There's No Trial Run; Life is Happening Now: I'm Back

Long time, no post. Sorry. Life is happening, but I want to still try to get something posted on a relatively frequent basis.

Big D, a veteran Blogger, reminded me that the posts don't all have to be fancy, great, or even good. It is a good reminder of why I'm doing this anyway - I think I know anyway. I have to remember that even though my Aunt Zula might read this on occasion, I need to write this more for M, Wife, me, and the baby to come.

So, without further delay, I am going to try to catch up one month of our life in one post in no particular order. Hang on.

M failed her pre-school vision screen and needs glasses. We're glad we have good friends who are Optometrists. I realize it really isn't too big a deal and it is correctable, but if I had one good eye and it was possible to give it to her, I would in a heartbeat. Again, I realize it isn't too big a deal, but I can only imagine what parents of kids with cancer or other chronic illness go through.
Training for the Almanzo is going well. No injuries, bike is ready, and I'm on the taper now. I have over 700 miles so far this year, about 275 miles ahead of last year's pace. Looking forward to the suffering. Less than 2 weeks now.
Went to a conference in the Cities. The conference was ok, but the highlights were riding with the Twin Cities Bike Club and enjoying a Punch pizza and Boulevard Double-Wide IPA.
We hosted Easter at our place. It works well to host since we are midway between my folks and my Brother/Sister-in-law. We had the usual: ham, potatoes, etc. Wife did a great job with it all. I was on-call so I was close to useless.
Our Bike Club had its season kick-off banquet. We had a good turn-out, 63 members signed up. Everyone is excited about the year.
We had Church pictures for the new directory. We got the "we try to be subtle but really we're not-so-subtle" hard sell to buy some pictures. We declined.
M had her "Picture in the Fur" taken. They turned out well. We'll share once they are done.
We looked at a house, thought about buying a house, and after too many restless sleeps, we ultimately didn't get it. It's for the best in the end.
Wife hasn't had to travel in over a month. She's on the road tonight, but back tomorrow.
I am thinking of starting a monthly gravel road race series. Details are yet to be determined, but will involve gravel roads (obviously), fun, food, and beer after the race.
We had our first ultrasound and it looks like a boy...or a girl. I'm not sure if we are sharing this or not. Bottom line is that everything looked good.
M got her first big-girls bike. I'm very proud. She loves to ride it. I'm very proud, sorry, I've already said that.
We decided to have a lawn service come spray fertilizer and weed killer. We are thinking of having a sprinkler system put in. I'm not totally sold on it only because mowing the lawn is one of my least favorite chores and this will do nothing to decrease the frequency of that.
M loved searching for Easter Bunny eggs and quarters(a family tradition).

I think that just about catches this blog up. My hope is to post more regularly from now on. Here are some recent pictures from the last month. Enjoy.