Disneyland and Christmas 2007

We took lots and lots of pictures this year. With digital cameras and large memory cards this is easy to do. There were way to many pictures to post here so I put them on a slideshow.


Disneyland was great. We went last year as well, but with the boys older it was more fun this year. The first ride was the Materhorn and then the Buzz Lightyear ride. Buzz is still a big deal for both Ryan and Jack. They were mezmerized by the life-sized Buzz. We also went on Autopia, the Peter Pan ride, the Carousel, Pirates of the Carebean, and a couple of others. I think we rode on 8 rides during the 8 or so hours we were there. We would have stay longer but the boys were actually asking to go home. They were tired. Going to Disneyland on Christmas Eve was nice in that on the way home Ryan and Jack fell asleep and we were able to finish wrapping present fairly early in the evening.

Christmas was fun, but the boys were given way too many present.

I have no idea how we are going to get it all back to Oregon, except by shipping stuff. We are a bit lighter by one present though. Grandpa Flynn that bought a remote-controled helicopter, otherwise I would have been a little more put out. When I opened it,He said it was fine it if broke since he got it on sale. That was a bit of foreshadowing--it broke on the first flight when Ryan was "helping" to fly it. Anyway, way too much stuff, but lots of fun. I will write more later about Christmas and our vacation.

Jack vs. Patrick

Just a quick video of Patrick and Jack playing down here in CA. Lot more pics to come in the next couple of days.

Santa Claus

We visited Santa Claus today! And we didn't even have to wait in line! The kids were cute.

Early Christmas

We had Christmas early here in Portland. Grandma Joan and Grandpa Leroy left yesterday to see Tracy and Jim, so we opened presents with them and Ilene, Steve and Gigi Lois on Friday. Here are some pictures. Jack and Ryan scored. Ryan received a Leapster learning system and Jack got a Shake n Go Crash Ups Raceway. They got some other stuff too (new pajamas too!). They had a bunch of fun.

Ryan Has Rocket Power

Ryan (running away as fast as he can outside church after our ward Christmas Party): Did you know my bum has rocket power?

We couldn't help but laugh a little. I think Bridget said something like, "that is your son." I could only agree.

The Elves are Working

So we don't have much money for Christmas this year...again. But Bridget does her best to come up with stuff that at least shows we try. She has been making stuff with a group at church. I won't say what the project is but it has been keeping her busy. Below is Bridget. She is busy working on gifts for a couple of people.

Christmas Wrapping Paper Tube Battles

Just some stuff from today. The boys were playing with some leftover cardboard tubes from some gift wrapping paper. Then Bridget got involved.


I don't know where Ryan learned to bow like that. Pretty funny stuff.

Just a video and a couple of pics

Browns Camp Trail

Lots of fun today. Pretty wet out there but we had fun. This video is of one particular root strewn climb. Dave, my friend, usually makes it. Not so much today.

Jack is Sick

But not Sick enough to give us some rest. No he is just sick enough that he goes aroudn trying to make everyone miserable too. He has tried to break toys, destroy DVDs, and just know he got up onto the TV stand with the flat screen on it and was sitting on the digital cable converter. He was watching TV from 1 inch away from the screen. I told him very firmly to get down and he yelled back, "NO Daddy, you be quiet!" I assume that this was because he was trying to concentrate on Scooby Do and didn't want me interupting the chase sequence. Nevertheless, something snapped in me and I let out some sort of roar "GET DOWN NOW!!!!" and he got down immediately and he stood there starring at me wondering where that came from. No more problems after that. Prior to that he argued with me about leaving the door open. I wanted to stick his head out the rear sliding door and sing the the neighborhood. That would be fine except that it is 40 degrees and pouring rain. The rain does hit the door or anything, but it makes no sense. We went back and forth for a while on that. (sigh). He is currently standing in the same chair as I am sitting typing this attempting to choke me. Not in am mean way, he is just hanging on my back from my neck. And he is running a Lightning McQueen car on my back and head while singing Happy Birthday for some reason. The dude is certifiable.

Jack is normally a handful, but not like this. His ear infection has made him hard to deal with. Part of it is that he is two, and part is that he is sick. Part is that Ryan exists. If Ryan touches him or anything that Jack might have an interest in, Jack will fight him. Ryan gets ticked off and they fight. Fun stuff. I will gladly take Jack hanging all over me over that.

I don't write this to complain about my boys, I am actually fairly amused by them today. I just find it interesting the ways that kids try to get attention or help. Sometimes they are self destructive. Yesterday Jack stayed home from church with Bridget. He was pulling similar pranks on her. He told her that he was being bad. He was wanting to be punished. It is not like we don't give them attention.

Anyway, I gotta go. Bridgets is at work and I am home solo. By the smell I can tell Jack just crapped.

Old Friends and Introspection

DISCLAIMER: This was written late at night. At such a late hour I find that my perspective is often skewed for some reason. I don't know why, but it is certainly true as Bridget will readily attest.

Now this was supposed to be a family blog, but my lovely wife pretty much refuses to write anything on it. She will give the stamp of approval to what I put on it(or not in the case of one post about a month ago that she had me remove) but she will not sully herself with such a mundane task as updating the blog. As a result, I think this blog ends up being skewed by me and lacks perspective that she could bring. A dialogue might be better instead of the monologue that it is.

Well, if this is mainly a monologue then I guess I will embrace it let more of my thoughts that are not so much family-related as they are ways for me to express some of my thoughts about life and anything else. When this blog originally was started, I found that I kept tossing in cycling-related stuff. I found this material to be interesting to me, but not within the subject matter that the blog was supposed to be about--us as a family. So I am tempted to start a blog that would be a place for me to ramble about anything and everything, where I can say things that are PG or PG-13 instead of G-rated like this blog. But, 3 blogs would be too much, even for an unemployed lawyer. So for now I am going to let some of things that aren't about our boys or about things we do as a family creep in. That was rather long winded, but who cares, words are cheap.

