My home town was bullied!

Photos found on Google -

Photos below are by Andrea Johnston -

The sky was dark, and wind was howling...the hail was baseball sized...as the clouds started swirling... a girl ran into a small farm house to hunker down for the storm As Dorothy lie in fear waiting she cried..."There's no place like home, there's no place like home..." while holding her small dog, Toto.

Well... yet another exciting thing to happen in Greeley Colorado. It's a famous town, everyone wants to be from there...well until yesterday. As many of you know the tornado hit my home town and neighboring town (Windsor) yesterday afternoon.

Mom and Dad and baby sister Sage (my dog) reported to be okay, along with the grandparents and aunts and uncles...so that's good. I suppose this is just too close to home for me to feel okay. I'm still kind of shook up knowing that this thing was less than 5 miles from my parents house, and less than 2 miles from my mom while she was working. I drive by that State Farm on my way home for crying out loud! Wonder what it looks like without a roof!??

My mom said that she was a storm chaser...well not really. She went to Windsor right after the tornado hit and said it was so devastating. I was looking a photos of the cemetery in Windsor where trees are pulled up...oh I've been by there a 1000 times since my dad used to work across the street at Kodak for about that long...it's weird to think that is destroyed now!

I've attached a few photos from Andrea Johnson's blog (no idea who she is but she took some great photos that you should see. Her blog is http://anjohnston.blogspot.com/2008/05/greeleys-tornado.html) and a few others from the Internet that show how crazy it was!

I just hope and pray for the families affected by the tornado!

Here's the story from the Greeley Tribune -- http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20080523/NEWS/139425025

Here is a slide show from 9 news:
http://www.9news.com/9slideshows/Weld%20County%20Tornado%205-22-08/Default.aspx?N=0

Hugs- Mandi

Body Builder Boobs

Ok...so training is going well..no weird things happening so far this week, minus the body builder boobs.

Locker rooms are weird and awkward in the first place. So why do people do awkward things in there to draw attention to themselves? OKAY - I don't have a problem with nudity...honestly. However, there is what I consider a level of respectful modesty in a locker room with people you do not know, especially after you've been working out and are REALLY sweaty! Is there something wrong with a towel?

This concept does not seem to phase certain people. Clearly old people get a free pass. You're in the gym and good for you! Not that I like seeing old people naked, but they've lived far longer than I have for me to have any room for negotiation in this matter... However, those with boob jobs or are body builders...or even better yet - the combination - SHOULD NOT WALK AROUND NAKED.

It's hard to miss a double D boob on a girl that's rail thin and ripped. I am as hetero as it gets, but HOLY FREAKING COW is it really necessary to walk around like that in the locker room? As hard as one can try, you cannot NOT look, it's right there flashing you in the face (literally)!! Most of us have a big enough complex as it is, we don't need to see your itty bitty nipples that belong on a size A boob tagged to a double D because you lost your boobs from the steroids and mass amounts of lifting you do, and then replaced the missing body party by a boob job! (lame!)

Ok I need to be honest with you....so she doesn't walk around naked the WHOLE time, but probably 97.8497% of the time (I verified this number with a reliable source, that being my work out buddy - Heather Atkinson). When she DOES wear a towel, it is complimented with an accessory...that being a large paper clip (you know- the black kind that would hold a large stack of paper together in an attorney's office). If you need a paper clip to hold your towel up - it is clear that you do not have real boobs. Your secret it out...we all know! And guess what, we don't really care because they're just fatty tissue anyway... For better response see the locker room without a skirt!

....and cellulite...it was discovered today (as we see her everyday in the locker room) that she does not have any of this material in her body. She decided to grace Heather with a "naked squat" right in front of her today, which showed Heather basically a close up of her... well...as Kari likes to say, "lady land." Buttocks and all - EXPOSED to Heather, without her permission! You know...NEVER did I hear Heather ask for any kind of demonstration on the "squat," nor did I hear any request for a "show"...it was intrusive to say the least!

By all means, I love working out, and I like to lift...but shouldn't there be a rule that girls can't do that?! I hardly find it to be envious, as many of you may think as you read this. It's really more of question --WHY? WHY must you do this? Why, Why, WHY FREAKING WHY?

3:50 AM

So I decided today that the hours of 215a-459a should actually be considered a different day! I'm not sure it really qualifies as "night" or "morning"....neighter of those options seem very fitting!

Olson - that's the last time I get up that early for a field trip to the airport! :) (ok probably not, but it was freakishly early!)

Personal Trainer

So today I was told that I'm not a good personal trainer by my work out buddy Heather Atkinson, she said she almost died....I think that she may be overreacting???. Is there a message I should be receiving from her?

Triathlon Training Trauma - Cockroaches?!?

Ok...3 days in to training this year, and, OH, the stories will not stop...
I don't recall my last training to be so eventful, but perhaps this will make for some good blogging over the next 3 months!

I'm just glad that I can be the one to take some for the team, purely for entertainment value...

