Who needs the pizza delivery man?

When you have a bike? Have I mentioned how much I love my bike? Well if you haven't heard it lately: I LOVE MY BIKE!!! I haven't ridden in almost 2 weeks, tho, and I've missed it. A LOT!
Today hubby was watching football and we made the lunch decision for pizza. There's a Little Caesars less than 1 mile away so I decided to ride my bike there. I've gotten groceries on my bike, went to the nursery and bought lots of flowers on my bike- even lived off my bike for a few days on a tour. I've never gotten pizza with my bike. I over did it on the bungee cords because I didn't want to have to pick the pizza up off of May Ave.
I had a successful trip to get pizza. Woo hoo! Wonder what else I can retrieve on my bike...

Indoor rock climbing mega-fun!

Woo hooo! I love me some indoor rock climbing!!! I have so much fun- even tho I kinda suck at it and I have no forearm/wrist strength. I tire out after only about 3 climbs and my forearm starts cramping up. Really??? C'mon arms- harden the F up. :)
We really have a great time. We've gone a few times with our friends Alison and Jeff. Jeff is really good, Rian is pretty good and Alison and I are just OK- but we sure have fun. Here are some pics from the outing:


Rian says: that's a long way up
but up he goes:
Ummm, you want me to go to the top????Rian and Jeff plotting the best way to go up the line. This was a bit of a tricky climb, so it took some figuring out to get it right.

Finally the boys had enough of their climbing and we're ready to go get some lunch. Alison and I are more than excited about eating. It's the thing I do best. :)
All the pictures look like it's snowing because of all the chalk dust in the air. You can use chalk to get a better grip, but the silo's are so tall and empty that the chalk just floats in the air and makes it appear like it's snowing. It might have felt like it was cold enough to snow in there, but it wasn't.
I can't wait to do it again.

Happy Thanksgiving- let's go run!

Happy Thanksgiving friends!
Today we went for a run. We usually do the Turkey Trot in OKC, but we were boycotting it because it cost so much so we decided to do our own at Bluff Creek trails.

Here we are at the start:

I started running, but instantly the cold air was burning my lungs. I haven't run outside in the cold and it made me have great difficulty breathing. I had to stop and go back home. So here is where I wound up doing my Thanksgiving Day run:


It was all good anyway, and I wound up having a great run- and I could breathe. Double bonus! :)

Then I ate more than I needed to later that afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house. MMMMMM Thanksgiving feast! How I love thee!

Mmmmm... it's almost here

Yippee- Thanksgiving Day is almost here! :) Although I always eat a bit too much, it's nice to have one day to eat all the foods that I only get to eat once a year. I'm pondering riding my bike to the in-laws house tomorrow morning (40 miles away), then sleeping there and having Rian come over when he gets off work. We're bringing the mountain bikes and will do some riding Thanksgiving morning. We had better be sure to wear some bright orange, tho, as it's hunting season and I don't want to wind up shot on Thanksgiving Day (and miss all that food- shoooot no!).
Today it's bright and sunny outside. I love the sun- even if the temperature has the wind chill in the 30's. :)

There are many things to be thankful for this time of year. Here is a brief list of mine:
*family and friends
*my 3 dogs that I love like children
*a warm home with plenty of food (even if I'm a bit gluttonous at times)
*security
*a great job

I could go on and on, but I shall not. Life is good. If I learned anything over the last week- it's to enjoy each day like it's your last. Make the most of it!

It's so very sad...

Yesterday was my saddest day of teaching in 12 years. I arrived at school to find out that one of our students (a little 3rd grader) was murdered by his father earlier that morning. It was a very tragic situation. They lived only one block from school. They were a very loving family. It makes no sense. It never will...

I'm oh so sad. I checked in his library book today and had to take his library card from his classes cards and delete him from the computer. Those were the three hardest things to do. Just little things like that are so difficult- it's like erasing him.

I just don't understand it all. Dad was mentally unstable, but to do something so terrible is beyond comprehension. It's been a rough couple days at school. If you pray, please say prayers for his mother and family. So many lives are changed forever...

Treh heh heh head mill...

