A day at my mom's pool...

For some reason unknown to me, I always forget my mom has a super fabulous pool in her back yard with free admission anytime I want to come and play with my friends.  Last weekend I decided to invite both of Smap's brothers (Jay and Alex) and their wives (Leslie and Kate), and Jay and Leslie's little one (Anna) over for a day in the pool.  Luckily my mom had a camera and captured a few cute shots of my favorite beautiful niece.  

We played in the pool ALL day long.  Lucky for us, Jay loves to invent stupid pool games, so all of us including my mom and Sam (my stepdad) laughed the day away while trying to jump through a hole in the middle of a float while trying to catch a ball.  I wish we had some shots from that because it was pretty funny.

Anyway, while we played all day in my mom's pool, Smap worked all day at Haw Ridge to get the race course ready for the Haw Ridge XC race the following day on Sunday.  Unfortunately he got bit by something and it really made him sick.  He started getting feverish Saturday night and on Sunday (race day) he was pretty much delirious.  I took over his race responsibilities with the help of Alex and Kate, and he went home and suffered the worse case of a dirty bug bite I have ever seen.  Stupid us didn't take his temperature until Monday morning (good thing I didn't go into the medical profession), and Smap's temp was 103.4.  We got him into see our doctor and the doc was mystified by his symptoms.  My dad being a retired ER doc pretty much summed it up to be the dirty bug bite since he does have a suspicious red bite on his shin...and the very swollen lymph node on his leg pretty much spelled it out.  Thank goodness for modern medicine (although I am sure Smap would have much rather taken something homeopathic because that is how he is).  The antibiotic has cleared him up and he is feeling much better...finally after several days of pretty much the worst he has ever felt in his whole life (he actually said this).

So, I have one more week of freedom before I go back to school!  It is about time!  I am ready for school to get back so I can get another summer off!  Ha!

Peace

Happy Birthday (a few days late) to Smap...

Smap riding around on his unicycle at the Big South Fork mountain bike race. (all my photos are Randy Conner's by the way...thanks Randy!)

The start of our Sport race...technically we all got first in our age groups...I was the only one on a single speed and got spanked by Abby...Good race Abby!!!!!!

Me coming in at the end of my second lap...glad to be done with that dang gravel road!

Abby is warming up for our race.

Abby and me at the end of our race at Big South Fork...it was a pretty flat course. My first time riding there. Loved the course, but I hated the gear I had on my single speed....spinny spinny spinny!

Well, my summer is quickly fading away fast. It has been terrific though. I have been working at the label company some every week and at the bike shop (Cedar Bluff Cycles). This past weekend was Smap's 43rd birthday. We spent the weekend volunteering and racing (me). This past Saturday was the YMCA sprint tri...pretty ridiculous to have a relay team, but we did. I teamed up with a few of our kids from the bike shop (Omar and Weber). Our relay team had the fastest time of the entire race by 12 seconds. My swim was slow compared to their run and bike times...I am just not a sprinter. Give me a mile or longer and I am happier.

On Sunday (Smap's birthday), we got up extremely early and drove down to the Big South Fork National Park where our friend Randy Conner set up a great TBRA mountain bike race. Smap volunteered to help Randy and Jay Nevans, so I hung and raced. There were all of 3 racers in the women's sport category. I finished in the middle behind my good good friend Abby Chandler. She killed me on the flats due to my lack of gears (I only ride a single speed). Anyway, it was a blast.

Over the Fourth of July, we went to Hilton Head, SC with some friends. We always have so much fun with Chuck and Peggy. I hope the house is still there for us next year...fingers crossed it doesn't get sold. :)

So, July seems to be flying by while June went pretty slow. Sucks that I will be back in school in less than a month. I really can't complain though. I have had it extremely good all summer!

Happy Father's Day!

Yep, I have slacked again on the whole blog thing.  I have a TON of photos to download, but still have yet to do it.  I just want to give a Father's Day shout out to my favorite Dad today! Happy Father Day Dad!  And, I also need to say Happy Father's Day to my favorite step-dad Sam, my favorite Father-in-law Steve, and of course my husband Smap!

Summer has been going great. I have been working here and there at the label company, the bike shop, and around the house.  I still have not been riding as much as year's past (I don't know if it is because I have been on a bike for the last 12 years and just need a break, or what?).  Anyway, when the trails dry up, we hope to get a lot more single speed time in.  I have been getting a ton of swim miles in though, and Smap has been getting a LOT of time in on his new unicycle.  

