I know you're out there somewhere....

My birth mother called yesterday to let me know that she is another step closer to tracking down my birth father. He's supposedly somewhere in California, and Sharon (birth mom) has found his niece, who would of course be my half-cousin. She should be able to put Sharon in contact with him.

This is a five year story that may be coming to a peak by Christmas time. I always thought I would be just fine if this never happened, but now as it gets closer, the idea of finally meeting my birth father has me really excited. We'll see what happens.

- Mark

Quite a turkey

A few months ago, I bought a new Brinkmann water smoker. Since then, I have - with varying degrees of success - turned out two briskets, two beer can chickens, and a rack of pork ribs. So, for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to take a shot at smoking a turkey. With a few tips from this site and this site, I am happy to say that I was quite successful.

I smoked a 15 lb. turkey for about 12 hours, ending up with a smoked turkey unlike any I have ever seen. I'm used to the usual golden brown smoked turkey that you can get from just about any grocery store, so when I pulled out a black, somewhat leathery turkey from the smoker, I was more than a little nervous. My folks had driven in from Durango, Colorado, and I was eager to please. Thankfully, the black color was just the result of lots and lots of good smoke fueled by Kingsford charcoal, apple wood, and mesquite wood. When I pulled it off of the smoker, I could instantly tell that we were in for a treat. The turkey was practically falling apart under its own weight, and the smoky aroma was heavenly.

Anyhow...long story short, I now have a new awareness of what smoked turkey is supposed to be like. This stuff was delicious. Unlike the usual holiday turkey, where you have to rip the meat from the bone, the meat on this one literally fell away. And talk about flavor! It had a deep, smoky flavor that put to shame everything else that I've ever thought of as smoked turkey.

Guess I'm now in charge of all future holiday turkeys.... That'll work.

- Mark

All bogged down

I had the wonderful occasion last week to go fishing with my father in law and a local guide up in Watersmeet, Michigan. As if this wasn't cool enough of and in itself, it also marked my first opportunity to go bog fishing.

What's bog fishing? Well, many of the lakes up in that area are surrounded by thick layers of bog material. I'm not sure what exactly composes the bogs, but suffice to say that it has to be plenty thick and sturdy to support my big body. Anyhow...to fish these bogs, one needs some way to distribute body weight on the bog in order to avoid plunging straight through it. The trick? Snowshoes!

The snowshoe fishing is something that our guide, Gary Corsi, has introduced into the Michigan Upper Peninsula region and taught us this past Friday. We had a great time out on the bog but unfortunately caught very few fish despite Gary's stereotypical story of having caught several dozen fish there only a week earlier. In his defense, the nights have been cold in the UP lately, and so the fish have been pretty sluggish. I ended up catching the most fish, which was only two pretty average largemouth, one of which is shown here. This was the bigger of the two, but the other wasn't much smaller.

Little Darcy hitting the trails now!

Not one to be outdone for long by big sister, Darcy Leah has moved from her little-girl bike over to Kiara's old 20" mountain bike and is already on the trails. After first starting on a local neighborhood trail, Darcy has already done a few of the easier trails at Walnut Creek Park and is gaining more and more confidence with each outing. She is definitely Kiara's sister, because already after just a few trips she is already demanding to be the leader, even though her tiny little legs propel her along so much more slowly than the rest of us. She is confidently doing some of the easier downhills now and has even taken a few falls that would probably bring tears to the typical five year old. She has some guts though and so far refuses to cry.

Will post some pics later.

Kiara at Madrone Trail; Canyon Lake, Tx.

Here's just a quick pic of Kiara from our biking outing at Madrone Trail. Madrone is a nice trail alongside Canyon Lake near New Braunfels, Tx. We did about half of the eight mile trail before bailing out and hitting the lake for a swim. Her skills continue to improve with every outing. She pulled off almost all of the tough downhills, and her climbing is definitely getting better. Most importantly, we had a great time together on the trail, in the lake, and touring around Gruene befor heading home for a nice 4th of July with Cindi and Darcy. A great day all around. 

Hiking with DarDar

I took Darcy to the Goodwater Trail at Lake Georgetown yesterday. Here are a few pics of Daddy and DarDar out on the trail on what was a beautiful day at a beautiful location.

Cruising on "Red Beauty"

Kiara at Lake Georgetown, through the endless rock

Mountain biking with Kiara

Kiara at Lake Georgetown trail. Here she is with "Red Beauty" (her 24" Specialized Hot Rock) and "Eddie" (my Yeti 575). 

