Gifts

I can finally post pictures of some recent gifts. Everything has been shipped and opened. I didn't want to show anything before then since the recipient reads this :-)

Sarah was one of my college roommates and a wonderful woman. She's getting married this fall to someone who seems like a perfect match for her. So their wedding present is this (all pictures are clickable):




Not only does she have the excitement of a wedding to prepare for, she is also expecting her first child with her fiance very shortly (within a month). So of course I had to send a gift for Tot. There is a little matching bunny hanging out on the blanket.



Tot will be joining big sister Paige. Growing up my Great Aunt Eleanor would always make sure the non-birthday child had a little something to open, usually it was cheese puffs or something like that. With this in mind, and knowing that there's going to be a lot of attention on Tot when she arrives, Paige got her own presents.

bike MS 150 - Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of the bike MS 150!

Day 2 started almost as early as day 1. The four of us (John, me, Mom and Dad) stayed at the host hotel, The Rosen Center, in Orlando rather than make the sometimes hour drive back to Lakeland. Breakfast started at 5:30, so today we got to sleep in to 5. Yes, again this is AM, while it's still dark out. I did get a lot of sleep last night. I think I was asleep by 8:30, but try telling that to my body, it doesn't like mornings. Especially when it's still dark out.

John and I tossed around the idea of just hopping SAGs all the way to Cypress Gardens. And since I forgot to mention it, SAG is Support and Gear, it's the people driving the route to pass out water/gatorade, minor first aid supplies and to pick up riders when needed. Some riders were just wore out, some were a little sore and needed a little rest, some blew out their tires and needed a ride to the next stop and the bike mechanics. I have a hybrid bike, so unlike all those very skinny bike tire peoples, I had no tire problems at all.

While we were at breakfast Mom and Dad started talking to one of the other volunteers. She said her name was Shannon and that she had ridden twice previously. Her husband and a friend were riding while she was a SAG driver. As we were talking, her husband mentioned being dropped last year when they had stopped at a gas station to get more water because the last SAG had gone buy and not looked in the parking lot of the store to see if any bikes were there. This clicked something for me (forgive the side trip here).

Last year after the ride I was on the Weight Watcher messenger boards and was a little bored. I headed to the 30 year old board, since I'm soon going to be in that category, to see what people were saying. I noticed one poster had listed in her signature line almost completing the 2007 MS 150 ride. I had gotten in contact with her to get an idea of what the ride was like, what to expect (guess I should have asked about the course!), and she had also told me about being dropped on the ride. So when Shannon's husband mentioned this, I asked her if she had been on the WW message boards. Imagine our very pleasant surprise!

Anyway, John and I decided to head out and go as far as we could. When I woke up this morning the muscles behind my left knee were very sore, and the joint area on my right knee hurt. My legs other wise felt pretty good. That helped us decide to keep going. I pulled on my bike shorts (uh, bike store people, those of us with wider loads need wider padding!) and we headed to our bikes, and headed out with everyone. No, my butt wasn't happy to be back on my bike again so soon after so many miles. Like yesterday we did pretty good. Our average to the first two rest stops was 14.4 miles. I even passed people today! On my bike without being in a SAG. Although I did start to develop a hatred for the "Uber Bikers" (Shannon's very apt phrase), the bikers who average 20-25 miles an hour and who finished the century (100 mile ride) on Saturday in about 4, 4 1/2 hours!

When we got to rest stop two, my left knee was doing better, but my right was still hurting a little when I bent my knee. That was livable and no big deal. But getting off my bike I noticed that the muscles in my thighs felt a little weak. I walked around a little bit to try and keep those muscles loose, then joined the line at the porta-pottys. We did get a good laugh while waiting. One lady in front of John mentioned the handicap one being open since the indicator was green. So John went and opened the door, on some poor lady using the toilet! No, the lady in front of John was not aware someone was in there.