I think I may have mentioned before, but I love finding old furniture.  Over the last several years I have been looking for the perfect chairs for my dining room.  I didn't want new ones or anything made in China of course. Finally I was looking through Craig's list the other day and found something that could work.  Below are a few photos I took with my cell.

Here is the before and after....the chair on the right is the new fabric.  I am not sure what the gal was thinking when she picked out the fabric on the left...it looked worse in real life.  I really wasn't sure about the chairs when I went out to Kingston to get them, but then I found the perfect fabric that goes with all the colors in my house.  So, for $140 total (fabric included), I got four new chairs! LOVE IT!

Here is my sis (Larkin), with our good friends' (Danny and Ruthie) baby Olive.  They flew into Nashville and hung with my sis one night, then the next night came to K-town to visit with Smap and me.  We loved meeting cute little Olive!  She is beautiful just like her mom!  I will get some pics of Danny and Ruthie posted sometime soon.Finally, here is a pic I took at the Coldplay show in Nashville.  We honestly don't listen to Coldplay that much, but we wanted to see them.  It is one of those bands like U2, The Police, etc that I just wanted to see because they are so huge.  We really loved the concert although we didn't have the best seats like my sister did (she was on the floor on the 15th row), but we still had a great time.  The photo above is of course from when they performed "Yellow".  When we left the Sommet Center, everyone was given a free CD....great time!

Fisher is 100% better now...he is killing something in the yard everyday now.  This morning he had a bird and yesterday afternoon it was a mole he was tossing around.  We love our little Fish.  Ippon is getting around slowly these days, but he is really enjoying his summer with me spoiling the crap out of him everyday.  He has a great life for a dog!

I am really enjoying my summer off!  I do wish I could ride more.  Hopefully these afternoon showers will come to an end soon.  Until then, I will be sticking to the pool.

That is about it for today.  Again, I hope to post some photos soon!

Peace.

Funny weather and school letting out!

I have been another blog slacker lately. I have been taking photos, but I never download them. I don't like the computer at home that we download on to, so I just never do it. I let Smap do it because he has a lot more patience than I.

Well, over the last month a lot has been going on. Most recently, I was out of school for a whole week due to the SWINE FLU. Yep, I luckily teach at the only school in my school district and East Tennessee for that matter, that got out for a whole week. We just learned last night that we won't have to make up those days at the end of the school year. Which means, my last day of school with kids is this Friday! Yes!

Over Mother's Day, I accompanied my mom and sister down to Panama City Beach, Florida. My sister and I use to do this 1/2 Ironman down there every year together. I quit doing it like 5 years ago because I just can't run anymore. This year was my sister's ninth year in a row to compete. She did well despite the heat placing 8th in her age group and making the podium at the after party.

Fisher is healing fine these days. He is still inside and hating it. He has about two more weeks before he can go back outside and play. He is going nuts inside...he is definitely an outside cat.

Ippon is getting along pretty well at 12 1/2 years old. We think he is entirely jealous of Fisher being inside with him, but he puts up with the crazy cat pretty good despite being an only child for all these years. He still goes to work every day with Smap except when he is on my teaching schedule. Luckily, his summer vacation starts next week too!

Smap and I have been planting a lot of stuff this year. We have a bunch of strawberries coming up, an assortment of peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and leafy greens. Our front yard is going to soon be one big garden when all is said and done.

Riding has not been a huge priority for us this spring. We have turned into "fair weather riders" basically this year....just finding other things around the house or yard to do if the trails are too wet, or if it just isn't warm enough. This has been an extremely wet year so far, so hopefully we will get some more trail time in soon.

Smap and I have been to most of the Sundowns this year....Smap has been to all but one, and I have missed two. Free shows are just too good a deal to pass up when tickets to concerts usually range in the upper $30's or so. Cheap fun is what we enjoy!

Well, this is it for today. I should hopefully start blogging more regularly this summer when I have a little bit more time.

Peace

A great weekend!

Outformation! A guy I have known since Kindergarten (Jeff Lane) plays the bongo in the band Outformation. This band is based in Atlanta, GA, but they travel all over the US. They have opened up for great bands such as Widespread Panic! Saturday night here in good ole' K-town, Outformation played at Barley's downtown. They were AWESOME. I haven't seen Jeff since high school graduation in 93'...I think....way too long to go without seeing old friends. Smap and I hope to paddle and hang out with Jeff some this summer down at the Ocoee. I also hope to get to see Outformation perform again soon. We only stayed for the first set since they started playing at 10:45...a little late for me. I am not one who likes to stay out late, but staying until midnight this weekend was well worth it!

