Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

My whole cooking at home and keeping track of just how much I'm spending per serving is becoming an obsession. Now, not only am I obsessed with calories in and calories out, but I'm obsessed with money in and money out. I truly had no clear idea just how much eating out was costing us until I began keeping track of what I'm buying and how much that breaks down when examined through the perspective of per serving. Let's take last night's dinner of homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese and this morning's breakfast of french toast topped with bananas foster. The bread used for the sandwiches and the french toast cost $2.99. Five sandwiches were made for dinner and three servings of french toast were made for breakfast, giving me a 37 cents per serving cost. The tomatoes, leek, and onion for the soup cost $11.75, and from that I got four servings, giving me a $2.93 cost. While that's significantly higher than just buying a can of tomato soup, I have the com...

Ever since the real fall weather moved in a couple of weeks ago, I've had a tough time feeling truly energetic. I'm convinced my body knows the days are cooler, and the sun rises later and sets earlier, and my body's response is sleep. Please.During the dark hours, all I want to do is sleep, which means from about 6 o'clock pm to 7 o'clock am, the only appealing thought I have is climbing into bed and snoozing. I've given into the urge a couple of times, but the last few nights I've stayed up later (past 9 pm--I know, I know, that's not late at all) and woke up a lot during the night. Good, quality sleep just isn't happening. This makes me sleepy during the day. Quite the vicious cycle going on right now. Today  the temps were back up in the high 70s. Tomorrow we're looking at the mid 50s. I much prefer the lower temps. Not only do I not sweat buckets when commuting to work, but I get to fix all kinds of wonderful stews, soups, and other hearty...

On Thursday, I asked Hubby to go to our organic grocery store and buy a free-range chicken. He wasn't too happy about doing this, but he did, and when I got home from work, he held the packaged chicken up, pointing at the price, saying, "Seventeen dollars." I knew the chicken was going to be more expensive than the chicken sold at the grocery store we usually frequent, but I also knew the taste would more than make up for the overall cost. I also had a plan for getting more than one meal out of this expensive purchase. So late yesterday afternoon, I set to work. With the help of my now-favorite cookbook, An Everlasting Meal , I placed some carrots, celery, onions, and herbs in a pot. I put the chicken on top of these ingredients then covered it all with water. For about an hour, the chicken and veggies simmered, filling the house with an aroma that rousted the boys from their bedroom and brought them downstairs, exclaiming, "What is that wonderful smell?" Wh...

When my alarm went off this morning at 5 am, I snuggled into my pillow, reluctant to get up. I could hear the wind blowing the rain against the bedroom window. The forecast had called for a blustery, cold, and wet day, and that's exactly what Mother Nature was serving up, making it not the kind of day for riding a bike to work. Today would be the first day in two weeks for driving. I was a bit bummed over not being able to ride, and when I saw some die-hards with their heads down, pedaling with everything they had into the 25 mph westerly winds, I saluted. After the first of the day's meetings, a colleague asked how far my commute is, and when I answered 3 miles from my house to the office, he seemed genuinely impressed. I had to laugh, though, as the 3 miles seems really, really short. I guess from the perspective of someone who doesn't cycle, 3 miles does seem a good distance. My son wasn't nearly as bummed as I about not being able to ride this morning. We've...

Around this time two years ago, I was bouncing down the stairs to join my family in the kitchen for breakfast, before taking off for work, when my daughter asked me if I remembered a young man I had met once before, at the Day of Writing event held on campus. I said of course I remember him; he was one of four high school students I worked with, and of the four, he was the one I knew was going to go somewhere someday, be something someday. I had gone home that afternoon following the Day of Writing and told my daughter about this young man. She knew him from school, and yes, he was intense. I told her I thought this young man was brilliant. She'd laughed at this when I said it, but this particular morning, when she asked me if I remembered him, she wasn't laughing. She wasn't smiling. He killed himself, she told me. I cried for most of the drive to work, wondering why. Why did this young man end his life? Why did he feel like it was the only way out? Why didn't he rea...

