Called in

Outside of my children being born, I've never missed work unexpectedly. Well, maybe once back in 1999 in Urbandale when I couldn't get off the shitter. But that's the only other time. I hate it when people call in sick. I understand when people are really sick, but you know people call in when they're not sick. Lazy bastards. I've been a "boss" far too long already. When people call in, I never believe them. Bottom line is, the work has to get done. When you're not there, the slack has to be picked up.

I wasn't sick this time, Ellen was. Our power was out on top of it all. So here's Ellen barfing in the middle of the night, and we can't turn the lights on to see her. Poor thing. The power outage extended into the next day (yesterday). Our baby sitter is right next door, so her power was out as well. Stacey had to get some work done, so that left me having to call in. I hated to do it, but what can you do? I ended up paying dearly for it today as I knew I would.

Xmas is coming

Well, Thanksgiving came and went. And here comes Xmas. Another insane time of the year. We'll pack up the family truckster and scour the state with our two daughters and every fathomable piece of clothing and child rearing equipment in tow. Our van bursting at the seams, we'll arrive with crying children. We'll take an hour to unload the van, a day to get acclimated, just to turn around and go home the next day. I love the holidays, I really do, but next year I swear to all of you, I'm not doing it anymore. That is, unless Stacey makes me of course.

Mara continues to expand her vocabulary. She even has a favorite song she likes to sing. She's said a few naughty words that she's heard along the way. Her first swear word was the grand-daddy of them all. I was on the phone with Stacey with the girls in the van. I realized I forgot something at home. I said "Aw F**k." Without missing a beat Mara repeated it perfectly. I tried not to laugh, and did a good job for the most part. But, I did giggle a little. Speaking of giggling, what is it about farting that makes us giggle. This is something I've been pondering for quite some time lately. I ponder these things because it's painful to think about things I normally think about outside of my wife and kids. Biking, hmmm. Not riding much. Chicago Bears, hmmm, Suck. Iowa State Cyclones, hmmm, REALLY SUCK. Work, busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest (quote stolen from Mr. Roy Ritter, bless his soul).

Ellen is amazing. She's developed quite the temper. It's different than Mara's. Mara is whiny when she's mad. Ellen is just flat out pissed off. Take that toy away and I'll make you regret it kinda mad.

We had an ice storm last weekend. At the height of my wisdom, I decided to hand Xmas lights outside. I decided it had to be done. I already had a lighted Snoopy in the front yard, but needed to add more. I went with Icicle lights this year. They look pretty damn good I must say. I'd love one of those giant blow up snowmen for the front yard. Sure they're cheesy, but the kids (and I) would love it. And isn't that what it's all about after all.

Gotta go to work for a little while tomorrow. I think I'll ride in. Putting on the fat knobbies for snowy fun.

Threw in this photo for the hell of it. It's a picture I like of me and by siblings. I miss you guys. See ya soon.

Working too hard

Seems like the last photo of Mara and Ellen was a popular one, so I thought I'd post another. They're both in the rocking chair this time. Somehow Stacey performed a miracle and got them both to sit still for a little while. There's more good photos in the same setting, but I thought y'all would get a good chuckle out of this one.

Another photo I thought would get a laugh or two is this one of Dad and Stacey. Dad is fresh out of the field the weekend Mom watched the kids while Stacey headed for Dallas. Pretty funny. Nice hair dad!

I'm a bachelor this week with a "honey-do" list longer than my, well, it's long. Paint the upstairs walls, cut new trim, paint said trim, remove door to basement, hang new door, paint said door and frame, do trim work for new door. Ugh. Ran out of paint last night. I thought Menards was open later than it was. Dammit. I thought, oh well, I'll sit down and watch the Patriots and Bills game. That game was over 10 minutes into the 1st quarter.

Headed to Des Moines for the Thanksgiving feast. Looking forward to a few days off. 8th annual (2nd for me) Turkey day MTB ride in Des Moines on Thursday morning too. Looking forward to that.

Ellen walks. Mara Talks.

So Ellen starting walking a couple weeks ago. She'd been making a lot of attempts, but gave up quickly. She crawled so fast, we weren't sure she thought she needed to walk. But recently, walking has become her main mode of transportation. For some reason, she feels more comfortable and seems to be more balanced when she takes off one of her socks, puts it in her mouth and then walks around aimlessly. It's great to watch her except when she bounces her head off the dining room table.

Mara's vocabulary has really flourished. She says words I don't know how she could know. Like ambulance. She's also singing the ABC's song front to back and sings Twinkle Twinkle little star. Stacey is ready to send her to MIT, but I think this is pretty normal activity for kids her age.

The holidays are upon us. This season looks to be busy as usual. Heading to the Schwartz part of the world for Turkey day. I'm really looking forward to gorging myself and getting my tummy rubbed. Followed by watching some football and drinking some brews. I'm going to join in the annual Turkey day MTB ride in Des Moines on Thanksgiving morning.

Christmas plans are up in the air. Looks like I might have to work on the 24th. Not sure yet though.

Commuting

Since my job change in August, I have been commuting to work by bike. I've had the desire to do so for quite some time, and since I had been spending $50+ on gas per week at my previous job, this has turned out quite nicely. It's not much of a ride really only 6 miles each way, but I absolutely love it.






What surprises me most and the part I want to instill into all of the minds that are curious about it is how little of a deal it is. I mean, it really is no big deal to ride to work. I'm not in that great of cycling shape thanks to having two in diapers and a wife with a great career. Not to mention I can't seem to turn down a cookie or a donut these days and you all now how I feel about beer. The bike that comes off the hook every morning to get me there is not a super sleek sexy titanium time machine. All it takes is a decision to do it, and to stick it out regardless of weather conditions. Once you're in the routine, it's just no big deal.

