Wausau

Overall a fun weekend. We kicked it off by celebrating Bill's birthday Friday night with a little cake and a happy birthday song.


Thunder got Daddy some tennis balls. She was very excited to have him open them.


Saturday afternoon we returned to the camper after a short trip to town to find the hotel on wheels all decked out for Bill's big "40". Surprise!








Our good friend Bubbles even made some wonderful place mats and coasters for the occasion.




Then we decided to see how many people we could get in the hotel on wheels for a birthday celebration. 13 seemed to fit rather easily.


Lots of cake!! And we discovered CAKE is Captain's secret weapon.


Saturday night cake seemed to create Sunday success for Billy.


As for me. . . . .well, "good racing" just isn't happening lately. I hope to rectify that issue with the arrival of my new frame in the very near future. Getting MY bike back together and set for me, exactly the way I like it will hopefully give me the motivation I need to get back to some regular training and find my fitness again. That and some decent weather wouldn't hurt. It's tough to want to get on my bike when it's in the 50's and dreary or overcast every day.

It's ok. Sooner or later I'll find the motivation to "be all that I can be" again. Until then I'll just enjoy the ride of life.

Belated birthday shout out

I got so busy packing Friday I completely forgot to do a birthday shout out to Bill!

Sorry Bill. Hope the bit "40" was awesome. :-)

Death

Death leaves a mess. I'll tell you that much. Over a month and a half later and we're still sorting through my dad's estate, trying to figure out what's what, who's owed what, what's left, etc. A couple weeks ago we were surprised to find out the life insurance policy he had taken out on his vehicle expired upon the last day of the month in which his 70th birthday occurred. He turned 70 March 26th, died April 14th. No life insurance on the car. . . no inheritance. . . instead we now have a $15,000 car loan to pay off (or surrender the car).

The house is listed,

Follow this link to see the page:

http://public.mlswis.com/link.html?ordk9c8xbba,,1

(This link will no longer be available after 6/27/2009.)

So if you know of anyone looking to score a home in Hartford WAY below assessed value to "flip", let me know. It will be a short sale. . . . hopefully the bank will be able to work with us.

My house is still FULL of his things, there is no organization nor time to organize (or so it seems). Now that the 12 hour race is over. . . perhaps I can find some balance to start getting things back in order and put myself fully into my real estate again. That and I'd sure love to find the time to start training again. . . . .if this stupid COLD would ever go away, and the weather would cooperate. One day at a time I guess. What else is a person to do?

Photos

I'm new at this. . . . and I have now upgraded so I can post the larger file size. So if you see a picture here and you want the larger file, just e-mail me at Brittany@BrittanyNigh.com and I'll send it to you.

Enjoy!

12 Hours of Northern Kettles Pictures

Thanks also to Ric Damm, who has some additional photos to enjoy.

DONE

With the 12 hours of Northern Kettles finally behind us, I hope to begin to return to a "Normal" life somewhat soon. The weekend, while fun, was LONG. Bill and I began our "long ours" Thursday as we made the trek up to Greenbush to drop the first load off at the camp ground. Most people don't see all the behind the scenes work. . .although many realize what it takes to put an event like this on and I've been personally thanked by a number of people. The truth is it wouldn't be a successful event without all the volunteer help from our wonderful team members (and friends and family of our team members), nor would it be a success without all the awesome participants that came to race!

Despite the fact we DID indeed see a short burst of showers (maybe an hour, two tops), the trail held up well. In fact, despite one or two quite slippery laps, the course actually improved over it's original state by the end of the race. Loop 3 is already quite a bit smoother than it was Friday. The loose corners tightened up and the trail is ready to rock and roll once again.

Thanks to everyone for joining us for the 12 hours of Northern Kettles. I made an attempt (with my new camera) to catch some action shots of our racers throughout the day. While I'm still learning, so some are blurry (sorry), I hope to be able to continue to post BETTER pictures as I learn more. Of course I'm trying to post theses pictures to Flickr when I'm about to fall asleep, and of course I've exceeded the file limit. . . .so I guess I'll upgrade my account tomorrow. Stay tuned for some good, and not so good pictures.

