A great Sunday.

This is just a preliminary post for today. Smap downloaded all the photos from our adventure yesterday, so when I get home tonight I will show everyone what we did. It wasn't much different from 2 weeks ago....we did the Heinous AGAIN. It was a lot of fun though. It seemed like it went by pretty fast. I will blog more about it tonight!
Later!

last post for April 5th, 2008

I'm such the blogger girl now....  I can't help it.  I like to talk, therefore I like to type as well.  I am also an email queen.  Send me an email, and I promise you will get half a book back.  I just think words are the best way to express things sometimes.

So, today I went and did the river rescue with some friends.  Our friend Lois was in charge of the Haw Ridge rescue today.  There were about 8 of us who showed up to pick up a LOT of litter.  It wasn't such a bad time.  We had our dogs there and watched them play as we picked up a lot of beer bottles, cans, bait cups, syringes (yes syringes), shoes, fish tackle, and other types of junk.  I think you can definitely tell we were out there in several areas.  Out at West Shore down off Old Edgemore Road, there was plenty for a hundred people to pick up.  I just hate litter bugs.  

So, it was another UGLY day, so I ended up swimming again for the 4th time this week.  I really don't mind because I really enjoy swimming.  I swam again outside in the rain.  It was funny because there was a kid in the outdoor pool with me getting coached.  When it started raining he asked me if it was raining.  I had no clue he was talking to me until I saw that his coach was no where near.  I told him it was and he got super excited.  It is pretty cool to swim in the rain.  

Tomorrow shall be another Heinous Loop.  I shall take more photos of our agony.  Actually, it should be easier tomorrow because Smap and I won't have a lot of climbing miles on our legs. 

Hasta!  :)

Saturday, April 5th...rainy and wet.

Today will be a perfect day for a river rescue.  Hopefully it will clear up by the afternoon so we can actually do some type of riding.  I did end up getting to swim OUTSIDE in the rain yesterday after school.  I started out in the indoor pool and saw someone come in from the outdoor pool.  I high-tailed it outside to be the only one in the pool with some drizzling rain.  It was quite peaceful.  The water temp was perfect, so it made for a very good swim.  I was so glad to get outside because there were some screaming kids in the pool.  My eardrums just don't appreciate high pitched squealing like that.  

Today might have to be another pool day if the roads continue to stay wet.  Fine with me...I am paying an arm and a leg to belong to the overpriced facility anyways.  I have decided to put a hold on my membership for the summer time though because Smap and I can ride the 3 miles down the greenway to the West Side Y.  I can't wait to swim in their Olympic size pool.  I grew up swimming there.  Plus, Smap says he will go with me.  He hates my current club and at the most I could only get him to go there once a year.  

Later on today, I hope to post some pics from last weekend.  Until then....

My two brothers.

Here is my older brother Josh (with the dog's nose in his crotch), his semi-x girlfriend (also Rachel) and my little brother Nic out at my Dad's right after Christmas. I don't think I have mentioned either bro yet. Josh lives currently in a trailer in Lake Tahoe, CA. I call him our family nomad chef. He has "cooked" as he calls it all over the country (he calls it "cooked", but it is not just cooking, he creates amazing food). He graduated at the top of his class from Johnson and Wales Cullinary School in Charleston, SC and he did his internship at the Biltmore Estate. After graduating and interning, Josh moved to Lake Tahoe where he has lived on numerous occasions. He is currently living there for his 3rd or 4th time. Last year, he lived outside of Bozeman, MT working at an exclusive lodge called Papoose Lodge. He has worked at some pretty swanky places including Blackberry Farm close to K-town up in Townsend, TN. He is an AMAZING chef/artist/mountain biker/writer/brother. He moves when he gets tired of where he is living. He pretty much lives out of his truck with his dog George. George is the most human like dog I have ever met. He also moves to where there is amazing mountain biking and/or snowboarding. He leads a pretty interesting life. Right now, he is helping some friends expand their pizza place he helped open in 98'. Josh comes home in between jobs usually during the winter holidays. When I got married, he had just moved out to Bozeman, but I made him PROMISE to come back for my wedding. So he did....he drove 24 hours back to K-town and stayed for the weekend festivities, and then drove straight back. He is such an awesome brother. :)

My little brother Nic is nearly 22 and living on the farm with Dad and Joyce. I'm very unsure what he is doing besides sleeping a lot. I think he is in school at Pellissippi. He is a pretty funny kid to hang out with. He talks like he knows everything about everything. You gotta love him though.

It is POURING rain again today so I am going to be forced to swim in the indoor pool. I could very well go home and ride the spin bike, or go into my health club and do the elliptical machine, but I would rather poke myself in the eye than do either of the latter choices. The indoor pool at Fort Sanders is pretty nasty, but it isn't so bad on Friday afternoons after school.

It looks like I will NOT be racing the Tsali race this weekend...too much rain. I need LOTS O' Miles anyways for Cohutta now only two weeks away!!!!

There is a shoreline clean-up tomorrow morning at the Ridge, so I am hoping I can get myself up early to help pick up! I despise how rednecks feel it is their priviledge to throw anything and everything out their car windows or their fishing boats! Litterbugs SUCK!

Have a nice weekend!

Niplets!!!!! I'm bored again due to rain.

My friend Jimi makes the coolest bracelets!  She calls them "Niplets".  This one matches my favorite bike I own...my single speed.  I have the pink Chris King hubs and headset along with my pink Oury  grips, some pink brake cable, a pink BMX chain, and pink pedals.  Smap insists on adding more and more pink.  OH...and I have a pink Terry saddle.  The pink is rubbing off of it, but it adds character to my bike.  I love my Rig.
Today is a most dreadful day.  It has been raining all day long.  I am SO glad I got in a fun ride yesterday and two swims in a row prior to that, or I would be going CRAZY.  Just another day of rain and it looks like PERFECT weather for riding from Saturday afternoon and on out.  