Tonight I am in a rather introspective mood. This will surely result in rambling about thing that no one else is interested in. Oh well. Part of the reason for the mood has to do with having time on my hands to think. In law school, it was all about reading, processing rules and laws, memorizing, and regurgitation. Very little time for creative thought and self analysis. I went back on campus yesterday and I could feel the beginnings of the frenzied finals atmosphere. So glad that is done with. But I think I liked to be busy, and self reflection can be a dangerous thing.

I checked my law school email account tonight and I had some message from my LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is an online networking site that I can see has some potential. I don't really use it that well, but perhaps I should do more. An old friend from my first couple of years at BYU found me there and sent me a message. I couldn't believe it. I admit that I was pretty surprised and . . . I guess excited or delighted as well (although those words sound sort of gay, and this was strictly a hetero sort of manly excitement). The guy that sent me the message, Ryan, has to be my favorite fellow from those years. I admit that I looked up to him to some degree back then. I had some really good times with him. Anyway, it has been a long time since we spoke and it sort of sent me down memory lane a bit. This led to thoughts about whether I have changed and grown. Undoubtedly. But in all the ways that I wanted then or want now? eh.

Normally I think I go though life not particularly caring what people think about me. I readily admit that there I times that this is not true, but if I am speaking in generalities, then mostly if someone doesn't like me or doesn't think I am amusing I don't really care. Bridget says that I tend to carry myself in a way that makes me seem imposing or standoffish. I don't really feel that way, but I admit that I don't get too animated around groups of people. No, I like to work my magic in smaller groups or among those I count as my friends. Then I will let go a bit. My Rick James karaoke routine comes to mind from a few months ago. That event seemed to surprise people--that I would do something like that--but really I do goofy stuff all the time, it is just that my family sees it mostly or some close friends.

I think that I am a bit prickly to some and I also tend to like pranks. I can think of a few things I was involved in with Ryan, my old friend. I can't write those here, because I am a believer that such stories should not be written down where they can be evidence against me. ;) But I still laugh when I think about some of jokes I have played on people. I realized that I do somewhat like to be a clown or I do them to lighten the mood, but mostly I think I may do it selfishly--for the enjoyment of myself, the prankster. I came to that realization while watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants with Ryan (my son, not my old college buddy). Spongebob goes to a joke store with Patrick, his starfish friend. They are asking about some pranks/tricks that they could buy. One of them asks why they would perform a joke that would embarrass or hurt someone else. The owner of the establishment responds that it the joke is for the enjoyment of the prankster not anyone else. So yes, it is true I often play pranks on others for my own enjoyment, not really taking into account the repercussions on others. Yep, I am a jerk. Less of a jerk now because I don't play too many jokes on people. I have matured a bit thankfully. It is not really socially acceptable to play pranks when you are supposed to be a reliable, intelligent individual with aspirations of wealth and prosperity. Nevertheless, the pranks are often just below the surface, trying to get out. And I am still a jerk.

Here is a recent story that is proof of my jerkiness. I have a niece that is, well, a good girl but she is a drama queen. She is nine will often cry about something that Ryan (four) or Jack (two) has done to her. I frankly have little if no pity for her in those times. I figure a nine year old ought to be able to handle the teasings of a four and two year old. Maybe that is unrealistic. I have watched as my boys have teased her a bit, or as Jack has run off with her jacket to get a rise out of her. And I have secretly laughed inside as they do such things. I will let things go on because I don't think that what they are doing is so bad even though she is getting all bent out of shape. Now when it gets out of hand or even before I will stop them. I don't want them to be bullies, but I don't mind if they the type of boys that tease girls. Better they learn to give it and receive it. They both tease each other so I don't worry too much about them in receiving department. Anyway, a compassionate individual would not be amused when their niece is being teased, even if she is a drama queen. Why am I not more disturbed by this? Probably because I am a jerk.

I think part of my jerkiness comes from being around my father. He doesn't read this blog so I don't worry about any repercussions from writing the following: My dad is a big jerk. Much bigger than I have ever been. I could tell stories, and my siblings would probably back me on my statement. He has done lots of good for us, but he is still a jerk. I think you can still be a basically good person a still be a jerk by doing socially unacceptable things or saying them. He doesn't really care what he says sometimes. There is no filter. I don't know if my jerkiness is inherited, environmental or all my own doing, but it is there. I think that I should consider being more patient and less of a jerk. It would probable help me in the long run. But it would not be a amusing to my inner jerk.

I had other thoughts tonight. Some were darker, like last nights post, but most were not. I am pretty happy with who I am and my position in life. I realize that a number of people have sacrificed to help me get to where I am--a freaking lawyer believe it or not. I have a hard time believing that. I told Bridget last night that I have a hard time grasping sometimes that I am going to be advising people and acting like I actually know what to do in difficult situations. People will someday pay me for advice! But I know I will and that I will do fine at it. I am very grateful to those that have encouraged and helped in a variety of ways. I could name names and I will.

Obviously, my family. Bridget has been my strength through our time together. I am a better person for having her around. I would not have attempted law school if not for her. When I was surprised by my LSAT score which was at the 95 percentile or so, she was not. She said she always knew I would do well. She has more confidence in me than I do. Ryan, my son Ryan was a big deal. When he came along my perspective on life changed, but that is another story. Jack, well, he just keeps me on my toes these days. He is two afterall.

Bridget's parents have been amazing. I could go into detail, but it would be too embarrassing, mainly for me. They are great.

My parents, mainly my Dad, have always been the voice in my mind that told me that I can do better. That is usually helpful. They had more to do with my undergrad that law school, but they have been there. My Mom always has a ear to listen to anything I had to say, though often I didn't turn there enough.

