My Week

I was reading Geek Girl's post. It was a great breakdown of her week. I read it and thought, wow, she had a week of weeks I think. Mine, pretty boring. Really boring. Then, I realized, maybe it wasn't so boring.
Monday was a good start for the week. My company is growing. This means I need a Consultant. I need someone who has already grown a couple of businesses to help me out. So, my partner and me met with this guy who believes he can help us. It's not the growing that worries me. It's the bleeding of profits. I want to be sure that the growth isn't hurting our ability to grow financially.
Monday night, I went to Yoga. Yes, yoga. Again. I loved the class. Loved the workout. (is yoga considered a workout?) I don't know if all Yogi's do this or not, but ours has you lie down and relax at the end of class. Breathe and purge sort of thing. She turns the lights out, lights a candle or two and starts telling you to clear your mind, breathe, fall into nothing. You get the picture right? I actually hear a couple of short snores. Yes. One or two folks were really listening to her, or not, based on your perception. Me, well I tried. I did. I couldn't get comfortable. Something about lying on the hard floor (yoga mat did not help so much) trying to relax. I kept tossing and turning. Just trying to find a comfortable position. Then, when the snoring started, I felt the giggles coming on. Not to mention, I was still giggling over the little fart that slipped out when I did the splits on the floor. Come on, farts are funny. Even in yoga class. I Could not clear my mind. The whole place was dark and sort of quiet. Except for the snoring, the yogi talking softly, a few other heavy breathers and me. Giggling. Quietly. Trying not to. That made it even funnier. I am not sure I am going to be allowed back in to yoga.
On Tuesday I fought off a serial killer, rapist. Single handedly. With a knife. He had a gun. This is how it unfolded...
Tuesday we had our weekly meeting at work. Had a contractor come in and give us information on his business and talk about our building a professional partnership with him. Only one problem. One of my colleagues didn't show up. She didn't call, she wasn't answering her home or cell phone either. She would have called if she were able. That's her. That's what she does. My colleague is also one of my dear friends, lets call her DAWN. At about 1:30pm I finally track down DAWN'S sister. It took me about 30 minutes to find her. I only knew the sister's first name and I only knew she worked for an office supply company. So, I start dialing the yellow pages. A few companies later, I hit the right one. I talk to DAWN's sister (who also happens to live with DAWN). Sis has also been unable to reach DAWN. So, I get in my car and head over to DAWN's house. My other 3 colleagues are all just as worried as I am. They asked me to call upon my arrival and to keep them posted on what's happening.
On the way to her house I begin to think of what might have happened. What if she was in a bad wreck on the way to work. Well, if her car wasn't at home, we'd call the FL HP and see what we could find out. At which point we would also start checking with the hospitals. My thoughts though, lets see first if she is home.
To give you a little background, my friend is newly single. She is back out on the dating scene. I knew she was going out to dinner Monday night with some friends. I thought, what if she met someone. What if in her trusting ways (she trusts everyone) she maybe, just maybe met someone and brought him home. You know, to watch a movie or something. Well, what if Mr.Friendly turned out to be Ted Bundy JR. For crying out loud!! What if Mr. Friendly turned out to have a fond admiration for The Green River Killer. You see where this is going don't you? My fears aren't baseless though. It just happens that years ago a friend of mine, one of my closest dearest friends, was kidnapped, beaten, raped, stabbed, and left for dead in her van as the attacker set her van on fire. The attacker left, my friend didn't die. She survived, barely. You can imagine what was going on in my head at this point.
When I arrive at DAWN's neighborhood, she doesn't answer the call from the gate. I get out of my car and flag down a neighbor who was leaving, briefly explained I have a friend who I am worried about, answered her questions of who and where, she let me in the gate. When I pull into the driveway, there is a strange car parked there. It's about 2pm now. I ring the doorbell, knock loudly, shout, pound. Nothing. Nada. No one. Shit. Shit. Shit. I walk around to the back of the house because I can knock on the door to her bedroom(in FL we all have doors from the master to the outside). I knock and shout. Nothing. No response. DAWN is the kind of person who would come to the window. Even if she was naked. No DAWN. I look down at the patio table and there is a knife. I big knife. Swear, it's true. I couldn't make it up.
