12/25

Merry Christmas!

About time for an update.  Christmas is merry here.  As always, weather is perfect.  It's 11 am and in the low 50s.  Sun shining, blue, blue skies, snow on the mountains.  We got up at 7 am this morning, and all gifts were unwrapped by 7:30.  Big presents include a PSP for Kyle, a large doll house for Ariana, heated grips for my motorcycle, and a new terrarium for Terri.  I guess that is actually for her tortoise, but he isn't in the spirit.

Virginia (Terri's mom) is visiting.  We all went to church last night then came home and watched a string of South Park Christmas episodes.  Does that cancel out the church?  Terri. Virginia, and I made up for it by staying up to watch the new pope.

We are home all day, and Yahoo Messenger is on, so ring in and we can talk and see each other.

The past month has been the usual, hockey, hockey, hockey.  Kyle is having a fantastic year.  He is 8th overall in goalie standings, which is all the more impressive as he is on one of the bottom teams.  He sees a lot of action and has the team's only 2 wins.  If it weren't for one game (against the league leader) he would be at the top!  My season ended last weekend.  We finished 3rd in the season, and took the ourselves all the way to the playoff finals again.  We won the championship pretty decisively; 6-2.  I didn't have a lot to do with that win, but I have been progressing.  I had 3 goals and an assist last season.  We should be starting again in a couple weeks.

Next weekend we will head down to Pagosa Springs, which is in southern Colorado, almost to Durango.  Our neighbors from across the street own a house down there, so we are going to stay with them and Jim and Mary are going to meet us there too.  We will ski, drink, soak in the hot springs, drink, and hopefully find time for a couple drinks.

Hope all are having a safe and happy Christmas!  I will try to post some pictures this afternoon. 

11/5

Happy Halloween

Ariana was a witch, and Kyle was a knight.  Don't have a picture of Kyle, his costume was great.  Terri made Ariana's.

Kyle's team made it to the semi finals last weekend, but couldn't beat Colorado Springs to make the final game at the Pepsi Center.  Kyle was great in goal, but when you team doesn't score, you can't win.  He actually came in to replace the other goalie, who let 3 through, early in the second period and he only gave up 1 goal in the rest of the game.  Astute Sudoku solvers will figure out that they lost 4-0.  They play Colorado springs again this afternoon in a regular season game.  Maybe the offense will score this time and we will have chance to win!

Winter is descending in Colorado style.  That means it is very cold at night and very warm in the days.  Morning rides to work are in the upper 20s and 30s.  Brrr!  I have found that if I wear long johns, ski pants, and a fleece shell under my leather jacket I can be comfortable.  I recently picked up some cold weather gloves too.  The biggest pain is having to pack everything in the side bags for the ride home, all that cold gear doesn't go well with 70 degree rides!

10/29

Tournament Update

We won the first game last night 4-1.  Sam was in net.  Kyle will play this morning and tomorrow morning.  He is so excited, I have never him involved at this level before.  He has the tougher of the 4 games, if they make it to the finals, we are hoping he will get a chance to show his stuff.  Look for a possible update tomorrow afternoon.

10/24

Long weekend

A lot driving back and forth to Littleton.  It's about an hour each way.  Kyle played on Saturday and got his clock cleaned.  We kind of expected that, as they are the top team in the state and one of the best, if not the best, in the country.  What does a clock cleaning look like, try 8-1.  He held them off for a couple periods, but the eventually started getting breakaways, crashing the net, and picking up uncovered rebounds.  The odd thing is that Kyle probably has a better save % in that game than their goalie, as we only got about 6 or 7 shots.  They tied on Sunday, 4-4, which is disappointing as they were up 4-3 with a minute to go.  The other team pulled their goalie and with 6 attackers put it in to tie.  

I had a game last night, and we also under performed, losing 3-0.  We sure had our share of chances, but just couldn't get the puck in. 

Here is a picture from the weekend of Kyle's team.  Can you find his team hiding behind him?  I don't get it with the hair!

10/21

While I have a few minutes...

Not much time to update recently.  AA hockey is quite a commitment.  This week, Kyle has had practice, T, W Th, and F, and has games on both Sa and Su!  We are either coming or going to an ice rink.  Add in my game on Monday and we have had a very full week of hockey.  His team still has yet to win, and he has only played the one game.

At the end of next week, he has a tournament in Greeley at one of his home rinks.  This is a qualifier to an all expenses paid tournament in Quebec this spring sponsored by the Avalanche.  Should be exciting next weekend!

I am off to make dinner and then we go to practice until 9:30 tonight.  C ya!

10/6

Update

Hockey season has arrived!  Everyone is playing now, me, Kyle, and 30 NHL teams.  My team is 2-1-1.  In our first win a couple weeks ago we won 6-4, and I scored the 5th (game winner!) and 6th goals.  Had a couple shots in a 2-0 shutout this weekend past, but no goals.  We play again Sunday night at 7:30.  Kyle has been immersed in hockey beyond what he ever was.  He has 5 sessions a week.  On ice practice on T and Th, off ice workouts on Wed, and games or more practice on Sat and Sun.  They had their first game last Saturday against his old team Front Range, and unfortunately could not score enough and lost 2-1.  There were 22 shots on Kyle, so he has a save percentage of .909, which is outstanding.  They play Boulder this weekend.