Kulani Fisher. A good friend. Great advice. Helped be start my path to losing weight 4 or 5 years ago. He is always there if he can help. Plus the dude can set a mean table. If I can only have the basement that he has--ugh--so many damn nice bikes. Too bad he is a freaking patent attorney though, those guys are all nerds. ;)

Henry Garza. When I was in the car biz, he was one of my biggest advocates. A loyal friend who would kick your butt and then buy you lunch afterwards.

And I can't mention Henry without Jason Mink. Every lawyer has his seedy contacts, but Jason has a good heart even if, at the time I worked for him and with him, it was mired in a fair amount of filth. He told me once after I wondered why he fought to get me a management position at a car dealership that it was like we were brothers; I was the good seed and him the bad seed. So of course he tried to help me out. That was one of the best compliments I ever had. If you knew him you would understand.

And my old friend Ryan. You were an influence too and by you contacting me you started this lame post. Jerk. You did didn't influence my decision to become a lawyer or anything, but you undoubtedly influenced some of my tastes in music and cars. I don't think I had a thing for German cars until you came along. I always thought it was great that you went to the beat of your own drum. Can't wait to catch up with you. And yes, the more I think about it, you probably had something to do with me wanting to name our first son, Ryan. I knew couple of Ryans earlier in life that I was good friends with. One was in middle school and the other was in college. Plus, Ryan is a good Irish name to go along with Flynn.

Anyway, I really should go to bed. I am going to be cranky tomorrow if I don't get some sleep. If you read all of this, you really need a life, or you should go to the library.

Life is Not Always Wonderful, But It Could Always Be Worse

I still don't have a job. Money is just about all gone. We have no money for kids presents unless we put them on a credit card. We will be in the hole sometime in middle to the end of January. This pretty much sucks. I have applied at a temp agency even and no work there either. The Bonneville Power job that I earlier wrote about I was hoping for in another post, did not come though. Today I received a letter from the Bureau of Veterans Affairs that they are going to pass on me as well. So has everyone else that I have applied to--either that or they are going to postpone hiring until after the new year.

I went to see a counselor at the career services office this morning to talk about my prospects. She helped give me some other things I can do, but there does not appear to be any end to my joblessness in sight in the near future. Oh I am sure I am going to get a job, but I wish it were now. But it was very helpful to meet with her just the same.

I admit I am bit depressed. If you look at the my other blog you can see that my training has tapered down quite a bit. Partially the amount of workouts have decreased because there are days that I just don't care. I mean I care, but not enough to get out the door in the cold. Whatever. Today I rode in the bad weather, in some snow and it was great. Attitude is everything. I wanted to ride and so I had a great time. Great to get away from negative thoughts and doubts that occassionally swirl in my brain while I am at home. I don't feel productive when I am home. If Bridget is at work and I am home it is Ok, because at least one of us is making some money, but on days when we are both at home sometimes I just feel useless and cranky.

I am to the point where I am going to see if I can start delivering pizza or something just to bring in some money. Ugh. At least I passed the bar exam. Next week I am going to go get sworn in and join a couple of the new lawyer organizations and I am going to see about volunteering at Lewis & Clark's New Business Clinic. All the lawyers and students that work there do it pro bono, but it will perhaps give me some connections and a feeling of satisfaction from doing some good for those who could afford a lawyer otherwise.

At least we are all healthy, if not wealthy and my funk will pass. Bridget is confident that something will turn up. I think she is right, she always is--seriously. About life decisions like this she has a very good head on her shoulders and she has more faith than I at times like this--at least usually. She has been very nice to me while I have been in my funk. Anyway, I don't want to make it seem like I have been in a depressed mood 24 hours a day, but there is usually an hour or two a day where my thoughts turn dark and I worry about things. I mainly worry about the unknown. I have never liked the unknown. I am a worrywort. That is my bag and I/we will get through it fine. Enough rambling--everyone move on to the next couple of posts to read about more dead mice and moldy bread. ;)

Nasty Part II

Friday night is pizza night here. We usually go to Papa Murphy's Take and Bake and get a pizza to bake at home. We like them and the boys eat the pizza very well. Anyway, we are sitting at the table eating the pizza and watching a Thomas the Tank Engine video when I spy Clyde, our cat, at the sliding door, which is near the dining table. He has a mouse squirming/twitching in his mouth and he is looking right at me. Yuck. I almost lost my appetite right there. He wanted inside and he wanted to bring his new toy, the mouse, inside as well. Finally he put it down and I tried to get him to come inside, but he still wanted to play with it. After about 5 minutes he was tired of the game and came in. But still it was nasty.

Nasty

Ever see a movie, probably a horror movie where a guy goes to kiss a beautifull girl only to find after he kisses here that she turns into a horribly ugly thing or perhaps even a corpse or skeleton or something? It seems like that is something that has happened in movies like that, or if not it should. After realizing that the girl was something horrible the guy freaks out and tries in vain to rub off the kiss and wipe away the memory of the experience.

Yeah, something like that just happened to me. I went to make some toast today. We just made some bar-b-q beef sandwiches a couple of nights ago on potato bread hamburger buns. Pretty good stuff and so are the buns. I got the hankerin' for some toast and so I remembered that we had a couple of buns left over--seemed like a half of a bun would make a good piece of toast. I found a bag with two buns in a stash of bread and chips that we keep in a huge bowl in the back corner of the kitchen. There's lots of stuff in there, but the buns were near the top. I made one and made Jack one as well. I ate mine and it was delicious. Jack hadn't touched his yet, but instead of eating his, since it looked like he didn't want it after all, I went and grabbed another one out of the bag. I went to open the bun so that I could toast another half when I saw a horrifying sight, mold that covered 75% of the bottom of the bun. It was blue and white and pretty hairy looking. I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I didn't taste anything nasty, nor was there anything on that bun that appeared to be moldy, yet is had been sitting right next to this horrible thing that was before me. Yuck.

