Thursday, September 30, 2010

Early Bird Challenge Day 4

The plan:

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
make lunch
shower
dress
Drive to work: 7:30

This is how it went in real life
6:20 Alarm
6:46 up, shower
7:00 breakfast and emptied dishwasher
7:15 dressed, make up, teeth
7:40 chatted to Trav
8:10 took phone call from close friend
8:25 left for work


OK. Let me start by saying it's been a rough week. A combination of Trav being home ill and major work issues have resulted in a complete drop of motivation. I slept in a bit this morning and dragged my feet, partly because I didn't feel a particular rush to get to work and partly because as Trav has been sick, I wanted to catch up on things and clean the house up before I left. I could have easily ridden but found myself with the same problem of something to wear. I'll ride tomorrow and will have my outfit ready to go tonight. I've allowed myself this lapse but there's no sense dwelling on things. I'll do a better job tomorrow :-)

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Early Bird Challenge Day 3

The plan:

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress
make lunch
shower
dress
Drive to work: 7:30

This is how it went in real life
6:20 Alarm
6:35 up, shower, dressed
6:50 chatted to Trav about my extrarordinary day yesterday
7:10 breakfast, made lunch
7:30 back upstairs, dried my hair, makeup, teeth, shoes
7:45 left for work (drove)
8:08 arrived at work.

Once again I didn't do my dress as I'd worked on it last night, it felt like a rushed morning but I still arrived at work 20 minutes early. On a good note - Mum mentioned last night that she (already an early bird) was inspired by my mention of my change of habit to also get a head start on her day - the ripple effect!
I think I'll stick to my 6:30 am plan for the rest of the week (with no extra tasks) and next week I'll make it earlier and include a walk with Rossi each morning, he'll like that!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Early Bird Challenge Day 2

The plan:

Rise: 6:15
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress
Bakery
make lunch
shower
dress
Drive to work: 7:30

Yesterday I decided I'd need an extra 15 minutes if I wanted to do any 'extra tasks' so my alarm was set for 6:10 and after an 11pm bedtime I snoozed until 6:25. Still an improvement on yesterday.
6:25 up: shower, dressed, makeup
6:55 walked to bakery - rolls just went into oven, come back in 15m.
7:00 Breakfast, wrote 2 thank you letters and updated our fridge-board.
7:30 Back to bakery, picked up hot rolls!
7:35 brushed my teeth, grabbed some fruit.
7:40 left for work (driving today)
8:00 arrived at work 30 minutes early!


So I didn't work on my dress as I'd unpicked and pinned it the night before. This morning felt quite relaxed, as I was fully dressed and ready I could linger at the table and ease into the day.

Trading Up: September

Out: Plastic toothbrushes replaced seasonally
In: Bamboo toothbrushes, replaced monthly but completely compostable!

Out: Tupperware Rock'n'Serve containers (plastic code 7 - containing BPA)
In: Pyrex No Leak microwave, fridge, freezer and dishwasher friendly.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Early Bird Challenge Day 1

Well after two 4:30 am starts in a row on the weekend I definitely felt ready to begin my 6:30am challenge this week. Let's have a look at what today's plan was and how I did

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: unpick collar & tidy top edges
make lunch
shower
dress
Ride to work: 7:30

My alarm was set for 6:25am and I was up at 6:35 after the news and washed my hair.
6:50 breakfast
7:05 I looked at the time and consciously knew that to leave by 7:30 I'd need to be upstairs drying my hair and dressing but I unpicked half of the collar instead.
7:25 dried my hair and stood in front of the wardrobe for 10 minutes deciding what to wear. Packed my bags.

7:45 I was downstairs ready to go, forgot something - back upstairs then downstairs chatting to Trav.

7:55 Left for work on my bike.

What went wrong?

I saved time by not making my lunch but rather than sticking to my ultimate goal of leaving by 7:30, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to work on my dress. After all I'd gotten up early to do that hadn't I? Well, no - my main goal was to have more time for myself and to prepare in the morning and to leave by 7:30. I added little tasks to keep me motivated and getting more things done. I definitely did waste time (could have picked my clothes out the night before) so I can improve a bit but I don't really have the time for the extra tasks just by getting up at 6:30. Tomorrow I'll try a 6:15am start - then I'll be able to use that extra 15 minutes for whatever I like, while not rushing the rest of my morning.
On an exciting achievement note - I was really pleased that I rode this morning, it's a first for me on a Monday and I felt it gave me a great start to the week.

