6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

Another fun meme or Not tagging anyone so feel free to give it a shot.

Three names you go by: Bob, Robert, Bobby

Three screen names you have had: bbarton713

Three physical things you like about yourself: big hands, big feet, big...smile

Three things that scare you: bees, sharks, scorpions

Three things you’re wearing now: Birkenstock sandals, jeans, t-shirt

Three of your favorite bands or musical artist: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Olivia Newton John

Three things you want (need) in a relationship: my wife, laughter, fun

Two truths and a lie (which one is a lie?): I have two tattoos, I've been drunk from tequila shots, I have my belly button pierced.

Three physical things about the opposite sex do you love: eyes, ass, breasts

Three of your favorite hobbies: blogging, Singing, Drinking.

Three things you want to do badly right now: have some wine, have some beer, take a nap

Three careers you’ve considered: music teacher, doctor, bum

Three places you want to go on vacation: Italy, France, Spain

Three kids’ names you like: Stephanie, Katelyn, Laura

Three things you want to do before you die: skydive, get scuba certified, drink wine at a cafe in Paris

Three ways that you are stereotypically a guy: I like boobs, I get louder when I'm drunk, I talk loudly about boobs and asses when I'm drunk

Three celebrity crushes: Jessica Simpson, Sandra Bullock, Yunjin Kim

Dining experiences or Trying out some new places.

Beautiful Wife and I were alone after dropping off Middle Daughter and Friend at her Younger Sister's house on Saturday. We were trying to think of where we wanted to eat and not having much luck.

I remembered the owner of Crescent City Bistro telling us about his friend's restaurant in Epping. We were going to drive right by there so decided to give it a try.

The restaurant's name is Zampa and it is worth a visit. I had the Smothered Pork Chop, found on the dinner menu at their website, and it was incredible. Beautiful Wife had the Steak Frites alla Zampa and was just as impressed.

I had a lettuce wedge for my appetizer and BW had their special, seafood chowder. Her first bowl was disappointing with nary a piece of seafood to be found. The waiter came by and asked if she liked it and when she said no he said that he'd tell the chef. The chef insisted on sending out another bowl since the first had been prepared by one of the assistants and it was much better.

Our waiter was one of the bartenders at CCB and hadn't been our favorite there. He's not much better as a waiter but did ok. I think he should have removed the bowl as soon as BW said she didn't like it but left us in limbo for a while instead.

We both had the creme brulee for dessert and it was really good too.

We'd definitely would like to go back again and liked that the owner came out to visit with us before we left.

The next morning found us sans kids again and we decided to try the Isis restaurant in Portsmouth. One of our favorite waitresses from CCB works there now and greeted us at the door when we walked into the restaurant.

I like pepper, lots of pepper. They had the salt and pepper in little containers and you used a little spoon to sprinkle it on your food! I was thrilled since I like pepper and hate having to shake the container forever to get as much as I like.

I had a homemade granola, Greek yogurt, and fruit parfait to start and eggs with homemade corned beef hash. BW shared the parfait and had crab meat eggs benedict for her meal. The waitress brought us a pancake to try, on the house, and made us feel very welcome.

I'd recommend both of these places and can't wait to go back again.

A soccer tourney or Lots of time in the car too!

Youngest Daughter had a soccer tourney in Nashua, NH this weekend. She had one game on Saturday and two games on Sunday. They only won their first game so we didn't have to return on Monday for the finals.

Saturday was a beautiful day and I got a little red from sitting on the sidelines for her game. YD played the entire second half because they were short on subs. I drove her home after the game, dropped off her teammate that needed a ride, and then drove Middle Daughter and her friend back out to Amherst to visit Beautiful Wife's Younger Sister.

We drove to Nashua on Sunday and it was pouring most of the way with lightning and thunder added in too. They suspended play until the lightning passed, they'll still play in the rain, and we didn't leave the field until almost 8pm!

We drove back out to Amherst on Monday for a cookout so I made that trip a total of four times this weekend. I need a weekend to rest after this one!

One rant...the head coach and her daughter were on vacation and didn't make it to the games. Some of the girls had other sports and family obligations that kept them from the game too. The girls go to these tourneys and play with all they have but it is hard to win at that level when you only have 1-2 subs and the other team can sub out half of their team at a time. Either get a commitment from the entire team or don't sign up.

Episode III or Had to see it but could have waited.

