Ragnar Vail Lake Women's CHAMPS!!!

I admit I was really unsure about this whole trail relay race thing but it ended up being a blast and - the icing on the cupcake - we won the open women's division! Don't underestimate a bunch of cougars!!!!

In case you can't read the back of our shirts, it says "hot on your trail" and Rarr. It was simple but effective. 

Here's the whole team (almost, Brandi wandered off somewhere), and our campsite pre-race and pre-rain.

And yes, we got rain. If you can believe it. It never rains here but of course it did the night we had to run in the dark and sleep outside. I didn't mind though, it cold have been worse and added to the adventure for an adventure-starved mama! 

So the adventure really began before we left San Diego, trying to pack a whole lotta gear in our Element. The way things worked out the San Diego contingent of our team ending up bringing most of the gear and met the Orange County contingent at the race. Seemed like a good idea until we saw the parking lot shuttles:

So we piled on in a mad race against everyone else to get "seats" while simultaneously trying to load air mattresses, camping gear, coolers, bags and even a table. Thankfully some fellow runners were gracious and helpful and piled gear on top of us and helped us hang on so it didn't fall off on the bumpy ride. This photo, incidentially, was not taken by me but by one of our less-heavily-laden OC teammates. I'm still laughing a little that I expected an actual coach style bus. 

The race works by everyone running 3 legs in the same order: green, yellow and red - and we cycled through them. I ran the yellow leg first (supposed to be 7.4 miles but was shortened to about 6.2 by race organizers) at about 5 pm. Then I ran the red leg (supposed to 3.4 miles but was closer to 3.7 b/c I got a bit lost in the dark) at midnight. My last leg was the green leg (3.9 miles) at 7 am. 

Probably the biggest challenge of the race was keeping the stomach happy for the entire duration, while still eating enough to maintain energy. Everyone on the team was keen to avoid "GI meltdown," something probably only experienced by distance runners and people with nasty viruses. Somehow we were all okay. The closest we came was one teammate with a blood sugar crisis but there were plenty of sugar-packed energy gels, chews, blocks and beans around so that was easily resolved. 

We also had these lovely composting commodes to contend with, as the race organizers were trying to promote sustainability:

I don't know how much it cost to put these in but they were so worth it. There were 24 hr attendants just waiting for runners to hang the "service needed" sign on the door. They smelled like cedar and at night the attendants lit them up with candles. It was a surprisingly pleasant portapotty experience. And that's important when you have so many people going potty so many times! 

I have done 24 hr events on mountain bikes but I have never gone trail running in the dark. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Here's my race synopsis:

Yellow Loop: I started out as the sun was setting at 5 pm. I left the race village and took a trail that lead me to the other side of the lake. It was really beautiful running in the twilight and looking back at the lights of the "village." If it hadn't been a race, I would have stopped for a photo. To be honest the other reason I didn't stop was that I hadn't seen another racer or volunteer since I passed by the lake and I was pretty darned spooked. Once I finally saw a shadowy shape in front of me I checked my GPS and it read 2 miles. I had run 2 miles in the dark without seeing another soul. Turns out I only saw 4 other runners total during that loop so I had to get used to feeling alone in the dark with whatever wild critters might have been out there....and hungry.... And my body wasn't really feeling like running. Probably because I'd been down with a cold and wasn't quite over it so there was a battle b/tw my mind and body for the first 30 minutes of that run. But actually I think that helped me from panicking about my isolation on the dark trail. Thankfully at about the 3 mile mark my body started to wake up and I started to feel a bit more like running. The final half of the loop felt more fun as I enjoyed the weird feeling of running underwater. The trail was sandy so there was a fine dust in the air, made more impenetrable by my headlight. I couldn't see where I was putting my feet so every step was a bit of an adventure. Others must have been experiencing the same thing b/c as I passed the fourth and last person I was to see on the trail, she twisted her ankle and filled the night air with expletives. Lucky for her we had just passed the only volunteer on the far side of the trail so she'd be taken care of. I ended up taking my headlamp off and carrying it in my hand which seemed to work a bit better. I took it home into the transition tent where I couldn't find our next runner. We lost a few minutes as I tried to track her down. She had her head in her computer up at the Cougar Den, trying to get caught up on work and had to book it to get down to the start/finish on time. Darn Professors! 

