So omegabeth and I rode from Boston to Provincetown on Saturday, on a tandem bike borrowed from moominmolly and dilletante.

What happened?

• Tandems are way cool. Everyone we rode with seemed to be cheered up just having a tandem on the road. We became known to the rest of the riders, and later, by apparently random people in Provincetown, as "those crazy tandem people."
• omegabeth did not keel over and die from biking on her broken ankle.
• omegabeth actually finished in way better shape than I did.  By the end of the ride, she was doing the bulk of the hard cranking.
• omegabeth is clearly a mutant who has supernormal healing powers and possibly an adamantium endoskeleton.
• Good bike fit is really important.  Really really important. Like, as important as you thought it was, and then more important than that.  I did an okay job of sizing the tandem to me, but "okay" is not good enough, especially for a trip like this.  I finished the ride with severe numbness in the ring and little fingers of both hands, and profoundly diminished gripping strength.  Right now I can barely turn a key in a lock, put on my socks, or write my name.  Calling the doctor first thing in the morning.
• As important as it is to wear sunscreen, for the love of god remember not to wear it on your face. Because then when you start sweating, it melts and trickles down your forehead into your eyes, and it stings and you can't see and THAT WILL MAKE YOU DIE.

I have many many heroes today, but especially keyne and kids for their love and ongoing support of my madness, moominmolly and dilletante for the loan of their contraption and for invaluable technical advice, soong and sandhawke for sharing their homes (sometimes unexpectedly), bubblebabble and bitty for sharing their home and for gamely going along with our insane plans, inseriatim for repaying the favor and registering me when I started acting lame, and omegabeth for being such an amazing, untiring, perpetually upbeat and inspiring ride partner.  This life is sometimes an amazing place to be.

Ellen: "After you've done that, Dad will take you out and show you where the compost pile is."

Morgan: ...

Morgan: "Why?"

Ellen: "So then you can take the compost out!"

Morgan (dubiously): "Why would I want that?"

Me: "It's all the rage!  Everybody loves the compost pile!"

Morgan: "Great.  You do it."

Me: "I already do it.  I just like sharing the wealth."

Morgan: "I don't want your millions, mister."

There are three things in particular that I feel especially thankful for this year.

I'm thankful that, after so many years and so much work, we get to spend Thanksgiving at Mosaic Commons.  I love spending this day cooking and socializing with friends and family, and I love it even more now that taking a break from dinner prep means going for a stroll and stopping in at friends' houses for a glass of wine and to wish them a happy holiday.  It's amazing what a difference it makes.

I'm thankful that at this time, this year, keyne and I are in a much better place than we have been in a long time.  We are doing much better at working with and communicating with each other about the hard stuff of life, and I'm incredibly grateful for the work that we have done to get here.

And I'm thankful for my friends.  I'm always thankful for my friends, but I'm not accustomed to leaning on them.  Lately things have been really hard for me, and I've found myself leaning on you a lot, and it's given me a chance to discover just what an amazing, thoughtful, resourceful, brilliant band of brigands you are.

So this is me.  Giving you my thanks.  And if for any reason you think I'm not talking about you.... you're wrong.  I mean you, too.

Quinn: Do you know what I'm going to get for Christmas?  A box of TOOLS!

Me: You're what?

Quinn: With an AXE and a SAW!

Me: Exactly how do you think this is going to happen?

Quinn: I'm going to put it on my list!  And Santa knows what you want!

Ellen: Quinn, you already have a toy axe and saw.

Quinn: I mean a REAL one.

Ellen and me: ...

Quinn: And batteries!  And a CHAINSAW!

Ellen: Has daddy been showing you The Shining?

I do not say this nearly often enough, so on this day in particular I want to express my deep love and gratitude for my life partner keyne.  For many reasons, of course, not including her love and support and patience with my many quirks, but for one reason especially that is on my mind right now:

She does the taxes so's I don't have to.

