Five Points from Five Points

This may be the lamest post ever; humor me, and go with it.

1. It rained this week -sweet, glorious rain! The temperatures also dropped and are below average this week, which I don't know about you, but this makes me so happy I could almost cry. I'm just thrilled that it finally rained and hope it doesn't stop the remainder of the week or month for that matter because we need it.

2. My neighbor Jeff brought me some tomatoes this week. This is the second time he has given me tomatoes this year. He also ran someone off from my parking spot a couple of Sundays ago. Our neighbor down the street has a gathering of folks three of four times a year and if you are nor at home when the guest start arriving, then beware because your parking spot will probably be taken from you. I didn't know there was going to be a party on this particular evening (I guess it was to celebrate the Fourth) and when I pulled on to my street, I thought, oh no, there had better not be anyone in my spot. There wasn't. When I got out of the car, Jeff came over and told me he had just ran someone off from my spot. He was going to pull my garbage can out front to block the spot had I not arrived home when I did. He is a good neighbor.

3. My neighbor Charlie has not one, but three Porches. My car needs duct tape to function while my next-door neighbor has about $200K worth of car. Five Points is a little crazy like that.

4. It's been over four weeks since I last mowed the lawn. It doesn't need it. Lack of rain equals lack of grass. The grass is so dry that it makes a crunching sound when you walk on it and is also as brown as brown can be. I'm sure it will do a little growing this week since we received some rain and I'll be back to mowing in no time.

5. There are five new kittens across the street. They were born on June 6 and are not the kittens that were conceived outside my window seeing as how the kittens conceived outside my window are probably still gestating. How long is a cat pregnancy anyway? Maybe they aren't still gestating; but, at any rate, the cat across the street was knocked up before there was a crazy cat night outside my window. Four of the five kittens are some combination of black and white and one is a tabby. The tabby is the prettiest one. If you are looking for a cat let me know and I can tell my neighbors. The Tide and I will not be taking one.

A List

I'm feeling like a list today; so, here it goes:

1. I stumbled across two new blogs recently. Both are written by friends of mine and I encourage you to stop by if you have a chance. The first is called Southern Sass with a Side of Laughs and is written by my sorority sister Gwen. Gwen is one of the funniest people I have ever met. She always has a smile on her face and makes others around her laugh. Her quirky and smart sense of humor is unbeatable and I am so glad she decided to put her feelings of anxiousness aside and start a blog. She only has one entry (at the time I am writing this) but it is well worth the read. Her father passed away last week and she first talks about braving the world of blogging and then shares the eulogy she spoke at her father's funeral. It is remarkable and I hope you will take the time to read it.

The second blog is called Simply Living Our Life and is written by my friend Ashley. She has recipes and craft ideas as well as  just general entries about what's going on in her life. Her recipes look delicious and the craft projects are darling. She has also been blessed to become the newest fourth grade teacher at Madison Academy and so I'm sure she will soon be regaling us with stories from the classroom. Check it out if you have the chance.

2. I have been on an apple and peanut butter kick for breakfast for at least a month, maybe two. I'm not sure what started it actually, but it has been a good choice for my breakfast as it is very filling and I'm not hungry before lunch time. I'm a Golden Delicious fan. Despite the fact that for the past six-eight weeks I have been cutting an apple each morning for breakfast, I walked out of my front door on Monday without one. I completely forgot about cutting an apple or eating breakfast at all apparently and didn't realize it until I was driving to work. I blame it on le Tour. I was all involved in getting as many pre-race tweets read before cutting myself off from all manner of the world. Thankfully our cafeteria at work serves breakfast. It was greasy, but it was food so I won't complain.

3. Speaking of le Tour, there have been a ton of crashes this year and some big names have had to abandon, which makes me sad. My favorite to win it all was out after stage six and I was crushed because I wasn't sure who I would pull for to win it all and am still not sure. The current wearer of the maillot jaune had some brutally honest and fierce comments after Sunday's stage. I'll link up to it here in case you want to read about it, but I will warn you the language is in-your-face and not for the faint of heart. I personally loved it, but I've never been one to shy away from swear words in certain situations. Just being honest here, Aunt Linda! His response was in question to the naysayers who accuse him of blood-doping. The link to his response is here.

4. I'm still on a dairy ban and I haven't lost the first pound - maybe I'm doing it wrong? I mentioned it to my doctor when I went last week and he seemed thrilled that I was going dairy-free for a while. I've vowed to keep it up through the end of August and then I will re-evaluate. I'm not missing cheese too much, but man could I go for a cold smooth glass of milk!

