I failed to post an update on my mountain biking activities last week so this is going to be a summation of the two weeks rolled up into one.

Typically we have been riding at Barboursville Park which is a city park with 20+ miles of trails that wrap around the main park area. Last week we decided to mix it up a bit though and instead headed to Beachfork State Park. It is just a little south of Huntington and is laden with trails; most of which seem more like the river trail I like so much at Barboursville. These trails don't go up or down hill too much they just roll with small dips and rises. I like these kind of trails because I can focus on steering and just going. When we are going up hills I'm wondering when my lungs became so poor and when we are going down them I'm focused on not flying off the side of the trail or, worse, over the front of my bike.

Not all of Beachfork is rolling flat trails though. Eventually we came up on the Mary Davis trail which features a 1/2 mile climb at one point. I honestly don't think the people who knew Mary Davis cared much for her if they named that trail after her - it was a bitch. Somehow Ed, Sean, and Mike rolled up it without pausing. I, on the other hand, stopped, gasped, wheezed, and stumbled to the top of the hill. When I was younger I was always the guy who tried to push ahead to the top of the hill (when hiking, running, marching) and I was a bit disgusted with the people who couldn't keep up. Now I'm just disgusted with myself. It's not a pleasant feeling. I really need to get in better cardio shape (and my legs could use a bit more strength too).

Though it might be hard to tell I had a blast at Beachfork. After the painful climb we had a lot of downhill to look forward too and, unlike prior weeks, I didn't worry about the hills. I just rolled. I think it helped that I didn't really know what I was getting into. Instead I just focused on using the appropriate techniques for the terrain and I managed to get down every hill without incident. That isn't to say that my day was perfect. Almost right off the start I discovered that no matter how slow you are moving up a hill that if you don't avoid even a thin tree it will stop you and throw you and your bike back down the hill. I didn't fall off but my chain did. Overall we rode 7 miles and that was my only real problem with execution of the day so I was pretty happy with the ride.

Mike and Ed over the past couple weeks have really been talking up the use of energy bars/gels. Considering we are going biking at around 5pm and we haven't eaten anything since 11:30am it seemed like a good idea so I packed up a Cliff Bar (Chocolate Brownie flavored) and figured if I got really tired or hungry I'd eat it for a bit of refreshment. I generally like most of the Cliff Bar flavors I have had but the I was disappointed to find out on the trail that the Chocolate Brownie is nasty. I only ate 1/2 of it before tossing it into a bin.

This week we returned to Barboursville park but we followed a totally new path through the first half of it and it was a blast. We started off going up a short but steep hill and then we flew through the woods and attacked a fairly steep downhill. I think it was at least as steep as where I flew over the handle bars a few weeks ago - but I went at it with more confidence this time around (as well as proper positioning on my bike) and I made it down without a problem. Then we headed on some cross country riding before coming to a set of train tracks. On the other side of the tracks we had to backtrack about 50 feet through the thick gravel along the side of the track. That is some hard pedaling. The ground shifts constantly under your bike, your wheels sink into the the loose stone, and you really have to fight to keep your balance. I had to put my foot down once but I was happy to make it through. After the tracks we hit the river trail. At this point I'm not sure what happened. I went into the trail last and pedaled hard the entire time. I Shifted my gears into a faster configuration (2,3) and I didn't have any problems with the obstacles - yet somehow I fell behind the others. I pushed myself pretty hard trying to keep up but still they all got far enough ahead of me that I couldn't see them. It was really strange.

I finally did catch up with them at a "rock garden" formation. A rock garden is basically an obstacle in the path that is made out of large rocks or small boulders that you have to navigate on your bike. We took a rest just before entering the garden when the local mountain biking group came flying up the trail. We all moved over and they just flew through the garden. The leaders of the group even took a more difficult line. Once they were past we mounted up and attempted a similar feat. Ed, our best rider, rolled right through, and then, for some reason I decided to go second. I actually did OK though I had to put my right foot down once to maintain my line. Sean's pedal bottomed out on a rock (really easy to do) and Mike made it look pretty easy. Overall it was the best the four of us have done on that part of the trail before. We then pushed our way over the remained of the river trail where we found the big group finishing up a rest. We took another short rest while they headed out toward our main climb of the day.

