I should leave town more often!

I spent another fun filled week in Mayberry (Idaho City). I've been home for a few days now and everything seems funny for some reason. I swear Elaina and I have laughed non stop for 3 days strait.

Last night we hit up a Spokane Chiefs hockey game and were put on the kissing cam during a break. Our exagerated tongue action won us no prizes. The Chiefs won and it was a good game.

There was a poor dude sitting next to me that walked in with 5 girls. At first you may think he was quite the stud, but it became apparent that the girls included his date/girlfriend and 4 of her friends. She had her back to the game gabbing with him and her friends for the ENTIRE game. He seemed so annoyed. She would try to talke to him about the drama of the day and he just looked right through her to the game. I don't think he spoke to her at all after the first period.

Our night ended with a controversial game of family feud. We have the DVD version of the game and made our own little adaptations to play against each other. I won a round, in protest.... maybe things won't be so funny today.

Half Marathon... the decision

Elaina and I are in a 'sick of being out of shape' kick lately. We decided that committing to a half marathon in the spring will kick us into shape.

Now, we have "committed" to some things in the past... more of this, less of that, etc. Sometimes we aren't exactly good at it.

To give ourselves some leverage we decided to run in Arizona, Nevada, or California. It will be nice to go somewhere warm in the spring and I think that paying entry fees, airplane tickets, and hotels should probably get us into the gym.

In five months we'll look back at this moment and:

A) Laugh
B) Be proud of our accomplishment
C) Wish we weren't planning my funeral.

Night of the living cornstalks

From the front of the house it looks like cutsey fall decor.



From inside the house it looks like someone is staring in the window and will make you bark uncontrollably at 2 a.m..... if happen to be our dog.

2 a.m? Seriously....

Out of touch

I just have to show a few pictures of this little town I've been in for the past few days. This is Idaho City, ID. 450 residents, one scary hotel, and no cell phone service.

Here is a complete shot of main street.


They even still have the old wooden boardwalks.

False Alarm

Elaina and I decided to have an alarm system installed at our house. With my travel and Elaina sleeping during the day with a fan running we thought it wouldn't hurt.

This week I was staying in a hotel in Boise, ID. At about midnight my phone rings with an unfamiliar number. The voice on the other side says, "Hello this is Monotronics. We have an alarm at your front door, is everything ok?" I know that Elaina is at home this night and tell him that she probably went out take the garbage out and forgot to turn off the alarm. I'll call her to make sure everything is ok. He warns me that the police will be called in 30 seconds.

I calmly call Elaina... no answer. Call again... answer. With each passing minute I try again and again and again. No answer.

Now I'm pacing back and forth in my hotel in a complete panic. I call the police in Couer D' Alene to see if the dispatched officers have made it there yet. She tells me they just arived and haven't reported in.

I keep calling and calling and calling.. No answer.

Finally after 20-25 minutes, she finally picks up the phone.

She had taken Charlie for a late night jog. She left the house with her headphones on and didn't hear the warning beeps to disable the alarm.

As she walked into our neighborhood she saw the police cars parked next door. First she was intrigued by some possible drama, but then saw the police officers standing at our door. She apologized up and down and they very nicely told her to give me a call as I was very worried.

After the dust had settled they asked her the real question.... "What are you doing going for a jog at midnight?"

What is the word to represent a puking noise?

I should have heeded Elaina's advice when dipping from the sample bowl of salsa at our local deli. But it's soooo good! I couldn't resist! I have partaken from said sample bowl dozens of times in the past.

I have never had food poisoning before and I hope to never have it again. This was the worst 24 hours of my life. Well, second worst.

It reminded me of the time that Elaina and I both had a horrible flu at the same time. Charlie was just a puppy then and was barely housebroken in our apartment in Coeur D' Alene.

We were so sick and so exhausted we just laid in misery. We had a serious discussion about just letting Charlie go on the floor and deal with the consequences later. Nothing sounds worse when you have the flu than taking your dog outside to pee. Not to mention that going outside means 15 degrees, down the stairs, and standing there while your dog sniffs for 25 minutes before finding the perfect spot to hike his leg.

Later that night I decided we needed some medicine from the store. In perfect health you can make a round trip from Albertsons in about 15 minutes. My trip took about 45 minutes. I was so exhausted that after five minutes of driving I had to pull over and take a little nap. Then I pulled into Albertsons and had to take a little rest. My Zombie walk to the medicine isle seemed to take forever. I think I scared little children along the way.

