Beautiful Day, Part II

KU WINS!!!! ROCK CHALK, BABY!! Cinderella has left the ball. Bring on Roy's baby blue boys.

What a game. Davidson is a great team. Underrated. A 10 seed? Are you kidding me? The tournament committee must have forgotten that they played UNC, Duke and UCLA back in November and December, losing by 4, 6 and 12, respectively. Nevermind that two of those teams are in the Final Four. Davidson didn't lose a game in 2008...until today.

I rode my new Cannondale Synapse 3 on my CycleOps Fluid2 indoor trainer during the first half of the game, working off nervous energy. The game started slow, and so did I, trying out my cycling legs for the first time since September 22, 2007. But getting back on a bike was kind of, well, like riding a bike.

I worked on keeping my cadence above 90 rpm, something I think riding on an indoor trainer will help me improve on. After all, it's Lance's secret to success. During commercials I revved up to 100-110 rpms. Thank goodness college basketball timeouts are only 30 and 60 seconds long (except for those darned TV timeouts)! This routine made for a nice interval workout, and helped me survive the stress of the first half.

After showering at the half I settled in to the couch to watch the second half but found that sitting still was a problem as the game see-sawed back and forth. KU leading by 6, Davidson leading by 4, KU leading by 6 again, Davidson cutting it to 2 on a Stephen Curry three-pointer with one minute remaining. It was torture...but the Jayhawks prevailed and all's well that ends well.

It's another beautiful day in Castle Rock, CO.

Daren

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

Happy Easter from the Couch Potato

Were you expecting the Easter Bunny? What you see is what I've been doing for the past 5 days -- sitting on the couch, remote in my left hand, painkillers, cough drops and a glass of water within reach on the end table. If it weren't for March Madness (Go Jayhawks!), I think I'd have gone mad by now!

My collarbone surgery seems to be healing fine. My biggest issues since the surgery have been side effects related to the hydrocodone painkiller (a.k.a. Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, etc.) my doctor prescribed and a chest cold that set in the day before the surgery.

I don't like hydrocodone at all. In fact, I stopped taking it on Friday after I woke up from a nap so disoriented I didn't know where I was (didn't recognize my own family room) or what I was doing (sitting on the couch watching basketball, of course). It took about 30 minutes to break out of this mental fog and sort things out in my brain. And the dreams I had while sleeping in a hydrocodone haze were extremely active, vivid, and sometimes disturbing. I often woke up in a cold sweat with my heart racing. I'd rather suffer through pain than go insane taking hydrocodone!

I suppose everyone reacts to different painkillers diferently, but I would never recommend hydrocodone to a friend. I much preferred the hydromorphone (dilaudid) I took after breaking my collarbone in September. It relieved the pain with little to no side effects.

I've also found that it is no fun to be sick at the same time you are recovering from surgery. What felt like a minor sore throat the night before my surgery has turned into a full blown chest cold. I'm not sure if my cold/cough was made worse by the anethesia I received during surgery. Apparently there is little concern about receiving anesthesia if you have a cold. I mentioned it to my doctor and he said that as long as I wasn't running a fever, I'd be fine. But I can tell you that having a chest cold has not made recovery very pleasant...coughing spasms don't feel great when you have a large incision in your upper chest area!

I know, I sound like a whiner. I'll admit that I'm a big baby when I get sick. I want my mom to be there to make everything feel better. But Leslie has been there for me -- bringing me tapioca pudding*, cottage cheese*, an occasional bowl of chicken soup (can't believe I publicly admitted eating fowl!) and even scrambled eggs* and toast for dinner one night. She does a great job of filling in for mom (just don't tell her I said so!). I'm sure I've been a real treat to be around...whining by day and wheezing by night. Thanks, Les!

Daren

*By the way, it may be best to avoid dairy products and eggs when taking most painkillers...at least be sure to add some fiber into your diet for good measure :)