I guess I knew it was coming...

I made the Utah Cycling Tabloid blog (does that make me famous? Or maybe infamous?!)...so the cat's out of the bag now.

I don't regret what I did...someone cheats right in front of me, I'm going to report it! I don't care if it "stirs the pot" or if I'm considered a "snitch"...you won't hurt my feelings, second grade has passed! I'm over 30 years old and I stand by what I do! Yes, the rule may be lame, but a rule is a rule! It just so happened my girls needed to use the porta-pots and the exact moment he decided to change his wheel behind the tent...I certainly wasn't seeking him out! And I just can't help thinking about all the juniors that are following the junior gear rule even when they disagree with it. Cheat to win...is that what we want to teach our kids?

Anyway, I stole this from L'Autobus post. In all my years, I can safely say that I've never been referred to as a "stool pigeon". A first for me!


Back to the DQ's though, I don't know about doping but i do know about cheating.. and its never to early to start. Tanner"baby face"Putt(cole sport) collected the W at the Jordanelle crit but was quickly DQed for not running Jr. gears. It wasn't that simple though, Putt crossed the finish line and went straight to the Northwave tent for a wheel change, trying to pull the wool over the officials eyes. Good thing there were a few stool pigeons to alert the officials...It sucks for Putt cause he could of spun the 53x14 to a fine second behind Goulet, instead he got nun-th place..and that's why road racing is so fun.

Surprise Visit!

My grandparents went on a cross-country road trip. They're from CA and traveled back East in their HUGE motor home (seriously, I think it's the size of our house...OK, I may be exaggerating a little). Anyway, on their way back home they stopped in Utah for a visit! Yay, for us!
I had a Memorial Day BBQ at our house Monday, so I was super excited that my grandparents could join us. We had Matt and Carrie as well as a few friends and their kids come...a great turnout!

The day after Memorial Day we went to my Great Grandmothers grave in the Provo Cemetery. It was beautiful there! So many flowers everywhere, my girls had a hard time not picking up every single one!

Yes, Morgan is wearing her Princess dress (in case you were wondering) and Haley has her Una on a leash. Poor Una...she just gets dragged around by her neck.

I just love love love having family here!! My mission in life: get them ALL to move closer to ME!!! I don't think that's too much to ask for.

Morgan's First ER Visit

We had a quite an evening last night. We were visiting with my grandparents at my brother's house when Morgan took a spill. She was running across the living room and tripped over a box and took a dive into the side of the sofa. I knew it immediately that she would need stitches, it was pretty bad. I rushed her to the kitchen, grabbed some paper towels to stop the bleeding and that's when it happened: buzzing in my ears, eyesight starting to fade, pale, woozy...yep, I had to hand her off to Ryan or I was going to hit the floor taking Morgan with me. Why does this happen to me?!! I couldn't believe it!!! I am her MOTHER!!! So here's poor Morgan with a cut to her head and then there's me, her MOTHER, sitting in a chair with my head between my knees trying not to faint...so embarrassing!

Anyway, we whisked her to the ER once the bleeding stopped. It was probably the most pleasant ER experience we've had. We were in and out in a matter of minutes! She was a brave little girl! And I only had to put my head between my legs a couple of times...so I was brave too!
She had to get 6 stitches. Thank goodness it's in her hair line!!

All smiles this morning!

Time for change?

Some people in my family like to say that I crave chaos. Whenever things get "normal" around here, I have a tendency to add something to the mix. Our latest additions would be the dogs. Don't get me wrong...things are not even close to settling down or becoming remotely close to normal in this house. Belle (my latest addition) is still very much a puppy and I'm still battling the annoying puppy behaviors: peeing in the house, chewing on EVERYTHING, jumping on people, nipping, licking, and just basically not listening to a thing I say. So why are Ryan and I talking about a change?!! Who knows...I guess I'll just blame it on my ever desire to have some kind of challenge in my life. Or as my family says, my craving for chaos!

So now I'm sure everyone wants to know what kind of change I'm talking about. No, I'm not pregnant or anything like that...at least not yet. Our latest challenge is the search for a new home. That's right, I never thought I'd see the day that our family would grow out of this home. Our three bedroom, two bath seemed huge the day we moved in! Now we are busting at the seams! However, we're not in any hurry, which is a good thing because I'm extremely picky on what I want our next house to be like. So this process may take months, or maybe years. Also, we are not selling this house which is comforting to me (I love this house!).

