Getting back to normal

So everything is slowly getting back to normal. We are starting to feel better and even though we both miss little Jake we realize that it was the right decision. We know that Jake is running and playing with new friends on nice soft grass in bright sunshine with lots of cold water and his favorite treats. I miss my buddy but I know that it is better for him now. It is going to be weird sitting in the garage this summer listening to the ball game without him.

It was a good weekend. Saturday Melissa went running with a friend of hers from work, they ran around Lake Harriet, I went along and hung out in the car and worked on my list of things that I need to do to lead a more adventurous life. I got to 58 things in the time it took them to run around the lake which wasn’t very long. My whole goal in life is to have adventure and not sit still for very long. I am hoping that I will be able to check a few of the things on my list off this spring and summer. After the run we all went to Q. Cumbers which is a salad bar place in Edina. They have a very nice salad bar and a small hot bar with lots of good healthy food on it. That was fun, I like Melissa’s running friend and her boyfriend was there so it was nice to chat with them.

Saturday night we went over to Tea Garden on Grand Ave in St. Paul and had 2 pots of tea and I worked more on my adventure list while Melissa did some work stuff. It was a fun Saturday.

Sunday we ran errands, and enjoyed each others company. Melissa and I always have a lot of laughs and have together. Seemed like we went all over but it was a very fun day.

It is currently snowing outside, we are suppose to get about 8” of snow today. I just don’t understand why we can’t get this snow in December or January when it is good snow. This stuff is wet and heavy and won’t last very look, in fact I think it is suppose to be 50 degrees on Wednesday so any fun we get will be gone by then, so it seems to me that it is just a waste of the good stuff. Kind of sad if you ask me.

Oh well, just more stupid weather.

Today is the start of the 2008 Baseball season, and I am really excited about it. Melissa and I once again have a season ticket package, our first game is Wednesday which will be fun. I am really looking forward to getting to some games. I love baseball and am looking forward to a fun year. The song "Take me out to the Ballgame" turns 100 this season, so that is something.

Win Twins...

To Jake

It was a very sad day yesterday. Melissa and I said good bye to our westie Jake. Jake was 13 ½ and lived a very good and happy life. He was a good boy and a loving companion. I will really miss him; Jake and I became pretty good buddies in the few years that I got to know him.

To our little guy:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Weekend Musings.

This weekend turned out to be a fun one. Saturday Melissa and I had a lazy day hanging out, we met some friends for lunch and then we ran some errands. I also picked up the rest of my supplies for the watercolor class that I am taking this spring. I am really looking forward to that. Saturday night we went to our new favorite place. Tea Garden on Grand Ave. in St. Paul. http://www.teagardeninc.com/ It is really a cool spot. We sat there and had 2 pots of tea and listened to a DJ that was playing music that night, it was really fun. I like it there, they have lots of teas and the prices are good. You could pretty much sit there all night long and drink endless amounts of tea for about $4.00.

Easter turned out to be a good day as well. We did a little spring cleaning in the morning and then relaxed for pretty much the rest of the day. I made a nice Easter dinner, ham on the grill, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, and cranberries. After dinner we hung out read and then decide to watch a movie, it was a nice evening. I am hoping that this week goes fast, the weather is suppose to be pretty nice all week, so I am guessing that the snow that we did get this past weekend will be gone by the end of this week. I don’t really like the transition period between winter and spring, it is always so wet and dirty looking outside. I guess now I am looking forward to everything drying out and being able to get my bike out. I am hoping to do a lot of biking this year, it made a world of difference in my workout routine. Since I am not much of a weight lifter, I enjoy riding my bikes and it seemed like it really helped my skiing for the season as well. So I say bring on the dry, warm weather…

Not much else happening. Not much at all.

It is now Spring, I guess

Well I guess it is now spring. I look outside and it is snowing like hell. Another Minnesota March snowfall is here. We get a lot of snow in March, it is crappy snow, wet and heavy and it will be gone by tomorrow, but it is snow. The flakes are huge and it is coming down very steadily. To be honest I really wish I was at home today, I have the desire to build a snowman. I haven't done that for so long and today's snowfall is perfect snowman snow. It is also just kind of a lazy day, I would much rather be laying on the couch looking out the window watching it snow. Seems like way more fun then hanging out here all day doing stupid IT crappola. Now that "spring" is here I guess it is time to put all of the winter clothes away and get out the spring stuff. Easter is Sunday and once again Melissa and I have no where to go, so we are going to once again celebrate another holiday alone. I keep telling her that it is getting closer and closer to time that we move on and go some place else to live. We were talking the other day and I have decided that I am going through a mid-life crisis, I am not going to buy a Porsche or find some young bimbo, I want to pack up my beautiful wife, our bikes, skis, clothes and some furniture and move to someplace where we can be outside people. A place where there isn't traffic or a lot of noise, people aren't in a hurry except to get outside to do stuff. I just don't know where that place is yet. Any thoughts? There is nothing holding us in Minnesota, I don't have a family and Melissa's family for the most part sucks so it isn't like we are leaving much. I just don't know what to do. I love Minnesota, there are so many great things about living here. See now you can see my dilemma. Any way another day closer to retirement is here.

