Wrigley Turns 4 :)

Sunday started out pretty normal. We had stayed up late the night before watching NCAA March Madness. So, when I got up at 7, I pretty much saw it coming that Nick probably wasn't going to make it up for church. I even mentioned this to my sister. I was right! About 20 minutes later, we received a phone call from Nick's mom saying Nick's grandpa wasn't doing well. He's been having some health issues for a while now, and things seem to be getting progressively worse. Nick and I had a chat and decided we'd head to Illinois for spring break and forgo the trip to Phoenix. Within three hours, we had done a load of laundry and packed up the car for our trip back to Illinois.

Sunday got kind of crazy, but we couldn't forget Wrigley's 4th birthday. We stopped for dinner about 830 pm somewhere in Nebraska (about 200 farms in or so?) and had some Arby's. Usually we make the dogs a cake for their birthday, but Wrigley got a special treat: a jr. roast beef! He loved it, and was very happy to share a small portion with his brother Rusty and sister Sophie.

A good day in all, and spring break will be nice because we get to see family and friends we hadn't thought we'd see until July!

KANSAS goes down!!!

Got out a little late for my ride today. I chose instead to watch the rest of the Kansas - Northern Iowa game. It was nail biting! Northern Iowa came out with the W. They did it with timely 3 point shooting and some stifling defense. Took down the heavily favored team to win the entire tournament. Gotta love the underdog!

I headed down route 6 to Dotsero in the warm sunshine, however air temperature was only around 33 degrees. Moving on the bike it was kinda cool when I was in the shade, but fairly nice in the sun. After hitting Dotsero I headed up the Colorado River road for just about a mile, and got a few pics. Snowed 6 inches out here yesterday, and it's all almost gone by today. With weather in the mid 40's tomorrow, it should be completely melted. Ended up with about 20 miles in the hour that I was out.
On top of the hill above Dotsero on the Colorado River road looking at the bridge going over the river, and I-70 westbound just above it.

Looking back on the Colorado river road.
This is a gorgeous ride along the river. Turns to dirt a ways up, but still good riding, as it is a very hard and smooth dirt road. Cheesin! Just a little chilly today.
Natalie had a baby shower last Saturday and got a bunch of necessary goodies. Onsies, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other goodies. However there was one thing which I liked just a little better than the others.... :) Guess the baby's going to be a Cardinals fan. No other option now. As you can see Natalie is rather pleased with this book as well... Good thing we have friends that are from STL that live out here!

Another funny story.... Natalie is the QUEEN of being on time to go places, or to be at work, her biggest pet peeve has to be people that aren't prompt or on time when expected to be somewhere.

It was about 4:30 this afternoon, and Natalie was just chillin on the couch. I thought she had to be at work at 5:00, so I said to her, "are you aware of what time it is?" She said no, not really, and was like oh, I guess I better get ready. So she is getting ready and stuff, and is in the shower and it's like 4:55 when she finally gets out of the shower. I was thinking holy crap! She is going to be at least 15 minutes late to work. This is unprecedented! I was giving her a lot of crap about how much she has changed since we met, and about how late she was going to be. Then I said, "your never going to make it there by 5." At this point it was a couple of minutes before 5. She said, "5? I don't have to work until 5:30." (I'm an idiot....:)

Another good story: when she puts her mind to something she works as hard as necessary in order to finish what she wants to get done. She is very determined when she has something she wants to get done. I am not quite like this...Half the time when I start something, I will find something else to do. When we got home from running errands this morning Natalie wanted to get the things from the baby shower put away and organize the baby's room. After helping her move a couple of shelves, I took two of the dogs and headed downstairs to watch some basketball. About an hour later, a friend came over to check out a closet that we want a light put into. When he came in the dogs went crazy (as they always do). A little later after he left Natalie came downstairs looking like she had just woken up. Turns out she had fallen asleep on the floor, laying in the sun coming in the window, with her sweatshirt as a pillow. Totally something I would do. Totally not something that Natalie would do. In fact I can't remember anything like this ever happening before. Not sure if she's taking after me, or if the baby is messing with her mind......

March Madness

March Madness has begun! One of the best sports times of the year! As usual, my bracket is super messed up as far as the first round games go. This year is a little different though, as I also get to follow the Illini's progress in the NIT.... Hopefully they can win that tournament, it would be good for their mental thought process.... going into next year. As far as the NCAA tournament, lets go Ohio State, West Virginia, and Duke.

Couldn't describe it better myself

With nearly 1,300 punishing kilometers of racing scheduled for the eight-day, 2010 edition of Paris-Nice, and only 119 kilometers remaining the final day, the end was in sight.

Allow me to digress. Albert Einstein defined insanity as, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Clearly Al wasn’t much of a cyclist. Besides Eddy Merckx’s staggering 45 percent winning percentage in 1971, there are very few guarantees when it comes to how a race will unfold — especially a French race.

