Beautiful Day

Today had to be a top ten day in my lifetime. Seriously. First thought of the day as I woke up was that the Kansas Jayhawks won last night to advance to the Elite Eight. As the sun rose in the east and began to light up the mountains outside our bedroom window, it was clear that today would be one of those sunny blue sky Denver days we've come to expect (Denver ranks as the ninth sunniest city in the US behind Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, El Paso, Fresno, Sacramento, Albuquerque and Los Angeles...in that order...followed by sunny San Diego at number 10).

After lounging in bed for a while we finally crawled out from under the covers and I took my first shower since my shoulder surgery 10 days ago. May not seem like much, but it was so nice to stand under the hot running water and not have to wash my hair in the sink (I had to keep the wound dry until they removed the staples at my follow-up appointment yesterday).

Next on the agenda we took Casey to the dog park. Hanging out at the dog park drinking a latte on a sunny Saturday morning has become one of our favorite weekend activities. Casey loves it, too, especially when her friend Duke (unfortunate name but cool Golden Retriever) shows up, as he did today.

But here's where the day gets REALLY good. After dropping off Casey at home for a good nap we drove to Treads in Parker to pick up MY NEW BIKE! What a sweet ride. Well, I haven't actually ridden it yet, but it looks sweet! This afternoon I got it set up in our study/exercise room (right next to leslie's elliptical trainer) on a CycleOps Fluid2 indoor trainer and am planning to go for my first "ride" tomorrow.

Wait...the beautiful day keeps getting better. Leslie, Casey and I went for a 3-mile hike late this afternoon, heading straight out our back door to the top of Williams Ridge (pictured at top and left), heading south along the ridge. Within minutes of our house we climbed to the top of the mesas for unbelievable views of the Front Range from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak.

Could it get any better? Sure it could. For dinner tonight I grilled up a big thick Coleman Natural Beef ribeye and two romaine hearts for Leslie's new grilled romaine salad with roasted garlic aioli...which she ripped off (and improved) from the Phillips Chop House in Kansas City (we ate there twice when back in KC for the Big 12 Tournament -- very good).

Check out that grill work (above)...perfect medium rare on the steak. I sear my steaks directly over the coals for five minutes per side, then move them to the other side, cover the grill and let my Weber Kettle do it's magic for another 15-20 mins (to get the perfect steak everytime, follow these three easy steps). For the romaine hearts, I just put them on the grill (over the coals) for about 3 minutes after taking the steak off (it needs to rest for about five mins before cutting anyway). Leslie drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette over the lettuce before grilling, then topped with the roasted garlic aioli and some fresh ground pepper before serving. Yummy!

Last week the vegan community staged "National Meat Out Day" so I declared today, "National Eat Beef Day" and urged all my family to eat beef for dinner. I figure the impact my family alone had on beef consumption yesterday was bigger than a bunch of vegans not eating meat for a day!

Only thing that could have made the day any better is if Louisville had beaten North Carolina in tonight's east regional final. Would have been fun to see Roy Williams cry after watching him shed tears year after year when KU's season ended early under his reign as the coach of the Jayhawks. Oh well, KU just needs to beat Davidson tomorrow to earn a matchup with Roy's baby blue boys in the Final Four so we can send Roy, Tyler and Co. home early ourselves!

Let's just hope Sunday is half as good. Rock Chalk, baby!

Daren