Category Archives: Travel with kids

Wild Thing

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I just got back yesterday from an extra-long weekend at my in-laws’ house, and I have a question: how is it possible to have an absolute mountain of laundry when I actually DID two loads of laundry over the weekend? The answer is that there is no answer. There is only laundry.

I’m feeling a bit drained from all the driving, and then the rush to get groceries and prepare for this very short week, and…I guess I’m just feeling a bit drained in general. The weekend was nice, albeit a bit cool and a bit rainy, although it snowed quite a bit in Calgary and so I will not complain about it. Because of the cooler weather we took the kids to a movie: Angry Birds. It wasn’t the worst movie I have ever seen, but that’s about as positive as I can get about it.

Today I went to the garden centre to pick up my annual flowers, and let me tell you a secret: the Wednesday after the long weekend is PRIME plant purchasing time. I think they must get a big shipment in after the long weekend depletion (although – was anyone actually buying flowers in the snow? I don’t know.). In any case, “kid in a candy store” does not adequately describe my feelings when I’m in the garden centre. It’s all I can do to not gather up tables of plants in my arms and run out of the store. Even though I felt like I was spinning around and dancing like Maria von Trapp in the Alps, I was actually quite well behaved and kept reminding myself that I didn’t have enough room to take EVERYTHING I wanted home.

Well, technically I would have to remove the entire front lawn if I did take home everything I wanted, but that’s another story.

I love the garden centre with all my being. It feels like Christmas in there. I walk around with a huge smile on my face, talking to all the old people who shop there on weekdays. Just like with groceries, it’s me and the elderly. I love how all the old ladies dress up to go to the garden centre, in floral dresses or nice slacks, with tan nylons and open toed white sandals. Their white cardigans match their shoes and handbags, and their husbands push the cart for them, looking pained. Then there are the old men that are flying solo in the bedding plants; I always get into flirty chats with them regarding the newfangled wave petunias or those new impatiens that actually need part sun, rather than full shade. Good times. Flirting with the elderly seems to be a pastime of mine now; I feel quite youthful and a little bit wild, with my snapdragons and osteopermum that I might just plant together, I don’t know.

Anyway, enough of my depravity.

Despite the snow, the gardens and yard look so wonderful right now. For one thing, the lilacs all bloomed last week, which must be a new record:

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The little yellow leopard’s bane, which my neighbour gave me years ago and which did not bloom at all last year, are in bloom:

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And it’s almost Barkley’s birthday! He’s going to be eight on Monday.

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I have much to tell you, mostly about weird comments regarding my eyebrows and also weird comments regarding my makeup, but that shall have to wait for another day. Those flowers aren’t going to plant themselves! xo

My name is (not) Matt Foley and I am a motivational speaker.

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I have been on the go, go, go since I got home yesterday morning. We flew home from a wonderful twelve days in Maui, on the red-eye, and I’ve basically been in a whirl of somewhat dull but very necessary activity since then. Well, not counting last night after the kitchen had been cleaned up, when I watched two episodes of House of Cards and ermagerrrrd what is going on in that show? I have to keep reminding myself that it is not real, but now I’m eyeing everything political with even more suspicion than I did before.

It’s funny; no matter how incredibly prepared and organized I am – and I’m very prepared and organized – the first day or two back from vacation are a whirlwind of chores and errands and catching up on work even though I still worked a bit throughout my vacation. It’s been productive 36 hours though, although I almost got derailed by uploading my photos. They’re so pretty; I just want to photo edit and do nothing else for the rest of the day. Alas.

Every day on my vacation I took long, long walks in the morning. Part of the motivation was fitness-related – I didn’t want to repeat last year’s Post Vacation Inability To Fit Into Pants Syndrome – but mostly it was just wonderful to walk in the soft, floral-scented air and take in my surroundings. I found myself daydreaming about using this little space on the Internet for good – Motivational sayings! Spreading joy and happiness! – but my tune changed a bit when I got back to reality so you’re welcome, dear readers. You will not be subjected to motivational sayings from me, unless it’s something like Hang In There with a picture of the 1970s kitten stuck on a tree branch.

Slight disclaimer: I do think it’s important to find beauty everywhere, and to bring the sunshine with you wherever you go. Invincible summers in the depth of winter, etcetera. If you follow me on Instagram you will notice that I have the goal of posting one beautiful photo every day – although beauty may be in the eye of the beholder some days, unless you really like banana muffins. Hey, sometimes banana muffins are the best we can do!

For example, this is what my view looks like today:

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Which, you know, is fine. It’s March and there’s no snow and things are starting to green up, which is ridiculously early for Calgary. Barkley got his spring haircut and isn’t dragging dead leaves and grass into the house anymore. It’s nice. But it’s not this:

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or this

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or this

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or even this, the plumeria graveyard

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Ah well, it’s good to be home. Cocktail hour at 4 pm daily was nice, but my body is probably happier with green smoothies. My long walks were wonderful but getting on the yoga mat today, I felt exactly like C-3PO, or possibly the Tin Man. Time to get back on track with everything!

I have lots and lots of things to say about beach fashion – thongs seemed to be a big thing this year, as well as athletic-style halter tops – and how my own beach fashion drastically changed this year (read: no more string bikinis). I also have lots to say about travel in general, and a great way to save your hair from sun damage, and some awesome books I read, and my opinion about this douchebag who preferred to send nasty tweets about the woman on the plane in front of him, rather than simply asking her to move her ponytail. Wait, I think I just gave away my opinion on that. The point is I have so much to tell you, but no more time today. Shall I leave you with a motivational saying? No, I shall not. But I’ll leave you with this photo of me with a whole lot of these gorgeous yellow flowers that were everywhere. xo

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Eating, Playing, and Making New Friends: It’s A Dog’s Life

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Since nothing says romance like spending the weekend with one’s in-laws, that is exactly what I did. Well, technically we visited my in-laws because it was a long weekend – the kids had Teacher’s Conventions and Monday was Family Day – but the former sounds funnier. It was a really nice weekend, and like the day after every long weekend, yesterday found me frantically catching up on various domestic duties.

Honestly, I know we are all in the same boat, I know this is the most tedious and mundane of topics, but does it ever amaze you the sheer amount of time spent doing things just to keep the household running smoothly? Laundry, for example. Yesterday I spent an enormous amount of time doing laundry, which only results in having to do laundry again today. I also went to two different grocery stores, took the kids to the dentist for a cleaning and checkup, and went to pick up the dog from the kennel. That, along with various meal preparations and resulting kitchen cleanups, comprised my entire day. God, I’m even boring myself talking about it. Domestic drudgery, I swear.

The bright light in my day was picking up the dog from the kennel. It was the first time he had gone to this particular kennel, which is actually not called a kennel at all, but a Pet Resort. The last time Barkley was boarded overnight was in December when we went to Orlando; I was picking him up from the kennel we had always used, and I happened to mention to the fellow working there that I would phone in a week or so to book him in again for this long weekend. I called and it went straight to voice mail. I tried back and it went straight to voice mail. I left a message and my phone number, and no one returned my call. This was around Christmas, so I figured things would be busy – dog boarders are notoriously busy over the holidays.

Something felt strange though, as I continued to call and get the voice mail. My husband and I were headed to Costco just after New Year’s, and I thought I would swing by the kennel to book him in, in person. I had a weird feeling, and sure enough, when we pulled up the sign was gone and a notice of closure was on the door.

First, imagine all the people who would be stranded for dog care during the holidays. Second, imagine all the unsuspecting people who would come to drop their dog off for boarding, only to discover that the kennel was closed. They did not inform any of their customers; I texted a friend who had her dog booked in at the end of January, and she had no idea.

Long story short, on many recommendations I booked Barkley into the Pet Resort and I am very happy I did. They gave him a report card when I came to pick him up, and it was glowing with praise for his friendly and social behaviour, and also his ability to eat no matter what the circumstances. He’s an A+ eater! Barkley had so much fun playing and making new friends was the comment on the report card. Just like when my babies gained the requisite amount of weight at their newborn checkups, and when later they passed dental checkups with nary a cavity, I felt a self-esteem surge at Barkley’s popularity at the Pet Resort. One might say I’m living vicariously through my dog, and taking credit where it is not due, but I will take a boost whenever I can.

