Family Bike Ride!

Yesterday was a great Sunday.

My friend and roommate wanted to go bike riding, but I'm the only other person with a bike right now. I've wanted other people to ride with for a while now. Jamie has a bike borrowed from a friend also, the bike that makes me paranoid of thieves. My roommate wanted the bike ride to be a family deal, so that meant going to the store to get him a bicycle, and them all some helmets.

We had a great time picking out helmets for their little daughter and feeding her a cheeseburger and chasing her around the aisles while a great employee named Eric searched for the specific bicycle we were asking about- the Next Parowan which had gone on super-sale for Black Friday. As I might have mentioned earlier, we were in Wal-Mart to try and get a Kinnect on that busy shopping day (they got a better deal later on anyway, so ha!) and I knew those bikes had been available, but were never even assembled at all. Eric went and found keys to an out-of-the-way shed and located the bike we wanted. He brought us a girl version. Bright pink. We sent the poor guy back to relocate keys and dig through the stuff to find the nice white male version for us.

Bike box, helmets, and child in tow, we found a price scanner on the way to checkout. The price was still the $50 discounted Black Friday price! (We were requesting this particular bike because it was still listed as the cheapest one available at $60, our next option was $100.) We debated only very shortly, and then sent another great employee, Craig, to track down poor Eric before he left for lunch to get us one last bicycle for Jamie. We figure we'll pay our roommate back in small installments as we have extra each month from bill-paying.

Craig, who had been headed way on over to pet food when we interrupted, found us again later then hauling two bike boxes awkwardly through the store with armloads of baby and stuff. He grabbed a spare merchandise cart for us and helped get the boxes in there, then followed us to checkout where the lady had a gun to laser beam the bar codes for us.

Bike rack nearly useless, the boxes got perched into the trunk and tied in with the lower rack straps. Homeward!

We got home just find and unloaded everything, then started assembly. These bikes were packed better than my Schwinn, so had no scratches or anything at all, but they weren't nearly as far along in the assembly process. Brakes needed adjusting, derailleurs didn't cooperate, generally frustrating things. Poor Grunt saw us all with bikes being fiddled with and the trailer coming out and even though he disliked it very much when I tried to get him in the trailer once, he knew we would be leaving and he wanted to go very much.

Finally we had things pretty well together, I had my water bottle and extra bike cable lock plus some washrags if anyone needed hankies (not sharing, thankyouverymuch). The boys had match brand new bikes, I had mine and our roommate had hers minus the gel cushion which she graciously gave to her husband. Little Marty was NOT happy in her trailer chariot. She had tried to take a nap on the way to Wal-Mart and woke up when we arrived, so crankiness was expected, but still not pleasant. Finally she fell asleep in the trailer as we pedaled. We should get her a neck pillow, I think.

We had to stop several times, but I didn't expect a flawless first try. One of the new bikes gave our roommate's husband a hard time. The tire had inflated not fully seated on the rim so after a while, it bulged out. We noticed this during the first stop which had actually been to allow him a rest. So I got my nifty little frame pump (thanks dad!) which lives attached to my seat post between it and the rear fender on my awesome bike (thanks mom!) and passably fixed the tire with Jamie's help. The front wheel also had become untrue very slightly due to the weight of a rider and probably the fact that really cheap bikes usually don't have great wheels with even spoke tension anyway.

A little after that, we stopped because that bike was not shifting properly on the front cassette. It turns out the derailleur is bent and gets stuck on the little plastic ring that sort of serves as a chain guard outside the biggest cog. We talked about various things I learned about pedaling cadence (pedal easy and faster, not slowly trying to muscle the bike forward) that might be why he was tiring out quicker. That the front cog should sort of stay put while the rear one went up and down to make pedaling easier. He had sort of lost patience at that point, or maybe pain tolerance, and he walked the rest of the way to our destination- Black Bear restaurant.

We got all locked up against the fence behind the restaurant because I hadn't seen that there was a nice whole parking spot corralled off with railings for the paper dispensers. We know for next time that we get preferred parking, whoo. I'm proud of my cable lock for being able to stretch through TWO bicycles wheel-to-wheel.

Black Bear might be my favorite restaurant here. They have monstrous portions for very reasonable prices, and a great variety of food, though breakfast is still my favorite meal. Plus, how can you not smile at such a lovely themed place? They love bears and there are statues and pictures and paw marks everywhere.

We ate and then sent Mr. roommate across the street with his bike and a lock to pick up some things at the grocery store while the rest of us rode home. We unpacked everyone and then drove to get him and the few groceries on the way to a yummy dinner at their parent's house and some card-playing.

All in all, I'm very happy with our first big bike ride. It wasn't the greatest, and we had some troubles, but we did make it, and I had a great time. A bike exchange at Wal-Mart and a different bike seat should solve things nicely. Soon we'll go on bike rides so often that it will be routine and I'll have other topics to get excited and write about!

One Week Down, Two To Go

Technically this should be posted tomorrow, but close enough.

