A nothing day can turn on a dime. Or ride on a bike.

A text exchange with my friend now known as FirstgradeRobin- a teacher at my school- brought up the subject of bikes. She asked if I had one and told me that she’s been riding a lot.  It was only a few weeks ago when I realized that greathusbandbob and I could bike ride no more.  I can’t be too excited about it ay home because I know it’s something he loved to do.

Today I reviewed and remembered how to remove and attach the front tire of my bike and ended up with this-

It fits in my car!  I W-D 40ed all of the rusty looking spots and the gears.  I took it to Sheetz to attempt to put air in the tires.  I filled them enough for a test ride.  I’m still a little afraid of over-inflating and will likely take them to the garage owned by specialedCassie’s husband to make sure they are road worthy.  When we went before, it was always a big ordeal to the trail. FirstgradeRobin will be happy at the fairgrounds, in the Walmart parking lot or along the industrial park road by the gym.  The last two locations are surprisingly beautiful. I am so excited.

The next task of the day was to put the treadmill we have at home near an outlet.

No excuse on Saturdays and Sundays when the gym closes at 4:00.

Today’s other project involved bird knitting. Bulky yarn on size 10 needles.  I will use it when we play Bluebird Bluebird through my window.

Follow this train... of thought.

I saw George riding his motorized wheelchair to the drug store

He can’t do that - it doesn’t have a license plate.

Horses don’t have license plates

Are they allowed on the road?

There’s probably some law that they forgot to get rid of that says they are

There are horses in NYC

What if horses got pulled over for drunk driving?

Touch your muzzle with your hoof with blinders on.

Were you drinking tonight? 

I just had a little rye.... whiskey.

I’m sorry I’ll have to take your reins, you failed the breathalyzer.

I need therapy, know any good therapists?

There’s a therapy cow in the petting zoo at the village-right next to the yoga goats.

Hook me up, wouldja?

A horse and a cow walk into a bar.

The bartender says “why the long face?”

The cow says got milk?”

They won’t even let me walk to the drugstore.

New York City

In May of 2015-right before all of the family care taking hit the fan- Drknitnightjustine and I went by train to New York City.  We stayed at the Pennsylvania Hotel.  We started out with a walk on the High Line.  Knitted fences told us we were where we should be.

After that stopped for a flight of whiskey at a random whiskey bar televising the Pittsburgh Penguins finals. The next night, just before seeing The Book of Mormon we enjoyed a beverage (I remember clearly the tequila margarita that wasn't made from a mixer) at this gorgeous establishment.

We spent an afternoon and evening starting in Chinatown (designer bags, you want a designer bag?) with vegetarian kosher dumplings and finishing with multiple desserts in Little Italy.

We made the obligatory trip to PurlSoho in (wait for it) Soho.

Our afternoon in Central Park took us to the far edge- "the other side" as I think of it- where there was a book store on the street and a candy store called Dylan's (owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter and where Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt had her first job in the series.)

I was absolutely enchanted by the candy store and it was the source of my souvenir for the trip.  A bag full of candy with a hat tip to David Sedaris' brother's Fuckit Bucket.  (it should be noted that at this point in the history of care taking, Aunt was safely secured in a rehab and we were scheduled to move her to Morgantown the following month, but I had spent January to May driving back and forth to her Ville of Steuben every time she fell and was sent to the hospital-hence the fuckitbucket)

And to this day this bobble from the bag remains my keychain and fond memory of an amazing trip.

The thing about drknitnightjustine is that we travel well together. We went with a very loose agenda.  The dumplings and the musical were really the only must do things on the list.   When we got to the city, our quirky sense of what is interesting matched perfectly.  "Let's try this" from either of us was always met with a "yeah! That sounds great" from the other.  Even more so after the train ride washed any cares and stresses away.

And while I love greathusbandbob and all of the adventures we have travelled together, this trip was the most carefree and relaxed I can ever remember being.  It felt like I was vacationing alone (I could do all the things I wanted to) except I wasn't.

(and as I write this, I realize how crazy life must have been that I never even blogged about it when it happened.  I couldn't even remember what pictures I had from it!)

On Friday, the good doctor and I will be making the same trip.  There are fireworks on Coney Island on Friday night that we may go to.  

We will spend Saturday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  There are three things on the agenda for that day.  A visit to the City Reliquary,

A vist to the Museum of Food and Drink which has an interactive-(read food to eat) exhibit on Chinese American food (Hello dumplings),

  and tickets to an interactive art show called WonderworldNYC, which has an Alice in Wonderland Exhibit with plenty of photo ops. If the pictures online are any indication, this has a decidedly Asian sensibility to it as well.