Friday morning was foggy, and although to some of you that might sound like no big deal, we do not get a lot of fog on the Prairies. I had to drive Barkley to the Pet Resort, which is just west of the city. I have driven in snowstorms, blizzards, hail, and 90 km/hour wind gusts, but I have never driven in conditions like I did on Friday. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see the highway exit signs until I was just below them; I couldn’t see the cars 25 feet in front of me, and I couldn’t see the side of the road. It was so eerie, like I was actually just in a cloud instead of on the road. The problem was that although I knew approximately where the Pet Resort was, I didn’t know exactly, and I couldn’t see anything; no landmarks, no signs, nothing at all. If I hadn’t been worried about being hit by a similarly-disadvantaged driver, I would have pulled over on the shoulder to cry. As it was I kept telling myself to breathe deeply and to not cry. There was no way out but through, so to speak. I ended up taking several wrong turns in the small commercial district, and resorted to both calling the Pet Resort to try to tell them where I was – which was impossible because I couldn’t actually see where I was – and asking random strangers in parking lots how to get there. Turn at Tractorland, one fellow told me, and although I know that Tractorland is a giant yellow building, the fog was so thick I couldn’t even see it from the road. Finally I did end up in the right place, proving once and for all that even a blind squirrel gets a nut every once in a while.

My Orlando break from reality

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Here’s a fun way to lose weight and tone up those legs: walk 72 kilometers in 5 days. That’s what I did this past week, on my trip to Disney World and Universal Studios.

Selma

This was me a few times on the trip, but with less awesome hair.

I’m going to just come out and say it: we have taken the kids on lots of trips, and this was by far the best one for everyone. We had so much fun, and to be honest, I didn’t really expect to. I mean, I thought I would just sort of enjoy the trip by osmosis, since my husband and kids were so over-the-moon excited, but I honestly loved the whole experience so much.

I have a lot to say about it, and plane travel in general, and tips like “Never take the Magic Express Bus at 12:30 pm because that is when all the small children are going back to their hotel for a nap. If you do, prepare for much crying.” But for now, I will leave you with the highlights.

Christmas Everywhere

Since we were there after the US Thanksgiving, everything was decorated for Christmas. This included the Blues Brothers’ vehicle. At Universal, my husband and I watched them perform Christmas-themed versions of their songs – “I’m a SNOWMAN” – while the kids rode on the Transformers ride for the twelfth time.

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Elwood

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I wish we’d gotten a photo of them decorating a small Christmas tree with packages of Marlboroughs and Pabst Blue Ribbon cans.

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There are Christmas trees everywhere!

 

Grinch

“And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer.

Macy

Universal has a “Macy’s Parade” every night at 5 pm, and it’s very fun to watch. Those are random people in the photo.

The famous Sleeping Beauty castle was all lit up with Christmas lights, and it was pretty special. The one downside? I actually got a bit tired of Christmas music. I know! But when you hear “It’s the MOST wonderful TIME of the YEARRRRRRRRRR” over and over, you weary of it. A bit.

Nostalgia for Cars

For many years, my house was vehicle-crazy. The boys had pretty much every Cars movie character in miniature form, we had books about Cars characters, and a large percentage of every day was devoted to “playing Cars.” We stayed in the Art of Animation resort, which was separated into four different themes: Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Lion King, and Cars. This is where we stayed:

Wheel Well

There were life-sized climbable Cars characters all along the pathway (Route 66) to the different buildings.

Doc Hudson

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If we had gone when the kids were small, we would have never made it out of the resort. They would have just wanted to play around Doc Hudson and the rest of the gang all day long.

The Art of Animation was a great hotel, with lots of vegetarian choices at the cafeteria, so I was happy. We had a suite, which meant TWO bathrooms. This really made the trip go from great to amazing. They also have some fun looking pools – the kids only swam one night, since we were so busy at the parks – and there is even a pool bar, which made me even more happy.

Roller Coasters

I don’t love all rides – anything that spins makes me feel ill – but I love roller coasters. Disney has some really fun ones, like Everest and the Rock and Roller Coaster, but Universal had the ultimate crazy ride: the Rip Ride Rockit. I didn’t get a photo but the description is here. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever been on, truly. My heart was pounding when I boarded it, and I asked the guy beside me if he’d ever been on it. He replied that he didn’t speak English, but he screamed “HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT” through the whole ride. Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit indeed.

