This and That

(two of the pages I worked on at stamp camp from Josh's eagle project. I still need to do the journaling.)

Hello there! I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Could be that I'll actually have time to maintain this blog again soon.

Life is good and I'm having fun. Hey I've even scrapbooked!! That's a miracle really. I tend to create samples, make scrapbook presents and teach scrapbooking, but I rarely find the time to keep up on my own scrapbooks. I've created 10 pages for Josh's scouting album and 6 pages for his Europe album. I'm feeling quite accomplished.

Besides that, what have I been doing? Currently I'm trying to catch up on house cleaning that has been neglected for about 4 years. People think I'm kidding, but I really think it's been that long. Hubby was on disability for a couple of years and we maintained the house, but deep cleaning didn't happen. Why clean when he was sitting on the couch all day? (I had a bit of an attitude back then and he wasn't real happy being in pain all the time.) Then there was the whole career change for him, then for me. I was in survival mode for a while there. I'm pretty used to running the house on my own now and well....we have family coming to town, so it's time to purge and clean.

And then there's my latest obsession....cycling. Yep, I'm addicted! I absolutely love it. I look forward to my morning ride and if I wasn't on deep cleaning house mode, I'd probably go for a ride every night too. I'm constantly thinking of places I could ride to and contemplating how I could commute by bike and wondering when my odometer will pass the 100 mile mark and brainstorming ways to add a few more miles in the morning without dying on the local hills and enjoying the constant improvement and.....

This morning I rode the "Lakeview Loop." (Our made up name for a little circle around our neighborhood.) The first time I rode the loop I stopped on the first hill to catch my breath. My thighs were burning on the next incline (not too high, just steady incline.) By the time we headed up the incline towards the house I was telling Josh "I can't do this." But somehow I did.

Today? Today I never really felt like it was TOO hard. Sure I slowed down a little and my quads burned but it was good and I never thought I was going to die. I even took a little detour before I headed home and I added an extra 1/2 mile in the opposite direction. As the day wears on I am pretty sore, but I'm not sure if it's from the bike ride or the trip back to the gym yesterday. Yep, I returned to the ellliptical!!!! Hallelujah!!! I was pretty darn excited. I also did the rowing machine. (Not a big hit in my mind.) While the rowing machine made my upper thighs burn like crazy, I didn't really "feel" anything else.... at the time..... today I'm sore everywhere!!

Well I better run. I've got a house to clean, you know.