Riding

 

Today I got on my road bike for the first time in two years and took a training ride. Admittedly, I was a little nervous about getting on my bike, concerned that the extra weight I have gained over the past three years would cause a tire to blow. So silly.

The ride wasn't long, just up to the Cathedral and back, but I tried to make every mile count and kept the cadence as high as I dared for being so out of shape.

When the endorphins kicked in around Mile 2, I wept like someone in mourning, desperate to cast off the slothful attitudes I have taken toward exercise. I don't like to exercise, but I do love to ride my bike. When I am in the saddle, I feel so strong and confident and free. Perhaps this feeling is rooted in nostalgia for that time in childhood when i realized wheels were freedom and for when I felt fearless.

As I enter another new chapter in my professional life, I long to harness this confidence and the ease to push myself harder as I do when I have wheels beneath me.

PS: here's another first...blogging on my phone. The digital age is truly amazing!!

[kids'] summer break, day one

7:40. Husband's phone alarm sounds well in advance of our agreed upon summer wake-up time of 8 a.m. Annoying.
8:00. My phone alarm goes off. Press snooze. We had a late night waiting for the power to be restored and watched the first half of Argentina vs. Brazil, followed by Mountain of Storms, a climbing film with Yves Chouinard (Patagonia founder) and Doug Tompkins (Esprit founder). Simon speculates that we went to bed after 1 a.m.
8:27. Finally rise and wake the children for the first day of their summer break. Yay!! Oatmeal with brown sugar--and sprinkles--for all my friends.
9:30. Hour of power: reading. Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh) for me; The Name of This Book Is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch) for Winston; and The Unwanteds (Lisa McMann) for Simon.
11:30. Fold first of many laundry baskets. Make note to teach boys how to fold their own clothes.
12. Make the boys salami and cheese quesadillas. I know. Please don't judge. Make note that the boys cannot make this "the usual" lunch. Look for healthier, but exciting (!) options.
12:30. Run Simon to painting class at MCAD. Marvel at design college's awesome studios with 12'-0" ceilings lined by clerestory windows. Sigh.
1. Return home to start dinner salad. Trying to find new and easy options for game nights. Last night I grilled salmon (Lund's had a BOGO). Today, I boiled small red potatoes, corn on the cob, and green beans; chopped cucumber, sliced scallions, halved cherry tomatoes; tossed all with a red wine vinegar-olive oil-mustard-squeeze of lemon dressing. Recipe adapted from one in the new DALS cookbook.
2:45. Pick up Winston from free play at JoTP. Haul to Minneapolis to pick up Simon. Make note to find better tunes for car (radio sucks, tired of CDs in glove box).
3:45. Finish making dinner, feed kids. Breathe. Find reading material for practice.
5:30. Take Winston to lax practice at Arlington Tech, our home away from home until mid July.
7:15. Cruise to Roseville for Simon's lax game.
9. Hang happy with the boys. Reward husband and self with a lovely glass of vinho verde. Forget that vinho verde is carbonated and won't survive until the next day so finish bottle.
12. Bed, capping a wonderful, busy first day of summer vacation.