Conversation #1
Someone I don't know-- "Chann. Chann. CHANN! Hey CHANN!"
Me- (looking up to see Chann)
Someone I don't know-- I didn't know you were going to be here tonight. Cool! Are you racing?"
Me-- (reaching to shake hands) I'll give it a few laps and then make up some excuste to drop out and then watch the finish. Not really racing, but I'll be in there.
Someone I don't know-- ???
Me-- Hi, I'm Christian.
Someone I don't know-- You aren't Chann? Chann is my coach.
Conversation #2
Acquaintance at The Driveway-- why is Noah on a Felt. I thought the Pro Tour guys were on Cervelo this year. They are on Cervelo aren't they? The team is called 'Garmin-Cervelo'.
Me-- Don't get me wrong, because I love a Chipotle burrito, but we can't literally eat there every meal
Acquaintance at The Driveway-- hahaha... (pause) what?
Me-- Noah didn't go to the team meeting where they gave out bikes. He had an algebra test that day.
Acquaintance at The Driveway-- hahaha... (pause) what?
Me-- You are aware that Noah is 15 and is not actually on the Pro Tour team, right?
Acquaintance at The Driveway-- He's 15?
Me-- Yes. He still sleeps with the light on.
Acquaintance-- hahaha... (pause) what?
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
It was a pretty good streak
I've had the same binder for 11 years that I use to keep notes and such on my coaching clients. It stays right next to my computer, as I need to reference the contents of the binder many times per day.
Also next to my computer, and thus next to my binder, is a cup of coffee. It hasn't been the same cup of coffee for 11 years, though. That would be nasty.
But it was today, at 12:51am on Christmas Eve that I spilled coffee on this binder.
I open/close this binder multiple times per day. We're talking more than 10,000 open and closes. All the while with a cup of coffee at various stages of fullness right next to it. And there had never been spillage until tonight.
So, Pete Dahlberg, Phillip Snodgrass and Payson McElveen have some coffee stains on the pages that show me your PRs, some workouts that have worked well, some that didn't, some I want you to do on your next plan, reminders of race schedule, travel dates, etc, etc.
Also next to my computer, and thus next to my binder, is a cup of coffee. It hasn't been the same cup of coffee for 11 years, though. That would be nasty.
But it was today, at 12:51am on Christmas Eve that I spilled coffee on this binder.
I open/close this binder multiple times per day. We're talking more than 10,000 open and closes. All the while with a cup of coffee at various stages of fullness right next to it. And there had never been spillage until tonight.
So, Pete Dahlberg, Phillip Snodgrass and Payson McElveen have some coffee stains on the pages that show me your PRs, some workouts that have worked well, some that didn't, some I want you to do on your next plan, reminders of race schedule, travel dates, etc, etc.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thank goodness it is a broken wrist and torn tendon
Just had the MRI stuff reviewed with the orthopaedist. Doc says that I have a broken wrist and a torn (class 2) tendon. That's good news!
Why?
Because it is has been causing me a lot of pain the last two months (lots of travel to races and then moving), so I'm relieved to hear that I wasn't just being a wuss. I mean, something is wrong with it to justify the pain I felt I was feeling.
Anyway, it's been so long that the bone and tendon are starting to knit back up. My non-treatment has slowed healing, of course. Had I tended to it back in July, it would likely be back to 100% by now. However, we will avoid surgery, which was the big concern over the last week. With surgery, I'm 6 or so weeks from being back to normal. Doc thinks that it has all healed enough that by just keeping it immobilized it will take another 3-4 weeks to be all healed up. So I have a new soft cast/brace thing. It feels a lot better than what I had on for the last week.
So, I'm still a wuss, but at least it is justified somewhat.
Why?
Because it is has been causing me a lot of pain the last two months (lots of travel to races and then moving), so I'm relieved to hear that I wasn't just being a wuss. I mean, something is wrong with it to justify the pain I felt I was feeling.
Anyway, it's been so long that the bone and tendon are starting to knit back up. My non-treatment has slowed healing, of course. Had I tended to it back in July, it would likely be back to 100% by now. However, we will avoid surgery, which was the big concern over the last week. With surgery, I'm 6 or so weeks from being back to normal. Doc thinks that it has all healed enough that by just keeping it immobilized it will take another 3-4 weeks to be all healed up. So I have a new soft cast/brace thing. It feels a lot better than what I had on for the last week.
So, I'm still a wuss, but at least it is justified somewhat.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Hometown Date Night With Reanie
I'm going to write about my date night with Reanie, but I'm not going to do it justice.
First of all, I left my phone at home. After the first 15 minutes of realizing I didn't have it, I was glad I didn't have it with me anymore. More on this in a bit.
Second of all, I can't write well enough to capture what the night actually felt, but writing this doesn't cost much, and nobody is making you read it anyway, so...
It wasn't really so much a date as it was simply going to a movie with Reanie. We saw Nanny McPhee Returns. Pretty sure that was the name of it. I enjoyed the movie enough, though I hadn't seen the first one. Didn't seem to matter.
There's a movie theater in Wimberley, believe it or not. The Corral Theatre. I've seen it billed as a "Walk In" theater, which is about right. I reckon the place holds 150 people or so. It's outdoors. There are lawnchairs and some bleachers, but many people bring their own folding chairs and blankets. Several kids went all of the way up to the screen to lay on the small stage. Not very good viewing of the movie, I'm sure, but it almost doesn't matter, since it is the place and just being there that has the effect.
It was a clear night. Temps were perfect. Heck, I even put a sweatshirt over my legs towards the end. The stars up above and fireflies dancing about while a perfect movie for parents and kids was on the screen.
The Corral Theatre is just down the road from us. It would be a 35min or so leisurely walk, but we took the jeep down. Speaking of the jeep, I've had the top down since we moved here. It has rained two days since we've been here, but the tree cover is to thorough, that the seats were barely damp at all.
The movies at the Corral Theatre start at dark:30. It says so on the "marquee". They play relatively current flicks every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from May through September. Reanie and I arrived about 15min before dark, and there were only a few seats left, though the wooden bleachers still had plenty of room. With it being just the two of us, though, we managed to find a good place.
