2010 To Do List

I just got back from a great moonlight ski with my beloved dogs and since I didn't have Jenny to talk to in the darkness I came up with a list of things I need to do in the coming year:
-call Coach Martha and come up with a training and race plan
-have my furnace and chimney serviced
-apply for a pro card
-obtain a pair of skate skis and learn how to use them
-swim A LOT
-send more mix cd's to my girls
-paint my house
-paint the back of the house purple
-get that squirrel out of the walls for good
-start paying my parents back
-stop dragging my poles or using my brakes when i go downhill
-keep eating breakfast salads
-purge
-organize
-call my sisters more often
-put up a fence for pooches
-build a shed
-drywall the stairway so my love wall will meet feng shui guidelines
-stop swearing in front of Ruby
-be a little nicer to Bandit
-fatten Quibbie up
-teach more of what i believe in
-keep my computer out of the place where i sleep
-start writing down the healthy meals i can make from boxed crap for a cookbook called "Healthy Meals from Boxed Crap"

-whiteface uphill bike race
That's all I have for now, I'm sure I'll come up with a bunch more as we roll through 2010 Happy New Year:)

Happy 6th Birthday

Ruby turns 6 today! Last night on her way to bed she told me she already felt 6, but when she woke up this morning she said she didn't feel any older. Currently she's stomping around Grandma and Grandpa Farrell's house trying to wake Grandpa up so we can all worship her!

Ruby and Amy's 10 Awesome things of 2009

Ruby's twice weekly ski lessons at Mt Pisgah-along with her fearless nature these lessons got her prepped for some awesome days at Whiteface and Titus!

Ruby's new hot pink Specialized Hot Rock-hours of riding enjoyment following people on runs, going off jumps she builds with papa, cruising up all over Saranac and Tupper Lake

Quenton's 10th Birthday! The energizer dog had another great year and found himself fit enough to train his mother for a great year of racing! Bandit is fit enough to keep up on many runs too, her belly barely drags on the ground:)

Amy's new bikes! Giant Trinity-her first triathlon bike in many years sparked a little rebirth as a multi-sporter. Then a custom Serotta CXII built for monster speed and stability

Ruby kicks it in another great dance recital-this time there were tap shoes!

Ruby graduates from Pre-K! We knew she could do it!

Ruby and Amy take the High Peaks Cyclery Mini Tri World Championships! Ruby's won so many races at this point, she can't even recall how many it's really been (in her own words)

Ruby learns to swim on her own! Countless hours at the pool with mama and emma and she's totally got it! Amy has to hold back tears every time they hit the pool:)

Ruby and Amy take a big trip to Florida for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Ruby is now an experienced flyer and Amy is a world champion

Ruby learns to read!!!!!! Amy has to hold back tears every night when she opens up a book:)

The Real Adirondacker in the Family

My daughter might have an advantage over most of my friends and I when it comes to dealing with the elements here in the Adirondacks. She's a real Adirondack native-she was born on a cold evening in late December so, I feel like she is even more impervious to the snow, ice and cold. Over the last week temps have hovered between 0 and 15 degrees and that hasn't kept Ruby inside at all! One day last weekend we were Christmas shopping in Lake Placid when she lost her patience and started shouting- "Mom we need to get out of this store, I NEED to go cross country skiing! Let's just get out of here!" It was about 5 degrees and dark by the time we got home, but my hearty little girl wasn't going to let another day go by without her first ski of the season! The next day it was still cold and I tried to keep her busy inside but by noon she was rip roaring ready to ski again! We bundled up, packed up the dogs and headed out for another freezing ski. After 20 minutes even the dogs wanted back in the car but the Rubster was having a great time! Last night's adventure was 6 degrees to go skating at the outdoor rink in Saranac Lake. We'd checked out the rink on our way home and it looked ready to go but when we got there the lights were off so went with plan B and took the dogs for a hike by headlamp instead:) When we got home Ruby she continued to play outside and then raved about how much fun it was and how she couldn't wait to get back out tomorrow! I informed her father of her madness and his response was, "oh that little girl, she's a beast!" A little rugged, Adirondack Beast:)

-4 Feels like -17!

The dogs and I experienced our first subzero run of the season and the season really isn't here yet! Despite a frozen nose and frozen buns it was a pretty good run-our little Bandit runs better the colder it gets so I'm pretty sure she would have gone all morning long. My feet were extremely happy too in my new trail shoes-Salomon XT Wings-are highly recommended, at least for snowy roads and icey sidewalks! Cushy lil' clouds:) Day sort of went downhill from there as I jumped in the shower to realize that I had run out of fuel and the furnace was OFF OFF OFF! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm gonna turn this day around.

Great Expectations

So I headed out on my run this morning, with dogs in tow, expecting a nice easy, peaceful run along the St. Lawrence and Oswegatchie Rivers, on our favorite paths, where the dogs love to frolic off leash. My first sign that the run was not going to be as peaceful as I thought when Quenton started lagging behind to play with an old chocolate lab that we had passed and wouldn't let me catch him to cross the bridge and run the rest of the path. The next sign was when I thought I had them outsmarted by leading them up a set of stairs so I could catch them at the top of the and finish the run. I started up the ice covered stairs yelling at the dogs and they both disappeared! 5 Five more minutes of yelling and starting up the stairs and no dogs! Bandit finally let me catch her after rifling through some bushes and we discovered Quenton enjoying a frozen turkey on the side of the road-yeah a frozen turkey, like from a grocery store wrapped in plastic on the side of the road, in the middle of town! As I lunged for him, he decided staying 2 steps ahead of me was a better idea and I should chase him across the bridge. He scampered across the slipperiest sidewalk and passed an OPD car before he decided it was time for him to be back on the leash. I dragged them back to Grandma's grumbling about how much fun it is that they are so old, but still so dumb, and gave them tomorrow off!

Snow Men R Us

So Ruby and Emma set out to build a snowman a couple of evenings ago, but the snow was so good that within 20 minutes they had an entire village of snow people and pets! Ruby and Emma are total BADASS Snowbuilders!