Puttin' Skill to Use

Do you see that WOUND in my bike tube?  Let me tell you about how I spent 1.5 hours of my afternoon today...

So, I got a flat on the back wheel of my bike (the more annoying of the two, just by the by).  I have no idea what caused it except the general shoddiness of Indiana's roads.  I was biking past a part of the road that has been rocky and torn up, oh probably all year.  I felt my back tire hit something, hoped it was nothing and then heard the eek eek eek of a flat about 50 yards later.  BOO.  So I walked it back home and chatted with Lawry for bit.  Though, I had intended to chat with my friend, Ms. Janice Dion.

So, I went bought a tube and the tools, then studied some at the local library (more on THAT later), and finally went home to quickly change the tube.  I've done it by myself before at the Bloomers Bike Project, but there's always people around there to help you out or put the tire back on for you (the hardest part me thinketh).  Anyway, this was my real first time to do it on my own.  It took me TOO long, but I felt accomplished and I feel like I know my bike a little better.

There's le finished product! Though it's a bit on the flat side of life.  My hand pump just couldn't do it!  The moral of the story is:  YouTube and practice can teach how to do things pretty darn well AND my bike has gone too long without a name.  I'm taking suggestions.  Also, I will teach you how to change a bike tire if you ever need to learn--c'est easy. :)

As of 9:24 pm on April Sixth on the Two Thousand and Eleventh year of the Lord, I finished mi tesis on Mexican female students in 1968.

Deciding its time for me to remember I'm actually Venezuelan,
MJ

PS - Yes, we will play music like this at the wedding, it's also time for me to remember I'm getting murried to the Lawster.

Vinotinto

This weekend, I

...cheered on Aggie Women's Soccer in their game against IU, whoop for Aggie Sports, we won :)
...made chicken enchiladas with green salsa, queso fresco and Mexican sour cream.  yes.
...AND made more salsa and canned it, give me an apron and call me, "domestic."
...read and responded to articles about the culture of corruption in the post-colonial world
...thought about the documentary and artistic nature of photography, and got to call that work :)
---------side note: this is inspired by Mollifer, who is thankful for a God who "gives her joyful children's books to read and lets her call that 'work.'"  Similarly inspiring me to be thankful :)
...graded ...accompanied that with a Shiner ;)
...went to Oliver Winery to a wine-tasting/picnicking celebration of the engagements of me to Lawster and another friend in grad/faculty minstry to her fiance, it was such a sweet time, it was such a blessing
...debated the merits of technology with Lawster
...discussed the Reformed tradition with my roomz, good chat, and we used the phrase "frozen chosen," but what do you call the Reformies in the south??? :)
...built up the courage to bike to church with the help of the roomz, she's such a good rider, and yet so good at helping me "own my biking," I never once felt like a silly beginner, it was fantastic!
...got a message from Lawry sharing how proud he was of me for having the courage to ride across town, this made me smile and encouraged me to feel confident on my bike

No pictures this time around, but it was a memorable weekend all the same, what did you do?

Riding my bike to the local coffeeshop,
MJ

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my BIKE!

This is my old bike.  I feel like it used to have a name.  Perhaps it was named Chuck, but that seems wrong since my car is named Charlie (she's a girl).  Anyway, I like to ride my bike, so I worked on this bike (a boy) a little bit to fix the brakes, which is great, but eventually it'll need a little more love in the coming days this summer.  I like bikes 'cause you get to see so much, you work out, you don't get shinsplints, you aren't using gas (or paying for it), and you can get around so quickly.  I wish Dallas suburbs were a bit more prepared for sharing the road, cause some roads make me quite nervous to ride on or near!  Anyway, hopefully I'll bring y'all some pictures from bike rides soon :)

Ridin' around,
MJ