A little of this and a little of that

I have ADD - I think about a lot of things, and forget about 75% of it. By the time I find a piece of paper to write down my idea or thought, I've forgotten what it was.

I am reminded constantly what a positively foul habit smoking is. From my observations, smokers have little respect for other people. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see someone throw a butt out their window. Exactly WHO do you think is going to pick that up??? It's your fucking nasty habit, don't turn the world into your ashtray. If it's so great, then why not keep the butt in your car as an air freshener? Why do most of you look like you just rolled out of bed, regardless of where you are or what you do for a living? Why do you hang your cig out the window - Aren't you inhaling that shit?

I have a day off tomorrow - my first in I can't remember when. So...they schedule a mandatory meeting at 10 a.m. Now I have to drive in to town for a stupid hour in the middle of the morning. Some day off. I'll take advantage of it somehow though.

I'm doing a 6 hour mountain bike race the day before Easter in Rock Hill, SC. The team I'm riding for will pay the entry and give me a gas stipend. The only other race I have planned is a 12 hour race on May 2, here at Ft. Yargo, GA. The 6 hour will give me a good idea of where my fitness is. It's a rough course, from what I'm told - lots of climbing, which isn't my strength, but I will be able to work on pacing, nutrition, water intake, etc. I don't expect much, but if I feel good, I'll give it all I have.

If you want a peak at pure comedy, then watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2uQ7Fg_Uk Before you watch it, here is a synopsis: Apparently, this woman is a congressperson that is a graduate of Florida. She spends 3:28 butchering the English language, destroying people's names, and generally making no sense whatsoever. It is a sad commentary on our country. I'm not being racist, I'm not being sexist, I'm not mocking the Democratic party, and I'm not bashing the University of Florida.... I just don't get how the FUCK this woman can fold her own clothes, much less represent ANYONE in our great country. Jesus, America, where's your pride????

Balance

There's a guy I know that refers to life's balances as the "three-way teeter totter" - family, fun, work. Life is great when the teeter totter is balanced, but not so great when one (or more) ends are down. Despite lots of stress, my life is o.k. I am, however, finding the teeter totter more like the Whirlygig ride at the fair.

It's really gotten under my skin lately that I just never get a day to do whatever I want. I am committed to something every day of every week of every month right now. I work 12 days in a row, followed by 2 days off - those being the weekends that I have with Olivia. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give up my time with her for anything, but it just never leaves a day that I am not obligated to her, her AND work, or just work.

Olivia is going with her mom for Easter, a weekend I would normally have her, and am off work...so, what am I going to do? I'm going to do a 6 hour mountain bike race, followed by hanging with my family to celebrate my sister's birthday, my birthday, my brother's birthday, and my parents' anniversary. It will be a busy couple of days, but it will be a balanced teeter totter.

Right now, I'm watching my NCAA bracket get blown to Hell on the first day of the tournament.

Random thoughts:

Why do lakes get different treatment than other bodies of water? You have the Chattahoochee River, the Pacific Ocean, the Dead Sea....but Lake Michigan, Lake Lure, Lake Allatoona. I don't get it.

I grew up loving the opportunity to watch Pro baseball on TV, but couldn't give two shits about it right now. Saturation makes it less special.

Living without credit cards is hard - I'm on month 3. Not because you want to buy something you can't afford, but the lack of simply pulling out the card makes you think twice about a purchase.

I have never looked more forward to warm weather than this year. I've been freezing for too long this winter. Something was different.

I mowed the grass in the dark tonight for the first time this year. I smell like wild onions.

The weekend

Lots happening in the last week or two. I have some pics from testing bikes in Tsali, NC that I'll post later. Went to my brother's wedding shower last weekend, as well....More on that later, too.

Wanted to get a post up to let everyone know that we survived WINTER STORM 2009!!!! without incident. It really was kind of cool. The flakes were huge. Unfortunately, mix it with about 2 inches of rain and it made a huge mess. Olivia enjoyed it nonetheless.

Saturday started with gymnastics ^
Took Olivia and Sophia bowling after Sunday School^
It started to snow while we were bowling^

Massive snowman ^

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be photographer^