Your Eye on Rich

Royal Flush!

2009-07-01T23:21:00.001-07:00

Makayla just paid for our trip to Vegas!! :-)

The Top of the World!

2009-06-05T09:22:00.001-07:00

Clara and I (with her class) visited Cape Flattery yesterday, the northern most point in Washington. It was beautiful, and a great way to end a day of exploring and interacting with kids from the Makah Tribe.

--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Goldsworthy?

2009-06-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Patterned after works by the artist Goldsworthy. I think Clara is a natural!
--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Ferry's Here!

2009-06-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Working Hard

2009-06-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Chaperoning is rough work... Waiting for the next ferry to Pt Townsend, 1015 departure.. Wish I'd packed some tank tops! :-)
--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

MAKAYLA + RICH - Engagement Album

2009-05-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

Check out this great photo montage that our friends Christin and Daryl put together for us!!

CHRIS DARYL PHOTOGRAPHY: MAKAYLA + RICH - Engagement Album

Lake Shawnee

2009-05-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a great day in Ohio, filled with swimming, floating, tag, a weenie roast and general fun! Next on the list is s'mores!

--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Off to Ohio!

2009-05-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

Up at 315am, out the door at 4. Held up by the draw bridge for 10 minutes. Gate changed without warning... But we're safely aboard! All the little Temers are excited about their first trip to the metropolis of Jamestown!!

Go Buckeyes!

--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Vegas Baby!

2009-04-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

Guys weekend in Vegas? Heck yeah!
--------------------------
Sent from my T-Mobile Blackberry

Living the Life!

2009-02-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Our last full day in the Keys! We're spending the afternoon chilling at the beach in Bahia Honda State Park. It doesn't suck...

Cheers
--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

First stop: Schooner Warf Bar

2009-02-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Lovin Life in the Keys!

2009-02-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

I highly recommend a long weekend in the Florida Keys as a cure for the rain-induced Seattle blues! It was with a bounce in our step (despite the 330 am wakeup) that Makayla and I left Seattle last Thursday morning to visit her mom and grandma in the Keys. We fished all day yesterday with Uncle Buddy, and today we're driving down to Key West to bar hop and see the sights. Check back for more pix later!

--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Where's Waldo?

2008-12-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Do you see my suitcase? Me neither... This is the scene at baggage claim at Seatac airport.
--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Update on my Face

2008-12-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on my surgery: Results came back that all growths were benign. Phew! I got my stiches out last Friday and the doc says all is healing well. Swelling is down, feeling is slowly coming back. The worst part is that now it hurts more..but that's technically a good thing. I'm getting more strength back in my face too, still can't pull the corner of my mouth down, but when I smile it doesn't tug that corner up quite as high. And I can almost drink from a straw from the middle of my mouth!!

Thanks for everyone's well wishes, I appreciate the positive vibes!

Quick Update on Scar Face..I mean, Me!

2008-12-11T17:02:00.001-08:00

So, for those that weren't aware, I had surgery last Friday. There was a reoccurance of a tumor in my parotid (aka salivary) gland below my right ear, sort of tucked behind my jaw. The surgeons found a series of small growths along my facial nerve, and had to carefully hack around my nerve for the better part of 4 hours. Not ideal. I'm doing pretty well all considered. The facial nerve is weak, put expected to recover over the next 2-3 weeks. Above you see me trying to smile. The right half of my mouth just doesn't want to cooperate. I can feel it, I just can't move it!! But the eye closes (thank God!!) and no one can tell that my right nostril won't flare with the same enthusiasm as my left... so overall I'm not complaining. I just wish I'd stop biting my lip while eating my toast!

Warning: Graphic image below, not for the weak of stomach.....

Here's what the sutures look like, and my drain. That bloody looking tube really is coming from inside my neck! it has a small plastic bulb on the other end that sucks out all the liquid my body is trying to throw at the site of the surgery. It's out now..only had that attractive accessory in over the weekend thankfully! The stitches get taken out tomorrow, and then it's back to the gym.. Well, I've already been back, but no one is supposed to know..

That's it for now..later skaters..

2008-11-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so what have I done in the last 2 months? Sit down, get comfortable, and let me catch you up. First, London. Clara & I spent our last evening dining with friends of Andrew & Katherine on a sail boat moored in a small marina next to Tower Bridge. Magical doesn't do it justice! It happened to also be a send-off for their friend Katherine...so there were 7 or 8 of us crowded in the boat (yes it was raining) drinking wine, eating great food, and sharing some laughs not always appropriate for children. Lucky Clara's a great sport!

Coming home from our trip was a shock to both of us. Clara spent several days sleeping in late...i just stumbled around at work in a fog, trying to get caught up, readjust to Seattle time, and get back in the groove of "normal" life.

So what's normal for me? I took a trip up to Bellingham to visit my parents. The kids LOVE my parents bathtub, so bathtime was an event in itself! I highly recommend a jetted tub to anyone that likes a lot of bubbles...the kids discovered how effective the jets are at frothing the suds!!

O - H - I - O!

This is the cheer my kids were taught by Makayla, and now will randomly start shouting when they're feeling fired up about Buckeye football. :) One of them will yell out "O-H!" and the others will respond "I-O!". It's hilarious! (I think I've actually seen Makayla tear up when they do this...) Saturdays have taken on a whole new meaning now.

