<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621</id><updated>2010-01-17T07:30:38.046-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Erin Bishop's Blog</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/atom.xml'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>108</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-4820463924282433236</id><published>2009-11-25T09:57:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-11-25T09:58:43.266-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ridiculous'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bike Racing'/><title type='text'>Movie Makin</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); white-space: pre; "&gt;&lt;div&gt;The baby and I had some free time yesterday, and we decided to taunt Jeremiah with this little movie we made. Will it go viral? Probably not, but we might develop a cult following. HA.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;object width="480" height="390"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/jwplayer.swf"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="height=390&amp;amp;width=480&amp;amp;file=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/standard/eca8f1d4-d912-11de-8ec6-003048d69c21_11_standard_medium-flv.flv&amp;amp;image=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/standard/eca8f1d4-d912-11de-8ec6-003048d69c21_11_standard_poster.jpg&amp;amp;link=http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5730523&amp;amp;searchbar=false&amp;amp;autostart=false"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/jwplayer.swf" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="height=390&amp;amp;width=480&amp;amp;file=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/standard/eca8f1d4-d912-11de-8ec6-003048d69c21_11_standard_medium-flv.flv&amp;amp;image=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/standard/eca8f1d4-d912-11de-8ec6-003048d69c21_11_standard_poster.jpg&amp;amp;link=http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5730523&amp;amp;searchbar=false&amp;amp;autostart=false"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;object width="480" height="390"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/embedded-xnl-stats.swf"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/embedded-xnl-stats.swf" width="1" height="1" allowscriptaccess="always"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-4820463924282433236?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/4820463924282433236/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=4820463924282433236&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4820463924282433236'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4820463924282433236'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/11/movie-makin.html' title='Movie Makin'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-8499101495352163051</id><published>2009-09-19T15:34:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-20T13:48:25.816-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Stories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jeremiah'/><title type='text'>Sugar, Sugar</title><content type='html'>Last summer, on the Forth of July, Jeremiah won the Marathon National Championships. A few weeks later, he took his second national championship of the year with a victory in the short track event at Mt. Snow. Then he charged through the American Mountain Classic, winning most of the stages and the overall title. He was super fit, super fast and &lt;em&gt;super light&lt;/em&gt;. (He is still all of these things, but this is a tale about last year. I digress.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’&lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;ve&lt;/span&gt; been lucky enough to accompany Jeremiah on many of his adventures; share in the victories and take pride in his accomplishments. You’&lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;ve&lt;/span&gt; probably seen us &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;pre&lt;/span&gt;-riding the race courses together, and I’m often handing up bottles in the feed zones or cheering from some remote location on the course. The stories I could tell seem endless, full of great characters and usually bring a smile when I recollect them. Already my mind is wandering again. (I'll try to post them here more often)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The arrival of a long over-due package in this week’s deliveries brings up a fun story that I’ll tell today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last year, as Jeremiah was &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;ramping&lt;/span&gt; up for what would become an amazing season, we looked ahead at the summer calendar. There were so many variables to piece together: Cape Epic, the UCI World Cup, the US National Series, National Championships, Worlds, not to mention the US Olympic Team qualification criteria on top of it all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There’s a &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;cliché&lt;/span&gt; about shooting for the stars; if you miss, at least you’ll hit the moon... Well, this held true, and though Jeremiah &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;wouldn&lt;/span&gt;’t make the Olympic team, he would have a stellar season, nonetheless.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow, part of pulling together the fitness and form for a racing "peak" is dropping down to what Jeremiah calls "race weight." For someone as lean as he is, the last two or three pounds are the hardest to shed. Jeremiah's see-it-and-want-to-eat-it appetite makes delicious food hard to resist, and I don't think he'll mind me saying so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So last spring and summer, we tried something new. Jeremiah decided to incentivize me for helping him achieve his race weight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just what could he use to tempt me? How about the sugar bowl matching my china?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I bit &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; hook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the following weeks, I would do my best to keep Jeremiah away from buffets, chocolate shops, bakeries and just plain old gluttony. I smacked his hand away from more cookies, muffins, scones and chocolate bars than I can remember. I was the party killer when beer was involved. It was all in good fun for me, and a great reminder of his goals for him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, this week (about a year overdue and spurred on by the &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"&gt;imminent&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"&gt;discontinuation&lt;/span&gt; of the pattern) I claimed my reward.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Sugar-Bowl-004-728761.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Sugar-Bowl-004-728407.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Victory is sweet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet, I can't help but chuckle at the sugary irony of it all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-8499101495352163051?