So here on the final day of Paris-Nice I found myself racing at speeds greater than 50kph … uphill. In the brief respite from pedaling I am offered in the sharp turns on the sinuously long first climb of the day, I steal glances at my PowerTap. 380 watts, 408, 415, 423, 440, 460. As the power ticks higher, so does the speed. Much to my chagrin, so does the gradient of the road. The peloton is entirely strung out one-by-one so that the first rider to last covers a seemingly impossible stretch of road.

A shadowed patch of water on the road, followed by a touch of wheels sends a dozen riders to the ground and splits the field into two. I’m among those slowed down behind the carnage and I catch my breath for no more than a moment before sprinting away in chase. One minute passes, two, then three. Thinking it was not physically possible to go any faster before the tumble, I look down and see we’re pushing 60kph and a leg searing 500-plus watts in chase. I dodge riders who pull the proverbial plug in front of me. Virtually cross-eyed from exertion, and seeing attacks flying well up the road in the front part of the bunch, I too meekly call it a day.

Cycling is a vicious sport. It’s a cruel sport. Cycling is punishing beyond belief, full of agony, indescribable sacrifice, as well as sheer and utter pain. However, like an epic tale spun over the course of roads around the world, thankfully cycling is a redemptive sport as well. It is a beautiful sport, it is fulfilling, and it offers plenty of room for triumph despite adversity.

If you’re not prepared to have bad days on the bike — and I mean wretchedly awful days — then you’re simply lying to yourself. Learning how to roll with the punches is as fundamentally part of bike racing as logging base miles.

I was popped the final day of Paris-Nice and it eats me up thinking about it. No one ever wants a DNF by his or her name, least of all me. Given the chance, Albert Einstein may have called me insane, but I can guarantee that you’ll once again find me next week pinning my number on and going out swinging, searching for redemption and fully expecting a different result.

This story was taken from VeloNews by Ted King, a professional cyclist for The Cervelo Test Team. This is exactly what competitive cycling feels like, whether you are a professional or an amateur.

Read more: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/ted-king-paris-nice-insanity_108231#ixzz0iRz3OfvC

Daylight Savings Time!!!!

The best time of the year. Days are getting warmer. The sun is so glorious, and now the days are also getting longer. More daylight to get outside after school and ride the bicycle. One of my favorite times of the year. It's so nice not having to ride the trainer in the garage everyday, and it's also nice to have time to spend outside in the sunshine after school. Yesterday we sat on the straw bales in the back yard and basked in the warmth of the sun at 6,600 hundred feet in elevation. :)

Will they get in?

Are the ILLINI going to make it into the tournament????? As much as I wanted to see Minnesota beat Ohio State, the best thing for Illinois was for Minnesota to get smoked, and Ohio St. is doing that to them. We shall see who gets in, in about 45 minutes. Heading to the Dusty Boot for the Selection Show.

On the baby front, we headed down to Target this morning to pick up lots of odds and ends that we didn't get at the shower. HOLY BABY STUFF!!! Who knew baby's needed so much stuff???? We also picked up enough paint to paint the rest of the house and some clear weather protectant for the fence in the back yard..... Looks like I am going to be busy for awhile..... Feel free to call if you wanna help.....(for free) :)

Good Game

The Illini played tough today vs. Ohio State. They actually played tough defense, and ran a smooth offense until the last possession of regulation and the 1st overtime. Looking good heading into the NCAA tournament though, maybe everything is finally starting to come together.

Got a nice 2 hour ride in today. It was nice to get outside on the bike after being sick all week. Didn't wanna push myself too much, so kept the ride to 2 hours. Looking forward to daylight savings time tomorrow. It's a great day for anyone that likes to work out outside after work.

Blah

Sick... I rarely get sick, and working with children all the time, that is surprising to a lot of people. I attribute it to my super human powers.... or just eating healthy and drinking lots of water. I started to notice I was getting sick earlier this week, kind of a head cold. I went to school yesterday morning for CSAP testing, but left after that, and took today (Friday) off as well.

It is a beautiful day today, but feeling like I am it's a bit more difficult to enjoy the sunshine (only a bit more difficult....) I headed to the gym to spend some quality time in the hot tub and sauna. It felt so wonderful for my congested head. After I got home the dogs were out in the back yard, so I headed out to the deck and for some topless sun tanning. The sun felt amazing!

