Lance Armstrong Again!!

Lance came today to speak to us about leadership!  What a great birthday present!  :-)

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Happy Birthday...To Me!

You know, I was really flattered when T-Mobile first announced they were planning a week long event in Denver to celebrate my birthday. I knew my work was being recognized, but still..and entire week?? But I figured it would be done low key...we'd stay at a Best Western, eat at the Royal Fork, and have to buy our own drinks..

But the company pulled out all the stops, and I have to say I appreciate it. Last night we had a party for me (well, they called it an awards ceremony dinner, but that's how they get the Board to approve the expenses) hosted at the Hyatt Regency. Lance Armstrong (woot!!) made a guest appearance. He said it was to present T-Mobile their 7th JD Powers award, but I know it was to wish me happy birthday. Then Dana Carvey showed up to entertain us, I mean me. He was HILARIOUS! And of course the open bar sponsored by Samsung was great, I can't believe even our vendors wanted to help me celebrate!!

After the even wound down a small group of my co-workers drug me out to Coyote Ugly for another drink and some pool. Overall I would call it a successful birthday! A big thanks to everyone that throughout the day sent me texts, emails, and phone calls wishing me a Happy Birthday!! I could feel the love, and it did help make up for not being at home on my birthday.

Other highlights of the pre-birthday buildup this week: The Blue Man Group performed for me and a couple thousand of my closest co-workers yesterday. Slightly bizarre, but very entertaining! And of course a little karaoke singing with friends from work on Monday night. All in all, a fine party T-Mobile has put on for me! Oh, and I've learned a bit about our company goals for the year. But I know that's just a cover so we can expense my party..



One last shout out: Thank you to my great team that sent me a gift for my birthday. I will wear my pink "Ride Like a Girl..Fast!" t-shirt with pride! You guys are funny!!

Get out and Vote!

Well, really I just want your opinion on some photos I've taken, I have no political agenda here.

I've sifted through about 3,000 of my pictures and picked out a handful that I think would be fun to print and frame. But my dilemma is that my eyes are bigger than my walls, and so I have to narrow the field further yet. This is where you, my 10 or so loyal readers, come in. I need you to vote for your favorites by posting comments. Maybe the voting public can help me decide?! So...let's do this!


Fence, Quito












Horses, Quito









NYC Highrise











Traverse Lake, Wallowas Mountains










Hikers, Wallowas Mountains (actually, that's James & Catherine)









Cactus Moon, Galapagos Islands












Cactus Silhouette, Galapagos Islands










Eiffel Tower












Church & Highrise, NYC

Is it cold enough?

Wednesday night, skiing at Alpental.  7 degrees F.  Awesome.

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Time Flies, Doesn't It?

Somehow it's Sunday night, and I'm wondering where my week went. Let's see..Monday: dinner out in the snow. Tuesday: worked late. Wednesday: skied. Thursday: Swim lessons and Grey's Anatomy, Friday: Dinner out followed by 11 HOURS of sleep. Yes, that's right, Eleven. Worth writing out because I don't remember the last time THAT happened. Saturday, fantastic breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe, a rather long phone chat, kitchen got painted (see below), dinner with Heidi & Hannah, then Sunday...today....a monumental trip to Ikea. So yeah..I guess I see how it's Sunday night, and my last post was a week ago.

So. The kitchen was painted. Why? After being ok with bland beige, poorly patched, slightly dirty walls for the last year and a half, why did I decide to paint now? Well..it all started with an incredible wine rack that I received for Christmas. You can see it on the right hand side of the picture: brushed aluminum pipe, offset holes cut out of it, wine bottles perfectly cantilevered on opposite sides. Gorgeous. Especially in a household full of aluminum tubes (ie. bike frames). When I first put it up on my walls, it caused me to notice something that I had not previously realized: my walls look terrible. Really. They looked bad. I can sit on my sofa and look into my kitchen, and even from there they look bad. Problem now solved. The paint was free (leftovers recycled), and in a couple hours it was like a kitchen makeover!


