Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

New Bike the US for MS total: $7324. I'm still in awe over how thoughtful, generous, kind, supportive, and encouraging so many people have been these past six months. P.S. Even since posting this last night, another donation came in, making the total now $7424. Never in my wildest dreams . . ..

With just five days until the BTUSFMS group leaves out of Yorktown, I'm thinking I'm as ready to go as I can be. I've been getting the small stuff righted around--last minute things like razors (I can't do hairy legs), pomade for the new locks (work a dab in and tousle the hair for that just got out of bed messy look), and a small bottle of suntan lotion to carry in the handlebar bag (even though I slathered on the lotion just before I left out on my long ride a couple of days ago, my shoulders still got burned and still sting four days later). Apparently I need to reapply the lotion periodically while out. Now that the little things are out of the way, I feel like I'm twiddling my thumbs. What now? Having spent so much time and energy on getting ready, I'm flummoxed as to what to do now. A couple of things that come to mind on this hot, 90 degree plus day: drink a Stella, hang out on the deck and read, load all my stuff into the SUV and sit and wait there (co...

Wow! I didn't realize just how lousy I was feeling for so dang long. Well, I kinda knew, but now, this morning, truly feeling like I have my body back, the one that I thought had deserted me10 years ago, I realize I was merely going through the motions of trying to not let anyone else see how miserable I was feeling. Yeah, 10 years. I remember the very first day of feeling lousy 10 years ago, and how I believed my body was betraying me. I went to my GP, my gynie, and even a mental health counselor to try and find answers to what was happening to me. My GP referred me to a neurologist (I never went). My gynie suggested I start taking Prozac (she is no longer my gynie). The mental health counselor just shrugged and said, "Sounds like depression. Lots of people are depressed." I didn't like the answers any of these professionals gave me, so I set out on my own to find the answers to what was happening to me. I began reading anything and everything I could get my hands ...

Finally, the official word came through: promotion granted. I've known unofficially for a little more than a month now that my promotion review team had recommended me for promotion, but until the Board of Trustees says yes, the recommendation is just hanging in limbo. And because my mind works the way it does, for the last five weeks, I've had thoughts of the Board scrutinizing the recommendation, picking it apart, rubbing their hands together in glee just before banging the gavel down, emphatically saying, "Denied!", much like Suze Orman does to those who don't have the money to buy the luxury item they really want. Thankfully, my little scenarios are only in my head. Today the email I've been waiting for arrived in my inbox. Like a little kid who'd just received the best piece of candy from the pinata, I did a booty dance in my chair and waved my hands in the air. My title as of the fall semester will be Professor II of English, which means I'll h...

You know how a great idea occurs to you at the last minute? And it's one of those sit straight up in bed in the middle of the night ideas that won't leave you alone until you do something about it? That's what happened to me with the jersey I suddenly decided I had to create for the BTUSFMS ride this summer. I knew without even hesitating what I wanted to have on the front: a large sunflower. Mom loved sunflowers. I'm no artist, though, so even though a sunflower isn't all that difficult to create, I knew I wasn't going to capture what was bouncing around in my head. I do have, however, a beautiful artist friend who has been my friend since the fourth grade. I knew Connie would understand what I wanted and be able to design the idea I put in front of her. In a matter of just a couple of days, she had the design ready. She even got in touch with the company creating the jersey and spoke to the point person there to make sure the design happened just as I envisio...

My boys gave me the best Mother's Day gift. I went to them yesterday afternoon, very last minute, and asked if they would go with me to visit Mom's grave on Mother's Day. Without hesitation, without saying they didn't want to give up their Sunday, they both nodded and said, "Of course." So early this morning we headed out on the two and a half hour drive. We stopped to get a bouquet of roses just before arriving to the cemetery, and when we pulled up, we saw the new grave marker had been put into place. As we walked to the grave, Funny Delightful Son pointed to the snow-white peacock in the pasture just beyond. Angel Baby tugged at my arm and pointed to two alpacas near the fence a little ways to the right. Mom has beautiful animals looking over her all the time. My boys stood next to me, my youngest again taking my hand much like he did at Mom's funeral, and we placed the pink roses on top of her marker. On the drive over, I'd thought about so many...

A very heated discussion is brewing in the Twin Cities over adding bike lanes to Main Street. With three cycle shops in the two cities, and several cycling groups that include road cyclists as well as mountain bikers and BMX enthusiasts, the voice advocating for the bike lanes is strong. To bring even more attention to the concerns of cyclists, the Twin Cities is participating in the Ride of Silence on May 16. The announcement of this event on top of the proposed bike lanes is creating quite the stir. As I read the comments offered after the Ride of Silence article in the local newspaper, I tried to understand why the pro-motorists believe cyclists should stay off the roads. The only conclusion I kept arriving at was anti-cyclist motorists don't want to have to be mindful of anything but getting to where they want to go as quickly as they possibly can. Having to be aware of cyclists means not being able to text, not being able to eat a hamburger or drink a cola, not being able t...

Even with a wonderful breeze blowing through the window right next to me, and even though it's been three hours since I arrived home and took a cold shower, I'm still sweating after my 60 miler today. 80+ degrees along with high humidity turned me into a sweat factory. I can't get enough to drink which tells me I didn't drink nearly enough during the ride. I'm bad about eating and drinking enough, so figuring out what amounts to "enough" is definitely one of the must-do's before I begin the ride. Last night's stay in the tent went great. With the super moon and a cool breeze, the night was perfect. The new sleeping bag worked out just fine, giving me a comfortable sleep out in the back yard. After much research online, going to several sporting goods stores, and emailing a route leader on what kind of bag to get, I settled on the Columbia Reactor 35. I'm sure most nights I'll be sleeping on top of the bag, with just a light sheet, but onc...

Well, even I couldn't take the new look of the blog after letting it sit for a week, viewing it, then viewing it again. The minimalist look just wasn't cutting it, so after playing around some, the blog is what it is for now. I hope to play around with it further as I'm still not at all smitten with the background, the layout, and the color scheme. I have an idea in mind, but making that idea reality is just not happening, mostly because I'm not ready to sit down for a couple of hours to work on it. Other things are pulling at me, mainly finishing up the semester and getting the must-have's for the ride. The semester is coming to a smooth close. The must-have's are taken care of--I finally settled on a sleeping bag after reading tons of reviews, visiting four sporting goods stores, and emailing a route leader to get his input. The wiffle-waffling had to stop if I was going to have a bag to sleep in the first night of the ride. I'll be sleeping in said bag to...