Day 1 biking to work

The alarm went off at 530 this morning and I was sorely tempted to change the alarm to go off in another hour and go back to sleep.  I sat in bed weighing the options, going over a pro and con list (pretty impressive for someone still feeling half asleep), and decided that it was today or never.  I got out of bed, changed into the clothes I'd prepared last night, finished packing the backpack with the change of clothes for work, some snacks, and emergency bike repair stuff.  Then I headed out of the garage on my bicycle.  It was a bit chilly to start, and I began wishing I'd worn long pants instead of shorts.  I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled some more, all the time wondering if I was crazy for deciding to commute by bike.  As the wind rushed over my glasses, my eyes began to water, my arms were cold, and I knew I had to peddle faster to get the blood pumping before I froze. 

I made it to the first stop light (only about 1 mile away) and was mentally kicking myself for not having ridden more consistently in preparation last week.  I was going from zero riding to a 16.4 mile commute round trip.  Not one of my smartest moves.  Never the less I continued onward.  I made it to Cirby and was feeling pretty good.  I made it over the overpass over the freeway, and was starting to feel a little tired but kept pressing onward.  I continued up Cirby to Rocky Ridge, and wondered how sore I'd be at work sitting at my desk all day.  I passed the info sign by Maidu park and the library and read 59 degrees......at least by this time I'd ridden long enough to be warm.  I pedaled hard to make it up the hill to Douglas.  Stopped in a parking lot to add some air to the back tire, which made pedaling much nicer.  Saw a clock that read 630 and I realized that I was making great time, which would explain why I was feeling quite so tired....I'd been riding harder than my normal commute.  I pedaled the last couple miles up Douglas to the office building and went to freshen up for work. 

As the work day progressed I took lots of opportunities to get up and walk around the office in the hopes that my muscles wouldn't get too tight or sore. Things seemed to be going well, and as the work day came to a close I was feeling alright.  Then it was time for the commute home, which for the most part is downhill.  Nice, except for the fact that the wind was blowing against me most of the ride home.  (can't win).  I made it down douglas, rocky ridge, cirby, and headed toward the overpass again (the eastbound direction is so much steeper than the westbound), I pedaled hard, downshifted a lot, and finally gave in and walked the bike the last 1/3 to the top of the overpass.  Then I got back on and rode down.  I decided that I would try a new way home today to see if it might be faster.  Instead of going through the neighborhood, I went down Whyte all the way to Roseville Road and then headed toward Antelope.  The cars zip down Roseville Road at pretty fast pace, and it can be a bit unnerving.  At one point there was debris in the bike lane and I had to enter the traffic  lane briefly to go around the object.  (talk about risky business).  Luckily I was good and signaled the car behind that I'd be coming into the lane.  I think on any non-windy day Roseville Road might be the faster option, but because it is so open, and unprotected, unless lots of trains are parked on the tracks, the wind whips through like crazy.  I pedaled against some pretty strong wind all the way down Roseville Road.  i was getting a bit tired by this point and was very happy to see Antelope around the bend.  I travelled down Daly, then to Tupelo, then to home.  It was a good adventure.  I'm not sure how sore my legs will be in the morning.  I guess I'll have to wait till I wake up to find out for sure.  If I'm feeling good it will be biking again in the morning.  If I'm sore, then I'll wait a day and bike again on Wednesday.  My goal is to be able to bike every day.  It is a great way to spare the air, and an excellent source of exercise.  Here's to hoping I'm not sore in the morning :)

Family

Yesterday I picked up my mom  and we headed down to Pittsburg for my cousin's baby shower.  I was worried the traffic would be bad, but it didn't slow down much till we hit Antioch.  We arrived a bit after the start and were each handed a necklace and informed that we could not say the word baby or we'd lose it.  The house was packed with family and friends.  We even had family in town from Utah visiting so it was nice to catch up and see what they have been up too.  All the Benton siblings were present which due to distance and jobs doesn't often happen so we took some picture opportunities with the five of them together.  There were lots of other photo opportunities as well. There were great snacks, lots of good conversation, and lots of people really anxious to take those necklaces should the word baby escape someones lips.  I hadn't really intended on playing and was content with the one necklace but I just seemed to be around when people said the word.  Before I knew it I had a nice size collection.  The younger kids kept coming over in the hopes of tricking me into saying the word.  They brought a doll and asked what kind of doll it was (of course it was a baby), they tried to ask me what word it was we shouldn't say, they tried just about everything.  It was so cute.  My young cousin Chase was convinced that he was going to win and kept following me around asking if I'd said the "B" word yet.  :)  

Then it was time for my cousin to open her presents and I became scribe.  She got the cutest things for the baby.  I think the funniest gift was one that her husband and daughter were given.  When opened it revealed two sets of ear plugs.  Everyone laughed.  There were lots of cute clothes, blankets, and essentials.  Afterward my cousin brought out some cloth diaper wraps that she'd made.  They were super cute.  Water resistant on the outside, super soft flannel on the inside with leak guard elastic sewn in even.  She has got some talent with that sewing machine.  I'll have to see if I can snag a picture from somewhere to show you what I mean, she could easily sell them to others. 

