Outdoors Lady

Re-Post from - My Scenic Life...Views from a Road Less Traveled: A Walk in the Park

2012-01-28T21:44:00.001-06:00

This is a re-posting from Jenn's Blog. This is a beautiful place to visit and revisit. Her photographs are amazing and I need to post the Nature-Themed Quilt and flower photographs that John took too.

My Scenic Life...Views from a Road Less Traveled: A Walk in the Park: As many of you know, I recently moved north Georgia, and I've had a great time exploring different parts of Atlanta, Athens, and many place...

Random Thoughts on Being Retired...

2012-01-25T09:38:00.002-06:00

Today is the 16th working day since I retired. That being said - I have learned some interesting things about me and had some big and small revelations. I'm sure there are more to come.

I based my self-worth TOTALLY on who I was at work
I don't know how to relax
I don't know how to sit still
I need to learn how to cook on a day-to-day basis instead of just special occasions
Buying cookbooks and collecting recipes is easy for me - using them is harder
I still try to do it ALL. I tried reorganizing all that needed to be done at the same time and my house is trashed (see #2 and #3)
I eat healthier at home than at work and I've lost 8.5 lbs (no stress eating)
I really like not setting an alarm
I am REALLY enjoying figuring out how to do "retired" (except today because my house is trashed)
I am out of the habit of cleaning the house because a dear friend has done that for me since September 1992 and I miss Connie-days
I am not sorry that I did it, but the whole money-thing is scary sometimes.

I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who is supporting me through the process of learning to be me as a retired person. My family has encouraged me along the way.

It is "Well With My Soul"

Georgia Thanksgiving

2011-12-28T11:44:00.016-06:00

December 28 is a little late to be writing a blog about Thanksgiving, but it works for me. Facing a December 30 retirement date meant that I had vacation to use or lose, so for the first time ever, I had a full week off at Thanksgiving. We left town on Tuesday afternoon and headed to Georgia. John and I are not famous for speedy traveling so bedtime arrived and we were slightly west of the Georgia stateline. We were pulling a U-haul in the rain and decided to call it a night. We planned our departure from the hotel to miss morning rush-hour in Atlanta and made it safely to my daughter's house. First order of the day was to empty and return the U-haul. That accomplished, we headed into Athens to visit Jenn. We did some shopping with her in Athens before heading to her home to fix Indian Tacos for supper. They were wonderful and are the subject of her January 2, 2011 blog at http://mysceniclife.blogspot.com/ That is a recipe that I can't wait to try.

We did lots of cooking for Thanksgiving. My daughter and son-in-law are amazing cooks and I really need to take lessons from them. Dinner was amazing - even the brussels sprouts and that's a stretch for me. The dessert pictures were the best ones to share. The Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie were made with my Mom's recipes, enhanced by Jenn's special touch. The dutch oven Apple-Cranberry Crisp was adapted for the dutch oven from Carol's recipe.

Everything was wonderful and we had a great time in the kitchen. Thanksgiving day also meant Cinnamon Rolls, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, lots of talking and laughing and a new thing for me - a four-wheeler ride with Michael.

Riding was a lot of fun and I laughingly suggested to John that we needed a four-wheeler but he didn't get too excited about that thought.

The rest of our weekend was spent talking, watching movies and hanging out. We ended the trip by heading north to visit John's sister, brother-in-law, and niece and then it was back home on Sunday.

Thanksgiving beat all of my anticipation!