Interestingly, there was zero of that awkwardness of finding a seat or sitting next to people you don't know. Part of it is the intimacy of the place, part of it is that it is a small town, but mostly it is just the vibe of the place where you can let your kids run around without worry, but at the same time, no kids are running around being a nuisance.
Popcorn was $1 for a bucket, and we also indulged with a can of Coke and a Dr Pepper for me. At intermission, which is when they hold a drawing for free tickets to next week's movie, Reanie went up to the concession stand on her own and picked up some candy. Even though the movie was restarted quickly, she found her way back in the dark without trouble.
I'm not sure how much Labor Day weekend had to do with it, but it seemed like a good portion of the crown wasn't local. Then again, I imagine every weekend is like that here since the center of town is just shops and such for tourists. I'm assuming that it is the folks with camera phones taking pictures at and during the movie who were/are the tourists. But to tell you the truth, if I'd had my phone, there would be a couple pics of Reanie and the theatre in this post.
Normally a phone in a theatre is annoying, but everyone was so happy and relaxed, it just wasn't a big deal. I don't remember a phone ringing during the show, but we did hear a few cars go by with loud exhaust and one definitely hot rodding around. But it didn't seem like anyone cared or was disturbed by it. Being outdoors, though, sound was different. You could hear ambient noises like the crickets and "traffic". You could hear the girls in the concession stand talking, though they were being pretty quiet. You could hear people getting resituated in their metal lawn chair. But it was nice. The movie's sound came from two big P.A. type speakers from near the screen. I think the screen is just a bunch of plywood painted white. Perfect.
So, I'm there with a pretty girl who looks as precious as can be. I looked at her several times during the show, and she'd be watching the movie intently with her hand digging for popcorn, and the combination of movie and star light was just so...she will always be 8 years old to me. Tiger print shoes, tie-dyed tights, Tenzing t-shirt, and Texas State ball cap with her sparkling eyes shining intently and sunkissed hair on her shoulders. For $5 entry and a few dollars at the concession stand, I've come away with some priceless memories of the night.
First of all, I left my phone at home. After the first 15 minutes of realizing I didn't have it, I was glad I didn't have it with me anymore. More on this in a bit.
Second of all, I can't write well enough to capture what the night actually felt, but writing this doesn't cost much, and nobody is making you read it anyway, so...
It wasn't really so much a date as it was simply going to a movie with Reanie. We saw Nanny McPhee Returns. Pretty sure that was the name of it. I enjoyed the movie enough, though I hadn't seen the first one. Didn't seem to matter.
There's a movie theater in Wimberley, believe it or not. The Corral Theatre. I've seen it billed as a "Walk In" theater, which is about right. I reckon the place holds 150 people or so. It's outdoors. There are lawnchairs and some bleachers, but many people bring their own folding chairs and blankets. Several kids went all of the way up to the screen to lay on the small stage. Not very good viewing of the movie, I'm sure, but it almost doesn't matter, since it is the place and just being there that has the effect.
It was a clear night. Temps were perfect. Heck, I even put a sweatshirt over my legs towards the end. The stars up above and fireflies dancing about while a perfect movie for parents and kids was on the screen.
The Corral Theatre is just down the road from us. It would be a 35min or so leisurely walk, but we took the jeep down. Speaking of the jeep, I've had the top down since we moved here. It has rained two days since we've been here, but the tree cover is to thorough, that the seats were barely damp at all.
The movies at the Corral Theatre start at dark:30. It says so on the "marquee". They play relatively current flicks every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from May through September. Reanie and I arrived about 15min before dark, and there were only a few seats left, though the wooden bleachers still had plenty of room. With it being just the two of us, though, we managed to find a good place.
Interestingly, there was zero of that awkwardness of finding a seat or sitting next to people you don't know. Part of it is the intimacy of the place, part of it is that it is a small town, but mostly it is just the vibe of the place where you can let your kids run around without worry, but at the same time, no kids are running around being a nuisance.
Popcorn was $1 for a bucket, and we also indulged with a can of Coke and a Dr Pepper for me. At intermission, which is when they hold a drawing for free tickets to next week's movie, Reanie went up to the concession stand on her own and picked up some candy. Even though the movie was restarted quickly, she found her way back in the dark without trouble.
I'm not sure how much Labor Day weekend had to do with it, but it seemed like a good portion of the crown wasn't local. Then again, I imagine every weekend is like that here since the center of town is just shops and such for tourists. I'm assuming that it is the folks with camera phones taking pictures at and during the movie who were/are the tourists. But to tell you the truth, if I'd had my phone, there would be a couple pics of Reanie and the theatre in this post.
Normally a phone in a theatre is annoying, but everyone was so happy and relaxed, it just wasn't a big deal. I don't remember a phone ringing during the show, but we did hear a few cars go by with loud exhaust and one definitely hot rodding around. But it didn't seem like anyone cared or was disturbed by it. Being outdoors, though, sound was different. You could hear ambient noises like the crickets and "traffic". You could hear the girls in the concession stand talking, though they were being pretty quiet. You could hear people getting resituated in their metal lawn chair. But it was nice. The movie's sound came from two big P.A. type speakers from near the screen. I think the screen is just a bunch of plywood painted white. Perfect.
So, I'm there with a pretty girl who looks as precious as can be. I looked at her several times during the show, and she'd be watching the movie intently with her hand digging for popcorn, and the combination of movie and star light was just so...she will always be 8 years old to me. Tiger print shoes, tie-dyed tights, Tenzing t-shirt, and Texas State ball cap with her sparkling eyes shining intently and sunkissed hair on her shoulders. For $5 entry and a few dollars at the concession stand, I've come away with some priceless memories of the night.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
It was just yesterday...
...it was just yesterday that I was riding by this house on Hawk Rd and thought, "I think that is a place Chloe could live in for awhile".
Or maybe it seems like a couple weeks ago, because I rode by this place for a couple of weeks before stopping to really look at it. It happened to have one flyer left, and I took it, stuffed it in my jersey pocket, and rode on home.