Think of a monk chanting Gregorian chants when you read that title.
Houston: "The treadmill has landed. This is one giant leap for mankind."

We finally have the treadmill. I say finally because we bought it on Tuesday but didn't bring it home until yesterday. It only took 3 hours and a dozen curse words to put it together. Not too bad. I'll take a picture of it later and post it here for you to see. It's a behemoth of a machine. Takes up a ton of space- but I LOVE it. I'm so glad that we have it!!!! Rian is the first to break it in (and he was so reluctant and didn't want me to have it... hee hee). He's doing a 2 hour run on it right now. I'll go for a measly 30 minute run when he's done. I can't wait!

Post Part II:
I got on and ran a 5K after Rian got done. The treadmill counts the distance to the thousandths of a mile. It's amazing how long it takes to go one tenth when you're watching the hundredths and thousandths places tick off VERY slowly. ;)
I love having a treadmill in my living room. I wore what I wanted to wear, not what looked decent on me and hid my bulges. I would have never worn that in public, but it's perfectly acceptable in my living room. What a freeing feeling.

We went rock climbing this afternoon with another couple for an hour and a half. I need to work on finger/hand strength. I have all the power I need in my legs, but I have trouble grabbing hold of little handholds and holding on. I did a good, high climb today. I made a few little monkey jumps (maybe not really big jumps- but big for me). I still have that fear of heights that keeps me from going too high. I got higher than I ever have before, but I just get to a certain height and know I need to stop and come down. Maybe one day I'll climb to the top. Maybe...

Mmmmm.... lazy days

This is how I feel today: lazy, lazy, lazy. I LOVE lazy Saturdays. It's 11:00 and I'm still in my pajamas- with no plans to get out of them anytime soon. Sure, there are things I need to do, but I shall not do anything unless I absolutely HAVE to!!! :)

Today we get to pick up our treadmill that we purchased on Tuesday. I'm so very excited!!!! I can't wait to get it home, spend countless hours in frustration putting it together, and then enjoying the sweet, sweet glory of enjoying the walk/run afterward. I'm sure there will be many foul words uttered this afternoon... always are when putting things together using instruction manuals that were made for NASA scientists. I could have spent money to have them put it together for us, but that's just wasted money and wouldn't allow us to bond. :)

Off to do more sitting and watching t.v. It's a rough life.

I wanna live here... and I wish my running shoes would shut up!

So I wanna live here one day: The Oregon coast in all it's beauty. What's not to love? Ocean. Beach. Rocky cliffs. Seals. Breathtaking views. Waves crashing. The hum of the ocean. The feel of sea spray. Hurricanes.

The misty fog makes the coastline just beautiful...
I love this shot!
Makes me want to take my shoes off and go for a walk in the warm sand...


Oh yes, and my running shoes were looking at me longingly today. In fact, they followed me around the house for hours as I did my fall cleaning (like spring cleaning but just in the fall). I just looked at them and said "You just shut up and sit there... I'll get to you when I'm darn good and ready." It was a super nice day outside. I should have gone for a run, but didn't feel like it. Not today. Especially not when you taunt me and harass me.

Bumper sticker philosophy

Today I shall share few words. My bumper stickers shall say it all...

Don'tcha just love it?

The sound of crackling, crunching autumn colored leaves under your bike tires, that is?
I know I love it, so I guess everyone should. How's that for individuality?

Fall is splendid. Today was glorious!!! God's handiwork sure is amazing!!!!
It was in the upper 70's and bright and sunny. I suppose I won't mention the 30-40 mph winds (oops, I just did). But I'll take the wind if we can keep it as nice and warm as it is today. Sleeveless in Seattle? Oh wait- I'm sleeveless in the City. There, that sounds about right.

Today was an exhausting day from from the minute I walked into school at 6:45 am. We had local author Darleen Bailey Beard come talk to the students and do writing workshops with them. It was totally fun and completely and utterly tiring. I think I need a stiff drink and a warm meal to make it all better. Really- this is what makes my job the BEST job around. Trust me, I spent 11 years in the classroom and I know what it's like. Now that I'm a librarian I certainly love what I do. It's just about the BEST there is!!!!
Here is a picture from Darleen's visit. The kids adored her and loved every single minute!!!! It's what makes it all worthwhile. Here she is doing her thang...



