I used to be a long-distance cyclist. Not a great one. Nor a fast one. Just an average one -- who had a ball every time my wheels were spinning.

When I lived in Florida, I would ride 20 to 60 miles several times a week, a few Century rides (100 miles) each year, and on many weekends I would pack up my lightweight camping gear and participate in 2-day cycling events.

In one of my last bike logs (where I logged by cycling habits for years), I jotted: "20,000 miles on my car this year, and 4,000 miles on my bike." That's in one year. I was a diehard cyclist, that's for sure.

I did several bike tours and biking trips. My most challenging cycling event was a 3-day 300-mile bike ride from Orlando to Miami. I did it 2 years in a row and had the time of my life. (And made a lot of great friends.)

Truth is, I've never enjoyed life quite as much as those days when I was cycling regularly.

Fast-forward to today. And even though I've biked a bit around here since we moved to Tennessee, as I kept getting busier and busier, I kept pushing my bike farther and farther into the corner of our garage.  

Whether or not you're living your dreams on a daily basis through your work, your family, or your personal life is largely based on priorities.

That, and your level of passion (or motivation).

To help you keep things in perspective and hopefully encourage you to take some time for yourself these days, I invite you to see what your best, most favorite hobby is.

...as if you didn't already know, huh?

With the recent postage rate hike (first class stamps now cost 41 cents), you're going to need some $.02 stamps, right?

So, if you've been thinking about trying Photo Stamps before, now may be the best time because:

A fun site that's loaded with helpful tips & tricks from "people in the know" is called Tricks of the Trade.

The site has been on hiatus for over 6 months now, but there's still a lot of valuable data in the archives!

Here are some of my favorites...

It seems like each year around Christmas, I spend a good deal of time in bookstores.

Books and other fun things found in bookstores just seem to make the best gifts...

One item that I found to be a "fun read" was the book 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring by Richard Horne and Helen Szirtes.

Here are some of the things they say you just have to try before you're old & gray...

We rented Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" last night.

It was ok.

Personally, I think the best thing that Al Gore can do at this point is to come out with a Sequel to this movie.

In it, he should videotape a day in the life with the Gore family showing exactly the things that they are doing in their everyday lives to make this space a better place -- for themselves, their children, and their children's children.

I mean, at the end of the movie, I couldn't help but wonder if the Gores and their children and their friends and their relatives were really walking the walk...

Because, if one of the leading the proponents behind this whole global warming theory isn't living by example (which I'm sure he probably is), then what is it... other than just a bunch of talk... just a bunch of hype... and just another bandwagon to jump on?

Not only that, but I think it's important that we (all of us) start to see living, breathing examples and active participation and community involvement toward improving the situation.

Otherwise, we're all likely to just brush it under the table and pretend that it [still] doesn't exist. Don't you think?

Since forwarded e-mails are behind most computer viruses and Internet SPAM, here's what you need to know about forwarding emails.

In 4 easy steps, see how to forward an e-mail message the right way...