Our little Fisher. Below is a photo I took of him when we were bringing him home from surgery last Thursday. He didn't know what was going on and was a little confused. As you can see, he has a 6 cm stitched up incision where the doc went in and put a small screw. They think he will have a full recovery in about 8 weeks. The poor little guy is going crazy not being able to run around. The photo above is Fisher in his outside cell. We put him outside the last two days with us while we planted some new trees and worked in the yard. He really enjoyed being outside in the fresh air. We look forward to Fish being able to run and play soon!

Other than Fisher and Outformation, we had a great weekend. This past Thursday was the first Sundown in the City. Arrested Development played! I didn't listen to them that much in high school, but I did remember a few songs; "Tennessee" and "Mr.Windall". Sundowns are always a good time for the people watching and the good tunes. We also run into old friends and enjoy riding our bikes down to Market Square.

GOOD TIMES!

Poor little Fisher.

Our baby Fisher was hit by a car in front of our house on Tuesday morning. We have a huge problem with cars driving extremely too fast up and down our street due to our street being a long straight street. Something really has to be done about it!

Fortunately, Fisher is still with us but he did have to have extensive surgery last night on his pelvis area. The doctor put a small screw in him, and said he should be pretty good after 8+ weeks in his crate. Above is a shot of him Tuesday night. He was not happy to be in a cage, and I am sure he will be protesting everyday about it. We can't take any chances though. We love this little guy so much. We did sleep through the last two nights without any bites or scratching to get our attention to go outside...we really don't mind it though and I actually kind of miss it.

Please remember to drive slowly through neighborhoods and housing areas. There are precious animals out there who aren't always paying attention. We still don't know how exactly our little guy got hit. We are still trying to figure it out. We know what the car looks like and we know she lives in our neighborhood. Bad karma on her part for not facing up!

Keep the little guy in your thoughts!

Peace.

Raccoon Mountain...a really great place for single speeders!

This past weekend Smap and I and a few of our friends headed down to Raccoon Mountain which is conveniently located just outside of downtown Chattanooga.  There is a terrific trail system there that grows every year.  The trails are pretty fast with just enough climbing (just enough for a single speeder), lots of rock to navigate over and around, and just a bunch of miles of FUN.  Did I mention the temperature was PERFECT this weekend?  It can get pretty hot and muggy in those woods, but not this past weekend.

Here is Smap over looking East TN's version of the Grand Canyon.  Beautiful.  This lookout is off of the Small Intestine trail.  Probably my favorite trail in the system.  

After the fun, we headed downtown to the city to enjoy some cold frosty beverages and food at the local brewery, Big River Brewery.  Their fish tacos and burgers (as well as the beer) totally hit the spot!  I can't wait to go back down there for the riding and the after riding dining downtown!
Below is a really cool piece of art on the artsy plywood wall on the outskirts of Market Square in downtown Knoxville.  I met the artists as they finished putting up their version of the Velviteen (sp?) Rabbit.  I usually take photos of the different art left by the different artists who enjoy leaving their mark.  I especially love mixed media too.  Pretty cool huh!?!

It is April 6th and it is cold as crap outside!  I actually put my down jacket on to go to the grocery store a few minutes ago.  I am soooo glad it should only be cold for a few days because I just can't stand putting on real shoes and socks after it has been warm for a little while.  I also can't stand putting on long pants....ick! I am so over that cold weather wardrobe.  

Well, this weekend it looking to be warm again.  Friday is a school holiday!!!  GOOD FRIDAY!  I actually don't have to work on my birthday!  We are still up in the air what we are going to do....all I know is that I won't be cleaning house on my day off or on my birthday.  I got that taken care of today.  Maybe there will be some sort of dry trails remotely close by for my riding pleasure?  After riding my new Fisher SS, I really could care less about getting back on my road bike.  I will of course, but I won't be as giddy about it.  

Oh, I have a school count down going right now....I always do for the last grading period.  I am down to 31.5 days of school left this year!  Freaking awesome!  Hard to believe this is my third year of teaching and I got tenure already!  Such a relief especially with the school system cutting jobs! OUCH.  

Well, until later!  Peace.

My first ride of the year on a single speed...

My newest frame with most of my old pink stuff off my previous two Rigs...

