I'm a butterfly!!!!

Ok, I'm more like a moth...a drowning moth! We learned the butterfly stroke at swimming last night. Bob says we all look good...and everyone else did....I just feel like I'm flailing around not even getting my arms out of the water! :) What I need is to be videotaped, so that I can see that my arms are clearing the water. It's fun...but I'm going to need a LOT of practice!!!!

Off to do several back to back summer reading program presentations at our local school. Can't believe SRP is almost here! It's going to be a lot of fun this year. Get a Clue @ Your Library! It's got a great PSA.

BBQ

I had a couple people over on Monday to christen my "new" patio furniture. It was nice to have people over...but my porch is really pretty small! :) I did add another table I have, so that there'd be more table space.
Here's Heidi and Chris working at the BBQ. I made grilled veggies, ahi tuna, sausages. Others brought homemade foccaccia bread, pasta salad, mozzarella & tomato salad...oh yea, and I made two types of sangria. Mmmm. It was excellent. I think I need a jug of sangria in my fridge at all times during the summer. It's really really really yummy stuff!


Here's the food table...but it isn't loaded up fully yet.
That morning Sheila, Julie, April and I went for a little mt bike ride. It was fun...but poor April, I think we scared her at one point. She really hasn't mt biked much, if at all. And there is at least one hairy downhill....one that it took me a good five years to be comfortable on! She did amazingly well though, and by the end she was enjoying herself again! :) Just no steep technical descents for her right now. Here are our bikes in the truck.
Stripping down. I was in a tank...they're in fleece! :)

I spy with my little eye...

something that I made! :) The theme for this year's summer reading program is Get a Clue @ Your Library. It's a mystery/puzzler theme. I got this great idea from one of the librarians in Bend, to make an I-Spy display. Then as a weekly contest you choose something different they need to count each week. There are 37 red firefighter figures, 32 dinosaurs, 25 marbles etc. Each week they'll have something else to count, then I'll draw at least two prizes each week. Should be fun. Now, the trick is to make sure that they're all glued om well enough that when this hangs on the wall nothing will fall off! :) Here it's only 3/4 done. Both Dread and Loki have been very interested in it. I expected to come home today to find one of them sleeping in the middle of the poster with it decimated around them. Phew, it wasn't. If you look really closely (you can click to the Flickr site, then look at "All sizes" and it's give you a big size) you can see that I have a Capt Jack Sparrow figurine...can you spy it? :)

Tomorrow I hope we're going to learn the butterfly stroke in swim class. Monday was freaking cold! The pool is uncovered now, and Monday was COLD! Ugh. Makes me want to be like Dread here:


Ahh, nothing like the life of a cat!

New patio furniture!

The Bellas had another mt bike ride today. I was a bit pissed off that it rained again. Last weekend it was POURING right up until the ride left at 1:00. Today it drizzled on and off all day. If it's been sunny, I think we would have gotten an amazing turnout. As it was, we got a good turnout. We offered a truly beginner ride this week...a ride for women who'd never been on a mt bike, were really really new to it, or just felt unsure of themselves on the trail. I had quite a few people email to let me know that they couldn't make it, but hope we offer a beginner ride again soon. So we will. I had 6 people on my ride, not including myself. The conversational ride had 3 plus Michele and I think the spirited had 2...but I'm not sure. Here we were getting to the trail head.
A couple others getting ready. It stopped raining, but it was still cloudy. It did drizzle on us, but it was pretty good. All in all, it was a good ride. The ladies on the beginner ride had a good time and really appreciated the slower, more teaching ride. I tried to stop occasionally and give them pointers. We'll do another one next time, but I won't be able to lead it, 'cause it's the same day as Pickett's Charge. So, here's a "funny" thing that happened to me. This afternoon when I was getting my bike on my car, I set up my stool as usual. Yes, my stool. I'm so short that I cannot get my bike onto my car without it. So anyway, I set up the stool, lifted my bike, pressed it over my head and stepped up on my stool. Next thing I know, the seat of the stool slipped through what holds it in and I fell. I managed to stay on my feet and not drop my bike. Did bang me knee hard though. So... I set up the stool again (I've said this before, I'm not that bright!), lift my bike, press it over my head, step up onto the stool...and wham! AGAIN! This time I just went inside and got another stool! See, I do learn eventually. :)

