Happy April

Miles commuted today:  7

Today's quote:

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.  ~H.G. Wells

Glorious springtime!!!  It's hard to be sad when it's oh so nice outside.  Even if the wind has been blowing a constant 25-40 mph for the last 4 days, it's still glorious!!!!  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE spring?  Well, I do.  Now you know.

Had an amazing sunrise this morning on the way to work.  This was taken as I approached school (I teach at a Catholic school- that's why there's a church in the shot).

Stopped by the grocery store to pick up some flavored creamer for the coffee.  Yes, I've started drinking coffee again.  Some mornings it's all I can do to keep my bleary eyes open lately.  Coffee helps.  It doesn't help to have it taste less disgusting.  Hence the flavored creamer.  So sue me.

Rode the Bike Friday to work today.  Haven't ridden my friend since... aw hell- since I bought the "new" commuter.  It's been a few months.  I LOVED the ride.  I forgot how smooth the Friday is.  Had new handlebars installed, fixed the seat to fit more like my time trial bike, and we had a sweet ass ride together this morning.
As I pulled up to school, the newly  sprung tulips caught my eye.  Tulips are one of my faves. It was still dark, so the flash needed to light them up.

Had to ride to the library to return a book after work, and got caught in two carpool lines.  I've never waited in a carpool line.  Either in my car or on my bike.  I wonder if someone thought I was picking a kid up on my bike.  "Hop on the rack, kid, and hold on tight."
On the way home I spotted this sign at the entrance to my neighborhood.  Strange sign, but there used to be two car dealerships flanking either side of the street coming into the neighborhood.  If you didn't know that- you'd find this sign quite odd.  The dealerships are long since gone.  I wonder if they'll ever take the sign down?

All day I smelled the fragrant whiff of the stink blossom.  You may know the tree as the Bradford Pear tree.  It's a pretty tree, but those blossoms sure do stink!  The trees are EVERYWHERE.  My ride to and from work is littered with stink blossoms.  Smells like I need to shower and I catch myself taking a whiff of my pits- then realizing it's not me.  Whew!
Your beauty is only surpassed by your stinkiness.  

Hmmm.... what to do today???

Total miles commuted today:  0
Total miles hiked today:  4

Today's quote:

Don't blend in. Stand out

- Unknown

Done and done!!

OK, so I *know* what I should do today, but getting my sorry butt outta bed is another story.  It's so warm in bed.  My hubs has been out running for almost 2 hours now (training for his marathon next month).  I should be training for my half marathon next month, but my motivation wanes.   I think in about 10 min. I'll drag my lazy butt out of bed, put on the loaded backpack and hit the treadmill for a couple hours of "hiking." 

Here's the problem:  it's the weekend, it's cold outside, it's warm in bed and I'm lazy.  I've become quite the lazy bag of bones as of late.  I can't seem to find the motivation to do much of anything lately.  I will ride my bike to work, do a little running (maybe), and sorta take care of my responsibilities around the house- but not much else.  I don't have any motivation to do much of anything anymore.  I wonder if it's just the winter blahs that are finally catching up with me.
Seems we get a taste of Spring with a day or two of glorious warmth- then we get hit with winter again and we're stuck inside on a cold and dreary day.  Enough of that already!!!  It's supposed to be in the 80's a couple days this week.  Woo hoo!!!  Then it's back to the low 50's for the weekend again.  Boo!!!

I like the quote, tho:   Don't blend in.  Stand out.

I try to do that as much as humanly possible.  I need to conform to be professional in my job, but at every chance I get (my VFF's for instance), I try to stand out.
I can't stand being "one of many."  I crave the differences, the uniqueness, the kooky!  The older I get, the more I want to take the path less traveled than the others.  I want to to live freely, be different and bold.  I just need to figure out how to do that and still stay married to a straight-laced guy.  It may become tricky in the years to come. ;)

Have a great Sunday!!  I think I see the sun trying to come out:  oh what a glorious moment!!

