I broke down and bought new climbing shoes on Friday. I’ve had one pair of La Sportiva shoes since I started climbing in the summer of 1995. Of course, the rand has worn out a few times so I’ve had them resoled by Chief Sweet Feet at local climbing gym. I’ve been very happy with the comfort and performance of the shoes, but over the years the leather has deteriorated to the point where layers are splitting off. The shape of my feet tends to limit what shoes will work for me; the toe next to my large toe is fairly long and my heel tends to feel loose in many of the shoes I’ve tried on. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when I walked out of my local REI with a pair of La Sportiva Mythos shoes. Continue reading →

Amidst one of Kaija’s crying spells, I noticed this evening that she sometimes cries as if she’s giving dictation. They sound similar to “Waaaaaa, HUP! Waaaaa, HUP! Waaaaa, HUP!” I can only imagine what she’s trying to say.”I’m hungry. Stop.””I’m hot. Get me out of this fuzzy outfit. Stop.””My diaper’s full. Stop.””I’m bored. Take me outside. Stop.””I’m tired and cranky. Stop.”

I spent yesterday’s lunch period on top of the 5th and Mission Garage in San Francisco watching a demolition crew tear down remnants of the old Emporium building. It was a gorgeous day and quite the site to behold as large machinery tore down floors, walls and I-beams with ease. Several men were spraying water over everything to keep the dust down as debree fell several stories to the ground. Much of the building, which takes up much of the city block, has already been torn down. However, it appears that they plan to keep the large rotunda for the shopping mall that will take it’s place. A Bloomingdale’s is also planned for the site.After finding those pictures, I read the article linked to them. Looks like I’m not the only one who found the spot a great place to watch.UPDATE: (2004.03.03) I’ve added photos of the demolition that I took in mid February.

Kaija’s nearly 2 1/2 months old now and her tear ducts are starting to produce when she cries. It’s been fairly noticable in the past few days, no doubt in part because she’s come down with her first cold. Last weekend was spent around my cousin Don’s kid Forrest. Forrest didn’t act sick when they first arrived at our appartment but by the end of the day it was apparent that he wasn’t feeling very well. A few days later Kaija developed a cough. Then on Sunday her nose started to run and her temperment changed. It appears she’s getting over the worst of it now, though.

I went snowboarding at Northstar this past weekend with a bunch of friends… 12 people packed into a 10-person condo. Having been spoiled with a free a place to stay around South Lake Tahoe for the past few years, I have to say I wasn’t impressed with the drive along I-80. Route 50, though only two lanes wide, rarely had so much traffic that we get in anytime after midnight even in snowy conditions. Friday night was a zoo on I-80. It took us 7 1/2 hours to get from the South Bay to Kings Beach without even stopping for dinner. It was 3 a.m. by the time we got to sleep. All in all, though, the snowboarding was great. Continue reading →

Our friend Leon’s birthday was in December. We needed to get him a gift. Brilliance struck. We needed to get him a custom-made bobble head doll from Whoopass Enterprises. Using the first four photos included in this album, they created a custom head and body to our specifications! We think it turned out pretty darn well!

Jennifer and I were a little busy last night…Kaija Bryn Windeler (pronounced “KAI-ya”) was born at 5:05 AM PST on November 24, 2003. Weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring approximately 21 inches long, she was delivered by Jennifer after 10 hours of labor. Jennifer delivered her naturally and without medication with the assistance of myself and a terrific doula, Lisa Huse.Everyone is doing well and catching up on some well deserved sleep!Kaija is the first grandchild on both sides of her family and undoubtedly will be spoiled rotten. 🙂

When a few friends of mine mentioned that they were planning an ascent of Split Mountain, one of California’s 14’ers (peaks above 14,000 ft), I jumped at the opportunity to join them. I hadn’t done any major hikes or backpacking trips this season and I was itching to hit the trails. And now that I’ve taken up running, I wanted to see just how well I could handle a serious hike.I started working on this posting several weeks ago, but as you can tell from the length of the entry, it’s taken me a while to write. The hike took place over the weekend of October 3-5. Continue reading →

I had to skip running with Eric tonight. My shins were really sore when we ran on Wednesday night, so much so that I had to stop after 1.5 miles or so. I’m not sure what caused it. Maybe it’s because we run on pavement so much rather than on soft ground or on a track. Maybe I need to stretch out longer before we start. Maybe I need to drink more water during the day. Maybe I’m not getting enough Calcium in my diet. Maybe I need to replace my shoes, as they’ve gotten quite a bit of use in the past 6 months. I’m not sure what the cause is, but I figured I should take a break to see if they get any better.

Last week we had an interesting few days in the kitchen. Jennifer managed to produce fairly large flames, albeit unintentionally, that danced and flickered across the tops of our pork chops in the oven. It’s not like they were in there to long or anything. We think there was something in the breading that must have caught fire by being too close to the broiler. Nothing that sprinkling a little baking soda over it all couldn’t stop as the flames licked the outside of the oven. 🙂 We still ate the chops, though, as scraping the breading off revealed the moistest pork chops I’ve ever had.On Saturday, as I was unloading the groceries, I nailed my head pretty good on an open cupboard door. I had a bump for a day or two and now have a fairly large gash visible on my forehead.On Sunday, Jennifer sliced her finger while cutting open an English muffin for breakfast.Some days it just pays to stay out of the kitchen.