SURPRISE-Kudos
Growing up, my family always made a big deal out of our birthdays and that is something that I have carried into adulthood. I love celebrating my birthday and I love celebrating friends’ and family birthdays.
The Brunch Club decided to throw a surprise birthday party for Brittney this year. We weren’t able to do much on her real day, so we planned a party for July 9th.
We could not have pulled this off without Aimee Eaton at Hook Gallery and Framing (www.hookgallery.com). Aimee is the event coordinator at Westport’s newest art gallery. She made the planning and day of so easy for us. It was great! The gallery is an awesome space and it worked great for our surprise birthday celebration.
Vi Tran Music (www.facebook.com/vitranmusic) provided the entertainment via an acoustic set by Vi Tran himself. He did great as usual with a nice mix of familiar covers and his raw and personal originals.
We had drinks, a nacho bar, birthday cake, good music, and good friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time.
I wanted to take the opportunity to give some credit where credit is due.
Thank you THANK YOU to The Brunch Club…you guys are the best friends anyone could have and I love how much fun we have together. Thank you for supporting this idea and all of your hard work to pull the party off! Richie helped shop and chop fruit and veggies, made sure we had cold beverages, and most of all, he was able to get the guest of honor to the party on time! Marc listened to me stress nonstop, made an awesome playlist, and made sure that Brittney’s favorite (red velvet) cake showed up for the party. Mako brought A LOT of awesome food (and chocolate chip cookies) and made sure we had dance music when Vi’s set ended. She also was a HUGE help in coordinating the cleaning and packing at the end of the night. I appreciate all of you guys and everything you did for the party!!!!
Thank you to Aimee Eaton at Hook. You were so nice and friendly and a great pleasure to work with. I’m excited to work with you on future events!
Vi, thank you for the great tunes and for just partying and hanging out with us. It is always a big treat to introduce you to my friends and expose new people to your music and your story.
Rachel, Nicole, Amy, Matt…you guys were so awesome! Thank you so much for all of your help cleaning up. You seriously didn’t have to do that!
Rachael….I wish I had your last name and contact info. You did an awesome job on the cake…well exceeded our expectations. Hopefully I can connect you with others that may need your services. Thank you!!!
Emily….I really appreciate you agreeing to make your delicious carrot cake…that was all I could think about for 2 weeks! Thank you for helping me reach out to invite Brittney’s family and school friends. I’m really glad that we tried to include them.
Thank you to all of our friends that took time out of their Friday to come and celebrate with us. It was so great to hang out and enjoy the gallery with all of you.
A BIG thanks to Brittney for being such a great friend!
Love ya, Last Minute!
Check out the pics on facebook!
PS….Thanks to all that weren’t able to make it, but sent an RSVP. I really appreciate the heads up! Hopefully everyone will learn to understand the importance of sending an RSVP when receiving an invite!
The Potawatomis
This is the second entry in a series of entries that I started about my family leading up to my annual family reunion that I just came back from a few days ago. In my last entry https://amymariekc.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/family-matters/ , I mentioned my grandma’s brothers and sisters and their large families. In this entry, I am going to talk about how Grandma and her family came to be.
The Potawatomi Indians were forced off of their land in Indiana in 1838. They walked over 600 miles and made their way to Sugar Creek, near Osawatomie, KS. Several died along the trail. http://www.potawatomi-tda.org/
E qua ke sek was a small Indian child who lost her mother and father to illness along the trail. Rose Phillippine Duchesne was a French nun who moved from St. Louis to Sugar Creek to teach the Potawatomi Indians. Sister Rose taught E qua ke sek. E qua ke sek eventually moved with Sister Rose and the other sisters to St. Mary’s Mission, which is now St. Mary’s, KS. The Potawatomis eventually settled in Oklahoma. Their reservation is in Shawnee, OK.
James Slavin was an Irish immigrant who worked as a carriage driver for Bishop Mieage, the first Bishop of the territory of Kansas. When Bishop Mieage would visit the Cathedral in St. Mary’s, E qua ke sek would serve the Bishop and his staff. James and E qua ke sek fell in love and were married. E qua ke sek was baptized a Christian and given the name Theresa.
