Chilling

ahhh...life is good.

After a whirlwind weekend this is the first chance I've had to sit down with a refreshing adult beverage and really think about what has been happening lately.

So here is the recap. I flew out for Dayton OH on Thursday of last week....an uneventful flight and picked up my rental car. After a little dickering with Enterprise who wanted to give me a Ford Taurus (horror of horrors-due to the last two Taurus' having been nasty and always having problems!) I received a cute little Mazda 6. I love this car! I made my way to the north side of Dayton and enjoyed a wonderful evening and went for a walk along the river. One of the things I like best about OH (and I know this since this is my third trip here this year) is that fact that there are many, many areas to walk and run. The Parks and Rec departments are very active here and no matter where I am in OH I can ususally find a walking, running, biking trail within 10 min of where I am staying.

So Friday I had an audit..it was icky. after finishing up at 11pm I still had to pack and get directions to the Columbus airport where I was flying out at 6am on Sat morning for the trip to MN and the ST. Paul Classic. I crashed at midnight and was back up at 3:30am to make the 1.5hr trip to Columbus. The flight was no problem and I spent 99percent of it sleeping as I was totally beat. My moms best friend picked me up from the airport in Mpls as mom was working and we made the hour drive back to Maiden Rock WI. After a few wrong turns due to a poorly marked detour I arrived back at home. It always amazes me how even though the years pass so much remains the same. I saw my Dad and brother and my brothers adorable dog...which I can't remember exactly what it is but it is cute and smart. After a relaxing afternoon hanging out with the family and my sister and her family who arrived after the football game which my niece who is in first grade was cheerleading for---I'm certain that all the little kids were just adorable in their tiny uniforms (I know my niece sure was when she arrived at the house), we finally had dinner. By this time I was simply starving. Dad grilled steaks and we had fresh corn on the cob and it was sooooo good. There is something about steaks done on the grill. Yum, Yum. A quite evening was had by all. My sister and the kids came back over to visit and before we knew it the hours had flown by and once again it was 11pm.

Us ladies determined that in order to arrive at the bike race on time we would have to leave at 5am so we called it a night. Shortly after 5am amid many yawns and requests for coffee us ladies (myself, my mom, my sister and my niece) all left for the St. Paul Classic held in St. Paul (bet you didn't see that one coming did you!). The race began even though it was raining. My sister and my neice were riding together with the tag-a-long and I was roped into taking my little cousing Marie in the Burley as my other aunt had a touch of the flu and didn't believe that she would have been able to make it through the entire course. My mom didn't have any extra passengers for which she was very happy. This ride is one of the best highlights of the year. It is not competative unless you chose to make it so. Every 5-12 miles there are rest stops with musicians, jugglers and excellent treats (bagels, fresh fruit, coffee and at the top of Ramsey Hill are the worlds best lemon bars and rasberry bars). The ride supports a cause which I hold dear which is simply promoting biking as an alternative to driving when possible. A simple goal but one that is sometimes overlooked in our rush-rush lives. We spent all morning talking, laughing and just reconnecting. That is one of the biggest blessings that this yearly race hold for us in the reconnection that no matter where we are in our individual lives, this pulls us back together and reminds us that we are family with history and stories for which only we know the punch lines. Its kind of like Christmas in Sept.

My flight from Mpls was supposed to leave at 3:30pm on Sunday (Yes we biked all day and I went to the airport all wet from the rain and sweaty as there wasn't time to make the drive back to WI--deal with it!) but due to weather issues in Chicago my flight was delayed by 3 hours which then pushed my flight from CHI to Columbus back a few hours. The end result. Instead of arriving back in Dayton OH at 8pm it was 1am before I pulled into the hotel. I was TIERD!! So that was the weekend in a very long and convoluted story version :) Overall---it was a blast and I have no regrets about attempting that crazy flight/visit schedule. It was worth it!

Monday came and went as Mondays do. Today I was fortunate and had a good audit which allowed me a few freee hours this evening to kick back and relax and as seen here to catch up on some blogging and reports.

I just keep thinking over and over again how fortunate I am to have good friends, family who cares about me even though certain memebers drive me nuts, a decent job, the potential for an even better position with the company and good health. Life is truly good at this point in time.

So I'm going to say goodnight to everyone and prepare the paperwork for tomorrows audit. Continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers concerning the transition to ABL and as events occur I'll keep you posted.

If anyone knows of anything fun to do in Dayton this weekend let me know.....it will be so strange to have a whole Fri eve, Sat and Sun without a plane to catch or committments for which I'm already booked.....I might have to celebrate the fact I can sleep in on Sat morning by going out on Friday night....Hmmmm not a bad thought!