Happy birthday Leslie ! The quote cracked me up (or would that be wrinkled me up)....thanks for starting us off! Only went 5.5 yesterday, and this is my "taper" week. LOL, I don't have a lot to taper from, but what the heck! Gotta go finish making dinner, so will have to leave it at a general shout out for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Hey Gang! Happy Birthday again Leslie! We ended up having a quiet-ish day around here....slept in, Doug changed his mind at least a coupla times about going snowboarding....then decided, "it's been awhile since we went for a run together" & weather forcast was for 58* F & calm....soooo, approximately 6.25-ish @ a steady 10:15 pace! analyzing some of the monstrous homes on that section of the canal trail...picked out some Spring races to run...lotsa runners on the trail....Mairead was thoroughly jazzed to be running w/her pack!....then we sat around eating (no birthday cake, but several GS cookies!) & watching movies for the rest of the day (beer included!) ....ah feel lak a thlug! Hope ya'll get to enjoy some of this fabulous weather this week!! Cindy

We are back home again in dry, cold Nebraska although we should warm up nicely today. I am having that kinda lost I have so much to do so where do I start feeling. When in San Diego got a couple 3-4 mi runs in at my cousins place in the Chula Vista burbs, very pleasant with ocean and mountain and even Mexico views. We had one afternoon off in Palm Springs so after visiting with the run shop owner we headed to the foothills on the edge of town and did a hike/run combo. The trail was pretty steep with about 1000 foot of gain from where we parked according to my garmin, too steep for me to run it. I ran all the way down except for a few spots where it would be very dangerous to fall and then decided to run another 1.5 back to the hotel so got in 5 or so for the outing. And the best thing according to Lynda were no rattlesnake sightings, although I did warn her don't turn over any rocks http://www.hiking-in-ps.com/lykkensouth.php BTW the conference was excellant and now I have a plan swimming around in my head. I need to catch up with you all but for now........ Happy birthday to Leslie and Doug (mr MtnChik1). Wishing a good taper to Carol and improvement in the knee to Jewels and sending Joe a warm dry towel a day late. Hiyas to everyone else!!

Morning, everyone. Thanks for the bday wishes. Did my longest workout this a.m. since surgery. 45 min on the stationary bike and about 20 min of light weights, mostly upper body. Was a tad shaky at the end, but I'm gonna chalk that up to being really hungry. Fortified myself with a glass of milk and Ovaltine. Went all out this a.m. with a bagel and free coffee . . . . and bought myself a chocolate covered donut. Woo hoo! Do I know how to do it up or what? Watched "Murphy's Romance" while biking to nowhere. Love that movie. How can you not with Sally Field and James Garner? Saturday night (late) I posted that we watched a made for HBO movie called "Taking Chance." It's a true story about a Marine officer who volunteered to escort the body of Pfc. Chance Phelps back home after he was killed in Iraq. I highly, highly recommend this movie. It goes right to the core of your heart and soul. Even The Hub was crying, which never happens. I think the last movie he cried over was "Brian's Song." It is truly, truly a wonderful, if heartbreaking, story. FJ - We were watching "Dirty Jobs" the other night and he was in Palm Springs working on the tram that takes people up to about 8400 feet (I think??). I didn't know that thing existed. We go back to Palm Springs this year for Conference (in August??). Hopefully, we'll have enough extra time to go ride it. Joe - Nice pic on your personal page! I must say that you are one fit young man! Cindy - Looks like you guys put together a nice grouping of races. I'll be interested to hear about the trail marathon. Jewels - How's the knee? Have you seen a doc yet? Carol - Enjoy the taper. You've earned it.

Hey Leslie! (yup! I'm still on the computer! when was the last time that happened!?) Ref the trail marathon: there is 114 mile long "rails to trail" that runs N/S through the middle of the Black Hills of SD...you can hike, bike, or ride horse back the entire length of it, with access to several campgrounds, etc http://www.deadwoodbicycles.com/mickelson_trail/mick_map.html the Deadwood/Mickelson Trail Marathon is held on the Northern end of that trail - in a pretty scenic section of the Black Hills. it's pretty much a service road type "trail" in that end of the Hills... Doug & I have vacationed/camped/hiked that area for many years...still would like to someday do the whole trail - but for now, we're going to just do the marathon.......& party in Deadwood! & hey! the highest point is only 5,700' elevation! Woo-Hoo!

<rant>So in the depths of my GB problems, I got so tired of it all, I went to the ER in the hopes they'd do something. Take the frigging thing out right then and there. One of the issues was a constant headache that varied in its intensity, but never went away the entire 7 weeks leading up to surgery (since surgery - no headache!) I told them about this in the ER, so what did they do? A CT scan of my head. It was agreed there was nothing out of the ordinary and my brain was still intact. I just found out the cost of that sucker - $1,300!!! HO-LY $HIT! I kept telling the doctors it was related to my GB. I knew it was, 'cause it got worse when my GB felt worse. But did anyone believe me? No. Grrrrr. Between that and the ER - huge bill. So after my crappy insurance paid, I'm sitting here looking at a bill for $1,984 - coincidentally enough, the same year I graduated from HS. {{{sigh}}} Okay, I'm done.</rant>

Oh, Cindy. I feel for your mom. My mom went through really major medical stuff when she was alive, and I remember her phone calls fighting with the insurance company to pay what they were suppose to. It is patently unfair. One of the things that jerked my chain was, I had surgery on a Tuesday and didn't even come to my senses until later than evening. Wed a.m. I get a phone call in my hospital room from the billing department wanting my insurance info. Me: I gave that when I registered. Her: The card is coming up as invalid. Me: Well, I've given the card a number of times times over the past few weeks and this is the first time this has happened. In any case, I don't have that information with me. Her: Well, the card is coming invalid and . . . Me (interrupting): I just had surgery yesterday, I don't have any of my personal stuff here, so I'll have to call you when I get home tomorrow. Her: Oh, okay. On top of that, she called me about a week prior and wanted to know when I could make a down payment on my $5,000 deductible and how much. I was like, "Well, first of all it's $5,000 total for everything I've had done, and not just for your bill. And second, I haven't even received a bill from you yet." I know it's her job and they're just trying to ensure they get paid for services, but I hated the phone calls. I pay all my bills and will pay these, but you can't squeeze blood from a turnip (as my Pappy would say).