From Old to New in Two

Archie, my college car, is gone. :( We put him on craigslist last Monday night and she picked him up Wednesday. Didn't think that he would be gone so soon. We found a van in Boise. On Friday while we were out to eat here in Spokane, my dad test drove it, and with our okay he put money down for us that night. Thanks dad, you're great!!!

We all flew down Sunday and picked it up Monday. After the girls gave it their okay, we took off for Spokane. It was a good trip except for the fighting over which movie to watch. Where were DVD players when I grew up? It's not like we traveled far to Florida or anything.

Vehicular Changes

Well, we're doing it...we're getting a minivan.  I'm pleased to find they're made a bit differently than I remember them.  Can't wait to take delivery of it...

Can hardly believe Sarah let me buy one without her on-sight approval! Yehaw!

Mental

As a superhero cyclist daily commuter, my nemesis is a hill that I have to climb traveling home from work.  It's not a big hill, and it's not even terribly steep, but it always challenges me.  Always.  I can see it coming from a mile back.  It taunts me and laughs as I approach.  It's a mental thing. 

Here's what it looks like:

Beginning after 1 3/4 miles, it's less than 150 vertical feet covered in 1/2-mile distance with maximum grade at about 6% (shown in red).  Simple.

Story Time -- This week, my Tuesday commute was turning out to be pretty typical.  As I began ascending I shifted down a few gears to keep my cadence (pedal rpms) high and lighten the load on my legs.  After a couple hundred feet I started feeling the burn in my legs.  I pushed on the shift lever, but it did not move...I was already in the bottom gear.  That occurrence alone is sometimes enough to burst my confidence.  Not this time.  I pedaled with more vigor and regained the momentum that would help me progress decently up that hill.  (and by decently I mean slightly faster than 12 mph)

Side Note -- There are two patterns of thought when approaching a climb:

1.  Ease up before the hill (to conserve energy) and drop to the bottom gear for a long, slow climb.
2.  Maintain pace to the bottom and then keep momentum as long as possible to get it over with quickly.

I am guilty of the first option on many occasions, but I have lately been more apt to choose the second approach, 'cause I like to limit my suffering, and I like feeling strong!  Fact is, either approach will get me to the top, but my spirits when I get there can vary drastically.

Back to Tuesday -- About half-way up the hill, I realized I had to change something.  My legs were burning and I was losing momentum.  I shifted up two gears and stood up.  This is typically my submission to the pain - my last effort, and the slowest method of climbing.  I immediately dropped to about 7 mph with little hope of improving before the top.

During the next, slow, couple hundred feet I thought about the hurt.  Was this really as bad as it gets, or was I just wimping out.  I wondered what it would be like to "attack" in the midst of this level of slogging. 

Then I did it.  Against every screaming muscle I willed myself to speed up, to pedal harder.

Just moments before; I was consigned to the final slog, dedicating everything to simply get to the top.  Now I was accelerating up the hill!  I chanced a look at the speedometer and saw 10 with flickering decimal points.  Quicker than usual I was cresting the hill, and realizing that I did indeed have more in the tank than I often imagined. 

I finished the ride by matching my 2010 PR for the homeward commute despite feeling a bit ill earlier in the day.  Wahoo!

Joint Hobby = Hubby Hobby

There once was a day when I made a decisive purchase.  I bought some material and a pattern for a skirt.  I even bought matching thread, 'cause the GUY at Joanne's reminded me I would need it. 

This purchas had a couple of purposes:  1.  Sarah's birthday was the next day; 2.  We (Sarah and I) needed a joint hobby - something we could learn together and work on together and spend time together doing; and 3.  I like learning new skills.

It's been a month now since that purchase, and we finally have something to show for it:

I'll share one statistic about this creation - I sewed every stitch.  Sometimes when we are I am working on our various projects, Sarah feels like she is bossy.  Sarah insists that I am "well rounded", and in many ways she's right.

50's

I love how mid-50 F temperatures in the spring feel so good.  We got out and played today:

Grandpa Astle had an "Easter egg hunt" for the kids last week when we visited him.  Only there were no eggs, and it wasn't close to Easter yet.  So he substituted and hid dollar bills.  The girls had a blast shopping at the dollar store this week, and we had fun playing with their new toys today.

Better than low 40-F temps we had last week:

I did want to point out that sometimes...very rarely...we do not worry about style:

Welcome Spring!  Please feel free to stay a while.

Mad Cat

I know, I know...we need more pics.  Sorry.  Not today.

We went out of town for the weekend and left our cat, Nickel.  Our neighbor was kind enough to let him out each morning, and then let him back in the house in the afternoon. 

The report when we got back was that everything went as planned.  Each afternoon Nickel was waiting by the back door to go back in the house.  Our neighbor did say that he seemed lonely, as he was VERY friendly and cuddly to anyone that he saw.

When we arrived home, he was his normal self.  Happy to have a neck scratch.  Glad to lay on whatever lap was available. 

The next day, we let him out in the morning.  You know, back to routine.  Only...he didn't come back.  All afternoon we looked and called for him, but to no avail.  Sarah checked with the neighbors as the evening hours progressed, and they all reported seeing him at different times in the afternoon, but nothing right now.  We determined that he was still angry with us for leaving him for two days.

At 8:00 we got a call from our friends 3 houses down the street.  They had Nickel.  They found him sleeping on their kid's bed.  Awesome.  He is apparently impartial as long as it's a warm bed.

We're glad that's as far as his anger takes him!