Forever in blue jeans, babe

Earworm inspiration

Pretty in pink

And miles to go before I sleep....

Events like the Tour de Fleece are great excuses to accomplish goals. My problem is, when I set goals, that I get somewhat focused on those goals – like obsessively focused on those goals! (Heh; this is not news to some of you.) I've been spinning quite a bit . . . and want to be spinning when I'm not. It's a rather unsettling state of affairs; reminds me of when I used to be a bookworm. I was either reading or wanting to be reading.

That preoccupation can make me feel like I'm a slacker in other areas, but I really haven't been. Brian is still getting supervised (I spin on my miniSpinner while he's practicing his keyboarding skills, and spindle when he's doing math), my horse is still getting schooled (in preparation for our upcoming show), the garden is still getting tended (weeding and watering is ongoing, and yesterday I picked six freezer containers of cane berries), and I'm still feeding my family well.

Yesterday this arrived in my inbox. Hmm, I knew I had a handful of produce ready for picking in the garden; this sounded like the perfect use for them!

A minuscule orange cauliflower and a dozen green beans

Our first tender, tiny zucchini, green peppers, and cherry tomatoes

These were combined with the last of our spinach and a few volunteer swiss chard leaves, the pullet eggs, and a very few other ingredients to produce . . .

MMM, MMM, GOOD!

Served with homemade bread; we ate like kings last night!

Oh, and I've been exercising more, too; that always makes me feel better about myself. Brian likes to ride bikes, and has dreams of saving his money and buying a nice Trek mountain bike. Monday he asked if we could stop by the Newberg Bicycle Shop (where I saw the "fiery furnace on wheels") so he could drool. I stood around looking at miscellaneous stuff while the shop attendant talked with Brian. He had homed in on a certain bike, only to learn that it was the ladies' model. The attendant pointed him to the men's model beside it, and explained the differences. A little light bulb went off in my head; I'll bet my used Fuji women's mountain bike doesn't fit me! At 5'8" with an athletic build, I'm not a "typical" female; my old Schwinn Varsity 10-speed is a men's bike. (Yes, I still have it, but it isn't suited to the gravel roads and steep hills around here.) The Fuji hurts my knees and makes me feel like I'm precariously perched over the front wheel, so I have demurred when Brian asks me to ride bikes with him.

Tuesday, Brian offered to switch bikes with me. Lo and behold, his old Schwinn men's mountain bike doesn't hurt my knees or feel unbalanced! Guess I need to sell my Fuji and look for a men's bike now . . . my thighs will thank me later. ;-)

That's it for now from . . .