Prosecco

I have been searching for a replacement drink for my usual margaritas.  I am trying to cut back on hard liquor.  A lot people I know stay away from tequila because they don't want to end up dancing on tables stripping their clothing off.  I never had this problem with tequila.  I handle it extremely well.  Really...  I do.  My other drink of choice when I'm not drinking a margarita is Riesling.  

Lately however, I have been drinking prosecco, an Italian sparkling white wine similar to champagne.   It is very light and works perfectly with cranberry and pomegranate juice.  I don't even miss the tequila. Last night the Murph and I met some friends at Satterfield's.  I decided to stick with a prosecco cocktail and got a drink called Strawberry Splash.  It had strawberries, balsamic, vanilla syrup, tarragon extract and prosecco.  Delicious!    My usual Satterfield cocktail is called The Royal Flirt and has vodka, fruit juice and prosecco.  It's not as sweet, but still very good.

I have cut back on alcohol and processed foods and snacks overall in an attempt to eat healthier.  We'll see how long it lasts.  At the grocery store today I told the Murph that I wasn't eating meat anymore.  He totally ignored me as he was picking out steaks and chicken and other dead animals in the meat department.  Then as I'm in mid sentence explaining why I've suddenly decided to become a vegetarian, he looks at me and says...

Murph:  "Are you ok on sandwich meats?"

Me:  "You're just totally not listening to me!"

Murph:  "No I'm not."  as he's tossing a big fat dead chicken in the cart

Me:  "I just said I'm not eating dead animals anymore."

Murph:  "We'll see how long that lasts." followed by a snort and some more bloody meat in the cart

The problem is he's right.  Becoming a vegetarian and not eating meat is about as tough as following a gluten free diet.  I tried gluten free once when the Boy had just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.  I read a book on gluten free diets for children with Austism or Aspergers and became inspired.  I spent a small fortune on "gluten free" items at the grocery store that ended up tasting like cardboard.  The Boy ate most of it without complaining too much and I tried to eat it because I felt if he had to go gluten free than I should too.  We went gluten free for less than a month before I broke down and ordered a pizza.  It's just tough. And I'm weak when it comes to food.  I ended up buying drinkable yogurt and giving the Boy one every day.  That seemed to help most of his stomach issues.  We didn't have to go lactose free.  Thank god for that.

As far as not eating meat, I've done pretty good so far.  Last night for dinner I had a cheese tray with some apple slices and bread at Satterfields.   No meat.  Today I had cereal for breakfast and for lunch the Murph "saved" me from eating meat by stealing the Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich that I had tucked away in the fridge.  He apologized and said he thought it was his sandwich.  All he left for me were the soggy curly fries.  

My Favorite Nail Color

Yesterday I got a much needed manicure and pedicure.  I really love this color nail polish and have been using it for a few of months now.  I purchased it at Sephora last year.  It's Sephora by OPI's "It's all about me".   This color matches almost all my pink clothing perfectly.  I use to do the french manicure pink and white acrylics.  It looks great and I like it much better than getting white tips, but it takes FOREVER.  I would do pink and white over white tips for a french manicure any day though if I was going for french. It's worth the extra time it takes.  Now that I'm not doing french nails anymore it takes at least an hour less to get them done.  It's hard for me to sit still long, especially when I'm getting a pedicure too.

My toes nails don't look so good right now.  One nail has come completely off from running the all marathons and half marathons over the winter.  My big toe looks a little black.  I had it painted over pink anyway, but it needs help.  I hope it doesn't look that way at the wedding this summer.  No pictures of them for now.

Ambiguities From The Boy

Yesterday evening I was sitting outside on the porch swing talking to the Boy on the phone and watching the sunset through the trees in our neighborhood.  It caught my attention because it was striking and looked like the trees were on fire.  I mentioned this amazing sunset to the Boy and he said the sun had already set where he was, which is only about 240 miles south of where I am.  I always thought that since he's directly south of me that it would get dark about the same time.

