Rockin' and Rollin'(or Geezin' and Wheezin'!)

I just started riding my bike.

Things are not how they used to be. I used to be able to ride a twenty mile loop daily with no ill effects. Now  I can barely make it three miles without my legs threatening to detach themselves from the rest of my body. I used to be able to scream down hills with precision control. Now I wobble along the smallest decline hoping the bike misses nearby trees. I used to manage steering and pedaling while gracefully raising a water bottle to my lips for a drink of water. Now I have to stop, dismount, and use both hands to prevent showering myself with water when attempting to quench my thirst.

So while things are quite different now than they used to be, I am excited to be outside getting a workout. The first day I wrestled the bicycle through a torturous six miles. The second day I squeezed in a three mile singletrack loop. Today I revisited the three mile loop and noticed that while my legs still ached on the hills, I rode the trail with a bit less difficulty as before. I am determined to keep at this biking thing and be able to regain some of my former ability to rock and roll!

The Rabbit and the Hare

"The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry"

-Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption

I keep finding myself amazed at people who seem to always be in a rush. Not a day goes by I don't see someone driving like a madman to get somewhere. My entertainment in heavy traffic is to spot the person that is driving crazily because they JUST HAVE TO GET THERE NOW!  The afternoon trip home today certainly did not disappoint me - sure enough, there was a gentleman in a Saab 9/3 that drew my attention. This driver (hereafter to be referred to simply as "The Saab" both because it refers to the model of car being driven and because The Saab sounds quite like S.O.B.) most certainly had to be late for a meeting with the President. Or maybe he had a scantily clothed super model waiting for him at home. Most likely he was just a moron. The Saab first caught my eye as it entered the stop and go traffic. The Saab did so by pulling out of a side street with a perfectly executed, 30mph rolling stop.(I guess stop signs don't apply to morons.) Once The Saab was comfortably nestled behind me in the long line of stalled traffic, the The Saab began to hunt for a way around me. Three lanes of stopped cars and I'm the one that's holding up this Saab!

The Saab could find no opening in the traffic to get around me. So The Saab did what any rational person would do in the situation. He honked and threw his hands in the air in disgust. Oh! Thank you! Honking at the 130 cars in front of you will solve the traffic problem! We all were unaware that we could simply move forward whenever we wanted! Thank you for pointing out the simple solution!

The Saab fumed and honked a bit more until traffic began to slowly creep ahead. Once cars had moved several feet ahead The Saab whipped to the left and sped around me. Only to brake to a hard stop forty feet later. This dance of The Saab lasted another five minutes as the traffic lights cycled several times. I kept track of The Saab as we crept along - he made 15 lane changes and just as many hard starts and stops. One mile later The Saab, after all of his lane changes, starts, stops, and frustration, ended up one full car length in front of me. As I entered the turn lane to head away from traffic towards the house, I caught the eyes of The Saab in his rearview mirror. I sweetly waved at the driver -who promptly pointed out that I really was Number 1- and then I eased on down the road.

Some people are wound way too tight. No need to be frustrated by things you have no control over. You live in Washington, D.C.. Land of crowded streets and horrible vehicle congestion. 

Relax.

This Baby HAS to be a Girl...

A previous post discussed baby names. We've managed to agree on a girl's name - Samantha Kae.

If this baby is a boy, he's gonna be nameless for a long time. Mommy and Daddy are having trouble finding a name for a boy. Some boy names sound good to one or both of us, but after thinking about the name for a day or two we change our minds.

So to help us narrow a name down and to keep track of names we've considered I am going to list them here. Feel free to comment on any name you like or don't like. You might be able to sway us one way or the other, or you just might end up not liking the name we pick for a boy. 

I do promise that the boy's name will not be "Apple", "Blu Ivy","Maddox", or "Inspektor Pilot".*

(* These are all real, official names that celebrities have used. Maybe if we had millions of dollars and loads of fame we might see the appeal of these names. I'm willing to give the millions of dollars thing a chance to change my point of view if anyone wants to supply the cash.)

So here are some of the names that appeal to each of us at the present moment.

Mommy likes  Grayson,   Miller,    Colton,    Avery,   Landon,   Hudson,   Bryson.

Daddy likes   Lincoln,   Glenn,   Foster,   Lee,   Colton,   Reed(or Reid),  Sawyer,   Grady

So there are some that are kind of normal and others that are outside of the box. Not 'celebrity' out of the box, but not necessarily names you hear a whole bunch. What do you guys think?