Yep, it has been a long time.  Too long.... I haven't blogged and I haven't ridden my single speed...until today.  My last day of a very relaxing spring break was had at my favorite place, Haw Ridge.  I have not been out there on a bike since November.  It has just been sooo wet, and I have been putting a lot of time in on my road bike and swimming long distances.  It was so nice to get out there today.  There were quite a bit of puddles and crappy places where people have been riding out there when it was wet.  Not cool because it messes up the trails. 

Anyway, Smap has to be possibly the best husband EVER.  For Christmas (sort of), he ordered me an Fisher Superfly single speed frame & fork.  These were only offered to Team 29'er riders and Trek/Fisher shop owners.  I have been wanting one before they ever existed.  So, after waiting since last August, it finally came in.  Smap worked hard Friday night to build it up for me.  He was able to put most of my pink stuff from my original two Fisher Rigs on it....I think it makes it pretty original.  I am probably the only person who has pink crap on their Superfly SS.   So, I had my first ride with Smap, Creech, Skinny-D, Pauly, and Radar....and Speed (Larry and Lois's cool dog).  We did a lot of the shoreline trails and then put it through the hill climbing test.  The new frame passed all the tests.  I really thought I would be a bit scratchy riding a mountain bike since it has been sooooo long, but it was like I never took 4 months off of mountain biking.  Plus, I was riding with some great guys, so I really didn't have time to suck too bad.  

School starts back tomorrow....the last 9 weeks.  I really hope it goes by super fast.  It usually does actually, so I am not too worried about it.  I spent my week off cleaning out my side of the garage, cleaning house, doing laundry, seeing "Slumdog Millionaire" - AWESOME MOVIE, going to the Zoo with my niece and nephew, working outside around the house with Smap, and working at the bike shop.  I stayed extremely busy and had a fabulous time.  I CAN'T wait till SUMMER!  

That's it for now.  Getting ready to go eat a yummy supper at my in-law's and I'm going to play with my adorable 9 month old niece.  

Cheers.

soooo sorrrryyyyy

Tonight I have been catching quite some h-e-l-l...for not updating my blog in some time.  So sorry.  Sorry I have been busy.  I have a week until Spring Break so of course my mind has been set on other more important things.  Like:  what am I going to do for Spring Break?  Hopefully work... Yeah, the last two years I have worked at the bike shop.  I enjoy it.  Such a change from dealing with six graders who "know everything".  Also, lots of family birthdays coming up in April, so the extra $ is always nice.  

 I have been riding quite a bit.  Sadly, I haven't been on a mountain bike but once this year.  It was a sad day when I did ride my mountain bike with gears.  My back suffered as well as my heart rate not being accustomed to climbing early on without a warmup.

Anywho....like I said, I have been riding with my gal pal Missy lots.  She is the BEST riding partner I think I have ever had.  Never a dull moment.  I have been getting in tons and tons of miles with the sweet babe.  This weekend is looking like some more nice shiney sunny miles...

Anyway, this post goes out to Alen....Happy Birthday! Remember; Bot-a-box is the way to go!

February is here...that means spring is coming soon!

This winter has been long and wet.  I am over it completely!  Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day.  I ended up taking my road bike down, greasing the chain and taking her for a nice @ 50 mile ride.  Of course I had to do a drop-in to my dad's farm to say hello to Dad and Joyce and all the furry creatures.  The farm is so nice.  

I thought the ride would be a lot harder for me than it was due to the fact that I haven't been on my bike since November I think.  Very sad, but I have been logging a ton of miles in the pool along with riding the spin bike quite a bit.  So, after the first 20 miles, I started feeling back to normal in the saddle.  I didn't have enough food, so other than bonking towards the end, my ride was great.

Smap finally finished painting our pantry in the kitchen.  Silly me had to have two different colors of purple in there.... We have 21 shelves in the pantry....poor Smap...it took him forever to paint those shelves.  He is a perfectionist when it comes to painting.  I actually tried to help.  I did help paint the shelves, but that was the only thing I "couldn't" screw up...after that, I was told no more help was needed.

Next on our to-do list is to paint our kitchen.  Not sure if Smap will tackle it now after the lengthly pantry paint job?  We still don't know what we are going to do in the kitchen as far as floors and counters go.  We really want to use as much recycled stuff as possible...maybe use the wood from a tree that is about to come down in our backyard?  Yeah, we have 4 trees that have to go...remember what happened in May of 08?  Two trees down on our roof.  Yuck...we are still dealing with that mess too.  

