! I pulled out and said so long. It was crazy.

One of the coolest things (cool because it was short and sweet) was as we were driving into Salina there was a cloud and it was a version of a mini downpour but it was snow. For about 2 minutes it was snowing and you could see it going across the field. I've heard the freak snowstorms come out of no where and leave folks stranded all the time. I just hope that doesn't happen on the way home.

We ate at Hard Rock cafe yesterday between the senior show and graduation. It was a neat place. Over priced but fun to see. A glass of coke got knocked over on the table then at dinner the waitress at Chili's broke a glass sending my drink all over my lap. 2 meals, 2 drinks, 2 spills.

Not sure of the plans for today but I hope it's something fun. We talked about going to the mountains but it's snowing pretty good right now. They are saying 1-2 inches so not sure if we are going up there or not.

Sean is staying at our house with Sadie. Sounds like she is doing fine. She grew legs and it's funny to remember what she looked like as a 6 week old pup verses a 12 week old pup. We are having a new fence put in so she can go out and play without one of us standing out there worried that she'll run around to the front. She's already ran away from Terri and out to the street. We just have to stay between her and the front yard.

I've been torn between riding a big tour again this summer or going to Destin with my side of the family. I really like the idea of another tour and if I do then it's 200 miles more than last year and will start at the Canadian border and end in Little Rock. I can stay on Highway 71 all the way to Fort Smith! One road almost the whole way? But then I'm beginning to have second thoughts. I really missed a lot last year training day in and day out for the ride. I've not spent much time with my side of the family in a while and that might be something I need to do. Am I trying to talk myself out of the tour? Maybe.....

Little dog and life

Sadie under the Christmas tree

It's Monday and I'm finishing up lunch and wanted to get another photo of Sadie out there for you. The pup has certainly come to life! Today was the first day that we have had to leave her alone for more than a couple of hours. She is actually alone for 4 hours this afternoon. She was supposed to be in her crate until she gets completely housebroken but the child gate was up and she was in the kitchen and had an accident. Ugh! I suspect that Emily just couldn't put her in the crate but when I before coming back from lunch I sat it in front of the TV and turned on Animal Planet.

Storm came through Arkansas last night and several tornados came through. It was wicked.

Well, it's back to work...

Crazy Friday

It's early morning the Friday after Thanksgiving and the house is quite. Terri has slipped out to join the frenzy of shopping. The big thing that my family talked about yesterday at my parents house was some 4 dollar food chopper. Ok we'll get one and it will be in the attic by Easter. HA! This shopping day seems a lot like Race for the Cure with teeth.

We took Sadie to my folks house so she could meet the family. I don't think she ever got to walk. My mom cuddled her like a grandchild and of course Sadie fell fast asleep. She was a live wire all the way home! One of the funny things she seems to have discovered is her tail. Around and around she goes. Bless her heart I don't think she has understood yet that it's attached to her.

Our house was a revolving door of high school and college kids last night. It's fun to have so many kids hanging out at our house and feeling comfortable enough to not care if Terri and I are in the room. They all treat Terri like a mom. It's fun to watch the giants come through the door and cut up.

We played a board game at my parents yesterday called Loaded Questions. It's a blast! We had two teams (Emily, Shannon, Barbie and Cathy) vs. (Terri, myself, Lindsey and Joe). You have the cards that are color coded and ask the other theams these really wild sometimes very truthful questions and the other team tries to pick who gave what answer. One of the questions was , "If you were a westler, what would your stage name be?" Barbie got so tickled that she had taken a drink and then started laughing and water came out her nose. Other questions were things like lifelong dream, favorite body part, most expensive thing your ever stolen, how many contries you've traveled.... great game! We'll go buy one.

Well, I need to make some coffee and make my list of things to do today and one will be ride my bike even though it's only ggoing to get to 52 degrees this afternoon. I know LSU plays the Hogs but I already know the outcome (I hope I'm wrong) but I have too much to do to spend it on the sofa.