The ride: Mostly side streets. I take off down the 27th Ave from my house going west and see the same nice lady from a street over walking her Shi-Tzu. Nice lady. When I'm outside with the kids, she always get's a smile from Ellen. Then it's left on 31st street. Rolling hill up to McGowan then flat to 8th Ave. Right on 8th Ave to downtown Marion. A couple stop signs and a stop light at 8th Ave and 10th st. This is about when my ol' RAGBRAI buddy Blaine goes past me in his Ford Expedition. One time he rolled his window down and asked me jokingly if I owned a car. I replied "Don't you own a bike?" Then it's down a hill and up a hill to Lindale Ave. Then up another hill to Blairs Ferry Rd. Blairs Ferry is a busy, busy road. I take the streets when stoplights lull the traffic a bit, but the wide sidewalks are fine with me when the flood gates open. Blairs Ferry takes me all the way to the warehouse I call home. I cut behind a couple of businesses to stay off Blairs Ferry and to make the ride a little more interesting. All in all the 6 miles takes me a little less than 25 minutes. I obey traffic laws as to keep motorists from wanting to kill me. I do my best to blend into traffic but I always have my wits in case someone in a hurry hasn't had their morning coffee. It takes me 20 minutes to drive it, so I really can't justify not riding unless I'm cutting it that close to being on time. I hate being late. Just looks bad when you're in charge.






The Rig: My Surly Crosscheck. Purchased the frame from my friend Rich in Aurora, IL. No bling on this bike at all. This bitch is all business. I wanted her to be somewhat aggressive, but not to the point of being completely uncomfortable. I wanted her to not be tempting to thieves, so kept the black theme going with no shiny bits. Most of all, I wanted her to be able to take a beating. So for you fellow bike geeks, I'll run it down for you, but don't get too excited:

• 2005 Surly Cross check frame and fork


• Bontrager seatpost straight out the spare parts bin


• Azonic stem: A freebie from Rich that I had on another bike a few years ago (out of the bin)


• Surly F/R hubs Freewheel flip-flop. No fixie's for me. I like to coast down hills. (Out of the bin)


• Velocity Deep-V rims 32 hole 3x pattern with straight 14 gauge spokes


• Circa 1973 Wrights Brother's leather saddle. Surprisingly comfy and adds a little style. (Out of the bin)


• One-One Midge bars


• Dia-Comp V brake road levers


• Paul Components Touring Canti's. Sweet brakes for Canti's, but I freakin' hate Canti's. Rich sold them to me cheap with the frame though, so I bought them.


• Continental something or other tires I had on my touring bike. 700x28.


• Plain ol' black bar tape
• Specialized Strongarm II cranks (out of the bin)
• 44t Salsa Chainring (Ebay)
• Sram PC 58 chain (I always keep a couple of these around)
• 16t Shimano Freewheel (Out of the bin)
• Crank Bros Candy pedals

Alright Already

I've been under heavy scrutiny to update my blog more often. Now that I know Grandma Thompson is checking it, I may be more apt to update it more. Me and the girls went up to Clear Lake this weekend to see the family. Mom had a rough week last week with her business partner passing away and all. She wanted to see the girls so I headed up there. Grandpa and Grandma Thompson (my Mom's side) are making there yearly migration to their house in Kissee Mills, Missouri. For those of you who have never been to this booming metropolis, it's really close to Branson and a stone's throw from the trails of Syllamo Arkansas. Strangely, I've never been to the Syllamo trails. Anyway, the whole fam damily was there from the Thompson side. We had prime rib and put down a few frosty beverages. Brandon (aka Pudge) spent a little time with Ellen.

Stacey stayed home this weekend to work on projects both at work and at home. I'm sure she got done what she needed to at the office. I was hoping she would get our foundation painted too, but she ran out of paint at the final hour. Oh well, there's not much left to do there.

I don't think she'll be too anxious to let me take the girls on my own again for a while. We weren't in Clear Lake for 2 hours before the first injury occurred. Mara tipped her chair backwards at the table at lunch. She pushes her feet against the table in her booster chair. At our house the chair will slide backwards, which she thinks is pretty funny. At Mom and Dad's, the chairs don't slide so good, so she tipped backwards and banged her head pretty good on the back of the chair. She didn't think that was very funny.

Next up was Ellen. Both girls were having fun playing on the deck. Ellen was doing a good job all afternoon of crawling from one level of the deck to the other. The last time she did it, she slipped a little and face planted. Busted her top and bottom lips open and bled like a stuck hog. For those city folk checking this out, stuck hogs bleed a lot. She took it like a champ though, cried for a few minutes and then we got the old Ellen back pretty quickly.

Most of the rest of the night went on without incident. Mara just doesn't like crowds. I can understand that, since I don't either. She's content to do her own thing and is actually most happy with just a few familiar people in the room. She got to see her cousin Trenton again which was cool. Trenton is the son of my cousin Missy. He's a good kid, and I must say Missy is doing a great job raising her on her own.

Dad is busier than hell with work, so we didn't get to see much of him. Mom is coming down in a couple of weeks when Stacey is in Dallas. Maybe Dad can join us then. We'll see.

Roughing it

Went camping and riding in Decorah last weekend with my buddy Ken. We drove my POS truck up with Josey (my dog) with all essential gear, and then some, our bikes, and a cooler full of beer. It was a beautiful weekend up there. What a beautiful area too. I remember being there on RAGBRAI, but didn't remember how scenic it was. Friday night was clear and cold. Got down to about 42 degrees. Great sleeping weather. There was nearly a full moon. We hiked up a ledge and got a great pic of the moon over the town.

The riding was awesome. Extremely hilly, which made singlespeeding a bitch but the trails kicked ass most of the time. Ken is a great rider. Very smooth and great technical rider.

We rode pretty much all day on Saturday, and a little on Sunday morning. Setting up camp is okay. Being in camp is awesome. Tearing down camp sucks ass. I have every contraption imaginable in my camping bins. It's hardly roughing it. Coffee pot, iron pots for cooking. No burgers and weenies for me man, we're talking gourmet in camp food terms. I have this breakfast casserole I make in my iron dutch oven. A full greasy cure your hangover and get you ready to hammer singletrack breakfast all in one pot. Something about eating it outside makes it so much better.