How does that happen

I don't know how it happens. I left Iola listed as 10th overall, today I am 11th. Strange. Only 30 sport women. Seemed like more.

Oh well. The first race is under my belt. . . . .and my life has hopefully eased a bit in stress & busyness (at least after this weekend it will have), which means hopefully we can get back to some serious training in the very near future. :-) We'll see.

THAT was hard

That was hard. I knew it was going to be hard. . . . .but WORS race #1 was very hard. My goals going into this race were 1) to finish. 2) to NOT finish last. 3) to not have to get off my bike. 4) to hopefully not get lapped by TOO many sport boys.

I achieved all those goals. I finished 10th overall (3rd in age), as for stats, I'm not sure. . . .I only took the time to look briefly at my finish. I did touch a foot down twice (once so as to avoid face planting, once because too many sport girls tried to ride through the sand at the same time). I got lapped by 2 sport boys - the first probably a good 20 minutes before the second. And I dragged my butt across the finish line in one piece.

From what I can tell by peeking at my watch each lap, I was relatively consistent with my lap times. And every SECOND out there hurt like hell. It's funny. I often surprise myself with the amount of pain I can actually tolerate. It's not that I'm really much faster than any of the girls who finished around me. . . . I can just put myself into the hurt locker better, that's all. Anyone riding (or standing for that matter) anywhere NEAR me could CLEARLY hear me gasping for breath. A few times I literally saw spots I was working so hard. But the whole time I kept telling myself, I have to give it everything I've got. No matter how much it hurts I have to push on and keep trying becuase I CAN. I'm alive, I'm able and I owe myself at least that much. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it 110%. That's my new motto. And at THIS race, it worked for me. It hurt. . . . .A LOT. . . . . but I'm still here to tell about it.

Now it's time to focus on our OWN 12 hour race at Greenbush. Time to give back to the cycling community and bring them (you guys) a race you'll thoroughly enjoy.

Biggest Loser

Honestly? I do not think Helen looks healthy. It's awesome to see such dedication (even though the woman sent her own child home so SHE could stay for her OWN benefit), but I have doubts she'll remain nearly as thin as she is. I've been there. Unless you're chronically thing. . . . . never having had to deal with weight issues, you just don't stay looking like Helen unless you starve yourself and work out like crazy.

Now my OWN dedication on the other hand. . . . .it's focused in an area definitely different than cycling. With our team 12 hour just around the corner, my dad's house still not completely cleaned out, and more real estate business than I've had for a while. . . . .there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get in the amount of training it will take me to "shine" this season.

And I guess having undergone the life's events I've gone through recently, I can honestly say it doesn't matter. I'll ride my bike when I can and hope for the best. Mountain biking is awesome, but some things in life are just more important.

See you at Iola. I'll be the one gasping for breath out there. But I'll be there giving it my all, because I know that's what my dad would have expected from me, what he would have wanted me to be doing.

Motivation

Well, I had planned to MAKE time today for a ride, even if it's a short one. But looking outside, and listening to the weather for the day, I'm finding it difficult to want to get my butt out to exercise.

Where is the sunshine? Sunshine and warm temps make it SOOOO much easier to WANT to be outside exercising.

I guess we'll see how the day goes. At least I know I'm golden on Sunday. . . .I have a date to ride. Sweet.

Time flies

I can't believe it's already almost MAY. The past couple weeks have been focused on trying to get things in order with my dad's house, my dad's belongings, making sense of his financials, etc. It's also got Bill and I thinking about OUR lives, wanting to make sure WE have a will, something in place so that no one has to try and figure out what we wanted if we were to pass together.

