Meet BlueBert

After what seems like WAY too long and WAY too much irritation, I now have a car again.

Meet BlueBert, our new '08 Element:


In all of his 42 mile old glory (and that's after the 20 mile drive home):

It's beyond weird to drive a car that is so similar to what I'm used to, but has so many little changes.

A million thank you's to my parents (specifically mom) who let us use her Accord for an indefinite amount of time. They are wonderful beyond necessary and I don't know what I'd ever do without them.

Tomorrow the new E will haul its inaugural bike haul to the Cherry Creek Time Trial.

WOHOOOOOO!

Healthy Release? Hmmm?

Right now my husband, who I couldn't be happier to have home, is venting his pent up frustration by ramming a cyber-car in an XBox rally game until it is no longer recognizable as a car.

His poor little rally Ford Focus no longer has doors, bumpers, hood, windows, or much of a hatch.

From his sneaky little giggles, I think it is helping, somehow.

We haven't played this game in years... but I think he made a good choice.

We did the hateful task of car shopping yesterday in case the insurance company calls the E totaled in our favor tomorrow. Neither of us want a new car, but it's the best solution to the problem. Getting a new car is always fun though. Right?

I've had a fever for three days. It went away a bit today but seems to now have come back. Can the flu be stress induced? Seems to be ridiculously terrible timing.

Today my parents cheered up the outlook on life by bringing us an awesome new microwave! We've (mainly I've) always hated the microwave that came with the house. They happened to score a $700 microwave for less than a $100 today. It's awesome and the install will be complete very soon. It was a gesture that was by no means necessary, but greatly appreciated. A little bright spot after an absurdly crappy weekend (other than having hubby home safe and sound, and getting to relax and watch a lot of movies with him -- that part was great).

Tomorrow is another day...

Last update (hopefully)

As of 7:00 Chris is in the Springs. Next time you get an update, it should be from him (with pictures supposedly!).

YAY!

I'm off to get pizza and cake for his arrival. I can't wait to see him.

Update 3

Last I talked to Chris he'd made it almost back to I-25 in New Mexico.

He still has quite a drive in front of him, but the weather looks ok so hopefully the only obstacle is extreme boredom.

Today I managed to lock myself out of our house on my way to my uncle's funeral where I nearly passed out standing in the sun with my fever. Nice. If I don't lose my freaking mind by the time he gets home, the day will be a success.

(P.S. Adam, the bikes are in good shape luckily. Don't worry, that was the third or fourth question I asked him as well :))

Update 2

Talked to Chris this morning and he is heading home right now in the BoxTruck.

Jefe is still being kept for observation, but no word of surgery yet, thankfully. Chris had a similar spleen injury as a kid (rollerblading with some excessive speed -- we all should've learned then to keep him in a plastic bubble) -- so at least Chris can commiserate with his situation. They haven't let Jefe start drinking liquids yet, so being terribly uncomfortable and thirsty seems to be his status right now... hey, it's like racing the race anyway :) Someone is coming down from Colorado to keep him company and drive him back when he is released.

For now, Chris is starting the 10+ hour drive back in a giant Uhaul. While it's not his preferred method of transportation (by the way, THANK YOU to everyone that offered to help shuttle him back!!), but he wanted to take the quickest and least inconvenient method home and this seems to be it for now. I hope to see him before 10:00 tonight, but we'll see. He slept in a crappy chair in the hospital and says his only sore spot is near his shoulderblade. The reality of all of the implications of this accident seem to really be sinking in... i.e. good thing we have a cushioned savings account.

Got a few more details of the accident: tires blew off the rims, they landed rubber (uhh, I guess rim) side down thankfully, they were still able to open the doors to get out, back end took most of the damage, bottles and glass everywhere from the cooler, they couldn't locate the driver's side mirror anywhere.

I am so glad they both turned out as ok as they did.

As for me, if I keep the "What ifs..." out of my head, I do ok. I now have a raging fever and have to head off to my uncle's funeral this afternoon. I foresee a weekend filled with good food, an obscene amount of snuggling, and a lot of tears.

