Fire in the sky... damn my eyes...

I freely admit I don't get up very early in the winter, my internal clock never adjusts and simply sticks with the amount of light that is outside. I went to sleep at 7:30 last night and made sure I got up early in case there were issues at work. All is well and the sun is starting to peek over the horizon, and there are a lot of little jet trails in the sky.

Christmas for us is about gathering the family and having some time together. This year the schedules made it impossible so it was just the in-laws and us. Dinner was scheduled for15:00 but the power went out for a few hours and we ate at 18:00 instead. Yes, I went to bed right after I finished eating, but the power outage certainly got me thinking.
It wouldn't have been easy to make the entire dinner on alternate cooking devices, but we could have done it. Having no power also reminded me of a few things we have been lacking on finishing up, or restocking so it's back to the grind of making sure all things get done and not just get placed on a list for the near future.
I did have a good time running around the house in my full kit yelling that the world had ended and it was condition red. That's what someone gets for being a smart ass... then again there is now a picture of me in my kit and running shorts, I suppose we are even.

Before the power went out I started the day off with a nice workout, up at the north end of town with a friend. It felt nice to earn the large amount of calories that were going to be consumed. The temperature was 28 degrees with a breeze but the only thing cold were my fingertips, the metal bars weren't forgiving.

125 pounds in each hand wandering around a parking lot

We had 385 pounds on the sled at one point, brutality.

 The dogs got a nice walk yesterday, family time was spent, friends were visited.... Then we ate.

Prime rib, shrimp tempura, etc. Not a traditional dinner but it's what we decided to do with just the 4 of us.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. The weather will be in the usual 50's, but here is a picture of the ice from a few days ago. Colorado Springs weather is amazing at times.

Here is a post, enjoy!

My blogging has slowed down, like cold honey it just takes a lot of 'work' to get anything done. I haven't lost the passion, it's just there isn't a lot going on in the winter. I could write down all kinds of things like:
When it's cold, Rock likes to pee on the front porch

 In the winter our not-seeing-eye-dog gets more sleep than a black bear

I've been eating so much protein I have to plan it out on Sunday for a few days

The most we have going on is a lot of work and gym time. It's not a bad thing, it's the Holidays and everything slows down so we are taking advantage of it. I've read a few books, watched some horrible TV (although life below zero is a new favorite), and killed a few demons in a video game. Oh, we got a new crock pot, ours didn't have a timer on it for away-from-home cooking. I'll try it out this weekend (so I can observe it working correctly) with some chicken thighs and veggies.

Tonight I'm working out via. some strongman competition training. Pushing a pickup truck around, shouldering sandbags, pulling and pushing a prowler... all just another day in the life. 65 degrees today and I really want pancakes right now.

A school shooting in Colorado? Impossible!

We have all the new legislation, how could this happen...

Once mid term elections are done, it's going to be open season on the 2nd Amendment.

A tragedy on all sides for so many reasons.

I hope everyone has a peaceful weekend, stay vigilant, prepare, it's about the only thing we can do.

What happens at the holiday party

Always comes out on Monday morning.
Who slept together, who offered to pay for sex, who lifter her skirt up to show everyone a tattoo and thong, etc.
We were home sleeping, thankfully, and only have to deal with minor drunked-ness during the party. A good time was had, I learned a few employees names and it was nice to see how grown up some of the kids have gotten, it's been almost 17 years of holiday parties.

It warmed up again, 30 today but it should be in the 50's this weekend. I avoided dozens of accidents and didn't strangle anyone who almost killed me (yes, strangling while dead is an act of sheer willpower).

So yes, winter is here and leaving. -20 one night, and that got the house down to 59 degrees so we fired up the stove and the house has been holding steady at 64 since then. It just couldn't keep up with the sudden cold snap but now it's happy!

