La Milagrosa

Two Saturdays ago we went to La Milagrosa canyon to climb. It is called 5.11 heaven because of the abundance of hard climbs. It really is beautiful.

Ryan on a 5.10B "warm up". These climbs are very fun, and hard.

Our Gang. Mike Leonard, Ryan, Shannon, Terry Leonard, and Galen. It would be difficult to find a finer bunch of people to climb with.

Wasson Peak

Last week Ann and I took Mitch and Kate and hiked to the saddle on Wasson Peak. It is one of my favorite hikes. It always brings back good memories because I have done it with some of my favorite people. Sometimes, especially when I am alone, I think "I remember hiking this part in the dark with Mike", or "I remember when so and so threw up in that prickly pear". Good times. Above is the Crested Saguaro.

Ann, Mitch and Kate at the saddle. Mitch got out of his carrier, walked around a little bit, and we played ball.

Do you think we had a good time?

Bouldering

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Boulder at my friends Dave and Shannon's bouldering wall. They have a very cool setup. It is 12x16, and Dave works at Summit Hut so there are tons of holds on it.

Here is Dave showing his home wall advantage.

Ryan needs no advantage. He is always strong (especially since he is done with the Interferon)!

Claire takes a burn between doing homework math problems. Apparently Dave was unhappy that his wife Shannon beat us all in a game of Bouldering Pig.

AZ Snow

The kids had a half day a couple of weeks ago, and Amy had a headache. I took them up Mt Lemmon to play in the snow. We ended up only having an hour, but the kids managed to get plenty wet and cold. (What kind of idiot wears shorts to play in the snow?)

Caitlin riding the shovel down the hill.

Philip's turn on the shovel.

Music for 2/22/2010

This is the only way I can stand a Brittany Spears song. A cover of Hit Me Baby One More Time by August Burns Red.

Valentines Day 2010

Every year my wife knows what to expect for Valentines Day. I started a tradition on our first Valentines Day seventeen years ago. She looks forward to her gift every year even though she knows what it is. It's a brand new toilet brush. I know it doesn't sound very romantic but she loves it. You see, I decided early on that whenever she did something to make me angry I would go cut an inch off the handle on her toilet brush. By the end of the year there wasn't much handle left. That makes a full length handle seem like a real treat. Remember guys, you can never set the bar to low.

My friend David posted this on facebook yesterday. I didn't know before I saw the flowchart, but that is how try to I live. If I'm not happy I make a change. It's amazing how something as simple as getting together with some friends to climb, going for a run, or ice cream can change my whole outlook.

Punk......

I don't think I will ever completely out grow it. I may be the only one that will appreciate this week's music pick.

How to Ruin a Saturday

Yesterday Amy and I went for a short trail run. She hadn't had time to run much during the week, and I was trying to finish up my arbitrary mileage number that I think I need to run. We were just cruising along and the next thing I know she hit the ground..............hard.

When she righted herself she took a quick look at her knee. Then she went into freak out mode. I talked her down, helped her up, and we walked three quarters of a mile back to the truck. Fortunately we were never more than two or three miles from the truck at any given time on the trail we were running.

On the way to the truck I told her that she was going to need some stitches, she would get a Tetanus shot, and that she wouldn't be able to run for a couple of weeks. We got to the truck, made a few quick phone calls, and took pictures with my cell phone.

We had a great doc. He is a runner too. He reminded me a lot of Kent. He told Amy "You'll need some stitches, get a Tetanus shot, and you won't be able to run for a couple of weeks." He talked and joked with us the whole time he was working on her knee. He even let me look at her patella. Now that was cool. Maybe I should have been a Doc. If it just wasn't for the whole having to be smart thing.

Eight stitches later Amy is good as new. I am a little jealous because she is going to have such a great scar. I'm a little sad that she wouldn't even look at her own patella. She missed all the fun.

Official Product Endorsement

I hesitated to post this ugly closeup of my face with an even uglier cold sore. I figured that I had already run off all but two of my readers anyway, so why not? I get cold sores ever so often, and several years ago I was getting them way to often. I would get rid of one and another one would pop up. They hurt, are ugly, and would take about 4 weeks to completely heal. I made an appointment with the doctor, and made a list of all of my ailments. I do that. I get a list of stuff I need checked out, save it up and write it down, and then go get scolded by my doctor for not coming in sooner. It always makes me feel like a little kid, and I'm usually half way home before I remember that they are working for me. The doctor asked who in my family had cold sores, and to go thank them for passing them on to me. So thanks Mom. Then he wrote me a prescription. The prescription was for a drug called Valtrex. I highly recommend the stuff if you suffer from cold sores. I got one two weeks ago, and it is probably the worst one I ever had. From the time I noticed it, it only took about thirty minutes to grow to the size of a dime. I ran home, took my pill (it is a big pill too), and it was already getting better the next day. My only recommendation is that if you need a prescription for Valtrex you should send your significant other or BFF to pick it up for you. Since it is the same drug that they use to treat Herpes, well, um, you know, down there, the girls at the pharmacy will look at you funny. Just don't tell them what it is they are picking up for you.