Paying for two seats...

I don't know about you all, but I hate to fly.

Its not just the lost baggage... I've gotten to the point that I can get away with almost never checking a bag.

Its not just the delays and cancellations that leave you stranded...

And it sure isn't that they don't feed you on planes. I never ate that crap anyway.

For me, its having to absolutely defend my territory, aka my seat. Airline seats are not huge, and as a woman, big guys think that my space is their space. So the first thing I do is put the arm rest down and put my arm on it. That defines that this is MY SPACE. That is YOUR SPACE. The fact that you cant fit in YOUR space is by definition YOUR problem.

Except it never works out that way...

Today another airline announced that the large Marge's of the world are going to have to cough up the $$ for an extra seat if they cant fit in their seat. From my perspective, its not just the obese people, though. Ever see a 6'6" guy try to fit into an economy seat? Butt wise they fit. Leg wise, no chance.

There has got to be a better way. Maybe they have first class seats, cattle car seats, and for a little extra money, wide-body or leg room seats. Heck if the airline can charge you $5 for a hot beer, they ought to be able to figure out how to charge extra for a little more space.

Just my opinion. But I think that the airlines are in the business of making people be as miserable as possible, so I may not exactly be objective here...

It'll move you to tears...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk&feature=bz301

Criminy, I watched it this morning after hearing about it on the way in to work. I dont watch all the Idol shows, who has the time.

But watching this train wreck of a person walk out on stage, and then to hear the angels sing... I admit it. I cried.

If you only have one moment in the sun, I sure hope its like the one that lady got.

Bravo. God was having a particularly good day when he made that lady.

Easter will be a little late...

Did the Easter Bunny skip your house this morning? Tell the kids he's gonna be a wee bit late...

Seems J was riding out near Tappahannock this morning, when Peter Cottontail decided that life was just too rough, what with having to carry around all that candy for all those screaming kids and all...

So Peter decided to end it all in a death by bicycle scenario. J sends her condolences to little children everywhere...

GOOOOOO Navy!

I got back in from my ride to the news that Capt. Phillips was rescued... Go Navy. And all the bad guys are now shark food. I hope the sharks dont get too bad a tummy ache.

What a wonderful Easter present for all of America.

Warm fuzzies all around.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter

Well whats an Easter post without the random puppy, kitty and bunny shots? It would be sad, so sad. So here's George, posing pretty after snarfing down a good snack. BTW: Georgie is in Perry GA this week royally kicking booty... I miss him something fierce, but he looooves to show, loves the applause and TREATS and all the fanfare. Go George!


And just cuz you cant slight the bunnies and kitties out there...

Twins, separated at birth...

What am I doing for Easter? I'm going to ride my bike, thank you. I'm hoping for a nice long one on Sunday after I clean the sludge off it on Saturday. (Its supposed to rain on Saturday, so I'm going to wait until after I ride to clean it. ) To say the Orbea is skanky would be an understatement. J thinks that we've both been suffering so much this week because our bikes are mad at us.

I believe her. It couldn't possibly be because I SUCK. That would be an outrageous thing to think.

Sunday I'm also going to finish up the pre-work on the veggie garden. I usually don't plant until April 16th. Before that you can get frost, and nothing is going to grow until the soil gets warm, anyway. I'm dreaming of fresh tomatoes. Oh, and squash, and peppers! Fresh basil. Basil and tomatoes. Geez... I'm starving.

Happy Easter. Hope the bun-buns bring you something wonderful.

I'm TTing away...

I ditched the diet for the weekend. Ok, not exactly ditched... I just ate non-boxed food like chicken, veggies, and fruit. Racing on no calories is not exactly the way to win big. Not that carrying around junk is a way to win big, either.

The Canal TT course is beautiful. Where else can you get a drag strip, closed course, along a beautiful canal? Not to mention that the trip down was full of such wonderful sights as the pelicans coming in for a landing on the river. If that's not something that will get you out of bed at 5 am, I'm not sure what will.