Speaking of Buckeyes.... So, technically speaking a buckeye is a tree...the Ohio Buckeye, state tree of Ohio. According to wikipedia (buckeyes), it's also a chicken, an aircraft, a butterfly, and, oh yeah, a nationally ranked college football team. The last item that wikipedia calls out is the candy: "a peanut butter and chocolate candy made to resemble the nut of an Ohio Buckeye tree and enjoyed commonly in that state". Above is a picture of Clara, Bennet, and Makayla making said candy, and they are delicious! We stuffed ourselves with them..our friend Hannah had them on her birthday cake after sampling ours..and the kids still talk about them!

So there's the first chapter in the last 60 days of my life...England recovery, catching up with family, learning about college football, and generally having fun. Stay tuned for more...

I know..I know...

2008-11-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

I've been getting it from all sides..my blog has become dusty. There are cobwebs in all the corners. People are tired of checking and seeing the damn London Eye..you don't even know what happened on my last day in London, let alone the other 60-odd days between now and my last post. So..this weekend is the weekend. No kids, no bike race (doctor's orders), no big plans, and crummy weather. I'll get the pics off my camera, think of some witty words, and do a post or three.

The very quick update on life: Kids are good, work is in-sane, Seattle is rainy, it will be snowing in the hills tomorrow, I've been doing quite well racing cyclocross, and have fun spending time with Makayla. Check back later for more details on all of the above..

Cheers..

Exploring London, Day 1

2008-08-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

First stop Monday morning was the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel that, on a clear day, gives you panoramic views of the city. We lucked out! The skies cleared up 30 minutes before we boarded, and clouded over again about 30 minutes after we disembarked! Clara took lots of photos of the boats below, and the buildings around us.

The view from the Eye

From the Eye we walked back across the Thames, past Big Ben and through St. James Park.

At the other end of the park is Buckingham Palace. We were too late to watch the changing of the guard, but we still had the chance to spend a few minutes watching the guards march back and forth. From there we tubed up to Picadilly Circus for lunch and gift shopping, then to the British Museum.

Clara and I explored Greek and Roman sculptures, American modern art, and Egyptian relics. Above is the famous Rosetta Stone. We also saw several incredible mummies (below)!

We ended the evening recovering at home. Ate dinner with A&K & Midnight.

A Relaxing Day in London

2008-08-17T02:53:00.000-07:00

Riding the double-decker! A real highlight of the day for Clara. :-) We were on our way to Oxford St for some shopping. We spent some quality time at Primark, a clothing store know for it's insane deals, like men's dress shirts for $4 GBP, shoes for $3 GBP. Clara spent some of her money and left with an outfit and 2 pairs of shoes.

After shopping, we all met up with Alison, another friend in London, for lunch, and then explored Hyde Park (after discovering the Natural History Museum was closed). Our first stop was a Frank Gehry temporary exhibit in the park. It definitely appealed to my architectural tastes...

From there we meandered along the Serpentine, Clara found some blackberries worth eating (on the wrong side of the fence of course), and we spent some time at the Princess Diana memorial.

In usual Temer fashion, we were not content to call it a day yet! We said goodbye to Alison, hailed a cab, and met up with Andrew, Katherine, and their good friend Catherine in the Marylebone neighborhood. We ate at a place called Giraffe, know for its family friendly dishes from around the world....
....and also know for it's crazy long-necked plastic colored giraffes that usually come in their cocktails, but were provided on request for Clara's entertainment. Which quickly became OUR entertainment as well!

So that was yesterday..today was a bit more relaxing yet..a visit out to Thorpe Bay (an hour outside of London by train) to visit Mum's other cousin, Mary, and her husband Nick. We had a nice time with them, having drinks, catching up, eating a great meal, and then training back home.
It was also Clara's first chance to ride the Tube! The Maida Vale stop is closest to A&K's place. By our return trip Clara was reading the Tube map and counting stops like a pro!
Mary, Clara, Nick, Katherine & Andrew gathered round the table for dinner. It's been 11 years since I'd visited them, and it was really nice to catch up!

More to come..Clara and I have the next two days on our own (alas, everyone else here has to work...) to explore London.

Cheers

Almost Made It!

2008-08-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

Windsor Castle

So..the question burning on everyone's mind is, can you see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and the Roman Baths all in a 12 hour day?? And the answer is, if you have a GPS you can! Sadly, Clara and I did NOT have a GPS, and we ended up getting lost on our way back through London...arriving at Andrew & Katherine's house at 8:07 pm, 7 minutes later than our bet!

Our first stop of the day was Windsor Castle. Located in the town of Windsor, it is an active, "working" castle. When the flag is flying it means that the Queen is at the residence. We toured the Queen's Doll's House, which was incredibly intricate, but, we learned, only for show, never actually for play. Then we walked through the state apartments, and finished up touring St. Georges Chapel, where new knights are formally welcomed into knighthood.

After a quick lunch in a cafe near the castle, we hopped back in the car and tried to find our way to the M3. We did..eventually...but it wasn't exactly the direct route!

Yes, we saw Stonehenge. It was very cool to see this famous stack of rocks in person! We spent about a half hour walking around the rocks (from a distance, visitors aren't allowed within a couple hundred feet of them). Then we fed Clara an ice cream and were off to Bath. The drive to Bath was beautiful: narrow windy roads around farmers fields, through small villages.