My dad didn't have a will. He didn't have anything that indicated what his last wishes were, he didn't have any paperwork organized so we would even know what he was leaving behind. . . . .I spent an entire week just chasing after expired life insurance policies that were found, calling various businesses to see if he had open accounts there, calling banks to see where he had checking/savings accounts set up etc, etc, etc. It's been a complete mess trying to figure out his "estate". But I've realized that I'm apparently a good "crisis" person. I've been able to focus and somehow find time to continue my full time real estate "job" and spend nearly every waking moment left sorting through his matters. Of course time for riding has gone by the wayside (you're in luck Sport girls, it should be pretty easy to kick my bootie this year), but I'm hoping to find time to ride again soon (hopefully this week).

It's never fun (or comfortable) for the tables to flip, for the "child" to become "the parent", "the planner, the one who takes care of everything", but someone has to do it so it might as well be me. God apparently has given me certain gifts. . . . perhaps this is why.

Life will be different going forward. A little empty without Dad in it, but more focused on happiness and peacefulness. I have again found patience. I think that was dad's wish for me. Heaven knows I certainly needed to find that again. Thanks Dad. Although you could have helped me find it under BETTER circumstances. :-)

Every cloud has a silver lining

It's been exactly one week since my dad peacefully collapsed on his bed and breathed his last breath. So much has happened in this week. Lots of pain and sorrow, lots of sadness. Not only did I lose someone I dearly loved, but my dog, Bear, who had been a part of my life for 16 years passed on as well. It's been a week of loss, a week of pain.

But as sad as I am for myself, I'm actually peaceful in knowing that these two things I loved are both in a better place. They are free of pain. They are free of burden. They are at peace and in a better place. I realize everyone has their own view on religion, in fact my father and I even differed in our own personal views. However I know in my heart that there is something else out there, something better than this earthly world where there is so much pain and suffering. It's a place of peace, acceptance, comfort, joy.

This past week has shown me that there are SOOOOOO many wonderful people in my life, so many wonderful people who knew and cared about my dad. . . . who thought he was an amazing person, who enjoyed his company, laughed at his jokes, were touched by his generosity. This is the silver lining. Going through the motions of a funeral, wondering HOW you are going to get through this difficult process. Finding this sense of peace as each of these awesome people connected to the person you love hugs you, reaches out and touches you, tells you how much YOUR loved one made a difference in THEIR life. How much your dad loved YOU, how much he talked about YOU, how proud he were of YOU, how sorry they are for your loss. Knowing there is a hole in their heart as well.

I'm learning through this process that each day truly is a gift, a "present". Never assume you'll be able to give that hug tomorrow, because you may not be entitled to a tomorrow. Tell the people you love how you feel TODAY. Seize the moment, life each day to it's fullest, be thankful for what you HAVE, don't fret over what you don't have or what you think you should have or even what you want to have.

"In acceptance there is peace". Accepting something doesn't necessarily mean we agree with it, we welcome it or we're HAPPY with it. . . .it just means it's a fact of life and we understand that. There's a bigger plan, who am I to question that plan? There are so many mysteries in this life, so many questions. I'm thankful my dad now has all the answers. I just hope to find peace for myself and put a smile in his heart while he watches over me for the rest of my life.

Peace be with you all.

Good bye again

What a week. Last night we lost Bear, our 16 year old Black Lab. She's been with us from the beginning. Healthy as a horse, went suddenly. Everyone thought she was going to live to be 100. Even when you know death is imminent. . . . .it STILL doesn't get any easier.


I sure hope that's it for now. My heavy heart cannot take any more.

Good bye Dad

Good bye Dad. I will miss you more than you'll ever know.


John "Rafe" Dale
3/26/39 - 4/14/09

Easter

Started with Easter celebrations Saturday. The theme, Hawaiian Luau (Thunder dressed accordingly).


Temps didn't cooperate for FEELING warm, but fun was had anyway. Andrew's first Easter egg hunt was ON, Grandma almost beat him by collecting eggs as well, but he pulled ahead and won in the end.


Later in the day the crowd shifted into the belated birthday celebration for Lt Dan. Theme still Hawaiian Luau. Chicken shish-ka-bobs for dinner, Sing Star (uuugh - sorry everyone), lots of conversations here and there.