Now I didn't realize there was such a difference in sunset times between Birmingham and the coast.  I questioned him.

"Was he SURE it had set already?"

He said it was probably because he's at sea level and I'm at a higher elevation.  I had trouble believing him and questioned him again about just how dark it was there.  He said again that it was almost dark, but not totally dark.  Doubtful, I asked him again if the the sun had gone down.

He said  "YES! It had!!"

Perplexed and curious about this sunset mystery (I just got back from spending a week at the coast and didn't think the sunset times were any different there than here), I decided to google sunrise/sunset times in Alabama today just to see the exact sunset time here and the exact sunset time where The Boy lives.  I would have expected from my conversation with him last night that his sunset would be a few minutes before mine.  Imagine my surprise when I see that my sunset time is actually 5 minutes earlier than his sunset time.

 Now, he told me the sun had already set where he was, but mine had not.  I have to ask, Was it cloudy there and he was just incorrect in his sunset assessment?  Was he just not paying much attention to the position of the sun and wanted me to shut up about sunsets in general?  Are the charts on the internet just all wrong??

 Or is he on a road trip somewhere east of here (where the sun would have already set) and just making me think he's at school studying hard.

I haven't had time to question him on this discrepancy, but it probably won't do any good if I do...

Hyper Kitty

Taking a picture of this hyper little kitty is tough because he moves around so much.  Just like the bunny picture I took of him the other day.  All I got were hind legs even though I was going for full body.   I tried again yesterday and all I got were these. 

Not the face!

Here's the butt

I'm gonna turn and lick myself at the last minute

This morning I left the pantry door opened and went to get something out of the fridge.  When I turned back around, Cadence was sitting up on one of the shelves in the pantry next to the crackers and chips.  I froze and called out for the Murph to grab the camera and quietly but quickly come into the kitchen with camera turned on and ready.  Of course, Cadence is too fast for us.  He was down before the Murph made it to the kitchen door.  It would have been a cute picture.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

The only time lately that we can get good pictures of this little guy (other than when he's stalking us and gets into our pictures accidentally) is when he's like this....

                                                                          Asleep...

Huh?

Huh?

I have been distracted a lot lately and every time the Murph says or asks me anything my standard response usually is "Huh?"  Sometimes I will even know what he has just said to me but I will still say "Huh?" just out of habit.

Murph:  "What do you want to do for dinner?"
Me:  "Huh?'

Murph:  "It's getting hot in here.  I'm turning on the air."
Me:  "Huh?"

Murph:  "I'm keeping my Eye on you keeping an Eye on that bad cat so he won't go after Ed."
Me:  "Huh?"

Murph:  "I just stepped on the cat."
Me:  "Huh?'

The Murph says I sound like Scooby Doo and so now he calls me Scooby whenever I say "Huh?"  The Murph actually does sound like Scooby when he's mocking me.   He will ask me something, I will say "Huh" and he comes back at me with his perfect Scooby imitation, "Huh? Scooby Dooby Doo!" in hopes to make me aware of what I'm doing so I will then Stop doing it and actually say a complete and coherent sentence.

The Murph is a communications guy (he even majored in Communications in college) and this kind of lame response, as well as the over use of pronouns, really irritates him.  When the Murph is irritated he takes it upon himself to correct the situation.  He's called "the Mayor" around here for a reason.  He also takes it upon himself to teach people correct driving skills whenever we are in the car going anywhere.

He, I mean The Murph (no pronouns here!)  has a challenge ahead of him trying to transform me into a great communicator.  Being the Mayor is a tough job, but some one's got to do it.

This Cat Doesn't Approve Of Being An "Indoor Only" Cat

Phantom at the back door wanting out...

I made the mistake of letting Phantom outside to explore hoping he would get some of his "stalking" and predator instincts out of his system on bugs instead of the other cats.  He has always been an indoor cat, but has wanted out ever since he's been a kitten.  I let him out yesterday for two hours in the fenced back yard while I read a book and got some sun.