When I finally returned home Elaina had wondered if I died along the way, but was too sick to care.

We were laying in bed complaining about our misery and it suddenly turned funny. We laughed so hard it nearly made both of us pass out. That must have been the moment I knew Elaina was the girl for me.

The White House

Today was a big day for our company. We signed the final papers for our new office. It's called The White House and is right downtown in Coeur D' Alene. It is a local landmark and has been used as a wedding reception hall. We'll hopefully have it unfrillied soon (i think I just created a new word!).

We will take posession on the first of November and will start construcion for our offices inside. We're hoping it will only take a month, but will be lucky if that happens. For some reason I only move houses or offices in extreme hot or extreme cold. We'll see how this one goes.... I predict snow.

Speed Racer

Have you ever seen those radar signs the police put up in residential neighborhoods? You know, the ones with a radar gun that tells how fast you are going?

There was a radar sign in front of our house tonight and we put it to various tests.

I really wanted to throw a baseball by it (like on The Rookie). But, A) I didn't have a baseball... B) Even if I had a baseball I didn't really want to chase it down the street.... C) I could have Elaina catch it on the other side, but it was pretty dark and I'm not exactly bullseye thrower.

I hopped on my bike though... 17 MPH on the first try (tires were flat, give me a break). Then I ran. In bare feet (flip-flops weren't having it). The sign flickered from 17MPH to 13MPH. I think I ran 17MPH. Elaina thinks the sign is broken.

Triple Play Olympics

It's Saturday Night... what kind of trouble can we get in? Not much. Elaina and I decided to compete head to head in the distinguished activities of ski-ball, video games, air hockey, pop-a-shot, and bowling at our local Triple Play.

I can't believe how many teenagers were there. I'm glad I wasn't that annoying when I was a teenager :) (no comments from any friends or family please!!)

Elaina cleaned up at video games and pop-a-shot. Our air hockey tournament came down to a nail biting two out of three. The score was 6 to 6 on our final game... next point wins.... I snuck one in for the win. It was nice to finally win something after 2 hours.

Award Winning Photographer

You can now tell your friends and family that you know someone who is a big deal in the photography world. One who wins ribbons and cash prizes.

What will I do with my winnings? Pay of some debts? Give to charity? I'll probably just buy a few hotdogs if they are on sale 2 for a dollar.

Ok, so I took 3rd place at the county fair. My winnings were a total of $1.00. I'm pretty excited becuase it's the first time in a while that I've won an award that didn't involve the words 'effort' or '______manship'.

UPDATE - I picked up my photos and ribbon. The dollar seems to be MIA. No money exchanged hands. I noticed the lady at the front desk had a great big Diet Coke though! I'm a little suspicious.

Here is the winning picture taken from our trip to NYC last year.

Haaapppyyy Birrthhddaayyy tooooo meeee

So it was my birthday last weekend and lane set up a little suprise trip to Spokane for us. She wouldn't tell me what was going on except my step by step instructions to get dressed... pack for the night... etc.

She booked a night for us at the Davenport Hotel.

Pretty much the nicest hotel I have ever been to. If you want the single most cozy bed you have ever slept in... stay here.

We had the perfect dinner and the perfect time. We always have fun together.

I'm PRETTY sure Charlie has been digging

Lane and I were sitting in the back yard watching charlie dig a hole, bury is bone, and proceded to cover it up for about 10 minutes with is nose. This is how he came back:

Last night was a perfect night

Where everything was funny.. We just laughed and laughed. I love days like this. And they happen quite frequently with us.

The Fleeting Patch of Tall Grass

I'm not one of those 'feelings' type of journal people. When I look back on this blog I mainly want to remember the details of this or that.

My cousin Bryce marvels at my recolection of minor things when discussing on our childhood visits. He is amazed at Thanksgiving when I start brining up stories... although it's not fun to reminisce when I'm the only one who remembers!

Jase and I were discussing dogs the other day and realized that if all of my dogs live until they are 10 years old it means that I will probably only have 4 or 5 dogs in my adult life.

If this blog lived 50 years I would love to look back on the details of my canine friends. Charlie, for example, is full of storied details. I hold myself back from boring people with Charlie is so this and Charlie is so that stories (I'll save that for when we have kids).

