Non-Trivial Trivia Matters

It's coming together, slowly but surely.

We have 8+ of 11 teams. Scott, Stacy's trivia-guy brother and I are meeting Sunday to finalize logistics. Stacy and I have secured gift cards from some local businesses (see below) to serve as prizes. We need some more, but I think we will be set. I need to finalize questions and confirm stuff with Ol' Mexico and the players.

I think we might pull this off!

Tomorrow: 3-hour team captain meeting with MS Society staff followed by dinner to thank captains and high donor-y people. I am sure it will be fun/interesting, but wish I had a little more downtime this weekend. Oh well.

"What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?"

That's a line from Shakespeare's 39th sonnet. What good is my self-directed praise? I think it helps me stay motivated at times, maybe.

Why Shakespeare's 39th? Why not the 38th or 40th? Well, because I learned, dear friends, that last year - - with your help - - only 38 other MS 150 riders were able to turn in more donations than me. As donation rankings go, I was 39th out of about 3800 riders. Good job you guys! I moved from somewhere in the three-digit area of the ranks my first year to 69th to 49th and then 39th! The MS Society woman joked that she expects me to hit 29 this year. Uhm, that probably isn't possible with some huge corporate donors. I just want to meet my goal again this year, regardless of where that ranks me. Thank you!!

And, to prove my hypothesis that you can find anything on the Internet, I found this ribbon.

I'm working hard at planning the trivia night - hoofing it around town to get donated prizes for the winning team, figuring out the actual trivia question details with Stacy's brother Scott, and still rounding up some players. We have a couple of 6-person team slots open as well as some spaces at some tables that have four players. I think it will all come together, but I like things to be better organized ahead of time. Let me know if you want to play!

I actually haven't hoofed it around town yet. I wrote all of the donation request letters last night and was going to talk to the businesses today, but work was cancelled due to to the cold and I suffered an injury this morning that made me not want to put on mittens or gloves, and frankly, wiped me out a bit this morning due to being kind of freaked out. The short version is that I sort of fell down a couple of steps from our attic to our dining room. I had my hand up on top of the door, so when I lost my balance, my ring caught and got oddly misshapen and ripped off the nice looking parts (the outside) of my finger. The funny part is that I was leaving a co-worker a voicemail message at the time. I bet it sounded really weird.

Anyhow. I don't think it will impact my biking in the long term. I heard from the bike shop. My fat bike has arrived from the manufacturer and they're assembling it. Hopefully it will get warmer by the time my hand is better and I can ride my new bike!

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMS150

Overdetailed

Okay, I admit that I often provide more details than necessary. I know this.

But even I think this is over the top: writing out ALL the lyrics to 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/lyrics.html

Ludicrous.

I won't tell you how I stumbled on this nugget.

But it did lead me to this image, which seems quite sufficient: http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/brampitoyo/3880937056/

(Sorry I can't insert the image directly; it is protected or something.)

“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.”

Someone posted a link to A.A. Milne quotes in honor of his birthday. While there are a lot of great ones, this one really spoke to me:

“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, 

makes all the difference.” 

That's the goal with this whole bike riding stuff.

This past weekend, I went to my parents' cabin with some friends to ski, snowshoe, and play board games. I'm not the best skier, and was really proud of myself for making it down the hill. When I got to the bottom, though, I managed to fall face first into the snow. It was fluffy and not too cold out, so it was pretty funny. (And now my mom can see that I used her windbreaker without getting her permission ahead of time. Whoops.)

This week, Kim and I are notifying the MS 150 team that I'll be taking over the helm as team captain. I hope I don't get overwhelmed and end up in this face plant position. Things that are on my agenda include going to the team captain rally (rally? really?) on February 1 and then attending the dinner where they recognize people for their fundraising efforts. I was going to skip the rally, but thought that maybe they'll tell me everything I need to do as captain. Perhaps investing a full day on the front end will save me days of anxiety down the road. 

Oh, yeah, I was mentioning what was on my agenda: the rally, putting together a training schedule and putting some group rides on the calendar in the late spring, trying to arrange for a fix-a-flat class at a local bike shop, and sorting out my own fundraising steps including that dang trivia night, which is one month from today. I still need to get people to donate prizes, recruit people to play, and circle back with Stacy's brother about the format and questions. Yikes! 

Here's a nice calming photo that Susan took of me following Erika and the dogs down the trail by the cabin. This is the trail where I saw super clear moose tracks at Christmas. I walk down this trail each time I'm at the cabin, regardless of the season. It makes my chest feel full of all that is good in the world.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMS150

That's Better

At this second appearing of the stewing hen, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of a day, a pigeon is presented.

A city bird, checking out its surroundings, cooing, during a nice post-dinner stroll.

Many apologies to Abraham Lincoln. I think I need my new bike to be finished.

http://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln%27s_Second_Inaugural_Address

A moment of self-reflection... and heaven.

I'm sitting here, enjoying some Dessa, wanting to share this comic that I saw yesterday morning while perusing the paper. I look at the comics roughly once every 10 months, so I'm glad that there was something enjoyable in there.

F Minus by Tony Carrillo

I wonder if the clouds would require special oil/lube for the chain. Probably not in heaven. 

Despite starting the day off right with some yoga, not buying a donut at the shop across the street from the yoga studio, and buying a fun present for a friend's baby, I got myself into some weird funk today.

I blame the chicken. It was a stewing hen from a local farm. I never realized - before today - that they really aren't good for much. So, instead of roasted chicken, I made chicken soup. I felt like a stewing hen, though, today - - - all tense and tough and leathery - - - until I had a revelation. 

All the stuff hanging over my head, the ongoing two-steps-forward-one-step-back nature of my daily life, etc., is pretty much self-imposed. So, I blew it off, and when looking for an image for this blog of "two steps forward, one step back" I found some quote on the Internet about even two steps forward and one step back ends up being forward progress. Whew!

Speaking of forward progress, some people are signing up for the trivia night. Yay! We still have space, if you're interested in joining us. Let me know! As of the other day, I am now the team captain for our MS 150 team. This should be interesting.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMS150

Alex, what is a "super fun time?"

Dah dah-dah da! Check it out. Come one, come all. Help support our fundraising efforts by playing trivia! 

A Good Time for Some Indoor Activities

Yeah, so we're obsessed with the weather. But what else is there to do when it feels like it's 50-below?

I finally got on my bike which has been sitting on the trainer for weeks. It was good. But nothing like really riding my bike. I'm looking forward to my new bike being ready soon. Hopefully it will be above zero for a while when it's ready - - preferably a day like yesterday's perfect skiing conditions.

So, in addition to trying to avoid getting too out of shape, I've been spending my time plotting.

I have a thing or two up my sleeve. Up my big puffy, frosting-like sleeves. 

Specifically, I'm working on putting together a trivia night for February 21 as a way to help me meet my fundraising goals this year. There's no way that it will help me totally meet my goal, but it will help get the ball rolling, I think. And, if it doesn't? Then it just will be a fun night out in crappy ol' February. Stay tuned for more details.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MaggieMS150