Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. This year it was on May 26, 2008. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in military service. It was first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. Memorial Day is significant for me because my grandfather fought in both Korea and Vietnam and retired from the United States Army. Our family honors him, along with all soldiers, on this day. My brother followed in our grandfather's footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Army, when he was in his last year of high school, and was shipped off once he graduated. Similar to our grandfather, my brother too was stationed in Korea. Fortunately, for our family he did not have to see battle, and his military service ended shortly after September 11th, which was a great relief to me. This week I want to honor all of our soldiers, my grandfather, who has since passed, and my brother. I love you all! Thank you for your service. I am truly proud to be an American, and I am indebted to you for protecting me and my family. Thank you!

CO121 Final Grade

I completed my final paper and turned it in last week. Final grades have been posted, and I received an A for the class. I'm proud of myself. I worked really hard on my blog paper as well as the class assignments. I won't actually get my paper back for a week or two, but then I'll be able to see what corrections were made and any comments. This was a very informative class that focused on mass media. One of our text books, UnSpun, was really interesting and opened my eyes to how bias news stories can be reported by the media. From news broadcasts, to commercials, and political candidates, different media outlets put their own spin on what is reported. A great website to debunk political spin is http://www.factckeck.org/ which is organized by the same people who authored UnSpun. Now, I'm off to American Government which also looks like it'll be very interesting!

Annual Barrel Tasting

Bicycle riding isn't the only hobby my husband and I have in common; however, we did go for a couple of nice rides this weekend. We also love to go to wine tastings and visit different vineyards. Connecticut actually has numerous vineyards, and a few of them are worth visiting. The wine trail website has a listing and directions to all of them http://www.ctwine.com/. This weekend my husband and I visited Hopkins Vineyard. Every year they have a barrel tasting. Hopkins' annual barrel tasting is a great place to visit for an afternoon of food, wine, and live music. Their grounds are beautiful, and you can bring chairs and blankets to lounge around on while eating their assortment of artisan cheeses, pates, and fruit. This year they offered a barrel tasting of their Pinot Noir, along with a regular tasting of all of their wines. They also sell wine by the glass and bottle, so you can hang out with family and friends and relax. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and a couple bottles of wine. It was nice to hang out and be with each other. It was a beautiful day well spent.

Pretty New Bike

Happy days! I picked up my new bicycle on Friday afternoon. Somehow, I was convinced to get "clipless" pedals. This term makes no sense to me because the "clipless" pedal actually requires special shoes used to clip into the pedals. Notice where the confusion is added? In any event, I hesitantly had these pedals installed on my bike. The gentleman at the bicycle shop is a very talented bicyclist and teacher, and he instructed me how to use this type of pedal. However, not only was this going to be my first road bike, but other than my quick test ride around their parking lot, this was going to be my first time riding this sort of bike. Many people would assume that if you've ridden one bike you'd be fine on any bike, well that's not really the case. The gears, handle bars, frame, pedals, and brakes on this bike are completely different than those items on my mountain bike. In the end, we brought the bike home in the car that night; however, we went for our first bike ride on Saturday morning. We road along a local bicycle trail, which was pretty quiet because it was a little cool out that morning. We road 12 miles without incident. Then, Sunday we decided to bike to my in laws's house for Mother's Day. That was a 15 mile ride basically up hill the entire way. I've heard, that everyone who tries "clipless" pedals falls at some point. I guess, most tumbles happen at stop signs, where the person just forgets to unclip. Well, I didn't fall at a stop sign. No, I stopped at many traffic lights and stop signs, and I unclipped every time, very smoothly I have to add. Then we stopped in a parking lot, and I unclipped and was resting on a curb. When it was time to go, I was a little more tired than I realized. I got one foot clipped in and I guess I forgot I was riding a bike, if that can happen. I just fell over on to the curb and grass. I caught myself, which isn't the best thing to do for your arm and wrist, and I didn't get a scratch on my new bike. I did end up with a good sized bruise on my hip where I landed on the curb, and my pride still hurts a little. However, I got up and we continued our ride. We made it to the parents's house without any additional incidents, and until now, no one but my husband knew I fell. We are hoping to get out and ride a couple of nights during the week as well. We have plans for a ride after work tomorrow night.

5 Boros Ride

Sunday, May 4th 2008 was the 35th annual 5 boros bicycle tour through New York City, and I survived the ride. My husband and I left our home at 3:45am Sunday morning. We lined up about 4-5 block from the starting line, shortly after 7:00am. The opening ceremony began at 7:45am, and the ride commenced at 8:00am. We rode straight for Central Park. There was a bit of a bottle neck entering Central Park, but once inside the park the traffic flowed easily. We made our way through Manhattan into the Bronx, and then quickly out to Queens. We spent quite a while bicycling through Queens. We were held up by a medical emergency on the Queensboro Bridge. Just as we were cresting the entrance ramp to the bridge the bicycle traffic came to a stand still. An older man ended up being taken away on a stretcher. It seemed as though he may have had a heart attack, but he was conscious when the medics put him in the ambulance. Hopefully all is well with him. After we crossed the bridge it was off to Brooklyn, and then on to the long stretch to Staten Island. The big boy ,The Verrazano Bridge, looked like it would be my nemesis. Just looking up at the bridge was scary. However, I made it to the bridge and across it without incident. That was the most amazing part of the tour. Once across the bridge we entered Staten Island, and the finish line where we were able to enjoy some of the festival before hopping the ferry back to Manhattan. It was an amazing adventure, and we can't wait to participate again next year. After arriving home yesterday we decided to purchase me my first road bike. I will be picking it up later this week, and I am very excited.