Addictive Sounds

I remembered something else that I love last night. That sound when you plow through the crisp fallen leaves on your bike...it is an addictive sound. The only thing better is the idea of the the sound of landing in the huge pile of leaves when we dropped off the branch of the maple tree into the 3 ft tall pile of leaves when we were kids. I say the idea of that sound because I am fairly certain that the reality of that sound as an adult would be much less enjoyable, probably more like the cracking of bones, or stiff joints at least, not the crunching of leaves.
We rode 17.5 miles on our mountain bikes last night and 16.5 miles on Tuesday night, and there were several times we rode over crunchy leaves, I LOVE THAT! (Plus the sound, or lack of sound, when I jump my bike on the Green Valley Loop is also pretty sweet!)

Tonight we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with a great friend over dinner, what an excellent week!

Color Code

Whew, what a day. Work was meeting after meeting after meeting. I didn't even have time to get through all of the email. I think the day was productive over all, though the to do list is once again longer than when I started.

I did get to take the Hartman Color Code test for free and also get the 20 page profile for free, can't beat free! No surprise to many that my primary color is Blue with a secondary of Red (I think I hid the red for years beginning with the turmoil of adolescence, but it is back). Jas took it too, reluctantly. He is White with a secondary Blue. How does he ever put up with me and my need to control when all he wants is to avoid being controlled? We make it work and both choose to bring out that YELLOW fun together!

Drove around with my dad looking at real estate this evening...how exciting and incredible how much stuff still costs, and it has come down!

Finally ate some delectable carne asada for dinner, THANK GOODNESS for a man who can cook!

Jumping my bike, oh my!

I love jumping my mountain bike! Oh what a glorious evening...
We rode the Green Valley Loop, oh what fun it is when what goes up up up must come DOWN!
The temperature couldn't be more perfect in our little town of St. George. We saw trees that were ON FIRE the leaves are so red, we saw a little grey fox, the sky was brilliant with color. We love to ride our bicycles, we love to ride our bikes!

The damn bird dive bombed me and made me hit my head on the bi-fold door into the TV room. I was only trying to be nice and let her out of her cage, see if that happens again.

Darb made dinner, ribs ala sloppy joe, delicious, and what a great surprise to come home to dinner ready!

Weekend in Vegas

Just got home from a fantastic weekend in Vegas. We went to Carrot Top Friday night, he is hilarious and kind of cute too. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Then last night we went to an over the top costume party! It was fun. Great music and fun dancing and people watching unlike anywhere else in the world!
I still don't have a digital camera so I have to wait for Brent to send me the pics and then I'll post a couple so you all can see Jas and me circa 1920. We were lookin' good if I do say so myself. It was fun to hang out with our friends Brent and Alicia from Louisiana, as you can imagine we don't see them much anymore.
The only bummer was that we missed our other friends Halloween party here at home. Thanks Kimmie for the pics-you are fast! It looks like they managed to have a riot, even without us... hmmm?
Now I will be looking forward to our trip to Moab next weekend to mountain bike! Yee Haw!

A TAN TAM TAM

I am TAN! Well not really tan I guess, but BRONZED. I got one of those airbrush tans today at Euphoric Salon and I have actual tan lines. It is cool, I am typically a pinkish beige color underneath all my darkly tan looking freckles, but this is actually a tannish brownish sort of color, not much pink involved at all. It is kind of fun and I had no risk of getting burned in vertical stripes, nor did I have to get undressed, hop in a suitcase with light bulbs for 5 minutes then hop back out and get dressed again for days on end...(my experience with tanning beds, while limited, has not been great)...
Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures next week, I hope to be able to find a new digital camera (one of the kind wrapped in rubber so it is drop proof) this weekend...so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Today I am grateful that my meeting was cancelled and I didn't have to drive to SLC at 5am and attend a 2 hour meeting and then drive home today.
It was like a free day.
I left for lunch at Pizza Factory with Jason, best salad bar in the world.
I left early and went for an afternoon at The Skin Institute.
It was a great day, my Jas loves me, I saw Lamas getting frisky--it is a bit more rigorous than I would have imagined, maybe we will have another baby lama this year...
However when I arrived late for work this morning (9:20 am--when I didn't have to go in at 5am I did the dishes, read during breakfast and luxuriated before leaving for work) my boss was there. Why is it that when Malcolm comes in I am always late? Murphy's law at work! Thankfully he didn't say anything about that, and I still had a productive day.

