Dane Love...

Yeah, Asher is as crazy about his sisters as they are about him!

New Baby, New Duds

Here's Asher in his new, one-of-a-kind onesie made by Uncle Vee, Aunt Amy, and Shari. How cool is this guy??

It's almost time...

We are now only hours away from meeting our son! It's been almost three months since I last posted, so I figured this was a good one to begin with!

Is It Dark in Here?

After noticing my rear tire was shot about a week ago, I decided to go to "the Darkside."

Among riders, placing a car tire on your cycle is known as going Darkside. I have about 300 miles on the 205/60 16 GoodYear Assurance Triple Tread so far and couldn't be happier about the switch. I can now expect 30-40,000 miles, have improved grip in all road conditions, and better braking. What's not to love?

It's not only dark, but FAT:

Momma Gets Crafty

Here's Steph's latest addition to our son's nursery:



It's not quite finished, but it's looking fantastic so far!

Basement Renovation

For the last month or so, we have been working on finishing the basement. Here are a couple of pictures taken before we moved into the house (note the damaged, brown concrete floor, unfinished drywall, etc.):





Here is what it looks like now. With the help of Pa Powell, we put in a tile floor last month along with new doors. Steph and I have been painting as time permits. We still need to paint the existing trim, touch up some other spots, and install the trim along the base of the walls, but it is looking much better!






Future work (probably next summer?) includes replacing the drop ceiling, putting in recessed lighting with dimmers, and gutting and refinishing what is currently known as the "dog room."

The End of an Era

It was a tough decision, but ultimately the right one. After seven years of long locks, I can shower in half the time as it took with my longer hair and I don't have helmet hair anymore! Sweet!

Pinky's Haiku

I lie belly-up
In the sunshine, happier
Than you'll ever be.

It's a boy!!!

The picture says it all:

Back in the Loop

I am back from a five day, 1,600 mile trip around Lake Superior. We left Eau Claire on a Monday morning and stopped in Duluth, MN at the Aerostich factory.



From there we enjoyed some nice views of the lake while we headed toward Canada. We made it to Thunder Bay, Ontario by 6:00 and decided to check out Kakebecca Falls.



On Tuesday we made the 400+ mile trip to Sault Ste Marie and enjoyed absolutely gorgeous roads and scenery along the way. I had no idea how beautiful the trip would be. I highly recommend that everyone drives or rides this highway at some point. I'll definitely be returning!







The next day our trio of Valkyries crossed the Big Mac bridge-- 3.5 miles long and 200' high-- into Michigan for the national Valkyrie Ride-in known as InZane.

PASSED!

My thesis, that is. As of 5:00 last night, my thesis was approved by my committee. 1.5 years, countless hours, thousands of dollars, and many keystrokes have gone in to it, and it is finally done. Oh, and lets not forget the trees killed in the process of printing various pages of notes and drafts of this 64 page monster. If anyone is interested in teaching social studies vocabulary to high school students with LD, consider reading "The Key to Social Studies Vocabulary: Using the Keyword Method to teach High School Students with LD" by Karsten K Powell.

Here is the aftermath of creating a thesis: many books, about 50 articles, notes taken during hours of meetings and reading. (The thesis is in the middle of the mess)

And what do I look like after this?

What a surreal feeling.

Looks like I'm a Colby Hornet

I have signed my contract and am officially Colby High School's newest special education teacher! It's good to get the job search out of the way and know where I'll be this fall. Whew!

Holy Shit

Look what I just found in the basement storage room while cleaning!




Somehow seeing a stroller in my house makes things settle in more than hearing our baby's heartbeat did. Only 5.5 months until I get to meet our new roommate!

Back from La Crosse

I spent the week in La Crosse, WI for the 2010 Valkyrie Owners Association International Ride-In. The national ride was attended by approximately 75 great people who enjoyed the scenic roads near La Crosse.

I put about 1,300 miles on the Interstate. This pales in comparison to last year's total of 3,000 miles after the West Virginia Ride-In. We'll make up for it at next year's rally in Maggie Valley, NC!


Here are some random pictures of the Valks...

The Marmaduke Movie

Steph and I will be hitting up the movie theaters this weekend not to see the movie, but to help educate others about the realities of owning a Dane. We're hoping to avoid a glut of surrenderd Danes following their big screen fame as happened with Dalmations, St. Bernards, etc.

Despite the ferociously adorable antics we share about our Danes here, the reality is that they are HUGE, expensive, have many health problems, and live short lives. The average Dane female is about Daisy's size (120 lbs) and males are around 150 lbs. Without proper training (and you WILL need to train that dog to be a gentle giant, it does NOT happen naturally), 100+ lbs of dog can do serious damage to your house, its occupants, and other dogs. Along with the Dane's famous size, are infamous vet bills. Because these dogs are as big as humans, they require the same dosage as humans. Compared to small to medium dogs, this means a Dane's meds often cost triple what other breeds cost. Add these outrageous vet bills to the cost of food (Daisy and Pinky go through a $50 33 lb bag of premium food every 2.5 weeks) and large toys, and you just begin to see the high cost of loving a Dane. Danes also are known for having numerous health problems including blindness, deafness, hip displaysia, stomach problems, and many others. Most of these problems are the result of backyard breeding and puppy mills. Finally, on average, Danes will only live about 8 years.

