December 2007

December is one of the busiest months of the year for me. The best part was catching up with family and friends and all my niece's, nephews and friends kids. There were endless parties, dinners, concerts and activities which will last me another 365 days. I am now ready to get back to the routine of training for the 2008 season. Here is a brief synopsis of the month of December for me.

12/2/07 Cycle cross championships. I never made the race with my new bike nor did I make any of the races. I just found other interesting things to do on my weekend mornings besides rush around to get to a race. I sure did have good intentions on doing at least the very last one since my sorry ass never made it to Ice Man either.



12/6/07 A bag of coal and Sweetish Fish

12/8/07 Girls group ride was canceled due to poor trail conditions so I opted for my own slush tour. I ripped my good winter booties on the first crash and did not realize it until my foot went numb.

That evening was Captain Candy's work Christmas Party at the Hilton. We socialized, had a cocktail or two, ate and then split. I was upset that I sat in the wrong seat and did not win the cute Santa snow globe, I was bummed.

12/14/07 To do list: cards, buy more gifts, wrap gifts.

What really got done, a bit of shopping, dinner at Maggiano's and drinks.

12/15/07 Ride in the morning and family Christmas Party at 7:00PM.A Scrumptious buffet and the best part was the home made pettifores.

Dylan and Brady scored a Brett Farve Card.

My other nephew takes up a different interest

Frankie is now 17 months and full of curiosity.

12/16/06 morning ride and TSO concert with the Pedal Moraine Gang. Dinner afterwards at Riverfront Pizzeria in the third ward

The Bradley Center, what an architectural wonder of cement.

Riverfront Pizzeria Bar, pretty snazzy.

The gang cleans up pretty nice.

12/18/07 the cleaning fairies come to get the house in order for the holiday weekend.

12/22/07 prepare for our Christmas Eve Open house. Shop at Sendik's, Pick N Save, get wood for fire place, get alcohol from Ray's, make a few appetizers and put away Christmas Boxes full of left over decorating stuff, get a ride in finally by 7PM.

12/23/07 Last minute food preparations, Captain prepares the delicious Mole sauce for his enchiladas, a favorite recipe handed down by his late grandmother. Then an Evening to remember at the Nigh's pre-New Years Bash, formerly known as their so called Christmas Party.

I saw 10 Christmas trees after a few slippery nipples.

The gracious host and hostess who never undeserved.
I am not kidding when I said I saw ten trees in their house.

12/24/07 8:00AM I hit the porcelain goddess and then again thirty minutes later, repeat about 10 times. I Crawled out of bed at 2:00 PM while Captain not feeling too well, turned the oven on but did not throw in the ham and crawled into bed. We managed to pull off a spectacular Christmas Eve Open house by 4:00PM with great thanks to my mother-in-law Barb who helped me with last minute set up. Thank goodness I have great fitness or I would of been in bed all day.

some pics here of party

12/25/07 Feeling a 100% better. Off to Captain's sister's home for a nice relaxing day then afterwards hit up my friends for some free desert.

more pics here

12/28/07 shovel, practice taking pics in Tv and Av mode, shovel more, chat with neighbors, take more pics, shovel neighbor walkway's.

Practice pics here

The ending to a great year!

Need I say more? Luckily, I was the smart one. Who needs sexy diva's anyway?

Nutcracker

Did you ever take a good close look at one of these figures? A little spooky don't you think?

Bike Trip Plans for 2008 in the works

Decisions will be made soon to secure our spot for a week in Sedona. Call me if your interested! We plan on renting the same kick ass house as last year which is centrally located to most of the trails. Plans are from Saturday to Saturday some time in April. There are four bedrooms and pull out sofa bed off the patio. Couples and singles welcome, it's a biking trip for gosh sakes not a honeymoon.

What do we do on this trip? Bike, eat, drink, frolic and more bike but not necessarily in that order, anything else is at your own risk.

Too much to do too little time

Saturday morning came quickly and I just rolled out a bed and the phone rang, it was Bubba to tell me the trails were in no shape for a ride today. I was really disappointed because I was really looking forward to riding with the girls on the snow covered trails, it would of been fun. Thankfully, I programed everyone with the exception of Regina into my cell phone so that I could text page everyone that the ride was canceled. Yes, for some reason I forgot the grand po bah's number and finally looked her up on line. I tried to talk her into coming out my way to go shopping but I think the thought of an hour and an half drive to shop instead of bike was ridiculous. Needless to say, I was now up pretty early so I decide to go shopping and return a few items as well as pick up a few Christmas gifts.