We had no business buying this house. Buddy was due in a month, my coaching business was growing faster than I could manage, and we were still in the early stages of The Texas Racing Post, which was also growing rapidly. Reanie was just 1yr old. I was riding again, and we were starting a new cycling team, so I could do it the way I wanted.
We were busy.
But we'd decided that we were going to live up here for a few more years, so we wanted to make something more of it instead of biding our time waiting for Noah to get older. I'm glad we did.
Stella Sola has been a home. Not just for our immediate family, but for several people who have lived here with us, as well. Apple Granny (Chloe's Grandmother), Jordan and Peter (aspiring pro and pro bike racers) and I think Scottie even stayed here for a spell. And, of course, there's been our good friends and extended "family" who have made themselves at home here, which is just the way we wanted it.
We've had great gardens, the chickens, cyclocross courses, soccer fields, parties...this place has been used and loved. Buddy was born in this house. Literally. Chloe gave birth to him in our bedroom. So, while it isn't a fancy place, it is certainly lived in. It's been home.
We're packing up now. Moving to be closer to family and to establish our roots where we originally intended. It's hard to say 'goodbye' to the house I've lived in the longest of any house in my life. We're about to make what is my 30th (at least) move. I don't want to move again after this one. I'm done.
We don't really know what the future holds, but I do know that I intend for this to be the last move for this Clan. We're excited about our new (to us) place and where it is. We'll be close to family (free babysitting), in a town we love, with excellent riding, and if everything keeps clicking along as it has, life and business will be just as great, but it'll slow down for us to breathe it in a little more deeply.
Or maybe it seems like a couple weeks ago, because I rode by this place for a couple of weeks before stopping to really look at it. It happened to have one flyer left, and I took it, stuffed it in my jersey pocket, and rode on home.
We had no business buying this house. Buddy was due in a month, my coaching business was growing faster than I could manage, and we were still in the early stages of The Texas Racing Post, which was also growing rapidly. Reanie was just 1yr old. I was riding again, and we were starting a new cycling team, so I could do it the way I wanted.
We were busy.
But we'd decided that we were going to live up here for a few more years, so we wanted to make something more of it instead of biding our time waiting for Noah to get older. I'm glad we did.
Stella Sola has been a home. Not just for our immediate family, but for several people who have lived here with us, as well. Apple Granny (Chloe's Grandmother), Jordan and Peter (aspiring pro and pro bike racers) and I think Scottie even stayed here for a spell. And, of course, there's been our good friends and extended "family" who have made themselves at home here, which is just the way we wanted it.
We've had great gardens, the chickens, cyclocross courses, soccer fields, parties...this place has been used and loved. Buddy was born in this house. Literally. Chloe gave birth to him in our bedroom. So, while it isn't a fancy place, it is certainly lived in. It's been home.
We're packing up now. Moving to be closer to family and to establish our roots where we originally intended. It's hard to say 'goodbye' to the house I've lived in the longest of any house in my life. We're about to make what is my 30th (at least) move. I don't want to move again after this one. I'm done.
We don't really know what the future holds, but I do know that I intend for this to be the last move for this Clan. We're excited about our new (to us) place and where it is. We'll be close to family (free babysitting), in a town we love, with excellent riding, and if everything keeps clicking along as it has, life and business will be just as great, but it'll slow down for us to breathe it in a little more deeply.
Yes, we're taking the chickens with us. Well, some of them, anyway. The good ones.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Someone else will have to win that jersey today
We promoted a bike race yesterday. Our team puts on a race on the Sunday of Memorial Weekend every year. It's sort of a big deal. Since I lead promote another 6 or 7 races during the year, this one is supposed to be set up that I don't really have to do much. It never really ends up that way, though.
There at 6:30ish, which was earlier than I expected us to get there (good job to all of my family who are not morning people!), and we (Rob Strange is always there before me, even when we are 15min early instead of 15min late) started throwing cones immediately. Good start to the day.
Before we'd even finished setting up the course, I had a racer stop to tell me that he had a better idea for course layout, and then a few minutes later someone told me that a corner needed to be swept (um, let us get to that, please. there's still more than an hour until the first race starts). And so on.
Went inside to use the restroom and wash the cone/barricade grime off of me, and on the way I'm told that there are no pins (used to put on the racer's number). As I walked into the bathroom, a guy I've never met comes out of a stall and says, "you're Christian, right? The coach?".
"Yep. That's me. It's good to see you."
"I've got a coaching questions for you."
" ... ".
"So the turn is about 1K from the finish, but it is a little downhill. Do you think we should set up a lead out like Columbia, or should we have our sprinter fend for himself off of the other teams lead outs since the finish is so fast and hard to control?"
I replied, "I think it is great that y'all are thinking ahead, and it bodes well that y'all are anticipating the finish. I mean no disrespect, but I really have to go to the bathroom..."
He said, "Oh right! ok..."
I went into the stall, sat down, and...
...yes, he kept talking to me. Thank goodness my phone rang, because then at least I could take a minute away from directing his team from a community college bathroom.
Not being able to perform my toilet duty with such an audience, I wrapped up the call, took leave of the potty, washed up, and found the guy was standing outside the damn bathroom door, and he walked with me all the way back to registration. He fired away questions, and I did my best to be pleasant, though I have no idea how convincing I was. My answers were, "Hmm mm," "yep", and such. The longest short walk to registration gave me an out becaue I saw Becky getting ready.
"How is it going here?"
"the printer isn't working"
Ugh.
It's now about 7:30, and I'm walking outside, and we learn that 1) we've forgotten ice for the bake sale, 2) that we can't get the jug for the slushie machine under the faucet, so we have to either fill up the 5 gallons with a small cup or go buy water, and 3) "Hey, Christian, the sprinklers are on at the back side of the course."
Damn it!
I grab my bike to roll over to the side of the course to see if the sprinker thing is an issue and if any of the magic spells I know can be applied to automatic sprinklers at a venue at which I know nobody and have zero pull whatsoever. But first I have to air up my front wheel. Evidently I have a slow leak on my race wheel.
On the way I get a text that the officials don't have a portacan or an open building in which to find a restroom. I help two guys who have crashed during warm up for the race (they were both riding no handed and I swear must have been tied together). No injuries other than embarassment.
the first race hasn't even gone off yet!