I thought it was weird that it went moldy so fast, but as it turns out, the leftover buns from the dinner a couple nights ago were in the cupboard. Yep, I felt like I had just eaten poison or taken a bite of an apple with only half a worm in it after the bite is taken.

I am still alive and well, but I shudder with the memory. And no, Jack didn't eat any, just me.

Jack vs. Grandpa Leroy

Setting: Jack has just has told us he is done eating his pizza one evening. Knowing that he had snacked before dinner I told him that it was ok to get down from the table. He had only eaten about a third of his pizza though and he usually eats much more. Then Grandpa came upstairs and the following took place.

Grandpa: Jack, you better eat your pizza.
Jack: (ignores him)
Grandpa: Jack you better eat your pizza or I am going eat it.
Jack: NO
Grandpa: Jack, aren't you going to eat your pizza? You better or no dessert.
Jack: (pointing his index finger at Grandpa states the following in a very angry matter) GRANDPA YOU GO DOWNSTAIRS. GO WATCH FOOTBALL, NO ME PIZZA!!!
Grandpa, loving the reaction he got out of Jack, tells him to eat his pizza again.
Jack: (again in with his finger thrust forward tells Grandpa) NO GRANDPA YOU GO DOWNSTAIRS. GO WATCH FOOTBALL. NO ME PIZZA!!!

We all laughed and thought it was great. Grandpa is a known trouble maker. I am not sure that we want Jack telling everyone off in this way, but it was cute coming from a 2 year old. It was quite a mouthful for him.

Patrick Sandwich

Here is the last roughhousing that the boys and Patrick did before they went off to bed and Patrick and Stephanie leave for Utah.

Patrick and Stephanie

Here are some pictures from their visit. They leave us tomorrow. Ryan and Jack will be so sad.




Last night Bridget and Stephanie went as saw Enchanted at the movie theater. They said it was pretty good. Patrick and I went and messed around with the boys for a bit but then settled to watch Along Came Polly, which was on TV. That movie has some funny stuff in it. Sometimes it is a bit painful though. Today Patrick and Stephanie are off to Saturday's Market in downtown Portland and to a farmers market.

Knock Knock

Jack doesn't quite get how to do a knock knock joke, but at least he makes us laugh in trying.


Here are some other pictures since Patrick and Stephanie arrived.




Patrick really doesn't have anytime to himself. Ryan and Jack think he is here to play with them exclusively.

More cyclocross pics

More on the Other Blog later today or tomorrow,but it was, under normal definitions anyway, a miserable day. Using the perspective of us nutty cyclocrossers, it was a perfect day for cross. Still, it was pretty cold and during a part of the 1st lap I was thinking I should pull off. Anyway, no results yet and when they come in I will post my report there on the RCMT blog.

UPDATE: the latest results have me 48 out of 77, with a half dozen others that DNF'd. That is my best finish in our series out here. I am feeling good about the training I have been doing. I have been slowly getting better...slowly. There are more pictures on my RCMT Blog as well.

It was a cold muddy messy rainy race. I found this pic on another blog: http://bikeportland.org/photos/



More later. I am tired though. Goodnight.

Our Names are Not just Mommy and Daddy

Jack has been getting a kick out of telling me that I am "Daddy and also Devin" He does the same for Bridget. I think it kind cute coming from a 2 year old. He is a smart little dude. Oh and I am supposed to write that Ryan can jump on one foot 42 times.

There will be pictures again when we get our computer back, hopefully next week. I am using Grandma Joan's computer for now. I don't feel like messing with putting pictures on hers only to end up transferring them back to mine anyway.

Oh and as far as computers go, I backed up our stuff before I sent the computer of to HP to be fixed. I picked up a 250G external harddrive for 70 bucks. All I have to do is connect via the USB port to transfer files. No other plug-ins required or power cords. Sweet deal I thought. A year ago I bought a 60G external for 60 bucks and I thought that was a good deal. I still use the small one, but it doesn't have enough room for all our stuff. But it is just a bit bigger than my wallet so I am sure that it will have uses in the future if I need to tranfer stuff between say work and home or something.

Oh and I still haven't heard about the job yet.

Internet and Pizza

Yesterday was Friday and on many Fridays we get Pizza. The Grandparents aren't around and we let ourselves be lazy by not making dinner but picking up a pizza, usually from Papa Murphy's Take and Bake. With pizza from there we can feed whole family for about 10-12 bucks, and many times we have leftovers.

Well, Bridget and I were kinda sick of Papa Murphy's. It is fine pizza, but the same thing gets old (unless your name is Grandpa Leroy, and then you can eat the same pizza from the same place, ham and pineapple from a local restaurant, all the time). Having not ordered from anywhere else in quite sometime I went online to see if I could find any specials or coupons. I found not only what the specials were, but that I could order pizza online and that the order would be directed to the proper store. This was true for Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns. Papa Johns had the best deal and I went ahead and ordered it online. I thought the whole set up was pretty cool. I ordered at about 4PM because our whole day was off a bit and we were hungry. For Bridget and I, it was only going to be our second real meal of the day. The boys normally get hungry around 4:30 or 5:00 and start trying to snack if dinner is not ready. Thus the order time made sense. Then started the longest delivery time of my life.

Again order time was approximately 4PM, but not past that time.

At 4:30 I called to make sure that they got our order. The Papa Johns site said that I would get a confirmation email, which never came. Nevertheless, the people there at the restaurant said that the order had been processed and that the pizza was almost out of the oven. I thought things were going fine, although I wished the confirmantion email had come so that I didn't have to call. Afterall, the idea is to avoid calling, right?

At 5:10 I call Papa Johns and ask what the heck is taking so long. They are kind of vague, but apparently the delivery guy is out with our pizza and it should be here shortly. I am not impressed anymore, but whatever, I am hungry and the kids and Bridget are cranky. I start holding off Jack with some Blue Diamond smokehouse almonds. He love them and he starts to come out of a real cranky fit.