First stop was Mayfair Mall to exchange two pairs of pants I purchased for work at Express. I love their EDITOR pants and they are perfect for work. I did not try them on since I have wore the same size for years. Well, they were 4 inches too long on length, WTF. I picked up the regulars, NOT long. You would think anyone that lives in Wisconsin to be 5'9" or taller and have a slim figure, go figure. So I went back to the store to see if I got the wrong size. There happened to be another girl there with a similar problem. Long story short, either you had a choice of ordering them and risking them not having your size or living with it and getting them altered yourself. I decided to do the altercations since the pants I bought were sold out in Chicago a few weeks ago and I am sure they will be bought out here too before Christmas.

Picked up a few more things after it took me nearly 20 minutes just to get out of my parking space and then headed downtown to Alterra to replenish our coffee supply at home. Across the street form Alterra on Prospect is the new Urban Outfitters that was just built here on the Fashionable East Side. I can't wait! I saw a cute pair of shoes in Chicago when I was there and hope they will have them next week when they open. They are a pair of flats with T Straps. So after I ran around all morning, the stress of the holidays was getting to me and some how I really miss being outside. This shopping is for the birds, I save more money riding my bike. I don't have to worry what I am going to wear out because I never go any where any way and all I need is a good pair of jeans and a comfy cotton tee shirt any day.

I got home and decided to head out for a ride by myself, I could not take it anymore. After 10 minutes of punching it into the bitter cold, I warmed up and was ready to have fun. I headed to the parkway to catch the Oak Leaf Trails heading North. After riding on the slushy, icy streets I jumped on the trails that looked like it had a nice little paved walk way and I hit the ground in no time flat. I quickly got up to try again and it was nearly impossible to steer on the somewhat hard, bumpy trail that many have walked on. Some jogger looked at me like I was a crazy person, but who cares. I laughed at myself and said the hell with it and rode on the street instead.

Nice Traction

The road conditions were OK along the parkway and there was barely any traffic which was nice. I think that if you really want to ride outside in the winter you have to be very flexible or forget it. So if anyone is interested in long rides this winter, especially on the weekends, call me!

Up date on girls ride Saturday Morning

So far the Tosa trails are in good shape despite the snow. I hope to get the latest update from Bubba as to how it might look for Saturday morning. I will update you all with a special e-mail. This will be the meeting place just off the parkway. You know where to find the address, I will not post it here. I am excited to hit the trails and have some fun practicing my balance and controlled wipe outs. Make sure your dressed warm and have tires appropriate for conditions. I should talk. Oh yea, don't bring a bike that is not working properly, it can ruin your day.

What kind of tires are good in the snow anyway? I would love to hear suggestions!

The 7 Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things
Hieronymus Bosch, 1485
Oil on wood
120 × 150 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, completed in 1485. The painting is oil on wood panels, in the form of a tabletop.
The painting is presented in a series of circular images. Four small circles, detailing "Death", "Judgement", "Hell", and "Glory", surround a larger circle in which the seven deadly sins are depicted: wrath at the bottom, then proceeding clockwise, envy, avarice, gluttony, sloth, extravagance, and pride. At the centre of the large circle, which is said to represent the eye of God, is a "pupil" in which Christ can be seen emerging from his tomb. Below this image is the Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt ("Beware, Beware, God is Watching"), implying that no sin goes unnoticed.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Deadly_Sins_and_the_Four_Last_Things"





This week I am working on Greed since this is what I learned in my eighteen years of Catholic education. I think I learned it is quite appropriate now to label "Christmas" now as pure greed.



"Greed is the selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. "



Here is one more item added to our pile of possessions. I think I hit more then a few deadly sins with this baby.


MERRY CHRISTMAS CAPTAIN

My neighbor is a Bag Lady

Distinguished Bag Lady . com

Yesterday evening I was invited to a neighborhood open house. The invitation was e-mailed to me by a friend several weeks ago and it stated they were selling crafty things that you could use for stocking stuffers this Holiday season. I thought to myself, bag lady?, sounds like the state fair type of arts and crafts that are out dated. Anyway it was a good idea to get out of the house and call one of my friends I usually never see (because I am always biking) to join me.

