What's going on with me.

It has been a while since I have posted something on my Blog. I have had problems with my internet. It has not been much fon since I mostly communicate with people via the internet. It is just about all worked out. We still have some problems, but we hope a tech will fix them by Thurs. Verizon only had to come out 6 times now, but don't get me started.

I won 2nd and 4th place at the LA County fair. I was very happy to have done so well. It's not an easy contest.
Judging for one of the contest I was in. That was my Garlic and Rosemary Sheepherders bread.

I made cornbread also, but that did not win anything. Everyone seems to like it so I am happy with that.


I got my plate for my SXV. Il Pulce. It means "The Flea" in Italian. Italian bike, rider, and plate. My parents call me the flea. I think you have noticed the name of my Blog is The Flea. So there you go. You learned something new about me.

Awwwww it screams ride me! Now that my foot is getting better I want to ride. It figures that all the roads to ride on around here are closed from all the fires. What is the deal? I get the bike one day before surgery. My foot is ready to ride and all the roads are closed for fires. It's ok. I can wait a little longer. (not much longer, but I can wait)
I am just happy the ash has stopped falling on the house and cars.

:-)


My mom and I went to the lake right before I had to go back to work. After missing most of the school year I was stressed about going back. My foot was still hurting. I could not get my foot in a shoe. What was I going to do? How could I teach PE to my classes? I needed one last vacation. I almost had to go solo to the lake, but my mom was able to go at the last minute. We always have a good time. It was nice to not worry so much about my foot. It was heavy on my mind. I don't know what it is, but my mom can make me laugh at just about anything. We laugh at things I don't even understand why we think it's funny.

Sonoma went floating with me on the raft. She did so well. We were out there on the lake for hours.

My floating view.

I love this view. I always know I am at my happy place when I look out over the water and see the mountain. I always say that I love the smell of the water. I take a deep breath and think of the sounds of the waves hitting hte hull of the boat. I love that. I love to look down into the water off the boats edge. That calm rocking feeling you get as you sit there looking at the view around you. I don't need to go fast and make sharpe turns on a boat. I like to move along, watching someone ski. I like to pull into shore, take out the chairs and wiggle my feet into the sand. I like to have a nice sandwich. There has to be some kind of cold fruit as well. No need for soda, water is fine. The one thing I do like is chips and salsa. My weakness. I can't pass it up. A little of that as well and you have a perfect day at the lake. I wish my family had a boat. It would be nice to get back on the water. I wish I could water ski. Not that I have done it often, but when I did I really liked it. So much that I had to buy an old ski so I had one that would fit me. I still have it.

My mom with a good book.

Mollie and Sonoma after a swim. "What's for lunch?"

Trying to get some sun. I had been stuck inside for almost a year. I needed a tan! I still need one.

My foot is getting better. It's been painful going back to work, but it's gettign there. Here is a link to a video of my tendon moving in my foot. Don't click on it if you don't want to see it. It was a few weeks after it opend up so it was lready healing by the time I filmed this. You should have seen it at first. It gave me the chills and it was my own foot. Yuck.

LINK, CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT.

That seems to be it for now. I hope to post more often. Thanks for looking.

Cheers.

8th Annual Kelley Maylor All Girl Ride

I am happy to say that we had another wonderful year. This ride is a labor of love. I feel great when I see a bunch of women riders with smiles on their faces. It's a bunch of work, but the day of the event makes it all worth it. I am happy to say that there was an article written about the ride. Here are some links to what people have posted. All you need to know is in the links. Enjoy and keep on riding.

http://my.sportbikeclub.com/_8th-Annual-Kelley-Maylor-Memorial-Ride/BLOG/519348/46089.html?widgetId=160456

http://animoto.com/play/EEpft4ps0ZEyb5iMvznkiA?autostart=true#share?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=one_click_share

http://www.cyclenews.com/regional_events/read/charity-event/2009/08/15/090815-Kelley-Maylor-All-Girl-Charity-Ride

More pictures taken by a friend. Click HERE

Thanks for checking it out. Cheers.

Kauai

One week in Kauai is not long enough. :-)

Wild pigs on our tain ride.The baby was one week old and cute as could be.
Miles feeing the birds.

My buddy. I miss my little bird.

A rainbow.

The Hartes.

Since I can’t go to Egypt, this was the next best thing. lol

Queen's Bath.

It was this great pool of water with fish in it. I finally got to swim that day, but my incision still got wet. I was worried.

Relaxing at the Condo.

Hummmmmm........What's going on here?

Jen setting the pace.

Miles wondering what we are all doing.

Go Stevie Go!

My first time in a helicopter.

What a view!

It was so much fun to see everything.

Have you ever seen Jurassic Park? Remember the waterfall they fly over to and land? Yep, that’s the one.

Having a blast.

Everything is so pretty.

What's a morning without sharing breakfast with friends?

Blow hole.

One 5 gallon bucket of this dirt will dye 500 shirts red. "Red Dirt Shirt Company"

Why did the chicken cross the road? So Stevie wont run it over.

Chickens are all over the island. They don't know when to crow. They do it all the time. Good luck sleeping past 6:00AM.

Just us ladies.

A hug of support after limping all over the island.

You should see it in person. It's wonderful!

It was so pretty there.

Oh come on. You can't be suprised. Yes, bikes!

Just one of the many falls that are all over the island. I loved the birds that were flying all around it.

There were rowing races taking place that day.

Dave having some fun.

Wet cave.

I could look at that view all day.

View from the condo.

