The party itself was a lot of fun, though it's always slightly weird to be around the families, couples, etc. And it's weird to think it's been 5 months since winterfest and the scary discovery of Mystic's epilepsy. Nonetheless, there was boccie, volleyball (our team defeated a group of "Junior Rangers") and good times. As always, and Marc will appreciate this, I committed my typical faux-pas by wailing an unsuspecting co-worker (female) in the head with a rubber football. It wasn't *really* my fault as my receiver ducked off to grab a beer mid-throw.
Fun and sunburns were had by all. After the res, the majority of the crew went bar hopping but I opted to go for a mtn. bike ride at Heil Ranch. The sky was dark, almost black by mid-afternoon but I decided to chance the storms. As it turned out, the rain never came but the distant rumble of thunder echoed throughout the ride. The light had a mysterious, eerie edge to it and as the case has been, there were barely any people out. After the ride, I sat and watched the storms and veins of lightning hitting the Denver area to the east.
Best of all, when I got home I was tired---for real tired. I'd been logging about 4 hours of sleep a night for the last two weeks and even had a night where it felt like the lining of my stomach had completely dissolved away my organs (I bravely fought off the nausea and scored a victory by getting maybe 4.5 hours of sleep that night AND not puking). Friday though, I crashed. I was toying with the idea of hiking in the Indian Peaks today but my body had other thoughts, even sleeping through a buzz alarm for the better part of 2 hours.
It's probably for the best since I have our Ultimate Frisbee Tourney tomorrow. I did sneak out for yet another ride at Heil Ranch and pushed it a little harder than normal. I broke my personal best time for the ride at 1 hour 18 minutes, two minutes faster than my previous best time (the route I take is the main trail to the Wild Turkey Loop, then back down). I probably would have taken another minute or two off but trail crews changed a fun and fast part of the trail by adding huge rocks and obstacles (I assume in an effort to get people to slow down?) I wasn't expecting them and nearly ate it when I hit my foot/pedal on an unexpected rock (it broke the strap on my pedal and gave my toes a nice bruise).
Tonight, I went out for solo pizza and now I'm getting to bed in a bit to be ready for tomorrow. I hope the weather holds out and our team brings their A-game (we've won 6 of our last 7 games, so we have momentum). I'm ready to go all out and then take the autumn season off from ultimate to concentrate on other stuff. I also need to start apartment hunting soon, as I had asked my landlords to end my lease Sept. 1 -- I thought I'd be in a different place, literally and figuratively. I know they want to rent it soooo I'm going to see what's out there. There's a good chance I can convince them to renew my lease but with them out of state for a while, I won't know.
Anyhow, that's life for the last few days. Oh one last note-- Xanadu and I got to visit my old apartment today, as my old landlords were cleaning it up for new tenants. Between where I am now and there, the old place was a bit better but I needed the change of scenery. I wonder if Xanadu remembered her old haunts?
