Oops! I did it again...

Late last night I did up a page and posted pictures from the Richmond MCQ sew-in. Then I hit the Blogger spell checker, which wiped everything out. So here is a more brief version. Click the link to get to the pictures. MCQ is a great cause and these events are a lot of fun.

While we were in Richmond, I found a HobbyTown right next door to the JoAnn I was sent to. Inside I talked myself into an R/C electric helicopter, which has become a source of great consternation to me. I do fine with fixed wing aircraft, but I'm convinced that helicopters are aircraft of the broken wing variety. Well, at least mine is at the moment. They don't really fly anyway, they beat the air into submission.

The kids had their "farewell concert" at Grace tonight. Although the choir was somewhat downsized due to vacations and some of the seniors being off to do their thing, they sounded great. Tomorrow morning they depart on their tour to a town outside Philly, where they will perform I believe three times. The kids are staying with different families from a church up there where they are performing and they get to tour Philadelphia and visit a theme park. It's a 4 day trip that they've been looking forward to for a long time.

Jason received his award from the school system in the mail today. We missed the presentation because the event was scheduled for the same night as his final school concert. It's a cool little engraved acrylic thing.

I received something special in the mail as well. My first check for a published article from Fox Publishing. I guess that makes it official, I'm a professional writer. Unfortunately I've been mired in saw dust lately rather than writing. I'm about to hang up the shadow box gig so I can concentrate my efforts where they belong.

For tonight, I'm going to go ahead and post this before I lose it!

Yesterday was a little rough, today is better!

Yesterday morning Terri called from work wanting to go for a bike ride at lunch time.

"Cool Beans!" I thought. I always like to go for bike rides!

She said around noon, and I knew she had a meeting at 11:00, so I loaded the bikes up and was sitting in the parking lot at her office at about 11:50. I waited and waited, until almost 1:00, figuring that she'd be down as soon as she got out of the meeting. I had her cycling gear, so I didn't think she'd go back to her office. Well at 1:00 I called her office, and there she was! Well she came down and we got out for a short ride on the W&OD before I had to be back home for the kids coming home.
So I get to the house a few minutes after Jason got home, and got the bikes unloaded. I grabbed a slice of bread with some peanut butter and changed clothes in time to get back out the door with Jason to pick Sam up. I had enough time to realize that I had missed my UPS delivery. We picked her up and headed to Mom's office so I could get some paperwork faxed, then got back to Sudley Manor House for the kid's volunteer time at 4:00.

About 4:50 my cell phone rings. Terri is calling to figure out where we are since Jason was supposed to be at school, properly dressed, at 4:45 for a trip to a dinner theater with the choir. Crap. So Jason and I go out the door at SMH and head toward home. Mrs. Dommer called my cell on the way to the house, and she really couldn't hold the bus up any longer, so I told her that I'd catch up. We get to the house, and I have Jason grab clothes to change on the way. We hustle out the door and I call Mrs. Dommer back, and we agree to meet at the high school. Of course the light at 234 was in full rush hour mode, so we sat for like 4 minutes waiting on the green. I eventually got him on the bus, and they made it to the dinner theater with some time to spare.

So then I go to pick Sam up, since she's now there when all the old folks have gone to dinner. She gets along fine with the staff (and the birds) so this isn't a problem, but I hate situations like that.

That pretty much sums up the rough parts. When Terri got home we took Sam to Red Hot & Blue, where we split a full rack of ribs and I had some wings. Of course when I went to get a Coke refill before leaving, the machine was out.

After Sam went to bed, Ter settled into a nice bath and I went for another ride. I'm digging the weight loss, and the wings and ribs had to be paid for. Got home in plenty of time for a shower before picking Jason up at their scheduled return time of 11:30.

