Amgen Tour of California

May 19, 2014May 20, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

On Friday I happened to stumble upon the fact that stage 5 of the Amgen tour would be finishing in Santa Barbara THAT AFTERNOON.

I am not a huge cycling buff, but during my time working at the SBR shop in Kentucky I was exposed to my fair share of Tour de France and Beyond the Peloton DVDs. And I thought it would be awesome to see.

So after Memaw graciously agreed to watch HH for the afternoon, I was out the door and downtown in the hot, hot heat.

My friend Rika, who doesn’t particularly like cycling, just happened to be in town and agreed to stand with me to watch.

Around 3:45 the barricades were all up, nobody was allowed to cross the street, officials were yelling at pedestrians to STAY OFF THE ROAD, you could see the blinking lights of the escort in the distance…when suddenly a homeless dude on his cruiser with two large bags full of cans slung over one shoulder came cruising down the middle of the course.

He seemed somewhat tuned into the fact that something was…different, but completely oblivious that he was in the middle of it all.

Cue: mass hysteria.

Every official nearby was yelling and chasing after him, flags in the air. Caught completely off guard by the uproar, Can Man started swerving all over the road to avoid the various people trying to tackle him, almost colliding with one official in the process. There was a collective gasp as everyone envisioned cans strewn across the road as the peloton descended.

Surprisingly dexterous in steering his bike with one hand and carrying an unwieldy load in the other, Can Man managed to avoid crashing into anyone or anything, finally rolling off the road and into a nearby park yelling over his shoulder about how EVERYONE was being ASSHOLES. Crisis averted.

And then Taylor Phinney came flying by.

Crushing it.

Then came the peloton.

It all happened in bouts of about 3 seconds. I thought it was very exciting. At the end Rika was like, “That was it? That’s what we stood here so long for?” But ultimately agreed the homeless dude fiasco made the event worthwhile.

Nice little article on how brutal that leg was here.

Still Here

May 4, 2014August 6, 2014 ~ meh ~ 2 Comments

2014-05-03 20.24.58 oh hey downtown LA

Since moving back, things have not been super easy. Paul was gone. I was sick. Baby was sick. I did neither of the half marathons I had planned on racing. My running has seriously fallen off.

But for the good news: Paul is now here. HH is healthy (if still teething…shoot me). And I have tan lines again.

This week we headed down from SB to LA to take a look at a few potential places to live. This morning I went for a run in the South Bay amongst the beautiful people (not that Kentucky people aren’t beautiful in their own way). And two things happened.

Oh hey, whats up 90210 beach house. I forgot you lived here.

2. I ran past Kat from the reality show Toned Up on Bravo (thank you once again, High Street YMCA). She was in spandex stretching next to a shirtless dude with big muscles. First “celebrity” sighting.

I was super excited to tell people about it, and when I got back to my aunt’s house exactly nobody knew who I was talking about.

And, last but not least, we finally took HH into the pool for her first swim lesson.

Not super successful, but her suit was adorable. (And yes, Paul has changed ethnicities.)

P.S. Happy Derby Day!! California Chrome is appropriate this year…

Done.

April 16, 2014April 18, 2014 ~ meh ~ 2 Comments

Found my new job.

Made it

April 14, 2014April 14, 2014 ~ meh ~ 1 Comment

Despite how it may seem based on the radio silence the past 2 weeks, we survived the trip to CA. And are now living 4 generations under one roof.

breakfast with dd

As you might imagine, the last 2 weeks have been a little transitional. But things are starting to settle down. The fact that it’s been mid-70s and sunny every day since we got here hasn’t hurt. We’ve also gotten to spend time at the beach. I’m really pushing HH to get out there and meet some men.

In the meantime, the job/home search continues. Regular posts to resume shortly. I hope.

My Old Kentucky Home

April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 ~ meh ~ 1 Comment

last run at the arboretum. no filter needed.

