Special Thanks and a Moment of Reflection

I want to thank you all for the great advice and responses and all around "rah-rah" you gave me! Thanks for the extra "umph" I needed to help me hang in there and do the right thing.

I know there are going to be days of teaching in the rain and having dead tired feet and spoiled brats in my classes (as well as other less-desirable instructors I may be slated to teach with) but I need to keep in the forefront of my mind special moments such as when I was waiting in line at the Starbucks to get coffee and one of my former students came up to me and thanked me for their class and showed me their new bike parked out on the street.

Or that quiet student that hadn't said so much as "Boo" all weekend that suddenly ran up and threw their arms around me and thanked me for teaching them to ride.
(ahh, I'm getting a little choked up just writting this - sniff)

Those are the ones that keep me going in this as well as all my flock of walkers that I kept my eye on last weekend.

Last night after I wrote that last post I went in to the kitchen and these were still laying on the counter from when I unloaded my tank bag from the walk:

They were coveted by both the walkers and the motorcycle crew. First thing in the morning we would load up on them as they provided the needed sugar and protein boost to get through the day.

As I looked at one I picked it up, ripped it open and took a big bite out of it. Savoring the mushed peanut butter and jelly running out of the sides it took me back to the walk, camp and all the comradery.

Then, once it hit my stomach I ran to the bathroom with the runs.

To surmise - you take the good with the bad -so long as the good always outweighs the bad ;-)

Special Addition – and, some advice

If you have read any of my earlier posts you know that part-time I am a motorcycle instructor. I teach people how to ride a motorcycle – sometimes people who have never been on a bike before. The people I have taught in the past are of all walks of life – mothers, fathers, kids, aunts, uncles – of all ages.

And, most of you know that I recently did motorcycle crew for the 3-day breast cancer walk. I know I haven’t told you all this but it was an incredibly wonderful experience.

And, most of you also know that I have recently started a new job that takes up a lot of my time and that I am really career orientated right now. Because of which, I have been teaching a lot less these days and really considering getting out of the teaching motorcycle business.

Especially now after doing the 3-day crew.

Crewing for the 3-day I felt like I was really making a difference. Keeping the walkers spirits up, cheering them on, keeping them safe on their path of travel. There were people walking who were undergoing chemo. People who had a wife, sister, Dad (even) or some family member or friend who was affected by breast cancer. Or they were a survivor of breast cancer. Those were the people who brought tears to my eyes. They made such a difference. These are people who had or have their lives pass right in front of their eyes. This is life and death.

So, after coming off the 3-day and going into work on Monday partially hung over emotionally I was faced with the everyday things. Environmental reports, construction plans, clients. Blah, blah, f-ing blah!

Soooooo, what!

Is someone going to die if this road doesn’t get built? No. Is someone going to die if they don’t pass their motorcycle test and get their license? Well, let’s hope not!

I have felt depressed and wonder what does it all matter? These culverts, roads, environmental reports, some class? People are dying of breast cancer, here!

THAT MATTERS!

So, I have been considering really letting the instructor thing go. I am not sure I care about whiney people in my class that just spent $20,000 on a Harley and need their license RIGHT AWAY so they can ride. Whoopie- f-ing – DO!

So, people – help me here. I need your advice blogroll.

As The Clash sings “Should I stay or should I go now?”

Please help me see that this is important. If I am not convinced soon then I will surely quit.

And, btw –

I signed up again to crew the 3-day next year!

Halloween Story - Part V

I hand my I.D. to the cops. It is at that moment we can hear my friends down on the bridge pylon starting to sing

“99 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of beer……”

The cop that took my I.D. went back to the cruiser and started to do paperwork.
The other cop turned to me and said, “19, huh? You’re underage. Have you been drinking?”

This was the turning point. I could either lie about the (1) beer that I had had earlier or come clean.

Me – “Yes, sir. One beer, sir”

"Sirs" pop out of my mouth left and right when faced with the law. (unless it’s a female cop, of course)

Cop – “Ok, we’re going to give you a ticket. And, you’d better go get your friends and bring them back here.”
Me – “What friends?”

“89 bottles of beer on the wall……”

The cop just looks at me and said, “Like I said, you can go get your friends and bring them back here or else we’ll go down and get them for you.”