This is a shot of the Bath Abbey, taken from inside the Baths. The Bath's were fascinating, and we really enjoyed the tour through them. In fairness, there was so much more to see in the town itself than we had time for. It would definitely be worth a trip back!

We sat in the sun and relaxed for a few minutes down by the main bath. Then we climbed back into the car and made our way to the M4 for the 100 mile drive home. We made excellent time, there was very little traffic, and we were on track to be home easily by 730p. But then while trying to navigate the maze of streets from the M4 to Elgin Ave we took a wrong turn..or two.. We ended up having to call Uncle Andrew and getting guided in. The $45 that phone call will cost me would have more than paid for a satnav unit!!!

Today we're off to Oxford St for some shopping, and perhaps a museum or two in the afternoon..

Stonehenge!

2008-08-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

First stop was Windsor Castle, which was absolutely brilliant! (Pictures to be posted tonight!). Now we've driven to Stonehenge on our way to Bath.

--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Two Days in Leeds

2008-08-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Clara and I left London Tuesday morning and drove up to Leeds. Leeds is the city that my Mom grew up in, and her cousin David still lives up there with his wife Kate. This picture might capture our experience the best: rainy, sunny, stormy, all wrapped up in one. The drive was mostly uneventful, only got lost a little bit in downtown Leeds!

We didn't let the rain stop us from getting out for a walk before dinner. David & Kate took us on a walk through the University grounds. It was a bit wet and muddy, but nothing we can't handle being from Seattle!

The next day Clara and I drove to York, about 25 miles west of Leeds. Our first stop was the Railway Museum, where we watched a fabulous play based on a well known and much loved English book called the Railway Children. It was very well done, and included a couple of appearances from a REAL restored steam engine (seen above). Clara liked the play so much she bought the book afterwards and is almost done with it a day and a half later!

From the Railway Museum we walked across the river and into the town centre of York, destined for the York Minster. You can see the famous church here in the background behind Clara. We toured the church, and climbed all 275 narrow, steep steps to the top of the tower. The view of the city was quite impressive, and Clara used the vantage to photograph the gargoyles affixed to each corner of the tower.

After a full day in York we drove back to Leeds and went out with Kate and David from some great Thai food at their local fav, Jino's. It was not fancy by any means, but the food was excellent!

Today Kate had the day off, so she joined us as we ventured out into Leeds. Our first stop was the Abbey House Museum, where you can find a fully authentic, restored Victorian-era street. They have relocated real victorian era shops from around Leeds and rebuilt them in the Abbey House. So you're indoors, but you can walk through the cobble stone streets and into all the shops you'd have found in Leeds during the Victorian era. Clara really enjoyed herself. You can see her here in dress up clothes, which she wore for the rest of our tour.

After the Abbey House Kate took us clothes shopping (well, took Clara anyways...) and then we stopped at a bakery for some cheese and onion pastys, sausage rolls, and custard tarts. Yum!

Stomachs full, we jumped in the car, found the M1, and high-tailed back to London, where we had 7:15p dinner plans with Andrew, Katherine and our friend Colleen, a fellow Amazonian and all-around good person. During dinner I shared our plans for tomorrow: to take advantage of having the car and visiting Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Google maps says it's ~ 5 hrs of driving, so I thought we could manage it in a 10 hour day. Colleen has $500 on us not being able to make it back into London before 8pm. Stay tuned to find out if we can make it! (and no, Mom, I will not break any rules...)

Cheers

A New Temer in London!

2008-08-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long night of travel Clara and I arrived in London this afternoon (local time). Clara got her first passport stamp!!! We took the train into Paddington Station (below)......

and caught a cab to Andrew & Katherine's flat in Maida Vale, where Andrew was waiting to welcome us. It was so great to see him (and Midnight!).

While we waited for Katherine to come home from work the three of us took Midnight for a walk around town, along the canal and around the local streets. The weather in London right now is very much like it has been in Seattle, cool, overcast, but dry. Possible rain in the forecast for tomorrow but then hopefully warming up through the rest of the week.

When Katherine came home we went out for a pint and some dinner. We stopped at a local pub that makes great pies, but they didn't allow minors after 7p. So we had our drinks then found a pizza place to finish off the meal. Clara was practically sleeping on her plate so we wrapped up, came home, got her to bed, and now I'm plotting out my route to Leeds. In the morning Clara and I pick up a rental car and head north to the town my Mom was born and raised in. Stay tuned for more updates on our adventure!

Rich

We're Off to England!

2008-08-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

Clara and I are leaving today on a 10 day trip to England. We'll be visiting Andrew and Katherine, and some of our other friends and family. Should be a good time in jolly olde England!

--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Crepes at the Farmers Market

2008-07-26T10:54:00.001-07:00

Saturdays in the summer mean a trip to the Magnolia farmers market. They have great fruits, veggies, and flowers, but our favorite destination is the crepe stand!

--------------------------
Sent from my Blackberry

Summer = Hiking

2008-07-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my last post (have I started all my posts lately with those words??), and while I wish I could say it's because I've been off hiking for the last 3 weeks, really my life has been mostly filled with work. I have managed to fit several great hikes (and a quick trip to Las Vegas) in on my weekends however. Here are a few shots to showcase the country I've been exploring this month:

This is a view from the Denny Creek trail, while enroute to Lake Melakwa . I did this hike with my friend Kristie, from NYC. We were headed for the lake, but turned back 2 miles from it after losing the trail in the snow several times. I had strange flashbacks of my attempt to summit Mt. Whitney 2 months earlier!