By the way, next year Terri and I are hoping to spend our 25th anniversary at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I can't believe that Sunday is our 24th anniversary. How time flies when you're having fun!

9:25pm update ---
It's been a fun day and the tree is up but not decorated. I've got to find the light that's loose on one of the strands. And I didn't have the right stapes in the staple gun for part of the outside so everything is sort of half done.

I did manage to even get in a fifty miler this afternoon. Felt great to be out in the cool air and enjoying the beauty if a late fall day. There were several guys and girls out. I saw several families out too but something tells me they didn't ride to long due to the temperature and the wind coming off the water. I was really hoping to hit the 6,000 mile mark for the year but it's looking a little slim. I'll get close though!

Sadie had her first accident in the house today but I caught her just as she started so not much damage. We are supposed to go to Petsmart tomorrow at 4 to learn about potty training. The dog doesn't get to go.

Once again we have a house full of kids and tonight it's loud!!!! So I guess you can figure out why I'm back in the bedroom writing on my blog?

Hey Y'all! Meet Sadie!!!!

Sadie in the front yard! One happy camper!

What a fun day it's been! For starters I wore blue jeans to the office which I've not done since last year's snow storm. Since I was just there until 11 this morning and most folks were gone I figured who would care.

I stopped by and picked up Emily at the house and we went to Bryant to get the puppy I had seen and talked to the lady about. We got there and the pups were great looking yellow labs. Beautiful pups but nor what we were looking for. We also saw a chocolate lab that was a about 4 months old but looked as though it was mixed with something else.

So we go to the animal services in Little Rock and we walked in and the first pen had the perfect little pup that looked like the photo's of the dog we really went to get. What are the chances? The pup had already been sterilized so she was ready to go. Emily's eyes lit up and she had this huge smile and then gave me the nod. We took Sadie outside and the pup came to life. Sadie and Em bonded in record time. It was great to watch. After a year of asking, Em finally got her puppy. She passed on the real registered Golden Retreivers and saved one from the pound instead. This pup is actually part chow so it will have an even fuller coat.

Next stop was Petsmart for food, dog wash, toys, a leash, a collar, a friendly store clerk that told me everything there is to know about classes there. Everyone in the store looked our way and smiled. They all wanted to know her name but we hadn't figured it out at that point.

We got home and got the little girl washed up and as we were drying her she fell asleep. Big day for the little pup. She slept in Em's lap for a while then woke ready to play. We took her outside and she whizzed and you would have thought she had performed a miracle! Em and I cheered and clapped. HA! I hope my neighbors were watching so they could have a good laugh!

The rest of the evening has been fun playing with her and laughing. She basically looks like the lint you clean out of the dryer trap with legs and a face.

I put more photos out there tomorrow.

We spoke to Tyler tonight. He's doing great, tired from work and school but great. Said someone ordered 60 pot pies from his store (Boston Market). He will be having dinner with the Minton's tomorrow. I'm ready to see the kiddo!

(Tyler, if you're reading this, how was the burrito? HA!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A dog????

Might have one of these little pups this afternoon!!!

How can one work when there's a possiblity of going to get a puppy today? It's been a while since we've had one but when we went to Lee and Connie's house Sunday night and saw Max, their Golden Retreiver, then I knew it was time to get serious. Of course Em has been wanting one for a year now. So we're going to look around today.

I'll update tonight....

Scenes from an afternoon ride

First off, Tyler is graduating! He's just been super busy finishing up everything and working. It didn't help that he got his phone turned off but everything is fine.

Ok, scenes from an afternoon ride:
No where else in Arkansas can you find a more diverse grouping than that of the river path on a Sunday afternoon. The are all sorts of walkers. There a runners. There are roller bladers. There are skateboard folks hanging at the skatepark. There is a midevil battal being played out in a field. There are family bike groups, mountain bike groups and road bike groups. There is a couple of awesome trick bike guys in a parking lot doing tricks on BMX style bikes that is worthy of a magazine spread. Yep, they are that good! There was a rugby game in full swing as well as soccer. It was one of the best afternoons out of the path I've had in a long time!