Sunday was Family Easter for the Nighs/Sprungs. Another Easter egg hunt (it's harder to find 6 eggs in a rec room than one would think), lots of food, one minor catastrophe - nothing broken, one niece wearing nearly her whole glass of sparkling wine. One Easter pyramid made with 4 "pyramid virgins". Yes, I know some people are annoyed by my pyramids. If you're one of them, don't read my blog.

Glacial Blue

Is beautiful. Trails are awesome. Can't wait to go back tomorrow. Maybe if Thunder plays her cards right, I'll take her back again. She LOVES to follow my wheel.

It's the little things

I'm watching my German Shepherd chase a bottle cap around the kitchen like it's the best toy EVER.

Who need so spend money on expensive toys? Plastic works wonders.

Guess I should snag it now before she swallows it.

Dang puppies are just like children.

Some days

Some days are SUCH a challenge.

Last minute trail work

Couldn't decide what to do today, so we headed down to Blue and did some trail maintenance. I can't believe how great of shape the trails are in down there. Probably cuz we did all the raking in fall. :-)

There were several large trees down, so Bill hauled the chainsaw in and took them out of the way. Thunder chased sticks all over, helped put some back ON the trail, and guarded us against the very dangerous leaves. We also raked quite a bit, cleared off some more sections of trail so people can FIND it.

If the weather holds, I'll be testing the trail this week. Of course I have to go get my bike from the shop. . . . it seems to have a problem of some sort. With Pedal Fest going on, I know no one's had a chance to look at it. Oh well. . . I rode it like that in North Carolina, I'm sure i can't hurt anything more by riding it another day or two. :-)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for NO SNOW and a bit of sunshine this week. That would make for a most excellent week. I guess we'll see!

Belated b-day shout out

I got SO freakin' busy yesterday I didn't have a chance to post a Happy Birthday shout out to Lt Dan.

Happy Belated birthday Lt Dan!

Wow

Yesterday we went to DuPont State Forest. We had been there a few years ago and never found the "GOOD" trails. We found them yesterday. I think that was the most fun I've had on my mountain bike in a LONG time. Wow.



It was a little rainy, and when we got to the top of the slick rock it was very foggy. Probably cuz we were IN the clouds. It was pretty sweet.



Today we went to Trace Ridge. The plan was to do a 3 hour ride, even though it was raining. Well, let's just say April and I did a 3 hour ride. . . . .the rest thought we were dead I guess. They were just about to call Smoky the Bear to come find us. I thought we were dead for sure. We found the trails I recognized, but then also found a bunch of others. I think we were lost for a good hour. It was a little scary. It was the MOST scary when I couldn't feel my feet because it was so flippin' cold. That one took it out of me. I guess it's a good thing it was the last one. Stick a fork in me, I'm DONE.

Time to pack and think about departing tomorrow. I'd rather just take a nap. Uuugh. I hate being out of shape.

It was a wild night at 140 Camby Dr

Yes, it's true

Yes, it's true. My road bike flew off the bike carrier on the way to North Carolina. We were rounding the corner on an off ramp, I heard a noise and Bill said "oh shit, we just lost a bike". Sure enough, it was mine. I don't know how the semi behind us didn't run over it. I think we were lucky that it was on a corner because it flew to the outside of the turn, just where cars couldn't get it. Looks like it just needs some new bar tape (which Bill JUST replaced) and a couple other things got scuffed (seat got ripped, but I think it will be ok).

Beyond that I somehow managed to get the dog wrapped into the gas pump at the gas station - while the gas was pumping, which caused the pump to fly out of the tank and pump gas all over the ground, after catching me, the dog and the side of the truck. The rest of the ride in a gas smelling truck was a good time. Ooops.

But now that we're a couple days into the trip, the "bad" luck is gone. All is going well. No pictures for you. . . .I'm too lazy. It's past my bed time and I'm TIRED. Maybe tomorrow.

