winged creatures...

I have had bad luck with creatures that FLY. More specifically, Bats. There have been 3 separate occasions since we moved into our house that we have had bats in the house and if you ask me that is 3 too many occasions!

The first one happened while Tom had traveled to Alaska for a project - this just figures! I was sitting in our TV room watching something fascinating (I'm sure of it) and something came flitting into the room, then circled the room and then out the door again. It was far too big for a fly I knew that much, but it moved slower than a bird (we have had issues with birds, but that is a future post). So naturally, right away I'm on edge. Well, now I can't risk this thing coming into the room again so I close the door - that was short lived. I realized that at some point I am going to have to leave that room and perhaps go to bed or whatever. So I start walking around the house looking for this thing - well after another pass I figured out it was a bat - YIKES! What the heck?!

Quickly I start to think of people to call. The only time that I really need to get a hold of someone and NO ONE answer the phone! I called all the families that I felt totally comfortable with and no one was home! That's just my luck - Tom is out of town and evidently all of our friends are away from their homes. Luckily I had gotten a hold of a friend of ours that lives nearby...so he said he would be over in a few minutes.

In the mean time I successfully got stuck in the coat closet. Where do you go to avoid flying creatures? Well the coat closet of course. The door knobs on our old doors don't always work and this was the one time that they didn't...just my luck! So I start twirling that stupid thing and thinking I need to get out of that stupid closet because Jim will be over soon and the back door is LOCKED. Yes, anything that could possibly go wrong did - here I am in a panic and twirling that door knob like a mad woman. After what seems like an eternity I get the door open, prayer really does work in times of panic, try it sometime. Fortunately Jim hadn't arrived yet so I had some time to poke around the house to see where that thing could be...no where to be seen, so I was in luck.

I have been told that bats are pretty harmless and beneficial and eat bugs. I'll deal with the bugs in the house thank you very much. While it is true that they are not bad animals, having a bat flying around the house is not comforting by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, this was just the beginning of our bat experience in this house.

After a few more minutes Jim shows up with a bucket and a net and we start going around the house looking for this thing. I know that it isn't on the main floor or the upstairs because I closed that door. So we go into the basement and are looking around with a flashlight. Those things are hard to find when they don't want to be found. We eventually find it and Jim, so cool, was able to trap it with the net and then get it into the bucket and then take it outside where it belongs.

People love to hear about the bat story, I don't get it, it was a bat...bats are not funny.

Mouse Trap

Once upon a while ago (few years) I was up early on a Saturday and waiting for the sun to come up so I could go for a ride. Riley was acting very strangely that morning and kept dorking around my book case. Since I never know what to expect in our house I wasn't about to take a look at what might be behind the book case. I figured I would let Tom take care of it.

So it got to the point where I could go for a ride and enjoy a quiet morning out on the road - off I went. I was hoping that Riley would lose interest in whatever was behind the bookcase or maybe it was nothing, my hope of course. After my return about an hour later, Riley is STILL very intent on getting behind the bookcase. Well, now I really know that I don't want to take a look! There has got to be something back there.

Not too much time goes by and Tom wakes up and comes downstairs. I inform him of his cat's interest in the bookcase so he moves the bookcase just enough to look - then this little creature came darting out! Well, now we are trying to not lose the creature which turns out to be a mouse and keep Riley away and I was trying not to go crazy because it's a mouse. I don't remember when or how, but one of us had enough sense to grab a bowl to trap the rodent which Tom did.

NOW I'm interested in looking at this little guy, turns out he was pretty cute so I had to take a picture before our visitor's departure....

Riley doesn't have any front claws so his hunting instincts are purely in theory alone there is not a lot he can do by slapping his paw on a defensely little mouse. He could possibly win a stare down though, check out that steely look!

This one may have been cute, but I still don't like mice. Especially in my house.

Feeling Happy

It's been a long time since I have felt completely content. Four years ago at this time was was still 3 weeks away from finishing my radiation therapy and man, I was started to feel the full affects of the therapy. I pretty much was tired most of the time and my hair was coming out in the places where I was receiving the beams. So that wasn't helping my attitude in any way. Cancer really sucks.