So what's up with me?

Alright....yes, it's been a long time since I've posted a blog update. Guess it's time to fix that.

So here's what up with me lately, in short.

• I'm officially old now. I turned 40 on June 10. Ugh.
• BUT, turning 40 brought with it all sort of major cool stuff; 30GB iPOD (!!), new Weber gas grill, Canon SD450 PowerShot digital camera, three cool model Ford Mustangs, and lots of love from friends and family.
• My Masters program is wearing me to the bone, but I'm loving every minute of it. Only one year (only!) until I'm done.
• Cindi (my wife) has started her own equine photography business and has already begun getting orders. This is a big step for her, and the family is very very proud of her.
• Kiara (now 8) and Darcy ( 5 1/2) are both doing well. Kiara turned 8 in May and got a new mountain bike for her birthday. She and "Red Beauty" have been out with daddy a few times and loved every minute of it. Red Beauty is a full-fledged 24" bike, so she's finally able to do some real trail stuff now. Darcy has inherited Kiara's 20" bike but isn't quite big enough to ride it well yet. We're still working on her skills on her little-girl bike though, and she'll be ready for that 20" bike soon.
• My workouts at Lifetime Fitness have dropped off big-time because of the emphasis on school, but I'm getting back in there today and getting back to it in earnest.
• Life is good. If you ever doubt it, try skipping a day.

Mark

Hooked `Em!!! National Champions, finally!!

This is old news by now, but for the sake of record I should post this:

Hook `Em Horns!!!!!


Last Wednesday, Jan 4 2006, by beating USC 41-38 in the Rose Bowl, the UT Longhorns became National Collegiate Football Champions for the first time since 1970 and undisputed champions for the first time since 1969. Hard to believe that it really took 36 years for the heralded Longhorns to get there again, but they did it, thanks in no small part to the mighty efforts of Vince Young. Hard to say for sure if he deserved the Heisman more than eventual winner Reggie Bush, but there's absolutely no questioning that he was the overwhelming dominant force in this game, running for 200 yards and throwing for another 267. I can't help but agree with all of the other common sentiment that this was the most dominant personal performance ever in a significant college (and perhaps even professional) football game. Vince was just incredible.

Unfortunately, Vince also announced his intent to come out early and enter this year's NFL draft, meaning the Vince Young era at UT is now over, and it is up to either Colt McCoy or an incoming freshman (whose name escapes me right now) to step into some incredibly large shoes. Best of luck to both men and to the Longhorns in 2006.

- Mark

Stupid dog, funny kids

This evening, our silly kids come running downstairs, giggling the whole way but not letting us know what's so funny. Moments later, look who comes stumblinginto the kitchen; our stupid dog, Nickel. According to Kiara (our oldest), the girls were worried about Nickel getting too cold in tonight's near-freezing weather, even though she's an inside dog. So, Kiara had Darcy lock her into Nickel's crate where Kiara could then put Darcy's shirt onto the dog. Goofy dog could hardly even walk, since the sleeves were pulled down too far over her front feet.

One moment, Cindi and I are hollering at the kids to get ready for bed; next moment, they do this. Priceless.

Congratulations, Peter!

(I know, I know...this isn't really part of "My life", but that's okay. It's cool nonetheless.)

In yesterday's 66-14 whitewashing of the Kansas Jayhawks, UT redshirt freshman tight end Peter Ullman caught his first collegiate touchdown off the arm of Heisman hopeful Vince Young.

So what? Why am I writing about this?

Peter is the son of one of my friends and coworker, Bill Ullman. Congratulations to Peter and the entire Ullman family!

Now...go kick the tar out of A&M, win the Big 12 championship, and bring the National Championship back home to Austin. Hook `Em!

- Mark

fly fishing report - South San Gabriel River & US183

After not having been out fishing for several months and now having a vacation this week, I ventured out to the 183 crossing of the South San Gabriel on Tuesday (11/8) to see what I could scare up. Something told me not to go, that there probably wasn't enough water in the river to make it worthwhile, but I went anyhow. I shoulda listened to my instinct.

Suffice to say that I fished downstream from the bridge for about four hours, catching only one bluegill between the bridge and CR276 (don't hold me to that...I'm not sure that's the right CR). Yes, I walked all the frickin way down to the next crossing. "How?", you might ask, "that's a long wade." Yes, it's a long wade UNLESS THERE'S NO WATER for about half of the distance.