Green Loop: I got to run this loop in the rain at midnight. The race organizers had a big screen where each team was posted as the runner crossed the last quarter mile to the finish. It was powered by people riding bikes (sustainability points). At one point during the night it went out so they had to wake people up and get them on the bikes again. (Not really, but it did go out). It was still going as things weren't that quiet yet at midnight so I stood in the rain staring at the screen and waiting for Team Cougars. It wasn't raining too hard but enough that it looked like snow in my headlamp. I kept reaching out to touch it, just to make sure it wasn't. The green loop had already been talked up in camp b/c it started with a ridiculously steep and long climb. I hadn't bothered to warm up b/c I knew I'd be walking most of it and I was. After that climb it was a really great trail and I wished I could have run it in the daytime. It had twisty and tight single track and plenty of ridge running where I'm sure the views were amazing. I saw more runners on this trail b/c it was shorter and I could see headlamps from the high points. This was reassuring b/c this trail felt more "cougar-ish" than the others. Maybe it was the single track and the bushes tight to both sides. At one point the trail started to close in on both sides of me and I started to wonder where the heck I was going. Straight up again; I actually had to scramble to get up top of a spine where I looked down once and not again as I got vertigo from looking down into the misty dark. Up on that spine I saw no one for long enough to think I'd gone the wrong way. I kept thinking there was no way the race organizers would want people up here in the dark. Then  I saw a tiny green trail marker. I guess they did want people up on a skinny spine in the dark. These race organizers were making a point that their race was serious. I was impressed. My body felt good and I loved, loved the green loop, despite getting disoriented in the dark and getting a little off course in the last quarter mile if you can believe it. 

I had the hours of 1 am until 7 am after this to eat, hydrate, clean up, potty, sleep, get up, clean up, eat breakfast, potty, hydrate and get ready to run again. I managed maybe an hour of sleep, not that I expected much more. But at least I rested and was out of the rain for awhile. I figure it rained from about midnight until 3 or 4 am. 

Red Loop: I started out at 7 am with no headlamp!!! Yay! This was the "black diamond" of the trails, or so we'd been told. Not the longest but the most challenging. My teammate had told me I was going to love it and my other teammate couldn't contain her excitement at being finished so I was in a good headspace as I headed out, sleep or not. Truth be told, I was just excited to run with vision. It was stormy and grey but at least it was light. As promised there was lots of climbing, including a sidewinding goat trail to the highest point. But there was also lots of mountain bike style downhill. My favorite. I was ripping down the trail with a guy on my heels. I offered him a chance to pass, which he declined telling me he liked my pace. I hate it when that happens b/c somehow I feel pressure to go a little bit faster. Last time that happened to me was at a mountain bike poker race last year where I nearly flew off the side of the mountain b/c a few guys wanted to "follow my pace." Talk about riding at my limit. Needless to say, I was relieved when we finally got to the bottom of the descent to see a huge climb in front of us. I'd knew he'd leave me in the dust and I could slow down a little before I puked. Many climbs later I made it to the finish line for the 3rd and last time. I felt good and pushed hard on that last leg. Something that never happens to me in running races. 

Having run a few half marathons, I have to say that 13+ miles are easier to run in 3 parts. I actually felt like I got stronger each leg which was an entire surprise to me. The race was a physical and mental breakthrough, learning that I could do more than I thought I could. 

And we won. How crazy is that? The secret of our success? Consistency. Apparently we all found it easier than we thought to run 3X in about 14 hrs b/c no one slowed down and we all ran really similar times, like within minutes of each other, for each leg. Our overall time was just under 20.5 hours. 

Okay, I've blabbed enough. Here are some photos of the adventure:

The Champs, post-adventure. See that second cougar from the right wearing ears? She actually knocked a piece off this vehicle while trying to climb on it. I think she'd already had too many mimosas!

A Ragnar tradition is to have the entire team run through the finish line with the last runner. So here we all accompany Brandi as she charges the finish for the win! I might have been a bit tired by this point, you see I'm not exactly charging. 

Here's our headquarters after all the rain. 

Here are some of us during some of the wetter parts of the day.

Almost finished!

Mimosa time!!

And this is just a cool photo.

Truly the most dangerous part of the event was the hour long drive home with no sleep. Thankfully I had teammates to keep me awake. We waited til we got home to crash hard. It was an EPIC event and we'll be back next year. Love this stuff!