The last couple of weeks though, I have been feeling quite happy and having all sorts of fun and it is nice. I finally figured it out - if I had kept my same MRI schedule this month would have been my MRI/doctor month and I realized that I don't miss it! Which is a huge step in my survivorship because right after I finished my last chemo do-dah thing (thank you very much chemo brain) I started to feel really anxious and on edge quite often. Something about not being in treatments anymore seemed to kick in. Over time it became easier to deal with that, but the whole MRI thing was getting to be not so fun and pretty quick. Every couple of months for a couple of years and then moved on to every 3 months for the last year that was my curse and it was very maddening for many of those months as the schedulers for NW Cancer were not easy to work with at all. I would end up worried about when I might get my appointment for the scan and wonder if they would get it during the time that I always have them done even though it was kind of after hours. These people evidently didn't realize that I really am a princess and I have pretty strong feelings about how things should be done - my way! 3 years of anguish, anxiety and all around bitterness....I then started to ask "Why Me?" That was something that I never asked myself during my treatments....only after they were complete. It just seemed to be my luck. After a couple of letters to the Office Manager things improved somewhat, but of course, not to my liking.

So my decision to go every six months came very easily - I really didn't want to deal with the incompetent people anymore, I had better things to do with my time and energy. It was a decision that I made essentially at the beginning of this year, but did not have a chance to employ until April when I had my LAST MRI...my oncologist was surprised, but I don't care, I'm not all that enthralled with her either. She is a great doctor, but too much of a good thing is just too much. My neurosurgeon was happy his reply was "Good." Man of few words.

The last month or so has been really great...I have not been overly upset or anything and have been surprisingly upbeat and happy. I figured it out in the last couple of weeks...no irritating doctory stuff! I think that the chemo brain is with me to stay or I'm getting older and my mind is starting to go. I like to use the chemo brain excuse though, because really, no one really knows how long the affects of chemo last. So I'm good!

Life is good and I'm having a ball!

#19

19. I grew up in a bilingual home and English is not my first language. My parents were Dutch Indonesian and spoke dutch at home. I enjoy other languages and have taken classes in conversational German and had two years of high school Spanish. The next language I want to learn is Italian for the trip that we'll make in 3 years.

#18

18. I like numbers....not the manipulation of them, but the sequence of them like phone numbers, PINs and other miscellaneous numbers. Phone numbers, those go into the memory bank after 2 or 3 (at most) calls. I'm a freak.

Bike Commute Week and Going a little Green

GO BY BIKE!
(Well this might be the Bike Gallery's theme this summer, but I'm going to use it!)

What a great week! Except for the fact that Tom was gone and I had to go to work it was a great week. Last weekend we spent a lot of time driving around, in and out of Portland to go to the Velodrome and just other general running errands and all that. With all the gas that we used in my car I decided that this week I would go by bike and leave my car home. Monday is my regular "rest" day from all athletic type activities so I drive every Monday. Although Monday is the day that I go and stock up on lunch type items at work and make sure that I have all that I need so I don't have to bring so much in my backpack so it's a necessary drive day in a way. Tuesday - Friday though, bike all the way!

It's funny how people here at work will talk to me about cycling news that is coming up in the newspapers recently. Most recently the report on how representatives from Portland Police Bureau's traffic division have been parking themselves at key intersections in Portland and targeted cyclists running the stop light and/or the stop signs. Not that I would do that, but there have been occasions that I have merely slowed down (a lot) at a stop sign and then went thru or waited and waited at a red light and decided that waiting was silly and gone on - but things are different here, Clark County doesn't have the numbers of bike commuters as Portland so it's hard to really compare. No matter though, someone on a bike gets hit by a car or hits a car or makes the news and I get to hear about it. Like I can make it stop. I do my part to try and stay safe and I am more than courteous to cars around me. All I can do is try to gain their respect. What other people do, does unfortunately transfer to me and my choice of transportation at times.

Salmon Creek Hill today Alpe d'Huez tomorrow?

Now that my "new" compact crank is all dialed in and I haven't had a problem this week - I'm excited to try some hills instead of the bumps in the road that I have been riding. This morning I decided to go thru Felida on my way to work and the hill was not that bad. I took it slow and steady and didn't stop. I have been kind of dreading going thru Felida to go to work because it isn't as fast and a whole lot steeper than my regular route, even though I made it to work in less time, but it took longer for the distance that I went. Now I understand why the mountain stages in the Tour are broadcast for more than two hours than the flat stages. Going up hill goes slow - for me at least.

