Forgot to mention something...

There's a group of about a half-dozen young teen-age girls running around the hotel, riding around in the elevator and squealing a lot.

I may have to kill them.

Reporting live, from Cary, North Carolina!

Terri and I made the trip down this morning to attend the MCQ National Sew-in. The ride was uneventful and unhurried, and we arrived here at the Embassy Suites around 3:30, to be greeted by banners welcoming Marine families. We checked in and found the room where everything is going on this morning, where we met Jan & Sue, founders of MCQ, and found BJ, one of the quilters from Richmond, along with a few other ladies that had already arrived.

As we were walking out to unload our stuff, Kim and Tracy, also from Richmond, walked in. We got stuff in and Terri set up and got right to work. I took our other things to the room and unpacked, set up the Internet connection, then took my camera down and took a few pictures.

I invited Kim and Tracy to go get some eats with us, and we found a little pizza place right around the corner. Pizza was pretty good, but apparently didn't agree with Kim. Sorry Kim! I have to apologize to Kim, she apparently reads the blog pretty regularly. She says that sometimes my posts remind her of her husband, other times they are just slightly disturbing.

So we came back and got back to work, Terri sewing tops and bottoms together, Kim and Tracy were putting them together to be sewn, and I was trimming squares to size. Most of the others went to the conference so we had the room to ourselves and got a good bit done. We broke it up a little after 9:00 this evening.

Terri and I went down to the pool area, spent some time in the pool, then the sauna, then sat in the jacuzzi. BJ had said that she was going to come down, but we hung out until almost 11:00 and didn't see her so I guess she decided not to. Talked to a Marine for a bit before we left.

A word about Marines. I grew up near Quantico MCB, and my general impression of them wasn't all that positive. Crazy fools would sum it up in two words quite nicely. Now I've serve in the military, and my view has changed greatly to one of deep respect. These guys go through things that most people can't fathom just to wear the uniform. Then they go into the worst places imaginable and do a job that nobody else wants to do. They do it with respect and professionalism unmatched. I always find it a positive experience to meet a Marine, one from which I feel I benefit. If I had it to do over again, I'd let the Marine Corps recruiter talk me into signing with them.

Tomorrow morning we start again with at least half of the quilts completed already. We'll find something to do though, right after breakfast!

Bye Kim!

What's new in the world?

This is a picture from my Grandma's birthday a couple of weeks ago. She turned 80, and quite a few of the family showed up. Pat & Lewis (her step-son and his wife) were there, Bruce and Becky along with Scott and Cameron, Dad, my sister Cyndi and niece Mysti, as well as Jack & Brenda who managed to slip out before the serious picture-taking started. I just thought I'd share.

Terri and I are on our way out of town tomorrow for the MCQ first national sew-in in Cary, NC. I'm actually looking forward to the trip, and since my weight loss seems to have stalled this week I think I'll take the bikes so I can get some riding in. Mike & Annie are picking the kids up at camp tomorrow and will meet us here with them on Sunday when we return.

In other travel news, we went ahead and booked our flight to Hawaii for spring break next year. We were saving cash for that but decided with oil prices being as volatile as they are, we'd be better off making credit card payments on the tickets than allowing prices to go up further. They were up $50+ per ticket from what they were two weeks ago.

We also made an adjustment to our remaining summer plans. We were planning on a trip to Florida to see Terri's grandmother ~ August 13, with a return via Williamsburg on the 17th-19th, but we got a letter in the mail yesterday that changed those plans. Jason has an AFJROTC meeting on the 15th, and that's a priority. So we're going to go to Florida a little earlier, like the 7th, and make Busch Gardens a separate trip. This will actually work out well I think, since it will give us a little more time to spend with Nanny.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print, for now. Hasta leugo!

On a lighter note...

Terri pointed out that my last post was pretty depressing, so I should post something more positive.

We've had a pretty positive week, so that's not an unreasonable request.

Sam is at Mike & Annie's for the week while Jason is at camp. I truly appreciate that M&A have been so generous in keeping the kids occupied over the summer, but I also miss my kids with them at camp every summer. Through most of the year I have to be on them about homework and stuff, and I look forward to having the summer to only be on them about...stuff. They tell me about things they'd like to do and we never find the time. In any case, they are having fun and enjoying themselves, and it sounds like Sam is being kept pretty busy doing some things to help Annie out around their new home.

Anyway...I have managed to get things done. Working on the last of my shadow boxes now, and I've managed to ship out quite a few kits for light boxes as a result of the recent article. With a brake adjustment on the Corolla, both vehicles have gone through inspection.

I've got in almost 600 miles so far this year on my bike, and am down almost 15 lbs. between that and some diet changes. I'm thinking about writing about the whole weight loss thing. It's going well and I'm not doing anything hard.