Added:
I went ahead and hiked on the treadmill at 9% for 4 miles with my 25 lb pack on.  I was slow, but it doesn't matter how fast I go.  I'll be going slower on our trip, so anything over 1.5 miles per hour is fast. ;)
I thought we'd be carrying around 40 lbs each on the hike, but I've now decided I'm going to pare down the necessary items and only carry around 25 or 30 max.  The heaviest part will be the food and water we'll have to carry.  The clothes and sleeping stuff will be light.  1.2 lbs for each sleeping mat, 4 lbs for the tent,  less than a pound for each sleeping bag liner, about 6 lbs for the "kitchen."  I'm guessing about 5 lbs worth of clothing.  It's the food and water that will weigh the most.  I'll be working on that in the next 8 weeks.  We'll have a filter to clean water, so we won't have to carry quite so much with us as we can pump and filter along the way.
I've got lots of prep to do, because 25 lbs in my pack is more than enough!!!

Miles commuted in the last 3 days:  0
How do I feel about that?  Very sad.

Today's quote: 

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.  ~John F. Kennedy

Today I had hoped to get in a nice, long ride.... BUT we are under a wind advisory (winds sustained at 25-40 mph), and the cold front moved in early and it started raining.  It's currently 40 outside and raining.  Boo to winter not being dead yet.  I guess I caused this myself... I DID go out and buy some tomato plants this morning, so I am to blame.  Soooorrry...

Hit the farmer's market this morning.  It's still not the best growing season yet, so there were still some slim pickins, but it's getting better and better each week.  I can't wait for the full growing season to get me all the yummy fresh fruits and vegetables.  Woo hoo!!!

I'm so incredibly sick and thoroughly exhausted with winter and the damn cold.  I hate this place lately.  I would rather live in the blistering heat than this damn cold.  ugh.  So so so so so so sick of it all (can you tell I'm having one of "those" days yet?).

Enough bitching... I shall focus on the positive.  I'm going to plant my very first garden this year.  I have books to guide me, plants that want to be grown, and an acre of land that is just begging to be used.  I can't wait!!!!  Today I'm going to read all about what I need, and then tomorrow (when it warms up a couple degrees) I shall head off to the store to buy my supplies.  I want to live like people did in the olden days; growing my own food and controlling how it's grown and what is put in/on it.  I'm so excited.  I just hope I don't kill everything.  I have an extremely large black thumb.  I'm kinda like the crypt-keeper of gardens.  Here's to not killing plants!!!

I'm going to take a nap now and dream of sunny, calm skies.  It's a pipe dream, but I'm still going to do it: and you can't stop me!! 

Oh yeah!!!

Miles commuted today:  6
Quote of the day:

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man.  Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish.  Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.  ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

Today was a great day.  First of all, it's Wednesday so the week is more than half over.  Second, it's almost Friday.  Third:  do you really need a third?  You shouldn't!
Had a good commute today.  I was running late this morning (dang snooze button), so had to bust out my morning commute.  Made it in 17 minutes.  That's not much faster than usual, but on such a short commute, 3-4 minutes faster is impressive (for me at least).  I'm so glad I have a private bathroom at work to freshen up in.  Makes getting to work and changing a most pleasant experience. 

Dare I say that spring is here- perhaps it's staying around???  I can only hope.

Had 3 eclairs today.  WAY overboard, but I'm still having the "crap cravings."  It'll pass.  I hope...

Can it be spring? For real this time???

Miles commuted today:  13

Today's quote: 

Wind makes you stronger.  Not really.  Wind makes you angrier.

Now don't get me wrong, I do love the signs of autumn.  The pine cones, the dried grass, the falling leaves.

But dammit- I'm DONE with it.

This picture was taken in my yard.  Only 30 feet away you see...

                                                                        THIS ---------->

It's SOOOOOO great to see spring here.  Today was GLORIOUS!!!!  It was windy as shit, but it was 70, so who really cares?   I commuted to work today for the first time in a few weeks.  The ride to work was a painful battle against a strong southerly wind.  It took me 25 stinkin' minutes to get to work.  Yowza!  Of course, it's the first time I've been on my bike in 3 weeks, so that might have wee bit to do with it....perhaps.

On the way home I decided to take the long way home and go around the lake.  I made it 10 miles and then I had just had enough.  Don't know how strong the wind was blowing, but I'm going to guess somewhere in the range of... a billion mph.  C'est la vie!