Heading back out, I made sure to tell John about my thigh muscles so he would know how I was doing, and we agreed to continue on. He said we'll take it slow and get your muscles warmed up again. As we continued on I actually started to slow down and it was getting harder to push on. At stop three, I got off my bike (after climbing a small hill biking into the rest stop!) and headed to the snack table. My legs were weaker this time and I don't know if I could have crossed the street back to my bike without support. I truly felt like my thighs were going to give out on me. So back onto the SAG wagon for me. John headed off into the hills (literally) on bike and I got to rest and relax in AC.

We got back together at the lunch stop and we both hopped Shannon's SAG to rest stop seven (final rest stop). John's back was very sore heading into the lunch, so we decided to bypass the rest of the ride. John did ride the last leg into Cypress Gardens and I hopped another SAG (this is starting to sound like bus or metro transfers). The driver let me out into the parking lot. He would have taken me to John's truck, but I told him that I said I was going to cross the finish line on my bike. I did end the tour riding about 2 blocks, my thigh muscles were still feeling very weak while on my bike. But I said if I was dragging my feet or if John was pushing me, I was going to cross that finish line on my bike.

I don't know if it was being so tired (remember, we were up while it was still dark out both days), or just the fact I managed to do as much as I did. But crossing that finish line was, and still is, a very emotional moment for me. I collected my medal while on my bike and with tears coming out of my eyes. Yes, I proved Mom right and my legs were not able to do the entire ride, but dammit, I did half of it. I did about 80 miles in all and I hauled my body, wide load and poor tired legs and all, up all those damn hills. I DID IT!

Day 1 I did about 53 miles and today I did about 26-27 miles. John did around 116 miles total. And while I did develope a slight hatred (ok, resentment?) towards the Uber Bikers, I have the utmost respect for everyone involved, from the organizers, to the bikers and all the way to the volunteers. Trust me, those volunteers worked just as hard as we bikers did. Check this poor tired volunteer out. I know that I've said I can pretty much sleep anywhere, but this person takes the cake, sleeping the way s/he is in the DJ tent with the speakers right there.



And I thank everyone for supporting me, both with financial support as a donation to the MS Society and emotional support. It means so much to me and Dad that so many believed I could do this. However, next year, John and I think we'll be one of the SAG vehicles instead. I think I'll stick to the MS walk, it's only 3 miles.

bike MS 150 - Day 1

Honestly I don't know if I have enough to write about, but I'm going to split it into two posts anyway. After all, it is my blog :-) And just so you know, all images are clickable to larger sizes.

Anyone who has spent time with me knows I am not a morning person. Never have been and probably never will be. Mom is the same way. However, Mom and Dad had to be at Cypress Gardens by 5:45 AM at the latest to get the details of their volunteer assignment. So, John and I got our butts out of bed at the crack of dawn and headed with them. We were at Cypress Gardens by 5:30, and guess what?, it was still dark out.

After getting in, we roamed around until about 7am, that's when everyone loosely lined up to head out on the actual ride. There was a rumored 1600 people registered to ride! That's a lot of people! Keep that number in mind...

Send off was supposed to be at 7, but we didn't get going until about 7:10, by that time the natives were all getting restless. John and I did snap pictures of each other while waiting. We were both VIB's, that means we were able to raise the minimum $1000 needed for jerseys. Given all the hard work that went into getting the jerseys, we wore them proudly on Saturday.



After taking off I thought we were doing pretty well. We were averaging about 15 mph to start and things were going pretty well. However, I was surprised when I came up onto the first direction sign with the milage. The ride was split into the option of 50mph, 75 mph or on Saturday 100 mph. John and I had decided we'd do the 75 each day. Well, it really wasn't 50, 75 or 100 miles. It was 53, 83 or 103. They lied to us! But oh well, we're on the way, we're doing good. And if you're interested in the route, here ya go!

We got to the first rest stop pretty quickly, took a quick break and headed on to the next. Somewhere between the first and second or second and third rest stop (pretty sure second and third) I discovered someone else had lied. I'd really like to find the person (persons?) who said Florida is a flat state. I want to know where they went that it's flat and why we couldn't be there too! This is the first hill section that we encountered. The picture is from the top. The downhill that is seen in the distance, we went up the other side of that, down the hill and then I hauled my butt up the hill I'm standing at the top of. That was not fun, but it wasn't as bad as to come.