We had a second Thanksgiving Sunday, which was to make up for the Bonanza folks being sick. I'm not sure they were sick stomache-wise, as they ate lots more than I would have thought possible recovering from that. The second fried turkey was just as heavenly as the first, and the sweet potatoes, while mushier this time, were also just as awesome. I toasted little marshmallows on fork tines over the wood stove outside that was serving as a heat source for Jamie on fryer-watch. And then I forgot the fork was hot and burned my tongue attempting to get the rest of the marshmallow goo off it. Dummy!

We poked around through the stuff out there, and I found some thin #2 knitting needles wrapped in a cloth calendar or 1970. We'll likely work on helping them organize the clutter, maybe get some free stuff, and surely have a lot of fun getting dusty discovering old antique things. Jamie may be ab;e to exchange labor for a truck, if he wants it. They also used to run a ceramics shop and have molds and a kiln that if we were interested in using, we could start a business with. It's all very exciting.

I got an addition to my school bus route, coming back from the break. I now get up 30 minutes earlier to get a couple boys from Keno (15 minutes one-way) before I run my regular route. I drive a truck to go get them, then they ride my big bus with me, and after I drop off the high school kids I take them to their school. On Thursdays I don't have them, but a girl just a little further down the road, and she goes to the high school with the rest. I'm starting to miss the extra half-hour right at the moment, but really there isn't much difference in my day. I still pedal to work in the dark, but I'm wide awake and happy when I get there.

I've been asking around to try and get Jamie a regular bike that can be used without worries. I'm paranoid that if we take our friend's expensive bike somewhere, it will get stolen. So far we haven't gone anywhere together, and that's my reason why. So I put an ad on craigslist, a thread on the bike forums, and a sticky note on my mailbox at work for a free or very cheap bicycle. A coworker brought me a girl's mountain bike, but she wanted much more than expected for it, and it may have been small anyway. It looked tiny, really. I gave it back with a thank you and I still have my eye out to get him something.

I really want to go places together, like the store. It would be fun not to take the car, and everything really is so close around here that its kind of silly to drive. Even Wal-Mart, our most frequent destination, is only 20 minutes away by bike, which isn't that long at all when you're riding. Jamie was very surprised at how fast I'd gotten to the bowling alley bar, which is nearly across from Wal-Mart. Anyway, we'll get him a bike soon and be zipping all over the place.

I was aiming to have us ride to the game store each Saturday, but we have decided that the costs of feeding everyone out of the house is too high to be worth the privilege of the open gameroom upstairs. I think it's been worked out that Jamie will cook for us with a smaller budget. I got to pick dragon kabobs for this weekend, which makes me happy. I'll be having my little Grippli (frog-person) rogue shooting people full of arrows while I munch on tasty skewers with pineapple-peanutty goodness. I suppose that makes up for a missed bike-ride opportunity. Is it Saturday yet?

Wish List

I don't really expect anyone to exchange gifts for Christmas this year due to so many of us moving. Also, the family has gone more and more to the realistic notion of giving gifts to the children (which keep multiplying!) and the adults just enjoying each other's company. Still, a general wishlist is a good thing to have, I think. I didn't like Google's shopping wishlist because you have to actually find a specific item online, and the search function is very limiting. It couldn't find Schwan's Bagel Dogs, and that is a very easy product to find in general, but the shopping thing just showed me dog beds. Um, no. So I've created a Google document that I could link to. This is better since I can edit it.

I still feel foolish and selfish for posting this, but I was keeping this list in my phone, and since switching phones I'd have to retype the memo note. The list is for me too, to remember what things I'd like to have someday (or now, in the case of those food items. What can I say, I'm goofy).

If someone felt like peeking at my list, you can find the Wishlist link in my profile, listed at the top above the About Me section.
Or click here.

Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

I ate too much, of course. We had our turkey day feast with our friends and their relatives: 12 people in all, I think. We did most of the preparations ahead of time- Jamie baked sweet potatoes and had green bean casserole ready to bake. Tig made bread dough, there was a pecan pie made and ready to eat.

We ended up not going to Tig's parent's house because they came down with something, and I really missed them there. Instead, an uncle loaned his house while he went to visit others over in Medford. Everyone brought things they needed.

Tig made cinnamon rolls first. The bottoms of most burned, but they were demolished anyway, before the icing was even created. I think 4 actually got iced, but by then the vegetable tray was ready with ranch dip and crackers. Val made a baked turkey, which took forever. It is difficult for several people to cook and prepare things at once in one kitchen with one oven. Our 2pm planned dinner wasn't ready until 5pm. The sweet potatoes were staying warm on the stove burners while waiting for oven time, but half of them burned(the half with tons of walnuts, oh poo). Badly burned, so that the lady who owned the borrowed glass pan told us to throw it away. I think Jamie overruled that foolishness and chipped out the black for her. The turkey fryer also decided to act up by not working. Something must have been stuck in the valve, but eventually it was unplugged and allowed the fire to go full-blast so the turkey could hop in the oil jacuzzi. We finished most of the rest of the meal, and then people hurt themselves by adding the fried turkey on top. Then we hurt ourselves again with pie. One lady made a pumpkin pie completely from scratch. As in- she grew the pumpkin too. She told me how she made it and now I want to make one next year, the thing was absolutely delicious.

