So much to report

My gorgeous Alison turned 4 on Sunday! I can't tell you how amazingly blessed I am to have her in my life.

When Alison was born she couldn't breathe properly and it took 2 weeks in the NICU for her to be healthy enough to go home. Those two weeks were surreal. I had this person that I just met that I felt so much love and worry for and didn't even know very well. Since then Alison's health has done nothing but improved and her pediatrician is shocked that she hasn't had any long-term effects.

Alison is a bright, independent little girl and I can't believe she's growing up so quickly. This year she'll be continuing dance class, this year with a little tap and starting soccer.


We threw a pretend sleepover birthday party for Alison on Saturday night and it was a ton of fun. The kids all came in their jammies and we decorated washclothes, popped popcorn, and played flashlight limbo.

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Monday night my wonderful husband took my to Orange Cycle and we bought a ton of cycling stuff, including my NEW BIKE. If you thought there was no ceiling as to how much knitting stuff you "need", you've never been a cyclist. Every time we turned around there was something else we needed to buy.

Here she is. She's a Specialized Dolce, which is a Women's Specific Bicycle. That means that the 'reach' from seat to handlebar is shorter to accomodate a shorter chick torso. The handlebars are more narrow to accomodate slimmer set shoulders. And the seat is awesome to protect my girl parts. This is the most important part in my opinion.


Then you have to consider the equation of cycling gear: lighter = more expensive = faster. Wayne kept making my bike faster and faster and now I'm a little scared of it. :)


But what I'm most scared of are my pedals. Their called clipless pedals and they work with cleats on your shoes to connect you to the bike. Now Wayne started cycling about a year ago and since that time I've heard lots of stories about people just falling over 'cause they couldn't unclip. The guy at the bike shop said that I could wait and get them later, but Wayne said no, I have to jump right in. I'll let you know when I fall over. It shouldn't take too long.

Now I'm ready to really start training for the Tour de Cure. I think it's important to point out at this point that I am not a skinny-minny. This is a serious undertaking 'cause I'm a big girl, but I'm encouraged by the fact that this is not only an opportunity to raise some funds, but also to slim my bootie down.

Won't you SUPPORT ME in this venture??

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And I managed to bring my cross-stitch to jury duty yesterday and finished quite a bit. It took me a week and a half to stitch the footprint of the left (I'm a slow cross-stitcher and it's slowing down my knitting) and one day of jury duty to stitch the footprint on the right.

It was an interesting experience. I didn't actually sit on a jury. I was interviewed for one case about cocaine possession, but they didn't pick me. I lucked out and got to leave at 3pm, so it wasn't even a whole day.

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61. My sister Aileen and I are frequently referred to as ‘the girls’.
62. I’ve only lived alone for 6 months of my life.
63. All of the furniture in my house was given to us.
64. I love gin and tonics, with lots of lime.
65. I know how to play a mean game of Texas Hold ‘Em.
66. I’m thrilled that Care Bears and My Little Pony are popular again so I can buy them for my girls.
67. Wonder Woman is my hero.
68. I had Wonder Woman underwear when I was 3, they were a reward for getting potty trained.
69. I found a place online where I can get adult Wonder Woman underwear but haven’t had the guts to order them.
70. I visit the library once a week with Alison.