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/8499101495352163051/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=8499101495352163051&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/8499101495352163051'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/8499101495352163051'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/09/sugar-sugar.html' title='Sugar, Sugar'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-4374594960745767386</id><published>2009-07-22T20:51:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-07-22T21:27:06.947-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Where in the World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Just for Fun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Photos'/><title type='text'>Summer Time</title><content type='html'>To say I have been negligent in updating this blog would be a bit of an understatement. But rest assured, even when I'm not blogging about it, I've been having fun and staying busy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conrad and I flew to Salt Lake for a jam packed weekend at the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;MonaVie&lt;/span&gt; Super Regional Convention. It was amazing to say the least. Photos from the firework-filled expo are up in the Gallery. We had a great time and celebrated Jeremiah's first Father's Day with the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;MonaVie&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Cannondale&lt;/span&gt; team and the Gillespie family, including Conrad's first glimpse into the world of pretty pink &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;girly&lt;/span&gt; girls. Eva and Stella &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;doted&lt;/span&gt; on him all weekend long, and he loved it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next up was Park City where &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Cannondale&lt;/span&gt; was hosting the international sales meeting. It was a great time! What made this part of the trip most memorable were the incredible people. Imagine meeting a company's entire "corporate" staff... and feeling liked, welcomed and appreciated with genuine enthusiasm. That's truly what it is like at &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Cannondale&lt;/span&gt;. Absolutely refreshing. I think that's part of the "Good Fight!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay, back home to the east coast. Been spending a lot of time with our family while Jeremiah's on the road. I haven't been in one place for very long and my voicemail and inbox are piling up. If you're in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;Harrisonburg&lt;/span&gt; and haven't seen me around, it's because I haven't been. I feel like throwing myself a welcome home party just to get to see my friends. And, despite the craziness of the coming and going, I'm already looking forward to taking Conrad to the beach to visit his &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;Hokie&lt;/span&gt; Godmother, DR! &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;Gimbel&lt;/span&gt; in her new MTV beach crib. (How's that for a you-called-me-out-on-my-lazy-blog shout out?)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next week we'll be cheering on Jeremiah as he competes in the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;Intermontane&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"&gt;Challenge&lt;/span&gt; in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"&gt;Kamloops&lt;/span&gt;, British Columbia. And I'll be assembling &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"&gt;IKEA&lt;/span&gt; furniture until my fingers bleed. &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"&gt;HAHA&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I'm just rambling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are some photos from our most recent fun, many more are up in the Gallery...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-117-766418.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-117-766075.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-171-753636.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-171-753167.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-147-753011.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Conrad-River-Uncle-Brad-147-752647.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I'm still on the planet, but gravity is the only thing keeping me from going off on a tangent.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;- Erin &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-4374594960745767386?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/4374594960745767386/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=4374594960745767386&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4374594960745767386'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4374594960745767386'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/07/summer-time.html' title='Summer Time'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-9112885806104743334</id><published>2009-05-02T11:42:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-02T12:05:36.624-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Getting in Trouble</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;Here at the Bishop house, we've been getting in trouble lately.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't tell the Baby Police, but Conrad is a rebel and spent the afternoon taking a nap on... his &lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;belly&lt;/span&gt;! He really liked the new perspective, cooing at his animal cards for some time before dozing off. (And don't worry, Mom was close by the entire time.)&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0005-2-772273.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Then there's my trouble making... I was very excited to go out for a trail run the other day. It was to be my first day back on the trails since a few weeks before baby's birth, and I was ready to go! With Jeremiah's advice, I made a plan to walk to the trails, then hold back with an easy 30-minute jog, and walk home. My brother Josh would join me to see the secret back-route from one park to the other, and keep an eye on me. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We walked briskly to the park, began jogging up a cinder path toward the trails, crossed through a game of frisbee golf as quick as we could (don't mess with those guys or they'll break out some creepy dungeons and dragons moves on you) and were about to step foot onto the beaten trail. I was elated! I think I held my head up higher, proud of my rebound from oh-so-pregnant to actually running again, and doing it in my skinny shorts too! Reality struck me down from this cloud in an instant - the instant I planted my first foot on the trail, the following foot found a string of barbed wire, hidden by some leaves, and I wrecked like I hadn't wrecked in years! Before I knew it, I was flying through the air. As Josh later put it, I hit the deck "like she was sliding for home plate!" The impact was spread out between my elbows, palms and knees, and as Josh recalled to Jeremiah, "it's amazing that she didn't bust her face up, too!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;It was amazing. And so, I was reminded yet again to appreciate each day that I'm able to go outside and enjoy the world in good health and great spirits!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I feel great to get out and really move again. Now I'm in the market for a jogging stroller so I can get out for a run even when Jeremiah is away. Any suggestions?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;:) Erin &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-9112885806104743334?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/9112885806104743334/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=9112885806104743334&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9112885806104743334'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9112885806104743334'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/05/getting-in-trouble.html' title='Getting in Trouble'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-7229973464992714561</id><published>2009-04-16T21:05:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-16T21:11:44.138-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Just for Fun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Photos'/><title type='text'>Chocolate Bunnies</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;This is what happens when you gorge yourself on chocolate bunnies all morning...