Holiday updates

I'm way overdue for some updates. (Hopefully I can remember just what it is I've been up to lately.)

Thursday 12-23 Dog Xmas:
What's better than a dog birthday party? Dog Xmas of course.
Here's Kuzca opening a gift:


Kuzca's best impersonation of a reindeer:




Friday 12-24:
Traditionally the last work day before Christmas is a half day, meaning you work the first half and get the rest off for free. For some reason, one of the other teams at work decided to completely disappear even though they have a product to release soon. A product, I might add, that needs some help. So since our team has all sorts of time (NOT!) I got pulled into that and ended up work a little later than planned. The good news is that I was told if they need me to come in during our holiday shutdown at all (even for an hour) I wouldn't have to take ANY of it off as vacation. Sweet!

Saturday 12-25:
Christine and I went skiing/snowboarding at Keystone. That'll go down in history as one of the best Saturday ski season drives to the slopes ever. There was practically nobody on the road. The snow wasn't that great, but we weren't expecting much so all was well. As more people started to arrive, we left to go the Christine's dad's house in Parker for some tasty home cooking.
Christine got me a the Daily Show book and super cool soft-shell jacket that'll be great for spring skiing and backcountry skiing. I got her some road biking shoes, pedals, and a heart rate monitor. Sure, she didn't have a bike yet, but there's nothing like a push in the right direction. :) Plus, it's really annoying to buy a nice bike and then realize there's a bunch more "necessary" gear to purchase.

Sunday 12-26:
After my huge nudge with the aformentioned gifts, Christine bought the bike she had test ridden a couple weeks ago. (SWEET!) I don't know who's more excited, me or her. (Probably me.) For my own safety, I won't post the picture of her with the bike since she wasn't feeling well that day, but here's a picture of the bike by itself.


Monday 12-27:
I have no idea what I did this day. Probably did some stuff at Christine's new place (which is totally cool, by the way).

Tuesday 12-28:
Dancing at the Merc was PACKED. It's great that there's so much interest, but it makes it really difficult to dance when you spend most of the time worrying about running into people. On the way home my damage-magnet car had a close call. About a mile from Christine's place a cow just decides to start jogging across the street. A COW! WTF? Let's hear it for 13" disc brakes because I stood on them and narrowly missed a serious blood bath. I still managed to clip it's rear leg, but the only damage was a $10 grill piece. They don't tell you this at the dealership, but a clear bra is also effective at protection from hoof marks. A bargain at any price.

Wednesday 12-29:
The bike shop I go to has started somewhat of a group ride on Wednesdays. I say "somewhat" because it hasn't exactly been mentioned to too many people, so I thought it was pretty cool that they asked me to join them. I guess that means they think I can hang. It was a little chilly, so there were only three of us and we rode to Carter Lake, following part of the Carter Lake race route. That may be my first race this year, so it's good to get a little familiar with the terrain.

Thursday 12-30:
Christine and I did a little riding around between my house and her's. It was super windy, which made the riding a little difficult, but thankfully we both stayed upright.


Friday 12-31:
I got on skis for the first time in over 7 years, and I suck. Well, I guess I don't suck too bad; I did go down several blues, and even some small bumps (non-gracefully). But for as much of a (relative) beginner I am on skis again, there are plenty of people that are WAY worse (and I wish they would stay out of my way). I had a good time, but I'm not giving up snowboarding any time soon. I mainly want to relearn how to ski because I think it'll be better in the backcountry than snowboarding.
Ski technology has come a long way since the last time I owned a pair, however boot technology is severely lagging behind. It's not that they were uncomfortable, but they seemed like the same boots that I wore 7 years ago. Do the boot makers not care about improvements? Take a look at snowboard boots. I've gotta believe that's half the reason someone would choose snowboarding over skiing. I'm sure there's a big difference in the stiffness requirements between the two sports' boots, but hire a mechanical engineer and get creative.

Saturday 1-1:
Recovery from multiple days of riding snow and pavement.

Sunday 1-2:
The weekly group rode to Lyons. It was pretty cold out, so we took an extended break at the Barking Dog Cafe to regain feeling in our toes. I chose to continue the celebration of Festivus by eating a muffin top. Top 'o the muffin to ya. Muffin tops yes, bagels no.

Monday 1-3:
I had planned on going to work to use the gym, but it turned out that there was some work for me too do (today is still a holiday for us). I put in a half day after I worked out, which isn't too bad because now I think I can get my vacation days back from last week.

If you've made it this far, you must really be bored.