Happy new year!

We had a pretty quiet new year's eve - we were going to go to downtown LB and see if we could get close enough to watch that crazy guy Travis Pastrana jump a car from a bridge to a barge, but even though I was lucky enough to get to leave work a little early, I still got home pretty late. Also I'm coughing now and I don't know, we just didn't want to get out in the cold and the crowds and battle all that. So we resigned ourselves to watching it on TV.

It was pretty exciting. That guy is crazy! He made it, of course, though we wondered what would happen if he crashed or failed.

After that, we watched TV and played around with video chatting on our laptops while sitting 3 feet away from each other. Google Talk is pretty cool. Then we ate some bean, rice and cheese burritos and just hung out, listening to music and watching "The 40 Year Old Virgin." I love that movie. We went to bed around 1:30 but I didn't want to go to sleep until I was sure that a friend of mine (who had been sending me drunken, cryptic texts) had a sober ride home. Once I was reassured, we went to bed: I wanted to get up in time for the Rose Parade.

It was a great parade: I made a huge bowl of popcorn (hey, it's never too early for popcorn) and curled up on the couch with a blanket to watch. I loved all the marching bands (the Oregon State Marching Band has cool uniforms!), in particular, the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band. They were very good, and great to hear.

When it was over, I switched to the Universal Sports channel. They're showing all the past Iron Man competitions, and it was fun to watch, but I decided I wanted to get on my own bike, too.

So I did.

These are not very flattering photos of me (but my bike looks great), but I'm including them because I need to not be so weird about stuff like that. Also I need to lose 10 pounds and what's better inspiration than these photos?

Patrick went off to buy a cymbal (it has a ridiculous name: Mega Bell Ride!) over in the Naples area of Long Beach and I'm ready to take a shower. I wonder if Target is open today...?