hello everyone--it is another beautiful day in arvada--we all just keep saying march might be bad. we are really dry on the front range--we've had to water our trees several times this winter. lots of snow in the mountains--which is good.
david had 6 days in texas on his road bike last weekend with jim siffring, and his brother norman. they all met with a bunch of other adventure riders down near big bend NP, and roade for 3 days. david had spent some time setting himself up to camp with gear on his bike, and they did spend 2 nights out. he felt pretty good about his packing job--even though he never did use the mess kit! and he had a great visit with norman. it has been one of their brotherly dreams to ride together again, so this is only the beginning i'm sure! today he is dirt biking with some friends. we've been doing a lot lately--a couple of movies out (gran torino and slumdog millionaire), dinners out during denver restauratn week--when about 200 local restaurants offer a 3 course meal for two for 52.80 (our elevation)! we went to a fancy place in golden that was very good. i've been getting the dogs out more every week, as our days get longer and the weather warms up. i have to be really careful with link, though, his hips are really huring him. we can only go out every other day--and i don't even hardly let him off the leash anymore cuz he gets too much exercise. david gave ruby her first spring haircut yesterday--and now we can see her cute little body again! she was pretty furry.
one of our new neighbors is a personal trainer, and she is doing a "bootcamp" every sunday morning, and a couple times during the week. i've gone a couple of times, and it has been really good. gets my heart going--and i just have to walk a half a block! ddavid and i are also starting a 7 week ballroom dancing class through our rec center this week. just picture fred and ginger!
work is busy for me. i teach part of another class this coming week, then travel in april for a few weeks. david has been going to albequerque regularly, and goes to san antonio next week for several days. his business has slowed dramatically--not sure what 2009 holds for him, but it isn't looking as good as 2006, or 2007. the dominos just keep falling, and we just keep hoping for the best.
we had a great visit with mom and dad on my birthday weekend, and then a short but great visit with david and charlie. we're looking forward to S and J and C and B for a week--and celebrating colin's 21st birthday with him!
well, back to my work reading, frosting a cake i just made, and spending an hour or so in the basement on our constant quest to clean it up!
take care everyone--we love you--michele and david, linkadink and ruby

happy thanksgiving everyone! we're trying the picture mode to see if this works this morning. here is the new beemer--sorry no leather clad biker mama and dude this morning. we are still in our PJs! this is a 2001 BMW R 1150 GS adventurer. it has all the bells and whistles you can imagine! and is ready to cross the countr or go around the world--as soon as i get my leather chaps.

we are on our own today--with a 20 lb turkey. we are supposed to get snow in town--but so far it is just cloudy.

i got my neck shots on tuesday, and stayed home yesterday-alternately resting and baking and cleaning. the shots went well, and should provide some relief in the next few days. we have the rest of the weekend off, and i have plans tomorrow to hit the arvada center festival with a friend. we put up xmas lights this past weekend outside--along with our other overachieving neighbors. we'll finish that up this weekend also. we just found out that tavis and rebecca won't be here for xmas weither--so not sure what we'll do for that holiday.

we hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a relaxing weekend. talk to you soon!

love michele, david lincoln and ruby

Holiday prep

Hi all,

I bet it's just a matter of time before Dave & his old lady make the trip to Wisco on the new Bimmer, eh?

I'm basking in the glow of just having snagged some great air fares for Domino and her roommate Andee to fly home for Christmas. Andee will be in Fort for a week before flying home to Philly on the 27th. I've met her and her parents twice at Vassar now and really like them all, and Domi spent part of last spring break with them in PA, so it's nice to be able to reciprocate.

Anyway, a friend and soon to be business partner was here last weekend so we could work on some plans and she saved a bundle by buying one-way tickets for her three-pronged trip from NY to Detroit to Chicago to NY, so I tried that with the girls' tix, and damned if it doesn't work!

I'm glad to save the dough, too, because last night I took a hit: my car was broken into and my beloved GPS unit was stolen. I was at Monica's in Old Town in Chicago celebrating her getting her Ph.D. (I'm dating a Doctor!), and I just happened to leave the GPS out on the dashboard. When I came out this morning my driver's side window was gone and so was the Garmin! Well, the window was still there, technically; it was just there in a million tiny fragments. Kind of a drag, especially since I had to drive home 100 miles in 40 degree weather with no window... At first I figured it was a bitter Bears fan who went berserk at the sight of Wisconsin plates, but then I found a mark where the perp had wedged a metal bar under the weatherstripping and popped the window from underneath. Pretty slick job. And of course both the window and the GPS fall within my deductibles. Oh well, the GPS was free in the first place, the car wasn't really damaged, and no one was hurt, so I can't really complain. I will miss the girl inside the GPS's refrain of "recalculating" whenever I didn't follow her directions, though...

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good Thanksgiving-night snooze.

Love
Mark

Wow! Alot of news from Denver. The largest demographic for new motorcycle riders is the over 50 crowd. David really doesn't fit into that, but you do, Michele! I guess you won't have to get Harley duds if its a BMW. Thank God, I don't know if I could handle that.

