Super Bowl XLII

We had a small gathering for the Super Bowl today, and it was a blast. The Nelsons, Moores, Walkers, and Skeens all came over again, and a good time was had by all. Dan dip was consumed, jello slurped, and shrimp popped. Rachel is an amazing cook.

The game was better than expected, and most of the room found themselves rooting for the underdog Giants as the game went on. The place practically exploded after David Tyree's catch.
I feel bad for Brian G. and the rest of the Patriots fans that I know, but they had a good run, and does anyone think they won't make the playoffs next year? So its hard to feel too sorry for them.

Once again we had an amazing time hosting our friends in our (not so new anymore) home. I feel very fortunate...

Enough with the Rain

I generally like the rain. But enough is enough.

After the debacle at Daley on Saturday, all I wanted was a chance to do another ride to redeem myself. But steady rains on Sunday killed any chances of that happening.

So I turned my hopes to tonight's hockey game, excited that I could get back on the rink after three weeks of because of holidays and bye weeks. But the rain again intervened.

I think I need to pick up some more indoor hobbies...

Adam, Daley, and Pibbs

Adam came down this weekend for a visit from the CHP Academy. It was the first time I had seen him since he left, and I was surprised to see that he had buzzed his hair! Apparently they make you do that at the Academy.

I had a MTB ride planned for today, and he said he could use the cross-training, so we gave it a shot. Details of the ride can be found at my other blog here. I'll let you check out the gory details over there.

Since we cut the bike ride short, we had a little extra time to do a little local Jeeping on a dirt utility access road near the house. I drive by the thing every day, and have wanted to explore up there for a while, so it was neat to see where it went. As I suspected, it did connect with South Lake Hodges. But after driving it, my dreams of biking to Hodges from home (at least by that route) were killed. It dirt access road was incredibly steep and rutted, and virtually impossible to do by bike. I was impressed at Adam's driving, the tight turns and steep dropoffs didn't even seem to faze him. My enthusiasm for Jeeping was somewhat dimmed, however, because I'm not sure I have his driving ability or confidence, and getting stuck out in one of those remote trails sounds like a nightmare to me.

Adam also brought me two cases of my beloved Pibb down from Sac. He actually had to check the bag they were carried in because of the new liquid restrictions on planes, but they made it safely and his efforts were greatly appreciated. I may even drink some of these ones, rather than merely hoarding them...

All in all it was a great visit with Adam. I'm proud of how he's doing at the Academy, which sounds absolutely brutal. And in a few months he'll be patrolling the highways somewhere in California, ready and willing to get me out of my speeding tickets...

AFC Championship Game

We hosted our HG and a bonus couple for the Chargers/Patriots AFC Championship game this afternoon. The Walkers, Nelsons, Moores, and Skeens all made the trek up to 4S to join us, and Rach and I had a great time watching the Patriots beat the Chargers (sorry!) and enjoying everyone's company.

Since the Broncos generally own the Patriots, I don't hate them as much as I do other AFC teams. Add the fact that the Chargers smoked the Broncos in both games this season, along with Rachel's geographic ties to the Pats, and my rooting interests were sealed. I didn't rub the result in any of the Charger fan's faces though...

Michelle made cookies, which we barely made a dent in, but the people at my work managed to kill off in two days. They were delicious, as are all of Michelle's desserts.

I really enjoy having people over, and wish that we lived closer to our friends so that we could do it more often. It means a lot to me when people are willing to make the drive up, because I know how much of a hassle it is for us to keep going to EC all the time.

With the hike yesterday, and good times with friends today, I'd say it was a good weekend.

Black Mountain Hike

This morning we went on a hike at nearby Black Mountain with the girls. The total distance according to my Garmin was 3.2 miles, and portions were pretty tough, but we had a great time overall.

We had some great views, and were even able to let the girls off leash for a little while when there were no other hikers around and the trail was narrow singletrack. At one point, when she was still on leash, Tia really wanted to chase some birds, so I don't know how that would have gone had she been unrestrained.



Every time we go hiking with them, we always resolve to do it more but somehow we never do. Hopefully that will change this time.

During the whole hike I kept trying to evaluate whether I could bike the trails we were walking. Many of them were extremely steep, and there were hills on both directions of the Miner's Loop. I'd like to try it, but I have a feeling there would be a ton of HAB.

Pibb Update

As I've resurrected the blog (who knows how long it will last this time,) I decided to go back and re-read some of my old posts. It didn't take long to get through all five of them.

However, for those who read Sacramento Trip Recap Part II (Pibb Run) from April of 2005, and are curious about the status of the Pibb, rest assured that Adam has finished all of his, and I have hoarded all of mine. My Pibb has survived two subsequent home moves, and with the exception of a well-meaning home group member snagging a can in March, remained untouched until Christmas Eve 2007. Then I gave Adam a Pibb for Christmas. Now I have 6 and 10/12fths cases left. GOD bless us every one.

As a postscript, Adam is currently at the CHP Academy in West Sacramento, training to be, well, a CHP Officer. He now has access to all of the Pibb he can drink, and I hope he brings me some home on his next visit.

No Time Like the Present

I'm blogging again. I'll be starting with the mundane, just to get back in rhythm. Hopefully once I'm in the habit of posting, what I write will be of some significance.

Rach and I had an amazingly productive weekend, and knocked out a bunch of stuff that had been lingering for a really long time. Here's my partial list:

• Cut the lawn and other yardwork;
• Bought tires for the Acura (finally!);
• Cleaned/organized the garage;
• Cooked lasagna rolls (all Rach);
• Cleaned carpet in living room/stairs;
• Cleaned and organized office.

Most or all of those things had been haunting me for a while, so it felt great to get them crossed off the list. What a relief.

We're hosting the monthly chapter of the Christian Legal Society at our place this Tuesday, which prompted the long-overdue carpet cleaning. I'm excited for the meeting, less because of the meeting itself and more because hosting events like this is one of the reasons we wanted for so long to have a "real house." So it makes me reflect on how fortunate we are to live where we do and have what we have.