Quilt, part 2

But here's the real reason Jordan's quilt was so remarkable...

I love playing catch. Probably because it was one of the few activities I felt like my dad and I could enjoy together in my formative years. There's just something about the sound of baseball smacking a leather web that's almost magical to me. I've played catch with TLC for years (even during all three pregnancies) and now the boys are old enough to play. I have seriously been choked up after playing catch with my boys a few times.

So you can imagine how great I felt when I saw Jordan's favorite thing to do:

I promise it doesn't say doll. We'll just have to work on those lowercase b's

The 'playing ball' pic is middle-right. Jordan specifically pointed out that it is a picture of him playing catch with me. I give him an A+.

Pioneer Century 2011

Someday, in the far future, I'll look back on last Saturday as one of the dumbest, the craziest, the most painful, the most awesomest things I've ever done. I biked my first century ride (100 miles); it's the biking equivalent of running a marathon...and I'm happy to be alive.

and all I got was a lousy photo

Truth be told, this has been a goal of mine for quite some time. I've ridden over a thousand miles in preparation for this century, and I was really excited to finally give it a go...but it was much harder than I anticipated. I had the most fun 55 miles of my life on a bike; too bad the ride was 102 miles.

Here are the important stats:

Total Distance = 102.21 miles

Total Time = 6:51:57

Average Speed = 14.8 mph

And here's a mile-by-mile log of highlights/lowlights and a few more stats:

Mile 0 - Man, these bike events are cool. Lots o' cool and weird bikes to ogle and stories to hear. I fill up on free granola and yogurt, say goodbye to the wifey, and head out at 7:45.

Mile 12 - As I'm zooming by beautiful farmland with Mt Hood in the background, I start to notice painful spasms (like charley horses) in my calf muscles. I stretch them out as best as I can, but I start to get a little worried - I've never had this problem before. Turns out they stayed painful for the next 68 miles.

Mile 17 - I start to feel more bumps through my bike. I wonder if my rear tire is losing air, but it doesn't get worse, so I don't check until after the ride is over. Turns out it was a flat (oops...).

Mile 20 - We start climbing the 3-mile ascent of the largest hill of the course. Which brings me to my next stat:

Total Elevation Gain = 4414 ft

This particular hill was so killer that I didn't see anyone biking over 9 mph. I saw one lady fall off her bike onto the roadside in agony and say "I just wanted to get to the top!"

Mile 25 - This was the coolest part of the ride. That giant hill we just climbed? Time to go down the other side. It was a fairly technical descent and I had to apply the brakes a few times to ensure I'd make the turns. Even so, I went faster than I've ever gone on a bike:

Maximum Speed = 49 mph

If I had known how close to 50 I had been, I would have eased up on the brakes!

Mile 48 - This is where the headwind started. That foul, nasty headwind that everyone started complaining about the rest of the day. It never left.

Mile 50 - Here's where I saw a guy hop off his bike and puke on the roadside. That's when I first realized "What I am doing is stupid! And I kinda love it!" This is also around the spot where people stopped saying "hi" while passing each other.

Mile 55 - A wonderful fajita lunch. Most people don't go on for the remaining 45 miles, so it's a celebratory atmosphere at lunch. Around this time, eating becomes a chore; a necessary evil. This was my fourth large meal of the day. Why so much food? Here's my next stat:

Calories Burned (estimated) = 6970

That's the equivalent of eating ALL of this:

...and still having enough room to eat an In-N-Out burger, fries, and shake.

Mile 70 - Here's where I noticed that my body was having trouble regulating temperature. I was frozen in the wind, and boiling in the heat at the same time. I was showering myself with water and ended up running out of liquid a few miles before the next rest stop. How hot was it?

High Temperature = 94

It was the hottest day of the year so far, actually. My hottest training ride before this was probably 68 degrees.

Mile 82 - I got to the last rest stop and realized that I could not force myself to eat anymore. I knew I'd be out of energy by the end, but I couldn't shove down more than two pineapple slices. My legs no longer hurt, but I think it's because my body went into survival mode; goosebumps spread all over my skin, and my thought processes started to slow down. My biking pace slowed 20%.