So, since I have a record of adding more to an already full plate, you would think purchasing an home would be easy for me...but the truth is, I'm terrible at big financial expenditures! Kids, dogs...I have no trouble adding more to the family, bring it!! But homes and cars I completely go into a panic! I wanted nothing to do with the purchase of our Passatt Wagon...I couldn't handle it. Ryan completely took over and did everything himself. Even buying this home, Ryan took most of the initiative on the "right" one for our family. I'm so glad I'm not alone...I would be a very indecisive mess!!

So anyway, I have a hunch that this year will be the start for change in this family. Terrifying as it may be for me...it's also very exciting!

Bear Lake Weekend

I realized that I never wrote about our weekend. We went up to Bear Lake for Ryan's race...actually three different races. We were able to leave Friday since Ryan had it off, so it turned into a really nice three day weekend. We also were able to score a free room at a bed and breakfast type place. So it was a cheap three day weekend! The funny thing was we were the ONLY ones at the place for the whole weekend...well, us and Ryan's team. Not even a manager was around, or at least we never saw one. Kinda weird. So when the girls ran amok I didn't have to worry too much, which made it nice.

The girls and I always enjoy going to this race. We did a lot of searching for shells at the beach, and played a ton at the different playgrounds they have. In fact, I screwed my neck up trying to be cool and hang upside down from my knees on a trapeze bar. Another reminder that I'm getting old! And of course the weekend wouldn't be complete without a raspberry shake. Oh and the best part...Ryan won the road race on Saturday!! So I'd say it was a pretty successful weekend...except for my hurt neck, that I could have done without!

I Stand By My Man!!

Sometimes I feel like Ryan's shadow during the racing season. I go to races, we cheer on the team, we go home...that's pretty much it. I see drama unfold, but usually I just keep my mouth shut and stay out of it! Not this time! I may just be Ryan Barrett's wife...but this wife has an opinion too!

Background: This is Ryan's post from last week after the State Crit Championships...you need to read it first to have any idea of what I'm talking about.


So, I was pretty amped for the state crit chumps. Sleevie was too, and I figured each of us was as good a shot at the win as anyone else, and we had some good wild cards to play by sending some of the rest of the team off the front as they are mostly all going well right now.
An unfortunate thing happened a few hours out from the race and Sleevie’s right shifter stopped functioning. We stopped at Canyon Draper for Jeremy to have a look, but the more he tinkered, the worse it got. The shifter is only a couple weeks old, so I’m pretty sure it’s a warranty deal. In any case, it didn’t work.


Here is where the day got hard for me, personally. Sleevie and Eric Moore ride the same size frame. Given the time constraints, there was no time to conjure up another bike for Sleevie and I made the call that Eric should let Sleevie ride his bike. I know I am going to take some heat for that call, regardless I am going to let the world in on my thought process.

We have an obligation to our sponsors to put the best team in to every race we can. And this race, being a state title, was particularly important. Sleevie was a better shot at winning the state title than Eric. I realize that sounds cold and if you want to hate me for it, so be it. I know we are a development team, and Sleevie is not that young, but I still view him as part of the development of the team. When you take out time away for injuries, he’s only been racing a couple years, and this was one of his best shots all year to win a big (by our standards) race, and score a fair amount of upgrade points. I will tell you that it was the hardest thing I’ve done since I started managing this team, but I stand by the decision.

The race went off okay. It was aggressive, but not terribly fast from the start. Lots of little groups going here and there. About a half hour in, Sleevie and Ben got in a ten person group that would eventually lap us with about a half-hour to go. Once they lapped, I just tried to keep Sleevie from having to do anything by sitting between 2nd and 4th wheel until the last lap. Overall, it was relatively easy to hold position. On the last lap, Cameron got a jump on Sleevie going into the last turn and held it for the V. He rode a great race. Sleevie was 2nd and Ali G 3rd. Sleevie was bummed and I had some thoughts as I felt he came around me a little early and I still could have put him in a better spot, but hindsight is always like that and he followed his instincts, which is all you can do in a sprint. I reminded him that he’s only been on the bike a bit over two months, and he is already the 2nd best crit racer in the state (at least on the day), which is not such a bad record!