At that point I really should have stopped. We were back at the main parking lot (which isn't anywhere near where we parked) and I was really tired. Granted, had I stopped there I still would have had to climb the big hills on the road to get back to my car so I was pretty much stuck. We headed up the mountain trail though and I struggled with all of the climbs. I struggled with the flats, oddly enough the only part I didn't struggle with too much was the downhills. At one point we were going up a worn smear of dirt on the side of the mountain - it wasn't even a cut so the angle was oddly slippery since we were climbing against the grain - my arms were exhausted and I couldn't steer well when suddenly I was pointed about 50 degrees to far to the right. That means I was pointed straight down hill. A very, very steep and hill with no trail. Fortunately I didn't really have any momentum when I turned (which is part of the reason I turned I think). I managed to jump forward off my seat and put my feet down, I clenched on both brakes so the bike wouldn't roll too much, and I tried to stop myself from sliding down the hill. It was really steep so I failed. I started to stumble down waddling with the bike between my legs. After about 15 feet I just fell over onto my side and the bike seat drove into the back of my thigh (that could've have been MUCH worse). Eventually I extracted myself from the bike and fought it back up to the "trail" where I resumed my ride.

We kept on riding and riding and riding. My left arm was getting really really tired. However, I found a second wind and really pedaled hard on the last mile or so. Up hills and across flats I was attacking and getting more and more tired until eventually we reached a pretty steep downhill with some nasty rocks jutting out. I thought about riding down it but I could barely hold my body up on the handle bars so I decided to walk that part. It is actually a tough little hill to ride and I haven't done it yet. We used to ride in the opposite direction on that hill and we always had to walk our bikes up it. I didn't recognize it for the hill it was until I was halfway down it then I was happy I had decided to walk. At the bottom I hopped back on my bike and rolled to the end of the trail which spits out where we parked. I was drenched in sweat, my arms were like rubber, and I could barely catch a breath but I felt pretty good.

We rode about 8 miles in all though I'd guess that with some of the uphills I had to walk I probably rode closer to 7. It was my best performance so far in terms of navigating obstacles but was also my most tiring. I was so tired at the end that when I changed my socks I couldn't pinch my sock tightly enough with my left hand to pull it over my ankle. I really need to ride more than once a week if I want to get in better shape so I think I'm going to try and ride with Ed on Sunday as well. I probably won't post for each day individually if I do - instead I'll try to keep my mountain biking posts to no more than one a week.

#Sports #MountainBiking #FunStuff #MyLife

The girls and I went to the Gallia County Fair with my dad and step-mother last week. I have to be honest - I'm not much of a fan of county fairs but it wasn't too bad. The girls rode a bunch of rides and Shannon won an prize at a dart game. I even managed to win the big animal prize on a game - that one where you roll a ball up a small table and based on which hole it goes in your character races ahead. There were at least ten of us in the race so it was cool to win even though I almost choked after pulling out to a huge lead.

Anyway, here are some photos of the girls at the fair.

#Family #FunStuff #MyLife #Entertainment #Photos

I'd like to think that I was getting better at this mountain biking stuff but, as it turns out, I'd just be lying to myself if I thought that. If yesterday's effort is any indication I am actually getting worse. However, instead of accepting that harsh reality I'm going to blame my poor performance on the conditions and my nagging hunger; yeah, that's the ticket.

Last week I told you that it was muddy and that biking in the mud was pretty dumb. Well, I still hold that position after doing it again this week. I didn't really think the mud caused me a ton of problems last week but it definitely did this week. My tires were pretty clogged with mud so I don't think I had much traction in general and my feet continuously slipped off my pedals. The muddy tires and the lack of traction probably didn't cause me much trouble beyond what I would normally have but my feet slipping off was a pain in the ass (and in my left shin). On at least three occasions my left foot slipped off the pedal just as my right foot slipped and slammed the pedal around in a full circle ending in my shin. It hurt more than falling off the damn bike. So now I have some ugly gashes on my left shin. I think I can honestly say my future career as a leg model has been cut short.

