Hello, bicycle legs.

Did you know that this is a week of miracles? Not only did Marvin learn how to boil water for pasta (haha), but a lady I know who has been very, very sick and mostly bed-ridden for almost a year is suddenly up and about and back to her normal routine. Majorly amazing.

I heard a mockingbird imitate a crow yesterday. I also had a nosebleed which reminded me of Katie (who always has nosebleeds and who I adore & hadn't seen since last fall) and then ran into her on the trail while riding bikes after work! We sweaty hugged. Little amazements.

I can't wait to try the bring-on-the-broccoli pizza that's on the cover of Vegetarian Times. My diet lately has consisted almost entirely of the following things: The Dr. Oz Smoothie, trail mix, apples, oranges, extreme veggie pasta, and Nutty Bars. It's a delicious life I live, but it's about time for some variety. And fresh greens.

Gotta get to work on a container garden...and gotta make a trip to visit this sweet little girl:

And her mama. <3

P.S. - I am quite envious of Vanessa who not only has TWO pet goats, but also recently got her creep on with Zooey Deschanel! Dang!

I'm a winner!

I entered a contest on Abi's food blog and won a gift certificate to spend at Bake It Pretty. The last thing I won was a lint remover at a girl scout event back in the early nineties, so I was beyond excited about this! I ended up getting these insanely cute cookie cutters to add to my mama's collection:

I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a snail, mushroom, or mustache yet.
I got a few supplies for some upcoming projects too.
Thank you, Mrs. Porter!

Last night was the first bicycle ride of the season with the more standard Bike Gang from last summer...plus and minus a few. After four consecutive days of riding, I am feeling the burn. And Marvin is already complaining about my rapidly shrinking gut. Poor chubby chaser. I hope he survives the summer!

And finally a moderate portion of nerding out: this week's LOST was amazing once again. I'm glad Richard Alpert finally got his own episode. And that things are beginning to be explained. (I'll keep my mouth shut, for any Losties that might have fallen behind.)

You wear those suspenders, Richardus!

Times two.

We biked the trail again...same as yesterday...minus Marvin, plus twenty degrees and no incidents of clumsiness on my part. The turtles were out full force and there was nary a cloud in the sky. Is it really spring now?

                                    ^ That was the best spring...but I am hereby declaring that this one will be equally, if not MORE amazing. You got that?

Gator weather.

Today Jumpin' Josh, Brittany Paul, Marvin, and I chose to ride bicycles on Bona Dea trail. Why we chose the coldest, rainiest day possible for this adventure...I am not entirely sure. Probably because we had our hearts set on seeing an alligator. There are allegedly at least eleven 'gators in the swampier parts of the park and even more allegedly a couple of small dogs have been eaten recently. I was skeptical about the dog-eatings until we got to the part of the trail with the highest swamp-water level and found that it was closed. Naturally we ignored the orange fence and went about our merry way. I always get really nervous at the part of the trail where you can see the spots where the gators come up out of the water to cross and then slide back down the other slope, but I was especially expecting to get devoured today, due to the orange fence. None of us got eaten, but three of us thought we might have seen a baby alligator, but agreed that it was probably just a stick. We did discover a wildlife viewing hut at the water's edge that none of us had ever noticed before. Apparently some boyscouts built it in '99. We also saw a heron and some ducks and squirrels...and I am officially on a mission to find some rainboots. Not just a casual mission, but a hardcore one. This is due to one of my feet slipping into a pool of muddy water and then being soggy and numb for the rest of the day. Being clumsy and having short legs is only a downer when you're a pseudo-outdoorsperson trying to have  adventures with rugged outdoorspeople.

I found this after googling "alligator" -