Proper Manners

I know I’m late to the party, but just this week I started watching Downton Abbey. I’m only one episode into the first season, and even though I’m watching it on my tiny little iphone screen, I’m already hooked on the show! In case you’ve been hiding out on a deserted island for the last few weeks and haven’t heard all of the buzz, Downton Abbey is a British period drama set on the estate of an aristocratic family during the years leading up to the First World War. The show explores the drama of the family as well as the estate’s staff. In the first episode, we were introduced to Mr. Bates, and I think he may already be my favorite character.

He is the valet (which I’ve been saying wrong all these years…it rhymes with mallet) to Lord Grantham. Mr. Bates was wounded in the Boer War and stoically suffers with a lame leg, but Lord Grantham is pleased to employ him anyway. (Who wouldn’t want Mr. Bates serving them daily?) Certain staff members are put out by his disability and resentful of his connection to Lord Grantham, and will therefore do anything to get rid of him. Some have even gone so far as to physically knock him down in front of visiting dignitaries.

But Mr. Bates is proud and honorable and never repays malice in kind. Even when he has the opportunity to expose these staff members to save his own position, he does not. He is a proud and perfect gentleman!

Watching Mr. Bates has made me think, though. I do not conduct myself with those manners. Not in the least. If someone does something unjust to me, I waste no time in finding someone to tell all about it. I relish the telling, in fact! Sure, I’m a nice person. I can be very nice. I’m perfectly pleasant to strangers, and I behave very well with my friends. But I can have a serious attitude with people who are bugging me. Just yesterday I found myself shooting daggers when a coworker treated me in a way that I perceived to be unsatisfactory. If my kids looked at me like that, I’d send them to the corner. Mr. Bates wouldn’t behave like that.

So not only is Downton Abbey going to provide me countless hours of pleasure during my treadmill time, but it is going to help me with my manners. From now on, when I find myself getting irritated, I’m going to think WWBD? What would Bates do?

Paying My Dues In The Mountain Biking Club

I should be paid in full for at least a few years, I’m hoping.

On Sunday afternoon, I was trying to decide between taking a nap and going for a quick mountain bike ride. I reminded myself that I usually regret taking naps, because I can’t sleep very well that night, but I never regret a great workout. So I gathered my gear and hit the trail. I was about two and a half miles in and feeling really strong. I came through a wash crossing and started climbing up a hill that I’ve made it up before. (I’ve also failed to make it up the hill before many times, but I’ve always been able to get off the bike easily enough and walk it to the top.)

Well something went wrong this time, and despite reliving the moment in the slow-motion instant replay of my mind dozens of times since, I can’t quite put my finger on the exact thing that went wrong this time. I started to lose my momentum about ¾ of the way out of the climb. As I tried to get one more revolution out of my pedals though, I lost my balance and toppled over to the left. Luckily, there was a nice cholla cactus to break my fall. If that had been all that happened, I would have dusted off, got back on my bike, and finished the last five miles of my ride. Unfortunately though, as I went down, my right leg fell onto the large front chain wheel.

You know…the big round thing with lots of pokey spikes all around it? Yeah, it pretty much drilled into my leg, right below the knee. I caught one brief glimpse of the torn flesh and exposed fat and knew I’d need stitches. Luckily, it wasn’t bleeding too fast, and it wasn’t on a part of my body where I had to look at it very much. I was able to avert my eyes, stay calm, assess my situation, and then call Joel. I always ride with my phone, and I was so thankful that Joel was in an area of the house where he actually heard his ring. I told him I’d wrecked and I was hurt pretty bad and would probably need to get stitches. I asked him if he’d drive to the trailhead to meet me in a few minutes. Once I knew he was on his way to save me, that helped me relax a bit. But I knew I still had a two mile ride to meet him. So I removed the larger chunks of cholla, picked up my bike, and got back in the saddle. Thank goodness it was a downhill ride back! I had a couple of spots to pedal through, but for the majority of the ride I was able to coast, which was way easier than walking would have been.

As I rode up to Joel, I’m sure he was thinking I was a big wuss, since my wound was on the back of my leg and he couldn’t see it. But as soon as I passed him and he saw it, I could hear him groan. He said “I’m going to have to take you to the hospital. You know that, right?” Yeah, I knew it.

So we loaded up the kids, called my dad, and I started searching on my phone to make sure the hospital we were headed to accepted our insurance. Joel was very calming, and I have to say, I was very brave. I was chatting with the PA while she was taking my medical history. When I told her I only had one kidney, she asked if I had any restrictions because of the donation. Joel told her I only had to avoid activities that might damage my remaining kidney. She kind of raised one eyebrow and asked “You mean, like mountain biking?” Well, to be perfectly fair, I only damaged my leg. My kidney was perfectly safe. And it would be at a much greater risk of damage from diabetes. So I told her I was really doing it a favor!