Since last Thursday, I've cycled every day: commuting to work, going to the grocery store, to the nursery to get pumpkins, to the coffeehouse to write, even to my hair appointment. I'm beginning to figure out this bicycle transportation only thing. Monday, on my way home from work, I was cycling along the trail and was stunned with the number of squirrels out. The mother earth part of my psyche thinks the cold is on the way judging from all the activity. I got to laughing after almost running over a squirrel carrying a black walnut in its mouth, that all the sudden decided it didn't want to run alongside me and tried to cross in front. The little varmint came within a whisker of getting squished. It realized it's predicament, dropped its nut, and turned away to scurry off into the grass. When I rode around a curve just a few feet beyond, I met a man walking a dog. The dog was carrying a frisbee in its mouth and seemed very content with how silly it looked. Today, th...

My desire to cycle as much as possible is taking shape. For about two weeks there, the cycling wasn't happening just because of life and the little things that can get in the way. I finally decided that if I'm going to do this, I just need to make it a part of my life and change other areas to suit the cycling. One of those areas is what I wear when I'm cycling. I want to be able to dress nicely for work, but my hybrid isn't really conducive to dress pants, skirts, and dresses. Getting on and off the bike in a skirt might create a rather humorous situation, and because the chain guard is mostly non-existent, my dress pants end up with grease on the pant leg. The answer to my dilemma was hanging in the garage this whole time: my deep blue Town and Country Cruiser, a birthday gift from Hubby several years ago. (Picture at right is the bike I have with a very similar basket, but the picture is of someone else's bike.) When the light bulb finally went on, I ran ou...

Make oatmeal for the boys' breakfast--check (I love making sure they have something in their tummies to start the day, and my oldest told me this morning he loves that I fix breakfast for them. Awwwww.). Grocery shopping--check (and we kept the total below budget. Love it when that happens.). Buy pumpkins and mums for front porch--check (realized our flag pole and flag were missing; darn college students anyway. Not only do we have to deal with them walking by at all hours of the night, laughing, yelling and even ringing our door bell on occasion, and pulling slats off our fence then throwing them in the street, but now they've taken our flag). Two loads of laundry and hang out--check (beautiful sun and wind combo made the drying process go by fast today). Wash the duvet and down comforter and hang out--check (time to pull out the winter ensemble with these cool nights we've been having). Put clothes away--check (one of my least favorite jobs; just so tedious). ...

As a cyclist who is commuting more and intentionally trying to make my bike my main mode of transportation, I'm really interested in clothing that can go from the bike to the office and clothing that helps me be seen by motorists. Some of the garments offered by Vespertine definitely make me smile as they are not only fun and stylish, but are also made to increase the safety factor when cycling. However, when I went to their shop, I became dismayed over the prices. I can't even afford the short scarf. While I applaud Vespertine for creating stylish cycling safety wear, I do have to wonder, who can afford these?

After watching someone near and dear to me struggle to find a job for almost two years, I'm ready to join the protesting.

For several weeks I've been keeping a low profile just to gather myself and become more centered. With all the fun and excitement of summer abruptly coming to an end, replaced by a more rigid schedule, the funk overtook me. Instead of fighting it, I let it settle around me, even wrapped myself in it like it was a warm, winter blanket. I made one short-term change--not cycling at all for three weeks--and one permanent change--deleting my dailymile.com account, to give myself space to breathe. The time away from cycling allowed me to not pour all my focus into mileage, speed, and how many calories I burned. I did commute to work, but those rides were slow, giving me a chance to look around and enjoy the scenery. The deletion of my dailymile account came about after admitting I was stacking myself up against my "friends" posting their workouts rather than using the site to just track my rides. The pressure I was putting on myself was ridiculous. I want to cycle just to cycle...