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/511623685_5Wk85-S-747764.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/511623685_5Wk85-S-747744.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conrad was too sleepy to sit for a photo, or he's too smart and didn't want to look like he enjoyed being stuck with bunny ears!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are more photos, including some shots from the 'Burg Roubaix, in the Gallery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy Day!&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-7229973464992714561?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/7229973464992714561/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=7229973464992714561&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/7229973464992714561'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/7229973464992714561'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/04/chocolate-bunnies.html' title='Chocolate Bunnies'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-9076323251207814585</id><published>2009-04-11T14:40:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-11T15:00:55.270-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='I Heart Harrisonburg'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Weather is Here'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Photos'/><title type='text'>Spring</title><content type='html'>It's springtime in Virginia!&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We've planted a small forest of trees at our house - a new maple in Conrad's honor from his great grandma, some kawanzan cherries, another eastern redbud and a dogwood. I'm also strengthening our front border with a mass of sea green junipers and rose glow berry bushes. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I enjoyed taking some photos at the farm last weekend, where plants blossom about one week ahead of those here in Harrisonburg. This is my favorite...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/505864315_42CXM-L-722249.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The rest of the photos are linked in the &lt;a href="http://jeremiahbishop.smugmug.com/photos/505864315_42CXM-M.jpg"&gt;Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;This afternoon, Jeremiah won his first road race of the season! There are some great stories from the day - he's sure to have the play-by-play on his blog or at the &lt;a href="http://www.monavie-cannondale.com"&gt;MonaVie-Cannondale.com&lt;/a&gt; site. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;In addition to Easter, tomorrow is also the 'Burg Roubaix! Rumors are flying. Nick Waite is just over them thar' hills in his WVA motherland, will he sneak over for the gravel? Chris Scott has readied with a "Pro Tour Taper." Jeremiah will have to rally... two races in two days. Can he throw down, or will McKeagan seek his revenge? Conrad and Ethan are planning to watch the action as riders pass by the bonfire. I've got my cowbell ready. It's sure to be rowdy. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;- Erin &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-9076323251207814585?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/9076323251207814585/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=9076323251207814585&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9076323251207814585'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9076323251207814585'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/04/spring.html' title='Spring'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-7463859250932064455</id><published>2009-04-07T12:59:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-07T13:31:42.200-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ridiculous'/><title type='text'>Problem Solved</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;Being somewhat of a zombie these days, when I'm not attending to Conrad or catching up on everything else I'm neglecting in the process, I have found myself staring blankly into space. I remember that I used to spend a lot more "quiet time" before life got hectic. When was that, 1999? Probably. These days, I'm rather enjoying a return of quiet time, even if it is only made possible by my lack of energy required to do something more noisy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;The other day, Conrad and I were resting - quiet time - in my old bedroom at my parent's farm. He was shifting his gaze between a pineapple-like finial on one of the bed's four posts and the dark mahogany mirror beyond it, fascinated by the contrast between these shapes and the wall. Well, my mind was wandering yet going nowhere, when all of a sudden thoughts of shapes, outlines and silhouettes lead me to remember a brain teasing puzzle that had vexed my family for a few years. Suddenly, and bizarrely, the method of solving the puzzle was clear to me! I had to find that puzzle and try my luck. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;I found the puzzle, still in my old closet. I took the pieces from the box and within a minute replaced them to form the silhouette of the elusive rabbit! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Rabbit-Puzzle-744894.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;I'm still not sure how that happened. Why did my brain choose that moment to work with such clarity for something so irrelevant and long forgotten, yet this blog will probably have ten misspellings and be littered with sentence fragments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;Oh well. When a problem is solved, I shouldn't complain!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;Erin &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-7463859250932064455?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/7463859250932064455/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=7463859250932064455&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/7463859250932064455'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/7463859250932064455'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/04/problem-solved.html' title='Problem Solved'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-2597758582197063696</id><published>2009-04-01T21:27:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-01T22:03:46.548-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Zombie Momma</title><content type='html'>Just one month into the world of motherhood and things are starting to settle into a predictable routine. To fully embrace this concept, you have to accept the idea that predictions may vary and that routine does not imply scheduled. But, a predictable routine is 100% better than what I would have expected at this stage in the game. I'm having such a good time getting to know my new little one, as he gets to know the world!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conrad has fully known the difference between day and night for a few weeks. Recently he dropped one of his night-time snacks from our predictable routine, and now I'm getting a full night's sleep divided by one early morning wake-up call... not bad! I've found that my feeling of restfulness is entirely dependent on just when during my sleep cycle I'm awoken by his hunger pangs. Some nights I'll get plenty of sleep, but feel like a zombie. And zombies do some crazy things during the daytime... like take the trash out to the curb a day late and wonder why no one else has readied their rubbish for removal. Oops!