It Happens...

Sometimes it really does happen. You just step in it. Lately, we seem to be walking through a mine field of dung heaps. Now, our van broke down. Something about a blown engine. Oddly enough, this one didn't seem to phase us. I guess we're just rolling with the punches, knowing that in the grander scheme of things, life has something wonderful ahead for us.

This One's for You

Today is my husband's 40th birthday! I can't think of a better way to honor him than with a pad named after him- so this one is for you babe: Dem' "old" Bones...and with music

The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. I always have mixed emotions on the first day of school. I'm happy to see the kids off on their journey, but I miss them.

What's normally a lonely, depressing day for me ended up being a great day. I was distracted by this guy.

And this girl. We rode our bikes to Cracker Barrel which should have been about a 25 mile round trip ride. We ran into all kinds of road construction and at one point ended up at a cross roads with the three of us all pointing in different directions. We were all wrong. A little bit of back tracking, a few crazed dogs and a whole lot of whining -from me- later and we were on our way home. We saw an ostrich, cows, elk, llama, horses, mules, baby horses and mules, a few miniature horses and some goats. No one would go for my "let's ask that farmer for a ride home" idea. I ran over a crunchy grass hopper, got sunburned and plain old burnt out - I had a blast!

I needed to stop for a sandwich and rest a few minutes so we sent Konda on ahead. While we were eating, the clouds opened up and a torrential down pour started.

We waited out the rain then rode the last mile or two, up hill, in the muggy Tennessee weather. Finishing our 35 mile bike ride in enough time to take a shower and go pick up the kids. Oh, and the cycling quote of the day - "Better to be addicted to cycling than the crack pipe".

Check out this cycling video - too funny

Where I prove my husband wrong

It has officially been 3 months that I have been on my bike (and walking) every other day. And I have gained 3 pounds. The scale is supposed to be going down. Some people say that I'm gaining muscle and loosing fat, but that just sounds like an excuse that I used to use. Either way, I can tell the difference in my clothes and I'm feeling a lot healthier.

Some cyclist can be a little snobby...sorry but it's true. You have to have just the right equipment and know all of the lingo. So when I mentioned doing a little sewing for my bike, my husband and my son were having a cow. Even though my hubby is a bend the rules kind of guy, he was insisting that we could spare the $25 to spend on a bag made by some name brand manufacturer.

The teasing went back and forth for a few weeks until he realized that I was serious. Then the begging began...you can't go around with a homemade bag...you might as well put the bell and reflectors back on your bike...hey, let's get mom some streamers for her handle bars....

I used his bag to trace out a pattern on tissue paper, grabbed some vinyl covered fabric that was waiting for just the right project and set to work. I took it apart once to add the pipping and had to fuss a little to get the zipper just right.
In the end, he knew it would be great all along and wanted me to start mass producing them to sell on etsy and at bike shops all along the valley. :)