Dragonflies, Butterflies & Lady Bugs

Spring in the Midwest

I finally bought my bike today. It's been about a year since Jeff and the girls got theirs. Since I was about eight and a half months pregnant at the time, it didn't seem like a good bet to test drive. But today I did, and I got a really cool bike. We also bought one of those cool baby wagons for Nina Bina.

We went on a ride down Constitution Trail to downtown Normal, where we had a drink at the Coffeehouse and then rode back home. I am somewhat ashamed to say it is the first time I've been on Constitution Trail in the three and a half years I've lived here.

It was gorgeous today, so much so that I felt a pang of anxiety over moving back to the grueling heat of Arizona. The fruit trees are blooming, perfuming the air, and all the beautiful spring green leaves are unfurling on trees and bushes like babies stretching after a long nap. The temp today was in the mid-seventies and there was a slight breeze (unlike yesterday with gale force winds).

Spring and autumn are the two seasons I most enjoy in the Midwest, though really, I like them all. It's perfect -- about the time I'm sick of the current season, the next one comes along and I'm happy. Summer is great because even though it can get pretty hot during the day, it cools right down at night. Even the days are occasionally cool, and I like that break. The fact that summer only lasts three to three and a half months is a bonus too. I even like winter. The crispness of the air at night, when the moon is full and my breath hangs in the air when I exhale... and the sparkly snow reflecting that moonlight. Mmm.

So anyway, I bought a bike and not a car. We're still shopping/discussing that option. I made the suggestion today that maybe we should see which vehicle would have the better trade value (Jeff has a '00 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab to my '01 Chrysler T&C minivan) since the truck really only has a slight advantage over the van in terms of what it can carry. Jeff looked like a little boy whose dog just got ran over when I said it, and I could tell he had already realized I would bring it up and has been dreading it for weeks.

Jeff's truck is his toy, somehow a reflection of his ... what? Manliness? Success? Prowess? Hell, I don't know, but he acts like I'm taking his candy away when I even suggest that maybe we should see if getting rid of it would be more beneficial financially, so I'll put that discussion away for now.

Still lots to do before we can seriously get out of Illinois. The way things are going, we may dodge that summer in Arizona after all. Tonight Jeff and I are supposed to write up a schedule. It won't, I'm afraid, include hiring help. But at least it's something, and I'm going to push that if he gets a certain amount behind schedule, we have to hire help. He'll agree, in his passive/aggressive way, and then still sulk when he falls behind schedule and I remind him of his promise. Ah, the joys of married life.

Okay, off to do pilates, and maybe a bellydance tape. Tomorrow is my second to last meeting with the personal trainer. I guess I need to start thinking about whether or not I'll buy some more sessions with her. I probably will, maybe one more time. It's a good motivator.

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