... but in a good sense!  ow from riding too hard, not from swollen joints 

work was very slow today.  a bit scary actually, i hope it picks up.  tom heard about a ride that was going on tonight at this place where i'm hopefully going to get to ride on a team in a race in august (yay).  since the ride is going to be at night, it'd be pretty great to ride it in the daylight first!  i didn't ask tom though, because one night a week away from ian and tom is enough after all they've been through with residency etc.  well, tom brought my bike and gear to me and some coworkers saw my last patient for me so i was able to go!

it was an awesome ride!  hard!  an 8 or 9 mile loop full of ups and downs and twisty turns.  a few log piles.  the ups and downs and turns went really well today.  i went down and up some things steeper than i've been able to before, and took the turns a bit faster.  i feel like i'm on a steep learning curve.  i'm so out of shape, but am getting fitter with each ride.    and again today had a nice dinner with some really great people!

so sore now though.  took a big dose of tylenol & benadryl so i can sleep.  night night!

just about to crash, but wanted to update first...

had a very outdoorsy day today.  this morning ian and i were going to to to the zoo, but plans got a bit changed.  it's a long drive and we were most of the way there when ian had a bit of a tantrum in the car and i threatened to turn around.  unfortunately he continued to thrash and kick so i did turn around.  felt mean, but he's got to learn that he can't just break things to get his way!  so we went to belle island instead.  we hiked up at the top of the island.  got very dirty!  on the way home we bought fruit loops cereal (ian's choice for lunch) and brownies.  he was so cute - as we were eating lunch he kept saying "i love you mommy" he was so excited about the brownies!  i guess i should allow him junk food more often

then we napped and then i went to my tueday night ride.  accidently fell in with the fast group for part of the ride.  oh my goodness i was riding as fast as i could to keep up!  didn't fall *knocks wood* - i'm definitely getting better!  went out to eat afterwards.  and now i'm quite sore, but in a good way.  muscle-sore more than joint-sore *grin*.

i updated my website today!  iPhoto has this nifty easy way to upload pics so i rearranged things to take advantage of that.  the new(ish) photos are at: http://homepage.mac.com/tracy.wright

ian slept in this morning and came to wake us up at a luxurious 8:30!  i had a random urge for doughnuts so took a drive to krispy kreme and brought some back.  yum!  tom took ian to the park and i cleaned.  felt "normal" today, like i used to before getting sick.  i forget how crummy i feel every day until i have a "normal" feeling day, and in comparison i realize that how i feel most days isn't "normal".  did that make sense?  anyway, feeling so good today i got a lot accomplished.  i always feel so lazy for struggling to get stuff done, but i realize when i have a good day like this that it isn't laziness.  i wouldn't have any trouble if i always felt like this.

went to an open house while ian napped.  we're trying to decide where to live.  in the 'burbs it's peaceful and it'd be great for ian, but the commute could be tough and the houses simply aren't as nice.  the city has character. the houses are amazing here.  but schools are terrible, and it's noisy and less peaceful.  *shrug*  i guess we'll figure it out.  we have plenty of time!

this evening right before sunset i went to powhite park.  it's very near our house and has great mountain biking trails, but i'd been nervous to go before now, because i'd heard the trails were kind of difficult.  aaaahhhh, it was awesome!  narrow and windy, roots everywhere, but you can fly!  i went over some big log piles - surprised myself by not falling!  so fun!  will definitely be going back

lots of exciting things happening.  we've been looking at houses, and have found some that we like.  will update more if we get serious about one.  we're both psyched about having more room than our current 1,100 sf.  and i'm psyched to have a yard to play in with ian.

tom watched ian today while i drove to williamsburg to ride with the girls i ride with on tuesdays.  it was a great ride!  i went with the slow group first time around the park, and that was ok, but a bit boring compared to tuesdays - i'm used to hammering the ride, working to keep up as one of the slowest riders.  another girl kindly led me around a second time (third for her) and we rode much faster.  so fun!  i almost fell off many times, and went over all the log piles.  it was awesome!  my shoulders are suffering though.  last weekend i drove tom's car a bit and my shoulder kept popping out when i shifted (manual transmission).  it popped out again today, and the other one isn't much better.  i took my bike in a couple of weeks ago and they made the shocks much softer, and i let some air out of the tires, so a lot of the shock is taken by the bike, but i guess it's still rough on my joints, especially when i ride like today!

it's tuesday night and tomorrow i'll go back to work after a nice, long, therapeutic weekend off.

ian and i spent the morning at the park today.  i was so tired!  he ran around as usual.  we stopped by starbucks on the way home.  both of us took a long nap this afternoon.  i was supposed to go to the tuesday night mountain bike ride, but i'm still feeling real tired.  2 weeks ago i felt this way and decided against my better judgement to go anyway, and i suffered for days afterwards, couldn't go last week because was still in a lot of pain.  so tonight thought i'd learn from that mistake and stayed home.  lame though.  i really want to ride!

i'm posting from a hotel in blacksburg, virginia.  we're here for a century road ride called MOUNTAINS OF MISERY (why would anyone do a ride like that?!)  tom and his friend jennifer are about 3 hours into the ride.  on friday we went to a dinner for the ride and listened to BOB ROLL speak.  he's one of the OLN announcers for the tour and other bike races.  he's hilarious!  yesterday we did a few things around town, test road a couple of treks (i like my bike better ), lay out at the pool for a bit, and went for dinner at this seafood place.  i had awesome sushi and the strongest drink i've ever had in my entire life!  it was a key lime martini and my head started spinning after a few sips.  yum!  we're gonna go back again tonight for the chocolate martini 

pictures when we get back.  didn't bring the camera connector thing.

oh, and i forgot to say that ian's with Oma & Opa all weekend.  he was so excited about going, he talked about it all week!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

doing better today   the weekend wasn't a total waste, either.  i rode my tri bike yesterday.  it was a success to be able to ride it, but ow not a comfortable bike!

cool!  apparently i have a photoblog now

watching futurama with ian...  it's the only non-pbs show he watches

have had a rough week.  my joints have been really bad to the point where it's tough to walk.  fortunately i've got the whole weekend to recup.

gotto go make breakfast for ian now.  here's a pic of him i took last week: