What's New

I notice it's been a while since I've posted anything. Things are good but I have felt a bit quiet. So without any specific topic, I guess I'll just mention what's been happening and what's coming up. And of course, my accompanying thoughts.

Probably the biggest news thus far, Lily is walking unassisted! This is so exciting. And yet its kind of sad. We've had her home three and a half months and this little one is growing up SO FAST. If you have not seen Julianne's post on this, go check it out. Lily also has five new teeth coming in at once. Do I need to tell you what this is like? Overall, she's doing well. This is week is definitely better than last.

At work this week during our monthly coach meeting, we had a small memorial for a coworker we lost a few weeks ago to his battle with cancer. Several people got up and had pleasant memories to share and someone even sang a song in his honor. It was very touching. As a Christian, I found it sad though, listening to what people expressed. Everyone had high hopes and wishes that he was in a better place. Yet no one seemed to have any assurance that this was the case. I could only assume that many of them had no security of this for themselves as well. The whole reason for Jesus' life on this earth was to take our place; to restore our relationship with God through His own sacrifice. The whole message of the bible is that of our need for redemption, and Christ's fulfillment of that need on our behalf; that upon our acceptance of His finished work on the cross, we could KNOW where we will be upon our own inevitable time of passing. If the message is true and if we place our faith in Him, we have no need to hope or wish.

On a much lighter note, I've been able to get out on about two bike rides per week. In all, since I've been back into bicycling, I've been on half a dozen rides or so. In my most recent rides, I've been adding hills, which I had been dreading. I found myself attacking the hills with an newly found fervor crawling up the hills at a slow and steady pace. Yet with each hill I conquered, I felt good. My breathing was heavy, yet steady. And the joy of a five-and-a-half mph climb is the 35 mph decent! My rides have ranged from an hour to an hour twenty minutes and I could easily have gone longer. The bicycling, the weekday morning workouts on the treadmill, and my disciplined eating habits have brought me over the 100 pound mark for my weight loss. I've got anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds more to go, depending on how realistic the doctor's office charts are.

As I continue to build a base for my century ride next year, I'm progressing in my search for a new road bike. Having not been on a road bike in about 18 years, I'm having lots of fun doing research, and going on test rides. Cannondale hosted a demo event locally last weekend. I asked the guy helping me prepare for my test ride, "Before I get too attached to this bike, can you tell me what this one runs?" Casually, as if this is normal, he replied, "This one runs about five thousand dollars." I can't believe I test rode a $5,000 bicycle. Not a car, a bicycle! Sure it was nice, but my goodness. I shouldn't have complained...another bike I saw in a bike shop yesterday was on sale for $8,000. The bikes I'm actually considering are far less.

Finally, the time of year is coming again that we make our annual trek down to Palm Springs for the CMC Math Conference. I won't bore you with math details, so you can keep reading. Palm Springs is absolutely gorgeous in November. It's always a nice getaway. Traditionally, on our first night in town, we enjoy a dinner at Ruby's Diner and then head a few doors down to Cold Stone for ice cream. Having deprived myself of any edible pleasures remained self controlled and determined for the past six months, I have decided to reward myself for my progress and accomplishment. Not wanting to knock tradition, we won't deviate from our plan. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I'm so excited about going to Cold Stone. Now I have to decide what I'll get. I'm leaning towards cheesecake ice cream with coconut, white chocolate chips, and fudge mixed in (the child's size of course). MMMMM. I'm bringing my bike to work it off so I'm not worried about a little pleasant indulgence. :)