When he came back inside, I immediately gave him a good bath just in case fleas had started setting up housekeeping on his underbelly.  He did not like it one bit, fighting and screaming (yes screaming) at the top of his lungs.

Today he wants back outside and has been sitting by the door (or scratching it), trying to get out all morning. Unfortunately, I don't have flea powder or a flea collar to put on him and another bath is not going to happen this week.  One bath a month is too many.  I got a better workout bathing him yesterday than I ever do in the gym.

Poor guy's been driving us crazy with his plaintive meowing and scratching on doors and roaming around stalking the other cats nonstop.  He should have been an outdoor cat.  He would've been much happier.  The Murph says he's ok with me opening the door and letting Phantom out permanently.  Very funny - NOT!  I don't even let this cat outside by himself.  I watch him like a mom watches her toddlers at the playground.  I'm an overprotective cat mommy.  This does not work well for Phantom.  He's already left the back door and is now begging to get out the front door.  It's so nice out that I can't say I blame him for wanting out, but he's driving us crazy!  

Phantom now at the front door worn out from all the scratching and begging....

Ironman Florida and IronKids

I came across some old racing pictures this weekend of me competing in my first Ironman triathlon, Ironman Florida about 8 years ago.  I think I was much thinner back then.  What happened??  Too many almond pillow cookies from The Fresh market or adult beverages maybe...  I've cut back on both as I am trying to get faster so I can one day qualify for Kona World Championship.  My run has gotten faster, but I've still got some work to do on the swim and bike.  I need to run faster too.  Anyway, I've got a LONG way to go!

The Ironman Florida 2.4 mile swim is in the Gulf of Mexico in Panama City Beach, FL.  It is two 1.2 mile loops, but I always get off course so my loops were probably about 3 miles each as I floundered around trying to find my way back to the shore avoiding any sea creatures that may be out there.  I'm in this picture somewhere getting kicked in the face.

Ironman Florida Swim

 I looked a little worn out in this picture.  I think I was just coming out of transition off the 112 mile bike ride and about to start the run.  The run is two 13.1 mile loops in Panama City Beach, Fl.  It starts at the Boardwalk Beach Resort, goes out to a loop in St. Andrews State Park and back.  I had run that 13.1 mile run at least a dozen times at the Gulf Coast Half Ironman, which is in May.  It's flat and HOT!   Doing it twice was tough though, hearing the announcer calling out finisher's as they were crossing the finish line, knowing I had to go back out and do the entire loop again.  I watched the sun go down as I headed back out toward St. Andrews State Park.

Back in those days, I even got The Boy to do a kids triathlon or two.  This one was about 10 or 11 years ago in Panama City Beach, FL.  It was part of the Ironkids Triathlon Series that several elite athletes, including Lance Armstrong got their start.  Back then I think he had to swim 100 yds in the pool, bike 2 miles and run about a mile.   I've still got that red Finisher line tape that The Boy ran through at the end of the race.  I was amazed The Boy agreed to participate and even did the swim to bike transition fast and put his shoes on by himself.  And he ran like crazy when he got off the bike.  I was so proud!!

Azaleas On Steroids

What a day!  The Boy and his problems, even 250 miles away they seem to follow me.  His cell phone died (he usually goes through 2 or 3 to my 1),  he decides that he needs to file income taxes even though he doesn't have a job and hasn't made any money last year (at least none that I know of), he has two holds on his college account and won't be able to register for Fall classes until hie takes care of them, and various other things that he wants me to take care of since he "doesn't have a cell phone" (even though he somehow managed to call me from his computer to complain about all the above things).  It's complicated.

I worked out this morning before trying to put out some of these fires, but I still needed to run, bike or swim or all of the above. (maybe all at the same time from the way I felt most of the day)  I finally made it outside this evening to get a short 4 mile run in before dark.  The rain has cleared up for now, but it was still very humid.  I felt much better afterward.  The azalea's in the yard are blooming like mad from all the rain.  It looks like we have azaleas on steroids in the yard.