Jim and Theresa had several children, and three survived. James, John, and Mary. Mary, their only surviving daughter, settled near Belvue, KS and also married an Irishman, James Doyle. Mary and James had five children, Sister Mary Conception, Florence, Leo, Gene, and Genevieve. Florence married Thomas Pearl and they had six children, Marjorie (Marj), James (Jim), Robert (Bob), Maureen, Virginia (Ginger), and Gerald (Jerry). Grandma Doyle made a point to pass down her Indian heritage to her five children. Florence did the same with her six children. Grandma Marj has done the same with her kids and grandkids.
Every year the descendents of Jim and Theresa get together for a Slavin family reunion. In recent years, the reunion has happened in conjunction with the Annual Potawatomi Reunion festival in Shawnee, OK. http://www.potawatomi.org/ The Festival is three days of eating, drinking, games, and dancing. There is also an opportunity to tour and view the many facilities on the reservation: the grocery store, casino and entertainment complex, golf course, camp grounds, wellness center, and many more. My Grandma made a point to take us kids on the trip every year. We last traveled together to the Festival in 2006. Every year we have a blast experiencing the Potawatomi culture and catching up with relatives. In 2007, I was ill and was unable to make the trip, so Grandma traveled without me. In 2008, Grandma was ill and we stayed home to be with her. Last year, we realized that Grandma isn’t able to make the trip any longer. She is in her late 80s and just isn’t able to travel long distances, especially in the Oklahoma summer heat.
This year was the first year that I was able to get over my guilt of leaving Grandma behind to make the trip. I’m so glad that I did. I will post about this year’s trip in another entry.
Family Matters
The plan is for this blog entry to be the first in a series of entries about my family leading up to my annual family reunion. I just came back from a trip to the reunion.
Most people that know me pretty well know that I am not very close to my parents. That naturally happened over several years given that I am the oldest of four in the family and there is a 16 year age difference between myself and my youngest sibling. Both of my parents were raised in single parent households in the 50s and 60s, which was not as common as it is today. My mother’s mother died very young when I was 8 years old. Her father has not been an active part of her life for many years. My mom has three siblings, and we have not stayed in touch over the years. My father’s father was an absentee dad, so I never knew him. He passed away almost 10 years ago.
That leaves my only grandparent, my dad’s mom. As a kid, my sister and I spent lots of time at Grandma’s house. We loved spending weekends and school breaks with her. We cooked, baked, played card games, visited patients at the nursing home, extended family, went out to eat, and traveled. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve trips to Grandma’s. As I became an adult and graduated from college, Grandma and I stayed very close. She is one of my best friends. Grandma will be 88 this year, and I am very thankful that she can still live alone and drive, and is in decent health. Because I have spent my life having such a close relationship with Grandma, I have had the opportunity to get to know and become close with several members of my extended family.
Grandma is the oldest of six children. Uncle Jim passed away almost two years ago. He and his wife were married 59 years and had five children. Uncle Bob and his wife raised a family of five daughters in Ohio. Aunt Maureen had three boys and one girl. Ginger joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and just recently celebrated 50 years with them. Uncle Jerry and his wife raised eight daughters. So, with the families of Grandma and her brothers and sisters, I have several aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts & uncles, and more cousins, etc.
I consider myself very fortunate to have had and continue to have such a great relationship with my Grandma all of these years. I’m so thankful for her and the positive impact that she has had on my life. I owe my interest in my family tree and genealogy to her. She made sure that we knew our family history and origin. I am also grateful that I have gotten to know so many members of my extended family. We made many trips down to Oklahoma for family reunions every year. Those reunion trips were, and still are a blast!
I plan to blog more about that later.
Great Expectations
I’ve been told by friends, family, coworkers, boyfriends, etc. that sometimes my expectations of myself and others can be too high. In my opinion, there is no such thing.
I expect myself to keep my health and fitness as a high priority in life. But, I do understand that it is not healthy to stress and obsess over it 24-7.
I serve as a volunteer in several organizations and I expect my fellow volunteers to at least do what they will say they will do and be held accountable for their responsibilities just as I would from a coworker or colleague.
On a more basic level, I expect good service…is that too much to ask? The gym that I work out at is super cheap…a lot cheaper than other gyms in the area, however, machines aren’t always in working order and the track isn’t swept on a regular basis. I usually go to the gym first thing in the morning when they open for the day and yet I find empty paper towel dispensers, empty soap dispensers, etc. I complain and my friends tell me I have no right to complain because of how cheap it is. Really? I have no right to complain? I may not be paying much, but I’m still paying….
Anyway, I will get off of my soapbox now.