Weather is certainly changing.  I have been wearing long johns for the past couple weeks, and this morning the temp was around 30.  Will have to add ski pants!  I also need some warm motorcycle gloves.  I wear ski gloves, which keep my hands warm, but they are loose so my hand and arm ache by the tim eI get to my destination.  At least the sun shines and the roads are dry!

9/17

Healed!

The ear is almost all better.  It still hurts a little when pressed, but I can sleep on it, wear my helmet, play hockey, etc.  The docs at work and nurse who took the stitches out all remarked at what a great job the ER doc did in stitching it.  They must be right because there is almost no mark at all.

It is certainly hockey season.  The "AA" team has a lot more involved than the A level.  Kyle has 3 on ice practices a week, and 2 dry land sessions.  One is after an on ice practice, and the other is at a workout facility.  They have a skating treadmill that has a surface that can be skated on.  It is only one of 2 west of the Mississippi, and is used by local Pro teams.  He has 2 scrimmages next weekend, and 2 practice sessions too.  He didn't do a lot this summer, so the ice time is great, he seems to improving every session.  Hopefully he will be up to his expected performance level by the start of the season, Oct 1 (happy birthday Angie!).  He will definitely be well conditioned.

Both kids seem to really love their new schools.  They are both doing well too.

9/4

Ouch

We were going to go camping this weekend.  I had Friday off so the plan was to pack the car and pick the kids up from school on the way.  I had all the gear in the driveway, ready to start loading, and Terri called.  She had an 80 pound Rottweiller at her shop and she couldn't get it in the tub, could I please come help?  I jumped on the motorcycle and vroomed down to the shop.  I have done this before, even this dog.  Well, the dog was nervous for some reason and as I tried to pick her up, woof, she bit my ear.  Not quite off, but damn close.  Tore the ear and broke the cartilage.  Spent 5.5 hours in the ER waiting to get stitched up, which was an interesting experience.  If you are interested, a picture is below of the "repaired" area.  It is still pretty swollen and painful, but I have Vicodin for that.

Needless to say, we did not get to go camping, did not climb a 14er, really did nothing.  Watched the CU vs CSU yesterday, then watched Browns beat Chicago.  Not much in between.  I rode up to Wyoming last weekend with Jim and Mary and bought some fireworks, mainly bottle rockets and roman candles, that we will set off tonight.  That's about all from here.

8/27

Update

I guess it has been a while.  Not because there is nothing to report, quite the opposite.  There has been so much going on, no time to sit down to report it all.  The kids both went to Camp at the beginning of August for a week.  It was a YMCA camp up in the mountains and both reported a great time.  Horseback riding, rappelling, rafting, archery, a lot of fun activities.  Both have started school this week past, and both are now back in public schools.  The cost of the private school is just too much with Terri's shop still growing.  It is doing well, meeting expenses at least, and the client list continues to grow (no pun intended).  I had my hockey season end with our team finishing second, but we went on to win the playoffs to become champions.  The most exciting game was the semifinals, which we won 6-3.  I scored out 3rd and 4th goal in that game, and set a few first for myself.  First multi goal game, first game winning goal, and first shorthanded goal.  Our fall season begins tomorrow night.

This past week has been filled with back to school events and hockey tryouts for Kyle.  He is going to a middle school that has just opened and is just a couple blocks away.  It is state of the art, and he is actually excited about going to school.  Hopefully we can keep the enthusiasm up.  He is in all AP classes, so it will be hard work.  Ariana is going to a charter academy just down I-25, maybe 10 minutes from home.  She is split between 5th and 6th grade.  It is a real nice place too, very focused on education, which should be good for her.  She gets to wear a uniform, navy or khaki bottom and white tops.

We just returned from the final tryout and Kyle has made the AA Peewee team for the Northern Colorado Youth Hockey Association, aka the Fort Collins Grizzlies.  This was a big deal as we are leaving Front Range, where we have been for 3 years.  Front Range is moving to a rink south of Denver, so the commute would just be too much.  This is actually closer to home, only about a half hour away, and much better drive.    He has not don a whole lot of hockey this summer, so he didn't really perform at his top in the tryouts, so we were a little nervous, but skill and size came through and they decided that they could really see the potential.  He will be really worked hard this season, there will be as much off ice conditioning as on ice practice, and he needs that at this point.  We gave him the summer to take it easy this year, after losing RC and some other friends moving away, the pressure of competitive hockey just didn't make sense, so it shows something that he could make a AA spot without a lot of work.

Last week I was picked for Jury Duty and got a day off to go to court.  I didn't get selected, heck I didn't even make it to the jury box to be thrown off.  They grab a pool of potential jurors, I think there were 22, and of them 17 get in the box.  The judge then weeds out any that can be dismissed for cause, say by relation or by knowing about the case, or having some other conflict of interest.  If they get tossed they pull out the pool of those not in the 17, where I was.  After that each lawyer teams throws out 5 jurors leaving 7.  This was a civil case so there were 6 jurors and 1 alternate.  I got to go home early.

In between that it has been work, motorcycle rides, house work.  Terri painted the office, including the computer desk.  It looks really good, when it is cleaned up I will take a picture.  That's about it, as the hockey season starts there will be more to report.  We get 2 weeks until practices start.  Good luck Kyle!

