2020 has been a year of major ups and downs. In some ways, it's been the hardest year of my life, but there have been some really amazing things as well. Beer Geek and I got to go on vacation in Bermuda before the world shut down and we celebrated 25 years of marriage. Jones graduated high school and got a major scholarship to college. Shoo finished middle school and is actually doing surprisingly well with online high school. So, when I struggle to not slide into darkness, I have to remind myself that not everything sucks. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I continue to struggle with running. It's not the actual running that's a problem - it's the motivation to do it. Once I'm out there, running itself is usually fine. … [Read more...]
A (Summer) Day in the Life of MCM Mama
Once again, I'm joining some other bloggers to share a "Day in the Life". I've done a few of these before. I've shared a typical school day, a day near the holidays, and a Friday complete with volunteering at Shoo's school. Since there is no such thing as a typical day for us in the summer, I chose to grab pics of last Saturday. I had a feeling it was going to be crazy and I was right. 5am: Yes, I woke up at 5am on a Saturday. Why? Marathon Training. Thanks to the squirrel digging in my attic (I think it's finally gone now!), I moved to the couch in the middle of the night, which meant crickets and the cat kept me from sleeping soundly. I really was not happy to get up, but I managed to drag myself up and grabbed an almond butter … [Read more...]
DC to Cape Cod or Bust
Happy Monday! I'm sitting in an inn on Nantucket Island this morning. It feels like way more than a few days since I left home! I'm doing my usual Monday linkup with Tara and Erin today to tell you about the fun I'm having. Wednesday morning, after we got the kids off to school, Beer Geek and I headed to the airport for a quick flight to Boston. Everything went smoothly (how often does THAT happen?) and we were heading to Hull by early afternoon. We checked into the Nantasket Beach Resort, which I highly recommend if you are ever in that area, as it was lovely. It's also a short walk from the start line of Ragnar Cape Cod. This was the view from our room: … [Read more...]
Go big or go home (+ a winner)
Beer Geek has a few days of leave he has to use by the end of the year. Because this year he's covering the office during Christmas week, he's decided to take a few random days off between now and then. Monday was the first of those days. Being the good wife that I am, (stop laughing), I asked him what he'd like to do on his day off. His response? Let's bike to Mad Fox Brewery and back. Although my immediate reaction was "hell.no.", what came out of my mouth was "Sure, I can do that." What??? Let me tell you a little bit about the planned ride. It's hilly. It's 5.5 miles each way. Some biking in traffic is required. It was windy yesterday. And, oh yeah, it's HILLY! And the farthest I'd ever ridden before was 3 … [Read more...]
Get out of the heat with RevolveDC (Giveaway!)
It's hot in the DC metro area right now. Really, really hot. Workouts in my unairconditioned basement have kind of sucked, whether it's a run on my dying treadmill or a weight workout. Even going to the pool yesterday wasn't that refreshing because the water was warm. Ugh! I like sweating because I got a good workout. I'm not a fan of sweating before I even move. Just one of many reasons I like Revolve: a spin studio with air conditioning! Anyways, RevolveDC has offered me the chance to give one of my local readers a 5 ride pack! Not just one free ride, but five! Remember how much I loved my ride? It was pretty awesome and I can't wait to become a regular in the fall. And RevolveDC just won Best Indoor Cycling Studio in … [Read more...]
Help a non-biker out!
We hit a new milestone in our lives recently. Both Jones and Shoo moved up a size in bikes. This means I can no longer throw Shoo's bike in the trunk of my Civic. It also means that it's difficult to put both of their bikes in the back of the Pilot. I have a Thule carrier for the Civic that holds three bikes (and took me a half hour + losing 3 fingernails to get on my car yesterday.) It's time. I need to buy a 4 bike carrier and I'd like to get one that fits in the hitch of Pilot. Have you priced those things lately? This is an investment! So, hit me up with your favorite bike carrier. Is it easy to maneuver around if you keep it on all the time? Is it easy to remove when you don't want it on? Talk to me, people! In … [Read more...]
Three Things Thursday
1. While they were here, my parents bought Jones his Christmas present - a new bike. The scarey thing is that he's tall enough for a 26" wheel with a small frame, which is a size I could ride (I'm right at the point between the small and the medium). Is it bad that I'm seriously considering buying the medium frame bike as well. I figure I can ride that until he needs it and then I can ride the small until Shoo needs it. By then Jones will have likely moved up to Beer Geek's bike and Beer Geek will be due for a new one. This whole process started because Shoo decided his bike was too small and he took possession of Jones' old bike. It's musical bikes around here. (And my awesome parents also bought Shoo a bike, since he always gets … [Read more...]
A snake in the shower (and a winner)
No, that's not some sort of sexual euphemism. That's how Beer Geek started his day - by finding a snake in the shower. We were all thankful it was him and not me (even though it was apparently quite small.) I would have screamed like a girl and made Jones or Shoo deal with it. What? There have to be SOME benefits to having only boys... And so begins my usual Monday Miscellany... 9/11 I tried to write a deep post about 9/11, but realized my emotions were all over the place. I was 36 weeks pregnant with Jones at the time, I worked for an organization whose NY office was housed in 7 World Trade (the building that fell with no casualties), I live a few miles from the Pentagon, my husband was on a work trip in the middle of the … [Read more...]
