learning new tricks

This week, the Boy and I each learned a new trick in the kitchen.

First, I learned how to to change the faucet. Our kitchen used to have one of those taps with separate hot and cold knobs. Hardly ideal for when you have sticky, dirty hands and just want to get them clean without making a huge mess!

The Boy supervised, and I learned a bit about plumbing.

I am loving the new faucet, and am excited to have learned how to change them. It was easy in terms of skills required, but challenging because it is cramped under the kitchen sink, and a certain amount of contortion is needed to get it together.

Later in the week, this little cyclist had a birthday. And I got a homemade birthday cake! The Boy's first foray into baking, and because I was at work, it was entirely unsupervised.

This photo brought to you by the self-timer function on the camera

Chocolate cake, with broiled coconut topping. Absolutely delicious!

Midsummer Break

New Bike!!!
It took a bit longer to get the new bike together, but it is done, and not a second too soon! I basically had enough time to ride it up and down the street a few times on Friday night before packing it all up for racing on Sunday.

Summer Solstice
Mari organized a large group of great women into a 10-person team for Summer Solstice. It was a great weekend - excellent company, fun course, hanging out with the True North team, and of course, the new bike. Last year I skipped the the 24, and the year before it was a soggy, muddy 12hr. With warm weather and brief showers to keep the track tacky, it was the perfect year to come back for this race. I really liked the atmosphere for our 10-person - it was very different from being on a five-woman team in contention for the podium. But I think I get enough serious racing from the OCups - I am happy to have one race that's more about hanging out and having fun!


Oregon
Go west, young woman! Quick little solo vacation and family time, first to visit friends in Seattle, and then to hang out with my family in Hood River. Awesome riding in Hood River, and since Bronwyn and Mike recently took up mountain biking, I was able to go on a ride with both my sisters! Bronwyn and I rode two days in a row (we left Meg and her beau to do a DH/Super D run and there was a lot of getting lost and getting separated). Other highlights: Bronwyn's birthday, super awesome house with great views to relax at, Lost Lake, mom's cooking.

halifax

Work has been a bit crazy lately, but there's been an upside to the extra hours. Conference time!

I flew into Halifax on Sunday afternoon, and was a bit surprised by the fog and cooler weather. Has spring arrived anywhere?

It was an engineering conference, so I'm not going to bore you with that for content. The conference was great, though, with lots of great presentations on cycling and sustainable transportation. And I had two presentations, both of which went very well. The weather improved, just in time for the bike tour, and I also got in a run up to the Citadel (which my quads are still sore from), and of course, some great seafood.

happy holidays

It's been a lovely break since the end of the season. Things were a bit busy at the beginning of December - the Boy and I moved apartments, but I think I can chalk that up to a good workout, too - second floor to second floor, I covered a lot of stairs that day!

Immediately afterwards, I put the Boy on a plane out to my parents place in Victoria, and I headed to my sister's in Portland. A lot of shopping and enjoying some great food in one of my favourite cities, and it was time to head to my parents, too. It was warm and sunny, mostly, and there were otters at the beach.

It was a fantastic time in Victoria, too. The whole family was home for Christmas, and since I rarely make it home, it's great to see everyone.

Santa was good to us!

We brought bikes, and got in a couple of nice road rides in the neighbourhood, as well as a couple of super fun ride at the Dump - one with my sister's boyfriend, and one just the two of us.

(The Dump, for those not familiar, is a mountain bike park outside Victoria. It's on Mount Work, directly next to the Hartland Landfill, hence the name. Awesome trails. The Boy describes it as "like Buckwallow, but on the side of a mountain". I would add that it is very, very green there, too.)

We came back to our new apartment and a big pile of boxes. The Boy has been diligently getting things put away, put together, and organized, as I've been at the office the last couple of days. Things are starting to take shape, and we're loving being in our first place that's 100% ours. Photos once things are a bit more put together... which will happen after the New Years winter fun in Collingwood!