We actually traversed the hill that sent me flying a couple weeks ago. However, I really wasn't feeling like I had my "A" game with me this week so rather than risk a repeat (especially with Sean at the bottom taking photos) I just walked my bike down this time. I did make it down a few hills that were a bit tougher than I normally do so I was happy with that and I was doing better getting up some of the steep hills so the day wasn't a total bust. However, aside from those small bright spots I had a bunch of dark ones. Nearly every rock that could reroute me did, nearly every fallen tree that could stop me did, and nearly every time I could fade off the path you could consider me faded. It was not pretty.

The brightest part of my day was actually the end result of a huge mistake. We were going down a semi-steep hill that did a semi-switchback to the left about 3/4 of the way down - right about when you have maximum speed really. I was cruising down trying to control my speed when I hit that turn and I just couldn't turn enough so I basically just went straight. Now, there is a reason the turn is there and that's because the next 20 feet of the hill, going straight, are very very steep. I cruised over the ridge, gripped my handle bars with a death grip, sat way back in my stance and got as low as I could over my back tire, and hoped for good luck. Now, since I told you this was a bright spot the drama is kind of lost becuase you already know I made it down the hill safely. Amazingly I didn't lose control hitting a hidden rock or fallen tree, I didn't fly over my handlebars, I didn't even tip over at the bottom when I would have relaxed thinking all was safe. I just slowed down, took a sharp left turn, and bunny hopped over and obstacle and got right back on the trail. I was amazed and disappointed that none of the others had the chance to witness my skills since they were well ahead of me.

I think I'll try to just focus on the positives and build on these small victories and try to forget about the pain in my shin and my shoulder. However, to help avoid the shin pain I'll probably start wearing my soccer shin guards. I'm already wearing the soccer socks so now I'll look the part of crazed Mt. Biker. Mark my words some time next year it will be fashionable to wear long songs while mt. biking.

Tomorrow I am going to try to align my rear wheel so I can avoid the $12 it costs to have the bike shop do it. After next payday I think I'm going to buy some new wheels and tires in a progressive step towards upgrading my brakes. Next month some time I'll probably buy new brakes and a support bar so my frame can handle the increased breaking power. I also want to start going out a little on the weekends, maybe at Ritter Park with my other coworker Jason so I can get a bit more practice in (and thus more comfort "in the saddle").

#Sports #MountainBiking #FunStuff #MyLife #Entertainment

Last night provided me with the opportunity for my fourth mountain biking excursion. My left shoulder recovered remarkably well and my right knee and hip weren't bothering me at all so I decided to join up with the three amigos of Ed, Mike, and Sean for another outing in the park. It had rained a bit Wednesday night and Thursday morning so the trails were kind of sodden on the lower parts of the hills. The upper third was in pretty good shape but once we switched hills the downward slope was a muddy mess; more on that later.

This week we decided to go up the hill the way we have come down it in the past. It turns out most people take this opposite route and that we were oddballs for going the way we were. We hadn't actually climbed one of the mountains via a real trail before instead we had gone up small dirt/gravel roads or actual paved streets. It's a lot harder to go up a single track path that is wet and muddy. I don't think I have ever found myself breathing so hard or had my heart thumping so hard as I did when we were trying to climb the hill. Now, don't panic mom - I'm ok and I took breaks; plenty of them! But, when we were moving and working it was a hell of a work out. Every break was a little slice of paradise.

On the way up Ed and Sean stayed out front (Sean is a beast at climbing hills) while I trailed in third and Mike took up the rear. Mike started off the ride not feeling so well becuase his hamburger from lunch just didn't like all the exertion so he was uncharacteristically slow. Thankfully, about 1/2 way through our day he seemed to bounce back and was riding strong again.

This week we rode for almost 7 miles which is a little less than we normally do but it was the hardest ride we have had by a lot (even harder for me than that first one). It wasn't technically harder it was just more physically exhausting. There were a couple really technical spots (to me) where I opted to walk my bike down the hill as opposed to pushing myself too hard - I really didn't want a repeat of last week. This cautious approach worked pretty well though once I was cautious only to find out the hill I was being careful about had changed quite a bit since last week and it was easy to ride down so that involved me getting off my bike, walking four feet, and then getting back on once I realized what had happened. Thankfully nobody gave me too much crap about it.

