Memories of Reg

About three weeks ago, Reggie got out at night, and we never saw him again. We think that a fox or coyote got him. We miss him terribly, and the house seems empty with out him. Even though his name was Reggie, I usually called him Pal, because that’s what he was. He would come when we called. He’d follow us around when we were out in the yard, and just wanted to be by us. Of course I also called him Rotten Reg, and Reggie the ruiner, because he was constantly getting into things, but all in all Hannah and I decided that he was our favorite cat of all time.

Even though most of our “Moment of ZEN” pictures were of Reg, I thought I’d post a few more in his honor.

September 4, 2006

A few months ago, Hannah had a really good month at work, and as a reward she wanted to buy her sisters plane tickets to come out and visit. She decided that even though the fairs are reasonably priced, it was still to expensive. She said that she would go out and visit them. As time went by, I realized that she wasn’t going to buy a ticket (we have a lot we’re saving up for). I also knew that she really wanted to go, so I bought a ticket for her.


I was planning to go to the Black Hills in South Dakota when she was in Utah, but a week before she left I sprained my ankle playing basketball, and the weather was suposed to be rainy. Rather than drive five hours and go for easy bike rides in the rain, I decided to stay in Denver.


I’ve done a fair amount of traveling for work since Hannah and I have been married. While I never really like to leave, I’m working, so the time goes by quickly. Staying home while Hannah leaves STINKS. I was board out of my gourd. Hannah was livin' it up, so I would as well.

I took a few hours of on Friday, and rode the Hall Ranch trail just outside of Estes Park – North of Boulder. The first two miles are extremely technical and I ended up walking my bike up a lot of it. After the first section, there is a five mile loop that was fairly easy, and made for fast riding. On the way back, I was able to ride down most of the technical parts, and really enjoyed myself. I came home, ate left over spaghetti, watched some TV and went to bed.

It rained Saturday, so I changed the oil in my car, cleaned it out, did some minor things in the garage, went for a hike, and went out for Sushi.

I am addicted to Sushi. I can’t get enough of it. I dream about it. On my birthday a few years ago, Hannah took me out for Sushi. She had never had it and was skeptical. I knew she wouldn’t like the Nigiri Sushi, which is raw "whatever" on a ball of rice, so we got a sushi roll. I can’t remember what was in the roll, but the conversation went something like this:

Hannah: I just don’t like the texture of the fish.
Eric: It takes some getting use to.
Hannah: I’m just not a fan of the sauce.
Eric: The do have other sauces, or you don’t have to get any sauce.
Hannah: I really don't like the seaweed wrapper... it makes me gag.
Eric: So the only thing you like is the rice.
Hannah: Yeah, but even that tastes like the seaweed.

Needless to say, we haven’t gone out for Sushi together since.

This morning, I got up at 6:30 and went for another bike ride. This time I went to a trail just outside of Roxborough Park about a mile South of our house. I hadn’t been on this trail before because the entrance is in a gated community. We have some friends who live there, and they said that we could use their name to get past the gate, so I did, and had a great time. The pictures of the red rocks are of that trip.



And now your moment of ZEN.......

August 27, 2006

Hannah and I have started a mid-August resolution…..write more on our blog. It took the gentle prodding of some good friends. They used kind words like, “You have no excuses,” and “it’s been three months.” There is no need to mention names…you know who you are….and we miss you.

.
A lot has happened. We went river rafting in Southern Colorado for our 5th year anniversary. I spent four days in Seattle for work and then we went to Oregon for a week and had a mini family reunion. Everyone was there with the exception of the Huntsmans, whom we all missed.

