Boot camp (part 2)

I hate to admit it but I didn’t attend boot camp for the last four days. The temperature each morning has hovered around 18 to 26 degrees. I can handle 36 degrees but anything in the twenties is too cold for me.
I am hoping next week will warm up a bit so I can get back into my routine. I’ve ridden my spin bike at home to compensate for not attending boot camp but how boring is that…
I’ll update again in a week on boot camp.

Palm Springs, CA - Winter Trip 2008

Palm Springs! Is there any better place to visit when the dark Oregon winter gray gets to you? Nope!!!! I enjoyed four days in Palm Springs visiting family and friends over MLK weekend.
In the past I didn’t enjoy myself there in the desert.
I spent ten years there in my teens and relocated to Oregon 15 years ago. I hated the desert when I was young. If you weren’t a rich retired golfer there wasn’t anything for you there. People tend to be very plastic and fake. The most comical seen is 70-year-old women with their white shorts, leather tan legs and gold high heels, not to mention their eye brows are on top of their head from all of the face lifts. Yuck! How sad at that age to be so insecure that you try to dress like a 20-year-old. For goodness sake at 70 you’ve earned those wrinkles, bags and sags and you have class and wisdom beyond any 20-year-old.

As usual I’ve grown up and evolved over these past 15 years and when I visit now I enjoy myself. I appreciate the things about the desert valley that I took for granted when I lived there. Each morning I walked out into my uncle’s backyard (in my shorts and tee) picked 5 oranges off of his tree and squeezed fresh juice for breakfast. Yummm… I walked in the morning and evenings under the warm sunshine. The birds sing all day long and the roadrunners great you when you to grab the morning paper. Things are in bloom and everything smells sweet & warm.

California isn’t as bike-friendly as Oregon is, I hardly noticed any roadies with all of that sunshine and blue ski I expected the roads to be full of cyclist. I saw two. Each day I wish I had my bike, I’d have written everyday. Sad to see those long flat sun baked roads going to waist.
Overall the trip was fantastic, I loved the time with my aunt and two uncles; I am so lucky to have them in my life. As I get older I find my relationship with them has become more of sister and brother rather than uncle and niece.

I stayed in my grandmother’s bedroom, she passed away last summer. I felt such a peace and comfort being in her room, among her belongs, tucked under the quilt she made many years ago.
I think I’ll make this a new tradition to visit Palm Springs each January when the gray skies of Oregon start to get me down and winter seems to never end.

History of the Middle East

I signed up for an independent study history class this term at the college where I work. This will be my first independent study class. I put myself through college the traditional way, with my butt in a college classroom day after day year after year. I actually love college that is one of the reasons I work at one, plus I believe with all my heart that education is the most important thing one can do to empower their lives.
I’m finding the book a great read.
A Concise History of the Middle East by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., and Lawrence Davidson. Eight Edition.
I haven’t always appreciated history and the importance of it until now. Let’s face it studying any subject, from philosophy to physics, is potentially an adventure of the mind. I love adventure.
Many Westerners do not know what we have learned from the Middle East being we are such a young nation.
The word cotton comes from the Arabic word qutn.
The striped cat we call tabby got its name from the type of cloth called Attabi, once woven in a section of Baghdad.
The world tennis comes from a medieval Egyptian town called Tinnis.
Please don’t misinterpreted my studying the Middle East to mean I am for or against the current situation over there, this is one of many IS history classes I’ll be taking, I believe Ancient Greece is next term.

Boot Camp - Oregon Style

No, not military boot camp but close enough. My first love is cycling but in my ever effort to be a fast strong cyclist I signed myself up for a class at the college where I work called Boot camp. We meet at six in the morning for a little over an hour.
I showed up Monday morning with my sleepy eyes barely opened enough to see a few familiar faces from around campus. I was dressed in sweat top and bottoms, rain jacket, beanie, gloves and running shoes. I really had no idea what we were going to do in the college gym but I was prepared to shed a few layers if need be.
There would be no need for shedding layers I learn; the class was held outside. WHAT! My car registered the outside air at a brisk 36 degrees as I drove to the class that morning; it was a typical Oregon morning rain and a cool breeze coming from the northwest.
I found myself running the college track, running the stadium stairs, lifting weights, and stretching outside in January in Oregon. Yuck!
I almost hate to admit it because by this time you are all feeling bad for me but I love it! It totally kicks-ass to be out there busting my butt in the cold rainy stormy weather at 6 a.m. As I ran around the track this morning with the cold wind on my face I looked up at the stadium lights watching the rain fall, listening to my heart beat, feeling my feet carry me around the track, up the stadium stairs and down I felt strong! I felt invincible! I felt like I was in complete control of every minute of the new day.
We’ll see how I feel in two weeks. If I don’t blog about Boot camp anymore you know it was a short lived feeling of strength and invincibility.

Teacup - Cross-Country Skiing

What a great day for cross-country skiing. My friends and I enjoyed perfect conditions at the Teacup Lake Nordic Cross Country Ski area today. If you're looking for me next Saturday I’ll be up there enjoying another perfect winter day.

2008 Resolutions

I hate New Years Resolutions; I am the type of person who once I recognize a need for change or improvement would rather start trying to improving or changing than wait for some date on the calendar and fail after five days. I do look at the New Year as a chance to reflect on how I’ve grown over the past year, places I’ve been and things I’ve seen.
I’ve traveled a lot in 2007, I continued to help my daughter grow into an amazing young lady, I’ve stepped up to a new level in my career, my circle of amazing friends has grown, I totally enjoy some great hobbies and I am happy.
So in 2008 I hope to continue with the above mentioned and embrace the new things I discover in ‘08.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Cannon Beach, Oregon

My daughter and I enjoyed a few days at Cannon Beach after the holidays. We had great weather: high winds, hail and torrents of rain, snow and even sunshine. You’ve got to love the Oregon Coast!
We had fun hanging out at the Cannon Beach Conference Center; we joined a group of friends, ate great meals, did some window-shopping, napped and walked the beach. I found an old light bulb off of a shipwreck gently resting in the sand. I mistaken it for one of those ugly kelp balls with a long slimy tails but after a closer look found it to be a small treasure. I love combing the beaches.
We had a rough drive home, as Hwy 26 the pass was icy and covered with 8” of snow. We became master of the tire chains by the time the trip was over. Heading up David Douglass Pass we had to chain up then again when we went over the second mountain range. I stopped counting the cars on the side of the road after 9 and was grateful for my chains when I had to gun it as a van slid across the road towards us. After an hour of sitting while two-wheel drive little pickups (who had no business being out on roads like that) slid all over and we inched along. We made it home safe; a regular two-hour trip took us four.
It made for an adventure and it is my goal as a parent to prepare my daughter to be a strong independent self-sufficient young lady. I can happily say she is now prepared to put chains on her vehicle (when she has her own) as well as be assertive enough to handle adverse weather, not get scared and not give up.