Can't wait to get back there sometime. Though I'll try to be in better shape when I do. Those hills really whooped me. Either need to gear down a notch or bring a better pair of legs with me.

Happy B-Day Ellen! Go Cyclones and Bears!

A great weekend in the Kehrt household last weekend. Too bad it's Thursday before I'm posting this. First of all, it was Ellen's first B-Day. Compared to Mara's first birthday, Ellen really got the shaft. I mean, we had the party in Des Moines for both birthdays and that was great. But, you'd think Stacey and I could pull something special together for Ellen. We didn't really. Presents and dinner at Red Robin and that's about it. We spent the whole weekend at home which was nice. The girls had a great time playing in the box from Ellen's new car seat

Stacey's Cyclones hat has been a popular item lately too. Which segways nicely into the next great thing about the weekend. Iowa State beat Iowa in football. Now, unlike the rest of my family, I don't hate the Iowa Hawkeyes, but regardless of that, on one weekend every fall, I am forced to declare my allegiance here in the land of the Hawkeyes. When the Hawkeyes win, in any sport, bet your ass I hear about it. Now I have a year of bragging rights. It might be the only game the Cyclones win all year, but at least I can live out the rest of the season in silence.

Finally, the Bears won on Sunday too. The offense really looks awful. Nothing more to say really. Sexy Rexy better get his shit together or the Chicago faithful are going to take his ass out to the middle of Lake Michigan,put some cement block shoes on him, and send him overboard. Enough is enough already. On the other hand, Urlacher broke his 2 year sack drought. He ended it in style too.

What a Weekend

Went to KC to my sister Sara's wedding this weekend. Just like a lot of you reading this. Headed out Thursday afternoon. Stopped in Des Moines for the night. Stacey's brother Brian and his wife Jen were kind enough to come with us to watch Mara and Ellen whilst we partook in the festivities. The stop in DSM turned out to be cool. We spent some QT with Brian and Jen. We watched the Colts whoop up on the Saints and got a good nights sleep. On the road to KC by 9am in the rental van. Our van isn't big enough to carry 4 adults, 2 kids, and all the shit required to take two kids somewhere for the weekend. The ride down was smooth sailing. Kids were good. It was a two stop trip that turned what should have been a three hour drive into 4.5 hours, but happy kids make for happy parents, so it was all good. Got to Sara and Bruce's house where my family was sans my brother Chad and his clan. Had a quick beer to take the edge off and headed to pick up my tux with my dad and now bro-in-law Bruce. Bruce was kind enough to show us the way to a pub for another quick beer. We had to head back after one beer because we had to get to the rehearsal on time. Kinda funny, the priest wanted everyone there early so he could start on time, then he ended up being late. Rehearsals went as rehearsals go. I was an usher along with Chad and Bruce's brother Troy. We ended up screwing it all up, but nobody seemed to notice. Then the rehearsal dinner. A spread of BBQ that would make a dead man drool and a keg of fat tire. Now that's the way to get down. It was at Troy's house, which is a beautiful house outside of KC. A very beautiful home set up perfectly for events such as this, but hey, with a keg of fat tire, it could've been at a trailer park for all I cared. The food was awesome. Loved the bacon wrapped apricots. Then back to the hotel. On the way up to the room, I thought about getting Brian out of the room for a beer, but once I set eyes on the king pillowtop I opted for that.

On Saturday it was up early, but not too early, eat breakfast, and get to the church for pictures. All went as it should with a couple small problems. We had agreed to make sure the wedding was videotaped, but forgot a few things for the camera. I hit Best Buy in the morning for the needed items. Another $60 into the weekend, but figured after being well into a $1000 for this weekend, fuck it, I don't even care anymore. It's my sisters wedding. Later to find out, the AC cord I got wasn't the right one. So we were hosed anyway.

We were seating everyone as we were supposed to before the wedding. Then all of a sudden, some lady from the church got in a big freakin' hurry. So we had to seat the grandparents right away. We ended up putting them in the wrong row, but nobody noticed. Then the bridesmaids and all that shit. I had bet my brother the day before that my dad would cry on Saturday. This could be it. Walking his only daughter down the aisle. Dammit. Nothing. All smiles and composure. I would have my revenge. It was a full catholic ceremony, so I decided to go up on the balcony to try to get the camera working. I got it working. Turned out the AC cord wouldn't run the camera while it was plugged in, but it gave the battery enough of a charge to make it last through the ceremony. I got it working just in time for the vows, so that was cool. All else went well and normal for the ceremony.

On to the reception. The reception was in an old theatre. Pretty cool, but they weren't expecting the Kehrt family, as they ran out of cold Bud Light pretty quickly. I'm not a big fan of Bud Light, but my parents and most of their friends and family drink enough of it that I'd hate to own stock in Anheuser Busch if they decided to stop. They went through the normal wedding stuff: Dinner, toasts, maid of honor getting the groom's name wrong, ya know. Then the bride and groom dance. I gotta say, I wasn't expecting such an excellent choice in songs from Jimmy Buffet fans. They danced to Broken by Jack Johnson. There was a congo line in there somewhere that Ellen and I took part in. Ellen loved the music. It was cool. Then my redemption. The father daughter dance. My tough as nails father cried. They played the Stevie Nicks song that she wrote for her father. It was awesome.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Lot's of drunk people. Lot's of dancing. Lot's of fun. Sara and Bruce have some great friends.

Sunday on the way back to DSM went real good. We stopped again in DSM to have dinner, and watch the Bears game. The last two hours sucked ass. The girls were horrible in the van. Just horrible. I couldn't wait to get home. Stacey was fit to be tied. Once we got home all was good. Early bed time for kids. Unload the van. Go to to bed.

We're not travelling for a while folks. If you want to see us, you know where we live.

Congrats Sara and Bruce. We love you.

