The Pictures:









The Words:
It's mainly about the pictures. We've been super busy with summer stuff like the zoo, parks, bike rides, runs, swimming, and weeding the vegetable garden.

Rain Delay

The usual daddy day care ride has been put on hold until the weather clears a bit. E and I will be descending to the basement and messing around with bikes (me) or hiding bike tools (E). It's been a while since significant words have been posted. The following is a brief update on harrison ave. happenings. The garden is in and this time we even have a fence. Tomorrow marks 3 weeks of pain free living. My knees will occasionally ache at work when pushing/pulling large people. Elijah is a dare devil. Katie is running a lot. Work is work. I am quite out of shape. This summer will be fun.

More pics when blogger is working better. We busted out some major yard work today and squeezed in a run(Katie) and a ride(Sam). Knees have been pain free so far. I wonder how sore I'll be tomorrow. Later.

This video has been granted the Elijah seal of approval. What exactly is the Elijah seal of approval? It is a highly coveted honor bestowed only to things that make Elijah dance, smile, and babble. Also, his attention must be held for at least 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
I have just completed 2 days in a row of pain free biking. We've got 4 days off for gardening, cleaning, chilling, running (KATIE), riding (SAM), stretching, and core. Over my break I will be gradually increasing my ride times and keeping the intensity pretty much non-existent. My hope is that once my body adjusts to the new riding position and orthotics I might be able to handle some intensity. LATER.

Here's a quick update on the last couple of days:
Thursday: KT and I went for a fast-paced 1 hour walk around the hood. No knee pain during or after. Very nice! Then KT went to work while elijah and I got down to making some pizzas. It's pretty funny how excited he gets when I start the pizza prep. As soon as the first pizza hits the stone he watches, paces, and says please until it hits the table. Once the pizza hits the table it's game time. He chows down and I just sit there watching, amazed at how much such a little guy can pack down. That's our routine whenever Katie works.

Elijah in pre-pizza mode.........

Now entering impatient mode.............

Game on.............


Friday: I worked 07-1900 in the ED and had my interview for the Doctor in Nursing Practice Program. The interview went well. About four hours after the interview I received my acceptance notification. The best part was coming home to a beautiful wife, a happy kid, and steak with grilled veggies.
Today Elijah and I have been playing outside waiting for Katie to get home from work. Time for a nap with E and then a cruise around the hood with some playground action thrown in. Later.

The family is solid, finals are done, the knees are slowly improving, and it snowed this morning. I'm worked from allergies and finals so my wit level is a bit low. Looking forward to getting things in gear for the summer. We'll find out if "better late than never" applies to gardening, vacation plans, fitness, and other things I've put off all spring. Later.

Now I know what mornings are like when I'm at work. Finals are in 2 weeks. Got yard work, a mellow spin, and clinical physiology on the schedule for today.

We heard from the claims agent about our moped driver. The police used the "clues" left behind at the scene to find his work/home address and phone numbers. Apparently he's not answering his phone but he works for the U like we do. According to his boss this guy frequently comes to work drunk and has not been to work for a couple of days. What kind of ship do they run up at the U? We're still hoping that he has some sort of insurance or assets that will offset our costs. Our guess is a guy that comes to work drunk is probably not going to have much of either. This is turning into one of those stories that will be pretty funny at a later point in time. I'm up to wearing my orthotics 4-6 hours at a time and my knees/feet/ankles are feeling quite different. My knee pain has slowly disappeared over the last couple of days, but my legs and feet feel really tired. It's going to take another week or so for my body to get somewhat comfortable with normal alignment. The Specialized foot beds he tweaked for me are great. My pedal stroke feels more natural and the strain on my left knee is pretty much gone. Since this blog is really about getting pictures of E up for the family I'll be posting some later. Katie and E are enjoying the sun. Time to go join them.

Elijah before le royale face plant

Elijah immediately after le royale face plant

Elijah 24 hours after le royale face plant

E's rocking the hamburger lip and nose today. He was running in the driveway with his hands over his head and kissed the concrete. Also, some dude ran into our car with a moped and drove off on Tuesday leaving behind his scooter registration, warranty paper work, and $1100 in damages to our Outback. We should find out more from the police any day now.





I picked up my custom foot orthotics yesterday. It's going to be a few weeks before I can tell how much they'll help me. Right now I'm just breaking my feet in and getting used to normal foot/ankle/knee alignment. They also customized my body geometry footbeds for free. Apparently they're decent foot beds that just needed a few tweaks. Due to time issues surrounding insurance and school stuff I won't be able to test them out on a ride until tomorrow. I know it's kind of nerdy to post these pictures but I feel like I'm documenting the end of 1+ years of knee pain.

Another quality day at the homestead. Elijah entertained. Yesterday the ferrous took me up City Creek to the snow line. Today it pulled Elijah around the hood. Katie works today and we don't want her to.

Got the molds of my feet done today. 1st generation footbeds next week. More hours on the ferrous. More hours on the books.

Here's what Elijah has been up to:







Katie and I have put the sickness behind us and are ready to get back on track. We've been getting out on the bikes, walking to the store, and trying catch up on lost sleep. Now that I'm done with antibiotics, using my new inhaler, and expelling the nastiness from my lungs I hope to see huge improvements in my energy level. On the bike side of things, a plan is taking shape and it's looking really different in a good way. This spring and summer are about getting out there, having fun, and getting my legs under me for cross. More to follow....................