Anticipating Thanksgiving

2011-11-19T11:32:00.002-06:00

Always much anticipated and always passing too quickly - I wish I could extend the week of Thanksgiving just a little longer - especially this year. I have taken the week off and we are going to Georgia. John has to work on Monday and I'll spending Monday gathering stuff up. We are going to rent a U-Haul and take the kids the things they didn't have room for in the initial move last August. With a loaded U-Haul, we are heading out on Tuesday morning. Winder, Georgia is a full-day's drive away and I'll be anxious to arrive. Jenn has to work on Wednesday, so we'll mess around town on Wednesday and then the cooking will start in earnest when Jenn gets home. She has 2 non-Thanksgiving recipes that we are anxious to try on Wednesday and Friday and then of course we have the big Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I am so excited that Michael gets all of Thanksgiving off so that will be a great day complete with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and a great dinner. The weekend will be spent talking and laughing and watching Arkansas (hopefully) beat LSU and decorating for Christmas. It is so hard to wait until time to go. We are ending the weekend with a trip north to Nashville on Saturday afternoon to visit Dora Ann and Don. We'll head home on Sunday after a week that will have flown by far too quickly.

Gardening

2011-06-01T18:08:00.017-05:00

My yard used to be beautiful. For years, I spent a lot of time caring for my yard - thinking and planning and planting. Over the last 6 years, I pretty much did nothing. At first it was hard to be motivated to work in the yard alone. Then in July of 2008, John and I starting riding our bikes together, which led to falling in love and getting married. All the while, the yard was becoming a jungle - a tangled mess of grass, weeds, and plants that managed to survive in spite of me. A couple of times, Daddy took the weed-eater to all of the gardens, cutting everything down to the ground. Last spring I made a half-hearted attempt to bring them back to life. It didn't last long. This spring I decided the time had come.

John has encouraged me and helped when his help was needed. Gardening is not really his thing, but he likes the results and loves me, so he helps. John bought a great little cultivator and between that and a shovel, he has been beating back the weeds. So far we have brought the herb garden back to life and have started a new butterfly/hummingbird garden at the end of the patio. On Monday evening, we planted the bed under the Japanese Red Maple for the first time in 6 years with pink, white, and red bronze begonias and planted the 2 windows boxes that hang in the front. It's looking good so far.

Working in the Shop

2011-05-29T12:01:00.002-05:00

The shop had reached the point that clutter didn't come close to describing it. A couple of years ago, my Daddy decided that I didn't need off-site storage so he emptied my two FULL 5x15 climate controlled storage buildings into my not climate controlled 20x30 shop. Then he added much of the contents of his storage building, which included many of my mother's things that had never been "gone through" since her death in 1993. After discussing it with John, I decided this was the weekend to start the project. Start mind you - not finish because I was far too tired from weeks and weeks of hard days. My sister came down and we hit the boxes of our mother's things. Many boxes had been untouched since 1982. The newest boxes were packed 10 or so years ago. We opened and sorted - hers, mine, donate, sell, and trash. Box after box until all were opened. So now - my sister's things are ready to pack, the trash is boxed and bagged at the street, donations are packed and loaded in the car, and my things are shelved waiting to be inventoried and boxed. That left a trunk, 3 old chairs, a dresser, and 2 tables that needed a home. We started carrying them to the street hoping that someone would "rescue" them using the "free to good home" concept. Almost immediately our new neighbors approached us. Recently married, they had almost no furniture. They were a great couple and were so completely thrilled when we gave them all of it. It is pretty amazing that we made them so happy while making us happy to clear out the space. Great day!

My Favorite Part of the Year

2011-01-25T19:27:00.023-06:00

For me - the time from late September through December is my very part of the year and it always passes so quickly. Each year, it is so eagerly anticipated and somehow it just passes. 2010 was no different.

October brought the early arrival of my great-nephew - Benton - the son of my nephew, Steven, and his wife, Ally. Benton's first few days were spent in NICU and things were pretty scary. It turned out that the hospital messed up and he had received a massive amount of a drug that made it appear that he had a serious clotting disorder. Things turned out fine and he is precious. My sister, Marcia, got to be there for a week when he was born and then got to go back for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Lena and the kids visited in early November and we took them to Old Washington State Park for the Civil War weekend. Caitlin took several hundred pictures and I thought we were going to have to literally pry Brandon away from the reenactment. He was fascinated by it all. It is a good thing that the kids enjoyed themselves because John really struggled with his knee and my achilles tendon made walking so painful.