It was a long, hot day. It went well for our team, and since our races serve to raise money for our junior team, it's almost always worth it, but I think it is too many races when I start to dread them for whatever reason.
Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong.
The family is beat. Outside all day from 6:30am until 7:30pm. Not getting home until 9:30...
It's State Criterium Championships today, and I'm already registered, but there's just no way it's going to happen. Completely whupped, and if I want to be involved with family plans today, I have 30min to ride to meet them, or I'm the guy who didn't race AND skipped the family outing only to blog and work on Memorial Day.
I'm not going to be that guy.
Out.
There at 6:30ish, which was earlier than I expected us to get there (good job to all of my family who are not morning people!), and we (Rob Strange is always there before me, even when we are 15min early instead of 15min late) started throwing cones immediately. Good start to the day.
Before we'd even finished setting up the course, I had a racer stop to tell me that he had a better idea for course layout, and then a few minutes later someone told me that a corner needed to be swept (um, let us get to that, please. there's still more than an hour until the first race starts). And so on.
Went inside to use the restroom and wash the cone/barricade grime off of me, and on the way I'm told that there are no pins (used to put on the racer's number). As I walked into the bathroom, a guy I've never met comes out of a stall and says, "you're Christian, right? The coach?".
"Yep. That's me. It's good to see you."
"I've got a coaching questions for you."
" ... ".
"So the turn is about 1K from the finish, but it is a little downhill. Do you think we should set up a lead out like Columbia, or should we have our sprinter fend for himself off of the other teams lead outs since the finish is so fast and hard to control?"
I replied, "I think it is great that y'all are thinking ahead, and it bodes well that y'all are anticipating the finish. I mean no disrespect, but I really have to go to the bathroom..."
He said, "Oh right! ok..."
I went into the stall, sat down, and...
...yes, he kept talking to me. Thank goodness my phone rang, because then at least I could take a minute away from directing his team from a community college bathroom.
Not being able to perform my toilet duty with such an audience, I wrapped up the call, took leave of the potty, washed up, and found the guy was standing outside the damn bathroom door, and he walked with me all the way back to registration. He fired away questions, and I did my best to be pleasant, though I have no idea how convincing I was. My answers were, "Hmm mm," "yep", and such. The longest short walk to registration gave me an out becaue I saw Becky getting ready.
"How is it going here?"
"the printer isn't working"
Ugh.
It's now about 7:30, and I'm walking outside, and we learn that 1) we've forgotten ice for the bake sale, 2) that we can't get the jug for the slushie machine under the faucet, so we have to either fill up the 5 gallons with a small cup or go buy water, and 3) "Hey, Christian, the sprinklers are on at the back side of the course."
Damn it!
I grab my bike to roll over to the side of the course to see if the sprinker thing is an issue and if any of the magic spells I know can be applied to automatic sprinklers at a venue at which I know nobody and have zero pull whatsoever. But first I have to air up my front wheel. Evidently I have a slow leak on my race wheel.
On the way I get a text that the officials don't have a portacan or an open building in which to find a restroom. I help two guys who have crashed during warm up for the race (they were both riding no handed and I swear must have been tied together). No injuries other than embarassment.
the first race hasn't even gone off yet!
It was a long, hot day. It went well for our team, and since our races serve to raise money for our junior team, it's almost always worth it, but I think it is too many races when I start to dread them for whatever reason.
Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong.
The family is beat. Outside all day from 6:30am until 7:30pm. Not getting home until 9:30...
It's State Criterium Championships today, and I'm already registered, but there's just no way it's going to happen. Completely whupped, and if I want to be involved with family plans today, I have 30min to ride to meet them, or I'm the guy who didn't race AND skipped the family outing only to blog and work on Memorial Day.
I'm not going to be that guy.
Out.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
On being a Daddy, and having a Training and workout partner
When there's lots of work (worky work-work...as in, my job) for me to do, it's a good thing for the family. But it's also a tough thing, because I don't get to settle in and be Daddy the way I wish I could. I don't get to play bike racer like I wish I could, either.
Not complaining. With my gig, I can stop in the middle of something and wrestle with Buddy or do some gymnastics with Reanie or look at what picture they've drawn or help find the chocolate that Mama has hidden. I'm not on the clock, and my boss isn't in the next cube seeing me go to the vending machine for the 5th time since lunch. Or whatever. I only need to make sure I get what needs to be done, done.
With our silly sport, though, there is that time commitment in that we can't just go to a 45min aereobics class a few times per week and be competitive. Again, not complaining, because that training time is also a decompression, reset, and whatever else "me" time I need. Gawd...I'm 40 and sounding like a fruit cake now.
When work is really heavy, that's when the hour or so to go ride is needed the most. I've got a training buddy who needs to ride, so that helps me push back from my desk, suit up, and roll down the road. And since he has some lofty riding goals and can't realistically go out and train on the roads by himself, yet, I really do have to go out with him.
Mondays are particularly heavy here at the office, and it's usually a light or off day for riding, and it is a day we need to be done early since Noah goes over to Lisa's on Monday evening. Our intent was to squeeze in Family time on Monday afternoons since the evenings and weekends Noah is with us are usually for racing. In the past couple of years, though, we've just not really made family time happen like we should, and that has been coming back to bite us in the collective Williams' butt.
But this past weekend, we took lots of time off of the bike to put in some family time and while it was an awful time to not get in the training, it was the best time to remember that our house is more than a transportation hub with comings and goings and nobody really staying until bath and bed time.
The work stress was adding up, Mama was in bed feeling ill, but the POSS2 were playing contentedly. I wasn't finding the window in work to stop for a bit, so I did something I've never done in 11 years of this gig...I just got up, thought unfinished, plan undone, and got dressed. We made the window to ride.
The wind was blowing, so I knew it was going to be something more than a leisure spin. And just as I pulled on my kit, I heard the rain hitting the window. But Noah didn't hesitate to get dressed, and within a few minutes, we were rolling down Hawk Rd into a 25mph wind. And we just kept heading west.