Remembering the wacky-tabacky I readily agreed to go get them.

Walking to the middle of the bridge and looking over the side at my friends.

“82 bottles of beer on the wall…….HEY! Where’s the beer?”

Me – “Um, you guys……the cops are over there and they are going to arrest me for underage drinking and come get you unless you come back with me – NOW! And, btw – if you hadn’t been singing this stupid song they wouldn’t have HEARD you! And, for Goddess-sakes throw that thing away!” (Referring to the tabacky.)

All of us walked off the bridge. The minute one of the cops sees N’s face he said, “What in the hell happened to your face.”

(Please God no one tell what really happened!)

N – “Fell down the stairs, sir.” (Sirs pop out of her mouth, too)

Fortunately, at this point N could also lie lika rug!

Breathalyzers all around.

Fortunately, the only person that had the highest was N – no surprise there. She said it was because her face hurt so bad.

$90 for a ticket and court appearance

$500 for drug and alcohol school and 8 hours community service

Kissing a girl - priceless!

Some things money can't buy......

Happy Halloween!!

I saw this and thought I would share - What is your life path number?

Your Life Path Number is 1

Your purpose in life is to lead others. You have great drive and determination. Nothing is going to stand in your way.You seek out challenges and the spotlight. You'll take all the work - and all the glory.Status and success are important to you. You demand the best from everyone and everything. In love, you tend to take a protective role. You enjoy being the provider in relationships. You expect others to be like you, and as a result, you are often disappointed.A little selfish and vain, you always put yourself first.Remember, everyone already knows you're great - you don't need to remind them!

What is your life path number?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatisyourlifepathnumberquiz/

Stay tuned for Halloween Part V :-)

Halloween Story - Part IV

R, H and I are in the waiting room of the hospital. There are several people in costume waiting as well. It's a busy night! A nurse walks out and says that our friend is ok – just to make sure she keeps ice on her face and she was going to give her something for the pain.

N walks out with an icepack on her face.

R – “Why did you take off so fast back there?”
N – “I thought T said ‘Someone’s coming’ so I took off. I don’t remember anything after that. "
Me – “Well, you hit this post coming out of the ground. We thought you were dead.”
H – “Thank God the police weren’t involved”
N – “Well, the night is still young! Let’s get some beer and go out to Purple Head ”.

(Vincennes - Purple Head Bridge - One story is there is an old one lane toll bridge that crosses the Wabash river on the outskirts (South 6th St. Road) to Saint Francesville, Illinois. It is said that long ago it was a place where a man jumped from the bridge to hang himself. When he did his head ripped off, and was never found. If you go there on a raining night and park on the bridge and wait you will see a purple head floating toward you. The other story is the bridge is supposedly a bridge they hung people off of in the 1800s, giving it its name purple head. Another legend has it that if you go out there you will hear screams from the spirits that have been hung. )

After picking up as case of Little Kings we head out. The bridge was out in the country quite a distance from our college town so by the time we arrived it was close to midnight. R pulled the car over near a lane that disappeared into a cornfield. It was always important to hide the vehicles as local police were always trolling the bridge for drunken college kids.

As we got out of the car I said I had to make water and took off through the corn.
H said, “Wait!” and took off after me. It became a playful chase through the cornfield. As H caught up to me I stopped and turned around and kissed her. And, kissed. And, kissed.

Kissing……

Kissing…….

Kissing…….

Eventually, we hear R and N calling our names and searching for us. H and I pry our lips apart and yell “Coming!”

We walked out of the cornfield acting casual. I still hadn’t peed.

We grab some beer out of the car and walk down to the middle of the bridge and slip over the side and climb down to the concrete pylon support. We sat down and looked over the Wabash River. It is the most beautiful spot. R takes out some “whacky tabacky” and passed it around. I get pegged to go get more beer out of the car.

R – “Wait! Take all the bottles back with you! We have to keep the case intact for a souvenir of the night”

Walking off the bridge with 4 beer bottles. A bright car light shined in my eyes. I cannot see and fear it’s a local out to cause trouble. I raise a bottle up by its neck as protection. That’s when I hear from a mega horn:

“Drop the bottle! You’re under arrest!”