We had a very nice weekend with Bridget. She finished up her midterms last week and needed some R and R, so she came home. We went shopping Saturday and picked up a few necessities, then hung out at the Grand Geneva health club for a few hours and had dinner at a sushi restaurant in Delavan. She visited an East Troy friend later Sat. night and again on Sunday, in between doing laundry and baking. Madison has had an outbreak of norovirus, starting in Sellery and spreading to alot of the sororities and the Evans House. No word as to whether or not Colin succumbed. Bridget was anxious to get out of there.

I planted a hundred or so bulbs in between baking and watching the Packers annihilate the Bears at Lambeau-about time. Our downstairs furnace went out, so Jay was trying to figure out what happened. The end result is that he has to call in the HVAC people so hopefully we can get that taken care of quickly and without spending a fortune. Always something!

I have three interviews-for the same job-over the next few weeks. I am applying for a Manager of Physician Integration for the South Region, which means hand holding physician recruits from their first encounter with Aurora and beyond. I have done it for all the folks we have hired in the last two years and it may be a good opportunity for me to get out of Behavioral Health. I've been at this stage with other positions and have been aced out, so who knows, but its interesting to try. I know and work with alot of the folks who will be interviewing me, so that makes it maybe more possible. It is a management position with no one reporting to it, at a higher pay grade. All of that sounds good, also. Things are much better where I am, so if I have to stay it will be OK, and of course I have Dec. off recovering from surgery, so I hope to have a new lease on life on Jan. 1 no matter what.

With all that is happening, I am not going to have a party for Jay for his birthday. We will be doing Thanksgiving dinner and will celebrate then with whoever joins us. We may go up to Madison next weekend and have dinner or brunch with B and C if this week isn't too nuts. Jay's getting alot of his long overdue medical work done and getting ready to go back to H&R if none of his other job leads come thru, so the next couple of months will be very crazy for him.

Hope everyone is well. I'm not sure where the Cruise Boat is now, but I am sure it is in a wonderful place. Have a great week! Love, Susan

hello everyone--another 60 degree day in denver. i joined our neighbors for a bronco chili party at their house--and they actually won today!
david is in SD this weekend--from thursday till late today--pheasant hunting with about 16 clients, cat and wagner people. he will be home either in the middle fo the night, or tomorrow morning. no doubt they had a great time--although it was probably cold and windy. i baatched it, and ran the dogs a couple of times, went to a christmas bizarre, got my face exfoliated, and baked brownies! the dogs are now totally out to lunch, and snoring. and i am putting together some insurance paperwork.
it will be pretty quiet here for turkey day this year. we're not even sure that shelly is coming. i have another set of neck shots scheduled for wither that week or the next, so i'll be laying kindof low anyway.
the big news at our house, is that after about a year of "shopping" david bought a 2001 BMW adventureer type motorcycle. i don't know what model it is , but it is a very nice road bike. it has all the bells and whistles, and he got a great deal on it. many of you know that i have put my foot down on a road bike for him, but he has worn me down, and he now has this one. he is quite excited about it, and i trust that he will be very cool in his use of it.
there is room for me, and i'm sure i'll get a helmet and ride with him. the dogs don't fit in the saddle bags, though.
so, that is his christmas present for about the next 10 years!
sound like the 26th is the christmas feast--and we'll be sure to call you all that day!
take care everyone--we love you--michele

I added one incorrect file, but Mom's party one is one here. Sorry-can't figure out how to remove it.

Faith and Begorra!

More YouTube fun--Drew Hardy and the Nancy Boys singing, "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama." I especially like the t-shirt they show that says, "O'bama--Vote Irish!"

sheboygan

Hi gang.  Just got back from a cross Wisconsin bike ride this week.  I figured as long as I've got some weekday time available I'd try to make some use of it.  I didn't have a chance to do a big ride this summer so decided to try to squeeze it in.  

I sent off a bunch of resumes Tuesday morning and Susan took me down to the AMTRAK station In Milwaukee and I took the late afternoon train up to La Crosse.  Put my bike back together in the station in LaCrosse while the ticket counter guy called around to find the cheapest motel room in the city.  

Set out on a very cold Wednesday morning with frozen toes but thawed by Sparta. Very spongy trail from Sparta to Elroy and then down 400 Trail to Reedsburg for another cheap motel. Called Maura and Tim to see if they'd be up for eats in Reedsburg but Maura was down for the count already and Tim wasn't feeling great but got a good pep talk out of the phone call with Tim. (Thanks again Tim) 

Thursday was warm and beautiful and after a later start got all the way to Fond Du Lac before third cheap motel.  

Easy ride in on Friday morning and home in time to be the older of the two Men In Black with Finn for trick or treating.  

3 bald eagles, 3 deer, (lots of dead ones), lots of fresh roadkill- mice, squirrels, coons, possums, 1 porcupine, 1 coyote.  0 farm dog attacks but ready with the pepper spray anyway

Laying low this weekend,  Susan is doing a boatload of cooking and baking downstairs and I'm back to sending out resumes.  More later