We are lucky to have such wonderful friends as Dave and Stevie Harte. They own a time share condo in Kauai and asked if we wanted to join them on their trip. How could we pass that up? Kauai and good friends, you bet!

(We met Dave through our riding club. He is an amazingly fast and smooth rider. I think he was born with riding gloves on. I don't know why he even owns a car. Then I met his wife and knew she was one of a kind and would be a good friend. )
I have been to Maui once so this was going to be my second time to the islands and first time to Kauai. I loved it. I loved all the waterfalls. Did you know that Kauai is the wettest place on earth? Well, the top of a mountain is. It rains an average of 340 days a year up there. This makes for a lush jungle and lots of waterfalls. There was only one down side. My foot is not healed yet and I was banded from the water p/doctors orders. He said it could get infected. That’s all I need. I tried water proof band-aids, but they did not work. I did go in Queen’s Bath for a swim. How could I go all that way and not go in the water? I was really sad I could not snorkel. I wanted to, but I struggled with the thought of messing up my foot and delaying the healing process even longer. Dave and Stevie were great about taking that into consideration. They gave us a great tour of the island. It was really nice. Miles thought it would be great to take a helicopter tour as well. I have always wanted to go in a helicopter. I was amazing. The pilot said it was one of the best days all year to fly. We went into a volcano that they never get to go into due to rain and turbulence. I smile just thinking about the flight. I want to do that again.
It was fun to spend time with Dave and Stevie. They are a great couple to go on a trip with. Their daughter Jen was there also. She was nice, and a pleasure to meet. The trip consisted of tours, good food, games, beaches, waterfalls, shopping, feeding birds, a helicopter ride, a train ride, and lots of Mai Ties. There was one day that it rained and rained. We all braved the elements and drove all over. We even got stuck for over 2 hours waiting for a flooded road to open back up so we could get home. I can’t wait to go back so I can snorkel. It looked like a great place. Tunnels Beach is calling my name.

-----------------> More pictures of the trip.

My Thoughts Today.

Italy on my mind.

I put this picture as my desk top for my computer. It's so pretty.
I wish people made things like that still.

Always amazing to look at. Takes my breath away.

I find that my mind wonders back to Italy often. I find that I think not only of my trip, but of all the things that have taken place there in the past. What were the Romans like? How did they build the things they did? Aqueducts alone blow me away. To be able to master building one that is on the slightest slope to send water perfectly to the people and fountains of a great community. It’s staggering. I am making dinner for myself tonight and I thought I would get some basil from my garden to put in my pasta. I understand now why I like to garden. It’s in my blood. I saw garden after garden as I went train to train traveling around Italy. This also got me thinking about the great food of Italy. I liked every meal I had. Why does it taste so much better there? Is it the cooks that prepared it, the water, or the soil the ingredients are grown in? Why on earth do we not have the pastries that they make, here in the US? Why oh why don’t we have gelato. Oh sure, I have been to one here in the LA area, but really, it’s not the same.
I long to go back and see more. Not only what I have yet to see, but the things that I have already seen. I hate that I rushed through Lucca. I would like to stay there a little longer to see more things. I have two memorial cards from family members that are buried in Bagni Di Lucca, Monti Di Villa. I would like to find them and also go back to Riolo to see if I can find my family members. I wish I could find them. I know I have many out there. Maybe one day.
Italy has become part of my soul.

Stitches and Seca (AKA MotoGP)

Let’s start with stitches. I believe it was June 18th that I had a second surgery to try to correct my big toe tendon. It was stuck in scar tissue so my big toe would not move. I was told I needed it done right away so off I went once again for surgery on my foot. I was not happy about it since I had just gone to Italy and walked around all over. I was feeling a little like my old self. I had also waited about a month to get my Aprilia SXV supermoto and it came in two days before surgery. That only gave me one day to try to ride it before I was down and out again. My one day ride was very short, rusty and slow, but nice. Surgery was a little more than I thought. My doctor cut open my foot where one of my original scars were. He also cut open my big toe joint to cut into some capsule. That left me in a cast for a week.
I got my stitches out just in time to go to Laguna Seca for the races. I was going to be able to ride to the track and bike night. I was really happy. That is until I got on the bike and went all of a mile to Cannery Row. The incision on the ball of the big toe is right were you shift. Yep…… I shifted and ripped that one inch incision open to the tendon. There it was moving back and forth. I spent the rest of the weekend riding in and out of the track and walking around all day with my foot open in that area. I tried to cover it, but it was not working. The pain of shifting was less than fun. It would distract with me with the pain. Not a good thing since I have been off a bike for 7 months, on a new bike that feels different and only thinking about how bad my foot must be in my shoe. I will go to my doctors tomorrow to get it looked at. It just finally closed a little today, almost a week after it was split open. Dang foot it really making me unhappy. I hope this is the last of it and I can work on getting better. (To make it that much better I am going to Hawaii in a week and will go nuts if I can’t snorkel)
Seca!
I love going to Monterey. I look forward to it each year. This year even more since I have been so distant from bikes and fun. I love the bike night for all the bikes and people. It’s cool to see so many people on bikes and the plated ones that no one sees on the street. I was also looking forward to riding finally. The open incision was a big bummer but the rest was very nice. Pebble Beach for lunch and 17 mile drive was very nice. Seeing the riders, and the races were fun. I also like the landscape. I saw some hill sides that reminded me of Italy. It was cool. Enjoy the pictures of my trip.

Click here for all my pictures from the trip.