Tour De Cure 2009 weekend

Saturday - The 2009 Tour De Cure ride is finally here! Just as before any other race/group event I was a bit nervous at first, mostly because it is my first time biking and I didn't know what to expect. I am definitely a novice rider and I certainly didn't want to stand out because of that.

First (108mi) wave started at 7am, second (65mi) at 8am, and finally mine (27mi) at 9am. Already, by 9am temperatures were warmer that ideal, about 70-75, and it was only going to get warmer and warmer. I was seriously disappointed by the low number of riders. I have seen other race events at the Hillsboro Stadium, and I KNOW what it could be like... Usually, we park in the overflow Intel parking lot, and we are surrounded by the crowds of people making their way to the start line. This time, we had plenty of parking to choose from and were the only family crossing the street by the stadium.

There were about (or at the most) 50 riders in my group, and right before the start we were told that some one vandalize some of the route sign overnight (the ones that tell us where to turn) and race organizers are doing their best with getting those back in place! Who would do that?!! Oh, I know, the school is out... Terrible!

It was nice to see people of "different biking ability" riding along. I no longer was afraid to be left behind, there WERE people slower than me! I believe I ended up at about the middle of the pack. Other that a police officer at the light over I-26, about a mile into our ride, we didn't have any roads closed specifically for us. Not only we had to share the road with cars and farm equipment, we had some stretches of the road without a bike lane or even enough space on the shoulder to use as a lane. All a challenge to me, I got to get out biking more often!

(JUST finished!)

We all made a quick rest stop at mile 13, with many snacks and drinks to choose from, Hawaiian music and the restrooms, then moved on. I felt like I could go so much longer! Just knowing that I was half way there and not yet dying form the exhaustion really helped.

(Kids were hot and miserable, waiting for my return)

By the time I finished temperatures reached 90 degrees! We decided not to stay at the stadium and headed back home instead. There wasn't much to do here and it is much cooled in our (even though not air conditioned) house!

(Jon is getting a ride back to our truck)

After we all got back, I cleaned up, fed the kids, then Tim and I went out for a special treat. Quiet lunch at Syun sushi restaurant (only a couple of miles down the road). As expected, food was excellent! We even brought back a Spider Roll sushi for Larissa and Banana Tempura with red bean paste dessert for Gabe. One hit, one miss... hee hee.

(My lunch box)

(Self portrait)

On Sunday I took on yet another project. I decided that boys' room could use a seat/chest in the window cell space. I got a used one of about the right size on the Craigslist.org for $40, got my sanding "Mouse" out, just to find out that something happened to it during our move and it is not working! Sigh!! Off I go to Home Depot to get a new Mouse. While there I got an orbiting sander and some pads as well. Good buy, my sand job went really fast with this new tool.

(you can see where I started my sanding already)

All I have to do now is fine detail sanding by the handles, small ledges and brackets, then the staining will begin. Unfortunately, it is SO HOT, that I put that project on hold, since I am working outdoors...
I did, however, finish Gabe's coffee mug and Jon's hedgehog:

June 18th weekend

This weekend was one of those where you do so much, but feel like you accomplish so little...

Here is how my crazy Saturday went:

Wake up early.

Wash dishes.

Run 12 miles (while watching a movie rented last night).

Wash kitchen floors and do some other light cleaning and laundry.

Get everyone fed (except for Larissa who doesn't want to get up).

Clean up and get ready to face the day.

Take boys along and go return a video.

Stop by the library and return some book.

Since we are right at the park, I let boys play at the playground for ~30 minutes, while I am seeping my home brewed coffee, before the weather gets too hot to enjoy the outdoors.

**It is still only 10 am!**

Talk to a homeless lady, who is really disappointed I don't smoke! Darn that healthy life style of mine!

Hop back in the car and drive to a Russian food store on the other side of town.


(Gabe really loves taking pictures. 99% are silly, but once in a while he gets an interesting shot, like this one)

Buy too much food and wonder if I really needed all of that.

Find out that one of the chocolate eggs (kind ALWAYS get it when we go to a Russian store) is missing a surprise toy, I get back out and go inside the store to buy another egg, while letting a sales girl know about our misfortune. I get questioned about my honesty... (Really? for a $2 candy, you think I would go through all the trouble of staging a missing toy?.. I hope she was kidding!) and I wasn't asking for a free egg, I was just letting her know.

