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School, the Day 2 saga

by Shaun

It was only the second day of school and I already almost didn't make it to class!  I took my sweet time this morning, having coffee and reading blogs (specifically, Wet Behind the Ears by Julie McQuitty Rhodes).  Then I go to pump up my bike tire (front tire desperate for it - unrideable without it), and there's a problem.  Something with the tire valving was not allowing any air to get in there.  Crap!  I've got about 5 minutes within which I need to be on the bike and headed west on Cheney St!  

I fooled with it a bit, but then gave up on the bike and jumped online to check the bus schedule - we have 2 different route stops nearby.  I find the schedule, Crap!  It only comes by on the hour and will come by at perhaps the worst possible time.  I would be 15 minutes late to class if I took the bus.  But, who cares, it's my only option.  Okay, I need some bus money.... oh, Crap!  We got no cash here!  I mean, I find like 30 cents, that's it.  That's not going to work.  "Crap" is turning into, well, you know...

I contemplated dropping the course and just walking to starbucks to take the edge off.  I could get my registration money back and by a Wii or somethin'.  Then, I remembered -- Kyndra's bike!  It's an okay size and has good tires on it.  It's yellow and all, but hey, I got no qualms with that.  As long as it gets me there on time.

Suffice it to say, I had to fish it out from the basement, dragging it up the back stairs while trying to move the awkward "stair roof" thing with the rusty nails out of the way.  Come over sometime and I'll show you!  It was also a grueling task.  But, I was on the road in time - that's what matters.

In the end, I rode hard and made it to class with 3 minutes to go.  Not bad!  Of course, my face was tomato red, I was sweating like the Chip N' Dales SNL version of Chris Farley, and trying hard to keep the breathing under some semblance of steady control.  I think I pulled it off; I mean, I didn't pass out.  

Really though, the class chatted about Annie Dillard, and the tiger of my back-in-school excitement  was fed a healthy, literary snack.  The registration fees are worth it, I think.  And I guess in the process of learning new things at school, I'll ALSO be learning more and more about what makes my bike work!  At the least, I'll find a way to keep the tires inflated.

"When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations:  bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on.  This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead.  I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity.  But I am mentally far away from civilization.  The world is breaking someone else's heart."  

~Diane Ackerman

Bored = Scored!

by Kyndra
This past weekend, we found ourselves very bored ... well, mostly this means that I was bored. Shaun generally can find things to do with his time better than I can. On Saturday night, this "boredom" led us to the mall and we bought a board game called, Spy Alley. We had fun learning how to play and hide our secret spy identities from each other while we sipped some hot tea. After all the fun though, we decided it might be a 2 person + game. On Sunday, Shaun learned that the San Antonio Spurs were playing the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento later that evening. He knows how much I love to watch NBA games, so he threw out the idea that we go. I thought he was crazy, but I was SO tempted! He found some fabulous seats (on the front row right behind the Spurs - hello) for a sweet deal. We went for it, and before we knew it, we were headed to Sacramento! (It's only 2 hours away).

We made our way into the stadium and down to the FRONT ROW - we were giggling like school girls ... we have never been so close. We were 5 feet away from Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Greg Popovich, Michael Finley, Fabrizio Oberto ... ok, ok, I won't name all the Spurs players! It was so exciting though. Oh, I forgot to mention that Shaun made me (at least this is my story now) wear my Dirk shirt. The whole night I was totally embarrassed to take off my jacket ... but at least I was secretly "Loud and Proud!" Although, I didn't manage to hide it the entire game and the girl sitting next to me said her brother saw us on TV and was like, "Why is that girl next to you wearing a MAVS shirt ... weirdo!" That made me feel goofy - but at least I was noticed on TV, right?!! We had a thrilling time, and it was a close game - Spurs won by 2 points!! Oh, and Duncan totally looked at Shaun and me when I pulled out the camera during a time out - that was fun for me - I hope he saw my Dirk shirt! :)

Our first row pics are here.   I have to say that the Spurs are not my fav team - c'mon, I'm sold out for the Mavs! But, we had to go support anyone representing Texas up here in the Northwest!