And She'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun...

Archie adorably gnawing on me while I read my book on Sunday morning.

Oh, how I love my weekends. On Friday The Guy and I went to the store after work to buy running shoes. We have that 25K race coming up in a few weeks and we want to have our shoes worn in for a couple of weeks first. I haven't had new running shoes in 3 years, and some of those years, I was putting in about 30-40 miles a week on them. I suppose it's about time.

We went for Thai food after the store, and then home to watch The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I loved the book when I was younger. The film version is much different, but still really good. Alan Arkin is amazing as a deaf/mute. His face is so expressive.

Our favorite bartender S. giving The Guy a good, swift kick in the tuckus.

On Saturday, I woke up and lazed about for a bit and read my new book, The Tiger's Wife. I do love it so far. it takes place in what I believe is the former Yugoslavia, and possibly Hungary. It is full of folktales and stories about the Bosnian conflict.

I ran my 6.4 mile route finally and then came home and made lunch before we took a nice little nap. We woke up in time to get ready for G. and The Guy's ex to come over for dinner. I made tortellini with a creamy pesto sauce, shrimp and veggie scampi over fettucini, The Guy made the salad and we had some good bread with it. It was a lovely evening.

The Guy in a playground jail.

On Sunday morning, I lazed some more. The Guy went running and when he came back I was in the spare/reading/office/cats/Coadster's room, reading my book by the sunniest window. He brought me a tray with everything I needed to make my tea and I had the most wonderfully relaxing morning.

Here's me in the same playground jail.

In the afternoon, The Guy and I rode our bikes to Riverside. The weather was warm but very windy. I've at least been feeling stronger on the bike this year. last year, it would have killed me to ride that far in the wind.

We made it to our friend S's house and got to see all the work he and his wife have been doing on their place, then we wandered over to a place called the Icehouse to eat a late lunch and play some pool.

The shadows of ourselves riding home against the fields.

In the evening, we had cereal for dinner and watched Woody Allen's, Bananas. I hadn't seen that movie in forever. Some of the sight gags were so ridiculous that I actually did laugh out loud.

Let 'Em Be Doctors and Lawyers and Such

Here are my girls with one of their cousins.

Soooo, just a little update on the youngin's.

Coadster called to let me know she got her passport in the mail yesterday. She won't be in Dublin on St Patrick's Day, after all. Turns out, all the lodging there has been booked up for months and months. Who'd've guessed it?...Uh, probably everyone. She is going to go on a London pub crawl instead. My mind isn't exactly set at ease with the change in venue.

Stinky has made her decision and applied to the local community college here in town for her first year. It will be a much cheaper way for her to figure out if she's finally ready to get her shit together as far as school is concerned. She's a smart girl, with motivation issues. I hope she figures it out...

Like the Trembling Heart of a Captive Bird

Here are some docks on a frozen lake.

And yesterday, I was exhausted. Not surprising after my weekend, but I had a hard time staying awake at work. The Guy was also feeling pretty tired. So, we just gave us another Get Out of Jail Free card night.

I had leftover salmon and brie left, so we just cut up some red onions and got some greens and put the salmon and brie on bread and toasted it all up and then served it with some roasted red potato soup. It turned out very, very well.

I made a pot of lentil soup for tonight, but didn't really feel like doing a whole hell of a lot else. I asked The Guy if he wouldn't mind watching Play Misty for Me and he was all for it.

I hadn't seen that movie in forever.It is definitely of its time (1971). Clint Eastwood is a super cheesy DJ who plays jazz and recites poetry over the air. It's not hard to understand why someone would want to kill him...Just kidding. Like The Guy said, all cheese aside, that movie had plenty of things going for it. I'm assuming a lot of Fatal Attraction was taken from it.

Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good

Archie thought he'd hide in Coadster's laundry bag and go back to college with her.

So, I know I didn't get around to writing about last weekend, but you can just imagine it was more, wonderful life, I'm so happy and active, blah, blah, blah. And now I can go into the same details about this weekend.

