Easter Weekend

Life at almost 9000 feet.

The neighbors wanted to talk for a while on Saturday. I took a break from splitting kindling and we had a nice visit. It was a one sided conversation but this is the closest they have been in 2 years. The horse on the right actually got close enough to sniff me but none of them let me touch them. I want to get some treats but need to talk to the Amish about what's ok to give them. Some people have told me carrots and apples but I want to check first, they might not want me giving them anything.

Sunday rolled in and they had plowed the roads in the early AM. I was surprised but then I remembered it was Easter and everyone in the county was going to church (except us select odd balls). We took Rock out for a nice hike once the sun broke over the ridge.

Our little damns are holding fine and we have more water in them than expected. I need to gather up more rocks (not an issue, they are everywhere) and build it up another couple of feet tall and wide. Once that's done I'll shovel a bunch of dirt over the entire contraption to help seal it up. The water looked so clear I wanted to dip a cup into it and take a drink.

The wind at the cabin and in the plains was non existent for a change. We both had a really nice run, I got a slight sunburn because that's just how I operate (who wears shirts anyhow?). It was the perfect temperature at about 55 degrees and the views were inspiring. The wind up on top of the peaks was fierce all day but it never materialized down low.
Back in the city we had received a foot of snow and it's already half gone, the sun is doing a good job of melting everything. The weekend was amazing, just what we both needed before I head off to Vegas for a few days of work.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Cake by the ocean!

Part of my job is to make sure I stay up to date on trends, apps, music, whats popular, buying cycles, etc. Sometimes it's annoying and I have a hard time wrapping my head around much of the crap that people like. Other times I get to really enjoy what I do.

So in a nod to the trending song 'cake', here is a photo of cake by the ocean.

What am I doing at the beach?

How about a private concert by Jewel... yup I'll take that, she is one of my favorite artists.

I had to hang out in Miami for work, south beach to be specific. The humidity was brutal and the weather was in the mid 80's. A shock to my system but I loved it and enjoyed the challenge of running in that humidity. I learned a lot of work stuff and enjoy a few hours on the beach.
Views from the room:

Unfortunately while I was flying back home we had a key manager delete everything on his computer and walk out. Didn't bother to tell anyone he was quitting, he just left. I've been filling in and still managing my workouts and cabin time. Unfortunately that's all there is, no time for several projects that we need to work on. I am heading to Vegas next week for work so it's only going to become more hectic at work. We've also started construction on our expansion after a year of hold-ups based on city planning and codes and crap.

We are healthy and happy and it's great to be needed and leaned on when times are tough. Between pushing my limits working out and everyone else pushing my limits at work, I am learning new things every single day. Thats how it should be.

Cheers (and snacks)!

Early spring

I know we will get a few more storms and some more snow but when it's in the 60's you get as much done outside as you can. Before we know it the temperature will be in the 80's or more. Comparing photo's from last weekend to this, the snow amounts are down at least 50% so there is a lot of work that got exposed with the sun.

We are reloading the woodshed from whats under the tarp, we didn't make a big dent this year so we definitely will have to add an expansion. This will keep our total cordage, on site, at about 10. This year we will get a few loads of hardwood to offset all of the pinion. The softwood burns fine but it does require more chimney cleaning (in my opinions, others say no) and we want to keep a mix of 50/50 hard/soft.

I grabbed a rake after my afternoon run and have about 10 piles of pinecones and pine needles that we will back up tomorrow. I still probably have 2 more bags of just pinecones that will  be picked up. The can wreck a dogs paw and shoot out of the mower like missiles so we pick them up each spring. There are sprouts of clovers and grass coming up and the tree's are starting to but at both houses. The garden is ready to be put in but we know better, the plants are getting big and anxious.

We tightened a lot of screws down on the metal roof, the wind vibrations cause some of them to back out. A barn a few miles down the road lost almost exactly half of it's metal roofing sections. It's interesting to note that the screwed the metal down onto the rafters directly. While it certainly can work it seems to me that if you put plywood down and screw into that you can get 2x as many screws in and make it twice as secure. This is something I've been thinking about since we need to redo the woodshed roof (they screwed into the rafters directly and it's not holding up well). The barn was finished this past fall and it's either a sloppy Amish roofing job or a testament to how the winds have been so far.