Spring? Happy St. Patrick's Day

The gorgeous sun is already poking through the trees. . . . .it's a large orange fireball today, it looks like it's going to provide us with lots of sunshine and warm temps. How nice that will be!

I have too cramped of a schedule to get a ride in today, but I'm sure I'll be able to get Thunder Puppy out for a walk. I think she's already excited. She's running up and down the hallway in her "crazy Gila Monster" mode. It's very hard not to laugh at.

I'm not Irish, but I'm going to attempt to make some corned beef today. Hopefully it will turn out decent. We'll see. If not, I'll just have to make sure there's enough "green beer" to cover the taste up.

Enjoy the weather, enjoy the day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My Super Hero

Thanks Rachael

Short sales and foreclosures

I find it interesting that an exploding portion of society is in the predicament of finding themselves not able to make their mortgage payments or owing more than their home is worth.

I find it even more interesting that the government is rolling out this huge bail out program for these people.

Being "in the market" I see a lot of these people day to day. And one of the things that I think most people would find interesting is that not all these people are the "irresponsible, over-buying" personality that they seem to be categorized as. In fact in our area (speaking specifically about Washington County), many of these home owners who are facing foreclosure are "regular people" with 30 year, fixed rate mortgages, in homes worth $250,000 or less, who bought when the market was at it's highest 3-5 years ago and now can't afford to sell because home values have gone down.

Even homeowners who bought $170,000 homes 3-5 years ago, putting 3-5% down can't afford to move because these homes have actually gone DOWN in value. Add to that the costs associated with selling (and yes, there are a lot of them EVEN if you don't use the services of a Real Estate Broker), and these sellers are having to bring money to the table to simply get rid of their house.

Now wouldn't it be better if these people who HAD to move, could move without having to give their house back to the bank as a foreclosure? Before you answer that question, I think one needs to understand how much foreclosures impact THEM personally. Foreclosures cost banks (and taxpayers) a TON of money, and they destroy property values for those of us who DO make our payments.

If your neighbor's house gets foreclosed on, chances are they're going to sell for quite a bit less than what it "should" be worth. That now affects you. When you go to sell your house, people will determine the value of YOUR home based on what your neighbor's house sold for not what your home is actually worth. You've just lost money on YOUR home because your neighbor couldn't make HIS payment and the bank had to foreclose on him.

Sure, there are people out there who were irresponsible with their money, who got themselves into mortgages they couldn't afford and are now looking for an easy way out. . . . .but to say every homeowner who is facing foreclosure or short sale is "irresponsible" is simply not true.

Bad things happen to good people. People lose their jobs, get divorced, death, illness, declining housing values. . . .all of these factors ALSO contribute to the foreclosure rate. It's not ALL irresponsibility.

Interesting

Today's rain gave way to some icy, slushy rain, which is now large snow flakes.

Interesting.

At least the ice coated on the trees looks pretty.

I wish I wouldn't have eaten so much at MJ Stevens. I feel like I need to barf now. Uuugh.

I'm so confused

Ice and snow, freezing rain, more snow, 60 degree day, more snow, more icy rain, warmer temps, snow melting, freezing rain, warm temps, lots of fog, ride outside, cold weather again, snow on deck. What the heck? Wisconsin sure has variety, doesn't it? Although I'd prefer variety of the WARMER type.

Got outside for a ride on Friday, even though Thursday was the nicer day. I learned a little lesson. . . . .when riding outside for the first time in MONTHS, it's probably best to ride by one's self. Especially if you're one of those people without a lot of higher end fitness. Hills are probably better to LIMIT on the first ride out. . . . .at least if you don't want to bury yourself.

The ride was fun, but 2 days later I'm still working the knot out of my shoulder and hoping TODAY I'll be able to ride again. That didn't feel like a ride, it felt like a race. A 2 hour race. And apparently I'm not quite ready to race yet.

I anticipate a lot of rides alone this Spring. . . . . .at least until I get that higher end back again.