Once we switched hills we still had to ride up a gravel road but it wasn't too horrid - exhausting but not too much street (boring) at least. Then we hit the trail for the downhill and it was a thick, sloggy, mess. The mud was 4 inches deep at least and there were piles of nasty wet leaves all over the place to help drag your bike this way and that. The path down was about 8 feet wide so it wasn't too bad until my front tire got stuck in a rut and I was drug toward the left edge which consisted of a good 50' dropoff. I hit my brakes and kept on sliding through the mud towards my impending doom but saved myself at the last minute by putting my feet down and grabbing a nearby tree. Granted, I was only moving about 1 mile per hour at that point but even then it was hard to stop due to all the mud. If necessary I would have jumped off my bike and let it take the fall alone but I'm glad it didn't come to that. Once I got straightened out the rest of the downhill was smooth sailing.

After the downhill we had a little cross country and then we were back to the trail around the lake. That is my favorite part - it is narrow but generally flat or with small swells that you can really cruise through. You still have to pay attention so you don't clip a tree (the path is very narrow) and so your feet don't hit upthrust rocks and roots but overall it is really just fun. There are even places where Ed jumps as we go through. I tried to jump on one of them but only managed to get my front wheel about 2" into the air. Thankfully Sean and Mike were both far enough behind me to not see that lame effort. Even better I didnt' crash and then have to admit I crashed while jumping 2" into the air. That would have sucked.

The worst part of the ride was that whatever was bugging Mike's stomach at the beginning was bothering mine the last 1/4 of the ride. I felt like utter crap when we were done though I'm sure that's due in part to me not drinking enough on the trail. I need to make a more focused effort to drinking while we roll and not just when we take breaks; perhaps I will end up getting a camelback. I did just order a new water bottle but perhaps a single bottle just isn't sufficient? I dunno. Either way I felt like totally crud when we were done so I just chilled at my car for about 45 minutes before I tried to drive home.

We also got a Wii Fit earlier in the week. Each day we use it and it weighs us and does some other tests before we do any of the exercises. Last night I just did the weigh-in/test and it said I had lost over 4 pounds in the prior 24 hours. I'm thinking I lost a lot of fluid on that bike ride; but hey, my BMI was looking great! I only need to lose 5 more pounds to get to the ideal BMI for my height. Sweet - bring me dehydration and a better BMI. Oh, well, maybe that's the wrong way to go about it.

#Sports #MountainBiking #FunStuff #MyLife

Some say three times the charm to suggest that the third time you try something you'll "get it" and everything will be much smoother. In general I can say that held true for me on the mountain yesterday though I'm not sure I would use smooth as the correct adjective to describe my evening of mountain biking. Just like last week there were four of us hitting the trails; Ed, Sean, Mike, and myself. Somehow, even though I left the office last, I was actually the first one at the park. I unloaded my bike (which had some service done on it at the local bike shop over the week) and stretched out my stiff legs (I had played about 3 hours of Ultimate Frisbee on Wednesday night) and then waited on the others. Ed showed up shortly there after but Sean and Mike were both delayed so we got off to a bit of a late start.

This week we decided to do a totally different line through the parks trails. We would circle around the lake then come up through some big field before ascending the mountain via a rough track. Once at the top we descended a gravel/paved road (it alternated surface types) before crossing the main road onto the first trail I rode in week 1. It sounded like a great plan because the lake trail is pretty easy and would give us all a great way to warm up before we had to climb the mountain and then face the descent. We headed down a dried riverbed to the lake trail and, before we even hit the trail I made a mistake. The dried river was fairly gouged. While trying to cross a large crevice I hopped my front tire nicely over it but my back tire hit really hard. My tire pressure was a little low and just like that I had gotten a "pinch flat" - of course I didn't notice it until i had made it down the lake trail a bit and by that time Ed was well ahead of me. Sean and Mike were actually behind me so they said they would go get Ed. They took off and I started walking my bike. Shortly thereafter a nice older guy (in his 50's) came down the trail in the opposite direction on his bike. I asked him if he had a pump and not only did he but he had a tool to take my tire apart with and a patch kit containing a "super patch" which is a self-adhesive rubber patch. By the time the other guys got back to me my bike was repaired. I don't know who the guy was but it was very, very cool of him to stop and help me and I really appreciated it. He wasn't sure I should try to ride on the super patch for long but we decided to risk it anyway and it held up marvelously throughout the ride.

