...the end of summer vacation

Today's ride was the last official group ride of my summer vacation. And while there will be plenty of riding to be done this fall, the freedom to get up and go...has gone. I put 1167 miles on the bike since school got out in June, almost half of my 2009 total so far. It has been a good summer for riding...

Two years together and still in love...ain't it grand??? Ha!

...why I'm not blogging

Several days have gone by without a post...why? I sit down at the computer...and...nothing. I ride my bike and think of things to post...but then...pffft...nothing. I think it's partly the end-of-summer blahs. My classroom is calling. Meetings, schedules, lesson plans...all crowding my brain, and, like every end of summer...I am resisting. Once I get going and HAVE to be on a schedule again it will all fall into place. But I'm not officially on the clock until next Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. So until then...I know myself well enough to know that I will continue to indulge my slothful side...waking up without an alarm, going to my classroom when I feel like it, leaving there as soon as the first hunger pang strikes. A young first-year teacher is staying with me for a few days, until her place is ready. She has been gone from morning til night, anxious about getting everything done on time. As she left this morning she asked, "Aren't you going in today???" Eh, maybe, maybe not. But, classes start for her on Monday and not until the following week for me. I'll kick it into gear soon. Really.

Another thing that's been keeping me from blogging is my camera...I miss it! We had an awesome combined class reunion last Saturday night, and...I have to rely on others to supply me with pictures. Nothing yet. And I hate to nag. But. Come on! Maybe because I'm a little weird that way--I try to send pictures out to everyone involved as soon as possible and it frustrates me when others aren't wired the same way. But as soon as pictures arrive...I'll be blogging about dancing like a 17 year old again with my old high school boyfriend who is now divorced and we've been texting and emailing and laughing like the silly that I am/was with my best friend and wondering who the old people in the room were because I'm certainly not that old and having a guy that I dated my junior year not recognize me then slip me his phone number at the end of the evening....yeah...stay tuned for that post.

...camera woes

On Monday my camera went *splash* into the toilet. Yikes! I immediately took it all apart and dried it as well as I could. A post on Facebook spread my tale of woe to friends and relatives, and I got all kinds of suggestions for my next camera. But my brother Tim said not to give up too quickly--just put the camera in a bag of rice for 24 hours. He had gotten the info here. He dropped his camera in the river last year and said it still takes beautiful pictures. So, with nothing to lose, I gave it a try. And it almost worked. The camera functions, but the pictures have lines through them. Rats. So I'll be camera shopping this fall. (It's not in the budget right now.) In the meantime, I can use my phone camera--but had to make another trip to Tri-Cities today to get it fixed. I've always been able to take pictures with my phone, but could never do anything with them. It wasn't a big deal until...*splash*. (The young man who waited on me thought it odd that I bought the phone last October and just now want the feature fixed. Shrug.)

...a day with Cristian

My godson Cristian and I had a date yesterday.

We loaded our bikes in the back of my truck and set off for the Tri-Cities. First stop--Kohl's, to find a pair of jeans for school. Score! Next--a park by the river with access to the paved trail system. We rode for a few miles, stopping to give Cristian's legs a break every now and then. I got a few pictures before my camera met a soggy end. (It was in my shorts pocket because I was on my mountain bike and wearing street clothes--no jersey with a handy pocket on the back. Potty break...camera in toilet...augh!) After riding a while we drove over to Pasco to the Sacagawea State Park and wandered through the nice little museum there. Lots of hands-on displays that appeal to almost-10 year old boys. (Just how much power does it take to pull the arrow back on the bow? Can you imagine doing this and staying steady enough to hit your target??) After the museum we took a wrong turn and had an adventure in driving. I told Cristian tales about my own kids getting so worried when I'd get us lost when they were young. We finally figured out where we were, got turned around, and headed back to civilization for a late lunch. Then we checked out the movie theater to see what was playing. (Not much that appeals to both a boy and a middle aged woman. What a relief that GI Joe wasn't playing!) We agreed on G Force but it didn't start for an hour, so off to Barnes and Nobles to wander and look at books. I haven't been in the children's section for a long time, so that was a treat. Then, off to the movies with our 3D glasses. That was pretty cool, even though the story line was lame. After that it was time to go home....we did the math and realized my old dog had been inside for 8 hours. How time flies! It was a fun day with a great kid. Katie wonders how much longer Cristian will want to hang out with me. Hard to say....but I'm game as long as he is!

...Joan Baez

What a class act! If you ever have the chance to see Joan in concert, GO!

Jacque and her good friend Lorinn who met up with us. (Thanks, Lorinn, for the great pictures!)

The orange T shirt read "gnarly head." And it was. Every time this guy knelt to get a better look, his gnarly head was all we could see!

Jacque and me. (My turn to look like a Dr. Seuss character. It's usually Katie! ha!

People started dancing and security must have made a move to stop them. Joan said, "Oh for God's sake, let them dance!"

The Portland Zoo has a really nice lawn for concerts.

Good music, good friends, a fun time...

...cool free stuff!

It was a surprise to open my mailbox yesterday afternoon and see a bright blue package inside. What's this?? I haven't ordered anything lately. So I tore into the package to discover a water bottle and two stick-on tattoos (!) from Eleven Gear.

What fun! Last week Kathie had emailed me the address--we're going to order one of their jerseys as a birthday gift for Scott. As I poked around on their site I noticed that they had cycling haikus on a sidebar, so I submitted one of mine--and they used it! And since they sent me cool free stuff I won't get too upset about the fact that they changed the title I had given my baiku and changed "farm truck" to "big truck." (How dare they! haha) So, I have a new bottle (like I really need another one!) and am sporting a tattoo on my right hip. ha! I'd love to be able to show it to Katie with a straight face next weekend--she knows I'm not a tattoo kind of mama--but it will probably be starting to fade by the time she's here, and I can't keep a straight face about anything that makes me giggle. (I'd have both tattoos on my bod, but neglected to take the protective plastic covering off the first one. Rats!)

Thanks, Eleven Gear!

...Juice

Love's been a little bit hard on me....Just call me angel of the morning...Playing with the queen of hearts....

That's right, Juice Newton was playing at the county fair tonight. What a fun blast from the past! I haven't seen her in concert since....1983. Nathan was a tiny baby and we could barely afford the tickets, but oh how we needed a night out. Tonight, I didn't need a night out like an exhausted young mother with a new baby needs one, but on a soul level I needed a night out. Thanks, Juice! I didn't quit grinning the entire time.

(It's a good week for music. For the price of fair admission (a measly $7) one can listen to all kinds of acts. And tomorrow night my good friend and I are making a quick trip to Portland to see Joan Baez at the Zoo. More soul food in so many ways....)