11th place in Cherry Creek Sneak

I ran the Cherry Creek Sneak 5k (3.1 mile) race this morning in 19 minutes, 11 seconds. That was good enough for 11th place overall, and 2nd in my age division (35-39 year old males). Apparently I'll receive a "commemorative award" by mail for being in the top 3 for my age group. That's also about 20 seconds faster than I ran the same race 8 years ago. Not a bad way to start a chilly April morning.

Gum and Sukrz

What do you get when a 4 (almost 5) year old boy, who is learning to spell phonetically, writes his own grocery list?

gum
sukrz

(a.k.a. "suckers")
What else could a growing boy like Andrew need???

Spring ride on Green Mountain

Yesterday I went for a bike ride after work on Green Mountain with Matt Good and his buddy Dom. It was a beautiful Spring day in Colorado with sunshine and 75 degrees, but the wind was howling at about 30+ mph. Riding uphill into the wind is a good workout. It's a good thing we got our ride in yesterday because by this afternoon, it's supposed to be raining and snowing.

Running uphill

I signed up for 2 races again this summer: the Mt. Evans Ascent in June and the Pikes Peak Ascent in August. I've been training all winter, but it's time to kick into high gear now and see if I can beat my times from last year!

Happy 2nd Birthday Elizabeth!

Elizabeth is 2 years old today - tax day - so her birthday is easy to remember. We had a party for her on Sunday with all of her grandparents plus her Uncle Jason and Aunt Jan. Most of her gifts were girly-girl things - necklackes, cute dresses, pink sunglasses, and lot of barrettes for her hair, which is shoulder length now and growing fast. Her Uncle Erik gave her a puffer-fish stuffed animal that makes a "boing" noise when it hits something. She had tons of fun with it last night; she picks it up, says "boing", then throws it down and giggles excitedly when it makes it's noise.

The duplex is rented

Yesterday we ended our quest to find renters - we signed a lease and collected a deposit from a family that will move in on May 1st. They have family living down the street, so we hope that means they stay for a while. It's quite a relief to know we don't have to answer the phone and show the house anymore - at least not for another year. And thanks to craigslist, it didn't cost us anything to advertise.

Adventures of Mr. Mom

Amy is on a business trip in Kentucky until Friday evening, so look out, kids, I'm Mr. Mom for the rest of the week! That's right - I have sole responsibility for waking, dressing, packing lunch, driving to day care and preschool, picking up from said locations, feeding again, playing games with, putting pajamas on, and tucking into bed -- for 2 kids. Of course, I get to enjoying playing with them for a short time each evening before bed. Tonight, I cooked up spaghetti, and let them watch Shrek 2 while I ate my own meal and cleaned up. Thank goodness for DVDs. Amy (bless her heart!) made a big batch of chili on Monday before she left, so I shouldn't need to cook dinner for the rest of the week.

Andrew is really sad that mommy isn't here and doesn't understand why he couldn't go with her. Hopefully he won't be scarred for life.