Beautiful.

The Dogwood trees are blooming too.  And the yellow pollen has been washed away.  It's very nice.

Before long it will be time to uncover the pool.

Deep breath...

Serenity now!

Cadence Playing Bunny

Just as I took this picture of Cadence, he decides to jump up on the couch that is next to him.  This is all I managed to get - his hind legs hovering above the floor.  He looks like a bunny rabbit.

The Dolly Parton Bridge

General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge
aka Dolly Parton Bridge

It rained during the entire drive back home from the beach today.  We stopped along the way and took The Boy to lunch before we headed back.  At least the rain will wash some of the yellow pollen away just as we are getting home to the "ham".

It is amazing how much cleaner the air is at the coast.  My sore throat and sinus issues cleared up immediately and so did Ken's.  I hope the worst of the pollen has passed and we will have cleaner air.  (at least as "clean" as it can get here).

This is a bridge that is 20 miles north of Mobile, AL on Highway 65.  It spans the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and is about 7 miles long.  We travel across it whenever we head south to visit The Boy.  Ken says it's the ugliest bridge he's ever seen.  I think it's kind of neat the way it seems to appear out of nowhere as we get closer to it.  Out of curiosity, I googled it and found out that it is called the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge after one of the engineers who designed it.  It's also known as the Dolly Parton Bridge for obvious reasons.  Now I will never be able to travel across it without thinking "boobie bridge".  Thanks for that...

Biking At The Beach

We've had perfect biking weather at the beach.  We've been riding everyday and getting some miles in.  Yesterday, the headwind was pretty bad, going out was hard but coming back was easy.  Ken has now been on his new bike three times and loves it.  It's the only cardio he can tolerate besides walking.  No running for him, he says.

We've been working out twice a day and biking in between.  Today I'm going to hit the pool for a short swim.  It's a lot more crowded here due to spring breakers.  Not too bad though.  It is great to be back!

Back To The Beach

Spring break is over for The Boy so we took him back to school yesterday then headed to the beach.  Wonderful sunset over the sound, no yellow pollen in the air covering everything, I can breathe!  It's great to be back if only for a couple of days.  Worked out twice today, rode bikes, and then went for a walk on the beach.  Life is good.

Proud To Be Awesome

The Boy emerged from his lair yesterday in a much better mood than previous days.  He was wearing the "proud to be awesome" shirt we bought him last year.  He still didn't cooperate with having his picture taken.

Since he's going back to school tomorrow, he had a few loads of clothes that needed to be washed.  I showed him how to use the washer and dryer and he even folded his clothes after they were dry.  The Murph couldn't believe it.  He took pictures, choked up with tears in his eyes.  There is hope!






More clothes washing pictures below....

Ray of Sunshine (aka The Boy)

                         

"The only disability in life is

a bad attitude."

Jimmy Scott Hamilton

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

Winston Churchill   

The Boy informed me yesterday while I was taking him to get his hair cut that he hates me and forgot how bad it was at home.  He said he thought being shut up alone in his dorm room was bad until he got back home.  Then he remembered how bad it was here.  Ouch.  And why am I so concerned about his teeth and hair and going with him to his hair and dentist appointments since I know he doesn't like going alone? Once again, it took me by surprise and hurt my feelings.  Especially after all I did to make sure his room is clean and ready for him when he got home and his refrigerator  loaded with things he likes to eat.  He tells me he's out of toiletry items and we head to the drug store to get what he needs, go to his favorite restaurant, invite him to go for walks, etc.  I racked my brain trying to figure out why it's so bad here for him.  I told him if he's so unhappy with me, then why doesn't he go live with his dad?  "That's even worse," he says.  Should I take comfort in knowing that his dad is "worse" than me even though I've ruined The Boy's life and he's better off without me?

