I have been ASSIMILATED!

I am so proud of myself! I completed and passed the motorcycle endorsement class! I can now legally ride a motorcycle! And I think I'm pretty much the only one out of my friends who even wanted to ride (well, aside from Bakerella, but she was already a rider when I met her). And already, Bakerella has added me to two Crackbook groups for female motorcycle riders. There is only so much assimilation a girl can handle at once.

I am saddle sore from riding the bike for like 10 hours this past weekend. But now all I think about is getting on Devildog's bike as soon as I can, to put the training to practice before I lose my nerve, confidence and skill. Except this week is crazy busy and I'm feeling overwhelmed thinking about my schedule right now. So, after this crazy week, I'm probably going to want to go ride so I can unwind a bit. Then come home and knit a little bit to unwind some more. And then have a drink. The drink has to come after the first two, because drinking with either one of those ends badly. At least with the knitting, you can get a do-over.

Taking Clone to school this morning, I asked her what she thought of me learning to ride a motorcycle. She very excitedly said "I think it's AWESOME! Hardly any moms ride motorcycles, so I think it's really cool." I doubt she'll still think I'm as cool in 5 years because we'll be in the throes of adolescence and probably peri-menopause too, but that's ok. I'll deal with it by getting on a bike and going for a ride. I've heard it called "wind therapy". I look forward to being able to go pick her up from the bus stop on the bike though. THAT indeed will be cool, because not many kids get picked up from the bus stop on a motorcycle either.

And yes, I do realize that I am creating additional monsters here. Me riding means I'm going to eventually get my own bike, or get Devildog's when he upgrades. My girls are likely going to be raised around motorcycles, and may end up learning to ride as well. I am not sure about the boys, but I suspect at least one of them may be interested. And a family of riders is cool too. But as a mom, I find it important to visibly demonstrate to my kids that you can indeed step out of your comfort zone and learn something new and accomplish out of the ordinary things. They've seen me learn to crochet, then learn to knit. They're watching Devildog go through college courses, with the goal of getting a nursing degree. They're watching me learn to ride a motorcycle. Yes, we like to do slightly atypical things around here. It's why I bugged Devildog for years to get me my own set of tools. I am just not normal.

And those kinds of things make life more interesting and fun. I look forward to watching my kids navigate their own adventures in the coming years. I guess I better start working on decluttering the garage a lot more ;)