I'll admit I'm a chicken

I haven't been riding much lately due to work and weather, but I had to get up and ride yesterday. I just couldn't take it anymore. So, I got up and left and went to the meeting point. No one was there and since I was a little bit early I rode up the hill, then back down. Back at the meeting point I saw a blue light coming up the hill...it was Steve. Apparently we were the only ones that were going to take advantage of the great weather.

We took off to ride water tower. It had snowed the day before, so we weren't quite sure what we would find. When we got to the top of the road we saw snow, but it looked pretty rideable, so we took it on. The first was not too bad, but eventually we got to a part that had not been plowed. Steve did great he kept riding and going. I slipped and had to get on my bike, rode for a bit and then slipped again, rode for a bit and then slipped again. Riding in 5 inch snow is not as easy as it looks. As I was riding I saw Steve ahead of me and all I could think was "go Steve, go" how awesome he plowed through the snow like it was nothing. After getting to the top he came back and we decided to go back and do some hills in the neighborhoods. Funny thing I ended up going slower down than up. I am such a chicken. It was slippery, and I didn't want to fall, so I went about 5 miles an hour. Whoever said going downhill is faster than up has not ridden with me.

After getting to the bottom we climbed some really great hills, and I learned I am in not the best of shape. Oh well, that means I can only get better from here.

The Circus

A little over a week ago my daughter went to the circus, and this is how she returned.

Too bad it wasn't Halloween, I could never do a make-up job this good.

It Fits

I got my bike back! Actually Gary Fisher sent a new frame because the other one couldn't be fixed.

After riding my bike once on dirt I took it down to Racer's Cycle Service to get fitted. Getting your bike fitted can be quite the process. Racer had me pedal my bike, and then he did some measuring and adjusting. Then there was some more pedaling, adjusting, measuring and tweaking until the bike fit perfect. And now it does.

A Day Full of Whiners

It's been a long time since I have posted. I was put in a new position at work and have been working long hours to learn my new position and to organize and research the places I need to go. There has been a lot of clean up of the position. My predecessor only gave me information on 5 clients. There have been more, as I have researched and looked, but it has taken me a little bit of time to find them, and sometimes I don't know until I get an email. Anyway, I like it and the reorganize and figuring things out has not been too bad. What has been bad has been all of the whiny people I work with.

There have been a lot of changes at work lately. We no longer print our paper, and have hired media one to do the printing. There have been a large number of people laid off and a few firings. There have been a streamlining of our weeklies, and needless to say a lot of people are concerned. Good & bad I am not. I understand the change and think it is smart others have seen the change as we are going under. I guess they will focus on whatever they want. I prefer to stay positive.

Anyway with all of those changes the latest has been pretty big. Our publisher had a sudden, major health issue and is now going to be away from the office anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Our CFO, marketing director and a manager from south county offices have taken over the position of ad director while we wait for our new ad director to come on the 23rd and while our publisher is recovering. They are doing a great job considering most of us are not selling much, and we have publishments coming out that are going to be empty which is honestly quite embarrassing. They have even tried to find different incentives to motivate us to get our ad spaces sold. However, instead of taking on the challenge all they do is complain about what they can't get and the advertisers don't get it, or the advertisers won't advertise.

Honestly it's hard for everyone. I am responsible for jobs, but right now there are so many unemployed employers are not looking to advertise, because they don't need to. That's okay though, because there are still some that need to and I will find them. The funny thing is I got a day to sell retail, and I did cold calls and I got sales, so I although it's hard I don't think you need to complain.

Well, today it went past the whining and complaining. It became being disrespectful and gossipy. Most of the sales staff was in a webinar today, and unfortunately most of us know the information and so instead of paying attention to the webinar people were talking. The talking turned to making rude remarks about our CFO and marketing director and then actually turned to being disrespectful of them. I was quite for part of the time, but after a bit I became ill listening to what was going on and couldn't keep quite any longer. So I called them out on what they were doing. I am glad I said something and yet at the same time I know I will now be talked about and the target for some sales people in the office. It wasn't an easy thing to do, because of the a strain I knew it would create with some people. But I couldn't have lived with being a silent contributor and not saying something. Sometimes doing what is right doesn't always make for the best situation, but at least I can live with myself.

Mandy's Blog

It has been noted by ER Doc that I have been slow on blogs, and it has been so. I have been very busy with learning my new job and have not paused much to write. Well, things are lightening up and I have about 2 more nights of work. In the mean time. I am copying in some of Mandy's blog.

Mandy has a blog that can only be shared with her family. This bothers her because she wants others to see what she has to say. So her you go. I think she has great thoughts on different subjects.

Blog 1 Mountain Bike Race

Hi, you know how some people might think that Mountain Biking is only for boyswell its not cause I do it.I know some of you girls out there don't want to gethurt .And I know how you feel .I do Mountain Bike Racing and I fall down and get hurt a lot but don't let that get in my way of having fun.soif that got you wanting to get up and go Mountain Biking ,then first here are a few tips 1:WHERE A HELMET2:WHERE SOME MOUNTAIN BIKING GLOVES 3:PRACTICE4:TAKE IT EASY. And that's it .Hope you have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Blog 2 Work

Wow what a day ,I mean life is hard with all the work u have to do .I wonder what it would be like with out work ?Well one things right the world wouldn't be the same.If I had no work to do I would probably be shopping, but life isn't like that cause with out work the world would be a trash.Man life is not perfect.