Over the years, The Boy has blamed me for pretty much every thing that goes wrong in his life.  If he made bad grades, it was my fault. Late for school, my fault.  Internet down, my fault.   Everything was my fault.  And sometimes it really was my fault, but oops!  I am human after all.  I only play Zena, Warrior Princess (what The Murph started calling me when I was slurping down protein smoothies right and left and gained about 10 pounds of muscle)  with her stealthy panther kitty (that would be Phantom) on tv.  I do my best, but am only perfect 99.9% of the time.  The other .1% he's just gonna have to deal with.  Which is next to impossible for him to do.  The Boy just doesn't deal well.  That he gets from me.  We are Type A's.

I quit my job to stay home with The Boy and started a home daycare which I ran until he started kindergarten.  When he started school, I closed the daycare, volunteered at his elementary school whenever I could and started taking time for me while the boy was in school.  I started biking more and picked up running to help relieve some of the stress I was feeling during this time.  The Boy struggled in school.  He wasn't yet diagnosed with Aspergers's so we didn't know what was wrong.  I was an easy target to blame.   The Boy's dad blamed me when The Boy started failing in school.  "Why isn't The Boy doing better in school? You're not working .  So and So has a full time job, 3 kids and they are all making straight A's and competing in sports.  You only have one child and you don't even work.  Why isn't The Boy doing better?"  - that's what I heard, almost every day, (that I was a failure) until finally I got a job and a divorce.

The blame game stops here for me.  I love The Boy and will do all I can to help him, but ultimately he is responsible for his own life and happiness, Asperger's or not.   The Murph and I will not allow him to be disrespectful to me, which he is most of the time.  Lectures don't work, taking away privileges don't work and I really don't know what the heck will work.  He's been so negative the entire time he's been here this week that the Murph's new nickname for him is "Sunshine", since he's such a "Ray of Sunshine". At least it makes The Boy smile when he's being negative and we call him "Sunshine".

 Counseling at school is definitely in his immediate future.  I tried to make an appointment last semester just so The Boy could get acquainted with a counselor at the school should any issues come up while he is there.  The Counseling center at the school wouldn't even talk to me or let me make an appointment on his behalf since he's 19 years old and The Boy never would call to make the appointment despite the sticky notes with the phone number on it that I stuck all over his dorm room.  This time I'm going to call and hold the phone to his ear so he can tell them "Yes, I want to make an appointment".    I don't know what else to do.  This is way out of my pay level.   I want 

The Boy to be happy and POSITIVE.   Zena, Warrior Princess needs help.

Hair Cut

The Boy got his hair cut today and it looks
100% better.  I tried to get a picture

of him, but this was all I could get.  I tried sneaking in a picture when I thought he wasn't paying attention, but the camera is so slow that by the time I got the picture, he was already behind his arm.   I think his hair should be a little shorter.  He thinks she cut it a little too short.  Either way, it looks good.

Later, we went to eat dinner at his favorite Mexican restaurant.  Since he's been away at school, I haven't been there in a long time either.  It was good.  No margarita's this time though.  I've given up adult beverages for a while after what happened after the marathon and drinking before I had anything to eat.  I don't recommend doing that as a race strategy.

Chips and Salsa

One more try....

George Harrison My Sweet Lord - Another Great Song

This is my favorite song from George Harrison's CD " All Things Must Pass".  Ken likes all the songs on this CD.  It really had a profound effect on him when he was younger.  One of his favorites other than this one is " Isn't it a pity".

Spring Is Here - Everything Is Covered In Yellow Dust

 Ken and I went for a walk in the neighborhood today.  Everything is blooming now and the yellow pollen is everywhere.  I used my asthma inhaler before I even left the house and was glad I did.  This neighborhood is really lovely this time of year even with all the pollen.  I was suppose to run with the Running Nazi this morning, but I had to cancel because I was up all night with a sinus headache and sore throat probably from sucking all that pollen into my lungs.  A little Advil,  puff of Ibuterol and Claritin and I'm all better now.  I will drug up again tomorrow and run before I take The Boy to get his hair cut.

