Ridin' and Rockin' (cheezy title, I know)

Thirteen thousand riders.

One hundred and fifty miles.

All riding to find a cure.

There are no words to describe how cool last weekend was.

There was a 15-20 mph head wind almost the entire 150 miles. There were some nice hills. It was hard. But it was so much fun! I love riding my bike and I love Rachel and her family so it was just perfect. My mom added some nice cajun flare to the weekend. She came complete with some boudain and some butter rum cake--no one ever said she lacked hospitality skills!

Here are a few pictures of our weekend.

Rachie and Me getting at the starting line--before our butts were sore!!

Team Yags (almost all of us) at lunch on day 1 with Yags (Rachel's mom) and Renee (my mom).

Day 2 lunch. "The Cupid Shuffle" came on so I had to show everyone the dance!!

Rachie coming into the finish line at the Texas State Capital in Austin. If you can't tell by it's length--that's my arm in the back!

I quickly shifted gears (no pun intended) and had to get back some energy to enjoy a night out with the girls! On Monday night I joined some girl friends at a Bon Jovi concert at American Airlines Center. We bought the tickets months ago and were so excited about the concert. (Those of you who know me well, also know of my love for Bon Jovi. Needless to say, even though I was painfully tired, I was beside myself.) The concert was all that I hoped for-and more! It was truly amazing! I got goosebumps when the entire crowd sang "You give love a bad name" without Bon Jovi singing or playing at all. Truly amazing! Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Daughtry opened for them. Seriously--how in the world did Taylor Hicks win that year of American Idol?? I am still baffled.

Oh Oh...We're halfway there. OOOOOOH Livin' on a Prayer!!

It seriously looked like I was watching the making of a bad 80's music video. Hilarious!

Not even kidding. Amazing!

"Raise Your Hands!"

The spirit fingers were alive!

"These five words I swear to you...I'll be there for you!"

His moves are still living in 1984!

That vest with no shirt just about killed me!

So there you have it. A great few days indeed! Gillman family--I'm ready for next year! Anne--we must do this again!!

one hundered and fifty

Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually strikes adults in the prime of life - between the ages of 20 and 50. It is a chronic disease of the central nervous system affecting the brain and spinal cord. One new case of MS is diagnosed every hour. It comes and goes unpredictably, leaving people to wonder, "Will I become paralyzed, blind or have trouble walking? Will I be able to raise my family and continue my career?"


My dear friend, Rachel's mom was diagnosed with MS in 1990. Last year, while we were roommates, she asked me if I wanted to ride in the MS 150 with her--a 150 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin to raise money to find a cure for MS. The race was in about one month and I didn't even have a bike, but I agreed. It seemed like a good cause and I'm always up for a new adventure.

I found a bike, trained for a few weeks, and then headed down to Houston with Rachel's family. It turned out to be one of the greatest, most rewarding weekends of my life. Rachel's mom, Denyse, is such an inspiration and it was a pleasure and a joy to ride my bike for her and for all other fighting MS.


So, this weekend I will once again, head down to Houston, get on my bike, and--over a course of 2 days--will ride my bike to Austin. And, this year, my mom will be hanging out with Denyse and driving one of the chase cars. I can't wait!!

Rachel's siblings have started their own MS 150 team called "Team Yags" (Denyse's nickname) and I'm excited and honored to be a part of their team once again. Our website is www.teamyags.com where you can see bios of all of us and donate if you would like.

Please pray for our safety this weekend. There are thousands of riders and it can get dangerous on the roads with that many people out there. I'll post pictures of this year's ride next week!

Oh...and P.S.

While my trip to Italy was absolutely fabulous, my trip back to DFW from Italy was not so fabulous.

I woke up early (4:30am Italy time) on Saturday morning. I got dressed, and Sarah called a cab to take me to the airport.

The cab picked me up at 5:00am and I told Sarah, "Ciao" and was on my way. After a 20 minute silent cab ride, I was at the airport ready to head back to the ol' U.S. of A. Lufthansa apparently wasn't so ready for me to return!

I was greeted by a very long line at the Florence line, which I waited in patiently. (I, of course, made some friends from the Dallas area. The daughter of the family actually goes to LSU, so that was fun!) It was finally my turn to the ticket lady--WAHOO!! She checked my bags and gave me my boarding pass and then said the following words: "Your plane did not land in Florence last night, it was diverted to Bologna. You are going to take a bus to Bologna and leave for Frankfurt from there."

WHAT??

My idiotic response was: "Just me? Or the whole plane?"

I know...dumb. But to my defense, I was shocked! Have you ever heard of this? Is this a joke? I couldn't believe it.

So...we all headed to the gate and waited and waited and waited. The plane was supposed to leave Florence at 6:55am. It was 7:15 and we still hadn't gotten on the bus to drive the 1.5 hours to Bologna! At 7:30 our bus left. We were all thinking that the bus was going to drive straight to the plane for us to get to Frankfurt asap. Well...Italians do not believe in haste apparently!

When we got to the airport, we had to grab our own bags from below the bus and re-check them at the Bologna airport--seriously, at this point I think I am in a dream!! We all checked in and the plane did not end of taking off until 10:15am--the same time that my flight to Frankfurt was leaving for DFW!!

So, we got to Frankfurt around noon-ish and I ran to the ticket lady. I told her my situation and waited for her to check her system for any flights to DFW. She looked up at me and said the dreaded words: "I'm sorry. There are no more flights leaving today." I immediately started crying. I know, pathetic, but I was tired and sick and it was the LAST think I wanted to hear.

She gave me some tissue, booked me on a flight home the next day at 10:15am, gave me an overnight kit (complete with an XL t-shirt, a toothbrush, and some deoderant), booked me in a hotel room, and told me that I could make ONE phone call.

I felt like I was in jail.

I made my phone call and headed to the bus that would take me to my hotel. The hotel was very nice and Lufthansa also paid for me to get a yummy dinner and breakfast a the hotel restaurant--probably the best buffet in town!

I got to my hotel room at about 1:30pm and didn't know what to do. First of all, there was a double bed with a twin-size comforter and one flat pillow. WHAT???? I turned on the T.V., but of course everything was in German! So, I put on my XL t-shirt, turned on figure skating, and read my "Fried Green Tomatoes" book.

I got even more sick that night and didn't really sleep because my sneezing kept waking me up. I got out of bed the next morning, enjoyed my delicious free breakfast (complete with cappuccino), and headed back to the Frankfurt airport.

This is when I decided to use my misfortune and sickness to my advantage. I went to the gate lady and told her of my woes, coughed a few times, and even managed a sneeze and asked for an upgrade.

IT WORKED!!!!

I got a business class seat on the way back to DFW!!!! I am pretty sure that is what made this story in the end a success! The flight was fabulous. My seat laid all the way down, I had a massage on my chair, my own personal T.V. with like 20 movie choices, a menu to choose my dinner... I mean the works! THIS, my friends, is the way to travel overseas!!!

I realize that this story was waaaaay long, and if you stuck with me--CONGRATS!! The situation was no fun at the time, but it made for a great story--and I'm always up for a great story!

Lufthansa, you are very strange in putting me on a bus when I paid for a plane ticket, but I salute you for making it up to me in the end!!!!!