Last night I rode to meet Tom at Esther Short Park - instead of taking Main Street all the way to 39th or 33rd I decided to take 45th (another short hill) to Washington and on to Columbia Street to head to the park. It isn't that bad in a car, but on a bike, a little slower. That was a snap too!

I don't know if I'm getting better or if the crank is helping or what, but all of a sudden I'm liking these hills. Of course, Shawn keeps telling me about all the hills in his neck of the woods and thankfully I'm way far away from Yacolt so I don't have to ride them!

GIVING "GREEN" A TRY

When Tom goes out of town and I have been on my bike a lot I tend to come up with some pretty funny ideas. That's what happens when I have no one but the cats to bounce ideas off of. Decaf is always in agreement with me as long as I have a snack for him! These ideas seem perfectly fine to me, but might not appeal to other people. When I think of an idea I am hopeful that Tom will entertain my suggestions to see if they will work. My ideas for going a little more green have been few, but the latest is that I would like to start riding to the Salmon Creek Safeway to do grocery shopping. I have refused to go to that store even though it is only 3.5 miles from our house. That store has always been so frustrating to me, but I would be willing to shop there if I didn't have to drive my car. This plan would take some extra planning at first, but I think we could make it work out. Darn that Planet Green Network!

No matter, I believe that if everyone makes a couple of changes in their everyday life it will make a difference in the long run. Plus, being eco-friendly and riding my bike is good for me too - except for the car exhaust and the people trying to run me off the road!

#17

17. I do not eat orange or grape flavored sweet tarts or other pure sugar candies. However, I do like orange and grape flavored soda pop. Don't ask.

Bike Commute Week

I decided that this week I would lay off the running and ride to work Tuesday-Friday.

Today, for my ride home, I decided to go via the Salmon Creek Trail. I should have known better, things were not going that great. Well, it wasn't all bad, but really, there are quite a few people that make me a little crazy.

I REALLY like it when people just DRIVE. Instance, I'm coming down HDA and I'm naturally in the bike lane because that is the right thing to do. At the intersection just past Faith Baptist Church I see a small pick-up wanting to go south and a van that wants to go north - same direction that I am going in. Well, this guy was a total idiot and me not knowing what he might do I was going slower than usual waiting for the ding dong to go past...where I turn off comes quickly after making the turn off Hazel Dell Ave and if I can get thru with no traffic that is a good day! Not today...I should have known.

Going to the trail....people are either blocking the road in their stupid loser car while visiting with a person that is not in the car...on the trail we have all sorts of people just all over the place a mom with several children and absolutely no control. I came up on a couple that happened to be running - they may have been together. It is hard to tell since the dog that was running after the woman and in front of the guy (and they were not close to each other) was on a leash, BUT no one had a grip on the other end. I guess that fulfills the leash law, sort of. Another couple were walking together, but each were on a cell phone - I hope they were not talking to each other, my gosh, they were standing next to each other. In the middle of the trail!

I don't know, I was really questioning this decision up until I actually left work. That probably was my cue to not ride the trail, but I didn't pay attention.

We'll see what the remainder of the week brings....

#16

16. I am irritated by people who engage in their techie toys while "enjoying the great outdoors". i.e. riding on the salmon creek trail and having to yell very loudly to anyone on a cell phone OR listening to an iPod.

VELODROME MANIA!

This last weekend was really a velodrome weekend....not that we were at Alpenrose for periods longer than 2 hours at a time, but that we had gone out on 3 separate occasions from Thursday - Saturday.

Friday night is the regular Thursday Night Series - which was pretty brief as we were informed by Dave (from Performance) that many of the cyclists would be racing during the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge (AVC) thru the weekend.

So we caught the points race for the men and women and it was pretty cool.

We returned in time to watch some of the Pursuits races toward the end of Session 1 Friday morning.

Saturday afternoon we returned in time to watch the sprints and keirin races. Keiren has got to be my favorite, although the sprints are pretty cool and very tactical and psychological...here is a shot of Keirin - Entertainment between races was provided by the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers....