Personally, I had that feeling like I never really got to uncork all day, which kinda sucks, but I am content with the end result for the team.


Everyone is entitled to their opinion to Ryan's decision. A lot of people agreed with him, and then their are some that disagreed...that's fine. However, someone posted a comment to his post that I feel was a bit harsh and uncalled for. This "someone" is a person that I know very well, and I'm surprised they said what they said:


This is exactly the type of thing that is ruining amateur cycling. You guys think you are making major calls, but the truth is its all just for fun. If the team members were getting compensated, I would say sure give Eric a day off, he gets paid anyway. But nobody is getting paid and now people are mad. Sleevie should have sat out and looked forward to next year, while Eric gave it his best shot.
And as far as development goes, lets face it, Sleevie is a little old to be humping the pro dream. If he had any sense he would had made the decision himself to sit out, instead of crying to you to make a dumb call.

First of all, "it's all just for fun"??!!! It's NOT "just for fun"...this team has been given a lot from sponsors who are expecting results! This is a team, not a club!! They had better take this serious if they want to keep those sponsors for the next year!

And this has nothing to do with whether or not people are getting a pay check! Ask a guy who got cut from the Tour de France how he feels. It's OK, because he's getting paid...he can take three weeks off?! These guys don't do it for the money, they all want to race...paycheck or not!!

And to take a cheap shot on Sleevie was just completely out of line! Let me think...Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Jamie Paolinetti, Levi Leipheimer (just to name a few)...all of which I might add are or were pro over the age of 35. So twenties just isn't that old!

Yes, this is a develop team...but one of the things these young guys need to understand is it isn't going to be fun and games if they want to keep pursuing this sport. Giving up your bike, giving up a wheel, going back for another rider who flatted, lead outs, etc. etc....sometimes you need to sacrifice a little to get the results for the team, you just don't have a choice!

People can disagree with Ryan's decision, but when you start insulting him and his team...that's when I get upset. I stand by his decision, and I might add that I'm pretty damn proud of him!

New Unicorns

Meet the newest members of my girls' unicorn collection.

Last Saturday we spent the afternoon at the Gateway mall. The girls had a blast running around in the huge fountain (even though it was a bit chilly out). Anyway, at the end of the day we drive all the way home and pull into the driveway and then realized we were one unicorn short! Noooooooooo! Morgan left her little purple unicorn at the fountain! I hate losing toys!!!! I just picture this little cute stuffed unicorn just getting trampled by all these other kids and then ultimately getting tossed into the garbage. Poor thing...my mom and I were pretty close to jumping into the car and driving the hour back to the Gateway to find it. But we didn't. Instead, we took the girls to Build-a-Bear to get new unicorns. They LOVED it!! Haley still talks about it! She likes to tell everyone about her new unicorn which she named Star Shine. Morgan stuck with the name Una. She tells Ryan everyday how she made Star Shine. "First, we picked it out. Then we gave it a heart and stuffed it. Then we fluffed it. And then we dressed it, and Star Shine got to see herself in a mirror." etc. etc. etc. She claims that it was her best day EVER!!

So my mom had to go back home yesterday...we miss her! It was such a fun visit! Now today we are off to Bear Lake for the weekend. Ryan and his team are doing a stage race there.

Ryan and I woke up this morning to the sound of Haley in her room, "TODAY IS THE DAY!!! WE'RE GOING ON A TRIP!!! Morgan wake up!!! We're going on a trip!!!!!". She always loves a good road trip!!

Mother's Day

I couldn't have asked for a nicer Mother's Day.

I woke up with my girls cuddling with me in bed giving me kisses and wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. Ate a huge a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and croissants from a real French bakery (complete with a real French guy working the counter...so you know it's authentic, right?). I got to spend the day with my mom prepping for our Mother's Day feast that evening. I just love working in the kitchen with my mom and cooking together! And I have to say...we cooked up quite the meal! Tri-tip (Ryan was the grill master), roasted potatoes, a spinach-strawberry salad, rolls and for dessert, "Super Yummy Pudding Pie that Everyone Loves". Yes, that's the name we gave it. My mom has made this dessert several times and it's always a crowd pleaser!

