It's a New Year!

With all this gorgeous weather we've been having, we've been riding our bikes a lot! Chilly and lots of sunshine... it's been an awesome start to our winter and with the days getting incrementally longer --Yahoo is what I'm sayin' :-D

Took my son to his life skills class... he's 5 years old and getting a might too big for the trailer, but it's the only way I can tow him since my bike has the hardware attached for the Travoy (a posting coming soon about that totally cool trailer) and a rack. He's going on 70 lbs, sooo... I'll probably end up with some mongo-sized thighs (heh heh)



Also tried out our dog Kiki, a Schnauzer-Terrier mix in the trailer. Isn't she just the cutest thang? I thought, hmm, maybe I'll bring her to her next grooming appointment this way. Uh. No. She did not do well. How quickly they forget socialization skills. She started lunging & trying to get out when I went over a bump.



Fortunately, I got her this great harness that we use in her sky box in the car (another fun post I'll do, too). I clipped her into the hook that was in the child-restraint straps so she was secure, but my heart jumped out of its socket a few times as she kept lunging at various sights: older gentleman using a walker, a sweet young couple walking hand-in-hand. And her bark? Oiy. Not good. High pitched and rapid. But despite all these things, I couldn't love her more than I already do. She is the sweetest, cutest dog and she brings me great joy! I'm also determined to keep taking her out to get used to it and to start up the socialization process --again.



Later in the day, after we got back from my son's sped class, I dropped him off with his older sisters for a home snack & rest & I went on to pick up a prescription for my other son and onwards to Costco to do some grocery shopping using the Burley. Traffic's been super heavy lately, more so than at the holiday time, which I don't really understand. Was miffed that the doctor's office doesn't have any bicycle parking. When I complained later to one of my daughters, she said, "Mom, why would you need bicycle parking when it's at a place for sick people?" Precisely! Maybe people wouldn't get sick so much if they bicycled.

Parking at Costco was interesting. It's at the front which is good for visibility for securing a bike; however, the downside is feeling on show and possibly being in the way of all the carts & people. I brought about 4-5 cloth bags to help me gauge how many groceries to buy that'll fit in the Burley and it worked perfect. Walked on over to Whole Foods first to pick up some organic corn meal (since corn is one of those grains that gets heavily sprayed), pinto beans & bananas. After pricing the huge price difference in bulk vs. packaged, I got the beans & corn meal in bulk and *saved* about $4 between the two. I put those things in the back of the Burley and went onto Costco to get the big portion of our shopping done. With a family of six, and two of those are teens... 'nuff said. Got shopping done in record time: 15 minutes... helps to know you're limited in what you can carry!



Got home just before it was dark and put on some mashed potatoes, gravy & roasted chicken. Hearty and delicious. Now to get a cup of hot tea and get into some comfy jammies and relax and plan out this week's errands by bike.