I went on the Thursday Chili Cruise sponsored by George Garner Cyclery. It was a casual ride of about 12 miles. Good pace (about 10 mph) so it was easy for all ages and riding levels. About 20 people came out for the ride and the weather was beautiful! We went on a route that I haven’t ridden before but was always wondering about. Although we didn’t finish the Middlefork Savannah loop it was really pretty and well kept. After we got back to the shop about 1/2 the group went out of dinner at Chili U. I had some delicious berries and crème with a hot tea. It was a perfect way to end the ride. Can’t wait until next time!
Well I did it! I was having a super stressful bad day and my stomach was upset but I did it! I went out and rode my bicycle and met my goal of riding every day of the holiday weekend! I am super proud of myself for getting out there even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Yay!
I am setting a goal for myself that I will ride everyday over the long memorial day weekend. It may only be 3 days but this isn’t about me achieving a life goal or anything. It’s about making a commitment to myself and sticking to it even if there are no consequences for failure. The weather is supposed to be nice all weekend and I have no other plans so this should be a piece of cake. Wish me luck!
I haven’t done one of these for a while, but here you go – obligatory vacation sandy toes picture!! That right there is Flo Progressive Blue – are you jelly yet?
The Other and I are in Florida for our nephew’s 1st birthday. We got him some books which I am excited about. At this age kids get so many toys that I really enjoy passing on things like books or activities that are more unique. Plus his Mom is an avid reader so I am sure he will grow up with a love of books! The most favorite out of the 3 we got him was called “Little Kitten” and it was a finger puppet board book. I highly recommend to any tiny tots in your life.
Our rental is right across from the beach which affords some nice views but also results in a lot of traffic – both foot and car. The other night it was storming and I opened the door to get a lawnchair to put my feet upon and one of the pedestrians called out to me. I was taken aback but apparently he was eating dinner with his wife then she left but couldn’t find her way back so he was stuck walking in the rain (there does seems to be some missing elements but oh well). After talking to his wife on the phone and trying to give her directions to pick him up The Other and I decided to drive him home. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with “Good Samaritan Wendy’s” 🙂
The rest of the trip has been nice weather. I have been reading a lot and walked up and down the beach. I have also been playing a lot of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and the rumors are true, I am a Pokémon Master!
I went left out of the neighborhood expecting to be blocked in by the water still but to my surprise the path was open!!! This way is usually flooded for months so I was totally surprised and excited and rode much farther than I expected too! It was a slower than normal ride mainly because I kept stopping to take pictures and look at all the deer on the trail. Also I don’t like to get to close to the deer since I have seen lots of videos of them kicking people. I ring my bell at them and hope they move along. The weather today was great and I am just so happy to be outside on my bicycle again. It does not compare at all to riding indoors over the winter.
I especially love riding now because everything is just beginning to grow and bloom and you can see so much through the forest. In a couple months this will all be completely overgrown but for now its like an amazing wonderland. Today I wanted to buy little houses and figures and place them in the undergrowth so it looked like a fairyland!!
The Other and I went on a ride today, it was chilly (see what I did there with the title?) – about 56* – but once we started riding it was ok. Still blocked in on both sides by the high water but we made the most of it.
For dinner we had Bertolli Classic Meals for 2 which are complete frozen meals with 2 servings which heat up in about 15 minutes. They are pretty good – better than most of the other frozen dinners on the market. The food tastes high quality and the meat isn’t rubber. On a busy work night or when you just don’t want to cook these save a meal of fast food so there are really nice. I get mine from Peapod but you can probably find them in your grocery freezer case and I totally recommend you try them out.
First outdoor ride of the season and although most of the paths around me are still flooded I was able to do almost 7 miles! My legs were pretty good – not too tired thanks I assume to my indoor bicycle trainer. However being out in the pollen was hell on my lungs! I’m sure after a short adjustment period I will be back on track.
For dinner I made the Blue Apron “Creamy Lemon Pasta” which turned out great. I love lemon in pasta – its my new favorite thing. I don’t think the spinach added anything but maybe I just chopped it too fine. The garlic breadcrumbs were amazing though and very easy to make. I recommend you try this recipe.
So it took a long time (1 year!) but I finished. Some of that length was due to it being dead tree edition (DTE), but most of it was due to the complexity of the story. Many times I went back, reread parts, reviewed the inserts, browsed internet forums, etc. I think this is definitely a book you need to read more than once to catch all the nuances.
I was surprised that the story “Ship of Theseus” was as interesting as the story in the margins. Many times I would focus on that story and get through many chapters before going back to read the margins, notes and inserts. I expected it to be secondary to the Jen/Eric story but there are actually two complete, well written narratives here.
Regardless of the extra time a DTE book cost me i think that is how this book is meant to be enjoyed. The different pens of the margin notes, the different materials, shapes and sizes of the inserts – something would be lost if you could not hold these things in your hands and feel them. If there is any reason left to get a DTE book – this is it.
