Knitting in the Shadows: What do you do when it's just too Hot

August 08, 2009

What do you do when it's just too Hot

Today has been one of those days.

It was beastly hot.

We've had this lovely pleasant not-quite-summer weather for so long that I've forgotten how to handle real mid-western summer weather. So once warned that this weekend means a return to 90+ degrees with a heavy dose of humidity ... I nixed any outdoor plans.

First, we slept late.

Then I caught up on all my Lexulous and Wordscraper games on Facebook, and read blogs and chased quizzes and learned that I might just be able to kill a man if it came down to it:

My result for The Can You Kill a Man? Test...

Maybe I could...

I scored 20% Cold and 46% Level-Headed!

In a pinch, I could do it, but I'd need a damn good reason to. And I'm not going to be too happy afterward.

Take The Can You Kill a Man? Test at HelloQuizzy

I think this is actually a pretty accurate answer.
Eventually, though, I had to venture out of the house. So I took the girls, and Kitty's bike, to a local Bike Project establishment. Bike Projects are very cool things. They're all over. In Austin, in Baltimore, in Bloomington,in Ghana, in Lansing, in New Orleans, in Reno, in Urbana,in Wilmington, in ... (you get the picture... just Google Bike Project and your town name; if there's not one in town, go for the state, you're sure to find one). Our goals for this trip were several:

Find out how Kitty can join up to learn how to repair bikes (they have this project for kids under 15, where by the kid learns, repairs a bike for the Project, and then gets to repair a donated bike for his or her own and keeps it!);
Repair Kitty's bike, and determine whether or not she'd outgrown it (she hadn't, yay);
Get a basket of sorts put on the bike so that she can carry the clarinet to and from school;
Get a helmet for Kitty, so she can ride her bike to and from school;
Get a light of some sort on the bike in case "from school" becomes "in the dark";
Miraculously find a bike that fits me so I can replace the bike that was destroyed when GolfPro tried to help me clean out the garage a few years ago.

And... we accomplished them all! We still need a really truly headlight for Kitty's bike, but we got the rest covered (including BRIGHT blinky lights for front and rear), and I'll be getting her a horn (likely one of these) before school starts, but her bike is ready to go, basket and all. Turns out if she joins up, someone will help her learn...but they're still working on the best way to go about it.

As for my bike?

Isn't it lovely? Note the lovely drink bottle holder? And, though you can't see it in this shot, a nice rack on the back .... see...

Yes, the seat is a tad torn up. I'm likely to have at it with duct tape. I might even go shopping for a new one. But... since NEW bikes are hard to find for under $400.00 these days, I'm feeling pretty darned smug about this one. Our whole bill, "new" (i.e. repaired donated) bike, basket, blinkie lights, helmet and all, was $115.00. And the repair work? Caitlin did most of it herself, with guidance, and thus we paid nothing but learned something.

Life is good.

That was enough of the hot outdoors though, so we've come home, and I've been reading blogs etc. and found a new-to-me but delightful blog .... with a contest!

I did try to get pictures of Natalia, since she's clean and dry and everything. But she's shy today. We have to wait until the sun is in a different place in the sky I guess.

Posted on August 08, 2009 in Life Happens, Miscellaneous Maunderings, Parenthood, Random Things of Interest | Permalink