We interrupt this burst of cooking...

...to drop your favorite Pfaltzgraff bowl full of polenta (corn grits) on the floor.

*Sigh*

Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day.  You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
~ Emerson

My bike

Finally bought a bike yesterday! 

More importantly, I remember how to still ride a bike!!!

I look like a wobbly foal....I was trying to convince myself to put my feet on the pedals. 

 Think about it this way...the last time I rode a bike it didn't come with gears...

Success!! You can see Jayme in the background looking out for cars for me.

...and you braked by pedaling backwards.  Yes, its been that long.  And apparently yes, the adage is true - it is just like riding a bicycle.

I really wanted a helmet like this one.  Unfortunately there's no ventilation.  I got one that makes me look like a mushroom.

Now I just gotta learn the purpose of having gears. Oi.  Maybe that's why I live on a dead-end road.  Practice!

This is why I bought a bike, in case you missed it the first time.

Back to work this morning.  Double Oi.

If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives.
~ Lemony Snicket

Today

Spent the morning shopping.  Ended up with 16 canning jars and two pairs of shoes from Goodwill and 60 pounds of cement and tin snips from Ace Hardware.  I have projects in the works!

Its been overcast and threatening to drizzle all day.  A nice respite from the heat of yesterday.  I just hope it doesn't last too long.

It would be a nice day to take a nap before heading to the gym but I've been putzing around too long to make one worthwhile.

Oh, two things I want to do:

For the summer:  The Selflessness Project

For my birthday:  The Birthday Project.

If you can't access those links, let me know - I'm not sure if they're linked to my Facebook page at all.  Also, let me know if you want to join either.  Or have any ideas of what I can do for the birthday project!

Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

SUP

It was a beautiful evening for paddle boarding...

Calm water....

 

Sunny skies...

Victory!  :) 

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.
~ Mary Oliver

Today

The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor & style.
~ Maya Angelou

Tonight's goodness



Vegan sweet potato and pepper ravioli.  Not bad.  Took way too much effort though.  By the time I got to this picture I decided I didn't want to use rosemary (not a fan), and the thyme was popping in the oil so I didn't use very much spice.  Thats okay.  The pepper made up for a lot of it.



Berry sorbet - made with frozen raspberries and another berry which I forget the name.  I substituted coconut milk for yogurt, which makes it vegan friendly, although I still used honey.  I'm sure I could have substituted agave for that as well.  Oh yeah....delicious.

You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.
~ Johnny Depp

The angry sea

Went paddle boarding with Jayme tonight.  The weather has been crazy all day - sunny, cloudy, drizzly, sunny, etc.  Hot one minute and chilly the next.  We took our chances and headed north to Kingston.

It was extremely windy on the water, and the water was choppy.  You couldn't stop paddling for a second because the wind pushed you back out into open water.  It was kind of scary at times, I thought I was going to hit a sailboat once. 

But, we both eventually learned to control the boards better, and basically battled the wind and rough chop for 45 minutes trying to get back to the dock - the wind had pushed us out a lot farther than we wanted to be.

Although it was a great adventure, I would probably not go out again in those weather conditions.  I like calm seas.  I don't need the sun, but I really need the calm.

Don't tell Jayme I put this up....she didn't know I was taking her picture.  Those are our SUPs (Stand Up Paddleboards) in the background.

I worked so hard at paddling today I'm tired and sore.  And we weren't even out for that long.  The tiredness could also be my 2am wake-up and full day at work.  Hmmm. 

Our reward afterwards.  According to Jayme this pizza is being sold in a whole foods store so it must be healthy, right?  Ignore the grease piling up on top. 

2am is going to come way too early in the morning again. 

You must do the thing which you think you cannot.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt