Exercise...

My new exercise equipment arrived!! I finally made the leap and got a new bicycle! My old bike was an inexpensive mountain bike that suffered a crash last year...and I must say hurt a lot in the saddle area to ride. So I went classic old time cruiser ride...who knew bike companies like Trek made such vintag lovely bikes? I didn't!! And of course I had to upgrade and get the market basket!! My last bike basket took a lot of the impact of my crash!! So a new chapter...I am hoping with the increased comfort that I will bike a lot more this year. Maybe even replace a few errand trips with pedal power instead of petrol power. It helps that my oldest has gotten confident and more steady on her bike and we can ride together. Our youngest has begun with training wheels but can't quite manage it all herself, so we put her in the bike trailer and rode downtown for dinner one evening at our local diner called Daddy O's...it is what I hope to have a lot more of in our family's summer!!! Here's to bicycles!!!!!!!

New Do!!

I finally did it! I let the lovely Tricia of Salon Che Bella play with my hair. She gave me highlights and lowlights and straightened it (which I will never be able to get it to look like this again!!). I never thought of myself as someone who would get their hair colored. Many reasons...seemed a little high maintenance and not true to myself...but now having had them for a mere few hours I feel really good!! I feel like I look on the outside like I feel on the inside!! Plus going to see Tricia is always a joy...she is delightful as a person and a miracle worker besides!!

The Bain Of My Existance

Little, itty bitty, teeny tiny, things...they are everywhere...on every surface under every toe...I would love to take the wind tunnel and suck them all up...and I do believe that my husband in fact does this...but then I see them...and these are the things they go for...the things they seek out to play with...they set up towns and villages and whole other worlds that I will never be able to fathom and they play and create and invent...and I have to find my peace with the teeny tinys as they are destined to be part of my world right now...

Aftermath

This is the aftermath of the 5K...I made it...I survived it...and now to keep walking to get ready for the next one in June!! I walked it with a friend who has lost a tremendous amount of weight and has treadmilled all winter...I have walked twice since last summer...and I haven't yet mentioned my lovely friend is 5'10 with long legs to my 5'5 with stumpy legs...she was motivated and cheerleaded me appropriately as I huffed and puffed and held her back...but out of hundreds of walkers we were 27th (her) and 28th (me). So really not a bad effort...but I felt it this time...and she is stoked so her goal is to take our 42.26 minute time and make it 39 ish...so me thinks there is a lot of work to do!!!! But there was a time in not to distant memory that I would have never imagined doing this much less signing up and actually doing it...so progress has been made and it felt good once my legs stopped feeling like rubber!!

Somedays

Somedays this is exactly how I feel!! Just like enough already! Like the world may be buzzing around me just a bit too quickly and my days are getting just a little too full and like I need to break it all up with just some silly or a shout or a tantrum even... Silly usually works better for the rest of the people in my world but sometimes you need to have a tantrum...and as a grown up that isn't as acceptable as it really should be!! Just because I grew up doesn't mean I can cope with everything that is thrown at me in my world...

But today I am relaxed and enjoying my mat`e and will have to tip off to work in an hour but till then I will enjoy the moment of peace and my new cd by Vampire Weekend...enjoy your day and have a tantrum if you need one or just find a little silly in your day!!!

Oh what's a few more...

What is a few more Chicago pictures among friends...one of the things we did while we were there was take a water taxi and let me tell you it was a great little trip. It doesn't travel up the river very far but it is a nice view, the kids love it is a boat, and it is only 2 dollars a piece!! So there are a couple of images above of our taxi trip!

The other two photos were from the Science and Industry museum. The Submarine exhibit (bottom) was awesome. 3 out of 4 of our family liked it best out of all we saw...it was very well put together. I enjoy museums but rarely spend time reading everything about an exhibit but the way this one was staged I was riveted! And the size, as you can see is enormous!!

