Sunday 23 March 2008; 2050

Sorry all, I skipped a week there but I really just couldn't face it you know? I had a really naff week and really didn't want to think about it so I just didn't. Now you get the update for 2 weeks instead.

So two weeks ago, I had a check bounce and realized I had made a $1000+ mistake in my check register (not to my favor thank you) and the week just went downhill from there. Now to say that was the high point of the week is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much so I won't go into detail but suffice it to say I suffered for 24 hours from gastric distress that brought tears to my eyes, the woman with whom I've been keeping up for the past 6 months decided she won't be coming to visit as we planned (but we're still great friends so there is an upside there) and to top it all off I missed the bus a couple times and finally missed it enough by the end of the week that I had to drive into the city and ended up with a fucking parking ticket because I either wasn't paying attention or more likely since the sign was half behind the post missed it and ended up parking for the day in a 1 hour parking spot. Like I said, the week was naff, no let's go another level and just say it was a fucked up week and now it's over and this past week was far better! :)

This past week work has been good, I'm involved in a number of things in which I'm interested and have some skills and it was just all round a good time. Even found a new place for lunch that was really quite good and is even close enough to the office to walk so it made for a great Friday outing a couple days ago. For the most part the weather has been good and although today started out rainy and nasty the day ended up being a beautiful bright and sunny one for zombie jesus day after all. Henry was with his Mum and and they went north to her sister's for a big day of choccies and easter egg hunts to celebrate resurrected bunnies and stuff.

Henry was able to get the lawns mowed with the manual push mower (we're switching as another step towards sustainability and ridding ourselves of more and more power stuff where we can), I was able complete the planting in the raised bed (add broccoli, chiaggio beets, leaf lettuce, rainbow carrots and mesclun) and had a few more things pop their heads above the soil (we now have peas, carrots, bok choy, chard and lacinato kale sprouting), the forsythia in the neighborhood is exploding, my daffodils are bright and huge and I was able to get the entire rose bed weeded as well as the interior of the car detailed so all in all it was a good weekend.

I'm sitting in front of the tube and catching up on cooking shows from the DVR after a lovely meal of seared chicken breast topped with red pepper artichoke tapenade and mozzarella with gnocchi in brown butter with garlic and sage from my herb garden and 1/2 a bottle of Turley Vineyard 101 Zin. Hmmm, wonder what the poor people are doing for dinner tonight? Ah well, I suppose Marie A would tell them to eat cake so why rock the boat; let them eat cake as I deserve to treat myself this way once in a while no?

Henry is doing really well with tae kwon do ad we're just kind of putting in the time with bowling as he is beginning to lose interest pretty quickly as Spring pops up and the days are nicer. Tae kwon do is in the late afternoon and no weekends so it doesn't cut into nice Saturday weather nor do we have to get up to get there so I can see where it is preferred. We may not encourage it going forward as both his Mum and I believe he will get far more from the martial arts with discipline and the physical exercise and we'll see if we can find a set of music lessons to round things out for his extra curricular activities and we can keep it at that. Neither Kristin nor I (or Henry for that matter) are all that interested in his having activity after activity to attend every day and dining at 9pm every night. We both want him to have time to be a kid and play in the backyard and ride his bike and all the other accoutrement of childhood. We see all these parents running from one activity to the next with their kids all the time and there is no time to just be a family or for the kids to be kids and that's not gonna fly.

Anyway, not much more to write about right now, suffice it to say that once again life is good after the bumpy prior week so all's well.

Hasta until next week

Sunday 9 March 2008 @ 2100

Here it is the first day of daylight savings time and as much as I believe we should leave time alone and let it run, if we're going to have it then I'm glad it starts earlier and ends later now. It was great that it was light until after 7 already except I slept until 10 today :). Couldn't be that bottle of wine that I drank with lots of Mama Lil's peppers and goat cheese last night...

The week was pretty busy, Henry started tae kwon do and although he went kicking and screaming he is really good at it and has shown a real propensity for it. He sparred Friday for the first time and he threw some really great kicks against the older kid the master had the younger ones sparring with (and taking lots of kicks). Henry got some kicks up over his own shoulder height and was really after it for a bit there. It is great exercise and he is sleeping well too. We also took Henry to his first appt with a counselor and he clammed up quite a bit but a few things came out that we can start working on and we will have Henry go back again in a couple weeks. I think we both feel it's a good thing right now but frankly we think the tae kwon do will do more for him. Good solid activity, something at which he can excel individually but also be part of a larger group as well but time will tell.

It was my birthday and the team went all out and brought in lunch on Thursday as well as decorating my cube and the wall above it. Here's a photo with me in my birthday crown because remember, Jim is King. I was also asked to facilitate classes for the corporate partners on how to make the perfect espresso so I trained both Tuesday and Wednesday and 3 of us ran the 200 or so people from our building through how to make the best espresso drinks. It was a lot of fun and I met up with a lot of people that normally I only see in the elevators or hallways so now I have more names and more networking going on as well and lots more people know me now as well so I guess I can't get away with quite as much as I have in the past :)

Henry and I went to the annual bike expo after bowling yesterday and that couldn't come fast enough as the kids were bowling poorly and then just kind of fell apart after the first game and ended up losing all 4 of the available point this week so it was not a high point. We did however have fun looking at all the new stuff in the bicycling world now that some bikes retail for as much as cars. We're starting to gear up for the cycling season and if the weather is not rain this Saturday I think we'll head up to Arlington for the first charity ride of the season called The McClinchy Mile. It's a nice 20 mile mostly flat ride to get us going and frankly sounds a lot more interesting than another Saturday of bowling/ Kristin and I talked about bowling now that we're a few minutes into the league and we agree that now that we are out of bumpers, the parents are all way too serious about this and not so interested in the kids having fun but more about their winning. Well, like any of them I would rather the kids win but someone has to lose and for hell's sake it bowling after all! Not something important and some of these parents are just too, too much. We may not encourage Henry to continue on if he gets into the tae kwon do; perhaps that and some music lessons or something and that is enough but he is going to go out and run track this year since his favorite teacher is the track coach. The 4th graders can't compete but they let them go out and workout with the team in the running events and then next year start to learn about the field events as well so that's plenty. Neither Kristin nor I are interested in being one of those families that is running the kids from one activity to the next and eating dinner at 9 pm every night and no time for homework.

Here is a photo of my front yard with the springy daffodillies popping up and my raised vegetable bed on the right. Although you can't see them, the shelling peas and bok choy popped up this past week and are growing quite nicely. this year I am keeping a gardening diary so I can actrually keep track of what works and how they are all doing based on the dates and varieties of planting.

Neighbors Susan and Steve out enjoying the Springtime evening and watching the world go by from their front porch.

Not much more for now and it's time to get ready to hit the hay so I'll sign off now. Until next week, auf wiedersehn

Monday 3 March 2008 @ 0657

Greetings!

