Well, I didn't lay tile this weekend after all. I scraped glue. Tile will hopefully be going down next weekend, provided that I can commit to a damned color. I'm torn between charcoal/slate grey and a sort of neutral bone-beige color. And since I have no intention of ever replacing the floor again, it's a very permanent decision.
I also won't have much in the way of before and after pictures, because I forgot to take the befores until most of the original floor was already torn up. So I've got one camera-phone picture of a big pile of hardwood in an extremely dusty, messy kitchen, but that's about it. :) I'll post that tomorrow, along with an "after" of our new dining room (last weekend's project). I'd post them now, but I left my stupid phone at the house.
In other news, my club ride has been growing these past couple weeks. I'm not sure if it's because word finally got out to beginners, or because the weather has gotten cooler, but I've had nearly a dozen people on the last couple rides. I love the bigger group, but it is harder in some ways. For one thing, we're having to stop more in order to keep us all together, since I have yet to make a map (another thing I need to do this week). If it continues at this size, I may need to recruit a co-leader so that one of us can sweep the stragglers.
I also have trouble figuring out when it's better to slow down and wait for slower riders and when it's better to keep pace with the faster ones. I'm afraid that if I slow it down too much, the faster people will get bored and not come back. Then again, if I go too fast, I run the risk of losing the people that this ride is supposed to cater to--the beginners. In fact, it was this dilemma that caused me to lose my middle group this week for about 5 miles. They missed a turn, but were far enough back from the front group that I didn't see it. I pulled the front group over to regroup at about the 8-mile marker, but only the slow group arrived. I started to freak out a little, because the missing group included a couple who had just moved here a month ago. Even after determining which turn they missed, I had no idea where to go looking for them--it was at least a couple miles back, and we had been waiting at the regroup point for at least 5 minutes. Our only course was to keep going and hope that we met up with them later...they knew where the next rest stop was, and they did have one long-time resident with them. When we did meet up with them again, it was only by sheer luck...they happened to approach an intersection on the route at the exact moment we were passing by. They were good sports about the whole thing, but I'll be surprised if they come back anytime soon.
Anyway, the next club meeting is coming up next week, so I may have to go and ask for volunteers then. Or one of the new guys this week did say that he'd be willing to help, so maybe that's an option. We'll see, I guess.
Another problem I have, which is getting pretty serious, is hydration. I can't seem to get enough water. Even with two big (24 to 32-oz) bottles in the cages, I'm running out of water and still getting overheated and dehydrated on a 20-mile ride. It used to be, even last summer, that I could get by easily on 2 bottles for 20 miles, and sometimes I'd only need one. It's frustrating as hell, not to mention unpleasant--nausea, chills...no fun. This week was better than last, but only because I slowed way down toward the end and then downed a liter of water immediately after the ride. I think I'm going to have to dig out a camelbak in addition to the water bottles next week...I know we have one around the house somewhere. I hate the rubbery taste of the bite valve, but it beats throwing up or passing out.
I'm also getting back on track today with the eating...sort of. I had a packet of oatmeal for breakfast, sliced an apple and portioned peanut butter for a snack later in the day (then left it on the counter :P). I did make my coffee stop, though, which puts me at 7 points for the day so far. I'm planning to have a salad with salmon for lunch, and chicken for dinner, so hopefully I'll end up somewhere around target points for the day. I also plan to work out this afternoon, so it should be a pretty good day, so long as I don't get stupid when the afternoon munchies kick in. If I can start off the week on a good note, maybe I can keep it up through the whole week.
I decided to check again for WW meetings, this time near my work zip code. There is a WW center about 2 miles from my office, and they have noon meetings a couple times per week. I'm considering checking out the Friday one next week and signing up for Monthly Pass, provided that there are no mitigating factors. I figure I'll know by then.
Posted by Joy at August 28, 2006 09:39 AM