Since we don’t have time to go over everything in detail, we’ll do a quick summery:

The rafting trip was great. It was Hannah’s turn to plan the anniversary trip, which is good because she always has the best ideas. I got off work early and we drove down to Canon City in Southwestern Colorado and spent the night. The next morning we went rafting in the poring rain and loved every second of it. There was one other group in the trip with us. Two of them were members of the Church from Arvada ( a few miles North of us) and some foreign exchange students from Saudi Arabia, who consequently had never been swimming. We had a great time. Hannah and I had a boat to ourselves (plus the guide) so we sat right up front and faced the rapids all day. The guide was pretty cool and even let us “ride the bull”. To ride the bull one must sit on the front point of the raft with your legs over the front edge of the raft and hang on to the bow line like a cowboy holding onto a rodeo bull. As you hit the rapids you scream like an idiot and love every minute of it. We became friends with the other group and made plans to do it again next year.

I had to go to Seattle for a mid-year planning session. While I was there I took the opportunity to visit some customers and eat Sushi every night. It was great fun, and I enjoyed meeting some of the people I work with, but only get to talk to on the phone. At the end of the trip, I was ready to come home and realized that I don’t like Seattle as much as I thought I did. I still really like it, but it’s just too darn big. It takes too long to get to the mountains.

At the reunion we saw Sherry and Ray, David and Wren and their family, Grandma Petersen, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Parley and Aunt Kathryn and of course my parents. It was wonderful, but the schedule was really hard on me. Each morning I would wake up, eat some cereal with fresh raspberries and blackberries, lay around for a few hours and then go swimming. The hard part was going back to the real world.

And now your moment of ZEN......(Eric and his nieces running from the waves).

July 1, 2006

I just saved my baby Reggie’s life! I was walking out the door to go to the church and I saw a fox in our neighbor’s yard. I freaked out because he was so close to our house and I knew that Reggie (my cat not my baby) was outside. Just then I saw my fat, juicy, tender little cat stalking the fox. I was in my car and drove as fast as I could toward fox and the cat because they were only a few feet apart from one another. Reggie would have been a goner but the fox hadn’t seen him yet. I pulled up in front of them and honked my horn trying to keep Reggie from springing on the fox. The honking distracted both of them and gave me a few second to get out of my car and grab Reggie. I saved that dumb cat’s life. The worst part is, is that the fox was kind of cute and I couldn’t blame it for the situation. Well I came home all freaked out and now Eric and I don’t know what to do about this dumb old cat. I think it might be best for him to spend the rest of the summer with Melanie and Stoney.

Eric bought a new bike and has been riding a lot. He thinks he is better than me now that he has his fancy new bike with his fancy little biking shorts. Well he is. I can still take him on the uphill but as far as technical skills go the grasshopper has surpassed the master. I need to have my Dad, Stoney come to Colorado again for another bike ride and put Eric in his place.


Eric gave a wonderful talk today in church about the Plan of Happiness and the Atonement. This is the third time he has spoken in church in a year. He did a wonderful job. He is comfortable speaking in public and likes giving talks. Good thing because our ward is small and I am sure they will keep asking him to speak.

I am still working hard. Cub Scout day camp is this week and I am assigned to take the boys this Wednesday. Cubs…what can I say…they are appropriately named cubs. I have been missing my family and friends lately especially my sisters. I was so worked up about the fox attack that I had to call Jenny to calm down. She is the only one who can fully understand the tramas of being way too attached to a cat. On Fathers day I really missed my Dad. My Dad is wonderful. He taught me to love so many things that make my life happy. I hope that we are always close. I am always happier when he is around.

Eric and I are sooooooo excited to go and see his parents in July. David and Wren will be there and so will Sherry and Ray. I think Eric’s Grandma Ann and Aunt Sharon may be there as well. One good thing about our marriage is that both Eric and I love our in-laws. We love being around each other’s family.

Our 5th year anniversary is this week and it is my turn to plan something special. I still don’t know what we are going to do but it will be romantic. I will keep you all posted.

Well Melanie (my Mom) is an inspired woman. She gave Eric a case of brownie mix for his birthday and it is being put to good use tonight. My Mom Rocks!!!

Your moment of ZEN..... (if your wondering what Hannah has around her legs, it's a piece of elastic. She has take wide steps with it around her legs for her knee exercise’s)