I can't believe the good people that we are lucky enough to be associated with. Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments and offered to go out of their way to help us. I appreciate it so much, and Chris will be so touched when he gets back to see all of the comments and emails. The biking community is an incredible group of people.

update

I just talked to Chris and he was finally eating some food and then was hoping to get some sleep somewhere. Jefe is still doing ok, they just keep checking him and making sure it's not getting worse. Best case scenario looks like they'll need to keep an eye on him for a few days and then he'll have to be really cautious for a while. If that's the case, family or friends will be picking Jefe up and taking him back, and Chris will piddle home in the BoxTruck some time in the next day or two. Chris still insists he feels fine, so that's good.

Must sleep now. Tylenol PM is kicking in...

...

Everything is ok.

Everything is ok.

Repeat that five times and then keep reading.

Chris called me at lunch today and told me that, at some point early this morning, as he and Jefe were driving down to Arizona for the AZT300, Jefe fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the Element.

I don't know a lot of details, but they are ok. Jefe is in the hospital getting his spleen checked out (and hopefully not removed, but is a possibility at this point), but Chris is totally fine supposedly.

Obviously the E is *probably* (I guess *hopefully* at this point) totaled. Most likely return back to Colorado will be in a Uhaul truck so as to get the bikes and gear back home.

I want nothing more than to be instantly transported there.

Anyone have a teleporter laying around??

I am freaking out being so far away and not being able to help or even give him a hug. But I can't be thankful enough that he is ok (that they are both ok). And that he is currently stationary, sleeping at the hospital (while waiting for Jefe), and I don't need to worry about him tonight. I hope to see him incredibly soon as I don't think I can handle being alone with my thoughts for too long.

I love my Chris with every ounce of my being. I'm sorry he'll miss his much anticipated race. I'm sorry for all of the annoyances that will follow in the next few weeks. But THANK GOD he's ok.

Stiff drink anyone?

Pan included?

Today we bought what looked like an unbelievably delicious new dessert:

We always enjoy Ms. Betty Crocker; we never say no to anything with Heath bar in it; and it looks like so type of brownie-ish dessert... something else we quite enjoy. Sooooo, we got it. But look closely at the box -- the PAN is INCLUDED. My first thought upon seeing that when I got home was -- wow, how did they fold up a 9x9 pan into a brownie mix sized box? I got all excited to see it and then opened the box. I saw a tiiiiiiiiiiiny little pan and tiiiiiiiiiiiiny ingredients. I'm sure it'll taste delicious, but for costing as much as a cake and totaling the size of a slice of cake, I feel a bit ripped off. Sad.

I'll let you know if it's worth it.

On a different note, Chris and the RATM boys rode in the Haystack Team Time Trial yesterday in Boulder. It looked like a blast and I wanted to do it, but unfortunately couldn't get the girls rallied in time. Instead I played photographer, and wheel sherpa for some random guy who got a flat on his warm-up. I was happy to be able to help him out, afterall, you never know when you'll need a similar favor. Here are some pics from the day. The first two are the only ones that turned out decent of our team, the rest are random teams that I played the "adjust the shutter speed" game with. Some turned out really cool I think.






Here's to another week and another vacation picture.

P.S: Another reason I love my hubby... today we jointly and giddily decided to plan our entire dinner around wine and biscuits. YUM.

Who knew I had the ability to (sorta) meet a goal?

Especially one made out of anger.

Some explanation:

Last year at this time I was dealing with a super crappy situation at my school where, after getting nothing but praise from the higher ups, was faced (along with many others) with a non-renewed contract and a district that decided I was no longer a good candidate to teach in the ghetto.

I was upset.

To say the least.

I remember that in my ticked off rambling I, more than a few times, made the claim that I'd find a better job, be extremely happy, and win teacher of the year as a little F-U to the district.

Yesterday I went into work and found out I was nominated (wasn't alone in being nominated from my school and didn't win, but that's ok because I still got a certificate and that's all that really matters) for Mile High Teacher of the Year.

That's a good enough FU for me :D

I'm satisfied.

Thank you Captain Obvious sign...

A report on the rest of our delightfully wonderful SPRING BREAK 2008! trip will come eventually but for now here's a photo from our 12 hour drive from Fruita to Denver on Monday due to I-70 being shut down for hours and us being stranded in Eagle for 8 hours.

Shhhweeeet.

I love vacation but it's good to be home.

SPRING BREAK 2008!: Days 6-8

On Thursday we sadly left Solvang and drove to Vegas for dinner.

