12/20/08 sledding and snow ride

Quite late posting these pics. Last Friday, we got a little ice storm and were to get a little snow on Saturday. Stacey wanted to go out shopping on Saturday so the girls and I played outside for a while. They were both pretty stoked to ride in the sled around the yard. After that we went around the block in our all terrain wagon. Good times until their snotcicles started freezing. Then it was time to go in.

The driveway warmup for what lies ahead.


Ellen hamming it up as usual. She loves sledding.

Mara wanted to pull Ellen up the driveway.

A rare smile for the camera from Mara.

After Stacey got home, it was my turn to go out and play. I had a couple things I needed to return to target, and then I wanted to get a little ride in while the temps were decent. Right before I left, it started snowing a little, but I didn't think it would amount to much. I got to target, and was glad I was on a bike. That was the only way I was gonna get a parking spot. Traffic was bad for Cedar Rapids, and it was nice to scoot right through on my two wheeler. I got in and out of Target pretty quick and called my buddy Norbert to see if he wanted to go for a spin. Turns out he was already out with some buddies on a little bar hopping ride, so I headed their direction. They were coming from the South side into Downtown, and I was about 8 miles away from them, so I met them downtown. By the time I hit the trail that runs north and south thru town, it was snowing like crazy.

Believe it or not, there's a trail somewhere in front of me.

My ugly mug, sorry.

Norbert cruising thru Czech village. That thing on his head is a light.

Stopped for a cold one at Moose McDuffy's.

The Crosscheck with studded tires. Both earned their keep that day.

When I was going down the trail I had the Ipod cranked up with some Sinatra. It was majestic. Ended up throwing down about 30 miles total. Sweet.

Got some Christmas pics to upload and I'll comment on that later this week.

Family Time

Spent some quality time with the kids lately. We've been watching a lot of movies, singing Christmas songs and Just hanging out at home.


Ellen and Daddy watchin' Rudolph

We went to Clear Lake this weekend to see my folks. The kids were really excited to see Grampa and Grandma, like they always are. We didn't do much while we were there. Satuday Dad and I got away for a bit to go watch some basketball and have a couple beers. After that we met the girls at the park where Mara got to go tell Santa what she wants for Christmas.


Mara and Daddy after she talked to Santa

Later, we went home and had OP Pizza and just hung out. Mom whooped my ass at dominoes later that night. Good times, but she cheats. :)

Get Ready

12/12/08 Edit: I had no business typing the below blog entry. I had just finished watching the news following a Bears victory over the New Orleans Saints. Needless to say, for reasons I'm sure you can imagine, my judgement was temporarily impaired. On top of that, my knowledge on the subject is limited at best. I have decided to leave this post here, however, for your amusement.




"We were about three words away from a deal," said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the GOP's point man in the negotiations, referring to any date in 2009 on which the UAW would accept wage cuts"

We are in a period of consequence. It's all going to come to a head this month, if all is even remotely close to projections. If GM fails, I don't think this country is prepared for the collateral consequences. It's time to rethink things with the UAW in my opinion. It's time to realize that it's no longer sustainable to manufacture a $30K piece of shit in terms of resale value with a guy making $30 an hour standing there with an air wrench, who can't be disciplined for attendance, insubordination, or whatever without jumping through hoops to do it. There's no accountability for the front line worker who can call in with a hang-nail. There's no way to work around it for the middle managers. We can blame CEO's and market conditions all day long. But this was inevitable. GM workers in Oakland, CA allegedly once went on strike over not being allowed to have Ping Pong tables in their break room. Even if that is half true, it's ridiculous. The UAW and GM are getting nothing more than what they deserve if they are not bailed out. The unfortunate part is what it would do to the rest of us.

Here we go again

The holiday travel and the stress that comes with it are here for me. We were just in Des Moines for Thanksgiving. Went back there again today for an extended family Xmas. Going to Clear Lake next weekend (not Xmas related) and then there is talk of going to Des Moines again the weekend after Xmas. Nothing New Years weekend (yet) and then off to KC on January 10th.

Stacey and her family always travelled on Xmas day and around it. My family rarely did. We'd make a trip to IL the weekend before Xmas, but Xmas day and the days off surrounding it were always spent at home and at Grandpa and Grandma Thompson's house 3 miles away. 10 years later, we're still at odds.

Holidays are supposed to be relaxing. What's wrong with spending 4 days in your pajamas? Hey Mara and Ellen, how do you like your new toy? Great, put it away or throw it in the van, we gotta hit the road. Again. Don't get me wrong, I like seeing everyone, I'm just tired of spending my coveted days off in our van.