On Sunday night we will attend what's billed as a freakily immersive theater experience at The McKittrick Hotel called Sleep no More. And while they say that the experience is based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, I have absolutely no idea what that will be like.

And if we have the time and the stamina- the theaters are a 15 minute cab ride apart- we will attend an evening performance of Drunk Shakespeare.  I have to believe these two might be polar opposites.  So there's a little more planning for this trip but the only tickets actually purchased are for wonderworldnyc and sleep no more.  Everything else is up for grabs and easily changed should something else pique our interests.

Can you say-

 

The end of the days

of summer.

We are definitely near summer's end when I am happy to spend time watching Bewitched, What's Happening, and Welcome Back Kotter.

My trainer upped the ante on Thursday and there will be a few days of soreness as I try my latest assignment.  The bad news is that she is an athletic trainer at a local school which means there will be no after school sessions.  She opens the facility (at 5:00 am) on Tuesdays and Thursdays which makes my weekly training sessions happening at 5:00 am, meaning I've got to get up by 4:15.  I have not yet had success in practicing rising that early.  I'm hoping I'll do better when there's someone there waiting for me.

There's been a good bit of time spent organizing teaching.  I'm doing the sorts of things that I used to do when I played school and also medical receptionist as a child.  Organizing paperwork, making lists etc.  Only now I don't have to make up the names.

Thee's been some knitting. There are too many projects that my brain wants to try.  There is a cotton vest with an open pattern- not really lace but lots of yarn overs.  There are people I want to knit for.  There are birds I want to knit.  There are toys I want to make for the grandniece. There's a crocheted mandala that will either go to my accountant or to the eldest granddaughter as she ends her gap year and heads to college when it's finished.

I'm hoping to at least finish a collection of these to complete my vision- 6-7  of these in various sizes attached to a found stick to  look like a tree branch, hung by twine from either end of the stick up to the middle.  Homemade art for my classroom.

In spite of regular gym attendance the scale has not been my friend- I know- muscle weighs more than fat- but still. I photographed this food in case I go searching the blog for something to make for lunch or dinner.  A tortilla, hummus, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of feta cheese.

It doesn't help that my new favorite snack is sherbet with chocolate sauce and that greathusbandbob brings home a sprinkled donut a day because he knows I love them.  

Last night Aunt called to see if we were visiting tomorrow.  Last week was a nightmare that involved 90 minutes of her complaining that we didn't call her when we left on vacation and didn't call her when we got back.  Lots of I felt so unloved... no one cares about me... etc. Greathusbandbob finally slowed her down by talking about how he saw our pictures on the milk cartons in the coffee shop where she lives.  But then she whined and complained about being picked on so there was nothing left but 90 minutes of our absence being the main topic.  She says she's not mad anymore. Oy!

Vacation Wrap up

This little cutie- greathusbandbob's grandniece- got all of the action. She's 20 months and is an endless fountain of giggles and smiles.

Last year the girls (now mostly teenagers) organized a tea party for everyone in our Canadian rental.  They took orders, expected promptness from everyone and baked chocolate chip cookies for the occasion.  This year the youngest grandniece along with the granddaughter decided there should be a talent show.  And so there was. The group photo set up by one of the camera savvy nephews.  

We had an ice-cream party to celebrate the sister-in-laws retirement and the nephew's birthday. And really the rest of the week was doing whatever anyone felt like.  Having paid for the rental, greathusbandbob and I were relieved of the responsibility of preparing any food. There was a rather disastrous trip to the nail salon for daughter of Bob and I but it's not even worth going into.

This was enough entertainment for me.  

Two more gratuitous baby shots that the grandnieces just happen to be in.  The one in the water is the mama who is expecting another baby in October.

Vacation Haiku #1

Is that the ocean?

Or the air-conditioner?

At least one's working.

How to drive 8 hours

Also called vacation day 0.1

Rent a Lincoln Navigator, knit a sock, listen to Greathusbandbob stories and episodes of  and Johnny Dollar. Medicate the deg-or just give her an airplane pillow, and drink a Starbucks iced coffee. What with the regular dog walks, Fitbit says I made 6000+ steps- it may have been counting my knitting.

   

 

Regular text exchanges and travel updates from the family gang also help . also help. This is Rowan she will be the youngest in the house and will very likely beat Liza in the contest for the center of attention. Here she can be seen wondering why they are driving instead of flying.

And while I’m not absolutely sure, here it looks like she’s just mad to be wearing shorts.

