Winter, still

It was -8 °F at the house this morning.  Most of the folks I know are tired of winter.  I enjoy it, mostly.  I don't get to play in it as much as I would like and at temperatures that cold, I shouldn't be.  Sure makes for some pretty sunrises though.

19 years

How can January seem like so long ago, but 19 years like yesterday?

This has been a tough winter.  Temperatures have been cold, I mean really cold, like Ohio University closed due to dangerous lows and wind chills cold.  Oh, and propane is scarce due to distribution issues (actually, because of the boon in natural gas, the resulting low domestic prices, the subsequent exporting due to favorable prices, the trucks have been recommissioned to natural gas hauling rather than propane hauling).  Propane residential prices have increased from $2.34 in October to $3.91 (average Ohio) per gallon!  That is, if you can even get it delivered.  We are low, but trying to cut back on how warm we keep the house until we get through this.  And now that February is here, we are set up for repeated southern track winter storms, meaning, heavy snows and ice.  We ended up with 8" of snow Sunday night, followed last night by freezing rain.  Kids are missing lots of school.  I have missed some work.  I usually like winter.  But this has been like a college aged drinking binge.  Overdone then recovering just in time for the next round.  Riding? Well, the rollers are getting some use.

On a high note, we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.

2013 Retrospective

What is a blog without an end of year retrospective?  Here it goes:

CYCLING
Statistics: 1,225.6 miles (951.8 road/184.8 trail/69.3 trainer) = almost 94 hours, 63,791 feet of climbing and 57,623 calories.
Maybe this sounds like a lot, maybe not.  It is down almost exactly 1,000 miles from the year before.  I missed a lot of riding with a broken foot, investigating a heart arrhythmia and having an overactive 3 year old.  However, I did get to race at the OSRS road race at Lake Hope (though this meant missing the Gravel Rouser) and made another trip to Davis, WV for a weekend of mountain biking and camping.

RUNNING
Statistics: 17.6 miles.
Yep, that is it.  Not much more to say, every time I tried to get running back into my weekly exercise, it seemed to get trumped by something else.

LIFE
Thing #1 (Michael) graduated high school, turned 18, and moved out (in an effort to become more independent he moved in with my folks).  Thing #2 (Ethan) killed his first turkey and a dandy 9 point buck hunting with his grandpa and turned into a teenager.  Thing #3 (Brock) turned from terrible two to trying three.  Really, this boy takes a disproportionate amount of energy and time.  Shelly and I survived it with a weekend trip to the mountains of WVa and lots of coffee.

Happy New Year all, here is to more miles and new adventures.

Merry Christmas

Forget the lines to buy more junk that the media machine has convinced you that you need to have to feel fulfilled.  Forget the expectations of receiving "just what you wanted" from your family and friends and the emptiness left behind like to empty boxes on the day after Christmas.  Forget the stress of coming up with the ultimate gift for your significant other so that you prove your love.  Forget the modern world view of materialism.  Instead, appreciate those around you today.  Spend time with them today.  Worship God today.  Enjoy the amazing blessings we already have, today.  Then Christmas won't seem so stressful but a rather a day off work to get to those things with family that you may not be able to tomorrow.

Merry Christmas All.

Deer and tractor season

Ethan has become Grandpa Don's hunting buddy and why not, Don has food plots, game cameras, heated blinds, secure hunting, and tons of experience.  The only thing I can offer is the same thing I had growing up, a chance to freeze my toes off hoping that something would appear.  Ethan has set the bar pretty high for his first buck (he killed a doe last year) with this massive 9 point.  He was ecstatic and grandpa was pretty wound up about it too.

 

While thing #2 was out sitting in a heated blind waiting for the above mentioned buck, I was sliding backwards down my driveway once again.  My tractor season started early this year as I tried to get most of the snow off the 20% grade that begins my driveway.  I love living out in the sticks, having a log home up on a secluded hill, but I am enjoying the drive and driveway less every year.  Funny that our new pastor thinks we over-react to the amount of snow around here (he is from a flatter part of the country).  Of course, he also lives 200 feet from the Appalachian Highway.

