Whee!

I woke up a little too early this morning and didn't feel very well, probably an accumulation of lack of sleep, so Steve took Kaylee to school and I laid on the couch until 9, after which time the dizzy and stomach got better. I kind of took it easy this morning, doing just a few small things from the house, and then I met everybody at lunch.

The last two days I'd kind of pushed myself-or been pushed depending on how you look at it-to work on a couple of things that had the capacity to make me a little tense. So, I decided to continue the pattern today, and after lunch I took out my motorcycle for the first time in at least a year, maybe two. It did not feel like "riding a bike" at first. I was having to think about it way too hard, and as I left my driveway and made that first wobbly turn, I thought to myself "Self, I think it may be time to sell this thing." ................ (I'm waiting for Steve to get back off the floor.) I was jerky shifting gears, I was jerky starting and stopping, and my turns were wide and wobbly. So I stayed around my block with minimal traffic until I got into the flow of it a little more, then wandered a little wider. Of course I decided to go down the park, and on my way down the turning hill, I made the classic motorcycle mistake, and as I turned my head to make sure there was no traffic coming from behind me, my bike started going where I was looking, which was at a rather steep drop-off. I said "Whoa!" out loud to myself, and got it back where I wanted it, and thought to myself "Self, I think I may be getting too old for this thing." I wandered around town for a few minutes, and then I headed out towards Kokomo Airport. By this time things were flowing much more smoothly, I was mostly relaxed and back 'on the bike', and as I hit the back roads and got up to 60 mph, with my iPod in, nothing but corn and bean fields, I thought to myself "Self, this is why you like this thing." :) I only had one small problem-as I was riding along, I wondered about my shirt, and I reached back with one hand, and sure enough, I could tell that my shirt was up a little in the back and that my undergarments were sticking up a bit out of the back of my pants. I looked down in hopes that perhaps I would see black, which would match my pants and be invisible, but no, I instead got a nice vivid hot pink. I tried to tuck my shirt in, but my waistband is too loose, and it wouldn't stay. So after about 5 minutes of fussing with that, I decided I'd better just watch where I was going, that next time I'd have to take care of that issue one way or another, and that this time I was just going to have to pretend like I didn't care that I was wearing a Mustang shirt, which would readily identify me to anyone in town who knows me, and that a small part of my underwear was showing. *sigh* Oh well! I ran out of time to go out to Kokomo, so I wandered my way back home, put it away, then got in my car and ran to pick up Kaylee from school. What a difference. You don't have to concentrate at stop lights, time anything, and people don't cut you off (as often). And no, I didn't even consider picking her up on the motorcycle, being at least a somewhat decent mother. ;)

I enjoyed the ride, but it's amazing how a 40 minute or so time period of concentrating on something can be physically and mentally draining. I realized that the reason I didn't ride more often was because the prep work to going takes some of the fun out of doing it, and the concentration required for doing something you're not proficient at makes you have to choose to either deal with the mess-ups and tension and increased risk factors and get proficient again, or just let it go altogether. That's why a lot of pilots quit flying IFR, or taildragger, or at night, or at all, in fact. I considered getting rid of the motorcycle, because I just don't ride it enough, but I know that if I do that, the odds are that I will never ride a motorcycle again, and that's something I balk at. While the bike is in my garage, even if a year goes by before I ride it, at least I know at any given time I could go take it out for a spin or get proficient at it again. Once it's gone, so are my opportunities, and I don't like that. Anyway, it was a little tiring, a little exciting, and a little relaxing, but I'm glad I went. I'll feel much more comfortable next time I go, as long as I don't make it another year, that is. ;)

Oh, I had to laugh-you wouldn't believe how many heads still turn and stare when a girl goes by on a motorcycle! You'd think I'd be used to that from other areas, but occasionally it still takes me by surprise. :)

On the way to school yesterday, as Kaylee waved at her grandpa on the way out, she said to me "Mommy, Grandpa always waves at me when I leave. He always comes out for me. That's sweet. I appreciate that."

I had to make fun of my own imagination today. It actually started off on a serious thought process, but it ended with me having to reach into a place I can't see, with only my fingertips, and grabbing something there, in an area that has a lot of cobwebs nearby and such. As I was walking towards this place, I got the most vivid flash of a vision of me reaching there and feeling a big thick fat wiggly black spider body instead of what I was going for. It was such a realistic thought that I stopped in my tracks, and I had to bully myself into actually putting my fingers back there after that. I have had to bully myself into doing a lot of things over the years after my imagination sent the rest of me a quite vivid "snapshot" of something...One of these days I wonder if my imagination will win!

The rest of the day did not quite go as planned. Kaylee was supposed to start Awanas tonight, so I got her dressed, got her book, and got here there, only to find out it was postponed until Sept. 10th. Okay, no problem. I stopped at Arby's for a bribery jamocha shake for her, then just took her out to Glenndale with me where I was supposed to give a flight lesson. I got there, and the aileron on the airplane was sticking/rubbing, making the airplane officially down for maintenance and cancelling the flight. Ah well, I stayed and answered some questions for awhile, then took Kaylee home for the day.

Wednesday, Complete. ;)