Erin Studies

I wanted to take a picture of a typical domestic scene around here. Erin in the lazy boy surrounded by books with a blanket and computer on her lap, and an obliterated dog toy on the floor. It's a nice night for me but I don't know about her. On one hand she loves to learn and take questions/ideas apart and on the other hand I know many times she would like nothing more than to get home from work and not have a single thing of significance to worry about.

Skiing and Sh**

Erin and I took Friday off to go on a short (overnight) ski trip with some good friends. We went to a place that's kind of in the middle of nowhere in Montana called Showdown. It was really fun. Erin hadn't skied for a few years before we started dating because she broke her leg really bad from a ski accident a few years ago. She is understandably nervous sometimes but has a lot of skill, she's skied a few times now and gets better each time we go. We stayed the night at Bob's Place, a small town motel/bar/diner that is owned and operated by a guy named Tony and his wife Shelly. I guess Bob owned the place before Tony and the name never was changed. Apparently Tony also answers to the name Bob.



On the way home we had a nice little treat. We got caught behind a cattle drive that was pretty cool to watch at first but got old really fast. A couple of the cowboys (I guess one of them was actually a cowgirl) told us to just drive up behind them and they will get out of the way. We were following the red pickup (in the photo) and the guy had absolutely no balls to "push" the cattle around a little. We drove in the middle of the heard for about an hour (not exaggerating) before a dud in a big pickup lost his patience with Mr Red Pickup and came around and led us out of the poopy nightmare (I've never seen so much poop on one road in my life). Anyway, we're back in Bozeman and very happy to have the whole weekend to look forward to.





The picture doesn't quite do justice to the true length of cow. They were spread out for more than a mile.

Random Stuff

I used to love watching Meet the Press on NBC every Sunday morning. I loved Tim Russert and think that David Gregory is kind of a tool, hopefully he'll get the hang of it. It's Sunday morning right now and he's annoying me.

I ran a 10K yesterday. When I came down the stairs this morning I thought I was going to break the hand rail because 90% of my weight was on it. I would recommend running a couple of times prior to entering a 10K. By the way, why does my neck and back hurt almost as much as my legs?

Well, this was an entry to warm up my blogging muscles so I'll cut it short so I don't regret it tomorrow (coming down the stairs). We're doing well. Erin is as busy as ever and seems to be making good progress on her Master's thesis. In 9 days we will have been dating for 3 years. Crazy huh? I'm making a goal to blog again this Spring.

Have You Met My Girlfriend?

Barney is seeing someone but I found the next best thing. Yes, that's Erin in a Dinosaur suit. She was part of Bozeman's annual Sweet Pea Parade for her work (Museum of the Rockies). It was pretty cool but it went by me so fast that she was gone before I had the chance to ridicule her much. It must have worn her out because she taking a nap now. She smells like a jockstrap recycling warehouse. The parade was really cool. I'll throw in a couple of pictures from the animal control people dressed in star trek garb and the "solar bug" that I want to be my next car (really).

"Klingons Castrate with Honor" is my favorite

Don't mind the lady in the picture. I don't know her, just friendly fire.

Nissan Pathfinder, 1991-2008, Rest In Peace

The full life of Nissan Pathfinder sadly came to a close on Saturday, July 12th, 2008. Nissan was heading home from a trip to the local biking trailhead with a balding 31-year-old and an overly furry 7-year-old in tow when it suffered a devastating timing belt break. The break did irreparable (or at least ridiculously expensive) damage to the valves of Nissan's engine. Nissan's caretaker changed the spark plugs in futility and rushed Nissan to the College Exxon (rushed = Monday morning) with the help of Elite Towing. Unfortunately Nissan was deemed to be damaged beyond reasonable revival and will soon be laid to rest at AF&T Auto Parts and Salvage. The balding caretaker will receive $60 for his troubles. Nissan lived each of its 195,000+ miles with a spirit of adventure and an obnoxious ticking noise.

This just in! An investigation of an unnamed, balding, 31-year old has recently been opened. This individual is suspected of criminal negligence. This unscrupulous individual will allegedly receive $60 as a result of his crimes. If you see this person, please call AAA immediately. Do not attempt to approach him as he may be dangerous. Authorities believe he is at large in Bozeman on a blue bicycle.

Is it November yet?

I love the summer, but sometimes I wish that I could hit the fast-forward button. . .
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/D/DIRTY_AIR?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-03-14-09-48-22

Holiday Pics

I got on the blog tonight to share some of our holiday-time photos but realized that most of the pics that I wanted to share are on Erin's camera. Unfortunately she is in New York visiting her family and I'm pretty sure she has her camera with her. I found some other pictures that are worth sharing though. You'll just have to deal with the fact that they are a little bit random.



This is from Bozeman's Christmas Stroll; it's a big deal around here and I wanted to go to it more to see the spectacle than to really participate much. Main Street is closed down and insanity rules for a few hours. One of the jewelry stores downtown had college-aged girls dressed as Elves (or something) dancing and posing in the front display window. Kind of reminded me of the Calvin Kline weird dancing billboard deal in Time's Square.



Erin hard at work for school. She didn't know I was taking this but I love the way the picture turned out. I can't wait until she's done with school; though she'll probably just find something else to keep her busy whe we get to that point.

This last one I took at the top of the hill next to our house where I walk Kaya every morning. I typically walk her between 5:45 and 6:30 and it's completely dark, but this is on a Saturday not long after snow.



I can't wait to get Erin's camera. I'll give you a little teaser for photos to come: Christmas Turtlenecks.