Spring is here, sleeping in has gone away....

There is no doubt anymore that spring is here. Aside from the beautiful sunsets and fresh green grass, the new season has become very apparent in my lack of time in a day... and the absence of sleeping in has taken over my weekends.

Seven races into the season and no end in site has given me a crash course in fitness and brought back all the energy that took a nice ole snooze during the winter months. Now, every day is filled to the brim with bikes, the puppy, and all the fun goings-on that you neglect in the winter like bonfires, outdoor happy hours, walking the dog... throw in work, laundry, dishes, and grocery shopping, and there's no time left for sleeping.

Oh well.

The latest Kristy Kreme Adventures have centered a lot around the wonder pup, Smokey, and there's no denying how freaking cute he is! Can you imagine how hard it is to tear yourself away from him to get things done? Sheesh! He's such a good dog - what a score. The best part is, he's ready to party and always willing to go along for the ride! We've redone the rear of our Cruck just to suit the little monster as we hit the road each weekend for races.
Other than that, spent an afternoon last week w/ 30 of my co-workers volunteering at the Emergency Foodshelf Network boxing meals to be sent to local foodshelves. In 3 hours, we boxed enough food to feed 1800+ people! It was so much fun - if you've never done it, I would totally recommend it. But plan it out early - they're booked out 3 months ahead!!! What a wonderful sign of people really giving back even when times are tough.

I've also signed on to do my best to help promo Surly Jones to the world! Watch out for my crazy tanlines in retro short-shorts rolling down the sidewalk in these badboys, promo'ing an upcoming show......shoot the duck, B1tches!

And to add to the fun, I'm hoping some hand-made earrings, Surly-style, might find a home on the merch table after the show.

Now I just have to find some time to finish the last bits of last August's living room and bathroom remodel before we have friends in from Iowa in mid-May. Yep, a couple last minute items that never got completed - but hey, when you're racing April - December, there's little time (or energy) for ripping out entry way carpet and laying tile. What was I doing in January to prevent me from doing it then? Sleeping, duh!

Blah blah blah... anyways, there's lots of races, rock shows, and mini-wiener adventures to come this year... now I just have to get better at writing about them. It's just so hard.... I have to live vicariously to have something to write about, yet I have to get away from the computer to live vicariously.....

Lovin' the eccentricities of life,

Kristy Kreme

Olds-cooler

My hubby and I got a digital frame as a gift and it's been sitting on the shelf waiting to be filled. Lucky for me, I had a major spring cleaning bug this weekend and decided to bust it out.

While pulling photos out of the archive, I came across this ole gem.... Nuthin' like ringing in the New Year with awesome friends, tasty food, and some fabulous words of wisdom....




Long live rock!
Kristy Kreme

I love spring!

This weekend, Spring treated us like kings and queens with tons of bright sunshine and unbelievably warm temps.

We kicked it off right with time out in the backyard, building a shed while Smokey played with the neighbor pooch, Bailey for 4 hours. (no, the shed wouldn't have taken that long to build if Home Depot had given us all the parts to begin with)

After the sunburn started to set it, we grabbed Wheels and Chucker and headed out to Salem Hills for some quality time in the dirt. The boys led it out and pushed me to the limits from the beginning. With mountain biking on the brain for the last couple months, I was ready! I felt awesome out there and would have just kept going if time, commitments, and physical limitations didn't pull rank and the afternoon slipped away.

It was awesome!

Come Sunday, we got out the road bikes and met up with the Hellians for some quality road riding out near Diamond Bluff, WI. The sun was high, wind mild, and the ride was great. Sure, any sort of climb hurts at this time of year, but we were having too much fun riding together again to worry to much about it. Thanks, chicas!!!

Getting ready to get ridin,
Kristy Kreme

Adventures of S-WooD: the Gentle Dogs

As we have for years, Hwood and I ventured to our Greg & Jodi's for some riding, dining, laughing and hanging over Easter weekend. Lucky for us, their super dog lovers, so Smokey got to participate in all the fun.

Greg & Jodi raise Bluetick coonhounds, so the dogs were all instant friends - the only difference was the length of their legs. Add that to a great, spacious yard and wonderful spring weather, and we had a ton of fun entertainment to relax to as the sun neared the horizon.

Smokey, the ever sweet baby, was happy to submit to the three larger hounds - Sailor being the closest in age at 10 mo. old. Sailor, just a large puppy, loved to run from Smokey to keep the fun going.



Then, once the ladies joined in the afternoon fun, all four dogs romped in the yard as we bathed in the sun.



After we tucked the dogs in for dinner, we enjoyed a great meal at Meister's on the lake. We returned to G&J's for some dessert and bevies after dinner, and snuggled up with the puppies until bedtime.

Once dawn broke, Greg, Jay and I were on our bikes headed for Jodi's mom's house for Easter lunch, 40 miles away. The boys rode me into the ground, but I got my coming-out-of-hibernation drafting as if your life depended on it crash course on. There was a couple times the glue started to melt, but we made it there in less than 2 hours with 10-20 mph head/cross winds.

Jodi, Smokey, the rest of the fam & tables of food awaited our arrival and kept the beautiful day going at full speed. It was awesome! Can't wait til the next slumber party!

After lunch, we skipped town and headed to my dad's house to help write thank you cards to all those who came to show their sympathies for my grandmother. Though a somber whisper hovered around the room, it was wonderful to see everyone and to be their to support my family. I love you!

Thanks for another great Easter Greg & Jodi!
Kristy

Smokey thinks he's a big dog

Jay and I spent a week out in Iowa just a couple of weeks ago, visiting his parents, bro and our fave Iowan friends. Though the wind was a min. of 20mph each day, we made sure to treat our bikes to some spring lovin' outside.

One of the best parts was being hosted by Ken and Lou! They set us up in their spare bedroom for the week, so we had all the comforts of home. To top it off, they had 3 huge dogs for Smokey to play with! Did he really know he was 115 pounds smaller than them? Nah! But didn't matter... he had a blast. Ridley loved playing with Smokey so much, we had to give Smokey a bath each night just to wash off the slobber before he crawled into bed each night.

On the 2nd night we were down, Ken & Lou hosted their Chili Cook-off, and we had the awesome fortune to attend. The best was the 'dog-fight' in the garage! [NO - I don't condone dog fighting - as you'll see, they're having fun]. Though a number of people worried about the size difference, Smokey was having a ball. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a big dog too!



And what better way to come up with dozens of "Weiner" t-shirt ideas than by mixing adults with home-brew and chili?! Some of my faves (which you should be able to hear on the vid..)
"See my weiner? It gets bigger"
"Want to touch my weiner?"
"The ladies love my weiner"
"I've got a 6 lb. weiner"
yeah, it was a good time. Abby, you missed John's awesome Weiner monologue!

Thanks Ken, Lou, and the rest of Iowa for such a damn good time!

Party on, can't wait to you make it to our house!
Kristy Kreme, Smokey & Hwood