“I Gotta’ Be Honest, Here… I’m a Little Stressed”

That was my quote to Chris as we passed through Cedar City.  It was raining.  And 30 degrees.

Hmmm. Icy roads.  Freezing weather.  Only missing the middle-of-the-night pitch-black darkness vibe to totally creep me out.

Oh, wait… it was 11:00 PM, overcast, and black as pitch.

I didn’t think I would be that affected by driving in those kinds of conditions again.

I was wrong.

So I was a little stressed for the last 2 hours of my trip up to Brian Head.  Cold.  Icy.  Snowing.  Mountain roads.  Dark.

Oh, yeah.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Fun times.

But I’m finally here.

Love the Volvo.  No problem handling the conditions… including the 4-wheel-drive only mountain roads for the last 6 miles to the resort.

Atrocious gas mileage, though.  Seriously.  Maybe 16 MPG on the highway.  Ugh.

But it got me here safe.  And it’s got plenty of power.  And lots of room.  Got 2 full-size snowboard bags and a bunch of other luggage with plenty of room to spare.

I was really pleased to discover the Cedar Breaks Lodge (where I’m staying) shares a parking lot with the Brian Head Ski Resort.  Slept in this morning after a long drive and got in a great half-day of ‘boarding.

Absolutely stunning conditions up here.  It’s about 25 degrees and sunny (which is fantastic boarding weather).  We got 7 inches of new powder last night and it made for unbelievable boarding.

I don’t think there were 50 other people on the mountain.  Definitely one of my better boarding days.

I have some video.  I’ll post it tomorrow.

Also, it’s beautiful up here.

The first time I ever saw Cedar Breaks was when my dad and I drove up here a few years before he passed.  He wanted me to see what he thought was one of the most beautiful places in Utah.

He was right.  I’m glad he shared it with me.  Very peaceful and serene when I board alone or hike around the resort property.  I’m right in the woods.

The view out my bedroom window is stunning.  Last night I just sat by my fireplace and watched the moon shine off the snow in the trees out back.  Definitely my kind of place.

I’ll see if I can get some decent iPhone pics (I don’t carry a camera) and some Flip vids to post tomorrow.

Also, I make this invitation every year when I go snowboarding… if you want to come up and board with me then I’d love to have you.  I can only think of a handful of people that might take me up on that.  Specifically, I’d love to see the twins or Jason head down.

Great boarding.  Small crowds.  Multiple terrain parks.  Powder and groomed powder everywhere.  There’s even a tube park right next to my resort if you want to bring kids (yes, Brooke, I’m talking to you).

Oh… and no phone service up here (for AT&T.  Apparently Verizon is fine.  Grrr).  But at least I get really crappy internet.  So I’ve got that going for me.

Volvo, FTW…

Hey… something finally happened in my life.  Yeah!

After months of hemming and hawing, arguments with the 2 mes, and lots and lots of false starts, I finally got a car.

I haven’t had one for 1 year and 10 days.  Not since this.

In the end it came down to the Audi Allroad Quattro v. the Volvo XC90.

The Volvo Won.

I love the Audi.  Probably too much.  It was my emotional choice.  The Volvo was the far more practical choice… although also more expensive.

I love it.

I need to get it outfitted for mountain biking and probably snowboarding with a complete Yakima rack kit and then I’ll be ready to get back the lifestyle I want to be living… outdoors and adventurous.

I get to put the AWD capabilities to the test this weekend when I drive up to Brian Head to go snowboarding in Southern Utah.  They’re expecting another snowstorm the day I drive up.  Should be a miserable drive driving leading to a fantastic day boarding.

Bring it.

New Socks…

I’m excited.  I got new socks today.

I know… not typically a post-worthy event.  But today it is.

First of all, I’ve been wanting new socks for months.  But they never seem to rise to the top of the to-do list (assuming I actually had a list… which I don’t).

But next week is my annual snowboard trip.  And I wanted to make sure I had new socks for the trip (I take socks seriously when it’s cold).

