motorcycle moma….ha!

As a young child, I stood by and watched as my three older brothers and father all learned how to ride motorcycles. When I was a teenager, I expressed my desire to learn to ride; my mother would say to me, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with one leg or one arm?” Not really, I thought. Basically she scared the living daylights out of me and I became fearful of bikes in general.

Fast forward many, many moons, and my daughter, while in High School, says to me, “I want to learn to ride a motorcycle.” I replied without a thought, “Ah…. no way, not going to happen. Do you want to spend the rest of your life with only one leg or arm?”

OMG! I looked around and saw myself in my daughter and my mother in myself. Even with that visual, I stood my ground for the remainder of her senior year. The next fall she was of age and living in the Big Apple, and I just knew she wasn’t going to let it go. She did all the research on her own and told me what “we” needed to do, and we did it. I would never have done any of this without her. It was her steadfast and strong desire (some may call it relentless nagging), that pulled (forced me to give-in before going insane) me along, and helped us accomplish “the goal.”

Last weekend we completed the Basic Rider Coarse together, and passed all requirements for a full motorcycle license. We have matching full face helmets, hers is flat black, and mine is shining black. We have matching over the ankle boots and riding gloves. These items match for no other reason than we both needed everything for the class and we shopped together at the last minute.

My daughter actually scored better on her evaluation than I did, so she has bragging rights, but she returns to college soon and the bike, pictured above, will be staying in Ohio. It was an exciting, and at times, a nerve racking experience. I am so happy that we were together sharing the drama; the extra moral support was incredibly comforting to both of us.

In my house, girls are the bikers, and the boys are on the sidelines …..girls rule - boys drool….. at least for the summer of 2008.

new old love

limelight hydrangea

Limelight has unique bright green blooms in mid-summer that holds its bright and refreshing color right into autumn when the blooms change color to a rich deep pink. The new hardy hydrangea is from Holland. It is a breathtaking addition to my garden!

Scroll down for larger photo- this photo looks like a wedding to me.

r.i.p. Heath

Saw The Dark Night on Imax today (road trip to Pittsburgh). I left the theater truly and sincerely sad about Heath Ledger's death, as he was brilliant in this role. Brilliant.

2 thin 2 win

Okay, this does it. This is so freaking ridiculous that I am hereby pledging to take a break from the media and anything to do with the primary campaign for now. I know who I am voting for, and I will continue my support to that cause. I won’t be a part of petty conversations that have to do with the nit-picking of Barack Obama. Most recent attack Barack's weight. The article in the WSJ-Too Fit to Be President?- just makes me want to cringe.

Most obese people have eaten themselves sick. America is obese; diabetes is soaring to epidemic levels. By the year 2030, 11.2 percent of U.S. adults are expected to have the condition. Obesity is the strongest modifiable risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. This is a major problem for our country, our children and our health care system. The numbers are staggering.

Yesterday in Costco, we noticed several people who have become so large they no longer can walk on their own. Can you imagine, eating so much that you become so fat, yes fat; you can not walk on your own?

If you read my blog at all, you know that I am working to get into shape; yes I have weight to lose. Yes, it is difficult and yes, I think that Obama deserves credit for not being fat. I think instead of being picked apart, he should be praised. Also I think that anyone, who knows how difficult it is to stay fit, would be the first to understand that praise is very well deserved.

From the WSJ article we are to believe that Americans, cannot relate to Obama, and therefore may not vote for Obama, because he's not fat like us and because he exercises and eats healthy foods. That is total bs. The article is nothing more than another smear campaign based on unfounded prejudices. America, more then ever, deserves, wants, and needs an intelligent and healthy president, even if he is thinner than 66% of the voting-age population.

I am still in shock and still very, very disappointed in the general population.