7/16

Thunder in the Canyons

I took a nice 100 mile ride this morning.  I went up north to Loveland and took CO 34 through the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park.  From there, I picked up CO 7 and rode back down to Lyons.  Same old weather here in Colorado, gorgeous blue skies.  Kyle was going to go with me, but I couldn't get him out of bed at 8:30 when I left.  Here is a shot of the twin peaks from Allenspark, just northeast of them.  Mount Meeker is on the left, Mount Lady Washinton is the smaller peak on the right.  Long's Peak is in the middle.   See the Colorado page for more info on them.

The other night we drove up to Estes Park for a rodeo.  It was a perfect night.  Sitting around watching the sun set on the mountains was spectacular.  The rodeo was fun too.  Forgot my camera, so sorry no pictures.

Here are my OIS pictures, in no particular order.  Many baby kissers!

I downloaded the coolest program.  It is called Google Earth.  They have satellite images of the entire Earth, and you can zoom right in on anything.  You can even turn on Terrain and get a 3D view of the area!  For you all, that is probably pretty boring, but for our area is cool!  Search for Allenspark, co and find Long's Peak and Mount Meeker.  Look at Mount Everest from all around.  See the Eiffel tower, or Statue of Liberty.  I spent hours touring the world.  The neat thing is it integrated with Google search, so you can find restaurants, etc, and plot driving directions.  After getting driving directions, you can play them for a graphical overview of where to turn etc.  In some places (like downtown Denver) you can even turn on 3D buildings.

6/26    

Humdinger

This morning Ariana and I joined Jim and Sally and about 50 other riders in the Humdinger Poker Run, a fundraiser for a missing children organization.  This is a motorcycle ride where you stop at checkpoints along the way and draw a card.  When you return to the starting point, you take your 5 cards and make a poker hand.  I wound up with 2 pair, Kings and Sixes.  Ariana didn't get anything.  The ride was great, beautiful Colorado day, perfect for cruising through the mountains.  I learned my lesson from last weekend and kept my Jacket on.  I am glad because when we got up around 10,000 feet I could feel that it was cold out!  Not only that, I don't have any sunburn.  The ride was about 80 miles, and then we had pizza and brownies.

Yesterday we went to a park in Denver where Animal Planet had an Expo.  They had an endurance contest, which consisted of hanging from a bar.  We waited for about 15 minutes for Kyle to drop off after about 50 seconds!  You can't see it in the pictures, but Kyle got braces the other day too.  Ariana was on stage with Dr. someone or other, who is the star of the Emergency Vets show.  she had to identify the footprint of a mountain lion, and won a small stuffed animal for doing so.  We also had digital photos taken with the puppies; they won't be available until Tuesday.

Kyle went to a hockey tryout this morning, then he and Terri went to Nederland for some hippie thing.  Nederland is a small hippie town about 45 minutes west of Boulder.  I would have taken a ride out there, but Ariana says she is tired of riding.  I will find somewhere else to go.  Maybe I will start packing, OIS is right around the corner!  I have a late game tonight, 10:30.  I guess I should go take a nap.

6/21

Crispy

Had a great time riding on Saturday.  There were about 500 motorcycles.  We rode from Lakewood, which is just west of Denver, all the way up into the mountains through Blackhawk, then down to Golden, which is just on the edge of the foothills.  Gorgeous Colorado day. no clouds, lots of sun, very little sunscreen.  I got fried.  It was worth it though, now I will have a base for OIS, at least on my head, neck, and shoulders.  My face and forearms were burned a couple weeks ago and they were unaffected by the ride on Saturday.  We already have our next ride planned with the local gold Wing club on Sunday.  Ariana and I will go while Terri takes Kyle to hockey.  I took some pictures before the ride started.  I also found some other pictures, including some from the kids' end of school program.  Note the picture of me is from before the ride.  My raccoon eyes are much more pronounced now!  Kyle is with his Principal, Mrs. D, and Ariana is with her teacher, Mrs. Farwell.

6/18

Riding

What fun a motorcycle is.  I ride every chance I can get.  Getting to and from work is not only cheaper (I get about 45 MPG), but also faster because I can take the HOV express lanes downtown.  I also get to park right out in our building's lot.  Cuts driving time down about 15 minutes, bus time by at least a half hour.  The only drawback is helmet head, but no helmet head would probably look worse.  I going on a benefit ride today.  A local dealer is having a rally to raise money for the family of a police officer that was shot.  The ride to the rally will be longer than the rally, but who cares!  It should be fun to go rumbling along with many others.  I will bring a camera.

Ariana and I went for a ride the other day and when we got home she started getting off on the wrong side and burned her leg.  I always make everyone wear jeans and boots, and tell them to get on and off the left side.  Kyle got a burn when I brought the bike home.  He claims he was walking by it and happened to bump against it with the inside of his outside leg.  We didn't buy that at all!  He has since admitted that he was sitting on it, but didn't have the correct clothes.  Hopefully all have learned.

Kyle just got back from a camping trip with the church.  They went to a camp in Wyoming, about 3 hours north.  He was there from Sunday until Friday.  Canoeing, archery, hatchet throwing, firing muzzle loaders and .22s, sounds like a lot of fun.  He had a good time.  Ariana gets a turn at overnight camp in August.  Both kids are also going to a YMCA camp in August.  What will we ever do without them?  Maybe take ride to Blackhawk and play poker and Blackjack.  Blackhawk is a small mountain town about 45 mins away where they have a bunch of low stakes casinos.  Low stakes means $5 max.  Casinos also usually mean low cost buffets, and I love low cost buffets!