Halloween Story - Part III

As we get to the wagon we each grab two pumpkins and start carrying them away hunched over. For some reason we thought if he hunched down no one would see us even though we were out in the open and in daylight, practically. No one questioned why the three of us R, N and myself needed to grab 2 pumpkins each – 6 pumpkins just for seeds? We’d be up all night!

As we snuck away, hunched over, I looked at R and said, “I feel like Dolly Parton” since we had the pumpkins right in front of our chests.



(this is exactly how we looked, too)


Suddenly, N took off. R looked at me and said, “Where’s she going?” I managed a shrug and suddenly we heard this noise. It was sort of like a humming sound. It’s was coming from

over there! Where N is laying spread-eagled on the ground and pumpkins rolling!

R and I drop the pumpkins and ran over.

R – “What the fuck happened?”
Me – “She just told me the other night that she has a heart arrhythmia! I think her heart stopped!”

As I am relishing doing mouth to mouth, I look closer and she’s breathing. It’s then I notice a goose egg on her forehead and her upper lip starting to swell. Hmm, this looks like she hit something. It was then that we noticed an iron bar protruding out of the ground and bent at the top just to catch N in the face as she ran into it. Then….

…..gunshots! We’re found out!

R – “Holy shit! RUN!”
Me – “Grab N!”

We drape N’s arms over our shoulders and start running dragging her feet! Just then we heard a squeal of tires and H is [trying to] drive R’s car [erratically down] the road. The car is jerking and revving as H is trying to get it into gear.

We throw N in the back seat and I dive in behind her and R shoves H over and puts the car in gear and takes off.

For the hospital.

Halloween Story - Part II

So, off we go in R’s Mercury to steal pumpkins. N is riding shotgun while R drives (she hadn’t taught us to drive that car just yet. (Notice I said, “yet”)

We cruise down between the fields – we are in farmland central so there are several fields to choose from. The first field we came to looked like a pumpkin patch. We stopped the car and got out to investigate. And, one of us stepped into…

…..a watermelon! Wrong field.

Back in the car we cruise around for quite sometime until we pass a farmhouse with an old fashioned wagon in the front stocked full of pumpkins.

N – “The mega load! Let’s go!”
H- (who is, ironically, majoring in law enforcement) “No! There’s no cover, trees or nothing! It’s too out in the open! We’ll get caught!”
N- “No we won’t!”

Like she’s an authority on not getting caught……well, come to think of it……R and I decided to go with it.

H – “Well, I’m not going. This could hurt my reputation if we get caught”
R- “Your rep is already blown girlfriend!” Looking at me.
Me – looking puzzled thinking “whaaaat?”
H – turning red and saying “Just go! I’ll stay in the car and provide getaway if anyone comes.
R- You don’t know how to drive the car (just yet)

We park the car about 100 yards up the road and sneak in. The wagon is RIGHT in front of the house. The porch light is on. There are practically no trees for cover and there’s a barn about 200 feet from the house with a big utility light on shining down. This doesn’t look good. We might as well be in broad daylight, here!

Halloween Story - Part I

Since everyone has been telling their coming out stories, I thought I would share mine - especially, since it's almost my coming out anniversary. (Plus, this will keep y'all busy while I am away doing the 3-day.)

Halloween night 21 years ago also marks the first time I ever kissed a girl! Not only was I finally liberated with my sexuality, we were also celebrating Halloween with being shot at, a trip to the hospital and [almost] arrest – Yes, it was a busy night!

It all started when

I was trying to be the good college student (we’re all laughing here) and calmly studying in my dorm room when all of a sudden “N” bursts into the room. This was typical of her as her room was next to mine. She was always coming into my room at weird times –usually when she had been out drinking and so forth. I admit I had a terrible crush on this girl but she wasn’t the one I actually lost my virginity to (kiss-wise and “the other”).

N – “We have to get some pumpkins!”
Me – “Why?”
N-“Because then we can carve them up and get the seeds out and dry them and bake them. And, Mmmmmm, (licking her lips) I love to eat them with salt on them.”

Everything with N always had to do with her stomach or getting drunk in those times.

