Today's Ride

(Hmmm, Teachin' Mama and Horsie Mama blogs; maybe I should start a Cycling Mama?? Haha! Just kidding!)

Today I did 8.6 miles on my bike - getting close to what I normally ride each day in the summer. I am surprised that none of my muscles have gotten sore as I really have not ridden much the past two years. On the other hand, my seat bones were very tender this morning as I swung into the saddle, something that is usual at the beginning of the cycling season. That will pass. (Thank goodness!)

I went to my special "prayer pavillion" and this morning I offered up prayers for Sarah to find a job. She has a unique ability to connect with the tough kiddos - I know there are teens in the Denver area who need her. I'm keeping that in Heavenly Father's ear just as I am Lisa's teaching talents. (Maybe He will just get tired of me pestering Him and give them teaching positions! Hey, a mom's gotta try!)

Today, like yesterday, I had the place to myself with no competition from park mowers and sprayers. But an interesting bike set-up did go past me. It looked like a golf cart that was pedaled, and a man and a woman were driving it.

They had a flatbed trailer with tubs on it - I think they might have been traveling.  I wondered if maybe they were heading to the gardens to work and the tubs held their gardening tools, but they continued past the gardens and out of sight. 

No sign of the Loch Ness Catfish this morning, but I did see something else:

Turtles!!

Lurking in the Lake

There is something lurking in the lake at Amberleigh Village.

I ride my bike around the lake fairly often - it's a pretty ride. 

 This year there are Mallards nesting on the lake...

 ... and often there are Great Blue Herons. (There's a roosting tree in the woods nearby.)

Today as I came down the path, I noticed something odd in the water. A fin was poking out!

 In fact, it looked like something out of a cheesy B movie, and so I was smiling.

At first.

 The more I observed, the more I realized that there was a really BIG fish underneath that fin that kept popping out of the water.

 The fish seemed content to lazily swim in the same place which allowed me to take about forty pictures of it. (I was hoping it would break more of the surface so I could tell what it was.)

 I finally got back on my bike and pedaled around the lake, only to loop back a few minutes later to find the fish still swimming close to the surface and in the same vicinity.

 To my delight, it broke the surface with its head very suddenly...

... but the shots I got were poor. I could tell that it was probably a catfish or a largemouth bass - its head was about the circumference of a dessert plate, and rounded, not flat.

I later googled both fish, and I am pretty sure that was I saw was a channel catfish.

 You can get an idea of its length - I would guess 18-24 inches long.

 The "two hump" photos make me think of the Loch Ness Monster!

I hopped back on my bike again, and turned around. Because of the angle of the sun, I realized I could see the fish's shadow under the water.

It again popped its head out, and I could see the shadow of another fish who had joined it.

Yeesh!! Such a big fish! I wonder how many Mallard ducklings it has gotten?

You sure won't catch me wading barefoot in that lake.

Cycling and Praying

When we moved here at the end of July, 2006, I could not get a teaching position. Couldn't even get an interview. (Kim Bower, principal at Cumberland, told me later that year that she'd had 200 applicants for each of her three openings. No wonder I couldn't get an interview!)

Needless to say, when school started in August, I was devastated. I would ride my bike in the morning, wishing I were at school teaching, and feeling scared of the future. How on earth was I to get a job?

This picnic shelter at Cumberland Park became a bit of a refuge - a place where I would stop, dismount, drink some water, and pray.

Oh, and cry. Big time.

After 9:00 in the morning, the park is not very busy, so it's a good place to go when you want to pray.

And cry.

Plus, it has pretty views - this is the lake. (It's got a lot of green algae at the moment, but trust me, there's a pond in front of those trees!)

Fast forward seven years. I have a job - my favorite teaching assignment EVER. But now Lisa is in the shoes I wore. Applying. Calling. Stopping by principals' offices. Trying to get an interview and having zero luck.

I know how she feels.

So, it seemed fitting that, when I was on my bike ride yesterday morning, I stop at my "prayer pavillion" and pray for her, just as I did seven years ago.

I didn't pick the best time to do so!

There were two other mowers going plus a man walking around spraying weeds. I smiled and decided I would come back the next day, which is today.

And I did, offering a heartfelt prayer for Lisa in a much quieter environment!

Now, to pray that Sarah also gets a teaching position.

The Temple!

I made it up to the Chicago Temple today - a feat in and of itself because I DETEST the traffic up there. It stresses me so that I usually get a migraine. As a result, I do not go to the Chicago Temple very often, preferring Nauvoo or Louisville. (The Indianapolis Temple cannot open fast enough for me!)

When we were visiting teaching a day or so ago, I asked my friend, Lisa Connolly, if she wanted to go up with me. She was available so we hopped in her car and headed up this morning.

