Monday, June 15, 2009

D's Last Ride

Say hi to D:

D and his bro-in-law, Jake, went on an overnight motorcycle excursion last Friday/Saturday. D is a fairly new rider. He first had a little scooter-type bike when we were dating that he would ride to my apartment around the corner each night to make sure I made it home safely. I think I have pictures somewhere of him on the scooter - it really was a funny site. I probably would have been able to ride it with no problems, but my 6'2" man didn't quite look right on the bike, proportionatly speaking. From there, he "upgraded" to a 1975 scooter that used to be his grandpa's. Again, knees around his ears...just looked a little funny and we both realized he needed an upgrade if he was going to actually go anywhere.

His coworker sold him her 1975 BMW K75 about a year ago and since then he's taken it out whenever he can. I grew up with parents who viewed motorcycles as less than safe..."murdercycles" is the term that was used. I dated a guy in college who had a motorcycle and he'd take me out on it every once in a while. Great fun. That doesn't mean I was very enthusiastic about D getting a "real" bike. Made me nervous...very nervous. So we had little rules - no driving at night, no freeways, etc. I have to say that these rules weren't because I didn't trust D. He's an amazing driver and extremely responsible about safety. It's "the other guys" I worry about.

Anyway, needless to say I was not thrilled about an overnight bike trip that would require D to spend 500+ miles on his "murdercycle". But, I didn't want to be the wife who rained on my husband's every parade, so I told him to have fun. Since we've been married I have never spent a night without him. Sounds a little pitiful that I would miss him so much, but he works for city government so it's not like he ever has to be out of town on business. I like having him around and while it was only a night, I was glad to have him back home. Of course it couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that he was riding a murdercycle while away.


They rode the Cascade Loop to Grand Coulee Dam and got some really amazing scenery photos while on the trip. On the way back, they took Hwy 2 through Leavenworth and apparently got pelted for about 4 minutes by rain and hail. I wish I could tell you more about the trip but all I have to show you are these pictures. D said he had a great time and wants to do something similar again.

While he was gone on Friday, I sorted through the 5 or 6 garbage bags full of baby girl clothes that one of his generous coworkers gave us. Really, really amazing. The sizes ranged from newborn to 3T, mostly 12-24 month clothing which is awesome because we didn't have much, if anything, in that range. Still, the items she gave us that were 0-9 months took up about 2 loads of laundry. The bigger items I sorted by size and put into plastic bins for storage in the attic until we're ready for them. Just the 12-18 month clothing alone fills one plastic bin to the bulging point.

Today, on my first official day of maternity leave, I woke up around 9 (I don't sleep well at night - my best sleep is in the morning), showered and dressed, ate breakfast, made sun tea, then started on the laundry. I washed about 5 loads of Amelia's clothes/blankets/wash cloths/etc. a couple of weekends ago and felt pretty good about myself. However, since then we've had another shower and received the wonderful items from D's coworker. So, today I washed 3 more loads. Amelia has more clothes than I've ever owned in my life. She will be one well dressed baby! She also has an abundance of socks, hats, and blankets. Really I'm so thankful to everyone who has been so generous to us...she's such a loved little girl already!

I vacuumed the living room/dining room and made some kind of Chicken Fajita Soup for dinner. I felt so domestic because of how much I was able to do today. It felt really great...I can't wait for more of these housekeeping days!

I was going to post a video of my belly moving like crazy but Flickr won't cooperate.

Tomorrow I am having lunch with a sweet friend and her two little girls then I'm picking D up from work and we'll head to my 2:15 doctor appointment. I know I still have to post about my shower and some of my favorite gifts, but it may have to be much later.

I need to pack the hospital bag (eek!) and get Amelia's room more in order. Nothing is on the walls, still.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!

6 comments commented:

Leah said...

Man, I haven't been to Leavenworth in years. My fear in riding a motorcycle over long distances is that I'd fall asleep and kill myself. At least I have a chance in a car if I fall asleep at the wheel!

Glad you had a productive first day of no work!!

Mainly a midwife said...

I have similar fears about the motorcycle. Mark used to love to ride (he sold it when we got married). I used to ride with him when we were dating. He was a very safe driver but I can attest to the fact that other drivers seemed to have it out for us when we were out riding. I didn't worry about Mark so much as I did everyone else. Glad D had a nice trip.
I'm with you.. I'm sleeping crappy at night (up at 2,3,4am) but then able to sleep in after 6am. I JUST got my butt out of bed right now!!!!

Jennifer said...

My parents always say "It's not you we're worried about it's everyone else on the road."

Glad you have gotten so much stuff for your little one! It's crazy how expensive clothes can be especially since they grow out of it in a couple months!

Enjoy your time at home. :)

Jennifer said...

I'm back! You might want to head over to my blog...you've got a surprise waiting for you!

Liz Wilcox said...

looks like he had a great time! How fun for him. Glad you are laid back about it. I don't think I would have been!

It sounds like Amelia has a ton of clothes! It is SO nice to have a stack like that at each age. I still have a couple of outfits left from Isaiah's shower and it's fun to pull them out of the closet.

Diane said...

Looks like a really nice trip. The scenery is beautiful! Leavenworth is so quaint.

I'm so impressed at how much you are able to accomplish! Congrats on officially being on maternity leave :)