Let the training begin

It has been a busy few weeks since my last post.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• March 15th-Congratulations to all of my Sycamore School band students for superb performances at the ISSMA Organization Festival-both bands earned gold ratings!
• March 16th-Rick and I had the opportunity to go to BGI's annual sale and purchase our biking equipment!  It was an amazing experience.  More about that below.
• March 22nd-29th-Our entire family had the amazing opportunity to travel with Rick's bands to Ireland.  It was an awesome trip, full of visits to historic sites and concerts.  It also was also an opportunity for me to take on the task of writing a blog for all of the parents and friends of the 120+ travelers!  It was like a trial run for our Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship blog and a chance for me to see how things will work when we travel to Austria this summer.  The Ireland blog had close to 7,500 page views and lots of comments from appreciate parents.  It was an excellent learning opportunity for me and a great tool to keep everyone here updated on our travels. 
• March 31st-My first ride on my new bike!  Okay, so it was only around our neighborhood with the kids, but it was still pretty awesome!  I can't wait to go on a longer ride, hopefully with Rick.

So, more about the bike buying expedition...

We were able to make arrangements for a babysitter in the afternoon because although our children are excellent "helpers" in the store, this really seemed like an event that needed all of our undivided attention!  It isn't every day that you are spending this amount of money on a bike and equipment that will last such a long time. 

When we were writing our grant proposals in the fall, we visited BGI to get quotes on the equipment we would like to get for our trip and to prepare for our ride in Austria.  We will actually rent bikes in Austria, but in order to train for the trip we included bikes for us to use here leading up to our adventure.  In other words, we had a shopping list of sorts based on our grant proposal.  However, it was still a bit overwhelming!  If you've ever had the opportunity to go to the BGI spring sale, you know exactly what I am talking about!  They have tents full of bikes and the store is full of clothing and equipment...all on SALE!  After a few hours of shopping, we were able to get nicer bikes than we originally budgeted for due to the sale, and I was also able to get shoes, a helmet and some clothing.  It was like Christmas in March.  I think the strangest feeling was that of just spending the money without the internal debate of "this could pay for XXX piano or clarinet lessons" or "I can't spend this money on me when I know that the kids all need new XXX for school"!  Through the entire shopping trip the one thing that I couldn't stop thinking was how incredibly lucky we are to have this opportunity!

Next up, training, more reading, and getting ready for a summer of bassoon and conducting lessons.
Until next time, here are a few photos from our shopping experience:

My new bike.  Rick thinks it looks very girly, but I don't care!  The guy that helped me with my selection thought I was nutty, I think, because I couldn't get over the difference in how this bike feels compared to my pre-1995 model Huffy I am used to riding!

Rick's new TREK bike.  I love that his is so bright!  You'll be able to see him coming!