Rest stop three was the last stop before lunch. At this time it's around 11 or so, we'd gone roughly 30-something miles or so. So we head out to lunch and discover a ton more hills. Lots of hills. I felt like I was biking in Duluth! Except we did have some down portions, just not as much as I would have liked. Or maybe it just felt that way. I honestly don't know at this point. The trip from rest stop 3 to 4 was the longest one we had, it was roughly 14 1/2 miles, all of it hills. Leaving rest stop 3 I actually walked my bike up a hill because I needed to work a different set of muscles for a while.

On our way to lunch Mom and Dad called twice. The first time they said we didn't have too much farther to go (yeah, it goes quicker in a motor vehicle!) and that when we came around the bend a photographer would be there. We kept saying "oh, there's a bend, this must be it." The second time they called, Mom asked where we were. My very testy response was "On another damn hill!" And besides, we were in the middle of the flippin' state, how did I know where we were? We FINALLY got to lunch, about 12:30 I think. It meant a nice long trip down a hill (Oh thank god!). We were served pb&j's or Bubba Burgers. The burgers smelled really good, but by this time I didn't know if I was hungry or wanted to throw up (we've decided it was the gatorade doing that), so I stuck with the sandwiches.

Heading out of lunch I had a problem with my bike, my chain got jammed. A SAG driver had some lubricant, so we lubed up my chain and decided to SAG to the next rest stop looking for one of the bike mechanics. When we left in the truck I commented that "I finally get to pass people." Remember the 1600 people that were registered? Yeah, about 1/2 probably passed me. I passed no one except John. When we went into lunch maybe a dozen tops came in after us.

The mechanic looked at my chain (since it was "stuttering" when I switched gears) and found out my cable was loose. After getting that tightened, John headed to the next rest stop on bike and I caught a ride. We hung out at the next stop before trying to head to the final rest stop. We made it 8 miles I'm sorry to say before catching a ride to the end.

Dinner would have been much more enjoyable if the sound system was turned down. When the singer started to sing Mom and I actually had to shout to hear each other, and we were sitting right next to each other. So we didn't stay to listen to the speaker, which I was a bit disappointed at. But, it's probably a good thing, what do you guys think?

MS Ride

This time tomorrow J and I will be well into our first day of the bike MS 150. It seems like just yesterday I was signing up for the ride and setting my goal of $1000. Now, about 6 months later, I've meet my goal and I'm trying to believe that the ride is actually tomorrow.

I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm nervous because I've never ridden this many miles at a time. I'm excited to join the thousands fighting to help get rid of MS. It's amazing how many people are willing to go to the lengths that they do to help me, Dad and thousands others like us. I know some people are out there just to ride, they enjoy the idea of doing a brisk 150 miles total. But they are there, and they did the necessary fundraising to be there. Scientists are making such huge strides these days and hopefully one day soon a cure will be found.

So that is what I'll be doing this weekend. To get ready for having to get up at the crack of dawn Saturday and Sunday, I took today and Monday off of work. I think it's going to be needed.

Mom and Dad (ok, right now it's pretty much just dad) have joined the blogging world! They are cruise travel agents for Cruises Inc and started The Cruisin' Fools to share their experiences at different vacation spots. It just got started so there isn't a lot on there yet. But if you're interested in reading a personalized account of some of the places the cruise ships go, check it out!

Survey Says...

Thanks for thinking of me Court. She tagged me on the ABC's so here ya go guys.

Do you know your ABCs?

