I Biked to Work Today!

It was necessary.

Not long ago, I was tutoring three girls, for a total of eight hours a week, not including the driving time of three and a half hours. I was gone from my house about fifty hours a week, maybe more. And that was fine--I was making a little extra money, I loved all of my girls, and I had excuses to eat out because I was always driving somewhere!

The problem is, between the eating out, the driving around, and the occasional stops at Target while driving around (!) I don't think I ever broke even. Whoops.

While I didn't want to cut back on my tutoring--after all, I liked having more pretty things, and boy do I like going to Target--that decision was just made for me last week, as two of my girls apparently got LIVES, and decided they could no longer squeeze me in! BOO! (You two--if you're reading this, I miss you!)

And that is the problem with tutoring, especially tutoring for something specific, like the SATs. If you're good (and I am) you end up tutoring yourself out of a job!

Oh well. All good things must come to an end, and all that. The point is, with all this free time, can you guess what I've been doing?

a. Rebuilding my sofa so that it doesn't break anytime anyone heavier than I am sits down on it.
b. Sewing my ceiling valance.
c. Preparing my house for my houseguests at the end of JUNE.
d. Sitting on my butt and eating Mac and Cheeze by the panful.

(If you guessed a, b, or c, I AM a tutor. I can help you with this block about standardized tests. Call me.)

Therefore, biking to work was ABSOLUTELY necessary today. However, it does occur to me that perhaps I should have gotten on the bike for a few test runs, as the last time I remember riding a bike was in middle school, and I'm embarrassed to say how long ago that was. Perhaps jumping on the bike and riding for ten miles, the very first day I had ridden a bike in over ten years, was a rash decision.

And I do mean rash. Thoughts on bike-riding:

1. I either need to get a more comfortable seat or padded pants. Or both. Ouch.
2. Biking in full daylight seems pretty safe--everyone saw me.
3. I was worried about sweat. I do have a little sweat, but no one has keeled over yet, and most importantly, I have no sweat on my face--probably because of the wind.
4. DRINK MORE WATER.
5. Eat more fruit! For some reason, I'm craving fruit--I brought an orange with me, but sadly, it's mostly bad--I ate a few sections and threw the rest away. I'm dying for a banana. Why? WHO KNOWS.
6. Airport Way seems really flat in a car. It's not so flat on a bike.
7. If I had known it would be that hard, I never would have done it...
8...But I have a huge sense of accomplishment and might do it again tomorrow!
9. Pretty sure I'm taking the bus home--the few hills I had to climb killed me. And it's ALLLLL uphill on the way back.
10. I thought my bag would be pretty light, considering I took almost everything out except my computer and my food. It wasn't anywhere near light enough.

But hey, I burned calories and saved money, and I defy anyone to come up with a better way to do both things at once!

Because I have 486 weddings and a bachelorette party on a cruise coming up. And I WILL look good. If it kills me.