My New Woolie's!!!

Being that it's still winter and all, I've had time to plan for my upcoming bicycle commute to work. I'm planning on starting back to bicycle commuting in late April when the roads are clear of snow and salt. When I stopped commuting by bike last September, my coldest morning was around 41-42 degrees.... that was my cut off point. Kinda wimpy wasn't I? Well, it wasn't to bad because the sun was still rising earlier in the mornings so the air temperature would increase quickly. I guess the cold morning just mentally took me down! I didn't wrap my feet in Saran wrap so the first 30 minutes were toe numbing, plus the air coming through my helmet was chilly too. Whimp, whimp, whimp...........now as I following blogs of many winter cyclists (up in alaska & harry legge's etc.), I realized I'm a softie when it comes to cycling and cold temperatures. I'll just blame it on my Rynaud's Syndrome!!!

Above you will see a picture of my new wool toe socks we bought....Ted got a pair too. These socks are made by "injinji." That's a fun name to try and pronounce!!! Anyway, I've been wearing them around the house to try and get use to the feeling of toe socks. I'm hoping this will help my cold feet problem. You know, they're really comfortable! I also bought a pair of toe warmers that fit across the front of your bike shoes. I've heard these are good for keeping the tender toes warm during a cold ride.

I realize that started back to bicycle commuting will be chilly in April, so I'm already planning on what cold-weather gear to wear. I'm not too concerned because it's actually only a twelve mile ride each way. Last year I didn't start commuting until the end of May, but this year I'm committed to starting early since my spinning classes have helped me stay in shape over the winter months.

My thoughts right now are on those mountain climbs in Montana. I've seen the pictures & profile of the 7-day Great Divide trip we will be taking in July, so I'm not wasting any time trying to build my endurance. Oh yeah, don't forget about the big rides we'll be doing in a couple months to build up to this trip. Weekends will be cranking out 50-100 mile rides. There's a Century ride coming up in May so I've been told to prepare for that as well.

Maybe I'll set a new theme to my bicycle training...Eat, Pray,Bike. Hey, that could be a spin-off of to a new book. Don't you think???

Snow-Thunder? Yup That's Right

The weather came in with a vengence yesterday afternoon. The weatherman said we would get heavy snow, but he never mentioned "white-out" conditions!

As soon as it started snowing, it came down really hard. Ted was out on the lake ice fishing when the snow storm hit. He decided to hop on his bike and head back to the house since the snow was getting heavy and he couldn't see. As Ted was trying to ride back to the house during the heavy snow fall, he saw a bright flash in the sky, proceeded with a big huge CRASH....snow thunder! It took him by surprise. My new librarian from Alaska saw the lightening and heard the thunder yesterday....she was a little freaked out! They don't have snow storms like that in Alaska.

We probably received about 4-5 inches of dense snow in about two hours of time. It was a very unusual storm. I closed the library early and on my drive home, it was basically a white-out. I was just happy to be home safe and sound.

Timothy is back to being covered again with a blanket of snow. I'm sure we'll be able to see his face by next week.

I guess we'll just have to wait a while for the weather to warm up again. Spring isn't too far off. I smelled a skunk last week on my way home from work! The animals must be slowly waking up from their winter hibernation. Once I see the racoons at the bird feeders, then I will know spring is near.

I Was Thinking About Bakeries This Morning

You know, I'm a softie for bakeries! Softie meaning, I can't resist visiting a bakery any where, any time, any place. It's in my blood-line, especially coming from a heritage of French & German ancestors. On my mother's side of the family, they were all bakers by trade. I still have memories as a small child getting all excited when my great uncle Oscar was coming to visit from Milwaukee. When uncle Oscar came to visit my grandparents, he came with several boxes of baked goods from his Mitchell Street bakery. Wow, that was big stuff for us small-town folks!

What fascinates me the most about bakeries is the uniqueness of each one. Every bakery specialized in something...they are know for one super good product and they make it well.

Now I've been in some horrible bakeries too, so they're not all good....I just have to say that. But, when I do find a good bakery, I will go out of my way to make a visit and make a purchase.

I guess my "thinking about bakeries" theme popped up this morning because Ted & I found a new bakery in downtown Eau Claire last Sunday night. Of course it was closed, but we walked by on our way to the Gaelic Storm concert. Ted had to return to Eau Claire yesterday so, voila, he stopped by and discovered they make Morning Buns there...whooo hoooo! Lil Lis was doing a happy dance last night right in the kitchen!!!!!!

So why didn't I take a picture you ask, of the Morning Buns? Ha...their gone, all eatin, no crumbs, no picture! Do I feel the slight bit guilt? NO WAY!

