Rain, Rain go away

So three days in... and RAIN for biking. Let me just say it was not enjoyable, exhilarating or fun.

First of all, I was not at all prepared. I am going to list some things that I think I will need for future rain rides to make them more enjoyable

*WATERPROOF EVERYTHING
*Gloves
*A trashbag for my clothes in my back pack
* Fenders on my wheels
* Lifeproof Phone Case
*A full nights sleep instead of 5 decent hours and then 2 hours in and out debating on if I should get up and go or sleep a little bit more.

Lets talk about why I needed all this stuff, here was my best impromptu rain biking gear.
*Under Armor windbreaker
*Regular target T-Shirt
*Adidas shorts
*Long Johns
*Vibrams
*Backpack

Oh so very weather AND might I add fashion savvy clothing.

Thats the front of me (hard to tell given the black but I was fairly wet), this  is what was wrong with the back of me and why I needed fenders. (My butt and lower back also looked like this)

It took me 10 more minutes than usual because I was so cold that my muscles never loosened up. I couldn't make it more than 5 feet up any of the hills (I usually can climb 2 out of the 4 and make it half way up the hard ones) I was in a lower gear all the way (partly because the faster I went the more I got sprayed and partly because I was just so stiff) Every car that drove by sprayed up tons of nasty road water mist. And the water managed to get inside my jacket (go figure) where I put my phone because I thought today it'd be safer than in my backpack. So my phone was definitely not dry (not soaked but like someone took a wet paper towel and wiped the phone evenly)

Get to work, take my shower and pull my clothes out of my bag and guess what... damp clothes. There's nothing like putting on damp socks. Luckily I have a little heater at my desk so I pulled my shoes and socks off when I got here and have them roasting. 

All in all it was a horrible experience and 3 days in I am really beginning to question if this is something worth doing. Granted these are first world minor inconveniences when you think about them but, coming from a cozy car with heated seats and a nice heater that I just have to move a toe to make do what I want... its a culture shock and a difficult thing to acclimate to. Luckily there won't be rain on the way home today.. Hopefully my clothes can dry out by then.

I think if I can get prepared for future rainy days with a few items I now deem as essentials, I think over all it will be a much better experience. If you decide to do this... at the very least get yourself some fenders or something to block the water from the back tire spraying you down the whole ride. (Sorry for the whiny post but I wanted to be real about how my biking was to let others know who might be considering it)

Introduction/New Start

Hello, I'm Matt (Tabby's husband)

Let me introduce myself and then introduce what I will be adding to the blog.

Generally speaking, I am a sarcastic, straight forward, overly analytical person (which is why it's good Tabby married me. She evens me out). So if I write something that seems outrageous, it's a joke. I'll try to keep myself toned down but sometimes I get carried away :). Also I like computery gadgety things... So I may talk about those things too.

So, yesterday we sold our car... and now we don't have a car. "WHAAAT" you say "HOW WILL YOU GET AROUND?! HOW WILL YOU LIVE!?" and to that I reply "BICYCLES! The way of the fUuUtUrE man" (in case that's too confusing it says future... see, sarcasm)  in my best hippy conspiracy theorist voice. We are going to attempt (at least for 30 days) to live without a car. We live so close to everything it almost doesn't make sense not to. So I am here to write about my experiences biking. (It just now hit me, this would probably be way cooler for those reading if I took pictures huh... I'll do that tomorrow I guess)

So, first let me talk about why we decided that biking could work for us. In Boise it's generally fairly flat, and there is a bike path that doesn't have vehicles that will take you just about everywhere you need to go (at least within a few blocks). From our house to Trader Joe's (which I will let my Wife write about how to live on Trader Joe's for fairly cheap) it's only 1.7 Miles, or a 10 minute bike. We have a trailer for carrying our daughter that has a trunk space for groceries. Also, Trader Joe's is the heart of the downtown community so its a 10 minute bike to see all of the beautiful sites of Boise (and 99% of the ride is along the Boise river and through the park/right next to the Boise Zoo... kind of sweet if you ask me) It takes us 10 minutes to get to Trader Joes by car... so were not loosing any time there. I live 6 miles from work (but its the only part of town that has some real hills... and there's 4 of them quiet nicely spaced to kill my 240 pound out of shape butt. I do a lot of hill walking.) So that takes 40 minutes to work and 25 home (the down hill parts are easy!) It took 15-20 minutes to drive that before, so I am loosing a bit of time there but, it will get easier as time goes on.