Blog 2 French

I'm learning how to speak in French!!!!!!!!!!!This is how u say actor in French, l'acteur {m} l'actrice {f}.This how u say {to be} afraid avoir peur, air l'air {m}, add ajouter, alone seul ,angel l'ange {m},art l'art {m},bag le sac,ballerina la ballerine,beautiful beau {bel, belle},birthday l'anniversaire {m},bright vif {vive},cage le cage,candle la bougie,cat le chat,chicken le poulet,city la grande ville,country le pays,computer l'ordinateur {m},dance danser,and lots of other stuff u should learn other lunguges ,it's really fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Blog 3 Christmas

WOW CHRISTMAS WAS GREAT !!!!!WE GOT A WII FROM MY MOM AND DAD ,AND ALL WENT WELL.NO FIGHTS AT ALL .SO FAR NOBODY HAS GOT ADDICTED TO .LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT I KNOW HAVE GOTTEN ONE.WELL SINCE THE WII COST A LOT WE DIDN'T REALLY GET THAT MUCH STUFF, SO THAT DOESN'T GIVE ANYTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT .TALK ABOUT GOOD ENDING.


Blog 4 My Birthday

My Birthday this year was the best.I got a Guinea Pig!!!!!!!!!It's a male,It has white hair,It has red eyes,And it's a baby.If your looking for a small pet thats fun a Guinea Pig is good choise .


Blog 5 A Moment to Remember


A Moment To Remeber
Last week my Guinea Pig died. Everybody in my family was very sad.So I went and got two more Guinea Pigs and this time Girls.Mine is black and her name is Steffani the family Guinea Pig is White,Orange,And Black and her name is coco

Cross Country Skiing

I went cross country skiing today for the first time. Dot and I took Joey, Johnny and Mandy up to Sundance to try it out. This was the very first time for Mandy on skis and my first time on cross country skii. Oh, and my first time on skiis since 1993.

Mandy did great. We started out with a little bit of a struggle trying to figure out how to go forward, how to get our selves unwrapped fomr skiis twisted around, how to get up after falling down and how to go down hill. As time went on Mandy got better and better, and so did I, but not as much as her. Mandy was all for going downhill and was not worried about falling or anything else. Me I went downhill sitting on my skiis. Eventually (the very last hill) I was able to stand, but it took a lot more practice than Mandy.

The skiing was fun and I can't wait to go again.

Mandy trying to figure out how to stand up.

Daydreaming about the fun she is about to have.

Johnny checking out all the skiis.

My first fall as I tried to navigate down a very small down slope.

Having fun skiing. Johnny leading the way.

Sliding down the hill on my skiis. Mandy & Johnny went down standing up.
Finally learning to navigate down the hill.
Joey showing me how to go down a hill.

Skeleton World Cup

This is my friend Noelle. This is a cool picture of her. You can read about how she is doing at the World Cup here.

Rumor Mill

It is amazing how things can spread around an office. On Tuesday the gal in charge of recruitment quit to take a job close to her home. My manager came and talked to me yesterday (Wednesday) about taking her position. Now I need to regress.

Just before Christmas my manager asked me if I would like to sell Internet Advertising there were not a lot of specifics, and he said we would talk when he got back, which was this week. While he was gone another manager came to me and is considering having me sell advertising for a web page on our web site.

So now that I have regressed let me go forward. My manager came and talked to me about the recruitment position and also about the Internet. We talked about the possibility of me doing both positions and then he asked me to keep it between us two until he talked to the publisher. He emailed the publisher right after we met and she said it looked like a good idea and she would get back to him. He let me know and since then it was supposedly just between the two of us.

Well, what wasn't between the two of us was the fact that she quit. Once she gave her notice she let everyone in our office know. Since she let everyone know, everyone realized there was going to be a vacancy. After that everyone decided who was going to get the position and it seems I was the logical choice. Anyway today I had a few people say they heard I was taking over her position, and one even knew about the Internet advertising. So much for secrets, I can't believe how quickly things get spread around.

Reality Check

Went to spin class this morning. Thought it shouldn't be too bad as I really haven't quit riding. Boy was I wrong, 45 minutes into the class I got dizzy and lightheaded and actually had to quit spinning for a couple of minutes. It was very embarassing that I had to stop, and it made me realize I need to work on my fitness level. Ther is nothing more humbling than learning you have not have progressed as far as you hoped. Oh well, although reality can be somewhat harsh at least it gives you something to reach for.

Snow Shoeing

I went snow shoeing with Steve this morning. It was a perfect day for going, the weather was great and you couldn't have asked for better temperatures. This was my first real snow shoeing excursion. I went once before, but that was to clear trail for the frozen hog, so it doesn't really count.

Now there is a funny thing you should know if you go snow shoeing with Steve. He is about 6'8 and has very long legs. It took me at least 2 strides for his one. I thought this was funny and could only imagine what it must be like for his wife when they go shopping. I am guessing he has probably gotten used to be a very casual walker. Which is pretty much what he did for this excursion. He would go casually ahead and then wait for me to catch up. Luckily I wasn't too far behind so he didn't have to wait too long. You know it seems that the same thing happens when we ride mountain bikes....I am beginning to see a pattern here.

Meadow at part of the trail. This would be a great place to make a snow man.

This is how far ahead Steve usually is.

Tibble Fork Trail.

Perfect place for a photo op.
Going around the downed tree.
Another great photo op.