We knew we wanted to go biking in Minocqua this year. We were all set to do the trip last year, and then that pesky tumor of mine reared its ugly head. I've wanted to do the B.A.T.S. Trail for quite some time...Minocqua was a little place that I grew up visiting once a year, and it is very close to my heart. I wanted to rent bikes and do the trails the last time I was in the area, in September of 2005. When Miles couldn't find the time to go with me during the entire week we were there, my mother, whose liver was failing at the hands of Cancer, and my aunt, whose arthritic knee caused her daily grief, offered to do it with me. I kindly declined, thinking I would feel guilty afterwards...but can only think now what a fun day that would have been.

But, as I am so fond of doing, I am going back and crossing another item off of my list of "Someday" things to do. This time, I won't even have to rent a bike, being quite fond of my own, one that Brenda helped me to acquire early last Summer, before I knew that all of my months of not feeling "quite right" would be coming to a head shortly. It's the best, honestly. I love it. Anyway, I've made hard-won reservations now. Immediately, I looked at the local calendar to see what was going on, why lodging was so scarce—I found this.

I was hoping that we would be up there for the Colorama festival, and this was to blame. No, it is the other big festival that we will be present for: Beef-A-Rama. Jokingly, I emailed Nick a link for the event's Rump Roast Run, seeing as this is a dead period for fun runs now until our Thanksgiving morning 5K. And, well, what started as a joke, ended with me logging into my Active.com account and registering for the race. I talked to Brenda over drinks, appalled, that I was entering a race wherein the first place prize was a rump roast. She licked her chops and asked that I give mine to her once I've won it. I had to refrain from snorting.

"No way I'll win," I finally got out, tapping the side of my beer. "I've discovered this."