New Helmet!!

Late Fall Ride

Iowa may not have mountains, but the sunsets aren't too bad.

I love my job:)

This interaction reminded me how great my job is, brought a smile to my face, and brightened my week overall, so I thought I would share:)

I was teaching badminton on Monday, and one of my students from a previous class I taught walked by us out on the courts.  He looked at me with a great big smile and gave me an enthusiastic wave and hello.  (He knew me well enough to know that even though I was in the middle of teaching I would of course wave just as enthusiastically back.)  That alone made my day, but it got even better.  

Later that night, I received this e-mail:

"I hereby challenge you to a badminton duel. I'm in the field house for class from 12:30-1:20 Monday Wednesday and Friday, but am open to facing off at another time if before or after my class doesn't work. Bring it."

To which I responded:

"First of all, this e-mail made my day.  Second, I will only play you in badminton if you wear the Chuck Norris t-shirt.  You should just come play with my class sometime, we meet from 11:30-12:20.  Otherwise, we will definitely set up a time."  (as a side note, he once wore to class this awesome t-shirt with a cartoon drawing of Chuck Norris that said: There is nothing to fear but Chuck himself.)

His reply:

"How about Friday? Can I come to class Friday? And I apologize if any of the students quit after seeing how unbelievably good I am at badminton, and I wont forget the Chuck Norris shirt."

To which I said:

"Perfect!  And if you're awesome enough that all my students quit then I can just take a nap during that class time for the next 5 weeks, so even better!"

Am I going to get smoked?  Most likely.  Will it be worth it?  Most definitely.  Either way you slice it, my students are hilarious.  

Chi-town!

Rachel and I took a trip to Chicago to visit her sister who was having a small party.  Rachel decided these books would be the perfect conversation starter.  I have to admit they're pretty funny...but being her best friend also make me a little scared!

Rachel and her big sis.

A rainy Chicago weekend.

Emily's 30th Birthday!

The birthday girl!!!

Emily and Sean, the piano man.

Emily got some awesome tickets for the Iowa-Minnesota game from one of her staff.  Emily even got to do some doctoring when a lady behind us passed out...and then threw up on her.  Just another day on the job!

So this is what it looks like from the 16th row on the 45 yard line...

She decided to have a tennis and golf theme for her party.  Matt was in fine form.

The tennis players...

...and golfers.

And team Japan.

My favorite little hawkeye.

Sound Advice

The Fix-er Upper

I'm taking a 4 week bike maintenance course at the bike library.  Here's the bike I'm working on:)

New Ride!

Adding to our family's attempt to form a scooter gang, my dad got a new scooter!  According to my dad, there is still room for a couple more scooters and bicycles in the garage.  Sounds like a dream!

Cat & Rob's Wedding!

Cat looking gorgeous!

Married.

Riding in style...the party bus.

Kristel enjoying the reception.

The gorgeous reception site.

Me and Kristel:)

Fancy table decorations.

Happiest. Flower. Ever.

Baby Steps

Rachel, knowing me all too well, bet me that I would never have the patience to grow my hair out to donate.  This of course fueled my desire to prove her wrong and grow it out.  While I often dream of lopping it all off, I haven't done it yet, and might possibly have even come to peace with my hair.  This is probably the first time I've worn it down in almost a year.  Not too bad...

Retirement!

My dad had his retirement party yesterday after 33 years at St. Lukes.  I was so busy socializing that I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here are a few good ones.  One woman told me that just the other day at work they were talking about how my dad was diagnosed with cancer and shortly after he started working there.  He would go to Iowa City for chemo during the day and then come back and work the night shift.  So needless to say they figured no one really had room to complain too much about work.  Pretty amazing!

Plumbing 101

I know that I should never buy anything without first asking if my mom has it at home first, but I am still amazed at what this woman can come up with.  When I was home last weekend, I told her that one of the pipes in our kitchen sink was in bad shape (wrapped with electrical tape, leaking, and about ready to fall off at any moment).  So we looked under her sink and I showed her where the problem was.  She seemed confident that we could easily fix the it.  Then she went out to the garage, started fiddling around, and sure enough, a few minutes later she returned with the exact part of the pipe we needed.  Maybe she snuck off to True Value to buy it and impress me, we may never know.  

Was I surprised? Yes.  

Should I have been?  No, I should know better by now.

Unfortunately we couldn't reuse a gasket from the old pipe so we ended up spending a whopping $4.27 to get the entire replacement set.   Here is the new, leak free set up in all its glory!

Post ride bike shower.

Daily Deliciousness

When you plant 10 tomato plants, this is a small daily harvest.

RAGBRAI: People

I broke out my troll from 4th grade for the trip...except I ended up forgetting him at home so he only got to ride the last 3 days.  But he had a ball!

Smiling (day one, 10 miles in...that explains it!)

Lounging in a giant shoe.

Bikers everywhere!

Biking does strange things to your body.

35 miles in and everyone is down for the count on the post office loading dock...this week could be a struggle.  (I was right there with them until I got up to take the picture)

Sweet ride!

Laundry 101.  Put your bike clothes on inside out and wash them while you're showering with the hose.  It is also extremely fashionable.

This isn't going to end well!

Walk of shame...

Enjoying our free popcorn.

We found about 5 other fellow brim wearers!  My mom drug this guy across the town to get a picture with us.  Skin cancer kills!  On the hot days we had A LOT of people inquiring about where they could purchase a brim.  (Bonus: it makes you easy to spot in a crowd of 10,000+)

SWEET CORN!

This town had a great t-shirt slogan.  On the way out of town I stopped to get a picture, and after I was done this guy said "You just got a picture of the mayor!"

"Now get back on your bike and get the hell out of town!"

My mom teaching Denise the ins and outs of properly cooling your arms while laying down.  I think it also works for your legs.

A Metro strategy meeting.

This sweet guy was sitting outside and occasionally passing out cookies his wife was baking to the pathetic riders who were taking shelter of the shade in his lawn.

There's a strong possibility this won't end well...

Picture with the Rose Queen (runner-up)!

Donna showing her positive attitude.

Discussing the meaning of life.

Break time!

My riding buddies taking a trip back to their youth.

We got our picture taken with team Pepto-Bismo!!

Shannon enjoyed the water slide...

...and some riding...

...and then rocked another water slide.

Back home!