In case you are all bored throughout the day and want to stop by and chat, I’m over here tweeting away…It’s fun, and you’re all welcome to stop by and post a comment.  Tell me you’re eating something fabulous, drop dead tired, whatever you are up to, stop by Twitter and post a comment! 

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This is an open invitation to all you husbands and parents out there wondering what to get for the mother of your children or your daughter or your daughter in-law for Mother’s Day. Readers, feel free to pass this on to your significant other.

After reading many quotes on the quote garden, here is the one the rings truest to me:

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

We give constantly all day long and very rarely take time for ourselves. On this Mother’s Day, please take care of your mother and yourself, if you are a mother. Yes, we’d like new fancy gadgets but there are many things you could do for us that doesn’t involve money at all. Such as the gift of time, probably the most precious commodity, yet tossed around with carelessness too often. We’d like trips to the movies, to read a book, to have the laundry done without asking, dishes put away. To me, it’s the simple stuff that would make the biggest difference. But I also came up with my own list because I know some of you would rather get a gift:

TIME: Give the mother you know time to be “off duty”. Let her go take a yoga class, take a nap, read a book, get a pedicure, whatever they want for the afternoon free of guilt.

Keen Commuter Sandals. These shoes have built in pedals for those of us who ride around town but don’t want to change our shoes when we get there! I have been salivating over these for months! There are not too many shoes that you can buy with BUILT IN CLEATS…

Cook a Healthy Meal and Do The Dishes.

Stylish, yet, conservative pajamas to be worn around the house.

Dress by Athleta

GARMIN Forerunner 305

Messenger Bag

Healthy, Frozen ready to prepare meals by Dream Dinners, Gourmet Station, etc..

Skirt Sports Running Skirt Black

Moms Rock Tank Tops

To all you mom readers, I wish you a fantastic mother’s day!

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The results are in..DRUMROLL PLEASE!!

I can hit the ball.

I can field the ball.

I can throw the ball.

I can even have fun doing it!

Tonight’s game went much smoother than last week. No meltdown’s such as “I can’t play catcher” or “Oh Lord, I have to hit the ball now, holy cow.” I got two RBI’s again and two strike outs. First lesson is to learn how to run PAST first base (Duhhhh). Some mental block in my brain is telling me to slow down before I get there and I need to get over that. I got some batting practice with hubby between innings and that gave me a little confidence when it was my turn to bat. Batting hurts my hands, though. Lots to learn on this Friday night date of ours, but mostly, it’s a fun, social outing for us.

What’s your best date night with your spouse?

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School years come to a close with the annual teachers versus the students’ softball game. As the physical education teacher for so many years, my job was to teach the skills: throwing, batting, catching, fielding. That’s it. I never played softball myself- not even in college. As a student myself, one year of softball after school as a sixth grader was enough for me. I had no skills and I didn’t want to look like a fool. Still don’t.

Fast forward 10 years: I married a baseball fan. In fact, he loves baseball so much that I had to make a rule about no baseball at the dinner table with one exception being the “World Series Rules”. He also enjoys softball, apparently played recreational softball for years before I met him…so this leads me to my first ever coed softball game on Friday night. We were invited to play and I thought it would be a great way to get “out” with my husband and do something together. It’d be fun for the marriage. Have some laughs together as adults without children. So, this leads me to my first EVER game of softball.

Honestly, the thought of playing at 9 O’clock at night did NOT appeal to me. The boys were not going to be taken out of their beds, so that mommy and daddy could play ball. I’d been battling a sinus infection and sleep deprivation, and I really didn’t want to go. I dragged my feet finding a babysitter…found one and she canceled at 4pm and I was relieved!! I’d send Paul and be off the hook. Well, the team didn’t want Paul! They needed me because I was a girl. DARN IT!! So, Paul was going to stay home with the kids and I’d go play. NO WAY!!! I was not having any part of that. In the end, we found a babysitter with 45 minutes to spare.

