Ready...Set...

OK people...the STP is this weekend. YIKES! It's now or never, do or die. Let's hope I've trained enough.

I have a gazillion things to get done in the next 24 hours and instead of getting anything done, I am blogging. Here are a few things on my to-do list:

Pack
Get goodies for my mom's babysitting/house sitting weekend with the kids
Work a half day tomorrow
Go to bed early!
Try not to think about riding my bike 204 miles



At least my bike is ready to go!














Yes, that's udder cream you see. You have to put it...how should I say this?...inside your shorts to prevent friction sores on your poor bum that will inevitably end up in massive amounts of pain anyway.



Oh! We bought the coolest thing at REI. It's called a Spot Satellite Tracker, and it's basically a little GPS gizmo that we'll have with us so anytime this weekend you want to see where we're at, just click on this link. You can click on satellite and it will give the Google Earth view of where we are.



I took Monday off, so I am planning on blogging and posting lots of pics first thing in the morning (once the coffee kicks in!) Hopefully I won't have any stories to report of being found 5 miles before the finish line laying unconscious in a pool of my own vomit.

Pray for my safety! With a number like 666, I'll need it! Wish me luck!

Just For You, Mel

This morning at work I was chatting with Melissa and telling her about my bike ride yesterday (67 miles...wassup) when her eyes kind of glazed over with boredom and then she abruptly inturrupted me:

Mel: You need to ride less and blog more.

Me: I know! I was doing really good there for a while!

Mel: I am tired of seeing Lavendar and Lillies. And Kaylee has gotten behind on her blog, too.

Me: Well what do you want me to blog about? Not much is going on.

Mel: I don't know, I'll think of something.

So throughout the day I asked her if she came up with anything and she hadn't. Then I said I'd blog about my new North Face pants that I bought for the STP. With slight annoyance in her voice she said "But I already know about your North Face pants". Like, duh.

Well, I was flipping through some pics and look what I found...it's
Melissa, looking like a sexy girlfriend.




















But I am really excited about my new pants. Now, if you are brand savvy, you know that The North Face does not make bicyling clothes. But I like to be a little unconventional. Sorry, I took this in the mirror, so go ahead and read backwards.

Lavender and Lillies

Great light out tonight, so I grabbed my macro lens and got some shots of the Calla lillies and lavender that I grow in my yard.

Come Over and Swim...If You're Brave

The Ackley pool is officially cleaned, chlorinated, and ready for action. So come on over. It's just cold, that's all. It's curtians for the heater, officially. Broken down and cannot be fixed. Trust me, if Dale could fix it, he would. Therefore we need to buy a new one...somewhere in the the neighborhood of four grand. YIKES! So a heated pool is on the backburner indefinately. It's ok, though. It's just like swimming in a lake.



Nice farmer tan, honey!













Oh! Check this out. Dale pulled the filter and look at the treasures we found inside (the little blue bubble things are from the cover). Thank goodness the filter does it's job, that's all I have to say! I don't know why these little critters choose to end it all in our pool. Do you suppose they stand at the edge, all depressed, decide there's just no hope left, and take that final leap? Goodbye cruel world!

A Baby For Sarah

Ok, before reading any further,read this post. Since I wrote that, there have been two more babies born in my office. Everyone is fertile!

...Except for Sarah.

Sarah and her husband have been married for 10 years and had never been able to get pregnant. I know it has been very hard for her working in our office, where there is a constant stream of pregnancies, baby showers, and newborns being shown off, but she's always handled it like such a trooper. She's never felt sorry for herself or played the victim or been the slightest bit resentful towards those of us who have been able to have babies.

A few weeks ago Sarah and her hubby were packing for a vacation to Mexico, where they were to be staying at an all-inclusive resort ("all-inclusive" aka "all you can drink for free"). Because of that, she decided to take a pregnancy test...just in case the one-in-a-million chance that she was pregnant.

IT WAS POSITIVE!

She is now in her second trimester, and things are going great! She even has a little pooch already. Needless to say, at work we are beyond happy for her (especially our boss, who has 7 kiddos of his own) and we spoil her to death. Congratulations, Sarah!

Shelton to Seattle to Portland to Shelton

Congratulations to me for my 100th post!

How did we spend our 105 degree Saturday? Well...I left the house at 5:30am for a ride into Olympia to my favorite pit-stop, Starbucks (personally, I think Gatorade is way overrated. Coffee does the trick for me). In the mean time, Dale got the kids ready and loaded up the car and met me over there. I got changed out of my riding gear (no need to be in full spandex any longer than necessary) and we hit the road for Seattle.