I went to see Episode III of Star Wars last night. While I had fun going with Beautiful Wife and having dinner with Good Friends and running into Good Friends that Have Kids, the movie just didn't do much for me.

I think if they put Natalie Portman in a Princess Leia slave girl costume it would have been better.

It was dark but in a leave on the night light kind of way. It tried to show evil by doing stuff that is merely on the naughty scale in this day and age. And it tried to show passionate love with insipid protestations and clinches more likely to occur on a middle school dance floor.

It had some cool parts, but I could have waited until it came out on DVD and still been ok.

It ain't sunny or At least it ain't raining!

I'm so glad that it isn't raining today. I don't rain, usually, and love nothing more than a good thunderstorm but it has been raining for over a week...it gets old.

I still haven't seen the latest Star Wars movie. Everyone in my house has seen it but I've been doing a lot of that work stuff and just ain't had the time.

I wonder why I'm in an ain't mood?

I'm thinking that I'd like to start swimming as another form of exercise. I have to do something to go along with karate and running has lost its appeal. I've heard that swimming is easier on the joints but that isn't going to help me much if I drown.

I'm what I consider a survival swimmer...I can jump off of a diving board and then swim to the ladder...don't rush me! The thought of swimming with my face in the water, and timing my breaths, and doing that for multiple laps has always daunted me.

I've learned multiple katas, can handle several weapons, break boards with my bare hands, and have three teenage daughters...I totally can handle learning how to swim!

I bought the Gwen Stefani CD the other day with the Hollaback Girl song on it and got to keep it for not even 24 hours. One of the Princesses has it and I'll probably not ever see it again. Nobody stole my Barry Manilow CD...

Foie Gras Recipes or Now what do I do?

Just in case, for the record, let me state that I know how foie gras is made so spare me any lectures you may have prepared on that subject. I'm convinced that most of us would stop eating prepared food of any kind if we knew how it was mass produced.

I really liked the foie gras that I had for the first time the other night. Fresh Market in Portsmouth, NH carries it and so I went there last night and bought the 1/4 pound piece that was available. It is raw.

How do I cook foie gras? The piece I had the other night was served cold and had some port jelly surrounding it.

I'm sure that I'll find some recipes online but I'm hoping for some personal experience recipes that have the key ingredient, easy.

More travel or I hope I'm done for a while.

I had to spend the night in Burlington, VT for a conference being held the next day. I spent around eight hours this past weekend getting the demo equipment ready, drove up Monday afternoon, and then set it up that night. The next day was spent with customers as they watched presentations and then asked questions about the demo equipment.

The one good thing about this trip was the dinner we had that night. The hotel is co-located with the New England Culinary Institute and they run the restaurant there. The menu was limited: three choices for appetizer, one salad, five entree choices, and a pre-determined dessert platter, but the food was awesome.

I've always wanted to try foie gras and it was one of the appetizer choices. I picked the beef tenderloin for my entree because it had a foie gras reduction sauce and it was awesome. Foie gras doesn't sound like something I'd typically like but it was tasty when spread on a toast point and with a bit of the port jelly that was included on the plate. I definitely want to have it again.

It was interesting eating at a restaurant run by a culinary institute. When the waiter poured wine you'd see an older looking person observing him from a distance so you know that he/she was being graded on how they did. Each course was triumphantly marched out to the table by a whole squad of servers so that everyone got the course at the same time.

I chose the wine, for those that were drinking it, and selected the 2002 Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. The wine was awesome and a perfect pairing with the beef tenderloin. It was also a pleasure to drink by itself.

A music meme or At least I have something to blog about.

Total volume of music on my computer:
I mostly use my work laptop for personal computing too so I don't have anything saved on here. I know the kids have music on the home computer but I'm afraid to see how much there is on there.

The last CD I bought:
The Screen - Antitrust

Song playing right now:
Nothing. I'm working and I'm not one of those people that can listen to music at the same time.

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Full Moon - Sonata Arctica
American Pie - Don McLean
It's All Been Done - Bare Naked Ladies
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings

Three people to whom I'm passing the baton:
You Who
Everyday News
Pamming About

I've been tagged or This is my first meme!

Rachie over at Living for Disco tagged me with this meme challenge.

I'll tag Everyday News just for the heck of it!

