Fiber Fool

As for things that need done this spring. There are probably many more than we can realistically accomplish. So this will be more of a spring bucket list of things I’d like to get done, but I’m pretty doubtful many of them will happen.

1. Prep and plant the garden beds. Many of the them require partial emptying and shoring up. That means means we can work good stuff in even deeper which is a good thing, but it also means much more work which requires more time and it hasn’t been started yet.

2. Thin the set fruits - especially the peaches given their small, young branches, but the apples really need it too. The plums I think might be okay (they were the size of kalamata olives last week!).

3. Weed the patio, lay down the outdoor carpet and get the chairs set up.

4. Check the lines on the grill and the gas level so we can start enjoying weekend breakfasts on the patio (we have a griddle insert that is great for making pancakes and french toast).

5. Pick new yarn for my sweater design.

6. Sew more skirts that are bike friendly, mostly by upcycling my old tees I didn’t donate.

7. Drop off another car load full of donations and take a handful of higher end stuff to one of the consignment shops.

8. Clean the fans in preparation for needing to run them all night here soon. That includes ceiling and box/tower fans.

9. List my old Raleigh bike on craigslist again and see if I get any real interest other than ridiculously low-ball offers and flakes who never bother to come see it when they say they are going to.

10. Do some running outside, off of the treadmill.

I could go on. But I won’t. What are you wanting to get done this spring?

I rode my bike to work again today! My plan is to do so on Tuesdays and Thursdays for sure. Lately I’ve been doing weights on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays at the gym which means leaving much before the sun is out and would require leaving even earlier if I were to bike to the gym. Then there is all the extra shwag that needs toting for getting ready at the gym that would then need toted all day. Not to mention there was that whole overtraining syndrome issue I got late last summer that I don’t really want to repeat. That means I’ve also dialed back on the cardio warmup before lifting from 30 minutes to 10 minutes. Though I’m mixing up what equipment I use for those 10 minutes.

I tried a little different route this morning then last Thursday and cut about a mile or so off the ride and reduce the amount of foot and other bike traffic I have to deal with. It also meant I had to be a big girl and ride on a busy street. For less than 1/2 a mile though so it wasn’t too bad. I think I’ll be using that route fairly regularly.

I’m seeing the strides I’ve made over the winter more now. I had a mile stretch this morning above 20 mph that was all a low grade climb and at the end of my ride! And my legs weren’t burning - and didn’t burn with my 10 minute elliptical yesterday either (they had previously started about 2 minutes in, but I hadn’t been on in many months). My legs are finally making some progress! Yay!

School’s out for the summer. Although that meant DH’s nose was to the research all weekend - at least when we wasn’t out celebrating with the graduates. I holed up in the studio for a good share of Saturday after I made some baked “buttermilk” doughnuts with lemon glaze (I did the 1/3 greek yogurt to 2/3 milk in place of the buttermilk).

I was working on turning an old tee shirt and turtleneck into a pencil skirt with a ruffled hem. I used a blog tutorial and a youtube video and ended up with large hip wings. I don’t know if I just really can’t measure my own hips or what. It was awful. I refined with pins and it works now, though my master pattern piece is junk. I’m unsettled on how to add the ruffle at the hem so I haven’t gone any further at this point. The tee had a super deep V neck so the skirt is much too short without adding additional material from another source. I’ll let it swim around in my head and perhaps finish it up next weekend.

Most of Sunday was spent editing photos. 842 photos are *a lot* of photos to go through. The worst part, everything is only roughly edited. But, good enough that decisions can be made about which ones need full editing treatment. During it though I discovered that my laptop battery is DEAD. Nada. Nothing. That meant several times hair got pulled when a shift of position or an anxious dog pulled on the cord and caused the computer to also go dead. Ugghhh!

It was a weekend. And today has been a Monday…. I feel like I shouldn’t go to knitting tonight as I’m a bit of a grump. I guess I’ll need to decide soon…

Well, I made it home last night. Though my butt wanted to quit about 1/2 way there and about 3/4 of the way I was seriously tempted to double check with DH to make sure he really didn’t care to go to a get together that was being held there. I totally could have gone if it meant loading the bike on the Jetta for the rest of the journey home :-) But me and my sitz bones continued on out of shear stubborness.