I recommend this book but I do think its for advanced readers. Casual readers may lose interest and readers who do not want to do additional research or discuss the hidden theories, philosophies, or intentions may become frustrated. But if you like books with a lot of depth, this is the title for you.
I have been doing some slow cooking lately and have been using this hand me down crock pot which I think was actually from my Nana and Boppa. It works but now that I have been doing this more, I can tell there are some things its missing. For one, its small. For two (and biggest) the interior is not removeable so you always have to wash it by hand. Boo!
The The Other told me that new crock pots are only $30 on amazon AND they have a removable dishwasher safe interior. Yay!! Plus its larger! Double Yay! So I ordered one and it arrived yesterday.
For the first meal in my new crockpot I decided to make Mississippi Roast – simple and delicious. Simply delicious. Seriously, if you own a slow cooker, you need to make this recipe. Plus I think with only 3 ingredients, its counts as “Clean Eats” 🙂 Here is the recipe if you want to try it yourself, which you totally should.
The start of the meal:
4.5 hours later (on high)
I decided to serve it over egg noodles so here is the finished product.
So now that I have eaten all that deliciousness I decided to go for a bike ride. I’m lying – I rode my bike before I ate – after I ate I just laid on the couch 😛 But seriously I did ride my bike today, although indoors, but tried a different strategy which I think worked out great. Instead of planning to ride 5 miles, I set a timer for 30 minutes then played a video of mountain bikers on the screen and listened to my audio book. Since I wasn’t focuses on how many miles I had left to be finished the ride actually felt much shorter and I actually rode farther than 5 miles!
I am pretty proud of my steady pace as well. Only one dip in the center there which is when the cats started fighting. Because of course they can’t let me exercise in peace.
The Other and I made a Blue Apron tonight. I am not usually a huge fan of pork chops but I am a sucker for mashed potatoes, peas, and goat cheese. In certain situations kale is alright too.
We decided not to put the spice mix on the pork chops, not because it was too spicy but because it had a licorice flavor (Ground Fennel), which I dislike. Overall turned out better than I expected, and the pork chops had a nice flavor.
At the recent LSCC annual cat show there was a photographer who specializes in show cats. One of the perks of having a vendor booth (especially one right next to the photography booth) is that I am able to sneak in my kitties for professional photos!!
I expected to be Luna, being the more shy cat at home, to be a complete pain. I was actually a little nervous about letting go of her, sure that she would run off the table and out into the show hall and everyone would know I snuck in my cat. However although she was nervous at first, once the photographer got her interested in a toy she was amazing!! We got all the famous kitty show shots – side profile, over the shoulder, 1 paw up, close up – it was amazing!
Brutus on the other hand – our brave out-going boy – was having none of it. Besides the first picture where he doubled up with Luna, he spent most of his time hunkered down and jumping off the table. Luckily the photographer was great and had a lot of tricks to get some good pictures out of my bad cat.
As Magritte gets older, she is becoming less interested in grooming which is resulting in mats – lots of them. She has also become very very grumpy about being brushed so its very hard to keep up with it. We decided to get her groomed but its hard to find a groomer that does cats. our vet recommended a mobile groomer which turned out to be fantastic!!
They come right to the house and do everything in the van. It took about an hour and from what they tell me Magritte did great! The groomer was very nice and listened to what we wanted, and any concerns we had (I thought Magritte might bite since she has been so grumpy lately). I highly recommend this service and will definitely use again, not just for Magritte but probably to wash all the other stink-kittens as well.
Before and After
Brutus on the other hand isn’t that much of a fan. Magritte came back looking and smelling different, and now Brutus has trust issues. Its been 3 days and he is still growling and hissing at her. The first day was the worst – in this video he is actually growling at Luna. He is such a drama llama. (best viewed with sound)
For my Birthday, The Other got me an indoor bicycle trainer and we finally got it setup and I did my first workout! It was exhausting but great to ride my own bike although not great to realize how out of shape I have become over the winter!!!
My plan is to ride while watching TV or listening to audio books to help get me a jump on the season. With some 70* days last week I don’t have much time!!
Tonight made two Blue Aprons, kinda by accident. I started with Sumac-Roasted Sweet Potato & Farro Salad and realized The Other would not like it. Between the raw kale and ancient grains I knew this wasn’t a dish for him.
Conversely, we had a Hominy & Poblano Pepper Pozole recipe that I knew I probably wouldn’t like. Although I love soup, I’m not a big fan of Pozole, especially since it’s usually done spicy.
Both dishes came together pretty fast, and making the soup second probably helped the salad taste better since the ingredients had time to meld.
The Other said the soup was great – good flavors and not too spicy – and I really enjoyed the salad. I liked the sumac sweet potatoes since that spice is a little sweet and added great flavor without being overpowering like brown sugar usually is. Overall two great meals that I would recommend.
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