Son Ian and granddaughter Eloise sent their we’re badasses on a bus picture- (heading to the airport)

It was hard to explain the look to greathusbandbob so we ended up with this- we’ll let the ride do the talking.

The whole experience reminded me of ants working together to meet at the ant hill.  

Because birds.

It’s for the birds

The latest creation-

I feel like the picture on the right is Gangsta Ryan.  He didn’t start the fire (The Office joke)

Setting aside schoolwork always sets my brain free.  Today it was this for the gang traveling to meet this weekend.

I started putting together some things and wanted to share with the gang-

Then Liza made sure I knew she was available as well.

Having finished Ryan this afternoon I spent the rest of the evening loading playlists onto the Fitbit watch.  Tomorrow it will be gathering travel knitting.  There will be birds. Oh, and did I mention that we will go puppy hunting when we get back?  Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Pedicure survival tip #12

A hefty shot of tequila makes dissociating easier. And there happened to be just that much left in the bottle that had to be thrown away so the cleaning lady wouldn’t think I was a closet alcoholic.

Once an exhibitionist...

If you believe the stories that adults tell about when you were little, then the following is true-

As a small child I got new underwear (maybe with ruffles- can't be sure.)  I was so pleased with them that I showed them to everyone on a city bus.  I do not remember this occasion but have it from a quasi-reliable source.

Now at the age of 53 I have reverted to similar behavior.

This morning's workout with the trainer ended with me touching my toes.  Something I haven't done since I probably was that young child.  I was so pleased with myself that I told the bus story to a stranger at the gym and gave a toe touching demonstration.  Then as I was leaving I shared it with the people at the front desk.  I was simply so very pleased with myself.

The muscles had tightened a little by the time I got home for a picture (my knees were straighter at the gym) but I swear I did it.  I had to apply the sketch app to it because honestly there is still too much white ploof to behold in one picture.

Also today I rowed for 5 minutes instead of three.  I want to get good at that rowing thing.

The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs

That is the title of a song sung by a band called the BeGoodTanyas.  One time I listened to only it on the hour and a half trip to the Ville of Steuben.  One reason I love it so much is that to me it sounds like they are singing The Little Assed Birds Sing the Pretty Assed Songs.

Drknitnightjustine- also known as the sender of surprise gifts- is one of the friends on the planet who gets and encourages me in all of my quirkiness.

The next bird will be either a large one done in bulky yarn with peacock feathers eventually added- thanks to another friend who has easy access to such accouterments- or an installation of blackbirds either to be attached to a stick to be hung on a wall or as a mobile.  There are bird cages to be searched out at flea markets.  There is a fake fica tree at school to be adorned.  The theme for the start of the school year will be birds.

While it is difficult to see, I love the idea of duplicate stitches, sequins, feathers and beads.  My fingers are very happy as they try to sew on  sequins.

Baby birds in lace weight and size below zero needles.  It just feels like the possibilities are endless.

In other future adventures, said drknitnightjustine and I have the first weekend in August blocked out as a train ride to NYC.  I've done some research on off the beaten path possibilities.

I'm thinking one of the above in lieu of the more standard Broadway show.  And while still interested in the kosher vegan chinese dumplings that can be found in Chinatown and some people watching while enjoying cannolis and macaroons in Little Italy, we also may want to expand our horizons and take the subway to Red Hook in Brooklyn which advertises the highest population of hipsters in NYC  (along with independent shops and art galleries.)

Any one of the below for dining possibilities-

And possibly this store of curiosities from the natural world as a stepping off point-

It is a collection of events that have made me want to be a writer in the world.  The apple pen is foremost among  them.  It writes on the ipad and I use it in an app called NotesPlus.  I've always loved the feel of writing.  This makes that happen without having to keep track of notebooks.  The feel is amazing.

Gail Sher speaks to writing with an eastern philosophical slant (One Continuous Mistake: the Four Noble Truths of Writing and The Intuitive Writer: Listening to Your Own Voice)  The latter was an airport bookstore purchase on the way home from South Africa.  One of the first paragraphs in this book was about how South Africans frequent the phrase "Is it?" in response to conversation rather than "Really?" Finding such an obscure conversation at the right place at the right time has always seemed significant to me and I often find myself going toward it without knowing what to do.

One of the suggestions to get started writing in a less intimidating way is to write a haiku a day.  I've always been a fan of the haiku. I have written three-

writing a novel

autobiographical

about someone else.

Losing all the words

Not to be found in the trash

read it again

(this one came about after accidentally deleting all of the notes I had taken while reading her book)

from the apple pen

words flow like juice from the fruit

getting to the core.

I must say, this has been one of the most productive summers to date.