Flavorbank

Man, the Penzey's catalog took a big hit in the shorts last week. My LW found a store nearby called Flavorbank. CP evidently had a good time playing on the piano in the store while the store owner, Jennifer, helped the LW shop for spices. We even got some samples! I think that the coolest thing she brought home is called RAS Al Hanout by Afrikya. It's the best thing for oatmeal since brown sugar. It'll totally change the way that you look at a tired old bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. We'll be going back.

Onward Atheist Soldier

Read this in my old local rag, the Pitch this morning and it just made me mad. That major that gave him a hard time is just a santorum style stain on the military, but there are tons like him. They've bought into several different flavors of koolaide and won't be persuaded otherwise. Another blogger has a good rundown. You'd think that a military leader with a college education would have the good sense......ahhhh, nevermind. Nothing's changed since I was in....

Funny Sh..tuff

Conversation in CP's room this morning:
CP: Mommy aaheharumfarted inaruhtub (giggle)
LW: Yes honey, you farted in the tub and it went further than that...

It's funny now, but it wasn't funny at the time. Toddler poop in the tub disintegrates quickly and can make a serious mess of the parents, bathroom, and toddler in short order. Ahh just one of the many things that you figure out as a parent.

13 Days

nex
..spent on the road in one way or another.

We had some good fun at the Whiskey Off Road and I got to take some cool photos with some of the new and rented toys. The wife stopped before the 6 miles of downhill to help me with CP, who after a half day on the trail, was in full meltdown mode.

After we got home on Sunday, we did some laundry and repacked the car for our Tuesday morning departure for points east of the Mississippi. We decided to surprise the great grandparents with a toddler and a birthday party and it turned out well. Both grandmothers damn near keeled over when they saw CP standing at their doorsteps. We had two birthday parties and a visit filled with good food and happy people.

On this trip, we decided to start out really early in the morning so that CP would only realize a few hours in the car seat. It worked well until we started jumping time zones. A 1:30 wakeup for 7 hours+ of driving is a little old after 3 days in a row...and causes mumbled sailorish swearing after 4 days in a row. That time zone thing is pretty funny....nobody back there realizes that when they start clattering around the kitchen at 6am, that it's still 4 for us...and more importantly CP.

Our days of staying in the Van Horn KOA are numbered. They dicked us around by not unlocking our cabin when we arrived and the wife was....well...displeased. We'll probably start visiting the motels there. CP loves the rabbits that inhabit the place, but there are more rabbits than people in that town, so we'll find more of them.

I hope that in the next week we'll be able to catch our breath. We really need to drop CP off with some friends in town and have a weekend of down time.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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.

Way Out West

The LW spent part of the afternoon with Aunt B. and came home smiling. It was a good thing to see and a relief for me. Last night when the dust had settled around the house, I reminded the LW that there was cowboy music over at Javalina's. It was a cool evening and CP could be out and about without too much clothing holding her back. The decision was quick and in no time we were on our way. It was a smallish crowd, but that made it all the more fun. I actually got to take some photos although there was another chap there doing the same thing. We all had a blast and Slim, the upright base player, came over to talk to CP after the gig and put his huge hat on her tiny head. Upon seeing that huge hat on top of this tiny head, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. If you're in the area, you really should check the calendar on the Javalina's site, and show up. It's a good gig for seeing local, and not so local, musicians. It's also a really good gig for parents with small kids. There's plenty of room to run in the parking lot.

First Memorial Service

I've never been to a memorial service until today. My parents had me at a young age, so there haven't really been that many funerals in my history. Today's service was for a good friend who I knew through the gardening program. He was a good man with a good family. He was always on the go (to the point of us having to guess which part of the world he was in every month) and had just finished selling his business off to his two sons. I wish that I could have choked out a few words at the memorial about him being able to smile through pain and laugh through hardship, or how much of a calm and brilliant person he was...... but I just couldn't. I was so damned sad to see that this wonderful presence was gone. Some day soon, I hope to be able to tell his sons that they come from great stock and that I am proud to have known their father, but it'll have to wait a little while.

His time for the "golden years" was cut short, but as discussed at the service, he made the most of the time that he had and enjoyed life. I came away saddened that I had only known him for a few years, but I was reminded that not to make every year a golden year is just crazy. I think that he recognized early, as I have, that we're only on this rock for a short time. Not maximizing the enjoyment of the time we have is, as my grandfather says his father used to tell him at an early age, "burnin' daylight".