Great guns almighty, you rock, babe.

-

We had an hour or so without the children on Saturday, and wanted to relax and play a game. We settled on UpWords, which is sort of like Scrabble except you get to change existing words by stacking tiles on top of each other.

"What do the rules say about legal words?" Ellen asked ( craftily. )

Every now and then you've gotta have a good day.

Three times today, I solved someone else's knotty, hair-pulling problem so fast that it made them say, "Wow."

A co-worker found the elusive spare webcam that I'd been trying to locate for ages.

Tonight I have a hot date with a gorgeous redhead.

And today... ( just to cap it all off: )

Sometimes you've just gotta have a good day.

It's been kind of a stressy few days. The weekend was nice and relaxing, hanging out with just Quinn and my parents and not trying to get anything done. But in between getting ready for keyne's trip with Morgan, and the trip itself, and the aftermath, we kind of dropped the ball on preparing Morgan for going back to school. I somehow thought school was starting on Wednesday and didn't discover until late Monday night that it was the next morning. He seems to have dealt okay, but wow do I feel like the careless parent.

Plus, with all the mayhem it feels like E and I haven't gotten to spend much time together in the last week, which always makes me feel discombobulated.

Today it was grey and dingy when I woke up. The forecast said "showers" in Bedford and Cambridge, so I figured I'd go ahead with my usual ride to work, but when I got to Arlington it was more like "torrential downpour." Well, at least it was warm rain.

Then in Cambridge I got not one. But two. Flat tires. I changed the first while huddling under the eaves of a drugstore on Somerville Ave. The tire blew out again about a ten-minute walk from the office, so I'm going to have to figure out some time this afternoon what's up with it.

I don't want to jinx myself -- especially since I know this isn't true and I don't want to tempt fate -- but it really seems like things can't go anywhere but up from here today. I have swallowed the live frog of my destiny.

Quick attempt at a recap before I fall over in bed.

Friday. After work, a marvelous date with weegoddess. Had planned to see Harry Potter on opening night, but that's a bit tricky when you can't plan far enough ahead to buy tickets in advance. Had a delightful time anyway, over dinner, walking through the public gardens at night and coffee at Caffe Bella.

And may I just say? REDHEADS. YUM.

Thank you.

Saturday. Took Morgan to the fire truck wash in the morning. The boy is getting jaded about the whole thing. When I suggested it, the first thing he said was, "Will there be snacks there, like last year?" When we got to the fire station, he immediately satisfied his craving for fruit punch and mini-muffins, then desultorily washed the pumper truck for about ten minutes before deciding he wanted to play hide and seek. Surely Quinn will have some interest next time, assuming he doesn't nap right through the whole thing again.

Later: took Morgan to his grandparents' for an overnight visit, went with keyne to tamidon's margarita party. BOY HOWDY was that a fun time. Many familiar and not-so-familiar faces... the most pleasant surprise being running into weegoddess again, of course.

Sunday. Took Quinn to join his brother at Bunny and Boppa's for lunch, so that keyne and I could get a much-needed date. We got off on the wrong foot in just about every possible way, but eventually got ourselves out the door, and mostly managed to make it work. Had brunch at Johnny D's in Somerville -- fun. A nice time even if way too short.

Monday. Well, you know. Monday. Bleh. But it was mitigated by getting to see Harry Potter on the whompin' big IMAX screen at the New England Aquarium, with my dad. My dad is a great movie companion, often noticing and pointing out little details in the acting or direction I might not have noticed. Got a late supper at Legal Sea Food afterward, which manifestly did not suck.

Tuesday. Today. Got home late. After putting the boys down, keyne and I collapsed on the couch, trying to unwind. I finally put on A Mighty Wind, which we've been waiting for months to see, and that seemed to be what we needed -- sweet, goofy, relaxing movie.

Plenty of good stuff. Still need to remember to make myself alone-time, though, or I start to feel like I'm drowning.