5. As of Wednesday, July 11 (which is more than likely when you are reading this), there are only 50 days left until the start of college football season. I realize most of you don't care, but I am pretty excited about it. Look at it this way, In seven or eight weeks there will be a new fall TV season, and with any luck cooler weather, in combination, you can hardly beat those three.

6. This time last year I was preparing for a flight to France. This time this year, France is loudly calling my name and I cannot wait to go back, whenever that may be. I'm having withdrawals from the motherland.

7. Met a cute boy at church on Sunday. Sadly, he is about 10 years my junior so I think I'll go ahead and mark that possibility off the list. Onward!

8. As of this week, I have not eaten anything from McDonald's in one year. It wasn't really a conscious decision it just kind of happened, which is strange because I love their french fries more than any others. 

9. Tuesday morning, there was a wreck that shut down the Parkway close to where I work. Thankfully I had seen this on the news before I left home and was able to come up with an alternate route and made it to work on time. A lot of other people were late. Days like that, I'm glad I watch the news in the morning.

10. I like hot dogs.

Book Review: Racing Through The Dark

Well, it's not the end of the week, but I'm going with a book review anyway because I just finished this particular book and wanted to post some things about it while it is still fresh on my mind. That's how I roll.

The book is called Racing Through the Dark and it was written by David Millar, a cyclist on my favorite team, Garmin-Sharp. It is an auto-biography of sorts and is one of the most intriguing books I have read in a while. Actually, I feel like I have said that three times in a row as the last two books I reviewed were also interesting; but, this book goes to the head of the pack in my opinion. However, I am a lover of cycling and so you may not agree and that's okay, I'll still like you.

David Millar is one of the quirkiest, in your face cyclists out there. I have followed him on Twitter for a while now and basically everything the man says has me in stitches. I love his blunt honesty and is rather odd sense of humor. When I found out he had a book coming out, I immediately set forth looking for it. The book was released in the UK last year. Millar, born in Malta, is a Scot, and thus the first release of the book was in his homeland. It was published in other countries as well while I patiently waited for a US release date. Finally, June 26, 2012 came around and Racing Through the Dark was downloaded onto my Kindle and I started reading it that day. I was pulled in from page one.

Millar begins the book at the very beginning (his birth), a very good place to start (as they sing in the Sound of Music). He describes his childhood as a brat of the Royal Air Force and goes on to tell of his parents' divorce and how he came about living with his dad in Hong Kong. He describes how he became interested in cycling and made a decision to become a professional cyclist.

Millar became a professional cyclist in the 1990s and as you may or may not know in the 1990s cycling was tainted with athletes who used performance enhancing drugs to better their performance. Most of this involved what is known as blood-doping, which involves increasing the red-blood cell count to increase the oxygen in the blood which in turn helps you heal faster after training, etc. and as a result helps better the performance of the athlete. Hopefully I explained that in a general and yet accurate way. I wasn't really familiar with the blood-doping era of cycling as I was not a fan at that time. I became a fan after dating Tony which was in 2008 and when the sport had been cleaned up quite a bit. Sure, there are still some guys who I would assume use blood-doping tactic, but I think for the most part it is gone from the sport, or at least I like to think so. The Garmin-Sharp team is one that has a zero tolerance for blood-doping which is one of the reasons I like them so much; that, and they are an American team and their team manager is completely awesome.

So, in case you haven't figured it out by now, Millar was one of the athletes who succumbed to blood-doping tactics. At first and for years he raced clean, but the pressure finally became more than he could handle and the team he was with wasn't the cleanest team in the business and the pressure to perform became more than overwhelming and so Millar gave in to that pressure and began using EPO to increase his red blood cells. This went on for a year or more before he was caught by the French authorities and finally came clean about what he had been doing.

Millar's account is very honest and open and for me was very eye-opening. As mentioned, I was not a fan during this time and so it was interesting to read about the things that were going on during cycling's most tainted decade. Millar received a two-year ban for his crimes and then made a comeback to cycling with Garmin, at the time known as Slipstream. He is now an advocate against blood-doping and for keeping the sport clean.

I loved this book from beginning to end. His descriptions of races and cycling in the peloton made it feel as if I was riding a tandem bike with him and eavesdropping in on his conversations. It brought a fantastic perspective to this super-fan. He also describes throughout the book his relationship with his sister, Fran, which often reminded me of my own relationship with my troubled brother. This book made me laugh, and yes, made me cry and at the end of it all, I felt like Millar and I were great friends, or mates as he would be more likely to say.