Crazy finish to the Michigan/Ohio State game, hopefully the Illini can pull out a much needed win today vs. Wisconsin.

new pics

We went for an ultrasound today...30 weeks. I have been having a pain in my side for quite a while now, off and on, and the dr. wanted to check and make sure it wasn't a kidney or spleen issue. Turns out things look good - for both mom and baby. The baby is now 3 lbs. 15 oz (give or take 11 oz.), has feet 6.4 oz long (apparently these are very big), lots of hair (if you can see it on the ultrasound it means there is lots of hair?), and is not breech (yay!). We go back to the dr in two weeks, just before our trip to Phoenix.This is a full-on, front view of the baby's face.

Nick claims the baby is flashing a peace sign....

prenatal class

Well, she didn't look exactly like the babies in these pictures, but tonight at prenatal class we were fortunate to be able to see one of the newborn babies close-up!!!! It was a super cool experience. It's been so long since I've had baby siblings. I couldn't believe how tiny and cute this little baby was. The excitement to see my own baby just keeps building!

HOLY ROCK SLIDE!!!!!

A bit of a rock slide last night in Glenwood Canyon. We just went through there on Saturday to go to Target.... Good thing we got Natalie's shoes for the baby shower because ain't nobody going to be gettin through there for a while now.... Estimates are 2-3 months for repair, no telling how long before they begin letting traffic through. The shortest roundabout route is 200 miles... the trip through the canyon is 17 miles....... We have one teacher stuck on the other side, and there are many other people that work here in the Valley that live in Glenwood Springs.... Great thing to happen at the beginning of CSAP's....... Story here

Good weekend

What a beautiful weekend! Friday after Natalie's hair cut we went to the Dusty Boot for an appetizer before returning home to retire for the night. On Saturday, we had a relaxing morning before Nat had to go to work at 10. Then I went for about a 2 hour ride. It was beautiful, 50 degrees and sunny. Rode up toward Sylvan Lake and got some good tempo work in. Saturday evening after Natalie got off work, we headed down to Glenwood Springs to get Natalie a pair of shoes to match her dress for the baby shower next weekend. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Chilis. Sunday we went to mass in Eagle, yep, we were a bit late (couple minutes), but still were able to get seats. Church was packed this morning! Standing room only. Another beautiful day in Gypsum, CO. 50 degrees and sunny. Got a short bike ride today, after watching the Illini lose a must-win game at home against Wisconsin :( Loving this weather and looking forward to Spring Break and some baseball (too bad it's the cubbies.... :( in Phoenix in a few weeks. Hopefully the weather stays like this around here.

Also, The Iditarod started (officially) today......my class follows it for the next two weeks or so during CSAP testing.

Last day of the TRI

Today was the last day of the trimester, and after getting out of school at noon we came home and sat for a couple hours and relaxed before heading outside with the dogs. We headed up to Adams Rib Ranch, which is a private home ownership area with little traffic, and a good place to take the dogs for a walk. In the picture above, Wrigley is ready for a car ride, he has assumed the position.

Sophie struggling through the snow.... To be fair, it was about 3 times as deep as she is tall, so I think she is doing a fairly good job.
The baby (both of my baby's) enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather. It was mid 40's this afternoon, although there was a pretty good wind that brought a good chill once in a while. A pretty good shot standing in the sunshine, with the cloudy mountains in the background, and the pregnant shadow as well.
After wearing the dogs out pretty good, it was time for Natalie to get a hair cut, and I headed to the Dusty Boot for a beer and some paper reading time. After a bit, Natalie joined me for some French Onion Soup, then time to head home for the night.

Blah

Just finished watching the Illini game against Ohio St. They actually played pretty good, but just didn't have enough consistency to get the W in a tough environment on the road against an excellent team. I think Ohio St. could go pretty far in the tournament, possibly even win the entire thing if they play like they have been. Illinois needs to win against Wisconsin at home on Sunday to feel comfortable about even making the tournament. They are so inconsistent, it drives a person crazy watching them. The also don't have much depth at the PG position when McCamey gets in trouble. IL should be one of the favorites next year though with everyone returning for another season and the recruiting class that's coming in. Hopefully they can get a W against Wisconsin on Sunday....

Baby stuff and random musings

Getting closer to the due date, 11 1/2 weeks to go. Natalie has a baby shower coming up soon, so hopefully we get lots of good stuff! We were in Carters in Silverthorne.... Natalie was going crazy with all the baby clothes surrounding her... To her credit, there were lots of cute clothes for babies! Amazingly enough, we got out of there w/out spending any money. I promised Natalie we could go back after the baby has been born and we know if it's a boy or a girl.

I did a terrible job with blogging last month, so hoping to do much better this month.

The weather is starting to warm slightly out here, and spring feels like it is just around the corner....however, truthfully I know that we are probably in for much more snow..... :( Ready for outside bike riding, and some good early spring fly fishing.

On another note, I found a new beer from New Belgium called Ranger IPA. This one is full of hops, the scent is amazing, and the flavor is awesome as well. Highly recommend this beer if you like hoppy micro brews.