Last sunny weekend?

What a weekend! With over 80 degrees in Seattle it looked like the middle of August, but it still felt like this could be our last hurray of the summer. The leaves are turning colors and it is getting cooler at night. I got to do a couple of my favorite things last weekend – ride my bike and watch football. And it was perfect for that.
We finished the second day of MS 150 charity ride on Sunday with 70 miles in 3:30 h. After doing 95 miles in 5:08 on Saturday over some hilly terrain Sunday was reasonably easy. MS Society had a great turn-out up in Mount Vernon, with all the big sponsors represented – Microsoft, Starbucks, Point B, Kibble & Prentice, etc. Our Byrne Invent team did well and raised over $17k and I personally want to thank all the folks who sponsored me – over $6k! Maybe a small amount of the $1.4 million they raised with this ride, but important none-of-the-less. Let’s find a cure soon!
We were able to watch our UW Huskies win their first football game in over a year and they did it the old Husky way with intensity and passion. Next week against USC will be a little tougher, but the fans are back! Also watched UCLA and Rick Neuheisel get a win at Tennessee and USC beat Ohio State. Then Sunday it was the Seahawks starting the season off with a win. Matt Hasselback and the defense looked pretty good.
More football in 2 days than I watched in a long time – probably due to the fact that I was tired from the ride and that Michael is laid up on the couch with a broken ankle. I could do this most weekends, but I know he is tired of sitting on his rear end! Time to get him back to school!
Does anybody have a huge plate and 8 screws in their foot? Does it set off the airport metal detectors?

Is our summer over? It rained as hard as ever this morning, buckets of water coming in sideways and leaves were falling. I finally made it out at noon for a bike ride. It was generally peaceful with just a little drizzle and not much traffic, but it is disturbing to see foliage not up in the trees but on the road. August was just a few days ago! Why do some people rather drive their car as close as possible to a guy on a bicycle than get close to the median? It baffles me that they rather risk hitting a person than touch the yellow line, unless they just don’t like cyclists - like the guy in the Ford 150 whose side mirror almost grazed me just as he blew his horn. Must have had a tough Sunday morning at church.
I did remember to bring my Zune and listened to some older stuff:
Luther Vandross – “Here and Now” - maybe my all time favorite vocalist and so sad he is not alive to share his music with us.
Hootie & the Blowfish – “Time” (why you punish me) I know Darius Rucker is now a Country/Western star but what are the rest of the boys doing in South Carolina?
Rick Astley – “Don’t say good-bye, girl” - remember him from like 1986 – whatever happened to him?
Not much left to do today but to hang on the couch and watch movies with Michael. He will hopefully feel better tomorrow – the first 48 hours after surgery are usually the toughest. The first movie is “Fighting’?

I think we will remember this Labor Day weekend for a while. Our plans were pretty simple – hang out with our 16 year old, have some fun, watch some college football, at least one good dinner and maybe some golf. I was going to squeeze in a long bike ride to get ready for the MS 150, but plans and thoughts can change quickly after a call from the high school principal. When you hear the words “Your son hurt himself” you drop everything.
Michael has a tendency to fall occasionally, because of some gross motor skill issues and my first hope was that it was another scratch or a turf burn from PE class on the football field. He was not so lucky this time and a plate and 8 screws later the dislocated ankle he arrived at the hospital with looks much better. He was very tough and handled it all well. I think I sure would have screamed and cried. With his foot pointing 90 degrees to the side he told the nurse that his pain was a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 and went down to a 2 after finally receiving a pain killer and after the doc popped his ankle back in. All the people at the hospital were great and friendly, but why does everything take so long in the Emergency Room?
After playing sports for decades and seeing lots of injuries this one ranks up there with one of the bad ones and the pictures don’t lie. Maybe Michael will be able to look at them in a few years, but now he has 4-6 weeks of crutches and a boot ahead of him. Time for lots of movies and pizza on the couch.

Friday before Labor Day

We had an awesome meeting this morning with a prospect and hope to sign up the family soon - great folks and his business is kicking everybody's behind in the mobile industry.

Then I ran one of our last work-outs of the summer with some of the local NBA players - Nick Collison and Spencer Hawes. Jon Brockman and Luke Ridnour did not make it today, but Quincy Pondexter and Scott Suggs from the UW showed up and played hard. Most of the NBA guys will be heading out to their teams next week. It is time to get serious and ready for the season. The downtime will allow me to get my knee fixed! Fall basketball season at the club is about to start!

Not much else to do on a Friday afternoon, but to figure out how to finish the work-week properly before heading into the 3 day weekend. Maybe a glass of red and a cigar on the porch with some friends!

MS 150 - September 12/13:
Not sure what I got myself into. I particpated in this ride a few times, but never been this unprepared for it. 150 miles in 2 days - 92 miles the first day over hilly terrain. I will suffer and most likely enjoy it.
Lots of worries creep up though - and excuses. The weather is already changing here in Seattle and rain is certain, lots of work, lots of evening events coming up and I might have more red wine than I should the night before. And the list goes on.
The support has been unbelievable as always. Around $5k raised in one week! A great cause and hopefully we can get closer to the goal - find a cure!