Lawn mowing day is a fun day for Charlie and me. It ALWAYS starts and ends the same. First, he peaks under the neighbor's fence to see if their large dog Brewsky is anywhere to be found. Charlie will squeeze and shimmy under the fence if Brewsky is back there. Otherwise, he moves on to me.

Second, I pull the lawn mower out and for some reason Charlie starts hopping around like it's Christmas morning. Ten minutes into the front lawn he follows me around, barking, jumping around, and grabing onto my shorts. Yes I have mooned my neighbors a few times. Maybe he's is trying to get me to chase him... maybe he's jealous of the lawn mower.

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Third, he realizes I have things to do and gives up on the chase. He finds a bone, lays in the shaded part of the tall grass, and chews away in his own zoned out world. He has been working on this bone all summer. No idea where he puts it and how he finds it each week... but he does.



He'll get up and move to a new spot when the mower comes to close. Moving is more frequent as the tall grassy area closes in. He moves, chews, moves, chews, moves until it is time for the back yard.

Fourth, I lure him into the backyard and playtime starts again. As I mow passed his 45 toys I throw them out of the way and he'll fetch, run, bark, nip at my feet and shorts... (Sorry for the loud breathing on this one.... yardwork + headphones are not a good combo for the camera man).

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Eventually he falls asleep in the sun and is done for the day. This post was more for me when I'm 50 than for anything else.

Paul Comes For a Visit

Elaina's dad Paul came out for a visit this week. He had to come solo as his wife Melody broke her leg in a kayaking incident.

I ate ocean floor in the same kayak only a few months ago. At the time it was funny and now I realize I was lucky to not have snapped by back.

We had a nice visit. Did some boating and grilled up some steaks on the new grill Paul gave Elaina for her birthday.

Although this picture was to show a little of Paul's visit, it's one that I love of Elaina. This is one of those 'my beautiful wife' pictures.

Our bbq was fun. Jase, Nicole, and the kids came over. We ate some dogs and some steaks and then I played throw the kids around the couch like bags of flour.

Natural Hot Springs and the Best Hot Dog EVER!

Last weekend we went to Quinn hotsprings in Montana with Bart and Amber. Pretty cool place in the woods with little cabins, a really nice restauraunt, and natural hot springs.



The pools were a little dirty so we sat in the hot tub for a few hours and finally started our 2 hour drive home at midnight. Yes that's right, we drove a total of 4 hours to sit in a hot tub.

We had a lot of fun though and the scenery was pretty nice.

As we rolled into CDA we hit this hot dog stand down by the bars. Everyone on the streets were dressed up for a night on the town and here we stand in sweats and swimwear ready for bed. Luckily we are in North Idaho so we didn't stand out too much.

This hot dog stand has the BEST hot dogs in the world. You gotta try one with cream cheese... trust me... cream cheese.

Lazy Dog

Elaina is nearing the end of hell month. She has been on the 11pm-7am shift 5 nights a week. Next week she'll finally finish. The good news is that she starts her 4 days on/2 days off/2 days on/6 days off schedule. The bad news is she will be on her own as a nurse. She's a little nervous but we all know she'll do a great job.

I'm hoping next week I can finally start posting some fun stuff with Elaina. Our opposite sleeping schedules pretty much suck. It's been great for Charlie though. He sleeps with me all night and then sleeps with Elaina all day. He's a ball of tornado energy from about 6pm-8pm, and then ready for bed again. What are we doing to this poor guy?

This is what I found the other day:

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Elaina's birthday. She had to work the night before and spent much of the day sleeping. After opening presents and an awesome King Crab dinner at the Beach House in CDA we headed out to a casino.

Lane has always wanted to learn how to play craps, mainly because it looks fun to roll the dice I think. She walked to the table slowly and hung back a little to watch. A few people were giving her pointers and explaining how to play.

About 20 minutes later she's rolling dice, throwing out the lingo, "give me $12 on 6 and 8". She turned into an instant pro and won a lot of money.

I won a lot earlier in the night, but made myself stop as the winnings were trickling away.

We both came home winners... which doesn't happen that often. Happy Birthday to me too!