From where I am standing I can pretty much see into every room in the house. Except the bedroom, the blinds are all closed tight. As I am looking into the kitchen I notice DAWN's purse is there. I also see many of it's contents laying out on the kitchen Island. WTF? That's not normal. Ladies, how many of us pour our purses out at night? Things are not looking good. I pick up the knife. The knife looks like something DAWN's brother might have sent from Abu Dhabi. It's in it's sheath. Removing it from it's cover I note that it is very sharp and curved and should be easy enough to handle. All three of the back doors are locked . I couldn't get any of them open. I walk back to the front of the house. The mystery car is still in the driveway. From the front door I can see through to the back patio. The house is a very open floor plan with lots of windows. I start to look for a key. As I reach up above the door I step on the door mat and hear a tiny "chink" under the mat. Sounded like metal against cement. I lift the mat. Can you believe this? There is a key. To the front door. Who does that?!?! See what I mean about trusting? DAWN is trusting. Before I enter, I call the studio and tell them what's going on and that I am going into the house.
When I enter the house, my heart starts pounding. The sound is loud in my ears too. The house is quiet and dark except for the light coming in through the windows. I am yelling quite loudly now. No answer. There is DAWN's wallet, open, her driver's license is there, her social security card is out, on the island. Not right. A glass is sitting in the middle of a paper plate on the island. It still has coke in it and a few ice cubes. I am standing in the center of the house here. The answering machine has 11 calls on it. I turn back to the front door, make sure it is unlocked, leave my keys by the door in case I have to run. I didn't want to drop my keys and fumble to pick them up. In my mind, I am actually pretty calm. Oh, BTW, I am wielding the knife. A line from a movie pops into my head - something about bringing a knife to a gun fight. But, that's all I have. I just happened to forget my pistola at home today. Dammit. I turn towards the closed bedroom door.
Seriously worried that I could be out gunned here I actually reach across the door from behind a small wall to open it. Pushing it in as I shield myself behind the little outcrop of drywall. I ease my head around the corner after a 15 or 20 second delay. The bedroom is pitch dark. Instead of placing my body in the door I reach out to flip the light on with the knife. The bed is messed up but no one is in it. No blood. That's a good sign. My brain is very calm. I cross over and go into the bedroom. There is no body on the floor either. I turn to the bathroom. Lights are out. My next thought is I need to check the shower. I turn so that my back is on the wall opposite the bathroom mirror. This way, no one can come up from behind and surprise me. I turn on the lights, again using the knife. I am about to ease my way into the center of the bathroom to look in the shower and I hear a voice. It's sort of muffled. The voice says "I'm in the bathroom". (this means water closet aka toilet). Then the toilet flushes.
Through all of this, DAWN had been sitting on the John with a bad case of diarrhea. Yes. The cha cha chas. So -I stabbed her.
No, I didn't stab her. But, I thought about it. Briefly, for a millisecond. I put the knife back in it's case and keep it close by.
Turns out, DAWN did try to reach me that morning. She was really sick and wasn't going to make it. The message never came through on my phone. Thanks for the great service there VERIZON. The calm left my body and I began to shake, uncontrollably. Then I started to cry. Then I stabbed DAWN. Okay, again, I didn't stab her. In real life. In my mind though...
I had to call the studio and tell them everything was okay and that they could call the state troopers and tell them never mind. Then, I got in the bed and laid there for a bit to let my heart rate come back down. Dawn and I start to laugh. It was a sick, you are crazy, demented laugh. I asked her "Who's car is that in the driveway?" She asks, "what car?" I describe it. Turns out it belongs to her sister's boyfriend. He was in the house the entire time. He never bothered to answer my calling out or my knocks and poundings on the door. I yelled "HELLO" and "DAWN!!!" more times than I can count when I entered the house. We went out to the kitchen, Dawn checks and the coward's car is gone. Without a word.
A few minutes later I realized I was STARVING. Not just hungry, but so hungry I would gnaw off anyone's hand that managed to find it's way between my mouth and my food, hungry. We go for Chinese. After eating my little asian snack, my phone beeps. There's Dawn's message saying she won't be in to work today. It's 4:50pm the message is tagged at 9:24 AM. VERIZON SUCKS!!! Just sayin'.
When I arrive home I tell the story to Bigun. He was none too pleased with me. He was very unhappy with the fact that I entered a home believing there might be a killer inside...he was right. But. What are friends for? We kill killers and bury ex's, right?
Wednesday was uneventful.
Thursday, Betty Lou got some new shoes and an adjustment. Bigun and I went to the beach while BettyLou was getting her makeover.
Friday, Busy day of meetings and appointments. Today should be quiet and tomorrow is St.Anthony's
That was my week. Pretty boring, I know.

