4th of July

So I think the kiddos and Mike and I will be attempting to watch the fireworks from the Hoboken waterfront this year.
I think it's going to be an insane zoo but we will pack a nice picnic that will include much patience.
I'm going to make a few desserts that include independence cupcakes, a strawberry shortcake, and 7 layer bars for no other reason than I want them.
I'll also have fresh strawberries and blueberries with whipped cream (made from scratch).
We will have sandwiches and salads and iced tea (with and without mint) and Hummus and pita and chips...

If you are reading this and want to join us, let me know!

Tour de Queens

So I just went and took a look at this bike tour called The Tour De Queens. It's a 20 mile bike tour around Queens. It's on July 11th. I'll have to check and see if my sister will be back home on that day or not but if she is, I might actually be able to make this one work. My aunt will be here and I'm sure if I ask her nicely she would be willing to help me with the boys.
The only trouble is that it's in Queens. Not easy to get to but not awful.
Want to know the level of my weirdness? I just went and not only mapped it (I'd have to take the bike up 6th avenue to Broadway to get to the 7 train) but I'm now looking at the train station I'd have to get off at in queens to see how many stairs, how steep, how narrow. Lugging my 40 pound bike isn't an easy task. I need to pick my battles carefully!
I'd have to get off at the Mets Willets station in Queens which is an elevated station.
Look! It has it's own Wiki page!  
It seems there is a ramp or something which is good. I'm unclear as to where it leaves me off but I'm sure I can figure it out and I'm guessing that I wouldn't be alone getting off the train at that stop.
It would be a lot of fun to do. I've not really explored Queens all that much.
I'll have to talk to my sister...

Memento Mori

You wanna know what I find really super creepy? Victorian Death Photos

That last one? The chick in the middle? SHE'S DEAD. They don't even have her eyes closed!
The one with the dead baby flanked by his or her living siblings? CREEPY!

Okay so here is what I've found on it:

"The invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 made portraiture much more commonplace, as many of those who were unable to afford the commission of a painted portrait could afford to sit for a photography session. This cheaper and quicker method also provided the middle class with a means for memorializing dead loved ones.
These photographs served less as a reminder of mortality than as a keepsake to remember the deceased. This was especially common with infants and young children; Victorian era childhood mortality rates were extremely high, and a post-mortem photograph might be the only image of the child the family ever had. The later invention of the carte de visite, which allowed multiple prints to be made from a single negative, meant that copies of the image could be mailed to relatives.
The earliest post-mortem photographs are usually close-ups of the face or shots of the full body and rarely include the coffin. The subject is usually depicted so as to seem in a deep sleep, or else arranged to appear more lifelike. Children were often shown in repose on a couch or in a crib, sometimes posed with a favorite toy or other plaything. It was not uncommon to photograph very young children with a family member, most frequently the mother. Adults were more commonly posed in chairs or even braced on specially-designed frames. Flowers were also a common prop in post-mortem photography of all types.
The effect of life was sometimes enhanced by either propping the subject’s eyes open or painting pupils onto the photographic print, and many early images (especially tintypes and ambrotypes) have a rosy tint added to the cheeks of the corpse.
Later examples show less effort at a lifelike appearance, and often show the subject in a coffin. Some very late examples show the deceased in a coffin with a large group of funeral attendees; this type of photograph was especially popular in Europe and less common in the United States."

http://www.nyccentury.org/

Here I go again! I really want to do this! Unfortunately it falls on my 11th wedding anniversary. Fortunately the route that I want to attempt (35 mile) ends between 11am and 3pm, so I would still have time to do something with Mike after...

I have my new padded bike shorts, and I'm going to be getting a gel seat and this time out, I have a much better idea of what to expect of the route and I'm far more comfortable with my bike.

 I promised my pal Sarah that I would train a little before I attempted another bike tour and true to my word I will. The only issue is that the kids don't go back to school till the 1st of September so that would give me two weeks to get back to biking.

I think if I keep focusing on my legs in boot camp and keep up with the squats and start to do more running rather than power walking I'll have a better shot and not feeling so damn exhausted this time around.

Of course, there is the tiny voice in my head who keeps telling me "But THIS one  you will be riding with CARS and doesn't that scare you?!" Truth be told it DOES scare me. A whole lot. The traffic combined with the stupid unavoidable bottlenecks where you have to do the slow wobble ride or the scoot along ride make me want to seriously turn tail and run from this whole thing.

But how bad would I feel if come September 12th and I was sitting at home because I was too fearful to try? I can't let my fear conquer me!
I want to attempt the hills again, and the distance and I want to squelch that little internal voice that says "I can't, you can't, we can't so don't even try"

The 5 boro was 32,000 people. The Century is 6,000. BIG difference! Plus we have a staggered start time so perhaps that helps.

I want all the hard work in Boot Camp to go for something and not just good looks. I want to put my new strength and my toned muscles to work! 

I'll have to go and talk to my darling husband about this one and then go and register me and Bison...

I'm going home...

August 11th to the 18th we are headed back to Disney World!

Sigh

As if on cue, Lion came down with a fever last night and is still not feeling well today so our night out is canceled...

Old Ghosts

So while I was in Disney at about 6:30 in the morning before our flight home as I'm running around getting ready to get on a plane and head home I get an IM conversation from my best friends mother. (You will recall we lost my best friend to a motorcycle accident in July of 2007)
Her mom was one of the gals and so she was always with us and was my second mom for 30 years.
She asked out of the blue if we could have lunch or if I could send her my address because she had some stuff of Christiana's that she knew I should have. Delighted and excited at the prospect of getting a small something of my best pal's I gave her my address.
We had a long intense conversation where I expressed how affected I still am to this day by the loss and how not one single day goes by that I don't think of her. (and I mean it. Not one day has passed that I haven't thought of her in some form)
We did some rewinding and remembering and that was it.
So far no package.
I'm not surprised but I am disappointed.  I know that it's just stuff and being disappointed makes me sound like a super materialistic greedy bitch but it's not at all about that. It's about the memories that the stuff holds.
I have no idea what she's sending but it doesn't matter. It's a piece of my best friend and it was something that belonged to her and it's something that made her mother think of me and that's good enough.
I just wish she would send it!