(Here is what happens to a child who ate too much chocolate)

We then drive to a berry farm on Sauvie Island and get THE BEST blueberries ever.
(Jon was not a picker, but a taster. He would taste a berry and rate it with two thumbs. Both up, both down or one up and one down, based on the berry quality)

Stop to get gas, or take a chance of not making home.

We are back home!

***What? it's only 3 pm?..***

OK, I have time to go and lay out in the sun for an hour!!

I take a note of how horribly destroyed our backyard is now, by the skunk. It might even be beyond repair. Can't wait till the trap I ordered arrives!

Done daydreaming in the sun, back inside.

I run our sprinklers and adjust all the heads, while getting soaked, but it feels good, too hot outside.

Make dinner, eat, and park on the couch.

I think I am done for the day. Phew! Oh, wait, I still have to fold the laundry!


Sunday is just as crazy, but this time it's all around the house. I finally got myself to finish Larissa's room remodeling project. It was the last and the easiest part, but for some reason I had a million excuses to keep pushing it to another weekend, and another, and...
All it was left is her closet! Ok, I did have to get everything out first, and tape out the door and window (which I hate doing). Boy, did it feel good to finally complete it! Of course, while painting, I got more ideas to what else I want to do with her walk-in closet.

I let Jon help me take the blue tape off afterwards. He was so excited to be able to help!

Then I moved on to the yard work. So much done, but so much more to do! Too hot out there! Back inside.

Oh, look more work! Vacuuming, washing and doing laundry. Doesn it ever end?

Finally, Tim came up to me and said: "can you please stop making everyone else look lazy?" Ha! Ha!

Ok, Ok, I will slow down...

(Larissa discovered a timed shot option on our camera. I don't even know where it is... kids...)

$2 Tuesday at the Zoo

Today I took a day off and we decided to try out $2 Tuesday at the Portland Zoo. Summer hours are bright and early and we were told to get there early or fight the crowd. No crowds for me, thanks!

This meant that I had to drag kids out of bed before they were ready to roll out, but the second I mentioned word "Zoo" every one were up and ready.

First stop, McDonald's & Rod Box. A couple of movies for the afternoon and not-so-nutritious breakfast for everyone on the go.

Boy, did we get to the Zoo early. Gates open at 8am and we were there at 8:30am. The temperature was cool and the sun was sleeping in, but most importantly, hardly any one else there! Also, Zoo honored the $1.50 ticket discount for the public transportation users, so we actually ended up paying $0.50 a ticket!

We strategiesed over the Zoo map, came up with the best path (not like there are that many choices, but...) and hit the trail. Some animals were not out, but we did get to see pretty much everyone on display.

After a while I got tired of watching animals and switched my attention to the people kind... I think there were more pregnant women than I have ever seen in any one place, ever! May be there was a prego-convention that they were all going to attend after the Zoo.

Another thing I noticed, sadly, the number of overweight people. So many really young girls too. I am not a skinny-minni myself and I am not talking a few extra pounds either. I am referring to "almost can't walk unassisted" (and some did used a wheelchair/cart to get around). May be I just don't get out in public too much anymore. Just sad seeing this and imagine what the future holds for them.

On the brighter side, kids had a blast!!! and I only lost Larissa twice ;-)

On the way back home, while riding a MAX train, I was subjected to a very loud (mostly one sided) conversation by a lady in her 30's. I was SO tempted to jump in and give her my two cents, but bit my tong and kept quiet.

It started off with "I wish I could go to school and become a nutritionist...", later followed by a statement "it's been known for centuries, I read it on the Internet..." GRRR! After which she proceeded telling a younger man sitting next to her that to avoid getting diabetes (which apparently runs in his family), he needs to follow a few simple tricks. One, eat as much cinnamon as possible. Two, avoid eating sugars for six hours before bed time. Then, there were other suggestions, just as ridiculous, which I can't remember now.

At first I felt bad for the young man getting a bad advise, but then decided to tune them out, until I heard a keyword "Russian". Like it or not, it's like a pass code to turn my full attention on!

The younger man was now giving her a speech back about space programs. He mentioned that Russians and Chinese are working really hard on advancing at it, but from what he remembers first man in space was an American. "Russians did send a probe, or something, up there first though."

WHAT?!!

I felt like tearing my hair out. Sputnik, Laika, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova - first satellite, first dog/animal, first man, first woman in space.

Good thing they got off the train, or I would have gone crazy.

