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Rainsteed rides again!

As mentioned the other day, we have been moving Peggy to the big bedroom. When she first moved into the guest room, Rainsteed was retired to the barn. There just was not enough room for cohabitation.

He’s now back and ready to ride! The weight bench is also once more set up. (The requisite, exclusive LOTR DVD player is close at hand.)

Have no fear Barney and Heather, there is still room for you to navigate around the room when you visit.

I hope to make the time for real exercise this coming school term. I will be lifting at school but will now be able to ride as well. As the weather improves, I will even ride outdoors on Lightfoot. Poor steed. He seldom gets out anymore.

Moving day!!

When Peggy moved in last December, she moved into the back bedroom in the daylight basement. An adequate guest room to be sure. However, it is not quite the livable space for every day. There are limited electrical outlets because of the firring on the concrete walls, the window is rather shadowed so not a lot of light comes in, the closet is small, and there is no real carpeting just pieces placed to cover the concrete floor.

She’s moving to the big bedroom; large walk-in closet, wall-to-wall carpeting, and numerous electrical outlets so she will not be limited as to where she has to place furniture. There is also a lovely window seat with a nice view of the forest and pond.

A wise decision; I do believe she will be quite comfortable there. Now we just have to train Gabriel to go to the correct bedroom during the night if he goes looking for mom…

Sunshine!!!

Whoa! Two days of sunshine?!? What a treat! The bonus is that I did some impulse shopping today. As I wandered through the store getting milk, flour, veggies, chocolate(!), greeting cards; I came upon the sunglasses display. They had some great “clip-ons” that actually fit my frame/lens. I have been without sunglasses for almost two years. I forgot to get the prescription ones updated with new lens back when I got new regular glasses.

In other news, 16 more days of school this term. YEA!!!!!

Blessed am I.


My blessing are many. In no particular order here are just a few of them:

  • daily hugs from Hobbitses
  • smiles and giggles from RG, Hobbitses, and RK
  • spur of the moment overnight visits from TR, MM, and kidlings
  • easy, comfortable, family time with all
  • RG talking about caring for RK and I as we age
  • TR gifting me with a new laptop, out of the blue
  • Maidenette telling her folks “we really should go to Memere and Pepere’s”
  • Pippin and I driving to school together twice a week
  • Merry running and throwing himself at me with delighted glee in the mornings
  • RG making sure there is a hot dinner on the table most evenings
  • RK loving me as much, if not more, as he did 32 years ago
  • Little Ranger’s gutteral laugh
  • Swinging Hobbitses
  • RG and Hobbitses giving me much needed breaks from schoolwork, just for a hello and a hug

The list could go on and on….

End of game??

RK handed in his resignation of the HS coaching position yesterday. Being how we were both in town at the noon hour, we met for lunch. Very pleasant.

As the conversation ensued, he spoke of not coaching the Classic (competitive) league teams any more either!!! Oh my! He’ll still be involved with the league as head coach, facilitating clinics for coaches and such. His maintenance of the fields will also continue, and the soccer camps. However, the evening practices and weekend travel commitments will disappear. Oh my oh my oh my!!!!

Can you tell I’m thrilled?!? OK, I did grouse about his time commitment to soccer but I also know that it is his passion. And we must all have a passion; be it soccer, running, writing, kidlings, or what have you.

Ever on…

The 10% rule

I know the rule, but I did not heed the rule. And I am paying for it.

Runners know that when they increase their mileage, it is increased by 10%. You get used to that mileage before increasing again.

I have been running my little three mile out and back route for some time. Today I decided to do four miles. That is a 25% increase; not a smart thing to do. My calf seized up on me as I ran down the hill toward home. I analyzed how many miles I had run and it was 3.4 miles. Now, if I had done the smart thing and increased by 10% I would have been home and done before my calf hurt.

Getting old is a bitch!

Soccer time out

Wait! There is no time out in soccer. Well, looks like we will change that.

RK has been coaching the local high school boys team for nigh on ten years. He enjoys it, there is no doubt of it. Anything soccer he enjoys. Now that we have the Hobbitses and RG living here, RK’s priorities have shifted. He is looking to relinquish that coaching position to spend more time at home. He intends to speak with the athletic director this week. Yea!!!

And! My daunting task of soccer camp registrar may be significantly diminished. For the past three years the local soccer league has been using a company to facilitate on-line registation for the regular recreational season. I was reluctant to hand my camp registrations over to them until all the bugs were worked out of the system. Looks like the bugs are gone and the time has come to hand it over. With school taking most of my waking hours, the thought of adding the job of registrar had me quaking in my boots. And my boots are sturdy!

As I have said before, in other venues, we are all settling fairly smoothly into our new roles in life. Those RG and little Hobbit hugs, smiles, and giggles are so worth the changes!!!!!

Namárië

from one Hobbit to another…

Now that RG and Hobbitses live here, they are all exposed to the LOTR paraphernalia around the house. Pippin has shown keen interest and wants to know about the people in the posters, the statues, the action figures.

So! RG has begun reading “The Hobbit” to him, and LOTR.

This morning, Pippin parked himself on the sofa and was “reading” about Bilbo Baggins. He was looking at the maps in the book and talking to himself. Observing this prompted me to print out the two maps from “The Hobbit” so he has larger ones to look at.

Never too young to enjoy the works of The Professor!

Girls’ Night In

RG and I had a pleasant evening Friday. We made a special trip (with the Hobbitses, of course) to Costco and bought the cheesecake that we did not buy last Friday. Not the same one, mind you, just cheesecake in general.

After a lovely spinach salad for dinner, lots of playing with Hobbitses and then tucking them into bed, we splurged. RG and I each had a generous piece of cheesecake and watched a “girlie” movie. What fun!!

RK is out of town this weekend for corporate meetings. I imagine there will be some cheesecake left when he returns tomorrow evening, but I’m not placing any bets!! ;)

Ripple effect

It’s like a drop in the pond. One tiny splash that redounds throughout the entire body of water.

A family reunion was in the offing this summer with RK’s side of the family. We all planned to gather in the beautiful state of Maine for a week of extraordinary fun, festivities, fellowship, and food. Things change. RK’s older sister passed away January 2, 2007. The pull to Maine has been significantly diminished. A number of family members have made it known they will not travel to Maine. One of my nephews, Iain, age 25, wrote and asked if he could come to our home this summer for a week. He needed to get out of the city. “Sure!! Come early, stay late!”

That was the drop in the pond.

TR thought that if Iain comes, his sister, BIL and niece should also make the drive from the south. And if they travel, their parents will surely want to join us. Maybe their other siblings will come too. And Tom and Joanne from Massachusetts. And, and, and…

Voila! A family reunion at our house this summer! Nothing is set in stone yet but the way this family works, I can easily envision a house full, and tents full, of family for a week come the middle of summer.