Me – “I can’t tonight. I have a big physics test tomorrow”
N –“Please! Please! Please? I already have R driving us in her car and H is going along and I want YOU to come” (Being as I had a crush on this woman, and come to think of it, H, too - how could I resist?)
Me – “What’s the big deal? We’ll just go to the store and buy a couple”

N was also [always] about not spending any of N’s money, too. So, N’s next exclamation should come as no surprise:

N-“What? Buy? Why buy when we can steal some! There are pumpkin patches all over this country!”

I could really see it all start to go downhill at this point – picture pumpkins rolling around on the ground because that’s what’s coming up.

So, off we went in R’s classic Mercury with the stick shift on the steering column.

Getting ready for this 3-day walk has been like organizing a cross-country trip! The list of things I have made keep growing and growing. Sleeping bag, tent, air mattress, clothes, rain gear, first aid kit, batteries for Ipod speakers, Ipod speakers, Ipod with walkers mix, flashlights, shoes, fleece, hats, gloves, pink fairy wings, 100 pink glow necklaces, 50 pink flashing ribbons......

I have spent most of the past two nights making inventory of everything and then trying to pack it all. The first time I started to pack things didn't go well at all! Fortunately, GF loaned me a good bag that I can strap on my bike.

I think I finally got it all and am ready to go!

Getting ready for the boob walk

If you read my previous post of “Strength can take a flying leap” then you know that my mother passed away 7 years ago from breast cancer. For the first time last year I decided to participate in the 3-day walk hosted in Atlanta. I had no idea at the time what I was getting myself into when I signed up. But, I was definitely in for a journey, emotionally and physically.

After signing up I started doing fundraising immediately because I had to raise at least $2,100 to participate as a walker. I had never raised that much money before so I had no idea what to do – go door to door? Sell cookies? What? Fortunately, my friends [family] were very supportive. I had a party that included food and drink that I spent about $200 to put together and got over $1,000 in donations. I asked people at work. I even had friends of friends give me donations as they had a relative, friend, significant other that was affected somehow by breast cancer. It all turned into a very small world of friendship and support.

Shortly, after signing up I got an email from my “Mentor”. I didn’t know I had one! The email she sent introducing herself and telling her story of why she walked touched me so deeply. I immediately wrote her back and arranged to meet up for training walks with her.

Training walks? Why do I need those? I’m a runner! I’ve run ½ marathons! Why do I need to train for this? Can’t I just do my regular running schedule and pump up the mileage like I am running a marathon?

Nope.

For one thing, the body, legs, feet use different muscles to walk than to run. (Especially the feet!) You have to actually train your body walk for long distances, to get used to the constant pounding mile after mile. You have to train your mind to say “I will do 20 miles today!” Because, let me tell you – after 16 miles my body was saying “F-YOU! I-want-to-go-home-and-have-a-beer-and-sit-on-my-ass and WHY CAN’T WE DO THAT?!!”

So, I was set. I was at my goal donation-wise. I had trained for my walk and was packed and ready to go. I was ready physically, but was I mentally?

The opening ceremonies GF drove me over and helped me put my bag on the truck that was carrying all our gear to camp that night. I checked in and grabbed some coffee and we waited for the opening ceremony to begin. It was dark, I was kinda cold, and feeling like the first time going off to camp. I huddled to GF for comfort and almost wished we were back in her warm bed. Then, the speaker took to the stage and the minute she opened her mouth I got goose bumps from the strength of her voice and what she said. By the time she was finished and music was playing to start our walk I had tears in my eyes and I was pumped up to do this thing – YEAH! We strode down the streets starting our walk, people cheering us on and we were on our way!

By mile 16 (as I said before) my body was hurting. Unfortunately, the route was a little messed up last year as we ended up walking some 25 miles on the first day (Yeah – and, I only barely trained for 20 and it was a big stretch for me and many others!) 26 the second day (people were dropping like flies in camp that night) and 15 the last day. (I’m not good at math but that’s more than 60 miles!)

Great moments:

There was this group of ladies that were all going thru chemo, had wigs on or bald heads that went to EVERY cheering station to cheer us on and thank us. I wanted to bawl every time I saw them! They were so amazing!