So, that being said... it just makes sense for us to AT LEAST try it out. (worst case, we hate it and go buy a car) There are a few deterrents though... the big one being single digit temperatures and mild sporadic snow from late October through February. So that's going to be interesting, not 100% sure how to handle that yet. As well, its a little scary trusting drivers around here, they aren't very bike conscious. If you make it 1 day without a close call, that's a miracle. So toting around our 9 month old daughter does scare us a bit. Well just have to be more cautious.

At any rate, hopefully you have gotten a taste of my personality, and my new found purpose for blogging. Hope you enjoy reading as we go through this journey we hope to inspire others to give it a try and provide tips that we discover for making the transition easier. Or maybe in a week well decide we hate it and that no one should do it... who knows but hopefully it will be a fun ride (get it...)

Chamomile teething rag

So I am desperate at this point....I will try anything to help Paisley with the pain of teething. She is cutting her second tooth and I feel so bad for the little babe! Someone on a Facebook group I was on suggested this idea to another mom and I wanted to try it out. Honestly Paisley wasn't too interested in it but I thought I would share just in case it helped another baby.

It was simple, I just brewed come chamomile tea in a bowl and soaked a rag in it, then I rung it out and when it wasn't so hot I gave it to Paisley to bite on.

Memorial Day Weekend in photos

Dreaming

What do babies dream
when they are fast asleep
when eyelids are aflutter
and a smile rounds their cheeks
Do they close their hands round secrets
known before their birth
before the angels touched their lips
and left them things to learn
Do they see their mother’s faces
feel a parent’s touch
sense a world of wonder
as they wiggle, stretch, wake up
What thoughts do mothers nurture
when their babies are asleep
courage to lead, strength to make
this earthly realm a holy place
By Beverly Peck

Community

Our sakurabloom group decided to do a monthly blogging challenge, which sounds awesome because I have an excuse and purpose to blog! The topic for May is "community". At first I thought I wouldn't really have anything to write about because I am the most introverted person ever. For a few years I was in a community group with my church but recently I switched churses and keep finding myself wanting to hide in my "shell"...aka my home. I personally don't like groups of people, they intimidate me. I am shy and weird around people! People will disagree a lot of the time when I say that, but I at least FEEL weird...I usually can't wait until I can get away from a group. 

I find that my community is online, I love love love the community from the sakurabloom group and my other Instagram mom friends. I love that I actually have things in common that I can talk about. A lot of my family values are the same as other mothers in the group. For example, I co sleep with my daughter who's 8 months. If I talk about co sleeping with most people, I know I will get negative or judgmental comments. It's like a breath of fresh air knowing I won't be judged for things like attachment parenting with my mom friends that's I've made these last several months.

I also love my tiny community with the few friends in person that I have. I have a super nice friend from my church that is so helpful and has the same values as me. When Paisley and I were sick she came over and held Paisley so I could shower the puke off of me...that's a friend!

I know that community is important for humans in general. There are so many good things about it! So I guess in a nutshell community for me is family time if that counts, Internet friends and single person interactions haha! It works for me :) what does community look like in your life? 

 

Protect your children!

So many children are being sexually abused right now at this very moment! I get furious when I think about it!!! I hate that I have friends and family who have been sexually abused, I hate that there are pedophiles searching the internet looking for children right now, I hate that their living in our neighborhoods, I hate that we walk among them without knowing it, I hate that I feel so helpless and all I want to do is save all of the kids! A 22 year old man in my state was just arrested for having over 200 photos and videos of children and infants being sexually abused on his computer! NOTHING makes me more angry that that kind of stuff!! Pedophiles are everywhere and parents need to wake up. It could be your pastor,  brother, neighbor, stranger, teacher, or even husband in some cases! There is a blog I subscribe to that EVERYONE needs to read and follow with her email subscription. She was married to a practicing pedophile for 40 years without knowing what he was doing. He is in jail now and she gives tips and stories from her past that should have been a red flag. We all need to protect our kids and trust our gut! Here is the blog: http://www.findingahealingplace.com