See you bright and early tomorrow!

Spring Challenge Day 9 (19 days to go)

Departure: 7:55am
Arrival: 8:35am
Conditions: 14 , cloudy and dry but with a warm breeze
Attire: navy wide leg pants, burgundy heels, t shirt and knitted hoody

It's a Monday! I did it! Still didn't leave when I'd wanted to but it was such a beautiful ride in. I could smell so many delicious scents from Seddon's gardens and the traffic wasn't too bad. I felt really fortunate that I could enjoy my ride to work, instead of being stuck inside a car. It didn't take long for me to ditch the long sleeves and I loved riding past pedestrians buttoned up in jackets, knowing I was keeping myself so warm that my arms didn't even have goosebumps on them.What a way to start the day!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Early to rise...Morning Goal for Sept 27 - Oct 1

I've been thinking a lot about my early-rising goal for next week, and with the help of zenhabits, I've decided to set a weekly goal which will give me another pressing reason to actually get out of bed when the alarm goes off.

Goal for next week is - finish that Red Dress! I lost interest in this sewing project months ago after it needed multiple adjustments, and it soon fell off my radar. Well it wasn't ready for last summer but it certainly will be for this one- breaking the tasks into small daily chunks should also make the goal feel more achievable so I'm looking forward to having a new dress in my wardrobe next weekend!

Here's my very specific plan (just to help get started)

Next week's goal: Complete RED DRESS

Monday 27th

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: unpick collar  & tidy top edges
make lunch
shower
dress
Ride to work: 7:30

Tuesday 28th

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: resew collar matching up to edge of button-hole side
make lunch
shower
dress
Drive to work: 7:30

Wednesday 29th

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: sew press-stud on
make lunch
shower
dress
Ride to work: 7:30

Thursday 30th

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: measure and pin hem
make lunch
shower
dress
Ride to work: 7:30

Friday 1st

Rise: 6:30
make tea & breakfast
Red Dress: hand-sew hem. Done!
make lunch
shower
dress
Ride to work: 7:30

Can't wait for Monday!

Spring Challenge Day 8 (20 days to go)

Departure: 8:02am
Arrival: 9:50am
Conditions: 11 (no gloves!), still, cloudy, dry
Attire: black jeans, brown colorado ankle boots and riding tops

I found that these boots slipped a little bit on the pedals. I'll have to remember that.
My big mouth got me into trouble again - I was just complaining to Trav this morning that my legs were no longer feeling the results of my 160 minutes of riding each week. Well I haven't done 3 days in a row before - about half way through I could already feel the muscles burning. Good!
Today's ride caught me up on my challenge - and it was so easy to just jump back on the bike, I didn't even consider the car. I think I'll be able to pull off a few more 3 day rides this season!
I woke up again to my alarm at 6 this morning. And thought I'd just get up at 6:30 after a bit of a snooze. Well that didn't happen and I was bolting out of bed at 7am again. I really really really want to make the most of the quiet, peaceful mornings, maybe taking Rossi for a walk and definitely getting off to work by 7:30 so I'm setting myself a challenge to be up at 6:30 am every work day next week - I'll start with this and if I need to go earlier I'll make a new challenge the week after. It's all about new habits - and I look forward to reaping the rewards.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

On the bandwagon...

My darling husband has also caught the green bug. Maybe it's been my obsessive recycling and avoidance of plastic bags. Perhaps it was my relentless search for the most local of each product on the shopping list? Nah - he was pretty green to begin with.

Together we've watched An Inconvenient Truth (though I think it's time for a refresher) and the Story of Stuff. Last week he suprised me with a copy of Food Inc. This was one I'd been busting to see but none of the libraries had it and I didn't know where else to look. It just blew me away - and needless to say I'll have to watch it again before providing any comments as I was cursing alot so I missed half of it. All I can say is - why don't they show a double feature of this and An Inconvenient Truth in every school in Australia? Stay tuned for my thoughts on Food Inc.