She took great care of me and had me fixed up in no time. It’s still pretty sore, but I think it is getting better. It is only really painful when I straighten my leg and the tension stretches the skin around my stitches. The worst part is that I’m basically restricted from any cardio for the next 10 days or so. And this sucks big time. I really feel like I was on the way to busting through a new plateau with my running, and now I feel like I’ll be starting way back at square one. I know I’ll bounce back quicker than I’m dreading, but it is so disappointing to think about losing the fitness that I worked SO damn hard to gain.

As you can see though, it gets a little bit better each day. Hopefully I’ll be back in the saddle in no time!

Disney Pin Display Board

My mom is the crafty one in the family, and the tacky glue gene seems to have skipped right over me. Whenever I need something, she's my go-to gal to get it sewed, assembled, crafted, or what have you. But I managed to put together this little display board on my own. I'm tempted to take it over to my mom's house so she can fix it to look a little nicer, but I'm happy enough with it right now. It's better than hiding my pins away in my jewelry box, like I've been doing for the past few years!

I started collecting Disney pins about 5 years ago, and I pick one out each time we go to the park. I've also been given some adorable pins by friends and family members when they return from Disneyland.

I think they are the perfect souvenir and collectable. They are small, easy to store, inexpensive, and able to capture personality traits and interests in one tiny deocration.

I started collecting Pirates-themed pins when Elliot started kindergarten. (The kids' school mascot is the Pirates.)

I picked out the Grumpy Xtra Stout pin when I started drinking beer.

I got the Mickey Jedi pin when the kids each did the Jedi Training Academy last summer.

Other pins in my collection feature assorted favorite characters or elements of the parks. Chip and Dale were my favorite characters as a kid, and I love the vintage Disney stuff too!

I even started picking out pins for the kids on our trips, trying to get ones that capture what their interests were at that particular time. I said I'd give them their pins when they got a little older, but I fear it will be difficult to surrender them!

Now we are just 43 days away from our next Disneyland trip (according to the kids' countdown calendars), and I can't wait to see what sort of pin I pick to represent this visit. And now I have a cool place to display it!

I Need Some Motivation!

I'm in a bit of a slump right now and just having trouble mustering my desire and pouring it into my workouts. It's not that I don't want to exercise...it's more that I'm feeling some burn-out. I'm eager to branch out and try some new things, but until I get through my next race, I feel like I need to commit the majority of my time to running.

So I'm injecting my afternoon with some motivational pictures. After postponing this morning's run until after work (because, let's face it...it's much easier to leave work to go for a run than it is to leave bed) I'm doing some mental warm-ups to get me in the right frame of mind for a good afternoon workout.

These are some of my favorite motivational pictures from around the interwebs. Hopefully there is enough running propaganda in here to get my legs moving!

Grand Canyon ... Rim to Rim ... In One Day!

"Grand" is a bit of an understatement. They should rename that thing the Great Awesome Enormous Spectacular Humbling Dizzying Grand Canyon. But even changing the name wouldn't be enough to do it justice. All of these pictures can't even begin to show it for what it really is.

We arrived at the South Rim on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at El Tovar before we caught our shuttle to the North Rim. Joel aptly named our van the "Desert Tortoise Express". We had to endure a nearly 6 hour van ride to get to the starting point of our hike. Thankfully we were able to pass the hours with some very cool people.

These are our "before" hike pictures on Friday, looking very rested and chipper.

After an awesome dinner at the North Rim Lodge, we checked into our quaint little cabin and tried to rest up for our long day ahead.

We got to the trail head around 6:00 am. It was still dark and about 38 degrees out, but we just tried to enjoy the cool weather while it lasted. The bottom of the canyon would be over 100 degrees.

We were surprised by how busy the trail was! There seemed to be a steady stream of people filing down the North Kaibab trail. The first leg of our journey took us from the North Rim of the Canyon down to Phantom Ranch. I had wrongly assumed that going down would be a lot easier. Not so much. After pounding my legs on 14 miles of descent on loose rocks (I fell and skinned my knee at mile 2!) my legs were absolutely wrecked by the time we made it to Phantom Ranch. I took my shoes off, rinsed my legs and feet with some cold water, stretched out, and rested for a good hour. We had some lunch and drank a glass of the best lemonade in the world. Before long, it was time to mix up some electrolyte drinks, top off our Camelbacks, and head off on the next leg of the journey: 10 more miles and 5500' of elevation gain.

We finally made it to Phantom Ranch!

You can't see the Colorado River from either rim of the Canyon. That's because it is WAY deeper than you can see... the river is basically in a canyon inside a canyon.



We actually kept a pretty swift pace on the ascent. I'm not too sure-footed and I have trouble going downhill (note the skinned knee above). But when I'm climbing, I'm able to go into march mode, detach my mind, and just chug through the miles. It's still hard, but I don't have to think about it as much, which is a big help. We made it to Indian Gardens in a couple of hours and stopped to enjoy another snack and rest. I tried to avoid looking up at all costs, because I knew I still had one hell of a climb ahead of me.