I got out of school early today.  It was due to a lot of snow.  Parents were freaking out and picking up their kids early.  Finally, the super dismissed schools at 12:30.  Man, the parents were PISSED picking their kids up.  They were very hateful picking up their kids too....like we had anything to do with calling school out.  Jeezzz.

So, that is about it.  Hopefully this cold snow crap will move on out after this week.  We are soooo ready for some nice warm weather.  

That is about it.  Still going to put some more photos up from Jamaica when I get around to it.  Maybe we will be out again this week?  We will see! 

CHEERS

More photos coming soon...

I still have some more shots I want to post of our trip.  I hope we can back there in the next year or two.  I think about it everyday.  The lifestyle there is just so chill....like we like.  Anyway, not much riding has been done by me or Smap lately due to home projects (I insisted on having two colors of purple in our pantry, which is taking FOREVER) and weather.  I have clocked a lot of time in my health club pool along with the spin bike....super boring.  I can't wait to get back outside and riding my single speed again.  

Smap informed me the other day that Trek is behind on getting their single speed carbon fibers out...bummer.  I just can't wait to float up some trails on that thing.  I just can't wait to get back on the trails for that matter.  Smap probably feels the same as me.  He has been running some and riding our spin bike here at the house.   BORING!

The one good thing about being in the house is more time with my boys...Ippon and Fisher.  They are the best dog and cat.  My brother has also been in Knoxville farm-sitting for my dad while he is out of the country (Josh also stayed at our house while we were gone).  Josh came over the other night and taught us how to make some really good fresh homemade pizza.  I can't wait to make it again.  

That is about it....still teaching....got the word that I will be tenured after this school year, which is good considering the NASTY economy and teaching is HOPEFULLY still a stable job in this country.  Who knows though....there is no telling.  We can only hope things turn around and we all survive this downward spiral...FINGERS CROSSED. 

I didn't mean to get all negative...my blog is suppose to be a happy positive blog... So, in that case....we are going to have a nice meal with Smap's bro and his wife (Alex and Kate)....

Namaste

One last Christmas Eve post

Here I am again...happy to be on the beach on Christmas Eve!

Tim taking a bath...I mean getting refreshed by the cool water. It was a perfect temperature...not really warm, but not cold.

Smap watching over Vessel making sure he is okay out on his boat. Vessel took us to the cove, then took us back to our place...the next day on Christmas day we were hanging out in our front yard watching the fishing boats checking their lobster traps...we noticed Vessel's boat drifting out there....Yogi and Vessel walked up and said that it was Vessel's uncle out there and the prop had fallen off......man, good thing the water wasn't like it was when we were out there on Christmas Eve....Vessel's uncle got rescued, but they did not recover the prop...of course not... Smap did try to go find it while snorkeling...yeah right...

Chuck and Jeff watching us swim, while Lindsay hangs with Vessel in the shade.

Below is Peggy and me swimming... I swam until lunch was ready, then went back out and swam afterwards.

So, that was our Christmas Eve.....fun fun fun. Yah mon.

Again....Half Moon..

Vessel on the small vessel...he ended up having to anchor his boat out in the cove due to the waves bothering it on the shore....

These dogs loved to fetch...just like Chuck and Peg's dogs...Chuck's Macey looks a lot like this dog, but skinnier...

I guess the dogs were the protectors of the bar....


The one rule for the bar...

The bar....

We had to order our lunch right when we got there because we were told it takes a very long time to get your food. Poor Tim really needed food...he survived though. Besides Yogi's food, this was one of the better meals we had when we had to eat out.

Christmas Eve again...

Here we go again...Tim in the back of the boat...on the rough water....We finally got down the coast to the Half Moon Bey....the water is so nice here...

Oh look, Nicole has found some friends.


Here is the resting place for our boat while we play...what a pretty view...

Jamaica again....#4 Christmas Eve

Okay, so on Christmas eve, we hired our adventure guide and now friend, Vessel, to take us to Half Moon Bey...I called it cove in a previous post, but it is Bey I think.. Anyway, something is wrong with my computer, so I may have to do multiple posts on this one. I am having trouble uploading photos again.

So, here we are getting into the fishing boat. Vessel is steadying the boat for us all to get in. Chuck is trying to help.


Smap

Vessel, Tim and Lindsay. In the previous post I talked about Tim having a little trouble with something he ate...well, he saw it all again on this little boat trip. As you can see in the photo, he doesn't look well and there were some huge swells. He felt fine after it "all" came out on the way to the bey...coming back was probably the hardest I have laughed in years because we got so wet hit the waves back to Cousin's Cove....