Awwww

They said she was the most WELL behaved dog they've seen in a while. I don't think they know her. Or maybe they cut her little devil horns out while they were taking her reproductive parts.

Poor thing. Hopefully tomorrow is better for her. She's a little uncomfortable right now. And on top of the whole ordeal, we found out she has lyme's disease. How in the world do people do it with HUMAN children? I can barely be a mom to a dog.

Poor Puppy

Today the 75 lb Baby is at the vet. No puppies for T-Dog. Poor thing. I hope she won't have to wear the cone. Although that would be pretty funny.

Birthday shout out

Happy Belated birthday General!

Colds

Somehow I managed to avoid catching a cold ALL winter. . . . .and NOW I have one.

While no one likes colds, I seem to find my patience level goes to ZERO when I'm not feeling well.

Today I'm ready to trade my German Shepherd in for something that doesn't cry all the time and need constant attention.

I'm ready to throw my lap top across the room since I seem to be too stupid to figure out how to put together my post card mailing.

And I just want to retreat away from the world and be alone. Is that such a bad thing?

Valentine's Day

Since Billy has been a good boy, he got something special for Valentine's Day this year.

Weekend Wrap Up

Quite a weekend it was. I don't know how the weekends in January get so full, but they do. Looks like February is booking up fast as well. At this rate, Spring will be here before you know it and we'll be racing. That's a scary thought.

Friday night Thunder had some peeps over for her birthday.


Yes, she had her own cake, but didn't get to eat any of it because "people food" gives her a belly ache. So we ate it for her. Good thing she requested MY favorite cake.


Saturday was the Super Spin in Fond du Lac. 3 hours in the saddle. Coming off a recovery week the first hour was hell. After that it got easier. But by hour #3, the seams were rubbing from the shorts and it was time to call it quits. We wrapped up that evening by stuffing our faces at the Guse's house in Fond du Lac with some of their team members. Got home early, in bed with the electric blanked cranked on HIGH by 9:30. Awesome.

Sunday I had to do some work, which was just fine by me. Eating is always a good thing. . . .work leads to eating for Brittany. After that, we headed out to celebrate Shooter's 39th birthday. Yes, she picked Roller Skating. I used to LOVE to roller skate. Yesterday I decided I liked it MUCH more when I was 12. Amy, however, was zipping in and out of all the little 6 year olds on the skate floor. She seemed to fit right in. And we couldn't even SEE Lori. . . . .it's like she WAS ONE OF THEM. Strange.

Some child took out Bill, then stopped to ask him if he was ok as he was scraping himself up off the floor. He said it was a little humbling, but I think he got back at the children in general as I saw him trip 2 or 3 of them throughout the afternoon.





Wrap up the evening with a DQ cake to celebrate "39", and we called it a weekend. In bed again by 9:30 with the blanket on high. I love that blanket. It's the only think keeping me sane in this weather.

Birthday shout out

Yes, she is ONE YEAR OLD today.


Happy Birthday Thunder!!

I can't believe it

I woke up today, took the girls out to go potty and thought to myself "wow, it actually feels a little warm today". Got inside and realized it was a whole, whopping 15 degrees. I was actually excited. How sad is that? :-)

But the sun is shining, it IS above 15 degrees, it's not snowing. . . . .what a wonderful day. I hear tomorrow it's supposed to break 30! WOW! Then back to colder temps of course. . . .but hey, who's COMPLAINING?!?!?

Do you want to change your life?

Blame, justification and complaining are just like pills. They are nothing more than stress relievers. They alleviate the stress of failure. Think about it. If a person weren't failing in some way, shape or form, would he or she need to blame, justify or complain?

For the next seven days I challenge you to NOT COMPLAIN AT ALL. Not just out loud, but in your head as well. But you have to do it for the full seven days.

An excerpt from "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth".

Can you do it? I'm gonna give it a try.

THIS JUST IN

Yes, the West Bend Wal-Mart is indeed full of SH@T.

Is this really a news flash?

Thunder knows Yoga?

