Out and about
One of the things I wanted to accomplish this week was clothes shopping. A space opened up this afternoon, so I left Kiki in charge of the other kids and took off to Savers. I spent a peaceful hour browsing through the racks and trying things on. In the end I found 4 pairs of pants, a shirt, and a sweater for about $30. I love Savers.
When I came home, I realized that what I really wanted to do was get outside and do something active. It has been far too long since I’ve done something enjoyable that requires muscle power. (Hauling boxes of books is exercise, but it ain’t fun.) Since I’d already ditched the kids once, this time I decided to take them along. I decided on a bike ride. A couple of months ago we bough Kiki a new bike. This meant that for the first time in more than a decade, we own a bike that is the right size for me. I asked her if I could borrow it. Gleek and Patch got out their bikes and we got ready to hit the road.
Kiki followed us out saying “I’ve got to see this.” It turns out that she thought the idea of mom on a bike was highly amusing. It was new territory for the other kids as well. They kept making encouraging statements to me about how bikes were fun and I should not worry. Amid a cloud of well intentioned advice, we set off. It was not a fast or exciting ride because I had to keep to a pace that Patch could maintain. His legs and wheels are smaller than mine. The return trip took three times as long as the trip out because we turned around when Patch started complaining of tired legs instead of anticipating tiredness and turning around sooner. We were all hot and sweaty by the time we arrived home, but a good time was had by all. I shall have to do it again, although I think I’ll try to pick a time of day when it is not 90 degrees outside.