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My hair in a neat bun pre-Rip Ride Rockit.

Krustyland

Universal has a whole section devoted to The Simpsons, and it has piqued my children’s interest in watching the show. I haven’t watched it for probably fifteen years, but I’m hoping to find some reruns of the classics, like Duff Gardens – if only to explain this to the kids:

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Me and Surly.

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The Duff Man. Note my hair, straining to be released from its bun. That was after Rip Ride Rockit.

Harry Potter

I have not seen the movies, nor read the books, but we have Harry Potter fans in the house. The train alone that goes between parks is worthwhile, even if you don’t know Harry Potter from a hole in the ground.

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Snow in Orlando!

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The dragon actually roars.

The Muppets

My love for the Muppets is well known. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there is a Muppet 3D attraction, and it’s fabulous.

Muppet Theatre

A little excited, I guess.

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Squee!

Star Wars

I have saved the best for last. Unless you are disconnected from any kind of media – in which case, you are probably not reading this – the new Star Wars movie is coming out in EIGHT DAYS. The countdown has been on at my house for a while, and we were all pretty excited to hear that Disney was opening its new Star Wars Launch Bay on December 1. We were there December 4! It was pretty much impossible not to get caught up in it. We all enjoyed Star Tours SEVERAL times, went to see a “Path of the Jedi” short film, and we looked at the many artifacts at the Launch Bay. We even stood in line to meet a celebrity. Now, my kids couldn’t care less about meeting Mickey, or a princess, or any other character at Disney. But we did want to meet this guy:

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He loves me!

Now it’s back to reality – tomorrow I’m chaperoning a field trip! Although it was a short vacation, it felt like longer, like a real break from reality. Which, I guess, it really is.

Just keep swimming…

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YOU GUYS. It’s been a whirlwind of activity around here. We took a four day weekend to see my in-laws’ over the Thanksgiving holidays, which was great, except that I had one day after returning home to get my bearings, and then leave for Toronto. I flew out of Calgary Wednesday morning, and then flew back home Thursday morning. I got home in time to make dinner and take the kids to karate, and now today I’m trying to catch up on laundry and prepare for a party I’m hosting at my house tomorrow night for forty people. I’m completely swampled, as a friend I used to work with and I would say. (HI CARMEN).

Ten days or so ago, I mentioned my travel plans and party plans and my day-to-day work to a friend, saying I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and exhausted by it all. She said that when she feels overwhelmed by life, she thinks of Dory: Just Keep Swimming. So until everything is cleaned up Sunday afternoon, that is my motto: just keep swimming. Yesterday when I got home I was so tired that it seemed too much to fill out Mark’s swim forms for school; holding a pen seemed like an effort that I didn’t want to make, but I just kept swimming. Like a shark, if I stop, I will die. Or, to be less dramatic, not want to get up off the couch ever again.

Oh, but the trips were very very good. My in-laws are well, and I ended up taking home about forty pounds of apples, in addition to the ones my dear mother-in-law had sent to me via Greyhound bus a few weeks ago. We are apple-licious around here. I mostly have McIntosh apples because they are my favourite, and I just smiled and nodded when my mother-in-law sang praises of my beloved Macs: they are perfect for pie and applesauce, she said. Ha! Pie and applesauce my foot. I’ll be eating every one of these apples, just the way nature intended, and I won’t even have to share because no one else really likes McIntosh apples. Not to mention that apple pie is an abomination, in my humble opinion.

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Apple bottom!

The trip to Toronto was great too. It just so happened that the annual Yummy Mummy Club meeting was the same day as the deciding game for the Blue Jays, and the meeting room was right beside this:

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The CN Tower!

Very exciting! When the Blue Jays won, you could hear the “woo-ing” from the streets, and when our meeting/ party was finished near midnight, there were still many fans wobbling around. On my flight to Toronto, I was sitting next to a young man who was heading out for the game. He was very nice and as we chatted I mentioned how exciting it was when the Blue Jays won the World Series. It turned out that during that exciting time in baseball, he wasn’t yet born.

All that celebrating must have been something, because the next day our flight was delayed since our co-pilot had called in sick. I BET YOU’RE REALLY SICK, BUDDY. We were sitting on the plane for quite a while, waiting for the replacement to make his way through the gigantic Toronto airport.