The trek from Indian Gardens to the 3 mile rest house wasn't too bad, but those last three miles to the top were KILLER. Three miles doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Wrong. That was the longest 3 mile death march I've ever endured. The only awesome part was that we were passing people left and right. At this point, we wanted to get out of the canyon before dark, and were were pretty determined and focused. I'll admit though, when I stopped to rest at the 3 mile rest house, I entertained the thought of just living there forever and never moving again. It was tempting.

Who needs a bed? I will just sleep here forever, thank you.

But we persevered. We marched on, up one switchback after another. We seemed to climb higher and higher, yet it was almost impossible to perceive how much climbing we still had to do. Finally, I turned a corner and my eyes landed on the Kolb Studio at the trail head. Of all the amazing sights we enjoyed during the day, I think that one was the most beautiful one of all!

As I rounded that last corner, though, I had another surprise waiting for me! My darling friend Kristi was waiting at the top of the rim to present me with my very own finisher's medal! She had also picked out some awesome Rim to Rim shirts for Joel and me. I couldn't have asked for a better cheerleader!

When we were talking to Kristi and her parents that night at dinner, Joel and I were both saying that we would NEVER do that again. But, after a nice long sleep and a couple of decent meals, we've both decided that we'll definitely take on the rim to rim hike again someday. It's just too Great, Awesome, Enormous, Spectacular, Humbling, Dizzying, and Grand not to experience again!

Meet Taña

I've been thinking, wishing, and hoping for a mountain bike for quite a long time now. But I just hadn't had that little burst of motivation I needed to take the plunge and invest in a bike. In fact, I had decided that I would make my 2012 New Year's Resolution be to take up mountain biking. I figured that would give me lots of time. Well last weekend, Joel and Chad managed to light a spark under me.

They went out for a ride on Sunday morning. When they got back, they both started laying it on pretty thick, telling me they didn't think I could 'handle' mountain biking. They thought it would be too tough for me. They thought I wouldn't really enjoy it because it's really hard. At this point, I had already logged 15 miles in two runs that week, and was getting ready to head out the door for 5 more. Needless to say, I was getting pretty damned irritated with them. How dare they? I'm in the best shape of my life, and they're sitting here telling me it's too hard??? Well I start fuming... Giving them a piece of my mind.... Telling them I'm tougher than they think. And they start laughing. Chad tells Joel, "See, I told you... the quickest way to get Chandy into mountain biking is to tell her she can't do it." They were just trying to get a rise out of me, and I fell for it. They wanted me to hurry up and buy a bike so I could start joining them on rides. I went to the bike shop the next day.

That is where I met Montaña. I call her Taña for short. She is a Specialized Myka Sport 29er, and I really, really like her.

Since Joel and I had a date night last night, while the kids stayed with my parents, that meant we also had a date morning. Usually on date mornings, we would do a hike or a trail run together. But now we can ride together!

Joel took me out for a very thorough lesson. He's been mountain biking for close to 20 years, so he really had to dumb it down for me, but I was glad to be out there with someone who knew what he was doing. (Especially when my chain fell off...I would have been up a creek if I was by myself!) He tried to teach me everything he knew about shifting, climbing, descending, braking, and reading the terrain. 

It was a little frustrating learning the technique and mechanics of riding. Pedaling down the street is one thing... it's an entirely different beast to come down a steep wash crossing with a sandy bottom, and then make a sharp 90 degree turn to climb back out over a bunch of loose rocks. There is definitely some technically difficult areas back in the Sonoran Mountain Preserve, but it's really fun too. We did about 13-14 miles, and by the end, even though I was pretty gassed, I was feeling much more confident and proficient. And practice makes perfect, so if I keep at it, I'll be flying along the trails like Joel does in no time!

Happy Trails!

Back to School Time

Another school year is officially underway! I don't know where they get it from (ha!), but Elliot and Ethan were so excited for school to start. Elliot was especially pumped to get her new school supplies. (Who can blame her? Just the smell of a new binder brings a smile to my face.)

And Ethan was eager to help pack his lunch and get his new backpack all loaded up.

They were both up bright and early on Monday morning, ready to put on their cool new clothes and even willing to indulge me with some poses.

We even got to school early enough to avoid too much of a parking nightmare. Elliot helped me walk Ethan to his classroom. He was a little bit nervous (and I got the vibe that his teacher was a little frazzled and unorganized....hope she gets it together!) but he put on his brave face and settled in to have a great first day. I was so proud of him!!

After we dropped Ethan off, I took Elliot to find her class in the the big circle in the middle of the school. This is where their school-wide Pirate Pride assemblies take place every Friday. I know Grandpa is looking forward to attending those again this year when he drops the kids off!

It only took Elliot about 4.5 seconds to find a bunch of her buds. There were lots of hugs and squeals and much mutual admiration of new outfits. I've really enjoyed getting to know Elliot's girlfriends better over the last year. They are a very sweet bunch of little girls, and I'm glad she has such a nice group of kids to hang out with.

Looking forward to a great year!!