MS Ride Woes

First let me say Thank You to all who sponsored me for the MS Ride.

Now for the bad news.

A week and a half before the ride I ended up spending a night in the hospital. A past hernia repair caused some problems for me that prevented me from doing the ride. The doctor benched me for two weeks from riding the bike at all. I did everything in my power to convince him to allow me to ride it but he didn't go for it all.

My training was going so well and for the first time in four years of doing the MS Ride I felt that I was in the best shape for doing the ride.

I had dinner with the team the night before and it was really difficult to see them go without me.

Now for the second round of bad news.

The one team member (first year rider) didn't drink as much fluid as he should have been while doing the ride and ended up passing out on the bike and crashed really bad. He then had a seizure and they rushed him to the hospital. Two other team members ended up going with him to the hospital where they kept him over night. He had a concussion. The rest of the team ended up driving to the hospital and then came home that same night. So none of them got to finish the complete ride.

We all raised the money that we had set out to but didn't get to finish what we started. The money still goes to a great cause.

Overall it has been a really big let down for all of us and now look forward to next year.

Sorry that I don't have any funny stories about a person's shorts ripping while on the ride like last year. Maybe next year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ok, so I cheated by reading her blog...Today is Jamie's birthday. Hope it is happy! And, if my old mind isnt failing me, I believe MaryJo's birthday was yesterday!?

Five Things We Didn't Know Last Week

From the BBC

1. Being born without an ear is called microtia.
2. Zsa Zsa Gabor is related to Paris Hilton (which explains a hell of a lot, in my opinion).
3. In Iceland, 96% of women go to university.
4. It costs 100 Euros ($140) to hire a prostitute's window in Amsterdam (that's right, the window, not the prostitute) for part of the day.
5. Gordon Brown is the first Prime Minister to own a cellphone, but it doesn't take incoming calls.

Another "old"

I've been moving stuff from my old PCs to the Mac - came across this pic which includes at least a few of us. Of mild interest is that I remember the date this was taken: 9/28/01 - a little over two weeks after 9/11.

Tracy Hicks due this month

Hey all. Haven't checked in for a little while, so I'll be doing some catching up. Wanted to drop a quick note that Tracy Hicks is due later this month. I'll put her emails in the the first comment if you want to contact her.

Remember This?

Bugs Bunny Gets The Boid

It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown!

I know it's too early for Halloween and it's not really that great a pumpkin, but it is our first ever pumpkin from our pumpkin patch. I'm just impressed that we grew anything at all.

We've got three big ones still on the vine. I hope they'll be ready for Halloween!

40 Phun in Philly

Well, 40 came and went quitely until Friday at the Phillies game. It was our first time to the new park. Our seats were two rows off the field at home plate next to the Phillies dug out.

My wife had a few tricks up her sleeve and got me pretty good.

Check out the shirt she had made and the stadium score board.

She even arranged for staff to come out and sing and then the entire section we sat in chimed in.

How could you not have fun with drunk Philly fans sitting behind you singing "happy birthday" all night long?????

Where Have You Been?

Okay, I thought it would be fun to share how many places we've visited. I'm thinking number of states, provinces and countries. Here's mine:

States: 26
Provinces: 2
Countries: 11

Tagged

1. I didn't drive a car until I was in my mid-twenties.

2. I make wheel-thrown pottery.

3. I've been to my ancestral hometown in Slovakia.

4. My undergraduate degree is in philosophy.

5. I have only one sibling-a sister who is 15 years older than I.

6. I have never been to the state of Florida.

7. I was divorced earlier this year but am engaged to be married.

8. I met my first husband on the Internet in 1990.

Tag

1. Everything I eat is readily flammable if desiccated. Salt is the only thing I eat which is mined.
2. I am licensed to operate a motor vehicle, but not commercially.
3. My ancestors arose in, but then moved out of, Africa. I currently live in North America.
4. I am a mammal, but lack the ability to give live birth or nurse my offspring due to my gender.
5. I am over six feet tall.
6. I am a high school graduate, but I am only fluent in one language.
7. I own a computer.
8. I have a dog named Scout.

Tagged

The rules: Post the rules before giving the facts. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of the your blog you need to tag (hopefully) six people and list their names. Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.
This was very difficult.....who thought coming up with 8 facts about yourself would be so hard.

1. I was born in Cape May Courthouse, NJ. I moved in with my grandparents when I was 5 and later moved to the apartments by Tim Jones and Jen Kratzer. My mother married and we moved to Moorestown when I was in 3rd and 4th grade, and thank God, we moved back to Catty, on Bath Ave, when I went into 5th grade.

2. I watched "The Sound of Music" this past weekend and relived the play we did at Lincoln. I remember Vicki as Mother Superior - what a voice - and Wendy was Maria. I remember Ms. Lutz has Shannon sing in my ear to keep me in pitch.

3. My sisters and I used to play motorcycle and cars for hours in the living room. My mother actually taped us once and played it back for us to show how silly we sounded.

4. Like Steve, I love the 80s music. I actually watched VH1 - We are the 80s marathon yesterday!!!

5. I regret my school years. I wish I would have spent more time with my classmates and had more friends.

6. I have two tattoos and no piercings. My first tattoo was a present to myself for my 25th. It is a butterfly on my left shoulder. My second tattoo was at 35 and it is a dolphin on my right ankle.

7. I met Rob through a personal ad over three years ago.

8. I still don't get along that well with my sisters. Brandi is married to a man older than my parents and has two daughers. Heather has recently broke off her second engagement and has a son. Melissa Decker is my step-sister and I rarely see her.

Well, there you go. It's almost impossible to tag 6 people that haven't already been tagged. Anyone lurking in the shadows reading this..... TAG, you're it.