Wheeeeeee...........

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on H.'s bike. His bike has been hanging in our garage for a while, needing new tubes. I bought some tubes, got the bike down, and with the help of my two willing and able children, we replaced the tubes. So, I've been toodling around on the bike for the past few days, but yesterday I got serious. Ok, not really serious, because I know what a serious biker looks like and I'm not that person. But I did ride for about 8 miles total. I know, that doesn't sound like much, but will you tell my bum bones that? Ouch!

We rode down to our old bishop's car lot because our van is giving us trouble....I know, you're in shock, right? And we are trying to decide if we should fix the van, again, or get a small car/truck and a small payment to go with it.

I thought it was pretty funny that we went riding up on a bike to tell our old bishop that we need a car.

Anyway, so we rode down (which had a lot of downhill time as it turns out) and then back (which means we were going uphill a lot). It seems like on a bike ride you really should put in the work during the first half of the trip so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor during the last half.

But, either way, both legs of the trip were super, super fun! The weather was nice and cloudy, a little cool, and at one point I was super squinting because raindrops were piercing my cornea going downhill! But I totally loved it! Talk about cross training! But since we only have 1 working adult bike in the house we need to get another one. I'm thinking maybe a new bike for me? and then H. can have our one working car. We'll see.

I felt like a little kid because I really did feel pure joy while riding that bike. There were sweaty times, times when I had to shift down to the lowest gear available, and then there were exhilarating, high speed, wind on my face and through my hair times. I loved it!

Now onto today's business:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! As I get older I can see every single day how much good father's sacrifice for their wives and children. I am so grateful today for my dad and for H. I am truly, truly blessed to have had such good men in my life.

Dad, H.: You deserve all the happiness and joy that Heavenly Father can give to you. Big hugs and kisses and a day filled with good fun, good presents, and good food to you both! I know a lot of other good men out there, father's and fathers to be. To you all: Enjoy your day, you deserve it!

Why I Love Psych Reports:

The patient states that he does believe he is "the prophet." He states that his white beard serves as evidence of this. He then laughs bizarrely.

Can You Read My Mind? (Lois Lane Theme)

It's 8:12 in the morning on Saturday. I'm waiting for H. to wake up to go on our walk/run this morning. (We're supposed to run, but we'll see.) I'm dressed, the house is quiet except for the happy lull of the washing machine, and I'm wasting time at the computer....waiting....waiting....

Can you guess what I'm thinking about? I bet you can't. Twenty-four hours ago I couldn't have guessed what I would be thinking about. So, here is a major clue:



My mom has had these bad boys in her cupboard for SIX WHOLE MONTHS...untouched I might add. They have been tucked away, unopened, still fresh inside their happily sealed package. Every time I come to my mother's house I take a longing look at this package and then instead of opening the box, I walk away. I make a comment every third visit or so about how it would be great to have some Candy Cane Jojo's. My mom usually ignores my comments. Ok, she probably doesn't hear me because I'm usually talking to myself. So the last time I was at her house I said, "When are we going to open these up?" My mom tells me I can open then right then if I want. "No," I say, "let's wait until I come next time." Next time was to be one week later. Fast forward to last night.

H., the kids, and I come back from H.'s work party at the zoo (fun I might add and I will super try to download a pic from my cell phone of the kids), and I am hankering for something yummy. (We stayed at my parents house last night.) My mom and I go to the pantry and she points out all the yummy cookie/brownie/cake mixes she has. But, I'm not feeling invested in baking AT ALL. Then I see the brightly striped red/white package of joy. "Hey, can I open these?" Sure, says my mother who just rejoined Weight Watchers the night before. (To her credit, I think she had 1 cookie...that woman is a ROCK!)

I tried to be ginger about opening the package, but I failed, after a few attempts I just got desperate and ripped the dang thing. I then proceeded to pour myself a glass of milk. And I ate. Mmmmmmmmm......I had 5 cookies and they were worth it!! 150 calories for 2, so that means 375 calories of cookies at 10 p.m. at night. Nice call, right?

Addendum: Magic, part 2

This morning I knew I would be "cross training." My run yesterday made me feel like I could just cruise on a nice walk this morning (and be completely justified in doing so). I was cruising all right, like an 80-year-old with a front-wheeled walker!

Ouch, ouch, ouch! Things hurt today. I couldn't even do a decent paced walk for goodness sake.

After my slower-than-snails walk, I sat down at the computer to work for a while. H. called me up for family prayer and for S. to get a father's blessing pre-girls camp and as I stood up, holy-moly....everything was screaming! Then kneeling down for the prayer was horrible....but nothing compared to trying to get up from kneeling! I had to call H. over to assist! Then he says, hey, let's say our prayer. UGH, really? So I get back down....and have to have him help me up again.

Maybe H. should feel grateful that I'm giving him a peak into our future life together.

Do You Believe In Magic?

H. was feeling sick yesterday so I knew he wouldn't be exercising with me today. I geared up with S.'s iPod and took to the streets on my own. I did a route that does not have the hill of death included, its a route that basically runs around my house and the trail along the creek. It is 0.75 miles around and if you go around 4x, you've gone 3 miles.

After a quick little walk to warm up, I started my usual trot. Since the hill of death wasn't on my route today I thought I might just be able to run the entire 3 miles. And....yesiree.....I did it! I even made myself pass my house on my fourth time around to go to the place where I actually started to run, so that I could KNOW of a surety that I ran an entire 3 miles.

For the last 1.5 laps I was S.T.R.U.G.G.L.I.N.G. The 2 songs that were playing towards the end were "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and "Do You Believe in Magic?" Appropriate, no?

This is how long it took me to run and how long it took me to STOP sweating once I had finished (in minutes):


This is what my face looked like until just a few moments ago:


I really wanted to get a pic of myself so you could see just how bad it was, but my camera batteries are dead at the moment. Here is what I found online:


And, just as a fair warning, DO NOT Google "fat girl running" and expect completely benign pictures. Ick. Also, I don't wear ANYTHING that exposes my midriff while running...or ever! And my stride is about half of what is pictured here.

So, do you believe in magic? I know I do. June 1, 2009 will forever live in my own personal history. A day that started with the sweep of a wand and the determination of a fat girl and POOF....MAGIC!