Tonight Ken was all about the documentary on George Harrison.  He did the whole meditation thing back when he was a teen.  Right now we are listening at high volume to George Harrison's CD "All Things Must Pass".   I think I'll go meditate now.

On The Lap

Whenever my laptop computer isn't on my lap, Cadence is.  And sometimes he and my computer are jockeying for position.  Cadence almost always wins.  Look at that face!

Serenity Now

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

 courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

It's spring break for The Boy this week and he's home from college and in desperate need of a hair cut, among other things.  Today was his six month dental checkup which is something he doesn't look forward to at all.  In fact, I didn't bother to schedule his hair cut appointment on the same day as his dental appointment because one "traumatic" event is enough for one day.   When we got to the dentist office he had this wild, unbrushed hair look.  He kind of resembled the way Albert Einstein looks on the poster he has hanging in his dorm room.  Maybe there's some Einstein channeling going on here.  I wonder what would happen if I hang a Justin Bieber poster in his dorm.  Would The Boy's hair get nicer?

I am so ready for the day when he willingly goes to the dentist all by himself.  He's 19 years old now and can drive himself, but there's no way he will go by himself.  As a matter of fact, every time we go, not only do I have to bribe him to get in the car and drive him there, but I also have to go in the room with him while he gets his teeth cleaned.  I've tried sitting in the reception area when the hygienist calls him back, but he looks at me and refuses to get up.  Today the same thing happened.  The hygienist calls The Boy back, The Boy looks at me, I reassuringly tell him to go on back, that I would wait right there for him, the hygienist asks him "are you ready?", The Boy ignores her and continues to stare at me, finally I give in and get up and head to the door, The Boy follows me and we all go back to the torture chamber.

Once at the torture chamber door, I stop and tell The Boy I will stand right outside and wait for him.  He doesn't believe me and refuses to go inside.  One of the other hygienist sees what's going on and tells me I can sit in the chair inside the room if I want,  so I go inside and sit down.  The Boy tentatively follows.  At least he opens his mouth for them now.  Once upon a time, getting The Boy to open his mouth at the dentist was next to impossible.  Almost as impossible as getting him to brush his teeth everyday.  I had nightmares of his teeth rotting out, but he's lucky he has good teeth and almost no cavities.

Another thing on the agenda today was getting auto insurance quotes for The Boy's car that has been sitting in the driveway for months with a dead battery.  He'll need to drive it this summer when he gets a job.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have insurance and he doesn't want to pay for the insurance.  When he found out how much it will cost per month for him to insure it he said it wasn't even worth getting a job if half of his money is going to pay for insurance.  Welcome to the real world.

And if that's not enough, I noticed today that The Boy has a hold on his college account because he has a $20 parking ticket from last semester when he was driving one of Ken's cars to school.   A ticket, The Boy says he doesn't owe and has tried to dispute with the school.  Then he goes into another tirade about the situation.  We all agree that if he feels he doesn't owe the ticket (because he did have a pass that was clearly visible on his windshield) then he should dispute it.  If however, he can't get them to take the hold off his account and drop the ticket, then he's going to have to pay the $20 or he won't be able to get his transcript.  He didn't see it that way.  Ken stepped in at that point and told him to go read the Serenity prayer - 

                       God grant me the serenity  to accept the things I cannot change;
                                            courage to change the things I can;
                                            and wisdom to know the difference.

Good advise for anybody to live by.  Maybe it will help stop the smoke coming out of The Boy's ears.  He didn't have any cavities today, but I wonder about his blood pressure.  Just like on the episode of my favorite sit com "Seinfeld" -  every time his blood pressure goes up, just yell, "Serenity Now!"  It works for me.

