2011 Has Arrived

2010 was a big year for us with Rachel graduating from high school and going off to college. Our lives didn't change much if any but I know we could all sense the closing of a chapter. But more than anything it's been an exciting time. One thing I'm especially grateful for in all of this is the technology that allows us to be just a text message away.

We've taken over her dance floor in the basement and officially turned it into our workout room. I moved our treadmill into it from out of the glass shop which helped to open that space up for me to better move around in. Charlie will have to find something else to stand on from which to taunt Toby and Allie. When I first got the treadmill I was still a runner but these days it's only being used for walking. My running days have been over for a while. That was something that took me a long time to come to grips with. I used to have dreams where I'd be running and they were the best dreams but they always left me a little saddened when I'd awake to realize they were only that—dreams.

My outdoor biking came to a snowy and abrupt halt November 18th with my last outdoor ride. I expected to get out more before the end of the year but I lost my motivation and never looked too hard to find it. I closed out the year with 6759 miles on the road and another 1128 on my rollers. I'm pleased with those numbers. Typically, the last several years have found me doing a considerable amount of outdoor winter riding and I hope to resume that soon enough but for now, I'm content in our basement on my rollers.

Mom continues to make steady progress. She's driving again and has more energy than she's had in months. One month ago I didn't have much hope that she would make it to see the new year. I couldn't be happier for her. Tammy's mother is in town for the next week and I brought her over to visit a few days ago.

We're (air traffic controllers) still waiting to see if we'll be exempt from President Obama's order to freeze federal wages for 2 years. Initially, it was thought that because we have a CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement as do US Postal workers who are exempt) that our raises would stand but I have yet to see anything definitive on it. Considering that we recently absorbed a 3-year pay freeze when no other federal workers did I would think that would be reason enough to give us a pass this go-around.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I fell asleep before midnight New Year's Eve.  But so did Tammy so I suppose that makes it okay. Between my sickness last week and coming off Prednisone, my energy levels have been at a low ebb for the past two weeks. I'm more than ready to reclaim my normal me again.

Every New Year's Day members of Minnesota Kite Society gather just down the road at North Park to do what they do—fly kites. Often, I would either forget to go watch them or I wouldn't notice they were out there until I drove by on my way to work but this year I made a point to mark my calendar and be there. I don't think I could've picked a more lousy year to finally have a look. A frigid temp of 5f and 25+ mph winds kept all but the most die-hard of their group at home. Still, it was interesting to watch. They'll be at Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis next Saturday where there's certain to be dozens of kites to photograph. Tammy is coming with me.

We had Tammy's family over New Year's Day for a late Christmas celebration. Her mother nearly stayed home in Babbitt fearing that the virus which had taken over our home last weekend may still be lingering. Tammy did a full disinfect of our home and gave the all-clear. The hit of the night was a game Rachel brought home that she's been playing at UMR with friends called Quelf. Watch the video below for Tammy's interpretation of a rapping prison guard who has no lips and whose knees are super-glued together.

2011 has arrived.