Lost in the Lagunas

Well, we weren't exactly lost...but we easily could have been. That is how good my trail-blazing skills are. Get ready for it......this post is....not.....about.the.kids. Wow, eh? It means I actually went out and had a mom's adventure.

So I've been talked into this event called Ragnar. It is pretty big here in Southern California and akin to the Banff to Jasper relay back home (or Jasper to Banff, I've been gone so long I can't remember!) My running buddy is a die-hard Ragnarian (as folks who run Ragnar are affectionally referred to). Every time she'd mention me joining her team I'd kind of growl at her and she'd back off. Then Ragnar came out with the trail version. And she knew it was time to move in for the kill. I agreed.

So the way this thing works is 8 people run 3 different legs in about a 24 hr period. So its kinda like 24 Hrs of Adrenalin which is an awesome event, involving mountain bikes to increase its awesomeness. I was lured in by the idea of trail running with a team until I realized it would mean that I'd have to run 3 times in less than 24 hours. Its a good week if I manage 3 runs in a 7-day week. What was I thinking? Is there an internet acronym for that....WWIT??? So almost 15 miles, spread across 3 runs. At least one of them in the dark.

We went out to pre-run the longest leg of the race: 7.4 miles. The terrain is desert-ish, scrubby, chaparral-ish, hilly, rocky, exposed: essentially not my ideal trail conditions. And full of mountain lions. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating but they are out there and these kind of trails just look like mountain lions, being all beige and everything. So now I don't know what to fear more: the sleeplessness, the running, or the carnivores prowling in the dark.

Back to being lost in the Lagunas (where mountain lions also live). Half of our running team (aptly named Team Cougar), headed out last weekend for the last long run of our "training" program. I'm using that term loosely as all we had time to do was up our distance real quick and manage one day of a two-fer run (7 miles in the morning, 4 in the evening).

So this morning in the Lagunas was the pinnacle of our little training cramfest. We planned 12 miles at ~6000 feet elevation. Only problem was,  I was in charge of choosing the trail and the GPS. So about 3.5 hours after leaving the car we made it back with the GPS reading 16.4 miles. Oops. Good thing I'm not Team Captain.

But what an EPIC run. We had beautiful weather and stunning scenery. I'm a little shadowy here but the photo is all about the scenery.

Another Hallowe'en in the books

We survived another Hallowe'en. By the time the witching hour arrived we were pretty burned out on it already after 2 school carnivals and Greg working into the wee hours to create yet another masterpiece costume for Kai. And this year the little man was pretty sick but determined to get out there. The only one chomping at the bit was Teia. As soon as we got home from Kai's carnival, Teia whipped off her princess costume and shimmied her way into Hallowe'en get up #3 - a mermaid. She wore a unicorn costume to her own Hallowe'en carnival last week (and has been sleeping with it ever since).

Teia was rather a fickle pickle when it came to planning Hallowe'en. She started with wanting to be a mermaid. Then became determined to be batman. This was followed by absolutely, definitely going to be a unicorn. There was a brief tiger phase. Then she wanted to be a shark. But thankfully, she decided that she would just wear each one of the costumes Auntie Karen kindly sent.

Kai on the other hand stood true to his tradition of picking something completely unique and not available in stores and sticking to it. Thank goodness he does not have the fickle gene after the time and effort Greg puts into his costumes. This one was no exception. Little buddy came down with a nasty cold but he wanted to wear his British Airways costume so badly that he made it to school anyway, even if just for a few hours, and managed a little trick or treating.

A few people mistook him for a space shuttle, but mostly his costume was very well received. He also became pretty adept at grabbing candy and dropping it into his pumpkin dangling from the end of his wingtip, all with a one handed maneuver. 

Greg continued the tradition of spending an inverse proportion of time on his costume to Kai's. This year his greatest effort was expended on finding stickers for his hard hat. If you're in the dark like I was, he explained it to me as a "Shipyard Bubba." I discovered that black is definitely not my color. Although the kids did like my new hair. Kai kept smiling at me and Teia took it in for share day at school today. 

Teia's Hallowe'en excitement turned quickly to trepidation when our neighbor at the second house we visited greeted us with a candy bowl that was complete with a talking head. From that point on she would not go up to any house until we checked first that there were "no guys." Kai decided he'd stand back too while we checked for dogs. So Greg and I became the advance party, ringing doorbells and smiling politely at confused neighbors who didn't expect such tall kids at their door, while our little ones emerged cautiously from the shadows once they were convinced that the house was "guy" and dog free. Once they felt safe though they happily trick-or-treated. Teia made sure she embarrassed us soundly by asking every single person "do you have schoclate?" Thank goodness she's cute.

