Work & Play

The first week at work is done! Thank goodness. It started off pretty hard for me. Stephanie is still here with me... she takes me to work every morning. She always says, "Is there anything I can do for you today?" and I always say, "Can you pack us back up today - so we can go home?" She assures me that she can have the car ready to head back to NC by 4:00 :)

The first day was very unorganized and that stressed me out. Day 2... was a little better. Day 3... better. Day 4 ... I was back in the lab. Day 5... I got to get back on my bike. Day 5 was the BEST day.

I'm sure that it will get better as time goes by. I am TOTALLY dreading the day that Stephanie heads back to NC (Sept. 6). For now, we are having a wonderful time. We've already met some really nice people. We've had 2 awesome rides in Colorado. So, FOR NOW, life is good.

Where The Wild Things Are

We had our first brush last night with Colorado wildlife at the YMCA...

I was all excited about the fact that our car was parked directly in front of the bedroom window... JUST in case somebody tried to steal my bikes... I'd be able to hear them in the middle of the night. WELL... we went to sleep around 11:00PM... and then at 3:30AM... WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Stephanie went into "OH MY GOD .... LOU WAKE UP!!!! DID YOU HEAR THAT??!!!" mode. She looks out the window and says... "It's a BEAR! It's a fat a$$ m#$%er f%#@ing BLACK BEAR". OkAY... you're right ... she didn't actually SAY that... but if she used cuss words... THAT is EXACTLY what she would have said. I could tell by the panic in her voice that she was thinking those things :) Well, it takes a lot to get my heart racing... but I'll tell you when I looked out the window and saw a 400 lb black bear stretched out directly in front my Explorer snacking on a bag of trash... I got a little pumped. We watched him enjoy his trash snack for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, we are discussing what his NEXT move would be. I voted for... Bear finishes trash and comes on up on our cabin deck looking for more goodies. Stephanie voted for ... Bear finishes snack and moves onto the closest neighboring trash snacks. Of course, I'm always right :) Bear finished his dinner... took a sniff at my hood (I said... "Oh s@#t! He's going to pounce on my f#$%$ng car!"... I'm not sure if I DID say that... but I probably did and I know I at least THOUGHT it VERY loudly in my head)... then starts to come up onto the deck! Now, that kinda scared me a bit. We started beating the window like crazy. We startled him and he ran about 10 feet from the house... stopped turned around and looked at us like "What are you really going to do?"... started coming right back toward the cabin. Now, I was actually scared. Bears are supposed to run away when you make noise. That's what every book about Bears and Safety says. We beat the window double-extra hard and he finally took off. WHEW :) Stephanie assigned herself to Bear Watch for at least an hour. She was kinda calming down until some people right outside our cabin started screaming at the bear. She cracked the window to hear the people a little bit better... and that's when we realized it was a pack of coyotes :) Yep. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. Guess I need to get myself some bear spray, a bear bell and a small pistol for mountain biking.

Bear Trash Snack

We went into Rocky Mountain National Park today :) It was beautiful. Pictures speak louder than words :)







Rocky Mountain National Park/Alpine Visitor Center

The Journey AND The Destination

WE MADE IT!

Diane Smitherman always says, "It's all about the journey... not the destination." For me ... it's the journey AND the destination.

I want to write so much... but I am SO tired. Words really can't capture how I feel about being in Colorado.

Stephanie and I made it to Colorado yesterday (left Apex NC on Monday). We had an absolutely FANTASTIC time driving out here. I never DREAMED that I would enjoy the journey... but I did... and I'm ALREADY enjoying the destination.

Day 1 - Apex to Marion. Stayed with my parents.
Day 2 - Marion to Memphis. Stayed with Stephanie's sister Renee.
Day 3 - Memphis to Branson, Missouri. Stayed at Big Cedar Lodge.
Day 4 - Branson to Salina, Kansas.
Day 5 - Salina to Longmont, Colorado.
Day 6 - Longmont to Estes Park, Colorado.

I love it here. It's absolutely beautiful. We're staying in a cabin at the YMCA in Estes Park tonight. Heading up to the Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow.

I'll write more when I'm not so exhausted.


Big Cedar Lodge/Branson, Missouri



Not in Kansas Anymore



YMCA - Estes Park, Colorado


"Where are YOU from?" ... if we had a dollar for every time we heard that one ... we'd be rich :) Apparently Stephanie and I have Southern accents :)

I ride my bicycle

I ride my bike, I roller skate don't drive no car.
Don't go too fast but I go pretty far.
For somebody who don't drive I've been all around the world.
Some people say I've done alright for a girl.

