The Spandex Surprise
Yesterday, we made plans with friends to go on a casual family bike ride on our local bike path. Well, A and I thought it was going to be casual. We figured that with four adults, two 6-year-olds, and a 1-year-old that it would be a leisurely ride. So, we strapped the bikes on the car, packed some snacks and water, and put on jeans and sweatshirts (it was cool and drizzly).
When we pulled into our friends' driveway, the dad/husband appeared from the garage with his bike. And, he was completely decked out in one of those one-piece professional-looking Lycra biking suits(? I don't even know what they're called) that leave little to the imagination, plus biking shoes and gloves. A and I had to keep ourselves from laughing. Our friends are from Italy, and they keep inviting us on excursions like this, and the dad tells us that he hasn't been skiing/to the beach/biking/etc. in 15 years, so he's out of practice, blah blah blah. And, then we get to the mountain/beach/trail, and he whips around at top speed and looks like he practices every weekend. He almost got me killed when we went skiing and he convinced me to go on what he called a "family trail" that turned out to be what I now refer to as Scary Death/I'm Never Going Skiing Again Trail.
A turned to me on Sunday morning and jokingly said, "Hey, he's Italian! What do you expect?" And, we had fun riding 7 miles all together - at which point, my little family was about to drop. (R actually asked to go home, where he promptly fell asleep on my lap for an hour!) The other dad rode for 2 more hours after the rest of us stopped. Darn show-off! :-)
Lost My Appetite Surprise
Recently, I started reading a cooking blog written by a couple that lives in my town. I didn't know who they were, but I heard about the blog from our town's email discussion list, checked it out, and liked it enough to read it occasionally. Their tastes aren't quite like mine, but I liked reading their posts and admiring their nice food photos.
This morning, I found they had posted a few pictures of themselves. I couldn't help yelling out, "NOOOOOOO!!!!" Because I recognized this couple. They often ride the same bus as A and me in the morning. And, every time I see them get on, I groan. (And, I'm not the sole groaner.) Because they are very, shall I say, amorous on the bus. Which doesn't necessarily annoy me, but they always sit right in the front of the bus (in the seats that you're supposed to save for older folks, people with babies, people with disabilities, etc.) and put on their "show" for everyone to see. If they were teenagers, I think I would just shrug it off. But they are probably in their late 30s! And, yes, it's wonderful that they are so affectionate and in love with each other at this point in their lives, but it feels really weird and icky to see them kissing and nuzzling and stroking each other during the entire bus ride. Plus, if someone who is elderly or has a baby or crutches does get on, neither of them get up to give up their seat, which makes me really mad.
So, I'm all done with that blog. Anyone have some Pepto?
Friendly Skies Surprise
I have two weeks off at the end of the summer, and my mom hasn't been up to visit in about two years, so I wanted to buy her tickets to come spend time with me and R. I checked flight prices several times, and I hemmed and hawed because the prices were fluctuating, and I couldn't always find good times or non-stop flights. After conferring with my mom several times, I decided one night to just buy the darn things and get it over with - especially since my mom needed to know which days to take off from her job.
Now, normally, I am VERY good with details. Of course, I make mistakes in my life, but not usually about dates, times, things that need to be brought to school, etc. Well, apparently, that's changing. Or else I shouldn't ever do anything online after 9 pm. Because I bought the tickets last week, called my mom and gave her all the info, and didn't think anything more about it ... until I went to put the info on our wall calendar at home yesterday. And, I realized that I bought the tickets for the week before my vacation -- when I would be working and R would still be in camp. Doh!
I changed the dates this morning. On the bright side, now my mom doesn't have to change planes, and the times still worked out pretty well. But it cost me a heck of a lot of money to make the change. Argh. Mostly, I'm just SO mad at myself for making such a dumb mistake. But I guess I need to get used to it. Last week, we were all set to go to a big music festival that our friend's son was organizing. When we called our friend to get the last-minute details about the next day, she said, "What the heck are you talking about?" The festival is THIS weekend.
Maybe I just need more sleep.
And fewer surprises, thank you. :-)
4 comments:
Sleep is always a good thing, although I'm sure with your schedule that's easier said than done.
I get equally as frustrated with those times when I do something and it ends up costing me unnecessary money.
The Spandex Surprise image made me laugh out loud, though. Not much of a surprise, was it? Bleh! xoxo
Sweetheart,
if the Spandex cycling outfit is offensive to you, don't go to the beach with that fellow. The Europeans have a Spandex beach attire tradition that makes you think that they are hiding a squirrel in their suit.
I can identify with the television problem. The day that Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married, we were staying in the Sheraton at Sturbridge Village. You and your sisters were watching the ceremoney in the room. The next time I checked, there was a rather nasty X rated movie on the screen. How it got there I had no idea. So we went out to the paddle boats where your Father almost had a coronary trying to match young legs in a race.
Sturbridge Village is such a nice outing. Breakfast at Friendly's, a nice half-day amble along the paths, lunch in a colonial setting, a further half -day amble to the end (with plenty of ice cream stands along the way), getting to the end and the gift shop just as the gift shop has closed, and a wonderful dinner at a nearby colonial restaurant that had a sillouette of a colonial man on an old fashioned bicycle as its logo. I still recall the bread basket with rolls and breads and muffins in it and the most wonderful pot roast for dinner. I am very partial to pot roast,
daddy
I wasn't so much offended by the Spandex as I was shocked and amused that apparently Spandex Man was preparing for a SERIOUS bike ride, which is hard to do with a caravan of parents and children.
Although I definitely would have preferred to have been spared the visual of what the Spandex "highlights"!
Sweetheart,
I'm sure that you will think of something for A for Father's Day that will win a Blue Ribbon. If take-out and take-home are on the schedule, I suggest Karl's Sausage Kitchen on route One in Saugus. I would call first to make sure that they are still in business and open on Sunday. There could also be mini-golf and bumper boats at the dinosaur place which is right near there,
all of my love to you and your family, daddy
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