It was a really fun weekend and we might have to go back and try out riding on the Velodome....YIKES!

July 18, 2008

This week has been a little hectic for some reason and I have not had an opportunity to post since Monday.

The Night Ride - July 12, 2008

This was our 3rd year riding the Night Ride and it has always been a fun ride. The route winds thru parts of Portland that I would not necessarily go thru during the day! Bruce & Lynette joined us again this year and we were separated from the start, but somehow managed to find each other along the route and the end for donuts.

ALPENROSE VELODROME

Tom and I took some time off this week so we could finally go to the velodrome, something that we have been wanting to do for a while now. The last time we planned to do this traffic was horrendous for Tom and Teddy during their return trip from the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum so that idea was nixed. I was a little disappointed, but whatever, there is always another day. So this week we took off early yesterday and all day today and went to Alpenrose both days.

While it is possible to ride a regular road bike on the track there is a special bike for track cycling and it's pretty cool. A fixed gear with no brakes. That would be quite a sensation to be pedaling all the time even when slowing down to a stop.

Thursday night is the regular race series and we happened to see one of the guys from Performance who raced last night. The race for the night was long points and there were only two groups, Cat 4 and then Cat 1, 2 & 3. Every race night starts with the kiddie kilo and that was the most fun to watch - all those little kids on their bikes riding around the bottom of the track!

This race is the Cat 1, 2 & 3's

The Alpenrose Velodome Challenge was a bonus for our Friday off. The race for the day was pursuits - two racers start opposite each other on the track and race for a set amount of laps which turns out to be 3000 or 4000 meters. The races were quick and so we were out of there pretty early today. Will return again tomorrow later in the day to check out some more action.

We decided to check out the Bike Gallery to see if they might have a Banjo Brothers backpack the Sandy Blvd store did not have one - and turns out neither did the Downtown Store. We got a little closer though, they did have some panniers for groceries. Not what we were looking for. Looks like Tom will have to order the backpack on-line.

For a late lunch we made a pit stop at HUB (Hopworks Urban Brewery). Justin (formerly of Performance) works there now and we had hoped to see him, but no such luck! This place is totally eco-friendly and the food is pretty good. The beer is organic and quite tasty. We ordered the Hunter pizza and a couple of brews - Stout for Tom and ESB for me and we settled in for a nice relaxing lunch.

The drive home was a little slow, but it was a nice afternoon anyway.

Another Five

11. I use my cell phone as a time piece instead of for communication purposes. So if anyone calls and leaves a voice mail (especially on the weekends) it may be days until I get the message. So, make a note, if you really need to get a hold of me, call my home phone - it works!

12. I generally like to play by the rules - kinda dorky, but rules bring order and I like order.

13. I like science.

14. Red wine on a hot day - not so good.

15. I am a grammar geek.

First Picture Movie

I was playing around with a movie editor yesterday and figured out I could make a movie with my photographs...this is basic, but kinda cool! At some point I might figure out how to sync my "movie" with music...too fancy, might not happen.

Night Ride 2008

This is my quick Night Ride update...more will follow later, but I had to get this out!!!

It was Saturday night...Bruce and Lynette rode with us again...Tom won Best Costume (?!) Still don't get that, but okay!

100 continued

6. I love a good plan...I will plan the days that I run before work and ride to work according to what appointments I have. If something changes it is not a good thing.

7. Making lists is fun for me.

8. When someone says they need a haircut I always will offer - I figure they are going to get it cut anyway, why not let me have a shot?

9. I am not a big movie go-er. Movies at home are hit and miss.

10. I don't know what to do unless we make a dinner menu for the week.

Six to Sunset Concerts

Last night was the first concert of the Six to Sunset concert series so Tom, Jenni and I all met up at Esther Short Park. I rode my bike to the park and it was not without problems...I flatted not far from my office and then threw my chain about 1/2 mile from there...not good. The evening was good though after I got some food in me I was feeling better and ready to enjoy some good people watching!

Watching the kids jumping and dancing around is always good for some smiles and watching the group from the special needs group is alway entertaining...they have fun though so it's fun to watch. Then there are a few adults who think that they are pretty good on the dance floor and look good too.

