Picture Post

The beautiful place we stayed at while at the Lake of the Ozarks. We had the whole top floor. It was spacious inside and bigger than our townhouse at home! Although much more dangerous to get to.

This is the wonderful view from the deck at the condo. The best part? No mosquiots. I'd love to sit out at night and watch the sun set to this. It was equally beautiful in the morning. Most mornings when we were there it was foggy and we watched the sun burn off the fog.



This is me. Somewhere in Missouri. Obviously pre-accident. I was having such a good time. It's incredibly powerful to know that you've driving a motorcycle across a whole state in one day. It was beautiful out and I was loving the time we were spending riding with the new places to see.


Pete and his 'happy place'. I think this was a huge stress reliever for Pete. He was so wound up from the accident and feeling guilty and trying to make sure that I was ok. He needed an outlet to have fun in. This did it. He took one round in that car and the smile never left his face from then on. He was like a little kid. It was so cool to see him like that and I'm glad that he got to enjoy some of his vacation.

Pete's bike - after his bike troubles. The shifter broke - the spline stripped away. So he has one vicegrips on the stripped control and one attached to that vicegrip. The only bad thing about it was that he had to shift his whole body over to the right and then his hip back to the left to shift. It was tiring for me so I'm going to have to go with it was tiring for him also.

So that's some of the fun we had in the Ozarks. I'd go back. But I'd go in a car and in the fall sometime to see the leaves change.

Quite some time has passed.

Normally after a good vacation I come back here, post some pictures and tell some stories. Normally. Only this time I hurt myself on day 2 of the 10 day vacation. And it dampened my vacation fun and relaxation greatly.

I did learn though. I learned that my husband is fiercly protective out me. Not that I didn't think he was that before, but it was shown to me in living color this time. I learned that he will leave all his emotions pent up inside and they will overflow at some point in tears while looking at me. I love that man. I learned that he will lovingly dress me when I can't, worry about me when I don't and love me no matter what.

I learned that I have friends who are wonderful. Who will take me to the ER in a strange city without thinking twice. Who will offer to take my bike home with no want or need for repayment. Who will stick by me and try to make me as comfortable as I can be, in my injured state.

I learned that I have a limit when riding my bike. That sometimes I get hot, tired and antsy to be where we are headed. I learned that I am no match for a steep gravel hill. I learned that I can fall off a motorcycle and do it in such a way that will limit my injury. I learned that I have much to learn about riding motorcycles.

I did not however, learn to fear motorcycles. I will ride again as soon as my arm/shoulder heals. And there will be other vacations at other times. And when I feel less mad at myself for making the choices that I did, I'll post some pictures from the vacation.

I can hardly wait

Like a child at Christmas I can hardly wait. In about 24 hours I'll be offically on vacation. Glorious vacation. Don't get me wrong, I like my job most days. There are times when it's really rewarding. On the other hand I firmly believe that everyone needs time off to recharge. Time off from the daily schedule to just be. Time away so that when you come back you are fresh and new and ready to hit it head on.

Come to think of it, I believe this about most things. I think we need time away from TV to live, time away from the PC to live, time away from others to be in our own head, time away from family so that you realize what you miss. Time away/distance is not a bad thing.

And I'm in some need of it.

Crying

Why is it so hard for women to realize that they cannot do it all, all the time?

I cried last night. I finally told Pete that I felt overwhelmed with all the things that we had going on. That I am racing to get done whatever it is I am doing so that I can get to the next thing, only to race to get that done and move on too. Work things, family things, fun things, me things. All of them involve me hurrying to get them done. It overwhelms me and I can only do it for so long before I break. Last night was it. I just cried. Maybe I needed the cry too, but I needed to let Pete know how I was feeling. I need to be better at letting him know that sooner.

So the new plan is to take it easy this weekend. Tonight we are doing NOTHING. Tomorrow Pete is going with the club on a day ride and I am doing NOTHING. Sunday I need to run some errands for the trip, but more NOTHING after that. I need to re-charge mentally, physically and emotionally.

Busy

Lately I've been working for the weekends. I think there's a song somewhere from the 80's that talks about that. Only I'm living it. And while I love my weekends, it makes the weeks go by so much faster. It feels like it was only April and suddenly it's the end of July.

My group hosted the campout last weekend and it was a lot of work. We went to a wonderful place down south by the Mississippi River. It was actually a marina and we camped in a little area by the boat launch. It was quiet, peaceful and nice.

Until we figured out that the mayflies had just hatched. Yuk. There were millions of these bugs by the river. They're harmless. They're kind of pretty. But at the end of the night they die. Yes, they die daily. So when I got up to use the bathroom the next morning this is what I saw. Yuk. They had to use a leaf blower to pile them up and shovel them. Did I mention Yuk?

We went to the national eagle center with the group and had a presentation on bald eagles. It was pretty cool to see an eagle up that close. Then we got to take pictures with our bikes and the bird. Can you say Chirstmas Card? lol

Then we drove into WI and found an overlook that was really cool. Picture number 2 for the Christmas card. lol

And I attended my first Pow-Wow. It was really cool. Pete is such a talker that he chatted with a man sitting next to us about the ceremony. Toddlers to elders danced in the ring. Bright costumes, natural costumes, some animal heads...a lot of different things. It was really interesting to watch and listen.

Busy weekend, but a lot of fun.