Flooding

Got off work a bit early so took the bike out to see the flooding.

Here I am at Scott Blvd. with the MKT parking lot behind me looking like a river!

Water was over the road, but it was shallow enough to ride through.

Katy Trail Adventure

Today it was unseasonably warm (high was 71 here in Mid MO) so we took our bikes out for a ride on Missouri's scenic Katy Trail.

Alli was thrilled to ride bikes with us.

She had so much fun riding her bike.....for about 20 minutes...then she got cranky so we switched to the trailer.

At Eagle's Bluff lookout.

The Hobbit once lived here.

Bike MS

Today my friends and I participated in the Bike MS fund raising ride for Multiple Sclerosis.

Mike, Judi and Tom

The weather was perfect and we had the best time.  I biked about 85 miles (avg. speed 18 mph) and felt great.  This ride was not just a fun way to spend the day for a good cause, it was also a huge confidence booster for me getting ready to do my Half Iron Man triathlon in just two weeks from now.

Judi's Birthday

For my birthday I took the day off work. Having the whole day to do anything I wanted sounded like a great plan. Not to mention that if I skipped work, they could not make a fuss nor buy me a cake. I don’t NEED cake!

Flowers from James and Alli.

To start my day off right, I took my sweet time getting Alli ready for school. No rush…. no place to be by 8. That felt good; I am a happier, more patient mommy when I am not in a hurry.


After I dropped Alli off I stopped by my friends office and chatted with her for a while….since I had no place to be.

Next I saddled up for a bike ride. Just me, myself and I headed out to wherever my mood would take me…. since I had no place to be. First, I took my time cycling around the Old South West area looking at the historic old homes. It was such a pretty morning so I just wandered around enjoying the scenery. Then I stopped by campus to say good morning to the hubby. After chatting with him a bit I biked out East of town to an area with lots of new development including a new golf course to see the new house my friend Julia and her fiancé are building. I should have gone in for a look around, but since the workmen where there I decided to not get in the way.


Julia's new house under construction.

Next I biked north of town to see the new public high school that is being built. This is the photo I took of Battle High. It’s HUGE.

Battle High, taken with my phone camera.

This is a much cooler photo that an engineering friend of mine sent me. He has an inside connection.

After begging a mean convenience store clerk for some ice I decided 27 miles was enough and headed home to spend the rest of the day goofing off and doing whatever I wanted…..since I had no place I had to be.

After work James was a sweetie and brought me home some of my favorite treats and we had a very nice family evening together celebrating my birthday.   (My gift from James and Alli is my new Galaxy S3 cell phone that I actually received a few weeks ago.)

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and to celebrate my birthday. Alli helped to decorate the cake; she was so proud.

Last Day of May and it's COLD!!

Most Thursday evenings after work I join a bunch of my friends to do a really fast paced bike ride on some fairly flat roads east of town. Tonight as we all gathered to ride the temperature hovered in the mid 50s and there was a cold misty light rain falling. We all fussed around a bit hoping it would cut loose and pour so we could go home and not test our fortitude by riding in the cold. Instead the drizzle ceased and we all bundled up as best we could and knocked our ride out as quickly as possible.

After the ride we usually pull up a chair and a cooler and have a little social time. We weren’t about to let the cold stop us from this activity either.

Cynthia showing off her borrowed gloves and jacket.

Jacket was a bit too large!

Bob eating his carefully planned training diet.

Larry drinking a "recovery" beverage.

Wishing we had a trash barrel to start a fire in.

Jake and Uwe



The diehard athletes!!  (look at the sky in the background)



New Cycling Shorts

Rare photo of me ON the bike.

John Merli of Dogfish fame was kind enough to mail me some new Dogfish shorts.

Finally The Big Recital

Warning: DO NOT READ WHILE EATING

(unless you should not be eating)

 

It was around midnight when we were awakened by the child. I barely remember the whole thing because I was in a sleep induced fog. There was vomit on the bathroom carpet and I was relieved that the girl’s hair was still up in a bun. She had eaten carrots and strawberries when we got home from the dress rehearsal so the mess was an orangey pink color.

