Blowing out the candles

Logan blew out the candles on his cake. I hope he had a good
birthday, but truly it was 'nothing fancy' this year. I tore up my
back and the little guy was worried about me. He has such a good and
precious heart...

The Erosion Cake

I made this cake for Logan. It was a layer of chocolate, then
marshmallow creme, then a layer of vanilla with "sparkles", then more
vanilla creme, then another layer of chocolate. The whole thing was
supposed to be iced in chocolate icing. The cake started sliding off
the marshmallow creme and I had to put it in the freezer for ten
minutes to get it to solidify enough to put the chocolate icing on.
The results were tasty, but it kinda looked like something had thrown
up the cake

Awards

Lexie and Logan got trophies last night at the Pinewood Derby. They
both had a great time.

Pinewood Derby

Tonight after work is the Pinewood Derby race at Cub Scouts. I hope
the kids do well, but they give out a small trophy for each kid, so I
know they will feel like winners. I think some of the kids/dads might
put a little too much emphasis on winning, and less on sportsmanship,
so the trophy thing is a good balance. The other cool thing is that
not only does Logan get to race, but also Lexie can race in the
sibling's run. They both had a great time at the workshop building
and painting their cars. I gave Logan more help than Lexie, but still
let him do it 100% together with me (except for cutting out the main
body on the band saw).

New Bike

After putting 8000 miles on my poor little Honda Reflex Chinese Knockoff, I have come to the decision that with the amount of riding I have been doing, I just can't afford to keep it running. The Chinese Scooters are great for people who ride on the weekend for a couple hours, or back and forth to work, but I am completely and utterly hooked into this. I got in because it saves gas. That was the whole root of the thing at $4.00 a gallon you tell me that you WEREN'T looking at alternatives and dreaming of something Hybrid or Electric, the Bus Routes, Carpooling, Selling the SUV, etc. The whole Nation was! I had to do something. It was driving me into financial crisis man! Well anyways, my decision was a cheap Chinese Scoot. I had done ALL the research, knew the positives and negatives, etc. Well all that was mainly from people who didn't ride near as much as I did. When I came back from Gasoline Rally with Black Betty in a rented Uhaul truck, I knew it just wasn't working. I always had little issues which I was willing to work with, but eventually they drag you down. The seat lock wouldn't fasten. The brakes squeeked. The muffler guard rattled, I had to clean the carb, set the idle, it was neverending. I decided I would rather ride.

So this year, I searched and searched craigslist, ebay, cycletrader, high and low until I could find something in my meager price range, but still a good reliable machine, with a little more power than my old 250cc. I looked at the Kymco Xciting500, the Suzuki Burgman400, and the Yamaha Majesty (also 400cc). This Scarlett 2008 Yamaha Majesty with only 300 miles on her was what landed in my lap (and in my price range). She will do just fine. The pictures do not do her justice. I want to do some rides this year. There is the Iron Butt Association where you can ride 1000 miles in 24 hours (called a Saddle Sore 1000 - appropriately!) and I want to try that. I also have a couple rallies I want to attend in Cincinatti and again in Indianapolis.

I have come to realize this is just who I am.

Crazy Neighbor

My crazy neighbor put up this sign on her door because Lexie, Logan and two neighbor kids were going around collecting for Jump Rope for Heart. She used to be my roommate years ago and (supposedly) moved in next door not knowing I live here. I was like um....sure.... Anyway she keeps mainly to herself and doesn't bother us, so I'm fine with that. It was a little scary when she first moved in because I felt very stalked. The sign says "NO KIDS ALLOWED" and "NO SOLICITING" Really funny stuff...

The Passing of Shadow and Ginger

The kids went in to check on the gerbils today, and they found Ginger and Shadow had passed away into little furball heaven. They have been very upset. This is the first real pet that they've ever had that died. We got the gerbils several years ago, and they only live for 2-3 years. They were going on four years old. The kids didn't play with them much in the past months since we got the dog, and I think they felt guilty about it, but they did keep them fed and they always had water (though sometimes I had to remind them). Now I have two dead gerbils to get rid of (bury) and I have no clue how I'm gonna be able to do that! We live in apartments and don't own land so that's kinda problematic. It is a sad day.

2008 Yamaha Majesty Scooter

I am looking at upgrading my current bike with a 2008 Yamaha Majesty Scooter.

We shall see how thing work out with taxes and how everything allocates this year... But...Ain't she sweet????