The concert was nearing the end and I have been happily enjoying the music and the scenery...then I saw her. Not fat, not totally in shape or fashionable for that matter - wearing a long blue skirt and a skinny-minnie tank top - and a little exposed POT-BELLY! My goodness, once you catch sight of something as such it's hard to stop looking or staring in my case...little did I know that Jenni had caught the same sight about the same time that I did! We agreed that pot-bellies on women are just plain wrong! It might have been okay if the shirt was pulled down some, but then I surmised that if the shirt was longer anyway, there would not be a problem. After Jenni & I discussed this for a couple of minutes Tom caught up with us and he was sufficiently grossed out. It really was hard to not look. It gets better...the more she moved and shook her hips the more the skirt started to slip down...can you say THONG? OMG...enough said.

Where are Stacy & Clinton from What Not to Wear when you need them?

My 100

I was surfin' around on blogger and found a blog whose author listed 100 things about themself. It was an interesting idea...so I will start my "100" with this post. It should be interesting to see how many I can come up with in each post.

1. I LOVE riding my bike!

2. I am learning to love running just a little bit. Right now I'm okay with it as an alternate means of physical fitness.

3. My work is boring, but I get paid more than my fair share and I have 14 years invested into my retirement...it would be wise for me to stay.

4. Coffee is my friend.

5. I only read during my visits to Starbucks on mornings that I don't ride to work. It takes me forever to get thru a book - good OR bad.

Cherry Tree

We have this pathetic Cherry Tree that we planted a few years back. It has miraculously survived being run over by a friend who was backing his pick-up to park it in the yard and also by the most wonderful winds that come from the northwesterly direction so it leans very nicely because of that.

There have been cherries on the tree in past years, but we have never had one off the tree to enjoy - the birds usually get to them first. It's like we look one day and there are all sorts of cherries and then there are none like two days later.


Well, this year I have been keeping pretty close tabs on the cherries and there are A LOT! I would have thought that the birds would have eaten them by now, but they haven't. We actually had a few to try them out...not bad. As of last night we had quite a few so I decided to take a few pictures to document the occasion...

My gosh...it's finally starting to look like a tree or something.

Someone told me once that these are safe for human consumption...the birds don't know that.

Well, now that I have mentioned this, it is likely that the birds will swoop in and have a feast. It would be my luck.

People are Strange!

I have to admit that sometimes when we are traveling long distance by car and I am the passenger, I get a little bored after a while. Usually I'll read or yimmer-yammer Tom's ear off talking about anything that comes to mind or take self portraits of us traveling down the open road. I rarely think to do anything that might get some crazy-ass reaction from passing drivers.

So, last evening we are on our way back from our friends house in Maywood Park and heading north on 205. We are getting pretty close to the exit to Camas/Vancouver...aahhh...almost back in the Couve. I am hanging out being a passenger, minding my own business and I look over and this guy (who was also the DRIVER) in the SUV beside us look over to me and he has Cheese Puffs sticking out of his ears AND nostrils! What the Heck?! At the same moment I noticed that all of his passengers look out as well and they are all as normal as can be. Well as normal as one can be with the driver sporting Cheese Puffs.

Cheese Puffs!

I have got to get out more often!

Sliver of a Moon...

Now that I have figured out that I can take photos without the flash on our digi-cam I took this cool picture of the moon last night...

Day after 4th of July

Last night was a pretty quiet night for us. Tom, Teddy and I had purchased some fireworks from a couple of stands, not spending too much $$. We usually don't get the really big stuff, usually just some fountains and roman candles and other little spinny things that leave an interesting mark on the pavement! Another favorite would be the Festival Balls which are a smaller version of the big mortars that are at the Fort. I like that our neighbors spend a lot of money on frivilous items (fireworks) so after we were done with our piddly stuff we moved to the end of the driveway and enjoyed their fireworks as well! Here are a few pictures of the evening...

HOW is it possible that...

I miss running?! I suppose that since we were training 4 days a week and doing very little cycling I kinda got used to the whole routine. However, I am enjoying the fact that I can be totally flexible now. Part of me just doesn't want to lose that strange feeling of being able to run a distance that I thought I never would be able to do...I DID A 5K!!!! Tomorrow AM I'm going out for a run, just for the fun of it. Call me crazy, but hey, what else can I do.

Running really is quite fun...