But then this caused me to take a step back and look around my living room. Suddenly the collection of hand me downs, post-divorce debris, and over-crowded book shelves just were not going to cut it. A trip to Ikea was in order! Top of the list: another book shelf and a new lamp. What I didn't realize I would ALSO come home with were a new table & chairs and 2 new rugs! You can see the new table & chair, and one new rug here.












How did I get rid of my old stuff you ask? Don't ask exactly what was offered for free, just take my word for it that all my old furniture moved quickly!


















The joy that is Ikea. Not only do you get cool new furniture, you get to build stuff for hours as well! Luckily I had some experienced assistance today, Annie contributed her Ikea assembling prowess to the endeavor.









Ok, enough of the home makeover talk. Tonight I attended a start of the season meeting with my bike team, Bryne Invent (team name, primary sponsor), or Jet City Velo (club name). I made a resolution to do some real road racing this year (opposed to just cyclocross), and this was a meeting to get to know new team members and discuss the 2008 racing season. There are a ton of races that happen almost literally every week from March through August (event calendar). Stay tuned through the spring and summer as I get out there and see if I deserve the sweet Cervelo racing bike that I own! ;-)

That's all I got tonight. Time to go do some work and get ready to face another week. Game on.

Snow in Seattle!

It was supposed to be an uneventful evening. I had dinner plans with James and that was about it. As I was driving back into Seattle the rain started changing to snow, and by the time I got to his place in Capital Hill it had changed to sleet. From his condo (20th floor, views looking north and west) we watched the chaos unfold. The sleet turned to insane hail, then snow, and the streets below us were quickly turned to white.

Needless to say, we opted for a restaurant within walking distance and we ventured out into it. Not a block from his place we helped push a BMW Z3 out of an intersection...real wheel drive, high performance tires weren't working so well...

Quinn's wasn't too busy, food was great, and we had a perfect view of the snow that fell through most of dinner.







By the time we left, ~ 9pm, the snow had stopped and the streets were clearing. It was a mostly uneventful walk home. His road was partly blocked off due to a car that had slid into scaffolding on the building next to his. (hard to see from this blurry camera phone pic)

I then drove home to discover, sadly, that there wasn't really any snow in Magnolia. :-( Good news is that the mountains got dumped on again and I'm skiing this Wednesday after work! woo hoo!


Later skaters

A Day in the Life

I've realized that there are people who only know me as the single guy. He travels a lot, he races bikes, he works too much. Even when they ride with me and see the car seat in the back they really don't get to see the other half of the adventure that is my life. So this weekends posts will be about that. An ordinary weekend with my kids. I picked them up after work on Friday. We stopped at the video store and rented Shrek the Third. We had dinner with our friends Heidi and Hannah. I read to them from Harry Potter. I fell asleep reading a book about excavators and bulldozers to Bennet and woke up around 11pm, in bed, fully dressed, no idea where I was. And so my weekend begins....

Saturday morning. Pancake morning. We lounged in our pjs until past 10am. The vote was for pancakes, I overruled Clara's request for Swedish pancakes (her choice every weekend) and made some fabulous pancakes with chocolate chips and diced banana. The recipe came from my new Joy of Cooking cookbook (thanks Heidi!).








Ben LOVES to help in the kitchen. If I don't do it for him he will drag a chair from the table into the kitchen just so he can get up and help. So it's become part of our weekend routine for him to help me make breakfast. Usually pancakes, although he's also quite good and making banana bread! He's whisking the dry ingredients together here.








Clara is also getting interested in helping out in the kitchen. Today she ladled batter into the pan, put in the chips and bananas, and even tried her hand at flipping. Many hands make light work, right?