My article has resulted in greater than expected light kit sales. Enough that I have had to order some more acrylic to complete orders. It's all good, right? Got to get to work on a couple more projects, and I've dropped the shadow box business to allow me to work on things like that.

Bob is adapting to being the only cat in the house rather well. He is not, however, happy with the diet he is now on. Bummer. If I can lose weight, so can he.

Last 24 hours not stellar...

So I get up this morning and fix Terri a bagel and some melon for breakfast. Go back to bed for a little bit and then get the kids up because I have to take Sam to the in-laws so that Mike can drop her off at camp on Sunday.

Leroy, our cat that came to live with us early in 1994, was not doing too well this morning. He's been losing weight, the vet says probably hypo-thyroid, but knowing his nature we've decided not to take action. This cat never forgets and the whole pill thing sounds like a bad deal for him. We don't want him living longer at the expense of his happiness.

I make copies of Sam's paperwork so we have them for the next trip in a couple of weeks, and pack her meds. I organize the meds according to what goes to camp with her and what stays with the Mike & Annie, and include her house key for the meet-up at the end of the month, as well as her military ID and insurance card. I have notes on them so that Mike knows what to take and what to keep.

We have a nice ride up to Westminster after stopping at Arby's for lunch. Saw a few deer on the way and traffic wasn't bad at all. Dropped Sam off at the in-law's with Sharon, Mike's sister, the Jason and I head back home.

We got home and I set Leroy up on a pillow and towel, he doesn't seem to be moving on his own at this point.

When we get home Jason asks if I have his "pack list" for Jeremiah Project. I go to look for it among the pile of camp paperwork I have, and realize that the entire packet of Sam's, the one I copied, is sitting here on my desk. I call Mike and arrange to send them via fax. A trip to Staples and a few attempts to gets it through. Hopefully that will fly.

Terri calls when I'm trying to track down the light problem between the Kia and boat trailer, which I suspected was on the Kia end. She's on her way home. I found a ground not connected to the wiring harness on the Kia, and can't even figure out where it was connected, but found a good spot for it and the test thingy shows everything good now.

Terri gets home and we take Jason to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. While at dinner he and I make a wager on my weight loss. 185 average for me for the week ending August 5. This week I averaged 198, so that's 13 lbs. in 4 weeks. I have to average a 1700 calorie daily deficit to make it. If I win he vacuums downstairs once a week for a month, something the kids should be doing anyway. If I don't make it, he gets ice cream at DQ once a week for a month. I offered laundry services for a month but he passed.

We run to the book store to pick him up a more "adult" bible for Jeremiah Project, then go to get him some gloves and Terri some shoes. We get home to find Leroy doing worse, but responding to us sitting with him. Jason is pretty upset knowing the Leroy probably won't make it through the night. He can't remember Leroy not being around, much like Flash. I finally talked everyone into going to bed around 11:00.

Sometime around 11:45 Leroy is meowing again, so I go back over and sit with him. I pet him as his breathing got deeper, then more shallow. He was gone a little after midnight. I went ahead and took him over to Dad's and borrowed a shovel. I picked a spot not too far away, but down near the dam, where the kids can visit.

Now it's 2 a.m. and I'm posting this instead of sleeping. July 9 is my grandmother's 80th birthday and I've promised to bake a cake. Bruce is coming into town and Dad is coming and Cyndi too I think. I bought her a puzzle, just because it's something I can do with her. I always try to put on a happy face to visit with her, a concept that nobody else seems to quite get, although they certainly give it an honest effort. Somehow I'm not feeling so chipper right now. I guess I'll finish my Arrogant Bastard, try to get some sleep, and do the best I can.

Gone Fishin'!

Another beautiful day! Not sure what the high temperature was, but it was supposed to be about 82, and I think that was close. I started out the day with a ride with Mark. It was actually a little cool this morning so we warmed up and kicked out just shy of 16 miles pretty quickly. He really jumps out from stops and accelerates quickly, and he says he's afraid he's not going fast enough when he's out in front. He actually makes me work hard when he does that and I tend to lose the draft. I'm used to moving out a little more gradually because Terri simply can't get that long bike of hers moving that quickly. We're working on it though. He's starting to ride on the road a lot, not having the time to get packed up and go take a mountain bike to the trails. I told him today that was part of the reason I like riding the roads so much. Throw the shorts on, check the tires, fill a water bottle, and go ride. Anyway, I'm enjoying it. Got home after the ride and got the kids up to go fishing. The lake was still pretty muddy but the water was back close to normal water levels. We didn't do well early so I moved us and Jason and I started catching fish pretty quickly. Sam was missing some bites at first, but she got better about her timing and hook sets as the day went on so nobody got skunked. There was a lot of love and happiness going on while we were out, but everything seems to be back to normal now. I guess we were out for about 5 hours, then we were going to go for a short ride up the lake. Motor gave me a hard time, I suspect there might be something in the fuel filter or in the cab somewhere. I'll look at it next week. In any case, was a good day, and here's a couple of pictures. That bluegill Jason has is one of the biggest I've seen in Lake Jackson in a long time.