HOUSTON TEXAS and the FULLMER FAMILY

Sitting in Houston, writing a brief note that won't do my trip justice, but oh so grateful for my family. I have had a riot this week. I got to play in a giant castle bounce house and sleep out in it too. I think that will be the plan for my next birthday party, though the water slide one sounds like a hit too! I went for a walk or bike ride everyday around the lakes down the street from Shawn's house, yesterday we saw turtles, today I saw a huge white crane...
I went shopping with Tara and Kailee and enjoyed the "Girl Time" (and bought some really cute pink cargo pants and fit into my first pair of size 6 pants in a LONG TIME). I also finished 4 books and will hopefully get through one more on the plane ride home. Shawn said more than once that he's so glad I could come out to Texas to read my book....
I gave all the kids books that I LOVE... The Alchemist to Kailee, Eragon and Eldest to Austin, Fablehaven to Tyson, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to Kyler. It is so much fun to share these fun reads with kids who will also love them!
The highlight of the week was the reason for the visit- Tyson's baptism. Austin spoke about baptism, what an orator! Kailee sang Families Can Be Together Forever and knocked my socks off. Shawn did the "work" of the day, what a great dad he is. and Tara talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, she really explained things in a way that I think 8 year old Ty could understand and she told a very funny story about feeling the warmth of the spirit and happy meals! I felt honored to share this special day with this very special family.
I also enjoyed very much staying up until 2am talking with Shawn and Tara. Though I miss them and we see each other so infrequently, it is so easy to be together and feels like no time at all has passed since the last visit.

I am excited to get home and see my Jas and Herc. I've missed Jason, always do, always will.

Oh, one last thing about the Fabulous Fullmers- Kailee, Tyson and Kyler all made it into the Katy High School production of the Wizard of Oz! They will make terrific Munchkins...and this play is so close to my heart...maybe another trip will have to come sooner than later?

6.5 Miles

6.5 miles tonight. Longest 6 miles of my life. My sits bones may never be the same. OK that is drama, but still, it hurt. I guess it is probably a good sign that my sits bones were the sorest part of my body on the day following the ride that was 10 X the ride today. There is some uncomfortability in the hamstring meets the glutes region and lower back, but by far the quitting zone was the seat region today! A tribute to Jason's manliness I was the one to call it short and he was the one who rode the 65 yesterday on a NEW SEAT! What a man. Though he did not argue with me about cutting the ride short tonight...

I get to go to work at 5:40 in the morning so I will bid adieu for the evening. Try to write tomorrow though if I miss it will be next week cuz I am off to Houston early Wednesday morning!!! I so need this vacation, and it is a vacation with 10 8 year olds at a party on Friday, so let that be the visual. See you soon Fullmers.

Tour De St. George Metric Century Route

Whew, 65 miles today. Have I mentioned that I LOVE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE?! Jason's new bike did not make it any easier for me to keep up with him. He was quite color coordinated, I wish I had a digital camera to capture it, but words will have to do for now....his bike is bright blue and white, it also has yellow stickers (I think they are safety warnings and should probably come off, but nonetheless). He has bright blue leggings/tights that match the bike perfectly (he didn't really choose them, they were a duff at Mega Pro and they are warm, so he kept them). Then he had on a yellow wind breaker and his shoes have yellow S's on them. To top it off, his helmet is bright blue too. For a moment he wore my sunglasses with yellow padding by the ears and that just totally completed the look. He is dead sexy and all mine!

We did basically the route of the metric century for the Tour De St. George, just starting at our house, not in town. We did it in 4 hours and 45 minutes, last year it took me 5 hours or maybe 5 hours and 15 minutes, so I am definitely stronger! The route runs out through Washington, over the Coral Canyon hill, down Highway 9 to the Sand Hallow turn off, around Sand Hallow (that hill is still a killer!) then out through Hurricane, LaVerkin and Toquerville. I have lived in dread of the Toquerville hills and today I kept waiting for the really tough climb and it never came, I really am getting better at this stuff! Then we go up the frontage road along I-15 and through Leeds- I love that stretch, it is a little hilly but you can fly through it. Even with the wind today (a breeze of about 9 miles per hour), we were averaging 18-24 mph. Then we went around Quail Creek- those hills are deceptive and get a bit frustrating, though again it was never as hard as I remembered it : ). We finished up going back up Highway 9, back over Coral Canyon, through Washington and home.

