Busy Weekend

Last weekend was one of those rare weekends when I got 4 days off in a row. I tried to squeeze as much as possible into it to make the most of it. I started Friday by sleeping until 11am, something I haven't done in forever. When we finally got up, we decided to go to Best Buy to look at TVs. I picked out a couple of Sharp TVs but wanted to wait until I shopped around. Chris really like the Samsung but the one in our price range was too wide for our wall unit. Later Friday we went to the NEX to look at their selection. They had the same TV as one of the Sharps I saw at Best Buy. It was $100.00 more than Best Buy but I thought if I could price match, I would save the sales tax. Unfortunately, when they called Best Buy the sales clerk said that they didn't have any in stock, even though I knew they had two when we were there earlier.
Later Friday, Courtney had an end of year ceremony for her Girl Scout Troop. The girls had fun showing off their accomplishments for the year.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed to Schofield to ride. My goal was to keep both wheels on the ground and avoid any accidents or mechanicals. Something I hadn't been too successful at during the last few rides. We had a nice easy ride, saving energy for Sunday's State Championship 40 K Time Trial. My shoulder felt pretty good for the entire ride so I knew I would be ready for the TT. We finished early so I stopped at the other Best Buy to look at TVs. I thought they had a Samsung in our price range that would fit so I grabbed it. Unfortunately, I looked at the wrong tag for the dimensions and when I got it home, I figured out it was too big for our cabinet. Luckily, I was able to slide the doors all the way forward and get it to fit. Unfortunately we aren't able to push them back like we used to but it looks pretty good.

After we got the TV set up we headed to Kaneohe to my friend Robert's for a pool party. I over ate and drank a few too many which was probably not the smartest thing to do before the race on Sunday. We had a great time and decided to get together with them again on Monday.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 0400 not feeling the best from the night before. I filled up the jeep (not much fun with $4.00 gas and a 20 gal tank) and headed up to the northern most tip of the island. Most of the HACCers were already warming up when I got there. I got my number and free socks and started warming up on the trainer. I wasn't feeling too bad by the time I was at the starting line. The first half (12miles) of the race was into a pretty stiff wind. I was able to keep it at about 22 mph telling myself I would pick it up on the way back. When I was about 2/3rds of the way to the turn around, I started passing racers. I figured it was a pretty good sign. When I turned around, I kicked it up to 26 mph and kept passing more riders. I miscalculated where the finish line was and picked it up a little too early. I still finished pretty strong. I had to leave early so I missed the awards ceremony. John called me after church and let me know that I finished 2nd in my category. Now I have a 1st place state championship medal from the team time trial and a 2nd place from the individual tt. Ben finished first in our category beating me by a little under a minute. Casey finished 1st in his category, John 2nd in his. I invited Ben and Casey over for supper Sunday night and we celebrated with Beer and Steaks.

Monday started as a lazy day. We slept in until 10 then headed back to Roberts in the afternoon. This time Courtney and Ginger joined us. Ginger loved the pool. She swam all over. Marty had a kids inflatable vest that we put on Ginger so she wouldn't have to work so hard. She looked ridiculous but that didn't seem to bother her. She also enjoyed sitting on the floaties.


On a somber note, this is the first memorial day since my brother was killed in Afghanistan. My sister and Mom went to DC for a ceremony for the families of the fallen. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year. I still expect to see him driving his truck up to my house.