My ride home from work was dreamy. A strong S wind and a N route home make for a great combination! I hardly had to pedal at all on the northbound streets. What fun!! Of course with the wind blowing all the leaves in the trees have been blown all out. Makes me a little sad because I love to see the colors on those enormous branches just dangling down above my head as I ride. Here's the pretty contrast of the red bush and my evergreen tree.
Then just inside my hidden courtyard, I was greeted by my hammock suffocating under the crushing weight of all those leaves. "Help me!" it cried in anguish. I guess hammock season is officially over... today.

Then as I'm stepping through the leaves I spy Mr. Land/Water Turtle peeking his head out among the sea of leaves that have almost buried him... well, he's already dead so I suppose he can't be buried alive- but you get the idea. He was buried. If that isn't a look that could kill... creeeeepy evil turtle eye...



I couldn't help but play a little myself, so I laid down in the leaves and snapped a picture of myself amongst the beautiful array of leaves. I just L-O-V-E fall leaves and their bold colors. Makes me all giddy inside and makes my heart smile with the warmth of a thousand suns.




So today fall is here. Winter will be here before we know it. Until then- I shall soak up every minute of this wonderfully blessed season. Vive le fall!


Oh yeah- I almost forgot to tell you the best part about my ride today. I was riding through the richy-rich neighborhood that I work in. Keep in mind that I could NEVER afford an empty lot in this neighborhood, let alone the lot plus the half million dollar home that sits on it. But I digress...
anyway- I'm riding past these two old women who are walking a little dog. They stop walking to watch me approach (I have my bike with both side panniers full of stuff, wearing a helmet with a mirror and am all geeked out). They watch me get closer, and as I pedal by I look in my rearview mirror and I see them turned around and still watching me. Really? I think they wondered whether or not I was homeless or whether they should call the police to get me out of their neighborhood. I got a huge belly laugh out of that one. Poor old bittys were frightened of the woman riding a bicycle contraption looking like a little homeless person. Call the Keystone Cops (what we joking call the Nichols Hills PD). ;) Made my afternoon!
I wish I'd gotten a picture of THAT!

Ahhh... fall

HUH???
So the months got together and decided that they would switch places? Why? To screw with us is the obvious reason, but it doesn't matter. October can be November and November can be October for all I care. I only care that it's SO incredibly nice and pleasant outside.
We've had some incredible weather the last two weeks. I can't even believe how nice it's been. October was sucky with really cold, wet weather. So far November is treating us well. No complaints on this end. Who doesn't love short sleeved weather in November? Nobody I tell you. Nobody doesn't like short sleeved weather in November. And if you know someone who hates short sleeved weather in November- you just punch 'em in the gut for me.


Riding my bike to work is one of my greatest joys. It took a little while to make it a habit, but I love it more than anything in the world. I ride 3-5 days a week- depending on what I have going on (or if I wake up late and have to drive to make it on time). Sure, I have to get up and leave about 40 minutes earlier than if I drive, and I have to plan ahead a little to make sure I have clothes at work- but it's soooo worth it!!! Breathing that crisp morning air is like breathing in a little bit of heaven. And I get to see and hear things I would miss in the car. Yup- bike commuting is possible for many people, is a great way to sneak in extra exercise, and is the best mood boosting drug I've ever heard of!

That being said: on my way to work the other day I had to take a picture of the lovely trees all "falled" out. Click. This street is on my commute to work. It's through a very nice and quiet neighborhood where hardly anyone tries to run me over and kill me.

Then when I got home I spied the prettiest rose growing on my rose bush, and my mum growing next to it, and my succulent with the pretty flowers. Click. Click. Click.
Then just today I decided to take a picture of me in my library at school. Click.
Lots of pretty messy books. I mean: lots of pretty messy books. Ok- I guess I meant what I typed the first time.

Life is good on the ranch (if one acre in the city can be considered a ranch- which I think it can).

Until next time, friends...