Pergola

Not much progress, but baby steps. A few beams on the pergola. Cost: one slightly bloodied nose.

Thanks for driving out to Milford, peeps. Had too much fun to stop and take pictures.

Meredith, thanks for going to our tiny church with us today!!

A step and a bunch more bricks

Progress report:

Step: Installed. Going to need another piece of flagstone but it's looking good. In case of tornado, hide under it...it's going nowhere. Steve, prepare to do some REALLY big adjustments!

Patio: Coming along. Ian is perplexed that the smores aren't ready...but, I shall build no fire before it's time.

I think we'll have this finished before the five year anniversary of acquiring the bricks. Linus, on the other hand, wonders what's become of the world's largest litter box.

Peace. Out. Yo.

A few bricks closer to smores!

For all you haters who said we'd never get it done...
A little progress, perhaps:

From this:

To this:

The fire pit ended up a wee bit deeper than I pictured it in my mind. It will be known as "The Fire Pit of Doom."

Okay, so it's not actually done...but still, we're getting there. Somebody find those buffalo/jalepeno brats for the grill. Kimberly's already purchased the smore supplies.

Note: Don't smash your finger between a hammer and a brick. It (the finger, not the brick) swells to about the size of a volleyball and turns Milford Purple.

It's off to Laramie tomorrow for the sufferfest:

Four new little ones

So, Heidi has been feeling a little "large" lately.

"Does this porch make me look fat?"

Elise went out bright and early, as always, to feed Heidi and Linus. To her great surprise, Heidi was having her kitties right on the table in the garage!

Elise and Mom ran quick and got a blanket and a box and put Heidi and the two new kitties in the kennel.

By the end of the day there were four brand new kitties.

Three of them look just like Sylvester. The fourth looks just like Heidi, but with gray patches instead of black.

The Wiener Dog is curious, but approving. Heidi is less than eager to let the Wiener Dog show his affection for the little ones.

You had better come out and see them!

Peace. Out.

Psycowpath 2: Swanson Shootout

Okay, just deleted a really long race report. Aaaaaack!

Short version: rode really hard; felt pretty sick; sprinted in for first place by one second.

Maybe I'll retype the report, but don't stay up late waiting. :)


Jason leads the way


Somewhere out there...




Style points round to zero


Am I really that short?

Today's ride...for our good friend, Caleb

Sup, Caleb? Today's ride was conducted in your honor. 50 miles of wet, cold gravel so I could get these pictures for you:

So cool they named a whole town after him. You are the man, Caleb!

This road seemed like just as bad an idea when I reached the other end as it looked from here.

The Lemond will never be the same...what are those crunchy noises coming out of the drivetrain?

Last weekend was much nicer. 45 miles on the road bike to Crete and back...toasty warm, a rest stop to watch the Doane track meet...delicious turkey and havarti sandwich. Let's get back to that weather, shall we?

Race Report: Psycowpath 1

Race #1 for the season: Psycowpath Maskenthine--near Norfolk, NE. Nice cool day with a wind that just kept on giving. Gusting strong in the early races...got much stronger as the day progressed.

First race of the year, so had no idea what class to ride in. Thought I'd try my age group to see how the fitness was progressing. Rolling the singlespeed El Mariachi, 32X17; new Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4's.

Norfolk is a lot further than I thought. The extra stop to buy McD's sausage bisquits for Ian nearly cost me. Signed in at the last possible second and headed straight for the start line. No warm up at all. Checked with Millhouse, who was actually disciplined enough to show up on time and preride. Thanks for the pointers, pal.

Typically these things are just anaerobic from the gun. Open class got about a minute head start then they sent the age groupers off. I just stood up and pedaled hard on the long gravel climb to the singletrack. Kept waiting to get passed by the guys with gears...nothing. Half-way up the climb I took a look around and saw I had a big gap. Huh, that's different. Kept hammering and got a clean shot into the singletrack.


The gravel road start

First technical section by the creek was pretty soft, but really fun. A few logs to hop, some nice ups and downs, and a rocky little stream crossing. Started catching open class riders in this section, many of whom were walking the stream crossing. Rang the little brass bell (I love that thing!) and squeezed by, riding all the way through.


Exiting the technical section

On the first open section I was catching a lot of riders. Found my good friend Millhouse looking good in his first race on that Red Salsa El Mar...felt a few pangs of jealousy as Ian tells me Justin's bike looks way better than mine. Dang.


Out in the open

Right before the trail re-enters the trees I caught the last of the open class racers. Passed the last four on the hill into the trees. I assumed I'd just swap the lead with them for a while, take a breather and gather myself. Again, looked back and found a gap. Decided to just press the advantage and see who followed. To my surprise, they just let me ride away.

Pushed the rest of lap one pretty hard hoping to get a nice solid lead going and discourage the chasers. Out of the technical section the second time, Ian was waiting with the camera. He must have run four miles to get all the great shots he captured. He told me I had a one minute lead on the second place rider. The open section with all the switchbacks lets you get a good view of those chasing you. By the end of the section I could see that my lead was holding steady. Decided to throttle back a ways in case I needed something at the end.