Minor Updates.

The Kia is back in action. After being towed to the dealer, they found no problem. Went back into 2 WD like it was supposed to and diagnostics came up clean. They checked the fluids and cleaned all the connections and called it good. The manual mentions "shift shock" if you have it in gear when you switch to 4 WD. I know better, but maybe...

I spent the day back and forth to Dad's. It was the first day really free since the kids have been out of school, but Dad had his second eye surgery today and I had agreed to take him to get that done. Least I can do, right? So the kids and I got over there a little early and took him to the hospital then headed to Wally World for a couple of boat things. We had packed lunch and ate and then picked Dad up again.

When we got back to his house we got the boat and trailer hooked up to the Kia, lights not working on the trailer. Messed with that a little but not too much, took the gas tank up the road for a fresh tank of gas, and then hit the water...with a paddle. It wasn't run at all last year so I wanted to be safe. My little Mercury started on the second pull and purred like a kitten. So the kids got to go for a boat ride, and they (Sam in particular) want to go fish tomorrow. The lake is high and muddy, but this is the only chance I'll have to take them before August, so we're going fishing.

It's early, but I've got to post this.

Can you see the problem here? Mrs. BMW in her Polo shorts is attempting to blow up her son's raft at a Racetrac air station. Now just think about that for a second. Your tires have a Schrader valve on them, and toy rafts and such have a valve that allows them to be inflated by mouth.

I would have loved to stick around to watch, but the light turned green, exposing more entertainment. My lane at this entersection is in the center and can either go straight or turn left. The left lane turns left only, and the right lane turns right only. So seeing this girld come be-bopping up behind me in the left lane and attempt to go straight was another treat.

I can't wait till the fireworks start!

Magazine's Out...and That Drafting Thing.

Yep, the Fall issue of Scroll Saw Workshop is out, with my first article in all of it's glory. I received my copies as well as my artwork and the original box I guess on Wednesday. So it's out to subscribers and should be in the book stores this week some time.

Today was Terri's birthday, and with all sorts of bad luck over the last few days I didn't have the chance to do anything in advance. We ended up taking her shopping for some nice clothes and I think we had a nice day. The kids cooperated with the shopping and Jason actually got involved in helping Ter pick some of the things she bought, and I have to say that he did well with that.

One of the issues over the last few days is that the Kia got stuck in 4WD Low. This is a Bad Thing. Happened at Dad's on Friday with us scheduled to leave for Mike and Annie's on Saturday. So up we go, ate some crabs and got some flowers planted and had a nice time with them as always, then came home on Sunday afternoon in time to take another look at the Kia. I didn't get anything accomplished. So I called today and Kia had it towed to the dealer, but there was some delay in getting it done and they didn't get to look at it. Part of the delay was Goober...I mean Biscuit, Dad's 150 lb. Rottweiler. The dude wouldn't get out of the truck until I was there. So it'll be Wednesday before they get to run a diagnostic on it.

The kids had a lot of fun on their trip to Philadelphia, even though they ended up staying with the same family, along with one of Jason's friends. Sounds like their performances went well and the amusement park was a blast. I'm hoping to be able to get them out to fish at least once before they are both off to start their summer events this upcoming weekend.

I did manage to get a ride in with Mark and one of the guys from the shop in Springfield this morning. We met at the (now closed) Manassas shop since Dan knew where it was and it's close for Mark and me. As a mountain biker, Mark is picking up road skills and endurance pretty well. He's not tall but he also only weighs about 145, so he's built for it, but hasn't been doing it. We actually make pretty good riding partners. I tend to lead more giving Mark the advantage of being able to draft, but he's getting stronger. Dan is a big guy, probably a good 4" taller than me and 35+ lbs. heavier, but he's a beast. It didn't take long to figure out who was the big dog on this ride, and it wasn't me. Usually when we ride as a family, I'm out front poking a hole in the wind. Today I got to ride behind Dan for a good bit, and even though I'm familiar with and a firm believer in the draft, I was pleasantly surprised by how much easier it was to draft behind someone, especially when we were up over 20 MPH. Awesome. We did about 32 miles on my Hoadly Road loop and covered it in about 2:05.

Mark wants to ride again on Wednesday, so he's getting pretty enthusiastic about this road bike thing. I like that, cause it'll help me melt pounds off, and I have a few to go!