Here it is the beginning of March and we're well into the gardening season already. Although the weather hasn't been beautiful every day we have had our fair share of nice sunny days in the Puget Sound.

The week has been pretty odd as I was ill with a cold that would not allow me to even breathe at all on Friday so I stayed home rather than infect my coworkers and was able to get a few things done here before I finally at noon just hit the couch for a nap as I couldn't stay upright any longer. This has been kicking my butt energywise and I just couldn't keep up. I made it to work Wednesday and Thursday but as far as productivity I wasn't really there and all I could think about was hitting the bed when I got home those days. I'm finally starting to feel as if I may be on the upswing but still not there yet and breathing is still a challenge but I got out this weekend for a few tasks and the house isn't a complete wreck.

Henry and I were able to come to agreement on his chore list and we have entered into our contract now. He now has a list of the things he does daily, weekly and over the weekends he spends here at our house. He has the list, he gets to schedule the tasks (including his homework and reading tasks) and has even agreed to cook dinner once per week. He understands these are the tasks that are expected of him for both being a member of the household and also for earning his allowance and he is expected to complete these tasks prior to any gaming system play or TV. I think we will find some success here and feel that this is a step in the right direction for him to go.

Bowling went pretty well this week with Henry's team taking 3 of 4 possible league points and they are now solidly in 2nd place and only 2 points behind the 1st place team so he and his team mates are all quite excited. Although his Mum and I really don't care how they do we still want them to do well and pay attention and try their best and so far that's where they are. Henry will be starting tae kwon do this week and he is not very excited about it but his Mum and I decided it would be a good activity to have him in; it will assist with discipline (the master checks their homework, asks for reports from parents to know that the kids are being polite and respectful at home before allowing them to participate or test for advancement) and is very active. We have friends that have their kids at this dojo and their kids are flourishing and get excited when they advance and disappointed when the master does not allow them to test or have to sit out the practice sessions. Henry is also meeting with a counselor for the first time Tuesday and although he is not happy about this either (we think he believes he is in trouble) both Kristin and I are happy we have found someone with whom we believe he can confide and learn some tools to help him through some of the tough times he's been experiencing lately. We met with his teacher last week and all 3 of us think that a lot of his challenges come from not having the tools to break big things into smaller more manageable tasks. That's where the scheduling his tasks came from as he tends to look at his homework or his chores as this big job he needs to do all at once. I've also started trying to show him how we all break stuff down in everyday life. Last week I roasted a couple chickens for dinner and we had that with gravy and veg. The next night we took the meat from the bones and made BBQ chicken pizzas with pizza shells I had made the last time we had pizza, the following night we made chicken and cheese enchiladas and now we'll make chicken pot pies with the last of the meat, some leftover veg and gravy. We talked through how each of these tasks was completed a bit at a time in order to not spend all night in the kitchen and we have fresh and lovely dinners each night as well as lunches for Dad to take to work. I let him know that is the same way we can approach our chores and homework and everything else and that I use planning like that at work all the time so that big projects get broken down into smaller tasks that I can accomplish or delegate to other resources and they all come together in order to have any big project done completely and on time. I think he's getting it, YAY!

We planted a bit more this weekend, I put in both Olympia spinach and lacinato kale as well as two artichoke plants. I am hoping to see some sprouting of the seeds soon and have high hopes for the chokes as well as they are supposed to do really well in this climate and since we are so close to the water we should have some of the similar aspects to the weather that central California sees. I planted a sage in my indoor herb garden and also planted a couple of hyacinths for the kitchen window to brighten the aroma and add a bit of color. The 50 new daffodils I put in last fall are all up and about to pop so the borders out front are looking quite nice and the lilacs are all setting huge numbers of buds as well so we'll have the deep purple, white and lavender colors and the lovely scents we have come to expect here in just the next few weeks. We are really looking FW to Spring and have plans to attend the annual bike expo next week and the following week will be the first of the training sessions for the 2008 Tour de Cure ride for diabetes to happen in May (be on the lookout for my annual fundraising stump speech in an email box near you :)

Anyway, it's been a big week and it looks to be another one shaping up this week. Work will be busy ad I'm involved in a couple projects that need a lot of attention and this is the 2nd week of the month so that means performance reviews for all my suppliers; at last count that means no less than 15 hours of going over reports and listening to all these separate entities toot their horns and our teams letting them know where their challenges are and how we expect them to turn those challenges into opportunities for improvement. Happily this month I don't think I have to be an asshole to any of them for a change so they all get to see my happy face instead of my stern asshole face.

That's about it so sayonara until next week

Sunday 24 February, 2008 @ 20:20

Greetings!

It's been a good week although eventful and busy. Layoffs at work, planting cool weather crops and a big Saturday with Henry.

Work is busy and a strange vibe has been going on since the layoff notice earlier this week. A couple of all hands meetings, communications from the executive committee and lots of friends asking about my current job status. All is well as my department was largely unaffected and there really wasn't that much of a reduction in the workforce here but more of a freeze on any hiring and the news that we would not be filling many jobs that had previously been out and advertised to be filled are now off the market. Not to worry, we'll all just keep on working and do our best to contribute where we can to turn things around and return to where we intended to be all along; at the top.

I went out with friends on Friday after work and ended up drinking too much. I have to remember I'm not in "shape" to do that lately with January being dry and even since then my intake moderately quite a bit. As I thought back I still had only had about a beer and a half and one bottle of wine since Feb 1 and there I was Friday dumping lots of beer in me along with a couple large glasses of Jagermeister (which I can blame on no one but myself as I order the first round to those :). I ended up with a big head yesterday and that was what disappointed me more than anything else as I had a big day planned with Henry and there I was hungover. Ah well, I lived through it and managed to keep my illness hidden for the most part but I did take a bit of a nap before we went out last night.

Saturday began with bowling as usual and Henry's team took 4 of 4 possible league points so they did very well and all individually bowled above their averages so all 4 kids were really happy. Henry and I went to the annual bike swap and it was underwhelming and we ended up leaving without anything new or finding anything we felt we couldn't live without. The annual bike expo where all the local and national vendors will be onsite with all the latest in new gear and news is in two weeks so that will be a vastly different event. We came home and planted chard, bok choy and carrots as well as getting some flowers planted and potted my kitchen herbs before taking a bit of a rest and heading back downtown to a rock music show at a local club. It was an all ages show so it was Henry's first show where everyone stands and watches the bands in a big cavernous space and he got to experience how loud these big touring bands get in these old warehouses. The show was The Hives and opened by The Donnas and he liked it and had a good time but wasn't really ready for a headliner band that didn't start until after 10:30. We only made about 35 minutes before he asked if we could leave because he was sooo tired. I definitely understand as 3 hours of standing around on a hard concrete floor it's definitely easy to tire out. We have some other shows we'll try and take in as I am all about encouraging him to experience all the music I can get him in front of but the next few we should have seats for.