Before getting home, we stopped by the J B Thomas Middle school where Gabe and I took our boxing classes. It's in the process of being torn down, despite a number of protests. All the trees are already pulled out, the building is fenced in, and the heavy equipment is on site. Any day now!

July 11th weekend

This weekend was much cooler than we anticipated, but a nice change.

On Friday we finally got around fixing a couple of broken sprinkle heads, gave it a test run (also a nice change for me from having to use a water hose), and not five minutes later is started raining. Oh, well, that's how things work it seems.

On Saturday I increased my training long run to 11 miles. Just enough to watch movie "Enchanted". I wanted to watch a movie that came in the mail, but it was a Blu-ray (which wouldn't play on my old TV in the garage)...
I think weather had something to do with every one's energy level. No one wanted to get dressed or go anywhere, so we limited out fun to a Saturday Market. Larissa insisted on getting me a flower bouquet (never mind that I had to pay for it), and she got to pick her colors. She picked yellow and red and it turned out gorgeous! She is so sweet.
When we got home Jon and Larissa took turns taking pictures with Mom. They turned out pretty good (I did have to crop them):

Jon took this one

and Larissa took this one (you can see her flowers on the kitchen table)

On Sunday I got up early, got some household chores out of the way, then Larissa and I headed out to the Bead Fair at the Convention Center. We met up with our friends and took a MAX train there.

There is a very cool Foucault pendulum by the main entrance. I have yet to figure out exactly how it works, but it is sure cool looking and always attracts onlookers of all ages.

"No pictures allowed" at the Fair, so nothing to post here. I have to say that seeing SO MUCH beads was a bit tiring. When you are given too many choices, it is that much harder to choose. I got a few things that were either unique or cheaper than in a store, but I found that most things were not much of a bargain (comparing to the Internet prices). I was also disappointed that there weren't many "free demos" and "hands on workshops"...

To complete a great day out, all us "girls" stopped at the Rock Bottom for a late lunch before heading back home.

"99 bottles of beer on the wall"...

"98 bottles of beer on the wall"... after we left...

It never warmed up enough to take a jacket off either.

Independence Day weekend 2009

What is better that a long weekend? A long weekend spent with your family!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Independence Day with our friends.

On Friday night we got all ready for the next day's celebration and a trip to the beach. At the sunset Jon and Larissa sat out front and blew soap bubbles. It was a little challenging getting the bubbles going, with the wind blowing in our direction, but I think they figured it out.

Larissa set the stage.

and Jon followed.

On Saturday he had a late start, in part because we stayed up too late the night before and in part because our friends' invite didn't specify the time. We played it safe and aimed for lunch-ish. One thing we didn't count on was driving through the tail end of the Hillsboro parade on our way to a highway. All the festivities were over and people were heading back home, sharing the road with us.

Weather by the ocean was in low 70 (about 20 degree difference from home). Actually too chilly for us to get down to our swimsuits. Even though we all had them on, we opted to keep the top layer on.

Wasting no time, kids got to building sand castles and moats. After Larissa wiped out in the waves, I realized that I best take her insulin pump off. Her glucose numbers were good, she didn't feel like eating, and with all the running she managed to keep it off for 5+ hours, while keeping her numbers pretty stable.

At first Larissa worked by herself.

Then, Larissa and Jon worked as a team.

Gabe worked alone for the most part (except for the help from Mom when he was running low on energy).

In my opinion, water was freezing. My ankles lost feeling as soon as I got my feet in the water. But, that didn't seem to bother the kids a bit. They went right in and played in the ocean for a while.

Jon wasn't allowed to go too far, so he chased the waves. I don't really think he mind it too much though.

To warm up kids used hot sand. One downfall to that is that now I have sand in my truck, in the washer, in the dryer, in their bath tub...

BBQ was very nice. Some of the best burgers I ever had. Larissa didn't feel like eating, so I scored two burgers as a result. Probably not the best thing for my diet, but so worth it!

If that wasn't enough, we still had to go home and fire up some fireworks. Typically, we don't buy any, but we made an exception this year. Oregon is pretty strict on the safety, so we figured, if it's legal, it can't be that dangerous... Kids were beyond excited!

Larissa was a little afraid at first, but braved it out for a sparkler.
Gabe went on and on, "more, I want more!"
Jon started off slow, but then we couldn't stop him :-)
Even Dad took some time off from lighting the fireworks to enjoy them.
We finished with the BIG BANG. Made the neighbors proud, I am sure.