It's so cold outside, I SWEAR I saw Thunder do this yoga pose this morning.



I think her paws were freezing to the ground in the whole 120 seconds she was outside. I had to laugh. I didn't know a dog could balance on two legs like that. Then again, Thunder is "special".

What would you do?

Have you seen this new show that tests your values & morals by subjecting you to different situations where you "should" intervene?

I haven't watched it, but I've seen the ads for it, and I've seen some of the experiments on Good Morning America. I don't like it. I actually won't watch it because I don't want to know what I would do, or what the person next to me would do, etc. I'd like to think I'm good natured and would help someone in trouble, but if it put me in danger, I'm not so sure I would necessarily do "the right thing".

I guess it gets you thinking if nothing else. Right?

It's COLD

I can handle the snow. . . .that's cool. But I'm not liking the cold temps. Brrrrr. Makes me want to curl up in a blanket and read all day. I hope the sunshine comes out later. Too many days without sunshine make for a sad Brittany.

Stay warm!

Thunder

Thunder likes the snow.

Too bad the subzero temps are coming this week. I'm surely not taking her hiking in such FREEZING cold! Too bad we don't have a treadmill. I could teach her to walk on it.

Yes, I know

Yes, I know, I don't update anymore. It just seems like there is so much other stuff going on and I'm stretched between so many places, taking the time to update my blog just hasn't seemed important.

What's new with me? Well, I'm finding the state of the economy very interesting as of recently. Everywhere you turn there are self-help shows, financial seminars, webinars, tons of "free" information on how to turn things around. If so many people have access to all this free information, why is the economy still a mess?

And how about that show - Biggest Loser? It's my favorite show. I'm inspired by the people who have the courage to go on it and make these life changes. But I also think it gives the "average" person a completely false sense of reality. Sure they have these ball-breaking workout sessions, but that's not all they do. I'm certain they have to also be doing hours of easy cardio in addition. And what do they eat? You can be SURE they don't eat candy, sweets, cheese, lots of pasta, etc. But they don't take us through that, do they? They leave the average viewer thinking "if I can work out this hard I will see these results too". WRONG.

How about this weather? What is with this cold?? I'm ok with the snow, but do we NEED to have single digit temps next week? Yikes! I don't like the extreme cold (which is anything below 20).

And why do people make New Year's resolutions? Shouldn't you be doing these things every day to make your life better? Why wait until the new year to "decide" to get fit, or to stop eating junk food, or to work out more or whatever. People have these unrealistic expectations every year and they end up letting themselves down. I don't understand.

I did steal one wonderful idea for 2009 though. An old friend of mine has adopted the slogan "Simplify and Ecofy in 2009". I decided I REALLY like this motto. Again, it's simple, and it's what we all SHOULD be doing. . . . .but I'm not. And I think I'm going to start trying to.

That's my two cents worth. I'll see if I can shorten the gap for the next update. That's if anyone cares to read them. :-)

Snow shoe hike

We went out for a snow shoe hike yesterday, the weather was absolutely perfect. We hiked up and down the hills, lots of intervals, lots of work! Snow shoeing is a good time. It's a nice distraction from the trainer. . . . .easier to hit higher heart rates without even trying!

This one was CASHED when we were done. Gotta love the frozen whiskers!

Quote

"Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress."
-- Nicholas M. Butler, American Philosopher

I found this to be an interesting quote. Especially since I don't have any optimism as of recently, at least in regards to my fitness, my body composition and my training. Maybe that's what's holding me up. Maybe I just need to be optimistic. . . . .OR maybe I need to stop eating ice cream and Christmas cookies and start burning a HELL of a lot more calories.

Trying to be fit SUCKS. That's all I have to say about that.

YEAH!!!!

Michelle won. THANK GOODNESS!!

While I don't like Vickie, I'm still happy that she was able to take off all that weight. I just hope she did it for the right reasons, like her HEALTH, vs just trying to win $250,000.

