Still Shoveling

We are starting day 39 of more than 5" of snow on the ground. Not a record yet but with another 3" yesterday, and more forcasted for Thursday and Saturday this week, we creep ever closer to the 63 consecutive days record. We started the day at 4 degrees above 0, not that I'm complaining Pat & Michelle! Should do some melting today as we climb to 40, before the next arctic blast comes.

And last accounts of Blizzard

Arms hurt from shoveling, as well as back and legs. Would have been less of a workout if the gym had been open! In true Colorado fashion by 3:30 the snow had stopped and the sun came out and the angels sang. Okay, no angels but we came in at 1:30 and had the cocoa and schnapps and by 3:30 those could have been angels singing, we just aren't sure!

After the shoveling was done. Nothing says "job well done" like a Guiness while sitting in a snow throne! - Don't be suprised to see this as a Christmas card some day!

Sun's out and the melt begins!

We'll add a photo of the basement flooding if the sump pump can't keep up with the melt!

That's a 6' fence at the back of the picture - probably our biggest drift.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Yes, more photos

Sounded like a fun idea to blog the blizzard - now it seems like a chore. Anyhow - never leave anything you've started unfinished - that explains the empty booze bottles! So started shoveling about 9:30, finished at 1:30 (with a few water breaks). Here you go.

Karl, looking like he's on steroids - which would have made shoveling faster!

Boris, laying in the middle of the snow - he's an odd dog
Jackie helping with task - though the snow came up to her waist in areas!
The split rail nearly hidden along the sidewalk
Mom's car - we had to put the snow somewhere!

Blizzard Day 2

Still snowing , nearly 28 hours later. Wind isn't as much, but the accumlation isn't over. Snow is coming straight down instead of sideways, although every now and again a period of sideways occurs. Have some photos from about 9pm and then some from 9am. I am currently watching the neighbor shovel out to go to work. Not very bright if you ask me. Arvada literally closed all roads last night. I'll post more from the outside when we venture out. Jackie has some serious snow angel plans!

Last night

Yes Virginia it is a Blizzard

Okay it's 3:30 and the photos are going to have a little something extra in them. Mom's car. She got stuck at 72nd and Lamar (about 1.5 miles from our house) - walked to our house in the blizzard. We finally got her car back here and her home safe and sound. So you can't gage on the fence but take my word we have drifts about 24" in the driveway. Stay tuned!

Front porch - no more steps ----------------- BBQ in drifts

Ladies and Gentleman, we have a blizzard!

Blizzard '06, December Doozy, Holiday Blizzard '06

The media has not decided what to call this one so I tried to get it all in. Yesterday morning Denver Metro area was pegged for 1-2" of snow because the "blizzard" was going to miss us. So as usual, that was wrong. Will keep an update of the blizzard as it progresses. Of course school was closed today and probably tomorrow which means with my sick day and Jackie's 2 days off (she's feeling good today) we have a long holiday break! woo hoo. Anyhow here are front & back door/window photos from 9 am and 12 noon. Hard to tell much differences but will put some up every few hours - so - if this plays out to be the storm of the century (6 years - could happen) we have a record. That and what else am I going to do. I can't go do my xmas shopping.

9am












Noon

Sick Day - Catch up on crap I never seem to have time for!

Last week of school before break, but Jax and I are home today because she has caught the crap that is going around. It's all those parents that send their kids to school sick so they can appearantly share the stress of having a sick child - they need slapped. Anyhow, I can either grade or play on the computer while she rests - so here I am.

Okay let's see, we last left you with 1 more tourney to go, 3rd place- didn't beat the kid she wanted to but finished 2nd in state in her division for sparring and 3rd in state for forms. We are very proud and she is too. No more tournaments until February if she chooses to continue down that path. She's practicing her Go ju she ho sho (that's phonetic because I don't know Japanese) in the white - it's a traditional Japanese form & gi, and G-pa & G-ma got to see her compete. It was a good day.

Jackie also had her beginning orchestra concert in cohert with the beginning band - I'm sure you can invision it. They had to select someone from the audience to teach a song to and she chose Grandpa Butch. I'm not sure you can invision this(or want to!) so I've added a small video. There is more but the camera was jiggling because I was laughing to much - and you couldn't hear the music over mom's laughter for some of it! We're Sorry Amadeus


We are all ready for Xmas - well the decorations & tree are up. There's still that shopping thing to do. But hey, we still have 7 days. School's out for break on Thursday the 21st so it will get done then. Looking forward to a few ski trips on break and doing a whole lot of nothing. If I don't get another update in, have a Merry Christmas! Maybe we can do a holiday video conference in the next few weeks. Feliz Navidad

October Wrap-up (Now that November's Nearly 1/2 Over)

Sorry Jax kept you all waiting. I assumed she updated (mainly because when I asked she said she had - ding ding.) She passed her belt test and is now a 3rd degree brown belt. She will test for 2nd in January (depending on her progress of course) and 1st degree brown sometime near March/April (if she's ready -discretion of instructor). Then the next black belt test is set for next August. If she needs more time it will be February of 2008. We are very proud of the little kicker! It is tradition to get hit by your instructor after receiving your new belt. The harder the hit, the more respect. She was tapped pretty good!