5:35 I call and I am calm but obviously disgruntled. I am told that the driver has been gone for quite some, about an hour, and they have heard nothing from him. They tell me that the pizza will be free. Nice, but I and the whole family are pretty hungry, having been told that pizza will be soon here for well over an hour. 4 and 2 year olds are not known for their patience afterall.

5:40 I give up and start making the kids food. I throw a waffle in the toaster for Ryan and start making Mac n' Cheese for Jack.

5:55 I call to get them to send us out another pizza. I am hungry and Bridget will soon have to leave for some event at her sister's house. And dang it, I want some flipping pizza--I have been pretty good for the past couple of weeks with the diet and working out and I want a reward. Papa Johns is screwing with my reward night and I am getting a little worked up. They are in the process of seeing if this is possible or if they need to wait until they hear from the delivery guy. Then, "ding dong", it is the delivery guy. I don't know what he was doing, and I didn't ask. I was still on the phone when he came and so I let the store talk to him. I got the pizza and the soda pop and I wasn't charged. He gave me back the phone and headed back to the store to face whatever consequences there were, if any.

The pizza would have been great if it was hot. Pepperoni, ham, italian sausage, olives and mushrooms. But it was barely above room temperature. We ate it and the boys still had some along with waffles and Mac 'n cheese. I ate too much because I was pretty hungry. I probably gained a pound yesterday because of the pizza and the fudge that arrived yesterday from Grandma and Grandpa Reed. Oh, and the fudge was made by monks in a monastery in Oregon. Weird, but it was really good.

Anyway, I will stay with the phone ordering. I don't know if that was the issue, but ordering online really is no better than ordering on the phone unless you are going to place an order for delivery in the future. You can order up to 21 days ahead of time, which is kind of cool as long as the pizza is not when it shows up.

Random Thoughts

When an interviewer tells you that they are going to let you know on a particular day whether they want to hire you or not, they really need to follow through. To not do so is cruel. Yesterday was the day I was supposed to hear back about a job. No call. So far today, no call either. I have thought this out and have reasoned that this is the most likely reason for the lack of a phone call--I was not their first pick for the job. But, neither am I entirely ruled out though either. Instead, I would guess that they are waiting to see if the people they would rather have, want the job. Then if they take it, they will at that time let me know. But, obviously, if the person declines the job then they will give me the offer. Frustrating.
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Working out is good, but sometimes it wipes me out for a good while afterwards. Swim days are prime examples. My average heart rate is never very high, but dang I am always really tired afterwards. I want to take a nap right now.
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Ryan had a hot dog in a bun with ketchup and mustard on it and chips on the side...for breakfast. What a swell dad I am. At least it wasn't chocolate cake.
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This morning I was laying down with Jack in his bed so that he would stay asleep when Ryan climbed in. That was in addition to the cat that was already there. Yep, I was nice and comfy in that twin bed, well not really. Squished is more like it. Ryan was on one side laying on me, and Jack on the other. Clyde would not budge so I had to curve my legs in a odd angle as well. I was counting down the minutes until Bridget returned from her early morning swim class.
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ACTUAL CONVERSATION YESTERDAY. This is an example of Ryan and his standup routine.
Ryan: "Knock, Knock"
Me: "Who's there?"
Ryan: Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Me: "I dunno, why?"
Ryan: "Because he wanted to walk to his house so he could go to sleep, hahahahah..."
Me: "ha, good one Ryan"
Ryan: "Knock, Knock"
Me: "Who's there?"
Ryan: "Donut"
Me: "Donut who?"
Ryan: "Donut up to the sky with chocolate and around the world up to the moon....hahahaha"
Me: "hahaha (sigh)"
I don't think we have to worry about him going on tour anytime soon. And yes, usually all of his jokes start with "Knock, knock" regardless of whether the phase is appropriate for the joke or not.
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Bridget has started tutoring a girl in our ward in biology. She is in high school but the class is at college level. Bridget stated that this was the first time that she has used her degree since graduation. And she is getting paid $20/hr! It is just for an hour or two a week, but it is a pretty sweet deal.
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I miss french fries.
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I was sad to hear about Gracie passing away this morning. I wonder how Peach will take it. Clyde, our cat, meows occasionally as if he is looking for Bonnie. They were with us for almost 5 years so I guess it makes sense that he misses her, even if their interaction was pretty much restricted to fighing over who got to sleep in the cat tree here in the house.
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I wonder how long until I get sick of eating a mixed salad with generic pressed ham (think Buddig ham, only the generic store brand), some cheddar cheese, and Ken's Lite Northern Italian dressing?
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No More Bonnie

So after crapping on a half-dozen cycling relating garments last week I took Bonnie outside and got out the axe and ...no really we just gave her away. I put an ad on the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (www.obra.org) mailing list, which goes out to all of the members' email addresses. Within an hour I had a couple of people wanting to see pictures of her and on this past Sunday she was picked up by a nice woman.

Yea! I am sure she will be fine there. She will be the only cat, there are no kids in the home, and no remodeling going on. I didn't tell her about the pooping because she didn't ask and 90% of the time Bonnie didn't have any problems. It was only when her environment got all messed up.

So Clyde is now the only animal here. The boys weren't too sad about it, since Bonnie wasn't really too friendly to them. Clyde is more the family cat. Most nights he sleeps with Jack at the foot of his bed. Grandma and Grandpa Reed are glad not to be stepping on poop early in the morning. This weekend I think some squeezed between Grandma's toes. Yummy.

Estacada Cyclocross Pic

I was 66th out of 89. If interested see the RCMT Blog

computer is down

There will be few updates for the next week or so.

Cyclocross: Barton Park

A couple of pictures from the weekend's cyclocross race. Ain't I cool...