It's been a pretty lazy day, got up late and got my bread baked for the week, cleaned up a bit around the house and finished the wash so we have clean clothes for the next while and now it's time to get ready to hit the hay. I'm not looking FW to work tomorrow as I've been feeling a bit off again all day but at this point I'm attributing it to a funky schedule the past couple of nights.

Not much more on the news front so I'll bid you all adieu and I'll do my best to keep the updates coming as boring as they've been lately. With Spring I'm hoping life will get to be a bit more exciting so I should have more news around the pike...

Hasta and don't forget to subscribe :)

Tuesday 19 February 2008 @ 20:00

Greetings!

Henry and I have had a holiday weekend that is now coming to a close and I must take this moment to state out loud I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW!

We've had a fun and productive weekend and the weather has been for the most part very good and conducive to getting a lot of yard work completed.

The weekend started out with henry having the day off school so he accompanied me to the office where I had a performance review with one of my accounts so I needed to be there for about an hour or so. We left the office and rode the bus up to the Pike Place Market for some lunch and a wander through the stalls just kind of sightseeing. We stocked up on some fresh spices and got a box of Market Spice tea for Henry's Mum and had a slice of pizza and some fresh mini donuts and then spent some time at Beecher's cheese watching them make some fresh curd and then wandering about in Sur La Table before wandering back uptown and onto the bus home.

Henry picked up his new bowling ball on Saturday and it is lime green and navy swirled and smells like limes. It is a weighted urethane cover and is 10#s now up from his previous 8# so between the reactive cover and weight as well as the new #s it created some challenges for him but he still bowled well and his team took 3 of 4 possible league points this week. The weather was sunny but cool so Henry walked up to have lunch with his Mum who is now working only a block or so away from the house and I trimmed my 14 rose bushes cutting them all the way back for the first time that any of my neighbors can remember in the past few years. They look a bit bare but I'm expecting them to be really great this year as I took my time and was very deliberate about how I pruned. I spent Sunday pruning my 3 plum trees and took off about 10 feet from the tops and thinned the lower branches and ended up with a completely full 60 gallon yard waste bin twice; it was emptied Monday and I filled it again today.

I have been researching Square Foot Gardening and I built a 2X6 raised bed yesterday and today filled it with a mix of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 vermiculite so essentially it's filed with high quality potting mix and this is purported to be all the nutrients that my veggies will need. Next step is to build the trellis for my peas and get those planted in the next few days as well as some other cool weather crops if I can get away with getting them in the ground now; maybe broccoli or cauliflower but I may be able to get some radicchio or lettuce in. If this works as well as I believe it will I'll build another bed to go under the big cedar tree on the North side of the house for lettuces and spinach through the summer since it stays cool and gets only a couple hours of sunlight there. I bought two artichoke plants today to go in near the SW cornere of the house where it will get serious sunshine and another over at the North end of the front yard near where my neighbors have their raspberries. Henry has been planning some planter boxes for the desk in the backyard and I've been working with him on the planning of the lumber he'll need as well as the cost; trying to bring math home and show him that you need it now and then and that it is even part of having fun projects.

After reading The Unpredjudiced Palate last year and then attending a talk by Michael Pollan the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food and I am pretty inspired now to produce and forage as much of our food as I can this summer. I'm also beginning to bake all of our bread and making everything I can from whole foods. Some interesting things have really resonated with me lately about food and here are a couple of them that I have lifted from Michael Pollan. In his research he has simplified eating to just a couple of rules:

1. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
2. If your great grandmother wouldn't have recognized something at the grocer as food, it isn't.

Pretty simple, easy to follow and make a lot of sense. I baked bread from a mother starte today and Henry has proclaimed it as the best bread he's ever eaten. I can't get him to eat whole grain bread for the life of me but this was all whole grain and he ate it right up. Using a mixed mother starter I was able to bake two loaves with only 1/2 a teaspoon of yeast yet it still has a fully developed flavor and tender crumb with a good hearty crust and a light brown almost golden color.

Henry watched Alton Brown make homemade donuts the other day so that was one of the projects we did this weekend as well, Henry made the dough, his first experience with yeast and although it was a bit challenging and a bit more difficult than most of the things he's made so far and it was a lesson in the exactitude of baking from scratch the donuts turned out mighty fine! We made cinnamon sugar on Sunday morning and Henry took most of them with his friends to the swimming pool and I made the 2nd half as powdered sugar donut holes for Henry and his friend that stayed over on Sunday night when they got up on Monday morning. Henry had his first sleepover and the kids were still awake at 2am on Monday morning and then back up at 7. I was asleep well before them and could hear them playing video games and watching TV a few times and then again when I woke up to hear them talking in the morning. I wandered through Monday with a lack of good sleep headache and the kids just went about their day as if nothing was out of the ordinary then played all day at his friends house in the creek that runs through the property and riding bikes and skateboards. Henry finally passed out about 10 last night and slept 12 hours.

Anyway, we've gotten our yard cleaned up, gotten prepped for Spring gardening and had a really good time as wwell as being able to have a couple of lazy mornings just drinking coffee and reading the paper while sitting in the sun in my big comfy reading chair so all in all it's been a great few days off and still I don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

Best

Sunday 10 February 2008; 20:50

Hi Everyone!

Here it is Sunday evening again already and almost time to hit the hay in order to get back up at 0500 for work. It's been some week, both Henry and I fighting off some sort of gombooh all week; we both stayed home on last Monday, Henry's Mum kept him home on Tuesday and then I stayed home again Thursday and Friday and still I haven't been all the way up to snuff this weekend either so it's been a pretty relaxing weekend as well. I did get out to the cinema this afternoon to see "No Country For Old Men" at the local theater and before that got Butch out for a nice walk as well when the rain broke and things dried up a bit.

Henry bowled his first 100+ game w/o bumpers yesterday and his team won two of 3 games. They went into the week in 8th place (out of 8 teams) and as much as we tell the kids they're there for fun and not really the competition it's always nice when they are in the top half of the league so they can keep their confidence up. They were doing really well yesterday after winning the 2 games though so I don't suspect there'll be too much problem with the confidence levels for the next week. We're also ordering a new heavier ball for Henry as it's time for him to start letting the ball do the work and carry through the pins. The 8 lb ball just doesn't quite do it for him.

As you can probably see I've put a couple enhancements on the blog page here; a slide show with the photos from past blog posts and also an email subscription tool so all you need to do is enter an email address and you'll receive notices when I post. I also linked Kristin's blog where she talks about her journey through her breast cancer battle and my friend's wine blog where they talk about their take on inexpensive wines they try.

Not much more going on, Valentine's Day is coming up I'm still keeping up with my far away friend. Henry is refusing to distribute class valentines but apparenly we're to take sugar cookies to school on Thursday but he can't remember how many; at least we got an advance heads up rather than at 8am on Thursday morning :)

I'll sign off for this week now and maybe we'll have some more exciting news in the upcoming weeks. We have a long weekend next week with Friday off for teacher work day Friday and then Monday and Tuesday the 18th & 19th for President's weekend in place of mid-winter break. Not a lot planned; Henry will go to the office with me on Friday and maybe we'll get some fun stuff in between pruning the plum trees and roses; ahh mid-winter garden chores - cold, wet and not at all satisfying :)

Until next week

Tuesday 5 February 2008; 1800

Greetings!