You know you have a good training partner when you can ride for several hours talking and not get sick of them. Same thing, though, about being able to ride with them and not say anything at all, and that be ok, too.
Yesterday was the latter type of ride, even if it was only an hour. We had a workout agenda, since we'd missed Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but the weather made the scheduled workout impossible, so we just started hammering. No talking, no discussion. We simply went from riding side by side to a two-man time trial.
After about 8 miles, Noah asked where we were going. I suppose it was a valid question to break the silence. Afterall, we'd been hitting it above threshold into the wind and rain and going 13mph at that point. Whether we were going to be chatty or not, it's nice to have an idea how long a beating like that is going to last.
We chose a 20mile loop, and from there, we just hit it like we were a breakaway. I'd pull at my limit, and he'd sense when I was starting fade and come around. I'd recover in his slipstream until it felt like I could lift our pace a bit. And that's how we continued in the stinging rain and hammering winds.
Until we got the tailwind, that is. At that point, we were still "training", but we were really only seeing how fast we could pedal the junior gears. We rolled up and over some decent hills at well over 30mph. We did the best we could with bike handling on the s-turns and slippery roads. Pushing it something past comfortable and into "I can't believe I just did that", and then realizing that maybe we could go faster. Well, ok...that last part only lasted until Noah started sliding out, but still.
Other than the brief discussion about "how far" and a very brief, "Stop pulling through so hard, you are dropping me on the hills", we didn't say anything to each other for that hour. On the cool down part that is a couple miles back to the house, we talked about how the ride sucked, but was really good at the same time. We talked about being glad we went out anyway (he never waivered, but I'm buried at work and didn't have to look for excuses).
And when I walked in the door, Reanie was excited to show me the picture she drew on the computer. Buddy insisted he show me his new dance, spin move, and while Mama was asleep in bed, at least she had a smile on her face (I need to thank whoever she was thinking about).
I stole an hour away from what needed to be a 16hr work day. Other than making sure they were safe, entertained, fed, bathed and put to bed, I wasn't much of a Daddy yesterday to any of them.
But now that I write it out, I feel pretty darn good about what I did do on the day.
Now, back to work.
Not complaining. With my gig, I can stop in the middle of something and wrestle with Buddy or do some gymnastics with Reanie or look at what picture they've drawn or help find the chocolate that Mama has hidden. I'm not on the clock, and my boss isn't in the next cube seeing me go to the vending machine for the 5th time since lunch. Or whatever. I only need to make sure I get what needs to be done, done.
With our silly sport, though, there is that time commitment in that we can't just go to a 45min aereobics class a few times per week and be competitive. Again, not complaining, because that training time is also a decompression, reset, and whatever else "me" time I need. Gawd...I'm 40 and sounding like a fruit cake now.
When work is really heavy, that's when the hour or so to go ride is needed the most. I've got a training buddy who needs to ride, so that helps me push back from my desk, suit up, and roll down the road. And since he has some lofty riding goals and can't realistically go out and train on the roads by himself, yet, I really do have to go out with him.
Mondays are particularly heavy here at the office, and it's usually a light or off day for riding, and it is a day we need to be done early since Noah goes over to Lisa's on Monday evening. Our intent was to squeeze in Family time on Monday afternoons since the evenings and weekends Noah is with us are usually for racing. In the past couple of years, though, we've just not really made family time happen like we should, and that has been coming back to bite us in the collective Williams' butt.
But this past weekend, we took lots of time off of the bike to put in some family time and while it was an awful time to not get in the training, it was the best time to remember that our house is more than a transportation hub with comings and goings and nobody really staying until bath and bed time.
The work stress was adding up, Mama was in bed feeling ill, but the POSS2 were playing contentedly. I wasn't finding the window in work to stop for a bit, so I did something I've never done in 11 years of this gig...I just got up, thought unfinished, plan undone, and got dressed. We made the window to ride.
The wind was blowing, so I knew it was going to be something more than a leisure spin. And just as I pulled on my kit, I heard the rain hitting the window. But Noah didn't hesitate to get dressed, and within a few minutes, we were rolling down Hawk Rd into a 25mph wind. And we just kept heading west.
You know you have a good training partner when you can ride for several hours talking and not get sick of them. Same thing, though, about being able to ride with them and not say anything at all, and that be ok, too.
Yesterday was the latter type of ride, even if it was only an hour. We had a workout agenda, since we'd missed Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but the weather made the scheduled workout impossible, so we just started hammering. No talking, no discussion. We simply went from riding side by side to a two-man time trial.
After about 8 miles, Noah asked where we were going. I suppose it was a valid question to break the silence. Afterall, we'd been hitting it above threshold into the wind and rain and going 13mph at that point. Whether we were going to be chatty or not, it's nice to have an idea how long a beating like that is going to last.
We chose a 20mile loop, and from there, we just hit it like we were a breakaway. I'd pull at my limit, and he'd sense when I was starting fade and come around. I'd recover in his slipstream until it felt like I could lift our pace a bit. And that's how we continued in the stinging rain and hammering winds.
Until we got the tailwind, that is. At that point, we were still "training", but we were really only seeing how fast we could pedal the junior gears. We rolled up and over some decent hills at well over 30mph. We did the best we could with bike handling on the s-turns and slippery roads. Pushing it something past comfortable and into "I can't believe I just did that", and then realizing that maybe we could go faster. Well, ok...that last part only lasted until Noah started sliding out, but still.
Other than the brief discussion about "how far" and a very brief, "Stop pulling through so hard, you are dropping me on the hills", we didn't say anything to each other for that hour. On the cool down part that is a couple miles back to the house, we talked about how the ride sucked, but was really good at the same time. We talked about being glad we went out anyway (he never waivered, but I'm buried at work and didn't have to look for excuses).
And when I walked in the door, Reanie was excited to show me the picture she drew on the computer. Buddy insisted he show me his new dance, spin move, and while Mama was asleep in bed, at least she had a smile on her face (I need to thank whoever she was thinking about).
I stole an hour away from what needed to be a 16hr work day. Other than making sure they were safe, entertained, fed, bathed and put to bed, I wasn't much of a Daddy yesterday to any of them.