Walking up Candlier Road (which was on an incline) to camp 2 with my friend and fellow walker, L, singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall to keep our minds off our aching bodies. (We made it to 43, btw)

Limping in to the closing ceremonies I had ace bandages on both my knees, two of those break-and-use ice packs shoved down my pants for my aching hip joints, and BIO-Freeze lathered all over my body! But, I didn’t care because I DID IT! For Mom! And, then for

others suffering from breast cancer and for

myself.

I am on motorcycle crew this year with some of my instructor buds (who I talked into doing this). The girls I walked with last year are doing regular crew. I can’t wait to cheer all the walkers on! If you need an organization to donate to, need inspiration in your life, need to train for something big, want to feel a part of something big and know you helped thousands of people? Then, do a 3-day near you! Volunteer, walk, donate, you name it!

Oh, and one last thing – it’s breast cancer awareness month so ladies, check yer boobs!

Pick Ups

Ok, Mandy and Claire’s posts on pick up lines and what didn’t work got me thinking.

Here’s one I did that actually worked:

I lit a match while it was still attached to the matchbook and flung it down the bar only to land perfectly still lit in front of this woman that was looking around for someone to light her cigarette.

Worked like a charm, too! ;-) She was nodding her head and laughing and saying “Smooth” and I walked over to her and said that the last woman I tried that on caught her hair on fire so it didn’t work out so well.

What did someone do whether it was a pickup line or action that actually DID work for you? Or What did you do to pick someone else up and worked?

'Tis the Season"

“Deck the halls with boughs of hockey,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay [hockey] apparel,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la.

Troll [for] the ancient Yule tide carol,

Fa la la la la, la la la f-ing - la.”

Yeah, and as I say every year – the ONLY good thing about winter is HOCKEY!! Afunt and I went to see our city’s beloved hockey team last night. And, almost got thrown in JAIL! (Nothing new for me but, hey, for Afunt - it mighta beena big deal, ya know? ;-)

We had decided to purchase tickets on the street once we got there since we have always gotten really good seats for cheap this way. Upon parking and walking up to the CNN center we wondered why we hadn’t seen anyone yelling out “Tickets!” the whole way up to the building like we ususally do.

I saw a guy holding [what looked like] really good box tickets (I can spot them a mile away) and asked him if he was selling them. He replied “Yes” and we offered him $40 each for them. (I was right- $86 face value – they were level 1 tickets – 7th row from the glass!) As we were getting ready to hand him the money a cop came up and said “Buddy! You cannot sell those here! You must go at least 1,000 feet from the venue before you are allowed to sell them.” No wonder we didn’t see many people selling tickets. He said, “Ok", and we all walked a little further and tried to do our transaction again and the cop came [again] and threatened arrest. Yikes! I mean, really, you would have thought we were trying to buy crack or something instead of hockey tickets! SHEESH!

So, we finally got FAR ENOUGH away from the cop to make our transaction – yeah, we didn’t have a tape measure, we weren’t pacing off the 1,000 lineal feet or anything so in essence we could have been arrested.

“Hey, I’m in the clink for buying a kilo of coke! How ‘bout you?”

“Umm,yeah, I just wanted to get into the hockey game?”

Anyway, once inside we got these nice, fuzzy Thrasher’s scarves to wear around our necks and they turned out to be quite nice later when we walked into the arena and the temperature drops about 20 degrees. (Afunt was actually trying to wrap her scarf all the way around her body to keep warm!)

All in all it was great seats, great fun but we lost in double overtime and a shootout. UGH! I hope this isn’t a bad omen for the season. And, to make things worse, we were beaten by our division rival who beat us out of the playoffs spot last year. But, regardless - they have a die-hard fan here! I will still go to the games whether they are good or not (and even if it does risk arrest to get good seats!) But, it’s always nice to hope for a good year!

GO TEAM!

Rock Star

There have been times in my life where I have felt like a Rock Star.

1. One night someone I was dating gave me a card with an address on it. She wanted me to meet her there for martinis. I was sure I knew where the place was. It was raining, hard, that night. It was dark and when I went to the place I thought it was it wasn't the right address. Driving up and down this street in Atlanta I finally found the place. It turned out to be a place I'd never been to before. I pulled up and realized it was valet parking. I hesitated. As a rule I HATE valet parking. I don't like the thought of other people driving, parking my car, the possibility of going through my things, etc. But, it was raining and the valet guy was standing there with an umbrella and opened the door for me. I suddenly decided that yes, valet parking was good that night and strode into the restaurant to find my date.

