Prayers for Nancy Grace

I have a co-worker and dear friend, Nancy, who was hit by a car prior to Christmas. She is no longer in the ICU but had many bones broken and may never be the same.
I am not one for praying, but if you are, she could use the prayers, hopeful thoughts, positive energy and song that anyone cares to send her way. Reis and I visited her last week and it was a powerful experience. I never thought I'd see Reis cry in the hospital as she does it everyday.
Sadly, sometimes it takes a tradedy like this to remind us to cherish everyday, to appreciate the people we have and to be joyful for now.
Take a deep breath and be grateful for your health and your life.
I am.

Qualifying Ride for RTL

Last weekend I completed my qualifying ride for Ride the Lobster.
For those of you unfamiliar, RTL is like the Toure de France for unicyclists. I am a part of Team Venus, possibly the only female team for the 5 day, 200km per day race through Nova Scotia, Canada.

http://www.ridethelobster.com/

Here are some pictures and info about my qualifying ride.


Day 1, 4 1/2 hours of riding.
8:15am - 12:45pm

The route:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Corbin-s-House-Reservoir

Distance: 40.4 km
Ascend: 1323 m
Descend: 1751 m
Soft Gravel: 2 km
RTL Rating: 206

Day 2: about 6 hours, 8:45am-2:45pm

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/shel-to-rob-s-route

Distance: 66.7km
Ascend: 771
Descend: 764
Prev rating: 206
Soft Gravel: 15km
Total rating: 190

Opening a Coconut

We found a coconut and I learned how tricky it is to husk it and open it.

Hawaii

Corbin and I finally took our Christmas vacation.
We had tickets to Maui to visit his dad last winter but we had to move the trip cuz he was working through his xmas vacation.
Well, Easter is tomorrow and we are finishing our wonderful week in Lahaina.
Some of the things we have done...

Brought our new "big" unicycles and rode around, including part of the way down the volcano, Haleakula. (Most of it we drove, but Corbin really wanted to ride up and down, all 10,000 feet of climb!!!)

Of course we went swimming, and it is easy cuz his dad has ocean-front property!

We went out in his dad's boat this morning and saw some whales, including a baby that was really quite tiny and totally playing in the water, flipping its tale all around. So cute!

I got ahold of another "health" book that is awesome and has things all of us should know. I highly recommend it. It is called "Natural Cures" by Kevin Trudeau. I spent my week obsessed with it, trying to seep all the information from it before we leave and I have to give it back to its owner (who hasn't even read it yet).

We went kayaking and hiking and of course ate a lot and spent a bit of time window shopping.

We had a bbq and little party for his dad's bday on April 5th.

I started most of my mornings with a jog on the beach and I feel so lucky to have had a chance to hang out in such a beautiful place for barely more than the price of the plane ticket.

I'm back to work on Monday but I feel so much more relaxed and happy having had a vacation.

Link

I am not as good as I used to be at updating my blog. It seemed so much more exciting to tell people what I was up to when i was experiencing new things everyday in Europe or running away with the circus and living in New York City. Now my life is much quieter and I am completely content, happy and satisfied, but that isn't as exciting to read as adventure.
Corbin is better at updating his blog that I am, though, and often there are pictures of our house, which is being remodeled, and is a lot of what we do these days.

www.corbinstreehouse.com/blog

check it out

Pictures of the bunnies

Lily is the white bunny
Ada is the grey bunny.
These pictures are from when we first got them. They are much bigger now.
Oh, how they grow.
And they are such trouble-makers but oh, so cute.
I hope they are doing ok right now. This is the longest we have left them since we got them: 3 days. We are at my mom's house and I gave them so much food and water and a huge box of hay for the weekend, but knowing them, they spilled it all in the first hour and it all fell between the holes in the cage.

Baby Bunnies

Corbin and I are officially parents. We adopted 2 baby bunnies.
It was actually funny how this all came to be. When I was in Brooklyn, we had bunnies in our yard that were eating up our garden. When all that was left was stems, we got fed up caught them and gave them away on craigslist. Well, between the time when we caught them and found them homes, I grew quite attached. So now that I am in a big house, and we have space, I wanted to get a baby bunny. This past Sunday we went to the pet store to get some supplies and lo-and-behold, there was a rabbit shelter having an adoption day right there in the store. Well, I didn't see the bunny I wanted cuz they were all too big so I went to the lady in charge, Auntie Heather, and put in my order. There and then she pulled out two 3-month old bunnies. We only wanted one, but in the end we thought it was best for her to have a friend so we took them both.
We named one Lily, after my "aunt" Barbara Lily, who just left for a semester abroad. The other one is Ada, after Corbin's late mother, Grace Ada.
They are so cute and I am so excited to have them.
Here are some pictures or the cage, Lily venturing out of the carrying cage when they first arrived (Ada is more shy), and of their first meals in their new home.
(well, the photo files are too big and blogspot won't accept them. until i figure out how to shrink them, you'll have to imagine a cute white bunny with tan spots and a cute, fuzzy, grey bunny).

Home again, home again, giggety gig

It has been brought to my attention that my last blog posting was some time ago and it says I am still in my last week in NY.
Well, nearly a month later, let me tell you I am not!
Happily nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, once again, i wake up everyday with the trees out my window and Corbin's skin against mine. I think this is paradise, but don't tell cuz the price of housing is already too high. : )

I am loving it here. Life is relatively slow and I am thankful.
I was back for a mere 4 days and then rushed off to Burning Man. I haven't had time to get pictures together but Corbin posted some on his website, if you are interested. corbinstreehouse.com
go to 'pictures' and they should be there, I hope.

But that was fun. I danced and rode my unicycle around and met some acrobats and other fun people to play with. Corbin and I spent a lot of time together and it was nice to have that time, cuz now that we are back, we don't.

Speaking of being back, I'll first say I love it. The weather is perfect (unlike NY). We are spoiled rotten on the California coast. Corbin's house (or shall I say, "our house" as he so kindly corrects me) is in total disarray. We are remodeling and it is truly a construction zone. He works on it every spare minute and I try to help. We leveled the driveway and are digging a trench for the retaining wall. Soon it will be paved and the new, big deck will be underway. Can't wait for the deck.
I have been pulling off the dry-wall and he has been rewiring the house, rebuilding the shed, replacing ducts and all kinds of things. What a project!
I wish I could be more helpful but I am learning and in the meantime I cook dinner and clean up and try to be open to learning how to do the more "manly" things that look fun.
But I do really enjoy having my own kitchen and spending time in it.

Reis and i have been practicing a bit. We are starting a band. It is lovely to practice outside with the trees as our audience. They are so forgiving!
Her songs are really good and I am excited to be singing again.

Speaking of singing again, I am singing with the Choral Project again. I called the director and told him I was back and he invited me back, which is a huge honor cuz they are amazing. I am like a kid; days before rehearsal I get all excited to go and sing. I'll keep you posted on concert dates.

Unicycling is back in my world, which I missed while I was busy doing other fun things. I have some buddies that ride every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. I have been out once but hope to do more. And the annual Mountain Unicycle Weekend is coming up. I have missed the past 2 years so I am excited to ride it again.

Corbin, JoanMarie, Jay and I took a trip to Yosemite last weekend. Corbin and I did some rockclimbing. (I have some practicing to do to keep up with him but he is patient, at least).
It was so amazingly beautiful. Brooklyn aint got nothing on those mountains of granite!
I look forward to many weekends to go and play. I missed having weekends off.

That is about it for now.
Pictures to come.
If you are in the bay area, find me! My phone number is the same as it was before.