Hail! Hail!

This is my backyard after the storm today:

This is my dog during the storm:

Who doesn't love a pillow fort?

More kitchen fun

We got a new refrigerator yesterday. It's shiny and black and 6 cubic feet larger than the old one. It actually fits in the space allotted for a fridge in our kitchen (the old one kind of floated in the spot). The freezer in the old fridge was pretty much packed to the gills, while this one is mostly empty. Time to stock up on chicken breasts, frozen pizzas and gelato.

And it has ice and water in the door! I know not everyone is a fan of the ice/water-in-the-door feature (and yes, I know it makes them less efficient), but I've wanted that since I was a kid. It was my first major sin -- I coveted my friend's refrigerator because it had chilled water and ice. Right. In. The. Door!

I tried to take some pictures, but it's so reflective, they didn't really turn out. The pic to the right is from BestBuy.com.

The S.O. said he was going to leave me and marry the new refrigerator, but I think he got the idea of marrying ourselves off to inanimate objects from me. And there's no way he's getting rid of me that easily. Especially not after having this fridge installed.

It's so nice to be able to get so much in it and to be able to find things without pulling everything out. And it's clean. Wouldn't it be nice if I could keep it that way forever?

I didn't die

As I mentioned last week, the S.O. and I rode our bicycles 25-miles Sunday as part of the Elephant Rock Cycling Festival. It was a great day for a ride (we finished well before any tornadoes spun through the area). Cool in the morning, warming to a sunny day.

I'm not going to say it was easy. It wasn't. It was 25 miles, and I swear at least 90 percent of it was uphill. It was tough. But I never had to get off and push the bike up a hill. I made it the whole way. I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment. Sure, there were people who rode 34, 62 and 100 miles, but I can't compare myself to those folks. This is the longest bike ride I've ever done, and that's cool. I honestly don't think I could have made it if I wasn't doing the boot camp workouts. My endurance has definitely improved.

The route passes through Castlewood Canyon. There was some very pretty scenery along the way.

We had a rest and aid stop at 12.3 miles. They gave us plenty of carb-loaded snacks and refills for our water bottles. Plus, they had port-a-potties. Here we are at half-way, after refueling.

Because this stop was at about the halfway point, I thought the second half would be a breeze. I was sorely mistaken. The second half was more on-road, and my little mountain bike just isn't built for such climbs on the road -- neither are my knees, apparently.

Here I am at the top of one of many climbs. This one was just after the second aid and rest station -- about 19 miles from the start.

As I said, I made it -- and with hardly any complaints.