missed opportunity

finally a relaxing weekend. i guess most if not all our weekends are relaxing, but this time, we only had one scheduled event to go to, a halloween party in littleton that was thrown by one of p's waterpolo friend. pretty good time, lots of kids running around and aiden got time to play with his bud carson and meet a couple of other infnat/ soon to be toddlers. p and i didn't dress up, but threw the dumbo outfit on aiden for the entry and subsequently removed it.

but on sunday, we woke up with nothing planned. after a breakfast of german pancakes (made by p), coffee and juice, we putzed around cleaning the kitchen and playing with the boy. around 1030am, it was nap time for the kiddo. instead of stuffing him into the stroller, p decided to take advantage of a nap and laid down with him. i, on the other had, wasn't feelin' a nap, so i altered some photos and then watched about 5 minutes of tv. feeling a bit sluggish, i moved operations to the garage to see what else could be cleaned up/ moved around/ hung/ put in the rafters, to make things look more presentable. we still have yet to purchase/ build shelving units so we don't have to unstack and restack our boxes to see what's in them. we are leaning toward building shelves, but that does require the purchasing of a circular saw; however, it would be fun to build shelves and in the future to build other pieces. anyway. after about an hour of cleaning, i realized that i could have gone for a bike ride. not wanting to disturb the nappers, i plugged on in the garage listening to johnny cash and riding the mountain bike up and down the alley practicing no-handed track stands. i didn't really get that much done, but there is a bit more space on the east side of the garage to park the stroller w/o having to fold it up and hang it on the wall.

another hour had passed and finally p and a came down dressed for a walk... i could have ridden for 2 hours, out to the cherry creek res and back... oh well. missed opportunity. but the garage on the east side looks much better.

a change of scenery

p called me at work around 11am this morning to tell me we now have grass outside our home. for the past two months, we would wake up day after day, week after week, staring at a dirt lawn. finally, after putting the finishing touches on the landscaping, pulling up our sidewalk and relaying the concrete, raking the dirt and raking it again and again, five or six workers rolled out the green carpet in about four hours. can you believe that? it only took four hours, after weeks and weeks of getting it ready. i wonder what the hell they were waiting for. but it's finally here. hot dog!

veloswap

so today was the veloswap down here in d-town. my friend jason came over for breakfast- mushroom, onion and artichoke heart quiche. then, after waking the future wife and getting the kiddo packed, we headed over to the national western stock show; parking in the same spot i have for the past few years (no parking fee- kind of a backdoor to really close parking. i'm surprised more people don't know about it, but hey, i'm not complaining.) anyway. i'm a bit disappointed with the swap these days. it doesn't seem as big of a deal and the deals going down in that joint don't seem to be as good as they were just a few years ago. i remember getting there at the crack of dawn was the way to go. the best deals were made between vendors even before the public was allowed in. and back a few years ago, there were tables and tables of junk parts that if you were really looking for something a bit on the old side, you could fine 5-7 vendors selling them. now it seems like all those people that were selling stuff have started families or moved on, so they've gotten rid of their junk and have settled on the bikes and parts they currently own. also, it seems as if some of the vendors have become more interested in making some money rather than pricing things to sell so they don't have to lug it back home.

so browsing up and down the aisles for the better part of three hours, all i walked away with was four pairs of socks (pretty much main reason for going). p walked away with a beanie, waterbottle and loads of chapstick being given away by subaru.

actually, i think these days, my main reason for heading to the swap is to catch up with the random friend i've made over the past ten years of cycling and racing. in the future, though, if aiden becomes a cycling fanatic, it'll be a good chance to get him that next size frame/ bike or gadget at a less expensive price.

'if only we had the capacity at that age to appreciate what was going on at that age'

i was at the denver public library on welton yesterday afternoon after a trip to the recycling center (more on that later) and as i was checking my movies and music out, the lirbrarian took a look at aiden and said that. i was thinking about it the other night, how great would it be to remember that first year of life and being carried around, fed, pushed in a baby carraige and being buckled into a comfortable car seat? i guess i'm gonna have to live vicariously though my son to try and come close to experiencing those times.

so. the recycling center. i tried going last week, but in a bit of a rush, i didn't read the signs thorough enough and ended up way off the beaten path. so on friday i made the trip over to the recycling center to get all the paper and aluminum cans out of my trunk. this time, i found it... but as i entered the center, it seemed incredibly unorganized. i asked the gent next to me and he said all he's done in the past is just pull up and throw everything off the bed of his truck. so i'm staring at this huge pile of cardboard and decided to do the same. the only thing was, there was no designated pile for aluminum and plastic. so i pulled out of that area and headed back down the road toward home. about half a block down, i saw a 'public recycling' sign and decided to follow that. lo and behold, a small area in a parking lot that had bins with labels on them. oh boy was i excited to not have to cart that junk around in my car for another week. the only bummer is that in my haste of tossing cardboard and newspapers in the fill, i tossed the box that i had kept newspapers in... but more boxes are sure to come into this house as we purchase necessities.