Help!

Yeah, so, I missed the sale. Yeah.

Road Ride x 2

I went on two--TWO!--road rides this weekend. Greedy? Perhaps. Selfish? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.



I was so happy yesterday. If Chris Carmichael showed up (but why would he show up? I don't know; it's a hypothetical. Focus.), I think I would've smooched him. On his face. That's how happy. I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm pretty excited about the upcoming year of cycling. 'Cuz it's only February, dude. Two rides. In two days. Mmm-hmm.

And the sun! The sun was so bright on Friday, I had a semi-permanent wrinkle between my eyebrows. Also, I couldn't look directly at my safety shirt. For obvious reasons. Hey. It's saved my life, probably a hundred times. At least. Don't hate.


I think there are so many little things that make riding at this time of year so lovely. For one, it's nice to not be all slimy and hallucinating from the 90% humidity. And to be able to breath. Gee, that's nice.


On the other hand, with the leaves off the trees and with me wearing my slightly garish safety shirt, it's a little challenging to find good spots for a bathroom break. TMI? Tough, that's the hard truth. Which has me wondering: I know how the male pro-cyclists relieve themselves on long rides, but, uhm, what about the female pros? Anyone know this? I'm a little afraid to research it.

February has been my second-favorite month (it's so hard to pick!) for some years now. There are all these small, subtle, almost-sneaky changes happening for Spring. The sun tilts differently. Birds start singing differently. I think it even smells different. And no one seems to love it but me. Sad. I think it is so dynamic and exciting, with this electric undercurrent buzzing and humming away.

And, you don't have to mow the grass.

Still

I'm thankful for my husband. When I whine that I have no sled, he doesn't tell me to grow up or warn that I'll get hurt. He only reminds me we don't have a hill :)

Took Slarty for a walk tonight as it was getting dark. (Does it ever get dark when there's snow on?) We went to the next neighborhood, a"holler". We heard voices and noticed there were some people high on one hillside, burning a bonfire. With the backdrop of bare trees, the gray light, the white snow, the fire all above us, I was quite struck. It reminded me of this story I read on Granny Sue's blog. I wanted to hike up there and see if February was sitting on the highest perch. It was a very Grimm's-Fairy-Tales sort of a walk.

{{FIVE}} Things for Fun...

5 Things I Am Looking Forward To:

watching pro-cycling on tv (at someone else's house since i don't get the ONE channel that airs it), the day when i come home and the house is COLORFUL and peaceful, finishing this book, vacation in the wild west, the ways the Lord is working in my life and my friends' lives right now...pretty awesome and humbling :)

5 Things I Did Yesterday:
browsed the blogs, made pancakes, sorted through the dissheveled stack of printed-out recipes I've been collecting for the past five years or so (yes! I did it!), watched the horrifying wipeouts on the olympic coverage--gah!, went for a walk with slarty.... And that's pretty much all I did yesterday; five things!

5 Things I Wish I Could do:
(((is this including 'cure cancer' and 'end famine' etc or are we talking .... what? that's the problem with me and these question-answer things. I always need clarification. Of course, that's the problem with me and people, too, hahaha... That's not funny, I guess... Okay, back to the questions)))

stop talking when i should (see above paragraph), keep a straight face when i should, keep in touch by snail mail with my pen-pal(s), be neat, use coupons with sophisticated ease

5 Places I’d Like to Travel To:
charleston, sc, new zealand, japan, nepal, new mexico

5 Cute things I've found online lately:

cool table, the best baby (or grownup) afghan I have ever seen, braided headband tutorial, new lisa leonard necklace,
nice bag

Snow & Redecorating

We are on another snow day (yesssss!). I just love the peaceful mornings moving at my own pace. I am not a morning person but I do love mornings. I just need to creep along at my slug's pace, absorbing coffee, until eleven or so. Then I'm good.



Anyhow, one of the hardware mega-giants is having a paint sale. Now, those of you who know me are probably aware of how I detest the rose-patterned wall paper in my kitchen/dining room/bike shop. Sigh. For seven years I have detested it. Where does the time go? This is way over-due.

The problem is, I have such a hard time deciding what color to go with. If it's taken this long to paint the first time, how long will it take to re-paint??

But the sale..... I have to act fast. The room faces eastish. The so-called experts recommend a warm-toned hue.

source

I've been thinking about this color on some or all the walls of our living room since an impromptu drive to the ocean a couple of Aprils ago. Have you been to the Eastern Shore in April? When the skies are gray, the wisteria blooming in the crowns of the tallest trees, the sand glowing, somehow, the water this color? Well, you should.

source

so, after two days of mulling and slugging around, that's what I got, yo. I know. This is why it's taking seven years. Sigh. The journey, the journey, I'm enjoying the journey.

Me 'n' my furfriend are going out into the snow for a bit, now. Ciao.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010

Oh, hello. So it's a totally anti-climactic New Year. I know it's supposed to be a Big One, new decade and all. Whatever. Perhaps after last years' high drama, this one just couldn't compete. It's the first New Year since Grandpa's passing a couple of weeks ago; I'm sure that's giving our family the ho-hums, with the memorial service looming sometime in the coming days.

Also, I spent the evening at home with Slarty. As in, by ourselves. The neighborhood kids are teenagers now, in skinny jeans, and waaay to cool to ring our doorbell at midnight to wish as a happy one. I had a couple of offers but still opted to stay in. If this happens again--Husbfriend working--I think I will have me own little shindig. (Does 'shindig' mean dance? 'Cuz I don't think we should dance, necessarily. If it means dance, then pretend I said 'soiree'.)

I did, however, sneak off to my friend's salon and get a fabulous new 'do. Those of you who have had to deal with my un-fabulous old 'do, conscientiously avoiding direct eye contact with it--Rejoice! Sorry it's taken so long! So great to have a buddy whom I fully trust with my lackluster locks. Thanks, Karen!

You know how I feel about resolutions...Okay, I'll tell you anyway. Impossible. Reckless. Doomed to failure. Impractical. I feel especially vehement about them, probably, because of all the retro-learning/conditioning I've had to do in the course of my adult (ha!) life. I'm a messy, a schizo, a flake, and ashamed of it no longer. I know that I--and others like me--have to carefully and gradually plan these changes. No such thing as magic. So New Years' resolutions scream, "Bad idea!" at me.

On the other hand, one of the reasons I love January (and I do love January) is because it's such a fresh, clean beginning. (That's what I kind of like about Mondays, too. I know. Hiss. I like House and Castle, too, though.)

So maybe I will make a little list of non-resolutions for 2010. Okay? Okay.