The ride down the lake trail was a blast. Overall it is pretty flat with just some little whoopsie-do type risers; nothing to fancy. The trail gets narrow at times and there were plenty of little slalom type areas where you had to turn quickly between trees and rocks. On one of those there were three trees then a large rock so you had to go left, right, left, right really fast. I went left, right, left but couldn't make the right. Fortunately I wasn't moving very fast. A better cyclist probably could have popped their wheel up and rode over the large rock. I, on the other hand, came to an abrupt stop and went slowly over my handle bars. I was going slowly enough where it didn't hurt at all and my bike didn't suffer any damage either. I hopped back up and resumed my trek through the woods; at this point I was third in line behind Ed and Sean. At one point the lake trail actually encounters a desolate construction area where the park board is working in some new facilities. The ground was very uneven and generally uncomfortable to ride on. At one point my left peddle hit a upthrust stump that caused the tail end of my bike to kick to the right and the pointy part of the seat to get far too friendly with my booty. Fortunately I was able to keep my balance and carry on with nothing worse than a sense of violation.

By the end of the lake trail I was pretty tired - we had ridden pretty hard and fast I thought and we took very few breaks. However we had a nice casual ride across the field immediately after so we were all refreshed before having to climb the mountain. The mountain climb was a bitch. Mostly because I'm just not in that good of cardiovascular shape yet. My legs were actually doing pretty good but once I lost my momentum it was really hard to get rolling again so I had to walk up big chunks of the hill. By the time we all reached the top we were pretty winded and in need of a good rest. While we were up there Ed told us about a guy called The Fat Biker who loves climbing hills becuase he can climb hills nobody else manages to complete in one go and he rolls past them all; he views it as his own super power. After climbing the hill I and failing to do it in one sweep I kind of view it as his super power too.

The ride down to the next trail was cool and relaxing. We passed a couple beautiful overlooks so sometime I'll have to take a camera out there with me so I can share them with everyone who reads my tales.

The next leg was the downhill forest trail I had done in week 1 and I did phenomenally better than I did last week. It was really pretty amazing. I was hopping over trees and rocks and all sorts of other debris like I actually knew what I was doing. I was amazed. I was keeping up with the rest of the group (though I chose to go last in line down the hill so I wouldn't be a danger to anyone else). Being in last but keeping up actually caused me some new problems becuase some of the obstacles required some momentum to complete but if one of the guys in front of me had a problem I had to stop while they cleared. At one point my lack of momentum had me walking my bike through an obstacle and then I had to let some other trail rider go by. After that I tried to get my balance and get going again but I had trouble making a turn, my handle bar hit a tree, and back over my handle bars I went. Again, I was going really slow so it didn't hurt at all but it was frustrating because everything had been going really well.

I got my groove going again and caught up with the group before too long and we kept on cruising. Eventually we were almost done and Ed asked if we wanted to finish on the long, medium, or short trail. I called for medium becuase my arms were really tired. It turns out medium is also really, really steep. We hit that part of the trail and I discovered new levels of speed through the woods. I gripped my back break as hard as I could but the tire spun unimpeded and my speed kept picking up. I pulsed my front break and it had no effect. I started bouncing, and before I knew it my weight was too far forward on the bike and BAM I flew over my handle bars. This time I was going fast. I ducked my head and landed hard on the back of my left shoulder, rolled across my back, saw my bike fly over my body, slammed my right hip and knee into the earth and then popped up onto my feet. My bike was about 20 feet further down the hill. I walked down and got it, hopped on to finish the trek, and my shoulder shot with pain when I pulled up on the handle bars a little. Fortunately the parking lot was only a few hundred feet away by this point so I was able to casually ride with just my right arm holding the bars.