Luckily, in January we'll get to meet my new niece. My sister Sara and her husband Bruce (see Bag and Bruce Blog to the right) have a new addition to their family. More on that when I get photos and such.

Sundays are great

After 3 days of eating, drinking, and such a lazy Sunday was at hand. We had just spent Turkey day and the day after at the casa de Schwartz in Des Moines where Ellen completely ruled the roost. I got out to ride on Thursday morning at the 9th annual Turkey day ride at the best off-road trails Des Moines has to offer before returning to Stacey's parents house to gorge myself on Turkey and beer.




The guy on the right, running up the hill in the speedo and the GW mask, is my buddy Squirrel, whose blog is linked to the right here. He is the man behind the annual Turkey day ride in Des Moines. The rider, Scott Sumpter will be referenced later in this post. (Yep, these are the kind of dudes I hang out with.)


Friday, Stacey got out to shop all day and I kept the kids at the house by myself, which turned out to be very peaceful. No really, it was. For some reason the kids are always angels when I have them to myself, not sure why, but I don't really analyze it. It ain't broke, so why fix it.

Saturday I left Des Moines early to go to race my bike (one of them) at the Jingle Cross Rock cyclocross race. The last 2 years I have done this race, I've raced in the beginner category. Last year I placed in the top 10 and had a lot left at the end, so I upped a class this year. I placed fairly low in the next class up, but I'm not in the shape I should be in so I was happy with my results. I've had a friendly rivalry develop since I started doing this event with a guy from Des Moines. He is an aquaintence of mine from RAGBRAI's of the past. His name is Scott Sumpter, the rider in the photo above at an earlier cyclocross race that I did not attend. He is the guy who keeps the cycling population of Iowa together with his website, bikeiowa.com. We both placed very close together and had a good time riding this Motherfucker of a course. Afterwards we all watched the rest of the races together on the top of the huge hill we had earlier been required to run up during the race. The good part about watching, is that we could drink plenty of beer while watching. In fact, Scott and his friends and wonderful significant other brought a keg of Fat Tire to the top of the hill for all to enjoy. I didn't want him to have to roll that thing back down the hill full, so I did the best I could to help them empty it.

I was supposed to go back on Sunday to race again. Cyclocross races are usually 2 day events. But I was really wanting to chill with the kids and Stacey on Sunday. Sundays are kinda sacred to me. Back when I was a kid in high school, my parents always made sure we spent time as a family on Sunday. Even though we were always busy with sports and jobs and stuff, we always at least ate a meal together on Sunday. Maybe that's where I get it. Anyways, I got up with the kids this morning to let Stacey sleep in a little. Plus, like I said I wanted some time with the kids too. When you're at extended family things, seems like the only time you spend with your own kids is when they're being shitheads. So I got up and there was snow on the ground, just like the weather man said there would be. Ellen was pretty awestruck with the snow at first. She sat on the bay window for a while looking out while I made her breakfast and a pot of coffee you could stand your fork up in.

Ellen playing on the bay window checking out the snow.

After the kids ate and Stacey got up, I had given up on racing today, but still wanted to get out and ride. Nothing like making the first tracks on snowy singletrack. Stacey agreed to take care of the homestead while I went out and played for a while. It was beautiful out there.

The Karate Monkey pointed down some beautiful singletrack at Beverly Park

A skinny little bridge I decided to ride over despite the conditions.

Of course, my camelbak has everything I need in it in case of an emergency.

Family Feud - Xmas Decor edition

We can't seem to agree on Xmas decor in our house so I'm asking for your help.

It is my firm belief that Xmas decor should be fun first and foremost. Stacey and I had a Stalemate argument on this topic in Menards on Saturday. I want cheesy fun stuff, she wants simple and tasteful. My kids don't want simple and tasteful. They eat yogurt with their hands. They don't care if their shirts match their pants (neither do I incidentally), comfort is the key.

It all started in my Mom's living room almost 2 decades ago with the silver and gold Xmas tree. Sorry Mom, but this is important stuff. It's been downhill in the Xmas cheer department ever since this atrocity appeared in the living room. All the fun handmade in school ornaments and the souvenier vacation ornaments were banned to the "other" tree like a 2am booty call. As if to say, "I still want you around, but at my convenience, oh and I don't want anyone to know about you either, so don't ever just drop by without calling first." Only oranments of silver and gold are allowed to adorn this tree. Oh and presents wrapped in anything but faux precious metals will be bannished as well, so friends and relatives, if you want your gifts to adorn the big stage, you must comply with this motif. Where's the fun in that? Where's the tradition? What's next, Pizza for Xmas dinner? (Nevermind that I don't think I've been to a church since my wedding, other than other weddings or funerals, that's not important here.)

For me, it's all about the kids. I want them to laugh and smile at the lights when we get home at night. And I'm one of them, I'll admit. I like snowmen and Santa's and I still giggle when I fart.

So please weigh in on the poll you see to the right of this post. Your opinion is (not really) important to me in this matter.

40 miles in the cold

My buddy Norbert and I hopped on the commuters and rode into the wind 2o miles or so to a little town called Center Point. Supposed to be a good little pizza joint there, so we figured what the hell. Wind is coming hard from the NW and that's the direction we're headed. Figured we'd work our asses off getting there, and enjoy the tailwind home after grub and some beers. The pizza ended up living up to its reputation. The beer selection is what you'd expect from a small Iowa farm town. Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, MGD, and Old Style. So, Old Style it was. Another friend of ours, A.J., met us there but she drove her car (wuss). Even though the wind chill was at 9 degrees, it didn't feel that cold. Legs are feeling it from that headwind out there. Good stuff.

Recovering

I can't do it anymore. Stacey and I spent the weekend in Dubuque and partied like we used to. Mom K had the kids, so we took advantage. Really tore it up on Saturday night, so Sunday was very painful. Stacey was super-mom on Sunday. Chased the kids around all day while a sat like a sack of shit on the couch. If the Bears had played better, I might have snapped out of it, but to no avail.

Got back on the bike last week and rode in to work today. Ribs are feeling much, much better. I've been meaning to throw a shorter stem on the commuter bike, so I did today thinking it would take some pressure of the bars as well. Seems to help. Put new bar tape on too. Something I've been avoiding, but needed to do badly.

Christmas is coming. Mara and I are going to Menards tomorrow night to pick out the yearly addition to the yard lights. I'm going to let her pick out some of those lights you stake in the ground along the sidewalk. Stacey wants something tasteful, I of course want something cheesy. I figure it's only fair to let the kids pick.

Out of Commission

Seems my little injury isn't getting much better. Ribs still hurt. Plan on calling my sis tomorrow for some advice (doctor or tough it out). Doesn't hurt when I sit at all. Hurts when I stand and take deep breaths, hurts like hell in the front when I lay on my back and forget about laying on my side. Donating the ramps and selling the bike I have built up to handle that kind of riding. Stacey wants a new sofa anyways. Gotta get these ribs in shape to ride the Thanksgiving ride in Des Moines.

Had Monday off to recover from Sunday football. Got a couple of truckloads of leaves out of the yard. Fired up the snowblower just in case, but may have to mow one more time. Looking forward to putting out the lights and cheesy stuff for Xmas. The kids are gonna love it.

Halloween and those crazy Bears

Stacey and I asked Mara a few weeks ago what she wanted to be for Halloween. It started off being a cow, but the final and most consistent answer was a silly pumpkin. Luckily, we were able to find it and a Bumblebee costume for Ellen. Getting them to pose together proved to be futile, so we tried to get a couple solo shots:


Mara the silly pumpkin


Ellen the grumpy Bumblebee

Mara completely understood the concept of Trick or treating this year. We started off down the street with both kids in the wagon. Ellen really didn't know what was going on. She thought we were headed to the park. So when we at the intersection, when we went straight instead of turning to go to the park, she freakin' lost it. That was the end of her Trick or treating, hence the grumpy Bumblebee tag. Her and Stacey headed back with the wagon to attend to the candy bowl, while Mara and I continued soliciting more candy on foot.


Mara and I knocking on doors

All in all, Mara did a great job and had a lot of fun. She came out of her shell quite a bit that night, speaking to adults easily and politely. I was impressed. Later that night, we had to cut both the girls off from their candy intake. The sugar high was evident as numerous laps were being run around the house.

Great Grandma and Aunt Dani came by on Saturday. They all went to the park while I hung around the house. Later the big girls left me with the little girls so the big girls could go out to lunch.


Aunt Dani and the girls in the playhouse


Sunday was a great day with a painful ending for me. We didn't do much in the morning. Played outside a little, but stayed inside most of the morning. Stacey got a quick lunch of appetizers ready for the game only to find out 2 minutes before kick-off that it wasn't televised. Shit, guess we should've bought that Sunday ticket. Oh well, it was off the the garage for me. Unfortunately I'd be listening to the game on the radio without my little cheerleaders. These are outfits Aunt Sandy and Uncle G sent a while back. We finally got a chance to get them into them and take pictures. The game ended with the Bears in the W column, but it was ugly. Me being in the garage turned out to be really productive. My garage is as clean as it's been in a long time.



Mara and Ellen in their Go Bears dresses



The painful ending came with me playing around on my bike in the driveway. I built these ramps after a trip to Decorah a few weeks ago. I just finished the landing ramp yesterday. It doesn't look that tough from here, but having never really gotten into doing stunts before, the height of these ramps and degree of loft you get from the launch ramp is intimidating. What you see on the video here is a successful attempt, what you do not see is the attempt previous to this one, yes previous. On the attempt previous to this one, I had the ramps about 2 feet further apart. I hit the launch with too much speed and got all crooked in the air. Ended up overshooting the landing ramp and landed front wheel first on the concrete subsequently diging the handlebar into my ribs and my helmet into the pavement. I knew I had to get up and do another jump even if it was a small one or I'd never try it again. I filmed it because my buddies Ken, Cole, and HoJong are fired up about riding these ramps and have a lot more skill doing so than I. My ribs hurt like hell today, I don't think they're broken, but they could be cracked or at least bruised pretty bad. Too old to be doing shit like this, but I can't help it. Click the video to see it.

Holy shit it's windy

Regardless of the wind, I had to get yardwork done today. Slacked it yesterday to go for a ride. Had to take the long way to work to pick up my truck from Friday. Left it there to ride home friday night rather than deal with traffic. Not that it was that bad but my bike was in the back of my truck and well, any excuse to go for a ride. Had kid duty yesterday afternoon and then a wedding to go to last night. One I was in attendance to very briefly due to the girls acting like complete shitheads. Y'all know I love them dearly, but I think all parents need to just stand up and say "my kids are being shitheads" when their kids are being shitheads. We all know all kids are shitheads once in a while, but I don't think we all know that all parents can acknowledge when their kids are being shitheads. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, go to Walmart... anytime.

Today I tackled the yardwork with a little help from Stacey and a lot of help from Grampa and Gramma Schwartz. They were in town for the wedding and took care of the kids while we got some work done. Luckily, the kids were NOT being shitheads today. Stacey had a big ol' batch of kick ass chili made up for lunch. Perfect day for it.

After lunch I want out to the MTB trails at Beverly and did some work getting ready to build a new trail. (Thanks Stacey) Got home around 5pm and just put Mara to bed a few minutes ago. Just sat around and relaxed tonight.

Decorah here I come

Heading to Decorah on Saturday for what will probably my last MTB ride outside of the Cedar Rapids area for the year. Bummer, but Decorah is a cool town.

Stacey went to Mara's preschool parent teacher conference today. Mara's doing great and she really, really likes school. She's becoming my little buddy around the house. Nice to have someone on my side even if it is a 3 year old.

Ellen is taking on some of her mother's qualities. She's been impossible lately. She's into everything and has become very defiant. I wish she'd just relax and behave like her Daddy always has.

Josey (the dog) is recovering from an attack by a Rottweiler and a German Sheppard a couple weeks ago. Stacey the great bravely fought off the attackers with some helpful bystanders.

I'm looking foward to some garage time tonight to finish up some details on my 1x9 I'm putting back together after cannibalizing it for another bike earlier this year. It'll be both my play-around-in-the campground bike, and it'll probably end up as my winter bike since I already have spiked tires for it.

Stacey is doing great too and will be back in her office after it being flooded in June very soon. Our favorite time of year is upon us, so everybody's pretty happy in the Kehrt household.

Weekend in Cheeseland

Stacey and I took the girls to Wisconsin over the weekend. This weekend has been on the event calendar for a LONG time and Stacey was very much looking forward to seeing her best friend Becky. The weather was fantastic and coming across the Mississippi was a spetacular display of fall colors. I threw the Karate Monkey on the bike ride for the trip. No way was I getting within an hour of Southern Kettle and not ride it. So Friday I had a free pass to go get dirty. Stacey, the girls, and Becky and her kids had a full day planned of wife and kid crap, and Becky's husband had to work, so everything worked out well. I met a couple of old riding buddies that happened to have taken the day off and we went for a casual ride. Good ol' Gary dropped a cooler in the middle of the trail where it crosses a road for some mid ride refreshments. We rode for about 3 hours, and then hit the LaGrange general store for some lunch and a New Glarus beer. Scrumptious. I headed back to Becky's where the whole clan was getting ready to dive in to dinner. The ladies had plans to help Mark and I get the kids to bed and then head out for a couple drinks. Mark and I sat around and had a few drinks, but ultimately laid pretty low. The ladies came home surprisingly early, and I called it a night.

Saturday was awesome. We took the kids to a pumpkin patch. The girls had a great time, but Mara was a little scared of the train. We had a picnic lunch and then headed home. The kids took short naps and spent pretty much the rest of the day playing outside while we kept watch. Nice thing about small towns, traffic isn't such a problem and Mark and Becky's yard is huge. We grilled brats and I was knocking bag the New Glarus like it was going out of style. After the kids went to bed, it was the guy's turn to go out for the evening. We were not as wise as the ladies and made it a pretty late night. Started off at a bar, then hit a neighborhood Octoberfest party down the street from Mark and Becky's house. We came home around 1am, and I am quite sure that was a good decision. Luckily, I don't suffer from hangovers very often, and this would be a Sunday that I was spared. Mark however was not so lucky.

We hit the road after a tearful goodbye between Stacey and Becky. The ride home was luckily uneventful, and the fall colors were beautiful. The girls were very well behaved the whole weekend, which is a nice change. Usually one of them melts down sooner or later, but they played so hard with Logan and Rylan that they were just plain pooped.

A great weekend indeed. Got to ride, drink good beer, eat Becky's cooking, and spend a lot of time with the kids. I love Wisconsin, except for their football team of course.

You Don't Ever Want to Hear This

So I'm not feeling all that well last week. My neck hurts, but my whole body hurt after that race I did on the 21st. I feel a little pain on my left side, but don't think too much of it. I figure I might have some gland swelling or something. No biggie. Then I'm in Des Moines for business on Wednesday night and stay at Brian and Jen's house (bro and sis-in-law). We have dinner and I strangely don't have much of an appetite. We have a few beers, listen to a band, and hit the hay. I'm a little feverish and in the morning I start to get concerned. I go to my meeting at John Deere and as soon as I'm on the road home, I call my doc. I ask if I can get in that day and they squeeze me in. By the time I get home from Des Moines, I can tell I have a pretty good fever going. Go to the doc and he says I have a big nasty infection called a Tonsoloris absess. Gives me some drugs and asks me to call him if the drugs give me the shits. I'm on them through the weekend, the pain and the obvious absess start to retreat and everything seems to be cool.

Then the next Wednesday comes. I spend a pretty good part of my morning doing shitter sprints, so I call the doc and let him know. He wants to see me that afternoon and I agree. I let him know I'd be there but I don't have time to sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes. They "yeah, yeah" me and I go. The doc gets to me right away. He starts feeling the absess, which is definitely smaller but not gone. This surprises him and he says the following, which will probably be engrained in my phsyce forever: "I don't like the progress I'm seeing with the infection. We should be seeing more improvement than this. We're going to do a chest X-Ray, some blood testing, and we're going to set up a CT scan." He continues whilst I am completely bewildered. "I am looking for a mass. I'm talking about cancer. Could be some type of Lymphoma."

I'm almost speechless, except for one word. And that word was............."Fuck."
He says, "Yep, so I'll get the Xray and bloodwork done here, but the CT scan will take a couple days to set up."

Now, my wife can attest that my mind is all over the place all the time, I can never seem focus on any one thing ever, but this man had my complete undivided attention. We whisked through the Chest X-ray and the lab did the blood work. The chest Xray looked good and the blood work as I later found out did too.

Fast forward through a couple nervous days to my CT scan this morning. I'm there on time, and of course even though I'm the first appointment in the morning, they're running behind. I finally get through the whole thing and the technicians tell me to call my doctor later that day to find out the results. I'm on the phone before I'm out of the parking lot. Not that I expected them to have the results yet, but I want to set the tone. The receptionist tells me if I haven't heard anything by 4pm to call them. I tell her that if I haven't heard anything by 10am, I'm calling them. I'm not sitting on the sideline the whole weekend to find out if I have lymphoma.

I take my time getting back to work, but when I do I try to put my mind to my work so I'm not dwelling. Just as I get settled in at work, I get the call. Everything looks normal. The remaining lump appears to be inflammation, and not a mass of any kind. I am to continue with the antibiotics I am on and check back towards the end of next week.

Phewwww.

Ass whoopin'

Had a pretty average week. Took Ellen to her 2 year check up. She's where she should be in development. The doctor confirmed what we already knew, she's a big girl, but she's proportionate (not chubby). I have a horrible fear of having chubby kids.


Had friends Roy and Monique over for dinner on Saturday night. Grilled some bratwurst, drank some beer, and the kids played. Sort of a belated b-day party for Ellen. Roy and I fired up the fire pit and listened to the Cyclones game on the radio until their daughter forced their departure. All the kids were very well behaved for a change.

The ass whoopin came on Sunday when I decided to race at Sugarbottom. There are 4 divisions: Beginners 10 miles, Sport 20 miles, Singlespeed 30 miles, and Expert 30 miles. I really, really wanted to race sport class, but I made myself race singlespeed. I felt that if I raced sport, I would be giving in to my lack of fitness and would never try to get in better shape than I am right now. Turns out, I gave myself the ass whoopin' I deserved. I struggled through 30 miles of tight singletrack, climbing, and root infested trails on a rigid frame.