Jeff and Chuck are holding down the bow and enjoying the ride. Chuck had Jeff's spot on the way back....Nicole and I were sitting behind Chuck...so funny and sooooo wet! Nicole and I were laughing so hard because we were just getting soaked...everyone was. I would have to say that was the best part of the trip for me...laughing so hard on that boat with everyone.

Peg and me doing my self-portrait thing.

Okay, so I will post more pics on the next post....dang computer....

Jamaica Part 3...Nicole's BIG 30!

So, Smap and I were so fortunate to be invited to Nicole's 30th Birthday Bash on Dec.23rd....only 6 people were invited...those of us who were in Jamaica!!!! For her big day, we hired Yogi to cook Nic's special feast. It was incredible once again....Yogi cooked the jerk chicken again along with some really good tuna. Below. Yogi is making the callalu...my favorite...actually every dish he made was my favorite.

Below is Yogi getting the Tuna ready. He used the outside kitchen and the inside one to cook our feasts.

Nicole, don't kill me for posting this shot, but I thought it was too funny not to....of both you and Jeff! Ha ha ha... Nicole is sporting her birthday capilene for us at her birthday dinner....who knows what Jeff was saying here. All I know is that we laughed a LOT that week.
Here is Smapola along with Peg...the birthday girl's proud mama! Peggy as usual has that beautiful smile.

Tim and Lindsay having some good chats at the dinner table. Unfortunately something Tim ate that night didn't cooperate with him...I will explain in the next post. ;)


So, we had Yogi cook 3 times for us while we were there. We all wish we had done it EVERY night...next time we go (and we have already booked another week to go down the road), we are going to have Yogi cook every night for us. It was just fun hanging out with him during and after the meal along with Vessel. Such FUN times. I hate being back in rainy ole' Tennessee.

Yah mon...Jamaica part 2...

So, here is another part to our Jamaican trip. Uploading the photos is taking FOREVER, so there will be SEVERAL more parts to my blogging here. We took a ton of shots and I enjoy talking about everything (almost) that we did etc... Above is a photo of the boat we got to ride in over to the Half Moon Cove where we sat out in the sun for the day and had a great lunch. I also swam quite a bit. I haven't ridden a lick since Thanksgiving...only swimming, so I was a fish the whole week...swimming and sitting in water when ever I got the chance.

Here is Vessel and Smap. Vessel was in charge of taking us on adventures. It was his uncle's fishing boat that he took us on to get to the Half Moon Cove. He came around every night to hang with us as well. We LOVED Vessel. We look forward to going back to see him and the others in a year or two.

Here are Tim and Lindsay lounging catching the sunset.

Here you go...self portrait of me very happy to be in Jamaica!

We walked just down the street to hang out at the "neighborhood bar". Vessel's uncle actually owns this place. Ice cold Red Stripe!

My little friend Danika who was hanging out at the bar with her auntie (her auntie was from Maryland). I asked Danika if she knew she was beautiful and she told me that she already knew it....Such a sweetie.

Lindsay and Sheron...Sheron owned a little quick stop/bar at the end of the road in Cousin's Cove. We walked down our road (which was about 2 miles long) a few times to hang at Sheron's. She was the sweetest gal who started her place from scratch. Lindsay and I hit it off with her instantly.

Octo...the old dude with the Sugar Cane...riding down the street with Timmy. I like this shot a lot because of our/Tim's background with bikes... Tim is a owner/manager at CBC...we were amazed at this bike Octo was riding...no grips, gears, breaks...the chain rusted to all get-out. He had a special spot for his machete (for cutting the sugar cane)....I'll post a picture of the bike later.

Here is ole' Octo peeling the cane for us to eat. We gave him $5 for his kindness....$5 to him is about $600 J...Jamolars (our made up name for Jamaican money). It was @ $78.50 J to $1.00 US...talk about confusing conversions...good thing they took US money and credit cards!

One last shot for the night....our next Wimbledon champion is......NOT SMAP. We attempted to play several times (we had our own tennis court along with our own pool). Everytime we played, it either started to rain, or we lost all of the balls over the fence. I started bragging the first day about my tennis abilities back when I was 14....yeah, I do not have those abilities anymore....nope....I sucked and Smap sucked even worse. Sorry Smap, but you know it is true.

SO, next time I will post more photos....using the lap top is just as slow as the computer in the computer room...oh well. See ya.