One of my favorite things about the fall is the color. This year it appeared that there would be no color at all. September and October flew by and the trees went from green to brown. I was certain there was no hope. However, late fall rains changed that and November and early December were amazing.

John and I made a trip to Petit Jean to see the color and eat at Mather Lodge. We were very fortunate to have picked the time we did because we learned that Mather Lodge was getting ready to close for 18 months for renovation. We had a great time - enjoyed our dinner - did some hiking - got some great pictures and - saw a Bald Eagle as we were coming off the mountain.

John got some good shots at one of the overlooks on the far side of the park.

Thanksgiving was spent in Columbia with Jennifer and Michael. Chris went with us and we had a great time. Thanksgiving dinner was traditional fare and we had way too much food. I had a hard time with cooking because I felt like I needed to measure up to a "King Thanksgiving" and I am not Memaw. I don't know what they thought about the dinner, but I did the best I could without shedding too many tears. Jennifer and Chris talked for hours and I swear they could really be brother and sister. We did some shopping and had a little down time so Jenn could study for her upcoming board exams.

December was crazy as always. Marcia visited us in Hope and we were finally able to go to Christmas at Old Washington State Park. John and I spent time checking out Christmas lights around the state - Little River County Courthouse, Saline County Courthouse, and the State Capitol. We decorated 2 houses for Christmas - Sherwood Manor and Hope Manor. We spent the Christmas holidays in Hope with Chris, Lena, and the grandkids. Wow - it was a different Christmas for me. Christmas in my family has always been fairly quiet because there just aren't that many people. This year everything just happened on a much larger scale. For example - 1 roll of sugar cookie dough vs 3 rolls of sugar cookie dough or a turkey AND a ham. Christmas dinner included Chuck, LeAnn, and Berniece so we had a total of 11 people. We fit at the table and there was an abundance of food and life was good.

We ended the year with a trip to Rogers to visit Marcia and attend the Razorback basketball game on New Year's Eve. We had great fun with Marcia and at the game. We did some antique shopping, hit the quilt shop and did some sewing while watching football. It was a great end to a great year.

Disappointment

2010-09-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

It is Saturday, September 25 - the day of the Big Dam Bridge 100 bicycle ride - and we didn't. After a good start at riding in 2008 and a great year of riding in 2009, 2010 has been hard. Two years ago we rode 32 miles in the Tour de Possum in Texarkana, the Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock and the Mission to Mission Tour in San Antonio. In 2009, we rode 30-40 in Ride with the Eagles in Mt. Pleasant, TX, 55 miles in the BDB, and 62 in the Tour da' Delta in Helena. In January, John had stent surgery and started a beta-blocker. But it was January and we weren't worried. Then came dealing with the frozen pipes, termites, work issues, unexpected changes in weekend routines, issues with John's knee, a change in my beta-blocker, and then the crowning blow - my Achilles Tendon. After taking it easy, ice, and a round of meds, it was time to move forward. A trip to an ankle specialist last week yielded the good news that surgery was not appropriate yet but the treatment is ice, rest, stretching, Advil, and SLOW/FLAT riding. I was already concerned that I wasn't prepared to ride even 32 miles, but I just knew that somehow I could pull it off. But that was - without the Achilles Tendon. That ended all chances. My dear husband refused to ride without me because we do rides together and that helped greatly. But it is still a hard day.....

Where has the summer gone?

2010-08-11T20:41:00.002-05:00

I know that the date is only August 11 and officially there are many days left in the summer - BUT - in a school district, summers end when the teachers return. Teachers report tomorrow for the first day of Professional Development and kids start next Thursday. I had great plans for this summer. I just knew that - this year - everything from the previous year would be properly filed and new files would be ready for the coming year. Nothing would be left undone. I would be rested and ready for the new year. Well - NOT - on all of it.