That said, if you see the adorable, goofy giant in Marmaduke, read more about the breed, and decide that a Dane is still the dog for you, seriously consider adopting a rescued Dane. There are too many dogs out there already and the rescues make fantastic pets. Pinky spent the first 3 years of her life in a puppy mill's cage being continuously bred. When she was no longer able to produce puppies (she had cysts on her ovaries) she was sold at an auction. Luckily a woman bought Pinky and gave her to one of the local Dane rescues. She had fleas, intestinal parasites, a frost bitten tail, shredded ear from another dog, was filthy, and claws that had never been trimmed. In spite of all of this, Pinky has been nothing but the world's best companion since day one. She is honestly the sweetest, most loving, and best behaved dog anyone could ever hope for.

Please, think hard before you get a Dane. And if you are going to get one, get a rescue.

Visit one of your local Dane rescues and tell them Pinky Powell sent you!

http://www.gdromn.org/Home.html

http://thegreatdanerescue.com/

Where were you two years ago?

We were in Jamaica!

It was certainly a poor country, but incredibly beautiful as well.

Adding to the Pack...

Two years ago I married my best friend...

It's unreal how quickly the time has gone, but we've been married two years today and are still as happy and smitten as can be!

Enjoying the Interstate Life

The Interstate is now all ready to roll! We've put about 700 miles on her along with lots of accessories in the last month and are ready for some touring. It's a much heavier bike than the Standard, but is a fantastic cycle just the same.



More pics here!

The DaMo in Action!

Here are some much-requested pictures of the Danes riding in the DaMo (Dane Mobile). On this particular trip, we were on our way to visit the Powell Farm.

Who wants to lay on the beds in back when I can spread out on the captains chairs!


Car ride! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!


Are we there yet?

Rockin' the Dane Pasture

The Dane Pasture

We now have a brand-new fence installed in our yard specifically for the Danes. Pinky and Daisy gave the new pasture a test run this evening and, judging by the wagging tails and goofing around, they approve.

In the last month or so the Danes have gotten their own Danemobile and now a Dane Pasture. They're living better than their owners!



See more photos here

While we were out...

While Steph and I were enjoying our vacation, Ma and Pa Powell were watching the Danes. Well, they weren't watching all that much (as evidenced by Pinky busting into their food!), but we appreciate the help just the same.

This was a special trip for Daisy because she was reunited with her brother Khufu. Jason, Khufu's owner, is a friend of my mom's and was the person that got us in touch with the woman we got Daisy from. The two had a fantastic reunion (it was the first time they have seen each other since March '09) with lots of romping and playing at a Madison dog park. As an aside, it was also mentioned that Khufu likes deaf girls as he was humping Pinky.

Family Reunion

Rochester/Canada Trip

Steph and I took a vacation to Rochester, NY to celebrate a family's friend's Bar Mitzvah. While there, we enjoyed excellent food and beautiful surroundings. The highlight of this trip was definitely our stop at Niagara Falls on our way back from Toronto. I have seen some incedible natural beauty in the past, but I'm pretty sure this tops them all. It certainly ranks at the top with Cathedral Pines. Here are some pics from the Falls: Ken and I continue our parade of goofy hats: This is a shot closest to where the water actually falls. You really need to be there to appreciate how powerful it is. Awwwww..... You're not going to get me on one of those!

This is Eden!

After losing my 2000 Honda Valkyrie Standard to an accident, I began my search for a replacement bike. I breifly flirted with the idea of buying a sport touring bike such as the Kawasaki Concours 14 or the Honda ST1300. These would not do, however, because they are simply not made for passenger comfort, and we need to focus on keeping Mama Dog happy. Other options were far out of our price range such as the Goldwing and Triumph Rocket III Touring; both of which are well over $20K new (!). Oh, and of course there a V-Twin options, but that's not my thing. Looks like it was time to check out the Valkyries once again.

I missed my bike badly; it was almost as if a family member was suddenly gone. I felt almost... naked without a cycle. As I've said, we both greatly enjoyed the Standard, but it lacked some of the touring features we wanted (particularly the passenger comfort). So we decided to see if we could find a Valkyrie Interstate in our price range. After nearly a week of searching, a great guy in Minneapolis emailed me letting me know that a guy had backed out on his Interstate. Steph and I arranged to check the bike out the next day.

We put money down on this bike in Eden Prairie and we will soon be bringing the big girl home.

Farewell Charlotte...

On March 31 an inattentive driver pulled out in front of me while riding just outside of Eau Claire. I struck the car's rear quarter panel. Luckily I escaped from the accident with only bruises and pulled muscles. Charlotte, however, was declared a total a few days later.

We bought this bike January 4, 2008 and enjoyed about 16,000 miles together in the just-over-two years we had her. The highlight of our owning this bike was definitely our 3,000 mile trip to West Virginia together last summer.

A picture of the damage (this includes bent forks, a bent frame, bent radiator, damaged headlight housing, destroyed windshield, badly bent crash bar, rash on the right pipe, and a hole in the right valve cover):



And here she is just weeks before the accident:

Riding Season

The warm weather was here briefly and allowed us to get both bikes (Rose and Charlotte) out. Here they are after their wash, polish, and wax yesterday:

Dog Sitting?

And now the random pictures of our girls sitting on people (they're pretty sure they're lap dogs).

Daisy on Karsten:


Daisy on Dustin:


Pinky on Steph:


This message was brought to you by Pinky: