I did it!

Yup, I am officially an NSP Senior Ski Patroller - finished off my last elective (Avalance I) in February and got the official pin. I guess this means that my days of volunteer patrolling aren't over yet. After this winter of flying to Colorado to see Sol and doing 21 days of patrolling, I'm exhausted and psyched for the season to be over. Although I wish I could have one more fabulous powder day. There's always next year.

Bike Racing

Day 2 of the NEBC bike clinic ended with a fun game of gladiator - biking in a circle trying to push other bikers out of the circle - it was a blast! I'm so much more comfortable touching wheels and bumping into people than I ever thought I would be - I guess I really have come a long way over the past two seasons. Not long ago I was descending Bear Mountain Road at Killington, riding the brakes the entire way down - smokin'! Now I just need to get into shape for Fitchburg - after slacking for the past three months, not sure if I'll make the cut, but I hope so, just so I can at least finish it.

Bike Racing

Day 2 of the NEBC bike clinic ended with a fun game of gladiator - biking in a circle trying to push other bikers out of the circle - it was a blast! I'm so much more comfortable touching wheels and bumping into people than I ever thought I would be - I guess I really have come a long way over the past two seasons. Not long ago I was descending Bear Mountain Road at Killington, riding the brakes the entire way down - smokin'! Now I just need to get into shape for Fitchburg - after slacking for the past three months, not sure if I'll make the cut, but I hope so, just so I can at least finish it.

It's Here!

Yes, my new computer arrived at work today - I'm so excited! My trusty 6 year old desktop died right when I got back from vacation - I've been thinking about replacing it with a lap top for a while, but couldn't bear the thought of deep sixing it, even though it was becoming unbearably slow. I think it's something with the motherboard - who knows... Hopefully my IT guys at work can figure out enough to get it to run so I can download some old files and programs off of it.

Now I just need to get the new lap top (and new printer) home tomorrow night - which means either a cab ride or going home, getting my car and double parking in front of work (risking a ticket) while my IT guys help bring the boxes down. I don't quite understand why the boxes are so big - one of them is just the lap top, so it should be small, right? Not. There are two huge boxes - I can understand the printer box being big, but the lap top? Not sure I understand that. We'll see when I open them up! Maybe there are more surprises in them. Like free stuff... I love free stuff :)

Tri Night

For all you triathletes out there, it's that time of year again! Wheelworks Multisport's annual tri night - this Friday April 13th starting at 6:30. We have fabulous speakers again this year - Candy and Andy Noble - local Xterra triathletes who are great people as well as phenomonal athletes. Check out their web site www.caansports.com. All of our sponsors will be there and we're having some fun raffles too. But more importantly, there's the popcorn machine! Hope to see you there!

Latest Read

So I just finished Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains. I received this book last fall (or was it spring?) when I attended the Boston Public Library's fundraising gala. Since I read all day at work, I hardly ever read books any more - just mindless magazines - except when I'm on vacation. I only managed to read this one book while I was on vacation (possibly due to the fact that I worked 1/2 days on my vacation - fun).

So, back to the book. It's the story of Dr. Paul Farmer - who has devoted his life attempting to eradicate TB from Haiti as well as other developing countries like Peru and Russia, but primarily Haiti. It's amazing how one person really can make a difference. More importantly it drove home to me that donating money to causes is all well and good, but it can be so much more meaningful and rewarding to devote one's time.

Next up is Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light.

Back to Reality

Well, back to work this week - not as bad as I thought it would be. Things are finally settling down, which is nice. I'm sure there will be a lot of chaos still, but I'm hoping things calm down permanently in another 4-5 months. We'll see. Now I just need to get back into a work out schedule.

Vail

Phenomonal powder day at Vail last week - 8" of fluffy powder made for fantastic skiing in the bowls and in the trees of blue sky basin. Loved it!