ULCER

This last weekend I participated in my first organized road bike trip called the ULCER It's a century bicycle ride around Utah Lake, although you can ride 24, 56, 74, or 105 miles. We took the 50 mile trail. We started bright and early at 7:30am and finished in the heat of the day at 12:30pm. Now don't be thinking, "Dang, you rode slow. It took you 5 hours to go 50 miles!". That statement is completely untrue and I'll explain why. We took a total of 2 long breaks where we were able to chat with other riders (over 1,000 people participated), and gorge ourselves on delicious foods such as cantaloupe, bananas, candy, watered down poweraid, bagels and cream cheese, oranges, Cliff bars and more candy. So clearly we weren't going only 10mph, we were in fact going almost 14mph. Now, before you say, "That's almost as bad as going 10mph! I bet people were speeding past you at 20mph leaving you in the dust". Unfortunately that thought would be accurate, but Levi is a good man and he stuck with his slow wife the entire way. This has been an incredible accomplishment for this out of shape girl. I started riding my first road bicycle only 5 weeks ago.

Imagine this, the year is 2003 and it's late in December. Levi has been day dreaming of warmer weather and imagining the ultimate bicycle ride with his sweetheart. He's shy at mentioning this, afraid that his sweetheart will laugh and refuse to consider bicycling 100 miles around Utah Lake. He was right in thinking this. So in the most charming voice he can muster, he says, "Mel, do you know what would be so fun?", I reply with, "Yeah, living on the beach somewhere warm and eating hotdogs and snorkeling shipwrecks". This comment catches him off guard and he hesitates for a moment. "Well, yes, but what about a bicycle ride together around Utah Lake, it's only 100 miles. We would have fun together". I look at him with terror written across my face and think to myself, is he kidding? I wonder what he thought of my hotdog idea?
This was my first introduction to the notion of riding such unseemly distances on a bicycle with a hard seat.

It's interesting how someone can talk about something so much that it actually begins to sound fun to you. This is what happened to me. My feelings of terror changed to excitement as we daydreamed of this adventure together. Several weeks after we were married I constantly reminded Levi that we were running low on time to get ready for the ULCER ride. At this he was thrilled and we picked out a beautiful blue road bike for me (they didn't have a pink one). It's a very light frame and I can lift it with one hand. Perfect for a beginner like me. We rode 10 miles that first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I quickly realized that my new expensive road bike is very different from riding a low quality, hybrid, $40. Walmart bicycle (which I had been riding for the last 10 years). The first shock was that my new tires are very slim, and rather intimidating at first. I was constantly afraid the tires would disappear completely as they're so thin. The new handle bars can be held in 20 different places (unlike the previous bikes where hands settle nicely next to the red tassels). If you get tired of one position, just move your hands anywhere. The handle is so accommodating. Of course, the seat isn't cushy or shaped like a banana. Despite all these new changes, I instantly fell in love with my new bike. Suddenly I could climb hills without stopping, zip down roads and hills at 20+mph, take long trips without being too sore to walk the next day. Ride 3 miles to work in only a few minutes (compared to 25 minutes on my old bike because of all the stops I made to catch my breath). The bicycling experience had changed completely.
Now as I look back at the 50 mile accomplishment, I grow excited to see if this lazy boned girl can actually build her muscle strength up to successfully ride 100 miles at the good ol' average speed of 20mph.
Wish me luck!

Mean Girls

Last night I saw the movie Mean Girls staring Lindsay Lohan. This movie was so fun. It was like reliving high school again. Although the movie exaggerated and dramatized the gossip and cruelty of high school girls, the tactics were quite fun to watch. There was the gossip, girls undermining their friends and enemies, girls stealing boyfriends, girls being submissive because their told, girls following the most ridiculous trends, girls eager to be accepted, girls allowing one person to direct and dictate them, and the list goes on. It's sad that during the high school years, this is such an expected standard for girls to behave. Do guys have to deal with this?
It wasn't just bad behavior that made this movie enjoyable, it was the fact that there were lessons to be learned. Everyone falls victim to the rumors and gossip. No matter how good you are, someone will talk bad about you.
It makes me think that even us adults have quite a bit to learn from these lessons.