So today I headed out to REI to pick up some new socks.  Here’s the damage…

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 6 pairs of socks with a 10% discount for buying more than 3 pairs and a 10% (I think) co-op discount.  Total bill: $83.28.

Now, normally I wouldn’t spend that much on 6 pairs of socks (I don’t think… it’s been awhile).  But they had some cool socks that I just had to try out.  So I got 1 pair of 6 different kinds to see which socks I like best (it will be hard to beat my Timberland socks).

1 Pair is just for “extreme snowboarding.”  I’m not sure what makes them uniquely qualified for ‘boarding… but I guess I’ll find out next week.  I felt a little embarrassed that I’d been snowboarding with just dumb old ski socks this whole time ;-)  Who knew?

The others were all hiking socks (which is why I’ve wanted new socks for so long… my good hiking socks are wearing out… and disappearing).

Lauren and the girls laughed at me when I tried on my first pair.  I like them, though… and they might even be my favorites.  I’ll know for sure after my morning hike tomorrow.

In the mean time, have a gander…

Nice, huh?

Warm?  Yes.

Comfy?  You bet.

Dorky?  Absolutely.

Just wait until my kids see that I have a second pair of toe socks.  They’re already embarrassed by/for me.  I mean, what’s funner than getting something you enjoy *and* embarrassing your wife and kids at the same time?

Junior Politician…

You may remember last year when I tattooed my head to help Holly get elected student body president at her school (http://mattharward.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-competitive-am-i.html).

Well, Holly accomplished what all student-body presidents *want* to do… but few actually *get* to do… she managed to get recess extended by 10 minutes for grades 4 through 6.

Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Here’s the story…

In an effort to reduce the food waste at lunch time the school decided it would extend the lunch period by 10 minutes for each class.  The extra time would only be applied to the cafeteria time of each class… not recess.

Holly didn’t like the new rule.  So she drafted a petition and obtained the signatures of the entire 6th grade class at her school.

Here’s her petition…

**********

Dear Mr. Michels,

As a 6th grade, we think that we need extra time at recess. We don’t need extra time to eat. The current lunchroom time is sufficient for us. It doesn’t take us as long to eat as some of the younger students, so giving us 5-10 extra minutes to eat would be a waste. We think that the younger students in kindergarten to 3rd grade should get the extra time to eat, and 4th through 6th grade should get recess. The younger kids have a harder time focusing on eating their lunch, and they don’t understand the value of money enough to care that they throw away half their lunch. As 6th graders, we understand that and also can just eat faster. As it is, we are usually sitting at the table waiting to go outside when our lunch time is up – we don’t require more time to eat.

However, since we sit in the classroom all day, a longer recess period would be much more appreciated. The older you are, the more exercise it takes to stay healthy. We think increasing the amount of recess we have would help us get exercise. Since most people just sit at the lunch table, they tend to talk more because they have nothing else to do.  If we get outside sooner, we won’t be as loud inside. We see the following as the pros of having a longer recess:

• We get more exercise and run off more energy, helping us to be calmer in class
• We’re allowed to talk to friends longer after being in the classroom all day
• The teachers will have more time to eat and to catch up on whatever they have to do.

Some of the cons of having a longer recess might be:

• People coming in with more problems at recess
• The younger students might complain if we are given an extended recess and they aren’t

Please consider our advice. We’ve attached a petition of the students who would like a longer recess. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Quail Run 6th Grade

**********

As a marketer, I couldn’t be more proud.  She got almost everything right (I would have reversed the pro/con order).

As a father, I’m impressed that she saw something she thought could be better and went and did something about it.  Very cool.

I’m not sure when this whole thing goes into effect… but I do know that her petition was accepted and enacted.  Grades 4-6 will get 10 minutes longer for recess.

Seriously… when was the last time a student body president actually delivered longer recess?  Now if she could just do something about that infernal homework.

Go Holly!

I Can’t Keep Track…

…of all the pets we’ve had.

It started 17 years ago when I wanted to surprise Lauren.  I brought home our first animal.  A cat named Samantha.  Sam, for short.