Makayla and I hiked Mt. Si, a small peak just outside of Seattle. It's so convenient, and so popular, that people will even hike it after work. It's a fairly brutal 4 miles and 3100' from parking lot to summit.

The next weekend we hiked in a slightly more exotic locale...the Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. We hiked a trail with similar distance and elevation to Mt. Si, but very different scenery. This is a picture of us at the top of Turtlehead Peak.

Our destination, Turtlehead Peak, in the background.

Just last weekend we hiked to Granite Mountain, part of the Alpine Lakes network of trails. The trail was fairly busy since it was a beautiful day, but the views were absolutely worth it! Above is our first view of Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Our goal is the lookout at the top of the peak. The last stretch of trail was in snow and rocks, and very steep. It was challenging!

...but totally worth it! Mt. Rainier again..

I can't walk through snow and pass up an opportunity to go sledding! Believe it or not, there is a technical term for the act of sliding down the snow on your butt: glissading! (Though wikipedia seems to think glissade is a ballet term...ridiculous!)

So those are the highlights of the last few weeks. Who says summers in Seattle aren't fun?!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Despite being half Brit I'm completely embracing Independance Day...its a paid day off, who wouldn't??! :-)

The kids and I are down at the Sculpture Garden and Mrytle Edwards park, where the city is having a day of festivities, including live music. Thunderstorms are forecast for later today, but its nice right now!

Cheers, Rich

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Summer in Seattle

2008-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

It was 80F today, so the kids and I got ice cream and then decided to cool off in a local creek, called Wallace Swamp Creek. A perfect evening!
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Proud Owner of a 3 Year Old

2008-06-30T08:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, indeed. Bennet turned 3last weekend, and we celebrated in style. I'm still a little in shock that he is 3, but he's so much fun I can't complain too much about how fast he's grown up. You'll notice the dinosaurs in the picture...calling Ben obsessed with dinos might actually be an understatement! In fact, just today we rocked out to a dinosaur soundtrack that Jodi was kind enough to lend me. I'm wondering what's next??

It turned out to be a perfect day to be outdoors, so I made a last minute decision to move the party outside. There's a great park near my house called Ella Bailey which has gorgeous views of the city, a brand new play area, and a huge grass field, plus multiple picnic tables.

Bennet and his cousin Aidan got some frisbee time while I was grilling the dogs...

Jason is getting educated on all the dinosaur names by Bennet. :-) I let him play with the cake toppers before putting them on the cake.

The wind picked up right at cake time..so it was a team effort to get that candle lit!

Success! The candle stayed lit (the second time) long enough for Bennet to blow it out. Woo hoo!

Lucky I've got helpers (thanks Makayla & Lara)! We're serving up home made cake (chocolate with chocolate, Ben's request) and triple chocolate ice cream (also chosen by Ben).

Bennet (and I) have so many ladies in our lives.....

And here is a kid that is so happy to be 3!!! Happy Birthday Bennet!

I love my SUV!

2008-06-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is a weekly occurence! Ouch.

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Cannonball Run

2008-06-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

The mission: Drive friend Makayla's BMW 330xi from Chicago to Seattle.
Constraints: Can't leave before 12pm Monday morning (when the moving truck gets packed and goods signed for). Have to get to Seattle by 12pm for my 1230p doctor's appoint.

Can we do it??!! So far, so good! We departed an hour early yesterday from Chicago..about 11am. We promptly burned up that extra hour by sitting in TONS on construction traffic. My earlier Google searches for I-94 construction failed to yield complete results. Doh! So we began falling behind schedule...it looked like we had a lot of miles to make up and little time to do it! Finally in Minnesota we broke loose of the construction and made up some time on the way to Minneapolis. Unfortunately we hit Minneapolis right at rush-hour so were once again slowed. We stopped for coffee, Caribou Coffee of course!, I called into a meeting, and we got back on the road. From Minneaplolis to Fargo we averaged a solid 95mph (I love German engineering) and steadily made up ground. We gave some back by stopping for dinner in Fargo (not on my original plan), but decided to push for another 200 miles before bedtime. We left Fargo at about 10p, and rolled into the town of Bismark right around midnight. Sweet!

Accomplishments yesterday: 4 states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota). Hours of sustained speeds north of 100mph, 857 miles traveled, multiple cups of coffee, and no less than 12 Harley Davidson store sightings!

On the books for today: Wrap up ND, cross Montana, Idaho, and enter Washington. About 1,000 miles, test the speed limiter on the BMW, and find the Starbucks off of Exit 157!

Why did I title this post "Cannonball Run"? There was a great movie made back in the early 80's about an illegal cross-country road race with that title: link

Cheers from North Dakota...

Survived Mt. Whitney!

2008-05-27T06:38:00.001-07:00

I went straight from Vegas to Atlanta for work, so no time at the mo' for the full post that this epic trip deserves, check back in a day or two for that! In the mean time, here is a picture of the 6 of us 1.9 miles from the summit, which is as close as we got. Disappointing, but absolutely the right decision given waist deep (or higher) snow covering the trail, and the fact that it took us more than 4 hours to get down off the mountain after this shot was taken.