This time we skipped the massive amount of meat and instead ate at some delicious Italian restaurant in the Venetian. It was quite tasty and, as seems par for this trip, we left ridiculously full. Instead of spending an obscene amount of money to stay for one night in Vegas, we drove on to St. George and stayed in the Best Western. Since we were checking in so late, we got a deluxe room for super cheap. Sweeeeet.


Friday was "Happy birthDANISH" day to me.

We drove from St. George to Moab, ate some delicious cheese danishes from Solvang with Starbucks (as is our Friday morning tradition), rode the first 10 miles or so of the Rim Ride course, ate at the Center Cafe (super yum, although they promised us a free dessert for not helping us for a long time, and then didn't comp the dessert -- the service seemed quite disorganized but the food is extraordinary), and went to bed early. It ended up being a very nice 26th birthday for me!


Today I dropped Chris at the Rim Ride trailhead at 6:00 am and watched him ride off with the other riders. I plan on going back to the start/finish around 3 to read my book in the Moab sun and wait for the boy to finish. Last year he won the single speed category and this year he wants to finish well single speed AND rigid. I'm proud of him no matter how he finishes. He gave me full veto power for this ride since it occurs both during our fun vacation and right after my birthday, but I know how much fun he had on this one last year and I couldn't let him miss it. He's a good hubby.

While he's riding, I had another Mondo's waffle, some hot chocolate, walked around the stores in town, and now am excited to see hubby soon.

I'm not sure what the next two days hold (we both took Monday off of work), but I'm awfully excited to see my puppy on returning to Denver whenever that is. I miss him.

SPRING BREAK 2008!: Days 2- 5 (with LOTS of pictures)

We are currently relaxing in our beautiful hotel in Solvang, CA -- Chris is reading his new book while I start sorting through pictures and updating the blog while waiting for Super Nanny to come on.

Umm, vacation rocks.

We have had a ridiculously amazing vacation so far, and we are only halfway done. After narrowly escaping catastrophe in the form of a tan cow in Moab, we've had a safe, relaxing, and exciting vacation.

Here are a few pictures out of the, literally, 200+ pictures we've taken so far.

After I enjoyed my yummy waffles in Moab, I rode down Mineral Bottom Road and Chris surprised me by showing back up after his White Rim trip in under 8 hours! WOW!


We quickly got on the road and drove until we got to Zion National Park. We ate pizza and slept in the Hotelement and woke up the next morning to a delicious breakfast and a day of hiking to Angel's Landing (a 3-4 hour hike, tame most of the time, but with some steep 'climbing' -- albeit with chains available to hold onto -- towards the top. Lots of fun, would totally do it again. The view from the top was spectacular and worth the techy/steep climb at the end).




That night, we left Zion and drove through St. George on our way to dinner in Vegas. We originally didn't plan on stopping in Vegas on the way out, but we happened to cruise through at dinner time and decided to catch some dinner, a few sights, and play $2 worth of slots (we actually got to play for a solid 30-45 minutes on $2, we are THAT good at quarter slots). We ate at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage. I ate here with the girls last spring break and knew I'd have to bring Chris back one day. The MEAT on the sandwiches is ridiculous. Let's just say, Chris had no problem downing the meat, but I think he's still regretting it a few days later...


"It would be possible to write an entire chapter on the subject of bike racers and their food obsessions, but the bottom line is that they are skinny guys who eat like fat guys. Eating with a group of bike racers is like being in an aquarium during feeding time: they gather frenziedly, open their mouths, inhale, and the food vanishes..." Lance Armstrong's War by Daniel Coyle

After Vegas, we drove through to some town in California (Bakersfield?) where we slept nicely in the parking lot of the Ramada (thanks again, Ramada) and then woke up to delicious IHOP and our first view of palm trees! We must be getting close!


We left the Ramada and drove our way to Santa Barbara and Rufugio State Beach. We set up camp and spent the rest of the day on the beach with the cooooooold water, warm sand, and perfect weather. We rode our bikes on the beach path and enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach. We later read our books in the sand, I took a nap in the sand (mmmmmmmm, wonderful), we made our camping dinner, hiked up the bluff to view the sunset (and saw three dolphins! REAL dolphins! In a REAL ocean! WOOOOOOAAAAH! Good thing my husband has eyes like a hawk!), and we slept comfily in the Hotelement while listening to the crash of the waves.