A: Attached or Single? Attached

B: Best Friend? John, Dru, Linda

C: Cake or Pie? Depends on what kind (flavor) is offered

D: Day of Choice? Saturday

E; Essential Item? Book or crochet items

F: Favorite Color? Purple

G: Gummy Bears or Worms? Gummy bears

H: Hometown? I was born in Redwood City, CA, but spent the most time to date in Fridley, MN

I: Indulgence? chocolate and peanut butter

J: January or July? Either, I'm in FL, depending on the year and Ma Nature, they can be pretty close to the same

K: Kids? Nah, the older I get, the less I want them

L: Life isn’t complete without? pets

M: Marriage date? Will let ya know if there is one

N: Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother

O: Oranges or apples? both

P: Phobias and fears? Snakes!

Q: Quote? Don't have one

R: Reason to smile? Love, goofy pets

S: Season of choice? I really miss spring and fall

T: Tag three people? Dad and Mom, DuJane, Sarah

U: Unknown fact about me? I don't know

V: Vegetable? Corn or peas

W: Worst habit? I can be very anal about some things

X: X-ray or Ultrasound? X-ray I guess, I've never had an ultrasound

Y: Your favorite food? Cheese chicken! Or if we're going out, Giordano's, Oh so yummy!

Z: Zodiac sign? Scorpio

Ok Mom/Dad, DuJane and Sarah, you're up!

Co-Pay Issues for certain medications

One of the blogs I read is I'm an MS Activist, for obvious reassons. I don't always read all of the posts, but there was one today that caught my attention. Today's post contained this article from The New York Times, an article that is important not just for those with MS, but anyone taking specialized medications for rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers. Please please read the article.

I'm currently on Rebif, it's one of the most recent medications approved by the FDA to help slow the progression of MS. My medication costs my insurance company approximately $1900 a month. When I was first started on Rebif at my previous job my co-pay was $100 a month, or $250 for a 90 day supply. When I changed to my current company my co-pay dropped dramaticly. In 2007 I had a co-pay of $16.90, and insurance was paying $1700 something. This year due my co-pay is $30. I'm greatful that I'm not paying more, I know many many are. This is one of many reasons why this weekend I'm riding 150 miles to help fight MS.

What a way to live!

My apartment complex is not the greatest. But, it's very affordable, I have my own washer and dryer and I don't have to pay water. It's also larger and cheaper than several of the other nicer complexs around, most of which don't provide a washer and dryer and the tenant pays water. So financially, I've got a pretty good deal going. Plus, move in was super easy! Mine is the only building with parking in the front and back, and since I'm on the ground floor, we literally backed the vehicles up to my patio door.

Another great thing about where I live, it's very centrally located. The mall is about 2 blocks away, I'm about 4-5 miles from work. I have 3 grocery stores within about 6 blocks, including Sam's club a block away. There's also several restuarants in the vicinity as well. I suppose technically I wouldn't need to worry about having a car to go places. Except for the rain and the unbelievable heat that we get in the summer.

Today wasn't one of those days. Today was absolutely beautiful! J asked if I wanted to go to dinner and we settled on Old Chicago, about 2 blocks away. We decided to enjoy the weather and walked to the restaurant. Within the last year or so Florida passed this wonderful bill that says the restaurant can decide if dogs will be allowed on their outside patios. Old Chicago happens to allow dogs. Since it's so nice out, a wonderful breeze to keep the heat away, we brough Ciera with and ate outside today. This was the first time I've done that and she was such a good girl.

One funny moment did happen. I had the loop of her leash under the table lag, J had gone inside and Ciera was sitting in the spot between our seats. Another couple decided to move from the high top (with no chairs) to the table by us. The guy looked at me and, while passing behind our seats to get to his, said "Don't worry, I have an affinity with dogs". Just as he said this, Ciera backed herself away from him by going under my chair. Guess he didn't have an affinity with C :)

A Few Pictures

These are from my phone, which doesn't always take the best pictures. So please forgive me :)

Tasha and Boris are showing off their favorite positions

Tasha and Ciera showing that cats and dogs really do get along

Brian and Dad as smurfs :D This is one of those fun features on my phone camera

John and I were out riding one day and saw this guy under a dock.

I know this can't be seen all that well, but the blob on the right is a gator and all the 4 or so blogs to the left are turtles. I guess the gator really wasn't that hungry. This was taken while leaving work one day, and that is a pond our glassed in walkway passes.

