Another great weekend with the sis and Mt Ashland #2

Maryanne came down to visit us in Medford this last weekend. It was great to share where we live with someone! She drove down on Friday and just as I was calling her to check on where she was (thinking she was probably about an hour away). She told me she was outside the front door! I really didn't believe her at first because I figured what were the odds I'd call her right then? But yes, it was true, Maryanne had left work early to surprise me! So that was great to have a little extra time together on Friday night.

Saturday we had decided we wanted to go snowboarding. Partly to get Maryanne up on a mountain slope prior to going down the run in the Pole Pedal Paddle. Especially since she hasn't been up snowboarding in years! As we left the weather here was a bit foggy, but not too bad. We got to the mountain and it was definitely a bit stormy and one of their lifts was closed, but we decided this was our only opportunity and "it wasn't that bad." =) The snow was actually really nice. It was fresh from the night before and the wind wasn't too bad on the side of the mountain we were boarding on. But when we road back to the other side of the mountain to stop for lunch and warm up (my toes were freezing for some reason), we found the "storm" brewing and getting worse! It was so windy you felt like you were walking forward but getting no where! And there really was poor visibility. We ate lunch, and I was actually the one saying we should just stop, but Tobin and Maryanne wanted more. So Maryanne and I made a few more runs and after several falls, one where Maryanne kind of hit her head hard and had a headache. We decided the lodge sounded WONDERFUL! So we left Tobin to enjoy doing fast runs alone, and headed back! Now it was even worse. I felt like we were in the Antarctic (see Maryanne below!)with the wind and dry snow blowing around. It was hard even to see one another just a few feet in distance! But Maryanne and I made it to the lodge and enjoyed some caffeinated coffee (we were rudely told that they "did NOT have decaf!") and some cheesy nachos! Tobin stayed out another hour or so and finally decided it was enough for him too! Not an ideal day, but one with many memories. =)

That night Maryanne cut my hair (it's really cute, I'll have to take a picture and post it later) and cut Tobin's hair, and then we went out with Jenna (Tobin's Med school classmate) to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant and enjoyed Margaritas and Dinner.

Sunday we went to church, and then we wanted to go out to breakfast. Of which I remembered there was a Black Bear restaurant in Medford, but wasn't too sure of where. Well, after 30 minutes of driving around Maryanne called AJ and he looked it up on the Internet! Thanks to navigator AJ! What did we ever do without cell phones and the Internet? Breakfast was delicious! Then Maryanne headed home, with an uneventful drive. =)

I love living closer to family now!

A Fun Day Before Valentine's Day!

Today was wonderful because Tobin got the same day off that I did! So we decided to go for a bike ride. Really we had no specific plan, but we also had no time schedule so it was great! We decided to go on this Bikeway that connects Medford to Ashland called The Bear Creek Greenway. For not having a plan it was a wonderful 29 mile ride! But now I'm suffering a sore bottom, and may be feeling a few new muscles tomorrow. But it was great! So about 2/3 of the way towards Ashland, we decided it would be fun to ride to Ashland, stop for lunch, and then ride back! So that's exactly what we did. We went to this yummy cafe called Ashland Bistro Cafe. Tobin had a Southwest Chicken Wrap with White Bean and Bacon Soup, and I had a Tuscan Panini with Minestrone soup. It was YUMMY!!! It may have been even more delightful because we had just riden 14 1/2 miles. On our way to Ashland part of the trail is still in construction so to try and get around it we "off roaded" with our mountain bikes, and my toes got wet! But I was able to dry them out with the hand blow dryer in the Cafe's restroom. Thanks! I usually hate those blow dry things, but today I LOVED IT!!!!

So with warm toes, we headed out back into the crisp, cold sunny air. I think it was probably tops 38-40 degrees. But sunny! We stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get a delicious Caramelled Apple, so we'd have a treat when we got home! Then it was back the 14 1/2 miles. We negleted to realize that on our way South to Ashland the wind was in our favor. So on the way back we toughed out the wind with our burning quads. Tobin especially was struggling when we first started, his quads were killing him, but as always in the end...he was pushing me to keep going faster!

Doesn't this sound like fun??? Well it was!!! On our way back we "off-roaded" again, this time coming upon a little bit bigger "puddle." You can see we got quite wet again!

We made it back safe and sound, and have successfully thawed out our frozen toes from the "wet encounter." But it was fun to intermix suburb "cruising" with real "mountain biking!" Though, I think Tobin and agree that maybe next time we would prefer to do it with road bikes, but until that time we'll be the mountain bikers enjoying the road. =)

However, we unfortunately won't be going out again till we fix Tobin's flat tires. Yes, when we got back to the car we realized that somehow Tobin had riden through the brier patch and somehow I avoided it. We pulled out 9 sticker in one tire and 4-5 in the other....so a little bit more than we'd like to patch. Oh well, our spirits aren't dampered, we had a great Valentine's Day fun together!

Here's a map of the trail. It kind of follow's I-5. Are you ready to come join us?

It's an Epidemic!!

Cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, fatigue, tactile fevers...I think that everyone is infected and everyone feels they need medicine! Here's to make it public, really the thing you "ARE sure is an infection," is probably nothing more than the common rhinovirus or some other form of virus....there are thousands! Don't get me wrong, I love caring for and educating the public, and I don't want to say you shouldn't see your medical provider, but we can't work magic! Really we can't give you much more than what you can do to treat that cold/cough/flu.

WATER, WATER, WATER; fluids are essential! Rest or moderate exercise if you already exercise.

And here's a news brief, those symptoms on average will last 10-14 days. Usually, you don't really notice you are sick till day 2-3 and then you get really snotty noses, cough, sore throat. But after 2 days of this doesn't mean you have a Raging Strep Throat! So wait it out maybe at least 8-10 days till you go see a doctor. By then you probably will just cancel the appointment and will save yourself some money for not going.

Probably most of you who read this probably already do these things. I think I'm just a little extra sensitive because I'm sick now too. I'm surviving though and taking the advice I give to my patients. Now of course no world is perfect, if you have any other co-morbid conditions such as asthma, are pregnant, have high blood pressure, etc. you might want to see or ask a medical provider about your symptoms.

Well, here's to surviving through the cold and flu season. But hey, it definitely is job security for me, so who's complaining.

Sniffle, Sniff, Sniff, Bloww!!!! Glug, Glug (the water)...I hope you are all washing your hands and staying healthy!

A New Member of the Family

No I'm not the new member, but what was in the box is...

See, our last vacuum cleaner has hit the dust. And we decided to get something that would last. Meet our new Dyson DC17 Animal Cleaner. So tonight was spent with Tobin and I vacuum cleaning (the novelty will where off) our apartment.

Look all the junk it picked up! Gross! But even more gross is that it probably has only been a few days since I last vacuumed! Yuck! But good to think we'll be living in a little more cleanliness!