Father's Day, 2006

In church each year on Father's Day, our pastor has all the dads stand up for a moment of recognition. It's become for me one of the prouder moments of my year and I always look forward to it. I stand up to say that I'm proud to be Rachel's dad...well...step-dad. I'm proud of the love she has for me and amazed at the unconditional love I've been given for her. When Tammy and I first began dating a little over seven years ago, I wasn't really looking to be a step-dad again. I'd done that once before and it was not easy. I love(d) David and Joe but we never achieved the bond that Rachel and I share.

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday as I had to work today. I got up early and was on my bike by 8:00am headed 50 miles southwest to LeSueur. It was a hot day and I rode as well as I've ridden in a long time. I'd had my bike into Flanders the day before and had some adjustments made so that it's now back to its original setup. Here's my route. With the way I was riding, I thought for a while that I might be able to finish with an average speed of 20 mph. I was averaging 19.7 through 85 miles but headwinds and uphills the last 10 miles brought my speed down to 19.3. Total mileage was over 103.

After I got home I spent some time working in the flower gardens doing some weeding but also working on some stretching. I'm terrible when it comes to stretching and I find that working in the gardens gets me into positions where I'm able to work some of the tightness out of my quads and hamstrings.

We made a brief appearance at a graduation party for a neighbor girl and then headed into St Paul to see the Body Worlds exhibit. Rachel has been wanting to see this and this was the first chance we've had. There is also a Body Worlds movie which played in the Omni theater and costs extra but is definitely a must-see. I wasn't sure what I'd think of seeing the dead bodies on display. I suppose I thought it would be morbid and disturbing but it wasn't anything like that. They're more like works of art.

We left the Science Museum and headed for Cossetta's for dinner. We used to find an excuse to eat there every few months but not lately. It's a great place to eat...nothing fancy...just very authentic Italian food.

We watched Glory Road over the weekend. 5 stars!




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