Jiminy Cricket!

I forgot to mention crickets in my most recent post. We have a large dirt pile left over from garage construction. It's awaiting our next project: landscaping the back yard. This summer, a colony of crickets took up residence in the weeds that are growing there. They sing all day and all night. We think it's charming.

A month or so ago Carol found a cricket in the basement. He wasn't feeling too well we think and wasn't singing. A few days ago when I retrieved the newspaper from the front porch and unfolded it there was a cricket resting inside. I released him in the back yard. Finally, last night another one was hanging out on the stairs to the basement and singing away. I caught him in a cup and put him back outside where he belongs.

We also seem to get a lot of spiders in the house this time of year. I noticed that early last fall, too. They must seek warmth when the nights get cooler.

Mutter. Ouch.

Mutter. Ouch.

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Ah, a weekend day with the kids. I've missed that while working hard on the garage. Today the girls and I went to breakfast with my friend (and garage architect) Jason. After breakfast we dropped Jason back at home and we continued on to the Woodland Park Zoo. We had a great time with no plan or schedule - I just followed the kids wherever they wanted to go for three hours. We spent most of our time at the "farm" and in the "habitat loop" which is really a playground. It has a concrete "burrow" that kids can run through and climb on and into and out of. And the area also has a spider web made out of rope that kids can climb and turtle shells they can climb into and slides that are supposed to mimic otter habitat. I think we spent about 90 minutes there.

As we drove away from the house Audrey asked why Carol wasn't coming, too. I said, "Mommy needs some Mommy time." Audrey thought about that for a few minutes and then said, "I think Charlotte needs some Charlotte time."

A few weeks ago for some unknown reason Audrey started referring to Carol as "mutter". I'm not sure what Carol thinks of it (especially since she hears it at least 1000 times a day) but I think it's kinda cute.

Charlotte's main word these days is "ouch", said with two syllables like E.T. She said it to me several times this morning while I was fixing her hair (I don't think I was hurting her, she usually likes it when I fix her hair).

Carol and I have been designing storage for the studio. We used a cabinet system design tool that one can download from Ikea. We designed what she wanted, but we were shocked and depressed when the tool computed the total price. Today we realized we had accidentally selected an expensive finish. When we fixed that the price dropped almost by half. Whew! The cabinets are going to look great and give Carol plenty of flexible storage.

2007 MS Bike Tour

2007 MS Bike Tour

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On September 8-9, I rode the Washington edition of the MS Bike Tour, a fundraiser for the National Mutliple Sclerosis Society. It is a two day ride with 50, 75 and 100 mile options on Saturday and 50 and 75 mile options on Sunday. Like last year I rode with Team Copaxone, organized by Maureen “Mo� Manley. Mo is a former elite level cyclist who was selected for the 1992 US Olympic Team before being diagnosed with MS.

The ride is centered in the town of La Conner, a small former fishing village that is now full of artists, galleries and quaintness (there are still a few fisherman, too). It's a wonderful place to hang out and is surrounded by scenic farmland, forests and shoreline.

This year the weather forecast (and the actual weather) couldn't have been more perfect: temps in the high 70s and lots of sunshine. I didn't even pack any warm cycling clothing with me.

I've been so busy on the garage (see "Garage Complete") that I haven't ridden any long rides at all since STP on July 14. I've still been commuting, which is great for aerobic conditioning but doesn't do anything for endurance. So I knew this ride would be a bit of a stretch.

Saturday's route heads from La Conner to Anacortes, then down the shore to Deception Pass and onto Whidbey Island. We did a big loop on the island (we chose the 100-mile route this year) and then headed back to Deception Pass. It's a pretty hilly route with some serious wind in places, so it's fairly demanding. I dropped my chain at mile 76 and bent a link. I could have fixed it, but it would have taken a while and I didn't want to hold up the team. There was a support truck right there, so I threw my bike in and got a ride back to La Conner. I was a little bummed not to get a full century, but I was also tired. I bought a new chain from the mechanic at the rider village and was good to go for Sunday.

Saturday evening they hold a program in a big tent in the rider village. Several people with MS speak and tell their stories and express their gratitude for the riders and the money they raised. It is very moving and inspiring. Last year I raised the minimum of $250, but the program last year inspired me to aim higher this year. My goal was $1000 and I ended up raising almost $1200. Thank you to all my generous friends and family! The ride overall is expected to raise $1.4 million. There were almost 1800 riders.

Sunday the route is quite different. It starts out with about 25 miles through flat farmland, then goes through some rolling terrain and past beautiful Lake Samish. Then it turns onto Chukanut Drive, which is considered one of the prettiest roads in the state. Lunch is at mile 50 in Larrabee State Park about half way down Chukanut Drive. A few more miles along the bluff and the road spills out into farmland again for about 15 miles back to La Conner. The winds can be pretty fierce in the fields.

