It's been a while since I've posted. Charles has been on leave for over a week and he's been distracting me! It's been a fun break. It will be more fun when the kids get back to school on Thursday! Our friends, the Budge's, came last week so we got to do things we normally don't do. We took them to Kartchner Caverns. Apparently, this cave is one of the most pristine, living caves in Arizona or maybe even in the country. I can't remember. It was huge though and our guide was a hag so she made it hard to want to listen to her. At one point Tyler, the Budge's 4 year old, sat down on a man made ledge. The guide went over to where he sat and marked the place so she could send a clean up crew in to properly clean the lint from the area so the cave would remain living. I felt like a was in a scene out of Monsters, Inc. The part where the monster comes back from the kid's closet and he has a sock attached to his back and the clean up crew comes over and strips him down and shaves all of his hair off! Ridiculous! First of all, there were people in there putting in lights and walkways and working to make the cave accessible to the public. Anyway, the lady had no people skills and she made the humidity in the cave hard to deal with. I'm still having flashbacks so I need to move on.

Charles and I were on our 10 miler today and it was hard for me to get through the ride for some reason. I started to think about the Tour de France competitors and it made me feel that my 10 little miles isn't that big of a deal to some people. But for me it's a doozy. It's quite an accomplishment for Ashley. Of course you can't think about the Tour de France without thinking of Lance Armstrong. Little Lance. Hmm....he once was this excellent cyclist. Well he still is a great cyclist he just doesn't seem as humble as he once was. He starts out with testicular cancer and had a hard time getting a sponsor, postal service sponsors him and he becomes a cycling legend. He marries a great lady that gives birth to his 3 children. Now, I'm not all knowing, believe it or not, BUT, it seems as though his cycling greatness and fame went a little to his head. He beats the odds with his cancer, wins a million Tour de France races and then divorces his wife, starts hanging out with Matthew McConaughey and just acting like a frat boy in general. He retires and I suppose the no attention thing started getting to him so he enters the Tour de France once again and takes 3rd place. Now he could have just stayed married to his wife, enjoyed the fame while it lasted, retired gracefully and gone away a cycling legend and he could be fulfilled to this day with the good life the good Lord gave him. Like I said, I'm not all knowing. It just seems to me that he is trying to find fulfillment in other areas, like cycling. I guess another way satan takes a good thing and turns it into a bad thing. Just a few thoughts I had out on the trail today :-| I just wonder how long it would take Lance to do my 10 miles....I'm sure a lot less time than it takes me.

This post was abandoned yesterday, August 3rd.

We went canoeing yesterday afternoon. It was pretty fun. The last time we went canoeing it was pre-weight loss. I had to sit in the middle of the canoe as to not tip it! We had crammed all 6 of us in one canoe. I was a little concerned about the trip yesterday because of the bad memories I had from the last trip. Charles assured me all would be well. He's bigger than me now and he was confident I would not have to sit in the middle of the canoe. Once we launched my fears were calmed and we had a grand time. Charlie and Cody were in my canoe and Charlie was enjoying making me madder than a wet hen. He kept swirling his paddle and we were going around in circles. Charles was sure I was the incompetent one. We were doing great until Charlie started his crap. The funny thing though, on the way back to the dock Charles was caught in the same type of current we had been in when we couldn't stop going in circles :) This made me happy! He was for sure that I just didn't know how to row. Good Fairy! We had a good time though.




School starts Thursday and I couldn't be more excited!