But now that I write it out, I feel pretty darn good about what I did do on the day.
Now, back to work.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sister has her brother's back (and tooth)
Buddy has a wicked earache the last few days. It is bringing him to tears. He's been resting in our bed, his bed, and the guest bed in my office. He's also had a loose tooth that came out yesterday. He was so excited that he brought it down to me, handed it off with a smile, said "here's my tooth", and then went upstairs to watch a movie. That's how excited he was.But because it was only his second tooth to lose, and partly because Reanie was more excited for him that it seemed he was for himself, we put it in a "special" bag under his pillow.
He didn't make it too long in his own bed last night. Reanie tried to comfort him, but there's not really any amount of stuffed animals or trains you can put in bed with someone to keep their ear drum from rupturing. He ended up in bed with Mama, and I slept in the guest bed.
And neither of us remembered to remind the tooth fairy.
But Reanie remembered, and when she checked (for Buddy) to see if she came, and then saw that she didn't, she took one of her own dollars and put it in the bag, and then she excitedly told Buddy that the Tooth Fairy had visited.
I know I have my shortcomings as a parent. I know my kids aren't perfect. But dangit, something is going right if one of them looks out for the other like that.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
things you don't expect to have to say as a parent...
..."Hey, you two stop biting each other's bt's."
bt= butt
bt= butt
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
It's starting to smell a lot like Christmas...
And to think we just had a conversation about making more.Each of those is almost 3lbs.
Not sure, yet, if we're making limoncello as well. We need to get on that immediatamente if we are.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In!
It ends on a good note...
We were both feeling rather flat, so the workout was taking a little longer than normal. Not a big deal, really, but I'm one of those who prefers to be there to watch warm ups for a sporting event, and when it is a concert, I also like to see the opening act. In this case, Muse was to start playing at 7pm, which meant we needed to be rolling at 530 to make sure we got there in time. So we were already a little behind.
We rolled out at 545. Not awful at all. We were even blessed by the traffic God in that we didn't have to sit in much Metromess traffic for our first trip to the new Cowboy Stadium.
We'd reserved a parking spot that was outside of the stadium lots (this turned out to be a blessing), so we had a pretty good 1.5 mile walk to get to the stadium. After a few blocks, we realized an easy 1.5 mile walk is a lot easier, probably, if we didn't just do a workout before.
As big as the stadium is, we didn't see it because of other buildings until we were right up on the parking lot, which is massive. Kinda unnerving to be walking somewhere new and not see something like a stadium, but with all the traffic and people, we figured we were going the right way. It was about 645 when we first set foot on the Cowboy Stadium parking lot, and the cars going in weren't moving. By 7:00we were looking for an entrance into the concert,
We walked up to the first one to have our tickets scanned. The scanner made a different noise than it did for other tickets, and we were told to go to another entrance. No big deal.
We walked around the stadium and found another entrance with many, many more people. We waited in that line, got to the ticket scanner thing, and then the same not-the-same scanner sound was made. We were told to go to "entrance C", and I was shown on our tickets how I should have known this from the get go.
So we completed our near lap of the stadium and found entrance C, which was close to entrance D, which is where we initially tried to go in. We now know what the stadium looks like from all sides on the outside.
We got through the line to the scanner at entrance C quickly. We got the same "not good" scanner sound. Scanner guy told us we needed to go to the box office. The box office wasn't too far away, thank goodness. I reckon it was about 745 at this point.
We get to the box office, and there are about 15 windows there, most having to do with Will Call and Purchasing. Those were the biggest lines. Two lines were dedicated to "Ticket Resolution". They weren't very long lines at all. Just a few people.
We stood in that line.
When we were next up in line, I looked at the email I was given by Chloe that told us what to do in case there was a problem.
Now, I was sort of prepared that there would be a problem, so I wasn't really all that frustrated. See, Chloe bought the tickets from our friend Mary. She bought the tickets from some outfit called Stub Hub, who offered the tickets from some other seller. So, I was pretty far down the chain from original purchase. Call it pessimism or call it realism, but I expected at some point that I'd have to explain how I came into the tickets, and I was mentally prepared for this.
So, I was reading the email, and in it the thing clearly read that we DO NOT go to the box office for ticket resolution. An entire paragraph was there to explain that the venue can't help us because we didn't buy our tickets there. It gave us a number for Stub Hub to call if any problems arose. My thinking at the time was that it was a customer service thing, and with all of the expensive charges Stub Hub tacked on to things, that it meant I basically had an ally to get us into the concert.
I was on the phone saying "yes" and "no" to automated questions. I was on the phone pressing "1" for this and "2" for that. I was on the phone on hold waiting for a customer representative. I was on the phone long enough that my phone was hot to the touch, and I'd yet to speak to an actual person.
Meanwhile, I stepped out of line to deal with the call, as the email had instructed me to call them and not talk to the box office people. To do something, anything, Noah stood in line, and as he'd make his way to the front, he'd then go to the end of the line because I didn't know what to tell him at that point. he was basically just saving us a place in line, just in case.
After 40-45 minutes of holding, I talked to a customer service guy, who asked me all kinds of verification questions involving customer numbers, order numbers, Mary's zip code, her email address...and I scored a 100% on that test. He then gave me silence for 20s and told me he needed to send me "up" to a manager. OK...
...Another 10 minutes or so, and then I was talking to a manager. He apologized 17 times, told me Stub Hub really is swell, and that...well...that there wasn't jack shit he could do for us. He assured me that someone from Stub Hub would get back to me within 72 hours and file an Investigation Report. Yea!
There was some silence on the phone as he waited for me to do or say something, I guess, and I was silent while waiting for him to tell me where to go get my actual tickets to get into the concert. U2 was to start playing at any moment.
While messing with this damn phone call for an hour, I saw 10 or 12 groups of people go through Ticket Resolution. This was probably 70 or so people, all told. It would be a group of 12, then a couple, then a family, and so on. Only one couple actually walked away from that window and took valid tickets into the show. Everyone else went away in a pissed off cloud of swearing.
That's what I watched while on the phone for an hour.