Mile 100 - Holy crap! I did it! Look at me, Mom, I biked a century! But...wait a second...where's the end of the route? Nowhere in sight. I keep pedaling and hoping for the end (or death, whichever comes first). I saw another large hill in front of me and I almost went berserk.

Mile 102.21 - I finally make it back. I see my wife snapping shots and my boys run out to greet me. I don't think they'll ever understand how happy I was to see them.

Wow. I will never, ever do this again.

Until next year, that is.

Last Bump

Any day now...

The due date is the 23rd.

Japanese Garden

We finally visited the Japanese Garden in Forest Park a few weeks ago. Forest Park is an amazing place. You'd never guess that somewhere in all those rolling hills and trees that there's a zoo, an authentic Japanese garden, an arboretum, the International Rose Test Garden, children's museum, war memorial, etc.

I think the boys enjoyed this garden a bit more than the Chinese garden because there was a scavenger hunt with a prize at the end. We didn't have to worry about them being bored the whole time because of the promised reward (which ended up being a bookmark...lame).

I don't have any stories to tell, but here are some pics of the trip.

Dude, Where's My Pond?

One of the few good things about our dinky apartment is the view. We easily have the best view in the entire complex, or out of any apartment we've ever been in before.

The above shot was taken from our balcony, May 19, 2010. TLC (The Lovely Cynthia) remembers taking it because of the rainbow that day. Our pond is beautiful. Frogs, ducks, geese, a beaver dam, and NO mosquitoes.

Just a few weeks before this picture was taken, there was a large rainstorm. Now I'm not talkin' about a typical Portland rain here...more like the flooding rainstorms I experienced in Brazil that wiped out their dirt roads. A very curious thing happened during that storm; the flow of our pond changed directions. Instead of westbound, the water started flowing east. Maybe there was another event that triggered the change in flow (maybe the beaver dam broke?), but that was definitely the day things changed.

It STILL moves east. And as a result, our pond has changed slowly over time. Almost a full year later (taken May 15th, 2011), here's a picture of our pond. Same balcony, same rainbow in the picture.

 

Tragic. I'm almost on the verge of  getting out there and starting my own dam. Maybe I can get the apartment complex management to lower the rent due to the eyesore out the back window? Heh, prob'ly not.

Licked

Apparently there are fifty licks in the average ice cream cone. Now to solve that mystery for Tootsie Pops...

I've mentioned the flavor-intensive ice creams from Fifty Licks twice on this blog, each time we went to the Food Cart Festival. Recently, we discovered our favorite ice cream from a food cart is now available at the grocery store! Yipee! Now we're absolutely hooked. If you're at a Whole Foods or New Seasons in Portland, pick some up...trust me, it's worth the 6 bucks.

The three oh-so-cute boxes above come from our three favorite flavors:

Coconut Lemon Saffron Sorbet: it's the vegan offering from Fifty Licks. Not only is the coconut milk flavor extremely decadent, it also somehow adds the rare spices cardamom and saffron in a perfect blend. It's quite the experience.

Tahitian Vanilla: vanilla ice cream the way it was meant to be enjoyed. If you've ever said the phrase "plain vanilla" you must repent and experience the complexity of taste that vanilla can offer, courtesy of this box of happiness.

Caramelized Apple: This may be the family favorite. Fifty Licks takes apple cider and reduces (via boiling) down to a sticky caramel syrup. Add in cream, sugar, and eggs, and that's all this ice cream needs. It's caramely, it's sweet, it's tart from the apples. Fifty licks isn't enough...get two scoops.

FYI, The other flavors Fifty Licks makes are Maple Bacon, Passion fruit Szechuan Sherbet, Stumptown Coffee, and Slabtown Whisky (though you won't catch me trying the last two).

Eat Mobile 2011

Eat Mobile 2011! After last year's successful outing to the food cart festival, going this year was a no-brainer. How was it?...let's say that choosing to go next year will be a tougher decision. The ticket price doubled this year and yet it still sold out which means next year, it'll cost even more. Plus, the lines. Oh heavens, the lines.

If you expand this pic, use a magnifying glass, put your nose against your monitor, and squint really hard, you might be able to see where the entrance to the venue was. The line looped around for 4.5 city blocks. Last year we walked right in, but this year it was a 45 minute wait just to get in.

