Not so bad

At the end of June I was able to say that I had not used my car once to get to work. I am not able to say the same thing this month; however, I did much better than I would have assumed. I only worked 15 days in July, and I only used my car 5 of those days. Given my crash, I am very happy with using my car 33.3% of the time.

I'm going to celebrate by getting a new bag for commuting, and maybe a used road bike.

Back in the Saddle

Today was a big day for me; it was my first day back bike commuting. Craig, my commuting buddy showed up at about 6:15 and we were off. It took a little bit longer than usual, as I'm leery of going too fast. I am sure I'll be back up to speed after a few more rides.

Pie one on

Sometimes I obsess over trying new recipes. I'll read it in a magazine or a cookbook and won't be able to stop thinking about it. Such was my experience with Blueberry Pie from the July & August issue of Cook's Illustrated. I love blueberries, and the instructions were clear and concise. I started dreaming about making the pie.

On Saturday I went to Costco with Kathleen. There, in the produce section I found what I needed - a huge package of blueberries. Kathleen estimated that there were about 10 cups of blueberries in the package. Due to constantly reading the recipe I knew that that was more than enough blueberries for the pie. I bought the blueberries, went home, and got to work on the crust.

The pie crust seemed simple to make when I read about it. I suppose it would be if I had a large enough food processor. I struggled through the dough making process and now know to prep the dough in two batches.

After fighting with the dough I decided to call it a day and finish up on Sunday. I didn't work up my pie making energy until about 5. I did not think that would be a problem. Then I did the math and realized that by the time I assembled, baked, and let the pie rest for four hours I would be in bed. Tasting the pie would have to wait until Monday.

I finally got to taste the pie today. I'm usually a cereal or a granola bar for breakfast type of girl, but this morning I was all about the pie. It was delicious. It is fresh tasting, and the filling isn't runny. The crust even tastes good (but it certainly does not look pretty).

The problem with trying out new recipes is that I end up with more than I could possibly eat. Luckily I have a wonderful friend and neighbor that volunteers to help me eat baked goods. I filled a few paper plates with pie and walked down to Todd's house. He gladly accepted my pie, and plans to eat it for dinner.


I'm looking forward to perfecting my pie making skills, as well as trying my next recipe obsession - creamy tomato soup without the cream. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Happy Hour

On Friday I headed out to happy hour with a group of people I used to work with in underwriting. They were a great group to work with, but for some reason we rarely get together. We always say we will do something, but we never get around to planning anything.

Beth changed that. Her husband and kids were out of town, so she suggested happy hour at El Bait Shop. I spent a lot of time catching up with Beth and Allyson.

Panith and Cindy were out too. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to either of them. I guess that means we'll have to go out again soon.

Before heading home I got a chance to play some Silver Strike (a video bowling game), reconnect with Scott (who I had not seen in 4 years), and have some blueberry beer. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.

Zoo Brew

Last night I checked out Zoo Brew, a summer happy hour event at Blank Park Zoo. I was excited to go to Zoo Brew, after all, I love animals and beer. How could Zoo Brew be bad?

It was not be bad, but it was sad. I hadn't been to the zoo in about 20 years. In my memory the zoo has spacious enclosures for the animals, similar to Disney's Animal Kingdom. It turns out my memory was wrong.

The animals were in very small areas. The tiger was kept in an area about half of the size of my back yard. Luckily we headed out early in order to grab some food before checking out the new Batman movie.

I really like Zoo Brew in theory, but in practice, it wasn't as fun. It was sad and depressing.

Best sign ever

The Taco John's in Sheldon really needs to think about what they put on their sign.

Weekly Recap

I couldn't really do much this week. After Monday night I basically spent until today on the couch or in bed. It gave me a lot of time to think about what I'm thankful for. What follows is an abbreviated list of what I thought about. If you feel left out, trust me, I thought of you too.

I'm thankful for an older sister who came to take me to the hospital on Monday night. She stayed in the ER and talked to me for hours.

I'm thankful for parents who came down today to make sure I am OK.

I'm thankful for a boyfriend who brought me a magical pillow for my neck that made it possible to sleep.

I'm thankful for finally being able to take Cooper for a walk today.

I'm thankful for my neighbor and friends who walked Cooper all week.

I am thankful that I was actually able to knit this week. Being able to occupy my time doing something other than watching TV was wonderful. I was able to make a lot of dishcloths.

I am thankful for my friends that called, texted, or e mailed to make sure that I was OK and to tell me they were thinking of me.

I'm thankful for Monica who visited and went out to lunch with me, even though I was too exhausted to be social and talk.

I'm thankful for Mary-Claire, who made time to chat with me at least once a day.

I'm thankful for Carnahan, who brought me a bread pan on Tuesday when mine was the wrong size and I became obsessed with making banana bread (which turned out surprisingly well).

I'm thankful for all of Mark's texts, which never failed to make me laugh.

I'm thankful to Marcie and Mad Dog and the Riebkes family for their concern this week.

I'm thankful for everyone. Without good friends and family I don't know how I would have got through this week. Thank you for all of your support.

Why wearing a helmet is important

I always wear a helmet when I ride. Last night it paid off. I was riding home from spin at the gym and got in an accident.

I'm not really sure what happened, I remember thinking, "Oh my God, I'm going to crash". Getting home is sort of a blur. I think I walked, but I may have ridden part. The next part I remember is Kathleen saying she was coming to pick me up.

She took me to the hospital where they diagnosed me with a concussion. Kathleen had been talking to me for about 3 hours by that point, so she already knew something was not right. My head feels less fuzzy today, but the pain is still pretty sharp. Judging by the pain in my head and the crack in my helmet, I don't think I would be out of the hospital yet if I did not have my helmet on.

I can't do any physical activity until my doctor clears me on Thursday. I hope to have my new helmet ready to go by then, so I can get back on my bike right away.

If you look closely you can see how the crack goes from the front of the helmet to above the ear.

Hey.....I remember you!!!

You may not have picked up on this yet, but I am a pretty busy person. One of the side effects of constantly doing stuff is that you tend to loose contact with people.

One of the people I rarely see is Brandi. We always have a blast together......but we run in totally different social circles, and hang out in different areas of town. I suppose that is why it is so much fun to get caught up, we are usually about six months behind in gossip.

Brandi is a high school friend of Mindy, who I worked with at the Girl Scouts. That means I've been trading stories with Brandi for 8 years. Neither of us hang out with the people we did 8 years ago, but we still find plenty of things to talk about.

On my wildest day I am about as wild as Brandi on a mild day. She is awesome. Just hanging out with her makes me feel a little bit cooler.