Post Ski Season

Well what will most likely be the last weekend of skiing for this season is in the books. Melissa and I had a great time skiing at Lutsen. The conditions were pretty good, lots of icy spots around but we were able to find some good snow in there as well. We skied all of our favorite runs. It was really busy up there this weekend, due to spring break and also there was a big ski race going on. But we managed to find some good lines and had a great time. We also brought up our video camera and took some footage of us skiing, that was pretty fun, I have never really seen what I look like skiing so it was fun to watch that, certainly not Bode Miller, but I can hold my own. I am going to edit it on my computer and try to add some music to it; that is going to be this week’s project. Should be fun to see what I come up with.

This season’s ski stats:

22 Ski Days
275,350 Total Vertical Feet.

Not too bad for a Minnesota kid.

Now we have a month off to relax and regroup, then I guess biking season will start up. I guess I am looking forward to getting back on my bikes. I enjoyed the exercise and cruising through woods on my bike so it all works out.

Not too much else going on, it is snowing out this morning. We are suppose to get about 5” of snow by tomorrow, so that will be nice. It has been a good winter. We had some snow and it was mostly cold so it seemed more like a real Minnesota winter then it has the past few years, I just wish we could more snow. Well maybe next year.

Probably

We are leaving for probably our last ski weekend of the season. It has been really "spring-like" around here the past few days and the snow is going fast. Lutsen got 5" the other day and is still fairly chilly so the conditions should be pretty good. I am looking forward to getting back on my skis, we haven't skied since we got back from our trip to Whitefish. I am going to bring our video camera this weekend and get some footage of us. I have been playing a little bit with the movie making software on my home computer and it is pretty fun, so I was going to see if I could throw something together from the weekend. Even though I hate to see winter go, I am starting to look forward to riding my bike. I really enjoy riding my mountain bike so it will be nice to get back on that. While we are up in Lutsen this weekend, we are going to check on these town homes that are for sale right on the lake. They seem like they are nice and it would provide me with the view that I need and would also give us a place to go whenever we wanted. So that will be kind of fun. I think it is going to be a long day today, I really want to get outta here and get on the road. I am really looking forward to being back on my home hill. All is well.

New View

I think I have decided with most certainty that I need a view. My daily life is full of the same thing over and over and all of it without any sort of view. I look out the windows at my home and I look at another house, I look out the windows here at work and I look at another building. No mountains, no lakes, no ocean, I think it is getting old. I think having something to look at would help. I find it very relaxing to be able to look out a window and look at something other then another building. Even though I have a really good job and really like my job, I think I need a change. I really want to slow everything down and live more simply in a place with a view, in a small town that thrives on outdoor activities. Skiing, biking, hiking, camping things like that all within a sort drive. I think every time Melissa and I have head out west to ski it just cements the thought that I really want to live in the mountains. I love the mountains, they are quiet and relaxing and they have their own life to them. You can watch them change, meaning you can watch the weather move in and out, the snow come and go. I think I am sick of the traffic and the always having to wait. Go really fast slam on the breaks, repeat. I gets really old. Maybe as I am getting old my desire for the city is growing less and less. Which is strange because if I had a lot of money I would live in Chicago in a heartbeat, maybe that is because Chicago is so easy to get around in and in theory if you lived in the right area of Chicago you wouldn't even have to drive most of the time. You could ride the subway and maybe bike everyplace. Where we live we are unable to do that stuff easily. I don't know maybe it is all the same no matter where you are. Maybe I would get sick of looking at the mountains too...

I doubt it.

My dreams are unfortunately just dreams and I am to chicken to pull any of it off...

Back

So my trip out west was amazing, the mountain was beautiful and the skiing was great. We skied a lot! 5 days in a row. We got some freshies Sunday night which softened everything up since right before we had gotten there the mountain had gone threw a thaw/freeze cycle that caused most of the southern facing slopes to turn into cement. I was a little disappointed that I was not going to be able to ski everything, but Melissa and I found some great lines and lots of powder. I haven't done much tree skiing until Whitefish, we found some amazing snow in the trees and skied in them a lot. We did quite a few runs in the controlled "backcountry" of Hellroaring Basin, it was really cool in there and I felt like an extreme skier, you had to enter the basin through gates. The lines were steep and full of powder, we found areas that were in the 12" - 20" range and didn't really see anyone else while we were in this area. In fact there was hardly anyone there period. That is what I love about skiing in Montana, the lack of people. It was great. I love the mountains and it is my dream to someday live amongst them. I love Minnesota but I think I and getting to the point where I need a change of scenery. Maybe someday. Coming back was actually very hard for me this time, usually by the end of a vacation I am ready to get home, this time I really didn't want to leave at all. But now that I am back it is ok, it was nice to see my friends here at work and tell them all about my awesome trip. Even though I don't think any of them really care, to be perfectly honest. I am thinking about checking out being a ski patrol person at Welch Village next season, they are having a meeting and the ski test this coming Saturday, I have no idea what is involved in the ski test, but since I don't do well at tests I will probably bomb it and will not get the nod to continue. Sounds like the training is fairly intense, I am not even sure if I can pull it off... More and that later. Cheers for now.