Archie "helping" The Guy put a desk together.

On Friday I got off work at 3, because it was nice out and I wanted to go running, while it was still light outside. It was heavenly.

I came home and Coadster got home from college about the same time, The Guy got home from work. I made us some salmon, and potato pancakes and steamed asparagus and we had some crusty bread from the Co-op. Coadster loves salmon, and it's not something she'll make on her own, at school.

After we ate, The Guy and Coadster and I watched, His Girl Friday. Neither Coadster or I had ever seen it before. We both found it quite entertaining. People in movies in the 40's were so quick with the witty banter, that's for sure...

My friend E. and I at the halfway point of our 10 mile run.

On Saturday I woke up and finally finished reading my book. I made French toast for breakfast and did some other general, lazing around. Both the girls went to the Quad Cities to watch a show choir competition and The Guy headed out on a bike ride.

We decided we'd go to Solon, but then extended our ride to the Sutliff Bridge. We stopped at the bar there for some greasy food and a soda, to keep us fueled enough to ride back. It was over a 50 mile bike ride - the longest I've gone since RAGBRAI.

The Guy and E. running down my favorite part of the trail.

Saturday evening we went to our friends' A. and Britt's house for dinner. We drank red wine and she made a butternut squash and portabella mushroom lasagna. It was really good. We stayed and talked and ate and drank until a little after 11. So late for us.

The Guy and I at the end of our 10 miler. We think we're hilarious...As usual.

On Sunday, I was a bit tired (I'm sure it wasn't because of the wine or anything...). I started my new book - Ann Pathett's State of Wonder. It's really good so far.

Coadster went back to school about the same time The Guy, E. and I all went to some trails by Solon for E.'s first 10 mile run. It was a beautiful day, but the trails were a bit on the mushy side. E. finished the whole run and were both very proud of her.

In the evening, we went out to play pool for free with E. I was exhausted, so my game wasn't the best. Luckily for me, both The Guy and E. scratched on the 8 ball, so I lamely one two games.

Well, Holy Moly, Me-O-My, You're the Apple of My Eye

Here are some bracelets they gave us at the sushi place we went to last night. If it weren't so blurry, it would be easier to see that The Guy's was a fake bug. I liked his best.

Our Valentine's Day was lovely. I'm not much of a celebrator of Hallmark holidays, but I'll take any excuse to go out for sushi. We had a great dinner and a wonderful talk about some of the issues both of us have that aren't always fun to deal with. (as far as I know, everyone in the world has some) There was no accusing and neither of us got defensive or shut-down. We both acknowledged our own shit and talked about ways to work on being healthier. How refreshing.

So, there were no candles, flowers or chocolates. Instead we had a frank and open talk about keeping things in our world as happy and healthy as possible, and a commitment to both work toward that end. What could be more romantic than that?

I'd Give You EVerything and More and That's for Sure

Here I am at the spillway on our trail run this Sunday.

I will blog about our weekend tomorrow, but today? Today it is Valentine's Day. This is what it looks like at our house:

The Guy: (greeting me in the kitchen this morning) I've got a Valentine's present for you...

Me: Really? Is it in your pants?

The Guy: Well, yeah.

Me: Okay. I have a present for you too then...

Apparently, we are both classy AND romantic.

Here is The Guy on the other side of it.

And the Wind Ain't Blowin' From the South.

Here is part of a stone church in the snow.

I started reading Barbara Kingsolver's, Lacuna last night. It takes place in Mexico. I think it will be the perfect way to combat the below zero wind chills we're supposed to get by tonight. If that doesn't work, we will probably watch The Big Easy tonight. I haven't seen it since it first came out, but as I recall, everyone walks around in sweat stained shirts...Plus, an '80's Dennis Quaid should be hot enough to defy any Iowa Winter, right?

