A Looney Thanksgiving

I went home last week and it was a lot of fun. I got home Monday night (Jack and I drove). In a nutshell, lots of good times, good food, lots of drinking,, and fabulous company. The Looney side of the family definitely can party me under the table any day although that really isn't saying much! ;) They successfully got me to drink just about every day of the break...now I'm in detox. ;)

The essence of the break

To paint the picture of my Thanksgiving, over the course of the week, I'd say we'd consumed more than 5 bottles of champagne, many cosmos, beer, wine, and margaritas. And we were even missing some of the Looneys... golly! I got to see my cousin and her parents( MY FAVORITE RELATIVES) which was a real treat. My cousin and I managed to stay out of trouble this time...well relatively out of trouble which is phenomenal. I know you're dying for some photos, so here you go.

G&G....now there's a couple of turkeys!

...and there's a couple of trouble makers! errrr twins?

Look! It's the cosmo fairy... sHE sure looks like my dad.

My mom got the dancing started! Figures...

me with the Dean family (they are Looneys too)

Shake it baby! (from Duke Nukem...) Yeah, my dad does it RIGHT!

Me and cuz have a great time.


TINA! EAT THE FOOD!



BLUE STEEL!

Good things to come back to Boulder for...

We are in the final push of the semester meaning I have LOTS to do...projects, finals, blah. It'll make me appreciate having a break that much more. It's been a great semester though... to take classes I actually care about and find interesting. In fact, I had a meeting today with a professor in Physiology and it's looking like he's going to put me in his PhD program...we just have to wait and hear back from the funding person (who is conveniently out of town!). I'm really really excited about this and I hope it works out. I'm going to start training again in the next couple of days too. I'm looking forward to it because I feel like a slug!

Thank you family for being soooo fun! :)

Trippy...

Going home today! Yahoo!!!

That's right! Albuquerque, here I come. :) I still need to go to the doc though so I can get over this nasty sinus infection.

A few thoughts...

Since I've been pushing my body pretty hard for the last month or so, I decided that maybe I should take a weekend off from racing, especially because everything hurts!! School has been crazy the past couple weeks and I'm really looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving break in a week! I haven't been back to Albuquerque since May, so it'll be nice. Plus, I'm getting too soft- gotta have a taste of the ghetto. I've been homesick for the unrelenting sunshine, Sandia mountains, my friends, and of course---the LOONEY FAM!

I have a meeting this week with a professor in the integrative physiology department. With a lot of thought, I've decided that I really would like to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering. I can still stay in the electrical engineering department, but can do research in another department. Ideally, I'd be doing research under the guidance of a professor in the integrative physiology dept. I won't finish my MSEE until Dec 07, so I have some time. It would be good to get started on research ASAP though, plus my school would be paid for meaning less student debt!

I've also been feeling really restless lately. I have gotten kind of addicted to traveling and am now feeling like I need to go somewhere outside the US. The three weeks I spent in Europe last summer were absolutely incredible and I would love to go back, or even go to Asia. I think Asia would really be an experience. Hmmm...there is a world cup I'd love to go to in Switzerland...pesky UCI points! Too bad I don't have any money... I always keep my eye out for supercheap deals. I also toy with the idea of just picking up and moving to Europe for a year just to get the experience. Maybe I can do my postdoc there or something...or maybe if I decide to bag the PhD, I can get a job in Europe. It's hard when I want to be a bike racer...so much going on and so little time and cash! so many dreams!

Now for a funny story-- so as you know, I go out and inspect the power lines/transformers when someone has a power outage. Sometimes this involves me going in peoples' backyards. I was in Niwot, CO in the middle of nowhere and I had to go in this one backyard. I approached the house and saw various lawn ornaments- almost trailer park style- and a huge fish lure mailbox. I knew it'd be interesting. I walked up to the house and tons of cats were running around, one who was 22 that I found out later. I knocked on the glass door which was open and the TV was on. No answer. I knocked again and suddenly this woman who was in her late 40s, extremely skinny, and had one too many fake tans (she looked like a CARROT) answered the door.... in her BRA. Yes. Yes indeed. She was mad that I had to go in her backyard b/c she had to tie the dogs up. After arguing with her for a moment, she disappeard. When she came back, I thought surely she'd be clothed. Nope...I was wrong. If you want to see a carrot in a bra, let me know and I'll give you the address.

USGP #4... coming soon.

(It went much better!!!)

U.S.G..why didn't I pay more attention to my rear wheel? ....P!!!

A beautiful day in Longomont, CO.