Phil spoke of changes in the church this morning. I'll make this short but I'm ready for a change. I'm hoping we will start looking at other churches just to see how we feel. I want to visit First Assembly and Fellowship North. Just thinking out loud...

The Thanksgiving holiday is coming fast! This is just a 3 day workweek ahead and I'm thrilled! I saw the list of employees out this week and it's a mile long! Maybe it will be quite for a few days and I can get a lot done.

We are looking for a dog (again). We just got back from Lee and Connies and they have a 9 month old golden retrever and Max is the sweetest dog I been around in a long time.

Tomorrow is Terri's birthday. It'll be fun!

The list just keeps getting longer

Ya ever had one of those upcoming weekends where your do list just keeps getting longer and longer? Mine is now about an arm length long and there's NO bike time listed. Now how crappy is that?

This is what I call "attic weekend". The summer stuff goes up and the winter stuff comes down and there's the beg and plead of Terri and Emily to bring down the Christmas stuff but leave it in the garage until next weekend. Y'all, guess who has to park their car out on the driveway during the holidays? Yup, you bet cha! I do! But the fun part is that on really cold morning you can scrape messages one your back window. Of course it melts within minutes when I punch the rear window defroster button.

Terri was at a board meeting yesterday so Emily and I went to a new restaurant called Firefall Grill. It's really good! It's one of those wood smoked food joints. It was so much food I couldn't even eat all of mine. Then we went over to Pier One for a dad/daughter shopping trip. We always cut up and laugh when we get out. And we didn't even buy anything.

We haven't heard from Tyler this week and it has us on nerves. He's phone we turned off (typical college kid stuff...). We'll probably talk to him this weekend. He was having some concerns about graduating and his classes so now you know why we are stressed. He was sick at the first of this quarter and missed some internship days so he needs to make them up. Got to have 90 hours done by 12/17.

Big weekend for high school football. Benton will play Springdale tonight. Springdale destroys everything in site so maybe Benton came stop this train!

Emily and I watched Christmas with the Kranks last night. There was a part missing on the dvd version of the movie. It wasn't a big part but a funny one where they are calling friends and trying to get them to come to the party and everyone's saying no. If you haven't read John Grisham's Skipping Christmas then get it and start reading it on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That's when the book starts. It's a really funny book!

Well back to work then home for the weekend! The Attic weekend! HA!

Mid week madness

Remeber yesterday I was talking about Joe Kurmaskie? Here's a copied photo from the Men's Journal website. It's a great article!


Sooo cold! That's all I can say! There is a ride tonight but I'm completely wimping out of this one. Once I used to the cold then I'll get out there but this first blast is wicked! I think a fire in the fireplace is on for tonight.

I do plan to return to some sort of fitness center schdeule this afternoon after work. Got to do that core training that I was good at then quite during the late summer. My fitness and bike riding attitude has seem to be on a low right now. I think I need to plan some insane rides for next year and committ to them so I'll have to train. I think it's all a mental game with me.

And my eating habits... oh man, now that just ain't right! There's a lot going on that has me stressed and I asked Terri to pick up a pack of cream horns last night when she went to the store and I downed 2 of them plus chips!! I'm going to explode if I don't stop eating like I'm riding 40 miles a day still.

I'm ready for the weekend. Oh by the way, my nephew Jim is coming in from Texas with his family for the Thanksgiving holiday. They will all be heading to Rogers where my neice lives for the holiday. It's funny he hasn't said much about Arkansas in a while (he bleeds orange now ya know!) but this weekend is high school show down and he is blogging "Arkansas" stuff. There will be state troopers at the state line wearing hog hats and awaiting his arrival no doubt! HA!

The cold front arrived at 1:48 pm

I know it's a strange name for my blog today but at 1:47 I think it was 70 and at 1:48 the cold front hit and the temp dropped a mile a minute! At 2pm it was chilly outside. The storm clouds have left and the temps are cool and the wind is ROARING!

I had lunch with other healthcare recruiters and it was great to bounce ideas and listen to what they have going on. No, we didn't swap trade secrets but was able to talk about stuff recruiters have to put up with. Networking is always good!