Click here to see the full set (194) of pictures on Flickr for any who are curious.

Cheers..

The Mt Whitney Trip Begins!

2008-05-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

We're on the way to the Lone Pine ranger station from Las Vegas via Death Valley. 4 of us flew into Las Vegas this morning (me, Dan, Shawn and Kevin). 2 more guys, Hank and Andy, are driving up from California. We're buying our passes, leaving 1 car at the ranger station (our end point) and driving the other car to the trail head, about 40 miles away. We plan to summit on the 24th, 14,495 ft elevation.

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Wrigley Field

2008-05-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Sunny Chicago

2008-05-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Who says work can't be fun too? I'm attending a 5 day dork-fest, I mean data warehousing and business intelligence conference in Chicago this week, and its a great time! I'm here with the two biggest drinkers on my team, which ensured we had a great time Saturday night! We ended up at a popular bar and grill called Rockit and closed it down.

Last night I had dinner in a pizza place that is at the site of the famouse Valentines Day Massacre. Tonight we're going to a Cubs game at Wrigley field. Oh, and I've learned the two philosophys of data warehouse architecture (Inmann vs Kimball), and what core competencies are required for a successful BI implementation program. What more could I ask for???

Back to class...
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

You know you're in Texas when....

2008-04-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Mmmmmmm....

2008-04-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

We've been eagerly awaiting the grand opening of an ice cream shop here in the Village! They opened a couple weeks ago and today we decided would be the perfect day to check it out!
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Sunny In Seattle

2008-04-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Its a great day in Seattle, so we're out at the park taking advantage of it. Of course, we didn't get out of our pajamas until 11:30 this morning!
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Recap on Albuquerque

2008-04-16T23:06:00.001-07:00

We've been back a week and a half, and I've finally found time to upload my pictures and update the blog. Recovery from a vacation is rough! It didn't help that a broken down airplane caused us to spend 8 hours at the Phoenix airport on our return home (I could draw a map of Terminals A & B from memory now, every restuarant, every bathroom..). I finally got the kids in bed around 1am Monday morning....ugh!

But what a great week we had! We had a great time reconnecting with family, introducing Bennet to all his relatives, exploring some incredible areas, and enjoying the warm weather that was in such contrast to the rainy 40F climate we left behind us. It was decided before we left that we will be returning again soon! So a big THANK YOU to all the Albuquerque family that took such good care of us while we were there!!!

Our first day in the sun, we hardly knew what to do with ourselves! We hiked around a park adjacent to the Rio Grande, and then followed some trails through the trees out to the river itself.

The next day we ventured a couple hours outside of the city to explore ancient cliff dwellings at a site called Bandelier National Monument. The drive out was via scenic backroads that took us through towns like Jemez Pueblo. Luckily Aunt Teresa was navigating! The windy roads led to another discovery: Elise isn't the only one of the kids who suffers from car sickness! About 5 miles from the monument, and just as the road finally straightened out, Bennet was car sick. The poor guy threw up on his favorite Gecko shirt.

These cliff dwellings were amazing, here you can see caves, the remnants of buildings, and even etchings in spots along the cliffs.

Taking a break... Bennet's wearing a Bandelier t-shirt that I bought him in the gift store, as I hadn't thought to pack a change of clothes!

Helping Aunt Teresa make pancakes the next morning (Bet you didn't know you'd be on the internet in your nightgown, did you??)

Later that day I took the kids up to the top of the Sandia Mountains on the Tram. It was a fun ride up, and offered panoramic views of the city and surrounding countryside. We were a little over 10,000 ft elevation at the top, and it was only about 32F, so we didn't spend as much time hiking up there as I had planned. We did tramp through the snow and the girls were really excited to find fossils of small sea creatures in the rocks up there. It was an interesting conversation to explain how sea creatures could be found at the top of a mountain..

Clara being tour guide and reading the signs to us.

The highlight of the trip really was the time with our family. It had been too many years, but despite that time apart it was like we'd been around them for years. This was after dinner at Aunt Mona & Uncle Dave's house. Ben really bonded with Uncle Joe that day (I think it was when he taught Ben how to kill ants) and you can see here how comfortable he was!

Elise snuggling with "Nana" on the couch.

So there's the recap of our trip. So much anticipation leading up to it, and the week flew by. And now we're all back at it, but with some great memories.

I took this picture at Clara's soccer game just this last Sunday. She's playing spring soccer now, the season just started a week ago. I love the intensity captured in this picture as all the girls are charging towards the ball. Clara played amazing defense, and had some good plays moving the ball down the field. Her team won 2 - 1. (though we don't keep score..)

We're going home! :(

2008-04-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

It was a great week and we're all sad to leave!
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

On top of the world!

2008-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids at the top of the Sandia mountains, a little over 10,000 ft elevation. We rode the tram up from the base, covering about 4,000 ft in 15 minutes. Spectaular scenery but very cold, 32F! We discovered fossils in the rocks while exploring...
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

The afternoon adventure

2008-04-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we went with Aunt Teresa to a local activity center called Hinkels. We drove bumper boats and then played 18 holes...of miniature golf. There were several holes in one, some very interesting techniques, and a lot of time spent fishing balls (usually Bennets) out of the water hazards. Good times!