Ten things I've never done, and ten things I have. I've mixed them up rather than keeping them in two groups...I think... ;)

1. Had sex on the beach
2. Ate ostrich
3. Drank Dom Perignon Champagne
4. Got drunk drinking tequila
5. Saved someone's life
6. Broken a bone
7. Been scuba diving
8. Installed an ethernet network by myself
9. Blocked access to Instant Messaging in my home's router
10. Been laid off from work
11. Had sex with a fellow blogger
12. Ate anyone's pet
13. Drank Cristal Champagne
14. Got drunk drinking Jack Daniels
15. Had my life saved
16. Broken my neck
17. Been sky diving
18. Installed a token ring network by myself
19. Blocked access to porn in my home's router
20. Fired someone

Blogging on the road or Working 24x7.

I was in NJ last week. We had to drive and carpool in order to save money. That meant that Asian co-worker and I had to pick up the rental car, drive to Concord, MA to pick up three co-workers, and then drive to a location off of I-91 in CT to pick up one more co-worker before driving to Lincroft, NJ.

Every night consisted of team dinners. We had training that was geared toward us the first day and then hosted our customers the other two. The team dinners were fun since I only get to see some of the people once or twice a year. If I logged in at all from the hotel it was so that I could try to stay on top of my email from work since it tends to get out of control if not handled on a daily basis.

I don't sleep well in hotels and really only got a good night's sleep the last night there. The drive back on Thursday took 7.5 hours and I got home a little before 11pm.

Friday was spent catching up and now I'm working this afternoon on configuring some equipment for a demo next week. I don't typically deal with the implementation/configuration side of things so it is taking more time than I'd like to get it done. It doesn't help that a couple of the pieces of equipment are old and a nightmare to configure under perfect conditions.

The only plus is that Youngest Daughter's soccer game just got canceled because of rain so I don't have to drop everything to attend that. Gee, something is wrong with that...I'm happy that something fun is canceled so I can work...

Small world stuff or The world keeps shrinking.

I was showing Asian Co-Worker pictures of the Daughters the other day when she suddenly exclaimed, "I know her!"

She pointed to my Asian Sister-in-law and said that when she was in college she had been a Big Sister to ASIL's younger sister.

Connections in the most unlikely places...

How do you want me or At work and at play.

Here's me sitting in my office at home and concentrating on something. I don't remember the picture being taken, observant man that I am.

This other picture is me sitting on the sofa in the out-laws' living room during the party. The t-shirt, a gift from Son, is the CD cover for his roommate's recently released CD. Can't you see how thrilled I am to be there? :-)

A movie coming out this summer or I told you that I am shallow!

Any movie with Jessica Simpson in it is worth seeing.

Did I ever tell you about the time she blew me a kiss at a concert? *sigh*

This weekend or Mother's Day, Birthday, Soccer, oh my!

I worked Friday evening, after an already long day, went to the mall with Youngest and Middle daughters so the could shop for Mother's Day, and then watched tv until Beautiful Wife's sister showed up. BW had a busy day preparing for Oldest Daughter's bday the next day and was wiped out so she went to bed fairly early.

I also did some shopping for BW's mother day gift and decided to get her diamond stud earrings. She loved them, but couldn't wear them the next day because YD had given her some earrings for Mother's Day too.

I got up fairly early on Saturday so that I could do any last minute shopping, get my coffee, and ease into the day. I visited Son at work and set my coffee down on a table. One of his zealous co-workers decided a full, hot cup of coffee must be trash and threw it away. I had to go back to the coffee shop, across the street, and explain what happened. They gave me an extra punch on my frequent customer card since I was nice and didn't make the kid pay me back for throwing away my coffee.

Oldest Daughter's party went pretty well. I pretty much hung out in another room with Son, His Girlfriend, and a couple of his other friends that came to the party. The food was awesome and I was able to survive until it was time to leave with only occasional contact with the entire tribe.

Beautiful Wife's Younger Sister is having a mid-life crisis of sorts and is looking to BW and I for fashion advice. She asked me if she should wear 'this top' or the one that showed her cleavage. I told her that at our age (she's 41 and I'm 42) she needs to ho it up once in a while. BW gave similar advice but put it nicer than that.

We went over to Good Friend's for pizza and to watch the Battlestar Galactica with Good Friends with Kids and Good Friends without Kids. We started watching the show before seeing this mini-series and it definitely filled in the gaps with the story line for us. Mostly, it was just fun to hang out. By the way, Good Friend's Wife looks awesome with straightened hair.

