Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

Both kids are in camp this week. Rose is gone from 9:15 to 2:00 each day at Young Peoples Theater Workshop - a wonderful theater camp put on by the Northfield Arts Guild. Ryan is at Science camp this week from 9:00 until noon. While it appears the camp schedule allows me some time to work, reality is that I spend a lot of time driving to and from town to get the kids. Today, though, I have the morning at home and some time to myself before I head back to town to get Ryan. I thought I was going to have the morning free to work but we have people coming over for dinner so I need to at least clean off the kitchen counters and wipe off the patio table. I'd also like to prepare some food, fold the laundry and, oh yes, do some work in my office. Did I mention that I only have an hour and fifteen minutes to do all this (and take a shower) before I need to head back into town? I wonder why I set impossible goals for myself. Perhaps I need to slow down or set different kinds of goals - ...

My daughter, Rose, turned eleven on Sunday. I could get all sentimental and tell you about the day she was born or how I made up a little birthday song that I've been singing it to her - but I won't.  I need to go to bed, really, and if I start writing about my daughter and reminiscing and all that I'll be up all night and will likely end up in tears. Rose on her 11th Birthday. But I will write a bit about Rose and her Birthday because I feel like doing it. I'll just write a bit. I promise. I'll even talk about bicycling (!) and I'll stick to the facts, mostly, so I don't get all weepy. Though I am prone to crying so we'll see how this goes... Rose (in dark green, front and center) and her friends with their paintings Rose had six friends over on Friday evening for a Painting Party led by artist Carla Thomspon at the Northfield Arts Guild . They painted and laughed and had fun. Each girl painted a scene on a block of wood - and every one was a beau...

I’ve been on two dates with a biker in the last three days. No, I'm not talking about a motorcycle kind of biker I'm talking about a bicyclist kind of biker - my husband Owen.  I’m not sure what it says about us, that we get a sitter to watch the kids and instead of heading out for a romantic dinner or out to see a movie we load our bikes in the van and head to the Cannon Valley Trail for a bike ride. But that’s what we did on Thursday - we arranged for a sitter just so we could ride our bikes. And you know what? A bike ride date is something I’d like to do again. Why a ride on the Cannon Valley Trail instead of a ride on the roads near our home? Well, I’ve been wanting to get out on my road bike for a ride of 20 miles or so to see how my new saddle feels on longer rides. I didn’t want to ride the hilly roads near our home and have to work hard, I simply wanted a nice flat piece of trail so I could just pedal away and see how the saddle and I got along.  Owen and I got on the...

I can’t believe we are almost to the weekend and I haven’t written about our biking fun from last weekend. I could give you a day-by-day play-by-play but it would get too long. Here are a a couple of highlights instead... We had a chance to take in some bike racing on Sunday - No, we weren’t watching Stage 1 of the Tour de France live, we were in Northfield, Minnesota watching the 11th annual Northfield Criterium bike race s that take place in our town every 4th of July. Cayman, one of the guys from Valley Bike & Ski , saw us there and came over to talk to us and tell us a bit about what was going on. His behind the scenes knowledge helped us enjoy the races even more and we had a lot of fun! Cruising down Division Street Northfield 4th of July Criterium Races After the races we took our bikes over to the Mill Town Trail that connects Northfield and Dundas and rode to one end and back for a total of six miles. Ryan rode the Trail-a-Bike, Rose her bike and Owen and I our hybrids....

I went out to ride this morning with the simple goal of riding more than 5 miles.  I've done three, 5 mile rides on this new saddle (the Serfas Curva ) and have felt pretty good but know I need to increase my ride length to see if I have any soreness on longer rides. For this morning, I figured 8 to 10 miles would do especially since I have to leave the kids home alone when I hit the roads. Rose is almost eleven and good at watching her brother but Ryan recently learned how to start grass on fire by channeling the sun through his magnifying glass. Though he knows he's not supposed to do this without adult supervision I think it's wisest of me to limit the time I'm away on sunny days. You just never know what an 8 year old boy might do. Ryan trying to start a fire. Part of the reason I don't go on long rides when the kids are home alone. So with a final reminder to the kids to behave, I set out to ride the roads around my home. It was windy, not the best day for r...