Katie had another shower in Keenesburg on Saturday. Kristen did a lot of the planning and cooking, so she kept herself pretty busy through the end of last week. It apparently went well, her 7 layer dip was a hit from what I hear.

I did my taxes, and sent them off to "the man". Becky supplied some critical numbers at the last minute. Thanks Becky! I slept quite a bit, and puttered around the house.

Sunday was also pretty laid back. Kristen slept off the stress of the bridal shower. We eventually got outside to go on a long run. The weather has finally turned beautiful, so we enjoyed some very nice time outside. Our first race of the season is this upcoming weekend, we both feel like we're ready.

Just a week and a half until Kristen and I head to Indiana. In another amazingly bizarre coincidence, the couple I met earlier this year that have family in Charlestown are heading to Charlestown the day after we are. We may have to meet up with them during the trip.

The weather is going to stay nice through tomorrow, maybe hitting the 80's, then we're supposed to get more snow on Wednesday. That's hard to believe at the moment.

Morrissey and I managed to skip out on work yesterday and head to the mountains to enjoy some of the 6 inches of snow that had fallen overnight.

Being a Tuesday, and late in the season, there weren't a lot of people on the mountain. No lift lines, and not a lot of tracks.


The weather was nice too. We managed to make the hike to Vasquez. Morrissey managed to top 40 mph on the descent, according to his GPS.





I can barely walk today, I'm more sore than I have been all year from snowboarding. It was a good way to close out the season. The mountains are supposed to get more snow in the next couple of nights, but I doubt I'll have the energy to make it back up.

The weather here continues to stay non-spring like. It's frustrating, you can almost feel the great weather just around the corner, but it refuses to show up.

On Friday Kristen and I headed to Grand Junction. Katie's "Utensil Shower" was on Saturday, and I tagged along to keep Jordan company. What is a Utensil Shower, you may ask? Heck if I know. There seemed to be a lot of ladles and tongs involved. All these bridal showers and wedding preparations are more than a little confusing.

The drive went smoothly, and Katie and Jordan (and Rocco) surprised me with a birthday cake and gift when we showed up. It took me a while to realize it was for me, I haven't given much thought to the upcoming click of the odometer.

The next morning we decided against a morning run, and ate bagels and donuts instead. Katie did manage to hit the Focus with the Jeep on her way out of the garage, but luckily there wasn't any damage to either vehicle.


Kristen and Katie headed off to the shower, Jordan, Rocco and I held down the fort. There was a lot of Guitar Hero played, and we took things pretty easy. Meanwhile the shower shenanigans were in full force at the shower, from what I have been told.


Saturday evening Katie and Jordan hosted a barbeque. There was a lot of food, a lot of people, and quite a bit of beer. We had a lot of fun, and it seemed everyone else there did too. Rocco got a lot of exercise in, and was passed out in the corner before the night was over.

Sunday morning we grabbed some breakfast before heading back to Boulder. Vail pass and the Eisenhower tunnel both were seeing pretty significant snow fall. The mountains are supposed to get some good snow in the next few days, I may make it up for one last day of snowboarding if things pan out.

Saturday morning involved Kristen and my 4 mile time trial. Every spring, summer and fall our running group does a timed 4 mile run to judge our fitness level. The weather was beautiful for the run. Kristen managed to beat every one of her numbers from all previous years. Conversely, I did worse than every other attempt except the spring run in 2006. If we both keep these trends up, Kristen will be whooping me by the end of the year.

Around 11:00 my friends Nate and Matt showed up, and we headed up to Eldora for some free snowboarding. It's been three years since the three of us snowboarded together, which is amazing because we used to snowboard together 10+ times a year. We stopped in Nederland on the way back to Boulder, having a beer or two.


Later in the day, Kristen and I returned from the hot tub to find some impressive Zack art. It's been a while since he's created any art, and this was some of his finest work. To create his art, he takes a ball of yarn, and carries it through out the house, wrapping it around chair legs, coffee tables, etc. This particular art was impressive due to his somehow keeping the yarn a few feet off the floor. We've never actually caught him in the act, it would be interesting to watch.


Sunday was a lot more laid back. Lot's of sleeping, a bit of shopping in preparation for the Indiana trip, and a few other errands. Kristen got some homework done, I didn't do much of anything.

Last week was our first week of running sessions of the season. Our training program for the Bolder Boulder started up, so we dug out the shoes and socks and spent some time outside. Even though we start slow every year, it's always a shock to realize how much momentum you've lost during the winter.


Friday was a Wabtec Holiday, so I got to take the day easy. It was pretty nice. I got a few things done around the house, but mostly I relaxed.


Saturday was our first group run, which went pretty well. There were a lot of familiar faces, and the weather cooperated. It did end up snowing Saturday evening, but was nice and clear for our morning run. We also took a look at the garden plot, we haven't heard yet whether we get to keep the full plot or have to split it this year.


Sunday I took off to Birmingham for a business trip. It seemed to go well, and I drank more sweet tea than I have in years. I'm glad I don't have to do trips often, I don't know how Becky copes.

One thing I did get done this weekend was to fix up the links on the old picture page:

http://www.blastriot.com/personal/main.html

That page has a lot of older pictures from the 2000 through 2004 time period. Various Christmases, puppy pictures, farm pictures, etc.

I also edited together the following video from low-quality stuff we shot during the ski trip. The music is intentionally over the top.

We had a very laid back weekend. Katie was going to show up on Friday, but I-70 east bound closures forced her to turn around near Frisco. Her four hour drive unfortunately turned into a 9 hour ordeal.

Kristen and I managed to catch up on our sleep. I did a little hobby-programming, Kristen did some schoolwork.

By Sunday afternoon the weather changed, and we got 3 or 4 inches of snow for the Monday commute. Luckily the roads were in good shape, so the drive in wasn't bad.

I shaved off the Fu-Manchu 'stache. It was good for a few laughs around the office, but going out in public with it was a bit unnerving.