The Daily Grind

Finally had a reasonable work day again, i finished at 130, had lunch with my sweetie and then got home in time to even get a bike ride in...it's been about 2 and half weeks since i've been able to get on the bike, between wreaks, sore ribs, and work problems....fooey!
But my ride was nice, got home and was really cold. it was below 30 degrees last night, had to cover the plants outside up wth blankets....
i got home and made turkey mole with thanksgiving leftovers...but i'm so sick of turkey...already...
never make a 13 lbs turkey for two!

my roomate lost the mail key....

did i mention i'm falling in love...spent a lazy sunday morning in bed, eating breakfast, sharing thoughts and kisses and love...mmmm...it was a delicious sunday morning indeed.


Laying in your arms
upon the bosom of the Earth, Mother
she cradled our bodies
locked in passionate embrace
She blew a cool breeze to stoke the fire
and made songs in the trees that whispered your name to me.

There in my heart you stayed
as I crawled within your loving space
the walls crumbled at our feet
we broke down the windows and the doors
till we fell into each other, complete.
Laying in Gaia's embrace.

Feast of Thanksgiving and Gratitude!

Thanksgiving Feast

Today was Thanksgiving...instead of moping cause Josh wasn't around to smoke a turkey and share the day with me, i've found multitudes of things to be grateful for, not the least of which is my new friend and sweetie, Rudy. He's filled my heart and life with gladness and i am so so grateful to be getting to know him.

Unfortunately we didn't spend this holiday together...but I feasted nonetheless! I invited my friend over for lunch/dinner and I cooked up a storm! As you can see in the picture above.
I roasted my first turkey, it was gourgeous, and tasty too! Maple sage roast turkey....
apple and sausage stuffing, chipotle cranberries, blueberry pie with crumble topping, rosemary roasted potatoes, kale, stuffed acorn squash, and pears in cherry sauce ( courtesy of my friend who came to share the meal!) We cooked all day, visited, and then ate ourselves silly!

It was so much fun to cook the food I WANTED, HOW i wanted...no worrying about pleasing others tastes, or having to split up the dishes and not getting to make something i wanted to... i tried to be reasonable and keep it simple, as it was only a two person meal, but the 10 lb bird i ordered ended up being near 13 lbs...so there is a TON of extra turkey! YYUMMMY! I'm working on turkey stock in the crock pot now.... roasted potatoes were easier than mashed, and no green bean cassarole, just simple nutritious steamed greens, and only ONE pie this year....no need for an assortment, and i think this blueberry pie might be one of the finest pies i've ever baked!

I'm so grateful for the abundance of this great bountiful earth, the gifts from spirit, the money and ability to buy and make this food to share with friends ( Rudy will have turkey sandwhiches and pie with me tomorrow on a post turkey day PICNIC!)

I am so so grateful!!! this must be one of my favorite holidays, and i get to make it however i want...
start my own traditions! I loved that my first roast turkey was darn near perfect!!!

The Green (and red!) Blur...

I've been on a women's cycling team for a few years now, and there has been a contingent of both Racers, and Club Riders. For the past few years, I've been a club rider, riding for fun, socializing, exerzise, and the occasional insanity of completing a race of 100 miles or so.
From my perspective on the club side of things, the racing team was a green blur...fast ladies wearing their green kits ( that is a cycling uniform _spandex pants and jersey) flying by at break neck speeds. I loved to call it the Green Blur, and they always LOOKED so cool !

I finally decided to stick my neck out and join the racing contingent, cause i've been riding long enough now that I'm ready to challenge myself and do some more racing. So , we had a nice team ride today...and i was IN the Green Blur...racing down the road amongst a see of green riders at 20+ mph. It was great fun, and a lot of work!

Well, it was fun...until we got about 100 meters from the end of the ride....when somebody took a spill. Yup, that would be ME. The red blur....
HAH!
we were avoiding traffic and there are these stupid trolley tracks in the road at University Blvd. I looked at them and said, ok, now be careful here ( tracks are notorious for taking out unsuspecting riders), cross them straight.
and to no avail, down i went, tire slipped on the metal....superwoman-ing down the pavement, arms out front.
I jumped up right away, to avoid being in the road...there was traffic! But I took off some skin...and have a nasty case of road rash on my right elbow. It is SOOOO ugly, and hurts like hell. I doctored myself up at home, some disinfecting juice(Kloss linament) boy, did that make me holler. OUCH! and then some nice calendula and chaparral ointment to soothe and heal that tender flesh.

Ick!
SO the green blur is getting in the holiday spirit with red accents....
ah well...
we all fall...the worst part was feeling like a complete dolt in front of my super rider friends....
OH well.

I also made a crock pot full of to die for yummy spicy turkey and anazasi bean chili!
YUMMERS!

Make that Falling...and Floating

Cause boy am I falling...fast and hard....
but feel like i've got a parachute there, so i can just float down before hitting the ground at a million miles an hour.

