a post of a long-ago post

"Spent the morning on chores--straightening the house, washing, and tending Quey. He is quite unhappy with the cast and with crawling. Ironed in the afternoon, so finished the day with a very tired and aching body."

That is the entry my grandma made on May 29, 1953. She was raising three kids at the time and was five-months pregnant with child number four. (She eventually had eight kids.) I have been reading some of her journals and have been fascinated to compare her daily routine with my current daily life. Her short lines from each day paint a picture of endless work (cleaning, straightening, ironing, washing, doing dishes, baking bread) and various church meetings (Sunday school, primary, MIA, relief society). My days include cleaning, cooking, and doing dishes (since we don't have a dishwasher), but I am more free to do many other activities: post on my blog, write in my journal, finish my mission album, read books, do crafts, garden outside, play the piano and guitar, and make a blanket. Her record makes me grateful for the free time I currently have.

A few more biking pics

It appears blogger only lets you have five pictures per post...

bike, bike, bike

Today, neither Tricia nor I drove a car. I biked to work and back, while she walked around town for her errands. It felt a lot nicer passing the $3.59/gallon signs at the gas station on my bike than in my V8 car!

I really enjoy my biking route to work. From our house to my office, there are two main drags: I-15 and Highway 89. Great for drivers, but not welcoming to bikers. Since there's such a narrow wedge of land between the freeway and the mountains, I seriously doubted whether I would be able to find a satisfactory bike route. However, using Google maps, I found a delightful and interesting back-roads way to get to work. In 6 miles, it takes me past houses, duplexes, a trailer park, a railroad, a waste management plant, a farm, cows, goats, an RV park, a business park, and finally I arrive at my office. It makes for a great ride. These pictures are from when Tricia and I drove the route a few weeks ago.

run, run, run!

I'm not a runner. I don't like running just for running. I know it's an easy way to get exercise, but I sincerely struggle to find joy in it. (NOTE: I absolutely love the cool down and stretching afterward, but the work in the middle is not enjoyable for me.) But I do it--because of the principle of "good health" (and the stretching afterward).

However, since last night, the scales have started tipping in favor of more running.

I played frisbee in the Utah County Frisbee League (I think that's the official title) for the first time last night. It was fun...but intense. Man-to-man defense killed me. I was breathing heavy and hard after two rotations--and that was just barely into the game.

So I decided I need to take this conditioning-by-running thing seriously. And I found a great tool to help me out: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/. At this lovely site you can plug in your own route and see how many miles it is. I was pretty happy to see I was at least covering 1.5 miles on my runs around the neighborhood (yes, that is good for me), but I was also able to see that a few of my longer runs have covered 2.5 miles (again, not a lot compared to some people, but good for me).

Here's to shedding a few fat pounds (while hopefully adding some muscle pounds)--and being able to not pass out on the frisbee field!

daily clock

I realized just a few moments ago that my day is punctuated by certain events that help me realize what time it is without needing a clock. Here's how a usual day pans out:

• 6:30 a.m. Either Matt has gotten up, is getting up, or is moving around to get himself up.
• 9:00 a.m. School starts at the elementary school a half block away. The plethora of cars and chattering kids makes this time very recognizable.
• 10:00 a.m. Our neighbors take a bath or shower. Since we live in a duplex, I can hear distinctly the water in the pipes.
• 12:30 p.m. I start to get hungry.
• 3:00 p.m. School gets out. The same rush of cars and kids makes even more noise.
• 3:30 p.m. My next-door-neighbor girls play outside.
• 5:00 p.m. They go inside for dinner and it gets quiet.
• 6:00 p.m. My husband comes home.
• 9:30 p.m. I start feeling a bit tired--usually signaled by muddled reasoning.

inspired by spring

I don't recall ever paying so much attention to the beauties of spring. I have watched with fascination as dead things have come to life: tulips shooting up, trees blossoming, and weeds growing (all too abundantly). My neighbor girls gave me a gift of a bunch of flowers from the tree in our front yard, and it gave me the idea to make a bouquet of the blossoming branches. I love them against the red vase that my husband and I recently purchased at Ace Hardware.

I can't decide if I should cut off the green leaves? I find the white against the red stunning, but the leaves add some playfulness that I kind of like. Let me know what you think.

finished!

I finished grading yesterday, and here is how I celebrated:

The magazine is Real Simple. It's got fabulous tidbits of information and some interesting recipes I'm excited to try.