Altered Aspen

Before we take off to see Mazie James next week, Tyler and I thought it would be best to take Bob Barker's advice and get Aspen spayed. I ended up playing the bad guy in the the situation because I was the one who dropped her off and picked her up.

Welcome Mazie James!

Uncle Tyler's niece made her entrance into the world last night at 10:32 p.m. in UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mazie's debut was three days before her due date, and she is off to a great start, weighing 7 pounds and 5 ounces. Tyler and I are very excited to meet her in two weeks.

The proud parents Katie and Caleb Dickinson are posting pictures soon, so check them out here, or view events before Mazie's birth here.

Lack of office supplies forces Roshambo

Adam Jensen and Ryan McIntyre resorted to Roshambo as a way to resolve a dispute sparked by Post-its.

The sticky pieces of paper are coveted items at the Tahoe Daily Tribune, and both wanted the bright green Post-its for themselves.

At first McIntyre pulled ahead in the two-out-of-three challenge, with his rock crushing Jensen's scissors.

Even with the first win quickly gained, it was followed by multiple tying bouts until Jensen's paper covered McIntyre's rock. Both opponents then took a quick breather to prepare for the deciding round.

In the end, Jensen's paper once again covered McIntyre's rock. But showing good sportsmanship, Jensen offered to share the Post-its.

Snow in May

Aspen checks out the newly fallen snow on Friday morning.

I had to rescue my herbs so they wouldn't freeze from the temperature drop here. I'm told this type of weather change is typical for a Tahoe May. It's also a known fact that Tahoe has had snow every month of the year. Sounds like Alaska...


The oregano longs to be outside once the warm sun comes back.


The rest of the plants huddled together for warmth.

Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow

My current herb project...


...and this is what I want it to look like. I decided it'd be nice to have fresh herbs to cook with.

And in other events — My friend Liz arrived Friday night and stayed until Sunday morning. It was a quick visit, but thoroughly enjoyable. We chatted and caught up on all the current affairs in our lives. On Saturday we went on a hike to Floating Island Lake, and then we spent some time at the lake shore since it reached high 80s here. It's not the same as the beach, but it makes a very nice substitute.

Here is the movie I put together of our hike:

Kayaking fun

On Saturday I went kayaking with a few co-workers down a pretty tame river, and Aspen was able to go too. Tyler unfortunately had to work, but it won't be the last river adventure since summer is almost in full swing.

Aspen swam almost the whole way, just taking a few breaks to run along side the riverbank. It was pretty funny to see her little head bobbing down the river just trying to keep up with all of us.

Here's the route we took — when you click on the View Larger Map link, it'll show you a marked road, and the river's to the right of the road that's marked.


View Larger Map

My buddy Liz is coming to visit this weekend, and then Tyler is taking off for a quick Bellingham fix for a few days. I can't take the time off work, so I'll be chilling here with Aspen.