I've been having weird, insecure dreams lately. When I was younger and didn't know how to drive, I would have "feeling out of control" dreams that I was driving a motorcycle on an old logging road in Northern California...The kind that can sometimes just end without warning. Now, I dream of f*cked-up races I find myself in. One was that I was in a bike race that took place inside the hospital where I used to work. We raced through the hallways, trying to avoid patients and carts full of expensive equipment. In another dream, I was doing a triathlon and I kept forgetting that I was racing and would stop and talk to my friends, until someone would remind me and I would find myself further and further behind. Hmmmmm. It appears that the ass end of Winter is weighing heavily on me once again.

I've Got No Deeds to do. No Promises to Keep.

Here is Archie lying on (oozing over) our hot water heater.

My weekend was wonderful. On Friday night, I made pan seared sea scallops, steamed asparagus, salad and sourdough bread and then we watched Bull Durham. It was perfect.

On Saturday I got up and went running right away. It was supposed to snow/rain all day, and I thought I'd try to get a jump on it. I ended up running a little over 8 miles, but The Guy ran for at least 11 miles. Pretty amazing. We ate lunch and then made it to the pool, where we swam laps. We had to hurry and get home and take showers so we could meet my friend K. and her husband at the Dublin at 6. We had a drink and then went to a restaurant called Basta for dinner and had a really good meal and conversation.

On Sunday, We got up and I got to work. I painted as much of the quarter round as I could before I went to run. At noon, we got on our bikes to meet our friend, Bry and his girlfriend at a coffee shop in North Liberty. We had a nice visit, and then they headed home and we rode further. We got 34.5 miles in altogether.

I picked up Stinky from work and got us some take-out Chinese food. We ate quickly and then headed to the Hilltop to watched the Superbowl with some friends. I wasn't all that interested in the game, but The Guy and I did shoot a couple of games of pool and I talked to some folks and we still got home around 9. Not too shabby, I'd say.

I Got Two Turntables and a Microphone.

Coadster with her cousin on Christmas.

So, I was talking to Coadster on the phone the other night about her trip to London that is coming up in March. We were talking about Passports and currency exchanges and she was telling me she was going to go to Paris for a day and a night of the trip and then to Dublin for St Patrick's Day.

Having never been to Europe, I have no idea if every country uses the same currency or not.

Me: Well, before you go, make sure you know what currency every place you're going takes. You'd hate to get to Dublin on St Paddy's day and not have the right kind of money...

Coadster: Are you kidding? I'm going to save my money so I can spend all of it in Dublin on alcohol.

Me: You are not going to spend all of your money on alcohol in Dublin...

The Guy was sitting next to me and started laughing and gave Coadster the thumbs-up with both hands through the phone.

Me: Great. You two aren't even in the same town and you're STILL flipping me shit in unison...

As the Days Fly Past, Will We Lose Our Grasp, Or Fuse It In the Sun?

Here is an Iowa Winter scene.

When we were running through Hickory Hill Park on Saturday, it reminded me of the last time I went sledding there. Here is a repost from 2005, where I wrote about it:

Yesterday Stinky and I went sledding at Hickory Hill Park. The hill was packed with a lot of kids from Stinky's school and since we got there later in the day, according to the laws of sled hill seniority, we had to hang out on the bad side of the hill. What makes that side of the hill so bad is that there is this odd looking man hole cover thing that rises almost a foot out of the ground in the middle of the field at the bottom of the hill. It's pretty dangerous and I wish they would surround it with hay bails or something but instead, they just tried to mark it with a tall rusty pole that someone painted green.

Stinky and I got on the sled (she was in the back and I was in the front) and scooched ourselves with our hands and feet far enough off the top of the hill so the sled could start zipping down unaided. We were riding one of those inflatable sleds that look kind of like an inner tube but are impossible to steer. Of course, we plowed right into the pole and slammed into the manhole cover thing. Stinky had the foresight to slip back behind the sled before we hit it, but I held on, thinking it might give me some cushion. Once I hit the manhole cover, I was propelled upside down and hit the ground on my head, neck and shoulder and then the whole right side of my body slammed down after.