What else.  My hockey team's wheels have all but fallen off.  We have lost 2 of our last 3 games, and tied the other one.  There is still plenty of time, but it is frustrating to play poorly.  Kyle is working out on Tuesdays and Sundays.  He has three different sessions to choose from on Sunday.  One is with his goalie coach, the second is with a team that is trying to recruit him, and the third is for another team that may be a potential for this fall.

We are all ready for OIS.  Terri found someone to house sit and animal sit, so that is handled.  The puppies are huge now.  Pictures will come.

6/4

Cabin Fever

The past 2 days have been rainy.  Any rain is rare in Colorado, but having all day rain like we will have today is really out of the ordinary.  There will be no motorcycle riding today, which has everyone disappointed.  We have a point chart for chores, and one of the rewards is for 3 points you get to go for a motorcycle ride to Dairy Queen.  Ariana got her 3 points yesterday, but probably won't get a ride.  Maybe it will clear later this afternoon.  Tomorrow will be normal though, gorgeous!  I guess I will spend today just sitting on the bike in the garage, rubbing it with a diaper.  Can you tell I enjoy riding?

Not a whole lot new, kids are out of school.  Kyle has a hockey camp tomorrow.  My team got knocked out of first place on Sunday, we are one point behind the team that beat us.  Two of our best players were unable to make it, so we had a real battle.  Next game is Monday night at 10:30.

5/25

Vrooom!!!

Sorry for lack of updates.  We have been awful busy.  Work is challenging, and with the great weather, it is hard to stay inside.  Last weekend I spen all 3 days (F, Sa, and Su) in a motorcycle safety course.  What a great time.  2 days riding bikes, learning to corner, do figure 8s, etc.  This week I took advantage of my new license and bought a motorbike!

It is a 94 Honda Shadow 1100.  Custom pipes, V-Twin. 15K miles!  I have almost 100 more in the past 3 days!  Call it my mid life crisis, sounds good enough to me!

Terri also got a new vehicle.  She traded in her convertible Sebring for a white '98 Durango.  That is the same year and model as mine.  She needs more room to transport kids (especially Kyle and his equipment) and dogs, and didn't enjoy having the top down (it messed up her hair), so she made a swap.

Last weekend we went up to Estes Park to leave RC some flowers.  It is spring, so the Elk are all over the place.

That's all for now.  More before OIS, I hope!  Anyone want to rent some real bikes to cruise the Island?

5/8

Happy - Mothers Day/Birthday Dad/Anniversary (Rick and Angie & Dad and Diane)!

Things are fine here.  The kids made Terri breakfast in bed (well they cracked eggs and brought it up to her) of bacon, scrambled eggs, Freedom Toast, and OJ.  This afternoon we are going to the Mongolian BBQ in Boulder with the McConnell's.  Perhaps I will remember my camera!  This is perhaps my favorite restaurant, we went there on Monday for my BD.  Thanks to all who called, sorry we missed you.  Time zones are tough.

Kyle had his (hopefully) final oral surgery last week.  They had to bond a chain onto an impacted tooth.  He may have some braces by OIS.  He has been going to goalie camp on Tuesday evenings, and was asked to work out with a AAA team (international travel team to Canada) last weekend.  He did really well, better than their regular goalie, but we are not going to Canada.  The coach of the team is also a coach of the Boulder AA team, so we are exploring moving organizations.  There is also some interest in the Arvada association.  Front Range is getting very expensive, and with them moving to a new home rink in the next year or 2, we will be unable to justify the commute.

My spring season is underway.  We have won our first 2 games decisively.  I had an assist in the first game.

Work is going well for me and Terri.  She is getting a steady trickle (wish it was a flow, but that will come) of business in her shop, and things have been really busy for me with a flurry of new clients and potentials for expansion.  We recently landed Dupont in the Poison center, and are bidding on a Pfizer renewal in the Drug Center.  Amgen also has a request on the table for us, and we are pursuing a full time contract with McNeil (Tylenol), whom we currently service for after hours calls.

That's about it from here.  Weather is of course beautiful, but you already know that!

4/27

Quick Update

Mary is back in Colorado, she is currently in a rehab facility down in Denver.  The good news is she comes home tomorrow.  RC's funeral is on Friday.  the family is coping as well as can be expected.  Friday is going to be difficult for all of us.

We are doing OK.  Kyle is back to goalie sessions once a week, and my spring season started on Sunday with a 5-1 win.  I had an assist. Terri's grooming business is starting to really pick up.  She has made her rent this month, pretty good start!

That's about all I have time for.

4/16

Bad week

Needless to say, this has been a very bad week.  The toughest part of it is not being able to provide much help or comfort to the McConnell's.  The accident happened in Minn, and Jim and Sally flew out there on Tuesday morning, so they have been 4 states away since then.  We have talked on the phone almost daily, but it just isn't the same.

We held a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night, and close to 100 people turned out.  That was without being able to contact any of Jim's workmates or Mary's other friends; it could have been 500.  Josh from across the street built a wooden cross, and there were candles and flowers laid at the base.  We set out some posters and everyone signed them.  There is an email address, thoughtsforRC@yahoo.com if you feel like sending the family a note of support.

