And now another unconventional hangout

Well, the bed hangout didn't last very long.

Frankie has now chosen the nightstand. All my efforts to discourage this location have been useless.

Those damn squirrels

When I first bought my house a quarter century ago, I decorated for Christmas like crazy. I put a ton of lights on one of the cedar trees. During the winter the squirrels at through the wires and left a thousand pieces of outdoor lighting wire that I still find occasionally even now.

Since then I have been careful and reluctant to do outdoor lights. I have often hung the lights in my porch so they can be seen but not eaten.

Late last fall I decided to move my solar outdoor light string from around the lamp post to around the boulevard tree. Since these are solar lights it was a great opportunity to light the tree without having to run anything from the house.

Everything seemed fine until the weather warmed up and the squirrels started to get active. A few weeks ago I noticed that the lights were not coming on. I thought the solar cell had gotten turned around again which had happened a while ago.

Instead I found the solar cell on the ground. First I thought it was vandals. Upon closer inspection I discovered the wires had been severed in a few places. This lead me to believe the squirrels had been at it again!

Well, over the last couple of nights I reattached the wires using hot glue and electrical tape. Now to figure out where to put the lights that will keep them from gnawing squirrels!

A more conventional hang out spot

Frankie has finally left the bathroom sink hang out form the foot of the bed. He even sleeps there overnight with me.

And on papa's sleeping underwear.

Valentine's 5K

Our theme-costume was "running with a big heart on"

First official 5K of the year. Shout out to my running group, Running For Brunch, for keeping the spirit alive.

I'm very happy with my time and pace. I really like the 'how many runners you passed' stat.

One of the most successful DIYs yet

I have envisioned a chalkboard menu board for Juiced Nutrition Uptown using rollerblades for months. I finally got it all pit together today. Have to thank JT and Linda for the rollerblades and Andrew and his dad, Tom, for welding the brackets.

I was able to do some assembly at home and the installation went smoothly (this time around). The first attempt did not go well honestly.

Why go all the way up the stairs

Uno says "why go all the way up stairs when half way is just as good".

I think what she is really saying is, "I want to see you on the sofa, daddy, but not be too close because then you would think I liked you".

Well, Miss Uno, daddy loves you no matter where you decide to take a rest.

Finally, a winter run

Finally put my winter running gear on and took a run around Lake Calhoun. I wore the headlamp beanie cap that mom gave me and three layers and really enjoyed it.

The Minneapolis skyline on a crisp, clear night is so worth the cold.

And I wasn't the only one running the dark and cold. A few others were out there on the path, too.