So when the realization hit that Stub Hub wasn't getting us into the concert, I gave Chloe a call. Her first reaction was disbelief, of course, and then she wanted to call Mary, who I believe is in Poland at the moment, which is why we were able to get tickets in the first place.
Chloe told us to get tickets from a scalper, because she wanted us to get in that concert. Since I only had about $100, we weren't going to be able to get one ticket, much less a pair of tickets, but I appreciated the thought.
Since Noah and I still hadn't eaten, he said, "Let's just go get dinner." And I was thinking, "Yeah, but I'm willing to buy a $10 hamburger INSIDE."
If we'd have paid the $40 or $50 to park at the stadium, we'd have just walked to the car and left at that point. But since we had a hike, I figured I'd just go up to the Ticket Resolution window anyway. The Stub Hub guy told me not to do so, because if the tickets were invalid, the box office would keep them, and he wanted me to hold on to them. Whatever. I figured if we were already out the $400 in tickets, he could just use a receipt or something, because I really didn't want to look at the worthless tickets anymore.
We walked right up to the window (nobody in line at that point), I said, "evidently our tickets are invalid, but I figure you can tell me what they've told me at the entrance points so far".
The woman at the window scanned the tickets, the scanner made the same wrong scanner sound as before, and she looked at the scanner to read the code. She then got up, went to get a manager (I suppose he was a manager), and the two huddled over the scanner for a bit.
He punched something into the computer, she got on the phone. And we stood there. Just stood there. They weren't telling us anything, and I stood there pretty drained. Just waiting for them to tell me the same thing they told 70 other people over the last hour.
She moved close to the window to talk to me. I moved closer to talk to her. She explained to me that the tickets we had were sold before the stadium was finished being built, and the seats on our tickets don't actually exist.
While I was already beat down by the whole thing, I thought being flattened, finally, was appropriate enough.
Then she handed us new tickets. Evidently, just because we bought seats that didn't exist, that didn't mean there was a problem, other than that they'd assigned these tickets new, actual seats.
We ran into the stadium, paid $40 for a burger, sandwich, water and a beer. Ate it on the run, basically, and sat down just a couple minutes before U2 came out.
Our seats.
It took probably half of the concert to really settle in and relax, but I got to see U2, and I got to see them with Noah. It was absolutely worth it all.
We were both feeling rather flat, so the workout was taking a little longer than normal. Not a big deal, really, but I'm one of those who prefers to be there to watch warm ups for a sporting event, and when it is a concert, I also like to see the opening act. In this case, Muse was to start playing at 7pm, which meant we needed to be rolling at 530 to make sure we got there in time. So we were already a little behind.
We rolled out at 545. Not awful at all. We were even blessed by the traffic God in that we didn't have to sit in much Metromess traffic for our first trip to the new Cowboy Stadium.
We'd reserved a parking spot that was outside of the stadium lots (this turned out to be a blessing), so we had a pretty good 1.5 mile walk to get to the stadium. After a few blocks, we realized an easy 1.5 mile walk is a lot easier, probably, if we didn't just do a workout before.
As big as the stadium is, we didn't see it because of other buildings until we were right up on the parking lot, which is massive. Kinda unnerving to be walking somewhere new and not see something like a stadium, but with all the traffic and people, we figured we were going the right way. It was about 645 when we first set foot on the Cowboy Stadium parking lot, and the cars going in weren't moving. By 7:00we were looking for an entrance into the concert,
We walked up to the first one to have our tickets scanned. The scanner made a different noise than it did for other tickets, and we were told to go to another entrance. No big deal.
We walked around the stadium and found another entrance with many, many more people. We waited in that line, got to the ticket scanner thing, and then the same not-the-same scanner sound was made. We were told to go to "entrance C", and I was shown on our tickets how I should have known this from the get go.
So we completed our near lap of the stadium and found entrance C, which was close to entrance D, which is where we initially tried to go in. We now know what the stadium looks like from all sides on the outside.
We got through the line to the scanner at entrance C quickly. We got the same "not good" scanner sound. Scanner guy told us we needed to go to the box office. The box office wasn't too far away, thank goodness. I reckon it was about 745 at this point.
We get to the box office, and there are about 15 windows there, most having to do with Will Call and Purchasing. Those were the biggest lines. Two lines were dedicated to "Ticket Resolution". They weren't very long lines at all. Just a few people.
We stood in that line.
When we were next up in line, I looked at the email I was given by Chloe that told us what to do in case there was a problem.
Now, I was sort of prepared that there would be a problem, so I wasn't really all that frustrated. See, Chloe bought the tickets from our friend Mary. She bought the tickets from some outfit called Stub Hub, who offered the tickets from some other seller. So, I was pretty far down the chain from original purchase. Call it pessimism or call it realism, but I expected at some point that I'd have to explain how I came into the tickets, and I was mentally prepared for this.
So, I was reading the email, and in it the thing clearly read that we DO NOT go to the box office for ticket resolution. An entire paragraph was there to explain that the venue can't help us because we didn't buy our tickets there. It gave us a number for Stub Hub to call if any problems arose. My thinking at the time was that it was a customer service thing, and with all of the expensive charges Stub Hub tacked on to things, that it meant I basically had an ally to get us into the concert.
I was on the phone saying "yes" and "no" to automated questions. I was on the phone pressing "1" for this and "2" for that. I was on the phone on hold waiting for a customer representative. I was on the phone long enough that my phone was hot to the touch, and I'd yet to speak to an actual person.
Meanwhile, I stepped out of line to deal with the call, as the email had instructed me to call them and not talk to the box office people. To do something, anything, Noah stood in line, and as he'd make his way to the front, he'd then go to the end of the line because I didn't know what to tell him at that point. he was basically just saving us a place in line, just in case.
After 40-45 minutes of holding, I talked to a customer service guy, who asked me all kinds of verification questions involving customer numbers, order numbers, Mary's zip code, her email address...and I scored a 100% on that test. He then gave me silence for 20s and told me he needed to send me "up" to a manager. OK...
...Another 10 minutes or so, and then I was talking to a manager. He apologized 17 times, told me Stub Hub really is swell, and that...well...that there wasn't jack shit he could do for us. He assured me that someone from Stub Hub would get back to me within 72 hours and file an Investigation Report. Yea!