We had a FANTASTIC day today. Really. I was happy today. Truly happy. No worries. Nothing on my mind.

We started at Stephanie's house. Rode the Conewago Trail (basically like the American Tobacco Trail) to Mt. Gretna (like a super-miniature Asheville) and hit some fantastic singletrack. We climbed to the top of the ridge to the Governor Dick Observation Tower (how would you like to be called "Governor Dick")... ANYWAY.... it was SUPERcool at the top. We kinda-sort-of got lost in there but ended up meeting Alisa (21 yr old Mt. Gretna local... adventure racer). She showed up around the trails. We ended up riding 20 miles today. Met Stephanie's folks at the bottom of the trail system for dinner (with plans to ride back home... spoiled by dark & rain)... had some killer wings & quesadillas :) I like Pennsylvania. A lot.

8000 Words

Craziness.

Been on a camping trip. Been to the beach. Ridden at Tsali. Ridden some of the ORAMM route (twice). Rode 45 miles yesterday. Too tired to write coherently. Remembered there's some saying about a picture being worth a thousand words...


Xander/Cable Cove Campground/NC


Self Portrait/Eagle Creek/NC


Xander/Sesame Street Single Speed/Rigid/Cable Cove Campground/NC


Gouge Family/Fontana "Damage"/NC


Left Loop/Tsali/NC/solo


ORAMM Route/solo


Heartbreak Ridge/NC/solo


Jeremy/Kitsuma/NC/Introduction to ORAMM 101

D-Day (Deselected)

Almost 6 years ago I was offered a position at GSK and a friend of mine (disgruntled friend... GSK IT Support Person... was laid off after many years of service) said, "Go right ahead and take that job... but I'm telling you right now... they'll LAY YOUR ASS OFF!" She was right.

I haven't written in a long time. I've been struggling with the thought of losing my job. Knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was pretty much inevitable that it was going to happen this time. I simply could not compete with scientists that had double digit years of experience in the Metabolic Diseases area. To be honest, I didn't want to be selected into the new organization. My heart hasn't been in my work since I left oncology. SO...I am going to look at this as an opportunity. I have NO DOUBT that I will land on my feet ... in a good place.

I have a couple of legal meetings left at GSK - one in the morning... one next week and then I'm done.



That's fine with me :) I'm officially on vacation :) Leaving for the Smokies tomorrow. Will be trout fishing with my dad in approximately 40 hours. Having a camping sleep-over with the sweetest little man in my life (Xander :). Riding my mountain bike at Tsali/Fontana/Kitsuma/Curtis Creek/Blue Ridge Parkway. Spending time with my family on a camping trip. Spending time with Stephanie and her family at Holden Beach.... and OFFICIALLY training for the ORAMM! (That's just in the next 10 days!)

I had a second phone interview with Gilead today. It went VERY WELL. I honestly admitted to royally screwing up the 1st one... so I can humbly say I rocked on this one. So, I'm planning on being flown out to Denver in a couple of weeks... I've never seen Colorado in the summer :)

SO... I am done at GSK... I am okay... I'm ready to play.

Everybody made me feel really loved today... it helped me a lot... thank you ;)

Stephanie
Mom
Crystal
Susan
Dina
Diane
Syl
Karen
John
Jill
Carrie
Krissy
Mama Carol
Cindy
Joey
Jeremy
Keith
Kim
Larry
Krystal
David
Nelson
Tim
Tona
Sharon
Branson
Rascal
Bailey

Tick Tock

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking" - Arthur Conan Doyle, in an 1896 article for Scientific American....

Agreed.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not depressed. I am not in that bad place. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I'm not crying. I'm not stressed. I'm not angry. I'm not down...

I'm actually surprised that I'm not all of the above... but I'm doing okay.

I reapplied for my job this past Monday... then I proceeded to apply for 8 more jobs on Tuesday and I feel really good about it.

Here's my list so far:
GSK, RTP (3)
Becton Dickinson, RTP (1)
Myriad Genetics, Salt Lake City (1)
Array BioPharma, Boulder (1)
Gilead Sciences, Westminster CO (4)

Now I'm not saying what I would do if I got offered a position outside of NC... but you never know. I think I feel good because I'm being pro-active. I really don't think I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting a job in GSK... so I need to think about Plan B. Really. I do.

Stephanie and I did the CSH group ride last night. I really couldn't think about anything... except for the sound of 50 tires pounding the pavement... keeping 6 inches between me and 24 other riders... and enjoying the ride.