The next Saturday she competed in Oktober-fist (clever aren't they?) and placed 2nd in sparring. Losing to the same kid she always does. She is determined to beat him next week in the last tournament of the season. Next season she moves to an all girl division, plus she will fight in advanced with her new belt instead of intermediate. She she really wants to beat him because it will be her last chance. I think she just wants to say she beat a boy - it has nothing to do with the competiveness of it! Uncle Mo & Aunt Bunny came to see her fight and were quite impressed with "princess" as they refer to her.

Other October news of course was Halloween. Jackie went to 2 different parties and a trick or treat street and now we have enough candy to last us a few years. She went as a flapper (though none of her friends knew what that was - the negative side of having a mom with a history degree!)

Other than that all is normal in Arvada!

Piano Recital

Jackie had her yearly piano recital on Sunday (thank goodness Bronco's played late or she would have had to skip the recital!!!) She played Amazing Grace and played it quite brilliantly (but we're biased). Had a wee bit of a snow storm yesterday but in true Colorado fashion it is mostly melted already. Saturday is the big belt test for her 1st level of Brown belt. Other than that, life is normal here. Until later, Signing off - na noo na noo. Barb

Finally Fall

Fall is in the air and we finally made it up into the hills for a bit of an Aspen show. Not as good this year, but the snow/freeze beat us by a weekend. We headed up to Guanella pass (Baily to Georgetown) early in the morning in order to miss all the traffic. The plan worked and we had the road to ourselves for the most part. We actually saw better colors here in town when we got back and went for a long walk but what's the fun in checking out the fall colors in the neighborhood? Here are few photos (not the best, but the best I can do!)

Looking forward to the Bronco game tomorrow night - 60% chance of snow! Karl got sent to Dallas on short notice so Leah (Krappes) Watts is going with me. We have our Schnapps smuggling plan in place. Hopefully it will wait to snow & precip until after the game. Snow on Monday night means big business for the ski areas though! GO BRONCOS!!!!

Back to School

First day of school in front of the car (in true Strahl tradition). It is dark because it is frickin' early!
School is back in full swing and fall is moving in. Heater on the drive in to work; air conditioner on the way home! Jax has the same teacher this year (moved up with class) so no big transition issues into the 5th grade. My juniors are all good kids (so far)! I have a lot of football players so I throw the "Petro" card on the table early. Once they know Coach Petro is related and we communicate about students they are very well behaved. Appearently Danny makes them run and do extra drills if he finds they are misbehaving! They say he always has a good ("sometimes stupid") joke when they're done though!
Another week or two and we should have some aspen pictures as the leaves change and we make our annual pilgrimage to the hills to stand in front of clumps of trees with many other city dwellers taking photos!

Blog updates

Well it's been a while since an update but we've had quite the busy summer so I'm going to post several different topics in one long ass posting. We had just started our bathroom remodel and that is progressing quickly again. Took a break when Sandy & gang were here. Barely finished the tile and setting the tub before they arrived (about 20 minutes to be exact!) Our first problem was a big tub and small doorway.

So a little ingenuity prevailed,

Along with replumbling and adding a hotwater heat register, reframing then tiling we were glad to get a break. We have now started on the drywall and should be totally done with in the week. The tile was the biggest pain in the arse but we made it through and are quite proud of ourselves as those who were here can testify since we made you look at it!

The Hawaiin's at Altitude!

Sandy, Darin, Montana, Leilani and Hiilani all made the pilgrimage to the Mile High City and we had a blast. A brief rundown of festivities including a family dinner: Us, Butch & Cakes, Pat, Greg & Jen & Matt, Dan & Jan & Kayleigh (sp?), Sue, Bessie, and Dong and Faith (not family but always welcomed as such!) Did I miss anyone - the night became blurry? Some highlights:

Trail Ridge Road & Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park - altitude is not good for sea level dwellers that have the flu and pregnant - am I right Sandy!?!?!

Toured Mile High Stadium

Did a tour of Coors, went to the base of Winter Park to ride the alpine slide but it was lightening, ate a ton and drank even more. It was a good time as it always is with Sandy & Darin and getting together with family!

Softball is over and Karate is still going strong. Didn't place in a June Tourney but took 2nd in July. Just tested for and passed to earn her red belt. Three belts (3rd, 2nd, and 1st degree brown) and some very intense training stand between her and a black belt!!