As an aside, Calgary is a city of over 1.1 million people, and yet I felt like a complete country bumpkin as I made my way through the terminal. My sweet friend and YMC colleague Katja (HI KATJA) had very kindly offered to pick me up at the airport and drive me to the meeting with Jeni (HI JENI) the Editor-in-Chief, who is also a wonderful friend. I stopped off after deplaning, to wash up and fix my makeup and brush my teeth, assuming that I would be able to just pop outside to meet her. I ended up walking twenty minutes through the terminal, weaving in and out of the throng of people, up and down stairs. Fortunately I was not late to meet her, but I did feel silly that I didn’t realize how big the airport (that I’ve been to twice before) is. I was just happy I was wearing low heels, and counted it as my steps for the day.

Anyway, as we waited for the replacement co-pilot, I wondered how the flight was going to go. The flight was completely full and there were quite a lot of the “under two” set. The couple beside me had with them little Arlo, who was a twenty-three-month-old butterball. He was just adorable, but the wait was going on and on and I hoped – for the parents’ sake, not mine, I couldn’t care less about crying babies so long as they’re not my own – that he would be okay. Things weren’t looking promising at first, because he was HOT but he did NOT want to take his sweater off. In fact, taking his sweater off was the WORST THING EVER. But being HOT was also THE WORST THING EVER. Arlo had a snack and then slept on his mother’s chest for a while, and after that he was just fine.

Toddlers, am I right? So cute and yet so exhausting. He showed me his trains, and his Thomas lift-the-flap book, and he told me about feeding ducks and that they quacked at him, and I almost died of the cuteness. He even sat on my lap for a few minutes to look out the window. He also spent a lot of time running down the aisle with one of his parents in tow, which reminded me of how physically draining it is to have a toddler, not to mention how physically draining it is to TRAVEL with one. I’m drained enough this week!

All of which is to say I’ve got to go keep swimming, at least for another 48 hours. Wish me luck!

 

NO COFFEE NO PRANA

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That’s something that Ashtanga yogis like to say a lot – no coffee, no prana – because it was said by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who was apparently a coffee lover. I say it to myself every day when I’m waiting for the coffee maker – no coffee, no prana. I also sing Linda Put The Coffee On, but with “Nicole” substituted for “Linda” which pretty much sums me up nicely.

All of which is to say that today is, apparently, National Coffee Day. One fun little perk about my job at Yummy Mummy Club is that I’m always in the know about what kind of special day it is. Did you know that every day is a special day, and not just in a Romper Room, Mr. Rogers, carpe diem kind of way? Every day celebrates something, which is fun, even if it’s totally random. It’s always National Drink Beer Day or National Love Your Dog Day or National Guacamole Day or National Weiner Schnitzel Day. September 4th is National Hug Your Boss Day, which seems kind of unprofessional, but it’s also National Newspaper Carrier Day. Every second Tuesday in September is National Ants on a Log Day, and tomorrow is both National Chewing Gum Day and National Mud Pack Day.

So today is National Coffee Day, although in my house, every day is National Coffee Day. If it wasn’t, it would be National Oh-My-God-I’m-So-Bitchy Day, so let’s just let me enjoy my coffee. Mmmkay?

As an aside, yesterday I was told that the term “Bitchy Resting Face” is an anti-feminist thing to say. Sure, we probably don’t say that old men with furrowed brows have Bitchy Resting Face, but we might think they look like jerky assholes, so I think we are probably even on that front. BRF just rolls off the tongue more than “wow, that guy looks like a jerky asshole who wants to burn the whole city down, maybe he should smile more.” Meh. I am not anti-feminist – obviously – but I have to tell you, there are reasons I smile in photos. Here’s the biggest reason:

BRF

 

You might say, no, that’s just your face, it’s not bitchy, to which I would respond that the above photo illustrates why I smile a lot. I look like I’m going to murder someone if they say ONE MORE WORD and the truth is, I was probably just looking at a tree. I don’t like looking like this on the outside when I feel like this on the inside:

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Photo from my very talented friend Lucas http://lucasramage.com/

 

You know who doesn’t have Bitchy Resting Face? Barkley. We went away for the weekend and when I picked him up from the “spa” he just couldn’t stop smiling.

