Bike riding

Last Spring, I posted about a bike ride. Here's another one.

Sune, my little Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix, likes getting to go with me. She sits in the basket on the front of my bike (named Mabel, a pic of her here) and makes almost everyone we pass smile or giggle, seeing her in there with her nose twitching to take in all the smells, her big, bright, black, anime character eyes watching for bunnies and lizards. If she sees them soon enough, she gives an obligatory growl so I know she would protect me, if the need arose.

A couple of weeks ago, we got to the end of the ride and turned around to go home. Wondering if she would be more comfortable if she was lying down, I smooshed her gently into the bottom of the basket. She seemed to like that all right, but she couldn't see out because of the basket liner I sewed; it was in her way. So she raised her chin, pushed the liner down a bit with it, and poked her nose out between the bars of the basket so she could still see and smell.

As soon as her harness comes out of the drawer before a ride, Sune starts doing a happy dance. She stays very still while I buckle her in, though. If I put on her harness last thing before we go out the door, she starts getting excited just seeing me lace up my tennis shoes. She knows what it means when Mama gets the bike out. Adventures! Sunshine! Smells!

Here was my view going East on my ride tonight. You can see Grand Mesa in the distance dappled with sunlight and shadows from the clouds high above. More clouds are piled up over the top of it. There are some industrial buildings on the other side of this field, and up close, a barbed wire fence to separate it from the riverfront trail we ride on.

Heading West on the way back home, the clouds ahead were all shades of white and grey and even blue. The sun shone through and around them in turns, a picture no human could ever fully capture with paintbrush or camera. You just had to be there.

We passed a woman walking her dog, a calm brown Boxer, and just as I called from behind them, "On your left!" I passed through a swarm of gnats. I think only one or two of them hit the back of my throat; the rest bounced harmlessly off my cheeks, neck, and sunglasses.

Over the empty ditch, back through the streets of semi-run-down houses, roll through the stop sign, and swerve into my little rectangle of town homes. A mommy and her baby were saying high to a friend in an open-top Jeep in the parking lot; they laughed to see us, and the friend tried to direct the baby's attention to the "little doggie" in the basket.

Hop off the bike, let the dog down onto the ground. Struggle to keep the screen door open and get the bike inside at the same time, all while not running over the dog or letting the cat, escape artist that she (thinks she) is, dash out. Basket off, plastic bag over the seat, steer it through the sliding glass door into the back yard to park it. Inside, Sune and I both get a drink of water.

Ahhhhh.....

Verbs

Today I...

-rode my bike 11 miles--5.5 out and 5.5 back--all along the riverfront trail.

-smelled cows, horses, hay, stagnant water, and weeds--and loved it.

-wondered why geese not in water always hang out in pairs.

-envied the kids in a house I saw with the coolest tree house ever.

-watched a hawk swooping low over the brush, looking for lunch.

-felt a beautiful March breeze on my skin under a translucent blue sky painted with all shapes and sizes of clouds.

-closed my mouth whenever I saw bugs in the air.

-sneezed my head off... but not until I got home.

-read a chapter of The Clockwork Three on a bench before I headed back (and finished it later this afternoon).

-wobbled into the house at the end of the ride and collapsed on the sofa.

-realized I'm going to need a padded bike seat cover if I'm going to do this again.

*Photo taken today on my phone - a smiley face on C 1/2 Rd.

8 Things Friday

1. Oh my goodness. Once again, it's been a week since my last post. I hate only posting once a week! I want to talk to you all more often than that and (hopefully) you want to hear from me more often! I just feel like I've barely had time to breathe this last week. Taking my online classes has been an adjustment, for one thing. When I'm at home and feel like I could/should be doing other things, I'm doing school work. I spent most of yesterday in the library, and that was great! I got a lot done, I was alone in my little area most of the time with free wireless so I could watch the videos with my headphones on, and text Matt now and then. It was just... a LOT of school. Secondly, whenever I'm not doing school or errands (grocery shopping, laundry, dropping off rent check, etc.) I'm at work! Though I've requested, after next week, to only close til 9:30 once or maaaaybe twice a week. Hopefully I'll work no later than 5 or 6 the rest of the days, then I can go home, make dinner and take a little break to eat it, then do school for a couple hours. And hopefully on my days off I can get a fair amount of school done, then relax the rest of the day. (Pshh. Yeah, we'll see how that works out.)