Well to my surprise, when this young women opened her door to her home and greeted us with her big bright smile I was taken back. I had thought it would be an older lady type of party. So we step inside and find her home filled with beautiful things that you would of found at a speciality boutique. Interestingly, she had her other friends whom are also crafty present their items for sale too. To make a long story short, the so called "BAG LADY" I envisioned in my head had some of the most unique and beautiful fun purses I have ever seen. They look way too professional, like the one's you spend hundreds of dollars for in the department stores. The best part about her purses is that you can choose the material for her to make it, including the material for the inside lining too!

My friend Rebecca talked me into this Bag which I think is cute. I am really not a purse kind of person and I maybe buy one every two years so I hope this is versatile. Oh well if not, it's just another impulse buy.

Elf Yourself

Click here for some funny Holiday Cheer!

Christmas Lights

Now I know why MTB Girl has been busy all week. Check out their Christmas house display.

Holiday Weekend

Captain and I headed down to Chicago for our annual after Thanksgiving Day getaway. The weather for the weekend was actually very beautiful and the city was busting with life. We arrived early Friday morning and headed towards Michigan Avenue to immerse ourselves in big city pleasures.

Room View from Sheraton Hotel Chicago

Michigan Avenue
Gap commercial rejects

A little early evening cheer at good ole RL

Full Moon on Black Friday

Dinner at Le Colonial

French-Vietnamese

a universal language

Copenhagen Bike Traffic Lights
Originally uploaded by [Zakkaliciousness]

Check out his photography

Alterra Year End Bash

Celebrating the Fruits of Our Labor

e ventually...

Captain A.K.A. River Boy


still looking for the river

Celebrating number one

E Boy

The come back Kid

pro one handed beer bong champion

Job well done!

Part one of team initiation for her. Boy does

she got it coming.

Say Cheese

As always...Chimene and Karen in high fashion

Leadership changes

Hello team,

We went over a few team updates at the meeting that we wanted to share. First off, congratulations to the team on a very successful year and two really big trophies. Special recognition, too, to Mike Phillips, who has kept his roots in the Alterra team while winning and placing in races all over the place. And he's still a nice guy. The team is entering it's twelfth year. As you know, this is a loosely knit organization, but generally run by the team manager and an "executive committee" of past managers/treasurers/etc. At the moment, a lot of this comes down to Greg, Ward Fowler from Alterra and myself. We have always had a good succession in leadership, but I must say that when we reached out to do some brainstorming this year and to recruit help (i.e., spread the work around) we really had a great response. As always, our priority remains on being good cycling citizens, good ambassadors for Alterra, having fun and helping everyone realize and exceed their own personal goals. The fact that we do well in the WORS series is a testament that this formula works and that we do not need or want to recruit people just because they are "top" riders. We have now talked with a number of people on the team and came up with some responsibilities that will need to be covered. With Greg stepping down as team manager/race director, there are some big shoes we need to fill. I would like to thank the following people for volunteering to take on different roles for the '08 season.

Tim Scanley: Team Manager

Tyrone Gonzalez: Race director

Mike Owens: Treasurer

Roger Eckes: Director of team rides

Christine Czarnecke: Sponsorship relations and Race committee

Sonia Dubielzig: Sponsorship relations and Alterra Race committee

Angela Theriault: Community events/Outreach

Christopher Schulz: Assistant Community events/Outreach and writer

Dan Backley: Clothing order and Race committee

Cindy Schulzetenberg: Clothing order and Alterra Race committee

Greg Duckett: Race-day coordinator

I will continue my roll as team liaison to Alterra. As before, everybody is expected to help our with non race events and contribute to preparing for and putting on the race. If you want to volunteer to have a more defined role, let Tim know.

Have fun and keep the rubber side down.

Bruce

Riverwest HOBOS

Alterra Coffee Roasters coming to Riverwest

The new Alterra shop will be really cool once it is up and running. We were fortunate this past weekend to have our year end party here and take a sneak peek at the new operations. Built with a concept of a green conscious, the new building will be a nice welcome to this part of the city. They have already rolled over the bakery shop and I am sure the sweet smells are filling the air. Ward Fowler one of the co founders of Alterra Coffee is really excited about this transition and hopes to open doors to the coffee shop this December.

The new building will house an Alterra café at the corner of Chambers & Humboldt; a super-cool outdoor seating courtyard area on Humboldt; a new yarn and fiber shop; a to-be-announced 5,000 sq. ft. tenant; the Alterra Baking Company; and Alterra’s roasting, wholesale, and administrative operations.

Coffee Mill

Cherry Turnovers were to die for. Tasted like made from scratch with real butter. Supper yummy!
We all look like we color coordinated for the picture and it turned out pretty good considering it was taken toward the end of the evening.




Photos here