Look, suddenly 3 posts in two days....

Can one or two of them count for Christmas week, when I dried up? :-D

I went on 2 bike rides today, totaling 34 miles, on fat tires. It wasn’t supposed to be that way……. First I did the Arlington loop with a newer slower biker; that’s why I started out with the old bike. However – she biked more slowly than I had expected, & it took almost 3 hours to finish the loop (18-19 miles) That's fine for a new rider -- I just didn't watch the time when I was a new rider and didn't realize, now, that the time would run short. Meanwhile, my ride, as enjoyable as it was, was more like a visit than a workout, and I was desperate to meet Joan for a more challenging ride so I could get my wiggles out..... I've been having trouble sleeping unassisted lately, and it's long past the steroids, and long past the fatigue, and time to get tired the way I usually do!

So -- by the time I got back to Bluemont it was 12:45, & I was late to meet Joan and didn’t want to waste any time going home to change bikes, put on padded liners, clip on sandals, and two more pairs of socks… and talk to my mom and get that look on from Pinky that says “another bikeride, instead of taking me for a walk, again?”

Gawd, what am I going to do when Mom leaves…. Tomorrow!? Never thought I’d see her strike up a friendship with a dog, but we had the backyard fenced in in the last month, and now when my mom goes out for a cigarette she takes Pinky with her. She calls Pinky her smoking companion. Pinky goes out and runs around, checks the compost for rodent activity…. pees…. I can get away with taking her out for way fewer walks if I have, uh, been out biking half the day now, and know that she’s been outside. (Know what's funny? I think one of the things Mom and Pinky bonded on is fear of dogs.....Pinky happens to be one herself, but she seems to be afraid of other dogs, not just protecting us, though that's important to her too. I wonder what happened to her in her first 3 years. Mom thinks she was put outside on her own a lot -- because when Mom takes her out she goes out first (Pinky I mean) and then looks back to make sure Mom's coming too......)

Anyway, back to this morning..... early afternoon, actually. I met Joan on fat tires and suddenly the shoe was on the other foot.... Even though Joan was on her hybrid I had to struggle to keep up with her. She didn't complain; I just empathized with her position all too well and made a mental note not to use my old bike with Joan apart from biking to appointments, when I have to, because I will need to lock it up.

And then I got hungry..... Well no -- first I came home from biking with Joan (just as Em was getting home), had a snack, picked up Matthew an hour or two later, got my blood test results (only a little abby-normal this time -- white count high normal as per neulasta, red a little low but not even as bad as during pregnancy, & platelets just below the low end of the normal range. (I think this is the platelet nadir time, so they should start coming back up. ) ANyhow after all but Alan were home we decided to do Chinese takeout for mom's last night here. We ordered it, and got it, came home just as Alan was arriving, and suddenly Mom and I were starving.

I ate like a pig. I feel like I'm about to give birth to a third child..... I was doing so well with eating little meals and now I really have no one to blame but myself for my present bloat, and probable ensuing gassiness....

Oh but on the bright side, guess what? I tasted it all -- every last bite. I may not be able to taste oranges, but no problem with CHinese food. (CHocolate either..... :-)