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm ready to get back out on the mountain bike trails, now all I need is a new Scalpel to match Jeremiah's. Maybe if I ask nice...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-2597758582197063696?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/2597758582197063696/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=2597758582197063696&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2597758582197063696'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2597758582197063696'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/04/zombie-momma.html' title='Zombie Momma'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-6608997074988326361</id><published>2009-03-09T11:28:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-03-09T11:38:17.676-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Weather is Here'/><title type='text'>Little Muscle Man</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0521-762995.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0521-762588.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;When Conrad isn't baby-cycling with his Daddy, he sleeps like a champion (we are &lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;so&lt;/span&gt; lucky!). Even in his sleep he likes to show off his arm muscles.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We're having a great time getting settled into what's becoming our new normal. Enjoying time with family and friends, getting out and about in this incredible pre-spring weather, even sleeping with the windows open!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The birthday season continues, today we're celebrating Jeremiah's 33rd year spinning around the sun!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Thanks to everyone for the wonderful well wishes and congratulations,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Erin&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-6608997074988326361?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/6608997074988326361/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=6608997074988326361&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/6608997074988326361'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/6608997074988326361'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/03/little-muscle-man.html' title='Little Muscle Man'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-108879882119296038</id><published>2009-03-04T13:09:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-03-04T13:22:49.004-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Family'/><title type='text'>Bringing Home Baby!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0370-737026.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0370-735993.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's only been one week since Conrad was born, and it seems like forever - in the &lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;best&lt;/span&gt; way - and just yesterday all rolled into one! Everything seems new, even our house has an added warmth to it. We are definitely enjoying each and every moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSC_0298-713890.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's been icy cold in the 'burg, but we're looking forward to spring-like highs on Friday - the perfect weather to take our new stroller for a test spin around the neighborhood. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, and it seems so fitting to have Conrad arrive just in time to see the rest of the world begin to awaken with new life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Having the time of my life!&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-108879882119296038?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/108879882119296038/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=108879882119296038&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/108879882119296038'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/108879882119296038'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/03/bringing-home-baby.html' title='Bringing Home Baby!'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-4477643657031115588</id><published>2009-02-03T12:16:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-02-03T12:23:08.283-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Creepy Baby</title><content type='html'>Here's a photo of the baby that Jeremiah and I used to practice parenting tasks at the hospital last week.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/creepy-baby-745353.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/creepy-baby-745296.bmp" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jeremiah thinks the baby is better suited for a high school sex ed. class aimed at scaring kids out of having babies.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Look into his eyes. Imagine him saying, "You don't want me, do you?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HaHa. Now I'm getting back to work.&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-4477643657031115588?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/4477643657031115588/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=4477643657031115588&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4477643657031115588'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4477643657031115588'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/02/creepy-baby.html' title='Creepy Baby'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-1046608250346345047</id><published>2009-01-25T13:46:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-26T16:17:16.859-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Just for Fun'/><title type='text'>Tweet, Tweet</title><content type='html'>I'm trying something new (to me) - &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/ErinBishop"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;. If it sticks, I'll embed a widget on the sidebar of this page. We'll have to wait and see. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-1046608250346345047?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/1046608250346345047/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=1046608250346345047&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/1046608250346345047'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/1046608250346345047'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/01/tweet-tweet.html' title='Tweet, Tweet'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-5487862818250399945</id><published>2009-01-19T10:06:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-19T10:25:33.451-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Just for Fun'/><title type='text'>Gear</title><content type='html'>Over the past two weeks, we've busted some serious moves around our house. Jeremiah helped with the big, heavy and caustic jobs (new carpet, rehanging doors and painting) and we've pretty much checked off our to-do list.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With this behind us, Jeremiah hit the road for Clemson, South Carolina and my thoughts turned toward things that are not-so-necessary yet fun and distracting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like picking out this custom tote bag that will soon be filled with all things baby:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/babys-bag-797918.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/babys-bag-797904.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While Jeremiah's been away, we had some frigid days in Harrisonburg. The highs were around 15 degrees, the low... about 2! Weather like that doesn't make me wish I could go mountain biking, but thinking about the&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2007/02/training-in-clemson.html"&gt; fun &lt;/a&gt;I usually have in &lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2007/02/columbos-chicago-style-pizza.html"&gt;Clemson&lt;/a&gt; this time of year does. Nevertheless, everything is going very well, I'm healthy and happy, and with any luck I'll be back in the mtb saddle by the time the trees are starting to bud. (I just turned and looked out the window - it's snowing.