I once again missed my update over the weekend but here I am with the latest in a not very exciting week.

One of our team members moved to another team last week so we all took off at 12.30 on Friday and attended a tour of the Theo chocolate factory in the Fremont neighborhood. We had a great time and we all got to wear hair nets which always sets the mood for a group of coworkers wouldn't you say? Well, they were very free with the samples and that was the start of a weekend that really didn't include a lot of good eating habits to continue on my health regime...If you haven't had Theo chocolate or don't know about it you can visit the website to learn more about one of only 14 chocolate factories in the US and the only one that is certified fair trade and organic (the 91% chocolate from Venezuela was INCREDIBLE! Not to mention the new milk chocolate with roasted hazelnuts, mmmmm). Here is the link: http://www.theochocolate.com/.

Once we had our fill there we adjourned to a very nice bar across the street that has a beer list the likes of which I have never seen before in all my drinking days! There must have been at least 30 tap handles and the list of bottled beers added at least another 100 labels. It was a fitting place for me to fall off the wagon after my 31 day self imposed dry period. I hopped off with a lovely draught Jamaica Red Ale from the Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, CA and it was yummy: http://www.madriverbrewing.com/pages/brews/jamaica_red.html. So as I said, I made it the entire month of January dry and with a little perseverance I was also able to lose 14 lbs; a full stone! Yippee for me! Now that the weekend is over and I've had a couple days of not really worrying about it, I need to get back on the healthy lifestyle regime. My short term goal is 10 lbs per month so I'm ahead of the game going into month 2. The long term goal is 30 lbs for the year but I would like to take off about 60 lbs overall. I'm still having some trouble with the disc in my neck so lifting is out for the time being but I'm trying to be a bit more disciplined about getting some walking in and I can always go to the gym to use the treadmill on rainy days so I should be able to kick start this again and maybe even lose another stone in February but anything over 6 lbs lost will be gravy. Once Henry and I start training for the summer riding season as the weather gets nicer it should be even better and I won't have so much weight to pedal around either.

Henry was invited at the last minute to a birthday party Friday in downtown Seattle and he suffered from that the next morning during bowling. He has not quite figured out the lack of bumpers and although the first week of league he averaged a 74, he dropped down to about a 45 average for this past weekend. Ah well, it will pump his handicap up for this next week and his team can use that because they are all pretty skilled and thus have relatively low handicaps which doesn't help when it comes to league stats. They lost each of their 3 games this last week by less than 5 pins (handicapped). He still seems to be enjoying it so that's the main thing.

I signed Henry and I up for this year's Tour de Cure to take place May 17th so we have almost 3.5 months for fundraising. Henry has committed to us riding the 45 mile loop this year so this time around we need to do a bit more training and kill those butt nerves. I worked a table at our company mingle this morning and we had a good turnout with almost 40 people signing up for more info and we're hoping we'll get some good participation out of this. Greg LeMond is scheduled to once again lead the ride and I hope we can get Henry up to meet him this year since he had to cancel last year due to a family emergency. I'll update with the personal web page links here next week after I get this year's built.

Not much more going on other than Henry and I both fighting off the flu/colds that seem to be going around. We stayed pretty quiet on Sunday and then stayed home both of us feeling pretty poorly yesterday but we're better now. I'll sign off now and see if I can find some more ultra exciting news again for you all next week to keep you on the edges of your seats...

Hasta

Tuesday 29 January 2008 @ 1910

Hi all!

I know I missed my last update on Sunday evening but I was fighting a Trojan on my computer but I was finally able to vanquish it (I think, fingers crossed). Well I'm back now and the past week has been pretty good. Work has gone well, I won a few online scrabble games and I have continued to lose some weight. I'm still on the wagon although that is about to end on Friday but I'm going to keep up some serious moderation. So far I've lost 13 lbs since Jan 1 and I'm choosing to chalk it up to no booze, no loss of will power due to booze and being able to keep the goal in mind when I choose my healthy foods the majority of the time again due to no booze. Hmm, I seem to be sensing a theme here...

Henry started his new bowling league this past weekend and it is the first without the bumpers and he still put up some pretty good scores; he didn't break 100 this first day out but he was close on 2 of the 3 games. He is on a team with another young man with whom he bowled 2 leagues past and they are doing really well together as they were prone to playing a lot of grab ass most of the time when they were in bumpers but both seem to realize they have to concentrate more now that they have lost the security of the bumpers. Kris is a really good bowler and in the last league where they were on the same team they were nearly always #1 and #2 each week. It's good they get to spend some time together again and the day went relatively well. Henry did have a bit of a meltdown and showed a bit if disrespect to both his Mum and I but we kept a united front and took off to the side and let him know we're not going to tolerate it an he was a bit embarrassed that we did that in front of his friends but it had to be done.

Not much more this week, like I said it was pretty good but it was also pretty uneventful other than spending the ENTIRE weekend fighting with the computer and the insidious crap somebody infected me with. Although it's probably my fault for surfing too much porn :)

Anyway, hasta la vista until the weekend

Sunday 20 January 2008; 2009

Greetings!

Here it is Sunday evening once again and although I neglected to update you all last week I'm back now. It's been a good two weeks; busy at work, lots of email with my friends and many, many online scrabble games.

Work has been interesting as I've been earning my keep by analyzing and breaking down costs of support of the PCs we currently have deployed to the enterprise as I'm part of a team that is looking to determine the total cost of ownership of our current technology. These are the types of projects I really enjoy and can get deep into but I must say that I had a very difficult time getting my head around the project at first but the more I tried to pick it apart I just couldn't make any progress. It wasn't until I had an impromptu meet with my manager and the functional analyst on my team and we were able to break it all down and finally I was able to pull my weight and get my part completed last week and this week we finalize the presentation and put it in front of the VPs so they can take it to the CFO. A lot of shake ups going on these days and we're all about the cost savings right now here in North America.

Last Saturday I attended a murder mystery party where we were fortunate enough to participate in the murder and subsequent investigation of said murder of David Hasselhoff. It was a lot of fun and we'll do it again. The scene is set by a mail order company and they provide the name tags, the scenarios and the history of each of the party attendees. Each guest is provided the name of a relatively current pop culture personality or celebrity prior to the party and coming is costume is strongly encouraged. I was Tony Soprano and the other invitees were in no particular order Wonder Woman, Chuck Norris, David Beckham, Rachel Ray, Ron Burgundy, disgraced Miss America Tara Conner, Rocky Balboa, Pamela Anderson and Lucille Ball. The murder was committed by Chuck Norris because of a business deal gone sour where "The Hoff" and CN were to have introduced and distributed a new cologne call Kung Pow but "The Hoff" stole the fragrance the Chuck and his third fist took him out. All in all it was good fun, too much food and a great evening all in all. I posted some photos out on my photo site and will get a few more out from my work machine. Here's a sample of Tony -

Today is my 20th dry day and so far I've lost 7 lbs this month due to the new healthy regime. I'm trying to eat better, eat smaller portions, not drinking and just generally trying to get my overall health in order. I've also been working on putting myself on a budget as well so I can get my finances in order as well. A couple of my monthly costs went up at the beginning of the year and I just haven't been able to figure out where all the money has been going so it was time to get a better handle on things plus I want to start doing a bit more traveling. I want to take Henry on a good holiday this summer and I would like to get back to England sometime this year as well.

