Happy Birthday Colleen!

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You’re already in bed after your first day as an 11-year old. But while there’s still some minutes left of your birthday, I thought I’d tell you here in my blog how much we love you and are proud of you. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of you, is fun. You are a fun person to be around. You like to play games (are a wicked backgammon player), and you are also very funny (not looking, I mean humorous 🙂 You’re very curious (yes, like the monkey) – always wanting to learn new things, adventurous (yes, like a pirate) – always eager to try new things. And you are also friendly, kind, and quite a looker too!

Happy Birthday, Colleen! We’re very excited about being with you all of your 11th year.

BTW, the CUBS won tonight!

Back to School

Ah, where does the summer go? Ours was full and fun, but now September is here once again, and this week was time for heading Back-to-School.

We’ve now left elementary school behind, as Colleen enters middle school as a 6th grader, and Will is now our second child in high school. For the last twelve years we’ve had one or more kids attending Henderson Elementary School, and I’d like to say thanks for the great job they did for each of them.

This morning, Colleen and I walked to our respective bus stops together. My pickup is just across the street from hers, and just a few minutes earlier. It was kind of strange, standing across the street waving at each other. Her to catch a school bus to take her five miles to school, and me to catch a commuter bus to take me 30 miles to work.

Tonight I rushed home from work to make it to Back-to-School night at my daughter Katie’s high school. The parents there followed their children’s schedule from class to class, spending 10 minutes in each for a quick introduction and overview from the teachers. I have to confess, it made me glad that high school is far behind me. She will have a heavy workload in classes that I hope will engage as well as challenge her.

If we continued counting years as grades in our ongoing education of life, then this fall I’m a 37th grader. I’m not done learning, but the degrees I work for now come bi-weekly and have dollar signs on them.

Oh yeah, and looking back at last year, we can’t forget what else going back-to-school brings next.

Ants in my Samoas

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Big crisis in the kitchen today… some ants found their way into our Samoas. You know Samoas, the 2nd best selling of all the Girl Scout Cookies (look out Thin Mints, Samoas are gaining on you!), they are my favorite. So there was our open box of Samoas, with about 2/3 of the cookies still remaining, but crawling with little black ants. We shook off each cookie and put them in a Ziploc baggie and wiped out those left on the box and the counter. But it was quickly apparent that many ants clung to the cookies and were in the Ziploc as well. So I got out a second Ziploc, and individually transferred each cookie, first giving it a good shake, and then moving it to the second baggie. I was left with one baggie full of angry ants (who met a ghastly ending I won’t describe here), and a second baggie full of ant-free and delicious Samoas. Or so it seemed.

Of course, all of this Samoa-exposure had me craving them, and despite spotting a few who had made it to the second baggie, I ate three or four of these yummy delights and then set the sealed baggie down by my chair. Well I get things were getting warm in the Samoa bag, or something was drawing the ants out of the nooks of the remaining cookies to see what was going on, because each time I glance at the bag there were increasing numbers of ants in the sealed bag. Lesson learned, shaking a Samoa is not an effective way of removing ants, there’s just too many nooks and crannies in the cookies for them to explore. But eat them anyway, you’re bigger and higher in the food chain, and it takes more than a few ants to spoil a Samoa.

Manspace

While the major work on our home remodel of last summer is complete, a number of small jobs remain. We just got our closet in, and when the weather allows our patio will be poured, we need some new furniture, and we also have to paint. But one job in particular is especially near and dear to me, the creation of my Manspace.

With my previous home office now our dining room, and our teenage daughter now out of the basement and in her new room upstairs with the rest of us, it is the basement which is now mine to claim. It’s a mess at the moment. Last week’s burst water pipe was a setback to progress on my manspace. But I have a vision.

It will have to be a multi-function room serving as a home office, library (for books, dvds and cds), den, pub (w/dartboard), and club. It’s a tall order for any basement with a cold concrete floor, but work has begun. To get the dark club-like feeling I’m after, I’ve painted the ceiling black, while the walls are dark blue with some black mottling texture to them. It’s a sloppy paint job, dark and sloppy. The bookcases are in and already providing a welcome consolidated home for our humble library. Putting them on blocks proved prescient (remember, water pipe burst last week), so for once my preparation for the worst serves me well (remember, hard disk crash last week).

I found a great book for inspiration from the efforts of other men and the special spaces they’ve created, Manspace, A Primal Guide to Marking Your Territory by Sam Martin is full of great garages, home pubs, amazing collection displays, and manly hangouts. And I’m not alone in my desire to create my manspace, as indicated by the below story from last Sunday’s Washington Post.

Stay tuned for progress reports. And don’t think I’m a chauvinist or anything like that, women will be welcome in my manspace… I just have to find the right accessory first 😉

Man, What a Setup
The Washington Post, 2/10/07

Dr. Murray

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I visited my Optomitrist on Friday, and I learned while there that it would be my last appointment with him as he’s retiring in a few months. Looking back in his file on me, we saw my first visit with him was in September 1989 when I was 24 years old. I can still remember the day on the streets of Washington, DC, when I realized I couldn’t read the street sign on the other side of the street and I figured I’d better go see an eye doctor. I’ve been through a bunch of glasses and a few contacts as well in the 18 years since. And now that I’ve got astigmatism in both eyes to go with my near-sightedness, my new pair will be… bi-focals! And over those years, Dr. Murray also put my wife and two of our kids in glasses. Thank-you Dr. Murray, and enjoy your retirement.

TGIF

Sunday, Bears lose
Monday, it’s Monday
Tuesday, Flu rampant in office
Wednesday, frozen pipe bursts, water in basement
Thursday, powerbook hard drive crash, all is lost? Wife barfing.
TGIF

Update: Saturday, doing some minor follow-up clean up to Wednesday’s water and I somehow tweak my back badly. Advil & hot pads in store. Oh yeah, and I confirmed the worst on the hard drive, all is lost. Not my best week ever.

Protecting Our Rights from Ourselves

In 2007, resolve to pay attention, get involved, and speak out. Do not underestimate how much more harm George Bush is capable of inflicting on our country and our Constitution in his remaining two-years in office. And never forget the damage already done.

The 2006 Bill of Wrongs
The Washington Post, Opinion Page, 12/31/06

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