The Big Bike Theory ~ July 4th Edition

The Big Bike Theory

One bike

One out of shape gal

One theory- to ride 100 miles on my bike before Labor Day 2013

Help hold me accountable as I ride around my neighborhood taking pictures as I try to achieve my goal. Comments welcome!

Happy 4th of July!  I've been trying to ride everyday, but it has been stinking hot here in the desert, and that means getting up early. I love the early mornings and the way the sunlight makes everything look!

 

My sweet neighbor always decorates her lawn for every holiday.

Miss Kitty thinks she is hiding from me!

  

When did speed bumps become speed "humps"?

 

Pretty flowers

 

Did you ever have a lemonade stand?

Uh oh - a sprinkler waterfall!

And now~ I am up to 25.12 miles as of this morning!

~~ Lynda

3 John 1:2 ESV 

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

 

The Big Bike Theory

The Big Bike Theory

One bike

One out of shape gal

One theory- to ride 100 miles on my bike before Labor Day 2013

Help hold me accountable as I ride around my neighborhood taking pictures as I try to achieve my goal. Comments welcome!

Apricot tree

This intrigues me...it seems like it just dropped out of the sky...

I love the neighborhood gates!

FBG went with me today (yes, we have matching bikes).

 My mileage - June 18

7.79 miles

Only 92.21 more miles to go!

Happy day all!

Lynda

 

Simply Saturday

Don't you enjoy Saturday? I work Monday through Friday, have assorted things going on a couple of evenings a week and go to Church on Sunday. But Saturday? It's a day with flexible options. You just never know where you might end up.

This Saturday was a typical one for me. FBG had to work most of the day (poor guy), so I was footloose most of the day to choose what I wanted  to do. Most Saturdays are like that. Free and easy.

Early morning brought laundry, coffee, and surfing the net, while half-watching cooking shows on the Food Network. Then it was off to the farmer's market to get some veggies. There is a booth I especially like, the oriental organic farmer guy one. He has exotic looking things to buy and I like to ask how to cook these alien vegetables. He always has the best advice- "stir fry", no matter what I ask him about. I think I could show him ice cream and he would say "stir fry". I ended up buying some heirloom tomatoes. No, I didn't ask him how to cook them. :)

yum!

It's a small farmer's market but I like it. After that, it was off to Target to buy "Target-y" stuff.

Back home, I had a quick visit from my son and 2 of my grand kids (always wonderful!) and then out to lunch with my mom at Applebees.

Later on FBG got home and I worked on school stuff fooled around playing trivia and watched more cooking shows. I especially like Jacques Pepin on PBS.



 (Photo Credit: Cristiana Ceppas)

pbs.org


I wish he would come over and cook some french food for me! But since Jacques didn't show up, I used my farmer's market tomatoes and made homemade pizza for dinner. A quiet dinner and evening with my guy...and *poof* Saturday was gone.

It was a nice, simple Saturday. Just the kind I love. I hope yours was a good one too.


Hey!...I just thought of sharing this book that I have enjoyed reading this summer...and no one paid me to feauture it! It's an easy read and has great practical and spiritual suggestions for all. It's one of those you can read again and again.

                                                             vnesdoly.blogspot.com

~ Lynda ~
 

Deep Thoughts-Olympic Style

I love the Olympics. Winter and Summer. FBG unfortunately doesn't share my same enthusiasm. This can cause a little issue during TV time. In our house, he usually controls the remote for the TV and I get to control the radio stations in the car. It is a perfect arrangement . While he surfs the channels looking for something with cowboys in it, I surf the web looking at Pintrest and FB. In the car, while I change the radio channels in search of  my favorite country song, he...um...looks out the window. However, during the Olympics, he still controls the remote, but I change the channel every time he leaves the room. He comes back and watches skeet shooting, or water polo or whatever I have changed to. He watches patiently and never complains. I appreciate that about him. Of course, if I get up, he changes to Gunsmoke or Bonanza or anything with a guy and a horse...and I (being a nice wife *ahem*) don't complain and go back to surfing the web. That is, until, he leaves the room and then... well, you see how it goes!

When I do grab the remote and watch the games, I often have odd thoughts and questions. Since this is my blog, I will share them with you, in no particular order.

I thought about the Hunger Games during the opening ceremonies. (That status update caused some good discussion on my FB page!)
I would really like to go sculling.
Does anyone else hide their eyes at times while watching gymnastics?
I rather liked Mr. Bean's part in the opening ceremonies.
Can you imagine how much food water polo players get to eat?
Why are the male beach volley ball players so covered up and female ones so...exposed? ( I do know the answer to that one actually)
Why Ryan Seacrest?
How many commercials can Morgan Freeman narrate?
Does every commercial need to try to make us cry?
Do any of you know an actually Olympic athlete?
Ryan Seacrest?
Is Michael Phelps a nice guy or a jerk?
Is that a bad thing to wonder?