Mother’s Day
I ran the Mother’s Day 5K Race at Corporate Woods yesterday. The race started at 8:00 in the morning on Sunday. I admit that I didn’t want to get up to the gray weather after only four hours of sleep. I had a really full day on Saturday, so I didn’t go to bed until about 2:00 am and woke up with my alarm at 6:30. I put on my running gear, sent a few Happy Mothers day texts, emails, and Facebook messages, and headed out the door.
It was amazing that I found parking right away and was able to get to the starting line with thirty minutes to spare. The race was for women only, and they were everywhere. The emcee was trying to get the energy going via the loud speaker and made several announcements of the various teams that were present. One thing that was really cool was the number of mother-daughter-granddaughter teams that were present from all over. For many, this run has become a Mother’s Day family tradition.
There were prizes for those who had completed their first race ever, for those under 12, and they even had a “middle of the pack” award. In addition to the run being a fundraiser for Kansas City Express, a local women’s’ running and walking club, the race is also a way to encourage fitness of all levels in people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. Recognizing first timers, children, and slower runners were all great ways to get the message out.
There were men on the sidelines throughout the entire course cheering on their wives, sisters, and mothers. I was really impressed at the family oriented atmosphere of the race.
I admit, I was a little jealous of those families that were there running together and cheering each other on, as I came by myself. Maybe one day I can get my sister to run with me…we will see….
After I crossed the finish, I headed for the food tent. I don’t normally do that after races…it seems counterproductive to run 3 +miles and then go pig out on donuts, bagels, soda, etc. However, I did go for a Krispy Kreme and it was DELCIOUS! After I enjoyed my donut, I headed to find my car. As I was walking, I passed a sign that said “Be the best you can be” I’m trying to keep that in mind as I continue my workouts this week. The next run on the books is the Jazz in the Woods 5k on June 12.
http://www.active.com/running/overland-park-ks/jazz-in-the-woods-5k-runwalk-2010“>http://www.active.com/running/overland-park-ks/jazz-in-the-woods-5k-runwalk-2010</a>
Wow!
I went into this weekend knowing that I had a LOT going on, and it was a little crazy to try to be in a million places, but I live for being really busy.
I had a “pre” weekend outing on Thursday with a group of friends. We went down to Westport for live music, so it made for a late night. The next morning I drank a lot of coffee so that I could stay a wake for my busy day.
I tried to finish work as soon as I could so that I could run errands and be ready by the time my friend was going to pick me up at 3:00 to go out to the K. We had to meet with the sales staff to finish up some details for an event that we are hosting out there in a couple of weeks.
After we took care of our business, my friend dropped me off so that I could wait on another friend to come and pick me up so that we could go back to the stadium for the Royals vs Twins game at 7:00.
The game was AWESOME….nice weather, lots of trips to the concession stands, and post game fireworks.
We got home and I went straight to bed as I had an early morning ahead…the plan was to drive to Manhattan for KSU’s Open House, go to my cousin’s wedding in the afternoon, and then head to the KSU Spring Game on Saturday evening.
Well…I woke up at about 2:00 am and was sick the rest of the night and didn’t go to bed until I was scheduled to be up to pick up my friends for the trip to Manhattan. I normally eat a lot of steamed and raw veggies and lean proteins, so I think the combination of the pastries that I ate Friday morning and all of the random concession stand food at the game really did a number on my stomach…ugh.
I decided the only thing I could do was stay in bed and get some rest, so I called my friends and told them to go to Manhattan without me and I also called Grandma and told her to head to the wedding without me. I was SUPER disappointed….
I felt well enough to make it to the game Saturday evening and was able to bring my friends back to Kansas City afterward.
Again, I went straight to bed because I had to be up early again, as my friend was picking me up at 6:20 so that we could head to a 4 mile race that we were running. I was pretty nervous as I hadn’t been feeling well or eating , drinking, or sleeping properly…but, I still managed to get up and run the four miles…well I ran most of the time and walked a bit too….
After the run a few of us met up for brunch. I went home and finally crashed. I love staying busy, but my body doesn’t always love it!
I’ve got to do some laundry and a few other things and I think I will be ready for the week!
Loving Life
This weekend was one of those weekends that reminded me that my life is actually pretty good and I should be VERY thankful for what I have and the people in my life.
I moved to Kansas City about four years ago and my two favorite things about my experience so far are my job and all of the fabulous people who I have met through work, church, volunteer work, sporting events, and various social activities.
This weekend I was able to spend time with some of the new friends that I have made fairly recently.
