Friends, Turkey, and a Cannondale

Really no pictures on this post.  I need to get in a better habit of blogging so going forward I cannot promise pictures.

So on Thursday, I got about  a half mile from work and my back wheel broke.  What I mean is that I first through one spoke, then the next, then the final spoke ripped out of the wheel puncturing the tube.  Well this bike has really gone through it all.  Over the last 3 years I have put over 10K miles on it.  The seat post broke a year and a half ago, but I jerry-rigged it to work.  The rear brakes no longer worked.  Mind you I added 6 additional miles to my commute each day at the new house.  This was a very nice Schwinn that my parents bought me at Target and it by far outlived its life 5K miles ago.  It was a really good bike to start commuting.

That said, we have one car, so a bike is crucial part of how I commute to work.  The great news was that we got the full deposit back from the previous house on Friday so it meant I could go bike shopping.  After narrowing down the field from three bikes down to a Cannondale Quick 3 Carbon, I am set.  And boy is it an nice ride. It has cut my travel time by 10 minutes.

Also we had a group over Saturday night for turkey dinner.  It has been awhile since we have done this, the old house didn't really lend itself to having folks over.  It was nice though.  It was very encouraging to have everyone over.  We played Catch Phrase and caught up.  You can learn so much by having families over and it brings you so much closer to the congregation.

That's about it.....talk with everyone soon.

Myles Run-in with a Tailgate

So after meeting today we decided it was a beautiful time to do a hike on the hills near our new house.  Since it wasn't too far, we decided we would walk there. Myles was very excited and was skipping down the sidewalk next to me.  Well we only got two houses down until Myles' face met the end of the tailgate of one of our new neighbors.

The neighbor felt so bad.   I felt bad, wishing a had a second quicker reflexes.  It was a wonderful way to meet a new neighbor.

Well Myles has his first war wound story.  Of all our kids, this is the first kid who needed stitches.  Our area doesn't have many urgent cares so we drove over to Pleasant Hill.  Our friends the Valvik's watched the girls.  Myles knew what was going to happen, but we tried to keep him in a cheery mood.

Well the time came, he was strapped into the "Robot Bed".  I held his head while the doctor gave him three stitches in each of the two cuts.   He was such a trooper.

On the way home we picked him up ice cream and all is good.   Good stories to come when he gets to school!!!

A new place....

So it's again a while since I posted.  A lot has happened, challenging, but a great change.  It started with a flier addressed to the landlord stating foreclosure is not the only answer, the property management company having a house open just at the right time, and our move to our new place this past weekend.

To say moving is a challenge is an understatement. However, we did it.  More like Beth did it the most of it. Packing, unpacking, she did an awesome job.  The kids did great too.  It is a bit of an adjustment.  Living in 17 different homes in my life, 9 different houses by the time I turned 10, it was hard for me to understand why it was an adjustment for Sophie and Myles.  But they love their new house. 

Emma has a true bedroom now, not a bedroom that acted as a hall way.  She loves it.   Sophie has her castle bed up, and Myles loves the backyard.  It is twice the size of the last house  with a large mulberry tree that has three swings.

The house is a bit warmer too.  I can't put my finger on it, but it is a place where you can look right up Mt. Diablo, listen to classical music in the background and relax.  Tonight was the first night preparing for the Watchtower study and it was so much easier concentrating.

While a gardener is responsible for the front yard, the back yard is our responsibility and is a open canvas.  There are a couple of places for a large garden this year.  I am going to reseed the backyard, it needs some love.  It may sound of twisted; but I think mowing the yard is a bit therapeutic. 

We had a lot of fun today...I got my leaf blower out and we took care of the mulberry leaves.  The kids had great fun finding all sort of huge earthworms under the leaves.  Myles jumped in every pile.  Then they were off on their swings.

We are also getting know our neighbors.  Last Monday, the neighbor across the street came over and introduced herself and then proceeded to tell me all about everyone on the street, their stories, everything.  Beth had one of our next door neighbors stop by on Wednesday with an apple brownie. Beth invited her in and Beth got the lowdown.  It is a very nice and very quite older neighborhood.

We also have gotten back into our routine.  It has been a bit of an adjustment.  We moved out 2.5 miles further, so we are having to adjust timing on everything.  This also means my bike ride to and from work has increased from 5.4 miles each way to 8 miles each way, up Ygancio Valley Rd. hill.  It is a beautiful ride.

So that's about it.  Now that things are settling, I will be back with my goal to update the blog at least once a week.