So - to reflect on the summer. John retired in June and moved to Sherwood so we could actually be husband and wife in the same house. Great idea and we are loving it. We attended a great conference in Denver the last week in June and then followed it with a wonderful vacation in northern New Mexico the first week in July. We got in lots of good bicycle riding, saw incredible mountains, art, fireworks, plus much more and had a wonderful time. I was off for 2 consecutive weeks for the first time since around 1992. Betty and I moved offices and I threw away a LOT of stuff (so I have less that is not filed.) Much work has been done on our home in Hope. Our children are going through hard times to varying degrees, but we have gotten to see more of them than usual and that is very good. My niece, Teresa, had major cancer surgery and my sister-in-law had foot surgery. My niece, Amy, got her first teaching job. I finally got to visit Pawhuska, OK, which is the original home of my mother's family. John and I visited Jenn in Pawhuska while she was doing a 2 week internship with a local vet. Work is far crazier than I can ever remember and I am exhausted and that is all I will say on that subject.

It has been a mostly great summer and I've made it through the rest of the stuff - or at least I'm getting there. Ready or not - the new year starts TOMORROW!

Our Wedding - March 20, 2010

2010-06-23T18:12:00.004-05:00

March 20, 2010 - a day I could not dream of finally arrived and it was wonderful. Our blessed event was held at The Edwardian Inn in Helena. Friday morning the 19th was crazy with many errands to do before we could leave town. But make it we did and the trip and it's accompanying anticipation were wonderful. John and I arrived at the Inn along with John's son, Chris and my daughter, Jennifer. We were followed later in the day by the pastor and his wife. We spent the afternoon decorating with ivy garlands, hurricane lamps, a beautiful wreath, and candles. Chris and Jenn spent time preparing a wonderful Italian dinner and getting to know each other. We had a mini-rehearsal and enjoyed the great dinner shared with our friends, Lynn and Dana, and Kaye and Bill. Decorating continued on Saturday morning and soon everything was ready. I didn't really allow enough time to get ready so I had to really rush around. That didn't leave enough time for Jenn to get to do my hair with the mini-veil and comb that we had planned for but it was OK. Everyone went downstairs, leaving John and I a couple of minutes before our cue to head down the stairs. The next few moments flew by with my attention focused only on John and soon I became Mrs. John King. Wow - even now that is an amazing thing. We were quickly surrounded by family and friends. Our reception was beautiful - the food was wonderful - lots of pictures were taken and it was so fun to be sharing everything with most of those nearest and dearest to our hearts. We were missing a few family members and close friends but that just had to be OK. The rest of our time at the Edwardian Inn passed so quickly and Sunday morning arrived. Family headed to their respective homes and we left for our honeymoon in Pensacola.

OK - so I am behind...

2010-06-22T18:42:00.000-05:00

To put it very mildly, I have let this blogging thing get very bogged down. Big things have happened in my life and I have yet to write a single word. The biggest and best - without a doubt - is my now 3-month old marriage. I guess I have been busy living the life instead of writing about it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly isn't what I had in mind when I started this process. Now that I have logged in and admitted my defeat - I'm ready to post some things that have happened - are happening - and are yet to come. However - this minute - I am off to do that awful thing called tanning in a vain attempt to even the bad tan lines from cycling. John and I are leaving for a 12-day trip to Colorado and New Mexico and I would like for my legs to be the same color inside and out and for my hands and arms to match. Silly me.....

Singing

2010-02-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

John and Maggie LOVE to sing. When John doesn't start the process - Maggie does. You know Snoopy on the doghouse - with head thrown back and the O's coming out of his mouth - yep that's Maggie. She loves to sing and John loves to encourage her. I sit by and laugh like crazy. The more I laugh - the more they sing. You gotta love it!