When we arrived, a greeter asked if we needed help finding the dressing room, and Lisa replied that we knew where to go. The woman then observed, "I can tell you have come from a long distance."

The two of us both got a bit of the giggles - did we really look that bad? So we said something along those lines and the temple worker hastily amended that she had not meant her words that way. Then she said something that I find interesting and have been thinking about ever since.

"I can tell you come from far away because people who live close to the temple hurry in and go directly to the dressing room without looking around at things."

Hmmmm. Food for thought, especially with the Indianapolis Temple under construction. I do not ever want to take having a temple close by for granted!

 Me outside the temple after our session.

 The fountain by the entrance - I have always thought it looked like something from The Jetsons!

 Lisa and me, ready to head home.

We got in a session and then drove home, so it was a quick trip. The traffic going up was not bad; coming home there was much more and I did feel headachy. But, attending the temple was definitely worth the annoyance of a migraine.

Stormy Weather

June in the midwest is frequently a time of severe weather, and last night the storm clouds rolled through and a severe thunderstorm warning was posted.

I stepped outside to take the patio umbrella down (I learned the hard way that strong winds can bend or snap their poles) and took some shots of the roiling clouds.

 Looking to the north from our patio.

Pointing the camera straight up over our home and patio.

Despite the lowering clouds, we only had some brief strong winds, some rain, and a little lightning and thunder. It wasn't much, as severe storms go. 

Which is probably a very good thing!

Blinking - a Family Trait

And my kids say I blink when they're taking my picture!

Lisa and Grandma after a picnic lunch at Happy Hollow Park.

Perhaps it is a family trait to blink during when the picture is taken??

Actually, my mother was just being silly - she had blinked in one picture, and when we realized it, we tried again, only she did an exaggerated blink (the one above) for fun. It was too funny NOT to post!

A History of Riding

I have been riding for years, but it wasn't until 2001 that I actually began to formally track just how many miles I was riding.

Charis Duke had had me buy each of the kids a little notebook like this, and she recorded their weekly assignments in them for piano practice. Since no one was taking lessons any more, I pulled one out of the piano bench and turned it into my bike log.

I began each year by making a page like this:

 I'd set a goal (an ambitious one in 2006, and one not accomplished because I ended up having three ankle surgeries that summer and we moved to West Lafayette.) I would record the data for the beginning of my riding for that year and then again on January 1 of the following year so I had a total of how many miles I had completed that year. (231 miles with all that happened that year ? Not bad!)

Every time I completed a ride, I would record its data including the date, total for the day, and running total for the year.

I went through a couple of odometers (I am on my third) so the cum data varied. I also made notes throughout the year as I rode. Here are some highlights from 2001- 2012:

2001: 593.76 miles, carpal tunnel surgery on  left hand 8/24

2002: 338 miles

2003: 85 miles, flat tire, summer school

2004: did not ride, hip replaced 

2005: 459.69 miles, knee pain 

2006: 231 miles, 3 ankle surgeries on 5/19,  moved to Indiana in July

2007: 213.48 miles, cortisone injection in knee

2008: 351.70 miles, cortisone injection in knee

2009: 364.25 miles, Dad passed away

2010: 221.35 miles, new bike, Curt and Cole got married, cortisone injection, Synvisc injection

2011: did not ride, right knee replaced, 12/1/10, left knee replaced 6/7/11

2012: 62.05, still recovering from knee surgery, got Abby

A Wedding in Urbana

Last Saturday Craig and I went back home to Urbana to attend Caitlyn Lamb's wedding. In some ways, it was old home week as we ran into several very dear, longtime friends. (Sadly, I did not get pictures of everyone.)

 Nich Harold, Dan Stebel, and Curt.

Nich Harold: When I student taught in Pam Green's 4th grade classroom, Nich was one of my students. He, Curt, and Cole are all very good friends. Nich just completed his Masters in Mechanical Engineering and is considering working on his sister, Erika's, campaign for US Congress. He's a good guy and towered over me!

Dan Stebel: Another super nice guy and a friend of both Curt and Cole's from Urbana High School. He sustained a brain injury during a football game his junior year. He took two hits to the head and went into a coma. Dan was not expected to live. He did, much to everyone's relief, and is doing very well with no apparent ill effects from the experience.

Me with my second favorite soccer player (Ella is the first), Ashley Bolen, and my dear friend, Sherri Bolen, her mom. Sherri and I have sat through many, many soccer matches together! She's a librarian at Holy Cross School in Champaign and Ashley is a graphic designer in Danville.

Mama of the bride! Tina Lamb was my secretary when I was Stake Primary President.

The "Febreeze Boys" - Curt and Adam Jackson. 

