December 29, 2007
HAVE I LOST MY MIND?
Today is my wedding anniversary. The Loveman and I have been married for 17 years. Yes, I got married when I was 5 years old. In honor of our special day I felt the need to write about the Loveman.
The Loveman is the king of wish lists. He has running lists all year round and 90% of the things on his lists are either bikes, bike parts or bike clothing. I make fun of him 24/7. How can someone need so much bike stuff? How can someone need so many bikes?
This Christmas he had his usual big old list. One of the items was a Trek Portland urban bike. Big surprise.
He recently started a new job and it is about 8 miles from our house. He says that he has added time to his life with such a short commute. He also talks about how he is going to ride his bike to work. Within the same breathe he talks about the perfect commuter bike, the Trek Portland.
Yes, he has several bikes but shouldn't he have one specific to each and every riding occasion? I guess so. Needless to say, Santa brought him a new bike for Christmas. I think I may have lost my mind...or I'm the greatest wife in the world. Now I know why he has hung around so long.
December 28, 2007
TWO DAYS IN A CAR
The Loveman's family lives in Ohio and my family is from Chicago. Every year we make the post Christmas journey to visit our families. Unfortunately, this year Jim had to work and was unable to make the journey with me. Lucky Jim. I decided to take the roadtrip ALONE with 4 small monkies. What was I thinking?
On day one of my trip I drove about 6 hours to Ohio. The trip was scary at best. Seamus was sick and cried, spit and blew snot the whole time, Kiley complained most of the trip and did everything in her power to drive Fiona crazy, Fiona complained about everything from the movies we watched to the food she ate, and Liam was pretty darn good and helped keep me sane. Once we arrived in Ohio the monkies were stoked and I was exhausted. They ate a ton of sugar and went to bed very late. They were borderline unruley.
On day two of my trip I drove about 8 hours to Chicago. The trip was pretty horrifying. The kids were not happy to be getting back into the car. Neither was I. Seamus was even snottier than the day before and his cough sounded terrible. At this point Kiley and Fiona also had runny noses and bad coughs and Liam was running a fever. The car was a breeding ground for infection.
Our stop at the rest stop was rather eventful (not that having 4 kids at a rest stop is not eventful enough). When we went to leave Kiley ran away from me acting as if she didn't know me. I was carrying Seamus, lunch for 5 and 3 stuffed animals. When I reached the exit door she started screaming and ran across the food court toward me. Everyone turned to stare at me so they could get a good look for when they had to give a description of me to the police officer. I started considering just running and leaving her there.
I was going to bring my bike with me but when I was packing the car I had a feeling there wouldn't be a lot of time for bike riding. As much as would have loved a ride, I think it was a good choice. Happy Holidays!
December 25, 2007
MY WISH CAME TRUE
I woke up Christmas morning to the pitter-patter of my 7 year old’s feet. He was happy to inform me that Santa had come to our house. I was thrilled to hear that, as I knew it would have been a sad day if he had skipped us due to bad behavior.
We all received some super fab prizes such as a karaoke machine, a drum set, jewelry and stuffed animals. It was a fantastic morning. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better my neighbor and his wife called asking if the Loveman and I wanted to go riding. I couldn’t believe my ears! I had been secretly trying to figure out how I could sneak a ride in all morning. The power of positive thinking really works.
Within minutes my neighbor’s children were at the door ready to babysit our monkeys. The Loveman and I ran out as fast as we could and returned a couple of hours later. It was a beautiful ride and we had many chuckles over all of the “What the hell are you doing on your bike on Christmas day” looks that everyone gave us.
What a fabulous present and what a fabulous Christmas! The four of us had so much fun that we decided we need to make this a Christmas tradition. Count me in!
December 23, 2007
ATTACK OF THE MARSHMALLOWS
I have made gingerbread houses for the last 7 years. They always look a little more like a haunted house instead of a gingerbread house but I love them because they are my monkeys’ creation. Yes, I buy the pre-made sides for the house but we do all the decorating.
We waited for Seamus (a.k.a. destructo) to take a nap before starting because we knew that he would probably crush the whole house. We all pitched in and decided that the gingerbread house would be taken over by the marshmallow people. It was a nice spin on the holiday theme. It also gave the monkeys the opportunity to eat a ton of marshmallows before the house was completed. Tomorrow sugar cookies!
December 21, 2007
I DID IT!
I got up this morning feeling bloated and a bit hung-over from all the holiday partying I have been engaging in. I immediately started thinking about all of the things I needed to accomplish in the day. As usual, the list was pretty big.
Before I could get moving on anything I told the Loveman that I really wanted to ride Sweetness. He looked at me and said, “Well you can and you should.” With that he headed out to the garage to give Sweetness the once over.
I layered up my cycling clothes complete with toe warmers and booties and off I went for a ride. I rode 20 miles and it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t long but I got out for a ride. It was some of the most relaxing time I’ve had in a while. I was able to think about what I have ahead of me over the next few weeks and as well as what I need to accomplish over the next 72 hours. We’ll see how I do.
I’m already trying to figure out how to get out on x-mas day for a quick ride. It’ll be my present to myself.
December 19, 2007
AM I GONNA MAKE IT?
Two nights ago we went to see the chipmunk movie and last night we went to see Santa. We’ve had 2 Christmas shows, parties, playdates and a whole bunch of other things going on that I can barely recall. In the midst of it all I made it to a spinning class yesterday and I did one of my strength training workouts today so I felt pretty good about myself. It doesn’t really matter that the kids don’t have any clean socks or underwear, mom got to work out and she’s much nicer. Then I realized I hadn’t done a lick of Christmas shopping. Yep, that’s right I haven’t started. But how do you shop with a 1 and 3 year old? You don’t.
