I passed!

I'm a certified Hyperion Financial Management Consultant. YEAH!!!!

Not that I haven't been doing this for a while anyhow, but now I'm legit. Or so says my little piece of paper from Oracle. :)

I'm so glad I got this overwith - now I can get on with my life.

daymaker!!

On my way to work the other day I was listening to my favorite radio station. This killer Modest Mouse song came on. I love Modest Mouse. Indie introduced me to them when I first met her, and not only are their songs awesome but every time I hear them, I think of Indie - making these guys an extra special band for me.

So the song really got me going and I was far more excited than anyone commuting to work should ever be. My mood kept going up and up as I sang along, and I was thinking "MAN! I would really love to see these guys live... I need to check and see when they are coming to town and wouldn't it be SO COOL if they were doing a show at Red Rocks this summer?"

Well, the song ended (as songs usually do) and Mr. Radio DJ began speaking: "That was the latest from Modest Mouse, they are going to be out here in June at Red Rocks with R.E.M."

My shout of glee nearly shot me through my sunroof - I already have tickets to see this show!!! I bought tix to the R.E.M. show last month and had no idea Modest Mouse would be touring with them! NICE!!!

YOU'RE GONNA GET HOSED!

So sayeth Slug Brother* to me this weekend, in reference to the upcoming triathlon.

Last night Edelweiss and I met Slug, his GF and a few others out at Flannigan's. We were sitting in there, listening to Soccer Mullet simultaneously serenade the bar patrons with Irish drinking songs and scold Edelweiss for improper Guiness drinking form. In between verses and laughing, we were all able to talk about our upcoming race. Only Slug and I are racing, but everyone else was in on the conversation.

First, The Mack leaned in to me and whispered "Your brother is training for the race, he told me not to tell you." I nearly died laughing because I've been threatening our friend SuperCool not to say anything to Slug about the fact that I am training, too! (But then, Super MOM did mention to Slug that I had joined a tri club here in Denver... giving him insider info...)

And now everyone's getting in on the action. Car Guy is letting me borrow his bike for the race. (Which I must say, is really awesome of him to do, so Car Guy if you read this, THANK YOU!) SuperCool and our Aunt J have already placed bets on who is going to win. Edelweiss gave me her blessing to miss her bachelorette party for this thing. Everyone wants to come watch the race. The Mack is giving me swim tips and telling Slug he should be scared. Slug's girlfriend wants to make tshirts... this is already this side of ridiculous and we've got 6 weeks to go!

But I am *SO* excited about it. I have no idea which of us will win (though I'd bet on ME!) but whatever the outcome is, it is going to be a good fight and I'm bringing my garden hose... I think I'm gonna be using it on Slug!! ;)

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* Slug Brother is not *actually* a Slug. I mean slug like the bullets. He's pretty industrious and active, not at all garden-slug like. ;)

Shotski? Whynotski!

Fun way to start the day on mountain closing weekend... ;)



L-R: Blondie, The P, Yours Truly and Kitty

it IS about the bike

So it seems that every six months I get on my bike and ride lots of hills for fun. Last time it was for the LiveStrong ride in Austin, back in October. That was actually the last time I was on my bike until today. I can guarantee it will be less than 6 months before I'm on the bike the next time, though.

The thing is, I really didn't want to ride my bike this past year. I rode it a lot in the ATL up until last March (it's warmer there, which means you can ride pretty much all year). Then I stopped. I did one ride when I moved to Denver, but I was really stressed out with moving and people and I was working so much, I just "couldn't find the time" - even though I was planning on riding 47 miles in Texas in October on a course mapped out by Lance Armstrong.

I had signed up for LiveStrong because The Rev wanted me to. And honestly, I'd wanted to do that ride ever since it started, I just never had anyone say "Hey, I'm doing the ride, it's for cancer, and I lost my lung to cancer so you're coming with me in case I can't finish it." I am truly happy that The Rev suggested it, it was a great experience and I really enjoyed the time I spent with her (and my other friends who just happened to be doing it!) I'm sure the actual ride would have been far more enjoyable if I had done ANY training for it, but I finished and - live and learn - I won't repeat that mistake.

Anyhow. The God's honest truth is - there's always an excuse not to do something. I have been making excuses for a year why I didn't want to ride my bike. But the real reason is that it broke my heart to be on my bike. My dad rode his bike 10 miles every day. EVERY DAY up until the day he died. And every time I got on my bike since he died, I cried. It was Pavlovian. So I quit riding. I was sick of crying and I didn't need to go do something that was guaranteed to bring on the tears.

But guess what? Today I didn't cry. It was a great ride and I surprised myself that I could do 20 miles of hills! I know I'll keep riding, much more frequently. I'm sure there will still be days I do cry on the bike. But I just miss my dad. I'm human, after all.