Some Us Time

With all of the house buying, car buying and MS 150 stuff we've been doing lately we just haven't had much time for us, you know? Thankfully Awful Library Books, one of my favorite blogs, came to the rescue yet again with some affordable couples therapy in the form of two books: How to Live with a Neurotic Husband and How to Live with a Neurotic Wife. Here's what we've learned:

1. There is apparently a danger of Eddy decorating our new house in a way that is not at all safe for work.
   
   
   
   
2. Nicci is apparently a huge brat because Eddy reads to her every night before bed. (But we already knew that, didn't we?)
   
   
   

Click the images to see a larger version (if you dare.)

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2 of 13,000

Team Sunshine Fuzzy Bunny rode the BP MS 150 this weekend from Houston to Austin! We were 2 of 13,000 riders--the largest MS 150 ride in the country. BUT, we were 1 of maybe 5 tandem bikes on the ride, so take that, MS 150!

Our friends Dave and Dana also rode.

And we got to make an awesome pit stop at my friends Damon and Linda's "Ranchito." Here I am with Damon and Jac: their standard poodle and my new bff.

Check out how tired we looked after day 1:

And this is Eddy trying hard not to sleep on the bus home after day 2:

Such a fun trip! We may even consent to ride a bike again... someday... Like, a really long time from now...

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We're Mentally Unstable

Last year we did not ride the MS 150 because it was adjacent to the Texas Library Association Annual Conference--a conference I am always involved in. This year, we said what the hey! So on Tuesday morning we drove to Austin. On Friday we drove back. Saturday and Sunday we will ride our tandem BACK to Austin and then catch a bus home from Austin on Sunday. Crazy much? Yep. But anyway, here's what we did on the first leg of our double Austin madness. Threadgills:

South Congress:

And peacocks at the Mayfield Park:

We also hung out with tons of friends, but we didn't take any photos of that because we were too busy drinking margaritas... And now, back to Austin!

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Taking a Weekend Off

I'm traveling this weekend, so we will miss our MS150 training ride for the week! Here are some observations from last week's ride.

On our well-worn route, we like to stop at Froberg's Farm--it's every bit as awesome as the website makes it seem. There is a sausage store there that we always eye (and smell). Normally we discuss how we might use those little pockets on the back of our bike jerseys to bring sausages home from our ride.

This time we actually bought one. It was tasty. And enormous.

And we saw these awesome giraffes. In someone's yard.

Also, last week during our night with P.W. we saw an art bike exhibit hosted by none other than the MS 150. Feast your eyes on these beauties.

Happy weekend, all!

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Tandem Tune Up

When we're not training or asking begging you for money, we're readying our MS150mobile for the upcoming ride. Our favorite bike store is Daniel Boone Cycles. The Cobbs gave us a gift certificate there for Xmas and we're hooked. There are no jerkety bike snobs on the staff and the place has character. This is helpful when you have to kill time while the friendly staff works on your tandem.

One can entertain oneself by appreciating their bike-related sculpture:

Also available in tandem flavor:

One can ponder their helpful signage:

or try desperately to pet the adorable litter of kittens they have right now:

The bike is almost ready to go and we can't wait for the ride in April!

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Strawberries!

The half-way point on another successful training ride with DP^2!



Here's the fine print:



Now we're off on another DP^2 adventure!

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Juxtaposition

Here are some more delights from our new training route for the MS 150.

A Buddhist shrine:

And a bait store:

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A New Route

We have a new training route for the MS 150. It's out past Pearland and weaves through some pretty sweet rural Texas sights. There's something interesting every few miles, so here's our first installment.

This is our favorite road sign on the route. Thankfully Nicci + Eddy + tandem weighs considerably less than 17,500 lbs.

A cardboard cutout town complete with horses and buggies:

And next to it, this sign:

Tune in later for more sights from the route.

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TSFB Procrastinates Naughtily

So, we're riding in the MS 150 this April. It's a 150 mile bike race from Houston to Austin. We got a new tandem bike and we've been training, but the one thing we neglected to do was start fundraising! We've got to raise $400 each, and we need your help.

So if you like us:



And you don't like Multiple Sclerosis:



Then please visit our sites and donate!

Eddy
Nicci

Thanks for your support!

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Happy Weekend!

After all that wedding planning, we started to forget what it was like to have a real weekend together with no stress. So, finally, after Thanksgiving and an out-of-town meeting, we finally got a chance to remember what is was like to have a fun weekend together.

We started off Saturday with a fun visit to the Houston Dairymaids, a funny little warehouse in the Heights that distributes local cheeses from all over Texas. (But we forgot to take pictures, doh!) Next, we visited a fun grocery store / farmer's market just up the street:

They had the most gorgeous produce, and they even had fresh beans:

Today, we took a 15 mile bike ride to train for the MS 150, a 150-mile bicycle race from Houston to Austin. Here we are at the halfway point:

Then, finally, we got a chance to do some Christmas decorating. Look at me precariously perched while pushing push-pins:

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The Small Big Birthday

We planned a small birthday for Eddy this year since we are both working hard to finish up with work and school responsibilities before we head off to the wedding this weekend. So we had our quiet breakfast at home. I made Eddy some French toast and he made himself a coffee beverage.

and I gave him his small present--we're planning an fancy dinner out when we get back from St. Louis.

We planned a small dinner out that night and a drink at the Ginger Man to round out the day. But when we spotted a tandem bike for sale, the small quiet birthday got bigger. We headed out after work to take a look at the bike and we fell in love. We packed it into the car and hauled it home just in time to head back out to dinner just before they closed! Whew!

When we get back from St. Louis, we'll say goodbye to our much loved vintage Columbia tandem.

But with the new bike, we are planning to take on the Houston --> Austin MS 150 with DP2 this spring!

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