the past few weeks...

a few things and goings on:

*learning to bike. a lot. miles and miles. longest ride was today. 40 miles. we're about 6 weeks from the MS 150 event...150 miles in 2 days. (and one good long rest day off on the 3rd day..) thank you to mr ryan for all he's done to help get a wonderful loaner bike ship shape and road ready for the miles i'm going to put on it...(and after a series of unforunate events and weekends, this day going really well was so welcome!)

*learning to swim. last week i swam the length of the pool for the first time. 4 times. here's to more of that.

*putting a sizable amount (most) of our tax refund (and home equity loan) into the big chore of new windows in the whole house. with one more year of tax refund credits, we really feel this is pretty important. so by the end of may? we'll have a shiny glass, no more down the screens/up the storms in the fall, and most importantly, our heating/cooling bills will DROP. thank goodness.

*libraryland is soon to be on the move again. back to the big digs. i have pictures but after a super long day i'm too lazy to go hook the camera up to download right now. believe me. it's a big building. but i think the staffing challenges of our library system completely rival the size of the building. or at least it sure feels that way right now. work has been more fun in the past. but this is just a roller coaster time and i'm looking forward to the big changes ahead. in the near and not so distant future..


*best way to end the weekend? borrowing the newly minted 4 year old maddie next door and taking her for a birthday treat at izzy's. her first trip. since i'm fresh out of kiddos here in my house? it's nice that stacy and travis are willing to give me a loaner for a little while :) they rock.

*may 22nd. my first co-race directorial debut at the Book It! 5K, proceeds going to the library. if you haven't signed up yet? just do it!

so so tired. guten nacht...

what makes a great weekend?

saturday: my first double digit run since late january in phoenix (sat 4.3.10, 10 miles at 10:25 pace) that went *really* well....

(runners will know, but for those that don't, sometimes runs go fabulously and sometimes they go horribly. and sometimes they're just okay. you can do the same prep before the run and it's literally a roll of the dice as to how it'll go. so when the GOOD ones happen? you love it and it instills in you why you do it to begin with...)

sunday: everyone is hunting eggs or giving baskets to kiddos, and the rest are with family or friends, or both. mark and i? decide that once the breakfast burritos and a little bit of work for me are done, it's time to explore by bike! we start with a vague plan, & wind up riding in to some of the flooded mississippi river trails (mud, water, logs and all), find the higher ground routes, more trails, and lots of exploring! 21.5 miles later? an awesome tour of st paul has happened and despite the saddles being a little sore, we'll take the 2 hour workout adventure that was more fun than feeling like work...

end the night with some homemade pasta and a long overdue (like *years*) dinner date with friends and that? is a great weekend!

up this week? work work swim run bon jovi work & riding. the new challenge is riding 150 miles in 2 days in june. the bike and i? best get to it on being bff's....