Today we head back west. Of course we are excited…great opportunities for Paul, and California will always be my home. But Kentucky has been good to us. A lot has gone down the past 4 years. It started with casts.

my first week here

But then things got better. And there was Spike

And Nerlens!

And Derby

And Keeneland

And bourbon

And running for bourbon!

And state fairs

And HH

And horses on farms

And miniature donkeys

And the air smelling like roasting peanuts when the wind is right (thank you, Jiff factory).

And coaching

And swimming

And running routes

And riding

And chickens!

(and their untimely deaths)

And egg drama

And duh:

And, best of all…

family. It’s been so nice to be close to family. And good friends.

Leaving is always a little bittersweet, even when there are good things ahead of you. Regardless of where we go from here, Kentucky will always be our second home.

C-A-T-S

March 30, 2014March 30, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

University of Kentucky cheerleaders in action during the 1958 NCAA championship games at Freedom Hall in Louisville. March 21, 1958 Photo by Al Blunk, The Courier-Journal.

This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. My boss, fellow Masters swim coach, and personal hero Susan Bradley-Cox, second from the left. Front page of the Courier-Journal this morning. She said the skirts went down to your ankles and were made out of wool.

Foal Play

March 25, 2014July 21, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Filed under: Things that will not happen in LA. Paul helps deliver a baby horse.

Big Things

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

3 of them:

#1: We Matched

…at USC. We’re moving to LA. Text from my sister: “You’ll get to live the life of Lauren Conrad!” Thank god for a super icy winter and the Y and keeping up with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. At least I’ll know what to say at cocktail parties. Maybe, if I’m really lucky, HH will be discovered at one of these cocktail parties and I can become the next Dina Lohan.

#2: March Madness

UK beat Wichita State in a big fat upset yesterday. This means that not only is my (and everyone else’s) bracket completely effed, but Kentucky plays Louisville this coming Friday. If you forget why this is a very big deal, see: here.

#3: Nerlens.

Neeeeerleeeeeens. Because we are moving to a concrete jungle, we’ve decided that Nerlens would probably be happier staying here in Kentucky at Andrea’s farm. It was a hard decision. Nerlens is part of our family and Spike will be very upset. But really, he’s a Kentucky cat. He needs a place to hunt rats and climb trees and roll in dirt. Plus nobody in LA will pronounce his name right.

Lots going on.

Summertiiiiiiiime

March 20, 2014March 28, 2014 ~ meh ~ Leave a comment

pb-130321-lima-beach-jsw-01.photoblog900 auga de dulce beach, lima, peru. pic via photoblog

This goes under what is not happening here today. Although, to be fair, the sun is out. It’s just 35 degrees and windy.

Speaking of beaches, tomorrow is Match Day. Paul finds out what residency program he matched with and where we’ll be going. All of them are in California, so regardless of which program it is we’ll be leaving Kentucky and heading back west sooon….

Happy Spring Equinox!

More Adventures at the Y (or: Why I Wear Flip Flops in Public Showers)

March 19, 2014August 4, 2014 ~ meh ~ 1 Comment

Last week, somebody took a dump in one of the shower stalls at the Y.

A human. Pooped. In the public shower.

The discovery, of course, was followed by 5 minutes (I’m sure longer, I just left the locker room at that point) of Maria Callas walking around announcing to no one in particular, “Well, I mean, I understand having to pick up after a dog or a cow, but a PERSON?” And I don’t disagree. I just don’t know if it needs to be repeated multiple times to the same crowd.

So the turd sat there until poor Rosa showed up with her rubber gloves on, and Ms. Callas directed her to the offense and explained how she had considered picking it up with toilet paper, but had decided against that.

I never wear flip flops at the pool (I know, some people are horrified by that…I blame an entire childhood of walking around barefoot in gnarly locker rooms with no serious infections to show for it). I opted to shower at home that day.

My flip flops arrived in the mail yesterday.

P.S. Picture via here. What.