Now it's time to say goodbye (update)

My camera battery died two pictures in to Comfort's goodbye party (actually -- it said that the battery was "exhausted." Poor thing). Probably just as well -- I would rather pretend that we are not saying goodbye.
Yuri proving that she has 3/4 of an inch on Comfort. When you're at the low end of the 5-foot___ scale, it matters.
Thanks for the yummy food and sangria and company!
We'll miss you, Comfort!

**Yuri sent along a few photos. I'm posting the ones that I thought were appropriate for public consumption. And not posting those wherein jokes about Karyn's "lover" or "heterosexual life partner" were evident and certainly not those that made anatomical jokes about hot dogs.**

The other morning, I asked folks what they wanted to do that day. They said, "How about Zumba?" So I gave them my best Jazz Hands.
Dance/aerobics instructor, I am not. Here we are doing Jazz Hands.
By the pool (the pool that I will babysit anytime!):
And toward the end of the evening. Karyn's daughter only looked at us a little funny when we asked her to take our picture. Maybe because we were having more fun than adults should.
Sigh . . .

Shiny Happy People

What a great Saturday night! Some fabulous friends came by to polish off some stores of food and drink. It turned into lots of food and lots of people and lots of fun.
I had been given a bunch of tomatoes from someone at work and used them to make a pico de gallo salsa. Yum! There were veggie tacos, fruits, fresh (no mayo) coleslaw, salads, dessert. Mmmm.

Happy crew. Pre-Vanessa and Greg, who gave fashionably late a new fashion.

There they are!

Kaden, the furniture stacker. You know what's a little bit sad? Pretty soon he will not come in to my house and start moving things around to climb on them. I don't think he even brought the big stability ball out this time. Maybe that's because there was a dog to play with.

But his balance is getting better.

Evening entertainment.

Goofballs.

Every. Last. Drop.

Look how happy Ron looks. And he's only drinking water!

After some discussion about her hair falling in her face, three times Jen said, "Okay, take a picture. Take a picture. Will you take a picture?"

All giggles.

Jen also insisted on getting a photo of me and Kristie. And here it is.

Me and Jen before she laughed her way out the door. And right after she asked where her spatula was (she had put it in her purse about 20 seconds before this).

How cute is this kid?

And Kaden's not so bad, either (yuck yuck yuck!).

Thanks, all! What fun!

Oh Beautiful . . .

This year, I did America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride -- the 72-mile loop around Lake Tahoe -- by myself. A mere two weeks after the NCAC made riding alone that much more poignant. Granted, riding alone with 3,000 other people is not the same as taking a spin down the river road and not seeing another person for 30 miles, but still . . .

This is the second 'big' ride I've done [alone] this year. The most noticeable difference is that I can get in and out of rest stops a lot faster when I'm alone. Especially when they are full of food in which I have no interest. This particular ride tends to stock fig newtons at the rest stops. I would eat a hundred of those, but for the sugar and gluten.

My blurry attempt to capture the gorgeous sunrise on my way to Tahoe. I got up at 4:30 to get there in time to start the ride. Makes for a rough beginning.

Starting off -- the first 1/2 mile or so -- this is not a great photo, but check out all that snow!

One of my first views of the lake (once I got out of town). Breath-taking.

More.

Top of the Emerald Bay climb. Ouch. I decided to get off my bike and take a breath . . . and a photo. They call the top "Inspiration Point." Most folks looked like they were inspired to throw their bikes in the lake.

Semi-random photo of a tree with a number-tag. I don't know why.

Lake and snow at lunch. It was such a warm day (much warmer than last year).

Folks were getting all the rental toys ready for water play.

A while after leaving lunch. It's a shame that the photos can't quite capture it. I need a camera like my brother's that could pick up the detail on a flea's butt. Check out that green, clear water in the foreground.

Smiling as I go. Mostly because there was nothing else to do.

Except pose for my own photos.

As the Spooner Junction climb (ouch) levels out, it opens up into these amazing fields. Gorgeous. There have been lots of thunderstorms in the last month. It's probably even greener.

And I made it! There was nothing I could eat for lunch, so I just changed my clothes and headed back down the hill. A little anti-climatic.

Except for my self-congratulations, that is.

Jule 6, 2010.

I hesitate to admit . . .

That I referred to this ride as the 'detox' ride. But I did. A bunch of us gathered on Saturday night for great food and lots of drinks and then got up at the crack of dawn, or before, to go for a ride. Some rode 30 miles, some 60, and yours truly, 72. I definitely needed that sweat, but by the time I got home, between the sangria and the 5:30a alarm, I was wiped out.
What a great time, though. Bettina and I had a peaceful, fast, ride from my house to Winters, and then Ron and Jinni joined us for a loop around some pretty cycling roads.
Here we are starting off.

We passed this sunflower farm -- gorgeous and all the sunflowers are just waking up and finding their place in the sun.

And then I didn't take any pictures for about 45 more miles. Me, Bettina, and Ron at the end.

With future NCAC-er Jinni.

Takes some skill to get a self-portrait with 4 people. Just sayin'.

Thanks for the ride, y'all!

A good egg

Eggs from a guy with a couple of acres and some chickens less than a mile from my house.
Yeah -- those are green eggs. He seemed rather pleased with them. I haven't tried the green ones. If only I had some ham.
Also -- he threw the little teeny one in there and gave it a name and said it comes from a Japanese chicken. Who knew.

Long way to go to ride bikes

But it was worth it to get to watch this:

No training wheels!

Riding from H M R on Vimeo.

I got to ride with her on a borrowed bike for a little while -- she's speedy and excited. I did, for the record, adjust both of her helmets to fix the issue you see below. She's a pretty sharp kid with a head worth protecting.

I spent a long weekend in Colorado with family and thunderstorms. It was lovely. My sister and I laughed so hard we cried, we made good food, I let Devma go to the ice cream place for lunch (she suggested we eat something 'good for us' first -- I told her it was up to her), I sat in the hot tub, saw old friends, and didn't get enough sleep. Thanks all!

Sitting around outside before a little BBQ, the D's riding bikes, doing tricks, and generally entertaining the indulgent adult-contingent.
D2 agrees to show us his somersault (after some coaxing and bribing):

Untitled from H M R on Vimeo.

Devma needed neither coaxing nor bribing, and expected only showers of praise and attention for her tricks.

And the self-taught master:

Untitled from H M R on Vimeo.

You know you're getting old when . . .
You introduce a lovely young woman, college graduate, who has already left one career and is pursuing another, amazingly poised, interesting, and engaging as someone you used to babysit. Sakes alive. What fun though.

All the Rowan sisters babysat for this family at one time or another. Some of us more than others.

KARL was taking so many photos that we ran away as though the paparazzi were chasing us.

Saying goodbye is never fun.

Especially to such sweet faces.

Awww.

Helping with the sunglasses.

Or not.

D2, AKA Superman, wants his mom to fall out of a helicopter. His mom explains why.

D2 Saves the Day from H M R on Vimeo.

Me and my mom at 6 a.m. Very sweet of her to drive me to the airport. What time did she get up? 3:45a. Why? To drive another sister and her big family to the airport at 4a.m. I might not have been the favorite daughter that day, but I wasn't the least favorite either.

Awwww.

And then I got to wait in the security line at DIA forEVER.