Its been a while

Sorry I haven't been able to post in a while, a lot has been going on in my life. Most recently my grandfather died suddenly of kidney failure, and it has taken some time to come to the realization that he will no longer be with us anymore. My grandfather and I were close, well as close as two people 60 years apart and 70 miles away can be. I have always admired my grandfather, ever sense I can remember. He used to own a brake shop in Visalia and I would go and work with him (more like dick around, and tinker). I am blessed to have had him in my life, and thankful that he and I are so alike. He had a way with words that is hard to describe. He was one of those men who didn't say much, but when he did you listened. He was also very, very funny. My favorite thing he told me when I was little was that "I should move up to Visalia because it is cooler up there... you know its farther away from the equator." He would say it so seriously, without any trace of sarcasm that you just had to look at him and laugh. We never really talked much about girls, but he was always interested in my job, and school, and definitely my dogs. My grandfather has always had a dog, as long as I can remember. One day we were coming back from the vet. with his dog Faucet (named because he drooled so much) in the back of the truck and we got pulled over. The officer said we were in violation of some stupid code (we were not allowed to have a dog un-leashed to the vehicle unless it was a farm animal), well if you have ever been to our ranch I think it is pretty hard to say that we don't live on a farm... THEY LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF 70 FREAKING ACRES!!! Even after showing the stupid cop his identification with his address, the officer still wrote us a ticket. Needless to say my grandfather fought the ticket and won. He told me the judge looked at the officer and said "are you kidding!" and threw it out. My grandfather and I would were very similar, and we always had a blast together. I would help him on the ranch whenever I could. He taught me how to drive a tractor before I could even reach the peddles, and how to drive a forklift before that. I can remember when he first built his shop, and my dad and I were up helping him wire the lights. My dad is an electrician, and was wiring everything for him while my grandfather was holding the lights, all while standing in a bucket together 20 feet in the air, while I was operating the forklift at around age 5. I learned an endless amount of knowledge from him, just by watching him. He would work vigorously on everything (everything at the same time), it was as if he had 30 to 40 projects going at the same time. I think that was what kept him going for so long. I would always joke about what we would get him for Christmas. I would say "what do we get the man who has everything... I'll get him a busted up car, so he can fix it." He loved machinery, and loved making things work. I pray that my grandmother stays strong, and that we don't let her down. She has always been the glue in our family, while grandpa was the backbone. My grandmother is an amazing woman, and I hope she is able to move on from this. We love you very much.

Shall we talk cycling or relationship next...

Ashley came back a week ago from Georgia. He sister just had her baby; little Tristan. I told her that it was awfully nice of her to name him after my cousin. She had a great time with her sister and her husband. Ashley was able to visit her godchildren, and spend some time with her mother who was also visiting. I am glad she is back, two weeks wasn't too bad but I'm not going to sign up for it anytime soon. Ashley is so talented, intelligent, and hilarious it makes every minute with her better then the last. I am not one to normally let a woman cook for me, I grew up with my father cooking all the meals (my mom can make a mean Hot Pocket if you know what I mean), and recently Ashley has wanted to cook me dinner, so I agreed to let her... I think I will agree more often now. She is an amazing cook, we had chicken tacos on Sunday and lasagna last night. Oh, and she made a strawberry cake. I think it is safe to say that we will always eat very well. We are going to take a trip to the beach this Sunday. She wanted to visit the SLO mission, and do some shopping, so I think we better go before it gets too cold. It is very nice having someone in my life that makes me smile constantly, although my cheeks hurt a lot more then they used to.

Road season is officially over!! I just took my annual season ending trip to Chico for the last road race of the year. All in all I have to be very happy with my season. I had a few good results, no wins this year, but I acquired my CAT3 license which I am very happy about. Cyclocross starts for me in two weeks, and I can't wait to get muddy. My goal for this cross season is to get my CAT2 license. I think I should be able to if I race more then I did last season. I will keep everyone updated as the season progresses. 

Until next time...