Ed helped me out and put my bike in the back of the car and then I drove home. My shoulder was still sending some sharp pains through me off and on as I drove and my finger tips were occasionally sparked with a shooting pain. Once I got home I saw the lawn was well past need of being mowed so I hauled out the mower and mowed the lawn. Suprisingly my shoulder didn't bother me at all while I did that though most of the time I tried to take it easy on my left arm. Once I got in the house I iced it up and told Lisa about the events. She gave me a pain killer and a medicated patch to put on my shoulder and my right hip (which, by this point, hurt quite a bit). I was not looking forward to going to sleep where I couldn't sleep on either my stomach (my back always hurts if I sleep on my stomach on our current mattress), my left side (painful shoulder), or my right side (painful hip). Thankfully, while I was trying to sleep the pain killer kicked in and I was able to sleep pretty well.

This morning I took a hot shower and, honestly, my shoulder feels pretty good. The spot that bore the brunt of the impact is very sensitive but it doesn't hurt to move my arm around at all and I seem to have full range of motion. My fingers haven't had any sharp pains today at all. My hip still hurts quite a bit so I imagine I bruised it pretty badly but overall I think it is OK too; I'm a little battered but no worse for the wear.

I may end up taking off next week if my shoulder doesn't feel better by then. However, I definitely will go back out. It was a lot of fun and I have progressed a lot in a small amount of time; plus now I know to put my weight way to the back of the bike (well behind my seat) while going down a steep hill! Ed offered that advice after my crash. Before I go back out though I need to get a small kit of bike maintenance supplies such as patches, a pump, a spare tube, and some allen wrenches. I really look forward to getting back out there and continuing to improve. Overall it is a lot of fun and some great exercise; I just need to stay on the damn bike!

#Sports #MountainBiking #FunStuff #MyLife #Entertainment

Yesterday, at work, two of my buddies told me they were going mountain biking after work. They have actually gone a couple times over the last two weeks and their chatter about it has had me thinking about joining them so, yesterday, I did. I've actually owned a decent entry level mountain bike for about 7 years now; it was a fathers day gift after Shannon was born. However, I have never ridden it on anything other than the streets of Huntington between work and home. In fact, I've never really ridden any bike of any kind off road at all. Needless to say I had no idea what I was really getting myself into.

Once I was off work I headed up, grabbed my bike and helmet, and then headed up to the Barboursville park where there exists many miles of mountain biking/hiking trails. Ed and Sean had gotten there about an hour and forty minutes before me so they had already hit one trail, broken a spoke on Ed's bike, and repaired it by the time I had gotten there. Ed has been doing this for a long time (and seems to flow across the trails) but Sean just started a few weeks ago yet is already quite a bit better at it than I am. I, on the bottom of the skill spectrum, suck. I was fully unprepared for both how difficult and how heart poundingly nerve wracking mountain biking can be. We went on a trail that I imagine most skilled riders would think is very easy. Ed, for instance, was cruising along and hitting jumps to add a little excitement to his ride. Sean was managing the trail OK but wasn't adding any additional thrills and got off his bike when it was necessary to avoid a spot that was dangerously tricky for his skill level. I got off my bike when it was necessary and, once, when I wasn't planning on it. I also spent a lot, and I mean A LOT, of time off the trail blazing my own path through the undergrowth and trees. It turns out I'm not very good at steering my bike when on a narrow track of dirt that is regularly decorated with large rocks, fallen trees, and branches. Quite frankly saying I'm not very good at it is being generous. By the end of the run I had slammed my left ankle into my bike frame three times, flown through the air once (trees don't move for bikes), and cut my cheek sufficiently enough to have blood all over it (the cut looked worse than it was and I didn't even know I was bleeding until Ed saw it).

I think we rode about 3 miles over the course of an hour. It didn't really feel like we had traveled that far when all was said and done but I was thoroughly exhausted. My legs were weak and my breath was coming in deep gasps. After we had finished cruising out of the woods we actually had a big hill climb on a road to get back to our vehicles. Unlike Ed and Sean I had to stop twice to get my legs to stop burning and to be able to breath. My past 8 months have not been good for my overall conditioning and mountain biking, it turns out, is a hell of a work out.

