Historic Roswell Criterium

Short and sweet, but trying to keep to posting something every week.  We've had a weekend full of racing and converting Christopher's bedroom to a playroom.  When we get it finished, I'll post some pictures of it.  It's been quite an undertaking.

What I do have tonight is a video of a race finish today.  It was pretty fun....he had some great teamwork that helped a bunch.  For a kid that used to not have much of a sprint, it was pretty impressive.  Click race video to see it.

Tribute to Aunt Tammy

We're taking a break in our usually scheduled self-absorbed postings to pay tribute to Aunt Tammy.  Aunt Tammy has been a blessing to so many people over so many years.





She is not a big fan of traveling, but we can always  count on her to travel to the beach every summer.  I think she always has a glow about her when we're at the beach...




...and that smile is just a little broader when we're there.




Often it's her birthday while we're there.  She is taking one of her "happy birthday" calls while she lounges by the pool.




That movie star smile.




Once she's taken all her important phone calls, she makes time to chill in the pool.  You should have seen the two of us trying to get on this float at the same time.  Or, maybe not.  It was a riot.




Ok, so baking a birthday cake at the beach without all your own kitchen utensils isn't the easiest thing.  Aunt Tammy just takes the whop-sided cake in stride and enjoys it all the same.




We love you, Aunt Tammy!

Macon

Every May Macon hosts the Macon Cycling Classic.  Well, I say every May.  I think this was the 4th Annual event and we have been to every one.  I guess I mean "we" as in the royal we since the first year Keith took James.  It's been a mommy-son event since that first one.  This year was cool because we got Christopher to go with us.  This must have been the first race he's been to in years.  The best part?  He decided it wasn't too horrible and he might like to go to another one.

Today was the crit.  I'm too lazy to go back and link you to the previous post years ago that provided a basic road racing glossary.  Bottom line is the racers travel in a rectangle over and over again, most often in a downtown area.  I love crits.  I love being in the same towns where they are usually held and I love being able to really watch the race.  The Macon race is beside the Mercer campus.  Very cool architectural interest if you've never been.

James raced two races today.  The first race was with the juniors or other kids his age.  The strategy was for our team to sweep the podium.  As the race unfolded, it turned out that James would be in the group controlling the pace for our two guys off the front and then sprint for third.  Totally nerve-wracking since James has never really felt like a great sprinter.  That has changed.  They controlled the pace and he won the sprint.

It was so close that the announcer actually called the other kid's name for third place and had to correct himself.  It was very exciting and very cool.

After a brief break it was time to race with the men.  He still looks tiny to me when he's out there.  He had a good, solid race.  Still don't know the exact results.  I think it could be a really fun season watching him improve in category racing.

Ok, I'm on a roll.  Two weeks in a row.  Check back next weekend.  Got lots of stuff to catch you up on.

After a Short Break

I realized that I have missed blogging. My last blog entry was September of last year and I remember having the best intentions. As a matter of fact, I have at least half a dozen posts started but sitting as drafts. I think taking a break made me realize I miss being able to scan back over entries. Since I stay constantly behind on scrapbooking, blogging had become my "mini-scrapbook" for memories.

So without much fanfare, I am back. I think the event that pushed me over the edge was the annual preparation of our lamb cake. We have lamb cake every Easter for obvious reasons. Jesus is called the Lamb of God and was our sacrifice so long ago I purchased a cake pan in the shape of a lamb.

The lamb cake has provided its own set of special memories, including one of my favorite memories. When Christopher was just 2 or 3, I walked into the kitchen after having baked the cake to find him pulling off the poor lamb's ears and nose. It was a classic mommy moment where I knew I could either stop him or take a picture. Of course, I chose the picture.

Over the years, there have been beautiful lamb cakes complete with green coconut grass surrounding it to cakes that have been less than stellar. This year Christopher wanted to make and decorate the cake. We decided to try a strawberry cake mix and off we went mixing it up. He did a marvelous job mixing up the cake. I poured up the batter and put it in the oven. One problem with an annual tradition is that sometimes the memory gets a little rusty. I couldn't remember exactly how long to cook the cake. With the lamb pan, there's not really a way to test it or to even see the cake until it's out of the oven and cooled.

I took my best guess and took it out after about 35 minutes. After letting it cool, I took it out. Oops. His insides weren't quite done. When you stand a lamb cake upright when his insides aren't totally done, cake tends to go everywhere. I was concerned about what Christopher was going to say when he saw his very well-mixed cake in, well, lots of pieces.

True to form and priceless, he asked if the lamb cake was supposed to represent Jesus or us. He said either way, he thought a really messed up cake worked. Now, there's an object lesson. We had just watched The Passion of the Christ so the sacrifice of the Lamb was fresh on our minds. Seeing that really messed up cake did seem quite appropriate for my ability to fall short in so many ways.

Christopher made the most of the cake (enough icing fixes anything) and he taught me an unexpected lesson. I hope you all had a blessed Easter.