Mid-Summer Musings

I started writing this post earlier in the week but had a bit of a life detour and didn't get it posted. Enjoy it now and I'll update what happened mid-week soon.

Summer is half over. I'm not sure where the time has gone. It's been fun. My wonderful niece visited from the east coast with her three children for several weeks and it was fun to get to see them. My kids have been to Youth Conference; my daughter to Girl's Camp; my son to Scout Camp. This week, my son started the first of two weeks volunteering at Camp Steiner as an Assistant Merit Badge Counselor. Next week, my daughter will attend EFY.

That means no kids for over 5 days! WOW!! It's amazing and enjoyable even though I'll miss them. Unfortunately, instead of having lots of fun plans, I'm planning to declutter and dejunk since I won't have to worry about shuttling them around.

We still have plans for a short summer vacation together. We're like most people this summer and not planning things too far in advance. I think we'll let this be the "What sounds fun today?" type of vacation.

We're thinking of heading up to Jackson for a couple of days to float the Snake River. Anybody done it? We hooked up with an old friend from Layton who puts trips together every summer. Then we might spend a night over in Yellowstone or Grand Tetons or both. That will depend on if there are any campsites available.

I'm still working on my quilts. Four are done and delivered.

Wow! What a Week!

It's been quite the week. Last Sunday was Father's Day and nearly my entire family visited my parent's house--there are 39 of us and during the day, 37 made it to the house. It's a lot of fun and a lot of babies!! We've had 5 little boys born in the last 15 months.

So, we've had dinner and we're all visiting and talking. The teenage cousins are goofing off together. The next thing I know, I'm being told my son has hurt himself somehow. He's in the bathroom screaming because his eye hurts and he is flushing it with water. I can't get him to calm down. He's 6 feet tall and a very strong kid. I'm trying to get him to go to the hospital with me but he keeps yelling at me. He's hurt and he's scared so we call the paramedics. He calmed down for them. There were 4 or 5 of them surrounding him.

As it turns out, the bicycle tire blew up in his face and hit his eye. They checked him out and didn't see any obvious foreign objects or penetration of the eyeball but recommended that we have him checked out at the emergency room. So, his dad took him down. We have to go to the IHC Hospital in Murray because of insurance even though St. Mark's is less than a mile away. They got him in a room almost immediately and then the waiting began. However, they checked him out really thoroughly and his cornea was severely scratched. The doctor said "stippled".

However, while they were at the hospital, I got to help get the trailers packed for the 200 mile bike ride starting the next day. hmmmm....... I'm not sure we made a good decision on who should go to the hospital. Anyway, we got the trailers packed up just before 10pm and they got home right about 10:30.

Up at 5:00 to get ready for a 6:30am departure. It was quite the sight to see nearly 35 men and boys all dressed in green t-shirts, wearing helmets and sitting astride bikes ready to go. Unfortunately, my boy got to watch and wave them off. He was sidelined until the eye doctor could do a follow up. Sunday night he was telling me there was no way he was going and Monday morning, I caught him trying to load his pack into the trailer with his helmet over his arm. So sorry!! Take everything back inside.

However, we were able to get an early morning appointment and he was cleared to ride--with wrap around sunglasses and eye drops. We ran around getting last minute things for him and caught up with the peloton in Ogden just in time for lunch. They rode 200+ miles over 3 days from Salt Lake City to Bear Lake. WOW!!!

That meant a girl's week at home. We went to see The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. It's pretty cute. Nothing great but an enjoyable evening out with my daughter. Then we came home and rented Twilight. I'd never seen it. It was a fun evening.

I got to spend some time getting caught up on my quilting. Two quilts totally finished this week with two more to finish before Sunday!! Getting close!!!!

Finished off the week with the whole family at Transformers! The action is intense and the story is good but it was pretty crude in places and I thought that was disappointing. We hit Robintino's for a late dinner and home. It was so much fun to spend the evening with my teens. They are so rarely around that family time tends to be Sundays only.

So, here's what I've done this week!!

I thought I was going to die!

I got up early this morning--before 6am--so I could go riding with a group of gals from my neighborhood. I'm just getting into the biking scene. I got a new mountain bike for Mother's Day last month and I'm slowly getting in some short rides. The gals I went with have been riding for a while and they were all on road bikes and clipped in. They are also all 10-15 years younger than me and in much better shape. I thought I was going to die!

It actually wasn't a bad ride--about 10.25 miles out to the Cotton Bottom and back. Just some small hills, some really nice downhill sections. Really, a pretty good ride. The gals I was with were really nice--they'd get out ahead of me and then wait for me to catch up and off we'd go again. The only down side to that scenario is that they kept getting these great little breaks and I had to keep riding, riding, riding to keep up. I thought I was going to die!

I realized at about 4.5 miles out that I had taken off without any water. I really needed water at that point. I'm panting and my mouth is dry and I really, really want some water. I've fallen far enough back that I can't quite see the gals I'm riding with. If I'd had my phone on me, I would have called for a pick-up from my hubby. I really thought I was going to die!

I finally catch up to the other gals and we have a little break. They were nice enough to share some water so I could get my mouth wet. Then we head back. This part is the really nice downhill section. I'm in the front and I'm pushing hard because there's a steep little hill coming up. I hit the hill and the other gals cruise right on past and I'm frantically downshifting. I thought I was going to die!

Then we're in the mostly uphill section. We're probably pedaling through mile 7 at this point. I can no longer feel my rear end. It's numb. My arms are starting to hurt because I'm leaning on the handlebars so hard. Again, I can't see the gals in front of me. This is when I had the bright realization that I'm riding with gals who are way younger than me--the youngest is around 16 years younger than me! What the heck was I thinking?? I'm pedaling ever so slowly and really wishing I had that phone so I could get picked up. I thought I was going to die!

So, we're playing the catch up game. They ride for a while and wait for me to catch up. We pedal ever closer to home. Finally, we reach Lincoln Lane. I know this section and I"ve ridden it several times because this is the way I come home from work. I took off and pedaled like crazy and was out in front all the way down Lincoln and over to Suada Drive. I really love riding down Suada drive. It's a great downhill and all the way home. I'm feeling really great! This is fun!

We pull in and Melissa says it's 10.25 miles. I'm quite proud of myself. I made it through and I didn't die! I pull into my driveway and get off the bike. My legs feel like lead! By the time I reach the door, I can barely move! I hobble down the hallway and into the kitchen for food and drink. I can hardly feel the lower half of my body--it's gone numb! My hands hurt, my arms hurt, my shoulders hurt. My legs don't hurt because I can't feel them. I thought I was going to die!

I can hardly wait to do it all again on Tuesday!!