winter wonderland

While it seems like the entire country was fully frozen in the Polar Vortex {via FB newsfeed reporting} it's been a pretty great last two months here in sunny San Diego. We've had our driest winter since I've been here with almost NO rain and mild temperatures. Which makes it pretty hard to have excuses for not getting out of bed in the morning.

tidepools. 

Kyle returned from his trip to Germany and I had the entire Thanksgiving weekend off...only to acquire the horrible cold/cough/sinus crap that was going around. 14 days of misery. I had planned for an epic weekend of riding. I had a delusional "I'm not sick!" moment, and got up Palomar on Thursday before dinner and that was about it. I may have managed the Sunday team ride but it wasn't pretty.

tademania in OB at the {kinda shabby} Christmas Tree!

Kyle's work holiday party. A non-spandex affair. 

Christmas was just the two of us. Kyle surprised me with a new track bike!! A Felt TK2; and in sticking with the muppets theme, I've named him Animal. If you search #newbike on Christmas morning via social media, it's pretty awesome. Just a bunch of kids stoked at what lies "under" the tree. Freedom. Speed. Fresh air. Endorphins. Bling. In my 30 years, I've been a nice enough girl to wake up to a new bike 3 times. And it's just as great as the first, except I don't have to wear a jacket or wait till the snow melts to ride. 

Frank Oz has stated that Animal's character can be summed up in five words: sex, sleep, food, drums, and pain. Animal's vocabulary is generally limited to guttural shouts and monosyllabic grunts, often repeating a few simple phrases. During performances, Animal is usually chained to the drum set, as his musical outbursts are extremely violent.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up track racing. Pain, grunts and simple phrases.

Super Grover has been out riding 2-3x a week and that's pretty much the extent of the exercise besides the random tandem dinner adventures. I was busy with Christmas mailings and sewing up a storm {our living room was a crafting disaster zone} prepping gifts and baby stuff for my sister's shower.

bibs. burp cloths. diaper clutch. crafting fun!

We headed to the frozen tundra and narrowly missed the Polar Vortex although I'm still wondering what the difference is... We were in MN for 6 days and it was below zero the entire time while in Grand Rapids. Not exaggerating. Frozen nostrils. Okay, so I grew up with this weather and to me, it's not news worthy. You put on a jacket. After living in CA for almost 6 years, to say I've acclimated is an understatement. Yes the roots of my upbringing have long since forgotten the winter freeze. "Cute" down jackets {worn in 60 degrees} and Uggs have taken over for the Columbia jackets and Sorel boots. To prepare, I used the next best method, the layering technique. Not the cami under a thin long sleeve layering. But the base layer, Patagonia capilene, fleece pullover, fleece jacket, down jacket, Gortex wind layer method. 

Viv = he's not known for his speed, but his skill {and non-Gordon luck} prevailed. 

Although the trip was cold, and traveling blows {I do NOT recommend Dollar Rent-a-Car service} we had a great time {indoors} with my family. My sister is 8 months pregnant with my first nephew and we had a shower with my extended family. It was so great to visit with all of them! She is a very cute pregnant lady and I can't wait to meet Baby G and become an aunt again! We celebrated my 30th birthday followed by our Christmas gift exchange {a first with the b-day before xmas for me!} and my mom spoiled us! She even rented a hot tub and we braved the few cold steps on the deck to enjoy the crisp air in a tub of {quickly cooling} hot water! 

hot tub fun with kyle and brother robbers

Kyle was the family tournament champion winning the holiday cribbage classic, outright winner at bowling, and the tick card game champion, wining by one lousy point {over me}. New Years Eve was spent fondu'ing {so yummy} and playing cards. I even got to go ice skating, however I opted for the nice indoor rink. We took in a GR high school hockey game {we won!} and ate at my favorite local pizza joint, Sammy's. We didn't freeze or slide off the icy roads. We didn't just survive our trip up north, and for once, we feel we had the perfect amount of time spent on vacation.

Breakfast w/Grandpa G before we left. He's pretty rad.

kiddos! kyle, meg, rob, me, and rob's gf {also Meg} before tundra departure.

So we are back to reality. 70 degrees and sunny so we can't really complain. Work has been great, and it's still ridiculously busy for "winter" - but again, the nice weather tends to help business at a local bike shop. Since it deserves it's own post, next up is my #Dirty30 adventure nd what riding into this fabulous decade really means to me.