And another suprise - while I was investigating the Green Power through our electricity supplier TRUenergy, Travis was taking a bigger step by speaking to one of his colleagues about the suitability of our house for solar panels. And it's looking good folks! We're planning to rent our place out when we expand in a few years time so it's important to understand that not only will we benefit from the switch now - but from next year not only will all properties for sale require a minimum energy rating, but so will the rentals.

Spring Challenge Day 7 (21 days to go)

Departure: 8:15am (ooops!)
Arrival: 9:00am
Conditions: 12 (no gloves!), still, partly cloudy, dry
Attire: jeans, brown kitten heels and riding tops

What a nice morning. I blame the sleep-in on the gorgeous massage from Brooke last night! It's starting to feel like a habit, and it was easier to leave this morning as all my things were already in my pannier. That's true with most things, it's actually 10 times harder to stop doing something and then restart - than just continuing to do it. A perfect bicycling example is intersections - it's best to slow down well before an intersection if the light is red so hopefully by the time you get there it's green and you can keep your momentum. Momentum - that's my word for the day.

Happy World Car Free Day everybody - how did you celebrate?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

World Car Free Day tomorrow


Yes folks, get on your bikes, trains, trams, water taxis - just get out of the car! Tomorrow is World Car Free Day and it's the perfect excuse you need to get your spring exercise started. I'll be out there riding to work whatever the weather!

Although we only share one car between us, Trav rides every day as he's so close to work, there's always more we could do - I've started riding 2 days per week but I can slowly increase this, and there are other more fuel efficient options out there for when you can't avoid the car - diesel and hybrid electric cars are becoming more widely available and perform just as well - if not better (just check out the new Subaru Forester turbo diesel!!! - but of course an Australian made vehicle would be even more sustainable) and you could try car-pooling too. Vancouver is one city which has improved its carpooling incredibly - and you can find carpools all over the world at Carpool World.


The Victorian government's Resource Smart website also offers lots of tips on how  and why to reduce vehicle dependency so what are you waiting for?

Spring Challenge Day 6 (22 days to go)

Departure: 7:50am
Arrival: 8:34am
Conditions: 11, wet roads and drizzle but not cold
Attire: fishtail skirt, stockings, black heels and riding tops

It was drizzling for about the first half of my trip, I took extra care as all the roads were wet and by the second half of the trip the breeze was drying me off. There were so many courteous people around today, an older gent (pedestrian) stopped and allowed me to pass through a narrow spot at Yarra's Edge, then the council workers paused their whipper-snippering as I rode past on Lorimer, and finally the bus driver waited for me to turn into a street before pulling out. Definitely made up for the weather. I'm pleased to report that by the time I got to work there was not a speck of dirt or mud on any of my clothes, and my stockings were nearly dry. It says a lot for the skirt guard, enclosed chain and mudguards - so may cyclists passed me with a strip of mud up their back and inside their legs. I'm so glad I can ride in my work clothes!

Also, I'd attached one of my eBay bargain mirrors but it'll need some adjustment - all I can see is my arm at this stage.

On the way home I was rewarded with a beautiful big sunshine, making everything golden and mysterious. It was a still evening and it felt so peaceful. That's my favourite time of day (when the sun's out).

When I arrived home I received the news that a close member of our family had passed away, and couldn't help thinking she'd had something to do with it. We'll miss you Maureen. xxx

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Spring Challenge Day 5 (23 days to go)

Departure: 8:05am (ooops!)
Arrival: 8:48am
Conditions: 10, sunny, warm and still
Attire: Jeans, riding tops and lacoste sneakers

My blind trick worked again - seeing the blue sky out of the window helps a lot but it was still cosier in bed. Damn flannelette sheets! Anyway it was a beautiful ride - I catch whiffs of different blossoms as I sail through Seddon and spent most of my time in 4th gear on Footscray road - was still in 3rd going up the bridge! I thought I must have entered a new phase of fitness until I rounded the bend onto Lorimer Street where suddenly it was grey with a strong headwind - maybe it was the tail wind helping me along before, or my freshly pumped tyres?

Whatever it was, the fitness and environmental benefits are just nice side effects - I'm doing this for the pleasure and nothing else. I think this is the key to a lot of things - do it because you enjoy it - not because you feel like you should do it - should improve your fitness or should reduce your carbon emissions. Like so many things in life, when you do what you enjoy a host of other benefits naturally follow.