Teacher Appreciation

Jackson finishes kindergarten this week. The first year of school comes to an end. While Jackson is excited to be moving on to first grade, he says he will miss his friends and teachers. 

I usually use this blog to talk about Jackson's adventures or family related topics but this time I want to use this blog to say "Thank You." Thank you to all of the teachers that have contributed to Jackson's education this year. Jackson had teachers that taught Physical Education, Music, Art, Science, and Computer Lab. All of these teachers were wonderful! However, the biggest thanks of all goes to Jackson's kindergarten teacher.  Jackson started the year with the very basic skills of being able to count to ten and recite the alphabet. Thanks to a very patient teacher (I can barely handle Jack by himself - I can't imagine spending day after day with almost twenty six and seven year old kids!) Jack has learned how to add, subtract, read, write, and spell. Yes, I said read! Jackson used to bring book after book to Mommy or Daddy for his daily fix of stories. Now, Jack can get comfortable with the latest Clifford or Pokemon book and read it himself! 

So before I get totally off track about how great my little monkey Jackson is and all of the things he can do, let me say this...

Thank you Ms. Fightmaster for your dedication and desire for helping young minds develop. Thank you for the countless hours you spend in the classroom and at home getting lesson plans ready and creating activities that challenge and engage our children and make them want to come back each day to learn more. Thank you for your saint-like patience that allows you to remain surrounded each day by twenty children that all want to talk at once, touch their friends, create a mess, and chatter non-stop to you about what is going on in their lives. Thank you for the memories you have created for Jackson -and for us- with the special projects the kids completed throughout the year. There is no way I can truly express how grateful Amanda and I are that Jackson had you to guide him through the first year of his education, so I simply say,

"Thank You".

The Trip

I recently returned from the trip. The Trip. Since the baby is due the same weekend in August that my annual four wheeling trip is scheduled, this week has been my vacation for the year. I'll take some time off from work when the baby arrives, but I'm certain that will not be much of a vacation. The Trip was a three day adventure - I pulled the Jeep J2000 to Vermont to be with it's new owner. (see post down below somewhere for the new owner) The trip was both long and short. Long in seat time, short in visiting time.

To review the trip I have compiled a list of facts from the three days.

-Total time to drive from Woodbridge, VA to Jericho, VT = 16+ hours

-Total time to drive from Jericho, VT to Woodbridge, VA = 13 hours

-Total spent on gas = $337.00

-Highest price paid for gas = $3.87 per gallon (New York)

-Lowest price paid for gas = $3.34 per gallon(Pennsylvania)

-Amount paid in tolls =$16.40

-Number of times GPS unit was threatened with being thrown out window of moving truck = 4

-Number of heart stopping moments = 1 (deer stepped into road 300ft in front of truck and trailer)

-Number of times Colt Ford album played = 12

-Number of fast food stops during drive up and back = 0

-Total cows spotted on trip = 2,103,237,985,932

The main reason it took so long to drive to Vermont was that I was driving the truck at a certain RPM instead of a speed. So that meant that my speed varied anywhere from 45mph to 68 mph. I kept the truck around an RPM that wouldn't tax the engine or transmission. The total weight of the trailer with the J2000 was within 500lbs of the tow rating for the truck, so I played things safe and let it take as long as needed to get to Jericho.

Two other reasons it took so long to drive up there were an accident in New York that clogged three lanes of highway for a loong time, and my navigation mistake that took me through downtown Schenectady, NY. The detour I took through Schenectady was interesting - aside from the stoplights every 70 feet for four miles of pothole filled road, the pedestrians seemed to not care if they lived or died. I stopped counting after the 40th person stepped off the curb into my path. I stopped caring if I ran them over after the 30th. If you deem your life to be worth so little that you don't take a second to glance around for traffic before stepping into the road, then I won't think your life counts for much either! 

I really enjoyed the trip. I like pulling a trailer. I know I'm weird, but I like the extra attention required when there is a trailer behind your truck. You have to plan ahead for hills, watch for the extra space needed when braking, and be aware of tight spots and turns. It's not rocket science, but the extra brain activity kept me engaged for the whole time.

I did get to visit with the Northerns a bit. Levi was obsessed with the trailer. He climbed on, over, and around the trailer after the Jeep was unloaded. Levi also thought that the trailer made a great skateboard ramp. Yes, he did put on a helmet!

The reason for the trip. A man and his new truck.

Overall, a good trip.

100th Post

One hundred posts.

I should mark this milestone by writing something deep and retrospective.

I'm not going to...

Instead, I'll just celebrate by saying

"Woo."

"Hoo."

There. Celebration over.