Ughhh! Girl fights!

I am not prepared to help my daughter deal with the often cruel world of being a girl. She's only a second grader for heaven's sake--can't it wait until she's in Jr. High? I was a shy, quiet little girl, who usually had a few close friends, rather than big groups of friends. I remember girls being mean, my reaction usually to just kind of fade out of the picture. But my Maddy is a social child, and though I'm sure the problem is in part of her own making, its really hard to witness. When we first moved to this house, I was so happy that we had two little girls Madeline's age living next door, but now I'm realizing that having a little distance from friends can be a good, though less convenient, thing. I'd love some suggestions on how to deal with this not very fun problem.

Back to School tomorrow!

I can't believe today's our official last day of summer. We had a busy day meeting new teachers, last minute school shopping, and later going out to dinner and home for Father's Blessings. Its also our last day with our nephew Blake staying with us. Its been so pleasant, he fit right into the family, we'll miss having him around. I've already begun to dread my crazy new, after 3pm schedule. I need to train myself to efficiently use my time while the kids are at school so the after school time doesn't seem so impossible. Here's a brief overview of my weeks to come.

Monday: Piano lessons, FHE
Tuesday: Football, Lacrosse, 11 yr. old scouts, YM for Pete
Wednesday: Dance, Football, Activity Days, Scouts
Thursday: Football, Soccer, Lacrosse
Friday: Hopefully lots of fun playing with friends!
Saturday: Soccer, Lacrosse and Football games
Sunday: A welcome respite from the rest of the week's busyness!

Tyler starts preschool this year, 2 days a week, so I figure I can get in some good bike rides on those days, and skiing in the winter. I am also volunteering with 2 other moms as the 6th grade P.E. teachers, which should be fun but busy. Aaahhh well. Another summer down, another school year to begin.

News Headlines

I've been very fascinated and saddened by a news headline on Yahoo (I know, hardly reliable news, but all that I look at currently) about a female athlete who won the 800, but is being questioned about her genetic make-up. Why this is fascinating to me, I don't know, except that it targets a conundrum of science that I don't understand. To look at this girl physically, you can understand, to some degree, why her femaleness would be called into question. She is very muscular, masculine looking, flat as a board, and apparently, has a deep, gruff voice. She is not being questioned for cheating, there is just concern that she is not truly genetically a girl. The poor girl has dealt with this her whole life, calmly, aside from one time when an individual was trying to ban her from using the women's restroom. To this, she threatened to pull down her pants to prove her femaleness, thankfully, not having to resort to such actions. My question is, so what if she isn't genetically a girl? Her whole life, that is what she has thought she was. Is it fair to take away her chance to compete because her physical body doesn't fit into the definitions of male and female that our society has defined? Especially since I've been married to Pete, a urologist, I've learned of some genetic defects at birth that may leave some individuals androgynous. I wonder how our society will learn to deal with these types of issues as they become more apparent and as science progresses. Anyhow, that's the thought that's been on my mind tonight, preventing me from sleeping. The injustices done to those who have no control over their situation. I think I'd better sleep on it, though I doubt I'll have an answer tomorrow, or anytime soon.

I did it!!

I am so happy! I actually rode all 111 miles, the last 40 were killer with headwinds and hills, but it felt so good to complete the ride!! I could not have done it without my good friends Brook and Kim. Brook and I started the race together, and we were both determined to do it!! We knew we might be slow and that it might kill us, but we were determined to see it through. We met up with Kim at lunch and she was great to stay with us for the rest of the race. She has done several of these races and I'm sure she could have gone ahead of us, but it was fun to have her along to help us!!