But, that wasn't the exciting part of my weekend. Saturday I took the boy I'm mentoring out for a bike ride. When I got back, I logged on and Michele had just posted an email asking if anyone wanted/needed a patio set. I've been looking for patio furniture for a couple weeks! They're SO expensive. This is table, 4 chairs, umbrella and umbrella stand for $125. Man, you can spend that much just on an umbrella! :) So, I went over to Michele's, to her neighbours (they had a garage sale and it didn't sell) and picked it up. Here it is:
I was so sad that it was raining this morning...I was really looking forward to having my breakfast out there! Next weekend...

Cascade Chainbreaker 2007

Well, it was just a gorgeous day for the Chainbreaker. I worked registration on Saturday for early packet pickup, then on the day of the race, I started with registration again. Heidi, Michele and Laura (Lipstick Laura) helped out for the day. Here they are learning the ropes...so to speak. Heidi's done registration before, but she got the easy job this year of handing out the swag bags that people got! :)

Here's the starting lineup. They go in waves. I'm not 100% sure what the numbers were, but I think it was about 300 people. Looks a little crazy in there.

It had rained on Saturday, so it was nowhere near as dusty as last year or three years ago. Two years ago it rained. While it wasn't that fun for us, it made the course fabulous. Anyway, this year it was sunny, but not scorching. Here are a couple racers coming through.


Waiting at the finish line for the first finishers. At this point it was my job to pull off the pull tags that they secured to their back and send one to Doug, the timer, and one to the board so that people could see their progress. The finish line is back there by the trees, but I think a lot of the riders thought it was closer to us. So we needed to have someone down that way slowing them down so they could stop.


Two of the...I think it was the pros, didn't slow down, so Julie pretty much tackled them! I don't think she meant to, but they went down! Hee hee. All in all it was a great day. Little Laura took third in the beginner women's category. Hooray Laura! I didn't get burnt...except my scalp.

Bowling rocks!

I suck at it...but it's fun. A bunch of us went bowling Friday evening at Lava Lanes. It was a blast. Had a couple drinks and played two games. I've bowled twice in the last two years, but only with the kids I've mentored. Before that...I think the last time may have been in elementary school! At Sun Mt Fun Center they have REALLY cute shoes...I'd even wear the ones I've gotten out in public. Not Lava Lanes. Here are my shoes next to Jimmy's (aka Rico Suave with his bowling name). My shoes weren't too horrendous...but the adult ones sure were. Eww, florescent pink and yellow!

We had five people in each lane. Lynne and Liisa wanted us all to have "bowling names" so I was Velma. You know, from Scooby Doo. :) Liisa, aka Lurlene (hee hee, you have to say that with a ...redneck accent! Luurlene) broke 100 for the first time ever.
My first game I got...are you ready? A whole whopping 51 points! Whooboy! I found out that I'm bowling wrong. Basically I've been using an overhand grip which puts a massive backspin on it. As soon as someone pointed that out and I started using an underhand grip I got much better. Second game I did 79. Ok...that's still a REALLY bad score, but that was much better than the first time.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was me tossing my ball behind me on the very last frame. And of course, it was with a heavier one. I usually bowl with the lightest ball, and at Lava Lanes it was the 8 lb ones. However, I just tried the 11 lb one...and did really well. So, of course it was that one I tossed. My fingers slipped out of the holes! I think everyone was laughing too hard to take a picture.

Next time we're going miniature golf! :)

Book club eats

We had a pretty good book club last night. We read The Echo Maker by Richard Powers. It was.....interesting. A slog though. Whooboy! Difficult to get through, and to be perfectly honest I was disappointed. Not sure why it won the National Book Award.