And we ate at Kitschn and had the coolest, nicest waitress I have ever seen named Erin!! The food was really nice (I had a fried chicken blt which was served on a pizza dough bun and had really good honey mayonaise and applewood smoked bacon and rosemary garlic mashed red potatoes on the side), the decor funky, and the kids actually could get real veggies (think steamed broccoli),they also had very nice beer (Goose Island Matilda) and above you will see photos of our uber yummy desserts. I bet you will never guess what they are...take a few seconds think about it study it...put your culinary hats on...and you will still not get it...

The top one is tiramasu, you think you had that one figured but wait...it wasn't just lady fingers and the usual fare...it was Twinkies...yes the everlasting shelf life snack cake!! And it was really good! We had to share though and still couldn't finish it! The girls each got a dessert as you see...and it is lovely and chocolatey...and looked so elegant...and this one was not any choclate cake...it was yes you are getting it now... Ding Dongs!!! So fun and dessert too! So we recommend the Northriver Kitschn for grownups and kids!! Everyone was really wonderful it was reasonable and the food was good!!

So pardon the rambling post the ladies are doing the loudest most distracting yoga I have ever heard!! I think somehow they may be missing the point of yoga...just me though...

Sunshine...

Oh, I love the promise of warmth and sunshine! The past two days there has been that smell in the breeze, the freshness, the hint that spring really is here! I feel so energized and can hardly stay still when I feel that first sunshiny day! You know the ones before it gets too hot...before it takes your breath away when you step outside... I feel like I can truly do anything when I get the feel of that sun on the side of my face!

So I pulled out my best purchase of 2007, my new walking shoes, and put on my ipod and hit the road. I walked 4 miles after a much to sedentary winter! Which I need to everyday as I am walking a 5k on the 19th! Hmmm I think I have some making up to do! And as I was walking I breathed deep and relaxed and felt good about me and what I am doing to make me better...I bounced along to my lovely music, and took in all the other escapees like me out enjoying the first hope of the season...

And this evening I made myself a nice little cup of coffee in my little garden cup...and admired the scene that always comes when our co-op produce arrives. I love the way the fridge looks with all the colors and yummy things to eat!! And this time there is fresh lovely pineapple!!! Dinner should be good tomorrow!!!

The ladies got to plant some seeds in pots this evening. They are itching to get things going in the ground outside but April is much too soon for seed planting in Michigan!! So they did get to get something started...Bronwyn chose snapdragons, Ella chose sunflowers, John wants corn, I wanted basil!! While we were picking seeds, Bronwyn added cauliflower and bluebells! So hopefully we will get some lovely things sprouting soon!!

Enjoy the sunshine!!!

Home!!!!!!!!

Well we survived the attack on Chicago!! I truly felt like every other word out of my mouth was "Stop" "Don't touch that" "Come here"or the big one "Be quiet you are too loud!!" Sigh...but all in all it was good for the ladies to see their are cultures other than their own and that there is life outside our little town. Both of them were amazed by all the languages being spoken around them and Bronwyn even spent part of breakfast one morning counting in Spanish to a lovely couple from Argentina!! I must say the ladies adapted to the perks of city life quickly and Bronwyn even hailed a cab to dinner one evening. Ella even went up to the cue and opened the door to get in!! So truly public transport was their favorite part of the trip (they may say otherwise but I know the truth).

It was so very nice to sleep in my own bed last night! I am not good at sleeping in hotels! I just never seem to completely settle in and our hotel Hotel 71 in Chicago was lovely... I liked eating food that had seen vegetables... And the girls are hot to garden this year...so we spent today making room for our plantlings to poke through the still cold ground, although today felt balmy at 47 degrees!!

I am not thrilled to have plans before I go back to happyland (work). My friend is putting on a belly dance workshop and to be supportive to her and all her hard work I need to get myself up and presentable and go take a few classes before I have to come home and get ready for work! Ugh! Any other Saturday it would not seem so bad but I just want to wander around my house for a bit...lounge...relax...find my stuff for work!! Oh well sacrifices!!

Photos: top very very good oatmeal at corner cafe we ate at every morning. It had everything in it!!! Second: John and B at the Shedd Aquarium, she is looking so so big!! Third: Dolphin show Fourth: We did manage a carriage rid with Reebok the horse!