Circumcision And Other Fun Stuff

A couple of years ago, when The Boy was still in high school, he suddenly became "slightly" upset that his dad and I had had him circumcised when he was an infant.  He became rather obsessed with this topic for months and very angry at us (mainly me) for having the procedure performed against his consent.  How can you get consent from a slightly jaundiced infant who only sleeps, eats, and poops?  This came rather out of the blue and took me by surprise.  I wondered if this was just another of his "special interests" that have come and gone throughout the years due to his Asperger's.  I'm not a psychologist so I don't know how these things work.

Where I was pregnant with The Boy, circumcision was just one of those things that you did after you had a boy.  Everybody, as far as I knew,  had it done.  My brothers, cousins, ex husband (The Boy's dad) had all gone through the procedure immediately after birth and we really didn't even consider any other option.  Since The Boy's dad is Jewish, the only options that were considered was whether or not we were having the circumcision performed at the hospital by the doctor or at home by the rabbi.

 I was at a loss for words when The Boy came home from school everyday and launched into an angry tirade of how I had violated his rights, how he wanted to reverse the circumcision and how he was going to sue me for what I had done to him.  It was very annoying night after night, listening to him and like it or not, there was nothing I could do now.  Too late.  My only defense was that right after he was born, I had heart failure and was put on life support for a brief time.  It was during that time that he had the circumcision and I was fighting for my life and never signed any consent for it.  (That one was on his dad for sure!)

The one time I wasn't annoyed and actually felt bad for The Boy, I entertained the idea that maybe he could get the procedure reversed, especially if it was going to cause some deep psychological scars.  After all, didn't that teacher on South Park grow a whole new penis on a lab rat?  If an entire penis can be grown, why can't a mere fore skin?  I told The Boy I would call my plastic surgeon.

Miraculously, one day The Boy stopped obsessing about it.  I didn't have to do anything, including calling the psychologist.  There was once again peace in the house at dinner time.  It was wonderful!  I can't tell you how sick to death Ken and I were of those circumcision rants.

Then I read an article today about how circumcision might protect against prostate cancer.  I thought I would forward it to The Boy just so he would see what a great decision his parents made by having him circumcised as an infant.  I KNOW!  Stupid thing to do!!  Parents NEVER make good decisions.
This is the link I sent The Boy:  http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/12/10651806-circumcision-linked-to-lower-prostate-cancer-risk

The Boy sent me this link in response:  http://negativeninetythousand.blogspot.com/2010/12/fact-anal-sex-reduces-risk-of-prostate.html
As well as a warning that for every argument I can come up with, he can come up with at least three counters.

Cute, huh?  Guess he'll have plenty of time coming up with all those counter arguments as he's doing his own laundry.

Riding Bikes

It was such a nice day today that I decided to ride my bike for the first time since October.  I still had my race number on my helmet from Santa Rosa Island triathlon, my tires were flat and needed some air and my chain was all rusty and still is rusty.  All my bike gear was scattered around in various places and I almost forgot my bike shoes because for some reason they were in my swim bag.

I actually found all kinds of things in my swim bag that I have been missing including a pink compression sleeve, a heart rate monitor and a some various clothing items.  It feels like I have all new stuff now.  This stuff's been "missing" since last Fall.

Ken rode the bike he bought last summer for the first time and he did really well once he figured out how to work the gears.  I wasn't much help because I have a tri bike and the gears are much easier to use, the shifters just go up or down.  His road bike gear shifters go up, down and sideways.  It's been a long time since I've ridden a road bike.  Ken did really great especially since he hasn't been doing much cardio, only strength training.  It was great not only getting some exercise, but also getting outside on a beautiful, sunny day.

The Catbird Seat

Since it was warm enough outside to open the windows today, Ed and Boo had the perfect spot to keep an eye on the bird feeders and get some fresh air .  Ken calls this the catbird seat.  Unfortunately, Cadence was bumped from his favorite spot again and wasn't very happy.

Tonight Phantom claimed the catbird seat.  The birds have gone to bed, but it's still a nice place to get some fresh air.