Not much going on in the blogs, some have closed and some haven't been updated in ages. I'm trying to post a few times a month, it's a nice record of our lives for the last few years. It's pretty boring but just going back and seeing the pictures is enough reason to keep on posting up. All things end but we shall endure to keep this little journal going.

Rock and I have gotten in about 5 miles hiking today plus my run. There have been some nasty storm clouds around but most of the day it's been incredible. Some would even break out sunscreen.

Happy and inspirational Friday!

Someone told me there was a debate last night...

The only debate I know about was the one I had with my brain about doing a second workout for the day. When the body says stop (and thats really your brain) you have 80% left. I ended up learning some Thai Boxing and even though my knee hurts today, it was great training. Spent almost 3 hours at the gym in total, tonight is a night off and I really need it.

Working hard to stay in top athletic condition because prepping the body is just as important (and perhaps more important) than a lot of things people focus so much time on. This picture includes my coach, he is fighting next week in Bellator MMA. He was in the UFC reality show, fought in the UFC and currently is the RFA welterweight champion.

We work around some of my limitations he always makes me work hard so I don't let myself down. If I'm only going to be here this one time, I'm trying to fill that dash (the one between birth and death on the headstone) so they have to buy an extra long stone.

It's an amazing day, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Get out there and push those limits, exit your comfort zone, do something new.

Blue skies, smiling at me

nothing but blue skies do I see.

I sang that in the chorus in school and in church choir as well. I was thinking about the blue skies this morning on the way to work. It's nice that it's light when I drive in and when I drive home and it's been blue skies for days and days and should be for a while. Temp's in the 50's and 60's.

We had a wonderful time in Dallas, the weather was in the 80's and the humidity was in the 200's... pretty much perfect for us for a couple of days of training and relaxing. The house we rented ended up being really close to the airport but for some reason the noise helped me sleep soundly every night. The drive was 10 hours each way so we are hoping to find some good weapons training closer to home but we don't mind having to drive for now.

I was hoping this trip would be zero business, but that ended up being a dream. With some serious HR issues, allegations of inappropriate behavior, harassment and all sorts of other things I've been dealing with (not me, but I'm involved in the investigative process and interviews). I drove a lot but when my phone started to have a meltdown we switched and I got to work. Hotspots, the new 'don't tell me you can't work'. I am also dealing with an building and lot expansion at work, had to make sure they were breaking ground and had all the sub-contractors ready to go.

I try not to eat fast food but Sonic was next to the gas station and I didn't want to eat any more beef jerky or dig into the cookies. My workouts are into warp speed mode, my knee isn't complaining too much anymore so I'm back at it. Running, cross-fit, power lifting, boxing and kick boxing. I'm hoping to start grappling and jiu-jitsu soon. Should be up to working out 3 hours a day 4 days a week and 2 days of running only for an hour+.

We are heading to the cabin, have to start on a few projects. We know spring isn't here yet but the snow should be melted enough to get the woodshed refilled and get up on the roof to see if the chimney needs cleaning. Need to measure a few area for a storage container so we can figure out where we want one dropped. Some shelves need to get replaced with wider boards in the kitchen area and we are going to remeasure for some area rugs/runners before we order them. If all of the snow is gone from the dog run area that needs to get cleaned up too.

Hibernation season is almost over. Both houses have a 'to-do' list. I've got a trip to Miami Beach in a couple of weeks followed closely by Vegas and then we both will head to Cozumel for some diving before work really starts kicking into the busy season. I hope everyone has a busy year planned, I'll make my way around some blogs this weekend and see what everyone has been doing.

Is grocery shopping romantic

Just picture it, walking down the isles together, pushing a cart with a busted wheel that scares even the most seasoned shopper. Walking past the pop-tarts, the ramen noodles, sketchy looking ground beef.

While probably not the most romantic setting, we have learned over the last few months to enjoy the little time we spend together so we actually enjoyed our little hallmark holiday together for a few hours.