Look at me

Mara is a bad eater. She doesn't seem to ever want to eat for us. She does okay for the babysitter though. So I'm trying to get more stern with her. So the other day she starts at good but something distracts her and she throws a fit. (This is just one of those times that any parent can relate to. The "don't laugh" situation.) I let her throw her fit and she calms down. Then I tell her "Look at me." She doesn't. I say again, "Look at me." She turns her head further away. I turn her head towards me grabbing her face (gently) with my thumb on one cheek and my index finger on the other. So she's face to face with me now albeit forcibly. I tell her again, Look at Me. And drop my hand. She continues to face me, but then grabs her own cheeks, squeezes them together and says, "Look at me." I'm speechless. I look over at Stacey, she can't speak. Ellen is stuffing her face for all it's worth. I say to Stacey, "Don't laugh." And of course, we both start laughing our asses off and everything goes to hell from there.

BTW, my camera is broken. Don't know whether I'll get if fixed or get a new one.

I hope you got your ass outside today

Man it's nice out today. The forecast for the weekend looked great all week so the plan was in place for me, at least in my head. Get all the bullshit stuff done on Saturday so we could do whatever we wanted on Sunday and Monday. So, yesterday I worked on landscaping all day, took care of errands in the afternoon with Stacey and the girls, and when out for a family dinner. Girls in bed on time, drink in my hand, watch Michigan get beat by Appalachian State, and to bed by 10. All day yesterday I was thinking of riding Sugarbottom, but as far as I knew, all my riding buddies were busy. Then the message comes from my buddy Ken and the plan is set.

I was up at 6:30am and ready to roll at 7:30. I headed out to the trail, knowing Ken would be a little late for our 8am ride time agreement. I went ahead and rode by myself for a while. The trails were in pristine condition and I have a brand new set of Schwalbe Fat Albert's on my bike. I was cornering very well, which is normally my weakness. Ken rings me and tells me he's at the trailhead and we meet up on the trail. We hit every trail at Sugarbottom and Ken is riding in his normal excellent form. It's always fun to watch smooth riders do their thing. Effertlessly around switchbacks and weightless over roots, logs, and rocks. It took us a couple hours to ride the whole thing. I actually rode a couple parts twice.

I can't remember a nicer day this year to be out riding. It was fantastic. All that was missing was the beer.

I could keep writing but Ellen just pooped and it's making me gag so I better take care of it. That's my girl.

New Job

Started a new job last week in CR. Lovin' it so far. My work is cut out for me for sure, but I can dig it. The person that had the job before me must walk around like this.

Close to home, normal working stiff hours, holidays off, weekends off. Nice. Best thing of all is that I can see more of my girls everyday. Next best thing is that I can ride my bike to work. A measely 6 mile pull to work on pavement makes a bike geek like me smile. 12 miles of riding built in to my day, and I actually get home faster on my bike than in my POS truck.

It's here. It's finally Here!!!

It's been almost a week since, but the Bears played and barely won their first preseason football game on Saturday. I watched with much anticipation and excitement. Would the defense look sharp on the line without Tank Johnson. How will Grossman have adjusted and reacted to the criticism he has received during the off season. And Lovie Smith, finally is finally getting paid. I'm convinced Virginia McCaskey is racist.


We ate an early dinner at the mall on Saturday. Ellen ate good as usual and Mara did so-so. We wanted to not have to deal with dinner at home so we could enjoy the game, plus it was so damn hot we couldn't play with the girls outside, so we wanted to get them out of the house. We got ready to watch the game and poured a couple beers in the frosty Bears pint glasses that I collected from my favorite bar in the world during the 2005 season.











We put Ellen to bed early, and she needed to be put to bed early. Pissy pants were on. Mara loves playing in the basement, which is great most of the time. However, my Man Cave I had planned for the basement has been slowly taken over by primary colored toys and a child's kitchen set. Mara stayed awake for most of the first half and then called it a night. But not before taking over Daddy's chair and blanket for a little while.





Overall I was happy with what I saw out of the Bears. Hester being on offense and a confident QB might make up for the attrition that has happened on the defense. Time will tell I guess. I gotta get the girls some new Bears clothes too.

I liked living in Townhouses better

I literally dug into my landscaping project I have going on at my house. See, the people that had our house before us were old. You can definitely tell they were old by the plants and landscaping they chose. It looks kinda like they went to Walmart and bought everything that was on sale on threw it together like some kind of landscaping stir fry. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I had had enough. While the girls were sleeping and Stacey was in the shower, I took a saw to an overgrown bush in the backyard. This would be the beginning of what is now known as my landscaping project.

So far I've hauled two truck loads of crappy cheap rock out to a dumping spot. I've uprooted two ugly overgrown bushes and torn out enough Hastas to choke a herd of sheep. Okay, now what? Design the layout, pick out plants mulch and pavers.
Stacey: "What do want for plants?"
Me: "I don't care. Mulch and pavers are enough. I don't particularly care for plants."
Stacey: "You're so plain and boring!"
Me: "You asked. If you want plants, get plants. But I'm not taking care of them, so make them simple and low maintenence."

So far we've agreed on the pavers. And by agreeing I mean Stacey went to Lowe's and picked out what she wanted. I'm now digging out where I've staked out for a new grill patio spot. I took Friday off and am sending Stacey and the girls away for the weekend so I can get at least the back yard done.

That's where we are now. I'll keep you posted.

Grandpa and Grandma's House

The 4th of July was a couple weeks ago, but I'm just now posting about our weekend. We had a great visit up to Clear Lake to Mom and Dad's new house at the lake.

The 4th was a little crazy in the morning, but all worked out well. We left here and met Gramma Ritter (Stacey's Grandma) in Charles City for lunch with the girls. We ate at the Chicken Ranch. It's really called Pizza Ranch, but their pizza sucks and their chicken is awesome, so I call it the Chicken Ranch. We ended up in Clear Lake early afternoon just in time for naps. We hung out in the sun all afternoon and waited patiently for the fireworks to start. I had illusions of grandeur of keeping Mara up late enough to watch them, but nothing doing. Both girls were zonked by 8pm, which is a stark contrast to our last visit, but nice nonetheless. We watched the fireworks from the deck with a beautiful view of the lake. They were great. I'm not even big into fireworks, but these kicked ass. Things calmed down soon after, and Dad and I capped off the night with a few more beers and a stogey under the stars, which seems to have become a tradition for us.