Henry and I have been working on purging a bunch of stuff, mostly his so far as we've recently been going through his room and his toys & clothes so I have a car load of stuff that is going to the Goodwill and we took a bunch of things that he has outgrown, both clothing and toys & games as well. I'm working on my office as well and trying to get a lot more organized; shredding old financial records, tossing old papers that don't mean anything that for some reason I've been holding on to and then getting rid of anything that I don't need. Although there are no immediate plans for us to move I would like to eventually buy a place in the next year or so and I just really don't want to move any more stuff than necessary the next time.

Not much more going on for the time being but I'll try and do better with updates than I have been the last couple weeks.

Sayonara all, have fun and go nuts

6 January 2008; 1845

Here it is the first Sunday of 2008 and true to my word so far here I am with an update. Nothing like keeping those NY resolutions huh?

Well anyway, I worked on Monday 12/31 for a few hours and then our team at work went out for burgers and beers to the local sports bar across from our building. A good time was had bu all and even our Director John showed for some last minute frivolity for 2007.

NYE was a fine evening with a couple beers and in bed by 10.30, such a party pooper. I called a friend far away and we spoke for a long time and had a very nice long talk about the new year and the past year and how things are changing. It's been a good year and the new year is shaping up nicely already and we're not even a week in.

Henry arrived on the 1st about mid day and we have been having a tremendous time this week playing with his new Wii system, taking long walks with Butch when the weather permits and getting some things done around the house, a few movies, Henry worked really hard and has cleaned his room very nicely and has even done some purging on his own. Not a very exciting week but a lot of online scrabble with friends, a few emails back and forth and a nice restful few days of holiday.

We had a big windstorm the other night and we've had a few days and nights of rain. Even lost a few shingles off the roof in the last big storm.

Today we took down the Xmas decorations and now we're ready to tackle some more house projects and some more purging. A few things out to Craigslist or Ebay and a few more trips to the Goodwill and we'll be good going into Spring and Summer.

Tomorrow it's back to work and time to hit the diet hard; I'm shooting for 30# off this year, Today marks the 6th dry day of the year as I'm on the wagon and shooting for a dry January.

Until next time...

Saturday 29 December, 2007 17:47

Greetings Fair Readers,

As you all know I have been somewhat lax with my postings, well here it is near the end of 2007 and I thought that you committed readers should hear once more this year from your not so committed correspondent.

2007 has been an incredible year with so many high spots; some of them you have read about here and some in just the past couple of months of which I have neglected to update you all so here goes...

Henry is in the 4th grade this year and is doing pretty well but has recently been shown to have some challenges with basic math (yep, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree here) but at least he still likes it somewhat but Dad is now the tutor and we are starting work on basic math drills. Over the past week or so I gathered a few worksheets from the internet to see where he is and now I have some pretty good idea on where we need to go and in what direction. I have told him that no one likes this much but that Grandpa Don used to sit with me when I was in 4th grade and we worked this every single night. Once he completes a sheet I usually let him check his work with the calculator as he likes doing this and gets really jazzed when the calculator proves him correct. Just you wait and I'll turn him into the human calculator that his Dad is; figuring rough percentages in presentations, tossing out rough figures as the need arises and generally just being able to put a number out there when I need to. He'll be fine...

Here's a copy of Henry's 4th grade school picture, isn't he handsome? He's been spending some time with me at work this year as our team has moved into one of the historic buildings in the oldest part of Seattle in Pioneer Square and he has become quite popular there as he runs rampant and has all of my team mates as well as a lot of the other people on the 8th floor @ 83 South King street. He loves coming to work with me and he loves getting out with my friends and making them his friends but he still won't give any of the girls on my team a goodbye smooch when they ask for it when we leave :) we even drove down to have Xmas Eve elevensies with the group even though I had the day off. Henry wouldn't miss brunch with these guys.

Anyway, Henry is in a new center at school this year and it has been really good for him even though we have found some challenges but we're working through those. He will start running track this year and he is continuing with his bowling leagues and this winter league he will move out of bumpers and into his first league with gutter balls; should be pretty interesting and we'll see how he handles it.

I was promoted this year to a Sr. Analyst position and my job continues to get more and more interesting as I am called on for more large scale and diverse projects as we continue to conquer the world one wee brown bean at a time.

The last couple months have been very good on the personal front as well. A few months ago I met a lovely woman that has brought a new dimension to my life and we are taking a long time to get to know one another and have become good friends as we continue to talk and correspond. We know that we will be great pals for now and probably for a very long time and if it grows into anything more then it does but no expectations on either end for now.

Henry's Mum Kristin is doing well as she continues to go through her chemotherapy. Her strength and humor are pretty impressive as she continues to laugh, show up for Henry's bowling leagues and get through life. She thanks all of you who have sent your good thoughts her way. We continue to parent Henry and he is the most important part of both our lives and both Kristin and I are completely devoted to helping him become a strong, independent, free thinking young man and citizen of the universe

We had a tremendous December 25th celebrating a festival stolen from the pagans by an unimaginative Roman emperor to honor a made up birthday for a human revolutionary of proven Middle Eastern/African descent that has somehow lost all skin pigmentation in Western artistic representation; probably just easier to say Xmas huh? Henry got a Wii from Santa and Dad got a new computer from himself earlier in the month. Everyone is joyous and even Butch got a couple cans of salmon, chicken & lamb feast as Henry and I feasted on a nice 8.5# rib roast while I enjoyed a lovely 2001 Cuneo syrah. We have now survived another holiday and even I am none the worse for wear.

It's Saturday evening and I have spent the better part of the day cleaning, getting bills sorted and catching up on the laundry. I have a big fat cocktail in front of me; WHOOPS! it's empty! gotta sign off so I can refill.

Anyway, I'll try and keep you all updated a bit better in the new year (I know I say that every year) but for now I'll wish you all as many big fat cocktails you can handle in 2008!

Be Excellent to Each Other!

