THE Plant

So, just before I started my new job, I recieved a plant. A plant? That's what I said too. Lindsay and I went to WC for a weekend (the weekends prior to starting new job) and when we arrived we ran into Dad outside his house. He said "There's a suprise inside for you". I wasn't sure how I felt about this comment. Once inside I found this giant plant.

Apparrently, the kind folks at Ralston Foods (new place of employment) decided to send a plant to all of the new hires. It is a hybiscus and it is now HUGE! We water it and watch it do it's thing.

This cost them some money. I'm sure these aren't cheap. Not only that but, it was delivered from an expensive florist in Fort Dodge which is 21 miles away.

I'm liking my new job and I'm learning an entirely new trade. Once i get completely trained I'm sure I'll like it even more. Not only that but, thanks to them, I'm now a botonist. :-)

Hope you enjoy out plant. We do. And we both enjoy our new jobs. Thanks for checking in. Stay dry! :-)

{is today the day Lance fails a doping test in the Tour De France? I hope so}

Back At It

Yesterday I decided to head up to Cedar Rapids for the State Criterium Championships. Lindsay and I set out to go support the race in Cedar Rapids. It's the first time that they've had a race there in a long time. They had a great prize purse and stuck to it. they didn't axe it due to not filling some of the fields. Specifically in the Women's Pro/1/2/3 where they advertised paying 15 places. A lot of race promoters would have seen there were only 10 riders and cut the prize list in half and payed maybe 5 of them. Hats off to you guys for NOT DOING THAT!!!

I raced in the men's Cat. 4 along with roughly 40 other brave souls . We were battling for an unheard of $400 to win and the top 20 got paid. Amazing! I say. I knew I wouldn't be there for that money so I offered myself up to team-mates. Off of the start, I lined up in the back, they announced a beer prime and I was clipped in and doing a cyclocross start. I had the field cleared and a gap by the first turn. I looked down after turn 2 expecting t see the entire field lined up n my wheel but, all I saw was concrete. That's when I decided I was gonna have to keep on and go get that case of beer. No one came close to me and sat up about 30 yards before the finish line and waited for them.

I tried to pick it back up and jump in the field but, my lungs were screaming and I thought I was gonna see breakfast as well. I rode a few laps alone trying to recover and tried to jump back in the pack several different times but, the body just wanted nothing to do with it. I think it was pretty pissed about the shock of the start and lap one antics.

I'm not sure how many laps I was down at the finish or where I ended up. I do know I missed all the crashes and did what I could to get exposure for my team. Speaking of the team, the guys did well. There were four of us and the other three controlled the front and took a couple of fliers and looked good. I think the highest placing was 12th but, they did well.

I was very happy to see Tim Putnam of Mason City win. I've been racing with Tim for a while and he is a very deserving State Champion. He also promotes the Crit and Road Race in Clear Lake this coming weekend.

I sure had fun up there. I got a chance to chat and catch up with several old friends. I think a lot of them were happy to see me there and I even was welcomed by some unsuspecting folks as well. I guess I need to start doing some training so I can keep going to races and actually hang in with all my friends rather than riding around all day by myself. lol

Lindsay raced too. I was so happy to see here out there again. After everything she has been through with injury, health, school, job searching, and so much more; I think it was a big victory to simply have her in a race again. I kinda forgot about warming up because I was busy cheering her on. She ended up 2 laps down but, she looked good out there. I'm pretty certain that a ton of folks were happy to see her back at the races again too.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures up here soon of the race. I know Mike Moritz took some and I need to rob them from him. We're hoping to head up to Webster City to get Dad & Ariel and then to Clear Lake for the Crit this weekend. That's the tentative plan anyway. With my uncertain work schedule and Lindsay starting her new job today, who knows though.


Thanks for checking in. See you somewhere soon. :-)

A Day At The Lake

Back on Memorial Day weekend, Lindsay and I hit up Lake MacBride to go Paddle boating.

Kind of a funny thing that we noticed was the stickers that noted there was an 800 lb weight limit. You can have four people on these things so when you think about it, in today's "overweight society", that's not much. Later in the day we did see one that was about to sink due to the weight overload of it's passengers. Too funny!

