XC

Noah competed in his first even high school cross country meet on Thursday in Colorado Springs. It was termed "pre-state" since they ran on the same course that the state meet will be held on. All the hard work and miles Noah did over the summer paid off as he ran a 25:14 over the 3.2 miles. In 95 degree heat. On the toughest course they will run this fall. Great work son the oldest. No pictures from the meet, so here is Noah last night chilling at home. 

Bikes!

It was so fun last weekend to spend all day Saturday chasing around hot sweaty men in spandex on bicycles with Andrew and Rebecca. I had never had the chance to watch the US Pro Challenge in person before last weekend. It was pretty awesome. All the motorcycle cops, course marshals, TV cameras, team cars and the bikers themselves. 

We saw them first just after they left Windsor on Crossroads Boulevard. They came flying past us on the way to Estes Park. We then made our way to Ft. Collins and New Belgium Brewery. They were giving away free beer to people in cycling jerseys! We sampled Pumpkick, while enjoying watching the race on a movie screen size TV. Then we walked downtown to enjoy the carnival like atmosphere and party at the finish line. We got lots of free swag, tshirts, posters, water bottles and samples of vitamins and energy drinks. 

The finish line was pretty exciting. Lots of yelling, bell ringing, thunder sticks and cheering! After the race we spotted the winners on the podium and shortly afterwards we saw the stage winner being interviewed. What a day! 

Recovery-Diet

I'm now into my third week of short term disability, and two weeks since my treatment in Billings. There are still problems and some highs and lows. Ironically, I was scheduled to have my permanent bag placed on Tuesday of this week. While I'm thankful I'm not two days post-op, recovery is still a work in progress. 

I am now on a radical new diet: paleo. Basically I'm now eating what cave men did: lots of meat, salads, veggies, and fruit. What I'm not eating is basically everything else: dairy, bread, processed foods, peanuts, grains, and potatoes. It's been a challenge to say the least, but I'm pretty motivated to start feeling better. 

The pain is still an issue. I think there was about a 20% pain reduction after my treatment. So now the really bad pain is only like a 6, instead of a 10. I will receive another treatment in 2 weeks and am hopeful for another reduction in pain. 

The frequency of my bowl movements continue to be a problem. The new diet was supposed to help, but hasn't slowed things down to the point that its comfortable. It is also very unpredictable when a bathroom trip will be 5 minutes or 2 hours. Or when exactly a long bathroom trip will hit. For example, last weekend I was great on Friday and most of Saturday. But then Monday and Tuesday of this week, I spent almost 4 hours each day in the bathroom. Hard to plan a life when I feel chained to a bathroom for the better part of a day. 

So that's where things are today. There is improvement, but I'm not 100%. While having coffee at Starbucks this morning, I had to potty 3 times in 40 minutes. Then nothing for several hours. Then another hour in the bathroom this afternoon. Not much pain, but it seems there is always always always a feeling of needing to poop. Sometimes I'll go 10, 12, maybe 24 hours without any problems. Then for a day or two it's a train wreck. Repeat. 

Thanks for reading through all of that. I like to try and keep my readers and prayer warriors updated on how things are. Look for another update in a few weeks after my next treatment. 

Dave

After Snoop wheezed himself off stage, it was finally time. The moment I'd been waiting for since the tour was announced back in February. Dave Matthews Band. Live. In person. First time I've seen them since back in 2008, and first time seeing Dave since the Dave and Tim show in December of 2010. 

They killed it. So amazing to see them live. A crazy good set list, as you can see. They played for over two hours, oldies, newbies, covers, they jammed. We had great seats on the floor, even though the pictures don't really convey that. Happiness. He even played "You & Me."  Come back soon please Dave. 

Snoop

Lion? Dogg?? Either way, one of the items on my bucket list was checked off on Friday night as Nick and I journeyed to Dicks Sporting Goods Park for the Snoop Whatever/Dave Matthews Band Summer Tour concert. 

Seeing Snoop in concert was a rather surreal experience. He opened his 50 minute set to a 1/4 full stadium. His DJ and hype man got the crowd going my taking several long hits from a blunt and then throwing it to the crowd. Then Snoop arrived to begin wheezing through his set. He of course thanked Colorado for our new weed laws,then proceeded to cover "Jump Around," and classics like "California Love," "Gin and Juice," "What's my Name" and "Young, Wild and Free." There were several scantily clad dancers on stage, and even a guy dressed in a dog costume waving a fake 4 foot joint around. About half way through his set, Snoop took a weed break on stage. The crowd loved it as they exhaled large clouds of smoke into the night sky. Snoop finished his time on stage by encouraging the crowd to "smoke weed, mother f***ers!"  Thanks Snoop. 

Draft

Had the big draft party last night for the keeper league I'm in with many of the guys from work. It was a pretty fun night at Buffalo Wild Wings. Joe does an amazing job with the league, and even added a trophy this season! My team is the "Tread Lightly", a reference to a great little show on TV right now about a cancer survivor. Pretty good roster I ended up with too.  

Familiar

To any of you good folks driving northbound on I-25 just past the Windsor exit then next few weeks, you will see this billboard. It is an advertisement for the University of Northern Colorado. If you look at the handsome stud on the right, you might recognize him as the amazingly brave and valiant cancer warrior named Ryan Roth. Just sayin'. 

Shoes!

What does a young man do when he wears out his running shoes by putting 262 miles on them this summer? Have mom and dad buy him new shoes to put more miles on! So proud of the hard work you are doing for cross country team Noah. All of those miles this summer will pay off big time this fall at your meets. Run hard! 

Day 1

Here are the littles this morning, all set for 5th and 3rd grade. They were both not very anxious for the school year to start. But away they went this morning. The new Drive Line system that Frontier will be using after school to help with child pick up and parking lot congestion went pretty well today. That is, if you are a crafty long time Frontier parent like myself. For those rookies, it took quite a while.  Haha. 

Birthday!

Happy birthday Nathanael! 11 years ago today we welcomed you to our family. We are so blessed to have you as our third son. I love your energy, your desire to learn and experience the world around you. You are a great big brother to Sarabeth, and an important part to the band of brothers. I'm excited to see how much you will learn and grow this year as you prepare for middle school a year from now. I love you so much and am proud to be your dad. 

Party!

All of a sudden birthday season is back upon us. The party started Saturday, and won't finish until I finally turn 37 in February. Nathanael decided for his present from his folks he wanted to go with mom to paint a picture at a cool place in Windsor, then have his friends over to see the new Percy Jackson movie, eat some pizza, and have a sleepover.

It was a great party for Nathanael! The pictures they painted were amazing. The kids all enjoyed the new movie and the Nerf gun wars and video game playing were enjoyed by all. The pizza was pretty good too. 

Camp-Laramie Vol. 2

The kids just finished up their second week of camp in Laramie last week. They found out what Laramie kids have know forever: the middle weeks of August in Laramie can be pretty slow. So they used their imaginations and had a great time playing in the tree, riding bikes, having water fights, and reading , reading, reading! They earned lots of cool rewards including ice cream, a pizza buffet, and free drinks. The week started out pretty fun since Wes, Kim and KALEB were in town!! Keleb loves him some Sarabeth!!  They spent lots of good cousin time together on Sunday and Monday. I spent Thursday and Friday in Laramie mostly talking with mom and dad about my illness, my new route, and plans for the kids this school year. We also got to celebrate moms birthday with her on Friday! A great visit, and with the route changes at work, what could be the last one for quite sometime.