On the way home it was raining lightly - but enough to sting my face. An unmarked police car passed within inches of me on Lorimer street and I just wanted to get home. I considered waiting under a bridge for the rain to subside but decided I'd rather be wet but home sooner, than standing outside waiting for who knows how long? At least it wasn't a cold day.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Sustainable House Day Part #2 - Peter & Natasha's Straw Bale Home

From Melton we headed into Merrimu - to visit Peter & Natasha's strawbale home. Perfect timing! Peter had just begun his house tour so we eagerly joined the group. It cost about $150K to build the 21 square house, including drafting, engineering plans and application fees. After 2 years of building, the family moved in with a provisional COO this March and are still finishing off some areas. Peter was very upfront about mentioning that they could have saved considerable funds and time if they'd done a few things different - isn't hindsight a beautiful thing?

Walking into the house gave me such a feeling of calm. The gently undulating walls create such a cosy, grounded space that you just don't get in a typical home these days. As we were shown through the house we learned that the louvre windows - which most people remember as draughty old things- seal 100% and are a product called Comfort Plus Glass. Two 6mm sheets of glass are toughened by a plastic sheet in the centre.
Peter and Natasha utilised some ideas from a book called Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander - such as having 2 light sources for each room where possible and the addition of the zen window in the studio. They scoured eBay for lots of reusable items - such as the kitchen, all doors, bathroom vanity and lots of other things. Their double sinks in the kitchen and laundry are drained to grey water and black water which will be useful once the irrigation is set up outside. Speaking of irrigation - their 22,000 litre rainwater tank has been full ever since it was hooked up.

Their solar hot water is an evacuated system, which takes no more than 30 minutes of sunshine to reach the day's requirements, and their wood fire has a wet back that can link to the solar system during winter and cloudy days. The composting toilets (Nature-Loo) were another interesting sustainable feature.

It was really interesting to see the west wing of the house, in various stages of completion - the bathroom and one of the bedrooms had only one or two coats of render on in some areas. Inside their WIR, the back wall was painted with Bio Paint, which was important to the couple as they didn't want the off-gassing from normal paints to affect their little son. When I asked about hanging pictures on the walls, Peter said they had considered running a length of timber along the inside frame of the house, before rendering but they'll probably hang the invisible picture cord from the wooden frame at the tops of the walls.

Some things are yet to be finished, including laying the recycled Tasmanaian Oak over their chipboard floors, and working out if/how to finish the rooms with skirting boards etc. They have begun lining their ceilings with calico, but are still working out how to hide the staples. Being quite new, the walls do shed some loose sand but Peter said this would stop over time, and is thinking about using a clear mineral silicate product to further seal the walls.
At the end of the tour we were so excited that we called Trav's folks to see if they'd come down and have a look - so we got to tour the house twice! It will be so exciting to see their progress as they continue to work on the house, all their photos and information can be found here.

On the way home we took a detour down Maidstone street in Altona to see some strawbale workers cottages that are still standing after being built in 1940 - you could easily miss them as you drive past - they look like any other cement rendered places along the same stretch, but they stand there as testament to the strength and endurance of strawbale building.

Thank you to both families for so generously opening your houses up on Sustainable House Day so the rest of us could learn a thing or two!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Spring Challenge: Day 4 (24 days to go)

Departure: 7:47am
Arrival: 8:33am
Conditions: 8, sunny and still
Attire: Riding tops, wide leg denim trousers, red may jane wedges

I left the blind half open last night to give me a sense of what the weather was like when I woke up. I still slept in but got my act together and didn't leave as late as usual. It was such a pleasant morning - I'm looking forward to the ride home already!
On the way home I was overtaken by a red bullet! It was one of those very low bicycles that look like they'd give you the biggest neckache after a few minutes - this one had a plastic red shell, I never caught him to ask him what it's called. And then I got a nice strong scent of blossoms from the wattles that border Moonee Ponds Creek, spring is here - we made it!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sustainable House Day Part #1 - Gavin's place