Today Terri took a day of leave. With today being the last day of school, the kids had half a day. They're done for the year and they both got by. Jason starts high school next year, which is sort of scary for me. The years just keep on coming.
Anyway, I had talked to my friend Mark yesterday and we arranged to ride this morning, so Terri and I met him at his house at 8:30 and we had about a 15 mile ride. I've got some neato video from the camera that Mom got me for Christmas, including the designated dumbass of the day. Terri and I got home in time for a shower before the scheduled 10:30 - 2:00 UPS redelivery attempt.

Why do they call it redeliver?
de·liv·er·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-lv-r, -lvr)
n. pl. de·liv·er·ies
1. a. The act of conveying or delivering.
b. Something delivered, as a shipment or package.

They didn't get it to me the first time. If they had, they wouldn't have to come back, right?

So anyway. The kids are home, Buster Brown brought my new camera, and we just got back from DQ. Mom's picking the kids (and Casey) up on her way home from work, and I have to figure out what's for Dinner. Terri's working on quilting stuff to be ready for tomorrow, when we head to Richmond for a sew-in.

We'll report on that later!

Great weekend!

This past weekend we were blessed with beautiful weather, highs in the mid 70s, clear, and breezy. Well, sometimes downright windy.

Saturday we got out for about a 25 mile ride around Catlett. This is farm country, making it a great area to ride with little traffic and no severe hills to climb. The wind was blowing pretty strong most of the day, making for a challenging ride. I tried my best to maintain a hole in the air for Terri and the kids, but sometimes the cross winds were at an angle that just didn't allow it. Even so, our average speed for this ride was up about 1/2 MPH from last time we rode it a couple of weeks ago.

Sunday was a busy day. It was "Youth Sunday" at Grace where most of the service was run by the church youth. They had skits and testimonials, and it was enjoyable. Jason and Sam were also confirmed during the service, which was the only part of the service officiated over by Pastors Rudy and Denise. They had to be there for all three services, including the evening contemporary service, but got a break in the afternoon, during which both kids snuck in a nap. During the evening service Terri and I went down to the fellowship hall to see what we could do to help prepare for the barbecue that was being held for the youth group. We ended up helping Mark and Sharon with the burger & dog duties, and really enjoyed ourselves. When the kids showed up, there were water balloons flying from all directions. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I'd call the event a huge success. I'm sure that the kids are looking forward to participating in youth group next year.

Chesapeake Bay Asthma Ride

I've posted a complete report of our latest bicycle adventure on the web site, which is linked to the title above for you. To save some blog space I'll just post a synopsis here, which is good practice for my writing skills anyway.

Almost two years ago, in July of 2004, Terri discovered that the ALAM put on a charity bicycle ride on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The longest route available was 100 miles, and she set that as a personal challenge. At the time we were not riding bikes often at all.

Within a month we had upgraded our bicycles and were riding regularly. By September we tackled a tough "metric century" of 100 kilometers in Carroll County in bad weather and with much pain. In June of 2005, Jason and Sammy joined us for their first metric century, and then in September of 2005 we all volunteered to support the fall ride.

This past weekend we set out with a new determination to complete the full "century" or 100 miles. Though the weather wasn't great, and lady luck started the day being a witch, Terri and I completed the full ride. You'll have to read the detailed report given on the link to really appreciate how much of an accomplishment this was.

Next year we think the kids will be ready for the century. This ride is a family event that we all look forward to and there's some people that I want to thank for making it so enjoyable. The entire staff at ALAM are wonderful but I want to particularly mention Steve, Kelly, and especially Butch who have all shown us the human side of an important organization. There are the volunteers who come year after year, including Anita, Dawn, Danielle, Mike, and Tim. They man the rest stops and help bring all the riders together like a family. There's the top fundraiser, Bill Berned, and his brother Robbie, who have together raised over $60,000 for ALAM. I wish I could remember the name of the guy that came from Colorado to ride his 14th consecutive ride. You all give us so much inspiration, and we plan to be riding with you for many years to come.

Most importantly there's the friends and family that contribute to the cause. Together you've helped us raise about $2400 so far, and we can't thank you all enough. Anyone want to join us next year?

Tom