When Curt and Adam were in high school, I was driving them up to Rantoul for a football game. As they sat in the back seat (along with Ian Follis) the subject of laundry came up. Adam and Ian shared that they didn't do their laundry very often - they simply sprayed clothes that had been worn with Febreeze and wore them again! (I about wrecked the car at that revelation.) They thought their idea was positively brilliant; all I could imagine was stiff socks so dirty they could stand up by themselves, with a whiff of Febreeze about them. Adam looks like he has a better handle on how to do laundry now.

(Another note about Dan Stebel. Curt was up for Homecoming Court his junior year, the year Dan had his brain injury. Dan, too had been nominated. Mr. Furer, Curt's guidance counselor, told me that Curt asked people to vote for Dan instead of himself, hoping that Dan would win. Dan did, and Mr. Furer thought I should know what my son had done.)

Back in the Saddle Again!

The BIKE saddle, that is. Onyx and I went for a spin this morning!

It has been a while due to my knee replacements and then getting Abby last summer, but I am determined to NOT let my cycling fall by the wayside. I truly enjoy it, and it is so good for me. Usually I begin riding as early as March, and get some time in on Saturdays until school lets out and I am freer to ride in the mornings. I am definitely late getting started this year!

Normally for the first few rides of the season, I shoot for five miles at 10 mph. I was able to sustain the 10 mph, but I only got three miles in as I started getting a cramp in my thigh. I am sure that that will pass as I continue riding.

My goal is to get in 150 - 200 miles this summer (a very low goal for me, but I can always revise it) and get back to riding 10-12 miles a day at 15-17 mph.

As I swung my leg over the seat and pushed off down the driveway, a wave of warm, humid air brushed my face. The smells from lawns and trees early on a summer day are delicious, and as I pedaled I thought, "Why have I waited so long to get started this summer?"

A bit of procrastination, a bit of laziness, and just having gotten out of the habit all contributed to that, I think, but I am riding again and determined to make up for lost time.

More Shipshewana

Craig and I wrapped up our trip to Shipshewana today. We enjoyed being with the other CES couples, learning about the Amish, and then relating what we'd learned to our beliefs and the parallels we could draw.

I especially loved being in Amish country and around all those horses and buggies. They were everywhere! No pictures, though, since they prefer to not be photographed.

I did take these:

 A two storey wall of antique sleighbells in the restaurant Das Essenhaus. They're beautiful, but I still would not trade my newish (1980s) sleighbells for any of them. My set has the most beautiful, musical tone. And, they're real horse sleigh bells, not the decorative kind you can buy. (I got them at Gordyville  - a saddler had set up a booth in the flea market and had the one set for sale. When I heard their tone, and saw they were only $15, I snagged them. Never regretted it.)

Craig saw this sign and said, "That reminds me of your collection. Oozies, and shrinkies, and chalkies, and pearlies, oh my!" 

I had to laugh - he is referring to my horse collection upstairs in my office. This summer I have been dusting and cataloging it. I knew I had one shrinky (a piece that, for some reason has begun to shrink in size and is significantly smaller than other pieces from the very same mold) but discovered a few more in my collection. Chalkies were horses made with a certain type of plastic during the 1970s oil crisis and the unusual plastic gives them a glowing color. They're highly sought after, and I have a fair amount of those. (Not that I knew it when I got them - I just thought they were pretty back then!)

Pearlies also date from the 1970s oil crisis and have a pearlescent color. I only have a couple of those. And oozies... You do NOT want an oozie! Once in a while, for unknown reason, a piece begins to ooze liquid! It is thought it has to do with degradation of the plastic, but no one knows for sure. I have one that I suspect may be an oozie, although it is not yet leaking, and I keep it in its own box away from the rest of the collection, just in case.

So, I guess I have been chattering about my chalkies and pearlies and shrinkies enough to make Craig think of them when he saw this sign. Too funny.

On our way home we stopped in Wakarusa and got some old time candies from our childhood!

Their jelly beans are huge - about the size of jawbreakers!

Incredible!

I got some Fizzies - haven't seen those in years, and I admit (a little sheepishly) that I bought three boxes of candy cigarettes. That was a favorite Halloween goodie when I was a child, and we used to mimic the adults we saw by pretending to smoke with them. They're a stick of sugar with the end painted red to look as though it's glowing. (Wow, how times have changed! That kind of candy would be unthinkable now!)

We got home safe and sound around 4:30 and have spent the rest of the day catching up with household tasks, unpacking, and laundry. I'd sure enjoy heading back to Shipshewana another time and spending more time shopping.

Mountain Dew and the Drive Through?

Craig and I are in Shipshewana, Indiana for a CES convention. Located here is the third largest Amish community in the world, so we are seeing lots of working farms, carriages, and horses, horses, horses.

There have been some unexpected cultural surprises as well.

~ Coming to a four way stop with lines of traffic in all four lanes. And some of the traffic includes a horse and buggy, patiently in line with the cars.