Long ago, Adam gave me the nickname of Schleppy, as of Schleprock from the Flintstones. For those of you who aren't Flintstone saavy, Schleprock always had bad things happening to him and was extremely clumsy. In fact, here's a photo.

Actually, a friend, Joe Ehasz told me about Schleprock and the name got passed down. Anyways....

So for those of you who don't know me that well, I'm not what you call "smooth" or "graceful." I trip on my own feet, somehow manage to hurt myself doing stupid stuff(i.e. stitches in the foot running away from a huge moth(MOTHRA!) or falling down,ripping my knee open trying to kill an idiot guy who pinched my butt at a graduation party and crying in the car at 2 AM on the way to the ER because I wouldn't be able to race the Iron Horse), having my cassette come loose, or the most recent- having my back wheel fall off at a USGP Cyclocross event. You get the picture.

So yes today was the USGP #3. The course was pretty cool and there was a lot of competition at the line. I knew I wasn't feeling hot when I woke up this morning with my knee STILL hurting from last week, my rib still somewhat fractured from a mtb crash 1.5 months ago, and general aches and pains in my shoulder and hamstrings. This was confirmed when I was preriding the course. The event was huge-- I never knew cyclocross was this big. The start was fast and furious, a real cluster#*@%. I was already off the back anyway, so when my wheel all of a sudden came out and I had to stop to fix it, I was WAAAAY off the back. I tried to fight my way back in with my rotten meatstick legs, and 2nd to last place girl was shouldering me when I tried to pass her. I gave it right back, but she attacked on the road and I decided I was too lazy. Oh well. I didn't have my heart in it today, but that's ok. I still had fun. I tried to take it kind of easy and am hoping I'll feel better tomorrow. There was a GREAT turnout of spectators. Thank you to all of you guys who cheer people like me on even though I'm bringing up the rear. thank you thank you!!! My goal after I gave up was to smile smile smile. I will repeat this quote by Floyd Landis(Yeah, I know he's a doper, but I still like this quote) : "The best thing to do is just keep on smiling and pretend you're okay, even if you're not. That goes not just for bad weather, but for any time you're suffering. Sometimes it helps if you smile, even when it hurts." I think people enjoy watching you when you show some expression other than the pain face and you make noises now and then. haha

yeeeeahh. that's a sweet mullet. 3 in a row.

The mens race was really exciting to watch. Ryan Trebon was way off the front, what a talent machine! It's amazing how much faster the guys go than we do! During the first lap, there was a dust cloud from the madness. A lot of my friends came out to watch and some to race. It was fun. Brian Fuentes was definitely representing looking like he was straight out of the early 90s. Everyone was serious and trying to be all pro and here's Brian. He purposely didnt' shave for a week AND let his hair get outta control for this weekend. I'll say AMEN when he shaves his shit and cuts his hair! ;)

This is how you get the ladies. MMMMM.


Mike West and Bryan Alders killin it

Is this guy fo' real? Collin, Brian, Grinch.

Also, props to Nat Ross, the 24 hr master, for racing these furious races at a super anaerobic level. He was sporting a black and PINK TGP skinsuit. ahhhhhh yeeahhhh!
Mr. Nat

and now, I'm exhausted, but burning a short fuse. I have a big exam and a paper to write for Monday morning at 8 AM. Gotta love being a student, bike racing, and working. It definitely keeps me on my toes. I really admire and dream every day for the lifestyle that the real deal pros have where their job IS riding and that's all they have to worry about.

Depite the rough day, I'm looking forward to USGP #4 tomorrow. It's in South Boulder, my backyard! I can ride there in less than 5 minutes from my house. YES!

No mad skillz.

You know it's bad when....you're watching instructional videos on cyclocross skills and realize that you don't have any... the night before the USGP!!!!!!! Zoinks!

They don't know who they're messing with.

As a 6th year college student (don't worry, I'm not an undergrad... thank god), I have perfected my methods of creating the ever lucrative "crib" sheet for an exam. These fools really don't know what they are saying when they let me use both sides of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. My professor exclaimed that the people who write microscopically to fit their entire set of lecture notes on the paper rarely get very far, and usually tend to do worse on the exams. Oh Mr. Professor, I BEG to differ. At least, that isn't the case for me. I create these masterpieces which have helped me be successful on exams. I thought I'd share with you the one I spent 4-5 hours making yesterday.

No, there are not a bunch of ants on crack all over my paper....




One of the greatest posters of all time. It brings a tear to my eye. I love the determined look on the chode's face. He's ready to rumble.

Actually...this is why I get up in the morning.