And that started a running theme in our family.  Namely, that it’s not just Lauren, Andi, Holly, Sierra and me in this family.

At the moment there’s also Monte (the stray dog Andi and Lucy found while visiting Brooke in Utah… that the Eliasons were kind enough to drive home for us).  Lilo, our black fluffy cat who serves as the animal patriarch of the house… and he knows it.  Bear, a sleek grey cat who is presently terrified of the next member on the list… Luna, our beautiful snow-leopard bred kitten (Lauren’s most expensive gift for Christmas 2008).

Home just isn’t home for us without animals.

To date we’ve had 3 dogs.  At least 10 cats (way more if you count all the kittens we’ve been through).  1 pig.  Several turtles.  Too many fish.  A snake.  A guinea pig.  Lizards.  Frogs.  And more, I’m sure.

Plus all the strays and charity case animals that Lauren and the girls are constantly bringing home.  From birds to dogs to anything else.  They love animals.

And now…

Introducing Justin and Joseph (or Larry and Buster if you ask Holly).

Sierra’s new Russian Dwarf hamsters.

I know.  We’re a little nutty.

We actually went to the store hoping to come home with a new tarantula.  That was Plan “A” and was soon discarded when the pet store had no tarantulas.  Plan “B” was quickly hatched by Sierra.

(by the way, here’s a quick parenting tip… don’t bring your 8-year-old daughter to the pet store expecting to get a pet only to discover the pet you want isn’t available.  Because you’re still going home with a pet.  That’s just how it works.)

So now Sierra has 2 new roommates.  Because she swears she’ll take care of them.

Uh-huh.  We’ll see.

Tired…

I’m not sleeping well.

I go to bed.  I’m tired.  Often *extremely* tired.

And my brain decides that would be the time to kick in to hyperdrive and not turn off.

I’m used to my schedule getting off-kilter because I’ll work odd hours.

But this is different.

I can’t sleep.  It’s driving me crazy.

I.  Can’t.  Sleep.

I want to.  I certainly *need* to.  And I can’t.

I don’t want to resort to medication.  I might have to.  It’s that bad.

How do you turn off your brain?

Book Report

Awhile back I blogged about starting “The Checklist Manifesto.”  I finished it last week.  It didn’t move me.

I followed that up with “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman.  I picked that because I read Neil’s “American Gods” last month and though it was very creative… although not a really compelling book.

I *loved* “The Graveyard Book.”  It was one of the more enjoyable stories I’ve read in awhile.  My daughter, Holly, is reading it now.

Great storytelling and cleverly creative.  Highly recommended.

Now I’m moving on to “Roots” by Alex Haley.  I’m about 20 chapters in and enjoying it immensely.

Roots is one of the very first TV shows I remember from growing up.  Not so much the actual show (I’m not even sure I watched it)… but I remember it was an event.  These days the mini-series format isn’t nearly as popular, but the “Roots” mini-series was a big deal.

I’m strangely reading “Roots” at the same time as “SuperFreakonomics.”  I like reading wildly different books in an overlapped manner because I think it gives me a unique insight and often triggers very cool “aha” moments.  Then again, I’m a geek.

And, if you’re wondering, I don’t think SuperFreakonomics is as good as the original Freakonomics.  I can’t really put my finger on why not, though.  The first book was so unexpected.  The second one is probably every bit as unexpected… but now it’s not so jarring.

I had hoped it would be like “The World is Flat” and its sequel “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman… where both books were excellent and insightful without feeling like the sequel was just a continuation of the first.  No dice.

It’s going to take me awhile to get through Roots.  But I’ll be finishing up SuperFreakonomics in the next few days.

Next up will be either “Sonic Boom” by Gregg Easterbrook, “What Americans Really Want… Really” by Frank Lutz (Recommended by my good friend Susanne), or “Rising Tide” by Jeff Shaara (if you haven’t read any of Jeff’s historical novels then you’re truly missing out).

Anyway… this is what you get when I don’t have anything else to post about.  Matt, the human library showing off his immense geekiness.  Yeah, baby.