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

At the Rio Grande Nature Park

2008-04-02T12:30:00.001-07:00

Enjoying our first day out exploring.
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

They survived!

2008-04-01T13:34:00.001-07:00

Waiting for our bags at ABQ

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

We're off to Albuquerque!!

2008-04-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Up at 530, 25 minutes in the security line, and a trip to Starbucks. Life is good!

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

It's about time!

2008-03-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I know! It's been 3 weeks without a post and you are getting tired of checking back and being disappointed again and again. All 3 of you. I'm very sorry..life is busy sometimes and posting thoughtful writings is harder than it may appear! So, here's a quick update on everything that has happened in the last 3 weeks (well, the interesting bits anyways).

So, where to start. Since blogs always start at the most recent and work backwards, I'll write this posting the same way.

Today I rode 48 miles in the pouring rain. It was fun, sort of. Eric was supposed to join me but called this morning and asked if I would call him a wimp (well, he used a different less PC word) if he bailed. I said yes. So he bailed. I rode the "North End of the Lake" which doesn't mean much if you're not from around here. I started at my house, crossed over the Ballard Locks, rode up around the north end of Lake Washington in the Burke Gilman bike trail, cut off the trail and rode up and over a massive hill and down into Kirkland. Along the Kirkland waterfront, up into Bellevue, then across the lake on the I90 bike path. Then made my way through Seattle and back to my house. I made a puddle when I stood in my entry. I used a towel BEFORE my shower. I also ate ~ 1,000 calories in 5 minutes BEFORE my shower. This is what we call cycling, and it is fun. At mile 31.3 I was in Kirkland wishing I had chosen to sleep in instead, but now I'm home and happy I did it.

Yesterday my parents came down, with Aidan, to visit. I cooked brunch then we walked down to the playground. It was almost 60F and really sunny. I wore a tshirt and was warm, mostly.

Elise and Grandad working together

Clara swinging like the monkey that she is.

Ben just looking cute. (probably just did something bad..)

Friday night Clara was did a tap dance routine with some friends in her school's talent show. They looked great up on stage..Clara of course was a star! Unfortunately, with the "no flash" rule many of my photos turned out blurry. This one of their backsides turned out the best! Clara is front & center.

Oh, and since my last posting Andrew & Katherine came for a visit. Andrew came first for work, and we hung out one night. Then Katherine flew in a week later. We had them over for brunch one morning...

Ok, so now all you voyeurs are caught up on the goings on of my life... Get back to work!
RT

Oh, Ecuador..

2008-03-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning up my place today and came across the journal that I kept while traveling in Ecuador last March. I dusted off the cover, and flipped through the pages, stopping to read passages here and there. There was one day in particular that I think captured the experience I had with Habitat for Humanity, the local people I was working with and befriended, as well as the comraderie of my fellow volunteers. So I'm posting today, verbatim, my journaling from March 17, 2007:

St. Patricks Day in the US, no one wearing green here, myself included. Oh wait, my Keens are green. Phew! I'm currently at the Quito airport on layover. I left Tosagua this morning, traveled by taxi to Manta and flew to Quito, enroute to Cuenca. I'll be in Cuenca in another hour. It feels REALLY GOOD to be away from the heat and humidity. I didn't realize how crushing it was until stepping off the plane in Quito. Ironic this morning in Tosagua felt cool because it was cloudy and 6am.

What an exhausting week it's been! The team split into 2, 1/3 at another site where the house has been started so they are laying brick, and the rest at the site we broke ground at on Monday. We've done a lot in 4 1/2 days. There is a foundation wall about 3 ft high now (plus more below grade) with 9 rebar columns growing out of it. The "Maestro" told us Monday we add 20 cm more to the wall to get it above the high flood water mark, then we in fill the foundation with a SHIT LOAD of dirt, big rocks (piedras grandes), small rocks (piedras pequenos), and sand (arena). Then.....we get to build walls! They tell us by Wednesday we will be building walls. I wish we could stay to see it thru.

Rocky and I have cemented (pun intended) our bond this week. I speak enough Spanish that he and I can talk, and so we've spent time every day talking and working. There are 3 skilled workers, the Maestro and 2 others. Every Habitat build has a Maestro (teacher) who is there to provide construction experience and oversight. The 3 of them are men of few words, but much skill. It is impressive to see what they can fabricate out of almost nothing. Our rebar bending jigs are a board with small pieces of rebar hammered into it. Our compactor is a large block of wood with a handle nailed onto it. One of our hacksaws is a blade welded to a bent piece of rebar, etc, etc. 80% of the formwork is being reused from other jobs. Every nail is accounted for and reused. Bent ones straightened. Nothing is wasted.

So what does a work day entail? Up at 6:45am. Pull on clothes: yesterdays shorts, clean t-shirt, socks. Brush teeth, take crap (diarrhea AGAIN), smear DEET on arms, legs, neck. Same with sunscreen. Fill 2L water bottle, stumble downstairs and outside. Hotel serves us breakfast which sometimes I can eat. Bananas good. Queso fresca not so good at the moment. Susan makes French press coffee. We finish eating, we pull on our mud and concrete crusted shoes and climb into our vans. It is so fucking hot - already. We immediately push open all the windows and bitch about whoever had to run inside and is preventing us from driving and getting some air. So we sit and sweat for 5 - 10 minutes, then drive to the site. We roll out of the van into heat and dust. At our site we are building next to the sister's house, which is on 8' stilts, so we have a place in the shade to keep our bags, and sit to rest. There is no shade on the job site, nor where we mix concrete.