There was a couple cross-country skiing right by there when we crashed. The woman stopped and asked me if I was okay. I think I said something like, "Huh? Oh yeah. Um, I think I hit my head." Then she started getting on my shit about the pole and how I needed to put it back in the ground so that no one else made the same mistake. Yeah, even if I had been together enough, I wouldn't have worried about it. The problem has never been that people can't see the manhole cover, it was always more that it's hard to steer around it. I told her that the pole caused more pain than the manhole cover did. Then she got all exasperated and put down her ski poles.

"I guess, I'll just have to do it then." She tried, but of course the ground was frozen and it wouldn't work and then she gave me a dirty look. Whatever. I already told her I hit my head, if she wanted to judge me for being stupid and lame, she was going to have to get at the back of a long, long line.

I could tell Stinky was really worried about me so I told her I was fine but that we had to go home. Then halfway back up the hill, I started to cry. I have no idea why, I wasn't in that much pain. I think I may have been startled more than anything. Stinky has hardly ever seen me cry so that worried her even more and I felt like shit for making her worry. Plus, I was really embarrassed because I was crying and it was so cold that all the tears and snot froze and I had that hideous glazed doughnut face.

Because of the way the trails were laid out, as we were nearing the end of the woods, we crossed paths with the bitchy, judgmental woman again. She gave me one of those, overly concerned, condescendingly, pitying looks and I was so glad I didn't have tourettes because in my head I was screaming, "Quit friggin', frickin', fucking looking at me!"

We got home and I was fine. I made an appointment to see my chiropractor and I have some impressive bruises, but I didn't break anything. I do feel like it might be a smart time to start hibernating, though.

She's Breathing Quiet and Smooth

Here are a series of pics of me seemingly squishing other people's heads. I quite like them.

This weekend was nice. We had a few plans and then they changed...As plans sometimes do. I ended up taking The Guy out for Thai food on Friday night and then we went home and watched Fellini's La Strada. I hadn't seen it in 20 years, and I didn't remember it being quite so sad.

Even young children aren't safe...

On Saturday morning, we got a lot done around the house. I finally finished painting the trim in Coadster's old room and The Guy got almost everything out of his storage space. Sure, things are a bit crowded in our garage right now, but we'll get it all whittled down and put away or taken away. It's just nice to have it all at home for The Guy to easily work on now.

In the afternoon, our friend E. came over and The Guy took us out on a trail run. We went all through Hickory Hill Park and then out the other side and ran for however many more miles. We estimated that we ran around 8 miles altogether. Which is about half of what we're going to be racing in the middle of March, but it was nice that we knew we could at least do that.

In the evening we met back up with E and our friend Eggo and her husband at The Mill for pizza and beer. After running off about 900 calories, we figured we could load up a little. Around 8 we headed over to some other friends to play a game called Mad Gab. Of course, the kids who were there, were much better at it than any of the adults.

Oh, squishing heads can make some people so sad.

Sunday was another beautiful day. I wasn't feeling very well and was a bit migrainey, so I didn't get much done in the morning. I did run again, for about 4 miles in the afternoon. The Guy rode his bike for a couple of hours in there too.

In the evening, The Guy went to play pool with his friend Bry and I hung out at home and read my book. I'm currently reading The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Right now it takes place in 1982. It reminds me a lot of what I thought college would be like from reading too many writers' experiences in literature, but never was for me.

Turning Into My Soul

Hmmmm...

I'm not one much for labels. They only seem to cover one part of a person, but The Guy likes to tell me I'm an endurance athlete. I think that's pretty accurate, in many different ways.

I've lived most of my life, having to endure things. I'm not particularly patient, but I am diligent and if there is one thing I can do, it's endure. When I was younger, I endured the death of my mom, and the indentured servitude of my abusive legal guardians, my "lost" angry years, an abusive marriage (since I thought that's what I deserved) and the four years I spent reading, journaling and working on my self-esteem issues and insecurities, so that I would never again think I deserved an abusive relationship.

