David Multer

Wearing green for St. Patrick’s day wasn’t enough for Monica, she also needed to dress up poor Abby. The humiliation this poor animal must repeatedly endure.

We had a nasty storm blow through last night that included booming thunder, lightning, and a load of hail. This morning we were greeted to a wintery scene the likes of which I’ve never seen in all the years I’ve been here. Of course this all looks like loads of fun to the kids. Only children that live in Santa Cruz think it’s novel to go down a slide or jump on a trampoline that’s covered in ice. ...

Monica and Mackenzie are over at Sarah’s house to make a little trouble. First they help in loading up Sarah’s new iPod. Mackenzie then shows the Japanese writing she recalled from a recent dream. Surprisingly, it means absolutely nothing. Their next great idea was to build a marshmallow man in effigy of a substitute teacher they aren’t too fond of. I think they may be the first to practice marshmallow voodoo. ...

Charlotte and Paula are off to a new location for one of their famous long walks. This time they’re out at Nisene Marks down in Aptos rather than the usual Scotts Valley and Felton spots. I think they got carried away given the four hours they were gone and the sixteen miles they covered. Looks like they had plenty of fun.

I head out to the east hills of San Jose today for Stage 2 of the Tour of California. It is such a treat to have a real professional stage race right in my own backyard. Of course it would have been even better if they went through Santa Cruz, maybe next year. I parked at the base of Sierra Road where a big flock of turkeys greeted me. Hope there isn’t a message in this coincidence. ...

Daisy is most definitely an outside cat. She typically gives everyone a wide berth, but it’s been a bit cold outside and she’s been meowing lately to get inside. Gabe is more than happy to love her up if he gets the chance. They both seem very happy with the arrangement.

This week Charlotte and Valri are taking Gordon over the hill to visit the San Jose Museum of Art. Charlotte really loves this little museum and their always eclectic collection of modern art.

Nick took Charlotte, Monica, and Abby out for a hike in the hills behind the high school. There are some great views, but I heard the ticks were a bit of a problem.

Charlotte and her friends are having the yearly PTA Founders Day party and it looks like quite the event. There’s always plenty of great food at these things.

I’ve been racing on Sundays up in Fremont and really enjoying it. Monica joined me last weekend, and this weekend Charlotte came to check it out also. We’ve been lucky with the beautiful weather, and the last day for the series is the best day yet. Last week there were a number of crashes in my group including one right in front of me. Every other week including this one has been totally safe. I was very happy with my form this early in the season, and felt like I had a lot of strength left for the end. Now I just need to keep working on my positioning for the finish. ...