I didn't place as well as I had thought, but I did have fun. I have been training quite a bit lately and I think it has helped even if my placement was not a great. I blame my low placement partially on the departure of some fellow fatties to the new Clydesdale class. I could race in it too, but I am on the borderline and prefer to race just one class the whole year. I was 75th out of 98 in the preliminary results. I raced Master C's (for those 35+). At least this wasn't a result from racing the Beginner class. Here are a couple of pics. More info on my other blog: RCMT

Poop Walk

This is self-explanatory. Just watch the video.



This is Jack's normal walk after he poops in his diaper. We can't wait until the bathrooms are finished being remodelled--Potty training will begin again.

Swim Class Etiquette

I wish Bridget would write here, but she is never motivated to do so. She would rather have me do it for some reason.

Anyway . . . she goes to a swim class every Monday and Wednesday morning at 6:30 am. She has gotten pretty good and is one of the faster swimmers. The class is divided up into a couple of lanes, and in order that they can all swim at the same time, they swim in loops. Basically people are going up the lane and down the lane at the same time in a clockwise rotation.

Every so often they have a timed swim of 500 yards. Of the people in her lane (1 guy and 2 other women), Bridget has been first the past several times She may have even been the fastest in the class at one time, I don't know for sure. The person who is the fastest in the 500 swim is usually the one to go first. Bridget, this past time, was not the fastest. She had an off day and wasn't feeling tip-top and had a slower time. There was one guy who was faster by a bit. No big deal. Except that the guy is a dork.

Bridget is normally faster than him, especially when they are swimming long distances. It is a rule that if someone catches you during swim practice that you let them pass you when you touch the wall. This guy in Bridget's lane never does let anyone pass unless the coach makes him. I guess this morning Bridget was whacking on his feet and legs with her arms as she was swimming. She even went to pass him and touched the wall at the same time as him and he still cut her off and wouldn't let her by. Passing is a hard thing because there are people coming from the opposite direction. At most Bridget said that she would have about a half a lap to pass someone. Attempting to pass takes a bunch of energy. On a long distance swim this robs you of a lot of energy for no reason--thus if someone taps you on the foot when they catch you, it is proper etiquette to stop and let them go at the end of that length. This morning the Instructor eventually had to get involved. He told him to get over and let people pass. At the end another 300 yards he was around a half a minute back. She said she would have lapped him if they had to swim any longer.

Long story short, don't be a dork and don't get your speedo in a bunch just because a girl is a faster swimmer than you.

Halloween!!!

Pics from tonights adventure. Jack went the normal route Ilene's house. That got him about 3 lbs of candy. Not too bad for a 2 year old. Ryan had to hang with the big kids, Cassie and Sabrina. He wound up with more than double Jack's take for the night. Much of it is candy that he will never eat, because he is kind of picky. The rejected stuff will of course wind up in my gut.

Here is Jack at a door tonight.


Here are pics of the kids, and of our pumpkins.

My New Blog

RCMT: Road/Cyclocross/Mountain/Triathlon

I decided to start a new blog so that this one could be more family oriented.

No family stuff on it for the most part. All cycling related.

http://www.rcmt.blogspot.com

Training Update

I didn't race cross this weekend. Again. Last weekend I wasn't feeling it at all and this weekend I actually got in the car and headed out there to Astoria to race. I was about 2/3 the way there and I just felt like I shouldn't race. A good part of the decision was the money. It had been a very expensive week and spending probably 30 bucks more didn't seem like a good decision. Also, I had some eerie preminition that I was going to get hurt or something. That was most likely my mind rationalizing my cheapness, but it worked. I turned around and then drove to Forest Park and tortured myself on Springville Road. I actually rode down to the very bottom and rode up to the top which is extra torture. I did this 3 times. I hated it every time the slope would steepen after a brief leveling off. Springville never actually levels off it just sort of hurts less. The upper portion that I often do is about 3/4 of a mile long and climbs about 325-350 feet. Adding the lower portion I figure I climbed about 1500 feet in during the 4 or so miles of total climbing. Ouch. But I figure I suffered close to the same amount as I would have during the race so I didn't feel too bad.

Bridget swam this morning and I ran this evening. Bridget's swim went well, but Mondays are long for her. After swimming she goes to work from 8:30AM to 7PM. She was pretty spent but was nice enough to let me go to the rec center's gym to run. I ran for about 70 minutes with an average heart rate of 141. Pretty easy workout, but my body still is not that used to running long distances again. But it was still better than last week. I ran low intensity intervals for half the time (120 HR up to 147 HR and back down and up) and then I couldn't take the 120 HR anymore, I would get bored, so I just ran with a HR of around 147 for 30 minutes followed by a cool down.

I need to get on track with a plan, but I have yet to decide what I am going to do this year. I want to do a half ironman, but haven't decided which one. The date of the triathlon will influence when the training program starts for real.

Part of me wants to go to Kona Hawaii with part of our tax return to do the half ironman out there with Fish and maybe Dave, but it is not the best use of money.

Comments

To those who are shy to make comments, please don't be. Serious and sarcastic comments are very welcome. You are welcome to make any comments you want no matter who rude. Afterall, I can delete them if I don't like them...

Cassie's Halloween Party

Here are a few pictures of Cassie's Halloween party. Cassie is a cousin of the boys.

Here is Cassie:


Here are the boys. Jack is Buzz Lightyear and Ryan is Captain Jack Sparrow.


Here are some other pics. Grandma Joan was Tigger, Bridget's sister Ilene (Cassie and Sabrina's mom) was the Queen of Hearts. Sabrina (not pictured, well she was the dead body that would answer questions that is pictured below) was dressed similarly to Cassie. There was an eerie cauldron, a corpse that would answer questions and a costume contest. It was pretty fun.





