I've killed Ira!

I just got back from the bike shop. Last night I went for a bike ride on my Klein, whose name is Ira (I thought a Klein needed a nice, strong Jewish name like Ira, plus Ira Klein is a good play on words for a bike - Ira Klein, I recline? - haha!), and when I got home, I forgot he was up on the roof of my car and I tried to pull into the garage. I heard this horrible noise and it took me a minute to realize that it was Ira screaming in pain. My husband was actually not mad at me; he said it was just a matter of time before one of us forgot that a bike was on top of the car, and he was glad it was me hurting my bike instead of him hurting my bike. (And I'm sure he's also glad that he didn't hurt his bike, although he won't say that out loud.) Anyway, I took it in to the shop this morning to see what needed to be done to fix him, and the mechanic took one look at it and told me it's trashed. I'm SO BUMMED. I've had him for 6 years, and he's done nothing but be good to me. And what did I do? Kill him. Fortunately I have another bike, so I'm not going to be without wheels, but it's a racing bike, and although I love her to death (her name is Pearl because she's white, gold and silver, and the paint job on it makes it look like she's got long flowing hair), she's more suited to racing rather than just a regular ol' training ride. So what's going to happen from here is the mechanic will assess the damage and we'll get our insurance company to give us a check for the retail value of the bike. From there we can buy a new frame and put the components of Ira that weren't hurt on it. But, I don't know how long that process is going to take, and I can be somewhat impatient, so this is going to drive me crazy. I guess I can look at it this way: I've got a half-Ironman triathlon next weekend, so I'm going to ride Pearl this week to get used to being on her (ooh - that sounded dirty!) again, then maybe by that time I can get a new training bike. But I really loved Ira! This sucks.

On the knitting front, I got my short row rib scarf done and it's lovely. Hopefully it'll fetch a good bid at the silent auction. I'm working on a felted bag now, also for the silent auction, and I think I've decided to make a beaded handle for it to give it some pizazz. I was watching "Jewelry Making" on the DIY network last Sunday and saw someone do that. The handle was such that it could be taken off the purse and worn as a necklace. So I'm going to try that. I'm also working on Lelah and it's turning out nicely. I'm doing it out of Berroco Lullaby in purple. Lullaby is really soft, so it'll feel good against my skin!

Almost lunchtime, so I guess I'll find some food to drown my sorrows in.

Stephanie