volcano

 


with so much snow this season, I've had to shovel out the snow lining the fence, so Montana wouldn't be able to hop right over. I think it will work okay. Since I didn't shovel the snow that was in the middle of the yard and away from the fence, Montana dug this huge hole in the middle. It looks like a volcano, or that thing from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

it was fun...

 


hanging out with Alina has really been a treat these last couple of weeks. I took off 4 extra days from work, and really got to spend some time with her. Hopefully she knows me better now too! It will be tough going back to work now that I've had so much time off with Alina. I can relate to what Helen's feeling. daycare starts next weeek, so it will be the next big adjustment for all 3 of us. luckily Helen's already used to work and pumping and nursing. I think I'll be helping with Alina as much as I can.

We had 5 days in a row now with no snow. Probably the longest stretch since early November. 

are those designer jeans?

 
 

already I have cool clothes

 
 

mr. dad day

mondays are for Alina and I. we did some errands today, and she came with me to get my new cd player installed in my truck. while that was happening, we walked a couple blocks over to Target. carrying her in the car seat for any prolonged period is no fun. luckily we got a basket and spent some time in Target. on the way back to Breck, she was laughing in the back of truck. oh yeah, today was her maiden voyage in my truck. i just had her in the front seat for the trip down to see the car-seat lady at the fire station. luckily, the car seat base fits in the back of my truck. even though I need to push up the front seat some to make it fit (giving less leg room to any f. seat passenger), it is still nice having the front seat open. with the front passenger seat more forward, it allows me to look right bewtween the seats to see Alina, so it's going to work out well. i can't easily put the base in the middle of the bench seat, as then I would have to flip up the middle console, and I wouldn't be able to access anything in there. But if I do take her on long drives in my truck, I will move the base into the middle, as it is safer. The car seat woman said the back bench seat is usu a safer place for the car seat than having her in the front seat. So at least I have some options.
got a new Alpine CD/MP3/WMA/ player for my truck today. I had the guy run an aux line out jack, so now I can use my iPod easily within the unit.

3 months

i've been a dad now for about 3 months. pretty amazing experience so far. we've been lucky with Alina, as she's well behaved and sleeps well. the biggest struggle we have/had is her taking the bottle. and even that, it seems, is going much better now than say a week or two ago. i think now we're just preparing ourselves (she'll be fine) for daycare. it will be tough, but Alina will enjoy the friends no doubt.
winter has been a blessing so far. over 226" of snow since October! pretty cold at -11 this morning, but the sun warmed things up nicely. as i type this just before 8 in the eve, it is already at 7 and dropping quickly.
this time of year I feel like a slug. work is busy, and my free time is even more rare and precious now. but I've still managed at least 15 good days on the hill. if the snow continues, what else would I rather be doing? not much. soon though I need to get back on the bike and see what's in store for 2006. the koppenburg on apr 2 is hopefully #1 in the spring. afterwards, as usual, I have not much interest in the road stuff. I'd like to do a norba or two, and a few MSCs. we'll see.

 
 

 
 

gold run

good ski on gold run again the other morning. it is somewhat unusual to have so much coverage on the south-facing Gold Run Rd. But this year so far is indeed an exception. It is so fun skiing all of the same singletracks that I ride almost every day in the summer. The snow base is prob 35-50", even in the bottom of the valleys. Hopefully the pattern continues. Some of the best skiing we've seen in years up on the hill.

11 weeks

 

a gasp after the holidays

it seems like yesterday it was Dec 16 and the start of our busy holiday season at work. almost a month later and we're still busy, heading into MLK weekend. so work is going well. I feel pretty good about it now, though it seems I am a little too frantic to get just over that hump....to really see some returns for our sales numbers.
Alina is incredible, 11 weeks now. She has her mom's beautiful eyes, and is quite expressive now. I can see more and more of Helen in her face each week. She is finally taking the bottle every day without much fuss. Next step is 2 bottle feedings each day. We'll see how that works out when she's in daycare. Helen goes back to work next Monday, so we're mentally preparing for that now. It will be hard for sure.
Sunday morning Dennis & I hiked up Peak 8 early and got some fantastic turns down the side of the bowl. Then a bunch of laps on the Super Connect and E chair rounded out a nice day. Monday morning I skiid out the door of the house up Gold Run. Then I skiid down to grab a paper and back to the house. Pretty fun to have that accessibility. Tonight I waxed up Sally Barber. The cheap V30 blue worked pretty well with the not-so-old snow up there. Coming down is okay fun, but too flat overall. I need to get up and ski Barney Ford down to town, or ski up Fr Gulch to the sidedoor down through McCleary's place. One day. New adventures are on the horizon.

the holidays are almost over

and we're okay with that. helen returns to work in a couple weeks, so she's a bit stressed but otherwise is doing fine. alina is taking the bottle almost every day now. we're ready for the unknowns of child care, once we get in.

vail

enjoyed a great powder day at Vail yesterday. It is amazing how good, and big, that place really is. Being the day after New Years it was somewhat crowded, but we avoided all lift lines except for the last lift up from Blue Sky, and the last run we made on the Northwoods Express lift. Saw Pat almost fall while getting on the lift. Pretty funny stuff.
Alina will hopefully be going into daycare at Little Red in a couple of weeks. And Helen will be back to work in a couple weeks, so yesterday was one of my last free Mondays for some time. Glad Mother Nature cooperated with me and my day off. When Alina is old enough, it will be fun to take her up on the hill.

 

I love daddy.