Anyhow...when I got back to the upper pool that did have plenty of water, I was pretty much defeated, but I finally tied on a muddler minnow and ended up shocked as hell when I was able to catch four cute little bass and one REAL nice bluegill. That last bluegill was the highlight of the day, as he put up a decent fight on my 5wt. The bass each played around for a while, and a couple of them jumped once or twice, but all in all their fights weren't that great.

Think I'll wait for a little more water before trying this again.

- Mark

Swimming coming along

I guess I've been at it for about four weeks now. When I started back in the pool, a 50-yard freestyle was a bit of a struggle, and a 100-yard free left my heart trying to thump its way out of my chest.

Four weeks later, I am routinely managing to complete a workout consisting of ten easy 100-yard free plus some number (usually ten) moderate 50-yard free, along with a short warmup and cooldown. Yesterday morning (Oct 30), I was able to complete five 200-yard free, so I'm definitely making progress; however, I'm also trying to do it using this new Total Immersion style of freestyle, and I know that my form is breaking down a bit after around 125 yards. I need to make sure I focus on my drills a bit more and not try to get too aggressive with distance for a while longer. That will come with time.

- Mark

Happy Birthday, Darcy!

Five years ago today our beautiful little Darcy was born.

Happy Birthday, Darcy!!

Old friends...

Regretfully, I really only have contact with one true childhood friend, and even at that the contact with her is very very infrequent. This is something that burns at my heart quite often; I really must do a better job of keeping true friends close, especially with the super-special ones like her. Honestly, there's only one like Laura though.

Joyfully, I got to chat on email tonight with Laura, and even though it was just simple, faceless email, my spirit is soaring right now just from knowing she is still out there and that I can find her. I hope the day never comes when I cannot.

Sunday nights are often not much fun, knowing that work is again right around the corner, but chatting with Laura made for a delightful way to finish the day.

Thanks, old friend.

- Mark

Miss you, Toby

Dunno why, but I've been thinking of my dear Toby a lot lately. Maybe it's because our new dog, Nickel, is such a pain in the rear.

I love you, Toby.

- Daddy

Awake at 6:15 on a Sunday for THIS?

I got up at 6:15 and to the gym by 7:30 this morning to take my free BodyAge test that came with my membership.

The test components and their results:

• Body Fat percentage - Don't ask. Let's just say "Poor"
• VO2 max - Poor
• Flexibility - Poor
• Strength - Excellent (thanks to my consistent weight training)

According to the test, my virtual body age is 44. I'm actually 39. Ugh.

Time to step it up in the areas of cardio and flexibility. Fortunately, I'm experienced in both (running, swimming, and yoga), so I know I can regain my health in those areas. I know I'm on the right track already since I began swimming again a week or two ago. I just need to stick with the swimming and start stretching again.

- Mark

Hook Em, Baby!

#2 UT - 25
#4 Ohio State - 22

As if it weren't enough that Vince Young can dominate a team so (seemingly) easily with his legs, now he has the nerve to knock OSU out with his arm. UT got only two touchdowns, but they were both off the right arm of Vince. Granted, *I* probably could have thrown the first one, but the game winner to Limas Sweed was a thing of beauty.




OSU played great, but it seems that finally UT may be living up to that top ranking. Dunno if they're of the same calibre as USC, but hopefully we'll find out next year in the Rose Bowl. Many more games to play still, including some game on October 8. I forget who that's against...

- Mark

Calf cramp!

Holy treading water, Batman!

Years and years ago, back in Jr. High and High School, I was a pretty good competitive swimmer. I specialized in backstroke and breaststroke, and I rarely lost a race in those two disciplines. I had a passable butterfly, and a decent freestyle, which combined with my back and breast made me okay in the individual medley as well.

Anyhow...a few days ago, after having spent the previous few days in the new pool at Lifetime, I decided to see if I could do a 100m IM. I hadn't swum a length of fly in over 20 years, so I knew that that would be the big struggle; however, I had no idea how bad it would be. I started out okay and was reasonably strong for the first 3/4 of the lap. At that point - and at the same time - both of my calves cramped up. Ever had both calves cramp at the same time? I don't recommend it.

In the end, I toughed it out and was able to struggle along through back, breast, and free in what was probably the slowest time ever swum for 100m IM. Thankfully, I don't know what that time was, despite the looming presence of race clocks at each end of the pool. I don't think I'll be using those clocks anytime soon.

Man...one would think that I've gotten older and fatter or something. Sheesh.

- Mark