Day 188

I have two new friends. Their names are Lenny and Larry. 

I have never met Lenny or Larry, but yet they are now a part of my life every day- through their cookies.

Yes, my friends, I said cookies. But not your ordinary cookies. These are vegan, no dairy, no high fructose corn syrup, packed-with-protein, yet somehow still soft and delicious cookies.

I struggle with breakfast. I mean- why would I get up 20 minutes earlier just so I can eat oatmeal (blah)?

I tried protein shakes for a long while, mixing them up before leaving the house and drinking them on my way to work. But I would be hungry in 3 hours and that plus my coffee made getting to work without peeing my pants a daily adventure...

Enter The Complete Cookie. At 420 calories, it's no worse than the shake I used to make, with 16 grams of protein. And, I'm not hungry for at least 4 hours.

And it's a cookie! For breakfast!

It reminds me of Bill Cosby, when he talks about feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast one morning- "Dad is great! He feeds us chocolate cake".

So today's pic celebrates dessert for breakfast. Because really- What kind of day could be bad when it's starts with a big chocolate cookie?

Day 187

The bike.

Ugh.

My worst sport in the triathalon world. It should be simple, right? Just push one foot in front of the other...

Wrong. So very , very wrong.

My long rides have been mostly on the bike path, due to it's nice straight and mostly flat surface. I am not very confident on the bike, especially changing gears and going down hills (road rash fear), so I have not allowed myself to be pushed to much in that area.

I have a girlfriend, though, who is an awesome biker (bikess? bike rider? ). My hard rides are her easy ones, and she has even traveled to France with her husband- not to go shopping and sip champagne. Nope. They toured the country on bicycles, even riding in some areas where the Tour de France runs through.

Today I rode with her for my long ride of the week- about an hour and a half. This was the first time I had ridden with anyone except my husband- and he rides so much faster than me it can't really be said that we ride "together". Today was my friend's recovery day (she rides 20-30 miles a day!!) so she was more than happy to let me set the pace and follow along.

I was admittedly a little nervous at first, knowing my fast pace would seem like a walk in the park for her. But as it turns out, it was my best ride yet- in several ways.

She took us off the bike path, down through the southern part of town that is beautiful and full of nature. We hit our first hill, and she suggested that I "gear down" because I was working too hard.

I absolutely agreed on the working too hard part, but since I was out of breath I couldn't immediately tell her that I didn't know how to gear down any lower. I have never ventured out of the gears on the right side of my handlebars, as I get confused and have been afraid I would lose the chain or crash.

She pulled up beside me and worked with me on how to change my gears, and- lo and behold- I WAS working too hard! Suddenly, I could get up a hill without my legs absolutely screaming at me, allowing me to push much harder throughout the overall bike ride. I usually "bonk" after 45 minutes and feel toasted, but today still had energy left after 90 minutes when we got home. This is so important in triathalon because you are faced with a 3 mile run once you get off the bike...

We missed a turn and got a teensy bit lost, but used the opportunity to stop, eat a snack, and gab a little while we checked our GPS. She gave me some more helpful hints about gearing and caring for my bike, then we took off for the second leg of the journey.

We made one more stop before getting back home, again mixing bike talk and girl talk. I couldn't believe how much that one ride with her had helped me, and thanked her again for all her help and patience. At one point she even asked me, "Why didn't you just call me when you had questions?"

I don't know.

Stupidity? Ignorance? Pride?

Why did I have such trouble asking for help when it only lived one mile away?

I learned a hard lesson today. I think the older we get, the more trouble we have starting something new that we haven't done before. And once we start, we aren't as apt to ask others for advice. I mean, what have you done lately that is new and adventurous? We have such capacity as humans to learn- we should take more advantage of it! We let our fear of embarrassment or looking foolish get in the way! Take a cooking class, or learn how to crochet. Take a ballroom dance class, or even learn to scuba dive. Have you ever ridden a horse?  Played golf? There is so much out there in the world, much more than what you can learn on Facebook or Instagram...

Today's pic represents learning that it's ok not to be good at everything and to have someone help you. Don't hold yourself back from new experiences or getting better at something just because you don't want to look or feel stupid. Most people are more than happy to share their knowledge and help someone else along. So go learn or do something new and/or uncomfortable- you may be surprised at how good you feel afterward, even if you wind up looking a little bit awkward :).

Day 186

The 11-year old, much to his dismay, has a reading assignment over the summer. All of the children going into the 6th grade must read The Wizard of Oz before school starts. He tried to convince me it was "optional", but unfortunately his mother knows how to get on the school web site and look for herself...

So off we went to the bookstore, in search of a yellow brick road and The Great Wizard. And despite the moans and groans on the way there, as soon as we walked through the doors he said, "I like this store".