Snow Days

2010-02-11T21:12:00.000-06:00

We weren't supposed to get much snow and I didn't expect any at all. I went to bed on Sunday night - February 7 - without even considering that I might need to check the roads on Monday morning. I woke up around 3:00 and tossed and turned until Maggie needed to go out at 4:30. To my amazement, the ground was covered. By 4:40, I had received an email that school was closed. As a 12-month employee, I had to report to work anyway. In spite of the snow and sleet, I made it to work safely. Around 11:15, the superintendent decided to send us home because the roads were getting really bad. Daddy was in town for a doctor's appointment and by that time, had made it safely back to the house. We spent a great afternoon entering his family tree on Ancestry.com, looking at old photos, and cooking. The snow was beautiful and I took some pictures without getting out in it. I always walk around in the snow but this snow was heavy and wet - which made for good coverage and great snowman making - but wet clothes pretty quickly. When all was said and done, the schools were closed through Wednesday and federal court was canceled on Monday and Tuesday.

What a week it was...

2010-02-09T06:26:00.000-06:00

I anticipated having a hard week the week of January 25. I knew I would be testifying in federal court in the district's unitary status hearing. After 20+ years under court supervision in a federal desegregation case, it was our time to move forward with release. I was prepared, but anxious, as the thought of cross-examination didn't thrill my heart. Little did I know on Sunday morning, January 24, that court would only be part of my week. Early afternoon on the 24th, John and I decided to brave colds temps and a stiff breeze to ride our bikes. We parked on the North Little Rock side of the river and layered on the clothes. We rode across the Junction Bridge, through the River Market, around the Clinton Library and the Heifer Village, and through town to the Riverdale area. We were riding directly into the wind and I noticed John was riding slower than normal. He pulled over and before I could tease him, I realized that something was seriously wrong. He was gray - having chest pains - shortness of breath - and was sweating profusely in spite of the cold. He wouldn't let me call 911 and wanted me to return to the car - leaving him alone in a parking lot. That was out of the question. I called Betty to pick me up. By the time Betty got there, he was better so I left long enough to get the car and get back to him. We loaded bicycles and went home. No luck getting him to the doctor, but I was able to convince him to stay at my house until Monday so he could see Dr. Tilley. The next 4 days were crazy - with doctors and hospital and tests and stents being co-mingled with court and testifying and cross-examination. For John - Monday was very high blood pressure (198-110) and meds - Tuesday was a physical, failed stress test, and appointment with a cardiologist - Wednesday was a heart cath, 3 blockages, 3 stents, and a night in the hospital - and Thursday was getting out of the hospital.

John's heart before the stents. Notice - blood, then almost no blood, in 3 areas. Scary stuff!

For me, Monday was a full day in court and a full day of concern that I was in court and not with John - Tuesday was being with John for all of the tests - Wednesday was split, early AM with John at the hospital, a full day of testifying, and spending the night at the hospital - Thursday was getting John home and then another half-day on the stand.

We were very blessed. John did not have a heart attack. The 3 stents worked well from the start, restoring the blood flow. He did not have any complications and the prognosis is wonderful. I survived court.

Catching Up

2010-01-19T21:04:00.000-06:00

Wow - far too much time has passed since my last post. Instead of trying to do multiple posts, I'm going to hit the high points and get it done. First and MOST important - the date for my wedding is March 20 - 60 days and counting. We are getting married at the Edwardian Inn in Helena.

The Edwardian Inn

We will be accompanied by our family and closest friends and that is so very important to both of us. My older sister and her family will not be attending. That hurts my heart more than I can express, but I can't change it and it will not ruin our day.

November and December were both very busy months. In November we did a lot of organizing at what will be our home in Hope, traveled to Helena where we rode our bicycles 62 miles in the Tour da' Delta, and celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving in Sherwood. Marcia came down from Rogers to celebrate with us. John's Thanksgiving was very different than times past because all of his previous holidays had involved a large extended family. With the loss of his precious Mom in March, it has changed and his sisters stayed home with their immediate families.

John at the Tour da' Delta

The Mississippi River bridge on Highway 49 is LONG and steep. Have I mentioned I hate bridges - even in a car - and on a bicycle - well - it was BAD.

December was even busier. We decorated 2 houses for Christmas, attended the Nutcracker Ballet, visited kids and grandkids in Louisiana and Missouri, went to a Razorback basketball game, and did more organizing!