I found out that Jim Brickman was coming to Robinson Center the Sunday after Thanksgiving so hoping to see that Christmas show! My buddy Gary my have some tickets.

Not much going on today.

He rode across the country with his boys!

Joe Kurmaskie is by far my favorite author. He's not a big famous John Grisham sort of writer but if I put Grisham against Kurmaskie, then Kurmaskie is the winner here. I found a book called Riding Outside the Lines. Joe wrote it and it's a journal of his bicycle adventures. Joe and his writings are the real reason behind why I took the bicycle tour this summer. After reading his adventures I wanted to do the same. So while I was starting my ride around the state, Joe started a much larger adventure. He was starting in OR with his 2 youngs sons and was going trans America! The bike with his son's hook on bike and the bob trail for his youngest son reached 14 feet long and the total weight was a whooping 250 lbs!!! Across the country! Now that is cool! Joe had sent me an email and told me to watch the December issue of Men's Journal. Saturday I picked up a copy in Books-a-Million and there he was with the boys! Joe, if you're reading this, man, you're my hero! I can't wait to read the new book!

Another story in the magazine was about retracing the Lewis and Clark trail. The whole issue was stories that came from a poll of readers. The theme is "What do Men Want?" Joe's adventure was what 33% of it's readers wanted to do as an adventure. The Lewis and Clark story was about these 2 buddy's that fly in, get a brand new GMC 4x4 and drive the trial. Fun story to read. Makes me want to do it! Maybe on a mountian bike!

Saturday I cleaned the yard and as it always does, the wind and the rain come as I finish. Can't tell I did a thing out there! Guess I'll have to do it again this Saturday.

I had only one person show up for the Saturday ride. It was still a good ride but I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed. The ride was only 26 miles and most folks wanted a longer ride on Saturday. So I've led a ride now and done my thing with that. I'll be happy to help out but not lead/set-up the event.

Terri is back home from visiting her folks in FL over the pasted few days. Had a good time.

Hard to beleive that next week is Thanksgiving! Before you know it I will be talking about that I can't believe next week will be Christmas!

Fast and quick

Ok, it's 4:30 on Friday afternoon and I haven't posted all week. Sorry friends and family. Life is good. Terri is visiting her family on the beach. Tyler is wrapping up his senior year. Emily is drama queening about something. Several mailboxes including ours were hit with pumpkins last night. The whole thing was ruined! What moron's! So I've got to go to Lowe's and buy another.
Everyone is riding tomorrow. I'm leading my first ride! Books-a-million to the river and back. Going is all downhill and coming back is all up hill. Have a great weekend! Maybe we'll get a new computer at home someday and I will return to writing at home.

Roll through 5,000 miles

"What are you going to do as you roll over your 5,000 mile mark?" Mike asked.
"Ummm, I guess keep riding" I laughed.
And I did. I can tell you right where I hit my 5,000 mile mark on the bike. It wasn't exactly on a beautiful street with the colorful fall leaves but it was in a good place. I was in the neighborhood where my wife lived for a while when she was growing up. Rose City. Sort of cool name for a place to hit a goal uh? When you perform well or win a race they give you roses and I got a whole city of roses! Can't beat that friends! I started the ride this morning with 3 good buds. John Van Pay (JVP), Mike Mitchell and Paul Britt. I rode with these guys when they did the cross state fund raiser. It was great to see the guys again. I made sure I pulled the group as much as possible today and we had our sure of wind. I still have a bad "thing" about not pulling all that much when they did the cross state. It's not something I think they even remember but it was a weak riding moment for me. Anyway, great friends and another goal reached. I'm pushing it now for 6,000. That means about 100 miles a week. That equals a couple of 15's on the river after work (yup, with lights and dodging deer), a 40 or so on Saturday mornings and a 30 on Sunday. That's doable as long as the weather doesn't rain me out then it will be spin classes.