They didn't last too long which was fine by us.  They were were happy to come home and gorge themselves a little bit with the spoils of their labor. Then Greg suggested to me that we take a trip each year in late October so we can kind of skip Hallowe'en. The man is genius. Let's see if I can hold him to it.

And here are our jack o lanterns. Pretty humble this year. I didn't even manage to go out and buy a pumpkin. One came from our weekly CSA delivery and the other two are from the pumpkin express train we rode a few weeks earlier.

So its in the books for one more year. I'm wondering if we can get Kai to think "outside the box" next year for his costume (ha ha very punny eh?) I'm sure Greg is hoping so! But I'm not sure what we'll do if he comes up with something that requires sewing......maybe I better continue to encourage these box costumes! 

She's Four!!!

The day finally came. She'd been waiting since Kai's birthday 6 months ago, all the while plotting pinatas and cakes and presents. Teia arrived in our bedroom in the pre-dawn darkness and announced boldly with arms outstretched in the way that only Teia can "I'm FOUR!"

She started the day with meeting her new fish, a pinkish, blueish, purplish betta fish. Not a cat, or bunny or puppy but a pet nonetheless. Greg and I bet on what Teia would call it. I said "Purpley" b/c she does tend to take a dominant characteristic of whatever "pet" she is naming and then add a "y" to the end. Greg bet on "Purplo" b/c its Spanish (at least the way Teia speaks Spanish). I thought Purplo had kind of a nice ring to it and I think we were both a bit attached to the name by birthday morning. But Teia had her own ideas and first named the fish "Hungry Fishy Swimming." After saying that a few times she found it a bit of a mouthful and changed his name to Sharkie, which has stuck.

Sometime during birthday week, Sharks became Teia's favorite animal. A few weeks ago when we started planning Teia's party the animal du jour was changing so rapidly that I made the parental executive decision that it would be a general animal themed party - therefore covering all possible bases. So it was a bit of a mish mash with a dinosaur skeleton hunt, a dragon pinata, tiny ocean animal softies in the pinata as treats for our guests, and jungle animal cupcakes. Teia's birthday cake for our family birthday dinner was a rather plain affair b/c of our artificial color avoidance and thankfully was not decorated until the last minute. I had run out of time to find a dragon to put on top as requested but shark favoritism had moved in, so Greg was able to sketch a quickie pink shark - b/c that is the only plant-based food coloring we had around! Teia didn't seem to mind.

Poor Kai came down with a fever the night before Teia's big day so he got to stay home and lie on the floor bearing witness to all the birthday hoopla. Daddy took an unexpected day off work too b/c the thought of two kids, one of them ill, one of them having a birthday, house cleaning and last minute birthday party errands and preps just about put a certain Mommy over the edge. So Teia had her whole family around to share in her excitement.

Kai managed the cutest drawing for Teia despite his fever and not getting off the living room floor for 12 hours:

I love how he even captured her #4 badge and her unruly hair! (yes I did try to rotate this but for some reason it was back un-rotated post-upload).

Some photos of her present-opening excitement:

So excited to receive the "dotted Nemo" she'd had her eye on for awhile!

She was entranced by her singing "Puff." 

Ariel was a hit as well!

Lots of Love for Puff. 

The next day we had Teia's first "official" birthday party. It seemed like small kine after Kai's 6 year old mega-affair but I found myself pretty busy with it anyway. We got the bouncy house up, the craft center set up, the dinosaur skeletons hidden and the food ready to go. I have to admit I secretly really like creating my kids' birthday parties and celebrating what they're into on their special day. It would be nice to have an unlimited budget and unlimited time but its fun nonetheless. 

Here is the puppet making station complete my own "sample puppet - zebra." I have to thank Super Dad for cutting out a bazillion construction paper animal body parts. 

Who's that hiding behind the tree???????

The party was a success but I didn't get many photos....was a little bit busy. Here is our Peach with her VERY favorite friend from preschool sharing a chair and enjoying their cupcakes. I didn't get a picture of how cute the cupcakes looked. I think it might be on the video on Greg's phone (as well as some great bouncy house photos). Now that he has joined the iPhone masses I will have to task him with some blogging. 

