First Flight

I really thought I had already posted this, apparently not. I uploaded the pictures, wrote most of the words, but never finished and never posted. Anyway, here it is:

In spite of Michele's protests I managed to get Porter on an airplane. Let me back up for a second. Michele is afraid to fly. Really afraid to fly, and that fear has always extended to cover me as well. I love to fly and enjoy getting from point A to B quickly, but anytime I fly Michele is a bit of a wreck until I'm on the ground. Now that we have Porter, her fear covers him as well. So when my siblings proposed that we all fly out with our kids, but sans spouses (for reasons beyond our control) to surprise my mom for her 60th I naturally took a bit of a pause to consider how my wife would feel about it. Not much of a pause though.

Porter and I got up at the ass crack of dawn to make the drive in to SeaTac (2.5-3 hours depending on traffic and ferry wait), got through security, waited for an hour or so, and then got on our plane. What I thought would be the hard part, the flight itself, was no big deal. Everything before it kinda sucked. Keeping the boy corralled for the hour before boarding while keeping track of carry-ons and the car seat was a real pain in the ass. Once on the plane, he fell asleep and showed no signs of stirring until we were back on the ground in the 'nix.

It took a good hour and a half to get off the plane, gather our shit, and get the Crown Vic we rented. Armed with my old lady car, we headed North to see Char. I don't know if I ever covered who Char is before so here's the quick rundown: She lived in our condo complex in the 'nix and was the very first person I met when I got there. For the two years we were there we were thick as thieves. We dined together regularly, partied, drank, went to the movies (okay, the movies only happened once), swam in the pool, you get the point. When we left town and my parents arrived, they picked up with Char right where we left of. Oh, and the monster is named after her husband. He died long before we ever met Char, but I loved hearing about him. 

Anyway, at Char's place is where we surprised my mom. My siblings arrived a day earlier and had already surprised her but she never thought Porter and I would be there (remember Michele's fear of flying?). Showing up was the big part of the weekend, there was some partying, bbqing, and general fucking around, but that's not really important. Here's some pics:

2012 Goals

1. Buy a house.

2. Get the monster to respond to basic instructions, such as: "Oh, for fucks sake!" and "Porter, NO!!"

2011 - Year in Review

It's been a big year for us. All the big baby milestones, finishing Jeff's house (while living in it), moving to PA, and Michele at a job that's not considered training for the first time in eight years. Feels like I'm really an adult for the first time. Okay, maybe not, but getting closer. On the whole it's been a good year and here's to an even better 2012.

That's a Lot of Loot

Michele got her french oven, I got some snow gear, but it's the kid who scored big.

Shakedown

Thanks to a friend, who works at a certain Seattle based snow sports company, I got new gear this year.  The entire setup is a pretty big departure from what I was riding and so I figured it'd just make good sense to head up to Hurricane Ridge and see what I need to do to my setup to get it working for me. While that sounds all well and good, hiking up with an unfamiliar kit for short little bunny slope type runs is actually a pain in the ass. The setup most definitely is different from what I was on, longer, narrower, and with very different flex characteristics. My two earned runs did not go well. On the first one I bit it hard right in front of a large group and the second didn't go much better. All I know right now is that I'm going to need a sharper edge and better snow to really sort out what works and what doesn't. Thankfully, if it's not working, I just give back whatever isn't cutting it, pay less than pro-form for what is and try over next season, and with a lift a mere 17 miles from my door it's a win-win no matter what.

Thanksgiving in Stepford

er, Seabrook.

We didn't have Thanksgiving at Paul and Sean's this year, instead we all rented a house at Seabrook. In attendance there was Paul and Sean, Jimmie and Adam, Jeff, and the three of us. Since our last visit Seabrook has grown a bit, there are a few more houses, a couple more businesses, and a community pool. For those of you keeping count, this is Thanksgiving number four with this core group and even though the Mexican theme was abandoned, the meal did not disappoint. Don't know what else to say really, good time all around.

Don't know what Adam was planning with the bat, but it couldn't be good.

Paul, fighting the good fight in the kitchen. I should also point out that Mo'vember has really become a lifestyle decision for Paul. He's really rocking a Flanders grade 'stache these days.

I'm not even sure what Jimmie is doing here, but he's got a big knife so I kept my big mouth shut a took the picture.

I'm not really sure how a ghost bike is supposed to help promote the dog store, but whatever.

Out for a stroll.

After losing Paul at the store, Michele, Porter and I continued on to newer(longer) the beach trail. Still short but a nice little hike.

Look who we found on the beach, Sean and Jeff. No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, Sean's wearing pants that extend not only past his knees, but all the way to his ankles. Craziness.

Well, it was a good one. I can hardly wait to see what next year holds. Maybe we'll own some sort of domicile by then and we can host. Yeah, right...

I'm Not So Bright

It's cold, I'm fat, and this bike currently hates me.

BTW - I couldn't handle the humiliation of the 32:21 so we're back to an 18 on the rear wheel.