I counted down the hours and days until Stinky regained consciousness from her meningitis, and the minutes that seemed like hours for the tornado to slam into our basementless house and move on.

Here is a lone boxcar.

So, now that I know I can do it and I try to actively keep as much bad stuff out of my life as I can control, I don't worry so much about being happy and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Instead, I count the minutes of my brutal trainer work-out or the miles of my relaxing after work run. Every once in a while, I regret the time I wasted in bad situations in the past, but mostly, I'm too busy "enduring" the fun and athletic life I've worked so hard to create.

In a Country Where They Turn Back Time

Here is pretty Heidi, all cute and sleeping.

I guess it's weekend synopsis post day today. Wanna hear it? Here is is:

Friday night was nice and mellow. We made dinner and then I got Stinky some Chinese take-out and a DVD and drove her to her friend's house, so they could have a girl's night. I got home and The Guy and I watched Good Bye Lenin! I really enjoyed it.

Me making the X with my ski poles. I'm not quite sure what that was for...

On Saturday, we went to Lake McBride to ski. The snow wasn't great, but we've been a little desperate lately. I felt like I was doing a little more awkward walking on the snow then fluidly gliding. After about an hour and a half, I was feeling a little migrainy. After last week, we didn't want to push it, so we went out for Mexican food for lunch and then came home and showered and took what turned out to be a two and a half hour nap. Jaysus!

The Guy under a very impressive tree.

After we woke-up, it was clear we weren't going to get any chores done around the house, so we headed over to the Dublin, to play some pool, have a drink and wait for Stinky to get off work. We decided on Chinese take-out. Apparently, Stinky was up for it a second night in a row and then we tried to make her hang out with us, but watching The Town. She did grace us with an hour of her time, but alas, she had better things to do and off she went with one of her friends.

A Grant Wood homage in Stone City, Iowa.

On Sunday morning, we were desperately trying to find somewhere to ski. We knew the temps were rising and there was some weird misting, that would wreak havoc on our shoddy snow. The Guy found a place outside of Stone City (an hour away) that looked like our best bet.

We drove there and some of the country roads were pretty slick, but manageable. The trails were wonderful, though. We skied for almost two hours, but it started getting sticky and hard to glide on, so we bagged it and headed into the town of Stone City.

The General Store in Stone City.

We stopped at the General store for lunch and beer. It was so nice and quaint and the staff was really nice. We will definitely come back to ski again this Winter and bike in the Summer.

The blurry but cozy pub with the wood burning fireplace.

We got home and putzed around the the house. I went to my friend G's for a bit and then picked up Stinky from work. We had salmon quesadillas (shut-up. The salmon was leftover and they were actually pretty good) and veggie tamales for dinner and then watched the South Korean movie, The Host. It was so bizarre but so good.

She Said It's Cold. It Feels Like Independence Day.

Stinky with a friend on NYE. Her braces are doing a great job, don't you think?

Oh, and it's the weekend again. I just started reading Ann Patchett's, The Patron Saint of Liars yesterday and I really like it so far. I have been ridiculously obsessing about books lately. I went so many years as a single mom with no time to read, that I feel like I can't get enough literature in my current life. I am devouring novels and stories. I am voracious.

I've been Googling, and then printing "Best of" lists. Best novels of 2010, 2009, 2008, the first decade of this century, literary prize lists and then every month I get to go to Prairie Lights and buy a book or two. Of course, this is my latest excuse for not blogging very much as of late, but it's a good one, don't you think?

Coadster with some friends, around Christmas time.

Last night was very nice. We invited a woman named Jess, who is a bartender at the Dublin and her boyfriend over for dinner. I made brown sugar glazed and garlic butter baked salmon, savory sweet potatoes, a Greek salad and sourdough bread. We had a nice talk and listened to music and we were all done at a decent hour, because it was a school night. I do believe having a couple of people over for dinner is one of my favorite ways to socialize.

