Saturday morning Kristen and I went for a 6 mile run. The weather was beautiful, and we picked one of the most scenic trails in Boulder. It made for a very enjoyable jog. There are about 3 weeks left until the Bolder Boulder, if we can keep up with our running we should be in good shape for the race.

Later in the afternoon we headed down to Denver to meet up with Katie and Jordan. Katie's bachelorette party was going on later in the evening, and Jordan and I decided we'd hit a Rockies game.

Kristen had rented a posh suite, we checked in, met up with everyone, and then Jordan and I headed off to the game.


The game was fun, the Rockies lost, but that was to be expected. Afterwards we wandered around downtown for a bit before meeting up with the girls. When we did meet up with them, it was obvious that they were having a lot of fun. Katie and Kristen in particular were a bit crazy.


Luckily we managed to wrap up the night without them getting kicked out of the bar or starting any fights. We stumbled back to the hotel, hoping none of the Cinco De Mayo festivities would make the walk more exciting than it needed to be. We made it back in one piece. The camera did end up with a lot of great pictures and video, most of which will be used to embarrass Katie and Kristen at a later date.


Sunday morning we rolled out of Denver around 10:30 or so after saying our goodbyes. We had a pretty quiet Sunday. We managed to work on the garden for an hour or so, do some house chores, etc. We also caught up on our "The Office" viewing, which was critical.

Indiana Report #1

Kristen and I rolled into the farm around 1:00 am on Thursday morning. We hiked around a bit, and checked out the treehouse via flashlight.

We were both pretty exhausted, and fell asleep the instant our heads hit the pillows of the twin beds in the house. We both were awoken several times during the night due to mysterious bumps and other strange noises coming out of the room with the attic staircase. Luckily the ghosts weren't hungry that night, and we made it through the night in one piece.

Dad swung through the house at around 7 am the next morning. He headed to Indianapolis for the day with Tommy to pick up and learn how to use Tommy's new sawmill. I barely remember the conversation, Kristen and I were both pretty groggy from the trip and lack of sleep.


Later Kristen and I went for a quick hike to see if we could find any daffodils near the old schoolhouse. There were a few, but they were well past their prime.


We then headed into town, believing that we needed to pick Becky and her crew up around 10:00. Luckily she'd left various messages that we were off by a day, so we grabbed some breakfast in Charlestown instead of driving to the airport.

Back on the farm, we got the tractor started up and hooked to the wagon. We hauled all our luggage and the ladder down to the site. After a near accident trying to un-shutter the door, we were in, and were greeted by copious amounts of mouse excrement.



We spent a good portion of the rest of the day cleaning up the place, and making it a bit more livable. We found the sleeping pads that Ma had made us for my birthday, and got them up into the loft. The loft seemed sized just right for sleeping.

Dad showed up in the evening, we cooked porkchops, potatoes, and salad for dinner. Kristen and I then headed down to the treehouse for the first real night. We used the propane lantern we'd recieved for Christmas, it worked well.

The next morning we got up and headed toward the Clarksville airport to pick up Becky and her group. They were right on time, showing up in a spiffy two engine prop plane. We loaded up all three dogs, luggage, and six people into the truck, and headed back to the farm.


Shortly after returning to the farm, Becky and Jason let it be known that for my birthday present I was going to get to fly over the farm at high speed in the plane they'd shown up in, piloted by Daniel. Jason, Daniel and I headed back to the airport and jumped in the plane.


The plane ride was exhilarating, although I did get a bit queasy toward the end. According to Daniel, we made a below tree line pass at 200 knots. Becky, Mariah, Kristen, and the dogs had hiked out to a field to watch. They claimed that we were really moving when we flew overhead, I believe them.


Later in the day Dad burned an acre of grown up pasture near the lack with some help from Hobby (sp?), Jason and I. It was smoky nasty work, but the fire was contained by the crack crew of shovel wielders.


As the sun was going down, I jumped in the lake to clean up a bit. The lighting was really great, Kristen got some good pictures.



To top the evening off, Dad set fire to some large brush piles below the hay barn. Everyone was a little concerned over the size and number of sparks going up, but it all worked out OK in the end.

The Indiana trip is safely behind us. Kristen and I had a smooth trip back, and are now trying to convince the cats that we'll be around for a while. We had a good time roughing it on the farm. Thanks Ma, Pa, Becky and Jason for all the help and food!

Everything held up fine at the condo, and it appears that we both still have jobs, so that's good.

I'll post more Indiana details in the upcoming days.

A busy weekend is behind us. Saturday morning Kristen and I went for a long run on East Boulder trail. The run went well, and I decided to ride my bike back from the trail back to the house, while Kristen ran some errands. The ride was fun, but midway through it I realized I didn't have keys to the house. So I spent a good amount of time sitting on the deck watching squirrels frolic and people walk their dogs.

Kristen eventually showed up, and had picked up my birthday present as one of her errands. She'd gotten me two very nice quarter-sawn oak night stands for the bedroom. They are really nice. Thanks Honey!


Shortly after that, we headed over to a BBQ/Birthday party for Derek, who just turned 2. Matt served homemade bratwurst, hot dogs, and several dishes involving home-cured and smoked bacon. Even though Kristen and I had a big run on Sunday morning, we couldn't help but stuff ourselves.

Sunday morning marked the start of the racing season with the Earth Day 5k. This year only Kristen and I ran it, everyone else was either out of town, too hungover, or sick. Nate, Mary, and Karissa did come to spectate, so we at least had a few people cheering for us. I had an OK time, but Kristen may have run her fastest 5k ever.

A few hours later Allison and "Mad Dog" Maddock showed up. Maddock had recently celebrated his 2nd birthday, so he got to open a few presents. He seemed to enjoy the bubble-blowing lawnmower, and kid-sized Tee Pee.


The rest of the day involved Kristen finishing a final paper for a class, and me hanging out with the cats. We did watch "No Country For Old Men" which was interesting. We've been on a Cohen brothers kick lately, having recently re-watched "Raising Arizona" and "Fargo". Both movies were better than I remember.

The Indiana trip is in a few days, we'll start packing tomorrow. It looks like we'll get some rain while we're there, it'll be a good chance to see how watertight the treehouse is. I'm more than a little excited to get back there!

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.