Christmas morning at Jenn's house in Missouri.

and on New Year's weekend - we RESTED!!

Blessings ~ Letitia

TIE in Conway - October 8-10

2009-10-09T13:54:00.000-05:00

I am spending the better part of 3 days in Conway at a TIE (Technology Infused Education) workshop. I have already learned so much. When I do things like this, I just want to find a place with a great connection and play with what I have learned. There are so many possibilities for using this with students to get them - and keep them - connected to learning. Both of the presenters are very good and have a wealth of information to share. WOW - what a day!

I'm getting married!

2009-09-13T17:48:00.000-05:00

Just typing the words for the title makes me smile. In July 0f 2008, I started riding my bike with a man that I had known for years - John King. We met in the mid 90's when the technology coordinators from the 15 coops and the "3 ladies from Pulaski County" began meeting monthly for sharing and training. John and I got to know each other and over time became friends. I changed jobs in 2001 and didn't see him again until August of 2007 when we crossed paths at another state-level meeting - this one dealing with testing. We caught up with where we were in our lives, went out to dinner and a movie, went to a concert, and exchanged brief emails and phone calls. Without knowing it, we both bought bicycles and began to ride. When we found out that the other one had started riding a bicycle, John asked if I wanted to ride the Big Dam Bridge ride with him in September. We started riding together then and over the course of the next weeks or few months we fell in love. Neither of us knows for sure when it happened. On August 16, 2009 - while riding our bicycles at the river - John proposed and I accepted. He gave me a beautiful engagement ring on September 4 and we are discussing March 20 as a possible wedding date. I am getting married to my best friend and it makes me smile.

Vacation 2009 - Traveling West

2009-07-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

On July 10, John and I left on our first vacation together. (DC didn't really count because work had to come first.) I took off at noon on Friday, July 10, to finish getting my stuff ready for our trip. By 5:00, the car was loaded with all the important stuff (including bicycles), an early supper had been eaten, and we were ready to go. On Friday night we drove until we were about an hour west of Oklahoma City, spending the night in Clinton.
John at the Oklahoma Welcome Center on Friday night.

We were on the road fairly early on Saturday, but had a long day ahead of us - goal - Holbrook, AZ, by bedtime. We took lots of photos as we traveled across the rest of Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, all of New Mexico and into eastern Arizona. There was so much to see and we really didn't have time to make all the stops that we encountered along the way - like just what is "Roman Nose State Park" and why are those cars buried in the ground like that? Temps varied back and forth from over 100 to the low 70's as elevation changed and we drove in and out of rain.
The Texas Panhandle is the perfect place for a wind farm (look closely in the distance.)

And then there are rocks - lots of rocks...

New Mexico along I-40 West

A rainy sunset in Arizona

Trip to DC

2009-07-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

John and I were very blessed to have the opportunity to attend the same conference in Washington DC - the National Education Computing Conference. We left town on Saturday, June 27, after having to be at the airport at 4:15 AM. We had separate flights going and coming but the arrival and departure times meshed really well. We were at our hotel in DC by lunchtime on Saturday and didn't have to leave until Thursday afternoon. We had a crazy busy week - doing all of the conference sessions, visiting many vendor booths, and then sightseeing every other possible moment. Being a history buff, it is impossible to choose one favorite part but certainly, the Lincoln Memorial and the National Archives with the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were pretty awesome. Between the 2 of us, there are literally hundreds of photos, but here are a few of my favorites.

John - outside our hotel on Saturday

Library of Congress on Tuesday evening Lincoln Memorial at night

Time to Ride

2009-05-31T21:42:00.000-05:00

The rain that has been so persistent during the month of May finally stopped last week and that meant that I finally got to log some miles on my bicycle. This month I was only able to ride 102.18 miles and 64.5 of them have been in the last 7 days. My muscles are weary but it is pretty motivating to see the miles add up. Of course - John rode more miles - as he has almost every month that we have been riding together. He encourages me with the words, "you do other things too - I ride a bike." That is true and I am not sorry that I do other things. I just wish I had time to do it all. (Maybe that's called retirement.) Our goal is still 50-62 miles in the Tour de Rock in 2 weeks. That's a long shot but I'm going to do my best.