I left work at about 3:00 on Friday a bit fried from the week. I took a mini nap and then was ready to start the weekend. A friend met me at my house so that we could meet a few friends for dinner at a local restaurant. (see my previous post for more on that dining experience!) We ate and drank and had a great time chatting and getting to know each other.
After dinner, we headed to another local spot to hear a favorite local musician of mine play. We were guests of the manager at the establishment as a result of a negative service experience from a week or so before. We met a few more friends and enjoyed the evening listening to the live music and sipping on house champagne, compliments of the manager.
We happened to be out on the same night as the Royals Red Sox game and the George Strait Reba McEntire concert, so we ran into lots of interesting people. We captured several of our fun moments of the evening…we all had our cameras and phones and took a lot of pictures. We all had so much fun.
I kept Saturday pretty low key…chores around the house, errands, and Mass. I met my sister and 3 year old nephew for dinner and had a great time catching up with them.
Saturday evening, some friends and I decided to make plans to go to Sunday brunch the following day.
Four of us met for brunch at a popular hotel here in town. It was so much FUN. We had a great time laughing and talking and discussing our weekend and enjoying DELICIOUS food and champagne. We were seated at a table near a window and had a really nice view of the city. As we observed the sunshine and beautiful weather, someone made a comment about how today would be a good day to go to a baseball game. We checked the time and decided that we had about 40 minutes to close our tab and head out to the ball park before the first pitch would be thrown.
I’m a planner and there isn’t much that happens in my life that is spur of the moment…but maybe there is room for more of that in a 20 something’s life.
We were dressed for Sunday brunch, not for an afternoon at the ball park. We decided to stop in the sports apparel store in the mall where the hotel was located and purchase appropriate attire. After the shopping trip, we decided that we would all meet at a Wal-Mart close to the stadium and drive in together. We purchased more clothes for the game and were ready to head in.
The weather was beautiful and we had an AWESOME time roaming around the stadium and watching the baseball game.
We even made plans for a future get together.
This weekend was so much fun not necessarily because of the activities, but because of the awesome people who I got to spend time with!
Now I am ready for the week ahead!
Customer Service Nightmare
I’ve been trying to get out and try new local restaurants when I can. I decided to buy one of the Passport dining cards so that I can save money while eating out. The Passport allows you to buy one en tree and get an en tree free if there are two or more people in your party.
Last night, I invited a group of friends to try Soho 119 for dinner. Soho is a clothing boutique in the front and the back is split with a salon on one side and a small dining room and bar on the other side. I made a reservation for five of us for 7:15.
When we got there, we were greeted by the hostess, the chef, and the server. I thought it was a nice welcome. Our server, Jet, came over and introduced herself. (No, I am not changing names to protect the innocent) She came over and said “I’m Jet, like the plane.” She was confused from the get go because she had the table set for six when there were only five of us coming. Four of us got there together, and our fifth joined the party soon after our arrival.
Jet seemed to handle the drink orders fairly well even though our fifth person didn’t get a drink for about 20 minutes. Jet also had a really hard time interacting with us. The worst part was when she rubbed my (bald) friend’s head and touched another friend’s hair. It was very bizarre. Every time she talked, something stupid or wildly inappropriate came out of her mouth.
When it came time to order our meals, I asked how many shrimp came with the Mediterranean shrimp entrée. She said, “I don’t know, I have no idea.” I decided then, to order the orange Salmon special. She said that it came with pasta or potatoes and vegetables. I told Jet that I didn’t want pasta or potatoes, and her response was, “How about you just order it the way it comes and just don’t eat the pasta.” WHAT THE HELL?????? WHO SAYS THAT??????
I ordered salad, and when I asked for the salad with no cheese she said that the chef was very particular about people customizing menu items and that she would have to lie and say that I am lactose intolerant. The truth is, I am lactose intolerant, but that isn’t why I didn’t want cheese on my salad. OH MY!!!!
The food took FOREVER to come out. They brought my salad with everyone else’s en trees. My entrée came about the time that everyone else was finishing their last bites of food. Oh, and by the way, there were no vegetables on my plate.
When she cleared the empty plates, she was dropping silverware everywhere, and even dropped pasta on my friend. She didn’t apologize, instead, she proceeded to tell us how great of a server that she is and that the silverware is “weird”.
At this point, we weren’t really in the mood for complaining, we just wanted to get out of there.