If you are a cycling fan, then I think you will love this book and even if you are not, I still think it would be an interesting read. The ups and downs of Millar's life will have you turning the page with frenzied fanfare and have you wondering what in the world is going to happen next. Thankfully we know that in the end, it all turns out okay and the world is a better place because of that.

Cooking in the Car - Eggs

So apparently I should have taken the end of last week off from blogging because no one left any comments; which basically means that Erika was not at work - she is my most loyal commenter and for that I will be eternally grateful. Comments keep me going people, just being honest here.

Today we have part two of Cooking in the Car: 2012 Edition. You may recall that a couple of years ago I attempted a to boil an egg in the car by leaving an egg in a glass of water on the dash for the day. Sadly, it did not turn out boiled as I had hoped, but rather it was basically a poached egg. This year I decided I would crack open the egg and see how that worked. After all, we often hear the phrase, "it's hot enough to fry an egg" or however it is that goes.

On Friday, June 29, I cracked open two eggs and scrambled them up in a glass bowl. I had smeared the bowl with butter because let's face it, cooked eggs need a little butter to make them tasty and I was hoping it would help prevent the eggs from sticking.

At the house before work

I arrived at work around 7:00 a.m. and left the eggs on the dash for the day; as always, I'm sure people were wondering what the heck was going on.

On the dash - 7:00 a.m.

Up close and on the dash - 7:00 a.m.

A view from outside the car - 7:00 a.m.

I left for the day at 4:00; so, the eggs were in the car for about nine hours. When I first got to the car, I didn't think the eggs had cooked. I don't know why I thought that because clearly they are not going to fluff up like scrambled eggs when they are basically just baking all day long. At any rate, I opened up the door and discovered that the eggs had indeed cooked, almost to the point of burning. They were a solid mass of egg and very hard and stuck to the bowl.

4:00 p.m.

Overdone eggs - 4:00 p.m.

A view from above - 4:00 p.m.

You know how if you over boil an egg and the yolk will get a bluish/black on the outside? Well, that's what happened with these eggs too. They were overcooked. The yolks were basically the color of Velveeta they had cooked so much and there was bluish/black on some parts of the egg.

A view from the underside - 4:00 p.m.

I did not eat this experiment. I'm not a big fan of eggs anyway and these were just not appealing to me in the least. I will say the eggs were a beast to get off of my bowl; apparently I should have used more butter. I ran the bowl through the dishwasher twice before some of the crustier egg finally came off.

So, that's the story of cooking eggs in the car. I wouldn't recommend leaving it out there for nine hours if you are looking to cook it and eat it. If you added some onion, mushrooms, cheese, etc. then it might make for a good omelet. Hmmm, maybe I'll try that another time.

A Change of Gyms

ave been going to the same gym for a couple of years now. I call it a ghetto gym because well, let's be frank, it's pretty ghetto there. I signed up when they were running a special of $300 for a two year membership with an option to renew yearly at $150 per year. I renewed back in March when my contract was up but haven't been happy there for a while. The place is far from what I would call clean. It's often stinky, which I can somewhat overlook because it is after all a gym, and the bathrooms are pretty gross as in I wouldn't want to step on the floor barefoot. Sometimes in the summer the air conditioner will go out and it will take weeks for it to be repaired, and the staff isn't really all that friendly. It's rare that the person at the front desk will say hello and I've been taking the same spin class from the same instructors for over two years and they still don't know my name... and one of them has even been to my house to watch a cycling race when he was without cable!

To top it off, most of the people that go there get on my nerves. I don't know any of the people who just come to lift weights or whatever but the people in the spin class are rather snobby with the exception of about four older men who are always nice and say hello and can carry on a conversation that doesn't revolve around booze. The instructors, you see, are all in their late 20s or early 30s and are still living it up like they are in college, which is really not very appealing to me. Plus, they all drink energy drinks like they are going out of style which says to me, I drank too much last night and I need a boost to teach this spin class. I am of the belief that energy drinks are terrible for you so it's a little disconcerting to see a physical trainer pounding one every day. Oh, and did I mention the parking lot is full of pot holes and isn't located in the loveliest part of town?