Concrete...wonderful stuff. Made from 2 50kg bags of cement, 2 heaping wheel barrows of sand, 4 heaping wheel barrows of gravel, and 5 - 7 buckets of water. Steps to make it:

Thoroughly mix sand and cement on side of dusty hot road. Assistance by 3 - 5 small children may be offered.
After mixing, spread out into the shape of a large volcano crater. Again, small children readily available.
Dump gravel into center. Pre mix sand/cement mixture in the hope it will be easier to combine the rest of the sand later. At this point, child helpers become dangers to those around them.
Pour 3 - 4 buckets of water on pile. Watch water carry away precious cement into street. Remind yourself it's not your house. Do your best to scoop cement slurry back onto rocks.
Most important step: work like mad shoveling, shoveling, turning, spreading gravel, sand and cement, adding water as necessary. Some water will be from the sweat rolling off the faces, arms, and legs of all those mixing.
Warning: Mixing takes 20 - 30 minutes. Efforts longer than5 minutes will make you feel like you're going to pass out. This is NORMAL. Stand and lean against your shovel. The feeling should pass. Every 10 minutes stop and drink water.

This has been the extent of my day Tues - Fri. Highlight of my workday on Friday: Rocky asked me to ride with him to get more cement. We rode in traditional Ecuadorian laborer fashion: standing in the back of a high-sided work truck. There was still some manure in it from the 2 cows that had been delivered that morning, but I wasn't complaining!

Highlight of the week: Last night Rocky's mom Laticia prepared a crab bake for us. It was so generous, and SO GOOD! Nothing like a dungeness, better in a way that only10 hours of excruciatingly work and a gift from someone who has so little to give can make it. Truly unforgettable.

Links to some pictures (my camera was stolen the weekend after we finished the build, so I lost my 350 photos of the trip):

From Erin McSherry, Habitat Coordinator: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZMm7Rk2aM2Lj4

From the Ross/Helliwell family in Halifax: http://picasaweb.google.com/EcuadorHFH/EcuadorWebPhotos?authkey=gFJ0OsTbD4Q

From Margot: http://web.mac.com/mmcfedries/iWeb/Site%202/Welcome.html

Weekend in B-Ham

2008-02-24T22:41:00.000-08:00

Had the kids this weekend, actually beginning Thursday night, approximately 1 1/2 hours after landing at SeaTac. So Friday was getting Clara & Elise to school, Bennet to daycare, me to work to catch up on the week's happenings, then me back to pick them all up and roll home. We spent Friday night reconnecting and relaxing (R&R?). Saturday morning we ate, dressed, packed, and made the hour & a half drive up to Bellingham where Mom & Dad (Grandma and Grandad) live.

This is at the beach of Lake Whatcom a 5 minute walk from my parent's house. There's a marina, off-leash park and some swings there too.

Saturday afternoon Clara was quite popular with the boys. This is Bennet and cousin Aidan both trying to fit in the chair with her. Aidan is just 6 months younger than Ben, and the two have a lot of fun together.

Clara trying on Karen's motorcycle helmet. Jason just bought a motorcycle a couple weeks ago and the two of them had been out for a ride. Trying on the helmet was as close as Clara got to going for a ride this weekend!

Family photo down at the lake. My parents took the kids down again today while I was out riding. It's really pretty up by their house, and there are some good country roads for cycling. So I brought my bike up with me and did a 40 mile ride today. I'm sad to report it hurt more than I hoped it would...

My parent's lab Arbor getting some love this morning from Elise and Ben. She's always said to see us go!

The dominos game called Chicken Foot is HUGE at my parent's house. The kids LOVE to play it, and as a family we get quite competitive. Just ask my Mom what lengths I went to this afternoon to keep her from winning!!

Another Week..Another Trip to London

2008-02-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, a trip to London, and what a great trip it was! It's one of my favorite cities, and happens to be where some of my favorite people are living. I spent the week enjoying good company, celebrating Andrew's upcoming birthday, and discovering new corners of the city that I had never previously seen.

Take a look at this view of Tower Bridge. I had just spent an hour exploring the Design Museum, and as we were walking out we were rewarded with a spectacular sunset. The bridge hardly even looks real!

The current exhibit at the Design Museum is about the life and work of a French engineer and designer named Jean Prouve. He was an incredible person, able to turn a concept into an elegant design, then translate the design into a detailed plan and even lay out the manufacturing process.

I went to visit Katherine at her work. She started working at a florist's a couple months ago. Despite her protests I made her stand out front so I could take her picture. Thanks Kat!!!

Her place is just around the corner from St. Paul's Cathedral, so when she went back to work I walked along the Thames for an hour...

Happy Birthday Andrew! Though his real birthday is on the 26th, we celebrated early. Six of us went out for dinner, and we ordered one each of the six desserts on the menu! He's got the Knickerbocker Glory sitting in front of him!

What better to come home to than my kids! I got them Thursday night when I came home, and this is Elise and Bennet snuggling in my bed this morning. It was a great week in London, but I did miss them..