Our first stop was to visit Gavin and Kim Webber in Melton. We've been avid followers of Gavin's blog and what he manages to fit onto a suburban size block is really amazing - well it's actually just all about how you want to use your space really. Their family began a huge journey since first viewing 'An Inconvenient Truth' in September 2006 - now instead of  cottage gardens they nurture a fruit orchard, vegetable gardens, compost bin and work farm as well as running a hybrid Honda Civic and photovoltaic solar panels and installed water tanks.
We were welcomed by Amy and Kim - and Kim took us on a fantastic tour around the gardens starting with the four 'grave' vegie beds. We talked about how they find vegetables popping up in different beds from the composting, the garlic and broad beans that were doing so well and warned us off the white beetroot - apparently they are an acquired taste. Through to the compost area and we checked out the wicking potato garden bed before visting the worm farm. Lightbulb - I asked Kim if she had any suggestions for all the flies around our wormfarm and she suggested covering the top layer with wet newspaper or an old cotton towel seems to do the trick. Can't wait to try it. Kim also said they prepare seedlings for sale at the annual Djerriwarrh Festival on Saturday 6th November.

We wandered past the hybrid car and solar inverter, the citrus in pots by the pool and to the pergola - with raised beds of cabbage and a newly planted bed of salad greens and herbs. The orchard is in the front garden with some young trees already blossoming. Kim is already planning where they could fit in more dwarf trees - she hasn't run out of room or inspiration yet! We got to meet Gavin as well - and I picked his brain on how to get more producers to use the Local Food Map, about his cheesemaking hobby and we looked at the charts following their main grid energy consumption before and after solar was installed. He suggested Cheese Links as a good place to start for information and courses and the guys at Energy Matters for his solar system supplier. What strikes me most about this family is that once they were just like any other consumption-driven family and now they are on new path - after one small change at a time, they are living proof that anyone can make a postive change.

Gavin also founded the Melton Sustainable Living Group - you can check out their blog right here.

I decided not to take any photos at either of the houses we visited - apart from the reason that they have a stack of photos on their own websites, I just felt it was kind enough of them to open their homes for us to visit, and I didn't want to impose any further.

Next up - the one we've been waiting for.....

Another glorious half-a-weekend...

What a fantastic weekend - at the end I felt my batteries had actually started to recharge again, I think I might be splitting it into a few posts...

Friday night - we headed into town to see Powderfinger's Sunset Farewell tour and they were fantastic - as expected! They played 2 songs from my favourite album - Double Allergic. Even better we can buy a copy of their live performance that night through the website. As we're in the process of digitalising our cd collection - it's nice to have this option.

After work on Saturday I did another whirlwind of the garden to find that my beetroot seeds have sprouted! We then enjoyed dinner at the Bank Restaurant in Yarraville for the first time - with my Godparents all the way from WA! The atmosphere is cosy, and my Moroccan Lamb Shanks went down a treat, as did the Rosewater Pannacotta with Baklava - YUM!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of what's happening in my little plot of earth this week...

 My beetroot is sprouting
Calendula
About to burst
Lots of new growth on Pierre de Ronsard

Friday, September 10, 2010

BOM got me this time

I was prepared to ride in today - I prepared to leave by 7:30am and if the skies were threatening I'd back out. According to the BOM radar a big storm was approaching, to be right above Melbourne during my 40 minute commute and as I looked out the window over breakfast a strong wind was blowing rain everywhere. So of course on the way in to work a dark cloud soon disappeared and we drove along under blue skies. Of course.
Can't even rely on a mixture of BOM and looking out the window I guess.

I wouldn't mind getting a little wet - I just don't like the idea of riding for 40 minutes in the rain.

Anyway last night we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at African Taste on Victoria Street. We were all looking forward to trying out this bright green African cafe and we weren't disappointed. It was quiet when we arrived but soon people started streaming through the door and the place was full! Everyone seemed to know about this little place.
Our waitress was very friendly - pointing out her recommendations and offering us a range of African beer. We chose enough dishes to share, starting with Katega - a flat bread topped with garlic and lots of spices and Cramped (Crumbed?) Cauliflower, which was deep fried in breadcrumbs and we all agreed this was the best cauliflower we'd ever had!
Mains were the highly recommended Fu Fu (Gnocchi) made with barley flour and topped with spinach and ricotta, an African Enchilada (melting pot of cheesy chicken goodness!), Molokia (lamb and spinach stew) and Doro Tibes (chicken and spice stew). The Doro Tibes came with Injera - a strange rolled up spongy flatbread. Everything about the place was wonderful and the prices are extremely reasonable, I think we'll be regulars at African Taste!