So Will You Catch Me Now I'm Falling

The Guy at the top of the hill I was about ready to herring bone up.

This three day weekend was lovely for the most part. On Friday we had some people over for fish tacos. We ate and drank and talked and knew it was time to go to bed after our friend S.'s boyfriend started doing his Tom Waits impersonation and we couldn't stop laughing.

On Saturday, we got up and The Guy went to the cross-country ski trails and I stayed home and did a work-out for an hour on the bike trainer. He came back with good news. There was enough snow to ski on. We headed to the trails and skied until it got dark. It was so very nice.

We stopped at the Dublin for a drink and a pool game or two on the way home. I actually won my first pool game ever. Yea!

I had made up a pan of lasagna before we left to ski, so all I had to do was put it in the oven and put the beet salad together and we were ready to eat. We watched Midnight in Paris. Woody
Allen can be pretty hit and miss with me, but I thought this movie was just good escapism.


The Guy all lousy with cats. Archie wants to touch Heidi with his paw so badly, but he doesn't want her to get up and move away either. Poor guy.

We went skiing bright and early on Sunday morning, since we knew that the snow was going to melt by afternoon. Of course, I forgot how exhausted I'd be after working-out for 3 hours the day before. By the time we had skied for almost 2 1/2 more hours, I was so tired that I forgot all function or form and fell hard on my back down a hill. I heard a loud cracking sound from my neck and my left arm suddenly felt very, very hot. I was dizzy, but I could move my fingers, so I got up and slowly, VERY slowly, skied back to where we were parked. It was pretty scary.

The Guy took me out for sushi for lunch, but we decided to nix our later afternoon swimming plans and just took a nap instead. We had leftover lasagna for dinner and then The Guy went to play pool with his friend Bry, while I laid around on the couch and read my Prohibition book.

Yesterday I woke up sore and had some whiplash. Luckily, I didn't have to go to work yesterday. I needed the rest. I'm taking at least another recovery day, before I try to work-out again. It's not hard to listen to your body, when it's screaming at you, is it?

I'd Rather be a Comma Than a Full Stop.

The asshole, peaking out from the kitchen sink.

Winter finally came down hard on us Iowans yesterday. Making up for lost time, I suppose. It snowed and got blustery and cold.

The Guy and I shoveled snow right after work, and then we ordered pizza. We drank a couple of glasses of wine and watched The African Queen. I do like watching movies that take place in extreme heat when it is ridiculously cold outside. I hadn't seen the movie since I was a kid, and I had forgotten how deliciously schmaltzy it was.

The asshole in a more pensive state.

I am happy to report that Archie did let me sleep last night. I gave each of the cats a small handful of food before I went to bed and locked them out of our room. I heard Archie meow at one point, but ignored him and he stopped once he realized he wasn't getting what he wanted. Whew!

This weekend is the first in a while where we don't have big things planned. We are having a few people over tonight for fish tacos and frijoles. The rest of the weekend should be pretty mellow...I hope. I want to swim and ride the trainer and run and if we get really lucky, we might actually be able to cross-country ski. My other big goal is to finally paint the trim in the spare bedroom and read as much of my book, Last Call (about Prohibition) as possible. Thank the gods and goddesses, I have three days off to try and do all of this.

You Know I'd Give You Everything I've Got For a Little Peace of Mind

Wisconsin sure does love its kitschy cows.

My cat is a total asshole. He woke me up several times last night. The last time, I must have had my head down, so he put his claws (he did try to be gentle) into my scalp. I got up and gave him a kitty time-out in the spare bedroom.


Even more kitschy Wisconsin cows.

I'm not sure what the best solution is. If we lock him out of the room, he sits by the door and meows. Loudly. I think tonight. We'll start with locking him out of the room and if he starts to meow, we'll put him in the spare bedroom. We also might give him a handful of food before bed too. We've been trying to watch how much we feed him because he's getting so fat, but I don't think it would kill him to get just enough food, to make him sleepy.