2. I've been down to totally decaf coffee the last couple weeks--one cup per morning--and today is my first day with no coffee and black tea instead. I've been sort of missing that little caffiene jolt first thing of the day, but since I eased off full-strength coffee slowly, I had no afternoon withdrawal headaches! And I'll still have coffee (decaf mostly, but regular when I need it for early meetings and such) occasionally. Eventually, I'm hoping to get "down" to some green and/or red tea, maybe white, because I do like drinking something hot and cozy in the mornings. Just green/red/white tea will be better for me!

3. Baby shower #2 is this Sunday! I need to run to Wal-Mart or somewhere and grab about 12 cloth diapers for a game (probably "guess the melted chocolate candy in the diaper") and then to give to the mommy because she's going to use cloth diapers. Also need to make HER babies' blankets (this is the one with twins) and finish the hats (need to do the leaf on top of one and weave the ends in on both). I only have a little four-hour shift tomorrow night, so I'll get that done in the morning.

4. I want to start walking again! It's summer and nice out in the mornings and evenings, and I miss it! (So does my aching back!) Again, I have some major time constraints, but I'm going to just say twice a week for a walk. If I can do that, I'll be happy, and if I can do more than twice a week, great! I also do want to start back up with my Wii Fit (once more because of my poor back and hips and legs). I'm going to say three times a week for that, though more would be awesome. Hopefully once my work schedule gets a little more reliable, that will be a possibility.

5. To help with all of this, I want to get a big sheet of posterboard and chop it into halves or maybe fourths, and make monthly calendars. One thing I keep wanting to do is have my work schedule and Matt's in one place so we can plan things. Also trips and holidays and such, and especially school work! I think if, at the beginning of each week, I sit down and figure out exactly what I have to do--how long the videos are, how much research and how much plain reading--I can break it up into managable two- to -three-hour chunks, and have it all laid out. Hoping to get that done tomorrow morning, too!

6. I don't want you to think that I'm super-overwhelmed with school, or that I'm getting discouraged. On the contrary! Here's part of an email I sent my mom a few days ago:

I'm just feeling like this is really where I want and need to be, FINALLY. THIS is what I'm supposed to do with my life. From my few days on campus in class, it sounds like a constant challenge. Yes, it will be stressful and frustrating at times, and I won't always know what to do or how to do it. But all my retail jobs have been, after about six months, "Okay, now I know everything there is to know about working at (store). Ummm, now what? I'm bored." So I quit and found a new job! With teaching, it won't be the same thing every day (to an extent--the schedule and the kids will be, but the material won't). It will be a constant challenge--and by challenge I guess I mean "brain exercise"--to plan lessons and grade papers and figure out what way of teaching and learning works best for what kids. I like leading, I like problem-solving. I like doing little extras (even at work now) to stand out and improve the place I'm at. I just feel completely at peace with this decision, and thank the Lord that things worked out the way they did. Yes, I cried all day when I didn't get accepted to grad school. Yes, I'm sick of retail. Yes, living in Denver/Ft. Collins/Boulder would have been fun and exciting and different. But I love where I live now, and I really think I will love being a middle school or high school English teacher.

So don't worry too much about me, okay? This will all be sooo worth it, and I'm so excited to learn everything and see everything this next year!

7. I watched Taken tonight and it was really good! But (very mild spoiler in the brackets, don't read if you're easily influenced by other people's views on things) {{it seemed to end really abruptly. Like action action action... it's over!}} But other than that, ooooh! I heart Liam Neeson, and the whole thing was very suspenseful and exciting.

8. I am watching some Gilmore Girls now to calm down. I'm on the first disc of Season 6; only one season left after this! :( However, I did just buy the first two seasons of The Tudors on a really good sale! So even though I borrowed Season One from a friend a while back, maybe I'll get into that again. And then Matt bought Season One of the original Star Trek series, and the bits and pieces I saw while he was watching it were somewhat amusing, if entirely ridiculous. (Apparently we're big fans of buying whole TV series on DVD.)