53 Mondays - Week 24

For the recipe below, I used wild Copper River Salmon, which was a first for me.  It was some of the best salmon I have ever had.  The color was a rich coral/pink color that made regular salmon just pale in comparison.  It was significantly more expensive than other salmon, so it’s not a once a week splurge.  But once a year or bi-annually would be acceptable.   

I do not frequently made dessert for us, but since we had company for dinner, I made a totally yummy, new recipe dessert.  Try not to drool on your keyboard while reading. 

Emma’s Spring Dance Recital

Emma’s dance recital was outdoors at the Sandy Amphitheater.  After last year’s monsoon-like rain during the performance, we were hoping for clear skies.  Hmmm…not so much!  We did get rained on a few times, but it wasn’t much more than sprinkles!  Whew!

  

Emma and her best dance friend, Kierra.

The girls starting to get a little crazy!

Below is my so very lady-like daughter.  So graceful, so elegant, so… oh, nevermind.  She’s Emma! 

Somehow, that’s my daughter!  : ) 

Here’s some picture of her dancing.  I was videotaping, so my photographer was Tyson.

  

As for the video, Austin was traveling up and down the stairs between me and my mother-in-law, Debby, so my attention was divided a lot!  I know, what kind of mom am I? 

Just in case it’s difficult to tell,  Emma is the tall blond on the left side (from my position of facing the stage) of the tiny, short blond! Sorry for the super amateur video.  I’m hanging my head in shame.  

On her second dance, she’s to the right of the cute, little, shortie!  : )  Please forgive the wobbly camera or me yelling to keep Austin from wandering off!

Austin didn’t like some of the music the girls were dancing to and this was his response.  (He did like when they played one of the Toy Story songs during transitions). 

Feed the Good Wolf

Photo by: Gary Kramer

I came across this story this morning and thought it was worth repeating: 

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Good reminder! 

53 Mondays – Week 23

It’s Just Like Riding A Bike

I conquered a fear of some sorts this week.  I bought my first bike in 18 years. Yes, I was taught how to ride a bike when I was younger, unlike my youngest sister (sorry Nicole!).  I just haven’t been on a bike in 18 years. 

As most now, I was in a car accident in 1992 where I broke my pelvis in four places (for those medically minded, it was two breaks on each side of the ischium).  All healed well, but unfortunately where the pelvis healed, there are callus “bumps” there.  Fortunately, it has really only been painful when on a bicycle seat.  The solution to that was pretty easy, just don’t ride a bike  When I go to the gym, I use the recumbent bike.  No problems there. 

There has been no problem with me not riding a bike for the past 18 years, until the last few months.  My eldest, Tyson, has really gotten into bike riding and just wants to go on bike rides all the time.  It’s been fine with Dad home, because he has a bike and he would go with Tyson. 

A few weeks ago, we bought a bike stroller, because Austin was none too pleased that Dad and Brother were going on bikes without him.  He loves being on the go, so this has worked out great and I got some alone time when they would go out.  Yes…my story does have a point. 

With Justin working out of town during the week, that generally only leaves Saturday nights for rides with Tyson, but we’ve been doing so much yard work the last month-plus, it’s been hard to fine energy at night for biking. 

My children have known mom doesn’t have a bike and haven’t really questioned why and it’s really never been discussed with them.  I mean, really, how does one tell an 8-year-old that Mom broke the bones in her bum and expect him to NOT spread that information around school?  Yeah, not happening! 

The pressure to get a bike was mounting and to tell the truth, it’s been something I missed, especially when the rest of the family was going.  So, I did it.  I bought a bike.  Not a really expensive bike like the one in the picture above (retail price $550 dollars – yikes!), but one that I could  adequately jaunt around Daybreak with, towing the kids behind. 

I had to buy it without trying it out, because I was not going to get on a bike for the first time in 18 years in the middle of a store, just in case I crashed and burned. 

Took the bike home, hooked up the trailer/stroller to it and prepared myself to ride down to the school to pick up Emma.  I normally would have just walked and that was what I was hoping to do, but Austin REALLY wanted to ride in the trailer. 

I got out of the garage and took a deep breath.  Man, I was really hoping I wasn’t going to have to pick up Emma with road burn all over my legs from falling.  I got on the bike and started to petal.  I was so terribly nervous and my arms were shaking.  Then, all of a sudden, it was just like riding a bike.  All came back to me!

I had purchased a new seat to help not put pressure on my pelvic bones, which was a major necessity still.  But, that said, it was an oddly emotional thing for me.  It was just a little ride around the block, but it was just a great feeling.  It felt great to use some muscles that hadn’t been used in awhile.  It was fun.  It was also really neat to see Emma’s face as she walked out of school with her bike and saw Austin and me there! 

Yes, it’s a little cheesy to be this excited about a bike, but it really was something I had given up hope on.  Luckily, I have some little penguins that live with me and were persuasive enough to get me to try!  

Austin – 22 months old

Can it be that my baby is two months from being two years old?  What?  Where has the time gone? 

May Wrap-up