Painting Time!

Okay, so the office is FINALLY moving along. The doors are all in, the trim is (mostly) done, and today the front got painted. On Saturday we will be there trying to finish -- we'll see how much we get done. The walls need two coats of paint, so I'm guessing we'll be able to finish the front and get one coat on both treatment rooms. The hallway may have to wait until next week, but at least its getting done!

Here are some pics of the the doors & new paint!

This is the view that you get when someone is cutting a door into the wall. It was cool to watch, but very dusty!


This is the result of the saw through the wall.


The door is in and Don is trying to make a level step. There was about 2 inches of difference in the floor height just in the 36 inches of the door frame!


This is a quick picture of what the new front looks like. It still needs to have a second coat of paint and the trim/door stained, but it looks good. I can't wait to get the pictures back on the wall and it looking like an office again!


Here's a view from the front door area. We moved the reception desk to the middle area. I love the new look!

Vacation - Rock Climbing in South Dakota

Yep, that was our vacation this year. After my triathlon, we went up to Sioux Falls, SD to stay for a couple of days. I had found a rock climbing place near Garretson, SD and we decided to give it a try. It is at the Palisades State Park, and it was beautiful. I had never done any actual rock climbing before. On our honeymoon we did some scrambling in Colorado and some trail climbing, but I've never done any rope climbing.

We found the place and the instructor, Mark, was fabulous. We got our gear on and went down by a river. As we were driving out to the place we were both getting nervous because we were not seeing any rocks to climb. Turn out these rocks are DOWN into the river. ;) The scenery was gorgeous! Mark told us that we could decide who would climb first so I immediately volunteered Thomas to go first. I was a little nervous of the straight up-ness of the rock! Thomas did a great job and moved quite quickly and smoothly up the rock. Then it was my turn. I got a few feet up and freaked out! That thing was straight up and I KNEW I was going to fall! I started to panic and knew that I couldn't climb that thing. I was so afraid of falling! We were on ropes and on belay (meaning we can't really fall because the instructor had us on the rope) but that meant nothing to my head as I was losing my grip on the rock face. I finally "fell" and quickly realized that I can't fall - I'm on belay! Mark let me down to the ground so I could settle myself down while Thomas took another turn.

I was not going to give up, so I tried again. I made it farther up the face the 2nd time, but didn't make it to the top! It was fun to watch Thomas go all the way up & the repelling down looked mighty fun! However, the arms and hands get sore! I couldn't believe how sore my forearms were after my pitiful 2 attempts at the rock.

We then went to a different area where Mark said it was a harder climb. I figured I'd never make it up there. As he was telling us the route to take, he kept pointing out these tiny little "knobs" on the rock for hand holds and foot holds. He said something along the lines of "once you get into the crack there, you'll just scamper on up the rock!" I'm thinking, "Mark, I don't think there's any scamper in me!"

Thomas again did a great job of making it to the top and then it was my turn. I decided I was GOING TO DO THIS! I started off slowly and "fell" once. Mark asked if I wanted another try and I jumped back up onto the rock. My stubborness kicked in and I was ready to go! It was slow and I had to rest a couple of times but I MADE IT! It was AWESOME! My triceps and forearms were burning, but I felt absolutely awesome for making it to the top. And yes, the repelling down was fun!

We plan to go back next year and do more. I could easily see us getting into this rock climbing for fun. It makes for a hard work out and we are both a tad sore, but it was a blast!

I'll post some pictures when I can! Here are some of me climbing & then Thomas climbing. The last one is of us after the entire climbing experience. It was a great day!

My First Triathlon -- June 07, 2008

I've been training for this triathlon since the beginning of the year. I still don't know WHY I decided to do the triathlon, but it was something that I felt I needed to do right now. SO, I began my training for it beginning in February. I couldn't swim at that time and the triathlon included a 500yd swim. Thomas had given me a wonderful instructional DVD & book about swimming for triathlons, and I was able to teach myself to swim from those references. Before the triathlon, I had been able to swim 500m in just over 15 minutes. I figured that would be "good enough" for my first tri.

The morning of the tri was good. I woke up about 5:15 and got ready. We went to get some breakfast at 6am, thus giving me plenty of time to digest and not be sick for the race. We got to the YMCA around 6:30 or so and set up my bike & transition area. There was only one bike rack, so I didn't think there would be too many people competing. However, there were well over 200 people racing that day! We checked in, got numbered (I was #1) and waited around for the pre-race meeting & start. They started the short course & teams first and then the long course. I was racing in the long course, but would be one of the first to begin in the pool since I was #1 (I registered early - that's why I got to be #1):)

The weather was perfect for the tri. The temps were just cool enough so that I wasn't boiling, but warm enough that I wasn't freezing after being in the pool. It was overcast while I was racing so I didn't have the heat & humidity to deal with either. I am glad that I registered early and got an early start since after 10am the sun came out, it got hot & quite humid after that! I would have boiled & gotten so fried by the end of the race!

I watched several people swim 150 yards for the short course and then it was my turn. I am used to starting in the shallow end, and having the pool pretty much to myself. For the tri, we started in the deep end (YIKES) and we had to share a lane. There was much turbulence in the water. I let it freak me out at the beginning and subsequently inhaled a good lungful of chlorine water! UG! After a few laps, I finally settled in and swam. I was slower than I'd practiced, but I did make the 500 yards.

Jump out of the pool (skin my knee on the side), go grab my flip-flops & towel and scramble to my bike. Here I dried off a little, put on socks & shoes, my bike shirt & helmet and off I went.

The bike ride was 10 miles. That's not too terribly far for a flat ride, and the ride itself was okay. The course was an "out & back" meaning we rode 5 miles out and the turned around and came back. For some reason, that 5 mile trip seemed never ending - however, a friend of mine lived along the route at about the 4.5 mile mark and had put big signs in the yard for me! That made a HUGE difference to my determination when I saw the encouraging signs. I pedaled forever & finally made it back to the YMCA for the run.

The run was another "out & back" 2.5 mile run. I haven't been running much because I kept pulling my left gastroc muscle, so I knew the run wasn't going to be spectacular. I had planned to walk parts of it so that I wouldn't get injured. I ended up walking more than running, but it was still good -- I did run across the finish line!

I will say that I finished the tri. I was slower than I would have liked (I don't know my "official" time yet but my watch said 1hr40min for the whole start-finish.) I had hoped to be done in 1hr 30 min. ;( However, I will say that it was much harder than I expected. I didn't injure my leg, and I was focusing on that because I really didn't want to get injured and have to hobble the rest of the day.

Most of the people there were outstanding and very encouraging. Having #1 inked on my arms & legs made me "popular" with people because for some reason it is special to have #1 on you. The camaraderie was outstanding. Every time I felt myself struggling, there was a volunteer or another racer offering encouraging words. It was a great accomplishment for me, and I will do this race again next year - as long as my body is able! :) I will post some pics later, even though I don't like what I look like in them! Even though I am slow and fat, I can say that I'm a triathlete and I am very proud of myself. (If you don't get the slow & fat part, check out the book by Jayne Williams -- The Slow, Fat Triathlete -- it is quite inspirational!)

Here's the video that Thomas put together for me of the pics & mpegs he took of the race!

Bike ride last Sunday

The American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure was last Sunday! It was a lot of fun. I got there WAY early & quickly realized that I didn't need to be there that early. If I do it again next year, I'll know to sleep in a bit longer. :) Since its a ride & not a race, there were no pre-race jitters. People were friendly, milling about, waiting for the start. The original race trail posted said we'd be riding Highway 50 from Springfield to Louisville and back. However, when we checked in, they told us that we would be riding on the Mopac trail. It is a beautiful trail, but there were too many people on it to make it fun at first. There were 300 riders this year (several took off early for the 50 mile ride) but that still left a ton of people for the narrow trail. Hopefully if they do this again and have that many people signed up, they will rethink that part. As far as I know there were not accidents, but it could have been disasterous if anyone would have fallen. There would have been a huge pile up because there is no where to go except ON the trail.

It was still fun and a nice ride! :)

Two days until the tri...

Its Thursday, and my triathlon is this Saturday! YIKES! I'll admit I'm nervous. I'm at work today and we are pretty busy since I'll be gone for the next week. It helps to be busy, but to be honest I'd rather be out of here and concentrating on the tri.

I'm nervous that my leg will cramp up and I won't be able to finish. I'm nervous that my swim will be really bad with tons of people in the pool since I'm mostly used to having the lap area of the pool to myself. I did swim yesterday in all my gear and it didn't seem to drag me back too much. I look like a dork, but I have a feeling I won't be the only one looking layered! I'm nervous that I'm going to bike so slow that I get passed by everyone and NEVER finish -- or that I'll have a nasty blowout & fall! I'm sure these nerves are normal, but I don't like it!

We are heading up to Norfolk tomorrow so that will help. We can go check out the bike & run routes so that at least I'll be able to set some landmarks for myself for the bike & run. We'll be up bright & early Saturday morning. I need to eat by about 6am so that my stomach digests & settles before the race at 8am. I want to get to the Y around 7am so that I can get my packet, set up my transition area, get marked, etc and hopefully RELAX!

I'll post after the tri at sometime to update this blog. WISH ME LUCK!

Office construction -- FINALLY!

It has been a LONG time since any construction/repairs have been done at my office. I'm more than frustrated with the process. Last week I went in and spent Wednesday sanding drywall mud and touching up the mudding that was done. I finally asked Mr. Butler from the high school (Industrial Tech Teacher) to come help. He met me at the office today at 8:30 this morning and we worked pretty much straight through until 4pm. It looks awesome now! We are going back next Wednesday to cut in the new door on the west side of my office, do more trim, and hopefully get it ready to be painted and stained! Here are the updates as of today!

This is the new door into the acupuncture room from the new treatment room. No more curtain separating the rooms!


Trim going up everywhere!


New trim around other door to acupuncture room from the reception area.


Finished trim around door to acupuncture room.

Kitty fun...

Yep, its my blog and I'll post what I want to! :)

Here are some adorable pics of our cats.


Both Bengal and Dartos looking utterly cute. Apparently Dartos was feeling a bit lonely and decided to join Bengal on the couch. He tends to feel a bit "needy" once in a while and goes over to Bengal to get a "bath." Its very cute!



Dartos catching up on some ZZZ's the other day after I got up.