My Blog is STILL here.

I wondered if maybe it had been deleted because I haven't used it in so long. But nope, here it is. Two years since I last posted and several years since I posted anything of any substance. But it's here. And it's 2020 and we are in a pandemic. 

Hey look! My blog is still here. It's been a loooong time since I wrote anything and I wondered if maybe it had vanished into the web. But here it sits, waiting for me to come along and post something of interest. A lot has happened since I last posted. Like...a LOT.
But I'll get to that some other time, because I don't have very much time at the moment. Maybe I'll start writing again. I always liked to write and share things with whoever took the time to read them. Besides that, I sometimes enjoy looking back at past adventures. So we'll see. No promises. :)

Hi blogworld.  A lot has happened since my last post when I was freezing in Chicago with Stacy. My flight was canceled because of the snow, so we got an extra day to partay.  It was really cold.  There was a neat used bookstore with books piled and stacked like a Jenga puzzle.  I'm pretty sure I bought a Hemingway book at that store.  A Moveable Feast.  I read the book in the last month or so and enjoyed it.  One of my favorite quotes is appropriate now as I find myself once again in the midst of winter and all of its coldness, waiting with anticipation for spring to arrive.

"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” ― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

In a freezing cold Chicago are two crazy sisters!

The sunset on my bike ride home last night made for a pretty view of the river and George Washington Bridge. I love the different perspective I get from biking the city. 

Depoe Bay, Oregon. The smallest harbor in the world. 

Vacation time!

I'm in a new state for me! I am taking a little vacation and visiting Stacy out in Oregon. Yesterday we went to the coast and saw some beautiful sites and lovely lighthouses. It looked like something out of a movie.

Class-less girl

Wooohooo!!!! I just finished my last class for my doctorate! I can't believe it. I can't quite accept it and have a weird feeling that I will suddenly remember a class I forgot to take and will have to start all over in the fall. Haha. 

Just because classes are finished doesn't mean I am out of the woods yet. I still have to do a few things next week and play a final jury and hopefully my lecture recital the week after. But it's super exciting to have finished my classes! So excited for summer break!!!

Biked the Boros!

Bike ride a success!  Yay!  I felt pretty good during most of it.  If I could do one thing differently I would have worn long pants instead of capris and maybe another layer of shirt.  It was on the cold side, especially when the wind kicked in.  But I had fun and feel a great sense of accomplishment from my day.

There were so many great parts of the ride.  It was amazing how fast we made it to Central Park from lower Manhattan when we didn't have to stop at traffic lights.  Blasting through red lights was fun, as was going up 6th Avenue and seeing iconic buildings like the Empire State Building. Central Park was beautiful in bloom for spring. The views of the city were spectacular, especially crossing the Queensboro bridge with the Roosevelt Island tram passing to my left.  I enjoyed when I was approaching the bridge from the FDR and could look up and see all the bikers riding across the bridge instead of the usual traffic.  It was also fun looking down at the FDR from the bridge and seeing it completely packed with cyclists.

There were a LOT of people participating today.  (Maybe too many.  There were several times we got so cluttered we actually had to stop to space out.) I loved when we went onto the BQE and no one could resist the natural urge to "check to see if any traffic was coming" as we merged from the entrance ramp onto the empty highway.  I chuckled when I saw people in front of me do it, but still caught myself doing the same.  The Verrazano bridge was exciting because it was a tough uphill, but it was the very end, so I knew I could give it all I had left and I would be okay.  I loved going over that last hill and racing down to the finish.

I had a great team of friends to ride with and hope we do it again sometime!

Important Observation

Watch out world: two posts in one night.  In one hour even.  But this is big.
I was browsing my blog, looking back at old posts, etc. I noticed the "labels" to the side and saw that I have only had ONE post with the label "shoes."  HOW. IS. THAT. POSSIBLE???? I'm madly passionate about shoes.  I have a wonderful collection of much loved shoes.  So how in the world have I only written about my shoes ONCE?  I don't know. Maybe I forgot to add the label or something. I should go back and check.  It can't be true. I will tag this post with "shoes" to at least double the number.  Maybe I should feature a pair of shoes a week and write a post about them, since I've been so neglectful.  That could be fun.

Update: 9:44 pm: I was able to find a couple of posts that I could add the "shoe" label too, but it's still pretty pathetic.  This must be fixed.

Bike!

My big ride is tomorrow!  The weather forecast looks great. I got my bike tuned up today and I'm excited!  Last night I went to the Bike Expo to pick up my registration packet.  We wear a snazzy vest with our number on it so they can keep track of all of us.  I heard there are 32,000 people registered to ride.  That is a LOT of bikes! One thing I am looking forward to is riding on some of the major roads that will be closed to traffic.  We are riding on the FDR (big highway down the east side of Manhattan) and the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway - Interstate 278).  I mean, they are CLOSING an INTERSTATE for us to cycle on!  Who does that?  I love it!

Does this look like NYC?

I did a couple of rides this week since I have barely been on my bike since last summer.  I actually rode to work and home on Thursday and then rode down there again today.  I'm excited because it only took a little bit longer to ride than to take the subway.  And after the first 10 blocks or so the ride is completely on the Hudson River Greenway: a path for biking, walking, or running that runs the entire length of Manhattan.  It is completely protected from cars (SAFE!) and runs along the water the whole time.  There are lots of trees (which are full of pink and white flowers now) and benches to stop and rest.  It's really one of the nicest things about NYC.  A lot of people use the path, but it rarely seems crowded or clogged up. I like to ride and see everyone from serious bike riders in their spandex, to families teaching their kids, to grandmas with little dogs in their bike baskets.  Everyone is out to have a nice time, get a little exercise, and enjoy their day. I'm excited about riding my bike a lot to work this summer.  It's so much better to be above ground biking through a park rather than underground crowded on a subway car.

Okay...wish me luck tomorrow!  :)

You call this spring?

It is the end of April and it's still in the 40's!  It's COLD!  We had a few nice days in the past couple of weeks, but over all spring is doing that thing it does every year up here...take FOREVER to arrive.  You'd think in my 5th year here I would expect it...even be used to it.  But no, every year I am craving the sun and the warm weather and it feels like it will never get here and stay here.

I am riding the 5 Boro Bike Tour on May 5.  That's under two weeks away!  I really hope it warms up by then.  Because of weather and me being crazy crazy busy I have barely had time to be on my bike. I think I've had it out only twice so far this year.  I hope I can handle the big ride!  It is about 40 miles long and goes all over New York City.  If all goes well, it should be a lot of fun.