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bundle up nice and warm, and hit the trails for me!&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-5487862818250399945?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/5487862818250399945/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=5487862818250399945&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/5487862818250399945'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/5487862818250399945'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/01/gear.html' title='Gear'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-9092851598468662528</id><published>2009-01-02T12:36:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-02T13:00:26.418-05:00</updated><title type='text'>2009 - Times, They are a Changin'</title><content type='html'>2008 ended with great festivity and much celebration. I made a few trips to NOVA to visit friends, watch a holiday performance, tour the White House, enjoy lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill and check out the decorations in the Willard Hotel. At the White House, Laura did a great job decorating (the whole place in just 12 hours), and the patriotic theme suited the setting. At our house, Christmas tree cutting was delayed by one thing after another, until the weekend before the holiday when I declared there would be no tree this year. Now that the holidays are behind us, and I don't have a tree to dismantle ornament by ornament, I'd say it was the best decision ever. But, I'm no Scrooge!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Baby-Bump-12_20_2008-001-744016.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Baby-Bump-12_20_2008-001-743548.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We enjoyed a trip to Staunton's Black Friars Playhouse for a performance of A Christmas Carol and a look around the Stonewall Jackson Hotel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Baby-Bump-12_20_2008-003-744741.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Baby-Bump-12_20_2008-003-744123.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I even got plus-sized dolled up for dinner and the annual Solstice Party! This year the Harrisonburg crew partied at the Carpenter's place, and while the setting was new, the celebration was as good as ever and the gift exchange a riot as always.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now it's 2009 and we're getting ready for big changes across the board. I've always looked forward to new and exciting, but the amount of new and exciting we've got going on one all at one time is almost ridiculous. It's going to be a wild and fun year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-9092851598468662528?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/9092851598468662528/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=9092851598468662528&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9092851598468662528'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/9092851598468662528'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2009/01/2009-times-they-are-changin.html' title='2009 - Times, They are a Changin&apos;'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-5483004919470356168</id><published>2008-12-02T15:49:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-02T16:32:55.012-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ridiculous'/><title type='text'>Something New and Exciting</title><content type='html'>It's been a few weeks since my last update, but that's not to say it's been quiet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've had a great time this fall on some late-season cyclocross road trips with Jeremiah, most recently venturing down to Asheville, North Carolina where the weather was unusually chilly and the racing was nail biting. Hendersonville was a great little town, and our hosts were the best!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though I've not been the avid biker lately, I have been hitting the gym for yoga, Pilates and my new favorite - the elliptical trainer. What do you call working out on an elliptical? Running? Spinning? Elliptisizing?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, getting to my yoga class on time requires me to finish up on the elliptical around 5:30. While elliptisizing, I channel surf between the local evening news, CNN, Oprah (yeah, right), Cash Cab and Nat Geo's Locked Up Abroad. I'm a sucker for trivia, but Cash Cab has a lot of commercials, and I've found myself watching "true stories of people who have ended up miles from home, in a foreign land in a situation beyond their worst nightmares." It might be the programming schedule, or just my dumb luck, but every Monday and Wednesday night features the same old story, just substitute the characters: Down-on-his-luck guy decides it's a good idea to run drugs/money/gold from one sketchy third world country to another for the promise of an all expenses paid vacation and fast cash. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, well apparently there are enough guys who didn't see it coming to create an entire television series. But I get off the eliptical at 5:30, so I don't know what happens to them after they "realize this was a bad idea."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also returned my attention to the working world. For the time being, I'm back to freelance writing, web design, marketing and event consultation. I'll probably scale it back for a bit starting in February. But I'm having a great time, and am excited to have contributed some magazine features to my alma mater JMU.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It seems like tons of things are going on, but I definitely enjoy squeezing in some time for fun projects like picking out fabric, cloths, gear, books and toys.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/modern-zoo-fabric_small-719496.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 185px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 185px" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/modern-zoo-fabric_small-719486.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Who'd of thought my world would turn into a modern zoo so quickly?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;- Erin &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-5483004919470356168?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/5483004919470356168/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=5483004919470356168&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/5483004919470356168'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/5483004919470356168'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/12/something-new-and-exciting.html' title='Something New and Exciting'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-260380037550175772</id><published>2008-10-17T08:04:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-17T08:18:46.047-05:00</updated><title type='text'>In Virginia...</title><content type='html'>we have apple orchards. This time of year as fall starts to settle in, the apple trees are in full production.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Anniversary-Apple-Orchard-017-748829.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Anniversary-Apple-Orchard-017-748175.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week, Jeremiah and I headed up toward Broadway and brought home a peck and a half of green apples, many of which have already found their way into apples pies. Delicious!