When the bill came, my friend and I gave our Passport dining cards which should have allowed us to take the cost of two en trees off of the bill and pay for the remaining three en trees, drinks, and dessert. Jet turned very sour very fast when she found out that she was going to have to readjust our bill due to the Passports. She started being extremely rude to us and just treating us like complete crap. It took about 20 minutes to get the bill settled. All and all, we were at the restaurant for 2.5 hours and ended up being late to our next function.
The food was great, but I will NEVER eat there again. I will also make sure that I tell everyone that I know how horrible it was. If you want my recommendation, don’t eat there. I’m sure the place will close soon enough. When that day comes, run for the hills if you sit down to eat at another restaurant and the server’s name is Jet.
I’ve been trying to get out and try new local restaurants when I can. I decided to buy one of the Passport dining cards so that I can save money while eating out. The Passport allows you to buy one en tree and get an en tree free if there are two or more people in your party.
Last night, I invited a group of friends to try Soho 119 for dinner. Soho is a clothing boutique in the front and the back is split with a salon on one side and a small dining room and bar on the other side. I made a reservation for five of us for 7:15.
When we got there, we were greeted by the hostess, the chef, and the server. I thought it was a nice welcome. Our server, Jet, came over and introduced herself. (No, I am not changing names to protect the innocent) She came over and said “I’m Jet, like the plane.” She was confused from the get go because she had the table set for six when there were only five of us coming. Four of us got there together, and our fifth joined the party soon after our arrival.
Jet seemed to handle the drink orders fairly well even though our fifth person didn’t get a drink for about 20 minutes. Jet also had a really hard time interacting with us. The worst part was when she rubbed my (bald) friend’s head and touched another friend’s hair. It was very bizarre. Every time she talked, something stupid or wildly inappropriate came out of her mouth.
When it came time to order our meals, I asked how many shrimp came with the Mediterranean shrimp entrée. She said, “I don’t know, I have no idea.” I decided then, to order the orange Salmon special. She said that it came with pasta or potatoes and vegetables. I told Jet that I didn’t want pasta or potatoes, and her response was, “How about you just order it the way it comes and just don’t eat the pasta.” WHAT THE HELL?????? WHO SAYS THAT??????
I ordered salad, and when I asked for the salad with no cheese she said that the chef was very particular about people customizing menu items and that she would have to lie and say that I am lactose intolerant. The truth is, I am lactose intolerant, but that isn’t why I didn’t want cheese on my salad. OH MY!!!!
The food took FOREVER to come out. They brought my salad with everyone else’s en trees. My entrée came about the time that everyone else was finishing their last bites of food. Oh, and by the way, there were no vegetables on my plate.
When she cleared the empty plates, she was dropping silverware everywhere, and even dropped pasta on my friend. She didn’t apologize, instead, she proceeded to tell us how great of a server that she is and that the silverware is “weird”.
At this point, we weren’t really in the mood for complaining, we just wanted to get out of there.
When the bill came, my friend and I gave our Passport dining cards which should have allowed us to take the cost of two en trees off of the bill and pay for the remaining three en trees, drinks, and dessert. Jet turned very sour very fast when she found out that she was going to have to readjust our bill due to the Passports. She started being extremely rude to us and just treating us like complete crap. It took about 20 minutes to get the bill settled. All and all, we were at the restaurant for 2.5 hours and ended up being late to our next function.
The food was great, but I will NEVER eat there again. I will also make sure that I tell everyone that I know how horrible it was. If you want my recommendation, don’t eat there. I’m sure the place will close soon enough. When that day comes, run for the hills if you sit down to eat at another restaurant and the server’s name is Jet.
To Bike or Not to Bike
The only physical activity that I do involves running or walking. I just started a new weight loss program about a month ago and I like to keep up on the latest health and fitness trends. I keep running across the words cross-training and I’ve been thinking about taking up light pleasure biking. I even got a really cool new back pack to tote my stuff around in on my new bike….that I hadn’t yet purchased…
I finally picked up my new bicycle a couple of days ago with the intention of riding to work. The route is a piece of cake 3.5 miles. When I went to pick up the bike, I assumed that I would just throw it in my two door car and head home, no big deal. Well, it obviously didn’t fit in my car. So, I put the back seat down and shoved the bike as far into the trunk as I could get it. I figured I’d be fine if I drove slow the whole 10 miles home. Did I mention that we were in a tornado or thunderstorm warning and there were 45mph winds?