The boss is out of town for the holiday weekend with his wife so we are house and dog sitting. When I say we, I don't mean me. While I love most animals I don't enjoy having to leash 4 dogs in order to take them out to a fenced yard. You can't leave them alone for one minute or they are eating a plant, eating mushrooms, rocks, socks, toilet paper, etc. It's a real pain in the ass and takes a lot of time so that bit into whatever time we had planned together to be surrounded by roses and chocolate (and by that I mean laundry and vacuuming).

The cabin was amazing, high 50's for a temperature on Saturday and very peaceful and calming. I managed a 2 mile run without too much difficulty so I'm hopeful my knee rehab is almost complete. I won't be running every day but I'll try every other and see how things progress.

Rock and I managed a lot of hiking as well, he enjoyed splashing in the mud and getting dirty and thought it was spectacular that I had to clean him off by walking in the deep snow with him.

Work reared in, as it always seems to do, and tried to ruin things. I lost a lot of sleep thinking about why someone would have an affair with someone that works for them. From 'I was told I would be fired if I didn't'  and the old 'that person got more business/financial gain because of the sex' it's just bad news all around. With a couple hundred employees I'm surprised this didn't come to light sooner but these are the kinds of things that businesses have to handle ASAP in order to protect themselves so it consumed a lot of my time unfortunately.

We are heading to Texas this week for a road trip and some (non work) fun and training. Looking forward to a few days together.

29 below, 55 above

As usual the temperature swings somehow still amaze me. I should know better and expect such radical changes but wow... the plows still haven't hit the side roads in town so it's a real disaster for most people. Instead of snow its now slush and ice and if you slide into a snowbank it's like hitting a brick wall. I'm glad we spent so much time shoveling and plowing.

I'm almost rehab'd from messing my knee up, finally able to run over a mile without too much discomfort. Getting hard to recover from not acting my age.

Spending a lot of time in the mountains lately, things are in turmoil at work so I'm keeping my head down. Sometimes that's the best way to avoid being the center of attention. If I'm not in town then I can't just come in after hours or on my days off. Winter has made everyone cranky on top of whatever crankiness and issues are currently present on a normal day. Even I've been a little more smart-ass and cranky but mainly because I can't work out as hard as usual.

Our woodshed cats are still around but we lost one of the three. Either it moved out or was a snack, perhaps this spring we will be able to figure it out if we find a body. We have been leaving water and some food out but Rock doesn't appreciate it so we are going to have to find a new location. I enjoy watching them do cat things as it reminds me of growing up. This picture shows Typhoid and Rabies sharing food (rabies is the mother cat you can barely see). They get along for the most part and I'm glad they made it through the coldest part of the winter.

With the heavy snowfall in most of the state, the mountains look amazing right now. Most of the the snow in town has melted away, our yard is 1/2 as deep as last week. With temps into the 60's we expect 90% of everything to vanish by Monday. Here is the view on the way to the cabin, about 9000 feet in elevation along a long stretch of high altitude ranch property.

I believe in trying to make your dreams happen, not just dreaming about them. This is one of the reasons we have the cabin, we want to live the dream. While we love scuba diving and traveling, we don't see ourselves living on a beach or in a foreign country. We picture a quiet life in the mountains, in a cabin. We aren't sure if this is retirement cabin because we aren't sure if retirement is possible anymore and in 20 years who can say if we will still enjoy the snow.

Our new vehicle arrived finally. It was a great move financially and more practical than having a car and small SUV. I like the new red Rover but feel a little cramped in it so I'll be driving the silver one most of the time. It's mainly a vehicle to transport Rock around in (for me) because I have a company car that I can't put animals in. They probably wouldn't notice if I did, they never seem to clean it as required but I have car wash coupons for the outside.

We are planning our year out for travel. Heading to Dallas next weekend, Vegas the end of March, Cozumel in April and Oklahoma is June. Possibly another dive trip back to Cozumel in October but that's a ways off. Besides the travel we are gathering supplies for some cabin and city home projects that needs get done. It should be a busy year for our days off.