16 November 2008

I love cyclocross

What a perfect day for 'cross...it was snowing.  The ground was soft...so, we did an appropriately good job of tearing up the turf at the park.  Things were muddy, leafy, sloppy, slow, and just awesome.  When I think of 'cross I think of this weather.

Sure, it's an hour (45 minutes for us B's) of misery.  And, I hate it the whole time I'm out there...but, as soon as it's all done and I look around at all my friends covered in mud...I just think how freakin' cool it is.  I could have spent the afternoon on the couch (and still might).  But, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!

10 November 2008

Family Photos










07 November 2008

Weeks...

As usual, I've been lazy with my blog.  And, as usual, MC was around to give me the kick in the ass I deserve.  So, MC, this one's for you.

What to discuss, what to discuss...

Riding?  Man, I'd love to talk it up about all my cool adventures...but, I haven't really had any.  Haven't ridden much at all.  I did a nice ride with MC and J2 last Thursday.  Then, I did the KissCross on Sunday.  And, somehow, I managed to crash my brains out.  Ripped a good chunk of my bar tape off, shredded the shoulder of my jersey, shredded my shoulder, my forearm, my knee, bruised my hip, and shoulder, bled a lot, and left some dandy marks on my helmet.  Other than that...it was a ton of fun!

How about work?  Well, that seems like a reasonable topic.  Why?  Because it's just about all I've been doing lately.  I don't know...I guess that is good and bad.  It's nice to have a mission...it's nice to be recognized for being good at your job...it's nice to have people rely on you.  On the other hand...that means more responsibility, more work, higher expectations, more travel, more unpleasant tasks, and more chances to fail.  I guess the whole thing makes me tired...I sort of can't figure out how I feel about the whole thing.  And, more importantly, WHY I feel anything at all about it.  Feeling isn't what I do...so, where did that come from?  Is this what it feels like to be an a grown-up?

It's been a weird trip this past couple months.  I've made some new friends at work...and, because of that I feel like I have a stronger sense of purpose professionally.  I've made a lot of new friends through JDRF...many of whom I feel really close with...and, the combination of the charitable portion, the team portion, and the physical demands of that group have left a real impression on me.  Feels like I'm a little bit different person now than I was a few months ago.  The weirdness of that is that I'm not exactly sure I could pin down what has changed.  I just know it all feels different...and, the fact that I'm considering how it "feels" is different in its own right.

Maybe I'm just suffering some lingering fatigue from the end of the cycling season.  I didn't go out and become a world  champion or anything...but, I sure made a hell of a lot of progress compared with the previous year.  And, maybe I'm still suffering from a lingering sadness that the whole Death Valley thing is done.  It was just so much bigger, better, hotter, more difficult and more emotional than I was expecting.  Perhaps that bit of sadness I was carrying with me as I got on the bus to go home is still hanging around.

Then again, it's been a long while since I've been so excited about what is happening at work.  I have a great team in my store...and, I've been given some degree of a "hall pass" as my friend Erin called it...so, I've been able to start doing some team building outside of my own store.  This is more than just the trouble shooting I've done in the past.  This is a chance to leave my fingerprints in a more lasting way on the store, the business, and the lives of the employees I work with.  It's tough not to get excited about that.

This is an interesting time for me...I hope I feel this positive in January when all the real change will be coming.