Slip Slidin' into Spring

... or maybe it's second winter.  Either way, after watching the snow fall for over 36 hours, we couldn't help but rally the troops for a 'spring' urban ride. Lucky for us in MN, the bike paths are among the first paved surfaces to be plowed every snowfall, so we headed to the Greenway to begin our adventure.  Sure, why wouldn't my road bike with fenders work for today's ride?

I should have known this would be quite the feat when we had to help push a motorist or two out of an intersection on our way to our meet spot.  We tossed the bikes aside, dug our heals into the 6+ inches of snow in the intersection, and rocked the car forward as our feet sank to the glare ice below and we scrambled for traction as it lurched forward.  Mission: Accomplished.

We found our pals at the Greenway entrance and headed east into the wind as the snow pelted our faces and the ice under the bridges kept our attention sharp.  We really didn't have much of a plan before the trail hit West River Road and an audible sent us south towards Minnehaha Falls.  Much to our surprise, Sea Salt was open and the typical line around the building was nonexistent.  I looked to Dave and said "I thought they weren't open in the winter.??".. He laughed and pointed out "It's not winter".

We sat along the windows, drinking beers and sharing stories as if we were figures in a snow globe watching the winter bliss entertain us.  But it isn't winter.. it's F$%&ing spring!  But, hey, we made the most of it!  As the snow refused to let up and the chill began to set back in, we knew we had to be back on our way home.

Riding my road tires was a mistake..  or maybe just early cyclocross practice.. but I fought my bike and the ice and slush for the entire ride.  While my friends were smart to bring their CX, Mtn or fat bikes, I found myself hanging out at the back riding the best line I could find.  Slipping out on every climb and Tokyo-drifting down every decent kept me on my toes, but I still had a fun time trying to film the awesome, yet less than desirable spring ride.  Man, what I wouldn't do for some sun on my shoulders and sweat dripping down my back!



Holding out for warmer days,
Kristy Kreme

Recognizing when "toughing it out" is not the right decision

I'm typically the type of person that avoids the doctor as much as possible and believes my body will (eventually) fix itself.  Something about this week was different... and extremely unexpected.

I started a new job last week and was pretty fatigued come Wednesday.  I chalked it up to the floods of information coming at me, meetings, trying to find my desk, navigating the halls and learning so many new names.  By the time Jay picked me up from work the exhaustion was obvious and I backed out of our fat bike ride during the drive home, opting instead to hit the grocery store and make dinner while he rode.  Walking through the grocery isles, a dull ache settled into my stomach which through me off guard.  

Me to self:  I guess I've been eating a lot of tangerines and acidic foods lately.. maybe it's just super acidic.

I returned home with the fixings for some flatbread pesto pizzas with roasted veggies and didn't think much more about it.  As the night waned the ache returned but again I made up some idea of the cause (maybe too much garlic now on my pizza) and went to bed.  But I found myself unable to sleep for most of the night as the ache grew stronger over the night.

By morning, the pain hadn't subsided so I took a few Tums as I prepped for work and went about my day.  Today was my Getting To Know You lunch with my team and I was so excited to play games and meet everyone.  But, with my stomach bothering me so much, I couldn't stomach the idea of eating so I grabbed a banana and plain yogurt to get me through.  By the end of the lunch, the pain was increasing noticeably and I started to have an impending feeling that something was wrong.

I went down to our in-house medical clinic to request an appointment but they were full.  When I told the nurse my symptoms, she asked me to go to urgent care.  I texted Jay asking him to take me after work but, by the time I made it up three floors I knew I couldn't wait.  I called him back and he quickly jumped in the car to pick me up as I paced along the windows of my new desk holding my stomach as it had been swelling beyond belief over the course of the last few hours.

He took me to Urgent Care and they began taking some tests and palpating my abdomen as I was no longer able to sit still from the increasing pain.  After a few tests, they had me on my way to the ER to have my appendix checked.  Jay flew down France and through red lights (sorry) as I was dry heaving out the passenger window.  They quickly ushered me into Triage when I hobbled in and something about knowing I was going to be safe seemed to break my ability to control my vomiting or my shakes any longer.  

We quickly moved into a room where I could gown-up, hooked up to an IV and monitors, and started donating blood to start narrowing down the likely suspects - Appendix? Gall Bladder?  My hubby returned after dropping the puppy at home and my dad, stepmom and stepsister were all by my side as I fought through the pain and nausea.  The blood tests came back healthy but, luckily, the CT showed that it was after all my appendix.  Thank heavens I followed those instincts so we got there before it burst and there I was, 5 hours after asking Jay to take me in, I was headed off to surgery for a laparoscopic appendectomy.  

My medical team was amazing (thank you tons to Dr. Laguna and the entire team at Southdale Emergency Hospital)!!!  By 10:30 my family was allowed back into post-op to see me and the kind nursing team had me dressed and ready to head home to bed.  I couldn't believe how quickly they were able to treat and diagnose me and how much worse it could have been.  I am so grateful for everyone's help, their recommendations, and to Jay for getting me to the hospital so quickly.

Now, it's just settling in for a longer-than-I-wish recovery and focusing on a comeback once I can exercise again.  For now, guess I just get to heal up and be a super fan for the next few weeks!

One organ lighter, another adventure survived, 

Kristy Kreme, bloated post-op machine ;)

Oh, to dream just a while longer...

I am often a vivid dreamer but something about last night will stick with me forever....

It was a warm fall day and Jay, Ben Miller, and Christopher Cross and I were in the woods collecting logs for a fire.  We made our way into a clearing filled with waste-high prairie grass towards a set of railroad tracks.  One by one we crawled on top of a wooden pump trolley, prepared to depart to our bonfire destination.  

The sun was warm and I looked around to find Jay manning the pump, Ben was sitting on the back, dangling his feet over the edge.  I looked to the front to find Christopher standing and looking down the railroad tracks and, to my surprise, sitting between us was Dave Pike. 

He had on a light button up shirt, jeans, tennies, and was sitting with his hands casually resting on his bent knees.  His face was clean-shaven and he looked at me and smiled as the sun lit up his face more than anything around him. 

I quickly knelt and pulled him into my arms and told him how great it was to see him.  He didn’t say much, but we all circled around him with joy and huge smiles on our faces.  There was an unspoken word between us as if we didn’t want to acknowledge that he shouldn’t be there for fear that he would leave, while at the same time Dave gave off this feeling that he’d just stopped by to say hello.

He continued on the trolley with us to our destination and helped unload the logs into the pile that would become our fire.   I don’t remember all that we were talking about with Dave, likely sharing stories but there was something he had to do – he said he had to check on his girl and we told him he should get to it before it gets too late. (I wonder if he visited Tracie last night too)

I woke out of my sleep and had to grasp where I was (stupid chamomile tea before bed making me have to pee!).  When I returned to bed, I fought with myself on whether or not to go back to sleep.  Would I fall back into the same dream?  Or would I fall asleep and forget the dream I just had forever?

I stayed awake for a little while, trying to burn the memory of discovering Dave sitting on the trolley into my brain so I could revel on it later.  It was so peaceful and warm and everything we would have done together in real life (except maybe the pump trolley)… and I feel so blessed that he visited my dream to say hi.

I miss you, buddy. And I love you like a brother.

<3 kristy="" o:p="">