::faithful

Praying for

• calm and rest in this busy time of year

• Cold Front!! Oh the sweet joy of being able to go outside and not feel like my lungs are being scorched!
• the amazing biking community that as a whole is so welcoming and encouraging to beginners
• continued progress in Clearing the Decks
• The Architect’s amazing biking skills!  He placed second at the Sansom Park Fall Series ride.  This trail is mean:  full of rocks, hard climbs loose gravel and sand traps.  He finished without incident – no blood dripping crossing the finish line! (Seriously – I won’t ride this trail – it’s expert rated, sort of like a black diamond ski run.) 

::healthy

More biking scheduled this week, as well as a few good long walks with Max the Dog.  I also intend to keep up with getting more rest.

::creative

The uniform pants are finally hemmed!  Yeah!  I’ve started knitting a new scarf for myself from some gorgeous cashmere yarn.

DirtBike is halfway through a V-22 model for his history fair project, and it’s looking grand.  He also brought me a sketch of how he would like to have his room repainted.  It involves splattering electric yellow, green and cobalt blue paint on one wall.  I like the idea!  Of course, it’s sad to see the little boy army camo paint theme go away.

::delicious

Yeah!  Still under the century mark for temperatures, so I’m still cooking!

• Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Salad
• Dirty Rice, Green Beans and Tossed Salad
• Barbeque Dinner –  for the Stephen Breen Foundation.  The boys will be waiters…
• Shrimp Gumbo
• Turkey Sandwiches
• Hamburgers
• Blackened Tilapia, Zucchini and Corn

::fun

Weekly ride with the Mayor of Fort Worth, mountain biking on a local trail with a friend who is new to off road biking,

::looking ahead

::faithful

Praying for

• what feels like a hundred different things this week
• the Architect, who has been running a fever for several days

• more rain! Unexpected and not predicted by Mr. Weatherman, it rained all day long yesterday
• my Mom – Happy Birthday, Mom!
• making a dent this weekend on Clearing the Decks
• date night with Mr. Pea – DirtBike was away over night, and The Architect was at a school dance.  Since we had to wait until late to pick him up, we spent the evening  walking around downtown, admiring how much it has changed in the past twenty some odd years, eating ice cream and sipping Starbucks.

 

::healthy

More biking scheduled this week, as well as a cross fit session tomorrow. And sleep.  I’ve been stingy on my sleep lately and it’s showing in an overall lack of cheeriness.

::creative

Well.  Those uniform pants did not get hemmed and thanks to the rain, the paint smears did not happen on the garage door.  I did, however, finish clearing out the girls’ bedroom.  Mercy, there was so much in there that just needed to be tossed, like Cherry Ames’ test papers from the 4th grade.  There were also piles of clothing, including some little girls size 6’s that should have been given away years ago!  Both girls are packrats of the highest order. I then put it all back together so that they can have a restful place to sleep when they come home.  This included purchasing of new linens for the beds, as they took everything with them to college! It’s a bit cramped in there with two beds and three dressers (don’t ask) but it’s now clean and cozy. And the dressers are empty so there’s somewhere to put their clothes, instead of piling them on the desk, the floor, the window sills.

The Architect continues working on Cherry Ames’ bicycle.  He’s adding silver pinstriping to the frame.

Mr. Pea has *gasp* started tidying his tool pile in the garage.  Did I mention that the girls are packrats?  They are also lacking a “place for everything and everything in its place” gene.  They get it from their Dad.  I’ve offered to help him cull through his stuff, but he just shakes his head and replies, “I’ve seen you clear the kids’ rooms, and I don’t think Catholic Charities will accept the entire contents of this garage.”   Poor man.  I wouldn’t get rid of all his stuff, just some of it.  How many wrenches does one house need? How many electric cords?  Spools of weed eater cord? Tubes of dried up caulking? Lightbulbs?  Door knobs???

::delicious

Yeah!  Still under the century mark for temperatures, so I’m still cooking!

• Homemade Pizza and Salad
• Grilled Mustard Chicken, Cucumber Salad
• Meatloaf, Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans
• Eggplant and Tomatoes over Pasta
• Salisbury Steak with Mushrooms, Green Pea and Mint Couscous
• Shrimp Tacos
• Hamburgers

::fun

Weekly ride with the Mayor of Fort Worth, mountain biking on a local trail, canning some salsa, and a Star Wars Marathon with friends for the coming weekend.  Yes, we are dorks.

::looking ahead

::faithful

Praying for

• a Friend whose breast cancer has returned with a vengeance, that she is accepted quickly into a trial chemo protocol
• for Jen, who had an unexpected relapse with her leukemia; that this round of chemo will knock it back into remission so she can move forward with the next donor cell tramsplant
• for Lauren and Chris, that you are welcomed here in your new home!
• for Cherry Ames, that you discern carefully over the next several months regarding your education and future

• rain!  rain! rain!  Oh mercy, we got close to 4 inches of rain!!
• cooler temperatures – it has dropped into the 60’s for the past few nights.  *sigh*
• hatch chilies

Yes, Hatch chilies, the harbingers of the end of summer.  They have a very short season, so we grab them while we can and preserve them for summer goodness in the middle of winter. I don’t have a pressure canner, so I roast them on the grill, then pop them into freezer bags.  Yum!

::healthy

Cooler temperatures means I’m back outdoors and back in the [bike] saddle.  I rode 13 miles today at lunch and it was blissfully Not Hot!

::creative

Nothing more exciting than hemming uniform pants and maybe painting blobs of trial colors on the garage door so we can pick one.  If the weather holds – that is, if the temperatures remain below 100 – I plan to finally, finally paint the trim on the house over Labor Day weekend.

The Architect continues building Cherry Ames’ bicycle, and he’s working on a popsicle stick crane for engineering class.  I’m not allowed to help with that. Bummer.

DirtBike has started a model of a German WWI aircraft for his History Fair project.

::delicious

In celebration of cooler temperatures, I’m cooking this week!

• Red Beans and Rice
• Leftover Red Beans and Rice, Cornbread and Salad
• Roasted Chicken, with Carrots and Asparagus
• Leftover Roasted Chicken, made into Chicken Spaghetti
• Hoagie Sandwiches
• Fish Tacos
• Hamburgers

::fun

Well…school has started, which means ‘fun hours’ are curtailed by ‘study hours’.  I’m sure we’ll think of something to do besides homework and chores. Like maybe some kayaking.

::looking ahead