With the detailed Seattle-to-Portland route map in hand, we drove to the starting line (Ok, more like "starting parking lot") at the University of Washington. People often assume that the STP starts in Seattle, follows I-5 to Portland, pretty strait forward. Oh no, that would be waaaayyyy too easy. It starts at UW, then winds around right through Seattle, then follows back roads through all the little smaller towns the whole entire way. We drove the route today so we know exactly what we are in for.

I took a few shots along the way (sorry for the crappy quality). Here is one of my beloved bike. See that little pack behind my seat? I bought that just so I could pack my camera along with me. Now Dale thinks it's a bad idea. He thinks all the vibration could damage it. I can't imagine not having it with me. I don't know what to do...I'll have to investigate the matter further.


















Here is one of my crazy sexy husband:












Ok, this next pic is of THE HILL. I knew I wouldn't be able to get a shot of it while I actually have to ride up it, so I had to get it today. It's in Puyallup, 1.5 miles long, and is pretty much notorious. What completely sucks is that you start out the hill at an intersection, so basically there's no way to start out with any momentum. Oh- and you've already ridden over 50 miles by this point. It's funny, in the map it's actually labeled THE HILL (all in caps), and they refer to it as "a rite of passage for STP riders". Wow. The whole way up it I kept thinking to myself...How the Hell am I going to do this? So the picture doesn't do it much justice, but you can kind of make out the grade of the hill. Imagine this for 1.5 miles.












This is another Yikes! moment for the riders...The Lewis and Clark bridge. This was scary and steep just driving over it. And we will have to ride over this about 2/3 into the 2nd day when we will already be good and tired and shaky and wobbly.












It was my job to drive from Portland home. So much easier to hit I-5 and be home in 2 hours!










All in all our 14 HOUR day was spent seeing the route (most of which gives me a knot in my stomach) eating junk food, me giving Dale directions and him getting irritated with me for giving him the wrong directions (it only happened 4 or 5 or 6 times) our kids fighting, me singing to the radio and Dale laughing at my bad singing, our kids making each other giggle, and seeing so many cute little towns that we have never seen before. It was fun!

Off to bed...I have 60 miles to do tomorrow.

Maybe It's Maybeline

After we finished dinner tonight, we were sitting there bored, then for some reason Dale thought it'd be funny to take my eyeliner pencil and give Rowan a goatee. Then he decided that wasn't enough, so he added eyebrows and sideburns. I was laughing so hard you could only hear tiny squeaks. Of course Bella didn't want Rowan getting all of the attention, so she got some too.

That's the reason we had kids, you know. The free entertainment.

Bella Will Be Quite a Mother

Earlier tonight, while I was sitting here at the computer, Bella came up behind me and excitedly said, "Look Mom! My baby has a new crib!" I turned to see Bella's dolly tucked cozily into the puke basin that we took home from the ER last year. Oh, bless her heart! :)

Some Mighty Cute Girls

My great friend and former babysitter, Krista, came over today so I took the opportunity to get some shots of her girls Kylie, Quincie, and Madilyn.

To My Hygienists Out There...

If you are not a hygienist, sorry, you will find this post very boring. But if you ARE a hygienist...this is quite exciting. Check this out- they make these new little LED attachments for ultrasonic scalers. They're cool. You've gotta get yourself a few. Better yet, have your boss getcha a few.

They are kind of spendy, about $40 each, but they're good for at least 100 autoclaves. We only have 3 in my office, so I save them for the harder SRP patients. They're great for the distal facial line angles of the terminal molars and the linguals of the mandibluar molars. The tip is bendy too, so you can aim the light right where you want it. You'll love 'em!

I don't know the brand or even what they're called, but just ask your sales rep about them when they come in for the ordering. Hopefully your boss is game for anything that makes your job as a hygienist easier. I am lucky...mine is. :)

Meet My Friend Ibuprofen

Did I meet my goal (part 2)? Let's do the math. My goal was 50 miles, back to back. Yesterday I did 56.6, today I did 45.3, 56.6 +45.3 = 101.9 (divide by) 2 = 50.95 miles. So yes, I believe I did meet my goal.

I woke up bright and early with achy knees. I got ready anyway, and went down the stairs to where my bike was...each step I was in agony. Normally, I would just turn right back around and go back to bed and use the I-don't-want-to-risk-further-injury-so-I-better-take-it-easy excuse to take the day off. But this morning, I had to practice some serious self discipline and get on my bike.

