What else is there to do on a blustry day?

I am making chicken noodle soup.......from scratch. This is blog worthy, material, believe me.

Cool new camera...

Jimmy just bought this terrific camera, so I took it out on a Saturday ride. Amongst all of its' bells'n whistles, it has a self-portrait feature on it. As you can see, I should have read the directions.

What does this button do?Almost got it right.....
One more time....
Alright, what is going on?
Got the shot! Becky is up front, Tracy Loper fresh off of crutches (broken pelvis) and 7-months pregnant Heidi.

PET$$$$

Now it is Bo's turn. Here he is at the vet's office, awaiting his exam. It seems he has injured his ACL, and may need surgery if our alternative choice of medicine does not work. Poor guy limps all day, cannot jump onto the couch, and can hardly chase a cat. Christmas has been cancelled in the Ramirez home.

BlackJack update

BlackJack had his stitches removed on Wednesday and he has been a happy camper ever since. His feral girlfriend, an orange kitty who was waiting for him in our garage, rejoiced as he was allowed to return to the outside world. They spend hours snuggling together, eat their meals together, cross the street together and bask in the sun together. All is well in Kitty Land.

What does a $2,000 kitty look like?

Without going into gory details, BlackJack was admitted to the Emergency Vet Hospital on Thanksgiving Eve. Since he is an outdoor kitty, we know little about his injury, but we do know that within 24 hours of his accident, a serious infection set in all over his lil' furry body.

His eyes are swollen, almost shut.

We brought him home today and he is feeling better. Anyone who knows us, is well aware of the devotation we have for our pets. Money comes and goes, but BlackJack's love for us is forever......

Saturday stuff

Not alot of anything interesting to blog about lately, so I'm posting this for all of you Denise-Blog-Following-Junkies:

Bella Lisa and I, headed out for our usual Saturday ride. This Snowman is a landmark for the local cyclists, since this wooden statue is at the top of a fairly steep 1.2 mile climb. Nobody knows the story behind it, but it is always a welcome sight:

We passed atleast 15 of these bad boys. They are so cool. I did not want to scare it, so I took the pic from afar. Awesome:

I stopped to pee behind a couple of nice sized rocks. While I was doing my thing, I peered through the rocks to find a plastic container that was wrapped in electrical tape. I grabbed the heavy container with one hand and pulled up my shorts with the other. I was so exctied to show Lisa. Was it drugs? Money? Body parts? Our minds were frenzied with excitment.

We were puzzled with it's contents. There was a slip of paper inside explaining what it was--it is a Geo Cache! You need to use a GPS to find the hidden treasure...which I accidently found. Written on the paper, the finder writes his/her name. This box had traveled from Hawaii and Florida. Too cool.....though I was hoping for money.

Cross-training up the ying-yang...

Since race season ended (San Ardo) I have implemented a cross-training program, into my regimen. For the past 6 years, I've been riding 5 days a week, year round......so this new program is awesome for my brain; it's a mental and physcial break.





I do this twice a week and LOVE it. I feel great and the clothes are uber-cute:













Doing this twice a week, I can finally see my
tricep muscles and am developing flat abs.
I am a believer of this type of training:








Running twice a week really sucks, but it's a required course, as a part of my undergraduate work. I run 2-4 miles and hate every step of the way. I don't know how I ever managed to do a marathon!

Of course, I do this twice a week.....everything else is done to to enhance my favorite form of exercise: