snow

they called for 1-2", so of course we're looking at 6-8" and maybe more. a foot wouldn't surprise me at this point, considering the rate of snowfall now.

finally, some winning on the tennis court

last night I played Ed in singles. 6-1, 6-2, then 2-4 in the 3rd when I had to get home. my confidence was high, I was way more aggressive and hitting lots of good topspin forehands, not just slicing the ball and playing defensively. it felt awesome. so much more fun when I am going for shots and not playing ping pong out there. My serve was starting to click too. If I could just get my 1st serve % up into the 80s, I'd have many more holds of my serve. doubles tomorrow night.

anything but vegetables

actually, she's gotten better. sweet potatoes, broccoli (disguised well), squash...

banana

Alina's food of choice the last 2 weeks. could be worse, could be deep-fried twinkies. mmmm.

sunrise

around 6:30 this morning I looked out the dining room window, and had to grab the camera. You'd think I'd get used to this. Nope. Words can't describe how beautiful this is. And we see this very often with our abundant CO sunshine. even this winter. if you look closely in the 2nd pic, you can make out the 4-5' snow banks we have to walk through getting down to the garage. and this is just an average winter.

still at danny & maria's

danny & maria's new house

we drove up Pk 7 after dinner last night to look at their new house. it's awesome.

chow

we had dinner at the table the other night. nice change from the countertop, which is very convenient.

tennis league

well I still haven't won a set, but my games won stats look much better. Last night we went down 5-7 in the first, and then things were tied up 2-2 in the 2nd set when the girls high school team kicked us off. Indoor court time in Breck is a precious commodity. Since Keystone closed their tennis center with indoor courts a couple years ago, Breckenridge's rec center is the only place in Summit County that has indoor tennis courts. With a membership or day pass, court time is about $20/hr. If you split that with someone else, not to bad really. I think, no surprise, it's $30/hr in Vail.

and oh yes, how can I forget the old schooler we had on the courts today for the clinic. There were some really nice people from California who were here skiing. They heard about the clinic (good job Helen) and decided to come play. It was a dad and his 2 sons. They were all good players. The dad looked like he was straight out of Caddyshack. He was sporting some killer light blue pants, a tight white shirt, and a cool blue hat. All vintage Le Coq Sportif. If I had that stuff, I'd rock it too. I just would look like an idiot. This guy, complete with his shaggy hair (no match here) and tall lanky body....fit right in.

No snow yet. The roads are dry, but the skies are cloudy & overcast. The forecast is calling for 2-4" today, 3-5" tomorrow, and 5-7" Sunday. I hope it holds true, as I am overdue to make a few runs on the mountain.

truck riding a flat

this morning I was shooting some exterior condo pics at sunrise. I was in front of Sawmill Creek and happened to see an old pickup truck riding a flat. It wasn't just your basic flat tire that looked like it maybe just happened. This dude was prob riding this flat for a long time, as the tire was about to fall off, and the rim was scraping the ground. I wonder if he was oblivious to it, or if maybe he was trying to drive home or somewhere close to fix it?!

Alina and a raincoat

On Monday as we were on the road back from Moab, we stopped in Grand Junction for some food. Helen got Alina her first raincoat. Maybe she can wear it in June when it starts to rain.

"wow, the sleeves are of perfect length..."


"I can't wait for it to rain..."

warm again

the snow and gale force winds of last Friday are long gone. As is the 4" that fell on Monday night. Today it is brilliant blue skies and sunshine. And considering there's only one more week til March, I am starting to get spring fever. I would have liked to escape out on my cross bike at lunch, but this damn cold I've had for 5 weeks now just won't leave me alone. In Moab I felt much better. And yesterday at work and last night I felt much worse. Go figure. Maybe we just need to stay put in Moab til May!
Soon I will have time to figure out why Picasa's BlogThis! function is so problematic. The convenience beckons, but as you can see below in older posts...pics that were once up aren't there anymore. I may have to revert to the old school way of posting photos. Kind of a pain since it takes so much longer, but well worth it if the pics don't disappear. Pics tonight.

Red Hot 50K

Helen did awesome, 2nd place. 36mi and about 5000' vert in about 5.5hrs. She was only about 30min behind Darcy, and beat Anthea. She felt ok for her first long race of the year, but I think she had some stomach issues. The weather couldn't have been much better. 60 degrees and brilliant sunshine. Alina and I hung out in the hotel for a bit, then we walked down Main St Moab looking for muscle cars. We didn't see too many, as they are like cockroaches and usu only come out at night. I was lucky enough to meet Seth for a ride up Amasa Back Sat, then Sovereign Trail for a few hours Sunday morning. Yesterday morning I did a couple laps on the Slickrock practice loop. Luckily the ride home was a very typical 4.5hrs, unlike the 8hr trek getting there on Friday eve due to the road closures.

Happy Valentine's Day

Snapped these this am when dropping her off in daycare.
Never thought I'd be so into seeing Alina all cute and stuff...

nice lid

After work today, Alina wanted to take a bath, then stay naked (the diaper had to find its way on), and then put her bike helmet on.

 
 
 

riding outside with Alina, in February

pretty nice day last Thursday with Alina.

Beaver Creek snowshoe race this past Sunday

Alina and I pretended like we were rich & hung out in the Hyatt at Beaver Creek. Nice comfy lobby with fireplace. After the race, we hung out to see Helen on the podium once again. This time besides a cool plate, she also took home a check for $400. Not a bad day's work, or play.

winter again

back to winter this week. not really much snow, but more seasonal temps. It was around 11 degrees this morning, and in the low 20s now. We'll be lucky to see anything over freezing this week. Lots and lots of people coming into town this Th and Fr. We're headed out to Moab for the Red Hot 50K+ this weekend. Hopefully we'll see sunshine and temps in the upper 50s. Alina and I will have a blast, and I hope to do my first mtb ride since October.

oh no!

 

first ride of 2007

I wrote about my first ride in carpe diem. this morning was sunny, then by lunch time it changed over to overcast. then cloudy and breezy. as I was putting the rear tire back on the cross bike, I started thinking I wouldn't ride. Luckily I went, b/c just 5 min later I had a huge smile on my face. being outside on a bike, with the fresh air, making a good pace with Alina behind me in the trailer - well it's just perfect. looking forward to many more.

sledding around the neighborhood

not much snow around to sled on Monday, but we had fun anyway. she loves it. soon some fresh snow will be all over the streets again, and this will be way more fun for us.

carpe diem

today was prob one of the last warmer, dry days before the snow returns. then or streets will go from looking like May (dry) to looking like Feb (snow packed). So Alina and I seized the moment and went out on a little ride up French Gulch Rd and then back down into town for a few minutes. It was awesome to be on the cross bike again. maybe mid 30s with a slight breeze, but it wasn't really that cold. Alina very much enjoyed sitting like a big kid in the trailer. Last time we rode together was prob in October, and she was in the car seat then. Not any more. Next toy I am going to buy is the Burley solo trailer. Much easier than the double wide Trek I've been borrowing (thanks Dennis & Scott). The Burley will be safer on the streets, as it's about 10" narrower than the other one since it's only designed for 1 kid. solo.

alina

hanging out with Helen last weekend.
 

playing in a shoe box this afternoon with me.
 

warm

warm again, almost an April-like warmth. 26 degrees at 6am, and it's supposed to get up to the mid 40s today. much nicer than the below zero temps we saw a week or so back. Denver was supposed to get up to the mid 60s. we could use some more snow as January was cold and a bit dry, but I don't mind so much. I am sure we'll get plenty of snow in the spring, if not in Feb. Hopefully the weather is decent in Moab in a couple of weeks.

canned food

one of my favorite shows on Discovery channel, Modern Marvels, had a cool piece on the technology and significance of canned foods. Started way back with the Greeks, as they discovered that the lack of air would preserve wines and foods. They then started corking their vases and containers. Later on people would preserve foods with salt and other things, but this would alter the taste too much. Preserving food in sealed cans was invented by a French dude on the order of Napoleon. Napoleon awarded this guy tons of money. He discovered that if you boil food in a sealed container, it would cook it and the lack of oxygen would preserve the food for a long time. This was a significant breakthrough in wartime, as troops could stay in better shape as they had more food and more food options. This was esp. true with the British as they sailed across the Atlantic to discover the New World, and with the Americans in the Civil War. Most canned food now has an expiration date on it, but the food scientists say canned food can usu be eaten long after the expiration date. Matter of fact, a British guy ate a can of chicken that was 50 years old, with no ill-effect. Eww.