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Just like me, smiling is his favourite. But I guess he wouldn’t have Bitchy Resting Face anyway, because he’s a male dog and as such is literally not a bitch.

But I digress. I meant to write about our weekend away and got caught up in drinking a pot of coffee and writing about National Coffee Day. Our trip was fantastic. We were on the very west coast of Vancouver Island, in Tofino. The weather was perfect. The travel was perfect. We had a hot tub on our deck and were right beside the beach. Even the flights were serendipitous – we had boarded our flight to the Island, and were informed we were going to be early when the pilot announced that there was an issue with the cargo door and we wouldn’t be able to take off. But! There was an EMPTY PLANE RIGHT BESIDE US, so we flew in that. That never happens, so I felt like it was a good omen for the weekend.

It’s great to go away and great to be home, and yesterday I caught up on all the laundry, and groceries, and work that had piled up, but it all feels good. The leaves have all changed colour, suddenly, and the city is a gorgeous mix of blue skies with yellow, red, and orange leaves. The cosmos I planted two years ago have self seeded and are in full bloom, amazingly, and all is well in the world. Many, many reasons to smile.

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No half measures.

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This morning my husband went back to work after three weeks off, and on that festive note, I headed to the dentist for a cleaning and checkup. What better way to start out a week after so much fun family time? I’m happy to have modern dentistry at my disposal and I like having non-rotten teeth, but good lord teeth scaling is AGONIZING. Something about having a variety of metal picks scraping my teeth and occasionally jabbing my gums for the better part of an hour makes my hands clench and my entire body tense up. I would much rather undergo a pelvic exam given by Keyshawn Johnson than get my teeth scaled.

Oh well, at least my teeth are nice and shiny now. And Monday morning isn’t all bad: Judy Blume tweeted me! I’d like to say that it was because she loved my Deenie and Are you there God? It’s me Margaret. recaps over on Throwing It Back, but it was in response to a comment about her latest book, In The Unlikely Event. In case you’re in doubt, it’s a very good read and I highly recommend it.

JudyBlume

I was already a Fangirl, now I’m a SuperFangirl.

This weekend was not without excitement, either. We were at my parents’ place at the lake, and the weather was perfect. On Saturday my mother and I went into town to do a little shopping, and as we were walking down the street, I heard the thumping strains of Thunderstruck slowly approaching. I turned to see where it was coming from, and there, slowly cruising the main drag, was a shiny, pimped-up Dodge Challenger, windows rolled down to reveal a middle-aged man in a ball cap. It was so awesome I actually laughed in delight, and received a glance and a nod. I don’t get many glances-and-nods these days so that just made it better. We saw him again later, this time blasting Hells Bells. Was he just cruising the strip? Was he looking for a parking space and just happened to have ACDC blaring? Was he driving in loops, enjoying his tricked-out muscle car? We will never know the answer.

The other notable thing that happened this weekend is that I went for a bike ride with my husband. My husband has given up golf in favour of cycling, and he isn’t one of those “half-measures” kind of people.

Digression: “half-measures” always makes me think of Mike from Breaking Bad. Will any other show ever be as well written/ heart-palpitation inducing?

Anyway, my husband has taken up cycling, and during our time at the in-laws’ he clocked more than 120 kilometers. On Friday night he asked if I wanted to go for a “little ride” with him and I accepted, having stepped on the scale earlier that day and being horrified by the result (more on that later). The “little ride” turned into an hour and a half and 17 kilometers, which is the longest ride I have gone on for many, many years. Possibly ever. I was a little sore the next day – my butt! – but I welcomed the extra exercise.

Another digression: my friend Lyn (HI LYN) thought that, taken out of context, saying my husband took me for an hour and a half ride is really quite funny and not safe for work. Pretty sure THAT kind of physical activity would leave me even more sore.

In my last post I mentioned I was a victim of Shrinking Pants Syndrome, but I didn’t realize how bad things had become until I stepped on the scale. People, I have gained seven pounds since June. Seven pounds. In less than two months. Some of you might think this is no big deal, but believe me, it’s a huge deal. For one thing, I have an extensive wardrobe but all my clothes are the same size. Nothing fits right now and I am very uncomfortable. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to subject you to my new diet-and-exercise program, because that will just bore and depress us both. But I am thinking there will be more evening bike rides in my future.