Tripping

Of late Wonderful Guy and I travelled to the State of the Utes to see the Grandbebes that live there.  And also their parents.  Of course their parents too!

It had been way too long on both accounts.  This trip was a road trip, and whether it happened or not depended on the weather.  We lucked out, and had fine a fine travel experience. Of course we had a fine travel experience!  Because we had a great visit with the bebes and their parents.

See…the thing is...I learned stuff.  I learned that some of I-80 runs at 7500 feet.  And also, that checking weather is good and well.  But not complete.  One should also check road conditions when travelling….there.  Yep.  We spent some down time in Rawlins, but yea! They opened the road back up after 2 1/2 hours!

Only to have Hiway 287 closed 4 minutes before we reached Laramie.  So we spent an extra night there, before heading north and east an extra 120 miles to go south on I-25 to get home.

Under blue skies the whole way!  It was sideways snow…blowing snow was the issue.  Our direct routes home didn’t open up until way after we reach our fair burg, had lunch, and were all unpacked!

It was excellent to have a chance to catch up with Middle Daughter and have a chance to get acquainted with the grandbebe girls.  They are cutie-pies.  How could they not be though?  I say they could not!

And then we travelled to Desert Crazy Town in which to see Only Step Son marry the Lovely Fiancee.  The wedding was downsized from a big planned affair in June, to a intimate engagement in March.  They chose simple and less complex and less stress as the big plans started snowballing.

And I got a brief visit, once again, with Dearest Sister.  She and Car Guy celebrated Wonderful Guy’s birthday together with Lovely Step Daughter.  We took in the Shelby Museum, did a drive by of the Gold & Silver Pawn (home of Pawn Stars), and dropped some quarters at the Pin Ball Hall of Fame, where we all got a big kick out of the South Park game.  After walking Molly, the grand-pup, we finished of the day with the whole wedding gang at dinner.  I think the Guy had a good day of celebration.

(as seen on TV!)

We were up the next morning early for the flight home, and while it was not the best travel experience I have had, we made it safely.  And it was good to go somewhere warmish, though, and break out of wintry weather for a bit.

Where Have I Been?

I have been rilly rilly bizzy.  As the proverbial bee.  As a bee that is another year older even.

I shall start at the beginning.

I have thinking for a while about my upstairs bedrooms.  Both have been rooms essentially maintained for guests, with one doubling as my 'craft site'.

It has been cumbersome, however, both for me walking around all the bedroom furniture to get to the sewing machine and the shelves upon which I keep my 'things' and to the closet where I keep my other 'things'.  It has also been a nuisance for our guests to have to put up with my stuff when they have all their stuff spread out from here to yon.

So much with the stuff!

So, like I said, I have been thinking for a while.  The brainstorming proceeded to planning (yes, I drew out a sketch), and from the planning, I started filling in Wonderful Guy about what I was considering.  I move in stages that way...slowly, but steadily.

My thought processes coalesced this past weekend and the planets aligned and I started.  Friday night I knocked down the bed in the first bedroom.  Saturday, shelves went up.  Sunday afternoon, we hacked together my knock off craft table. And all the while, I was packing and unpacking and moving and moving out and making decisions....and oh I don't even know if I can decide one more thing....just toss it all!

Not really. I am joking.

As of now, all the furniture from Bedroom #1 is in Bedroom #2 (where the craft supplies use to live).  Bedroom #2 is ready and waiting for guests.  And all the craft supplies in this entire house is now in My. Craft. Room. (formerly known as Bedroom #1)

I lied.  Molly, the Marvelous Matchless still lives in the TV room, and my knitting book shelf is still down stairs.  There is still a corner with 'my stuff'...but it's a teensier tinier corner now!

So, yeah.  Busy, because there was lots of toting back and forth and moving this and that, and taking this to the garage for the sale, and OMG! that was so heavy!!!  And late late nights.  And trips to the ginourmous box stores with measurements and trying to figure out the directions and The Thinking! even after all The Planning and The Knowing what we wanted. And the moving of stuff back and forth and forth and back.  Because!  Everything from one room went into the other.

But I have a really Wonderful Guy.  He listens really well, and offers suggestions, and listens some more, and is kindly patient with my creative pursuits.

And he is really, really good at putting up shelves.

Behold.  Le Studio d'Iron!

The crafty table?  Of a height that will be good for cutting out fabric.  While I won't be able to walk all the way around it, it is 3x5.  Cleared off and with a cutting top, it will be very adequate.

Still to be done...I think the antique Goody's prints will go.  I am not sure what will replace them.  Maybe my own photos?!

Shelves all new!  Tubs all new!

2 new shelves in the closet, too!  And in the cabinet there?  The Singing Singer sleeps....

Close up of my knock off crafty table.  So not $500....not even close!

So yeah.  Happy Birthday to me!  I celebrated that little milestone yesterday, by dusting off the bike and kicking off the biking season.  I cranked out my 15 mile commute (round trip). Not bad for a 55 year old.  I won't tell you how long it took me to get home...

Moving A Bit Slowly...