Sunday 14 October 2007; 1555

Greetings fair readers,

It's been a pretty good week, Henry was out of school on Friday and was able o spend the day with me @ work. He actually spent the majority of the day with my friend Jen and the rest of the team (myself included) kept having to tell both of them to SSSSSSHHHHH because they were giggling and running around and yelling and having way too much fun. I spoke to Jen's hubby at her 40th birthday party last night and he said that she went to bed at 8pm on Friday because Henry wore her out. It was pretty funny...
Henry's bowling league was yesterday and he did all right, nothing like the week prior when he rolled a 141 game, his personal best. His team went up in the standings to 4th place from 5th and these guys are having a good time this time around because there doesn't seem to be as much competition between the members of the team this time like there was last season.
Henry stayed with his Mum today and will tonight although it is my weekend. He just wanted to hang with her he said. He's been good about her being so tired and she has been pretty good this weekend so I don't blame his wanting to see her more chipper. Probably best anyway, I've spent the day working in the shed and on the yard. I planted a 100 daffodils, mowed the dandelions in the front yard and got the last mow on the back. I sprayed some poison on the dandelions in back since they have started to come back wherever I dug them up earlier this summer. I'm hoping that they are tender enough the poison can actually affect them this time. I hate using it bu I haven't much choice with these gnarly things, they just don't want to die. I also repaired the fence where our lovable but not terribly bright dog broke through one of the posts last week. Yes, you heard that right, he broke off a treated 4X4 cedar post at the ground. He's just too darn strong and thinks he can jump up on the fence. Doofus
I've been spending some time getting used to my new MP3 player. Since the reopening of the bus tunnel under downtown Seattle, I have been losing radio reception as soon as we enter each day and the portion of the player that Henry had given me that played MP3s was very small and ate batteries very fast so I invested in another. Trying to figure out how to maintain the files w/o so much trouble but at least it holds a lot so I don't have to move anything on and off very often. I'm not sure how everyone has the patience for these things all the time. I know lots of people that move stuff on and off their players constantly

Not much more for now, think it's time for a cocktail and start relaxing before heading back to work tomorrow.

More later...

Tuesday 9 October, 2007; 1751

I made it to the gym again! WHOO HOO!

It may seem like a small accomplishment but making it on schedule twice after months away is a good start and I'll take it any way I can. I do have to say it hurt a lot more today than it did Sunday and I'm sure it'll be that way all week but it does feel really good to be back.

Even with all the red meat, wine, beer late night Sapphire and tonics (Thanks Nics), goose fat and hi fat content butter, I lost 3#s while I was away. The French paradox at it's best. I've lost another 4 since I've been home too so the gym is fitting right in. I'm determined to drop another 8 by Halloween to be @ 15 lost.

I think I'm finally back on Pacific time, today it was difficult to get out of bed @ 0500 for the first time sine I've been home. Up to now I've been waking by about 0430 every day plus I felt like I was relatively focused all day @ work today which is a definite first since returning. Tomorrow is my least favorite day of the month where every 2nd Wednesday I get to work @ 6 and have back to back meetings beginning @ 0830 the rest of the day. To top it off these are the meetings where I have to be a stern and sober to the wireless carriers because we have come to rely on them so much with all the mobile devices we have in the company. Then Thursday and Friday we have more monthly performance reviews for our POS service, new store installs and end user HW support. It's really the only week I have to wok really hard so I guess it's not to bad bu it certainly cuts into my nap time at work :D.

I set out the pictures from Beziers today and I hope to hear from the everyone as they get the chance to see the photos.

That's about it for now, off to make a protein smoothie and then dig into some work I brought home.

More later...

Sunday 7 October, 2007; 1652

Greetings,

Well,Scotland went down in a hard fought match today with Argentina. They put up a valiant effort and the 2nd half was very exciting but a few mistakes were made and the Argentine squad was just too tough. I don't have a kilt so I wasn't "kilted up" but I had my Scotland flag draped over my shoulders in the bar and waved it frantically when the boys scored.
I spoke to friend John today in England and he was back there earlier than he anticipated. I expected to find him somewhere between Barcelona and Montpellier but he had a family emergency that forced a long 13 hour drive back to London & then up to Newcastle. He was on his way out to watch the match as well and I'm sure he is quite unhappy. He was in Liverpool and let me know that although he would be at the match he needed to get up @ 0400 to get Laurie back to Heathrow for a flight tomorrow.
I'm getting more and more acclimated to Pacific time again but I still awoke @ 0430 today. Not too bad since I need to get up at 0500 tomorrow for work as usual but I would have liked a bit more sleep. The earlier nightfall isn't helping either as I thought it quite late last night but it was only about 9pm. The Kangaroo & Kiwi was running the early match @ 0600 this morning and I didn't think about it but I probably would have headed down to Seattle for it if I had. Probably better that I hadn't.
I made it to the gym today for the 1st time in months and it felt good. I hope I didn't over do it so I can move tomorrow. I let Henry know I planned to head back to a good workout regime and he was very excited even knowing he will need to go to the childcare the days I have him. He is being very supportive this time and I think his Mum's having cancer now has him a bit more worried than he will tell us. He has been pretty clingy lately and telling me that he wants me to get healthy again so I'll be around for a good long time. I'm sorry he is worried but it sure makes this old man's heart thump when he talks that way.
Been a pretty lazy weekend around here just catching up laundry finally from the trip, taking in the rugby and getting to the gym. Hangin' with the dog, catching up the neighbors on the travels and taking in the final farmer's market; had to get in on the last of the season's corn. I think I'll have some with some steamed crab legs tonight.

That's about it for now, more later

Thursday 4 October 2007; 0515

Good Morning Dear Readers,

I'm home from Europe and the trip of a lifetime. I arrived home after a long journey that began in Paris @ about 0730 local time. The actual traveling did not begin until about 1130 local time but I wanted to walk the city a bit since the evening I arrived it was rainy and not very conducive to walking about.
After a quick metro ride to the new Arch De Defense, I wandered the large square there and then back to the Arch De Triomphe and the Champs Elysee before a quick walk to the Eiffel Tower which apparently had also been set up as the Rugby World Cup fans village until earlier in the week so much was going on as the village was dismantled. The fog was too thick to be able to see the top of the tower but there was a very large rugby ball suspended between the legs of the tower. Clearly France had been gripped in Rugby fever from that and all the large signs and murals I saw everywhere.

A quick walk along the Seine and another metro ride and I was back to hotel where I checked out and took the train to Aeroport Charles De Gaulle. I arrived in Seattle an hour late and by the time I retrieved my bag and then car and drove home it was after midnight and I had to go to work Tuesday. I was a bit tardy from my usual time and didn't arrive until about 0730.

This was truly the trip of a lifetime; I made tremendous new friends, visited parts of the world I had never before been and found a bit of myself of which I was convinced I had lost forever. I will never forget this holiday.