Here's my list of bakeries I like:

Cadott, WI Nice scratch bakery in a small town

Chetek, WI Excellent french donuts, also small town

Eau Claire, WI Marie's Original bakery, delicious french pastries

Bloomer, WI Bohemian Ovens, best kolaches

Bloomer, WI Bloomer bakery, another scratch bakery

Middleton, WI Clausen's European bakery-good Morning
Buns

Baraboo, WI Another smaller European bakery

Ironwood, MI Great focaccia bread & meat pasties

I Just Wanted to Ride My Bicycle Outside Today

As I looked out the windows of the fitness center late this afternoon, I thought, boy oh boy I'd like to hop on my bike and ride home tonight! I really got that urge inside my head, or is that coming from the heart?

I've had enough of winter now so everything can just melt and warm up....sounds good hey? Yeah sounds good alright, but now they just posted a winter storm warning for our part of the State. Looks like a possible 7 inches or so, and then blowing and drifting tomorrow night. So much for my spring bliss today.

My spin class was full tonight....yippee. A couple new faces and they weren't afraid to sweat either. After class I hopped on the virtual bike and rode one of the bike routes for this week's "challenge." Darn, I tried, but I couldn't ride the speed I wanted to beat the other woman's time on the board. I'm just not a speedster anymore in my middle-age. Back in the day, when I was involved in mountain bike races (yes me!) I use to be pumped up for riding as fast as I could on the race course....that was in my late thirties. Now in my late 40's, my competitiveness has mellowed. I don't mind riding a 60-70 miler, but I'm the type that wants to stop every 10-15 miles to take a "butt" break (this makes my hubby irritated with me cuz he wants to go, go, go). Does this mean I'm becoming an old fuddy-dud?

Got a Sweet Tooth, This is What You Do......

It's a mystery. What the heck is in this coffee cup? Sorry, it's not a very good picture, but I couldn't do a good close-up with my camera at work.

This is a picture of a chocolate cake I made at work. It's called "5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake." My mom send me the recipe and raved about it because it's so easy to make. Well, I decided to take the test today and see if it was really easy to make.

Before I left for work this morning, I measured all the dry ingredients and put them in a small ziplock bag, and then I measured all the wet ingredients and put that in a separate container.

As you can see in the picture, I put everything in a large coffee cup and microwaved the cake batter....instant chocolate cake! Of course I shared with my staff member, my volunteer and my field experience student who happened to be working today. Everyone thought the cake was tasty...a little dense, but pretty good. See the recipe below:

5 Minute Chocolate Cake

4 Tablespoons flour 3 Tablespoons milk

4 Tablespoons Sugar 3 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons cocoa 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips

1 egg small splash of vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Add dry ingredients to a large coffee mug and mix well. Add the egg, milk, oil and vanilla and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow the cake to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desire. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel sight more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night.

Olives + Jalapenos= Happiness

I was so excited tonight, because Ted found green olives stuffed with jalapenos for $4 dollars a bottle. Wow! I use to buy them by the BIG glass jar at Sam's Club, but one of the managers told us that they wouldn't be carrying the olives stuffed with jalapenos because they weren't really selling. What? Why not????? Am I the only one that simply loves jalapenos stuffed olives? Even kitty likes them!

So now I have four jars of jalapenos stuffed olives. I'll try to conserve and only eat 4 olives a day, except for days when I bake a pizza and then I'll slice many olives for the pizza. There's nothing better than green olives, black olives or Kalamata olives on a pizza.

If you think this is strange that I love stuffed olives so much, you should see me at an olive bar! Too many choices.......I just can't speak.

Stop....and Look Around You

Take a look at this icicle! It's a monster, and has quickly grown over the last three days. We also have other icicles around our house and they too are continuing to grow longer everyday. This could only mean on thing...yes, spring is coming! The sun is slowly becoming stronger as we near March. The stronger sun rays make the snow on the roof start to melt. The sun is also shining on the house at a different angle now than back in December. So when I start to see these icicles, it can only mean one thing.....the sun is growing stronger which means our temperature will also start to warm up.

By March 1st, you should also notice the days are considerably longer and the morning sun is coming up earlier. Don't you just love how that all works? Boy oh boy, God was right on top of things when he created the earth and it's seasons. Have you ever thought about how perfectly the earth rotates? What's more amazing is that humans took no part in perfecting the earth. Not even one ounce of the soil or water....it was all God's doing. When I was out taking pictures today, I couldn't help but think about that. There are so many miracles in nature that we sometimes don't even think about. I love the most simplest things in nature like the birds migrating, Gold Finches turning their summer yellow, or wild flowers that start to grow when the sunlight increases and the snow melts. We as humans don't order these things to start happening or turn on a switch, they just happen in nature. It's all in God's plan. What simple things in nature amaze you?