Winter Park Adventure!

Hello everyone! Greetings from Fraser/Winter Park, CO.  A super awesome friend of ours has been so kind as to lend his condo to us for the weekend.  Since we don't have kids and aren't really religious Easter weekend doesn't really hold any significance for us.  But, I am a holiday loving girl.  So, we HAVE to so something special on Easter weekend.  Even if it's a slow key as chillin' in the mountains for the weekend.

This is a view from our window and it's just so lovely to watch storms come in from the mountains.  The trees are so tall and thin that they always sway in the wind first before the snow comes.  I like to think they're dancing with excitement about the arrival of the snow.  I know I love to see it...I'm sure they do too. ;o)

Gunner is really enjoying watching the kids sled down the hill behind us outside.  He is also on the lookout for any wildlife that should happen to walk by.  So far he's been disappointed, but ya never know the weekend isn't over yet!

Happy Easter everyone, however you choose to celebrate this weekend!

Went to a craft fair...and found a bike!

It's a small bike and not ride-able, but I think it's absolutely adorable!! 

Okay, so this story really starts back in November. I volunteered as a greeter and guide for the local historic home tour here in town which made money for a local bike advocacy group.  As part of the historic home tour they also had local artists displaying and selling their wares.   In the house I was volunteering at there was an artist selling adorable terrariums.  There were so many adorable ones to choose from that I suffered from a sever case of indecision.  I decided to grab her card think more about my choices and give her a call when I was ready to decide on one.    Unfortunately, I forgot about her card in my jeans and washed them....destroying the card and not having any way to get a hold of her.

Fast forward to February and I haven't been able to stop thinking about her cute terrariums and really wanting one. I even had the perfect spot picked out in my house for it.   After I broke my ankle and had lots of free time on my hands, I started to see if I could find her.  After a minor search on Facebook, I found her! I messaged her and asked if she had any terrariums for sale and told her I was still interested.  She said that she was going to be at a local craft fair on the 16th and I could come and shop for a terrarium then or she would custom make one for me, depending on what I would prefer.  I told her I would just come on the 16th and shop for terrariums with the rest of the community. :o)  She asked which one I was interested in, so she could be sure to have exactly what I wanted (which was so sweet, BTW) and I told her it was one with an arch and miniature climbing ivy. Very Victorian garden looking, and adorable.

So, today was the day.  My friend and I woke up early, grabbed some coffee and headed out to shop.  When I got to her table I saw the terrarium I thought I wanted with the arch and the ivy.  It was as beautiful as I remembered.  But then, I looked and saw a super cute rusted red bike laying in a garden with cute red bumpers and rusty front basket.  Laying there like someone had loved it, and layed it down to explore. I immediately fell in love.  She didn't even know my love for all things cycling and yet I felt like she made this terrarium with me in mind (which is silly) but it was just so perfect.

I thanked her profusely and with a HUGE smile on my face I headed for home with my brand new bike in it's own perfect garden.

**If you're in Colorado and are looking for a terrarium, let me know and I will put you touch with her. She doesn't have a website or Etsy site yet...but when she does I will be sure to update this post with her contact info. :o)

Sugar is My Enemy.....Seriously.

Hello Everyone,

So a change of pace.  My ankle is doing great and healing quite nicely.  So back to our regularly scheduled program. Whatever that is. :o)  I guess whatever is occupying my mind at the moment...which is sugar.

Let me explain, I'll try to keep it short.....so I think I mentioned in a previous post that my waistline has gotten a little out of control since I've been "taking a break" from cycling and working way too much over the last year. Which is why I was really looking forward to getting back on the bike and getting in shape.  See, not only is cycling great for my spirit, it does amazing things for my waistline and desire to not eat crap!

But, since my gracefulness  (or lack there of) has gotten in the way of that plan. I decided to lay around, eat more and worse and mope for a while, generally feeling sorry for myself.  But, after I got that out of my system I decided that there is something I can do to get in better cycling condition.  I was thinking if only I could do something to lose weight and get some of this poor poor pitiful me weight off, then when I was able to get back onto the bike I could get up to speed much faster (ha, pun intended).  To start I decided to look at how I felt after I ate certain foods.  refined sugar and starches were definitely the worst.  I have known this for a while, but have gotten pretty great at ignoring it. Until now.

So I made a promise to myself.  Cut out sugar and starches for a while and see how I felt. Not to mention I was bound to benefit from some weight loss as well. Win, Win! It was hard at first, I mean I did manage to cut out all of my most favorite foods in one quick decision, chocolate, candy, cake...and anything else confectionery along with pasta, bread, rice...and did I mention bread? Yep! Crazy right? Yeah, I excel at crazy. :o)

Oh, I wanted to add that I am allowing myself to eat fruits and veggies that contain sugar.  I am trying to stay away from white potatoes for now, but fruit will help me to still get that sweetness but in an all natural sort of way, instead of the processed way. :o) Plus, the sugar in fruit doesn't have the same negative effect on me.  So I figured it was okay and good.