Teia was very adamant that the 3 boys she hangs with at school be invited to her party even though I didn't know their parents at all.  Two of the three were able to come with both parents and we got to make some new friends, thanks to our little social coordinator. 

I was glad we invited some 6 year olds to T's party b/c this dragon proved tough to open! We were thinking we might need to let the parents take a whack. But it was fun for the kids who got lots of opportunities to test out their aggressive sides. 

Teia did something cool for her birthday too. Rather than getting presents from her party guests, she opted to ask for presents for the animals at the humane society. So we have a big box of great kitty and puppy toys that we'll be taking down there sometime soon. Teia can't wait. One of her favorite games these days is to play "Animal Shelter Woman." That's our girl, patron of the furry four legged creatures :-)

Since the big day T has been telling every person she sees that she is now 4. Turning 4 has brought some changes as well. T has decided unilaterally that she does not nap anymore. As a result 4 seems to be a little bit sassier and moodier than 3 was. This decision of hers may be going to arbitration sometime soon. Although we do love this little spunky, challenging, vivacious, incredible little girl!

Happy Birthday Peach!!!!! 

Teia's story

Teia is really into books and stories lately. She likes to "read" to us at bedtime now, rather than the other way around. Yesterday while she was drawing a picture she narrated the following story and I was quick enough on the uptake to record it on paper.

Once upon a time there was a dragon and a fly and then a little boy. The fly came and got the little boy. And then the fly go'ed all the way back to his home on the flower and he flies all the way back out. And then the little boy saw lots of flies. And the flies go'ed all the way back to their flowers. And there was the prettiest dragon he ever sawed. The dragon fly, buzzing all around. And the little boy sawed a little butterfly flying from flower to flower to flower to flower. And he saw his dragon going all the way back to the little boy and they hugged.          The End. 

Then she added: "Its all about dragons and boys and its for Grandma and Poppa Mike."

I think they'll like it :-)

Airplane Tooth

We've commemorated lost teeth and new beds on this blog, so why not dental work? Today was a big day. Kai finally got his first cavity fixed. It took a long while because we were trying so hard to avoid any heavy duty medication to get him through it. So we were waiting and debating and waiting and debating. We got him through a 24 hr EEG procedure with nary a complaint. He used to be a role model for getting pokes (although not so much anymore). So the psychologist in me really felt that we could role play, prepare, use social stories etc, etc and get him a filling on laughing gas only. Finally, I had to admit it just wasn't gonna happen and we really didn't want him getting an infection.

So today he went under. Its called MAC for monitored anesthesia care. Apparently its a bit lighter than general anesthesia but definitely more than conscious sedation. It is serious enough that the entire dental office staff are there for only the "dental surgery" patient. All other appointments are blocked off. Kai was cool about it all. In his mind he was going to sleep and then he'd wake up with the hole in his tooth fixed.

It all went smoothly and he "fell asleep" in my arms after a quick poke from the anesthesiologist and then was taken back for the full IV and the dental work. No parents allowed. For once I was extremely grateful to sit one out in the waiting room. They even offered me a Starbucks card and insisted I go get something to eat b/c they knew it was a tough day. Harder on the parents they said.

"Fell asleep" is not exactly what I'd call it. No one could have prepared me for his body to go stiff and postured and for the light to literally go out in his eyes while they remained wide open, as his central nervous system shut down. That part was horrible and will take awhile to forget, if I even can.

But an hour later I got to meet my little trooper in the recovery room where his stiff and postured little body slowly softened up and came back to normal. He'd open his eyes and look startled for a minute and then dose off for awhile. He was clearly confused but not panicked. Then he started talking, well whispering (he told me later it was hard for his "voice to come"). I asked him how he was and he replied in a little slurry whisper "I'm good Mommy." Then he told me "I love British Airways" and I knew he was on his way back. He actually got pretty chatty, not that I could understand much of it as he whispered with his eyes still closed. He did tell me "They fixed the hole" and "I'm sleeping in room 210" (the room # he had remembered since his visit two months ago). That kid's memory is amazing. They told us he'd have double vision and he must have b/c he said it was like he was under water. He even drew a picture of his British Airways with wavy water on top afterwards.

