Pooks Canyon

Leah moved in to her college dorm last week. This weekend I clicked on the Leah link in this blog and reminisced about her wit, her chicken hat, and her willingness to choose her own path without bogging down on trifles like what other people think.  Go Leah!  We love you :) This weekend we also moved out of our rental in downtown Chico and into a fifth wheel trailer. It is really cool and weird at the same time. We are only partially "on the way" as we are just staying at the Almond Tree RV Park here in Chico.  We still need to clean out the rental. I get a shiver of joy every time I remember that we are now able to tow all our possessions around with a truck. This kind of lightness has been a dream of mine for almost two decades. Speaking of decades, I'll will complete my fourth one in a few weeks. In retrospect, this decision to hit the road seems too coincidentally timed with my big 4-0. Mid-life crisis? Is this the Cyndi equivalent of buying a Porsche? Everything...

...to name the new company. Baker Industries is just silly. Feel free to comment anonymously if you're shy... we really need the help. The new company must be named by Monday! Thoughts? It would ideally be something unique enough that the .com domain is not taken. If your company name is used, you'll win one free hour of consulting from us. Or a cup of coffee. Your choice.

Mr. Pooks and I have gone in to the consulting business together! Do you know anyone who needs help with any of the following? Systems Integration XML, Perl, Java Web Development Database Development Database Administration Database Reporting Yep, that's us. let us know if we can help :)

Last week my IBM Thinkpad did the big crashola (I was expecting it to happen eventually and was reasonably well backed-up). Since I work on Windows apps all day long (Crystal Reports, MS SQL Server, Ambulance Software) I was hesitant to buy a MacBook; but they are just so darn cool... so that is exactly what I did! It turns out Windows emulators work very well and I am running a virtual Windows machine that all my work stuff hums on. At the Boulder Bookstore the guy next to me said, "If my computer looked like that, I wouldn't mind working so much." I call her Red Delicious. Yum.

We'll I wasn't lying when I mentioned a busy June in my last post. All the travel wrapped up this weekend with a trip to Estes Park Center (a YMCA camp near Rocky Mountain National Park ). Where to start... Texas was interesting as usual. My coworkers there are some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. Durango on Memorial Day weekend saw Jon’s return to form as an agitator in the downtown criterium, garnering 3 rd place and a mention in VeloNews. We stayed at the Iron Horse Inn (which has cool, bi-level, suites for a good price) and also checked out some hot springs, visited historic Silverton, and hit up a parking lot carnival. The entrance to every single carnival ride had a sign with a no pregnant ladies symbol. Jon helped to sneak me on the Ferris Wheel by letting me wear his jacket. Our perpetual hero then took Leah on the Ring of Fire (see pic). Jon was, of course, sick when it was all over. I spent the first part of June taking naps ...

My Dad is calling the baby Roz (short for Rozwell), he says the baby looks like an alien. I sure hope not, I don't recall being abducted by aliens... at least not around the beginning of December. Anyone know the gestational rate of alien babies? Jon came back from the Tour of the Gila in nearly one piece, though his bike did not fare quite so well. Ever seen the inside of a carbon fork? It's very sparkly. Jon came away with some sprained ribs. Apparently he crashed coming off a steep descent on the final "Gila Monster" stage and landed, back-first, on a rock. Owwwuch. Today he rode his bike outdoors for the first time since the crash, so he's definitely on the upswing. Mother's Day I had breakfast in bed and then hung out with the family. We made a failed bid to go up to Brainerd Lake (weather turned nasty) and instead picnicked on Boulder Creek. Jon gave me a gift certificate to Paper Doll and Leah gave me a statuette of a pregnant lady that doesn't h...

Ok, so my blog has been pathetic thus far and it may continue to be well into the future. We'll see. I guess raising an 8 year old, being 5 months pregnant, and having 3 jobs (including one new small business) could be an excuse for infrequent blogging. But if you think about it, not really, I mean, I should have an awful lot to write about, right? Good story: the OB ultrasound took place about a month ago and we were told the baby was "most probably" a girl... and so little Sadie Amelia became a growing part of the household. Of course, we already have one beautiful, intelligent, athletic little girl... a 2nd grader named Leah Michelle, so a boy would've been good for balance in the household. After all, it wasn't the MALE cat that knocked over the cat tree. Despite picking out a name and buying a sack of pink baby clothes at Target, I had a gnawing (or more like powerful kicking) feeling in my stomach that the baby was not a girl. Enter First View Ultrasound ...