Class Ring

The View from Here

I know it's been awhile...don't judge.

So here is the view from my favorite chair in our living room. I love how it has turned out.

After - Part 2

Finally we have the bedroom back together. I am in love with it. I am still amazed at what a difference changing the floor and paint made. I also ordered a new comforter, and as you can see the color matches perfectly. So glad this is done. Now on to the next project...resting.

After...Part 1

So the bathroom update is done...well for the most part. I have a few things left to do...like buy and install a towel rack. Skylar is going to create some artwork for the walls. But the hard part is done and the transformation is amazing.

Next up - pictures of the new bedroom. Another amazing transformation.

Drab to Fab

Three weeks after deciding to do a little home spruce up, we are still in the midst of the weekend project. We ordered new flooring for our bedroom. Simple enough. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems. After picking up the flooring, Brian started pulling out the dingy, old carpet to discover that we had a leak in our front windows. No flooring installation going on that weekend. We had to enlist the help of our friends at Buttercup Construction to find and correct the leak. Since we were making no headway on the flooring, we decided that it only made sense to paint the room while the carpet was up, and we had to do some sheetrock repairs anyway. Now the painting is all done and soon the flooring will be installed. It is amazing how much a little paint changes an entire room. I can't wait to see it with the new floor.

Making Progress

It has been one week since I started peeling the wallpaper from the bathroom walls. I have learned a few things.

1. Wallpaper paste is very sticky.
2. Someone did a quality job of putting that wallpaper up.
3. Quality wallpaper installation does not come down easily.
4. NEVER put wallpaper on Sheetrock that has not been painted or primed...it is even harder to take down.
5. Wallpaper removal is tedious and takes a lot of patience.

I am happy to say that the paper is all down and the walls are scrubbed and ready to be primed. I am now in the process of taping off. Hopefully the primer can start going on tomorrow.

Out with the Old

Six years after moving into our house, I finally got the  initiative to take down the hideous wallpaper in the bathroom. Here are the before pictures. Not sure how long it will take to get to the after especially since someone thought it was a good idea to apply the dark green over Sheetrock with no primer or anything under it. It is slow going on the removal.  The lighter paper is over paint and it is coming down a little quicker. As of now, the kids are anxious to help. Hope they keep it up.

Have You Ever Noticed?

To the owners of businesses around town...have you ever noticed whether there is any place in front of your location for a bike rider to lock a bike? It is not something I ever paid attention to much even after I started riding because most of my rides are totally recreational. I do own a bike lock. I use it so often that it was misplaced for over six months and I didn't even realize it until recently. After finally deciding it was lost for good it turned up while searching for something else (my purse - which is lost for good but that is the subject of another post for another time).

Tonight, though my ride was recreational, I did need to make a stop to pick up something since I was out anyway. I figured I would run into the grocery store that is about a mile from the house. As I pulled into the parking lot and looked around, I realized there was really no good place to lock my bike. There were a few places I could have locked it, but they were either not convenient or really not suitable. I headed on down the road to the dollar store. While they have not designated bike racks, there was at least a buggy return next to the store that served the purpose.

Now I know my little hometown is not a place where there are a lot of people who bike for transportation, but I do see quite a few adults riding around from time to time. For some of them their bike is their only mode of transportation. And while I live in a small town, there is a lot of theft. I would not feel comfortable leaving my bike in front of a business without locking it. I would not expect it to still be there when I got back.

I don't plan to start a bike parking crusade. I won't be boycotting businesses that don't offer bike racks. I will pay more attention when I am out and about. I may even offer a pat on the back to businesses that do have bike racks just to let them know that it is appreciated.

Selfie...

Not your typical selife...but then I am anything but typical.

Marry Me?

I suppose every small town had their Rialto Theater back in the day.  Morrilton's hasn't been a movie theater in years.  In fact, at one time it was so neglected it seemed it would never be usable again, but in 1995 it was acquired by the city of Morrilton and a year later the Rialto Community Arts Center was born. Tonight while riding my bike downtown I noticed the message on the marquee wasn't announcing some upcoming event, but instead heralded a proposal...I wonder if she said yes?

Choo Choo

Sometimes we take for granted things we see everyday. I can't tell you how times I have had to sit and wait for a train to pass. I cross the train tracks at least 4 times everyday on my way to work and home. The train tracks run less than 100 yards from the front door of the office where I work. We hear the train whistles blow from our home daily. It is hard for me to imagine NOT seeing trains, but I remember once when my boss' grandkids were young they were visiting the office when they heard the train whistle blow.  They ran to the window to watch the train go by. There are no train tracks where they lived and seeing a train was something very unusual for them.

Yesterday, while riding my bike, I heard the whistle blowing and stopped to catch a picture of the train that was coming down the line...this was the view from behind the bars.

The View from Behind Bars

 No I haven't been jailed...this is the view from behind my handlebars.  As the days have gotten longer, I have been able to spend a little more time riding my bike around town.  I have to say I still enjoy it as much as ever.

Yesterday, as I was coasting down a little hill on Church Street, a "real" cyclist passed me.  He was all decked out in his bike gear on what was probably a very expensive bike.  It's not often I see other adults out on their bikes.  I hope he was enjoying his ride as much as I was enjoying mine.