Ed and Sean both were cool about the whole experience. They waited for me when I fell too far behind (which was fairly frequent) and they seemed pretty encouraging about the whole experience. I'm not sure they are nearly as concerned with self preservation as I am on the trail though - or else I've just turned into a coward. I think the biggest thing I need to gain at the moment is a level of comfort with riding my bike off road. I was often unsure of whether or not my bike was going to just stop and throw me and I almost always felt like I was going too fast down hill (even though I was the slowest). Overall it is actually kind of amazing how much crap those bikes can just roll over without much problem; I just need to learn to trust that my bike will actually do most of that stuff. As uncomfortable as I felt all day yesterday I still had a blast. I liked the rush that came with the danger but also the fact that I was constantly having to work hard and think about what I was doing. It was the most challenging sport I've ever participated in. I'm definitely going to do it again.

#Sports #MountainBiking #FunStuff #MyLife

About a year ago we told the girls that once Joe moved out they could move to the third floor and share the huge room as their bedroom. This would give them plenty of room to play and their own bathroom. Little did we know that Joe would find a girlfriend he liked so much that he would move out! Well, last Saturday he moved out and so on Sunday we began the week long process of moving the girls up and all of the junk on the third floor out. It was amazing how much crap we had stored up on that floor!

We spent most of Sunday moving stuff out of the room and then painting. The walls are pink, the ceiling is blue, and the walls are further adorned with dark pink (Uniqua Pink) and blue polk-dots. It actually looks pretty good. Truth be told though we still aren't quite done with their room. We have some more polka dots to paint, a small area around one window to finish up, and we have some clothes to store.

We then went to work on Emily's old room and converted it into a guest room. Lisa really wanted it to be the office but there was just too much other work to do without moving all of that furniture as well so for the time being it is the guest room. And, if I do say so myself it looks pretty damn good. I rearranged the furniture some, put a nice quilt on the bed, cleared out all of the books and anything else of Emily's, and hung two paintings by my mother's dad. One of the paintings is in really bad shape but I think it looks kind of neat on the wall. Almost all of the furniture in the room is antique - the bed, dresser, and cedar chest were all Lisa's maternal grandparents. There are also two antique hospital screens on one wall and an old quilt rack holding a few extra blankets. Finally we added one of our nice blue chairs to the room along with an antique library ladder to create a small reading area. I'm really happy with how it all turned out.

The last step was to make sense of all the crap we had carried downstairs and loaded into Shannon's old room so we could create an office/scrapbooking/craft room for Lisa.
We managed to get about 99% of everything organized and in place by the end of yesterday and now her office is ready to go. All of my books from the third floor are dominating the two bookcases in the room. There are also two long utility tables setup in the room to facilitate Lisa's scrapbooking (plus room for a friend) and there is a small table setup for Shannon so she can participate as well. Needless to say I think both Lisa and Shannon are pretty excited about putting that room to use. I know I'll be happy to see them making progress on their crafts.

In these last two postings I'm trying a new method of sharing photos. Please let me know if you like this approach or if you'd prefer to just have a link off to the photos.

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Last Saturday Joe and I spent the day assembling a new swing set for the girls. It was purchased by the girls babysitter, Patti, and was constructed in her backyard. The swingset is really nice and is made by a company called CedarWorks. Patti purchased a fairly simple system with four swings and a slide but it was still complicated enough where it took the two of us most of the day to assemble it. Part of the problem was I just didn't have all the right tools, such as a 9/16" deep socket. I also didn't have a normal depth 9/16" socket.

At one point Joe and I had to go to Lowes to get some sockets where we bought two 9/16" sockets and a 1/2" socket so that sucked up about an hour of time. Then later, we realized we would need the deep socket so then Lisa had to go to the nearest auto zone for that. We also thought we had lost a bolt so Lisa had to go to Lowes to get a replacement. About 15 minutes after she got back I found the missing bolt - it was in my pocket. Even considering our poor preparation and my deep pockets the process still went pretty smoothly and the set went up without too much difficulty.

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Sure, technically, Shannon turned seven a few days ago but last night was her party - not the boring party with her family but the fun one with her friends from school. This year she had an Idol Gives Back party to coincide with the American Idol event of the same name. The last couple of years she has tried to do something charitable and it has gone over pretty well.

Last nights party was also Shannon's first where she just invited girls from her class and not every friend she has. Thus, Emily and I were locked up stairs while the gaggle of 7 year old girls screamed at the TV when Mylie Cyrus came on and each of them had little make-overs. It sounded like they had a great time.