Bridget and I were a little tuckered out at the party. Neither of us dressed up. We aren't Grinches about Halloween, we just didn't want to spend any money on any costumes for us when things are so tight. Neither did we feel like putting in the energy to come up with something out of stuff here in the house. Here is Bridget at the party:

Date Night and the Aftermath

So we actually got out last night. Some friends of ours, Holly and Zack, wanted to go to the temple, their first time being their since they were married there last year. Another couple also went in our little group, Marcus and Melinda. Melinda is Bridget's triathlon training partner and she is also the person who when Patrick saw her evoked a statement that he thought she was probably "hot once". She is not that old, around 30 or so. I told Bridget that and then she of course immediately told Melinda, who thought it was funny.

Anyway, in the session last night we guys are sitting next to each other. I would occassionally whisper something to Zack so that he could be ready for what what came next. Marcus can't sit still in general. During the session his foot was either wagging faster than an excited puppy or he was noticing things about others in attendance. Toward the end of the session he whispered to me that if you looked at the back of a particular fellow's head you could see his pulse via the throbbing of some of the hair on the back of his head. Wierd but true. I wonder if the guy had high blood pressure for the back of this head to throb like that? Regardless, it was a random statement, though funny.

After the temple we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Melinda works there, but it is where Marcus wanted to go since they rarely ever go there as a family. Marcus chose because it was his birthday yesterday. We did not get out of the temple until almost 10 because we had to go to a late session because of some work schedules. So we ate dinner awefully late. I had some spicy chicken pasta dish that was very good. Oh and I had one of the better hot fudge sundaes ever. But eating that much, that late is not good for my digestive system--we didn't leave the restaurant until almost midnight. I has some seriously weird dreams that I am going to blame on that food. I was jumping over buildings while people were trying to kill me for some odd reason or another. Often these sorts of dreams involve breathing under water too. Yes, I have weird dreams. Also, I woke up with an upset stomach at around 3 and 5 and then was finally able to get some relief around 7, right before we took Bridget to work this morning.

And yes, I may be a stereotypical dad. Sometimes I let them eat things that no self-respecting mom would do. The boys expressed that they were hungry after we dropped off Bridget. I was lazy and so they ate hot dogs from 7-11. They love those things. I rationalize that this is ok by thinking that this is still better than eating junky cold cereal. They did have milk with their hot dogs...that makes it all good, right?

Future Embarrassment

I am sure that eventually this will be somewhat embarrassing for Ryan and Jack. But it is pretty cute. The first they are singing what they know of some Avril Lavigne song. The next is from the Wiggles.

Anybody want a cat?

I wrote previously about Clyde, a fine mouser and friend of the family. Then there is the bad seed, Bonnie. She must have a calm and non-disrupted home in order to not cause problems.

What problems? She doesn't wizz anywhere thankfully. She just craps on anything that strikes her fancy. Here is a list of what she has crapped on:

*On the cushions and on the top of various couches
*Wicker stool
*Carpets
*Rugs
*On top of the Microwave (at our house in Utah)
*on the wall--Twice. Once in Utah and once here in Oregon. Don't ask me how.
*Beds
*Coffee table
*Storage boxes
*On top of a surge protector for my old laptop

There may be some other things but they escape me for the time being. She has gone almost a year between poopings, but then she goes on a crazy streak or awhile. We are in the middle of one such streak. The cause is the construction going on in the home right now. Two of the three bathrooms are gutted for some serious remodelling. With workmen coming and going it probably freaks her out. Also because they are coming and going we can't keep her out during the day because she slips in very stealthily.

Anyway, we have one poop a day to clean up on average. Luckily we have become adept and cleaning. 99% of the time there isn't a stain. We have found some good cleaners. Plus she is a very stinky kitty so it is usually pretty quick that we find out that she left a mess.

Back to Running

***Note: This is an example of a post that is more for my benefit than anyone else's. Perhaps I can look back and see where I was and see some improvement.***

It has been awhile since I ran. I have been riding a fair bit and so it is not like I have been sitting back doing nothing. Nevertheless, I had a harder time running than I would have thought. My goal was to do a slow and steady run. When I last ran, back before cross season was nearing about 5 to 6 weeks ago, I was running 70 to 80 minutes at a pretty good pace--around 10 minute to 10:30 miles without killing myself. My heart rate would be in the mid to upper 150's to maybe low 160's if going uphill. I could run for what felt like all day if I kept my heart rate down around the mid 140's. My fastest mile time was close to a 7 minute flat after about 2 or 3 miles of warm up.

Anyway, I am here to testify that cycling and running do not work the same muscles at all. I ran this afternoon for an hour. I kept my average heart rate at around the mid 140's for most of the time until I hit some hills at the end of my run. My max was still only 163 BPM, which is good considering I suppose. Overall, my average heart rate was 147. Well, aerobically I felt fine, never winded at all. But, I could feel that even after about 30 minutes I was not in the best running condition. My muscles are not used running and I felt weak even though my lungs felt great. It was kind of odd. I am sure that I should have only run for about 40 minutes, but I am an idiot in this regard and since I had a goal of running for an hour, I ran for an hour regardless of the discomfort. At least I never stopped. I wasn't even running fast. I was only doing about 12 minute miles. Sure I could have run faster, but only if I wanted to run for about half the time.

This time around I am really trying to do better with my training. Earlier this year I was way too time oriented. Meaning that I was trying to always beat my former times on my bike route to school, or at the track when running. My heart rate would be through the roof often times. This time I am trying to build a better fitness foundation, and I have read that training for triathlons is more effective if I develop a good foundation. This can be done by some long and low heart rate workouts. I have a hard time doing this on the bike, because Portland is not exactly flat and on many hill climbs near our house my heart rate will alway shoot up to the upper 160's or low 170's. But running I can chose to run at the outdoor track which is a 1/4 mile away and nice and flat. As long as I have my IPod with me with either a Podcast of CarTalk or Wait Wait don't Tell Me, or perhaps some good music I am good for a long while. Today I actually went with no Ipod because there was a light rain for much of the time I was out. And yeah, I am hardcore by running in the rain.

