I wish February would get here already

Wow! Where to start. Last year was "Year of the Building." (some pics here.) This year is "Scramble like mad to get all house renovation projects done before the appraiser comes to our house!"

We bought our abode in 2001; since that time, we've been making major improvements. Strike that. We've been destroying our house bit by bit in order to make major improvements. The act of destruction is more fun and a lot quicker than rebuilding and finishing.

The building project kicked our behinds in gear to finish said improvements in order to complete our construction loan. Ahhhhh, the joy of pressure.

I'll keep it short. I have NOT had a good attitude throughout this engagement. I've verbally expressed my disdain at having to do manual labor, especially when I would rather be lazy and read some great blogs: CherylSBR, Fat Cyclist, Liz Waterstraat, Stan's motorcycle trips, and many, many more! Admittedly, I also peruse, People of Walmart and Awkward Family Photos. This is only the tip of the iceberg of my internet addiction. Also, I've been able to ride my bike when I want, which was especially nice with recent weekend weather above 35 degrees. Very nice.

Being somewhat productive, I also have a tentative race schedule for 2010 and hope to incorporate a couple of 6-hour races. Heather opened my eyes to these events in KY, and I really enjoyed going to Kentucky Lake last year and riding a new trail. Riding new trail was more fun than the race itself. And due to the chaotic business above, I didn't venture to my normal Grand Canyon destination last fall. It's time to TRAVEL! And why not travel with my mountain bike!

Even though I've been crabby and sore from little-used muscles, lack of sleep, and lost free time, I'm amazed at how awesome our house looks when compared to before. Hubby gets some gold stars for his vision and accomplishment. While I don't have many before shots, you may be able to see some of the enhancements. And soon, *fingers crossed* the pressure will be diminished. I know our projects won't be completely done--but done enough for the appraiser.

Old pic - this doesn't show the old, metal crappy spiral staircase. The door in the pic is now moved to the basement, shown in this pic. Also note the adorable blue carpet and hand-made railing for the new stairs.

The stairs have been these planks for the past 6 years!

Ahhh, the hickory hard wood floors we installed 3 years ago and our "plank" stairs.

The basement as of yesterday. Remember when we were chewing up tile? We have some marble that we'll put down after everything else is finished.



New wood doors for every room in the house, complete with our new trim scheme as well. Note trim in pic above. This is a slow, tedious process.



Alas! The hickory stairs are in the process of being installed. This is a shot from this evening's work.

Oak risers match the trim!

And here's a close-up of them together. I love how they look.

Of course there's painting and outside stuff going on too. But no pics. Hopefully this will be out of crisis mode soon, and we'll be able to enjoy the cold, January rain. (-;

A little obsessed lately

OK--Everyone knows I've been obsessing lately about my late dog, Max, and how much he loved the snow. Here are even MORE pics from earlier years to go with the post below.

He's already up ahead on the trail. You can barely see him in the center left.

Fun in the Snow!

Last week I was trying to make a list of all the good things about riding indoors on the trainer:

-Instant access to food after a ride.
-Instant access to a shower after a ride.
-Don't have to wear a jersey.
-Can go the pace I want to go.
-Television! (It's about the only time I watch TV. I haven't been recording anything either. Oops)
-The television necessitates a remote caddy that I haven't quite developed yet.
-Group trainer sessions where I can still ride my own pace!
-Reasonable temperatures.
-????

I'm sure if I were to Google it, I could find more happy reasons to be on a trainer. I'd rather not think about the sad ones.

Despite the 8 or so items in my list above, I found myself outside in the first real snow of the year! The girls and I had discussed how as children we were impervious to cold temperatures; at least I was. It seemed I could play all day long making forts and snow angels. But now, I scowl every time I have to go outside when the temperature is below 60--I mean 30.

Saturday's high was 12, I think. At least that's what it was when I started XC skiing. I suckered Randi (or was she really that eager?) into meeting me at the golf course. Over a couple of hours, I saw more than 2 dozen people playing, sledding, or skiing. I also saw a few dogs, which made me sad as Max loved to go skiing with us. Nevertheless, there was evidence that this was a popular sport this weekend. Knowing I would be too cold to take pics, I didn't even bring the nice camera. However, once I got out there, I was warm the entire time! So, I snapped some pics with the iPhone.

Sunday's plan was a mtb ride at BCSP with Cheryl. Even 40 minutes before I was to meet her I checked my e-mail hoping for a bailout message saying, "It's too cold. Let's not meet."

It didn't come. So off I went in all my cold weather gear. Borrowing Jason's neoprene socks, I thought I would try this as an option for warm feet. He said, "If you like them, you can't have them. You'll have to get your own."

I just laughed as he frowned. I think we both know the truth. Note to self: Buy neoprene socks.

We set out on the trail. It was SO hard trying to stay upright. The snow wasn't so wet or deep that it was difficult to pedal---it was slick! It was hard to keep the wheels going in the right direction. The back one wanted to slide all over the place and the front one had a mind of its own. And what was with my balance? Why did I keep hanging over the left side of my bike?!?!?! I started laughing at what we must have looked like wondering if the bikes of the tracks ahead of us were struggling as much as me.

The key is to relax; relax everything...the arms, hands, fingers, legs, shoulders, etc. Knowing that didn't stop me from having my death grip on the bars. I would tell myself to drop my shoulders only to find them tight again a few minutes later.

After 30 minutes we bailed to the road and tried a different trail. This one hadn't been visited by other bikers; rather, an XC skier groomed the trail for us. Not realizing the impact, we set out on this one and learned that the skis left 2 grooves for riding with a couple inches of snow in between. Again, my bike did not want to track in either of these grooves. I wondered if it would have been better to have been the first. This venture took 45 minutes.

Again, we bailed to the road and finished on the road. It was colder but easier. I must admit that I had a lot of fun on the snow trail. It was a ride and skills session in one. If there were hidden cameras, someone is getting a good laugh!

So much for fun on the trainer. As long as I get gumption, I can ride outside.