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Anniversary-Apple-Orchard-013-727267.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Anniversary-Apple-Orchard-013-726729.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's also the time of year when lots of folks head up to the Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. Interestingly, VeloNews contributor Bob Mionske has some advice about &lt;a href="http://http://www.velonews.com/article/84329/legally-speaking-with-bob-mionske---choice-of-law" target="blank"&gt;that bike ride&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This weekend the &lt;a href="http://forum.svbcoalition.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&amp;amp;t=257" target="blank"&gt;Rocktown Cutters&lt;/a&gt; are heading up to some 'cross races in Delaware and PA. Should be a fun time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See you out there,&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-260380037550175772?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/260380037550175772/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=260380037550175772&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/260380037550175772'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/260380037550175772'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/10/in-virginia.html' title='In Virginia...'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-204151166384788903</id><published>2008-10-14T13:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-15T13:08:47.040-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Half Time Celebration!</title><content type='html'>I'm excited because today I get to say '20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go!' Not to imply that I think it's going to be downhill from here, but I'm going to enjoy any milestone I can right now.&lt;br /&gt;:) Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-204151166384788903?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/204151166384788903/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=204151166384788903&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/204151166384788903'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/204151166384788903'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/10/half-time-celebration.html' title='Half Time Celebration!'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-3382675490078524311</id><published>2008-08-28T14:24:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-28T14:29:52.602-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ideas'/><title type='text'>Change the World</title><content type='html'>If you're reading this you probably already "go by bike." But now, we can add up all that pedal power and see what kind of benefit it has. Trek has a nifty widget, below, that will take you to a fun interactive site where you can tally up your weekly commuter miles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/48777dc41addfd1e/48b6fb2e930eab0b/487d0dffdcc34562/5457a5ab" id="W48777dc41addfd1e48b6fb2e930eab0b" height="360" width="380"&gt;&lt;param value="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/48777dc41addfd1e/48b6fb2e930eab0b/487d0dffdcc34562/5457a5ab" name="movie"/&gt;&lt;param value="transparent" name="wmode"/&gt;&lt;param value="all" name="allowNetworking"/&gt;&lt;param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If nothing else, it's a great visual to see how quickly the miles add up!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy,&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-3382675490078524311?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/3382675490078524311/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=3382675490078524311&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/3382675490078524311'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/3382675490078524311'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/08/change-world.html' title='Change the World'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-1070687021799220356</id><published>2008-08-07T11:37:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-07T11:54:09.949-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Good Spectating'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Photos'/><title type='text'>Bike Racers in the Family</title><content type='html'>You know your blog is bad when Jeremiah tells you to get it in gear! Well, I've got a few pictures that will make him jealous he didn't get them posted first...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week I received some family photos from west coast Uncle Brad. My Aunt Julie's grandfather was a bicycle racer, and from the collection of winnings pictured here, we're all pretty sure he could've challenged Jeremiah to a track race... and won.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Didrick-Welge-774963.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Didrick-Welge-774800.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out the tiger skin covering that trophy base!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Welge-7-776185.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Welge-7-775012.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Talk about a trophy case. And, notice the note on the photo, "&lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; of his prizes." Whew!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As for me, I had a fun July, attending Jeremiah's races in Windam and Mt Snow. It was an incredible experience to cheer him on during the Short Track National Championship race. I'll make a deal with you; my next blog will include photos, and I'll link to the video I captured of Jeremiah making what would become the race-winning attack!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now, I'm tired again and am going to take a nap.&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-1070687021799220356?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/1070687021799220356/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=1070687021799220356&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/1070687021799220356'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/1070687021799220356'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/08/bike-racers-in-family.html' title='Bike Racers in the Family'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-2696698508731421520</id><published>2008-06-17T07:56:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-06-17T11:02:58.023-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bike Racing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Festival Fun'/><title type='text'>When it Rains...</title><content type='html'>Lots of good stuff to report, so little time to do so. We've been out and about and on the go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It poured in Harrisonburg last night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/June-Rain-061-710724.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/June-Rain-061-709977.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nohohan gave a smug look and nodded when the clouds parted and the sun burned through the falling rain. I went outside to investigate. My photos are up in the &lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.smugmug.com/gallery/5186536_TQoMm#314468809_WD9sf" target= blank&gt;Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/June-Rain-005-709748.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/June-Rain-005-709140.