The next day was a pretty normal day, except Mom had to work. The rest of us hung out at the house. I played golf that night with Reed and Jason and had a few beers with them. Mom and Dad watched the kids while Stacey met Jenny for dinner and a few drinks. All in all, still a pretty tame night for both of us.

Friday was Stacey's B-Day. I blew off buying her a gift from the girls. Dad and I made a quick run to Mason City, and that was all taken care of. We were instructed by Mom to buy a baby pool. I thought the run-of-the-mill blow up side pool would work fine, but Dad had something more grandoise in mind. So we came home with a new toaster for Stacey and a Frog's Mouth Fountain laden baby pool. Stacey's folks and Grandma Ritter came up later in the day too, so it turned out to be quite a bash. We broke in the baby pool later that afternoon. Stacey's mom was a little nervous about Ellen in the baby pool. We're getting Pam a lawn chair with a seatbelt on it for Christmas. Dad and Gary and I took the boat out later. I skied for a while, and Dad and Gary got on the tube (not together, on seperate occassions). Mom and Dad had to go to a reunion that night, so we were abondoned by them around 5pm. Dad was less than thrilled about the prospect of this reunion. I tried to get him back in from the lake by 4:30 as requested by Mom, but dad had a stogey and a cooler with beer in it, so he was not in that big of a hurry. I think they made it on time though. It was an absolutely beautiful night that night, so I took Stacey for a sunset boat ride. The lake was like glass, the sun was setting beautifully across the lake, and the temp was perfect.

Saturday was fun filled. Dad and I took a bike ride around the lake. I was stoked that he rode with me. Y'all might know that I love to ride bikes, and to have Dad ride with me was a treat. Bikes Blues and BBQ was an event going on in Clear Lake. We poached the ride and went back for refreshments after lunch. We tried to get everyone to go on a Lake tour on Lady of The Lake, but it was too windy, so it got cancelled. We decided to take the girls to the park after that. Mara and Ellen both like to swing, and Mara LOVES to slide. There was big twisty slide Mara and I had her eye on, but the fun haters (both Grandmas and Stacey) didn't want Mara to go down it alone. I explained that she had been down slides that big before on bike ride stops at parks near our house. This turned out to work against me as I was met with piercing glares. I decided at that moment to teach Mara the word "wussy", which she picked up immediately.

We grilled out that night and hung out on the deck most of the night. Dad and I capped off the night with a final beer and stogey for the weekend. The girls were fabulous all weekend, and the weather cooperated too. We're going back there in a couple weeks to spend the weekend and are looking forward to it.

Posting seems to have become a monthly thing for me. Work is starting to slow down a little and riding is picking up a little, so maybe I'll get to this more.

Mara is talking a lot now. I taught her a couple things like "I'm pretty" and "Daddy's Cool." I've worked the last two weekends so I haven't seen as much of the girls as I'd like. Sunday was a family day though. We took the girls to a little zoo here in CR. We went to the park and played on the swing and all that stuff. It was a good day. Mara loved the ducks, and she got to see a cow and a pig up close. Pretty cool stuff for a (almost) 2 year old.

Ellen is just the same except she's eating solids now. Doesn't even want Gerber any more. She'll just have little chunks of what we're having. She's a chunk though. She's almost as big as Mara.

We're headed up to the lake this week starting on Wednesday. I'm going to take Mara out on the boat for the first time. It'll be great. I'm going to do a little riding in the mornings. I'm even playing some golf on Thursday, which should be interesting. I might have a beer or two sometime as well.

I made Rosedale my bitch

Enough about kids for now. Let's get to some biking. I built this bike in the winter you may have read about (yawn) for urban rides. It was a single speed and still is only now I have it set up with a much taller (harder) gear ratio. I originally built it with a 34:16 ratio, and now have it at 44:18, which allows me to get places faster on flat paved roads, but steep hills make me cry for my Momma. Anyway, I hit the road at about 8:45pm tonight for a solo ride. I know my buddies Poncho and Norbert are out riding with some friends like they do every Wednesday. So I call Norbert's cell phone. I find out where they are and figure I can meet them somewhere in between where I am and where they are. Turns out, they cranked it up and headed downtown, and I completely missed them. Now, where I'm sitting, there's only one feasible way out of, up Rosedale Road hill. This hill is a bitch. There's a gradual incline that sucks any momentum you can muster up right out of you. Then it gets really steep really fast. Then it gets steeper and turns to the right. Then when you think you're in the clear, it continues to gradually climb for another 100 feet or so. The last time I tried this hill on this bike I had to do a bunch of switch backs to get up it. I made it, but barely. I'm lucky I didn't eat anything before I rode that time, or I would have given the Raccoons a nice appetizer. But this time, I was feeling good. I hit the incline at the bottom and gave her hell. I rode straight up that bitch and didn't stop till I hit the top. Then I literally turned my head around and told the hill to Fuck off as if it could hear me.

I had an errand to run on my way home. I had to stop at the store to buy some juice for Mara. While I was there, I decided to buy myself a celebratory 6 pack of Sierra Nevada Summer Ale, my favorite summer beer. I'm on my second one as I write this and will probably have a 3rd.

Great Weekend!!

The whole fam damily landed at Mom and Dad's new casa en el lago this weekend in Clear Lake. I can't believe they pulled the trigger on this thing, but I'm glad they did. Not for me (though I do intend to wear out my welcome) but for them. Belmond served it's purpose for them, but it was time to move on.



