Photos from the weekend:

Friday night we did a little training...didn't get home till 4am.



Saturday Carol showed us how to make dim sum, meat pies and wanton soup:



Today turned out to be nice and sunny so we rode the SVT for 25 miles or so. Eric showed us how NOT to do a wheelie and Robin set a land speed record for changing a tire (not!).

Here Robin and Eric are pondering how to raft the flooded river:



View of Mt. Si:



Self portrait:

Last weekend we flew to Michigan, primarily for my dad's retirement party, but also to visit with family and friends. Like all trips back home, this one was non-stop and yet we still didn't get to do all the things we wanted to. I'll have to save Xochimilco's(world's best Mexican restaurant) and PizzaPapalis for another time.

Here's my Grandma Helen and brother Darryl:



And here's Dad, all ready for retirement:

Photos from our busy weekend.

Eric and I racing Colinoba 3, an urban fun run in Seattle:



A group of us went to the international district for dim sum, then out for milk tea:



Eric and Robin braved the rain for a paddle on Lake Sammamish:

Today Jerry, Eric and I rode the Tapeworm trail in Renton. It was our first time there and the trail definitely lived up to it's name-plenty of tight, twisty singletrack punctuated by roots and logpiles.

We spent last Saturday in Vancouver with Jerry and Stacy. We checked out an exhibit at the Vancouver Museum, shopped on Robson and grabbed a pint at one of the downtown pubs. I can't wait to go back! The shot below was taken at Stanley Park.

Slight change of plans. Ok a major change of plans- we are staying in Seattle for at least a few months longer. Our weekend scouting trip to Chicago made us realize that it was the wrong move. Long story. So Eric is in a temporary position and that will buy us a few months to clear our heads and figure out what we really want to do.

*SIGH*

It's official- we're moving to Chicago! More details to come...

Big news coming soon...

Who needs 5 and 10K runs? Eric and I chose yesterday's Capitol Peaks Fat Ass as our first running race ever...a 25K (17 mile) trail run with 2500' of elevation gain! A long time ago I had planned on training for it, but between the holidays and being sick I had removed it from my calendar. Then this week I get an email from Shannon asking if I'm going to try it. Hmmm, should I? Considering the fact that I've never run more than 5 miles consecutively all signs pointed to no. Then Robin asked Eric about it and somehow we agreed to run.

So we met Robin at 6am, picked up Jerry and 6:45 and drove to Olympia. Icy roads made us late for the start- about 2 minutes after we parked the whole pack ran past the car....oops. Not a big deal though, we weren't there to win or anything. So we quickly registered and started to chase the main group up the trail. The first 6 miles were uphill (who starts a race on an uphill??), and unfortunately within a few miles Robin's previously-injured ankle was acting up again. Eric told Jerry and I go on ahead if we were feeling OK. Jerry and I ran ahead, with the trail getting progressively steeper on the way to Capitol Peak. Eventually we slowed to a walk because the climb was too steep and snowy. We passed up several people on that hill climb alone. I wasn't planning on being competitive at all but it sure was fun to pass people! At the aid station we hung a right and continued up the iced-over trail to the radio towers. The cold wind was brutal! After that we eased into some rolling hills and then finally a nice downhill section. I am glad that Jerry had the course map so I knew exactly how far we had gone. The last 4.7 miles were extremely tough for me-including the long downhill part on wet clay. I managed to tough it out for most part and 5 minutes from the end we saw Shannon and dog Buddy cheering us on. The finish line was a very welcome sight.

We finished in 4:04, which was great considering the trail was complely covered in snow, ice or mud (only a couple dry sections on the entire course) and the fact that I rarely run. Eric and Robin came in a hour or so later. I had a great time and am looking forward to my next race!

Here's a photo courtesy of Shannon (click for larger image):

Here is Daisy doing her best Donald Trump impersonation. Note the comb-over.

Jerry, Duncan, Julie, Eric and I took advantage of all this white fluffy stuff and snowshoed on Saturday. We did a nice uphill climb followed by a lot of slipping and sliding on the way down. Great idea Duncan!

WOW- we received about 7 inches of snow overnight! Not a strange occurance for most of you, but it's rare for us. I'm still debating whether or not I should attempt the morning commute. Evening commuters actually abandoned their cars and walked home to avoid the ice. The pic below is from a DOT cam right near our house.The 2nd pic is our neighborhood.

We had a pretty nice weekend. On Friday we saw the movie Blood Diamond, which was excellent. Leonardo di Caprio has come a long way since Titanic.

On Saturday Robin, Eric and I went for a 2 hour mountain bike ride. I haven't ridden since September and it felt great. Later that day I gave Daisy a bath. She expects me to bring out the hair dryer to warm her up, and even holds out her wings so I can dry the undersides of them.



Today we had Dim Sum for breakfast then decided to go snowshoeing with Jerry and Robin. What started out as a 3 hour tour turned into a 6 hour odyssey. First the eastbound lanes of 90 were closed for avalanche control, so we sat in the car for 2 hours. Then we finally got to shoeshoe for a couple hours. The snow was pretty wet but we still had a good time. Then on the way home the westbound lanes were closed, so we had dinner at the Pancake House to kill some time. Click to enlarge photo.

I also posted some photos from Christmas, click here to see them.

**New Diet Craze is Sweeping the Seattle Metropolitan Area**

"I'm the only person who's lost weight over the holidays, thanks to my new diet plan called the stomach flu." Karyn Abraham, satisfied customer

For a free 4-day trial, simply drink out of my water glass and the germs will instantly transfer to you. Barf bag not included. Full-blown sickness available for $15.00, roughly the cost of an office visit co-pay.

Remember this from Sesame Street? Click on the arrow to play...

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas. Eric and I are spending the holidays with my family in Greenville, SC. We're having a great time hanging out with family, playing with my nephew and stuffing ourselves silly with cookies and treats! I'll post some pics later this week.

There's an ass for every toilet seat.
-Ralph Rzepka a.k.a Dad

Ok, so tonight we went window shopping at Bellevue Square. Ever heard of a store called JZ Rose? Neat stuff, but once I saw the price tags I nearly choked. That ugly 5x7 brocade pillow? $395. How about the taxidermied chicken? $1700. Oh, and the frog-shaped ceramic umbrella holder? Try $15,000. Please refer to the quote above.

I can stop whining- our power was turned back on today :)

I don't know how the pioneers did it. Our power has been off for almost 4 days and we are going nuts. There was a huge windstorm on Thursday night and it knocked out electricity throughout the Seattle metropolitan area. Our city is one of the last to have power, due to the large number of downed trees. Lousy trees.

We owe Jerry and Stacy BIG TIME- they have graciously allowed us and even the birds to stay over this weekend. Thank you for feeding us, entertaining us and for letting us use your laundry!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Friday night we decorated gingerbread cookies with Jerry and Stacy. As you can see below I'm not terribly skilled in cookie decorating.

Saturday was the 2nd annual Cortez Christmas party, complete with karaoke. Eric stepped up to sing LL Cool J's classic "Mama Said Knock You Out". He was actually pretty good.

Today we put up the tree. Bird tree, that is. We bought this as a gift to ourselves. Daisy is constantly climbing on the couch so this looked like a good solution. We also had Dim Sum for breakfast with Robin and Carol.