After breakfast and some more lounging in jammies we finally decided to get out of the house and do something. Clara's been asking for weeks to go to Creation Station. We've been several times and had a blast, but it's been a while. Basically, it's a place where you use all kinds of random recycled parts to build anything your imagination can conjure up. I talked with the owner today and he said most of what he gets is from local small businesses that donate to him as an alternative to recycling. Regardless, you can find some cool things here, and the kids have a never ending supply of imagination. Today highlights were a perch for the kids bird Sherbert (lives with mom, thankfully!) constructed by Elise, a marvelous handbag by Clara, and several 'Monster Trucks' created jointly by Bennet & dad.












Bennet hard at work coloring the wheels on his monster truck.












So, after spending a solid 3 hours at Creation Station we stopped at Wendys for lunch, Best Buy, and then home. We recovered by playing with our creations and then I got to work on dinner. The kids do actually have a refined palate (Elise tried sushi just this week and liked it) but tonight we went pub-style with nachos. Amazing what a ton of cheese and some black olives can do to tortilla chips! We feasted on these, then chilled out for a while. I read more Harry Potter, about 45 minutes worth, then got em in bed.

What next you ask? Lounging on the sofa? Early bed time? Do laundry & pay bills? Nah....I set up my bike on the trainer and rode for 2 hours whilst chatting on the phone and watching a movie. All part of the post-holiday recovery program! BTW, I watched 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later, and it was lame. Wouldn't recommend even a rental, unless there's nothing else!


So now I've ridden, showered, posted, and it is time to crawl into bed. What's on deck for tomorrow? Another pancake breakfast, Swedish this time. Perhaps a trip to the aquarium, or the park if it's dry. Clara has knitting lessons at 230p, and who knows what else life will throw at me! But it's never boring, even when it's just a regular day in my life...

Who Said the Vacation is Over??

Blizzard conditions in the mountains for the past week and meetings done at 4:30pm left me with no choice but to bail from work early to hit the slopes! Though it's my least favorite resort to ski at, Alpental is only a 45 minute drive from my office. Perhaps the ONLY benefit of now working on the East Side! So I threw my skis on the roof rack this morning, and at precisely 4:35pm I pulled out of the parking garage and tore up into the mountains. It was amazing snow! Though there was very little virgin powder left, the snow was soft, deep, and a blast to carve through! After 2 hours I was exhausted...I got in at least 15 runs! Pretty sure my legs are going to feel it tomorrow!


Not the most flattering self-portrait...taken in the car afterwards. The snow stuck to my head is evidence of a couple of tumbles..













Visibility was actually quite good, despite the fact it snowed pretty much the entire time I was up there.











All in all a great warm up for ski season. I'm not sure why, but I decided to join a ski team again this year through City League. Racing starts next Wednesday and runs for 8 weeks. Fun times!!

Home At Last

Its with mixed feelings that my trip comes to an end.  I am happy to be home and see my kids and friends here, but equally sad to have left Andrew, Katherine, and my other friends back in London.  But there will be more trips in the future, of that I am sure!  Off to work now...oy!


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Last Day in Paris

I flew back from Paris to London today. Sad that leg of the trip is over, and that I'm heading back to the States tomorrow. But...what a great trip it's been!

This is A&K standing in front of our hotel this morning. The hotel was great, super location to walk everywhere (as you've probably gathered). Rooms were about the size of my bedroom, which doesn't say much! But a bed, bathroom, and free wifi goes a long way.













Our last dinner together in Paris. Ate at a fabulous place called Le Fumoir, just across the street from the Louvre. It came highly recommended by Alison, and did not disappoint.









And what trip would be complete without a stop at the Mona Lisa? I have to admit that mischievous smirk on her face intrigued me..as it has many others. What was she thinking??














Off to a last dinner out.... Au revoir!

Raspberry Beret

Katherine told me if I could find a beret for less than 5 euros she would wear it the rest of the trip..  Tonight I was successful!!

Bon Soir!