Mom and I had fun decorating the table...it had to be feminine! Even the girls had their table decorated too! We had Matt, Carrie, new baby Jett and Carrie's mother over too...it made for a very nice evening!

This picture was taken on Saturday at Ryan's bike race...super exciting by the way! The picture cracks me up because of the Miller can sitting on the ground. Honest...it's NOT ours!

Survivor Night

Every Thursday has become our "Picnic Night". And I don't mean in the usual, pack a nice dinner and enjoy a meal in the great outdoors kinda way...nope. Our Thursday "picnic" is, spread the blanket down in the middle of the living room and we all gather in front of the TV kinda way. I know, I know, say what you will about me...but it's not my fault Survivor comes on at 7:00!! Which is, by the way, the exact time we eat dinner around here!

So tonight I try really hard to get dinner on the table at 6:30 when Ryan comes home so we don't have to have "Picnic Night" while my mom is here visiting. But we all end up migrating into the living room at 7:00 anyway...dinner plates and all. Not that my mom minds...she's all ready to have "Picnic Night" next week for Dancing with Stars. Sounds good to me!

But you know...I really like our "Picnic Night"! Gotta mix it up every now and then...right?!

No Bees Allowed!

I have tons to do: finish weeding the flower beds in the front yard, laundry (what's new there), bathrooms and kitchen need to be cleaned...yadda, yadda, yadda. So, lets see...I got Haley off to school, read the paper, talked to my mom (our daily phone call), Morgan is situated playing with some toys...what else can I do to procrastinate cleaning...ah yes, blog!



My mom is flying in tomorrow morning and I can't wait to see her! Yes, I know, my folks were just out here a few weeks ago, but thanks to Matt and Carrie having a baby, my mom is coming out again! So I get to benefit for their sleepless nights...yay for me! Thanks Matt and Carrie!

Yesterday Morgan came screaming out of the playhouse, "BEES, BEES, BEES!!!". Come to find out, yellow jackets are starting to make their homes inside the playhouse. I went in with a fly swatter and killed them and destroyed all their little nests. But Haley was determined that never happens again. So she ran into the house and came back a few minutes later with a sign and some tape. She taped up a "No Bees Allowed" sign and she says that's all you need...the bees won't come back anymore. Ah, if only life was that easy. I wish all I had to do was post a little sign that says "No Fighting" or "No Screaming" or "No talking back" and they would actually obey it....hmmm, maybe I should try it!

Anyway, I'll leave you with the photo of the girls with their sign. I thought it was very clever!

Romantic

Tonight Ryan and I were getting the girls ready for bed...and like always they do not go willingly.

Haley kept on saying, "Morgan is being so romantic."

Finally I ask her what romantic means.

Her response: "Romantic is when you really don't want to do something, but you have to."

So there you have it...

Gone for Summer

The girls and I dropped Jeff of at the airport this afternoon. He's on his way back to the LBC for Summer. I gotta say, I'm bummed. We're going to miss him around here.

The things Jeff does that I'll especially miss:

Seeing his slippers always laying in the middle of the hallway. They seemed to always end up there on his way to the shower...and they stayed there pretty much the rest of the day.

The numerous (OK, it was only two) gallon size zip-lock bags filled with water left on my counter. He would fill the bags with ice, then he would put his laptop on top of the bag to cool it down when it started to overheat...it seemed to do the trick!

All the loads of laundry I did of just towels every week. He always used a clean towel every time he showered...the towels piled up fast!

The cabinets always be left open. He claims that he never does that...but he does...Although he doesn't do it as much as my other brothers.

His shoes and socks that always collected under the coffee table.



And I know that he will miss us too...he'll especially miss the girls.

The way that Morgan always wiped her nose on a tissue and then crammed that same tissue back into the box.

Dealing with the girls bath toys always being left in the tub. He had to kick them out of the way when he showered.

Having to always move the girls step stool that they leave in front of the toilet and sink.

Hearing their fighting and screaming when he's trying to study in his room.

The way the girls always mooch off food from him when he's trying to eat something.

Double dipping, coughing without covering their mouths, picking their noses, sticking their hands in his water glass (I don't know why they do this, kids are weird). Etc. Etc.


I know he's sitting in Long Beach right now counting the days when he gets to come back for the Fall semester.