Ended up stretching the lead out and winning by about three minutes.


Photo credit: Tom Winfield

Conclusion #1: The last month of pain and suffering at the hands of sadistic spin instructors really paid off. I was so much stronger than in race one last year. Conclusion #2: I've got a long ways to go to be in position to succeed at Laramie. Conclusion #3: Great equipment set-up, mostly. I love that Salsa...only got to race the rigid fork once last year and got worked over pretty good. Much better this time. Singlespeed hurts...but it's a good hurt. Used an H2O bottle instead of pack...jury still out...much easier to grab the tube and gulp than to wait for a convenient place to hydrate. Tires: fabulous...trail condition were about perfect, but these are definitely the race tires for me this season.


Relaxing with Millhouse

Next up: Swanson, May 3. I love that place.

Hmmm...break the silence

The world cries out for more insight from the Wiener Dog. The Wiener Dog hears you, world.

...Okay, the Wiener Dog just realized...he has nothing to say. So, how about a little photo dump with commentary?



The Tigger finishes up her volleyball season. You think that smile is big...you should have seen the one on her parents when the season ended!

Ian getting jiggy with it. Does he enjoy dancing a little too much? I gotta cut loose--footloose.

Is Ian auditioning for a part in the Donner Summers reunion tour? No, he's Pharaoh in the school musical. Dude, let my people go already.

Musings of an angry dog

I seem to be home alone...a lot. Those kids and their sports mean I get stuck in a kennel way more than a wiener dog should. But I'll have my revenge...they'll find it in the most surprising places.

Hmmm. Updates...

The basement: Progressing

The peeps: A birthday party at the big park can't be bad.

Tate: gotta love that tunnel, eh pal? Don't worry, little dude. The swelling in uncle Robb's lip is almost gone now.

The volume: Way too loud...isn't there an instrument that can be played in silence?

The games: Elise's serve is feared far and wide. Ian's 'D' is not something you want a part of...he gets five fouls and they don't carry over to the next game...just hand him the ball and no one gets hurt.

That's it for now...so,

Peace. Out.

How 'bout a little skating?

Okay...trying a video post. Will it work?

Just a little taste

It's difficult to convey in words (I'm a dog after all) the sheer chaos that is our basement. So, for your edification, here are some pictures of it's latest state.



Meredith: you were right...Robb WAS covered in paint!

Builders: 1, Scoffers: 0

You know who you are...you scoffers.
Behold, the bookcase.
At this pace, we're looking at a Spring 2010 grand opening.

Testing...1...2...3...

'sup, 'sup, y'all?

The Wiener Dog is going into serious hibernation mode...this cold is just not right

We've been a bit lazy, but slowly getting a few things done. Bought the giant TV...now just need to get in gear so there is somewhere to watch it.

Had a smallish run-in with an unwelcome guest the other night. Turns out, possums don't really fear the wiener dog. They're not that impressed with slingshots, either.

Enjoy the snow, you people!

Peace. Out.

The Iceman Cometh

It's getting cold!! If you're a Wiener Dog, you already know the solution to this problem: You stay inside 24/7


If you're a human, you have far less attractive solutions:


Seriously, a jacket? Can't a Wiener Dog at least have his dignity?

At least Sage still respects me...or is that pity in her eye?


You already know what I'm thinking: if you stuck me in this jacket, you had better fear the Wiener Dog.

For now,

Peace. Out.

Hey, Nana...thanks for the party!

Okay, peeps. So that was a pretty good party. Thanks, Nana...you're the best!

Couple of quick notes:

Coco and Coconut cupcakes do not mix.

That's okay though...she just spits it out in Uncle Robb's hand.

Tate and YaYa were digging the porch swing.

Sage and I have worked out a deal: we've traded beds.

My new bed:

Sage's new bed:

I think we're both pretty pleased with the arrangement.

Have a great week, y'all. Thanks for lettin' a Wiener Dog hang with you today.

Peace. Out.

Testing...1...2...3...

The Wiener dog recognizes that he's carrying the dreams of so many on his slim (yet handsome) shoulders. So, for his lax posting, he apologizes. Sometimes inspiration comes easy...sometimes, not so much.




Is my life exciting? Not at all. It's hard to maintain that rugged, tough-guy image that I value so much, when Tigger is constantly posing me with flowers.

The volleyball must be taking it's toll on Elise. Here's how we found her spending her Saturday:

I think she was worried about a swarm of rogue killer bees.

Ian's football season is over...a pretty fair year, all told. Played nearly every down on both sides of the ball. When you lead the team in tackles from the safety position, that doesn't bode well. Still, scored a few touchdowns, recovered some fumbles...not bad. Thing is, when you're a football star, the women just won't leave you alone.

I know that I'm a bad, bad dog...I'll try to do better on my posting...promise.

For now...Peace. Out.