We got there on Saturday just before lunch time. Mom had gringo tacos ready and the were deeelicious. Uncle G and Aunt Sandy brought Gramma out from Kankakee, which was a wonderful thing. It was good to see all of them. Sara and Bruce were already there and had staked their claim on the last remaining queen bed. Luckily, we have dibs on a bedroom due to the kids. Chuck and Rox got there around 2pm. Wasn't long after they got there we had to head to Belmond for Sara and Bruce's shower, oh yeah, that's why we were there. A couples shower. Now folks, if you're wondering what the difference between a regular shower and a regular bridal shower is, my dad summed it up nicely: Nothing, except they guys have to go. In short, they suck and the pain on every man's face in the room was evident. The guys should have all got to stay at the house. We have no business being at the shower. The food we ate had to have doubled the catering bill, and we would have been just as content to be sitting at the house with a bag of Cheetos. There was beer though, and I got to give a toast to Sara and Bruce, which people seemed to like.





Once back at the house, it got chilly outside so we handed off the grandkids and went out for a drink. Nice. We were out till about 11:30 which is a good 2.5 hours past Stacey's bed time, so we went right to bed. All seemed fine until Ellen decided it was time to get up at 2am. No big deal usually, just some formula a couple pats on the back in the rocking chair and we're good. Shit, no rocking chair. Well there were a couple of them, but they were in spaces that were occupied by sleeping people. Well, people that wanted to be sleeping, but Ellen had other plans. And so it went until 6am. No big deal to me and Stacey, we've been at this shit for two years now. But I think Chuck and Rox had a long drive home.



By the way Chuck, I think you look great. Next time someone gives you shit about your gut, kick them in the nuts. Unless it's me. Or Mom, she doesn't have nuts that I'm aware of.





Sunday will go down as the kickoff to life on the lake, at least for me. We had a great day. The kids were having a blast. Everyone seemed so relaxed. It's too bad Chuck and Rox, and the Kankakee gang had to leave, but I totally understand. We took the boat out, smoked some stogies, drank some beer, and all that good stuff. We ate lunch and hung out for a while. The Thompson's stopped by for a short visit as did Cuddy and Kim. Cuddy and Kim's visit ended up being a long visit though. Bruce and Sara made Kabobs on the grill, I mad a fire in the pit, and we drank like proper Irishmen. Everybody got a good buzz going and we called it a night. Both the kids decided to let us all sleep through the night, so all was good in our world.





We had a great time and can't wait to go back. Thanks Mom and Dad for your hospitality. I for one am very happy for you and hope to make many great memories in your new home.

These Kids are Crazy

I snapped these pics a couple days ago before work. The kids and I were still in our PJ's. Stacey was getting ready for work. Breakfast was finished and we had some free time in between breakfast and when Dora the Explorer came on.

Not much new happening other than normal kid stuff. Two new teeth for Ellen. Mara is learning new words all the time. She likes to look out the front door and point at trucks. She says "Big Truck", but it sounds like something completely different and profane. It's pretty funny, but catches people off guard.

Be Thankful for what you have

It's surreal to even be thinking about this. A good friend of mine past away this weekend. She died due to complications from giving birth to her second son. Vanessa Cote of Oak Park, IL. She gave birth to her and Matt's 2nd son last week and a complication called DIC was discovered. She fought for a couple days and then passed away. Vanessa was one of the nicest people in the world. You hear that a lot, but I really believe this to be truel She was Matt's high school sweetheart. She and Matt are part of two very close families in Oak Park. She is survived by her husband Matt, her sons Joseph and William, her parents and many many family members and friends. She will be missed.

Just me and the kids

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Ellen's Melon

Man these kids are crazy. Mara is non-stop. She's got guts man. She'll climb up anything. She'll fall off the couch, the bed, the chairs, the coffee table. Maybe wimper a little, and right back at it. She's learning words all the time. Like when you ask her what her Mommy says, she says "Nag, Nag, Nag." I'm gonna get her a trike this weekend. Mommy won't be here to stop me.




Ellen is an absolute peach. She is eating a ton and sleeping through the night religiously now. She is definitely one of those babies, that if she's on track, great. If not, look out. Dr. Jeckyl / Mr. Hyde syndrome. She went back to the doctor Tuesday to get her head measured. They said the size of her head is off the charts. So I say, "Well, my head is big. My dad's head is big, his dad's head was big." So then the Dr. breaks out the graphs. Her head is big even for people whose families have big heads. So now we gotta go back for a CAT scan. Nothing really to worry about, just precautionary.

So as forementioned, Stacey is leaving for the weekend to see her friend Becky. She is really looking forward to getting away. I however, am scared shitless. I don't know how I'm going to handle two nights alone with the girls. I'm sure we'll make it just fine, but, I'll let you know.

It's been a while

I haven't been paying much attention to this blog for a while. So much going on, but nothing really noteworthy. It's been super busy at work. Looks like every jamoke with a motorcycle is ordering parts. Kinda like me with bicycle stuff I guess. I found a bike rack for my piece of shit truck the other day. I hate taking the front wheels off my bikes. It was hard to find something that mounts in the back of a truck without taking the wheels off. I know I could just throw them in the back, but that's hard on components and paint jobs. It's pretty funny to be hauling around a bike in the back of a truck that cost me less than the bike. Just think if I had two bikes back there. I'd be pissed off if I got in a wreck and the bikes got ruined.

I'm doing one of those off-road duathlons next weekend. I recruited my brother-in-law for the running part. It's a 2 mile run, 8 mile off road ride, followed by a 2 mile run. It's not that I can't run, I just don't want to. I hate running anymore. I guess it's because I did so much of it as a teen. I just can't stand the thought of it. So I have these friends who do marathons and shit and think it's beyond the reach of most people. This doesn't include Jen. Jen (my sister-in-law) rocks and I'll never have a bad word to say about her. I digress, it's not that most people can't do it. I think that most people can do it. I just don't know why the hell you would want to. I mean, that's just pure punishment the whole way through it. The pay off they say is, "It feels good to finish it, because then you know you can do it." I know I could do it if I wanted to, that's all I need know. That knowledge gets me by and saves me a shitload of Saturdays worth of training.

So anyways, I'm doing this duathlon, at least the riding part. I'm looking forward to racing again. It's for a good cause and Stacey is bringing the girls to the race. Maybe a couple Fat Tire Ale's to boot.