There are a few more days left in May which is Bike Month.  I hope to get a few more rides in before the end of the month if the weather will cooperate.  It has been raining so much that I may have to trade in my bike for a canoe.

She's Back

The crazy bicycle lady has made her first appearance of 2015. She received a bag for her bike as well as an odometer for Christmas which she finally got to use today.  Looking forward to logging many miles on it in the coming months.

1.005 miles

 Max speed 11.8

 Avg speed 7.8

 7:47 minutes

Crafty Weekend

Skylar and I took time this weekend to do a little painting. Skylar is quite artistic.  She has had several lessons from her Aunt Robin who is an art teacher.  I on the other hand am rather crafty but my art skills are lacking.  I did however find a rather simple painting on the Internet and was able (with Skylar's help) to copy it pretty closely.

Here is Skylar's original painting (created as a birthday gift for her cousin JD)

This is my Love Bird painting.

Still feeling a little creative, I painted this shamrock on burlap to hang on our downstairs door.  The plan is to paint one for each month to add a little festive look to the door...now I just have to get inspired to paint again.

Duet

It warmed my heart to hear Brian and Skylar sing "Too Near the Crown" together Sunday at church. I hope they blend their voices together more often.

(Edited to correct the typo...and to say that I can't type worth anything on my laptop.)

Goal!

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to read 40 books this year.  Not long ago, I was "behind" on that goal, but as of today I made it and I still have almost a week left in the year.

Crochet

Many years ago I was given a wonderful gift.  Brian's mom taught me to crochet.  Now if you knew Barbara, you know that she probably crocheted no less than a million miles of yarn and thread in her life.  I doubt there are many people she met that don't have SOMETHING that she crocheted for them.  While I have not crocheted nearly as much as she did - and never will - I still enjoy the craft and carrying on her legacy.  There is something special about creating something from nothing but a skein of yarn. I also enjoy giving away these creations. Here are a couple of my latest projects along with links to the patterns I used.

Elsa hat (modeled by princess Kami)

Elf hat (made two of these for a co-worker's sons)

A Woman with a Reputation

I have a reputation...I am now that crazy lady that rides her bike all over town.  Well maybe that isn't exactly how it is, but I have definitely been noticed.  Yesterday, while eating out with the family, not one but two people came up to the table and commented on seeing me out riding.  I guess if I am going to have a reputation, it could be worse than being the crazy bike lady.

Now for the September numbers...I was so close to hitting 150 miles for the month.  Unfortunately, the last week of the month, I was hit with a nasty case of sinus and allergy crud.  For the first time since I started riding I went four days without riding.  So my total for the month came in at 148.93...so close.  October is going to be much lower.  The shorter days are really cutting into my riding time, but I am enjoying the much cooler weather.  I will continue to ride as much as I can during the week and will try for some longer rides on the weekends.  We will see how that goes.

Marching Band

Let me just say, I am a band geek from way back.  I was in the band when being in the band wasn't cool, especially at Morrilton.  I got the yearbook out a few weeks ago and counted a total of 41 students in band my senior year.  That was for three grades.  I am very proud to say that both of my kids have joined the band.  This is Stephen's first year of high school band, and he loves it.  He has been playing the trumpet since the sixth grade.  Skylar has just started playing in the sixth grade.  She is on trumpet as well for now, but will switch to French horn after Christmas.

I am also proud to say that the band has grown since my high school days.  I would approximate that there are a little over 100 students in the 9th-12th grade high school band.  They sound great and they seem to have a LOT of fun.

Here is a short video of the pre-game entertainment from last night's game.  The band now enters by marching around the entire track and then stands on the track to play the national anthem and the alma mater.  They percussion section then plays several drum cadences while the rest of the band performs "dance" routines.  Like I said, they look like they have so much fun.

In a few weeks, once they are performing their full half-time show, I plan to take a real camera (not my dumb phone) and get some higher quality video.  In the meantime, this short snippet of their "Out of This World" halftime show including the theme from Star Trek and songs from Star Wars will have to do.

August Is In the Books

I can't believe another month has passed already.  August has come and gone.  I managed to break the ten mile mark on a single ride this month.  Only did it once, but that's OK.  Considering that August is typically the hottest month around here, I don't think I did too shabby.   I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather though.  Unfortunately, that also means that the days are getting shorter.  I have noticed the evenings slowly encroaching on my ride time.  I have to leave earlier in order to finish up before it gets too dark.  I don't know what I am going to do this winter when it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home.  Longer rides on the weekends I suppose.  But I sure will miss my nightly rides.

August also means that yet another school year has started.  My babies are growing up on me.  Stephen started ninth grade - a freshman in high school.  That is just hard to believe.  So far he seems to like it.  He was pretty excited the first few days, but that has settled down to his usual level of enthusiasm.  Skylar is in sixth grade.  She is doing just fine, but has not seemed overly excited this year.  They are both in band.  Both playing trumpet although Skylar will switch to French horn after the first semester.  Stephen will be marching at all of the football games this year, and he really likes that.