In Memory

Mom and Dad moved to Florida in 2000. They chose to live in a retirement community, someplace that would help keep Grandpa entertained. The location they decided on for their house was chock full of midwesterners. Their neighbors on one side were from Michigan; the couple across the street, Minnesota; the couple at the end of the street, Wisconsin; another couple at the end of the street, Minnesota (and I think she used to teach and taught one of my uncles); Grandpa's girlfriend, Michigan. There are many others from that area, including Pete and Yvonne on the other side of Mom and Dad. They were from Wisconsin.

With so many people from Minnesota and Wisconsin around, my parents quickly developed a new tradition. Every year when the Packers play the Vikings at home (Metrodome) they have a party, the border battle. Green and Gold usually outnumbers Purple and Gold, but there isn't a lack of good natured ribbing taking place. Pete and Yvonne have been at the Border Battle since it's inception. Sadly Pete won't be joining us this year.

Sunday, after an amazing 59 years married with Yvonne, Pete passed away. Within the last couple of years he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He had also recently fallen and broken his hip, requiring a stay in a nursing rehab facility. Sadly for us his time has come to an end. My family and I were blessed and very privilaged to be allowed to attend his funeral. At his request this was a private, family only event. While it was a very sad occasion, it was also probably one of the most lighthearted funerals I have ever attended. The priest was excellant and keeping just the right tone and reminding us of all the laughs Pete brought into our lives. So today's post is in memory of Pete.

It's Done!

The auction was held Saturday April 5th, 2008. And while we didn't raise as much as I was hoping, we still did a very good job. The grand total raised was $808.00! Half of this will actually be matched by my part time job. So I guess that means the eventual total raised will be about $1200. Not too bad.

I think we had two major issues that contributed to not raising as much as we would have liked. One was location. Yes, it's true what they say in real estate. Location is very important. Plant City's bike fest is set up like a T, and we were the last space at the end of the left hand arm of the top of the T. Right next to us was a group from Gibsonton, the winter and retirement home of many many circus folks. So we had a gentleman swallowing a sword, amongst other little tricks. Most people would wander down, watch the show and then wander back.

The other issue we had was another fundraiser event, this one an auction and raffle to benefit breast cancer and cancer awareness. Now, I know cancer is another important disease to fight, it's something that has affected my family and the family of a very close friend of mine. But did they have to fight cancer on the same night I wanted to fight MS?

The ladies fighting cancer had put together around 30 baskets of different items and they raffled those off. They also had a live auction of various items. So even though we had some really cool items to offer, it seemed like an uphill battle.

But we did have a very good time and I'm very thankful for everyone who bid on an item or donated a little bit to us. And I thank everyone else for their support!

It's been awhile

So I thought I'd do a quick post and run today. First off, my bike MS goal. I set my goal at $1000 for two reasons. One I thought it'd be fairly easy to get to that goal and two, that's the amount needed for a jersey. And I want a jersey. As of yesterday, my goal has been met!! One of my parents neighbors very generously donated a whopping $500!!!!! Yay!

Tonight is the silent auction. I'm hoping, wishing, praying and whatever else there is to whatever powers that be there are that it doesn't rain. Or at least only rains very very early on. Granted that doesn't usually stop the bikers, they're pretty dedicated. But no rain equals more people. And since I have some seriously awesome stuff, more people will equal more money raised. Most everything can be seen at my auction preview site. A couple things not added include: 2 adult tickets for the dinner train out of Ft. Myers, they usually do a mystery dinner; 2 tickets for lunch or brunch aboard the StarShip Yacht, they do meal cruises around Tampa Bay; 2 gift certificates for Partylite. I really think I'll be able to raise a very decent amount of money tonight, money that will go to the MS Society to help fight this stupid disease.

So that's my Saturday night. We need to be at Plant City by 3 to set up, so before heading there I need to run to Walmart and pick up some snacks for us and some thank you notes. That way all the notes can be writting for the winners in advance! Enjoy your weekend everyone!