More snacks, and lots of visiting later the necklace game finally ended and I got to bring home a beautiful little rose plant for my house.  It smells so nice.  It was getting late so we said our goodbyes, got hugs and promises of getting together again soon, and headed home.  It was really nice to visit with family and have such an enjoyable afternoon together.

BBQ, family, fun, and FHE

I've had the opportunity now to use my BBQ quite a few times which makes me very happy I made the investment.  I decided it would be fun to have some friends and family over on Saturday for a BBQ and a movie on the wall.  I did a bit of quick cleaning and my mom came over to keep me company.  Around lunchtime I got a call from my brother and sister that they were on their way and bringing lunch.  So I stopped and enjoyed a chipotle chicken sandwich from Subway.  Then it was a quick review of some scriptures for a talk on baptism for one of the kids in my class.  I got my things together and headed out the door, leaving my family to enjoy my home while I was gone.  The baptism was great, just like they all are, and I didn't stumble too much from nervousness in giving my talk.  After the baptism it was time to hit the grocery store to grab the essentials for the BBQ.  I grabbed some chips, burgers, hot dogs, and fruit then headed home. 

My brother and I played some rounds of horseshoes, as my sister and my bother's girlfriend and her daughter watched.  I managed to get one leaner but my brother got a ringer and won.  Then I decided I ought to put together the fruit salad as people would be coming soon.  With everything in place, I fired up the grill and started the burgers and hot dogs.  I didn't realize the patties I'd gotten were so fatty, the drippings sure made some good size flames but nothing out of control.  Everything cooked up well and I brought all the food in just as people started to show up.  It was an enjoyable meal.  After dinner my family left for other adventures and Marie, Laura, and Emily and I decided to watch Tangled on the wall.  It sure is pretty fun having a large screen movie on the wall.  The couches were moved to prime watching spots, and plenty of snacks were available to go around.  You've got to love a cheesy Disney flick. 

It was so fun to have people over.  The BBQ got another workout tonight.  The girls in my ward and I have been trying to get a Family Home Evening group together.  Often it is just the four of us, but this week we thought we would extend invitations to some friends to join us for a BBQ.  I got the grill all cleaned up, prepped a fruit salad to share, and waited for the friends to come.  By 7:30 the usual group was gathered and we reported back on those we thought might be coming or those we had heard back from that were unable to join us.  In the end it was the four musketeers.  We talked about the things we'd learned from Sacrament meeting yesterday, watched the spiritual crocodiles video on youtube, and then decided it was time to eat.  We grilled up our chosen items, chatted while it all cooked, then we came in and enjoyed the mini feast.  Grilled veggies, fruit salad, chips, grilled meat.  It was scrumptious and left my tummy feeling very full and happy.  We talked a bit more after dinner, chatted about what our next activity would be and wondered how we might be able to get more participants for our FHE group.  We decided we would just keep planning activities and extending invitations, and eventually people will start to come. 

Life is good!

fresh veggies

I picked some of the first squash from the garden over the last few days.  I am so excited to have fresh veggies.  I even got to share some with the neighbor.  Maybe I don't need a back lawn, I can just grow veggies.  :)  That would be amazing.  My corn is even starting to get some ears on it.  It makes me very happy to go out in the backyard every day and see the progress in the garden.  I feel so blessed.

ARRH!!! Avast ye land lubbers

There is a a fun filled event that happens every year in Vallejo CA.  http://www.norcalpiratefestival.com/  I've been to the event before and walked around the different booths, heard the musicians, watched sword fights and enjoyed the show as the Aldebaran captained by Pirate Hayden Brown sailed by firing cannons at the British soldiers on shore.  This year I was privileged to be a pirate aboard the Aldebaran.  I drove down to Vallejo kind of early Saturday the 18th and met up with the pirates aboard the Aldebaran.  We waited patiently for the time to come to start heading out of the marina for the performance.  I was able to borrow some awesome pirate garb from my good friend Liz, and added a few things I'd picked up at the party store.  I'll share photos as soon as they are posted to facebook. 

We left the marina and the crew hoisted the sails.  I was given instructions for my job, I would be the guardian of the flame.  Basically I held the lighting pole while the guns were reloaded, and then handed the tool to Bob to light the cannon.  We had quite a good wind and so we had to make a couple passes without cannon fire before the allotted time came.  We came in close to the dock and opened fire.  I'm really glad that I had earplugs in cause the cannons both on the boat and those being fired in return from shore were loud.  We made many passes in the 30 minutes of the show.  I became very adept at crawling across the deck to change from starboard to port side as we sailed back and forth in our cannon battle.  Pirate Bob even let me light a few of the rounds. 

It was so much fun.  I was glad that I got to take part in the battle this year.  A little imagination, some black powder charges, and a most beautiful ship go a long way to make a fantastic pirate adventure and a Saturday that will be hard to forget.