I am thinking about maybe perhaps possibly doing the Tsali Knobscorcher with my friend Maria on Sunday.  Tsali is very unpleasant when it is muddy though.  I really don't mind too much mud due to being on my single speed, but when it splatters up into my eyes is when it really sucks for me.  I had that problem at the Black Bear Rampage last year.  We'll see.  I really want to do a long road ride with Missy this weekend.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can do both.

Taking furniture from others...

I have a problem... I always see furniture that either parents or friends have that I want.  It is a serious problem probably, but it works out pretty well for me.  

Smap and I were at our friends' Karen and Jeff's pre-wedding party the other night and I spotted a cute little desk in Karen's "garage sale room" of things that she needed to sell.  Luckily someone had given her the desk and she was willing to pass it on for free to a friend (ME).  So, I lucked out with a cute little desk for our yellow den.  A few weeks ago I scored a bench from my dad (previously blogged about).  He was so kind to donate such a beautiful piece to our pool room.  I also score nice things from my mom on a regular basis as she begins her de-cluttering of her house and multiple storage facilities. :)

Below, are so other examples of my horrible problem of taking furniture from friends.  

Here is the red desk (below) from Karen's.   I was afraid to tell Smap about it, so I showed it to him after I moved it in.  Luckily he liked it!!! 
Our coffee table also has a fun story behind it.  My best friend from high school and college got it for a wedding gift from a friend who MADE it for her and her husband as their gift.  I saw it and immediately told her that I wanted it.  It has a killer shelf built into it for storage.  I was over at her house several years ago and saw that it was no longer in her den.  She told me she was getting ready to take it to Goodwill....so here it is....in my den.
My buffet in my dining room....came from my friend Abby's house.  The first time I walked into her house I saw it.  I told her if she ever wanted to get rid of it, I would take it.  She called me last year and offered it for $50.  Her folks even delivered it and helped us move it into the house....pretty darn heavy piece.  It was a perfect fit once again.  Buying/taking furniture off of friends and asking parents for unwanted furniture is a gift I have.  Smap and I have pretty good stories behind a lot of our furniture.  

Anyway, I had a great ride tonight with my new friend Missy who just moved here.  She is a cat 2 roadie and is so fun to talk to.  We rode out of her house in South Knox.  I have not been out there in several years.  Hard to believe I started riding out there over 10 years ago when I first started riding with the Zoo folk.  What is even crazier is that I will be 33 in a week.  Wow....time flies when you are having fun. 

CRAZY!!!!  Just yesterday I was starting college....

I'm pregnant!!!!

Ha ha....April Fools!!!! Maybe in a few years...

Well, I did the marathon bike marshall thing on Sunday. It was COLD, but fun. I think I was on my bike (my Paragon 29'er) for about 4.5 hours. I am unsure of how many miles I actually rode because I don't have a computer on that bike, but it was anywhere between 25-35 miles. I rode pretty slowly riding next to friends going back and forth on the race course. It was a fun time even though my heart rate never got up once. I got some good photos of my twin sis (I'll post at some point this week), and of some of my friends I ran into along the way. I had two friends actually do the marathon...AmyLynn (the mountain biker turned roller derby queen) and our friend Jim Smith (Smithers). Crazy people....I saw a lot of people going through all kinds of pain. I did the bike marshalling the first year of the K-town marathon, but Smap and I were positioned on the 1/2 marathon part of the course. We didn't even think about moving on to the rest of the course that year. This year I wish I had taken a whole bottle of endurolytes (sp?) because I gave out the 10 I had in my mtn.bike pack I had with me. I needed more. I also needed more water. On a few occasions, I had to ride back to find bottled water for some poor souls... Luckily Amylynn was carrying a lot of extra endurolytes with her, so I bugged her for some one time after I ran out. Next year I will be a lot more prepared.

So, after the marathon it actually became a pretty Sunday. Too bad for me though. Being out in the cold all morning totally zapped me. I was immobile on the couch for the rest of the day. I did make it out to walk with Mr.Ippon, but I was quickly back on the couch as soon as we got back in the house. Smap was busy installing our new dishwasher that must have taken him 8 hours all together....or it seemed like it. I kept telling myself I was staying inside just in case he needed my help....I had a good excuse to remain on the couch. Actually, he did need my help at one point...I think I handed him a cup from the cabinet so he could drain some water out of the old dishwasher....he he he.

Well, today my brother and sister in law offically start their way back to Tennessee. They are moving back to TN from SAN FRANSISCO. I can't wait! My twin sis left me the month before I got married in 05' for a bigger TN town, so I have been without the extravegance of having a person to hang out with when my husband just won't do. Kate is from the Czech Republic and is super fun. Alex (Smap's youngest bro) is pretty fun too. They both love to ride and camp just like us. Alex even races. Perfect...Smap and Kate can hang with our dogs while Alex and I race. Only kidding Smap if you are reading this. ;-)

So, I am looking at the radar today. I think someone is pulling an April Fool's on Knoxville. They are saying that it is suppose to be stormy weather out tonight, but I just don't see it. I hope not because I need to get some good road miles in today. I haven't been on that bike since....ummmmm....last Tuesday. I have been on my other two mountain bikes 3 times though...and have swam good swims twice, so I think I will be alright. I tell myself that at least. And, I did run from the Knoxville Expo center to my mom's car parked behind the Knox Museum of Art in the rain on Saturday so my sis and mom wouldn't have to get wet. That may have been a half mile run....I am counting that too.

Okay, enough rambling. Fingers are crossed for no rain!