2. When I was in my track class. (Rehab) It was "Here's your leathers, helmet, gloves and boots, Mz. Trin. Please put them on and your motorcycle is gassed up waiting for you at the track."

3. Breast Cancer 3-day walk. After walking 60 plus miles I walked into Piedmont park to the finish line. We walked up this tunnel of hundreds of people that were cheering us on for walking. I felt like a star then!

4. When I have worked my ass off all weekend teaching a class to unruly people that just want their motorcylce license and one of my students comes up and throws their arms around me and thanks me for teaching them how to ride and how much it means to them.

5. Walking up to the stage to get my diploma from college.

6. When I was in band my senior year our marching band was winning several awards and I had a jazz solo and after every show I would return to my car to go home and it would have crape paper, signs and writing on the windshield of "Good job! We love you!" Yeah, I had my own little fan base then. ;-)

7. If you will notice in #3's pic the people wearing the orange vests were part of our motorcycle crew during that walk and THEY were Rock Stars to US walkers. Guess what I'm doing in THIS year's 3-day? You guessed it - moto-crew! ;-)

8. Anytime I have ever stayed in this hotel! (Yeah, Afunt knows! ;-)

When have you felt like a Rock Star?

Today's Horoscope

“Today it's time to stop working so hard to move yourself forward -- you need to realize that sometimes you can get a lot farther if you simply coast along and let the events of the day carry you along. You have been pedaling so hard for so long that you haven't realized something crucial: The wind is at your back! So let it carry you along today ... just glide through your day without any specific direction or purpose, and just experience things for a while”

Think it has anything to do with "the dream"?

Time Warp and Dream

I had a really great weekend that was filled with people, parties and fun! Sitting here at my computer on a Monday morning it seems like more than just a few days have passed since I was last sitting here on Friday. It seems like a time warp has taken place and I’m not sure why.

I came home last night from seeing a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in at least 2 years. That could be a reason. The last time I saw this friend she looked much different than she does now. It seems like she has grown up a lot since we last saw each other. She is like a little soul sister to me and I couldn’t help but think, “My little sis has grown up!” Anyway, that could be part of the time warp. Once home I fell into bed and a deep sleep and was awoken at 6 this morning with the alarm. I slapped the snooze and went back to sleep – honestly, I don’t know why I do this – the snooze only lasts for 5 minutes – what could I possibly accomplish sleep-wise in 5 minutes!? Apparently, I could accomplish a really strange dream. A dream that I’m not sure what to do with and that has had me in a fog this morning.

I know you all have heard me speak before about getting my license and starting my own company. My career path has really been on my mind ALOT lately. I have just gotten a new job last February and things have been going well there. But, I admit I am really restless. I feel like I am where I need to be right now, that there is potential growth here for me, etc. I tell myself to just calm down, work hard and get my license and then I will have the choices of [hopefully] promotion or going out on my own. Then, at the same time I think “If I could just get a few contracts under my belt I could go out on my own and worry about my license when it comes.” Which, really sounds like a pipe dream. “Yeah, let’s just go rent an office at this place and open up shop and do it!” Not too realistic. Where’s the business plan? Where are the cost projections? What about the clients? How am I going to get those when I have no license? –Sigh- and here I am back again at full circle. Do I even want to be bothered with my own business?

The dream I had this morning was about trying to get somewhere quickly to secure this contract to go out on my own - and I was on a bicycle. And, in the dream I kept thinking I should be in my car and asking myself “Where IS my car? Why am I riding this damn bicycle when I am in a hurry and need to be in my car?” I cut down this alley and there was a delivery truck parked there unloading and I couldn’t get through. I ended up telling the delivery people off (I wasn’t very nice to them in my dream – I remember using the f-word, too) and turning into an underground garage to go around them. I was a little scared of going into the garage because it was dark and I was on a bicycle of all things. But, I saw a light at the end of tunnel and rode hard for it. I turned the corner and suddenly the incline dropped and I fell into – cotton and sunk down and down. That was when I woke up.

What does it all mean?