Monday randomness

T - 6 days till Bike Around the Bay

6 days till I bike 150-160 miles in two days. Am I ready? Not sure. Do I have someone to ride with? Not sure--she sort of went AWOL these past few months. Do I care? Not really...while I enjoy group riding, I also like being alone with my bike. And maybe my ipod.

MS150 2008 - Not gonna do it

Speaking of 2-day charity rides, I'm not doing the MS150 this year. Not because I don't want to, but because registrations sold out in 10 days. I was waiting till the end of the month to sign up for financial reasons. Though, truth be told, I wasn't exactly dying to do it again, either. It was fun, it was an experience, and it's for a good cause...but I'm a lousy fundraiser, and I was already kind of dreading the thought of collecting another $400 this year. Plus the hassle of arranging an overnight...I mean, I would have done all that, and I would have enjoyed the event once it was actually upon me, but I'm a little relieved that it's no longer an option. Maybe in 2009.

I'm kind of hungry--can you tell?

This looks really good. Also, I'd like to try roasting vegetables one of these days.

Ants in my pants--literally!

Okay, so you remember the duathlon, right? Well, what I didn't mention is that when I packed up my transition towel after the event, I also packed up a small colony of ants. I swear, if there is an anthill within 100 yards of anywhere I am, you can bet your ass I'm going to end up standing directly over it. Or setting up my bike transition on top of it, as the case may be.

So anyway, I didn't notice my ant infestation till I got home, after I dumped my wet, anty clothes and towel into the tub in the guest bathroom. Since I was tired and sore and half-delirious, I only made a mental note of the ants before I took a shower (in the other bathroom, obviously). And then, with one thing and another, I left the clothes there for a week (yes, this is just the kind of meticulous housekeeper I am). During this week, the ants had time to redistribute themselves throughout the house, with cat food bowls and piles of laundry becoming the hot new neighborhoods of choice.

Really, I should have known things had gotten out of control when the cats started fishing kibble out of the dish with their paws a piece at a time, then batting it around until it was ant-free for eating. I should have done something about it the first time I shook the ants out of the bath mat before stepping out of the shower. However, this is not my way. I procrastinated, I hemmed, I hawed, and I waited until the house had reached the absolute highest (lowest?) level of squalor that I could tolerate before I flew into a cleaning frenzy.

So, after my ride on Saturday, I changed into some sweatpants and set to work. I scrubbed, I vacuumed, I washed clothes and dishes and windows. Things were mostly sparkly, and my ant problem was out with the vacuum bags...or so I thought. Then I put on my jeans, which had been lying on the floor in the corner, because I had only worn them for an hour the night before and they did not need washing.

Ladies and gentlemen, they were chock full o' ants! I had time to walk across the room before the stinging started (oh, did I mention? These were fire ants...the only kind we have down here, for they have killed and eaten all the other ants). I, of course, jumped around slapping my legs like a crazy person, then set a new speed record for pants removal.

After turning the jeans inside out and throwing them in the dryer (the ants might survive it, but they'll be very dizzy and easy to kill afterward), I surveyed the damage. My right leg got the worst of it, with three separate and severe attack locations. It's still swelled up to twice its normal size from knee to ankle. I usually don't react this badly to fire ant bites, so these must have been all extra pissed off and venomy. Or there were just a whole lot of them. Either way, OW.

So, the moral of the story: "Dance like you have ants in your pants"? TOTALLY VALID ANALOGY. Also, it's maybe not a good idea to bring a gym bag full of ants into your home, for any reason.