We stayed in the working winery in the Languedoc region, ate the local produce of cheeses, breads and wines. Some nights we cooked and others we dined out. Big breakfasts each morning and a lot activity with no evening ending that I can remember ending before about 0200 and one lasted until 0600. Drinking, carousing, dancing, conversation, music, hugging and most of all laughter, laughter, laughter. So much so it was the group that I didn't want to leave and not the place. I don't think that's ever happened to me before and I think I'm still walking around a bit brokenhearted at having to say goodbye to all these tremendous people. Here are some pictures:

The view from my bedroom window my first morning in Beziers

2nd night in Beziers at the pub for the US v Samoa

Diane and John @ the daily flower market in Beziers

Dinner @the Baronnie

Fun at about 0400

The Baronnie from across the vineyard

The front of the Baronnie and my apartment

The man responsible for it all, John

Thursday 27 September 2007; 1020

Greetings fair readers,

I arrived in Beziers after a full day on the train from Amsterdam. It was quite a ride; up early to catch the train to Brussels and thinking I would be able to check out a bit of the city I left the station but this was not in the best area of town and was the newer station that can take the high speed trains, not in the center of the city like other European stations. The part of the city where I got off was really a pit and I hadn't slept well the night prior so was dozing off and worried I would fall asleep and miss my connection. Well at least I got on the next train and it was the high speed so only an hour to Paris Nord so I was able to get in about 30 minutes of sleep and felt better.
From Paris Nord I needed to make my way to Paris Gare Lyon and had 80 minutes to do so and was told it was a 70 minute transfer. I actually made it in about 30 thanks to my previous experience with the tube in London. I remembered that it's easy to get the right train platform but determining which track to get to is more difficult and it was the same in Paris. I'm thankful for my time in London using the underground as it made it a lot easier in Paris.
4 hours and 20 minutes from Paris to Beziers through Nimes and there were quite a few 200 mph moments where the train just kicks in and the countryside whizzes by.
Friend John picked me up with new friend Davey and we made out way back to the chateaus. I met the other chums; JP, Jimmy, Al & Jilly and we tucked into a fine seafood pasta and the local product from the onsite winery. Well. we dented the winerack in a serious manner and yesterday I awoke with a swollen brain inside a skull that felt abut 2 sizes too small. Made it through the day though and we were off to a pub on the town square for the US v. Samoa after Christopher and Heidi arrived.
Although the US lost the match, our brave boys did all they could to a much larger and seriously mean looking Samoan team. Samoa was up 22 - 3 at the half and the final was only 25 - 22. Truly we thought the Samoan team looked as if they were out to kill and eat the US team but we stood proud and it became a moral if not actual victory.
Today is a game free day so we will head to the open air market for dinner supplies and hang about the pool if it warms up but it is currently 12 C so 55 F seems a bit cool for the unheated pool. Probably more in line will be a long walk about the estate and maybe some table tennis or foosball in what used the be the stables or just beers and laughter in the main house where John is staying. John is picking up his Australian business partner as well as his daughter and neice today and we will have a full house. We are a big crowd from all over the world: JP is an forensic accountant from Melbourne, Davy a commercial real estate broker from Brisbane, Jimmy is a bar room singer from Spain, Al & Jilly just sold Al's business in Melbourne and are touring France for 4 months, Christopher and Heidi are are from Charlotte where he owns a SW company and she is in grad school but Christopher is originally from London as is John our host. A fine group we all are.
That's about it right now. We just tucked into a big breakfast of eggs, sausages, baked beans and croissant so we are just lazing about for a bit before we head for a day of adventure and more lazing about.
Signing off but will get on probably tomorrow for more updates. I'll work on getting some photos uploaded when I can.
TTFN

24 September 2007; 2150 GMT - 2

Greetings All,

Amsterdam rocks!
It is a very interesting city and there are so many things to see that are so very old. Don't get me wrong I love London too but there is a certain raw intensity here. There is absolutely something for any taste here. Absinthe is legal and holds a place of honor at certain bars, one ofwhich is where I'm staying; 3 different brands behind the bar and by word of the bartender, each has it's own very special effects. Coffeehouses can't sell beer but they can sell their produce and it can be brought into the bar and the sweet aroma is everywhere. It is not to be partaken walking around but once night falls it is apparent not only when walking past an open coffeehouse door.
I got packed up as I have a 0730 train to Beziers tomorrow. I then took a walk through the red light district and it is a very strange phenomena. The ladies beckon and there is a different sort for everyone. Certain areas seem to cater to the various tastes as well. Women walk through the area alone, roaming packs of rowdy men, families, etc. I saw a man take his children into a sex shop yesterday and it seemed to be nothing new to the people inside nor the family as I continued my walk past.
My vice is still beer though and the Dutch like to drink int at all times of day and you can wander the streets here with an open beer. Although there is hard liquor in all the bars, I have yet to see anyone orderone and I've been in several including the one where I'm staying at the Bulldog Hotel (bulldoghotel.com).
My train is the regular to Brussels tomorrow and then the high speed to Paris Nord where I have to transfer across the city on the metro to Paris Lyon (70 minutes) and then high speed to Beziers again. Once I get in I'll call John and he will come and get me if they have not had too much to drink yet or I'll take a taxi to the estate apparently it's only about 10 minutes from the train. I found a grocery and bought a bottle of wine, a baguette, a couple apples and some farmer cheese for the ride. Although it will be a lng ride, I'm looking FW to it especially if the e\weather is clear so I can see the Dutch, Belgian and French countrysides. As interesting as the "culture" is here in Amsterdam, I still like walking and sightseeing more than anything.
Today I got up, had breakfast here and then walked to the Anne Frank House where strangely it was not nearly as depressing as I had thought it wou.ld be. Twisting hidden staircases and no ventilation (I think they kept it that way to remind those touring the house that was how it was for 3+ years) but it was a lot larger than I expected it would be even for 8 people living there. Then isstarted to drizzle so I ducked into a bar and had a big Heineken and waited out the storm. I toured the Rembradt House and then had a nap and a couple tylenol as I think the jet lag was doing me in. Caught the canal tour through the harbor and upthe Amstel River and through some of the main canals and two sea locks. I took a lot of photos and then stopped for some Indonesian noodles and returnedto the hotel. A full day again but it is a much nicer place than I expected. A friend had told me that amsterdam is a pit but I loved it, then again I love cities and all that comes with them.
That's about it for now kiddies, I'll see if John has a computer with him in Beziersand if so I can update daily, if not I'll have to wait until I can get into town.

