October 30, 2008:  And we're back!  It's been a while and I'm not sure where to start.  Lisa got to take her bike on it's first ride Wednesday after work and she totally loved it, too bad it's so late in the season.  We've been busy but plan to get out and ride a few more times before Winter sets in, hopefully the weather holds for a few more weeks.  We had a ton of fun in Vancouver with Eric and Isabela and Stella got some good experience.  It was fun to travel with her and overall she was a very good dog, mostly because she was dead tired at night from all the excitement of the show and from playing with Leroy and Claire whenever she had a chance.  As for her performance in the ring, she didn't lick the judge's face but she did give everyone a few good laughs.  She's still a puppy and was just super happy to be there so she ran around the ring with her handler with her tail wagging and legs flying in all directions, not exactly a model Ridgeback :)  She got a blue ribbon for each day but only because she was the only dog in her class.  She got much better the second day and we're hoping by the next time we make it to a show she'll be all about getting around that ring just like the other dogs.  Claire won Best of Breed on Saturday and her sister Tye won it on Sunday, Sweet Creek ruled both days, Stella's in good company.  Lisa was fighting a horrible cold all weekend but was a trooper about it, she actually called in sick for the first time in the 8 years we've been together so it had to be pretty bad.  I started getting sick Monday morning at work and was sent home early so I wouldn't make the rest of the engineering team sick, all 2 of them.  I've been home sick ever since and I'm hoping that today is the worst of it because the Halloween party is tomorrow and I need to be in better shape than this.  Alice arrived Wednesday afternoon for the weekend and she's been helping us get ready for the party.  Oh, in case I never mentioned it we decided to have a party for Halloween and were able to put everything together for it in about 2 weeks.  The list of people attending is growing by the day and it's looking like we'll have a great turnout.  Anyway, that's about it for us, time to take some cold medicine and try to get a good night's sleep.  We'll try to get some pictures posted later in the weekend, have a happy Halloween! 

October 20, 2008:  Hey again, not a whole lot to report out this way.  It was a nice weekend, got some riding in on Saturday and did a whole lot of nothing the rest of the time.  I was able to get the last bit of work done at Thomas's place on the double oven installation we've had half done for over a month.  During the week Lisa and I did some mountain biking while the weather held.  She's been getting more into it so while I was picking up a part for one of my bikes she found a full suspension bike that fit her perfectly.  We shopped around a little and were able to get them to drop the price quite a bit because it was last year's model.  I picked it up over the weekend and made a few adjustments so it fits her just right.  She had to work all weekend but is off Wednesday so we're planning to take it on it's first ride that afternoon.  I added an entry for it on the 'Bikes' page and will add more pictures as she gets it more customized to her riding style.  It's going to need tires to start, the conditions here are quite wet most of the year and it came with tires that are most appropriate on hard packed, dry trails.  This weekend we'll be taking Stella to her first Dog Show down in Oregon, just outside of Portland.  It will be a show, that's for sure.  I'll consider it a win if she doesn't jump up and lick the judges face when he/she looks at her shoulders and teeth.  We'll try to get some pictures if that's allowed, we're new to this thing so it will be interesting to learn how it all works.  Well, I started this about 7 hours ago and have only made it this far so I'm going to call it quits for now and try to accomplish one thing for the day, have a great week. 

October 12, 2008:  Good evening everyone, it's been a while but like always not much is new out our way.  I had to work two nights this week and both of them were long ones, I didn't get home until after 4am each time.  Lisa worked a more normal week, everyone is back from vacation so she just had to stay a little extra a couple of the days.  I did a little yard work to clean up the back yard after the first bit of wind we got for the season.  I ended up filling up a 90 gallon trash can with just the stuff that fell from the trees, hopefully we don't get any larger storms this season, the wind can get pretty scary.  I also got around to figuring out how to mount a new topcase on the Vespa I ordered a couple weeks ago.  It was made for a motorcycle but fits perfectly on the back rack of the Vespa.  I may not keep it on there all the time but it will be perfect for putting snacks or drinks in for long rides or even a few groceries on a quick trip to the store.  I added some pictures to the Vespa page on the left if you want to check it out.  We went on a short hike with Stella on Saturday and she got to try out her new backpack and leash.  The pack is two pieces and even has water bladders inside like a Camelback.  She did really well with it even though it was empty this time, when she gets old enough we'll be able to put some water and food inside.  You can see Stella's page by clicking the picture, have a great week! 

October 6, 2008:  Hey everyone, hope you had a great Fall weekend.  We had an quiet and uneventfull week out here, the weather has started to change so we're spending much more time indoors.  I've started to pick up the yard a bit for Winter and to get it ready for more lawn next Spring.  I was able to get rid of about a hundred landscaping concrete blocks that used to create a border around the swing set that we got rid of a couple years ago.  It's amazing what you can sell on craigslist these days, I got cash for the blocks, they are being re-used, and I didn't have to pay to send them to a landfill somwhere, seems like a whole bunch of wins to me.  Lisa had this weekend off but worked a ton of extra hours last week to fill in for her manager being on vacation.  She needed the whole weekend to recover and got it because I went camping with some friends from work and wasn't around to bug her the whole time :)  We took the kayaks up to Ross Lake for three days and made an attempt to climb to the lookout tower on Desolation Peak while we were there.  It rained the entire time and I got more wet than I have ever been but it was still a good time.  I got in late last night and had to unpack everything, the tent bag had water dripping out of it when I took it out of the Element!  Lisa said that we got some serious wind and you can tell by the back yard, totally covered with small pine tree branches and pieces from the cedars as well, it will take me a couple hours to get it all raked and picked up, you can't even see the boards on the deck through it!  Hopefully it will be a quiet week around the house catching up on some chores and other stuff.  The weather is supposed to be quite wet until at least Thursday so maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a scooter ride Friday or over the weekend but it looks like the season is ending real soon.  My brother sent more pictures of Elle so I created a link under 'Us' to the left, as he sends more you'll be able to find them there.  Isabela also sent us a picture of Stella from when she was four to five weeks old so I added that to her section.  Enjoy the new photos and have a great week.