I do have to say that I certainly didn't reach this goal on my own. I have an incredible support system. I have a wife, son and daughter that encourage me. I have a zanny family that support me and cheer me on. I have my circle of friends, actually several circles. I have a trainer that tries to kill me in spin classes. I have cyber buds at bikejournal.com. And it took everyone to get me to my goal. So if you're reading this, serious, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

I might have a part time job working a few hours a week at our hospital fitness center. Not sure yet though. There was a glitch in the process so we'll have to wait and see next week. I would just be working the front welcome desk but I would be there to stay in shape throughout the winter months and Terri and Emily can come over since they are members already. Family workouts. Sounds cool!

Mid week madness...

This will be fast. I had a meeting all morning and I'm taking Emily to the dentist and I'm hoping to get a bite to eat.

Yesterday's job fair put us in front of over 4,000 people. It was a good crowd too. They dressed up and most were serious about employment rather than just taking the stuff we give away. My voice was ruff as we finished. Several from LA and MS but not as many as I expected and the ones I spoke with are hoping to go home within the next 6 months. Makes it hard to hire them when they say that due to getting someone really trained then they leave.

One of the department's in the hospital is already decorating for Christmas. Serious! It's an out of the public eye department but still.

I've not been on the bike since Sunday and I'm eating like I'm still riding everyday. This is going to get really bad if I don't cut back. Will is putting together a ride for Saturday morning that will start and end at a coffee shop. FOOD! I will lead my first group ride next Saturday and it will also start at a coffee shop... FOOD! I'm going to Ft Smith next Monday and they have a Panera Bread! MAJOR FOOD! (Those would know me are laughing right now! I love Panera!). Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm not a big turkey fan but there will be lots of desert food!! The new Southern Living came and Terri is talking new recipes... FOOD!!! So there you have it! I'm gonna explode by spring! Now where is that website where I sign up for that tv show called the Biggest Loser? That's a great show to sit on the sofa and eat chips and brownies while watching! HA!

Well, got to run ... Mandy if you are reading this, I hope you get well soon! I know Texans say they bleed orange, so do they barf orange too?

Hot Springs, now that's a good climb

Saturday started like no Saturday I've had in a looooong time! I got up and had coffee and slowly eased into the morning. No bike ride or training to do! What a weird feeling. Sort of like skipping work or something.

Terri and I went down to Hot Springs and stopped to visit my folks in Benton on the way. They were telling us about that my sister Donna and her husband had taken them down to Hot Springs the day before and had gone to a WWII airplane exhibit and was interviewed by the newspaper. We picked up a paper in Hot Springs and low and behold there is my Dad and several WWII airplanes on the front cover of the paper!

We returned from Hot Springs a little while ago. Get quick trip over and she visited with the hotel staff regarding booking a convention and she did the spa thing. We had a nice dinner at Brick House. Terri's steak was great and my prime rib was the pits! Plus a guy was walking through the place at dinner time with a ladder and turned and hit me in the back of the head. I couldn't help but laugh.

After dinner we went up to the top of West Mountain and caught the very end of the sunset. What a beautiful way to end daylight savings. HA!

I got up early this morning and showered and got ready to ride before Terri got up but realized I didn't have anything to eat. I snuck out into the room and got a cookie that was part of the welcome basket and made coffee in the little coffee pot in the bathroom and sat on the side of the tub in my cycling gear eating cookies and drinking coffee. Hey, ya gotta do with what you have. Right?!

I slipped out of the room around 7 and headed to West Mountian. Beautiful morning with a hint of fall all around. The hickory trees are turning yellow and the dogwoods deep red. White tail deer gazed along the side of the road keeping their kids close by. It was a great couple of climbs.

Then got on Central Ave and turned by the Arlington Hotel and up to East Mountain. I like it better because the road is one way. No that there were hardly any cars anyway. Passed a couple of runners challenging the mountain as well. Got up to the lookout tower and then down and back up again then when around the north loop.

Got back to the hotel and Terri was up and getting ready. I showered and got into weekend clothes and we headed over to Perkins restaurant to eat. Great breakfast!

