Update

I've written a lot since my last few posts... I just never published them. A lot of the same stuff and I didn't want to bore anyone with all the details.

What I've come on to write is that I miss my mountain bikes. And riding in general. In my situation, I've found I have no time for myself without stretching myself even farther than I already stretched. So thin becomes a very fine thread. And since I've been creeping ever so close to my emotional and mental breaking point. It was a prudent decision to not push it too much closer.

The past 2 weekends have been extremely stressful... but for very different reasons. Two weekends ago, it was the wedding on the goat farm. A few of you knew about that but nothing like what happened. It was the weekend the storm came up and rained rained rained. So I went from Wisco and took the ferry across Lake Michigan in slightly rough water. Then picked up a rental (fortunately a small SUV) and went to get some rest and head ofr the wedding in the morning. Still raining. And so we were on our way. When we entered Indiana... uh oh... highway I-94 was closed. Flooding? Accident? Construction? Who knows. They routed EVERYBODY onto a highway heading north... with no directional signs whatsoever. We argue. I begin to flip the car around to go south (which is where we want to head). We argue. We ask for directions at the Office Max. And we head south to the I-80 toll road. And we continue through the rain. Only another hour tacked onto our trip. We make it to the hotel with an hour to spare. Still raining. The hotel receptionist was the slowest ever. And only when we are in a hurry is it when was encounter the slow ones. We finally get into our room. Into the shower to freshen up and a few more moments to for my wife. And we're off. Back into the rain. We hurry to the church since it's raining... we figure it is going to be an indoor wedding. No one there... we're screeching out of the parking lot. To the farm! The rain finally stops. We park the car and we hop a golf cart to the field... where the wedding is being held. The night was quite reasonable and I was glad to reacquaint myself with a handful of people. And the open bar didn't hurt. We were getting ready to leave and then BAM! A little flash. Then a little breeze. Then a big breeze. And then an outright downpour. Men scrambling to put up the sides of the giant tent to keep the winds at bay. But the onslaught was on... heavy rains and lighting. Off goes the music. Up comes the drinks. A bit later when the rain lets up just a little bit, several of us decide to leave. One goes and gets his car. I get the rental and mud-bog it up and pick up my wife and friend. The ground was a giant mud slick. And many of the women were wearing flip-flops. Squish between the toes... and onto the rental carpet. We get a decent nights sleep and we start the next day slow and at ease. We head back out and head back home. But the rain still comes. And so... I-94 is again closed. We crest the hill as we watch trucks coming the wrong way to witness a sea of trucks and cars up to the next crest in the highway. Off we go... with no help. We watch several trucks turning off onto a side highway. And we go up to the next gas station. Grabbed the last road atlas in the place and head back to the little highway the trucks were heading down. It is hwy 20... paralleling I-94. But the road is under a lot of water and the little car in front of us is creeping along and my wife wants to plow through the deep water. It was a rental, by the way. We finally find our way to a clear exit back onto I-94. And we are home free! Right? So I call up a friend to see if they would like to meet for a mid-afternoon meal. They are on the way home and we are an hour away from them. Wrong! Then I get a voicemail... from the Lake Express Ferry. Due to wind and waves, the run I was reserved to be on was canceled. My eyes rolled. I called my friends up and appologized as I now had to figure out a way to get back to Wisco. I already had a rental... so I call up Hertz and make the arrangements. Tack on a few extra bucks and the drop off is now Milwaukee instead of Muskegon. We get home and I take a little bit of time to wind down. And back into the rental for a long drive... back into the flooded highways of Indiana. No problems until I hit the Indiana toll road. I pass the first booth with very little traffic and then... BAM! Gridlock. It takes over an hour... or was it two... to get from the first Indiana booth to the Chicago Skyway booth. Ugh. The more I think about it, I think it was two. From then on, with the exception of tight construction lanes, no more delays. I was home an hour earlier than if I took the ferry... but I left 2.5-3 hours sooner. Hmmph.

Last weekend was suppose to be an effortless one. I even scored cheap tickets on a direct flight from Milwaukee to Grand Rapids. Saturday was fairly straight forward doing the normal upkeep on the house. And even Sunday was fairly easy. Meeting one of the friends from the weekend before to have lunch as well. The drive back to the airport was the toughest part of the weekend. All I have to say is... emotional basketcase. I'm slowly breaking down.

I know what I need to do... I just hope it influences the right people to instigate actions sooner rather than later. If for nothing else but my sanity and those I love.

Now, isn't all I wanted to say was that I missed my MTBs? I stared at them while I was in the garage doing the house upkeep. Poor things... :( .