Standard Summer Panic Time - August 15th

For some reason (procrastination), around August 15th of EVERY year I get into a total panic about the summer comming to an end. All of the sudden I start to catch up on the mountain biking and fishing that I didn't do all summer, but really meant to do.

Panic pushed me into a mountain biking day at Silver Mountain. Yes I'll admit it. I ride the ski lift up and then mountain bike down the mountain.

First, you ride up in the worlds LONGEST gondola taking you to the top of the mountain:



The ride down will take you through 30-45 minutes of single track heaven. Here are a few shots of the day.... This is why I LOVE living here!










Even a trip through the spooky forest. This is a real comforting sign when you are riding by yourself:





Ok, I'll admit it. I set up the self timer for a few action shots of myself.




After 30-40 minutes of total downhill you end up by the river for a 1/2 mile ride back to the tram for another round of fun.

Wave To The International Space Station Kids

Tonight we had Bart and Amber over for dinner. Elaina has come up with this totally healthy stir
fry that is quickly becoming a crowd favorite. After glancing at an article in the paper we
realized the International Space Station was going to pass right over our house in about 5 minutes.

We headed outside to take a look. Sure enough, just as predicted, it came into the sky at 9:41pm brighter
than any star in the sky. It was completely across the sky and out of sight in about 3 minutes. Those mathematicians are pretty
darn accurate. They must have paid attention in geometry... unlike myself.

You can look at www.heavens-above.com to enter your zip code and find out when it passes by you.

I'm Feeling Weak

I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. Keeping this blog a secret from Elaina is tough. I can't tell anyone else for fear of someone letting the cat out of the bag. Plus it's hard to explain why I'm taking pictures of a kabob tray.

Stay strong... I'm staying strong. I think this will be fun for her to read in a year.

We just started our weight loss saga a few weeks ago. Our focus is mainly portion sizes. We looked up weight watchers and started to calculate how much we were eating. I can't believe how unhealthy I eat 90% of the time. Not to mention eating out at least 5 nights a week. We're not talking light salads...we're talking the great ones: Outback, Red Lobster, Chillies.... oh, chillies... I miss your chips and queso.

I'm down 5 lbs in the first week. Up 1/2 pound the second week... I guess my 5 lb celebration dinner wasn't exactly smart. I won't give out Elaina's numbers, but she pretty much kicked my butt on week 2.

Lane is finishing up her first week of overnight shifts at the hospital. These full time overnight shifts suck. I pretty much sleep and wake up by her work schedule. Once you factor in sleeping there isn't a lot of time for anything else. She is working so hard.

A few more weeks of this and she'll be down to her schedule of 3 nights a week. Hopefully normal life will continue. We're celebrating her first 6 day hiatus with a trip to Yellowstone.

Word Is Out ... Free Dinner At The Matthews!

Elaina pretty much kicked some butt on the back yard again. I went on a scanning trip to Council, ID with Jase and came home to this:



More plants, less weeds, and a new bird feeder.



This morning there was a record 4 birds on the feeder with flapping wings and position mongering. I'm sure this is all a bunch of drama in the bird world.



The bird line was long on the fence. I'm sure our neighbors appreciate the bird butts on THEIR side of the fence instead of mine :)



Yesterday we went to Art On The Green down at the Coeur D' Alene Park. Tons of booths showing art, photography, crafts, etc... oh, and food.... mmmmmm fair food! This is just a picture to tempt people to come up. You'll never have corn on the cob as good as this. My dad really enjoyed it at last years Pig Out At The Park in Spokane. Pigout At The Park is this HUGE event with hundreds of food booths. Enough food to give you Diabetes, high cholesterol and a heart attack all at the same time.... totally worth it.





Here are some kabobs...



why am I posting pictures of kabobs you ask? Two reasons, 1) FINALLY bought a new camera and this is my inaugural shot. 2) This was prepared for 6 of us to eat dinner... not to mention the 5 or 6 that were already on the grill. Are you calling me fat?

Happy Birthday to our niece Daisy as she just turned 3. Her birthday party was today....... wouldn't you love to be a kid again?

What's a Flavor Flav?

My cousin's wife, Shawnae (I know I butchered the spelling) called out of the blue last night. She is in town for an educational conference and wanted to hang out. We went to the Wine Cellar to watch her nephew play harmonica in a band. They were really good. Harmonica playing is a huge mystery to me. How do they do it???