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Over the most recent weekend, Jeremiah and I journeyed over the mountains deep into West Virginia for the Appalachian Classic mountain bike festival. With time trial, short track and cross county races, for Jeremiah, it was a great opportunity for some high intensity training/racing. For me, it was a chance to survive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The time trial was first on Saturday afternoon. I didn't have any mishaps to speak of, just tried to find that perfect pace that I would be able to maintain without collapsing before the finish line. In all of my spring adventures, I'm pretty sure I never tried to ride that intense and I had a difficult time settling into a good steady rhythm. I almost croaked of heat exhaustion at the finish... but I reached the finish! About five minutes later, the pain was gone, and my brain had already played that amazing trick on me - what I'd just done was fun.... a great time... I'd do that again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Good thing it worked. I was signed up for the short track event that took place a few hours later. I watched Jeremiah and all the other pro/expert men race around the course and I got excited about giving it a try. It was just Betsy Shogren, Mandi Riddle and myself for the women's race, so we lined up with the sport men. I was surprised as my legs were able to power up over the first climb. I passed a guy or two, was passed by a guy or two, and saw Betsy up ahead getting ready to rocket down the descent to the whoop-de-chute. I settled into what was a difficult pace. I go hard up the first 3/4 of the climb, then find a manageable gear to make it the remainder of the way without exploding, crank it into the big ring for the ridge and then try to recover on the descent. I enjoyed dropping into the finish chute and trying to preserve my momentum around the sharp u-turn back onto the climb. This routine worked pretty well until I fell victim to the most unimaginable mystery pain that came out of no where and practically paralyzed me. How's that for drama? But seriously, my gut hurt in ways that are indescribable. I didn't know what was about to happen, but I knew I didn't want it to happen in public. I ducked under the tape and headed for the woods! I writhed around for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Got gas? So, I climbed back toward the course and it still looked like so much fun. I jumped back in where I'd been riding - rules? When I got to the start/finish again, after a noticeable 3-lap absence, I was like "I'm Baaa aacck!" A few laughs from J.R. and I knew I was good to go. So I had a great time and finished up another four or five laps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We enjoyed the evening listening to the Weedhawks sing about hillbillies and love, had some tasty pizza down the road at Gino's and hit the hay tired from an afternoon of racing fun.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sunday was the cross country race, and that is a whole other story so maybe I'll wrap this one up and fill you in later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Photos from the weekend are up in the Gallery. Look for Down-Home Racing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-2696698508731421520?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/2696698508731421520/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=2696698508731421520&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2696698508731421520'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2696698508731421520'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/06/when-it-rains.html' title='When it Rains...'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-8333018068836441773</id><published>2008-05-26T08:33:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-26T10:38:46.062-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Adventures'/><title type='text'>Epic</title><content type='html'>Enjoyed some big rides this week. A few days over at the 'Nutt where my favorite easy-to-access roller coaster downhill trail off Kaylor's, the Upper Ravine trail, offers some close-to-town fun. I checked out the new Hoo Ha XC course with Jeremiah. It's a great route that makes use of many of the SVBC's new and improved trails. Next weekend is sure to be a good time. &lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;This weekend was the annual Virginia IMBA mountain bike clubs festival out at Stokesville. On Sunday, I joined in the huge ride option with about 30 other riders for some super sweet IMBA Epic riding on the &lt;a href="http://www.imba.com/epics/harrisonburg_va.html"&gt;Southern Traverse &lt;/a&gt;of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail. I hadn't been up there since our Stokesville-Fort Lewis and Bike Magazine &lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2007/11/smt.html"&gt;adventures&lt;/a&gt; last October. It was great to ride under the leafy green canopy and the crystal clear blue sky made for a spectacular setting and allowed awesome views. This ride is about a 45 minute drive from town, so it's not always a first choice for a weekend adventure, but I'm going to look back at these photos and remember that I've gotta hit the SMT more, more, more! (More photos in the Gallery!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Camera-Dump-5-25-231-750205.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Camera-Dump-5-25-231-749595.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Benched big mountain singletrack that goes on and on... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Camera-Dump-5-25-241-750334.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The southwest view from South Sisters Knob &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The evening ended with a big burrito dinner with many SVBC kitchen volunteers. Jeremiah was a lean, mean grilling machine, and a lot of the riders got a kick out of watching him do the cooking for a change. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We're heading out on a spin to the Rocktown trails before hitting the road for another adventure.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-24-051-726610.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-24-051-726025.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Our flag is 'a flying this Memorial Day,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Erin &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-8333018068836441773?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/8333018068836441773/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=8333018068836441773&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/8333018068836441773'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/8333018068836441773'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/05/epic.html' title='Epic'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-2111325568158084180</id><published>2008-05-19T05:41:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-19T07:45:52.375-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='I Heart Harrisonburg'/><title type='text'>Catch Up</title><content type='html'>For the past two weeks, I've been playing catch up in all areas of life. Despite the unrelenting &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;hecticness&lt;/span&gt;, one thing I've managed to maintain is my daily escape to play outdoors.  I've hiked in the Shenandoah National Park, fished in ponds and lakes on both sides of the Blue Ridge, continued running - something I rekindled my enjoyment of in Germany, and have had an absolute blast on my mountain bike.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are some pictures from last week's Ladies Ride. (If you haven't visited the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;SVBC's&lt;/span&gt; new &lt;a href="http://forum.svbcoalition.org/"&gt;forum&lt;/a&gt;, it's a great place to connect with the club and find new rides and events.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-021-739995.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-021-739317.