Since then, Mary has had surgery on both her ankles.  She was heavily sedated and only found out the news of RCs tragedy yesterday.  Jim called this morning and they may be able to discharge her as early as Monday, but Tuesday is more likely.  Most of that depends on their ability to schedule a medical flight home as well as find a facility that can care for Mary when she gets here.  She will have to be in a care facility for 3 months and will be unable to put any weight on her ankles.  We are working with the family to find the best facility.

Victoria was released on Tuesday, and she in on her way home with Sally and Jim's brother Paul and sister in-law Trish, who happened to be visiting Colorado from England.

Kyle has taken this very hard, as is expected.  RC had many friends, but he and Kyle were together almost daily.  Recently, RC started going to school with Kyle and Ariana at Longmont Academy, so they were together most of the days as well.

That is all I know at this point.  The beautiful weather has returned, so at least that is going our way.  I will mow the lawn today and get some fertilizer down.  Perhaps change the oil in the cars.

4/11

Terrible Tragedy

Last night, our neighbor's son, and Kyle's best friend, was killed in tragic car accident.  RC McConnell was 13.  His mother and 17 year old sister remain in the hospital in Minnesota.  The McConnell's are our family.  We spend all out holidays together, and most weekend nights as well.  Their loss is ours too.  Please pray for Mary and Victoria, who are both in a Minnesota hospital, as well as Jim and Sally, who are waiting to get out there.

4/10 

Look out East!

Colorado is an interesting place.  Yesterday, the temps were pushing 70.  Today, we are in a near blizzard.  Tomorrow should be around 50.  It's not particularly cold, but we are getting a lot of snow.  The good news is that it is heavy, wet snow.  Any moisture is always welcome here  It's coming your way, so get ready.

OIS plans are set.  We are looking forward to it.  Toss an air mattress in the pool and I'll sleep in the water bed!  I have all the tennis racquets gathered up.  What do we need to do to rent bikes?

4/5

Open for Business

Today we took Kyle to the Oral surgeon to work on an impacted tooth.  He was supposed to remove a cyst and bond a chain to the tooth so the orthodontist can pull it into place.  He was put under with a general, and apparently he still was flopping around and the dentist was unable to put the chain on the tooth.  He has packed it and will try find a better way, so Kyle has to go back in 3 weeks to have it done again.  Poor guy!  He is doing real well, up and about should be back to normal in just a couple days.

I finally remembered my camera at Terri's shop.  It is almost complete.  There are still some paint cans and other supplies lying around, but that should be picked up this week.  Hold your mouse over the picture for a caption.

 I found these on the camera too.  We went to the neighbors for Easter, and brought the puppies over to play with Herman, their boxer.

I finally got my car back today.  What a pain it is to have to deal with just one car.  And that is just my perspective!  Terri had to wake up early to drop me off at the bus, then come and pick me up in the afternoon.  I may drive to work tomorrow just to be back in the drivers seat!  It looks better than new, and now everything is fixed!

4/2

Spring Break

At least for the kids.  I am working most of it, but will take Tuesday off.  Unfortunately, that it to take Kyle to the Oral Surgeon to get ready for some orthodontics.  He has an impacted tooth that needs to be "exposed and bonded" so the orthodontist can pull it down.  Sounds like he is going to have a miserable Spring Break.  Hockey camp starts next week, so hopefully he will be recovered.  His hockey association also has a program going on that starts next weekend, but I'm not sure about that.

My seasons are closing.  I played the last game for one league on Thursday night, and I have a game tomorrow, and next week to close out the other league.  I will only have one league going over the summer.  Bummer.

Terri's shop is open and she is starting to get calls for appointments.  Just a couple here and there, but it is moving.  We printed up a bunch of flyers and sent the kids out to put them under door mats in the neighborhood.  Colorado has more dogs than children, there are few families that don't have at least one dog.  Families like ours make up for them!  It looks like we will be keeping one of the Bassets, and a neighbor wants the other one.  We will get "Flash", the darker one.  I need better pictures.

My car is still in the shop, it was supposed to be done yesterday, but they ran into a problem with the headlights.  Hopefully Monday.

3/27

Happy Easter!

This was taken in the parking lot after church this morning.  Mount Meeker is in front, and Long's Peak is in the back.  It's been snowing in the mountains for the past couple days.  It is in the 60's so we put the top down while driving home.  Nothing at all like being in Ohio!

It's been a couple weeks since the last update.  We have gone through a few events here, from Ariana's birthday, to Terri opening for business, to meeting up with Ken's family up in the mountains, to playoff hockey for both my teams.

Ariana had a few friends go to Build a Bear for her birthday party.  We then went to dinner at La Mariposa, our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Terri is now in business and has had one customer.  Our next door neighbor had her strip her Shitzu.  She has a couple more appointments scheduled too.  We are printing up flyers and will litter the neighborhood with them.  I never remember my camera when we go there, so no pictures, but I will get some.  It looks really nice, except for the wood trim.  She hired the worst carpenter in Longmont to do the trim, me.  Miter joints are off, there are hammer marks on the trim, etc.  You get what you pay for!

Last night we drove up to Idaho Springs and met Ken, Dana, Alexandra, Ashlynn, and Dana's parents, Maurie and Elaine Carter.  We had dinner and beers at the Tommyknocker Brewery, and watched the Illinois/Arizona game.  Ken jinxed it by saying Arizona had it locked up.  After dinner we went back to their hotel room, where Maurie built a roaring fire in the fireplace and we had some more beers while the kids jumped on the bed and played tackle Kyle.  They are flying home today.