This Past Week

Out of Doors

I thought Betty Lou's optics resembled the two below

I had to go out
and "capture"

these two Pavarotti wanna be's

Bigun took this shot of the pair of musical prodigies

I had to get "my take" on them too

Here is the "calm before the storm" That big cloud on the left of the frame was the size of Earth and really black.
















In the rain

This Family of cranes (juvenile on far right) kept their distance - Male kept an eye on me.

I love this shot of the cranes because when it is in full frame - it looks like an oil painting. The focus was just out of sharp. Cool effect.

The other side of the door...Anastasia

Ying and Yang

Beauty















and The Beast

The Longest Race Report Ever

Thursday, August 23, we pack Betty Lou and get ready to ride. Of course, she has to leave Fred behind. Why you ask? Well, because she has to make room for this guy...

"The School Bus" No room for Fred when Bigun's Ride jumps on





(remember click on any picture you wish to see bigger)

Plus, Bigun needs to be able to fit in for the long journey too.





We hit the road.

Betty Lou avoided all temptation for the numerous Road Side Stands along the way

Somehow she also managed to avoid the PoPo in Lawtey, Waldo and Starke. All notorious "Speed Trap" towns...according the numerous billboards posted along the highway.

She did not however manage to avoid the many, many construction zones between Tampa and Chicago. I lost count after 25.

She kept the numbers in check

Said hello to recently Hitched Jen and Rob - from Tennessee

Cafe Risque definitely wanted our business. One of the signs even welcomed couples. Huh - go figure

Betty Lou was a trooper even when subjected to the minor indignity of bug splatter

Splatter which Bigun so kindly rid her of at every stop. What a nice guy. She says she'll keep him... hey, wait a minute...






We drove through one city ( L'Ville) after another





one construction zone after another...swear, it's a different one! They all look the same is all...



Then another city (Nashville)....

She drove through Thunder, lightening and driving rain storms.

Betty Lou FLEW through Atlanta




Narrowly saved our lives from this flesh eating, bone crushing monster

She took us to a Fine International Restaurant for some vittles





Skirted more construction in Georgia - They burn their highway debris....

All for this. The largest Triathlon known to man or woman.

More than 8000 competitors came out for this race. Incredible. And we were there...

This is Sherpa Extraordinaire - Andy. Andy and Brittany are our friends who live just outside of the Windy City. They rose at 3 am the morning of the race and packed a Sherpa pack to be envied by all. They totally rock. We dropped Bigun off about a block from the transition area so that we could go find a parking spot. We found a great spot in the Monroe Street garage. Perfect.

Andy, Brittany and I made our way down to the water where the athletes would be coming out of the swim. It was a beautiful morning and everyone seemed in great spirits. Smiles were everywhere and the chatter and excitement certainly was contagious if you weren't quite feeling it before. We were certainly feeling it.

We hung out and watched the people while we waited for Bigun to join back up with us. The first wave was to start at 6:30. We arrived at 4:30 and Bigun's wave wasn't due to leave until 9:41. The insanity!! Holy cow, all those waves of people. There were a total of 52 waves for this race. Bigun was in wave #51. lol. Truth.

So, to kill time while waiting, guess what I did.






The clouds were lit up like they were on fire . The edges reminded me of a slip of paper that falls into the fire and you snatch it out just before it is consumed by the fire. But the edges are glowing with that bright orange and yellow burn. The morning on the lake was like heaven. So beautiful.


The water was full of swimmers for 3 hours... look at all of those bodies both in the water and spectating. I read there were over 150,000 spectators last year. I wonder how many there were this year.