Here are some shots from the garden.  I can't tell you how much I love to see the signs of spring.  Two days ago the yellow flowers were covered in snow, and today they are basking in the sun's delicious warmth.
Even my turtle in the garden gives the thumbs up for the arrival of spring.

Oops... had an eclair for dessert.  Hmmm... don't think that's really staying on the organic path there, but whatcha gonna do?  The last two days I've been having "crap cravings."  I've been trying to curb them, but it's difficult.  I had an organic cupcake yesterday, and a oh-so-not organic eclair today.  It's OK- I still have to eat like a normal person.
Tomorrow is another day.

WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!

Dadgum weather!!!  Yesterday it was 70 and absolutely gorgeous.  Today it's in the 30's and we have 6 inches of snow on the ground.  This "wing" or "sprinter" if you will (spring + winter) is just ridiculous.  On the first day of Spring we have snow- and it keeps on coming.  It's insane... INSANE I tell you!

So to celebrate the first day of spring I did a 9 mile dreadful treadmill run, followed by a 6 minute bone rattling ice bath soak (to help with recovery) followed by a delightful 30 minute hot tub soak outside with the blowing flakes.  It was glorious!!!

And I just vowed to myself that for the last 9 weeks of school I will commute to work every day in order to prepare for Freewheel.  I guess my first couple commutes are going to be cold until this mess melts outside.  It's so silly...

To protest this late winter blast, I'm going to drag my tired ol' stumps to the fridge, wrap my fingers around a Dos Equis and pretend that the white powder outside is really sand, and that the CFL bulbs in the living room are the sun's bright rays of glorious sunshine.

It's nice to live in my little world...

The organic eating is going well.  I gained 2 lbs on vacation, yet I have NO idea how that happened.  I ate REALLY well, stayed within my calories/portions and didn't overindulge in anything.  I did have one ice cream cone, but that was all.  It's a little frustrating, but nothing that I'm not used to.  It's so much easier to control my food intake when I'm at home and know exactly what's going in my mouth.  Even tho I ate seemingly well, I still wasn't certain about what I was eating.  You just have to do your best when you can't control things.  It'll all work out in the end.  And if I don't lose any more weight, I''m going to be OK with that because I know that the food I'm putting in my body is good, whole food that is much healthier and better for me in the long run.  

Guadalupe Peak: Texas' highpoint and #9 state highpoint for us

On Tuesday we hiked up Guadalupe Peak in far SW Texas.  We are kinda into "highpointing" as many states as we can.  TX was #9 for us.  There are some state highpoints that we will NEVER do because I:
1) don't do ice picks or ice axes and crevasse training
2) refuse to wear crampons and
3) will not climb anything that requires climbing ropes/gear/helmets

That would rule out the following states:
Alaska- Mt. McKinley
Idaho- Borah Peak
Montana- Granite Peak
Oregon- Mt. Hood
Washington- Mt. Ranier
Wyoming- Gannett Peak

Sooooo... of the 44 states that I'm willing to do, we've  done 9.  That only leaves 35 left.  And we've already climbed 3 of the 10 most difficult in the country.

Enjoy some pics from our adventure.

Mountain goats on the way up

On the way up.  Still smiling.

Hitting the first of many snow patches.  There was one spot near the summit that was downright dangerous.  I had a mild panic attack before continuing on..  It was scary.

We thought we were at the summit, but then we rounded a corner and saw the REAL summit far in the distance.  That's kind of a ball-buster.  Oh well- we continued to climb upward. 

This is a view from about 2/3 of the way up.  It was a gorgeous day to view the landscape below.  It was breathtaking.  I had to force myself to continue moving upward.

We made it to the top in about 3.5 hours.  We made it down in about 3 hours.  The top was amazing!!! 

It was a great adventure!!  I always love making it to the top, but I'm finding that the more of these I do, the more afraid of heights I'm getting.  I've had mild panic attacks the last 2 times we've done this.  I get some irrational fear of falling and I just can't go on.  I don't know what it is, but it stops me in my tracks and I freeze with fear.  Luckily my husband knows to talk me through it and I can continue (except for Arizona, in which I didn't continue on and had to wait below the summit for him to summit). 

Getting old and fearful sucks!