This past weekend we had a little family event for her with a Carvel Ice Cream Cake. This weekend Lisa's parents are going to visit so we will probably have some other little shin-ding for her then as well. I'm sure, if anyone wants to visit the following weekend, Shannon would be happy to continue the celebration through the end of the year.

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Back in the early 90's when I was in the Army I had a bunch of good friends; however, one stood out - Marcus Fiumefreddo. He is a German born guy who ended up living in the states and enlisting in the US Army while still a German citizen. Our first meeting occurred one morning when he was on "Fire Guard" and I was late for PT formation due to excessive partying the night before.

All the guys in our unit called Marcus "Fred" because the letters "fred" were buried in the middle of his last name. Typically, in the Army everyone is identified by their last name but his was so long we just shortened it to Fred. He is also an artist - though he never seems to want to admit it - specifically he typically drew fantasy art; dragons, elves, superheros, etc. It was his drawing ability that drew my eye to his desk that first morning we met. I was rushing to get out to PT and he was doodling on a notepad. I think it was a dragon but whatever it was it was cool enough to stop me in my tracks and, subsequently, get me in more trouble for being even later to PT because I was gawking at a piece of paper.

Pretty much, from that morning on, the two of us were inseparable so long as we (read: he) were not dating anyone. We did everything together; partied hard in Juarez, went to Saudi and gave Spc Livengood endless hell, got in trouble, nearly wrecked a few different trucks, painted lines in remote parking lots, played chicken, had rock fights, went to concerts, and generally just had fun.

One of his favorite stories to tell is of when we first got back from Saudi. We all had some money saved up from our sixth month deployment so Fred went out and tried to buy a new car. I think it was a Hyundai. It was late on a Friday when he went to the dealer so they couldn't process his financing application in time for the weekend. However, the dealer was certain he would be approved and suggested he take the car home for the weekend. It was our first weekend back in the states and everyone in the unit was eager to get some booze and party. I had bought a small bottle of vodka and a small bottle of gin and a big thing of juice which I subsequently drank before we even went out to the club - I was feeling really good.

Once we got to the club I opened a tab and we started to drink and found some girls to dance with. Things were going great - though I was getting really, really drunk. Finally the girls suggested we go somewhere else (back to the barracks I think) and Fred and I were ready to go. The three of them stood up and then looked at me enquiring if I was coming. I said "sure" but didn't move. I was too, I'm ashamed to admit, too drunk to really be doing anything at that point. The girls were disappointed and left. Fred got the bouncer to help get me to his sparkling new Hyundai and into the passenger seat. I buckled up. He told me that I was not allowed to throw up in his car. I assured him I would not. He drove through the parking lot, hit a speed bump, and I immediately threw up. I tried to aim out of the window but I'm not sure it was open. His new car was scarred. You can't get that smell out. It just can't be done.

That night I was as drunk as I have ever been. Once he got me back to the barracks he had the fire guard that night help drag me down to my room. I tried to refuse to get out of bed for the rest of the weekend but he and our friend Spc Meadows insisted I get up and get some food. Fred tried to clean out his car but couldn't. It was still nasty looking and stinky when we got up for work on Monday morning. When we got back from the motor pool for lunch Fred had a message waiting for him from the Hyundai dealership - his credit had been denied. That afternoon Fred took the car, vomit and all, back to the dealership. It was priceless.

I got out of the Army back in the mid 90's but Fred stayed on. He was working on getting his citizenship (if he got out beforehand he would have had to go back to Germany). I pretty much lost contact with all of my Army friends; Fred, Ellington, Oswald, Epps, Turner, Anderson, etc. They were all great guys but it just wasn't easy to stay in touch. However, every once in a while Fred and I would still communicate but that was very sporadic and only happened once every few years. Fred in the meantime got stationed in Hawaii, deployed to Haiti, got his citizenship, stationed in Colorado, deployed to Germany, and stationed in Ft Hood Texas.

Yesterday, however, we spoke on the phone again. I really don't remember the last time we spoke - though I think it was before Emily (now 4) was born. It was good to hear from my old friend and to know he is doing well. He only has a few more years left before he can retire from the Army now; which is kind of crazy to think about (I'd be a year or two closer to retiring if I had stayed in) and I'm only 35. Hopefully, this time around, we do a better job of staying in touch.

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