The next day we had a half day of horseback riding in the hills near Refugio beach. The ride was awesome. My horse was stubborn and Chris's horse wanted to bite my horse in the butt the whole time. At one point I got yelled at by the cowboy for not properly reigning in my horse when he wanted to nibble on the trees and so that part sucked. Minus getting yelled at (the man obviously deals well with horses, not so well with people), the ride was great. The views were unbelievable. Chris and I both decided that we'll stick to bikes.





Today, Chris and I rode up Figueroa Mountain Road (for our noncyclist readers, it's a regular training road for Armstrong and the Discovery boys) on the mountain bikes, came back and had lunch, got massages (uuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh yeah), had a gourmet dinner, and now are relaxing in our extreme mushiness. California really is a very beautiful place. I can't believe how green it is!






This is how we look now... post danishes, wine, riding, climbing, horseriding, and most important, massaging:


Up next will be Vegas and heading east toward home...

SPRING BREAK 2008!: Day 1

Well, I'm sitting in Moab in Mondo's cafe waiting for my belgian waffle with strawberries and bananas. Yeah, sweet. Yay for spring break!

Chris left the cozy Hotelement at 5:30 this morning for his White Rim adventure. The weather is currently BEAUTIFUL so part of me wishes I was out there with him. The other part of me is totally psyched to get my belgian waffle. Yum.

The drive in was uneventful, for the most part. We stopped at Village Inn in Silverthorne for burgers/sandwiches and pie. Mmmmm, pie. Then we drove on to Moab and tried to keep each other awake since it was WAY past our new 9:00 bedtime. I took over the driving inside of Utah while Chris napped. I woke him up when we turned into Canyonlands so I wouldn't get us lost. The eventful part of the trip happened when some HUGE cows decided to be in the middle of the road (tan cows and black cows -- not easy to to see) so there ensued a 65 mph to 20 swerve and screaming. Nice. Luckily we didn't hit the cows. And today, driving into town, I passed the gigantic herd of cows and stopped and took some pictures. They were seriously cute, I'm glad I didn't hit one. That would not be a good start to SPRING BREAK 2008! I'll have to download the pictures at some point. They were even mooing. Last night's stay on the air mattress in the hotelement was perfect. So comfy and wonderful that it even took Chris an extra hour and a half to get up and start riding.

I can't believe we're actually out on vacation. Assuming Chris returns as scheduled between 2-6, this will be an awesome start to the vacation. The red rocks and sand are beautiful as always and this waffle in my mouth is delectable. Now the big decision: What do I order for us to have for lunch when Chris returns? Hmmm?

Spring break 2008! Wooo!

Bags are packed.

Toenails are painted.

Very flat back tire on Bluebee has been fixed.

Dog has been kissed and snuggled and bribed with treats.

One more day of work and then freedom... for 9 days.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

(oooh, and one week until my birthday! Thanks again to Mom and Dad for awesome cheese grater and vacation money!)

SPRING BREAK 2008! WOOOOOOOO!

Pink is my favorite color except...

When it's the color of my eyeball.

I woke up yesterday with pink eye.

Nice.

When it rains, it freaking pours.

I'll leave it at that.

In better news, spring break is quickly approaching and I absolutely can't wait. Chris and I are actually taking a... gasp... vacation! Not a vacation centered around family or bike races (although there will be some biking involved). We are heading west and expect to hit Fruita, Moab, Zion, Vegas, and Santa Barbara among the many other towns along the way over our nine day break from reality. We will camp half of the nights and stay the other half in fun hotels. Chris has put a lot of planning into this vacation and I can't wait to get away. For those 9 days, we will not worry about work, responsibility, house cleaning, training, or babies (in fact, we are intentionally taking advantage of this DINK -- dual income, no kids -- lifestyle that we have while it lasts). We are going to get away... with each other... for SPRING BREAK 2009! Woo! The fluids are changed in the car and now we just have one week to wait...

Now I need to grow a white eyeball.

Here are some pictures of our last non-family, non-bike race vacation. We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after our wedding almost four years ago. For those bike friends of ours who don't believe Chris was ever out of shape and "fat" (which he wasn't ever fat, but we refer to the honeymoon as his "fat" phase because he was 25 lbs heavier back in the day) I hereby present these photos: