Bike!!!!

Growing up, I was the youngest of 3 girls.  Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs.  Most of my shoes were hand me downs.  Actually, come to think of it....most of what I owned was a hand me down from clothes to toys, beds and books..... even my BICYCLE!  I think I spent most of my childhood riding the same purple bike w/ the banana seat.  I still remember it & can picture it to this day.  The seat had nice harvest gold & avocado green flowers all over it.  Pretty, huh?  I remember begging my parents to get me a new bike for years.  I really loved the bike I had, but I always hoped to wake up one Christmas morning & have a new bike...my very own bike.  I think sometime around my 15th birthday when I wasn't really out riding my bike all the time anymore, I quit begging for a bike.  (or did I just give up?  hmm....)

It's sort of been an ongoing joke with my parents for years now.  Many times I'll ask for something simple (can you pass the salt?) and remind them of the plight of their poor child who never had her VERY OWN bike.  I like to pretend that it was a rite of passage I was deprived of.  They tease me about it, too.  Truth be told, I always HAD a bike.  There was NO REASON for them to go out & buy a new one just for the sake of me having a new one.  And so, they didn't.

A couple months ago, I mentioned to Larry that I'd like for all of us to have a bike so that we could ride bikes together as a family.  My mom got wind of my request & said something like "by all means, go buy the girl a bike...she's been asking for one her whole life!"  ha ha!  When the tax stimulus check came, part of it was earmarked....for bikes!  Larry got his a few days ago.  Tonight we went to the store & bought mine!!!!

Hi, my name is Liz.  I am a 32 year old mother of three and I just got my first (ever!) brand new bike.  I am a happy lady tonight.

Now I have these fantasies of how this will work.  Play along with me, ok?  First off, this summer, since gas is SO HIGH, the kids & I will spend our days leisurely riding our bikes all around the neighborhood, enjoying the breeze blowing through our hair (ok, so the hair dryer-esque heat scalding our skin....) while we joyfully spend quality time together.  We'll hum a little song while we ride.  The kids will laugh and have great memories of the summer of '08, hanging out with mom & going for bike rides together.  And the perk of all those bike rides will be the 30-40 pounds I will lose by the time summer is over.  I will go back to school in the fall all slim & trim with calf muscles to die for.

See?  I told you I've got it all figured out!

And ya know...the last time I rode a bike was in 2005.  And that was a stationary bike at the YMCA.  I got on the bike momentarily tonight when we got home from the store.  I felt a bit like a hippo sitting atop a clown bike in the circus.  I wasn't exactly steady on the bike.  But I'll get there.  After all, they say that you can't really forget how to ride a bike..... 

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