Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Westward on the Weekend - fun ridge with BFF (9/10/17)

Thank you Kelly for letting me ride along on your fun ride to Two Brother's Roundhouse restaurant/cafĂ©/brewery. (www.twobrothersbrewing.com). Starting from the BFF women's specific bike shop (www.bffbikes.com).  40 plus miles riding our gravel friendly bikes just to drink a beer (or 2) and grab a bite to eat.  And then, if you didn't want (or need) to ride the train back, a few of us rode back on the same Prairie Path bike route home.


My husband was nice enough to drop me off on a beautiful Sunday morning and take the kids where they needed to be, from Sunday School to a birthday party. 

We left 9am and I was home by 5:30pm.  I earned my delicious 2brothers burger, with bacon and bbq sauce and green beans on the side.  YUM!  (Sorry, no pictures, I ate it...)


Being a part of the Cycling Community does have its rewards.  There are things happening in the world and things to see.  One of those things we would have missed was the Boy Scouts Soap Box Derby happening on a quiet hill on our route.  We stopped for a few minutes and watched.

There is so much to see in our world, all we have to do it hop on our bike and go...


Friday, September 1, 2017

Total Eclipse with my Girls and Gus

 August 21st, the United States experienced a Total Eclipse as it crossed several states, including Southern Illinois.  Through Girl Scouts, my troop was offered a chance to travel to St. Louis and learn about and see this "once in a life-time experience." 

Instead, we spent the weekend in the Shawnee National Forest at Camp Ondesonk.  The girls and Gus slept in Lalemont, the first Unit I stayed in as a young camper, only nicer.

Instead of sleeping in the bunks, we put the mattresses on the floor.
 The buildings are elevated and open.


The girls enjoyed horseback riding, wall climbing, archery, swimming, kayaking and canoeing, delish meals, lots of walking, and the Junior Astronomers Club brought their telescopes and shared star gazing at night and some tricks for viewing the eclipse.


I wish I could share more pictures of the actual experience, but the best pictures are on the good camera.

My Never Ending Journey

Not that anyone actually reads my blog, but more for myself.  I started this blog years ago when I needed someone to talk to, to share with, to just be there.  In ways, this blog should have been someone to share my experiences and later go back and say "remember when? and you made it through."

My last post should have been the beginning of the end.  The switch that turned on the light to the end of my tunnel.  It's not.

St. Louis Triathlon started my Summer 2017 Race Season.  It also ended it.  Coming in at the end of the bike portion of the Olympic Distance Triathlon, I only remember riding on my head and shoulder.  Later, my husband spoke with a race official who saw what happened.  While moving over to exit the course for transition, my front tire sunk into the putty of the expansion joint of the high way.  I rode a front wheelie for 10 - 15 seconds before flipping over the front of my bike.  My left foot was already out of my shoe for transition.  I bruised my inside arch.  I landed on my head, thank You God that I was wearing my aero helmet.  It saved my face.  It's cracked.  I had a concussion that took 2 ice bags to clear my vision.  My race was over.  The following 2 weeks I sported a black eye. 


This was May 21st.  I had x-rays to show I didn't have shoulder separation, but I am still having a hard time sleeping on my left side and need to go back to my chiropractor.  (He adjusted me enough that I can lift my left arm over my head again, but my should is still off somewhere.  I just can't afford the co-pays.)

I previously mentioned that we were going in for re-financing to finish our house starting in April.  End of July, the night before we finally had our closing date, we received the news that we no longer qualified and it fell through.  This was devastating.  We were relying on this to balance the scales and re-organize.  Stop paying $1k to someone else and put it into the house. We have nothing left to sell or give up.

Finally, a bit of good news.  We learned that the list of things that needed to be finished in order to obtain occupancy permits for the house was significantly shorter than we were originally led to believe.  We had something to work with.  And then the brakes fell off my car.

To fix the brakes on my car by an Auto Shop will cost $1,200.00.  We bought the tool needed to do it ourselves for $200 and I still need to order the parts for $300.   However, my coolant keeps dropping below the line meaning something else is going out (a pump?).

For the last month, I have been riding my bike home from work after being dropped off by my husband. This is actually saving money from buying gas.  However, I'm still not getting ahead.  School has started and I have to pay for after-school care.  $250 a month.  (There goes the gas money.)  But I get a nice 10 mile ride in before I get home.  I'm starting to run again in the mornings.  I look forward to starting to swim again this weekend.

All of this is a summary of my summer.  My kids have lived in the basement, watching TV.  No friends, no weekly outings.  Summer School for 6 weeks for my daughter.  Hanging out with Daddy at his office for my son.

But it hasn't all been bad.  We did spend an extended weekend in Southern Illinois for the July 4th weekend.  And we took our Girl Scout Troop to Camp Ondesonk for the Total Eclipse.  That will be a post on it's own.  For now, that is what keeps me going.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Approaching the 6 Year Anniversary

It is really frustrating to think this March 31st will mark the 6 year anniversary of having my world turned upside down.  So close, and still not home.  But, we are visiting.

Our first house fire was 6 years, 4 addresses, the entire lifetime of my 5 year-old son, the loss of another beloved dog, and so much stress and weight-gain ago.   We are now trying to re-finance to get it completed and moved back in before my next birthday. 

How will this change my life?  We are currently living in a one bedroom apartment that we were supposed to be in for 6 months.  It will be 16 months end of April.  We have been working on our house and unofficially living in our basement.  We don't sleep there.  But, we have 1 toilet hooked and in the "Pain-Cave" bathroom.  We still need a cabinet to have a sink. But we watch movies on the television via the dvd player.  My daughter has her dolls set up, my son has his cars and Legos. I go and spin on my bike, sometimes accompanied by my son.  And when it is time to go home, to eat, to sleep, no one wants to leave.

 Little by little, my husband has been progressing.  We even have grass seed sewn in part of the front yard.  (Not to mention the spinach seed in the garden.) Electricity is hooked up, we have lights on light switches on most areas, we have water, we even have heat.  But we still need insulation and drywall, cabinets, and furnishings.  But it's progress and so much closer than it used to be.

What I really need is the ability to multi-task.  We are saving about $20 a week now that we can do our laundry at the house, but kids still need showers and meals.  I look forward to when I can spin on the bike, while the laundry and dishes are being cleaned and dinner is in the oven.  I look forward to waking up and running on the treadmill because it is 10 degrees outside and the roads are icy.  Most of all, I look forward to waking up and being home.

3/20/17 - Update - the loan has been approved, but we have a little  paperwork to finish before work starts...and finishes.  I am looking forward to a true housewarming in Spring.