A Day With HIV In America

6:12 a.m. Woke up. Groggy. Stayed up too late last night watching South Park.

6:14 - 6:56 a.m. Almost tripped over Bodie as I was walking down the stairs in a half-sleep. Fed the dogs. Started the coffee. Checked work email - nothing needing immediate attention. Poured a cup of coffee. Watched the sunrise. Uploaded my daily sunrise pic from my phone. Poured cup #2. Checked personal email...ugh, I hate spam! Received an ALC donation from Saul last night.

6:58 - 8:12 a.m. Read news online & listened to the Today show. Posted on Facebook (commented on Holman's pic, posted a thank you to Saul, added a status about Ann Romney's "This is hard," speech). Ate cold, leftover spinach & feta pizza for breakfast. Sent out personal emails to friends & colleagues requesting donations for my ride. Reviewed some work docs. Threw the ball for the dogs. Answered work emails.

8:14 - 8:29 a.m. My friend Todd & his friend Jayson, driving cross-country from San Francisco to Tennessee, stop by to say hi. Dogs get too rowdy so I put them in the bedroom upstairs.

8:30 - 9:38 a.m. Quick goodbyes to the boys. Pour cup #3. Jump on a conference call for work.

9:40 - 10:08 a.m. Shower. Dress. Make plain, whole wheat toast. Send Jeanne a thank you email for her donation.

10:09 a.m. Posted about "A Day with HIV in America" on Facebook and made the choice to document my entire day on my blog.

10:10 - 11:58 a.m. Work. Received an ALC donation from Ellen and posted a thank you on Facebook. Realize my sponsors are only $69 away from moving into the #11 spot for Top Fundraisers. Work.

11:59 a.m. - 1:02 p.m. Had the leftover Greek salad from the pizza place. Added kalamata olives because they only put black & green olives on it. It's not a Greek salad without kalamatas. Also added radishes because they're full of good stuff. Watch two episodes of Golden Girls. The one where Blanche & Sophia get scammed and the one where Rose meets her real father.

1:03 - 6:02 p.m. Work. Walk to mailbox. Work.Give the pups a treat. Work. Do twenty minutes of resistance band exercises.  Eat a snack of homemade hummus & baby carrots while working. Receive ride donations from Chip & Mark. Post thank you's. Team moves into the #11 spot on Top Fundraisers. Work. Feed dogs. Work.



6:03 - 6:55 p.m. Nap. Bodie cuddles with me on the sofa.



6:56 - 7:44 p.m. Reheat leftover quinoa puttanesca for dinner. Chat with roommate Zach for a bit.





7:45 - 8:32 p.m. Take the dogs for a short walk. Receive an ALC donation from Steve. Post a thank you on Facebook and realize we've hit 75% of my goal and my ride sponsors reach the list of Top 10 Fundraisers. Decided I would do no fundraising this weekend.

8:33 - 8:58 p.m. Prep for tomorrow's training ride. Air up tires. Fill water bottles. Mix electrolyte drink. Fill baggie with trail mix. Set out shorts, jersey, helmet, shoes, sunglasses, gloves.




8:59 - 11:12 p.m. Lisa posts on Facebook that PBS is showing the Smith Center opening. Turn on TV to watch it in the background. Settle in front of the computer to finish today's blog while watching the show. Make a cup of Sleepy Time tea. Give pups a treat. Go outside to take a quick "city lights" pic. Publish blog. Shut off electronics. Brush my teeth. Climb into bed. Tell Bodie to get off the bed. Take my pill. Go to sleep.


Press "PLAY" before reading the rest....

Yawn. Pretty dull, eh? No, not the song or the video. My play-by-play documentation of my life. You see, that's partly why I chose not to submit a photo for "A Day With HIV in America." My life's just not interesting most of the time. And I chose to document the day today to show that it's also not much different than anyone else's. Over the years, including the past few weeks, I've been told I'm "brave" and "strong" and "inspirational." Riding from SF to LA might be inspirational but seriously, how inspirational is walking to the mailbox at 1:45 p.m. or eating cold pizza for breakfast? Heh! I know my blog sometimes focuses on the sensational things - and everything I write is absolutely true - but my normal day-to-day is the same as yours. I guess that's part of why I ride. To help others understand we're just people. People with daily challenges like anyone else. Sure, some of those may be health related and there's stuff that goes with that. But part of the miracle of life is the light and the dark that makes it all up. And part of the miracle of being human is learning the power within to overcome whatever challenges the darkness has presented. Because no matter how black the midnight sky, we get through by seeing it's covered with pinpoints of light. And remembering there is never a night the sunrise doesn't beat or a problem that hope can't defeat.