Camping Bug

I have been anxious to go camping all spring, and now that the weather is warm, there just doesn't seem to be any time for it.

Growing up, my parents used to load all of us kids in the car almost every weekend throughout the summer months. We'd head to the same lakes, Deer Creek, East Canyon, Pine View or Mantua (a very dirty lake). We didn't have a boat, or any big sport equipment, but we had fishing poles with tons of bait and sometimes enough hooks and bobbers. We had inflatable mattresses for the lake, rubber rafts, cooked using several Coleman stoves, homemade sleeping bags, enough firewood to keep a blazing inferno for 3 days, and each other. Camping was such fun, we'd eat what we caught. Perch and Bluegill were the catch of choice due to their delicious flavor. If we were stuck with Trout or Catfish, we'd all moan. We had tons of soda pop, usually the Shasta variety. We would stay up late at night to play games in the lamp light such as Skipbo, even if it was windy (hence, the small card deck). If you were dirty, you'd take a swim in the lake. Was it possible to get bored on these trips? No way. There was always so much to do. Nature walks, fishing, bicycling, swimming, chasing the neighboring campers kids, locking each other in the outhouse, catching frogs or other little creatures, running when we spotted a skunk, and snatching food from the cooler when mom wasn't looking.

It seems that this type of camping is near non existence. I recently overheard a conversation where one person was inviting another to go camping with them. It was like overhearing a sales pitch. "Oh, it will be so fun, we are taking the motorhome and the jetskis." It's as though the sure pleasure of being out in nature with friends was a bad thing. Toys had to be the big part of the equation. With the use of motorhomes and campers complete with TVs and bathrooms, fancy boats, jetskis, and 4 wheelers, I fear that my favorite style of camping will be long forgotten by the new generation.

June 30th 2004

I would like to take a moment and share some exciting news with all of you. As of 6/30/04 I will be married to an wonderful man named Levi Pearson. If you care to seem some pictures of us, please feel free to visit our wedding website.

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Disney has decided to put this book to screen. It's scheduled to be released Christmas 2005. As of mid April, casting for the new movie "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe began. In one article, they asked for men and women under 5' and men men and women over 6'4". So far they have Tilda Swinton as the White Witch and James McAvoy as Tumnus the faun.

Filming is to begin late June. It will be interesting to see who gets to play the part of the 4 kids.

Fighting Back

Several times a week I'll enter the ladies room and find yet another person sitting in a stall chatting away with someone on their cell phone. It amazes me that people do this. How could the person be so rude to allow their phone conversations to be done where the constant sound of toilets flushing, and body fluids exiting the body exist. Didn't their mothers teach them appropriate behaviors? Oh wait, it's their mothers their talking to on the phone.

My conclusion is this. They don't realize how disgusting their behavior is. I say we remind them by exaggerating noises in the bathroom that will hopefully embarrass them and the person they are talking to. If nothing more, hopefully the person on the other end will insist that they refrain from calling when in such places. So if you find someone chatting away in the stall near you, make some really loud farting noises. We did these noises when we were kids, so reach down into your inner childish self and learn to do it again. If you need to carry around a woopie coushin, do it. Perhaps you could get rid of some extra flem using some exaggerated noisy techniques. As disgusting as this all sounds, at least all these behaviors are somewhat expected while visiting the WC.

Lets get even!

Discipline

I recently returned from a vacation. My parents were kind enough to let Atticus the cat stay with them. I was so terrified that he would tear their house apart and bite everyone. After all, that's what he does at my house. When I returned, I found the most adorable sweet tempered cat. If it hadn't been for all 5 kinks in his tail, I would have thought it was a different cat. Shortly after we got home, Atticus turned back to his old ways of biting, scratching and bulling everyone around. Where have I gone wrong with this cat?

My dad sent me this link to Dr Phil along with this quote that came from the site. "Your child does not have to love you every minute of every day. He'll get over the disappointment of having been told "no." But he won't get over the effects of being spoiled". Now if I was to substitute the word "child" with the words "dirty, rotten, scratching beast", the same principle applies.

So why is it so hard to discipline? It's got to be the sappy way they look at you.

Regarldess of all this, I thought the site gave some good food for thought for everyone.