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-13T21:16:00.000-05:00

With Mother's Day at hand, visiting Jenn in Columbia was just the thing to do. Mother's Day happened to coincide with Art Night at the Vet School. John and I left after work on Thursday and were 2 weary pups when we got to Columbia at 2:00 on Friday morning. We had a great weekend visiting with Jenn and Michael, going to Art Night on Friday night, visiting bike shops on Friday and
Saturday, and riding with Jenn on the Columbia spur off of the Katy Trail - which is a "Rails to Trails" multi-use trail that spans most of the width of Missouri. As for details - Art Night was Jenn's funding-raising brainstorm last year and it was so successful that she had to spearhead it again. Quite a few of the students in Jenn's class and the one below her participated in one or more of 3 areas - visual arts, performing arts, and culinary arts. Jenn had some of her paintings and photography on display, made a couple of dishes for the Culinary Arts portion and performed in the closing act of the night. We ate all kinds of food, placed bids in the silent auction and enjoyed the art and performances. Columbia has several great bike shops and we both found cold weather cycling jackets for 50% off. The bike trail that we rode on Saturday was not paved, so the going was slow but the area around the trail was beautiful. Jenn rode my Trek and enjoyed it so much that I left it there for her to ride since so many of her friends also ride. As is so often the case, we delayed the return trip too long. John didn't get back to Hope until midnight Sunday night.

It's Almost Thursday!

2009-05-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

It is Wednesday night. Tomorrow - right after work - I get to leave for Columbia, MO is visit Jenn. We talk often, but that isn't the same as seeing her. I'm taking my last vacation day for this school year on Friday so I can have an extra day. John is leaving Hope shortly after lunch so he will be here when I get off work. Everything will be packed when I leave for work tomorrow so we should be able to get out of town pretty quickly. It will be a long drive and we won't arrive until after midnight BUT I will be in Columbia when I wake up Friday morning. It's hard to wait...

Mt. Pleasant, TX

2009-04-29T19:40:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning in Mt Pleasant was sunny and warm - just what John and I wanted for the first organized ride of the year. About 100 riders gathered for a "Ride with the Eagles" - a fund raiser for the arts department of the North Texas Community College. We signed up to ride 43 miles. The route was beautiful - all rural, lots of farms and fields and wildflowers. One hill after another, major wind,and washboard roads changed my mind about the 43 miles. John rode the entire route which was actually just over 45 miles. I, however, turned off onto another route and was just PROUD to finish with 36 miles. Back in Hope - we rode again on Sunday. I finished the weekend with just over 50 miles and John had a metric 100 - just over 62 miles. I know for sure that I need to figure out the "numb feet" problem that bothers me after about 15 miles AND I have to learn how to ride up hills.

What the heck is a Grancy Greybeard?

2009-04-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

John first told me about this tree last fall when it just had ordinary green leaves on it. He said his Mom called it a Grancy Greybeard. I thought she was just using an old common name for something else. I mean - come on - I'm pretty up on trees and I had never even heard of such a thing. It's real - it's incredible - and it's scientific name is Chionanthus virginicus. It's great to learn something new!

John's Azaleas

2009-04-16T19:08:00.000-05:00

John has the most amazing Azalea's by his back door. This bush is at least a foot taller than me. Each flower is almost as wide as the palm of my hand.

First Entry

2009-04-16T12:41:00.000-05:00

This is my very experience writing a blog. I have had a Facebook account for several months and I decided to branch out and try something new. Blogs and personal websites have never appealed to me so I'm not sure why I am doing this. I guess it is curiousity more than anything else. I might post some cycling stuff and some quilting stuff and just play around with it. I guess I'll just see what happens.