Why won't the fryer work?

 Turkey surgery.

It won't hurt, 'cause you're dead, and you're certainly lucky you are, 

'cause it's gonna be hot in my big silver pot...! Gosh I love deep-fried turkeys, don't you? (doo, doo, doo)

Ding!, turkey's done.

Oven-baked turkey with stuffing.

My beloved sweet potatoes! Those marshmallows are just like s'mores on top. This has to be my favorite part of Thanksgiving.

Green bean casserole.

Our friends discovered a great deal on a Kinect at Walmart, so we braved pre-Black-Friday crowds to see if we could get one. The sales were supposed to happen at 10PM. We got there at 9:05 and they were sold out. Explain that one to me?

In any case, I will be taking advantage of the crazy sales also, to get zippers. I have a coupon for 25% off a total purchase at Jo-Ann's. This includes sale prices, and is the reason why I shop there. I can go and get something already discounted, and pay even less for it. So I should be able to get all the various zippers I need for Jamie's Scottejacket for a song. Yay. 

I have the layout of all those pockets complete, and almost have all of them cut out into usable pattern pieces. I can't wait to start construction. This thing should be the most complicated garment I've ever made so far. If you can believe it, I've altered the design slightly to add EVEN MORE pockets. You'll see when I'm done. You know I won't be able to keep from bragging if the jacket is even half as cool as I hope it will be.

And now it's time to break out the jingle bells! Every year since becoming a school bus driver, I've worn big jingle bells on my shoes from Thanksgiving break to winter break. They called me Tinkerbell in Jacksonville for it. Jingle bells make me very happy, so now I get to finally wear them. I also have all those holiday earrings which were super-cheap after the holidays were over. Santas and penguins and more jingle bells!

I'll be back soon to tell you all about the bike ride that Jamie and I went on, and of course to share anything else interesting that happens.

My family is also moving from Florida to Colorado to be with my other sister. Drive safe you guys! <3

Monday, and I'm still alive.

I am very grateful for my job. Where else could I work to make almost a decent living at something enjoyable, and yet have enough days off to coincide with major illnesses? Sometimes I even get to enjoy no-school days without being sick! But not this weekend.

Someone (who needs to DIAFF, by the way) came to my friend and roommate's vet office with a nasty StomachBug virus. Poor T came home sick but in good spirits, telling us she got parvo. She really wasn't in good spirits, I determined, after looking it up. It's a bad virus that wikipedia says has a 91% mortality rate untreated.
Anyway, as you can imagine, the entire household proceeded to come down sick and we were all wishing we were dead (least I was) because then we couldn't throw up anymore. Four and a half (Marty got sick too) people in dire straights with ONE bathroom. I consider myself lucky in that I had a milder form- I only got sick twice and I made sure to do nothing but sleep the rest of the time. Still, recovery from that kind of purging is not a quick endeavor. I feel like I fit a whole week worth of biking into one day today. Hopefully I don't feel like I have to wimp out and drive later.

So, that little event also threw a hiccup into my crafty plans, and there has been zero progress on Jamie's scottejacket contraption. I'm really feeling the lack of space, because not only do I have a monster folding table which I think is a pain to manhandle to usable condition, but then I work a tiny bit between routes or after, and have to pack it all up again. I miss my Flagler porch and desk where I could let things blow up for a little while while I got things going. In any case, I have to finish the jacket because next I really want to make my bike accessories. I found out in a hurry that my fanny pack is not weatherproof and everything inside got wet. I'm using a plastic bag over my seat now to keep the frost off it (but I'm ridiculously happy to see it on my bike in the morning, and walk it through the door of work saying good morning very cheerfully to all the not-yet-fully-caffeinated drivers). I want to make the handlebar bag and now also a seat cover.

However, the weekend was not a total throw-away. I got a new phone!
Our aircard, which has been sucking up dollars every month because it cost too much to cancel, was finally ready for an upgrade. So we converted it to a phone line for the low family plan price, and it gets a phone. Which is really my phone after 24 hours so the computer won't screw things up. It is a Samsung Replenish. This is the step up from the Samsung Reclaim that I have, with android and touch screen technology. I'm still not sure I like the touch screen to have to answer phone calls, but it's lovely for almost everything else. The best part is that this phone has a keyboard still, so I don't have to flat-tap if I happen to have good nails. My only concern is that the thing is big. My old Reclaim slides open to show the keyboard, and the new Replenish  is just a bar design, the same size all the time. The power button feature unlocking the screen and keypad should be nice- I won't be accidentally dialing anyone (or randomly powering off my phone!)anymore.

So that was my weekend. I hope everyone else's was tons better!