Here we go again!

Tis the season for fires in Boulder. Unfortunately this one happens to be within a mile of city limits therefore causing much more of a threat than the Four Mile Fire. Check out this article and stay tuned to the Daily Camera for continual updates.

Home in MI

Since I only come back to Michigan a few times a year, and for usually such a short period, it's pretty chaotic. However, this unplanned trip might be the most mellow and relaxing time I've ever had at home. Due to obvious health reasons I cannot train or go to the gym all day but that's okay. I've been hanging with my mom and neighbors, eating delicious sugary treats, getting a haircut and having low key family events. We even had time to get our picture taken for the family Christmas card (above). Although I've been getting in lots of down time, Bryce has been busy getting his engineering learn on at a software conference! Thanks to his boss for giving us the opportunity to come hang in MI for a few days.

Moto and Pumpkin Carving

After a big day on the trails on Saturday, Bryce took me out to Milliken this afternoon to do a few laps on the grass track. Yes, it's still nearly impossible to go for more than 15min at a time, however, I had a blast and I miss riding my dirt bike so much. Luckily, I can watch Bryce rip it up on the track while I'm taking my breathers!

After a quick shower, we headed over to Allen's for the Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. I must say that they were quite prepared. From hot apple cider to mini pumpkin pies, it felt just like fall and Halloween.

As always, Bryce has to impress everyone with his ridiculous pumpkin carving skills. I must admit, it did come out pretty darn good.

This was the first of several pumpkins to be carved. Mine is the sideways smiley face in the middle and the sweet skull and bones one second from the left is Sir Binghams'! Although we would have loved to stay longer, it was back home to start packing for our trip to Michigan tomorrow :) Wooooohooooo...we're coming home for 3 days!

Remembering Glenn Tyson

Last night was Glenn's Celebration of Life in Windsor, CO. It was amazing to see how many people attended and hear the touching stories from those who really knew him. Godspeed Glenn Tyson, you will be missed by many.

A fun weekend turned sad

This past weekend was the Spanish Peaks Enduro in Trinidad, CO. For those of you who don't know, Trinidad is the 'Sex Change Capitol of the World'. If you think I'm kidding, check out Wikipedia here and scroll to the 5th paragraph. Although I couldn't race this year, it was really fun reminiscing and laughing about about how much fun we had last year. It was my first attempt at an enduro and to put it in perspective, I completed 1 lap in the same time most people did 3! Too funny.

After a good dinner for Clint's 40th birthday at Rino's (an Italian restaurant with live singers), we got some stellar rest and Bryce was ready to rip it up on the course. Our good friend Dan and Clint were on the same row and the above pic shows what Dan put on his bike thinking he was going to leave Clint in his dust. Hilarious! After watching everyone go through the endurocross section of the course, it was time to wait until the first 23 mile lap was complete.

Unfortunately, this is when things turned sad. When you see ambulances fly by at moto races, you always get that sick feeling in your stomach. Since Clay had his phone on him, he was able to call his dad at one of the checks to let us know what had happened:

A couple minutes prior to Bryce coming through during a test section, a few people had already stopped to help a down rider and were beginning CPR. Once Bryce got there, he stopped as well to help out. After a firefighter and the paramedics arrived, there was nothing else he could do so he continued to trail ride through the loop and later find out that his friend Glenn Tyson did not make it. After Bryce completed the lap, he was in no condition to race/ride so we packed up and headed home. There is nothing worse than dealing with something as terrible as this, especially when it's during your most enjoyed activity, regardless of how it happened. On our drive home, we were informed that someone had seen Glenn just fall off his bike rather than crashing into something. With all of his protective equipment intact, it is thought that a natural cause of death came prior to falling off his moto. Please help us send positive thoughts and wishes to his family and friends. RIP Glenn Tyson.

The Health Update

After the initial blood test at 3 months, my docs discovered that I was still testing positive for the EBV IgG that normally goes away in 4-6 weeks. That was a big red flag and the beginning of a million and one more blood tests, ultimately leading to the discovery that the EBV had turned into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Click on the link to read more

So what now? There is no cure for CFS but there are antivirals that have shown to help and alleviate symptoms when found early enough. I’ve begun taking the gigantic horse pills (above) every 6hrs. Per the doc, I will hopefully start to see improvement in 2-6months. The unfortunate part is that you normally get worse before you start feeling better than the original symptoms. If the end result is my normal life back, I’ll take it!

The new car's final beautification

Yesterday morning, I visited my good friends at Rocky Mounts to have some sleek bike racks installed on the new ride.

After pondering for a few minutes of whether to go with black or white trays, we quickly decided that white would look the best.

My car is officially accessorized and absolutely gorgeous. Now I just have to keep the lead out of my right foot :)

The year of all things new

First it was a house, then it was a dirt bike, then it was a car, now it's a mountain bike. I'd say Bryce has had a pretty decent year of things new, huh?

The first picture is the Trek Carbon Top Fuel 98 that is being replaced with the above Gary Fisher 29er. Bryce has been waiting since July for the new Sram XO to be available and it finally came in Friday. The boys spent the better part of the night building the bike up and after a few finishing touches today, B went for his first ride...Day 1 of Iceman training!

A Delicious Homemade Dinner

It's been a while since Bryce and I tag teamed a home cooked meal, so tonight we made it happen. Bryce made a killer sauce to cook the chicken in and I cut up some sweet potatoes and baked them in olive oil, rosemary and Parmesan cheese. We steamed some veggies as sides and mmmmm...a delicious homemade dinner :)

The Audi just got pimped

Monday morning, I dropped off my new car to get the windows tinted and have several clear protective decals put on the front/rear bumpers, side mirrors and door handles. Now it looks even sexier than before :)

This was the picture I got sent from the guy in the shop that did the work...the text read "HOT DAMN"! Hehe.

Bryce's Birthday Weekend

One month and 10 days after my birthday, Bryce finally turned the big 2-6 as well. Heck yea...I'm no longer a cougar :) Hehe. At any rate, we drove up to Vail to be pampered for the weekend and that's exactly how it paned out. After a delicious homemade breakfast of date scones and scrambled eggs, we went for a short hike with Barbara and their gorgeous Bernese Mountain dog, Bosco.

Later that afternoon we walked around Vail and went out for dinner in Lionshead at Billy's Bar and Grill.

When we returned, we sang happy birthday to Bryce and indulged ourselves in the BEST homemade Carrot Cake I have EVER had. I'm sending the whole thing to work with B tomorrow otherwise it will be gone when he comes home!

After passing out from being in a food coma, we woke up today and went on another chill hike up Boothe Falls. The Aspens are all changing colors and it's absolutely beautiful.

Can you believe that it's Oct 3rd and still 75* at 9000+ft? Apparently we're supposed to have the highest average temps in September and October of this year...CRAZY! All in all, a great weekend!

No More Blood PLEEEEEEASE!!!

Seriously...I have had, what seems like a pint of blood, drawn 3 times in the last week! I had another Epstein Barr and Iron test done last Monday and because my iron levels were through the roof high and the EBV hasn't gone down at all, my doc wanted to have a whole bunch of other tests done just to be sure I don't have one of a million other things. After giving another 10 tubes on Wednesday, they called back today to tell me the lab screwed up and I had to have it all redone. Ahhhh...I'm so sick of bruised arms...hopefully I'll have some more results next week.