tom went for a ride with some local cyclists this morning.  he's planning to start racing & wants to get on a local team.  he's gonna do his first criterium race on tuesday.  ian & i will go cheer him on!  he helped his sister, heidi move today.  ian went with him (he loves his aunt heidi).  i wavered between riding & getting some much needed housework done.  ended up going with the responsible choice. 

well, actually it was probably a good idea because i seem to have some impetigo on my face.  YUK!    if you don't know what it is, trust me, you  don't want to know!  i most likely got it from work (occupational hazard), but spending 2-3 hours with my face covered in sweat, dirt, and sunscreen wouldn't be helpful.

on the upside, i've spent my sedentary evening finally choosing a place to spend our upcoming vacation.  i've been looking for beach houses online for weeks, and haven't found a great place.  tom suggested looking for a cabin in the mountains instead, and this is the place i've found.  in case that link doesn't work, it's a cabin in asheville, nc.  here are some pics:

looks cosy, doesn't it?

a little background about the vacation...  we were originally going to be visiting england.  it was actually a long overdue trip, initially planned for summer 2005.  but when i got real sick we postponed until this summer.  this spring we were still planning to do the trip.  tom was going to do ironman uk, and then we'd visit my family & friends all over the uk.  it sounds great, doesn't it?  but if you've ever travelled sick or injured you'll understand my reservations.  although i'm gaining more fitness all the time, there's still a lot i have trouble with.  i'm a bit like an old lady in that if i get tired i need to rest, and i can't walk very far, especially with luggage.  stick me in a car for a few hours and it takes a couple of days to straighten out my legs.  then put me on vacation with ian, who needs to run every day or he starts to bounce.  etc...  yeah, i'd need a vacation after that vacation.  then we got the final cost information & decided we couldn't afford it anyway.  so we're gonna use what we'd saved up & go have a restful week somewhere easy.

i know it sounds lame.  if you had to live a week in my body you'd understand.  really!

wow i need to update!!!!

starting with last weekend...  i was on saturday, which means working saturday day, night, and sunday morning.  i did my first night ride friday night.  borrowed another rider's spare light.  it was fun!  i was pretty nervous at the beginning, but we went at an easy pace so and i was fine.  was tired on saturday because got to bed late & had to get up at 5 to round at two hospitals.  but saturday wasn't bad.

sunday after work i tackled buttermilk & forest hill park.  it's basically the route that xterra takes.  the trails are hard for me, and last time i rode them i didn't enjoy it!  i really had a nice ride this time though.  i bought new pedals last month, and those really made a difference.  being able to clip out as you're falling, and put your foot down and prevent the fall, is a huge bonus!

tuesday morning i did the same trails again with some friends.  it was really fun, but i had two falls.  the first one was going over & down some rocks.  i went over the handlebars, landed in a heap, and the bike landed in a heap on top of me!  my arm swelled up in an alarming way, so i initially thought i might have broken it, but it seems to be recovering just fine, and i was able to continue the ride.  had a second, pretty random fall.  was riding along a dusty section in the park when my wheels just disappeared from under me, off to the left and down the hill.  since i was moving at a pretty good clip, i continued moving forward for a moment, which caused my leg to collide with the top tube - BAM!    that one actually hurt more than the endo!  (the pic is the resulting bruise ---->)

tuesday afternoon & evening we went over to a friend of a friend's house for a cook-out.  watched the firworks from there.  ian had a good time because there were a lot of kids.  that was nice!

went for a brief ride last night and discovered that my rear brake was a bit loose.  might have had something to do with the endo!

kinda disillusioned at the moment.  work was long & hard.  got up at 5 am.  got home at 9 pm.  no time for breakfast or dinner.  had about 2 minutes for lunch, and that only because i dodged a drug rep.  i'm glad we were busy, because it's been quiet and i feel like i'm not earning my keep when it's that way, but today was too busy.  some patients are easy.  and i do enjoy them all.  but some parents are demanding.  different ones in different ways.  some take so much time, ask so many questions, or ask the same questions more than once, needing reassurance.  some take forever to answer questions, rambling around as they tell their story.  i understand the reasons for these communication styles, and i don't mind taking the time, except that then i get behind, and then a parent grumps at me for keeping him waiting, and no matter how much i apologise, he still complains.  i don't seem to be able to win.  it's frustrating.  i'm just trying to help these kids.  it's discouraging to be grumped at.

*sigh*

i wish it weren't so difficult to make ends meet in primary care.

i took some pics today while ian & i were down at xterra.  he ran in his first race!

all the pics

... that pic was on the front page of the paper today.  heh, my backside is famous! 

heheheh there's an article in the paper about xterra, and some photos of the ride i did on tuesday.  if you go to the photo slide show and look at pic # 3, that's me!  i didin't realize it was me for a bit, i was trying to figure out which one of the girls it was and then i recognized the shorts.  duh!

hm, maybe i can cut & paste:

cool pics, huh?

ian & i had a good "mommy day" today.  i planned on taking him for a haircut but he didn't want to so we went shoe shopping instead.  they didn't have his size of keen sandals, but i ordered some for both him and me online.  tom has some so we'll be a dorky matching family!  then ian helped me grocery shop, and we got cookies to take to the guys building the ramp on the new trail (article here).  i helped for a couple of hours, although i'm not the most helpful person around a worksite *wimp*.  ian threw rocks into the canal and got dirty.  tom came to pick him up after work and he says ian fell on the way back up and got a black eye.  poor baby!

i rushed over to the tuesday night ride at 6.  instead of riding at poor farm, which is really easy trails, we rode downtown again (same trails as this weekend), this time with a pro XTerra racer, melanie mcquaid.  she was awesome.  really nice, friendly, and gave us tips as we went.  so that was a cool experience.

looking forward to getting back to poor farm though.  i need some easy trails so i can ride fast!

wow.  i called up a girl that i ride with on tuesdays, to see if she was up for a ride.  was hoping to go after my marathon shift ended today.  i lucked out, she was planning to go riding with her husband and a couple they're friends with, and it was during ian's nap.  so i went along.  we rode some trails that are close to my house but i haven't really been on before.  omg they were so up and down and windy.  way technical for me and real dry and sandy.  i fell twice and walked often.  a lot of the trails were very narrow and on these steep inclines with the river or other big drop-offs on one side.  pretty scary for an unskilled rider like me!

i didn't think i got a good workout because i had to go slow and walk so often, but i'm incredibly sore!  i had one spectacular fall.  fell so hard on one hip it hurt all the way on the other hip!  i think i hurt my wrist on that fall, too.  my hands and feet hurt.  mostly joints.  knees and one wrist are swollen.  ow.

i'm looking forward to an easier ride tuesday, on easier terrain!

in the middle of a saturday call, which means working most of the
weekend - from early this morning to late morning or early afternoon
tomorrow.  i got up at 5 to go to two hospitals this morning then to
the office to see patients there, then to two hospitals again, to see
babies that were born during the day.

this is a pic of ian at belle island earlier this week.  there's a link for my "photblog" up at the top (left) of the page now.  see it?

got in a short ride at powhite park, just to loosen up.  played a little with ian.  he's so cheerful today!

yesterday met up with a good friend and old roommate from college.  she just moved down from northern virginia.  i'm so happy she's back in town!

rheum visit yesterday went well.  i'm supposed to go down on the methotrexate a bit in a couple of months.  i think my joints are doing very well!