Unfinished Elementary School Business (H-Bomb)

Yeah baby! GIVE ME YOUR LUNCH MONEY makes it to front page of The Daily Progress, complete with a fabulous photo of Jason getting in touch with his inner kid!


Who said escapism can't be healthy?

Lottie's Word Of The Day: Ataraxia (The Lott)

My word of the day is ATARAXIA (noun). It means peace of mind, the absence of any anxiety or stress, total relaxation, mental tranquility. Sort of like me when I'm getting my belly rubbed. The adjective is ataractic "relaxing, tranquilizing" and can also be used as a noun, meaning "a relaxant, tranquilizer".

My buddy Bruiser came over for a visit recently and tried to enjoy a little ataraxia, but I'm not sure how successful he was seeing as he was squeezed into my little bed.


"A+" for effort, Bruiser!

GMYLM Practice (H-Bomb)

The GMYLM kickball gang met up for our 2nd practice game today, which was my first chance to meet a bunch of my teammates. There were 10 of us there plus 4 dogs, the Lott included. Holly hosted pre and post game hydration and Chris updated us on the tube sock & sweat band order. We should be fully outfitted in time for the first game and quite impressive to boot!

There were some strong plays, some dropped balls, a number of heroic runs for home base, a slide for first, and even a couple grand slams as I recall. [GMYLM teammates: If you're looking for a more sports-writerly accounting of the game, you're welcome to guest write the game summaries!]


The humidity and some sore muscles humbled even the strongest players, but it's nothing a cold beer and an ice pack can't cure.



Thanks to Chris' propensity for punting the ball into the trees we have an MVP or rather MVK crown. James took the honor this game and wore it proudly, if only for a moment!


GMYLM is destined for greatness, to be sure!

Lazy Saturday (H-Bomb)

Sweet Jesus, it's hot out there! Hot enough that I have no interest in biking today. Instead, the Lott and I finally made it to the Farmers Market for the first time in ages. It's a casual 20 minute walk and on the way, there is lots to explore in a snout-first-into-the-undergrowth sort of way.


We stopped by 2 French Hens and heard that Miles' dog Otto is recovering from emergency surgery to un-flip his stomach which went topsy turvy in the night earlier in the week. He spent several days under close observation and is home now recuperating, thank goodness. How terrifying that must have been.

At the market, we made a bee line for George Cason's fruit and vegetable stand. He is sweet on Lottie and she on him.




After quickly cruising the stands while sipping some yummy citrus mint tea and carrying Lottie, we headed back home. It's hard to do any actual shopping when you're dodging the "no pets allowed" patrol and when anything you buy would bounce against your leg the whole walk home.




We did a quick walk through of a lovely store, Home, but luckily I didn't see anything I couldn't live without. Less is more, I keep telling myself, when it comes to furniture and you live in a teeny tiny house.

A few blocks from home GMYLM teammate and fab hairstylist Megan and Marley pulled up alongside us on their way to do big things with their day. We talked a little kickball strategy and wondered about Chris Brena's obsession with tube socks. Marley showed off her smile!




Finally back on our block we ran into our neighbor Cristina and commiserated over the heat, the draught, the weeds, not being able to save any money, and expensive cars on steroids. Speaking of weeds, I've got a whole yard full of them to pull so I should get started!

Down with Procrastination (H-Bomb)

Yeessss! Procrastination has given way to results. Yesterday and this morning I sent a final thank you to all of my MS 150 sponsors (super duper late, I know) and solicited donations for the upcoming Boys & Girls Club Cycling Challenge. The money is already starting to roll in, which is a huge relief.

The Challenge is an ambitious, well organized event pulled together by some of the most well connected and community minded non-pro riders in town. Check out the beautiful ad they have up on the main page of their site: www.bgcchallenge.org. Very nice.

With the fundraising starting to rock and roll, maybe now I can focus on getting in some good training rides between now and the event on Sept 17th! Better late than never. Maybe a solid 30-40 miles this weekend.

Of course, I also have a practice game for our kickball team, "GIVE ME YOUR LUNCH MONEY", which will forever after be referred to as GMYLM. The energy around this team and the league is awesome. I missed the first practice game last Sunday. By all accounts it was great good fun and a strong performance. This Sunday's practice game promises to be more of the same. There is still time to join a team or even start your own team: www.cvillessc.org.

Toe Licking & Belly Rubs (The Lott)

Today started much the same as every day. Heather snoozed Radio IQ every 10 minutes for an hour before giving me some peace and quiet while she showered. I moved over to the warm side of the bed and started my first nap of the day. Later on she tossed me outside and started in with her "do your business" mantra. She's a broken record, that one. Work wasn't that eventful. No delivery guys or visitors to greet, but we did enjoy a nice lunch on the mall where I got to mouth off at a passing Golden Retriever that kept cruising me. The impertience! Like I said, not much to report, mainly napping and toe licking. The highlight of the day was when Kyra took me on a walk to her place after work. Yessss! When we got there I did a quick perimeter and crumb check then took up my post guarding the door. It's my specialty. I'm home with Heather now and have been enjoying some good toe licking and belly rubs in between dozing on the sofa. Just another day in the life. Sweet dreams.