Meg{Moir}

Didn’t I tell you?

Didn’t I tell you this weekend I would be lazy?

Cause I did. And I was.

We kicked off the weekend by parking our butts on the couch and watching the most revered stage in the Tour de France, the climb up 21 swtichbacks to the top of Alpe d’Huez. Alberto Contador attacked, Andy Schleck countered, Sammy Sanchez played to win, and in the end a little kid from France stole the day. Andy got a night in yellow. I was a happy girl.

Saturday morning, Patrick left early to work a tech shift at the vet school and I worked on my quilt. I’m finally making some progress there, and I really need a permanent place to keep my sewing machine. That way I might actually finish something on it.

Saturday night we burned a gift card to Bonefish Grill on Bang Bang tacos. Oh. My. Word. Those things are good.

Sunday, Patrick had to go take care of horses and didn’t get back in time for church, so instead we spent a very rainy morning watching the Tour finish up on the streets of Paris. Andy, my love, there is always next year. Plus, your team kits are far and away the least offensive of anyones (heck, they are almost, dare I say, stylish? nah, that’s probably pushing it) and that counts for something, right?

We’ve spent the rest of the day looking at bike stuff and loving on our puppies and now are vegging out on the couch with the Potion and Pirate weekend (Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow? More, please.)

Hope your weekend was nice and relaxing too!

Wow, someone has been doing some serious slacking on updating their blog.

Guilty.

I have good reason though, actually a few.

1) The Tour de France is in the Alps
2) The Fiery Cross is taking me forever to get through
3) Riding my bike is more fun than writing about it

Last weekend I had to work in New Orleans on Saturday and got my butt kicked in the pool on Sunday. This is my first real weekend of freedom since leaving Loft, and I can’t tell you how much I am looking forwards to it.

Back Monday to tell you how awesome (read: lazy) it was.

So I love my bike.  You got that yesterday, right?  And if all I had to do was buy the bike and ride it, that would be easy enough.  But no, it’s not just the bike.  Bikes come with a lot of stuff.  A lot.  I wish this little snapshot of other stuff you need was comprehensive, but it’s not, not even close.

I just realized that I have not properly acquainted you all with the latest addition to the Loftin household calvary – I mean, bike collection.

About a month ago, I got super lucky when our friend Katrin offered to sell her fancy high end bike to me for an insane price, and there was no way I could refuse.  Soon enough, this pretty little thing* was all mine.

* this is not my actual bike, I don’t have a picture of me on it yet.  Sad face.  I borrowed this picture from here.

I spent the last few weeks pedaling around my neighborhood and going on occasional longer rides (10-15 miles) with one of Patrick’s former students, Lindsey, who bought a bike around the same time.  On Sunday, she suggested that we ride with the Baton Rouge Bike Club during their Sunday night Sunset ride.  At 21 miles, I knew it was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I was pretty much ready for it.

I was not ready.

Before I go any further, let me pause a minute to talk about the bike itself.  This bike attracts attention.  I mean, yes, it looks like a zebra (love), but it’s more than that.  I fell in to a very nice bike.  And people who know about these sorts of things take notice of it.  Which is awesome.  I am happy to know that this bike has stood the test of time (8 years) and I know it will get me many, many miles down the road.

But as cyclist in general, and Lance Armstrong in specific, say, it’s not about the bike.  When you’re riding, it’s about the engine.  And that engine is me.  And I am slow.

How slow?  That on this aforementioned 21 mile ride, I got dropped.  Twice.  That means that while the rest of the group was cruising down the road in a nice pace line, I was hoofing it up the back and trying to keep everyone in sight.

Also, my balance is not so good.  This is ok when you’re riding platform pedals, but once you make the shift to clipless (where your foot is attached to the pedal by way of a cleat), it becomes problematic.  When I unclip my right foot, I tend to shift too much of my weight to my left side, also known as the side still attached to the bike.  Once that equilibrium point has been compromised, there’s no going back.  I’m kissing asphalt.

Despite the fact that I am 1) slow and 2) clumsy, everyone was friendly and helpful.  I know I have a lot of work to do on the bike, but here’s the best part, I can’t wait to do it.

Book review time! Who is excited?

14. Read 50 books in 2011, 2012, 2013 (28/150)

(23.) Drums of Autumn (Outlander)

I’m still patiently waiting for someone else to start this series so we can talk about how much we love Jamie Fraser.

(24.) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, vg

And oldie but a goodie, “read” on audio during slow drives to the gym.

(25.) How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author

What can I say, I love insights into the minds of other people.

(26.) I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls)

So glad I started this series, all I want for Christmas is to be a Gallagher Girl.

(27.) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Before I die, I am going to write a list called “Books I Have Loved” with this one will be on it near the top.

(28.) Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum, No. 11)

This one will not, but it could make it onto a list of “books I almost forgot I read.”

(29.) Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls)

Gallagher Girls take 2, and I want to be Macey McHenry when I grow up.

June went by fast. Super fast. I’m still not sure how it isn’t June 12th and not July 12th. Here’s how I spent my time in June.

14. Read 50 books in 2011, 2012, 2013 (28/150)
(23.) Drums of Autumn (Outlander)
(24.) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, vg
(25.) How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author
(26.) I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls)
(27.) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
(28.) Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum, No. 11)
(29.) Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls)

So yeah, I did a good bit of reading.

I still think that there is one or two I’ve forgotten about, but maybe that means they weren’t worth reading in the first place?

42. Contribute monthly to IRA (6/33)

Investing is fun!

83. Watch 5 TED lectures online (1/5)
1. Rob Forbes

91. Purge 100 items from the house (30/100)

I decided not to keep a list of exactly what I am purging here for a couple of reasons. First of all, I can’t imagine anyone cares. Secondly, a lot of people have been very generous and have given us lots of stuff. To the point where it took a 26 foot moving truck to get us to Louisiana last summer. Something had to give, and a lot of things have had to go. But don’t worry, we didn’t give away any of the stuff you gave us. That stuff is awesome.

Lots of work still to do, but I think I’m getting there!

Ok, so that’s a little bit of a dramatic way of saying that Saturday, I worked my last shift at the Loft. No more 50% discounts…how will I survive?

I’m going to go ahead and tell you, Friday and Saturday night Patrick and I had our lazy butts parked on the couch. This is not going to be the most exciting weekend report you’ve ever read (but next week will be worse), so if you want to go back to reading about what Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wore yesterday, then I don’t blame you.

Just me? Moving on then.

Like I said, Friday night Patrick watched Transformers 2 while I read about 2 pages of a book and fell asleep on the couch. Yawn.

Saturday, I worked my last shift at the Loft, bought a new pair of grey skinny jeans and a fake rhinestone ring to celebrate.  Patrick and I finished off the evening with a little Lego Harry Potter.

Sunday, we rolled out of bed and directly into platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrown casserolle and buttermilk biscuits at Cracker Barrel.

We were a bit early, but we tried to do a little window shopping at Antique Row in Denham Springs.  Only 2 shops were open, but I some things still caught my eye, even though I only left with a book I’d been thinking about checking out from the library.  For $1 I can take it on a plane without worrying about late fees.

After a quick trip to the grocery store, I changed in to my bike clothes and proceeded to make myself very nervous.  See, the day before, I somehow agreed to go with my bike friend Lindsey to the sunset ride of the Baton Rouge Bike Club.  21 miles.  Yikes.

Everyone that showed up for the ride was super nice, but let me just tell you, I was not ready.  More about that another time.

Back home 2 hours later, with tired legs, I pretty much just showered and fell directly into bed.

But enough about me, what did you do this weekend?

Last weekend was…well…awesome.

Mom and Dad flew into town Wednesday night, and after hanging out in Baton Rouge on Thursday, everyone was ready to get out of town for the weekend.

Late Friday morning we packed up the car and headed into New Orleans for lunch and begniets in the Quarter followed by a short stroll through the French Market.

After we decided we couldn’t take the heat anymore, it was back in the car for a quick drive down to Lafitte.  Mom and dad rented a condo for the night, so after we found it off a short canal, we headed back out to see what there was to see in town.

We saw a marina, a community center and a Piggly Wiggly.  Let’s just say its a small town.

After dinner at Jan’s Cajun Restaurant (yum), we headed back to the condo and turned in for the night.  We had an early morning ahead of us.  It was almost time for fishing!

After a 5 am wake up call, we slowly made our way to the marina to make sure we were on the water by sunrise.

Here’s where I wish I didn’t suck at taking pictures, because this sun rise over the bayou was unbelieveable.

And here’s where I wish I was better about actually taking pictures, because we spent the day riding around beautiful scenery all day.

But we weren’t just out for a boat ride, we had fish to catch!

We wanted trout and red fish, but the trout weren’t biting too well.  We caught 5 before moving on to bigger targets.

The morning got hot fast, and we kept loaded up with sunscreen and water.  And snacks.  Lots of snacks were involved.

In a complete role reversal from our fishing trip last summer, Patrick and Mom brought in a good deal more fish than Dad and I did, but at least we all got fish in the boat.

After a long and hot day, albeit a very entertaining one thanks to Captain Mike), we brought in a total of 5 trout, 11 red fish and 8 black drum.  Our freezer is full and our bellies are happy.

Sunday morning, we tried to go to church, and even got there a few minutes early, only to find out that we were actually about 50 minutes late.  Church starts at 10am in the summer.  Who knew?

That plan thwarted, we went instead to Wal-Mart where my parents bought us a charcoal grill for our upcoming 2nd wedding anniversary (already? how?).  I’m not sure it was totally altruistic thought, as we were soon grilling hamburgers and hotdogs (followed by redfish for Monday’s lunch).

On Monday we did a whole lot of nothing before taking my parents back to the airport.  These trips are always quick, but somehow they manage to go by faster that it seems like they should.

After leaving the airport, we headed over to the Garden District for a cook out with friends.  We could barely make out the tops of the downtown fireworks once the sun went down, but luckily, with a few free iPhone apps, we were able to see a few screens worth of fireworks shooting off, capping the long weekend off with a bang.

A couple of nights ago, I sat down to watch a TED Talk given in 2009 by Rob Forbes, who is the founder of 2 sweet companies, Design Within Reach and Public Bikes.

It’s a short 15 minute talk about finding design in public spaces and will challenge you to take time to enjoy pattern, form, and found art in urban areas.

Rob Forbes

Mr. Forbes, I’m a big fan now. Also, I’ll take one of these, please:

Ride a bike in Paris.

Looking this good.
http://www.vimeo.com/24845382