Anyway, April made some great Mid-Western food, since the book takes place in Nebraska...? Is that right? She made a fabulous meat loaf and a corn casserole that my friend Lynne always makes. I blogged about her corn casserole before, and so you can get the recipe here along with my favourite sweet potato and pear soup:
http://chandra-itsmylife.blogspot.com/2006/11/food-coma.html

This weekend is the Cascade Chainbreaker, which I've helped out at for the past...six years. Wow, where does the time go? Saturday I'll be working registration from 12-4, and then Sunday it's pretty much an all-day deal. Be out there at about 7:30 and don't get to leave until way after the race has ended, around 3:00 or so. HAVE to remember to bring sunscreen this year! :)

I've decided that this summer I really want to do a camping trip up at Indigo Lake by Timpanogas Lake. Sheila, April and I hiked there last year during the Bella camping trip to Oakridge (you can see pics of Indigo Lake in that gallery). It's a hike-in campground. Only 5 tents...so it'll be by selective invitation. It's gorgeous up there.

As it will be this weekend! I may not have the time to get out there and really enjoy it this weekend, but I hope the rest of you do. I am going bowling tonight though, and that should be a BLAST! :)

And....flip!

Tuesday we started learning about flip turns at our swimming meeting. Man, it's a rush! :) I love being able to not stop swimming, to turn, flip and keep going. LOVE IT! However, I have a huge advantage from being a gymnast when I was younger. I think those people who can do a somersault on land have a much easier time. Those who can't are starting from the beginning and having to learn two skills! Tonight is Flip Turns 102...Monday was just Flip Turns 101. I wonder what Flip Turns 201 is....

This week is when our library consultants are here. The Sunriver focus group was yesterday and I think it went really well. Today I'm driving one of them around to Sunriver and La Pine...and then of course back to Bend. It's been good, and I'm really excited about what they're finding for us.

It is amazing weather out there! It's what...6:30 and I'm in a t-shirt and shorts. Tomorrow is the first day I'll have nothing after work, so hoping to go for a ride. Oh, no never mind. I have book club. Hmm, maybe Friday before heading our to go bowling. We'll see. Maybe I can fit a ride in before swimming.

Ho Hum

I'm at work on a lovely Saturday...missing yet another Bella ride. That's ok, I'm going biking with Julie after work. I GOTTA get out there! After the weather this week and being busy, I'm feeling the need to just get out. It's sunny, but not sure how warm.

So now whenever I'm bored, I go to Stuff on My Cat. Gotta check to see if my kitties made it up! So far nothing. But I like this one.


Most of you don't know me as horsey-Chandra (which is so weird for me!)...but I grew up riding. I did a lot of jumping and dressage. I came across this video on YouTube. If you know nothing about dressage...this pair is pretty frickin' amazing!



See, here I am in my horsey days. The fist two are at Timberline, the horse camp I worked at for...good lord, 7 years? Riding flags for the rodeo (loved doing that!), heading out on a ride with my friends Ike and Jen, and then me with one of the many horses I worked with in Southlands, the riding area in Vancouver. I worked at quite a few of the stables over the years, but . And OMG are the houses down there expensive!!!! Most are about $4 million!!!! I dreamed of living there. Sigh. Man, I loved it! :)

Evidently I'm rum

You Are Rum

You're the life of the party, and a total flirt You are also pretty picky about what you drink Only the finest labels and best mixed cocktails will do Except if you're dieting - then it's Diet Coke and Bicardi all the way

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

What do you think? :)

My weekend was good. Saturday was a long day, but exciting. HDC Board fundraising workshop. I thought it was going to be a snore, but it was really revealing and exciting actually. Got lots of great ideas and plans for this year. Hooray. Then Wendy and Darryl arrived. We had a good time Sunday and Monday. I'm really glad they were able to stop by.

Oh, and I think my breast-stroke is getting better! I'm finally getting the timing. Heidi's REALLY good at it!!! :P