This was a big weekend. I’ll list off the highlights and then go into more detail on some of the bigger points:
- I took a personal day Friday to prepare for the MS150 and spend some time with my family
- Owen, my youngest son, learned how to ride his bike
- I rode in my 5th MS150 bike tour
- I wrapped up (mostly) my first paying ruby contract job (it’s small, but still a gig)
- Had a couple of nice dinners with friends
- My boys had a playdate with the neighbor
Personal Day
I don’t think I have EVER taken a personal day. I think I’ve only called in sick once in my life, and I was actually sick. This past Friday I decided that I needed to take a day. It was a slow day at work for me, and I had stuff around the house that I wanted to do.
I got to have lunch with my oldest son - surprised him. I got to pick up my sons from their schools. I got my stuff gathered up for the MS150, and figured out how I would fit my bike into my new car. I did a little work on that ruby gig.
I also got to play with my kids outside after school. We live on a street with a cul-de-sac. There is a slight slope to the street. For Christmas we got Wiggle Cars (aka plasma cars). You sit on them and wiggle this “steering wheel” to help propel the car. Most importantly, adults can also ride these things.
Mason and I race each other, and we were racing Friday afternoon. Miss Amanda came out to play, too. Amanda lives across the street. She is our babysitter, and has sort of become another member of the family. The boys love her, and I could write a whole other blog post about how awesome she is.
So we’re all out playing and joking. Mason (my oldest son) brought his bike out, and Owen (my youngest son) wants to ride it. I lower the seat all the way, but it’s still too big. So I take the training wheels off his bike. Allison takes him down to the park to ride around on the basketball court.
Owen Rides A Bike
Before you know it Owen has the hang of it, and he’s riding his bike with very little assistance. Then he’s riding unassisted! It really and truly only took about 20 minutes for him to get it. The boy is generally fearless, and in this case it paid off. Allison went to get the camera, and we have a series of shots where he has unwavering eye contact with Allison as he swerved from left to right. He never took his focus off Allison and never freaked out about losing his balance. He just steered into the swerve.
Allison, Amanda, and I took turns supporting him as he rode around. It’s a good hamstring workout bending over just a little and holding something.
To celebrate we decided to go to a local burger joint for dinner and milkshakes.
Dinner With Friends - Part 1
While we were out playing, Mason asked if Amanda could come to dinner with us. She didn’t want to impose, but it was fine with us. So we all piled in the family truckster and went to dinner. My dad met us there midway through dinner to arrange some details for the MS150 the next day as well.
It was a nice dinner. Good conversation and good company. The milkshakes were very good, too.
MS150
I should really write a separate post about this. The MS150 is a 150 mile, 2 day, bike ride, and it is a fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis. My father in law has MS, and I ride in honor of him.
MS is a degenerative disease that affects the nervous system. It slowly damages the nerves to the point that you cannot walk. It also effects eyesight.
This was my 5th time to ride in an MS150, and it will be my last one for a while. I am going to take a break and return when my sons are old enough to ride with me.
This is always a very emotional ride for me. Each year there have been various parts of the ride where I am overcome with the gravity of the event and/or it’s purpose and/or the supporters. Let me see if I can set the image for you.
Picture riding along side a fellow rider who has MS. You have some people who use special hand-cranked bicycles because they can’t use their legs anymore. You have some people who ride just fine, but can hardly walk when they stop. So they just don’t stop very often.
You also have lots of people cheering on the side of the road. And the volunteers and support crew that put the event on are simply amazing.
This year I did not have a lot of saddle training time. I did a lot of jogging, but not much riding. I was able to ride 55 miles before I outrode my legs and the weather came in. It stormed like crazy, and the second day was cancelled because more storms were supposed to come through (and did).
So far this year I’ve raised over $1600. If you would like to make a donation you can at: http://tinyurl.com/BarrettMS150
Dinner With Friends - Part 2
When you have kids you become friends with the parents of your kid’s classmates. It works out in some cases that they have children that are the same ages as your children.
We got a call from one of our friends who has sons that are the same ages as our sons to come have dinner Saturday night. They wanted to help celebrate Owen learning how to ride his bike.
I was pretty tired from the ride, but we enjoy spending time with our friends. And an offer for dinner is not something that I will usually pass up.
Dinner was great. I ate 3 portions. Did I mention that I rode 55 miles earlier that day?
Good conversation and good company. These friends are from Columbia. I love to hear people’s stories - how did they grow up, what is important to them, etc. It’s even more interesting when it’s from a culture that is so different from mine.
The kids also invented a new product. We had some fun with this. We had them draw what the bottle would look like, and then they made a commercial. It was 10:00 before we knew it, and I was about to fall over.
The Playdate
We had a sluggish start to the day on Sunday. After doing some more work tidying up that project we went outside to play. Owen wanted to ride his bike a little more. Once he got tired we walked his bike up the hill and got to talking with Amanda’s mom in front of their house. The rest of the family came out, including their mastiff (Zoe). Our lab (Jack) is sweet on their mastiff, so Jack got to come out and romp around in the yard a little.
Wesley (Amanda’s brother) did a Wiggle Car race with Mason, and then came in to play chess with him. It was lunchtime, and Wesley had some homework to do, so I setup for the boys to go over later that afternoon to play.
Then something magical happened. My kids were good. They cleaned up their rooms without fussing, and they actually did a good job. It was amazing.
The designated time came, and they went over. I am always nervous when Owen is over there because I don’t know if he’s going to get into something. He’s a curious boy and hasn’t quite mastered personal space or etiquette yet.
The boys were very good according to what we hear. Wesley is kind of shy, so it is nice to see him be comfortable with the boys and with us.
So There You Have It
It was a big weekend. I am touched by the generosity of people, and also by the kindness of friends. I love seeing Amanda and my children interact. Her parents are good people, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them. I look forward to more time with all of them.
We will be spending a LOT of time outside in the evenings, on the weekends, and this summer. Especially now that Owen can (generally) ride his bike.
We will also have to see where the kids go with their new marketing strategy. Perhaps I will dust off my Marketing degree and MBA and put it to use with my Columbian advertising buddy.
Stay tuned….