I've been without a computer at home for about a month now so Sharon had to tell me my start time. Normally I'm really anal about the details, but did I check when I got to the race? Nope. I also didn't bring the necessities of TT'ing, like chamois cream, gum, extra water, etc... Lucky for me I have Sharon.

No, really lucky for me I have Sharon. I was out warming up thinking that my start time was 9:20 and hers was 9:12. I was going to zip in and yell for her at the start when I found out that nope, MY TIME WAS 9:12. I've never missed a tt start and my love for my team mate kept that streak alive.

Did I mention there were more 40+ women entered than cat 1-2 men? Who says women wont race. It was AWESOME. Kudo's to BJ and the Vanderkitties... I just love it when anyone does anything that brings more women to this sport. I told BJ that when I used to direct and promote Women's Distance Festival races to bring women into the sport, that it was almost always women 30++ who were my first timers. They were not normal runners, were at a point in their lives that they decided to do SOMETHING to change their lives. They needed lots of support, but in the end, they become lifers. So KUDOS. I'm awful proud of you all.

The TT was good for me. With a hard week of dieting, and spotty training the distance played up to what I do best... riding by analysis. I went out relatively easy with the goal of building from the turn around and crushing the last few miles. I was really happy with what I did. What time did I ride? No idea. I'm sure that I was 2nd or 3rd, but we'll see...

Thanks to Brian (Stormyworld) who saved my butt during my "barking seal" routine after the race. Yes, the asthma has been giving me fits, but at least it waited until I crossed the line to rear its ugly head. And yes, I'm going to start leaving a drop bag with an inhaler at finish lines from now on. (and yes, today my chest feels like a bus landed on it. ..)

Thanks to the Pyeman for doing all the great things that he does, like suffering thru taking my booties off my feet. I know that was a bad job. Love ya man, mean it. We really do only hurt the ones we love.

Thanks also to Sharon who went over to the PLT course with me so that I could get some more miles in. Now if there was ever a place that is going to set off an asthma attack, its out there. The swamp was all the way up to the road, and just looked slimy as all get out. It didn't seem to be bothering the ducks, geese, turtles and SNAKES in it that we saw though!

6 miles in to that ride, the hunger pains started knocking... and never let up until we finally got to the VA Diner at 1. While everyone there was eating fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens, Sweatsalot and I were eating grilled chicken and salad. Dieting is NOT fun.

And while everyone thinks that bike racing pulls families apart... watching the Tour of Flanders I had to call my Dad. He would always laugh at me and tell me how flat Belgium is. Hah, so I called him when Devolder was just crushing the field and told him to turn on VS to see the Belgian "flatland..." Getting to share the experience with my Dad... "PRICELESS...."

Day 3, 2 lbs and gut lock

One of my attorneys in Florida went on Nutrisystem and just raved about it. I think he's lost about 50 lbs., was never hungry and trust me, he doesn't exercise. Since time is my biggest problem- I decided to give this stuff a whirl. With food in a box, that doesn't even have to be refrigerated, I really have no excuses.

Started Monday, and I've lost two pounds. The food isnt bad. Ok, the minestrone soup is really bad... the chocolate cake snack is actually pretty good. So that balances out. Yeah, the chicken breast patty smells until you heat it up. That kind of turned my Princess Gut a bit. But you have to add your own veggies and fruit which is just fine with me. The garden is tilled and the seeds have sprouted on the kitchen table under the grow lights...

What I'm not digging... gut lock. You'd think with the amount of fiber this stuff packs that we'd have some kind of movement... but you'd be wrong. Something is going to have to give here soon or the TT on Sunday is going to be another exercise in pain.

Nothing ever comes easy. Lunch today is fettuccine in a dehydrated soup container. I bet thats just yummy! And trust me, that picture of Nutrisystem pizza... it doesn't look like that in real life.