Done Painting the House, Finally

Randy prepping the final side

We are done painting the house, finally. It was a three year Odyssey, but, with Randy's help and motivation, we finally have finished with it.



This morning, I put the last coat of paint on the east side windows and trim. It was a strange feeling to step off the ladder knowing that I could wash my brush and then be done, not having to worry about not having the trim painted.



Hopefully it will be done until we die: we painted with Sherwin Williams Duration, which has a lifetime guarantee. We will see.



As a celebration, Randy, Isaac, Zoe, and I went down to the Daily Bagel for coffee and bagel sandwiches. Thanks Randy for all your help.

Another Tuesday Trip Over the Hill

Tuesdays are vegetable days and also lunch days with Nana. Yesterday we met Nana at Si Casa Flores on Barnett in Medford for some delicious Mexican food. I had Chile Verde, Nana had an enchilada and a tamale, and Zoe had a quesidilla which she took apart and then reformed into a burrito with chicken, rice and beans.

The food was pretty good, and Zoe got a baloon.

We picked up vegitables from Mary and Vince in Ashland, then headed back over the hill. The drive was fine, and Zoe slept right through unloading, and didn't wake until we arrived at Mazama for cross country.

Yesterday's workout was a good one: 2x800m, 4x400m, 5x300m cut-downs, and then a cool down as long as four miles. I didn't run as I had Zoe and still a sore shoulder. The kids, however, did pretty well (for the most part).

The Lone Pine

Yesterday we ran up to the Lone Pine on top of Hogsback Mountain just east of Klamath Falls with the cross country team. When I say we, I don't mean Zoe and I but the other coaches. Man, could you imagine running up a rocky dirt trail that is like climbing stair sometimes pushing a girlie? I told Amy in the morning that I could tie the stroller to my waist and pull her up...maybe I will try that some other day.

I made up in about 30 minutes. My calves were like rocks, but not the good kind, and my thighs hurt quite a bit, but overall it was a good experience. About half the kids made it to the top. Four of them didn't make it because they took the wrong trail (luckily they weren't lost for too long) and the rest just didn't have it. The view was great, something that I don't see that often now that we have Zoe. Soon, she will be strong enough to climb high with me and we will share those views.

Pictures that I couldn't upload eariler today

Zoe on Papahorse

Zoe spelled out her name (almost) by herself

Relaxing in the autum grass

Happy Monday

Happy Monday! We had a good weekend, though it was much too short. On Saturday morning, I awoke at 5:15 so that I could go to Eugene for the Northwest Classic xc race. We had a good day and many good performances, with most everyone having PRs. There was one incident that took away from the experience: one of our runners was hit on the head while he was (grrr) wrestling. We took him to the medical tent and had him checked out. The trainer said that he probably had a minor concussion and that we needed to look after him for the rest of the day. He felt much better by the time that we left for home and by the time that we got back to Klamath he seemed pretty normal (as normal as can be expected, anyway).

The funniest part about the whole thing is that when we came back to where our kids were sitting, telling them what the trainer had said, two of the kids were wrestling, again! I couldn't believe it. Not ten minutes before a kid had been bopped on the head hard enought to warrent a trip to the first aid station and here they were wrestling again! I was just a bit angry and told them to stop.

Yesterday, Sunday, was pretty uneventful. We spent the first part of the day at home, Amy resting, mostly. Then we went to Amy's parents for the afternoon, and dinner. Amy has traded all day sickness for all day fatigue. hopefully that will go away soon.

Well, Blogger.com is having problems uploading pictures this morning, so I will try again later.

First appointment with Rebecca

We slept in today, because Amy had her first appointment with Rebecca, our midwife. It went well, though it took awhile to get everything done; partially that was because it was the first visit and so there were many questions about personal and family health histories. Zoe went too, and she enjoyed herself, though she wanted to join the conversation sometimes when we were trying to listen to what Rebecca or Tara (her assistant) were trying to tell us. That was okay, though, I think that it helped her to understand what is happening to the family. Speaking of the family, Amy and I were talking last night about when we go to Alaska (not next summer but sometime in the not too distant future) with the "kids". Aaaaaah! In less than eight months, we are not only going to have a kid, we are going to have kids!

Rain is falling today. Really, we don't mind it too much, though the temperature is hovering around 40, which is a little cold this early in the year. Randy and I hadn't planned on doing any painting today, so that works out fine.

Zoe and I did, however, make it to the library...in the car. Everywhere she goes, she is recognized: one of the librarians knows her from the summer reading program (actually I think that many know her from the summer reading program), and also happens to have a daughter in one of Amy's classes. Today, we heard four stories, mostly relating to apples (though one was about farmyard animals) and then we made prints with cut apples. It was quite fun, and made me think about composition, as the picture is basically an abstract. The paint that we used stuck to our fingers, but when we rubbed it with a damp cloth, came off in little chunks.

No XC practice today, but a big meet tomorrow in Eugene.

I almost forgot, I put a link to Vanessa's Blog in the links list as well. Enjoy.

A good day so far.

So far today, we have been having a good day. Randy and I finished painting the north side of the house. The only think left is the east side: predicted finish date, next week sometime.

Zoe is laying in bed, but not sleeping. I will have to get her up soon.

My shoulder hurts a bit, probably from climbing around on ladders. It sure is healing fast, though. I am glad, because it is no fun having a hurt shoulder. Yesterday, I ran with the kids at xc, but couldn't go as far as I wanted because of the pain. It hurt on both the forward and back arm swing.

Zoe informs me that it is "time to get up," so I had better go get her. She still hasn't discovered that she can get out of bed on her own. Shhh, don't tell her.