We spent about 2 hours paddling around the lake. We took some sandwiches with us and had a little picnic on the water, which was fun. It was a good time and the little white boy from WC actually got some sun. ;-)

Lindsay stretching out after paddling around the lake. I had to stand up too. Not only to stretch but to relive myself. We found a cozy little corner where there wasn't much boat traffic and trees blocked the houses. I tried a unique approach of extending my legs while seated, straightening my back, flipping on my side, and well, making yellow water. Lindsay was laughing her rear end off. So much so, that I thought she might fall out of the boat. I wondered why she was laughing hysterically. That's when I noticed, straight out in frond of me, in full view of my little show, was the road....... with vehicles passing. Free Show!. I finished my business, laughed with Lindsay and we went on our way. All in all it was a very fun day.

The following day was Memorial Day. We jumped in the car and drove to Rock Island, IL for the Quad Cities Criterium. As many of you now I haven't raced in nearly a year at the time of that race. I was nervous before the start but, one years rest and no riding had me WELL rested. I lined up in the front row of the Masters Cat. 4/5 race and was not sure what to expect. I was trying to keep myself calm until......... Yep, some smart alec decided it would be cool to have them give me a call up and say that I was the guy to watch in this race. WHAT?!?!? Are you kidding me?! Yeah, watch me get blown right out of the back of the pack.!? The race started and maybe it was the anger of that whole ordeal but, I stayed near the front. I did some work for my team-mates by doing some blocking. Then I got shuffled back a bit and this is where my day ended. I yo-yo'd a couple of times and then let them go. I'm glad I did because a lap later, the guys I was trying to keep up with in the back had crashed. I finished the race riding alone. It was my own little time trial from hell. I kept the same gap from the pack and was in no danger of being pulled. That was my goal for the day..... finish the race. I did so, I was happy with that. It was fun to be out there again.

Since then, I still haven't ridden much. With the start of the new job, a big move coming up, and many other distractions, I just haven't had time. I do really like the new team I'm on though. they are a great bunch of people.

Well, time to go enjoy this Friday. It looks like fireworks in the Quad Cities tonight at Lindsay's friend Deb's place. It should be a good time. Take care this Fourth and be safe. Thanks for checking in (even you Chris Hansen).

Gotta Have Rims!

Whenever Lindsay and I are out and about, we always get a kick out of all these cars with fancy wheels. We call them rims and, when one of us sees them we say "gotta have rims".

So when we saw this beauty at Village Inn last night, we decided a pic was in order. This, my friends, is a Saturn Vue. It is also a vehicle that should NEVER have rims.

Kittens Rule The Day

Tomo, Sophie and Lindsay being super cute. :-)

Thaddeus Neil
Iowa City, IA.
thadneil@gmail.com

Um.....We're Just Looking, Thanks.

Lindsay wants a scooter so she took me out to check some out. We found a great selection and some cool stuff. Lindsay found one she really likes and hopes she can get one soon.

I, on the other hand, was checking out the quad's. I'd really like to get a couple someday. They are a blast and would be fun to have.

Dream away kids. Someday. :-)

Time Warp

Since I have been away from the blogasphere, alot has been going on. As I said in previous posts I'd be trying to catch up a bit. So here we go.

Not long ago Lindsay graduated from the University of Iowa with a Masters Degree in Sports Psychology. These are a few pics I took from that special and memerable day. Lindsay was looking cool in her graduation gown and Oakley's. This ceremony was for Masters and PHD degrees only. The pic with the two sections of graduates, well, that was only half of them. Needless to say, it was a long ceremony but, it was worth the wait to see lindsay cross that stage. :-)

Lindsay just got hired to work for the University of Iowa Student Health Department. She will be in a brand new position coordinating programs focusing on drinking behaviors of college students. In a nutshell, she'll be trying to deter undergrads from binge drinking (and some of the cosequenses that come with) by using new methods of awareness rather than the old "Stop drinking it's bad for you" approach. The goal will be to educate students how to drink responsibly. She's very excited about this job and I'm excited for her too. She really wanted this job and, rightfully so, she got it. She'll be starting in July.

In other news, we will be moving at the end of July. We found a new apartment across town that's bigger, closer to campus, and closer for me to get out of town (for work). We will be moving around August 1st. This is pretty exciting too, because the place we're going to will be cheaper and it's a very cool place that fits both of our personalities. We're both pretty eager to get moved in. Not so eager to actually move but, eager to be moved. :-)

Thanks for checking in. Stay tuned as there is more to come. Enjoy your Saturday. :-)