The Monster Cookie

       
       
        The official name is The Monster Cookie Metric Century; named for the cookie provided at the finish line. It's Salem's most popular bike ride event. Event bike rides are normally not thought of with affection; but the Monster Cookie (I don't know anyone who uses the official name) holds a soft spot for me. It's not a ride that takes itself seriously:

        But is has the feel of an event:

        You can enjoy it at 10mph or at 25mph. Thus there are those in full race club kit as well as decidedly less serious attire.

        One of the many reasons I like Salem is that even in town I don't feel crammed in aside cars and inhaling their fumes. It doesn't take long to be in quiet country roads. The roads leading to and around Champoeg State Park are particularly picturesque.

         It's a flat route, which is what makes it accessible to so many levels of riders, but the distance covered gives us participants a real sense of accomplishment. We all exert ourselves- just at different speeds.





Geri's Office Revisited

        This was the state of Geri's office as of July 2013.

        Last Summers' remodel did accomplish one of our objectives which was to decompress this room's shelves. Despite the addition of  95 linear feet of shelving, Geri's bookshelves are still densely populated.

       We also needed some storage for her painting supplies which up until the Fall were in the upstairs room along with her work desk. We had seen a repurposed metal filing cabinet which we considered. We tend to procrastinate with items that are either bulky or expensive; thus several months of considering our options went by. With the need for another bedroom to allow for my mom's extended visits, this turned out to be a good thing. Our bed alcove necessitated moving Geri's work table into her office. The daybed in turn became the bed for the guest bedroom.
       It had been our goal to have the upstairs as an area where we could both work on projects and "visit" while we work. The reality is that our free time to do non-work projects seldom coincides. So Ger's art worktable was better off in her office.  We were both happy with the new arrangement as her office seemed much more spacious.
       A new goal was to keep the floors as free of stuff as possible. Thus a cabinet was out for storage. Geri thought a drawer for the desk would be a better solution which gave me good reason to get back in my shop and kept us from shopping for storage. The new drawer has ample space for paint brushes, tubes etc.

       While admiring all that free floor space, it reminded me that I never did put in baseboards or finish the closet door trim.

       I get to put that off as we both agreed that the room really would look great with hardwood floors- another project, maybe this summer!