Hearing a clatter of hooves coming from behind you, and seeing a family in a buggy turning into the gas station, hitching the horse to a pole, and watching the father hop down and head into the convenience store.

But the one that has made me smile the most? Two teens in a buggy going through the drive-through lane at the bank while drinking from bottles of Mountain Dew!

Iowa Weather... in Denver?

Sarah and her family hadn't been in Colorado even two days and they had some Iowa weather - a tornado hit Denver's airport!

That has to be one of the scariest looking tornados I have ever seen. Fortunately, it wasn't on the ground long and damage was minimal.

"I Wish You'd Retire!"

Lisa is looking, looking, looking for a teaching position, and Linda Fields, my principal, is helping her. Big time. Without being asked. She has even publicly stated that she is determined to help Lisa find a job.

I LOVE working with Linda - she is the best principal I have ever had. She has her teachers' backs and supports them, she works with us instead of dictating to us, includes her staff in decisions that affect us all, and a host of other things that make her truly beloved.

Her help to Lisa is invaluable as she is well-known in the education community and her recommendation has a lot of meaning. Linda has asked that, every time Lisa applies for a position, she be included in the loop so that she can speak with the principal who is doing the hiring on Lisa's behalf.

Sadly, Lisa cannot be hired at Hershey as I am there. TSC frowns upon family members working in the same building if both are teachers (teacher and aide, yes; teachers both, no.) Some exceptions are made at the high school where the faculty is much larger, but not at the elementary schools. It's too bad because Linda has said she would hire Lisa in a heartbeat.

When I said something about the time she was committing to someone whom she herself could not hire, Linda said, "Lynn, I want Lisa in TSC if I cannot have her. I am thinking of the good of the whole corporation."

Wow. What a compliment to Lis!

This morning Lisa applied to a position at Miller Elementary in LSC, so I sent an email to Linda letting her know. We were talking together about how wonderful Linda is and I said wistfully as I sent it, "Don't you wish you could work for Linda?"

"Yeah! I sure wish you'd retire, Mom!"

And we both burst into laughter.

"Moving on Up"

Sarah and her family moved cross country to Aurora, Colorado last week. JC and Trinity arrived home from Groompa Camp on Tuesday and joined in the packing fray with their parents.

All loaded up and ready to go Friday morning. Todd drove the box truck with JC and Bailey, while Sarah, with Trinity, Sean Connery, and the fish, drove Todd's truck and pulled the trailer. They sold most of their furniture and plan to buy new things in Colorado.

Crossing Nebraska, they ran into some dicey weather.

Wisely they pulled over and waited out the storms They had some hail, wind, and rain, while ahead of them there were tornados. Apparently I-80 became like a parking lot as everyone else followed suit!

Friday night in a motel in Grand Island, Nebraska. Bailey was confused by her reflection in the mirror.

Crossing the state line into Colorado!

When Sarah and Todd arrived at their new home in Aurora, their new ward family was waiting for them and had the truck and trailer unloaded in less than an hour. And, they had two dinner invitations (Sunday and Monday), four freezer meals, and two ready to eat meals delivered.

This mama is thankful her family is being so well-cared for!

Antiquing with Lisa

Lisa likes to poke around old things like I do - she looks at Christmas ornaments, teacups, and glassware, and I look for HSOs. (Horse shaped objects.) Thursday we decided to take a day trip to Covington and check out the antique shops.

We chose to drive the scenic route which took us through Williamsport. Naturally we had to stop at the falls.

It's in the middle of downtown sleepy Williamsport - a 90 foot high waterfall! You could hear the thunder of the water flowing and falling and feel the damp coolness as you approached.

 While this picture is dark, it does show the spray beautifully.

What looks like a drainage ditch as you drive into town suddenly turns into this. And we are just off the town square but it feels as though we are in the middle of a wilderness.

 A beautiful snap of a beautiful (inside and out) gal.

After our stop at the falls, we continued driving to Covington where we hit up five antique shops. Definitely worth the hour's drive! I found no HSOs, but Lisa found four beautiful old Christmas ornaments. We are talking about putting a second tree on the overlook this Christmas and decorating it solely with her antique ornaments. I think that would be beautiful.

Lisa and I discovered a tiny little ice cream shop on the downtown square and popped in for lunch. Yummy chicken salad sandwiches on croissants!

Lisa and I were a bit perplexed at all the ceiling fans and wondered why so many were in place.

In typical rural fashion, the owner told us to not worrying about paying when we ordered our food, suggesting that we wait until we were done in case we decided we wanted ice cream afterward. (We did. And it was yummy.)

The wall decor by our table. We were going to put a quarter into the tabletop jukebox but it was a fooler - it was actually a radio. And free!

Lisa an I will definitely be heading back to Covington again. (Maybe even coordinate it with a trip to The Beef House!)