Now it's Clara's Turn!

2008-02-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Clara turns 9 this Wednesday! I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that I've got a 9 year old kid!! Yikes, am I that old??? At least I'm not 35 yet!! (Andy!) So yesterday I hosted a birthday party for Clara and 8 of her friends. I was smart, and outsourced the location and entertainment. I even had the cake outsourced (Thank You Heidi!!). All I had to do was herd 8 girls (and 1 boy) for 2 hours through a frenzy of creating, cake eating, present opening, and then filling their goody bags full of as much "stuff" as they could!

Clara and her good friend Naomi. Naomi made her the first of her special birthday hats. They multiplied over time..

Clara and Abby (from her soccer team). Pretty sure they both will have careers in fashion design one day!

Getting ready to blow out the 9 candles. Left to right: Mara, April, Elise, Naomi, Clara, Abby, Isabella...

Clara opening her gifts, now wearing THREE birthday crowns of various sorts. Does she looked pleased with her spa kit or what??

And as if it weren't enough to have a party for 8 girls...we had a sleep over with Hannah as well. I was a bit worried about how the evening would go, especially since they were HYPER most of the evening. But they were in bed by 8:45, and all was quiet by 9:45! And then I crashed.....

Happy Birthday Clara!!!

26,685

2008-02-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

Vertical feet skied today. What a great day! It snowed all day yesterday so added about 6" new on top of the foot or so they got this week. It was clear in the morning which made for a nice 9am start! I discovered an advantage to always being a single in the lift line..you get to talk to a lot of people! I spoke with locals from Breck, locals from Denver and the surrounding areas, folks from California, Texas, Atlanta, and North Carolina, and various countries in Europe. One outcome of all that chatting is that I got some GREAT tips on where the best snow, best tree skiing, and shortest lift lines are. Perfect! So I spent a good part of my day on Peak 10, skiing some awesome double black runs, full of powder and trees. (trail map) Then made my way slowly back to Peak 9 to ski some double and single black chutes and trees, and finally, when my legs had nothing left to give (and they were closing the mountain), I skied off of Peak 8 back to my condo. What a day.

Word is another storm is coming through, so I might get stuck up here for another day or two...dang.

Yeah Baby!

2008-02-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Another great day on the mountain!
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

In-sane!!!

2008-02-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

I'm at breckenridge. Tons of powder. Denver snow rocks!! Woo hoo!!! :-)

Happy birthday to me....

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Lance Armstrong Again!!

2008-01-31T09:49:00.001-08:00

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

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Happy Birthday...To Me!

2008-01-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-26T00:22:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-01-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

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

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Time Flies, Doesn't It?

2008-01-20T21:09:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-14T23:42:00.002-08:00

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

2008-01-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

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??

2008-01-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

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!

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Last Day in Paris

2008-01-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

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!

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

8 Miles

2008-01-03T22:38:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-03T01:47:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-01-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

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!

--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

It's 2008!

2008-01-01T05:07:00.000-08:00

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

Happy New Year!!

2007-12-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

We're in London, watched some fire works, drank some champagne. Happy new years all, 2008 will be great!

(Update to last night's post)

In the picture above (left to right) is Alison, Kate, Katherine & Andrew. Alison is an ex-Amazonian and hosted the New Year's party and Kate works for Marks & Spencer. We had walked from Alison's flat down to the Thames, then a mile or so along the Thames to a bridge that we thought we'd be able to see the fireworks from. Turns out we were pretty much wrong, along with a couple hundred other people that were on the bridge with us. But we could see the reflection of fireworks off other buildings..and it was fun to be out with a crowd.

Test blog post

2007-12-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sending this from my blackberry. Katherine and Midnight hanging out at the flat.
--------------------------
Sent from my Berry

Woo Hoo, I'm blogging!

2007-12-31T04:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've resisted the idea of blogging for quite a while, but Andrew & Katherine's blog is so much fun (http://anamericancoupleinlondon.blogspot.com/ ) that I've decided to try it out. Of course, it's helpful that I'm actually over in London, hanging out in their flat, so I get real time tech support as I stumble through it..

Now on to real content...you are here to keep an Eye on Rich, right? I landed in London yesterday and made my way to A&K's flat in Maida Vale via train, tube, and foot. Their place is really cool..you can see pics of it on their blog, I won't steal their thunder.

Sign @ "their" tube stop

After some lunch we ventured out to the V & A (Victoria & Albert) Museum. I LOVE the fact that museums in London are free! Andy and I went to the British National in May when I was here, it's just fun to get a little bit of culture but not feel like you have to see every last exhibit in order to get your money's worth.

There was an outdoor ice rink set up, just for the holidays I guess, just across the street from the V&A. It was really pretty with the trees lit around it!

I like trying to take interesting pictures, this was an attempt. We were in the Ironworks exhibit, there was all kinds of crazy old wrought iron pieces, then this piece, commissioned in 1984. Of course, that's the one that I liked!

Our second pub stop for the evening. We walked about a mile through Notting Hill and had to stop periodically to fortify ourselves with a pint or two.

OK, signing off for now. What's the plan for today? It's New Year's Eve, I'm in London with two of my favorite people, life is good! Shopping, dinner, fireworks, and clubbing are all possibilities for the day...