Sorry. Were you sick about reading of rain? I think I’ve heard that from two people now. I suppose since I’ve been back from the bike trip now for quite some time, it’s about time to update this site. Obviously, we made it back from the trip without serious difficulties, although there were a few spills here and there. The race for home on Friday was a bit of a stretch with a 14 hour ride from North Carolina – Tennessee – Virginia – West Virginia – Maryland – Pennsylvania – New Jersey – New York – Connecticut – Massachussets and finally New Hampshire. I’m not sure that I’ve taken my bike out since then. (It’s actually getting a bit chilly now.) The cold weather has several impacts: higher gas bills (do I take after my father?), less riding, less diving, and absolutely gorgeous New England landscape. I don’t mind the first two that badly, but the diving is slowly getting more difficult because of less daylight and the water is cooling quickly.

We’ve had company non-stop for the last little bit and it finally caught up with me this week with a fever or 101. it broke pretty quickly though with lots of sleep and I was feeling better by yesterday. Speaking of yesterday, Heidi and I got to go to an all-day labour/delivery class. It was more than a little interesting. Did you know that labour and delivery really doesn’t hurt? It’s like stretching your calf muscle. We learned this and other astonishing facts (ask Heidi) so the trivia was good. (OK. So that last fact seemed a little over the top, but you can ask Heidi that this was how the class started.) Six more weeks. Smile!

Rain! And lots of it. Mats, Reg and I are stuck at the moment in Roanoke, bringing back many memories of the bike trip from last year. This morning, Reg had several problems which led us to spending the night here rather than down in Jefferson and 120 miles further along the parkway as planned. The rain is supposed to continue through the week, so I’m not sure that things will transition to the nice beautiful week we had hoped for, but its still good to do some driving. Unfortunately, Heidi was not able to make the trip this year, but she was down in Woodbridge this weekend with me and is now spending a week of “sister-time” with Jen. You might think things are slowing down (and I’m sure they will), but for now, it’s all systems GO. Speaking of systems going, the little baby in Heidi is rolling and tumbling and twisting and turning more and more every day. It is very awesome. The doctor says it’s going to be big, so hopefully it won’t be coming late. Congratulations to Ted and Julie who are happy new parents this week. Smile!

News? Shmooz? One month after we’ve moved into the new house and I can’t really say that it’s even started. We did manage to paint most of the downstairs three times now (the first color didn’t quite work and then we needed two more for correction), but that is as far as we’ve gotten. The living room set and bedroom set hopefully won’t be too far behind, but neither have we found the right one that jumps out at us. Oh well … give us some time here. On the other hand, we’ve been picking up all kinds of things from ladders, to lawn mowers, to BBQ grills and Home Depot has been a second home for us. Dad and Mom were here this last weekend and we got another baby gift – a baby runner stroller. Our nursery isn’t even near completed, but the closet is slowly accumulating things at a rate equal to Heidi’s stomach. 🙂 I get to feel the baby kicking and rolling and moving and it is completely awesome. However, ask Heidi the same question in the middle of the night and her response is bound to be different.

Germany! Did I mention that I was in Hamburg, Germany last week? It was only for two quick days, but it was more than a little fascinating to wander around and take in the city. Although the city was largely destroyed back in WW2, the architecture has been mostly recreated and gives the old European feeling. If you ever make it over there, the one food you HAVE to eat is their cherry tomatos. They were truly incredible!! Smile all!