Here I am lined up with the Singlespeeders, with the experts in front of us by a few minutes. This is pretty much the last time I saw any of these guys except for one of them, who ended up dropping out of the race.

After the first 20 miles, I was getting pretty tired, so I just rode the last lap at a leisurely pace. Stopped for a swig of beer from my buddy Ken who was volunteering. And prepared myself for a very difficult technical climb called Gravity Cavity (name stolen from Palos in the Chicago area). I later found out that I as one of the few who made it up that climb without walking on each of the three laps, so at least I have that to be proud of.



A pic of me on the prarie coming out of the woods. I don't know when or where this was taken on the trail. When I crossed the line, my friend Dave was waiting with a Fat Tire Ale and some swag from the sponsors came a little later than that. Can't beat the atmosphere of these races.

Got home around 5 and was toast. Took a shower and had a nice evening with the family. Stacey had dinner going and we hung out in the yard for a while before dinner. It was nice of Stacey again to facilitate my need to go out and play and get dirty with my friends.

Sorry for the continued lack of photos of the kids. Hopefully will replace / repair my computer soon.

Blowing Chunks

After a long couple weeks at work, and then watching ISU get there asses handed to them by U of I, Stacey and I took the girls to a local brew pub. I tell ya, I'm diggin' this smoking ban a lot. I like this place a lot, but it used to get smokey sometimes. No problem now. So, we order our food, and just then Ellen drops a stinky deuce in her diaper. I go change it, and all is good. Our food is there, mine is good, Stacey's is good, Mara's not eating (no surprise) and Ellen is making short work out of hers. I have an Oatmeal stout and am debating having a 2nd one. This is when Ellen pulls an Animal House Belushi style projectile vomit all over the booth. It took me a minute to react. I was in shock. I know it's hard for some of you to believe, but I've done my fair share of partying in my days. And although, I'm not much of a hurler, I've seen plenty of hurling in my life (Bag, your 21st birthday is in my top 5, if I had one). But I've never seen a hurl come from out of nowhere like this. I ran to the van, got a couple of towels, took Ellen outside and cleaned her off and stripped her to her diaper. When I came back in, Stacey and the manager were cleaning up the rest. Check please, we're outta here. Back home to relax. Watched Ohio State get trounced by USC and to bed I go.

Looking forward to the Bears game today. The Panthers are a better team than people think. If the Bears can win this game, I'll consider them contenders in the NFC. They have to prove that last week wasn't a fluke.

Haven't got much riding in. Commuting to work still, but beyond that it's been raining a lot, so no dirt. I missed Gnomefest V last weekend because I had to do inventory. Reports were that it was a great time.

A little update

We've had a few things happening around here, but nothing exciting. Mara is now in preschool. She's doing well and enjoying it very much. She's not shy about telling you who her teacher is (Miss Amy) and she likes to give a report on her day when I get home from work. Ellen doesn't seem to mind Mara being gone for a few hours a day. Ellen is talking more all the time. She's pretty sassy and certainly has Stacey's number. They both crack me up.

Labor Day weekend was pretty relaxing. I got to do a little camping at Lake Macbride State Park near Solon. Sugarbottom MTB trail is not far away, so I took advantage of that and rode about 30 miles there on Saturday. On Sunday, my buddy Ken and I went to Davenport to check out a new trail called Sunderbruch. This is a nice trail system. It's not very long, but the trail building is superb.

Ken took the above pic and emailed it to me. My computer is still out of order, so I have to upload emailed pics at work. As soon as I'm up and running again, I'll get some more pics of the kids posted.

Physical inventory going on at work right now. It's taken me over a year to get the place ready enough for a physical count to even be possible. It's not looking great, but not as bad I thought it would be. Lot's of lost parts over the years preceding me. Wrapping that up is pretty much going to consume me this weekend.

Much Ado about nothing

We spent the weekend with in Des Moines. Hit both sides of the family since Stacey's familyl lives there and mine was visiting for my sister's baby shower. Good times. Went out for beers with my bro-in-law Brian on Friday night and hung out with my fam on Saturday. Took the girls to the pool at the hotel my family was staying at. It was a blast. We all got to watch them progress from being totally scared to Ellen dunking her own head in the water. Reportedly, the baby shower went well. The whole shower thing is just silly if you ask me. If all you ladies kept the money you spent on each other for yourselves when you had your first baby, you could buy your own shit. That'd save you a trip to Target or Babies R us to return half the shit you got at your shower too.

Now to bikes, I'm riding this weekend come hell or high water. I'm headed wherever it's not raining.

Computer Down

So I have this awesome pic of Mara riding her bike down the sidewalk with me behind her on my new 29er. Stacey took the pic with her SLR, so the quality is excellent. Only thing is my PC at home took a dump. So until I get that fixed or replaced, I won't be posting any pics.

I took friday off to watch the kids while the babysitter took the day off. It was a beautiful day outside. Stacey's cousin Melissa came over for an hour or so to help me out while I did some yard work. After that I took the kids out to Palisades for a picnic. They loved running around and eating off of a dirty picnic table. I didn't bring a table cloth, but I wiped it off pretty good with baby wipes. While they were eating, I was laughing to myself about how Stacey, her mom, and my mom would be beside themselves if they saw this.

Saturday and Sunday were to be days of trail maintenence and riding. Mother nature had a different plan. Not only that, it seems that after RAGBRAI and towards the end of the racing season, nobody rides for fun anymore. Since there are no more objectives, there is no riding just for the fun of it. Either that, or they're burned out. Crazy. So I spent most of the weekend by myself with my dog. I got a lot of trail maintenence done at Sugarbottom and at Beverly, and quite a few things done at home. At least it was relaxing.

Favre

What a dipshit. The man whose crying heartfelt departure as a hero and a God in Wisconsin has now turned himself into a snivelling little bitch. Way to be a leader. Way to pave the way for your successor. Aaron Rodgers doesn't have a chance now and Brett's legacy is turned to shit.

LAMBA night

Had 25 riders at the trails last night. Stacey took care of the girls on my regular Wednesday night off. Rode for a couple hours. The trails were in great shape. The real fun began at the trailhead with beers, brats, and the infamous 2BTT (2 beer time trial).

It seems fitting that the White Surly 1x1 pictured above is about to be retired from my stable. She's creaking a lot and is due for a tune up. Just as well strip her down and build the Karate Monkey with her parts. That bike's been good to me. Ridden every trail I can think of in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and Missouri. It's been with me to Colorado, Tucson, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

We're getting a good thing going in CR with the MTB scene. It's fun to watch people ride the trails we've worked hard at creating.

Hopping on the 29er bandwagon

Albeit, a little late, my new Surly Karate Monkey is in at my local bike shop. Getting the Chris King headset pressed in tonight and she's all mine to start building. My Stumpjumper got hit by a car that rearended us in June. Rather than put the money in to replace the parts on an older bike, I bought a new frame. I'm going to strip the 1x1 and put most of the parts on the Karate Monkey and sell the 1x1 frame on Ebay. Can't wait to get it done. When all is said and done, I should come out even on it too. It's like a free bike!!!! (almost)

Family Fun Day

Today was Family Fun Day at Beverly Park. A group of us set our personal desires to rip up and down the trails aside to guide those that may not have the gusto or whatever to come out and ride. We met a few new faces and gave some trail tours, but the turnout was pretty lame due to the previous two nights of rain. I got out for a hard ride, albeit a short one. It was pretty miserable out there due to the humidity.

When I got home from Beverly I found Stacey, Mara, Ellen, and Josey galavanting in the yard. We decided to go out for dinner to one of my favorite new establishments, Mulligan's. The food there is fantastic and it's a locally owned pub and grub. This was the first time taking the family there and things went pretty well. I had a great meal and a wonderful pint of Guinness. After that, we hit DQ for some desert. I love the Cherry Cheesecake Blizzards, but getting ice cream here always leaves a longing in my heart for Graham's Ice Cream in Geneva, IL. I've often considered driving there just for the ice cream. Did y'all know that I love ice cream almost as much as beer?

Sick kid

I talked to Stacey this afternoon while I was at work. Told her I'd like to ride the long way home from work tonight. She said Kelly (daycare) called and told her Mara was running a fever. I call Kelly at 4pm and ask how Mara is doing. She says Mara is feeling better. I say awesome and pass the news on to Stacey. I tell her that I'm going for a ride after work and will get home to mow the lawn. She says that's cool and that she is taking the girls to the mall. An hour later she calls me and tells me to get my ass home. Mara has a 103.5 degree temp. I head home, give Mara some Motrin, and send Stacey and Ellen out of the house. They leave and Mara and I have dinner. I have grilled pork patties and potatoes. Mara has yogurt and some toasted breakfast thingy. We're now in the basement where it's nice and cool watching Blue's Clues.