Garden is progressing nicely. We've been eating greens (chard, collard, beets) as well as kohlrabi, beets, various herbs, cucumbers and squash. The tomatoes are there, we're just waiting for them to ripen.

We are off to Vegas on Thursday for a Karate Tourney/Vacation. Last getaway before work starts back up. I go back the 15th & Jax the 22nd. So another summer almost over, but a good one no doubt!

Mesa Verde Trip

We are back from a whirlwind tour of Colorado's desert southwest. It never got above 80 while it remained in the mid-to high 90's in Denver - go figure. We went to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings of the ancient Anasazi Indians. When we went as youngsters in Bart the stationwagon, I remember climbing in and out of all the little rooms. They don't allow that now which is good because it protects the artifacts and all. We went to 4 different cliffs, 3 with ranger guides and 1 on our own (only one you can go on without a ranger guide.) It was pretty cool and more interesting as an adult. Jackie had learned about it in 3rd grade and had been bugging us ever since to go. She was part tour guide for us as well. How do they remember so much? The ladder was three stories high to get into one of the dwellings (1st pic) and the other is a shot of the Long House - the biggest cliff dwelling. Advice - if a 250+ woman in a skirt is on your tour, climb the ladder before her - we saw 1 too many ancient ruins. Anyway, we are back and ready to tackle a bathroom remodel. Another 100 degree day expected today - we'll be sitting inside drinking tea and then eventually beer! Aagghhh - summer!

Time is still marching on - May 30

May - gone already. Recap:

• Karl's got the garden in - retaining wall, sprinkler system & all but tomatoes planted (tomorrow they go in)

• Jax takes first place at Rage '06 Tourney - new division (10 yr olds) 1st & 2nd went to the two girls in the division

• Jax starred in her off Broadway debut in the Inside Pitch a charming musical about the history of baseball - no photos - too far back from stage
• Boris had a seizure - (no photos - that's just not right) he should be fine - possibly epilepsy - apparently fairly common in dogs
• Softball team is 0-3 but the girls are having fun & it is much more enjoyable to watch than soccer!
• 3 more days until summer break!!! That's about it. Looking forward to the possible family camping trip that Greg is trying to put together.

My God it's May already!

The last few weeks have been pretty busy. We had a "Bunk with the Beasts" night at the Zoo with the 4th Grade classes. It sounded fun to chaperone in September but as the night rolled around it just sounded insane! Appearently the "beasts" aren't the zoo animals but the boys. It was reaffirmation on why I chose secondary education over primary. Nothing makes 10 year olds scream like standing in the pachyderm house -learning about how thick an elephant's skin is - and said pachyderm takes a massive dump. Sleeping on the floor was a real treat as well (not in the pach house - in the education building.) Pretty cool having the Zoo to yourself and after dark to boot though. Then we had the first annual Earthday Fun Run/Walk at Jax' school the next morning. Good times on no sleep! Then there was the birthday party at the bowling alley and Trail Dust Steak House (& slide) with 3 of her best friends. We also managed to build a small retaining wall out front and decided that we could do one around the whole garden out back. We (mainly Karl) got it done and it came out quite nice. Now we just need the last frost to come and we can start planting! Shouldn't be too long now.

Time's A Flyn'

Seems a bit since we've posted but not much is going on anyway, just the usual. Mike, Kris, Me, Boris, Boris the dog & soon Jax, Kaiya & John are embarking on another trip around the sun. Hold on - especially you two on that 40th go 'round! Had a couple of ski trips - Spring Break at Sunlight & a day at Winter Park. Jax took a couple of Blue runs - one successfully & one a bit of a turmoil. Winter coats aside now though. A beautiful 80 degrees (27 C) here in the burbs today. People flying kites, riding bikes, & the white trash down the street drinking and fighting. Aauughh, the sites and sounds of spring! Softball has started so we've added that to our weekly afternoon events so we are bit busier again. Anyhow, that's about it. A few pictures from the top of Sunlight (Jax & I) and Winter Park (Jax, Karl & Uncle Mo.) Have a great week (or however long it takes to get another post up!)

Chick's Blog

Jax' blog is up and running. http://jackieinarvada.blogspot.com/

Kickin' & Screaming

Well, Jax did well again at her 2nd Tourney on Sat. She got the 4th place trophy for sparring again, but did much better in her offense.

She received the "honorable mention" medal for her forms as well. The next tourney is in Salt Lake (we're not going to that one) then there's one on Uncle Greg's B-day. Uncle Greg made it to the tourney and besides being worried she might get hurt, he was pretty impressed with her skills. Made her day he came too! Should have some photos from the ski/swim trip next weekend. Found a waterproof camera for the pool this time. I'll try not to take to many pictures of hairy Europeans - because quite frankly they scare me. Jax will be working on her blog now (thanks to Tory's & Kaiya's)!! Have a great week.