Friday, April 25, 2008

Whiskey

After I get done with the Farmer's Market at the UofA at noon (the Community Gardens has a tent), we'll be loading up and heading up to Prescott for the Whiskey Off Road. We'll stop in Tempe for some lens rentals and then, continue on toward the festivities. It's pretty funny to be taking more camera gear than clothing. The LW is doing the "15proof" ride and I'll be out shooting photos with CP. Hopefully some of them will sell! There's an option that CP might go with one of her friends while I chase mtn bikes through the forest, but I'm not banking on it. Maybe this gig will go off without the pre-trip fight! Woooohooooooo....

Monday, April 21, 2008

Country Boy/City Boy

The LW and I heard the song County Boy/City Boy by Chatham County Line this morning and really liked it. Pretty cool sound and nice lyrics.

It's Monday and CP is at preschool. Quiet around here.

I sold a bike Saturday morning down at the bicycle swap meet. Greg and his merry band of volunteers pulled of a good event and we really enjoyed it. Also, it was good to see some of the GABA gang and it was really nice to leave with $$ in my pocket. CP had a good time looking at all of the bicycles and we saw a balance bike that a small kid was riding. This is what CP will get before a bike. It's the Dutch idea of bicycle training...no training wheels. They actually have balance bikes like this, but they're wooden.

We packed the superjetta yesterday after a bit of family naptime and headed off for Patagonia. It was a nice little drive and we passed slowy through the town on the way to the lake. Our fate was sealed with a "squeal of approval", literally and at quite hight volume, when we pulled up by the pedalboats where CP could see the bridge over the water.

She loves bridges, water, and trains these days. Really...can't get enough of any of them. We walked a bit by the water and she threw rocks in whenever she could get close enough. We spotted a frog on a log in the water and she was just in awe. I think it's the first frog that she's seen and she just stood there and stared. We couldn't pull her away. The bridge was a big hit and she was all over it. It has a pretty steep rise and it was giving quite a few people problems, but CP was up it in a flash.

On our way down to the bicycle swap meet on Saturday we passed a house that makes us cringe every time we go by. Not that I condone tagging by any stretch of the imagination, but this one was pretty funny.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Condensed

There's a lot going on in the house lately, so maybe this blog will get condensed soon into a once a week thing. A second small business has erupted lately to take over what once was just a long-time hobby. If the initial success and joy from it continues in a linear fashion, it may become my primary vocation. It has plenty of benefits that my current gig doesn't....especially in the overhead, continuing ed, and paperwork departments.

I'm just getting over a bout of winterspringwhenevervomiting disorder. It's similar to our norovirus thing that hit me after that train trip a few years ago. Violent in every sense of the word. Every time it happens, I think of Amtrak. 24 hours in a bed is enough to remind me just how lucky I am not to have to be in on all of the time.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Neighbor Kid, KU, & Maya Writing

Our next door neighbor's son is in town for spring break (it's just now spring in Denver) and I've been watching him while his dad is at work. It's been pretty fun for the past couple of days. We went to the desert museum on Monday then to hot water park to do the birdwatching thing this morning. He's quite a bird spotter and impressed some of the adults there. CP had fun doing her impression of Ben Hur in the Chariot. She stands up in the seat and holds onto the side rails - it's pretty funny stuff really.

Last night, I thought that it was all over 'cept for the screamin' during the KU game. Auntie M, a fellow KU person, (funny Kansas reference intended) came over to watch the big game with the LW. CP enjoyed getting tossed into the air with a "SWOOSH" every time KU made a free throw shot. I'm glad that they won it because it would have been rough around here if they hadn't.

Nova tonight was awesome! It was called Cracking The Maya Code. I really enjoyed seeing all of the women scientists and what a large part they played in figuring all of the glyphs out. Of course, there was a guy who finally got it all together, but he stood on the shoulders of a quite a few smart women to get to where he could see. It was nice to see the Maya people learning their native language so many years after the Spaniards blew up their culture. I hope that CP and I can watch it together someday. Who knows what sort of mindless edfotainment drivel will be shoveled onto a TV screen by the time she's 12.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Redneck Denyin'

Not too far from where my red state parents live in Durrrrdanelle, Arkansas, there have been heavy rain, tornadoes, and heavy snow within a month. I can't really see how they could still argue against "all that crap" from Al Gore. Silly rednecks, they'll find a way.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

SAHD

It was good to see Stay-At-Home-Dads in Austin and the RebelDad.com getting some play this morning on the Today show. They went through all of the typical things, but it came down to the same thing we found. Child care is expensive and the LW, with a degree from KU, could make boatloads more money than I could. It just makes sense. If I were still working somewhere, my salary would simply pay for childcare.

I think that CP and I will be headed to a SAHD meetup group activity at the zoo tomorrow. There are lots of things happening in town right now. Bike races, folk music, street fairs....

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Catchup

CP went to preschool two days last week and has gone for two days this week. It's a bit of juggling due to vacation activities, so next week she'll be all ours for all week again. Things have been coming down around here. The old shed in the back yard got disassembled and put out front for the scroungers. One guy was here at 11:00pm getting the metal out of the yard. It's good to see it avoiding the landfill. The cedar tree stump went down too. Our neighbor got tired of hearing me cut on it with an axe, so he came over with a chain saw and worked it down to nothing. It also worked his chain down to nothing, but he left with a smile and a cold beer in his hand.

This week's been busy at work. There are a good many bike races going on right now in town and the racers are keeping me going. I did some wheel truckin' for the promoters of the Tucson Bicycle Classic this past Saturday and had fun. It was good to see so many people that I know and everyone was happy......except for the guy that thought neutral wheel support was also feed support. Silly kids.