Such a funny thing. For weeks now (weeks! Eeek!), I’ve been feeling guilty about all of the fun things I’ve been doing without blogging any of them. Now, of course, I’m blogging, and I can’t remember what it was that was so much fun that I felt guilty about not blogging about. Or something.
Anyway…we spent the morning at REI today, getting our bikes measured and adjusted to fit better. I’m quite pleased, and I can’t wait to get out there and ride some more. Brief overviews of recent rides.
30 Miles on the Burke-Gilman Trail: first of all, it was an absolutely divine day (a few weeks ago, now), warm, but not too warm, sunny, and clear. We decided to see how far I could ride if there was no hill to threaten my morale. It turns out, I can get all the way to Kenmore Bowl from my house, just about 30 miles round-trip–30 of the most beautiful, lake-front, forested, bike-friendly land on the planet.
Ballard via the northern route: Just last weekend we decided to ride North for a bit before we turned West, so we’d have a good amount of Southwardness before we got to downtown Ballard and a greasy breakfast. Ugh the hills. Ugh. Some were straight up standard neighborhood blocks, some were winding up single-lane paths in elite Puget-Sound-View neighborhoods. The views were often gorgeous, but it’s not like we found ourselves somewhere you couldn’t get to by car. In the end, I made it safely up and down many of these monsters, and did more than enough work to justify my Bacon Two Ways breakfast: Bacon omlette, bacon waffle. No bacon in the coffee.
In addition to playing the How-Often-Can-I-Bike-Instead-of-Drive game, my other big addiction has been knitting. I know, you thought I was already a knitter. Well, so did I, but it turns out we were both wrong, as I am now exploring new ways to knit as much and as often as possible. Some examples:
I have joined a knitting social networking site. Like myspace for knitters. I’m actually a beta-tester, which means I get to be a user before the whole general public has access. I’m not special, I just signed up. And I bought a t-shirt to show my geek pride in being a beta tester for Ravelry.com.
Besides my regular Wednesday night knitting, I have joined a knitting meetup group. North Side Knitters meets three different times each month. Talking, coffee, advice, and yarn swaps. (As an aside, I was pleasantly surprise by the number of female coders in this group. And they were old. Rock stars.)
I have produced more knitted items in the past six weeks than in my entire life previously. All of them are gifts of a surprise nature, except my new leg warmers (omg! leg warmers! whatever, it’s cold here!!), which were inspired by Beth’s new leg warmers (in Forest and Sky), Rachel’s new black wrap, the re-do of my prettiest ribbed beanie, and my new hidden-picture scarf, which you will have to wait and see to find out what the hidden picture is.
I am really very proud of my restraint, as I am in yarn stores like twice a week and am still keeping my stash to a containable volume. Also fantastic: When I asked Matt if it bothered him that I was ALWAYS knitting, he said that the only way that it bothered him is that he was a bit jealous because I could be productive all the time–in the car, waiting for a meal, drinking with friends–and he didn’t have anything that he could double-up like that. Isn’t that nifty?
In other news, Matt’s been cooking up a storm. I’d like to mention that we’re both below the weights where we have spent most of our adult lives, and somehow, we manage to eat like royalty (hint: portion control). In the past week, Matt has made (from scratch!) green curry vegetables, Chicken Parmesan, spinach and noodles with peanut sauce, and Saag Paneer (for my developing Indian food addiction). Man, am I spoiled. Oh, and I made a cherry pie that was so-so.
Last thing before I run to purchase protein for tonight’s meal: We have a garden! Lettuce and spinach are already sprouting, and this weekend we’ll put the bulbs in so that when the sun comes back I will be happy every day with fresh Tulips!
Oh wait, one more thing. It’s cold here now. And wet. So far, it doesn’t get me down because it’s a good excuse to do a little shopping. 