Now, I am curious if any of you are watching the Olympics. If you are, are there any random thoughts or questions rolling around in your head? Please share them in the comments! Don't be shy!


Lastly, do you know this lady?


(AP Photo)

She is Kim Rhode and she has won more gold medals than anyone in the Olympics ever~in skeet shooting!
Here is a link to her story- it is inspiring and worth the read.
http://goo.gl/WnZts

Cheers to Kim and to all the athletes at the games!

(Don't forget to chime in with your thoughts!)

Old Friends and Loud Music

A week ago Saturday, FBG and I made our way to the Sagebrush Cantina for my 40^th reunion. It was a beautiful summer evening and I was looking forward to seeing friends and acquaintances and sharing memories.

As we walked to the entrance, all of the sudden I had a mini panic attack. I felt like I was 17 and walking into the dance, feeling insecure and awkward. I told FBG I wanted to go home. He laughed and said, “Come on” and in we went.

Reunions are such odd things. People who you shared so much with so many years ago surround you. They look familiar and yet different. It is almost surreal!

Everyone was friendly, talkative and fun to be with. It was a hoot to see everyone looking so carefully at each other’s tags to see who was who. Laughter and screams of recognition filled the air as folks found old friends they had been looking for.  Little groups formed as people got reacquainted.We grumbled because the 60’s/70’s music they were playing was so loud it was hard to hear each other. Then we laughed at the irony of it, since we used to play that exact music so loudly that many of us have hearing loss! We danced, talked and ate tacos under the moon. A great time was had by all.

And then *poof* the evening was over and we all went our separate ways. Back to our regular lives, with the people we know and love now. There were lots of promises made to keep in touch and not let so many years go by before meeting up again. Such are the promises of reunions. I was glad I went and that FBG made me go in and not chicken out.

And since some of you might be wondering-there was not a bottle of Boones Farm wine in sight. Too bad. J

Old friends, old friends sat on their park bench like bookends

A newspaper blowin' through the grass

Falls on the round toes of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men

Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun

The sounds of the city sifting through trees

Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly

How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years, silently sharing the same fears

~Simon and Garfunkel

A Long Time Ago...

A long time ago, I wasn’t a wife, mom, gramma, grown up teacher lady.

A long time ago, I was 15, 16, then 17 years old and in high school and I did things that girls that age did back then.

I went to school and did my homework

Played my albums and went to dances

Read “Tiger Beat” and put pictures of music groups on my wall

Babysat (a lot)

Slept over at my friend’s house, talked all night and made prank phone calls

Went to Zuma Beach on the beach bus all summer

Talked on the phone to my friends (a lot)

Learned to drive

Wore “work shirts”, jeans, bandanas, and hiking boots

Tp’ed houses

Went to the movies and Bob’s Big Boy

Learned to play my guitar

Went to football games and was on drill team

Went to parties, kissed boys and drank Boones Farm Apple Wine

and a million others things that made me the grown up lady I am today.

Why am I telling you this?

Well this Saturday, FBG and I are going to my *ahem* 40^th High School Reunion.

40 th!

And guess what- I am excited (and a little nervous) to see all those people from so long ago. I know it will be fun!

I am also wondering if anyone will sneak in a bottle of Boone’s Farm…

Stay tuned!

Cut and Slice

Last week, holding my $40 Kohl’s gift card, I spied one of these babies for $39.99 and I just had to get it.

 

Isn’t it cute? I love red and I thought it might help me to cook gourmet, healthy,  halfway edible meals for FBG.  I couldn’t wait to use it. On Thursday, I made zucchini meatballs, light and yummy for meatball subs, using a new recipe from Pintrest. My little chopper shredded the zucchini and onions like a dream and dinner turned out just how I planned. My little chopper was easy to use and wash and I left it to dry in the drainer. I was so happy!

On Friday afternoon, I finally got around to putting away my new gadget.  As I carried it over to the shelf, the bowl slipped out of my hands… and guess what?  The little red chopper slices feet, as well as veggies!  The blade hit my foot, and I ended up with a beaut of a cut right between my little toe and the toe next to it. (Do you call that the “ring toe”?). O U C H! 

Luckily FBG was due home in a few minutes. He unwrapped the towel , and after assessing the situation, declared that since it was in such an odd area,  stitches were probably out of the question. He bandaged me up and gave me the appropriate sympathy. So, now I am a gimp, with a bum foot for a few days. Oh well, no pedicure this week!



Didn't he do a good job?
(I hope this isn't too gross...)

When things like this happen in my life, I try to think, “What is God teaching me in this?” I thought of the cute red chopper, and how this little machine, which didn’t seem too dangerous, caused me a lot of pain. And it came to me. Little sins can be like the mini chopper. They don’t look too dangerous, and yet these little sins can cause a lot of pain. I hope I can remember this lesson daily!

Song of Songs 2:15
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.