Bikes and Bruises

So, yesterday I rode my bike for the first time. I've now discovered all of it's flaws (but considering I got it for free and delivered and can probably fix them isn't a big deal)! The seat won't stay up, so the whole time I was on it, my legs were kinda squished. Surprising, I know, since my legs are pretty short. I can't even imagine how Mark rode it! But hopefully Danny, another CA, will be able to help me fix that and my loose front wheel. I'm also pretty sure my bum is bruised. The seat is really really hard. Luckily, there is an abandoned bike right outside of my back door with a cushy seat cover which I will steal. It was still pretty fun riding a bike again. It's been so long that I'm still a little overly cautious. I slow down a lot on corners. And yes Dad, I wore my helmet.

Blood and Guts... well, maybe just blood

I think we all know I'm a little weird. As evidence, I love giving blood. I mean seriously LOVE it. I get so excited when I hear about drives going on and even more so when I sign up for them. About a week and a half ago I made an appointment to go the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center in Orem to give blood today (While it's technically Friday, this applies to Thursday). All week I've been telling the other CAs how excited I was to give blood. I went up to Orem, got lost trying to find the place, eventually had to call someone else to get the place's phone number, called the Center, and found it. When I finally got to the "we're now going to stab you with a needle" station, my technician's marker was running low. Instead of getting a new one, she decided to just to push really hard. You know when you're trying to get a pen to work so you just make circles really hard until it works but then you've dented your paper? That's basically what this woman did to my arm. I donated babies blood for the first time (You can't do it in the traveling drives. They have to use special bags). I filled my bag in 5 1/2 minutes. I was pretty happy. When I was done, the technician (a guy now) yanked the needle out of my arm! My arm is a little sore now and I've still got lines from the marker. It looks like I have a really weird shaped bruise. Having given blood twice in Utah now, I've decided I like doing it better in Idaho. Our technicians are nicer and gentler and nicer. Seriously. These guys were all business. The ones in Idaho were always fun. Plus, we have a better ball to spin to get the blood flowing. Here they want you to squeeze the whole time. That is really painful! You've got a needle stuck in your arm for heaven's sake! Despite their shortcomings, it was still totally worth it. And, p.s., I was so vocal about being excited to go that I convinced Becca, my coworker, to give blood for the first time. We're going in 56 days!