Triathlon Planning

So I am currently in middle of a conundrum: Knowing that life is a bit unpredictable, especially now when we are not sure where we will be once I find a long term job, what triathlons should I sign up for next year. For instance for some I have to sign up for them now or in the next couple of weeks for some events that take place next June or July. At least this is true for the higher profile events.

For example, I am thinking about doing a Half-Ironman distance Triathlon in early June. This means training for a 1.2 mile swim (which is thankfully downriver) and 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. I couldn't do it right now that is for sure.

I did an olympic distance one this summer (1.5k swim, 40k bike--about 24 miles--and a 10 k run) and that nearly killed me. I was sick the entire month prior to the race, only getting well just a couple of days before the race. When the race went down I had not run or even sat on a bike in 4 or 5 weeks. Not exactly a good thing. I did a sprint tri (half the distance of an olympic distance) though a few weeks later and I felt great. Anyway these events are not cheap either some are around $100 for Half-Ironmans. Ouch.

Bridget, to her frustration, is not signing up for anything because we are hoping that she is pregnant soon. Thus, she would not be up for competition next summer.

Anyway, it is hard to know what the future holds and if my aging body will hold up and perform on cue. Sometimes it seems like I am in my 20's and othertimes . . . ugh, fat and old. And balding always balding. Not bald like my brother Patrick thankfully, ha, but getting there.

Here are some events I am thinking about doing:

Vikingman Half Ironman in Burley Idaho, June 6
Hagg Lake Triathlon, Olympic distance, approximately the first weekend in July.
Spudman Olympic Triathlon, Burley Idaho, July 26th
Hulaman at Hagg Lake and Hillsboro Oregon, middle or so of August
Hood to Coast Relay (197 mile team relay), August 22 and 23

Plus there is cyclocross season in the fall and mountain biking. I would like to run a marathon next year but don't know if I could fit it in. If I could do 2 of the above triathlons I would be pretty happy.

Anyway, ambitious thoughts like this are easy when sitting in a comfy chair in the living room.

What No Rain?!?!

For the second day in a row we have had beautiful weather. Around 70-ish degrees and not a cloud in the sky. If it wasn't for the leaves on the ground I would have sworn it was late spring. I didn't race this weekend and so I haven't had any exercise for about 4 days, and so I really needed to get out. There were a few complicating factors; I needed to apply to a job and we had to get our car fixed (driver side door latch broke and we couldn't open the door either from the inside or outside--only $401.93 to fix it) and get Ryan to his preschool. Plus Bridget had dibbs on working out first. Eventually I got out the door around 2PM and rode about 26 miles.

It was a pretty good ride but not as long as I had planned. I had planned to add a climb at the end so that I could ride on Skyline Drive, which has some great views, and would have put it at about 32 miles or so total. But, I got a couple of flats and I would have had to call the pit-crew (Bridget and the boys) for the second one except for a nice cyclist that happened upon me at the right time. He had a spare tube and gave it to me. Whoever you are, thanks man. I carry one tube with me but never two. I figure if I am going to have two flats it is time to call the pit-crew.

I had brought my little Topeak Micro Rocket Master Blaster hand pump with me, and it is a sweet little pump. It fits in one of my rear cycling jersey pockets. It is light, made of mostly carbon fiber and weighs next to nothing, only 55 grams (about 2 ounces). It is only about 6 inches long. It took a bit to pump the tire up to around 120 PSI, but it did it pretty easily. I was very impressed. I have used it before but not on the side of the road. It is about as sexy as a pump can get.


In the end, it was probably good that the ride was shortened. I didn't eat enough for lunch--just some tomato soup--and if it wasn't for a pack of Clif Shot Bloks in another jersey pocket I might have called it a day even sooner. As it was, according to my Heart Rate Monitor I burned around 1650 calories. Most of that was probably on a couple of longer climbs. I burn about 900 to 1000 calories an hour on a good ride. Bridget for comparison only burns about 600 to 650 calories an hour on the same ride. But she weighs about 55 lbs less than me.

And one more thing about Bridget--she had on some size 6 pants yesterday. When we were married she was a 10 or 12. I hope she doesn't mind me outing her, but she is pretty open with things like this regardless of present size. The combination of the exercise and the glucophage has made a big difference. Her PCOS, without the meds, makes her slowly gain weight if she is not exercising. And yes she looks amazing, but then she always did.

Aeronautical Museum Adventure

Bridget works on Mondays and I am solo with Ryan and Jack. We usually don't do a heck of a lot, and sometimes it is just about survival. But today we went out for probably our grandest adventure without Bridget. We went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. It is the present home of the Spruce Goose/Flying Boat. I took lots of pics so I will let them do most of the talking.


Below is a Russian/Soviet space capsule. It was actually used in the early 1990's.


Ryan and Jack in front of a lunar landing module replica.


The next several pics are of the boys in front of a scale model used in the filming of the Aviator movie about Howard Hughes. Above them is part of the Spruce Goose's wing. Next are the boys in the belly of the Spruse Goose (sorry not sure why it is out of focus, perhaps it was the glass right behind them messing things up). There is at least one level above where they are standing in the plane. Then is a picture of the Spruce Goose from up on an observation deck.




Below is a P40. "Pretty cool plane" said Ryan.



Here the boys are checking out my favorite plane as a kid--the SR-71 Blackbird.


They had an area for kids to play and have some hands-on experiences flying or rather pretending to fly planes and helicopters. The last picture of this series was of Ryan learning how the controls of an airplane made an airplane rise, dive and turn. Fun stuff.






I like this old plane. Check out the sweet machine guns


The boys are standing in front of a retired Blue Angel airplane and one of several tanks they had outside the museum.



Finally here is a pic of us in front of a F14 Tomcat.


Afterwards we stopped at a McDonalds with a cool playground. Lots of fun, and I even got to read the newspaper.