OK, I think that does it for my complaints about my old gym, at least that I can think of right now. When I signed up I mainly wanted to see if I would actually go to the gym before actually delving into something more expensive. Needless to say, I've become a little un-enamored with the place as of late; not that I was ever over the moon about it before; and, after seeing the lovely facilities at D1 recently I came to the realization that I should do myself a favor and move on to a better gym, even if it does cost me more each month.

So, after lots of thought and lo, even budgeting, I decided on the YMCA. There is a downtown location which opened a few years ago and I had toured once with Erika. I knew it was a nice facility and is located less than two miles from my house - I can ride my bike there! I was originally planning to get the membership for the downtown Y only, but after talking it over with some co-workers who are Y members, I decided to go for the whole kit and caboodle. We get a (very small) discount through my employer and since I work in South Huntsville, which is close to one of the other two locations, it made sense to have access to all Y locations.

Monday night I took a spin class at the downtown location and was one of two students in the class. The instructor said it's been a little odd lately with people being out of town for vacation and what not. I think they usually have a bigger crowd. The class was completely different from the spin classes to which I am accustomed. The way they do it at the Y will definitely take some getting used to. I'm used to techno music and having a set track for each song (mountains, terrain, sprints, intervals, etc). The class on Monday night was really random. The instructor just played some music and there wasn't any structure to the songs. It was a lot different; hopefully I will get used to it and not hate it.

Tuesday night I tried out a class at the Southeast Y that was called HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training - and it was really great. The class was pretty hard core and similar to the sessions at D1. Each week the class is different so you never know what to expect. There was some running and I just trotted or walked during the running parts because 1) I was exhausted and 2) I DO NOT want shin splints again any time soon so I am going to take it easy on the running for quite a while. The instructor was upbeat and enjoyable. I will definitely take this class again and have plans to make it my normal Tuesday afternoon routine. It starts at 4:15 so if I leave work about 10 til 4:00, I have plenty of time to make it to the Y, change clothes and have a breather for a couple of minutes before getting started - and I get home before 6:30, which is an added bonus.

Other than some slight disorganization with the front office at the downtown location I have so far enjoyed my experience. The Y offers a large variety of classes and the Southeast location has a pool, racquetball courts, and basketball courts. Both locations offer childcare, which comes with the membership; but sadly, no canine care. I guess that's how it goes.

I shall keep you posted on how things are going but as of this moment, I think the Y and I are going to have a very lovely and long-lasting relationship.

Sometimes I Frighten Children

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth! Mine was nice and really low-key. I was up early and made some coleslaw and lemon bars before settling in to watch the day’s stage of le Tour. After watching the stage I managed to peel myself off the couch and bathe which is always important when you are going to be seen in public.

My parents had a cookout which was originally scheduled for noon but due to some errors with the stove, we finally got around to eating about 1:15. The food was great and I ate too much. Our friends Naaman and Cheryl brought their famous potato salad and I was thankful to be able to bring some of it home with me as well as some of the Kahlua pig my dad cooked; so I will have another good lunch on Thursday.

I left at the same time as my granddad. He wants me to drive his spare vehicle for a while, which is actually the vehicle my brother usually drives. My granddad offered to have my car fixed – the window and possibly the gear shift if it’s not too much. I hope to take it in over the weekend or sometime next week. The offer came out of nowhere and was really nice of him. I will be glad to have the window repaired and probably so will anyone who rides with me. So, we dropped Blue off at my house then I drove him home and brought the Beamer back home with me. When I got home and turned the car off, it sputtered a bit and it was like the engine wouldn’t cut off. It was a little weird. I don’t really know what my granddad’s plan is for the car, but I will drive it while mine is in the shop but don’t plan on holding on to it. I think it is better suited for my brother. After all, I have a goal of driving Blue until she gets 200 thousand miles on her.

Wednesday night I went to church and only had one child in my class so he and I went in and joined another class so that he wouldn’t be the only student. I still have a slight cough from my recent bronchitis and every time I coughed one of the babies would turn around a stare at me. He had the most serious look on his face and it cracked me up. Apparently I was a wee bit startling. The rest of the night I hung out with The Tide, watched some TV and listened to all the folks shooting fireworks. I’m sure it will carry on way into the night.

So, like I said, low key and enjoyable. It’s back to work again tomorrow which seems odd because all day it has seemed like a Saturday. Hopefully you all had a nice and enjoyable day as well.

Happy Fourth

This Tide and I wish all of you have a very
 Happy Independence Day!

Hope you all have a great time with your friends and family!

Stay safe and have fun!