Where does the time go? Quickly I guess, as this letter is getting out pretty late this year. Not surprisingly, 2002 was a busy year too. Full of changes and, of course, a little adventure.

The biggest news is that I've moved! After thirteen years in my great town home I decided it was time for a change. In February, I bought a 1985 single-family home in Plymouth, about 14 miles north of my old place. It’s a really terrific house, with a ton of great features, but was in need of a little TLC. I'm pretty handy and have been able to do a lot of the work myself or with the assistance of a few skilled and generous friends and relatives (thanks everyone!) I also know what's over my head or just too damn much work and hired out some of the big stuff. I've really enjoyed bringing the place to life and weaving in my own style.

Friends have been joking that five bedrooms and three baths seems a little much for a single woman. My bedroom, bath, and den are part of a 1995 addition and gives me kind of a suite of my own. The two main floor bedrooms and bath are used for a roommate so they get both a bedroom and a den. The last bedroom is on the lower level along with the third bath. I finally have a real guest room and a place for mom to stay when she breezes through town. There's lots of room overall which is great for entertaining. Now I just have to stop working so damn hard, slow down, and enjoy the place!

With so much time spent on my new home, I didn't do much cycling this year. I had some minor health problems which kind of took the fun out of it too. I think I've got that solved and a lot of the big stuff done on the house, so I hope to kick back and ride a lot more next summer.

Last New Year's I went down to Tucson to visit my Odyssey 2000 (O2K) buddies Denis W, Kt T, and Matt N. In April I did a week of jury duty on a criminal case; that was pretty interesting. In June a group went up to my Mom's cabin near Brainerd to ride the Tour of Lakes; mom even rode over 60 windy miles! Also in June I enjoyed a weekend in Whitehall, WI at the TCBC Summer Velo Trempealeau ride. July Fourth was spent in my traditional way, hosting a rest stop at the TCBC Watermelon Ride with Mike B -- in costume of course! July also brought O2K friend Gerry R and his wife Judith C down from Nova Scotia for a short visit. In August I rode the TCBC Weekend on Wheels (WOW) in Winona. I also spent several weekends helping out my friends Jon A and Sunny P at their booth at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. In September I joined some friends from Lake Harriet Spiritual Community to watch the annual hawk migration along Lake Superior. I also went to the Cable, WI area for both the Spring and Fall TCBC Loomis Mountain Bike Adventures. This year I provided one of the host houses for the TCBC 22nd Annual Halloween Ride; 63 costumed folks biked over to my home for "chili and chowda." In November, I visited O2K friend Barb S in Greensboro, NC. Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent with sister Debby and her family in Eden Prairie.

Many of you have also asked about our lawsuit against O2K tour leader TK&A. Well, these things take much longer than even I imagined, but we're still moving along and feel we're getting good results. Considering he had 247 riders for Odyssey 2000 and only four for his 2003 tour, we've very much gotten the word out about his practices.

Sometimes nerds have the worst equipment and I finally got a new PC so I can do my web pages from home. I'm in process of reorganizing my pics on HarpoVal.com into photo albums and will be publishing new O2K photos soon. Heck, I'm only 32 months behind now. Think of it as kind of a book of the month club. You would've gotten really bored looking at all 1500 photos all at once anyway, right? Please subscribe to my newsletter if you want to receive notices when new pictures are published.

I'm still working at Express Scripts and that's going just fine. Mom is off in her new motor home, traveling the country and finding volunteer opportunities. She and I are planning a trip to Europe next spring.

That's about it for my year. Hope yours was excellent as well and the new one is even better!

Valerie