It is now a week later since I've had my last piece of over processed food (I remember it well, it was the last milk chocolate truffle Valentines Day candy from my husband) and I have to say, I feel pretty good.  Granted, I have had moments of weakness where I daydreamed about selling my puppy for a piece of bread, but that moment has passed. :o) I still own a puppy and have not given into the bread craving.  As time goes on it has gotten easier and I do feel much better.  More emotionally and physically balanced.  Really, just happier.  I fell so much more in control.  It's weird, I know.

I truly believe sugar is a drug for me, just as addictive as alcohol or narcotics to someone else. It is just as unhealthy for me as well.  While I crave it and think it is what I "need" it does not do anything for me and only make me want more. which starts a cycle of frustration and negative self talk about my complete lack of willpower and overall worth.

So, I am deciding to be strong, give it a month and see how I feel take good notes on what is going on inside me and more importantly how my body reacts to the complete lack of sugar. So far so good.  I will keep checking in to let you know how it's going.  Hopefully I will keep reporting positive things, but I also know it's unrealistic to think I won't ever slip up.  Fall off the wagon so to speak.  But, the important thing is to make sure I'm being honest with myself and make sure I continue to do what is best for me.

Which I think I am....at least for now. :o)

An Ankle Update

Hello Lovely Blogosphere!

I hope you are enjoying this lovely Sunday and getting to do at least one thing that you love or feeds your soul in preparation for the week ahead.  Did you know it's only 17 days until spring? I can feel it. Can you? I'm looking forward to the smell of fresh cut grass and my the fragrant smell of my trusty Lilacs letting me know that Spring has arrived. I can't wait!

So a quick update on the broken Fibula.  I went to another surgeon last week for a second opinion.  To be honest I really did not like the first surgeons more than brisk bedside manor and (my perceived) lack of care for my well being.   The second surgeon was MUCH better.  So, even though the conclusion and diagnosis were just about the same.  I feel better. I am happy to report that the second surgeon did a stress test on my ankle (gravity did all of the work and it was not painful) basically he let my ankle rest at the end of a block allow it to drop off the end.  He then took and x-ray and reviewed the x-ray for distance between each bone in my ankle.  There was a slight distance (indicating a severe sprain) but not a huge distance (which would indicate a torn ligament).  He said he was actually surprised about the results because typically with my type of break, it is usually cause by the Tibia ligament (I can't remember the exact name) tearing and causing the fibula to break as a result.

But, I am lucky.  He said there is no evidence of any further damage than a broken bone and the break is extremely stable.  He expects me to be off of crutches in 4 weeks and be completely healed in 6.  He actually said if I wanted I could put weight on it now if I could stand the pain and wouldn't risk doing any further damage. Wow! So of course my next question was, so when I can ride.

He said, well you could strap a clip on your boot now and ride if you wanted.  (think he started to regret saying that...seeing that I lit up and completely took him seriously and started to strategize with him).  He then said, wait, wait.  Slow down. Why don't we work on getting you walking first before you dust off your trainer or worse yet, head outside with on a bike with a broken ankle.  I said, but! I could just be really careful.  I'll only ride inside.  He said again, let's work on getting you walking first and go from there. Okay, so I must walk before I can ride.

But, really in all seriousness I am so happy that 1. I will not need surgery and 2. I will be able to salvage some of this riding season, even if it is for smaller rides and not the century's I wanted.

There's always next year....right?

Last but not least, I had debated on putting these on here...but I think it's an interesting history of what my ankle has done in the last couple of weeks. If you are at all sqeamish (don't want to look at a bruised leg...I suggest you not scroll down).  Me personally  I think things like this are cool...but I will be the first to admit I am weird. :o)  The main reason I thought there was ligament damage is because of all of the bruising on the opposite or good side of my ankle.  Plus, the swelling has been almost as bad as the broken side.  But, the doctors have assured me that even with a bad sprain, an ankle can look like this:

Below is a photo journey of my broken foot (intro courtesy of Dr. Seuss):

Here is a picture of my fancy footwear for the next couple of weeks:

This was my ankle hours after I broke it in the emergency room, mostly swollen the bruising hadn't shown up yet:

These next pictures were taken about a week after I broke it.  The bruising had definitely shown up and my poor foot was starting to show what it's been through this past week: 

This is the broken side: 

And the opposite side (good side): 

These last pictures were taken a week after the last pictures or two and a half weeks after the injury (yesterday). There seems to be even more bruising. But, some of the bruises are starting to yellow and heal, thank goodness. The swelling is still pretty  bad, but is getting better. 

This is the broken side:

And the opposite side (good side):