I was pretty nervous driving 20mph in a 45 with cars passing me and my trunk lid flying up every few minutes. After I had been in the car about 20 minutes and hadn’t even made it a third of the way home, I realized that I was hungry. I decided to swing into the Taco Bell drive through for Fresco tacos (meat, lettuce, and tomatoes only, but I digress) I got some strange looks going through the drive up, but got my tacos and was back on my way. I finally made it home in one piece and got the bike in the garage.
I wanted to ride to work the next morning, but I didn’t because I had an out of the office meeting that I had to attend. After work that night, I decided to do a trial run of the route to the office. Like I said earlier, piece of cake, right?? I got the bike out, and got on the road. It had been about 4 years since I had ridden anything but a stationary bike. After about five minutes on the road, I wanted to turn around and go home, but I decided to stick with it. That was a tough 3.5 mile ride, more hills than I expected and quite a bit of road construction.
I made it to the office and was exhausted. I really had nothing to do but turn around and head back home. I rode on the opposite side of the street to avoid a lot of the construction.
Somewhere along the way, I must have gotten a second wind, because I decided to swing into the dry cleaners to pick up my latest order. I had forgotten that I had six garments and an express bag waiting for me. By this time, the sky was black and the wind was starting to pick up… a storm was moving in.
As I collected my items, the man that runs the store said, “Oh my, you are on your bicycle in the rain.” Well, that shows what little he knew, it hadn’t even started raining yet!!! Anyway, somehow I managed to get my clothes, express bag, and myself home on my bike in one piece. Perfect timing…as soon as I got into my car, the down pour started.
I was exhausted and I realized that before I commit to commuting via bicycle, I need to carefully plan when I can be without my car, what time I will leave the house, what I will need to keep at work and what I will need to tote with me, should I take a shower at home or the office, etc. etc. In the meantime, I will do a couple of more trial runs of the route….
The only physical activity that I do involves running or walking. I just started a new weight loss program about a month ago and I like to keep up on the latest health and fitness trends. I keep running across the words cross-training and I’ve been thinking about taking up light pleasure biking. I even got a really cool new back pack to tote my stuff around in on my new bike….that I hadn’t yet purchased…
I finally picked up my new bicycle a couple of days ago with the intention of riding to work. The route is a piece of cake 3.5 miles. When I went to pick up the bike, I assumed that I would just throw it in my two door car and head home, no big deal. Well, it obviously didn’t fit in my car. So, I put the back seat down and shoved the bike as far into the trunk as I could get it. I figured I’d be fine if I drove slow the whole 10 miles home. Did I mention that we were in a tornado or thunderstorm warning and there were 45mph winds?
I was pretty nervous driving 20mph in a 45 with cars passing me and my trunk lid flying up every few minutes. After I had been in the car about 20 minutes and hadn’t even made it a third of the way home, I realized that I was hungry. I decided to swing into the Taco Bell drive through for Fresco tacos (meat, lettuce, and tomatoes only, but I digress) I got some strange looks going through the drive up, but got my tacos and was back on my way. I finally made it home in one piece and got the bike in the garage.
I wanted to ride to work the next morning, but I didn’t because I had an out of the office meeting that I had to attend. After work that night, I decided to do a trial run of the route to the office. Like I said earlier, piece of cake, right?? I got the bike out, and got on the road. It had been about 4 years since I had ridden anything but a stationary bike. After about five minutes on the road, I wanted to turn around and go home, but I decided to stick with it. That was a tough 3.5 mile ride, more hills than I expected and quite a bit of road construction.
I made it to the office and was exhausted. I really had nothing to do but turn around and head back home. I rode on the opposite side of the street to avoid a lot of the construction.
Somewhere along the way, I must have gotten a second wind, because I decided to swing into the dry cleaners to pick up my latest order. I had forgotten that I had six garments and an express bag waiting for me. By this time, the sky was black and the wind was starting to pick up… a storm was moving in.
As I collected my items, the man that runs the store said, “Oh my, you are on your bicycle in the rain.” Well, that shows what little he knew, it hadn’t even started raining yet!!! Anyway, somehow I managed to get my clothes, express bag, and myself home on my bike in one piece. Perfect timing…as soon as I got into my car, the down pour started.
I was exhausted and I realized that before I commit to commuting via bicycle, I need to carefully plan when I can be without my car, what time I will leave the house, what I will need to keep at work and what I will need to tote with me, should I take a shower at home or the office, etc. etc. In the meantime, I will do a couple of more trial runs of the route….
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