I've been left behind again, the boys are off playing at the cabin, I'm here working overtime.

I learned something about myself: Don't watch infommercials in the middle of the night after drinking margaritas and a credit card sitting right next to me... I'm expecting some packages pretty soon. But I did set up a differed comp plan so the money saving will balance out the money spent, right??? Yeah, that works. And the people on TV PROMISE I will be more beautifully toned and have a flawless complexion and life will be exciting and I will look and feel younger and the world will be in harmony and everyone will love me and I will love myself and my dog won't shed anymore or it just won't matter if he sheds and ....call it a retail therapy session. It's all good. But it won't happen again...as long as I'm not left behind, don't drink tequila, don't watch tv, don't stay up late, don't have a credit card or recurrence of any combination of one or more of the preceding causative factors. It good to be aware of "triggers".

I needed a laugh instead of spending money. I found these.

What makes these funnier to me is that I used to be a photographer at Sears Portrait Studio when I was a teen and early 20's so I contributed to pictures like these in once upon a time. One of my favorites from my glory days was when a chubby happy baby projectile vomited, while smiling and laughing and I caught the spew in a PERFECT arc in a timeless photo - I still laugh remembering that. When we would get bored, we would start taking pictures of each other goofing off. A few other favorites are the arrow-through-the-head portraits (Chevy Chase Sat Night Live "better put some butter on that" days) and the "R" ears ala Rainer Beer commercials. Maybe I will dig some of them out of my dusty archives and post them.
This dude wore a tie for nothing

Nothing says "Classy" like Faces in a Wine Glass and Roses

Olan Mills backdrop #4: Bucolic Meadow with Split Rail Fence.
Is that an animal carcass behind her?

I got a $20 that says he drives a Camaro

It's SOO CUTE when couples have matching haircuts!

No time to ride lately :(

We are are seriously understaffed at work, anyone want a job?? Uhhh..... disregard the Government warning on the Hot Kiss label.

BEER! I just couldn't wait any longer, I opened my 1st bottle of my wheat homebrew - I have to say the 1st taste was a little on the mild side, but it's still early, only conditioned for about 1.5 weeks after a week of carbination. And that was without the yeast. After pouring into a glass, with the yeast, the favor was much fuller. The head was nice and foamy, good retention and perfect carbination level. I then opened up a bottle of Blue Moon and did a comparison, determined the wheat is on track and with some additional time to develop the flavor, will be pretty good for a basic beer. Blue Moon is a white Belgian with some added spice and orange, a cousin to hef, so not the same but close enough due to the wheat and yeast for a comparision since I don't have any commercial hef on hand. Got a mild buzz on an empty stomach so the alcohol is there - yeah, I'm a lightweight, an advantage when buying drinks.
Me + 1 or 2 drinks = a cheap date (cuz I'm done drinking for the night )

I have a name for this batch: Hot Kiss Hefeweizen, which is my last name with the 2 middle letters removed. Yeah, I get some smack from my friends. Occasionally a client makes a comment and I slam the hammer down on it quick. Which label show I go with??

I am getting ready for my next batch which will be more complex than the Hef. I have my choice of a red ale (5.3% ABV), and amber (5.5% ABV) or a pale ale (6.9% ABV!!) I'm leaning towards the amber to start brewing tonight as the airtight hops bag was pierced when the USPS tried their best to destroy this shipment.

I have been riding my road bike in my shop. I lowered the seat about an inch. My wrists are really bothering me, from all the typing I do at work. Maybe the lower seat will help.

The Little Su 50K, which was run yesterday, has a limited entry of 100. I personally know 2 people who registered to participate. I drove by their place yesterday and guess what...their they were. They didn't bother to even show for the race.

The reason this bugs me so is because this is standard procedure for these particular individuals, they do this on a regular basis and I don't know of any races they actually have done.

So they effectively block out 2 people who really would like to participate in the race. I would have a little more respect if they at least showed and then scratched.

Just a gripe.

