From My Notes...
I'm sitting here, New Year's Eve, relaxing by the crackling fireplace with a glass of wine (oops...it's empty...brb) and my laptop. I don't know that life gets any more relaxing. Tammy has been in the office all afternoon and evening taking calls from people in search of medical assistance, sussing out their needs and coordinating any required help. Our most mild and brown winter is going to have a new look when we wake up in the morning as snow is falling heavily. I'm ok with that. I've got a new snowblower that is itching to show me what it can do as well as my Mukluk. They both thrive on snow. I'm becoming more accepting of it.
It's been a full week for us. Aren't they all? I'll typically make notes on my Bionic throughout the week of things I'd like to touch on in my blog and this week there's a long list. I won't get to them all. I've become more aware in recent years that less is more. It'll be difficult to hold true to that but I'll try.
Rachel took advantage of her Christmas break to have her wisdom teeth taken out on Wednesday. Oh no—did she take a shot at my blog while speaking her mind coming off the anesthesia? The razzing she received afterward seems somewhat of a rite-of-passage for people her age. It was all I could do the day after to look at her and not laugh—her cheeks were so big and swollen. She had friends Skyping with her all day Thursday to have a look and a laugh. She's a good sport! The photo to the left was from this afternoon after most of the swelling had gone down.
Rachel showed me a bizarre video she took in Rochester a couple of weeks ago. She and friends were driving back to their home when thousands of crows descended on the city. Almost like something out of the movie The Birds except these seemed maybe a little friendlier.
I took advantage of our unseasonably mild weather this week to begin taking down our outdoor Christmas lights. I finished the job this afternoon. I typically wait until after the first of the year but I wanted the job done and didn't want it looming over me until April as it did last spring. In case I never again hang as many lights as I've done in years past (a serious consideration), I thought I'd capture a little video of what our display usually looks like.
I was back out on my Mukluk yesterday for what I'd hoped would be maybe 35+ miles on the trails. I only managed just a little over 18 and not because I didn't want to be out there but because I took a fall on my left knee that had me pedaling in pain for the remainder of the ride.
In a stupid attempt to capture more video of my rides I failed to see a patch of ice that caught my front tire and brought me down before I realized what had happened. I knew right then that the GoPro camera I've had my eye on was a must-have if I'm going to continue to take video of my rides—and I intend to.
My GoPro should be in Wednesday's mail.
These cameras do a great job and have 5-star ratings but I've always had trouble getting beyond their geek factor. I just couldn't ever see myself with one mounted on my helmet. Not to worry. I came across a guy on a cycling forum I post to who takes some really nice video with the same camera but he uses a handlebar mount rather than the helmet mount. This I can do.
We went to a smaller venue last night in Burnsville (Burnsville Performing Arts Center) to see the BoDeans. Tammy realized a month after tickets had gone on sale that they would be playing but she still managed to get us some not-so-bad seats in the front row of the balcony. I was somewhat disappointed to learn when they took the stage that Sammy Llanas is no longer with them. I had no idea. The band revolves around two main performers, Kurt Neumann and Sammy. It was hard to imagine the band without either of them. Still, Kurt did a nice job of playing mostly some of the band's older tunes but with a couple of more recent ones as well. I've seen them many times in concert and while it was a good show, it just simply wasn't the same without Sammy.
Hopefully he'll find his way back someday.
We finished out the night at Mainstreet After Hours in downtown Lakeville—a coffee shop/wine bar that I've wanted to check out. We've been there a few times for coffees but never for a glass of wine. We took some seats next to a table by the gas fireplace and settled in. It was a little discouraging to see such a small crowd on a Friday night but the woman behind the bar assured us that they're usually quite busy but that this has been an off week. That's good to know. We really liked it and intend to go back there regularly. There's an atmosphere within that can't be found at some of the more generic stamped-out-franchise places that we typically frequent. Plus, I always enjoy supporting a local business!
Oh, I almost forgot...Happy New Year!
It's been a full week for us. Aren't they all? I'll typically make notes on my Bionic throughout the week of things I'd like to touch on in my blog and this week there's a long list. I won't get to them all. I've become more aware in recent years that less is more. It'll be difficult to hold true to that but I'll try.
Rachel took advantage of her Christmas break to have her wisdom teeth taken out on Wednesday. Oh no—did she take a shot at my blog while speaking her mind coming off the anesthesia? The razzing she received afterward seems somewhat of a rite-of-passage for people her age. It was all I could do the day after to look at her and not laugh—her cheeks were so big and swollen. She had friends Skyping with her all day Thursday to have a look and a laugh. She's a good sport! The photo to the left was from this afternoon after most of the swelling had gone down.Rachel showed me a bizarre video she took in Rochester a couple of weeks ago. She and friends were driving back to their home when thousands of crows descended on the city. Almost like something out of the movie The Birds except these seemed maybe a little friendlier.
I took advantage of our unseasonably mild weather this week to begin taking down our outdoor Christmas lights. I finished the job this afternoon. I typically wait until after the first of the year but I wanted the job done and didn't want it looming over me until April as it did last spring. In case I never again hang as many lights as I've done in years past (a serious consideration), I thought I'd capture a little video of what our display usually looks like.
I was back out on my Mukluk yesterday for what I'd hoped would be maybe 35+ miles on the trails. I only managed just a little over 18 and not because I didn't want to be out there but because I took a fall on my left knee that had me pedaling in pain for the remainder of the ride.
In a stupid attempt to capture more video of my rides I failed to see a patch of ice that caught my front tire and brought me down before I realized what had happened. I knew right then that the GoPro camera I've had my eye on was a must-have if I'm going to continue to take video of my rides—and I intend to.My GoPro should be in Wednesday's mail.
These cameras do a great job and have 5-star ratings but I've always had trouble getting beyond their geek factor. I just couldn't ever see myself with one mounted on my helmet. Not to worry. I came across a guy on a cycling forum I post to who takes some really nice video with the same camera but he uses a handlebar mount rather than the helmet mount. This I can do.
We went to a smaller venue last night in Burnsville (Burnsville Performing Arts Center) to see the BoDeans. Tammy realized a month after tickets had gone on sale that they would be playing but she still managed to get us some not-so-bad seats in the front row of the balcony. I was somewhat disappointed to learn when they took the stage that Sammy Llanas is no longer with them. I had no idea. The band revolves around two main performers, Kurt Neumann and Sammy. It was hard to imagine the band without either of them. Still, Kurt did a nice job of playing mostly some of the band's older tunes but with a couple of more recent ones as well. I've seen them many times in concert and while it was a good show, it just simply wasn't the same without Sammy.
Hopefully he'll find his way back someday.We finished out the night at Mainstreet After Hours in downtown Lakeville—a coffee shop/wine bar that I've wanted to check out. We've been there a few times for coffees but never for a glass of wine. We took some seats next to a table by the gas fireplace and settled in. It was a little discouraging to see such a small crowd on a Friday night but the woman behind the bar assured us that they're usually quite busy but that this has been an off week. That's good to know. We really liked it and intend to go back there regularly. There's an atmosphere within that can't be found at some of the more generic stamped-out-franchise places that we typically frequent. Plus, I always enjoy supporting a local business!
Oh, I almost forgot...Happy New Year!
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