responsibility

Last week, I rode the Wed night ride/training race/drop-a-thon with the Wild Card gang after a nearly 2 year break.  I picked a good night, as few guys were feeling the need to go all out.  However, a few miles east of Urbana, in fact almost exactly the place I crashed 3 years ago, a somewhat near-miss happened again.  The guy in the lead slowed down slightly and veered to his right, where the rest of us were escheloned.  This caused a chain reaction of slowing and swerving, but no crashes despite the yelling.  I was largely unaffected (though I swerved more than I should have), mostly from having learned my lesson 3 years ago -- leave myself some space.

Last Saturday, Jill and I took my parents on a short bike ride to visit Fereshteh's lab.  We just started to ride to lunch when my mom crashed on a stretch of gravel road and broke her ankle.  I ride this stretch of road nearly every on my commute to and from work.  My mom probably had not ridden a bike for a couple of years.  Jill and I felt awful for not taking my mom on that stretch of road.

We just hate to be the cause of someone's suffering.  Not sure yet what practical changes will come about as  a result of this, but we're thinking about it.

Janny usually takes a single nap in the afternoon each day.  Having grandma and grandpa around for the last week has worn her out.  She fell asleep while drinking her post-breakfast milk.

 My mom and dad had planned to visit Uncle Ron and Aunt Cheryl in KY, but had to cancel due to the broken ankle.  Thankfully they drove up for a short visit.  Janny was initially terrified of Uncle Ron (or just his beard?), but warmed up to him.

 Ron and Cheryl gave the girls butterfly wings.  Jill and I also got to try them on (not shown!).

 Janny is quickly turning into a toddler.  She demands toys and food.  She bounds around the house in search of adventure.  And she is starting to mess with Clara a little bit.  For example, she steals one of Clara's toys and tries to keep it away from her.  I foresee some fights in the days to come.

 After a week, mom is feeling better.  Only 7 more weeks until she can put weight on her foot.

She has 2 plates and several screws holding all the pieces together.  She's using the walker or wheelchair for now to get around, but plans to use a scooter type crutch soon.