On the ride to work my bike computer wasn’t working properly. The sensor seems to get messed up whenever it is taken in and out of the garage so I need to start paying closer attention to that before I get on. But the ride home was about 7.25 miles. I didn’t run MapMyRide so I don’t know the elevation change. I decided the ride wasn’t easy enough yet to want to know that. I do know it is over 250 ft as that is the change from campus to home. All told, I biked on the order of 17 miles or so and burned over 800 calories! Not too bad to get that kind of exercise just getting to/from work!

My sitz bones are killing me though. Most of the evening was spent on my side/hips. Anyone know if arnica cream helps reduce that? If I had a donut pillow I would have been really tempted to bring it to work. I now wish even more that I had a standing workstation :-)

I don’t know if there will be any biking in my weekend. The sitz bones may need a bit more time. We’ll have to see. I still really want to bike to Vern’s this summer and I now know that is a totally realistic ride if I don’t fear really narrow and graveled shoulder. It is less than 7 miles one way! There are some relatively serious climbs in there though. With CSU graduation this weekend it might be good to hole up at home for the duration.

I finally made the decision that biking to work was going to just hang over my head until I did it. I decided the best tactic was to pick a date to do it and just do it. No worries about breaking my butt back into the seat etc. So, today was the day!

It did take a little bit of bribing, however. I had to stop half way for breakfast to keep it down to managable ride lengths. As far as food bribes go though, I think I did quite well. My reward was a scramble of tofu, egg white, cheese and lots of broccoli with a side of brown rice and whole wheat toast. Plus, as DH pointed out, having a nice leisurely breakfast together on a weekday feels so decadent!

In retrospect, I certainly didn’t require the break. It seems my 35-40 pound lighter self since the bike was garaged this past fall and my continued exercise program have served me well. The only other ride I had taken this spring had been a bear so I was dreading getting back on period, let alone taking a 40 minute ride to work. Part of the problem for the first ride was likely low-ish tire pressure and that my seat had slipped down a bit. We got those things adjusted last night so I’d be ready to go at a bit after 6am today and it was sooo easy! I don’t know why I was dreading it so much. Well, aside from the bad ride. On the second leg I even passed up a co-worker - one who I think of as quite active and fit! To be fair, I suspect my bike is a good bit lighter than his and might be a bit more efficient. But I passed him!

Now, the ride home might prove to be a challenge. It is much different riding in 50 degree temps than the 80 degree temps at quitting time. I’ll also be climbing a good bit to get home. I haven’t looked to see how much yet. I decided that was one of those things it is better to not know until you’ve done it - like calculating the number of stitches in a knitting project ;-) I have decided to follow my path to work to get home rather than the slightly more direct route that keeps me away from the university. I’m purposefully avoiding a really rough hill that I loath. It also has the added benefit of keeping me off a really high traffic post-work bit of trail that I hope will keep my patience less stretched.

Wish me luck!

Seeing as how I suggested this week’s topic I really should play, huh? I sent my idea to Carole back when the sewer back up had just happened. We were needing pure laughs in the evening to turn our brains off and release some of the stress of everything that was happening. The exclusion of romantic comedies makes this a bit more challenging…

Lots of comedies have romantic elements. So I’m defining rom-coms as those comedies where the romantic element is central to the story’s plot.

1. Zoolander - blue steel, ambi-turner, relax
2. Mystery Men - I love Jeanne Garafalo in this one and Hank Azaria is hillarious too
3. Real Genius - love the man in the closet and Val Kilmer is fantastic
4. Galaxy Quest - while I’m not really into the things they are spoofing I still find this a funny movie
5. Bringing Up Baby - while there is definitely a strong romantic element, it isn’t central to the movie and I think it falls more into the screw ball comedy genre, if you haven’t seen this classic you really should
6. The New Guy - another with some romance, but ultimately a story about trying to fit in. I love “roll around you’ll be a’right!” and “It’ll take a lotta love and lotta drugs!” Man, we need to watch that one again. It has been a while.
7. Grumpy Old Men - this one just takes me back home :-)
8. Better Off Dead - this the first old favorite of DH’s that he introduced me too when we started dating over 12 years ago! Plus, I’m just a sucker for Cusak.
9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - because who doesn’t wish you could pull something like that off from time to time?
10. Caddyshack - because there had to be one with classic comedians from early SNL days didn’t there?

How about you? What are your favorite movies to watch to escape the reality of your problems?