I was talking to my son about the Susitna 100, the Little Su 50 and
Iditarod Trail Invitational ,telling him they take place this weekend and next weekend, and I was concerned about the warm temps causing bad trail conditions. He said he didn't know what I was talking about. I was surprised, then told him it was a foot, ski or bike races of either of 50k, 100 and 350 or 1100 miles. Maybe I will do the 50k someday - then I would need a new BIKE!

He said "Only someone like YOU would know about those races".

Is that a complement?

Good luck to all the racers!

A Future Cyclist is Born

I'm a Grandma! Yep, I am. And yeah, I am hearing all the comments about being young. No teenage parents though, just very early 20's. At least I'm not going to be an old, broken down grandma. Bike boy does great holding the baby, like an old pro. He has always loved babies. Capt'n Balance is good after holding her for just under 5 seconds. It's pretty funny.

My daughter and son-in-law are the proud parents of baby Autumn. She's sweet and warm and cuddly. She was born on Feb 7th, which is cool because we have a 7th and 14th birthday thing going on.

Born on the 7th of a month: Capt'n Balance, myself, my daughter and now granddaughter.
Born on the 14th of a month: All of my brothers and Bike Boy.

I'm going to do my best to get her into cycling, of course. I've already bought her a
Smart Cycle and am looking into the balance bikes. Everyone laughs at me but I don't mind. I'm looking ahead to the future.

I have been spending lots of time in Anchorage, sleeping on couches or not sleeping at all. I finally got some sleep up at my parent's house. They live in the mountains above Anchorage and have a beautiful view. I saw a total of 4 moose in just 2 days.

I have also been busy with legal junk - the ex strikes again. Out of the blue, he serves me with papers. This is becoming an every other year event. This time he's got an attorney. I don't but I'm not worried because it's all a set number calulation which is totally straight forward. It the misdt of it all, it came out that the ex fraudulently under-reported his income by about $20,000. He would have gotten away with it if he had not started these new legal procedings. I don't think the judge is going to be very understanding with this manipulation and the ex will end up paying more than he was before. But since he keeps dragging me back to court every other year and reverted to fraudulent behavior, I have no pity for him. Bike boy will be driving soon and the extra will help cover his insurance.

I had to provide my annual income for these legal proceedings and have determined this: social work has got to be the lowest paid professional job there is. Money wasn't my focus when I picked my career and I always had that drive to improve the human plight. Even though I lost some of the "save the world" idealism long ago, I still like what I do and help a tiny piece of humanity, even if they won't help themselves.

I'm also starting a new postion at work, I applied for (spent weeks on resume's, cover letters, references, interviews, whew) and got a higher level job. I will now be the second in command and responsible for training and policy leadership as well as working with the "confidential" clients - those clients who are so fraudulent or aggressive that they can only have contact with 1 single person in the Division. Wish me luck!

So riding has not happened for a few weeks and I'm still too tired today. I plan to start up again tomorrow morning at 5 a.m.

I am expecting another order from Mr. Beer to start a few more microbrew type of beers, I can't wait! The wheat beer is lagering for a few more weeks but I REALLY tempted to open one and try it. I know it won't be very good yet but I'm TEMPTED!!

I don't belong here

I shouldn't be here at home, I should be there. I couldn't get Monday off work so I couldn't go. Left behind while the boys play. At least I have my dog and my beer. Tonights pick: Alaskan Amber. Save your beer bottles, boys. Watch the video at the end of those post.

There is our cabin in the wilderness

Looking out over the frozen lake at the mountains in the distance.

The lake in the winter

In the summer (just for contrast)


Decorating friends who fall asleep


However, I'm not missing using the outhouse at 20 to 30 below 0.

Today's Weather
Low Temperature
-32.2°F
High Temperature
-19.0°F
High Wind Speed
0.0 mph
High Wind Direction
ESE
Low Wind Chill
-32.2 °F
High Barometer
29.409 in.
Low Barometer
29.376 in.
High Humidity
88%
Low Humidity
82%
Total Rain Today
0.00 in.
These are the temps from Lake Louise Weather. Our cabin is about 25 miles northeast of Lake Louise.

This is impressive. So, who is going to be the first one to try this?