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8 Miles

The distance we walked yesterday... What an amazing city this is! We had a bit of a lie-in, got moving around 11a, and spent the entire day on foot. Made it back to the hotel at around 2am! We the 3 of us timed our walk perfectly to be at a restaurant 5 minutes walking from the Gare du Nord (train station Andrew was arriving at from London). The operation went like clockwork..as we were ordering our wine my phone chirped (or rather, ribbited) with a text from Andy that he was 5 minutes away.

Breakfast: a lovely crepe filled with nutella, banana, coconut & drizzled with Gran Marnier... I could have this EVERY morning!
















First stop after coffee, the Louvre. I took a picture of the iconic glass pyramid, the museum spans several blocks, and will take days to completely explore. I'm up early this morning to make a small dent. Kat & Aimee weren't interested in spending time indoors yesterday, so we walked the grounds and then went further west toward the Arc d'Triomphe








Shot from the middle of the street..perfect vantage point. Who says Parisians are crazy drivers??

I was excited to finally see the stretch of cobblestone road that hosts the final stage of Le Tour every year. I could almost hear the cheering crowds as the peleton flies by, the yellow jersey drinking champagne toasts while the sprinters battle it out for final points!

From the Arc we went north, found a cafe for lunch (great red wine!), meandered around, in and out of shops, absorbing everything we could. Several hours, 1 Irish pub, 1 new blazer from H&M, and a couple of miles later we found an Italian place near the train station and met Andrew there...

The walk back toward our hotel offered up this amazing vantage point. I took the picture with a 1 second shutter speed..












One last stop on the meander home...the pub where we discovered 100cL mugs of goodness, I mean beer.










Signing off now...gonna go find me a crepe, espresso, and some art..

Update on Paris

Our hotel (picture to be provided in a later post) is in a great part of Paris, walking distance to everywhere! Yesterday afternoon we walked from the hotel down to the River Seine, then about 3 miles along the river to the Eiffel Tower. Along the way we saw Notre Dame, the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre, and many other interesting places. It's amazing to be here!!

Here's a shot of the Eiffel Tower from a half mile away. Still had no idea how BIG it is.












Turns out the Eiffel Tower is actually quite large!!! I was amazed! Equally amazing were the lines to get in..stretching several hundred yards (several hundred people) from multiple entry points. So...we decided that trying to restore feeling to our hands and feet was more important than climbing up the Tower...we'll try again another day.








One last group shot..the tower artfully placed by the man taking our picture to look as if it's growing out of my head..


















And recovering in a nearby Braisserie.....when we asked for a "large" we didn't realize it was "supersized"!!










More to come later. We're off to eat crepes and check out the Louvre..

I'm in Paris!

Landed in Paris today with Katherine. Andrew takes the train out tomorrow after work. My friend Aimee from work took the train up from her dads house in Normandy. The city is beautiful. Its clear and about 32F. I wish I'd brought my smartwool!!

More later. We're off to explore the Eiffel Tower!

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It's 2008!

Let the festivities begin! Last night we were invited over to a party that Alison & her roommate Raj were having. Great Indian food and lots of champagne were served. Below is Alison, Katherine & Andy.

Around 11p we decided to walk down to the Thames and find a spot to watch the fireworks. I guess the Brits really love their fireworks! Although we ended up not being able to directly see much of any display, there fireworks going off at multiple points across London. It was mostly not raining (until after midnight) which was nice.

On the walk.. we brought our beverages with us..something else that is totally acceptable on the London streets!
One the many bridges across the Thames. We didn't stop here because we weren't far enough 'along the bend' to see the anticipated displays.

The clock struck midnight! We passed around a bottle of champagne and toasted each other, plus all the random strangers on the bridge with us. Cars were stopped on the bridge, apparently unconcerned that they were blocking traffic. Crazy Brits....


Last year was Maui (with A&K, plus the kids), this year London, I wonder where next year will be??

RDT