Hockey playoffs are underway for both my teams.  I played Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and have another game tomorrow night and then another on Thursday.  The Wed and Fri games had only 7 of our players show up.  We lost the first, but won the second.  I scored in the second game too.  7 players is a real workout.  We were taking 4 minute shifts, then resting for about a minute.  While driving home from my game last Monday night (actually Tuesday morning) I hit a coyote running across the highway.  By the time I got home, I had lost almost all my coolant.  The radiator was totally concave where the hit occurred, so I am without a vehicle until next Friday (hopefully) while the front end is fixed.  Terri has to take me to the bus and pick me up when I get back.  Very tough to deal with!

The only other update has to deal with animals.  Terri has adopted a couple cats, ostensibly to live in her grooming shop.  However, in the first few days of being here, one of them managed to impregnate the other, so we now have 4 cats, one of them pregnant!  We are also providing a foster home to 2 Basset hound puppies.  These 2 are a real piece of work.  The darker one is Flash a boy, and the other, a girl, is Killer.

3/6

Happy Birthday Kyle and Debbie!

It's been a heck of a week, at least for me and Kyle.  Kyle started with a runny nose last weekend when we were leaving Deb's house and on our way to my hockey game.  We got our butts handed to us on a platter, losing 8-2.  By Sunday morning, Kyle was in full flu mode, missing a scrimmage (horror!).  I went to work on Monday, and had a game at 7:30pm.  By the end of the game (which we lost 5-1, though we only had 8 skaters show up), I was feeling the same thing he was going through. I missed Tuesday and Wednesday, and tried work on Thursday (big mistake), then spent all Friday in bed.  Kyle was off Monday thru Thursday.

Saturday, Kyle has the first of his last 2 games, of course way down in Co Springs.  To prepare him for it, we gave him an early present, a Bauer Vapor II blocker.  This is an incredible piece of goalie equipment.  Lighter than his current junior block, but in a senior size, it has so much more protection (he had his thumb broken last year) then the current models, it is a lifetime investment.  That's a good analogy, as it cost the amount of a normal car payment.  Ariana and I stayed up here while Terri took Kyle to his game.  We cruised around town with the top down in 60 degree weather (like 80 in the gray country), went BW3 for lunch, did some birthday shopping, and caught some rays.

Saturday night, Kyle has a couple friends (RC and Kyler) go with him and Ariana to Boondocks, a local amusement place, with go-carts, laser tag, mini golf, video games, etc.  Terri and I dropped them off and went for dinner.  We came back later and took them to Fudrucker's dinner, cake and presents, then took them back to do more kid stuff while we browsed at the local Borders.

Sunday, Kyle and I made our way back to CO Springs for his final game, which, true to form, they lost 5-2.  they had a chance toward the end, when they had a 5-3 power play with over a minute to go on the first penalty, but of course, the game entered a curfew and they ran the clock and lost almost the entire 2 man advantage.  Kyle and I went to Red Robin for lunch, then his team has an end of season party at a rec center in south Denver.

I am still coughing up a storm, so I had to miss my game tonight, as well as one on Friday.  All is improving though, I should be ready for this weekend where I play on Friday, Sunday, and Monday!  Getting ready for the playoffs!

On a more serious note, one of Terri's cousins went under last week for breast cancer surgery.  The disease appears to be very advanced.  In addition, one of Kyle's teammates lost his grandpa last night to this deadly killer.  Please keep these patients and families in your prayers!

2/25

Happy Birthday Terri!

Can you believe she is starting her 40th year?  And me, still only 37.  I can't even imagine 40.  We went out to a small Irish restaurant that opened recently.  I had corned beef that was falling apart it was so tender.  Kyle had Fish and Chips, Ariana had a Brent special, chick fingers.  Terri had an Irish wrap of corned beef on Irish flatbread.  Then we went to Cold Stone and I had my first taste of full carb ice cream in over a year and half.  Yuk!  Too much sugar.  If only I could learn to say yuk to chips, pretzels and popcorn!

You may have guessed that Kyle's team did not win the championship last weekend.  They gave their all, but they just don't have enough.  The team is a good, solid team, but there are no real standouts.  The winning teams always seem to have 2 or 3 kids who are just at a different level.  I am a bit biased, but I think Kyle is at that level, but he can't do it alone.  At least he is getting a lot of action and seeing (and stopping) real hard shots and scoring opportunities.  He keeps his team in most games, at least until they shut down completely.  Here is the team with the runner up plaque.  Justin (far left front row) had his arm broken in their last season game the previous weekend.  It must be tough to have to watch from the bench.

Today we are off to a casual dinner party at my manager's house.  She is having the entire IT department (7) and our families over for some italian.  I am bringing bread.  Maybe I will eat some.  We have to leave her place at 8 as I have a game down south, which is convenient.  It is rare that I get a game early in the evening, this one is at 9:10.  Kyle has a scrimmage at 8:30 tomorrow, an only has practice on Tuesday and Thursday next week.  He has his final 2 games in CO Springs on Sat and Sun.  After his game on Sunday, which is also his birthday, the team is having a party a rec center, then he and a couple friends are going to Dave and Busters to play video games.