 

Normally, I can't wait for that fresh snow so I can hit the back roads on knobby tires but this year, like the rest of the time, it just hasn't happened yet.  Oh well, sounds like trainer season is on the schedule now too.

Thankful Thanksgiving

Seems like all the sudden Thanksgiving was here and now gone.  Looking back, a lot happened, some good and some not so much.  In spite of the not so good, I am still grateful; grateful for my Savior; grateful for my wife and kids; grateful for my job; grateful for music; grateful for good friends and family.  I hope you can find the same gratitude this Thanksgiving season and continue it into the "I need more stuff" season of Christmas.

I have been slowly working on a basement renovation.  Finishing out some space to help organize the whole lot, give Shelly a woman cave, and (as the project expanded) separate the dirty basement from the clean basement.  I have enjoyed building again, though, a few minutes here and there makes it go slowly.

Drywall up in the woman cave.

Due to the government shutdown in October, we had some furlough days to take off (three consecutive Fridays).  Most of those I watched the sun rise and light the trees while drinking a coffee.  

Fall starting to swing.

Finished drywall and primer going on.

I could get used to having each Friday off of work!

I even spent one of those Friday mornings fixing the XL500S.  Repaired the throttle housing and replaced the fork seals.

Paint! Feels like a real room now.

Playing in the leaves at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

Just a nice shot of the sky.

 November brings Veteran's day and a reminder of the work of so many men and women through the years as they have served this country.  It is also a sad anniversary of Eric's death.  I try to go for a run each year since Eric was a runner.  Having not run much since breaking my foot, I headed to the trails on wheels instead.

A view from Finger Rock.

Enjoying a Fluff Bakery cookie at Jackie O's Taproom.  We go there on Thursday nights when we can to get some Rickshaw Thai curry.  Brock doesn't mind going to the "barn restaurant" as he calls it.

A lot of my spare time is going into the basement.  We decided to use self adhesive vinyl  tile to help keep the cost down and speed up installation.  We used this floor in the laundry room a few years ago with very good success.  This time was different however.  The 18x18 tiles did not stick down.  After installing about 160 square foot of it, I had to tear it back up.  We tried heat, placed weights on it, additional contact adhesive, and still the tile edges would not stay down.  I am in the process now of ordering porcelain tile. 

Drywall and primer finished in the hallway.

Hallway painted and flooring going down.

New-old door in.  A friend gave me an old entry door.  I scrubbed it with some bleach to remove all the mold/mildew/dirt and loose pieces of paint that I suspect have lead in them and then coated it with a couple layers of polyurethane to trap the paint that is left.

Edges of the vinyl floor lifting up.

Brock making a snow angel.

Rolls rising bu the fire for Thanksgiving lunch.

My beautiful wife.

Our version of black Friday trampling.

I missed riding during the snow fall, but managed to get out after it started to thaw.

On a rare 65 degree day in December, after getting out for a quick 20 mile road ride, a good friend invited me to go skeet shooting.  We did three rounds and had a blast.

Birthday time

That's right.  It was my birthday.  It was of course intermixed with other responsibilities, my dad's birthday, some work at home, soccer games, etc.  As is life for us adults right?  I did however take a day off of work and managed two rides in two days plus spent some nice time with my wife whom it feels like I never get to see even though we live in the same house.

First icy windshield of the year.

I had planned a 50 mile rural road route.  But time didn't allow it.  I cut it short but still managed 30 miles of this.

And this.

All followed with one of my favorite meals.  Potatoes, peppers, onions, and sausage.

Went to Lake Hope on my day off and did another 20 miles of single speed riding.

Lunch at the Lake Hope Lodge with this lovely lady.