We had a fast group of about 15 riders for most of the day. For much of the day we were riding in a double paceline. That is my favorite sensation in cycling - riding along in a fast double paceline with a bunch of riders you know and trust. It's feels so smooth and graceful (and did I mention fast?). It's also very social. The scenery was spectacular and the weather was fine. Just a heavenly day.

My lack of miles caught up to me at about mile 68 when we started making occasional turns into the wind. Eventually I dropped off the group about 4 miles from the finish - my legs just couldn't accelerate with the group any more. But I kept up a good steady pace anyway and came into the finish very shortly behind the team.

I'll definitely be back next year. So expect to be hit up for money again.

If you are really into photos of this event, you can find more from Laura, Mo and Dave.

Garage "Complete"!

Garage "Complete"!

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The building permit for the garage and studio was set to expire on September 7. So since STP in mid-July I've been working really hard to get the prioject ready for final inspection by the deadline. That meant some final framing to support drywall; a few wiring changes; installing insulation; hanging taping and mudding drywall in the studio; hanging and mudding drywall for the fire-rated north wall of the garage (due to proximity to the property line); installing the plumbing fixtures and many other details.

My previous post ("I'm a Drywaller!") was a bit premature. As I suspected, hanging is the really easy part. Taping and mudding is a pain in the keester. Part of my problem was that the advice of the book I bought and people I talked to didn't sink in: don't sweat the neatness of the mud in the first two coats. Just slop it on and it'll all work out when you sand it. So I probably took about twice as long taping the studio as necessary. The benefit of that, however, was that I had very little sanding to do. We decided to try a "smooth wall" finish (meaning no texture whatsoever - just paint on the drywall). That can be hard to achieve (you pay pros a lot extra for it) and I thought my job might not look too good. But once I painted it we realized that my job was pretty much perfect. I'm quite proud of it. You can't see a single joint.

The plumber who did the rough-in unfortunately had a stroke a few weeks ago. He's recovering, but obviously was not going to be available to do the finish work. After worrying about how it would get done and asking questions of my dad and brother-in-law Frank I figured out I could do that all myself. The sink installation in particular was tedious, but I got it all installed eventually. Now we can stop moving the sink (in the box) out of the way everytime I want to work on something else :).

Carol did some research on floors and ended up choosing a click-together cork product. It met our budget and Carol's desire for a floor she could abuse without feeling guilty, and it should provide a little cushion while she stands at the easel.

We passed the final electrical and plumbing inspections on September 5 and scheduled the final for September 6. I was nervous about it, but the inspector came at the very end of the day and I think he just wanted to get home. He gave me one simple correction to make, but signed off on the final. He was very friendly (as was I) and seemed not to remember the big argument we had way back when he was failing us four times for no reason on the foundation forms.

Having the building permit closed out is a huge monkey off my back. Now I can do the remaining work as I have time. The studio is very close to completion. It needs cabinets and trim, and Carol and I are designing a system that will be a large work table that is hinged to the wall to fold up, with a easel on the back of it that can be used when the table is stowed.

August at Home

August at Home

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Ever since the STP bike ride on July 14, I've devoted pretty much all my spare time to getting the garage "finished" (see "Garage Complete"). The building permit, which is valid for 18 months, was set to expire on September 7 and while it is a simple matter to extend it I wanted to use that as a deadline for myself. I made it, but it meant not having much fun with the family on weekends or evenings for more than six weeks.

Carol, wonderful as always, took up the slack on the parenting front. We usually alternate which child each of us puts to bed every evening (because Audrey is a much bigger time investment), but many evenings during this push Carol put both girls to bed and cleaned up the kitchen (usually my job, since she cooks). Audrey is showing the effects of Dad-deprivation - she is obviously in need of some individual attention. I'm working on that now.

Audrey is substantially potty trained at this point. We still have the nightime part to deal with but during the day she pretty much has it down. Audrey started her third year at the Phinney Co-op Preschool this morning. She now goes three days a week from 9:30-noon. Carol only has to work one of those days, so she can get a little more free time now if she puts Charlotte in the inexpensive day care at the preschool or takes her to Grandma's house.

Charlotte is still being pretty stubborn about talking. That's a little behind the curve age-wise, but nothing to worry about yet. As everyone who spends time with our family knows, Charlotte doesn't have to talk. Her index finger and the noises she makes suffice to get her pretty muich anything she needs. She does say a new word now and then. The other day she said "apple." I've tried coaxing her to say the word for whatever object she wants at the moment, but that just makes her angry. It seems pretty clear that she is choosing not to talk. If she only knew how much easier life would be for her if she communicated with words. Oh well, she'll figure it out.

Carol is the chair of Audrey's preschool class this year. She had a ton of organizational work to do in the month before school started today. Yesterday was her big meeting to get it all finalized and delegated and she's very glad to be over that hump. She worries about every detail but of course does an excellent job.