2/20

Off to the Championships

We have finished the round robin part of the tournament, and after a very disappointing start, we are off to the championship tomorrow morning!  Kyle started in net on Friday, and they lost 6-2.  they were leading 2-1 going into the 3rd period, and the team just quit playing.  One goal was scored on the third rebound, after taking 4 shots, 3 others were scored with bad defensive turnovers and no one between the shooter and Kyle.  He did well, but had little support.  Look at this photo:

Notice there are 2 of his players to his right, and one off to his left, but there are 3 of the other team's players right in front.  Kyle made this stop, but this was a typical setup in the 3rd period.

The second game was against a team from Texas.   They typically have a tough time when they come up here, as there just isn't as much ice or as large a draw for players in Texas.  The altitude is probably tough for them too.  We won that game (Kyle was on the bench for it) 6-1.  The 3rd game was against Vail, whom we had scrimmaged earlier in the year and played very closely.  This was more of the same, with Kyle and Dylan splitting the ice time and each giving up 1 goal, resulting in a 2-2 tie.  The final game was against the cross town rival Denver University team, whom we have beaten twice in regular season play.  This was no different, with us putting an 8-0 hurt on them.  We get a rematch with Arvada, another home town CCYHA rival tomorrow morning at 9:30.  Kyle and Dylan will again spilt the game halfway.

I have a YMCA game at 7:30 tonight.  We won our game last weekend, 3-1 and I scored the 3rd goal.  I am having a pretty good year, with 3 goals and one assist so far.  My other team did not play this weekend,

Here are some tournament photos:

2/13

Update

Everything has settled back into the normal groove.  We finally put away the Xmas tree last weekend.  Terri's grooming shop is getting ready to open, but still has a bit of construction left.  Kyle has hockey practice 3x a week.  Ariana is between activities.  

I had a hockey game Friday night (early, 10 pm) which we lost 6-2.  I blocked a shot with the front of my foot (right on the laces) on my second shift, and my foot was aching for the entire night.  I could barely walk yesterday morning, but it is almost all better by now.  Kyle had a game yesterday afternoon, which they lost 4-2, but the 4th goal was an empty netter and the team played well.  Kyle did not play in that game, they have another this afternoon and he will play that one.  Hopefully the same team comes to play in front of him.  I have another game tonight at 7:30.

Kyle has his last tournament next weekend, and lucky for us it is here in town.  The rink is in Arvada, which is just west of Denver, about 45 minutes away.

I got a TIVO back in December, and can't imagine life without it. What do you TIVO?  In may case it is:

I was watching the Tonight show from Friday night, and they have this 92 year old lady who answers questions people ask.  She is hilarious.  I never would have seen it without the TIVO, get one!

1/29

Free weekend!

A rare free weekend.  Kyle has no games and no practice, so we have no thing to do.  Not really, but at least the days are free.  I have a game tonight at 9:20, so the kids and I are going out to Dave and Busters for fun, then to my game.  They got their report cards last week, and Ariana got straight As and Kyle got all Bs and a C (Science).  I haven't played with this team since before Christmas with the holidays, travel, and other conflicts.  My other league has started and I have a 3 game point streak with 2 goals and an assist.  I got new skates for Xmas, and they seem to have made a difference.  My feet don't hurt anymore, so I can skate harder.

Last weekend I was out washing the car in shorts and a tank top, and I was sweating it was so hot.  It looks like things are cooling off with temps only getting to the 50s today.  Feels like temp should be around 60-70.

1/19

The weather is here, wish you were beautiful...

Reading Dad's site, I thought I would chime in about our weather here.  Terri called me told me she was driving around town today with her top down.  I told her to pull it up before she got a ticket.  She told me she had the top of the convertible down.  Aha! The sun is going down and it is still 64 out, blue skies all day.  Tough January.  Keep in mind that with the arid climate and beating sun, you can add 10-20 degrees to the outside temp here.  Rare is the day you need more than a sweatshirt, even with outside temps in the teens.

That's about all, just wanted to show you what it's like to live in Heaven.

Dad, scan the puzzle and email it me.  I will fix it for you.

1/17

Home

We lost to VOSHA last night 5-1.  Once again no offence.  Kyle played very well, all goals were scored on rebounds or screened shots.  He stopped 4 breakaways, which is great!  I keep telling him he needs to learn to knock the net off to stop play when he senses the other team crashing the net, but he is afraid of getting called for a penalty.  I would rather him take the penalty and give up a power play goal then see the other team pound away again and again until one goes in.

We had the early game this morning (7 am) and lost to the Lone Star Wolves 3-2.  Same as the game the other day, they just didn't get the empty netter at the end of the game.  Kyle only played the 3rd periond and was 12 for 12 in it.  A great performance.  A typical game at this level should probably have 15-20 shots, so 12 in a single period shows were we are.  We took a total of 14 shots in the game.  Dylan had 25 on him.  There is some controversy as one of our shots appeared to everyone except the refs to have gone in.  It would have been the go ahead goal and who knows what that would have meant.

We left the hotel around 9:30, and made it back into Longmont at 4:30.  Decent time, but we had to stop to pee, get gas, then get lunch, get gas again.  I would have been here at 3:30 if I was driving alone!  Here are some pictures from the weekend.