I'm hitting the gym super hard so I'm making sure I'm eating a lot. Mac and Cheese isn't the best food but it's energy and when combined with steak it's just awesome-on-a-plate. My protein shakes have oatmeal, orange juice, kale, spinach, etc. and I haven't eaten too many brownies (I gave most of them away).

Our group had a meeting where we showed our 72 hour bags get home bags, etc. The variety was interesting but only a few people participated so I don't think many are a prepared as they would like everyone to think. Someone made a snide comment on how much my bag cost, but I explained it's only necessary to buy something once if you save up and do your research.




It's the time of year for house gifts. Going for a new water heater and vacuum, ended up with these:

Not the $300 each stands, that's just silly since each unit cost $699. They were on sale and we paid $750 less than retail. The old washer (top load) used almost 50 gallons of water per load, and with an electric water heater the utility bill is silly expensive so we are making adjustments and spending more than planned. It will balance out in the near future.

Now we need to go back for a vacuum and water heater.

Skip the gym, shovel snow!

The snow falls in clumps, I keep thinking it's just building up on my head but it's really falling in clumps. Many people hate the cold or the snow but we like it, not enough to move to a more northern state, but it's still fun.
I shoveled for a few hours last night, the city plow came by and I SWEAR he plowed closer than ever, since I was standing there. At the last moment I saw baby kittens running for the hills, so I turned around and got a blast of snow to my ass.
The neighbors enjoy walking to the neighborhood coffee shop, and they really enjoy that I shovel ALL of the snow, and I mean all of it, back into the road so the area in front of our fence is snow free. I do it mainly to keep it from icing over as it starts to melt (sometime next week), otherwise I would make big piles for them to navigate around and over.

It stopped snowing a few hours later, total snowfall was about 8 inches. It got cold, real cold for here, and for the first time in years I wore pajamas to bed and didn't wake up in a pool of sweat. 61 degrees in the house is fine, but the bedroom heater is on the other side of the room from the bed and the dogs steal blankets.
This morning it was -9 with no wind, I took my time and warmed the car up, shoveled all the snow the plow tossed back and then got a little mocha once I finally arrived at work.

Have some cuteness, stay warm:

Time away, or how not to make pie crust.

With the end of the year fast approaching, work demands more and more of my time (while I'm at work anyhow). It's always a huge push and we should end up with a 27% increase year over year, but being #1 in the world means everyone else is always biting at your heels.
I decided to not read the news, blogs, etc. for a few weeks. It was a nice break for my brain, but perhaps I wouldn't have run out of flour on Thanksgiving... yes, I ran out of flour while trying to make pie crusts. To be fair I have 200+ pounds but I didn't want to break open anything long term. We hit the store, I picked up pre-made pie crusts (hey, it's the in-laws) and rushed back home for the finish. There was a store bought peach pie, so I didn't feel too bad, but it's not how I would have liked it to turn out.

Have some pictures:

First real snow, had to shovel twice so the walkway wouldn't ice over.

Rolls, not as brown as I would like but 3 pans at once in the top oven.

The poor mincemeat pie wasn't a hit but it brought me back to childhood.

Thanksgiving was nice, 16 people, I had a long very boring weekend away from work. I suppose it's good to relax and not do anything (literally) but after two days I was going nuts. I hit the gym, did a trail run and then hit the gym, did some work and watched some football. The Alabama game finish pissed me off but at least Georgia won and Texas A&M lost so it evened out.

It's going to be in the 60's today and tomorrow with a foot of snow on Wednesday, this is how we live on the front range. We picked up a portable indoor propane heater as a house gift for the holidays, a new vacuum will get picked up at Christmas and I need a new electric razor. Otherwise it's business as usual, I've got about 10 books to read, some food storage to organize and my quest to get healthier and fitter is never ending.

We are going to some parties this week, our company holiday party included (400 or so people, someone save me). These are the things that remind me why my Dad was somewhat of a hermit, but it's a good lesson in patience and staying out of prison.