Signing off now, it's 2230

Sunday 23 September 2007 - Amsterdam

Greetings fair readers,
I am in Amsterdam at the Bulldog Hotel. Nice place just on a canal about 10 minutes walk from the central train station. I flew in last night on KLM and got a couple hours sleep so am fighting fatigue at this time but I will be up for a while, a shower after I was able to check in @ 1500 sure helped. I got tho the hotel @ about 14000 this am and they let me drop my pack and then I wandered around, got my reservations for the high speed to Beziers sorted. Wandered about, had some Belgian frites with mayo and then found my way to the Van Gogh museum. WOW is all I can say about that.
Truly amazing to be so close to so many incredible works by not only Vinnie but some of his contemporaries as well; Gaugain, Millet, Picasso, Sezanne, etc. I spent a few fascinating hours there.
Amsterdam is a whole new world, my hostel is associated with a chain of coffee houses where the main product is not necessarily coffee but as the website reads "vegetation and plant resins from around the world". I am sitting in the bar and there are people all around me partaking of that product where you order off a menu and sit with people and have fun. Also, my hotel is on a canal and there have been boaters heading up and down it all day it being a lovely sunny Sunday. Just on the other side of the canal the red light district starts and there are all sorts of shops that I can see that are advertising all sorts of assortment of various films and toys and private rooms and shows and, and, and... As one of the fellows I met in the bar here let me know, Amsterdam has anything anyone could want.
I've been chatting up a couple of fellows here from Dublin and they come over every few months for a "men's weekend" and appear to be pretty experienced with the various availabilities of this city.
I have taken some photos but do not have my camera to upload the images with me so that will come later, stay tuned.
I believe the evening is about to come to an end for me soon, I'll be heading out to find something to eat and then make an early night of it. Tomorrow I think I will take in the Anne Frank House if I'm up for it (hears it's really depressing) and maybe a canal tour where I can take lots of photos and if I have time the Ryksmuseum or the Rembrandt house.
Signing off now, more to come as I can find a login available

30 July 2007; 1148

Greetings,
We are on our 3rd day of holiday and this was the first workday we got to sleep in. Feels great!
WE had a terrific Saturday with getting into the Edmonds Saturday market and sold 44 boxes of Woof World dog treats. We once again had a terrific response and saw a number of our friends during the day as well. We broke down the booth and and then Henry went for a sleepover at our friends the Norton's and made it through the night!
Sunday was pretty lazy. After picking up Henry @ 1100, we did a few errands, had Chinese food for lunch and then I slept the afternoon away while Henry played outside and with some video games. I caught up on the papers from the couple days prior and we were just very casual and lazy.
We are working on Henry's birthday invitation list and will head out to get some Buzz Cola for the attendees.
We have a few plans this week. We plan to catch up some kid films; Harry Potter, Transformers, etc. Not sure if anything will match the Simpson's Movie which was a real riot. Still a lot of juvenile humor but a lot of the jokes were quite sophisticated and meant for the mostly adults in the audience. We're working on getting into the Mukilteo market on Wednesday or the Snohomish Market on Thursday and then back to the Edmonds Market on Saturday. Then it's off to OR to see Grandpa Don for a quick trip. I think we'll go down via the long road on the coast on Sunday and head back early Tuesday with a side trip to Mt. St. Helens. Henry has never been over the big bridge @ Astoria but loves the Tillamook factory tour and ice cream shop and he has gained a recent interest in volcanoes so both of these routes should prove interesting and fun.
That's about it for now, will catch up later in the week

Tuesday 24 June; 1908

Greetings Fair Readers,
Apparently it's been a few weeks since my last update. My how time flies.
Let's see...
Henry and I have been working on Woof World and after only 4 markets we are nearly out of debt and will be able to begin socking away funds for future and fun (50% of all profits are to be invested in Henry's college fund and the other 50% will become our "fun" or probably vacation fund. We have done markets in both the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and Fremont as well as Oak Harbor and have been successful in getting our name out and have even begun to receive inquiries regarding repeat orders. We are not up to 7 fantastic canine flavors with the addition of bacon (I think that Butch's eyes actually roll back in his head on this one) and will continue to expand in the future, even working on salmon flavor (for the NW tie-in) as well as kitty treats for which we've had a surprising amount of requests.
We had a 4th of July party on the front lawn of our home which as some of you probably know is right on the parade route to the Edmonds Kind of 4th Parade, truly an example of small town America at it's best with firetrucks, veterans of all the wars since WW1, drill teams and even Nordic Prices and princesses were on hand to help celebrate in all their glory. We had a good turnout and had terrific food and drink but most importantly to celebrate this birthday of our country, fine company. Much laughter, applause and cheering for the parade participants all was in vogue for the day.
Later on that night Henry was honored with an invitation to turn out the lights in the nearby Memorial Stadium here in Edmonds for a fantastic fireworks display. His timing couldn't have been better: the Star Spangled Banner concluded, Henry hit the switch and the 1st rockets headed skyward. Edmonds puts on a hell of a fireworks show and it was tremendous that Henry got to join in.
Previously in June, somehow I injured my foot and began to limp pretty severely. After about a month of this and an inopportune dash for the downtown bus transfer one morning I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis or a pulled/torn ligament in the arch of my foot. I have been babying that around and this has put a cramp in some of our summer fun, more markets and even just getting around. It is frustrating to Henry as I can't play well right now and for me as it has curtailed my gym time and both of us for the time it has taken away from pushing Woof World. The good news is after following the Doc's advice for the past few weeks I seem to be on the mend and should be good to go just about the time Henry heads back to school; rats!
Our wee town has been experiencing heat, rain and humidity; all of which are not the norm for July in the Puget Sound but nonetheless proves the adage that here we cannot trust the weather farther than we can see it.
Grandpa Don has been having a tough time of it lately and Grandma Joanne is understandably stressed. Grandpa Fred seems to be on the mend after his "stroke" scare last winter where it ended up being an infection that severely elevated his blood pressure and he is now being treated for sleep apnea and is reportedly a "new man". Grandma Deanie seems to be taking this in stride and is quite pleased with the progress he has been making lately.
My friends John and Carol will be here tomorrow from London and Edinburgh respectfully and Henry and I will be dining with them tomorrow evening. It is always good to spend time with them.
Henry won passes to the preview showing of the Simpsons Movie the day before it is released to the public so we will be attending that and foregoing dinner with our dinner party group but our friends all seem to understand that this is a big thing, especially to an 8 (almost 9; 3 weeks) year old. Not too far away. Henry has decided to host this years party at the local pool after attending another fiesta there and having a tremendous time. This is K's year to host but I said that I would procure sufficient supplies of Buzz Cola of Simpsons fame from the local 7-Eleven that is currently transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart from the show, right down to the pink donuts and uniforms on the staff.
I am currently working on booking travel to the 2007 World Cup of Rugby, this year to be held in venues from Edinburgh to Marseille. I will be staying with friend John in Montpellier where he has rented 2 chateau for 2 weeks and promises a good crowd moving in and out over the two week period and he has also committed to bringing his slow cooker so we might enjoy his delicious curries throughout, yum. He also has plans to attend the Scotland (his team) v. Italy match on 9/29 in Saint Etienne a short drive away as well as assorted matches in Montpellier and attendance at the local rugby clubs and surrounding pubs to take in the matches from further away. At this time, I am looking at flying all the way to Montpellier but may stop in Paris to switch to the high speed train running south. Also the flight at which I'm currently looking has a layover in Amsterdam on the way back and having never been there I could see about stopping for the night and taking a whirlwind tour.
Work is good, vacation is coming up and summer seems like it's barely started. Henry has been attending camp and has had a couple of fun field trips so far and is making new friends.

Well, that's about it for now but I promise I will try and provide updates more often than every few weeks.

More later...