1/16

Albuquerque

We are in Albuquerque.  All of us.  Terri woke up Friday morning and decided she wanted to go, so we packed up the hounds, got the bird to the bird watchers and headed south.  We got in around 5:30 Friday night and gave Steve a call.  He, Kyle, Brent, and all Brent's hair came over and we had a pizza dinner.  They had spent the day snowboarding and were tired.  After dinner they went back to their hotel and I played cards with some of the other parents.

Saturday was a hockey day.  Kyle and Dylan split the first game, which they lost 5-1 to the tournament hosts..  Dylan was in net for the second game, where we beat the CO Spring Tigers 5-3!  We were all running in and out of the rink to watch the Steelers vs Jets.  Jets really blew it.  I can't root for the Steelers.  Steve and the boys came to watch that game, and after the game we went to Hooters to have some wings and beers and watch the football game.  Today they are going skiing again and heading back across the desert to Dallas.

This morning we lost to the Lone Star Wolves 4-2.  Once again Kyle and Dylan split that game, but Kyle had most of the work, playing until 4 minutes were left in the 2nd period.  They had amassed 25 shots by then and the score was 2-0.  We have our final game this afternoon at 5pm.  If Colorado Spring loses or ties their game this morning, we are in the consolation round for certain (most likely).  If they win, then we can win and make it to the finals.

Sorry I don't have any pictures.  Whenever I try to hook up my CF reader it locks up this laptop.  I will post Photos on Monday when we get home.

1/13

Ready to Roll

Kyle, Ariana, and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Albuquerque.  We should pull out around 9:45, so we can stop at the hockey store for a quick skate sharpening before the drive.  It is about 7 hours, so we should be there around 5 pm.  We will meet up at some point with Steve, Brent, and Kyle, who are going skiing in Albuquerque.  I am taking my laptop with me, and if schedule permits and I can get an Inet connection, I will update with photos.  Here is the schedule:

Sat 1/15

10:50 AM – 12:00 PM          New Mexico Scorpions           vs.            Front Range Panthers

5:15 PM – 6:25 PM              Front Range Panthers             vs.            Colorado Springs Tigers

Sun 1/16

7:15 AM – 8:25 AM             Lone Star Wolves                   vs.            Front Range Panthers

5:05 PM – 6:15 PM              Front Range Panthers             vs.            VOSHA Mustangs

Mon 1/17

7:00 AM – 8:15 AM             #3 Seed                                 vs.            #4 Seed

8:30 AM – 9:45 AM             #1 Seed                                 vs.            #2 Seed

For the Steelers fans, we are the Front Range Panthers.  VOSHA is from Phoenix.  Hopefully we will make it to a game on Monday!  Check back for updates throughout the weekend.  If I can't update I may call them in to Dad.  Can't wait for an update?  Call me at 303-349-6385.

1/9

Back to the usual

Which is hockey.  My YMCA league started back up last Monday.  The league was reorganized, and what used to be an "E" level has been moved up to a "D2" level, which is the same as the other league I play in.  For reference, Kyle is in an "A" league.  Sums up the difference in skill very well!  We lost 3-1, but guess who scored the 1!  The puck was loose behind the net and I was there (cherry picking) so I grabbed it and stuffed it in.  Unassisted I might add.  I have another game tonight at 7:30pm.

Kyle has a game today, the first since the tournament in CO Springs.  He and Dylan will probably split the game in net.  It is against a team that Kyle shut out earlier in the year, so we have a chance.  It is a home game so I get to work too.  I run the scoreboard for home games.  Usually a pretty easy job, I have been doing it since he started in Columbus, but now that the kids are getting older and hitting more, keeping penalties straight can be difficult, especially when when a goal is scored and you have to get the penalty off the board.  No one else will even try to do it, so I am stuck with the job.  I also run the sound; I made a CD with "Hockey Music", "Welcome to the Jungle", "Enter Sandman", "Rock and Roll Part 3", etc.

Terri has signed a lease on a grooming shop and is working on getting it open.  Ordering supplies and equipment, getting plumbers to install drains and a tub she was given in a trade for service, etc.  In the meantime, she is grooming for a vet in a town just east of Longmont, and still doing some Speech Therapy work too.

We are leaving for Albuquerque on Friday morning for a tournament that will run until Monday.  This will be the 3rd year we have gone down here, and it is one of the better tournaments.  The hotel is small but nice, and the kids are all there, so they have fun playing in the halls.  The hotel usually sets up a conference room for them to play in too.  I will be sure to get pictures.

That's about it from here.  How about some updates from around the USA?

1/1/2005

Happy New Year!

If you want to see the year in review, click on Old News.  We had a party last night.  Jim and Mary with RC, Marius and Daniella with Anthony, and Greg and Lorna with Kyler and Morgan and Greg's mom Sally.  Others stopped in before or after other parties.  We had a mountain of food and drank a river of drinks, wine, beer, champagne, etc.  We bought a bunch of the little poppers and the kids popped em off at midnight.  Then they went outside and shot off bottle rockets.

I went to say goodnight to Ariana and caught her in bed at 2am reading her book, "The O'Reilly Factor for Kids".  I watch O'Reilly on those nights I get home in time to do so, and he often touts his books, and Ariana said on a few occasions, I want that book.  My kids are great.

Resolutions for the new year?  Get back on my diet after last night, get down to 190.  Score more goals.  Here are pictures.