It's true. He's always loved the library and book stores, even when he was a toddler. We would literally go every day to one or the other- mostly because it was free entertainment, but also because he just seemed to like it. We would read books and do puzzles, play word games on the computers, and come home with a new treasure to read before bedtime.

These days, he's graduated from Goodnight Moon to the teen section, looking for series named "Warrior" or "Survivor". But we both also enjoy browsing the large sections at the front of the store that hold displays of all sorts of books grouped together by categories. Many of them are the kind of books you find on coffee tables- conversation starters and time-passers.

There are all sorts of books grouped together on cars, architecture and travel, planes, food, history, etc. I have always thought that whoever is in charge of these displays does an excellent job, because hardly a person goes by that doesn't stop and flip through at least one book in this section before making their way to the cash register.

My son tends to meander towards the history section- like father like son. I perused through a "Wonders of the World" book that talked about The Empire State Building (did you know they used to have those windows all cleaned by hand??) and The Imperial Palace, then wandered over to see what he had found. A book which depicted the different uniforms of soldiers throughout history was open, and he had moved on to a book which described the different Special Forces.

Looking casually down at the table in front of me, I noticed the two books in my picture stacked next to each other. I paused, then giggled and looked around to see if anyone noticed. I mean, was this a joke? A stack of books by the Dalai Lama was placed next to another stack- the Small Arms Visual Encyclopedia.....even the look on the Dalai Lama's face seemed to be looking at me and saying, " I know right? This is fresh, isn't it?" I mean, the glasses he had on kind of looked like the yellow ones people wear when they are shooting guns at the range but....yeah I doubt that was his intention.

I pulled out my phone and snapped a pic. And yes, I picked up the Dalai Lama book and flipped through it. So maybe it wasn't a mistake to put it there- I probably never would have given it a second look if it hadn't been placed where it was.

Today's pic represents how opposites attract, and how what can seem like a mistake at first  may actually turn out to be a positive outcome. Because I bought the Dalai Lama book. I'll let you know What Matters Most...

Day 185

The Fourth of July. A day to celebrate our country, family, and friends. A day of cookouts, swimming pools, and fireworks.

And don't forget the Monster Croquette.

What is Monster Croquette you ask?

Imagine the usual yard game with mallets and colored balls. 

Now reimagine it with bowling balls and sledgehammers. Yeah- it was awesome. 

Loud. But awesome.

There was also corn hole and Friquett, swimming, sparklers, glow sticks, fireworks,  and of course, Hairy Buffalo. 

Today's picture represents the fact that we are so lucky to have the freedom to enjoy fireworks and Hairy Buffalo. Happy Birthday America. 

Day 184

Thursday night. No work tomorrow. And no children in the house...

You know what that means- date night.

And what a perfect evening for it. The humidity of the last few days has left and it almost feels like late summer, instead of the beginning.

My husband and I went to dinner by ourselves. Yeah, we ate pizza and beer- but it was fancy pizza and beer. Really. It was.

We walked around our local outdoor mall, holding hands and shopping for Baby G. There was music playing in the mall's courtyard, and people taking advantage of the outdoor dining areas at the local restaurants. 

We took our time, no agenda or plan. We talked about things we usually don't have the time or energy to discuss.  

Yeah it's 9 o'clock and I'm home in my yoga pants. But my husband is on the couch with me, and we are getting ready to watch a movie. A Jason Statham movie, which is win-win for both of us.

Tonight's pic represents a quiet night both out and in with the person you love. 

Day 183

If I had a dollar for every dressing room I've ever been in, I would be one rich lady. I love trying on clothes.

But tonight, I got to watch one of my friends try on clothes. And that was almost as much fun!

Tonight's pic celebrates shopping with girlfriends, and the fun of trying on clothes!

Day 182

I remember when I first started talking to boys on the phone. I would drag the one phone we had in the entire house into the basement bedroom and close the door, being sure not to dislodge the cord from the wall. 

Them I would dial  the phone number using the circular, rotary dial and talk on the receiver that was connected to the base by yet another cord...

Tonight I heard the 11-year old talking to someone as I walked by his room. I poked my head through his bedroom door, but it was just him in there, sitting on his bed.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked.

I got the "oh-my-gosh-mom-you-are-so-embarrassing" look. He actually tried to shoo me away with his hands...

It was then that I realized he had my IPad on his bed. Turns out he was "talking" to a girl on FaceTime. 

My how times have changed.

I did the universal sign for "geez-sorry- I-didn't-know!" and backed out of the room.  I checked my emotions to see how I felt about him talking to a girl, but only discovered it made me smile. 

"And so it begins.." I thought to myself.

Tonight's pic represents how some things change....and some things don't :).