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-023-740684.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-033-749976.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-033-749354.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-033-700167.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-022-700891.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-025-749177.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Ladies-Ride-5_13-025-748598.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;More photos in the Gallery.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;-Erin &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-2111325568158084180?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/2111325568158084180/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=2111325568158084180&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2111325568158084180'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/2111325568158084180'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/05/catch-up.html' title='Catch Up'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-4054211200869523507</id><published>2008-05-10T17:51:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-10T17:58:44.563-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Green Garden</title><content type='html'>It's been raining like crazy and the days have been relatively cool. The garden is growing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-048-707584.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-048-707024.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-050-708890.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-050-707687.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-045-751515.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-045-750950.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-054-752217.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/Flowers-May-054-751625.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-4054211200869523507?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/4054211200869523507/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=4054211200869523507&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4054211200869523507'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/4054211200869523507'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/05/green-garden.html' title='Green Garden'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-3619014851929938080</id><published>2008-05-10T09:20:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-10T09:26:29.987-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Sweet Home Virginia</title><content type='html'>It's good to be home. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Woke up at 4:30 a.m. in Germany, drove 2 hours to Frankfurt, flew 9 hours to Dulles, drove 1 hour to the farm, hung out with Dad and ate a nice American hamburger for dinner! After being awake for more than 24 hours, I went to bed. Whew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Woke up and went fishing with Dad and Grandpa on the pond at Bumblebee Farm. Caught fish all morning! Saw some monster-sized snapping turtles. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Had a good few days in Harrisonburg, hiking in the Shenandoah National Park, cookout with friends and a fishing trip with Jeremiah to Silver Lake. Here's our catch.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSCF9392-708820.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/uploaded_images/DSCF9392-708263.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did I mention, it's good to be home.&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-3619014851929938080?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/3619014851929938080/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=3619014851929938080&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/3619014851929938080'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/3619014851929938080'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/05/sweet-home-virginia.html' title='Sweet Home Virginia'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930621.post-6207848486643307960</id><published>2008-04-28T04:53:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2008-04-28T05:14:39.359-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Italy</title><content type='html'>Okay, I'm not really in Italy. Jeremiah, Sue and I are still in Eberweir, Germany. But last night we had the best Italian dinner of all time! We received an invite from Waldeck, manager of the Luna Team, to join them and the Subaru/Fisher Team at one of his all-time favorite restaurants (and this guy is a serious world traveler) - I wish I could tell you the name of the place, but there were no signs - it's totally top secret only for those in-the-know. I'll surely find my way back&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We ordered our meal family style and were presented with bowls filled with delicious salmon penne, sausage raviolli, and mushroom cabernet gnocchi. Each dish was handmade from scratch in the kitchen. The olive oil we dipped our bread in was fresh from the restaurant owner's Italian olive orchard. There was a glittering glass case of 100+ euro bottles of grappa - also a product of the owner's family - each with hand painted labels which matched some of the artwork on the walls. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since we chose to be impressed by the kitchen's finest, we didn't really read the menu - but we enjoyed it being displayed on an easile beside our table. Since the meals are made fresh - there is no print menu, rather a painted wooden window framed display that opens to show a handwritten menu of the day's selections. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After passing around and enjoying the pasta dishes, we sat back and relaxed. I decided the food was so good and my running legs were making my stomach hungry, so I could keep eating. I was ready for a big dessert - well I was in luck because we weren't even on to the main course yet! We each received a plate of perfectly seared steak, sauteed veggies and potatoes grilled in what must have been bacon grease - they were heavenly!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then came dessert. We opted for the assortment... a little bit of everything arragned ever so delicately on a platter for each of us - Sue and I got special plates "for the ladies" ours included every the guys' had, creme bruele, tiramisu, papaya drizzle with something sweet, chocolate brownie drenched in liquor, persimons - but our special ladies plates didn't have the gelatinous hazelnut mountain in the middle. I guess they though we were watching our girlish figures. ha!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was a fun evening and a great way to wind up the weeks spent together as a team at the world cups!&lt;br /&gt;More pictures in the gallery. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Having fun and eating well,&lt;br /&gt;Erin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8930621-6207848486643307960?l=www.jeremiahbishop.com%2Fmeanwhile%2Fblog%2Findex.html' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/6207848486643307960/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8930621&amp;postID=6207848486643307960&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/6207848486643307960'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8930621/posts/default/6207848486643307960'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/meanwhile/blog/2008/04/blog-post.html' title='Italy'/><author><name>E Bishop</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/15125268009551052066</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='14606586785742065016'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>