(Unofficial training...last Thursday)
First day of Spin...(ok technically training started last Thursday)...
So I bought new cycling shoes, since I stripped out my last cleats and ruined my shoes - that was seriously a sad day because these things are NOT cheap! I show up bright and early, 6am!, and pick a bike. Bike number 1 ended up having a problem with the pedal. Bike number 2 squeaked REALLY bad and after 60 minutes of that it's quite annoying...finally Bike number 3 seemed to be okay until about 40 minutes into spin the left clip broke and I nearly fell to the ground. Luckily it wasn't so broken I couldn't finish, just made a challenge to pull through on my pedaling! I'm thinking that 24 hour fitness really needs to get some new equipment...3 bikes, really?

Official Tri Training... Monday 5/12/08 - Day 1!!!
Morning Swim- yeah yeah - we already know. The flat tire on the way to the gym.

Monday Night - first 40 minute run. Ok. I HATE running! Not sure who thought that was a good exercise, but it's just not. I've never enjoyed it, and not sure why I continually put myself through such agonizing pain! Anyway...I learned some do's and don'ts in running around Cap Hill....
#1. There is no such thing that "what must goes up, must come down" - I started by running up a long hill and yet returned in the loop by running up a long hill. Down was never a part of this run... Now explain that to me Mr. Physics! I think this proves there is a God. And this proves that he likes to discipline us!
#2. Don't run near Cheeseman Park. First, you can fear the tripping by a dog leash. Second, I will wear a "I like boys" t-shirt to avoid confusion.
#3. Wind is no fun to run against!
#4. Wind is no fun to run against!
#5. Hip hop music makes running more tolerable...however still not fun!
#6. ACE Hardware is open until 7p on 12th Ave if someone was wondering.

Day #2 - Tuesday 5/13/08
Today was spin class. I woke up and got to the gym prior to 6am to actually get in the class. Due to the snowy (by the way - snow in May?) weather the class was full at 550am! I cried. So guess what I was forced to do... RUN! BOOOO. The DTC really needs more spin bikes just for me. I'm thinking that one with my name on it would be really nice. I'm a pretty big deal, so why not?! OR I suppose I could just get there at 530 and reserve a bike like the rest of the world.

So spin didn't happen, and running did. I forced myself. It was painful, and I hated every second of my sweaty sweaty work out! I did decide today that I hate running inside on a treadmill more than I ever have before...why you ask, because I got stuck with the treadmill right in front of the mirror. You think that would be a good thing, seeing that I love myself so much (see above), but it was painful to watch my beautiful body being beaten by a machine. I will rule the treadmill...or not I'll just avoid it in the future and run in the rain, snow or sleet!

Lesson learned today: Don't drop your music while running. Running with no music is REALLY REALLY EXTRAORDINARILY painful!

Day #3 - Wednesday 5/14/08

Morning Swim. Again, I need my own lane. Come on 24, I pay you enough money every month why can't I have my own!? Geez! So again...perhaps this is a character formation that I didn't sign up for, but patience was tested. I got a good ab work out in...that was happy. Finally, Heather and I were able to steal a lane from a little old lady, I boxed her out. Ok I didn't really steal it, and there was no little old lady. The lane just emptied... We swam.

Post locker room trauma - So I grab my towel and start walking into the locker room to get ready for the day. I look down because I feel something on my arm, and naturally think it's a long hair - because I have long hair and it falls out a lot - does that mean am I balding? -ANYWAY - I look down, and find an insect that mistakenly took my arm to be a playground, of course it is not, and guess what it was.... A COCKROACH! GROSS!! GROSS GROSS!!! I didn't freak out as much as I thought I would have, but honestly it was still one of the most disgusting things in the world!

That is 3 days of my week...perhaps a little more dramatized than needed, but I feel provides quality entertainment for you...

Until tomorrow....

Day #1 - Tri Training

Today was the first day of triathlon training...

Gym bound at 530 am...an early start to a day! Today I was going to swim! Suddenly I heard a noise...babump, babump, babump. My inner dialog set in..."what could that possibly be?!?".... babump babump babump... "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not a flat tire!!!!" So I promptly call my workout buddy, Heather Atkinson, and tell her I would be a few minutes late...and then follow up with a call to Mr. Christopher Hanson to come help save the day! 15 minutes later I was on the road to the gym.

Moral of the story...NO EXCUSES...get your butt to the gym!!! A little flat tire didn't stop me!!

Bed Bugs

...will I ever have a normal day at my apartment???

I've come to figure out that I'm probably never going to experience I "normal" day in the Cap Hill APT! Besides the homeless men that sleep in the entry way, and the blood found by the mailboxes...I was just notified with a kind letter from my neighbor (whom I share a wall with) that they are having problems with bed bugs. Yes, BED BUGS!

If it wasn't termites it was bound to be something that would eat me up! Good thing it's not black widows or brown recluse spiders...that would be a bad situation!

So come to find out they are the only ones (so far) that have the problem...I'm hoping they come in and blast the little suckers away! I don't need those in my new mattress!

Anyone know of a good exterminator????