I felt great until about 86.5 miles, then I started wondering what I was trying to prove to myself!! We were riding against the wind, and though they weren't big hills, when you've already ridden that far, they were tough. But how can you quit when you've come that far. By the time we hit 100 miles, I was starting to feel a little loopy and giddy! When we finished, I was so euphoric, I decided I was totally up for the fundraising dinner at LaCaille. So we hurried home so I could shower and change into my "fancy get-up" and headed to LaCaille. I felt great until after I'd eaten dinner, when my tiredness hit me like a wall. I told Pete that we needed to find a nice time to leave or I might fall asleep, face down in my dessert. Yesterday, Sunday, I felt the effects of my LONG ride more keenly, but considering that I was on my bike actually riding for 7 1/2 hours, and out for about 9, I think I'm feeling pretty good.

I am really grateful for all of my wonderful friends and family who gave me confidence and encouragement! I entered the ride as incentive to work-out, but was so nervous the week before the ride!! I really started to doubt my sanity and abilities. It was nice to have so many "you can do its" from friends. It feels so great to complete an accomplishment like that!! I had seriously considered doing another ride in September in Park City--I'm not sure yet if I'll do that, but I know that I'll try and ride another century next summer. Thank you, thank you to Brook and Kim!! What a fun adventure, and even better for having done it with friends!!

The ULCER is tomorrow!

I am so nervous . . . my big bike ride is tomorrow. When I get nervous, I get tired. Not a good combination for a 111 mile bike ride. At least my air conditioning is fixed so I can sleep well today. I really, really want to finish the ride and do the full 111 miles, but I'm not confident that I'm physically up for it. I've been training hard, but I'm not sure its enough. Oh well, what can I do but try my best! I have to keep thinking, I can do it, I can do it. Unfortunately, I have this nagging little voice in the back of my head saying, "are you sure? Maybe you can't!" Oh well . . . wish me luck.

On Wednesday, my friend Nicole and I went for a ride, trying to attempt finding the trail for this ride. We had a hilarious experience. The first part was fine, just funny because we couldn't read the map well enough to know if we were on the right path. We kept taking little dead end roads and then turning around and looking for a new trail. We turned around at about 13 miles, figuring we could get in a 25 to 30 mile ride, and a little more confident because the path was very flat. Somehow, instead of ending up at Thanksgiving Point, we ended up in Saratoga Springs at Redwood Road. Meanwhile, my kids keep calling . . . can Mitch play with this friend or this friend? Do I know where Maddy's tennis racket is? Can Maddy play with Alyssa? I'm starting to feel a little stressed about my kids and have no idea how to get home. A somewhat helpful girl at the Rite Aid said she thought there was a back road to Thanksgiving Point. Of course I chose the wrong one (my poor friend Nicole). Anyhow, it looked like it was going in the right direction, until it took a sharp turn back in the opposite way in which we wanted to go. That's when I saw the dirt road with a "Keep out" sign posted. Nicole and I decided we could plead our case--being mother's in a hurry to get back to our children. So we walked across this field, on a gravel path, that I didn't realize was chewing up my new toe clips. I've yet to decide whether I ought to just go buy new ones, but that's a separate matter. We finally reached a berm of trees and plantings. I thought the Thanksgiving Point Golf Course might be on the other side, and I knew it had a bridge over the Jordan River, a major obstacle to reaching our destination. Nicole saw the golf path on the other side, so we decided to go for it. We rode our bikes on the golf cart trails, until we came to a lawnmower, who told us we couldn't go any further until the Jr. Golf Championship golfers took their turns on the tee-box. Then he kindly showed us which way to go to get to the bridge and back into a neighborhood, so we could make our way back to Thanksgiving Point. One wrong right turn later, my fault again, we finally found the way back to Nicole's car!! It was a fun ride, 28 miles, and a memorable adventure. Nicole's a good sport and in great shape!! Good inspiration for an old lady like myself!!

The Briefest of Updates

Jake decided to play football after all . . . summer is officially over!

I have a second post on my decorating blog-www.fontainedebienvenu.blogspot.com so check it out!

I am tired! I've done 75 miles on my bike this week and I can feel it today!!

Like I said, it'll be brief, so I'm done!!