7.25.2011

Let "The Summer of Peggy" End

As written in the 4/20 post here, Peg began her self-induced-AND-completely-appropriate unemployment from UBC in late-April. Even before the ink dried on the "don't the door hit you on the way out" papers, she had companies a-callin' to see if she would join their ranks.

One such company was Parexel, a pharmaceutical consulting company along the lines of her previous employers. It was this company's offer (role, compensation, etc.) that won out over the others she received. And as of today, she is now an employee of that company, visiting their Waltham, MA offices to do some internal meet-and-greets over the next several days, and plot out their plan for world domination. (Don't hold me to that last part... they are a big company, though.)

Awesome job, Peg... and you we're worried? Sheesh!

7.20.2011

Home

Well, after living in places other than 350 Laramie Blvd. for nearly the last 12 or so months -- and with distances from said address varying from 50 yards to 7 time zones away -- I am glad to post this: We. Are. Home.

Don't get me wrong, we are thankful to have spent the last 7+ months in a home in the same neighborhood as ours. But as the adage goes, there's no place like home.

And of course, Hi Kristin.

7.10.2011

Doing -- not having -- the Triple Bypass

There's a popular organized road ride out here called the Triple Bypass. It gets its play-on-words name due to the fact that the route riders take involves going over 3 heart-rate-elevating high mountain passes (the summit elevations are 11,140 ft., 11,990 ft., and 10, 560 ft.), has 10,990 feet of combined elevation gain, and is 120 miles in length. (A profile of the ride can be found here.) The ride is so popular that there's a lottery in place for entry, and the organizing club routinely receives more applications than the 3,500 available spaces.

I learned on Thursday that a friend who was signed up for it couldn't do it. After some last-minute phone calls and maneuvers to line up housing for us and Chamberlain, I was able to take his spot. I got up early yesterday morning and began pedaling my upward and westward with some friends at 6:50 am. I wouldn't reach the finish line, near Beaver Creek, until after putting in just under 8 hours of saddle time. While I was riding, though, Peggy and Chloe were checking out some hiking trails in the Vail area, and spending some time poolside at the Ritz sipping on Shirley Temples and the like. To be sure, all 3 of us had a great day.

7.02.2011

Disney: Done.

As mentioned in my last post, plans were for us to wrap up a very fun-busy June with a trip to California to visit Disneyland and Universal Studios. Well, we went. But it wasn't as fun as we had imagined or hoped.

On our first morning inside Disneyland, Chloe cried after 3 of the first 6 rides we did due to not liking one feature or another about them. Peggy and I were stunned, and sad... we were so hoping to have Chloe enjoy her time at the parks, and to be one of those kids who would want to go, go, go. But, as it turned out, we learned that amusement parks just aren't her thing.

For most of the rest of the week, we let her ride the rides she felt comfortable with (of which there were few) and eventually all 3 of us got kinda bored walking around the parks searching for something to do. Chloe was more excited about the prospect of spending a couple of hours at the hotel pool then going on some rides again, so that's what we did for an inordinate amount of time, considering we were 1 mile away from the happiest place on earth.