We got home at 5pm, just enough time to shower, hop in the truck and make it to The Smith's for Guy's belated birthday party! We had a great time over there, with excellent food and company. All in all a great end to a terrific (all be it COLD-we went from ideal Fall weather in the 70's to the 40's in one day, I certainly hope Fall isn't over and it is going to warm back up for at least a few weeks!) weekend.

Jason's New Road Bike

I kept up (almost) on my mountain bike tonight when we did the Green Valley Loop with Bobbi, Sandra, Bobbi's boys (Tracen and Jase- my spelling may be off). Tracen broke his femur and collar bone 8 weeks ago and yet was out on his mountain bike tonight, he may have said "Ow" when he landed a few jumps, but 8 weeks post rod screwed into your femur, I think that is AMAZING!

Jason came home tonight with a new bike! He "traded" in his Giant CFR for a Specialized Tarmac Elite. It is pretty and blue and he had to take it out in the dark (danger danger danger) to give it a test run. It is lighter than my bike and I fear it may coast better, that is the one advantage I have had, we shall see if it was the bike or my aerodynamic anatomy...keep tuned for the test results on Saturday! (I do believe that our friend Dave is giving Jas a big fat boy hug, in the way that he knows best, good thing the orange Tarmac wasn't in stock or I would be taking it personally...)

Finally I went to the orthodontist today. I love the girls in the office, they are a fun group. However my mouth is killing me. I got a new spring (bigger) and a new wire (bigger, thicker, stronger) on the bottom. It appears that if the one remaining out of whack tooth won't budge, they will force it! Ow, ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OWEE! Tylenol is my friend today and carbs or no, spaghettio's were also my friend, no chewing involved.

89 miles so far this week

We have ridden our road bikes 89 miles so far this week (starting Sunday). We rode with the biggest group ever today, it was a riot (though also intimidating-drafting still makes me nervous). We were CRUISING, usually over 20 mph. The weather is fantastic right now in the evenings! We got to ride with our good friend Cindy for the first time in a long time, she was sizzling on her bike.

SNOW CANYON

Oh what a beautiful evening, oh what a beautiful day! I struggled with my day. Then got on the bike at 4:45pm and the rest of the day has been heaven. Snow Canyon is so beautiful and torturous. We rode the whole thing today and as we were heading back out toward Ivins the moon was hanging in between two red rock cliffs in a bright blue sky, hard to beat.
Then we enjoyed a terrific steak dinner with Sandra and Les.
All of this erased the tough day I had at work, I can't even remember what pissed me off (ok, I can but am over it). I LOVE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE!

Lunch and a pedicure with my WSM. Great Friday.
The not so good today was waking up to the sound of Jas hurling, not pleasant and as Dave said "There is no snooze for that"!
On the up side we will be seeing Jen Mike and the girls tonight and spending the weekend at a cabin on Cedar Mountain, can't wait to ride my bike through the brightly painted leaves, fall leaves are like a sunset you can touch!

Zoot Suit, Law School? and books

Will be ordering Jason's zoot suit tomorrow. We are going to look stylin in our 1920's garb for Halloween. I am excited to dress up and have fun.

Great day at work today. I so enjoy the people I work with and am glad to be surrounded by professionals who care about kids.

I took a look at admissions to law school last night. Maybe I'll try the LSAT in December. I said a long time ago that if we are 35 and no kids that I would like to go to Law School. No Brent I am not being a copy cat. I had the idea first. I wonder if I could do it and still work?

Last but certainly not least I got some great books today- Brissinger, can't wait to get back into that series (Eragon, Eldest...). Fablehaven 1, 2, and 3. The Magician (2nd in the Nicholas Flamel- Alchemist series). I'll have reading material for at least a week. Plus I started reading A Million Little Pieces, a bit more mature and serious reading so the kids books will help me get through that adult content. I LOVE TO READ! (and can't wait to write my own books too...-rocket of desire on the way)