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