James and I cleaned up as best we could and tucked the girl back in bed. She seemed content enough so I blamed the whole incident on her tummy not liking her food choices and went right back to sleep.

Morning came and I had forgotten all about the midnight throw-up incident but as soon as Beanie woke up she said she was still sick. She told me she had thrown up all night. I touched her brow and she didn’t feel hot. I said “No you didn’t honey, just once and we cleaned it up”. She assured me she was not fine and I patted her on the head and put in front of the television to watch her morning cartoons.

Next thing you know she is coming to me with that look in her eyes. I grabbed her, ran across the kitchen quickly and held her over the kitchen sink just in time. She WAS right….still sick. My head was spinning with the implications. We had plans for the WHOLE day….LOTS of IMPORTANT plans!!

Shortly after that I ventured into her room for the first time in the morning and sure enough, she had gotten sick again. Her bed was a mess and the floor too. I checked the bathroom and it too was a scene. Even the baby wipes on the back of the stool had a mess on the container. I could tell she had used them to wipe her face off. Poor thing had been sick all night and never woke us up!

At this point, I am fully realizing that there is a ton of wash to do and that the BIG recital may not happen for this sick girl. I am so disappointed I break down to tears. By now my dear husband has caught up with what is going on and tells me to go do my planned bike ride and regroup emotionally.

You see I had taken the entire day off work and had an hour by hour plan to get all kinds of things done. First was a group ride with about 20 friends to visit all the breakfast stations for our annual bike to work week. Then I was going to clean house for a few hours to prepare for the Grandparents visiting. After that was a quick trip to the big fancy Target in Jeff City to get the other half of the swim suit that I really wanted badly. Finally I would pick up the girl at school and bring her home to get her clean and beautiful for the REAL recital which we would leave the house at 6, with Grandma and Grandpa, to attend.

Please note that by the time you add up the costs of ballet lessons, the costume, photos and accessories…. I have hundreds of dollars invested in this recital, not to mention a kid who has been looking forward to it for MONTHS!

My first reaction to James telling me to go ride a bike was not positive. I thought it ridiculous for him to expect me to go off on some “just for fun” bike outing while I had a kid at home vomiting. Then I thought twice and decided he may be right. It might be the bright spot in my day and I should just go do it and then return with a more optomistic outlook. (I also suspect he didn’t need to or want to rush into work so a sick kid was a good excuse for him to call in late.) So I did it.

I have red shoes.

 The bike ride lasted way longer than I expected but I had so much fun I was really glad I went. When I got home Daddy declared the child was well and could go to school. I had my doubts……but agreed because I was really needing to do some super fast and furious house cleaning and it would be so nice to not have her in the middle of things making it all twice as hard.

So Daddy popped her in the car and dropped her at school on his way to work. I started my cleaning frenzy before they were out of the driveway. I had to finish cleaning the sick girl’s bedroom and bathroom as well as the downstairs guest room and bathroom. Cleaning is not my favorite.

By half past 12 I declared it all good enough and hopped in the shower before heading to the fancy Jeff City Target. As I was putting my makeup on the phone rang….it was Alli’s school. She had thrown up on the playground after lunch. I was not surprised and felt bad for having sent her to school at all.

All plans now called off I went and picked her up. We came home and crawled in bed together and she was sound asleep in about 10 seconds. I napped a while too and then crept out of the room to let her finish her slumber.

At 3 o’clock James called and asked if we were still going to the recital. I told him that if she did not throw up again after she woke up, YES….if she did throw up again, NO, we would not attempt to go. He needed to tell him parents what to do; drive the two hours to get here or not. He phoned me back and said they were on their way.

Luckily Beanie woke up in a good mood and never did throw up again. We got her ready and the whole family went to the recital and had the best time. The show was GREAT. It was a much needed happy ending to a long day!

Grandma Rae and Allia.