Friday, June 23, 2006

organic/inorganic.jpg


organic/inorganic.jpg
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.
It's been reeeeeeallllly rainy. Downright stormy the past few days. Thought this was the most appropriate image. I took this on our June 4 training ride through downtown, in front of the FreeStamp. It was drizzly that day. This week we've had the most spectacular lightning! I love this weather.









hey cool look at that.jpg
Originally uploaded by
sunspotting.



This (June 10, a long time ago now) was a great day. From the left: headless Mike Substelny (sorry Mike), Christina Getrost, Bob Rodgers, Mel Getrost, and Chad Berry. We learned a lot from Bob, most timely was how to draft. A drafting phrase we put into immediate use was "grabbing wheel", or more graphically, "sucking wheel". Yeah. We used it and used it and used it. We're still using it. We get strange looks. The picture in the upper left is us finally on the road, getting distracted. But Mike got distracted first! And for good reason. That little vehicle at the M.D.Garage pumps posed a bit of a puzzle for him. No big deal, as long as he gets a little closer, he's always confident he can make an ID!

STYMIED. There's a Chevy "bowtie" on the front. Which doesn't jibe with the Chevy history as Mike knows it. But the owner is just across the road and hollers out, "It's a Fiat!" The clouds part, the sun shines down, and all is right with the world. We are free to resume our bike ride.

What you do not see in the pictures is the beautiful little dappled fawn that pranced across our path JUST before the Fiat pulled up to the pumps. Magical. But sometimes things that happen are just that: Things That Happen. They are gifts that are meant simply to be enjoyed, not recorded. Not ruined by the scrabbling for recording media. And I fully appreciate the irony I AM recording.
Posted 1 second ago. ( permalink delete edit )

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Playing Catch-Up in a Big Way

Ok, time to play a little catch up. My last entry was light years ago.

I was rightfully guilted into spending less time computing and more time housing and biking. It’s made a positive difference, but now I gotta lotta story telling to do in one big bit. ‘S’Ok, as long as it doesn’t get boring. Onward…

Since my last episode, Rick and I have:

  • Avoided hysteria over laughably unfounded comet-fragments-causing-East-Coast-of-US-obliterating-tsunami predictions. In fact, we (scoffers that we are) went so far as to leave the safety of our insular Midwesternness and headed directly into the path of Impending Doom Itself: South Plainfield, New Jersey. Yes, specifically, during the Predicted Time of Comet Strike in the Atlantic Ocean. See next bullet.
  • Spent Memorial Day weekend with immediate and extended family in South Plainfield, New Jersey for Robin Lapitan’s 18th birthday and high school graduation. Fun! No one died in the tsunami that didn’t happen! We turned the phrase TheNunAndThePriest, into a word! When you feel like you’re waiting for the punch line and that feeling lasts three days, the spirit of the household snowballs with giddiness. We had SO. MUCH. FUN.
  • Sort of celebrated my birthday. I say ‘sort of’, because in my experience, during many birthdays, yucky things have happened to ruin the day, so I do not enjoy celebrating the day any longer. I generally dread it, expecting the worst. I mean, last year I had a miscarriage just a few weeks before my birthday, and was still enduring the complications. So we celebrated my birthday by doing things to distract us from it like going to the Murray Hill Art Walk. That was nice. I wish I was still young enough to get presents. (Thank you, Mom Garcia! You always come through for me! And in the most unexpected, breathtaking ways!!!!)
  • Gone on a bunch more excellent training rides for the MS 150 tour we are doing in August. Stories and pictures to follow.
  • Oooooh – this was WAY different: we went to a bridal expo thingy at (of all places) Jacobs Field. They were giving it to promote their new policy of doing baseball theme weddings. (We will NOT be doing that, so Mom Garcia, you may heave a sigh of relief.) What was great for us was that it got us actually talking about plans. Like setting dates and stuff. Although we still don’t have one, it’s hopeful that we will soon. (I think we have a season or so… we have at the very least eliminated 7 months, so we’ve got that going for us… which is nice…)
  • Oh yeah, and before that we went to 3 losing Indians games (at Jacobs Field). We had fun. We don’t need them to win to have fun (we tell ourselves… repeatedly…)… but it sure would be nice. It seems like it would fit a little better with the plans the upper management have for the team. Sure would jibe with the dreams of those of us in the stands screaming our heads off… Whatever. That’s OK. This next 3 we are going to are Cleveland Indians v. Chicago CUBS!!! I grew up in Chicago. On the North Side. I’ve been a Cubs fan since before I could walk (and there are pictures to prove it). So I am cheering d@m* near everything that happens, absolutely true to my teamSSSS. (I won’t cheer injuries, I will draw the line there. I won’t cheer fan foolishness. But every out, every homerun, every play of the game, I am so THERE.)

Some stuff I have done on my own without my Beloved at my side:

  • Discovered the brand new WAY COOL Asian Supermarket! That’s not what it’s called, but it ought to be!!!! It’s not just your average import store measuring about the size of a large bedroom crammed floor-to-ceiling with so much stuff as to overload your senses to make it impossible to shop. This is a legitimate supermarket. It really is the same size as a supermarket, it’s got a produce section like a supermarket, huge HUGE (did I mention huge?) gloriously decadent spice aisle (the only thing I didn’t find was star anise, something I can’t seem to find in all of Cleveland, darnit), the whole thing is organized like any other supermarket. There’s even an aisle with salty, carby snack foods on one end, chocolate in the middle, and bottled drinks at the other. They have meat and fish of every variety. There’s a great frozen food section. Such an awesome place. I found just about every cultural group of Eastern and Southern Asia represented, so no Middle Eastern cuisine as of yet. But I was able to delight my Beloved with one of his favorite Filipino dishes: chicken adobo. I think my engagement ring may have just gone up a tenth carat. (NOTE: for the record, that is NOT why I did it. And I'll do it again, too, for that smile on his face and the "yummy sounds" he made while he ate it.)
  • I started weaving again!!!!!!! Pictures to follow as soon as I have something worth posting. That should be very soon. And by saying that, I have just put considerable and intentional pressure upon myself. WOO HOO!! Let's hear it for the creative bug!
  • Crochet projects have been progressing nicely. Knitting has stalled, as I can knit but can’t figure out *&^%^*^ing PURL. Arrrrgggghh. (crabcrabcrabcrabcrabcrab)