..but not because I am older necessarily. Wonderful Guy and I had a very active weekend, with a bike ride, a walk in the open area next to our home, and an almost 5 mile hike. Our 'build-up' hikes have been 'easy' or 'easy to moderate', and probably less than 3 miles. This one was 'moderate to difficult', very steep, and put our hiking chops to the test.

I felt it necessary to ride in this morning, too. Got to get those hours in for the exercise-a-thon. Our team finished last in the standings last week.

There was lots of yard work, too, but not the hauling and digging kind. More in the nature of tricking out the patio with pots of annuals and such. Very pretty!

Thanks for all the birthday well wishing. The weekend was very pleasant. In the past, I tended to have expectations of what others should be doing for my special day. Often, I didn't make these expectations known, believing that 'they should know!' While perhaps it might have been considerate for 'others' to think outside the box of themselves, I have come to believe the truth in this -"Expectations are pre-destined resentments". I have learned that I am responsible for my wants and my needs, and it is not a wise choice to depend on, to expect, others to fulfill those for me.

This is really a very deep lesson, and it involves changing alot of thinking and behavior patterns that have been finely honed over decades, but it was worth the self examination and the work to figure out why I do the things I do.

Life goes much smoother when I give to myself what I need emotionally, spiritually, and physically, without the unrealistic expectation that others 'ought to know'. Just another lesson it took me forty plus years to learn, but now I try to live life on life's terms, and not try to make life fit what I think it should be.

I had to frog the BSJ and restart. But that's okay! It's past the frogging point already.
Pictures of the hike and yard and knitting tomorrow. (Well, maybe not all at once...)

Happy Birthday...

...to me! I am 53 years old today.

These greeted me this morning. I bring you Hot Dogs and Mustard!

And more Silverado!

Wonderful Guy and I have finished the little things we wanted to do around the house, which for me included putting my tomatoes in the ground! I also brought up the plants that wintered over in the basement. I have rosemary! I have sage! I have a geranium! (I also have some white flies....)

Now we are off on the bikes for donuts (mmmm....donuts....) and then probably some hiking at Lory State Park. It is a beautiful day.

Oh, and we had a birthday dinner with Youngest Daughter, Grandbebe Girl, and Bebe's Daddy last night. So much fun!

Somewhere about 1964…

I received a bicycle for my 9th birthday. As fortune would have it, I have been able to keep that bicycle, and it is ride-able shape today.

It was not always so. In 2005, Wonderful Guy took it to a local bike shop, and had my antiquish bike all fixed up. Notice the white wall tires, new pedals, and bell! (We live in a very bike friendly town. There are no fewer than 14 bicycle sales and repair shops around this small city of 131,000!)

This was the same year I injured my knee in a skiing accident that required surgery (another story, another post) . Suggested therapy for recovery from said surgery included, among other exercises, bicycling. This old ‘girl’s bike’, was just the ticket. The cut-away allowed easy mounting/dismounting. It was not too tall, which allowed easy and secure maneuverability. The ‘bad’ leg could go around with the pedal, or not, as needed, during the loosening up stage of exercising. We rode ever so slowly around our neighborhood in the summer evenings, loosening and strengthening the knee. It worked, and the knee is all better, even if I haven’t had the courage to try skiing again. (Maybe this season, I hope. Maybe not. But maybe. Agrh! I am so conflicted!)

The next spring, for my 51st birthday, Wonderful Guy presented me with this! He thought enough time had passed, and I deserved my next new bicycle.

I had always thought I would like to bicycle to work, but didn’t have a good bike to ride. Well, that excuse was not a viable one any longer. So how was I going to go about doing this? I needed to be prepared. What route would I follow? (I wanted to avoid the busy streets.) How long would it take me? What did I need to take with me? How would I carry it? What sort of condition would I be in when I got to work? What if I had a flat? Or an accident? Or….
STOP ALREADY! Did I want to or not? I very much did, but I was paralyzing myself with the need to be prepared for all possibilities. I elicited a promise from Wonderful Guy to rescue me if I called for help. I plotted a basic route. I packed only the bare necessities- a local bike route map, my lunch, a change of clothes, my cell phone in a (gi-nourmous) daypack (we use for dayhiking!), and a water bottle. And on a Friday late in May, I left the house for work, on my new bike. Took me about 35 minutes. It was nerve-wracking at times not being familiar with the route, but the morning weather was pristine and glorious, and I was hooked.

On seeing my effort to ride my new bicycle, for our anniversary (which falls not long after my birthday) Wonderful Guy gave me a flat repair kit, and a saddlebag in which to carry my lunch, work clothes, and other items I determined I required. The last two summers, I have averaged about 800 miles riding to and from work. Not bad for an old lady!

Even though snow is in the forecast for tonight, and the temperature will dip below 0° (Shiver. My. Timbers.), I am thinking longingly of when it will be above 50° in the morning, and I can start riding again. Oh, I know. I might be a wimp. There are those who ride no matter what. ("There is no bad weather, only bad gear"…blah blah blah….) I see them out there, but I am what I am, and that is a fair weather rider!

Eldest Daughter provided the bling for my bike….I am also 2FAST4U! (This is usually read as I am passed by others….)