I gave in...

... and turned on the AC! I was holding out for some sort of world record of not having to turn it on all summer, but in the end, I decided that I better get the boy's bedrooms cooled down a bit before bedtime or they wouldn't be able to sleep! It's hot & humid again today, but I am not complaining. It feels great for a change.

I had a lovely and unusual morning in that I was pretty much flying solo! And I do mean flying because I spent part of the morning on my bike. Ha-ha. Has anyone ever read "Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen"? It's a kids book - very cute and makes me want to call my bike "Flash". Anyway, I tried out a new bike route this morning and went through about 5 or 6 neighboring towns in an opposite direction of where I usually go. The middle part of the ride was fabulous, but to get to that great part, I had to go through a bunch of heavily trafficked shopping areas with a bunch of stoplights. And who knew that so many people were running errands at 8am on a Saturday? It was still fun to explore some new towns though. Meanwhile, Chad took the boys out to breakfast, then to a park, then to play mini-golf. They had a great morning with their Daddy! And I got to shower and eat and read in peace. Apart from my own selfish need for some time alone, I was also happy that the boys got time with Chad because he leaves tomorrow for a week in NY. We'll miss him, but hopefully this is his last trip for a while.

Okay, thought I'd try to answer these questions from my loved ones' blogs:

1) What is your current obsession? Triathlons - biking, running, swimming - as it has been for the last few years

2) What do you hate that everyone else seems to love? sour cream. guacamole. avocado. yuck.

3) What are you wearing today? black shorts and a very preppy looking green shirt that is not quite my usual style

4) What's for dinner? I have some salmon marinating in the fridge right now that Chad is going to grill up... plus some baked potatoes and veggies

5) What would you eat for your last meal? pizza and pesto with pasta.

6) What is the last thing you bought? airfare to Arizona!!

7) What are you listening to right now? the hum of the AC for the first time all year

8) What do you think of the person that tagged you? well, technically no one tagged me, but I think my brother Ryan and his wife Kelly are two of my favorite people in the world. I love people who can still laugh when the going gets rough.

9) If you could have a house - totally paid for and furnished - where would it be? Hmm. On a beach somewhere in the northeast - would have to research to figure out just where.

10) If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would it be? Kauai

11) What is one of your hobbies? reading - I read alot. in fact, it annoys Chad sometimes how immersed I get in my books

12) What is your favorite quote? I have no idea

13) What is your favorite color? read

14) What is your favorite piece of clothing? I really like jeans. I live in them in the winter.

15) What is your dream job? something part-time that pays really well!! testing running shoes, maybe? can somebody hire me to do that, but pay me a ridiculous amount of money? plus, I like to analyze, so I'd also want to put together some sort of spreadsheet to track the different attributes of the shoes. and perhaps put together a powerpoint presentation describing them. Yes, that sounds perfect.

16) Describe your personal style? comfortable enough to chase the kids around. form-fitting and fairly conservative.

17) What is your favorite tree? probably magnolia. I have great childhood memories of climbing them and having my Mom put the flowers in my room while I was at school - they smell divine!

18) What are you going to do after this? make the boys their afternoon "salad bar" - a plate with broccoli, carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, snowpea pods, and green beans for them to bunch on until dinner

19) What is your favorite fruit? goodness, what fruit don't I love?? we eat so much fruit! watermelon, raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, apples, nectarines, clementines to name a few

20) What inspires you? the Hoyt's... the Dad competes in triathlons and marathons while pushing or pulling (depending upon the sport) his grown son who has cerebal palsy and is paralyzed.

21) Who was the last person that you kissed? Parker - I cannot resist him.

22) What are you currently reading? "The Whiskey Rebels" by David Liss. So far, it's very good.

23) Go to your bookshelf, pull down the first book you see with a red binding, turn to page 26 and type the first line. "You tell me something about yourself first." from "A Lion Among Men" by Gregory Maguire. It's the third volume in the "Wicked" series.

24) What delighted you the most today? getting a good deal on airfare to AZ

25) If your life had a theme song, what would it be? yowsa, who thinks about this stuff?

26) If you bought a weiner dog today, what you name it? this would never, never in a million years happen. if I ever come home with a dog, you can assume that it's an invasion of the body snatchers sort of situation

27) What is a character trait or habit of yours that inherited from one of your parents? I inherited the need to be in control from my Mom. OCD tendencies from my Dad. Luckily, not to the extreme that he has it. I do not need to tap the water fountain three times with my thumb after every time I have a sip, but I do like to have everything put away and in its place.

I think my wrist hurts from all this typing!