I'm a random talker a new bike and NOT making do!

Chicky babe says that I am a random talker! As if that was not already obvious, considering my blogging! But I'd not actually thought about it before. Yes I do have 'random' conversations with the people I meet, complete strangers in shopping centers, the line at the bank, the waitress in the coffee shop. I hadn't considered it strange until now.

Apparently I'm "a medium random talker leaning slightly to an excessive random talker but not in a creepy way." Thanks Chicky Babe. Teenagers! Don't they know just what to say. This discussion came about because one of the sleep over crew thought I was a bit strange because I kept talking to her when she came into the room. Silly me. I thought I was being polite and friendly making them all feel welcome. Chicky Babe told her not to worry that I had random conversations with everyone.

I'm not going to stop though because I like the conversations and connections that I have with strangers. I could not imagine everyone going about their day and never speaking to someone just because they haven't been introduced. I think that would lead to further disconnection between people in our world. Blogs help me have random conversations with people around the globe. Better not tell Chicky Babe she will think I have now become an excessive random talker!

Today I bought myself a new bike. It is beautiful. I work very close to my home and thought I really should ride a bike to work. I did have a very old, old bike that I tried to ride to school one day. I nearly died. I was so embarrassed, I was dreadfully unfit. I did have a chest infection so that formed part of the problem. Then a friend of mine said, ' You do realise that your tyres are stuffed they are as flat as a pancake and that makes it impossible to ride!"

Thank God. It wasn't just me. So I was on the look out for a new bike, I wanted one that I could sit in a more upright position. I really didn't like the flat handle bars of the modern bikes. I found some called hybrid bikes, they were OK but they still looked like your average bike. I had french baguettes, a bottle of wine, a picnic and a pretty floral frock in mind and they just didn't fit. Then I saw this one....

My New Bike

I didn't relly want to spend as much as I did but once I saw it I just couldn't make do with the other ones. The hand grips are leather and have pink cross stitching on them. It just so matched the image in my head. A friend laughed at me, she is just so practical and finds it amusing that I am so influenced by aesthetics. (It comes from being an artist, however I do have a practical side in that I did decide not to get the particularly funky red bike that had only one speed. This one has three gears and so this satisfies both aesthetic and practical needs! If not my bank balance needs!) Having spent so much I will be compelled to use it. (Maybe, I hope)

The little dog in the basket is "Dusty the Dog"a character I will be using in my class. Chicky Babe is helping me to take photos of him and write some captions of his activities and adventures. We are going to take him to lunch at the local shopping center with my sister and her daughters tomorrow. The kids in my class will be able to take him home and continue his adventures at their places, draw or write about it and then share his stories with the rest of the class.

Dusty at a Christmas Party

Dusty Plays the Piano. (I'm not sure about his singing voice!)

With school starting again next week I will need to start thinking about that and spending my time making things for the class. I've changed from an upper primary class to a junior class and I'm teaching art again. HOORAY!!! I didn't realise how much I'd miss it when I transfered. In order to leave a difficult school that I had been at for over a decade I had to leave the art position behind and go back into mainstream. Now I have the best of both worlds. I think I will enjoy the smaller kids as they will be more willing to 'play' and imagine with me.

Now I'm off to make alphabet charts!