::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