I rode my bike to the Y today. Please, hold the applause and the "woo-hoo’s." According to mapquest, it is 3.92 miles from our house to the Y. It took me 30 minutes. That seems like a long time, but I was riding fast (at least I thought so). As I was riding by the Farmer’s Market at 21st and Ridge, some nice stranger with three huge watermelons said "keep up the good work" as I rode by. Halfway through my ride I thought "what was I thinking?" I had my cell phone with me in case I need Scott to come pick me up. But I made it there and back in one piece. Now whether I’ll be able to walk tomorrow is yet to be determined. Scott rides to work about twice a week (20 miles roundtrip), so I figured I could try and ride too! Scott even rode his bike to the liquor store once. It was an emergency.

We discussed "allowances" with the boys today. Adam was all about it, asking questions and counting money. Zach was more interested in "typing letters" on my laptop (a favorite activity of both boys) and reading library books. I asked Scott where his graphs and powerpoint presentation were…he just gave me a dirty look.

After Zach "typed letters" it was Adam's turn. He asked me how many pages the computer could hold. "A hundred?" he asked. When I said, "probably more than that," he was amazed at the idea of endless typing. He filled up 57 pages using a custom color (grey) and the fonts "arial" and "webdings." Then used the "backspace" key to erase it all. He even knew how to "x out of it" (clicking on the red X in the top right hand corner) so I could "shut it down."

This week I also tried to explain why we had to pay for electricity and water. That was a tough one. The conversation started with Adam asking me "Mom, are we in debt?" Wow. That’s a loaded question.

We almost had another "vent" incident today. During rest time, Adam starts crying about Zach with monopoly dice and the floor vent. For those of you who don't know the story...a few weeks ago, Zach took his vent off and dropped a golf ball down it. Both boys got so upset (even though it was just Zach's ball that got lost) and we discussed that we NEVER drop ANYTHING down the vent. (On a side note: Adam lost a golf ball underneath the kitchen cabinet and we have a contract that when he turns 21, we'll take the cabinets off and get the ball - it's officially signed by Adam and Scott.) Since I didn't know where the ball ended up, Adam wanted me to call Uncle Steve and ask him. I told him that Uncle Steve was at work and this was not an urgent situation to interrupt him at work. So we called Aunt Sherry instead. Sometimes she knows things from being married to Steve. She told us the vents go under floor but there are so many turns and things that it would be very difficult to know where the ball was. So, today, Adam found Zach putting the dice ON TOP of the vent. He had not taken it off, but that was close enough for Adam. Zach gave me the dice and I put them in safe place. Whew! Sometimes I think (know) Zach does things like that because he knows it will get to Adam. I know I never did anything like that to my older sister.