Still, there were some great changes this year. There were 40 carts instead of 30, plenty of free Vitamin Water for everyone, and more variety. Here are some of the better carts:

Slice Brick Oven Pizza - Arugula on a pizza? Only in Portland. Tasty stuff.

Wet Hot Beef - These guys don't excel in naming food carts, but they made a great roast beef sandwich. I'll have to pass by their place one of these days.

Garden State - The reigning two-time winner of the Judge's Choice award fell this year. The sample above (I'm at a loss of what to call it) was a culinary victory...but it was a very subtle combination. Subtlety doesn't win awards.

Eat This! - yeah, that's what the cart is called. I was SO excited they were at the festival because I've been talking them up to TLC for ages. They make flatbread sandwiches in amazing combinations...I tried one a year ago that had chicken, peaches, and caramelized onions. Not only that, but the flatbread is made AFTER you order. Incredible showing from Eat This!

Brown Chicken Brown Cow - This place specializes in steamed burgers. I've wanted to try this for quite a while now and it was worth the wait. Regrettably, Eat Mobile 2011 was the cart's last day of business.

Lardo - Geez, I wish I had a better picture than this. This was the unanimous favorite of our group. A wonderful pork slider on ciabatta. I may have to go here on my birthday for a follow-up.

Not pictured but definitely enjoyed: Whiffies Fried Pies (brisket, apple, and berry), Flavourspot S'mores Waffles, Fifty Licks Ice Cream, and a cornucopia of free Soy Joy bars! Woo-hoo! Viva la Food Carts!

Yesterday's Ties, Today's Eggs

After the success of last year's Easter eggs, we decided to dye more eggs in old neckties. Cyn collected various ties from DI & Goodwill throughout the year in anticipation. Here are our best.

Paisley - ugly on a tie, great on an egg.

This was from a floral tie that we thought would be really pretty on an egg. Unfortunately, most of the colors didn't transfer over to the egg.

This is a repeat tie from last year.

The year's best Easter eggs. Purple for the win! Let's examine them individually...

This turned out far better than expected. The muted square in the background is actually the main feature on the tie - kinda strange that it didn't bleed onto the egg better. I guess you never know how these will turn out.

This egg is the first time we made an egg out of one of my old ties. Strange part is, it wasn't a purple tie; it was red. Weird. Power tie = power egg.

There's always next sitting

Well, I'm done taking my exam. Time to sit back, relax, and start planning out studying for the SAME exam 6 months from now.

I can't vent too much here, but I haven't been getting much exam support the past year. So, it's back to the drawing board and hoping that I can plan my time wisely enough that I won't need much external support.

I took my first actuarial exam in November of 2004. I can't believe I've poured 7 years into this process and I'm still not done. Sigh. I need a gold star or something.

Tulips, Tulips, Tulips

I can't be the only person to have noticed...when is Spring going to get here? We're tired of all the rain, thankyouverymuch. To alleviate our spring fever, we went to the Tulip Festival yesterday in Woodburn. Brilliant idea, I know...except that it was raining all last week so the farm was like a giant mud wrestling arena. Still, we managed to have plenty of fun.

Happy Happy Shoe Makers

Dan & Andrea were sporting enough to drive along with us despite our rowdy boys. The least we could do is give them a nice souvenir photo.

Pretty, no?

I'm so glad I found this tulip! These are the kinds of streaky tulips that started Tulipmania (history lesson here) back in 1637. I've never seen one of these bulbs before and I may not ever again; once-in-a-lifetime find.

Love this one. Looks like the boys belong on the farm. "What do you want to do today, Hans?" "Let's fertilize the tulips, Franz!"

We took several of these pictures and Carter pulled a different face in each one. Like father, like son.

"Okee-dokie, Hans,...I get zee wooden shoes on Tuesday und weekends, you get zee rest of der days". "Zis eez all too confusing, Franz, let's share das shoes!"

Bump! TLC at 30 weeks and 2 days. (gulp)

Georgina crosses the Delaware?

The boys (Hans und Franz) used their own allowance to pay for this fun trampoline ride. Jordan scratched an item off his bucket list by doing a flip.