Finally found Bigun. Here he is with Tim Davies (left) Bigun, Roman Mica and Dr. Dave. These were the guys we were her to watch. There was some time to kill before they took off. So we all hung out and chatted and enjoyed each others' company for a while. It afforded these guys an opportunity to watch other athletes competing in the sprint portion of the race.



Master Sherpa taking a short break








The guys stretching and contemplating their race strategies...Tim went to find his dad and his wife. we didn't get to see him again until the bike.




I think this lady's morning must have started a little too early for her. She took a quick cat nap in the sun during the early portion of the race.

Beautiful Bride Brittany of Sherpa Extraordinaire Andy enjoying the wonderful morning with her hubby. We pretty much relaxed and waited for Big Mike and J-Wimm to join us. They arrived before Bigun and Roman hit the water. Where is their picture... I know I have a few or two here...hold on, they're coming.

Okay - the race is on! Bigun had a pretty good time in the water. I got a great shot of him just coming out of the water but he used it on his blog. I borrowed this shot from Andy.








Big Mike caught this shot of me, J-Wimm, Brittany and Andy cheering on the bike portion of the race. Man oh man. Talk about some HAWT bikes. They were there, J-Wimm and I both drooled over the new pink Trek and purred over the new Orbea Diva - in pink.




Bigun came peeling around the curve and screaming down the hill with the speed of light. We yelled, cowbelled and cheered pretty loudly! Then we had to figure out the logistics of getting to the finish line for the run. It was about 4 blocks away. we had a bit of a trek ahead of us. We made it fun.

The Fountain was celebrating it's 80th birthday on August 26th. They even had cake for everyone and clowns for the kids.

Andy was feeling a little "Pretty"

Sing it with me now "I fell pretty, oh so pretty..."










Fellow Photographer Brittany was sashaying all sexy like too...must have been the water spouting out like it was...

There they are!!! I told you Big Mike and J-Wimm were there with us!! It was so wonderful having them join us for this race. I felt like I dragged them all over tarnation though from this spot to that spot. It was fun. I couldn't say enough how happy I was that they drove 2 hours to hang with us. How awesome is that?

With all of our Dilly Dallying at the fountain, we almost missed Bigun crossing the finish line!! We did! we were so busy cuttin' up and playing the fool we barelymade his finish. Thankfully we did. he finished really strong. look at that smile! Look at that gait! He smoked chica at the line.

After the race we all sat and roasted for at least 2 hours in the blaring sun waiting for the awards. Talk about a crappy end to an excellent race, well...we won't even go there. That is an entire post on it's own. I am sure most of you have heard about the controversy over Roman's finish. He kicked ass on this race. For those of you who don't know, well...well...I just better not. It gets me spitting mad all over again!!

So, we made our way in three different cars to a wing place in Evanston. It was called Buffalo Joe's. Best wing sauceI've had in a very very long time. Talk about an adventure getting everyone there. It was a lesson in hysterical funny. Afterwards. During...well, we were worried about losing J-Wimm and Big Mike. They got caught in traffic in downtown Chicago. Big Time. I know they got a 20 minute later start than we did. Talk about flying, well Big Mike and J-Wimm must have sprouted wings on their Envoy, because it pulled into the garage 2 minutes after we did. AMAZING!!!!

We all had wings, all 9 of us at a table for 6. It was a bit of a challenge to get everyone in but we did it. This place we ate at was what one would describe as a "dive" . But Roman and his friend Steve had the skinny on this place. And they were right. The wings were sehr gut! 3 of us ordered the suicide wings - they weren't that hot. Really. ask Big Mike, but they were still really tasty. Did I tell you the wings were yummy?

We all laughed so hard. Big Mike and Dr. Dave were hysterical. Ask Big Mike about "Pinch to Pass". Dr Dave had all of the older (like in their 70's and up) age group ladies passing him up on the run, they had to "pinch to pass" True story. Okay, so not really, but according to Dave - by the time he made it back to Omaha it would be true. We were rolling with laughter.

We said our farewells to all and hitched The School Bus back on the back of our Team Sherpa car and headed off into the sunset. It was a glorious day and a glorious race.