It's been a fantastic weekend . . .

Yesterday morning, it was snowing. April 26th and it's snowing. ??? My daughter played a soccer game for the first time in the snow. And it was extremely windy. The parents were all huddled in our coats, gloves, and blankets on the sidelines while our children were in shorts and jerseys out on the field. Luckily, I had made my daughter wear leggings under her shorts, I gave her my gloves, and another parent had a hat for her to borrow. And her team won, 4-1. It was great. And it was the first of a doubleheader. So, after the first game, we raced to get something to eat and drove across town to the field where the second game would be played. And, miraculously, by the time the second game started, it was warm and beautiful. No evidence of snow whatsover. The girls were all shedding winter gear rapidly. We were down 3 players for that second game, and both of our fullbacks (including my daughter) were injured --- we lost 1-0.



On the way from the game, we drove by a bicycle shop. We've been shopping for bicycles, and this particular shop had been recommended by my friend Beth. Well, we had to stop. And boy did we shop. Ended up with 2 bicycles (at prices I'm still choking on), a Thule bicycle rack that fits into my handy dandy trailer hitch I had put on to move out here, 2 helmets, 2 bicycle locks, and 2 rackbars so I can actually haul these expensive little 2-wheelers on my expensive little bike rack. But I couldn't be happier. Until yesterday, I had not ridden a bicycle in over 30 years!! I was so nervous to get on the bike and ride outside the shop . . . but I couldn't buy it without riding it first, right? No, the cute salesperson wasn't going to allow that --- those guys are all about service, and he wanted me to have just the right bike. The first one did not work --- ouchie --- that seat hurt. The second one, I fell in love with and took right off down the street. I didn't crash! Yea! My daughter was so proud. And I was so glad I got them . . . she told the sales guy (who told me) that "the move has been really hard on my mom and really expensive. I didn't think I would get a bike for 2 or 3 years." So after I controlled the tears coming to my eyes after that comment, I gladly handed over my credit card. Here is my lovely new bike.

So today, we took a long bike ride. It was so much fun. And a picture perfect day, sunny and in the 60's. We rode to a park and played on the swings, then rode through the Rodeo Drive of Colorado, a/k/a Cherry Creek North, onto the bike path next to Cherry Creek. We had a blast.

I was so confident from my renewed sport (which brought back a ton of great childhood memories by the way), that I came home and fired up my Dad's Portable Kitchen that I had bought him many years ago and that I got after he died in June 2006. I had never used it, was intimidated by it --- I don't know why, it's a charcoal grill after all, and the owners of the company are good friends of mine and have given me all sorts of booklets, tips, and recipes, but I had never used it. I moved it to Colorado and bought it a nice heavy cover from Smith & Hawkins to protect from the elements, but have never used it. Well, today, I flipped that cover off, loaded the charcoal, fired it up and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. And they were goooooooood! I'm so excited that I finally used it. I'm already planning what I will grill next!

After dinner, we took the dogs for a walk. And, what I've been hoping for ever since we moved into this area, an extremely cute man carrying his groceries approached and asked if he could pet our dogs. (Well, yes, of course, cute man . . . pet my dogs, ask for my phone number, etc . . . ) But I was being cool, making great conversation, excited that this guy obviously was a neighbor, and, at that moment, right when things were going so well . . . Cooper, in his excited state over the cute guy, lost all bladder control. And, because he was jumping and wagging side to side, urine was going everywhere . . . including on cute guy's shoes. (Sigh) Suddenly, he needed to get his groceries home. Darn it!!! I did not need my dog's urinary incontinence to blow an opportunity! Oh well, I'll just have to take some non-dog walks and see if I can redeem myself.