Or Carpe Diem as they say in some circles.

These days we are actually more likely to do a "Seize the day, Harvie", in a booming Statue voice from the film.... how can you not take off Kamahl's voice?! (I wonder if that line has become commonplace outside of Australia, or have we claimed it simply because an Aussie won an Oscar for this quirky little short film..)

Whatever, it would be true to saythat this has become our motto in life - and furthermore an excuse to choose between the things we do and don't enjoy doing. Translation: not much has been happening around here on the household front - indoors, outdoors, or doing anything about the renovations. Instead we are filling our weekends and holidays with- and spending our money on - a range of .. activities... that some might consider slightly batty.

The house may be falling down around our ears, but subconsciously - nay, even consciously - we're working on the assumption that we should strike while the iron is hot... do stuff while we still can. If something "not good" happened to us - in a 'you just don't know what's round the corner' sense, then we *think* that we (or others in the family) would care more about the experiences and challenges that we have shared than living in a house worthy of a House & Garden feature.

So Marc is obsessing with training up for this Geoquest 48 hour adventure racing weekend (and getting fitter and trimmer by the minute, damn him)... Perhaps I am a bit envious that he has this immediate focus and drive which is managing to take priority in the 'free time' that he has.

But on the family front, I've made accommodation bookings so that we can take the kids cross country skiing in July. (We made the decision on this a few days after a local dad died suddenly at age 50... reality check - if you put things off, you might never get to do them...)

And last night we committed to a weekend for the two of us in Melbourne in October.

Now before you think 'ahhh, romantic getaway... how sweeeet...', think again (or browse my blog - or even just the paragraphs above). And if you guessed 'oh probably something to do with cycling some crazy distance, the mad buggers' you would be right.

We are going to go in the 'Around the Bay in a Day' on our tandem. A mere 210km in one day - but with a rest on the ferry in the middle!! (We're leaving something to aim for with the 250km option - for another year!)

The crazy part about it is that we won't be alone. There will be a few thousand other cyclists doing it too; in fact the 250km, and the 210km going the other way round the bay are already booked out!

Part of the challenge will be taking the tandem on the plane! And then it'll have to be maxi-taxi from the airport. The other week I missed some cheap promo fares for the Sydney/Melbourne flights; Murphy's Law will likely prevail - as soon as I buy them at $115 they'll bung on another $89 promo, but if I don't they won't, or worse, sell out. And then, it's the hotel vs the impose on friends question (an old school chum of Marc's lives pretty close to the city, BUT, it doesn't feel right to have to leave someone's house at 5am or earlier, and then collapse, unsociably exhausted into a spare bed instead of using the opportunity to actually catch up on each others' lives. Romance may not get a look in, but lashing out on a hotel does sound appealing.)

The weekend before that, it's the 100km Brisbane to Gold Coast ride, which we are talking about doing with the kids...

And of course there's also the 100 mile ride - in August this year....

All of which appear easier, in my mind, than the task of cleaning up the house today and tomorrow before my parents arrive for a two-night visit!!

Go figure.

Labels: bike riding