On the trip there, I thought of how few times in our lives we gather all of our friends near to say hello and to enjoy their company in one big ball. Weddings maybe and then funerals. This, to me seems a little bit silly. At one of these events, we're too busy putting together the shindig to enjoy it and at the other, we're dead. I told the LW that we should have a party some time soon and celebrate the living in our lives. After saying this, I feel lucky to have heard the LW remark that we'd have to rent out some place, because our yard isn't big enough for all of those people. Enjoy today, it's the only one you'll ever get.

Koppel

I just heard this assessment on the radio and think that everyone should give it a listen. He talks about the money we owe, what it takes to keep our lives oiled, and puts it all together so that you can begin to see the where and why of things. It reminds me that no matter what happens in November, we're in for much of the same.....

Eight Diapers

The LW just told me that CP pulled eight diapers out of the bag and counted them all in sequence. She can almost get all of the alphabet and is making sentences as well. uhhh...yeah...... 22months old. Other big doin's in the bathroom this week too. Poopin' in the potty every now and then. I wish that we'd had a little potty a long time ago. I was just loath to buy another plastic potty device. Silly me.

Two Wheels

I was reading some of Chile's posts this morning and the wife and I got to diggin' around. We found these things:

Clever Cycles A & B
Dutchbikes

There's some really cool stuff out there and CP may be breezing along on something like this some time soon.

So, You Think You're Not Buying It.....

Well, it appears that if you walk down the isles at WholeWildSunflowerOatsMarket and pick up some things, then you may as well be buying those powdered orange noodles in the blue box. The LW just sent me this link. Boca, Naked, Odwalla, Earth's Best....it's all there.

Missed Harvest

I walked by a row of sugar snap peas yesterday that were just beautiful and as tall as I am. This morning, I found out that the owner of this garden plot that is so full of life, has passed away. He was a great friend and a wonderful gardener.

In the Garden

This afternoon, CP and I spent some time inside the little garden fence. She spent quite a bit of it taking dirt from one of my rows and pouring it over the fence and onto the back of whichever chicken happened to be standing closest to her. At one point, I was finally prepared to plant butterbeans. To most of the world, they're known as lima beans or Henderson and Sieva lima beans depending upon whether you want them to climb or stay low to the ground.

Last year was a fairly good crop of Hendersons, but the Fordhook 242s didn't do very well. I called my paternal grandmother in Mississippi to keep her up to date with all things in the garden, and when she found out that I planted Fordhooks, she exclaimed, "my my son, that's them big'ol thangs, I never did like them...". If they're not good enough for granny, then I won't plant them again. It'd just be plain stupid to go against the wisdom of 78 years of farming, flower planting, and growing vegetables. She still gets a kick out of hearing about our two short seasons here in the desert and always seems thrilled with whatever we have growing.

I wet the soil with the drip system and got out the garden rake to use George Brookbank's quick way of figuring seed spacing. He takes the rake and digs it in along the row he wants to plant, then continues down the row repeating this. It makes nice little holes for seeds and if you need 3" between seeds then you just use every 3rd or 4th hole. I asked CP if she wanted to take a break from emptying all of the soil from my garden and help out. She replied with a nod and we were off and running. I put the seeds out in my hand and dropped a few into the evenly spaced holes with a "padumpp" sound. Soon the little fingers were grabbing seeds and dropping them into the holes that I pointed to with a little high-pitched "padumpp" sound that bordered on a joyful squeal with the departure of each seed from her fingers.

I kept looking around for her mother, but knew that these images were fleeting and that I'd only have one shot at them. Disrupting her to bring out my camera or to get her mother to come watch would have changed what was happening. It was a beautiful scene and I hope that old age won't steal that memory from me some day. She repeated this at every little hole until we emptied the packet. In all, we planted about 6' of beans and will probably plant more so that we can put them up for winter. I hope that I've planted the seeds for a little green thumb.

Grandparents

CP was sad to say goodbye to her grandparents on Monday when we dropped them off at the airport. She really enjoyed her visit with them and kept them plenty busy and very impressed most of the time. We went to the park, watched the old warplanes that were in town for an event, and visited the Desert Museum. It was a great visit. Sometimes family visits (on both sides) can feel like an obligation..."smile honey, be nice", but this one was a real joy even though I was sick most of the time. CP couldn't get enough of the newfound attention and took full advantage of having some new playmates. It really took the heat off of the LW and I and we were able to take a breather.

Tomorrow is March 12th. I met my lovely girlfriend on this day, about seven years ago. We're married now, but she's still my lovely girlfriend.