I was showing pictures from my camera and mentioned I had a few of Elaina and Flavor Flav. Shawnae said, "What's a Flavor Flav? Is it a costume or something?" I guess Flav isn't a fixture on the 4 channels available in Grays Lake, ID.

She stayed at our house that night and camped out in the back yard. ** EDITORS NOTE ** Yes, I offered one of our spare bedrooms. She was pretty gung-ho about camping in the backyard. I offered up the hospitality, though, of turning the sprinklers off. That's how I roll!

I had fun talking with her. We haven't spent much time together besides the annual Thanksgiving catch up. Her and Bryce are a lot of fun and I hope we get to see them more often.



FLAVOR FLAV and LANEY LANE!


FLAVOR FLAV!



The backyard is coming along nicely. We (Elaina) did a lot of work on it his week. She picked out 20 new plants, positioned them perfectly, and dug all the holes. I mowed the lawn and then helped dig about 5 holes. I'll go ahead and take 3% credit. Look how nice it looks:





Then.... the other side. A few months ago we brought in a dumptruck load of dirt. After building up the backyard we went on vacation for about 10 days. We came back to weed-fest 2007:




We have a bit more to do.

We finally have the boat back after 10 days in the shop. We found a friend of a friend to fix the upholstery and make a few new seats for the back. While picking up the boat we were chatting with her and talking about the dogs. She is telling us a funny story and then lays down a total racist comment! N word and everything!

All of the sudden the laughter stops... crickets are chirping. The silence was finally broken when I said, "well, we have to go". Then we left.

As we climbed into the car Elaina and I gave each other the 'what the hell was that' look.

I always tell myself I'm going to say something when this happens. This was so out of the blue I couldn't wrap my brain around it fast enough. I was shocked! I wish I would have said something.

Shock and Awe at Red Lobster

I spent a few days last week in Nashville, TN. My first time there and LOVED it!!. As much as I don't like country music, I really like the Honkey-Tonk bars. It feels like everyone is there to have a good time and listen to music. Not to grind and Gyrate on anything that moves. The town was pretty and the people were very nice.

I have some work friends that I see about once a year. We hit the Nashville nightlife Friday night and had a good time. I got up at 9:30 for my flight, which seemed way too early until I thought of my friends who had to get up at 5am.... after going to bed at 3.

Elaina's mom came to visit while I was gone. Saturday night we went to Red Lobster and got a little carried away. Our volume was loud and continued to rise. Eventually Jase and I were in weapons battle. I had three forks between my fingers in a clenched fist and Jase had a few steak knives blaring. Somehow water was tossed and it hit the guy behind us.

Nothing really silences your good time and makes you feel like a total dumb-ass like the guy behind you getting up and asking you to take it down a notch. Then you have the realization that the entire restauraunt is looking at you in shock and awe.

The next day Elaina and I picked up about 20 plants for the back yard. We're determined to get it looking nice but will be a big project.

It was nice having Sandy here with us. Elaina was able to to get in some quality mommy time with me out of town.

No pictures as I haven't replaced the camera yet. Hopefully this week.

What is my dirty little secret?

Well, it's a little more secret ... a little less dirty. I'm starting a blog to chronicle the next year of our lives and Elaina doesn't know it. I'm hoping this will be a nice birthday present on August 13, 2008. I imagine it will be a better present in 2015 but I can't keep it a secret that long!
This will be just mundane little things, stories, and pictures.... stuff that has no meaning to anyone but Elaina and I... something like this:

We have a 4plex for sale. Someone called the other day and offered to trade a lot on Lake Coeur D' Alene straight across.
Jase, Elaina, and I took the drive down to Worley through 30 minutes of highway and 15 minutes of farmland. We finally found the lot and discovered it was pretty much unbuildable. We spoke to the grouchy neighbor who obviously didn't want anyone next to her and she told us how horrible the spot is.





We attempted to hike down to the lake and I stepped down steep gravel incline and totally lost my footing. I did at least 3 or 4 huge cartoon-like sweeping steps but finally fell hard on my ass. Luckily my hand (holding my camera) partially broke my fall. Jase and Elaina held their laughter just long enough to find out if I was ok. No one was surprised.






The camera broke... This is the same camera that miraculously lived through an entire washer/dryer cycle just a few weeks ago.


I tried fixing it:





Time for a new camera.