I'll leave you with this scene from Charles street - it's been up for about 5 weeks so far, I wonder they'd answer my call about the new 3 story development going up on top of the marine shop? Please be careful with our little village council!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Disappointment

It was going to be Day 4 today. Instead when I woke at 6am the wind sounded so fierce that I didn't even want to peek out the window. We were expecting rain and it sounded horrible out there. Instead I dozed off again and when I opened the blinds I saw a bright sunny blue sky day. I was so disappointed! I could have gotten up - seen that it was dry and allowed myself extra time to ride to work.

And of course now, when I'd be thinking about my ride home, there is no rain in sight although the wind is still up. Lesson learned. Never miss an opportunity!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

I just finished reading a very interesting book called Slow Death by Rubber Duck. Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie are a couple of well known Canadian environmentalists who decided to go about testing a range of household goods on themselves (in a way that we would normally be exposed to them) to try to measure the effects they have on their bodies. They also bring up the history and prior studies of Teflon Town, triclosan, mercury and many other commonly used ingredients in our day to day lives. I  have to say I was a bit reluctant to read the book as I wondered whether it might feel like a hopeless cause to try to improve anything - but the book is easy too read without too much technical jargon and the last chapter is devoted to detoxing - and simple ways to make a difference in your own life today. I highly recommend it - you will never look at non-stick frypans and tuna the same way again!

 

Now if you'll excuse me - I'm off to trade in my old plastic food containers for some glass ones...

Spring Challenge: Day 3 (25 days to go)

Departure: 7:55am
Arrival: 8:40am
Conditions: 8, sunny and still
Attire: Singlet, Knitted hoodie, navy wide-leg work pants, black mary jane heels

I didn't get up to my alarm but still cooked French Toast for breakfast - this along with not knowing what to wear were my undoing. The grass was glistening in the sun this morning and it was a beautiful calm day. A guy was   A guy was riding on Footscray with his dog faithfully trotting alongside him. It was an easy ride, I even got up to 4th gear a few times.  I enjoyed my ride.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Dig it

Another lightning fast gardening effort on Saturday - I topped up the worm farm with some shredded paper as I think all the rain has left things a bit mouldy. I also planted my 2 different peas and the parsley mum potted up for me. Just need to decide on a spot for the sage to go - would I sacrifice the red pepper which is still producing in the sunniest corner of the garden?

Friday, September 3, 2010

Spring Challenge: Day 2 (26 days to go)

Departure: 7:47am (much better but still 17 minutes late)
Arrival: 8:35am
Conditions: 8, mild, still, partly sunny, but I could still see my breath.
Attire: Cuffed wide leg jeans, red wedge heel mary james, merino t shirt, zip top, gloves.

Another beautiful but slightly chilly morning. I'd part-packed the night before (sandwich, purse , security pass and I'd put my clothes and make up bag aside, but not packed). Forgot my earrings. Instantly I noticed that even this slightly earlier start time meant there was less traffic, getting onto Hyde street then immediately switching lanes to turn right wasn't as scary as normal, but the lack of traffic meant that I had to wait longer for a break to cross Whitehall. I enjoyed the breeze when my jeans flapped around. They didn't get caught on anything while riding, just once when I picked my foot up to ride off, the cuff caught the pedal. No biggy.

I enjoyed my ride a lot more - not feeling rushed or stressed and I'm really looking forward to the ride home. This feels better already...


Coming Home
The ride hope was a bit chillier - but still so pleasant. I rode right up the Footscray Rd bridge and Alp de Seddon without stopping once. I felt so good! It's a shame I'm not getting that second-day-burning in my legs anymore, but I'm sure it's still working!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Gratitude

I spent some time with a good friend last night, she is having a hard time dealing with the anniversary of her father's death. She reminds me to love our parents for who they are, regardless of their faults, because you just don't know how long they'll be around. Perfectly said.
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