this little life...

so leaving for work this morning made me smile.

i ride my little 2 mile commute with a bike bag on my back. it's full of work clothes, lunch, oh and even a small purse.... it basically holds everything. jake hates that i carry all of this stuff on my back. he says it's unsafe because it messes up your balance, and is bad for your back. i say "ehhhhh". he's been pestering me for a while to put my panniers (aka storage bags) back on my bike. panniers are cool when you're doing a cross-country tour....

(for a cool version of panniers, see below.....)

but on a 4 mile round trip commute, i really think i'll take the uncomfortable, bulging bag on my back versus looking like a dork.

but jake doesn't agree. so as i'm leaving this morning, with my big ol bag on my back, jake's like "i really wish you will let me put panniers on your bike one day"... and i smile to myself, like a kid, because little did he know i was actually carrying weights in my bag too! well, let me rephrase... i carried one of my two 5 lb hand weights in to work. we work out after work and i wanted to bring in my own since i always bum Amy's  :)  I wasn't going to be an overachiever and carry 10 lbs of dead weight! so i carried in one this morning... and i had to smile to myself as Jake's reminding me how much he hates that i do that.... hopefully today is the day he doesn't read this blog....  (love you, dear :)

so then i get to our alley, and i see our "neighborhood friend", edward, who is homeless. he's a really nice guy who seems to have had a rough life. we try to offer him warm coffee when we see him, he's always really kind and gracious. and he has a huge beard, so i always think they, bearded men, somehow help eachother out  :) one time jake had a sandwich cooking in our toaster oven and he came out with it for edward. i was like "wow, now that's nice". i don't know that i'd be as generous as jake is, i'm like a bear when i'm hungry. but he makes me a better person, so it's a good thing. But, i digress....

So i ride past Edward, and say good morning! And he ignores me. which is funny becuase i know when he sees Jake 30 yards later, he won't be ignoring him  :)  but oh well, i think he has his guard up quite a bit and isn't too friendly sometimes. which i'm sure is just a part of his lifestyle. So, as one of my commandments tells me: don't take things personally.

then after i pass Edward, i see our neighbors and their cute little dog who lost one of his legs, just hobbing along, happy to be going for a walk.

and for some reason, i had to just smile at our litttle life. it was a nice smile though.