Terri said that Emily had talked to Tyler earlier and sounds like he is staying in Denver after graduation. She said she still expects him home for Christmas every year still. I do too!

Happy 50th birthday Wayne!

The Fast Girls and Slow Guys had it's last after work Tuesday/Thursday ride yesterday. It was actually sort of sad that the summer is coming to an end. But as predicted we went out in a blaze of glory!

We tinkered around till almost six rather than starting at 5:45. Rolled out and right off the bat there was hammering going on. No warming up tonight. Stayed at around 20 through the woods and slowed for a moment to cross the short wood bridge then up again. Wayne, the birthday boy, pulled. Yale attacked. Chris then pulled and got us going around a steady 22mph. I took the pull next and took us on down to the river park and then do as I always do and that's pull over to the left and watch as they try and kill each other in a sprint to the bridge. Lord help any walkers that see this train coming!

We stopped for just a few and began the 7.5 mile ride back. Everyone was talking and having a good time while rolling along about 21mph. Open to the open road and Chris cuts loose and takes us to 24. I really need a drink due to dry throat. Chris pulls off and his wife Jennifer (very strong rider) takes us on and bam... Mark attacks. Bro, we are already at 24!!!! The breakaway group slows on up the road as we catch them. Once again we are all bunched up. No real order, just good time. We get just below the cliffs and I pull us around, down and across the long wooden bridge to Burns Park golf course. That's it, need a minute to recover. We all group together and fly down to the river and across by the soccer fields, the hay field and then the small wooden bridge. It's dark now and even darker as we gear up to hammer the last of the path to our cars. "Deer ahead!" the shouts come. The herd run over across without bothering us and the break away group start to crank it up. Mark... Bill... Chr---- DEEEEEEEERRRR!!!!! AHHH!!!! The deer fly out to the right of Chris and he barely dodges. Oh crap another runs between Chris and I. I lock it up and lean to try and slide off the path and feel a slight shift of my back tire. It felt as if the deer rubbed the back tire or maybe I hit a crack in the road or a stick. Then the laughter started. Chris and I laughed so hard and so loud mainly because of our good fortune that we were still on our bikes rather than bloodied on the path. What a rush!

We all got back to Cook's Landing where our cars were parked still laughing and cutting up. Bikes get loaded and we all head over to get pizza, chips & salsa and drinks in Maumelle. Jennifer had gotten the table all set up for Wayne's 50th and made him wear a pink boa, Mardi Gras beads and a funky hat that's a big birthday cake. What a hoot! We give him cards, goodies and a gift certificate from Chainwheel.

We talk about what we'll do now. Winter's coming and we want to continue the fun and friendship we've built throughout the summer so we're going to try and spin in the fitness center on Tuesday/Thursday nights. There's never anyone there after 6:30 so it shouldn't be a problem. This way come the return of daylight savings in 2006, we'll still be is pretty good shape.

All in all it's been an incredible summer of riding! At the moment I'm 117.63 miles away form knocking off 5,000 miles for 2005 and I still have 2 months left! Never in a million years would I have thought I'd do something like this. It's the first sport that I have ever really had a compassion for and excelled in.

I'm not patting myself on the back, just stating a fact about myself and sports. Ask me about who is the current quarterback for Seahawks? I don't have a clue. How many points did Kobe shoot in the last game? How should I know? But ask me about bike racing and, yep, I can tell you about Basso, Levi, Ullrich, Mayo and Lance. I can tell you that Hunter and Donnie are the strongest Carve riders locally. I can tell you that Brice Jones lives in the heights and rides for Jelly Belly. I can tell you that Healthnet ruled the bike race world in the US. I can tell you that Colorado has the best collegiate cycling team.

I think I like this sport because it gives you freedom. Pick a road and go ride. Go explore. See the sights, feel the air, smell the smells of autumn. You can go in a group and laugh and cut up or get serious and work on skills. You can go solo and think about life, set goals or just unwind. You can ride on flatland or you can challenge a mountain.

Yes, it's been a wonder cycling year ... so far!