There was some silence on the phone as he waited for me to do or say something, I guess, and I was silent while waiting for him to tell me where to go get my actual tickets to get into the concert. U2 was to start playing at any moment.
While messing with this damn phone call for an hour, I saw 10 or 12 groups of people go through Ticket Resolution. This was probably 70 or so people, all told. It would be a group of 12, then a couple, then a family, and so on. Only one couple actually walked away from that window and took valid tickets into the show. Everyone else went away in a pissed off cloud of swearing.
That's what I watched while on the phone for an hour.
So when the realization hit that Stub Hub wasn't getting us into the concert, I gave Chloe a call. Her first reaction was disbelief, of course, and then she wanted to call Mary, who I believe is in Poland at the moment, which is why we were able to get tickets in the first place.
Chloe told us to get tickets from a scalper, because she wanted us to get in that concert. Since I only had about $100, we weren't going to be able to get one ticket, much less a pair of tickets, but I appreciated the thought.
Since Noah and I still hadn't eaten, he said, "Let's just go get dinner." And I was thinking, "Yeah, but I'm willing to buy a $10 hamburger INSIDE."
If we'd have paid the $40 or $50 to park at the stadium, we'd have just walked to the car and left at that point. But since we had a hike, I figured I'd just go up to the Ticket Resolution window anyway. The Stub Hub guy told me not to do so, because if the tickets were invalid, the box office would keep them, and he wanted me to hold on to them. Whatever. I figured if we were already out the $400 in tickets, he could just use a receipt or something, because I really didn't want to look at the worthless tickets anymore.
We walked right up to the window (nobody in line at that point), I said, "evidently our tickets are invalid, but I figure you can tell me what they've told me at the entrance points so far".
The woman at the window scanned the tickets, the scanner made the same wrong scanner sound as before, and she looked at the scanner to read the code. She then got up, went to get a manager (I suppose he was a manager), and the two huddled over the scanner for a bit.
He punched something into the computer, she got on the phone. And we stood there. Just stood there. They weren't telling us anything, and I stood there pretty drained. Just waiting for them to tell me the same thing they told 70 other people over the last hour.
She moved close to the window to talk to me. I moved closer to talk to her. She explained to me that the tickets we had were sold before the stadium was finished being built, and the seats on our tickets don't actually exist.
While I was already beat down by the whole thing, I thought being flattened, finally, was appropriate enough.
Then she handed us new tickets. Evidently, just because we bought seats that didn't exist, that didn't mean there was a problem, other than that they'd assigned these tickets new, actual seats.
We ran into the stadium, paid $40 for a burger, sandwich, water and a beer. Ate it on the run, basically, and sat down just a couple minutes before U2 came out.
Our seats.
Sunday Bloody Sunday.
It took probably half of the concert to really settle in and relax, but I got to see U2, and I got to see them with Noah. It was absolutely worth it all.
Friday, September 25, 2009
anyone have contact info for Daniel Webster?
Me: What are some words that begin with the letter "y"?
Buddy: Yo-yo. Yesterday. Yes.
Me. Good. What about the letter "m"?
Buddy: How about the letter "z"?
Me: Sure. Give me some words that start with "z".
Buddy: Zebra. Zipper. Xylephone.
Me: Hmm...actually, Xylephone starts with "x", but I know it sounds like "z".
Buddy: No, it's a "z". It goes zuh, zuh, zuh-xylophone.
Me: ...
Buddy: Zero.
Me: You know what. It's ok if you want xyxlephone to start with a "z". I'll back you up on that. (thinking that "ok, he'll get that one wrong on the test, but I think he can still pass.")
Buddy: Yo-yo. Yesterday. Yes.
Me. Good. What about the letter "m"?
Buddy: How about the letter "z"?
Me: Sure. Give me some words that start with "z".
Buddy: Zebra. Zipper. Xylephone.
Me: Hmm...actually, Xylephone starts with "x", but I know it sounds like "z".
Buddy: No, it's a "z". It goes zuh, zuh, zuh-xylophone.
Me: ...
Buddy: Zero.
Me: You know what. It's ok if you want xyxlephone to start with a "z". I'll back you up on that. (thinking that "ok, he'll get that one wrong on the test, but I think he can still pass.")
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
91% humidity erase board
Buddy was showing me how he could draw numbers in the air. Big numbers, with exaggerated arm motion and the bit. He started drawing 51...
...stopped. Looked at the air for a moment, then made an erasing motion and started again. Evidently he made his 5 backwards.
...stopped. Looked at the air for a moment, then made an erasing motion and started again. Evidently he made his 5 backwards.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Dr. Buddy
First week of school. Buddy is in kindergarten. Hasn't been in pre-school or anything like it other than gymnastics class since last year. Not real concerned, but concerned anyway about how he'd handle sitting in one spot for extended periods, being quiet when he was supposed to be, etc.
Well, he did have to go to timeout yesterday. Something about playing with something that needed to be put away. His teacher, Mrs Shark (how cool is that!?), said something to him along the lines of, "Buddy, you broke my heart." I imagine it was something like, "when you don't mind, it breaks my heart" or some context like that.
But when Buddy told me about his day, it went...
"I had to go to timeout. I broke Mrs. Shark's heart. But it's ok. She said I fixed it and then I could go play."
So there you have it. In kindergarten today, Buddy became a cardiologist. Don't ever knock Denton schools.
Well, he did have to go to timeout yesterday. Something about playing with something that needed to be put away. His teacher, Mrs Shark (how cool is that!?), said something to him along the lines of, "Buddy, you broke my heart." I imagine it was something like, "when you don't mind, it breaks my heart" or some context like that.
But when Buddy told me about his day, it went...
"I had to go to timeout. I broke Mrs. Shark's heart. But it's ok. She said I fixed it and then I could go play."
So there you have it. In kindergarten today, Buddy became a cardiologist. Don't ever knock Denton schools.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Buon Compleanno
Happy Birthday! Noah is 14 years old today. And the chicken coop needs to be cleaned out.
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