St. Patty's Day blues

My favorite day of the year came and went. No 9am Bloody Mary's, no debauchery, no green hats, whiskey shots, or gratuitous nekkidness. Nope, we stayed home with the kids. It was rewarding in its own right as staying home with the kids is these days, but it seemed surreal at the same time. Kinda like last year when RAGBRAI came close to town, but I wasn't on it. I managed to drink my fair share of Guinness, and Stacey had a drink with me in the basement after the girls went to bed. I got out of the house in the afternoon as well and went over to my Buddy Brad's house for an hour or so, but that was it. I'm gonna put in early for it next year with the Grandparents. They went out drinking this year, so we get to next year. That's the way it should go if you ask me. All in all, it was a nice weekend though. I learned that Ellen likes green beans, and Mara can climb things I couldn't have even imagined she'd try. She's gonna be a handful man, I can see that already. Let the good times roll.

I'm back

I've been ignoring this blog for a while. Not doing much else to speak of except working. Today was the day at work we've all been waiting for. We're going to get so busy now, we're gonna have trouble digging out of it. Oh well. I love the challenge. Gotta get through it somehow.

Ellen and Mara are fantastic. Ellen's sleeping great and is almost sitting up on her own. Still doesn't care for cereal though. That would be the nail in the coffin for her sleeping through the night.

It was beautiful outside yesterday. Mara and I went for a wagon ride around the block and played in the driveway. She LOVES being outside, which gets me excited about taking her camping and hiking, and someday, biking. I'll get the Burley trailer good to go soon.

Decisions

So I'm trying to decide which bike to add to my stable. I'm selling my touring bike to my Bro-in-Law, so I wanna replace it with something versatile. I'm leaning towards a Surly Creosscheck, but I'm not sure. The Kona Paddywagon looks nice in Dirtrag this month, plus it's hard to ignore the price of the Bianchi San Jose. What I like about the Surly is that it can be a singlespeed or geared. It has the capability to run fatter tires and fenders too. Plus, I have a Surly 1x1 already and I love it. Problem is, to build it how I like it would cost me 2x the cost of the other two. What a great bike to cruise the town on, race Cyclocross, and pull the burley with though.

Piece of Shit Truck

As promised, a post about my piece of shit truck. I bought this truck a week ago from a co-worker. It is a beater. It's a 94 Ford Ranger with a ton of miles. It runs good so far, but it's going to need new tires. I've been on the lookout for such a truck for a while now. Actually, I was looking for a different kind of truck altogether. But, when my coworker heard me talking about it, he mentioned this truck that he had. And for the price, well, lets just say that if she dies on the road, that's where she's gonna sit. I thought it would be nice to have a beater around to drive to work. I've owned trucks before, but didn't really need to own them. Now I own an actual house (as opposed to a townhouse) and have needed one several times in the last year. Now I have one. I thought about getting a nice newer truck, but I'd rather Stacey got a new car. It's her turn, and she takes better care of vehicles than I do. So if anyones getting a new vehicle, she is. I'm gonna hold out for a 4 door Jeep Wrangler in a couple of years.

Trapped by Bad Weather

What a strange week it's been with the weather. I was out riding Wednesday in thin layers. Tonight I shut down the entire shipping operation at work to make sure everyone (including myself) could get home safely. We were planning on heading to Belmond this weekend to see my parents. That ain't gonna happen. Looks like next weekend we'll get to though. Mom is totally stoked to see the girls. It's funny how when you're a new parent you don't want to be apart from your kids. Then you spend about two years of sleepless night, diaper changing, snot wiping, bottle feeding, temper tantrum chaos and you can't wait for someone to take over even for just a couple hours. I know, boo hoo. (Shut up, you're welcome to come over anytime. Wait, no you're not.)

Now instead of going to see grandparents, we're probably going to be trapped in the house all weekend. And if you know me, trapped in the house is not all that enjoyable. I love my family, but I don't do well at "sitting around". I'm a lot like my dad that way. He can't sit still for 5 minutes. You can see him getting antzy. I think of him when I hear the stories about airplanes sitting on runways for hours. He'd be in jail, I'm sure of it. The headlines would read something like "Northern Iowa Ag Business Owner Faces Felony Charges For Throwing a Flight Attendant Through the Window of a Taxiing Jetliner. The Attendant is listed in Critical condition with multiple injuries resulting from the fall and is recovering from surgery from having her PA microphone surgically removed from her ass."

I'm looking forward to spending the whole weekend at home with the kids, don't get me wrong. But I bet I'll watch Baby Einstein MacDonald (at Mara's request of course) at least a dozen times. Oh well, I stopped by HyVee on my way home. Got a case of Guinness and a Jumbo bag of Pizza Rolls. Can't hear the kids wake up in the middle of the night if you're passed out in the basement. I hope DCFS isn't monitoring my Blog.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a piece on "My Piece of Shit Truck."

Beautiful night for a ride

Gotta switch gears here (no pun intended, you'll understand as you read) from kids to bikes. It was so nice out tonight I just had to get a good ride in. I finally have my latest project dialed in, geometrically anyway. I took a bike I've ridden the crap out of and restored it. It's year 2000 Specialized Stumpjumper. Nice bike back in the day. Had front suspension, XTR drivetrain, aluminum frame. This winter I stripped her down, painted her, put some dirt drop bars on her, and replaced the 3x9 drivetrain to a singlespeed. For my family and friends who dont' ride, a 3x9 drivetrain is what you would call a 27 speed. Only that's a misnomer. There's not actually 27 different gear ratios, some of them overlap, so it's really a 3x9. Now, it's a 1x1. No shifting. Also, I took the suspension fork off and replaced it with steel rigid fork. Just pure simple, ridgid, singlespeed. Anway, now that it's dialed in where the seat height, and the handlebar height are perfect, I really enjoyed riding it tonight. I got into some sloppy shit that would have clogged up my 3x9 drivetrain. All the justification I needed. All in all I rode about 20 miles. Went by 3 or 4 bars and managed to keep riding by. It was tough, but I did it. I can't wait to get out again, maybe tomorrow to ride my new/old rig.