Great weekend, tough week

We were spoiled this weekend up at the lake. Came back to some hot and humid stuff this week. This is the time of year I can't eat or drink enough to keep up with my weight loss. We took Monday off and stayed an extra day up at the lake. I rode a road ride for the Bicycles Blues and BBQ in Clear Lake. Good time, but just like a roadie event would be, after the ride there was live music great food, and no beer. So I went and got my own. Leaned up against a tree in the shade, listened to some washed up blues singer, ate a brisket that was nothing short of succulent, and drank some Fat Tire Ale.

Back to the grind this week. Busy with work and life just like everybody else.

Gotta post this pic to show my crew at work. This chick seems to be next door up at the lake every time we're there.

Happy Birthday Baby

Yesterday was Stacey's birthday. We had already had an excellent weekend.

We spent the 4th of July with our friends Roy and Monique and their daughter Elise as well as another couple they are friends with. We grilled out and drank beer (well, I ended up drinking Stacey's share. Somebody had to drive). The girls stayed out late, but not late enough to enjoy the fireworks. I think they would enjoy them, but they were just so tired. The night came to a close when Ellen, as graceful as she is, took a header into a concrete block. She was a trooper as she always is, and wanted to continue playing once the blood was cleaned up, but it was clear the grumpiness was getting the best of her so we headed home.

The 5th was a fantastic weather day. As planned, Jen and Brian stopped by before a Schwartz family rebellion in Monticello. I took Brian for his first mountain bike ride of the year. Brian would be a fantastic rider if he rode more. As it was, he struggled a little at first, but regained his composure quickly. I very much engrossed him with mountain bike culture by bringing a 30 pack of Miller High Life with us to the trail.

Brian attempting the skinny

B Didn't make it on the first try, but did on the 2nd try. This is a feature a lot of the veterans don't have the juevos to attempt, so I was quite proud (and vocally so) when he made it on his 2nd try.

One of the many trail features at Beverly Park

A little fun on the picnic tables:

After we rode we went to Monticello for a BBQ and some good ol' family fun. Played some bean bags, ate some grilled goodies, and I drank WAYYYY too many beers. Thanks to the sober drivers.

Ellen hanging out after dinner playing in the rocks.

Me and two of Stacey's cousins playing bags. (Brian and I went undefeated)

Mara and Ellen with Grampa and Uncle B on the golf cart.

Finally, on the 6th, Stacey and I just layed low all day. In the morning I filled up the swimming pool that I had got from Target a few weeks ago. Now, let me tell you about this swimming pool. This here swimming pool is the Grand Daddy of all blow up swimming pools. Complete with and inflatable bench and three cup holders, it holds 217 gallons of garden hose goodness. I was stoked. I filled it up, and couldn't wait for the water to get warm enough, which, if timed right, should be right about after nap time. I was not at all disappointed. Nap time was short for Mara that day. After holding it in for five days, she left a poop in her diaper that Fat Bastard would be proud of. There was no going back to sleep for her. Hell, I'd be on cloud Nine too after a dump like that. So we put on her swimming suit and headed outside. She loved it. Absolutely loved it. I grabbed a little hair of the dog and sat down in there with her. A while later, Ellen and Stacey joined us , though Stacey did not get in the pool like I did. The kids loved it and I'm back in the running for Dad of the year.

Mara and Ellen diggin' the big pool

Mara and I made this cake for Mommy during the day. She helped blow the candles out. Stacey didn't want this picture published, but I couldn't resist. It was awesome. Mara had a lot of fun wishing Mommy a Happy Birthday. She even helped me sing the song. It was great.

This was a fantastic weekend. Thanks baby for all you do. Happy Birthday.

This will have to do

I'd like to post pictures and a full vacation report from two weekends ago, but due to some delays related to my wife's and my brother in laws slowness, I do not have them downloaded to my PC as of yet. You see, the name Schwartz and the words quick, fast, or any other synonomous words rarely collide in the same sentence. Therefore, that post will have to continue to wait. What I have decided to do is post a few other pics, and this will have to do for now:

I took week off which just happened to be the week of the big flood. This is the kids playing in their play house in between storms.

This pic is from after we got back from Wisconsin, taken on my own camera. Mara and I headed to DQ where she bought me a Cherry Cheesecake blizzard for Father's day.

Mara playing in Daddy's truck

This is Stacey's office. This is one of the doors we were hauling stuff out of the Wednesday before the flood. I remember telling myself and a friend that there was no way in hell the water would reach the first floor of this building. As you can see from the water mark that almost covers the front door, I was sorely mistaken.

This is the bike trail that goes under the 8th Ave bridge along the river downtown, taken the Wednesday before the big flood. In less than 24 hours, the water rose another 12 feet higher from where it is in this picture.

Me on the road in Squaw Creek park on the Surly Crosscheck

Ellen hamming it up in the back yard.