Arrival: I got a loaner glove and start playing catch with hubby. He was throwing the ball really hard. I caught about five before he really blasted one into the glove. My hand was on fire! “No more catch with you!” This is going well, five minutes into this thing and I’m already hurting. I’m assigned catcher. I freaked out!!! I’ve never played this game before and they want me to play catcher. “Why can’t I go hide in the outfield?” Catcher is the safest place for you..

There were three other women all much older than me and they started giving me pointers immediately.
“Get out of the way of the incoming balls!”

“Let the pitcher get people out.”

“Wait for the pitched ball to come down low before you swing.”

“I broke my collarbone two years ago when playing pitcher because I didn’t get out of the way of a runner and he slide right into me.”

So, good looking Umpire is standing there waiting for me to get behind the plate. I introduce myself as “Hi I’m the fool who’s playing catch tonight and I have never played this game, EVER”. He smirked and said “ok”. Not a very talkative umpire. He didn’t tell me anything. No pointers, no where to stand, no rules, no counts, nothing…I finally worked up my courage to ask how long we played. Seven innings or 1 hour ten minutes, yikes! So, the catching part went fine. Pitcher pitches the ball and I wait for it to land before picking it up, no big deal. Runner’s coming home, just move the bat and get out of the way….I was just barely figuring out the rules of strikes, balls, fouls when the game ended. As far as my “at bats”, struck out twice, and hit two RBI’s. Paul called them “seeing eye singles” or something like that. I don’t know, I just know I hit the ball and ran to first base. After that I waited on the coaches to tell me when to run. “Run on contact.” Ok, so I ran. Managed to cross home plate and get a point for the team.

In retrospect, I had a good time. Batting was intimidating, running the bases was scary, but the catching part was easy. If I can get over the fear of a swinging bat hitting me in the head or a 60 MPH softball hitting me, it should be a good time!

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Whether you’re a competitive cyclist, avid mountain biker, downhill racer, dual slalom racer, kid or spouse there is something for everyone at this event.  The best part for me has always been the shopping.  I love to seek out the new and different- particularly products for women.  It’s also a place for retailers to introduce new products to the public.  Paul was particularly excited to try out Blue, a bicycle company that makes both road and mountain bike.  Frame and fork (road) from Blue Bicycles made out of carbon fiber costs the same as the Zipp 404 wheels ($2100)!  

My-Alibi’s prototypes are out!  She has cute little capri pants, skirts and tops to match.  Hopefully in the next year, we will be able to purchase a complete outfit.  Abbie modeled the clothing while riding around the event.   The bloomers under are tiny…just barely bigger than a pair of undies from Victoria Secret.  I can’t wait to try out my pair!

Dude Girl was VERY popular at the expo.   Kim (owner of Dude Girl) was one of the few companies offering products for women and she had a LOT of product- mostly cotton tees, tanks, yoga pants, and cycling clothes.   

Women who ride is a women’s cycling club.  It is sponsored by Trek and is designed to help women get out and ride.  The club fee is $39.  They gave me a great introductory book on cycling.  Each month they have a raffle for a free bike frame and various other goodies.

Safety Seat  (looks like a green frog) bicycle carrier is a seat for children to ride in the front.   The seat is designed to hold your child up to age 4.   Personally, the jury is still out on this one.  My youngest is HUGE for his age and I would be concerned about crashing- as he would be the first to hit the ground.

Loeka another women’s cycling company that offers very stylish clothing for mountain biking.  The company is Canadian and you can check them out on You Tube here.

Many, many, energy drinks offered this year.  I don’t understand the need for so many energy drinks.  Why can’t we drink water?   Of the three I tried, only one was sweetened with sugar while the others were either high fructose corn syrup or Splenda.

Overall, the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey did not disappoint.  My one request would be for more women’s products to be showcased here.  I’d like to see bikes, saddles, gear, and/ or messenger bags designed for women.  I think women would be more inclined to try it, if there were more women doing it! You could also broaden your horizon by offering clinics for women on how to ride a mountain bike or how to pick a road bike or how to change a tire– anything that would make women feel encouraged and inspired to get out and ride!

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