Crazy week

I've been too busy / lazy to post. Stacey's brother and his wife came to the house on Saturday to watch the kids while we went out to dinner with the neighbors. Ellen has decided to develop an attitude. She's a lot like me in the sense that she doesn't like crowds, or company. Makes it suck sometimes for us, but you have to appreciate her independence. Mara on the other hand has just been a blast. She's trying to talk, and does all the animal noises. We had a good time out without the kids and had a relaxing Sunday. Good stuff just hanging at home with the kids. Headed to Belmond this weekend. Mom is super psyched to see the kids. Should be a good time.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

It's Ellen's first Valentines Day and Mara's second. Like most things us parents get a kick out of, they couldn't care less. Stacey went to work early today, so I got them dressed up in Valentine's-esque clothes. I did my best. Mara was a peach this morning. Ellen, well she was Ellen. I always say, if every baby was like Ellen, we'd have one hell of a population problem. She's always happy. Gotta go to work now. Till next time....

Man it has just been stupid cold outside. I couldn't stand another minute indoors this week so I talked my buddy Norbert (doesn't take much to talk him into riding) into going for a spin on Wednesday night. Started out looking like it was going to be a really bad idea. My hands were getting numb early on. Then we hit the Mt. Mercy college campus hills. Hills used to be my specialty, but Norbert was stomping me. I should add that Norbert is a roadie. If a roadie could be cool, he's a cool roadie. He'd prefer beer over coffee after a ride (but not before, roadie). Anyway, he was stomping me but he waited for me and pushed me to do more reps than I would have had I been riding on my own. We finished the ride spinning around town for a while, followed by aspre's ride Guinness pints at Dublin City Pub. The pic above is of our bikes inside the Pub. Pretty cool of them to let us bring them in.

If that weren't stupid enough, I had to take my van in to get a tire fixed yesterday. I didn't line up a ride to work, figured I'd just hop on the bike and ride the 2 miles from the shop to work. That was at 8am. I think it was about 1pm when my testicles finally came back out of my body cavity. It was fucking cold. Too cold, even for me. I had snotcicles forming on my snotcicles. Needless to say, I hitched a ride back to the shop when my van was done.

Taking the girls to Des Moines this weekend. Stacey's work Xmas party tonight, and her parents and her brother live there. Should be a nice time. Looks to be warming up next week a little. Get out there and ride.

Time to get moving

Now that NFL season is over, a cold spell is coming to an end, and spring is quickly approaching. I need to get my fat ass into shape. I was giving Mara a bath last night. She thought it was funny to splash the water and make all the little duckies fly everywhere. Well in the meantime she soaked me to the bone. So I sat up on the toilet lid next to the tub and pulled the bottom of my shirt up to wipe my face. That's when it hit me. I can't see my belly button anymore. It's finally come to the point where the flab from my gut has completely consumed my belly button. How did I let this happen? Stacey will point to the 10 empty Guinness bottles from Sunday, but I say, I've been drinking beer like that for the past, oh let's see, 15 years or so. I'm not riding enough.

I've had the girls by myself after work the last two nights while Stacey works on my early retirement. Last night was tough but I was ready for it tonight. I was all ready to make dinner. Got Mara fed, got Ellen fed, new diapers, into pajamas. One to sleep then the other. I'm not finding it all that difficult yet, but I gotta give the single Moms of the world credit, at least the end is in sight for me. After all that I had to go clean off the drive way. I could have just shoveled it. It was light enough, but I have this snow-blower in the garage, I have to justify owning it so I used it. I'm not one of those guys that enjoys getting outside and working. I'd rather get outside and play. I'm not lazy, I just have better things to do than clear snow and mow lawns and shit like that. I miss that part of owning a townhouse.

Tomorrow is bike night. Can't wait. Time to work off an entire football season of Guinness and chicken wings. Wish me luck. I ride past a lot of bars. It's going to be hard to resist.

Bear Down

Well the Superbowl came and went. The Bears lost like everyone thought except for me, Clary, and Uncle G. We had the neighbors over and Roy and Monique showed up for some food and libations. To no one's surprise, especially my wife's, I partook in more libations than everyone else. She looked at me funny when I asked for another beer with 1 minute left in the 4th. I don't always ask her to get me a beer, so settle down feminist extremists, but I had Josey on my lap and we were both very comfy.

Ellen was sleeping when everyone got here. When she woke up, she plain freaked out. We've seen this from her before and dismissed it as a fluke, now we know she doesn't like crowds too much. Especially when she's tired. Mara was great for the most part. Just ran around and played. Watched a couple videos on the other TV and looked at me funny when I got upset.

I guess there's always next year. I always hate the end of the football season. Sure there's college basketball, and baseball will be starting up soon. But I just love NFL football.

GO BEARS!!!!!!

So it's Superbowl weekend. Having just moved to Iowa from the Chicago area, I'm really missing Chicago this week. There are some Bear's fans here, but not like there obviously. I went to a few games at Soldier field while I lived there with my friend Clary. I met Clary in college. We've been great friends ever since. We're both life long Bears fans and talk about the Bears everytime we're on the phone. Just doesn't seem right to me that we won't be watching the Superbowl together. But that's life I guess. I'll be raising my glass to ya Clary. I know Indy is favored but I like Chicago's chances. Hope I'm not eating my words on Monday along with our Superbowl party leftovers.

Night Ride and New Shoes

I went for a ride last night. It was snowing and the wind died down. It was beautiful. The snow crunching under the tires. Peaceful, unlike my house an hour earlier. I hit a trail in a park and was able to shut my lights off and let the white from the snow guide me. I'm about 25 miles under my January goal so I'm going to have to make that up in February. I gotta get my miles in, just a personal need. Mara got some new shoes yesterday. She couldn't possibly care less. Dora the Exporer was on TV so that was where her priorities were. Ellen let me put her slippers on in between her rollover attempts this morning. They both looked pretty hip so I took some photos.