30 minutes later he was ready for a wheelchair ride to the minivan. But not before he picked out a stuffed animal for Teia because he's sweet like that. Once we got home he insisted on walking, not being carried, into the house which was a pretty funny sight. 40 minutes of r&r at home and he figured he was back to normal. Somehow I don't think I'd be back at 'er quite that quick. Kids are amazing.

While he was under his dentist and I decided on a stainless steel crown b/c she figured he'd grind off any filling she put in and we'd be back to square one. (A lovely little habit he has inherited from me). So when he woke up I explained the smooth silver tooth in his mouth as his "airplane metal tooth." The dentist had suggested calling it a "robot tooth" but I knew Kai would like the airplane idea better. And he does. He'll happily show it to anyone who asks and I think he is pretty proud of himself overall. As he should be. He was an absolute rock star. But, hey, let's not go through that again.

Coming up on the Masters Division

Shamefully, I haven't posted nearly as much as I should over the last few months.  Louise has taken on the lion share of Fennell news.  Thinking of news, if we were to write a family newspaper, what would we call it?  "The Fennell Crier"?  Some mornings, yes, that would be appropriate.  "The Fennell Gazette"?  Sounds like "gazelle" which is definitely NOT how I feel after eating too much Nutella.  "The Fennell Times"?  Sounds too much like "Final Times" which is a tad morbid.  Anyway...

Summer has come and gone lickety-split and in a few days, I'll be passing the 40 year old milestone.  By some measure, its just a number.  Between 39 and 41, as Kai reminds us with his daily math announcements.  

But there's also a social component that is hard to escape.  Take running, for instance.  I'll now be a Masters runner.  I always thought of Masters runners as being, you know, OLD guys running in too-short shorts, shuffling through the race, then sprinting towards the finish line in a final blaze of re-lived glory.  Or scary dudes w/o an ounce of humor in them because ounces of humor are wasted weight for a Masters runner that must now crush all other Masters runners (yet oddly not give 2-craps worth to someone even a day younger than 40).

Even the name: Masters runner.  Has a noble ring to it, doesn't it?  Kinda like a Karate Master (someone who trains adult-sized turtles to become ninjas), a Chess Master (someone who is really good at staring at a 10x10 board for hours on end to move oddly shaped pieces in odd directions), or a Master Chef (someone who takes 20min to make scrambled eggs w/ saffron, essence chamomile, and lavender then charges $15.95 + 15% service fee).  So a Master runner must be pretty good at the art of running, no?  Like, someone who has is able to sprint through a dense bamboo forest in the rain, blindfolded, without gathering a speck of mud on the back of their shirt.   Or can run w/ perfect form, like REALLY runs, as opposed to a Novice runner who actually skips, hobbles, and falls most of the time. 

Yeah, "Masters Runner" doesn't quite fit in the same grouping as other "Masters"...

Young kids have it easy with ages.  Every age is associated with some type of milestone.  

5:  Start kindergarten.  

6:  1st grade.  

16: Compare your birthday to Molly Ringwald's and wish you were in a John Hughes movie.

18:  Senior year of high school.  

19:  First year of college.  

19:  OR stick around for ANOTHER year of high school if you live in Canada.  Because some people just can't let go of those magical high school years...  

21:  Legally buy alcohol in the US (usually too much on the first night, or so I hear).  

40:  Pay bills.  Go to work.  Get your smog certification renewed in California.  

Needless to say, the latter birthdays don't have QUITE the punch, zing, or the ancillary benefits the earlier ones do.

Teia, Kai, and Louise have been up to something, so I'm always keen to see what's in store.  My usual spy is Teia.  She'll happily tell me she wrapped some gifts and its a secret.   

Me:  What is the secret, T?

T:  Oh!  Its a shirt!  And some shoes!  And a watch!  And....

Louise: Teia Autumn!!! 

 (actually, she normally yells at me, because I know Teia's going to spill the beans and its a little unfair of me to take advantage of our anti-poker faced Peach.   Of our two kids, Kai has the best chances of becoming a professional poker player, Teia not so much)

A few weeks ago, Louise asked if I wanted anything special for this birthday.  I have to admit, I came up pretty blank.  No epic mtn bike rides, no ski trips, no sports car.  (we are going to go on a large sailboat for a few hours).  Instead, I realized I already have all the best gifts in our little home - an amazing & loving wife, two awesome kids, a broken couch that is now at a very comfortable angle for typing future blog posts, roof, food, bed, Nutella.  We're really quite lucky; everyday is a day to be grateful and enjoy.