I did Steamboat Island, there and back, there and back. My knees were killing me the first 5 miles or so, then they pretty much just went numb after that.

It was a fairly uneventful ride until I took the exit to cross the overpass for the final leg home. See, it's a hardly-used exit anyway, especially so early in the morning, so I usually just slow down enough to make sure the coast is clear, then breeze on through the stop sign and head to the left (yes, illegal, I know).

I wear special cleated shoes that clip into my pedals. Whenever I come to a stop, I have to remind myself in head, unclip, unclip, unclip. It can be hard to get used to, and if you haven't unclipped one foot by the time you've stopped, it's too late. Can you see where this story is going?

So I get to the stop sign where there is NEVER anyone coming and give a quick glance to the left to see a line of 4 cars coming. That means I have to stop or I will become roadkill. Well, I quickly grab both breaks...and in slow motion...fall over. I am unable to unclip my feet in time and so how do I break my fall? I twist my left leg outward and land directly on my already-hurt knee. Oh I was so pissed at myself for being so stupid!

I think with every ride I learn a new lesson. Today's was the importance of stopping at stop signs regardless, but more than that...UNCLIP!

Oh My Aching Knees

Did I meet my goal (part 1)? Sure did...I was hoping that the route I had planned to do this morning would be 50 miles. Well, it ended up being almost 57. Woohoo!

But as I sit here, I have ibuprofen on board and ice packs on my knees. Surprisingly, my butt doesn't hurt at all.

I am supposed to do the route again tomorrow. I will do it...I don't really have a choice at this point. If I can't do 57 miles back to back, how the heck will I do 100 miles back to back?

I will update tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to my computer on my wobbly legs.

My Goals for this Weekend

The STP is 3 weeks from tomorrow and I am completely burned out from training. Nice timing, huh? I have decided to blog about my goals for this weekend because I feel that it will help me stick to it...almost like I have to be accountable to my little following of blog readers.

In the morning, at 5:00, I will leave my house, hit 101, ride to the west Olympia Starbucks, take a little latte break, ride back to the hwy 3 interchange, then back to the Steamboat Island overpass, then back home. It should be about 50 miles. Then I am going to do it again on Sunday.

Ugh.

Grilled Pizza

Ok, you have got to try this. Make homemade pizza and grill it on your BBQ. It is soooo good this way. I got the idea to cook it this way from Kaylee's mom, who is SUCH a good cook (artist, decorator, etc...) she makes Martha Stewart look like a preschool macaroni glue-er.

Now, it may be tempting to buy pre made dough and sauce from the grocery store. Don't. This recipe is freaking awesome. It takes about an hour to make both, but it is worth the time.

I have made this recipe many times over the years, but it's the first time I grilled it. I made it for our house
guests.

BTW, I got this recipe out of the Cosmo magazine that I was reading in my Las Vegas hotel room while I was getting my hair done for my wedding.

Dough:
2 packets yeast
1 cup warm water
2 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

Place yeast in a bowl, pour water over it, and a tiny pinch of sugar to give the yeast something to munch on. Let sit for 5 mins, then stir to dissolve. Add flour slowly work it in with a fork. On a floured surface, knead the dough for about 3 mins. Rub oil on dough, place in bowl, cover and let it rise for 1 hour until it doubles in size. While this is happening, get going on the sauce.

Sauce:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion finely chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
1 28 oz. can plum tomatoes with juice
1/2 tsp. each oragano, thyme and basil
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan, add onion and garlic, cook 3-4 mins. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon as it cooks. Add herbs, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover partially. Cook 30 mins until sauce is reduced by half.

To make personal sized pizzas, divide the dough into 6 equal parts, and flatten out each section with a rolling pin. Take them out to your BBQ. Brush one side with olive oil, lay oil side down on the grill.









When the underside has golden brown grill marks, brush more oil on the topside, then flip them over.









Spread a thin layer of sauce, then add your toppings. The pizza is done just as soon as the cheese melts. They cook fast, so don't leave them unattended.






These are fun to make when you have friends over. Each person can make theirs any way they like. This is my favorite kind of pizza...tomato basil. Mmmm...

Someone's Onto Me

The other day I received an email from the Cascade Bicycling Club (the STP people) stating that bib numbers had been assigned. There are officially 9,500 riders...and I will be rider #666!!!! Hahaha! This is so funny to me.

Do you think the Bib Number Assigner has got me figured out? I always thought I'd hid my dark side so well.