Knock Knock er Text Text, 1st Prom and a Beautiful Day

Tammy got the green light to begin working from home this past week. There were a couple small glitches getting the computer and all her gear synced but it's working fine now. The den used to be primarily my domain but there's not much room for me in there anymore. The sign on the door pretty much says it all. Rachel and I will have to get used to keeping it quiet outside her office; not that we're all that noisy to begin with. Toby and Allie are another story once they get wound up and begin racing around the house.

I covered it in an earlier blog but for those not aware, Tammy is working as a triage nurse over the phone helping direct people to the right care for their needs. I'd much rather see her do this sort of nursing as it's much easier on her body; there's no heavy lifting involved unlike what she's been used to. She'll miss working with the elderly though as she's always felt that has been her calling. Now she'll be helping them on the phone.

Rachel attended her first prom last night. She went as a favor to Matty, a friend of hers from one of her church groups. Matty is a senior at Apple Valley and Rachel goes to Lakeville North. She didn't know anybody except for Matty. I told her that she should look at it as a practice prom for a year or two in the future when she has a boyfriend. She said she got a lot of compliments on the dress Tammy made for her.

My riding has been spotty this year. A friend at work just asked me how many miles I've ridden so far and I told him 2200. He thought that was a lot but I'm typically over 3000 by the first of June. We've got some projects we're having done at our home over the next couple of months so they will no doubt take a bite out of my time on the road. That's okay—I have to keep telling myself that.

Yesterday's ride was one of those rides which remind me (as if I need that) why I bike. A beautiful day and an even more beautiful route winding my way along the back roads to Belle Plaine. Just past East Union, I was about to begin a descent when I noticed a motorcycle group coming up behind me. There were easily over 100 bikes in the group. I descended the hill at 45 mph and had one of the riders come alongside me and shout 'nice job!' I needed another couple percent of grade to reach the 55 mph which most of the group was traveling at.

I sold my motorcycle when Tammy and I married nine years ago. I don't miss it all that much. I usually only rode it at night and around here there are too many deer to ever feel comfortable out on the highway once the sun goes down. They say that the deer you hit is usually the one you don't see. Not that I haven't had my run-ins with deer on my bike because I've had that as well. I think my odds are much better at 20 mph on my bike than at 60 mph on a motorcycle.