If not, I might have to figure out a way to make sure he stays awake during the day, so he's actually tired and sleeps at night. Stupid, dumb, cat.

And My Time Was Running Wild

This is what the course looked like - all frozen ruts. Really tough to ride on.

This weekend The Guy competed in Cyclocross Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin. He actually finished 7 places higher than predicted. Which was great.

The Guy taking the first hill.

We drove to Madison after work and went straight to Pizza Brutta to eat. After that we headed to my brother's house. He was away on vacation, so we had the place to ourselves...Well, if you don't count the dog and cats. Basically, we took care of the pets and then went to bed.

The obligatory cheese head. This is Wisconsin, after all.

We woke up early on Saturday and headed to the park. It was cold and after the previous muddy days, all the ruts had frozen and were so hard, they were popping people's tires right and left, plus people were sliding and crashing all over the place. The Guy said he crashed more in that one race than in all the other races this season combined.

The winner of The Guy's race and a former mountain bike Olympian athlete.

After the race, we met my oldest sister at her townhouse. I had never seen it before and it was very nice. We all went out for lunch at an Indian restaurant that had the best buffet I'd ever seen. So much good food.

Me taking more photos of myself next to things with bigger cheeks than mine.

We drove back to Iowa City and showered and then I picked up Stinky and some take-out sushi. After we ate, we decided to finally watch Singin' in the Rain. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. What a fun movie.

The Guy shooting pool at the Ice House in Riverside, Ia.

On Sunday I woke and had a very leisurely morning. I read some and took a long hot bath and then by 12:30, The Guy and I were on our bikes, headed for Riverside, the future birthplace of James Tiberius Kirk. We had a nice ride and when we got there, we hung out at the Ice House and ate lunch, had a couple of pints and played a few games of pool. I tried to ride pretty hard on the way home, to see if I was getting stronger from my trainer work-outs. I did feel stronger. I guess we'll see what happens when I race again in the Spring.

On Sunday night, we watched the Exorcist. The last time I saw it was in 1983. The only parts I really remembered about it where the demon possessed Linda Blair scenes. It still was able to creep me out, all these years later.

I hope you all had a Linda Blairless weekend.

I walked Down the Primrose Path

Riding into Hills on New Year's Eve day.

Sooo, I've been told I have this thing called a blog? And that I might want to actually write in it again? Yeah. That. Anyway, here goes:

Archie helping us play Twister on New Year's Eve.

New Year's weekend was all so very nice. On Friday we went to a friend's house. They were planning on watching the Hawkeye bowl game. We came for the food, basically and played frisbee golf on his Playstation 3. I'm better at real frisbee golf - which still isn't saying anything.

Us ringing in the Irish new year at 6.

On Saturday we woke up and lounged around the house. We met some friends for a New Year's Eve bike ride at noon. It was 50 degrees but ridiculously windy. Luckily, we had a tail wind on the way home.

The Guy and some friends showing off their steppin'-out shoes.

We came back from the ride, took a quick nap, and then headed out again for the Irish New Year. It was packed at the Dublin, but I got to see a mess of people and had one drink and then we scurried back to make the fondue and other food.

Fondue'ing and fondon't'ing.

We ended up with about 10 guests and played Pictionary, Twister and Battleship. I had a migraine for most of the day and evening and shortly after midnight, I finally had to go to bed. The Guy stayed up with the few guests who lived within stumbling distance from their homes and therefore stayed until around 2. A good time seemed to be had by all.

The cats vying for the best birdwatching spot on the couch.

I woke up on the first day of the New Year with a lingering headache. The Guy was wonderful and did all the cleaning-up from the party. I did manage to make a delicious breakfast and then spent the rest of the day reading. I finished Swamplandia! and started Truth and Beauty a Friendship, by Ann Patchett. We also watched the movie Cowboys and Aliens. My friend Toby had a small part in it and I got t see him get dragged away by horses. The movie was much better than I thought it would be.

I hope all of your New Year's were just as wonderful as mine, but migraine free.