Today I decided to start by making a list. After making the list I realized I had 35 plus gifts to buy (those are the ones I remembered). Then I started to panic…but not really because I try not to let these kind of things get to me. 
A long time ago I came to terms with the fact that I will never be perfect and I’m ok with that. I’ll just bust my butt for the next few days and it’ll happen. It always does.
I refuse to let the holidays stress me out. I want to have fun and enjoy them and if that means it takes me a little longer to get my act together than so be it. Come on, like this is different for me than any other year?
December 18, 2007
DESTRUCTO STRIKES AGAIN
Since I got home from Boston the weather has been a bit spotty between the rain, the ice and the threat of snow. I haven’t been out riding in a few weeks. I find myself walking through the garage trying not to make eye contact with Sweetness because I’m afraid he’s mad at me because I’ve been neglecting him.
On Sunday I had planned on going to a spinning class and I was really ready for it seeing that I had done next to nothing while I was in Boston. When my older monkeys woke me that morning they all asked if they could play until we went to the gym. Once I started waking up I got a good look at the mess I call home and decided we needed to do some serious cleaning in the kids’ rooms. Seamus was up, dressed and in a clean diaper and he was toddling around the house amusing us all with his destructo-like antics.
Next thing I know I hear my husband screaming an angry bear scream on the top of his lungs followed by “Who left the milk out, Liam!” I ran downstairs only to find an entire box of Frosted Flakes and a gallon of milk all over the kitchen floor, table and chairs. It was the biggest mess that any of my children had ever created in my short career as a parent. I looked at the Loveman who was wrestling to get Seamus’ messy clothes off and then I looked at Seamus who was laughing hysterically at the Loveman. It was one of the funniest moments ever and I couldn’t stop laughing. Eventually the Loveman started laughing.
Liam came down to help me clean up the mess and said, “I’m really sorry mom this is all my fault because I left the milk out.” I said, “Absolutely not Liam, it’s 11:00am and Seamus hasn’t had a thing to eat or drink this morning. I’m the parent and it’s my fault for not giving him his breakfast.” It makes sense, he was hungry so he got himself some breakfast. Wouldn't you?
We spent the next 40 minutes cleaning the sticky kitchen floor and laughed the whole time. Needless to say I never made it to my spinning class but it was well worth it as that was one of the best laughs I have had in a long time. Moral of the story...don't cry over spilt milk. Life is too short.
December 16, 2007
WINE FOR EVERYONE
The holidays make me think of many things such as friends, family, eating and drinking wine. The Loveman and I lived in California for 7 years before moving to Maryland. We were very into wine and had a couple of friends who started planting vineyards and producing wine. They are now doing really well. Their business is Small Vines, Inc. where they believe the smaller the vine the better the wine. Their wine in fantastic and they have turned us on to other great wines.
Our friends are very into cycling as well as the Women Who Ride. They have really helped me in spreading the word on Trek WSD through Northern California. They sent me a link to Cycles Gladiator Wines and I thought it looked fun. The winemaker is a cyclist and they base their wine labels on the invention of the bicycle and the painting inspired by it. The
invention of the bicycle ushered in a new spirit of freedom during the
late 19th century. The Golden Age of Cycling reached its pinnacle in
1895, that same year French painter G. Massias created one of the
great Parisian art posters advertising a fashionable new bicycle:
Cycles Gladiator. That's the story behind the wine.
I have always found wine is a great gift for the holidays. Please check these wines out, especially Small Vines, Inc. as they have a very limited amount of cases but it is well worth it! Enjoy!
December 13, 2007
HOMESICK
As an event planner I have the luxury of traveling to some pretty fun places. The one and only down side of the job is that I miss my family. When I’m home, I’m with the kids 24-7, and when I am gone, I’m gone 24-7. It’s kind of like going cold turkey when you quit smoking.
I’m usually only gone for a week every month and a half. I think its important for the kids to realize that their mom works, as well as the fact that it helps them to adjust to all the random people they have for babysitters. It really is a good thing because it takes a lot to freak them out.
Today I miss my monkeys, my husband, my x-mas tree, my house, and my world. I think I may be a little homesick. With x-mas right around the corner it really brings out the sap in me.
To cure myself I like to look at pictures of family. They make me laugh, smile, cry and yes, they make me even more homesick than I was before I started looking at them. Today I came a across a photo of all of us. We were in Florida, the weather was great and we were riding a bicycle built for 6. It may have even been Seamus’ first bike ride.
It made me smile…a lot.
December 11, 2007
CRAZY CHRISTMAS CAROLERS
For the past 4 days I have been in Boston working with several of my good friends. I've been working with a few of these girls for years and they’re kind of like family. We always manage to have fun no matter what we are doing. Sometimes we even forget we’re working.
Since we’ve been here the weather has been cold, rainy and icy. Not really optimal weather for biking. I thought about getting in touch with the local Boston Bike Store so I could borrow a bike and go riding…but who am I trying to kid? I can barely make it make it to the gym while I am here.
Instead of working out I have been working 14 hour days and then enjoying a bit of holiday cheer in between. My good friend/co-worker Stephanie lives in Boston in what could be the cutest apartment in the city. She decided to have a holiday "jumper" party while we were all working in her hometown. She asked that we all wear our favorite holiday jumper (sweater for those of you who aren’t Brits). She even mentioned there would be door prizes!
A group of us thought we would take her request seriously and decided to wear matching jumpers. Then we took it a step further and did some horrible Christmas Caroling with jazz hands for the whole party. I can guarantee that we probably won’t be invited back to carol next year but we sure enjoyed ourselves! Needless to say we didn’t win the door prize but I think the verdict is still out.
