My Riding Buddy, the bastard that moved to MKE (all jokes except for the moving part), did give me money in payment toward the loan I gave him. I am very pleased. I honestly was feeling pretty stressed the past few months as there was less and less contact. It's hard when you start to lose contact with a friend. I know many of my friends have said the same of me as I've struggled with the death of my dad and the loss of my daughter in my life.

So, we sat and talked for several hours. I feel bad that he didn't actually leave for MKE until 5:30 -- a six hour drive. We even talked for a few of those driving hours. Just as he was about 20 minutes from home -- oh, yes, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel -- he gets a call to help out at work. I got a call around 5:45 a.m. this morning that he was *finally* going home. But, guess what? He needed to be back at work somewhere around 9 or 10 a.m. I forget the actual time he said, I was half-asleep. Heck, I think he was half-asleep the short drive home.

Anyyyyyyway, we are planning to do a bike trip this October - the weekend of the Twins last game of the season, last home stand, and last game in the Dome. Riding Buddy doesn't have a bike presently (I mentioned he totalled his rocket last June), but will be selling his truck, paying me off, and buying a bike with the remainder. I'm really excited for him! He's going to look at a cruiser - damn, I love rockets! - which he believes will keep him on the straight-n-narrow. Uh-huh. It's not the bike, Riding Buddy, it's the rider. But, I digress. If he can't buy a bike, then he'll be driving over here and we'll take my Aero. Our plan is to go straight in one direction (N-S-E-W) for one day, stay the night, and then take a roundy-bowt route back. I'm really excited! He's also already trying to guilt a coworker into joining. The guilt trip is because the coworker complained that "Duluth is cold in October." Yeah, we know. We live in the vicinity. Of course, I couldn't resist the Golden Opportunity to test this guy's riding commitment. I told him that he's a baby, a whiner, asked him if he wants to be a rider, and, finally, to suck it up, Barbie!

I'm anxious to have something so fun to look forward to. It is important to have things to look forward to. Things that make you smile - not only everyday, but also when you look backward and forward.

Would you believe that when I told The Hubby the plan, he didn't even respond other than to say, "uh huh." Still, that's a whole world away from, "No, you can't go."

Later gaters and fellow Bike Riding comrades!

This has turned out to be more than an a "see you in a week" post!

Since my last post, my hand/wrist went down hill and FAST. I've had my next hand/wrist surgery, No. #2 Daughter has nixed me from her life (I can't tell you just how painful that announcement was), No. #1 Son lost his job and got another, and Kahteryna broke a molar that Dr. Jon had to remove in a hurry. Whew. What a few weeks it's been.

So, to start out, I am no longer The Semi-Bionic Biker Chick. I actually enjoyed that moniker I'd made for myself. Guess I will have to go into my TCMC (http://www.twincitiesmotorcycleclub.com/) profile and change that. Damn, it was cute. I don't think I can call myself The Former Semi-Bionic Biker Chick. Just doesn't have the same funny bend to it. At any rate, all of the metal in my arm/wrist has been removed. Two days after surgery, I'm not kidding, I was back in aggressive PT to get functionality back to Franken Arm that had been lost previously. Another positive sign that changing doctors was spot on. I am not allowed to tussle, wrestle, chop wood, do cartwheels, and most importantly, *not fall* for at least six weeks so that the now present open screw holes in my radius and ulna heal. After that - what - all bets off? I know, that's not funny. But, it is funny!!!

My MKE friend and former riding buddy came to town this weekend. He needs to give me some money to pay back my loan to him after *he* had a motorcycle crash last June and was unable to work for a couple of months. He was trying desperately to get me to relinquish either of my bikes for his riding purposes (he wasn't able to replace the bike he totalled). Under normal circumstances I would, but I told him that I'm not allowed to fall - which means that I don't want to be unstable. He, of course, pulled the "Don't you trust me?" line. "Of course, I do," I replied, "but if I can't ride my bikes, you sure as hell isn't going to!"

Next spring, I'm going to be riding all over the place. Who knows, if I really get things going really great, maybe, just maybe, I can get back on the Aero before the end of this season. It's not realistic, but I'm optimistic. I still think The Hubby is opposed to my riding, especially since he's not going to be able to join this love of mine - and he's certainly not willing to do creative finger nail designs on his own hands -- but I can see that he struggles to keep his opinion to himself. If he'd been successful in his biking, I think he'd feel differently. I did push him on fixing the Drifter, but he seems opposed. I don't want to be pushed into fixing it myself, but who knows. It's too gorgeous of a bike to just let sit -- and it's a fabulous ride OMG!

So, The Hubby is out golfing in the gorgeous weather we have today and I'm waiting to hear from my MKE buddy so that I can see him off (and get money!!) on his way back to MKE. That will be sad. It's always sad to see him go because he's a ton of fun and he was my first Riding Buddy. In the meantime, I've been sitting here trying to work (got to bill hours!), but my network connections at work are all disconnected making it impossible to get my work done. Sheesh. I guess, though, that gave me the opportunity to get this update done. Not too shabby after all, eh? Off I go - hopefully the network will be repaired soon and it's time for me to do my exercises.

Take care all and I'll see you soon :o)