Losing weight isn't easy. Those of us who have tried know. And while some of us don't have as much to lose as others. . . .it's still a constant battle. Then if you're lucky enough to actually GET it off, it can creep back in an INSTANT if you're not watching every single move you make. THAT sucks. Especially if you're an active person who's already working out a decent amount of hours per week.

Oh well. I guess a few extra pounds is nothing compared to what some of these people had to go through. Awesome job to them. . . . .and to everyone who has had to WORK at being "healthy".

Announcing

The newest member of the Swart Family.

Evan Bradley Swart. Born Friday, 12-5-08. 5 lbs, 10oz, 19 inches long.





Congratulations Ben & Kerri (aka The General & The Virgin).

Wow

How did it get to be almost Friday already?

What a week. Our AA is gone at the office (for 2 weeks) and I'm her fill in. That would be fine except this week everyone decided to WORK and there are a crap load of new listings. So those of you who think the real estate market is tanking, you are incorrect. In fact, did you SEE the rates today? Last time I looked they were at 5.125% for a 30 YEAR CONVENTIONAL LOAN. Holy shit!

But I digress. . . . . on top of all that, my dogs decided they were going to give me a heart attack and almost KILL each other tonight. T-Dog actually fought back when the mean, nearly 16 year old, almost blind, totally deaf dog attacked her for getting to close to some ice cubes which she thought was food. They went at it good. SO good we could hardly separate them. They were literally intertwined. Bill pulled the T-Dog off the old timer and she literally came with. Thunder had SUCH a death grip on Bear's neck that when he lifted her off, her paws actually pulled Bear off the ground. It was a little scary for me.

I can't believe Bear would attack Thunder because of an ice cube. That's messed up. She doesn't even LIKE ice cubes! Between that and pi$$ing and crapping every 30 minutes, that dog is wearing on our last nerves. I think there is a reason most dogs don't live to be this old.

Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. I hope it's a better one too. It should be. . . . .we're expecting the arrival of the newest member of our "circle of peeps" some time VERY soon. Stay tuned.

Thursday I frantically worked to get the house ready for our Thanksgiving feast. I decided to try a new recipe to take by Bill's family (we were supposed to bring a dessert). My cake turned out ok, but when I went to prepare the frosting, I realized I did not purchase enough of the heavy whipping cream that I needed. After wasting about 45 minutes trying to figure out how to create my own, I hopped in the car to head back to the store. Yeah, I should have done that in the first place. It was all worth it though. The side by side comparison turned out ok.


I don't like chocolate cake, but I'm told it was pretty good.

Somehow I even found enough time to get the table set all pretty.


Then we had to dart out of the house to get to Bill's family's celebration, where we spent the first half of the day. Stuff our faces, rush home, finish the last minute prep for my family, put on a second Thanksgiving feast, stuff our faces again, clean up that mess, have a baby. . . . . .


Catch our breath, go to bed and get ready for another crazy weekend.

Friday Bill had to work ALL day, he didn't even get home until after 8:30. While I spent the morning working myself, I took a bit of time to get the T-Dog for a little hike in the afternoon. She LOVES snow. I think she's really a sled dog.

Friday night we decided to finally try a bowling outing. We always talk about doing that, never actually do it. . .this time we did it. It was actually fun. Of course my team sucked (sorry guys, but it's true). Bill's team had a nice close competition for points. Not bad for someone who never bowls. I did crack 100 by the way. . . every game. And yes, I even have my own bowling ball AND shoes!




Saturday was the Spin Party. About a dozen people were there. It was a lot of fun. I got a little over 3 hours in the saddle. For some strange reason I felt like I could have ridden all day.





Sunday morning we watched some Christmas movies, headed out for Brunch with the family, finished the exterior illumination project and then hit the West Bend Christmas parade where we were part of the First Weber float.

Yeah, I don't really understand the dinosaur either. . . . but it was cute.

Come home Sunday night, catch some down time and wake up to a HECK of a lot of snow, a lot of stuff to do, and not a lot of energy. Mondays are tough. Really tough.