Brakes only work if they are ON THE GROUND

So 7 wanted to ride the scooters down the hill, a short hill, nothing like what I did back in the day on my much less reliable skateboard (although to him, perhaps it would appear the same). He had on his bike helmet but we couldn't find mine, so I told him I would just not crash. Right? Right!

So we push ourselves up the hill, then down we go down the hill. I am picking up speed, since I outweigh a 7 year old, go figure. I start to pump the brakes...the suddenly discovered to be barely existent brakes. The pace does not slow much. I am not sure what to do, so I turn toward a patch of grass ('cause if you are going to crash head first, grass is softer) and after that, who knows what truly happened except for my head banging into the grass and dirt, blood pouring out of the corner of my eye, a dent in my forehead, dirt and road rash (from GRASS!) on my shoulder and both knees. Luckily, my husband is napping this afternoon so I could clean my sorry self up in the shower before he could freak out about it.

I am not sure a helmet would have helped except for the whole "you look like a prize fighter who lost" thing. While my eye is hurting badly, my shoulder is by far the worst of all injuries. Thank heavens I don't need it for my spin class tomorrow, much.

I just wish I would stop bleeding.

So the moral of today's story is to never use a scooter without checking its brakes first. That thing is HISTORY - and it's 9's so he is going to be pissed until he sees my battered face.

ThatGirl

The artsy-fartsy day

Today, I took a well-deserved day off from work and completed an ambitious schedule. My DH has been with the boys daily since the July 4 holiday, so he took the chance for a day off to do whatever the heck he wanted.

My neighbor, who is the art teacher at the local elementary school, had never been to the Grounds for Sculpture (www.groundsforsculpture.org) so we made plans to take her, her 10 year old boy and 11, 9 and 7 over to visit.

After grad school last night, I woke up early to hit the gym. My BOSU step class was not what I imagined and I felt gypped - and it hurt my knees a bit to try to master the BOSU. Tomorrow morning is TKO, an insane class that is sooooooo hard and rewarding. After the BOSU class this morning, I picked up some food (shrimp, pepperoni, cheese chunks, a hoagie, capri suns, ice for the cooler) and packed everything in my minivan then we trekked across the state to visit.

This place is beautiful. We walked for hours while the boys alternated between shouting out in the joy of discovery and being just plain mean to each other. Oh, the joy. My absolute favorite painting of all time is Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party" which is replicated in life-size sculpture at the Grounds, right on the river. We had to cross Monet's bridge to get there, so it was a double whammy. All I could think was how pleased I was to share this with an art teacher who had never been there.

While we examined the Luncheon sculpture, my neighbor took pictures of me pretending that I was invited to the party. In retrospect, they look rather incongruous, but it was fun at the time. If I ever figure out how to put in photos, you all can see it for yourself.

A very rewarding day off, even if I didn't make it to the beach.

ThatGirl

Turtle

In New Jersey, you are allowed to own a turtle, but you are not allowed to buy a turtle. It is one of those idiosyncratic laws that makes New Jersey such an amusing state to everyone but its residents.

This morning, on the way to work, I saw a teeny, tiny terrapin turtle in the roadway, so turned around in our parking lot here at the reserve and went back to save it from certain doom. I jumped out of my minivan and started to cross the street when a big truck rumbled up and crushed it dead. It was horrifying to see the little turtle, hunched over and alive one second, flipped over with limbs sticking out dead the next second, blood smeared on the road.

What a way to start the day!
:-(