This is all happening so fast...feels so magical.
It sounds stupid and rediculous, but it feels like fate, written in the stars, meant to be?
Is that even possible?

I was looking in all the wrong places, and all the while, if I had just turned the other way....he was there. Neither of us expected this....
Feeling overwhelmed with emotions, so happy.
We're still not RUSHING things. It has all happened so fast, but I dont want to move to fast from this exciting, giddy, ecstatic getting to know you phase....this only comes once in a relationship...got to enjoy every moment of it. Even though we're seeing the dreams of the future up ahead....
Trying so very much to be present, right here and now, feeling the feelings, exploring heart and soul, and not jump ahead too much.

It should be a sign that i didn't feel this much chemistry and magic with ANYONE else I went out with in the last few months. It just wasn't there, even if i TRIED to create it, or justify it's absence with qualifications. With him...it was there, from the first minute i looked at him, even if i tried to IGNORE it...but it wouldn't be squealched.

I'm on fire.

Falling or Floating

I'm definately falling for my bluegrass sweetheart. He's awsome, in so many ways. We've spent quite a lot of time together this week, between lunch dates and an hour here and there before or after working, and late night fone calls.
Finding we have so much in common, interests, thoughts, feelings...even though our backgrounds and our walk through life UP to now has been very different. I feel a bit like I'm spinning out of control, a dizzy, warm , excited feeling.
We've been very diligent about keeping our heads, and arent moving too fast (well..physically anyway, my heart will have none of that slow stuff...)
We spent the morning together before heading off to work, chatting as the sun rose. Talking about how much we both want to go out hiking and camping, and travelling, what we want in life, and in relationship. He's sang me songs, I've read him poems, we've kissed, we've held hands...
falling is like this....
he says, dont fall, just float down, and we'll land softly.
He has such a sweet smile, and amazing eyes...I just get lost in them....
I'm excited and happy and giddy and amazed.
We're going to have breakfast together tomorrow, begals! Yum!

Great Minds think Alike

Funny thing happened just now...
an amazing wonderful magical moment...

i just woke up from falling asleep on the bed smelling him on my pillow after work. ( so tired) and i decided to go out and get the mail....
and saw this absolutely stunning sunset...
ran inside, grabbed the phone to call rudy and tell him to get outside and see the sunset....
and he rang me as i started to dial and said, go outside and see the sunset...
:O
i think it is awsome we both thought of each other when we saw that amazing sight...and wanted to share with each other...
great minds are thinking alike....

:P

The Eucalyptus Tree

Saturday night date with the banjo player.
I continue to be wowed.
We had dinner, watched the new moon set in the west, kissed under a giant eucalyptus tree, and stayed up half the night talking and drinking tea.
WOW.

I can't stop replaying the night over and over in my mind.
I can hardly believe this is happening?!

Out of Left Field

Wow!
WOW!
I've been officially WOWED!
How to begin to explain?

So on Monday, I have this crazy workday of like 12 hrs. So I asked for some help from a coworker, who happens to be free, is Rudy. So I call up Rudy last friday and set it up so we could meet and he could help me get the jobs done in a reasonable time ( 8-5). So we met on monday, ( we'd met once before 6 weeks ago to do ths crzy schedule one other time. We immediately hit it off the first time, but i sort of let it slide and forgot about it) had a begal, and then headed off to work. We hit it off well...again, driving all day in the van and tackling jobs to get them done fast. i hadnt laughe so hard ...in god, i dont know how long. Rudy is a joker, and it was halloween, so i had brought this silly joker hat with me to wear as my costume...
I t kept falling down over my eyes, and he kept saying how cute i looked when it fell down. Then he wore the hat for a while and looked really cute in it too. the chemistry between us was nearly overwhelming. Dont remember feeling this way in...ages....
we finished the day finally, i took him back to his car, and he asked what i was doing on thursday night, i said i didn't know yet, so he invited me to come listen to he and his band play at Nimbus Brewery on thursday, and i said sure!
So, he invited some other coworkers to come down too ( maybe so it would be more comfortable for me?? i get that sense anyway)
so...yeah...tuesday, i left hime a note thanking him for helping me on monday, and he left me back a flirty note with a poem! Then on wednesday we txt messaged all morning, and then met for lunch.
finally thursday night rolls around, and head down to the brewery to hear him play his banjo and have a beer. When he was done playing, he came and talked with me for 2 hours, we flirted, outright definatley flirting ( oh yeah...there was a nother note in my box at work too!) and got a couple of really nice hugs, nice little affectionate gestures, touches, glances. Then he walked me out to the car and asked me out for lunch on saturday.

I'm reeling.... i never saw this one coming...all these damn dates i've been going on, and here he is just being him and i'm on fire..overnight? practically. woah! chemistry is a funny science yes it is.
soooo...who knows what will happen. Supposed to hike with the biker rock climber guy tomorrow. See how that goes...now that everything is complicated and EXCITING!