We got up Sunday Morning and took Beautiful Wife out for breakfast. She got all the gifts from everyone before we went. After breakfast we stopped by and visited her mother, and then mine, before heading north for Youngest Daughter's soccer game. It was a 1.5 hour drive in both directions and a somewhat cold and miserable day. It didn't rain so we were happy about that. Also, YD's team won, 2-0, so it was a worthwhile trip.

Here's what I got for Beautiful Wife...

Only a few more days or Still daddy's little girl.

Oldest Daughter turns 18 in three days. This weekend the festivities start with a birthday party at the outlaws.

She was my little hummingbird. That's what she looked like in a onesie as a baby in Arizona. She had big, brown eyes and the sweetest smile.

She would only speak a word once she had it figured out, practiced, and could say it exactly right.

She would mimic everyone. If you wanted to know what happened during school you just wait until she got home, setup all her dolls and stuffed animals, and then repeated verbatim what she heard that day.

She was Dorothy in the 4th grade play. This was before they would split the lead role between 4-5 kids. She had to know all the songs and dialog, just like what you see in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. I cried when she sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

She is full of life. She invites friends to our home because they all like it here and feel comfortable. She has her moments when she tries to show her independence and then calls asking if it is ok to stop for tea on the way home.

I've watched multiple shows and concerts that she's put together at home with her sisters, friends, and cousins featuring her choreography to her favorite groups at the time.

She's going to college in the fall. She'll be in the next town over but she'll no longer be living at home. All the milestones are happening so fast now...turning 18, graduating, going on a trip with her friend to Hawaii, moving into the dorm, starting college...

I miss her already. All of the princesses are daddy's girls and it is going to be hard to let them go...but she's the first.

Winter Basic Training or Ain't never been that cold.

I attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood (List in the Woods), Missouri. I entered the service 5 Dec 1983 and got out 4 Dec 1987. The Army does something called Exodus and basically shuts down over Christmas and New Years. I was only in for a couple of weeks before being paid and sent home for Christmas.

Before they sent us home they told us all of the horrible things that could happen to you if you didn't come back, had us get haircuts so that we were bald again, and sent us on our way.

I got on an airplane and when I mentioned to the flight attendant that I was going home to see my wife she said, "But you ain't nothing but an itty-bitty baby!" I guess being bald made me look about 10 years old instead of 20.

As for being cold...We did something called bivouac. We got paired with a buddy and between the two of you your packs contained the stuff needed to make a small, two-man tent. The tent didn't make it to the ground, and all we had for the bottom of it was our waterproof ponchos that we laid on the ground. The ground, since it was the dead of winter, was covered with a solid base of snow and ice.

The tent had to be snapped together and it was so cold that we could only do one snap at a time, taking turns, before our hands were so numb that we couldn't feel them. We were supposed to be out for five days but they had to bring us back in two of the days when the temperature fell below 20 degrees below zero (not counting the wind chill).

The sleeping bags were rated for Arctic use and were plenty warm. In fact, you had to strip down to your underwear or you'd end up sweating and then that would make you cold. In the mummy-style sleeping bag you had yourself and your M16 because God help the trainee that had their weapon stolen at night.

The absolute worst part was stripping down before getting into the sleeping bag, and getting dressed when you woke up. Oh, and one other time...when you woke up at night and had to pee. You had to decide if it was worth getting dressed again, or if you'd rather throw on your boots, frozen solid by this time, and run to the nearest tree instead.

The drill sergeants all slept in a big tent, with cots, and a stove fueled by the dead branches that we all had to gather as part of the area beautification project.

I can't remember being colder before those days, or since.

Cutting my fingernails or It was easier biting them.

My fingernails are starting to get long . I gave up biting them over a year ago with my only relapse being while Beautiful Wife was in the hospital and in the early stages of chemo.

BW says I should cut them straight across but I'm never quite sure if I'm doing it right. I try to make them even and before you know it they are almost as short as if I bit them.

I'm thinking I'll get a manicure and ask them how to do them myself in the future. Being metro is a lot of work!

I write a lot or Someone was keeping track.

Good Friend That Middle Daughter Babysits For gave us a great gift the other day.

I do some updates in my blog and also send out updates via email regarding Beautiful Wife and her tests, appointments, and progress with her battle against cancer.

She took all my blog entries, and each email that I sent, printed them out and put them in a binder. BW hasn't read any of them yet, and I knew I'd eventually have to print them for her so it saved me a ton of work. Thanks, Bridget! ;-)

Beside my selfish reason for liking the gift, it was an incredibly thoughtful thing to do. Some day, BW will want to read about what happened while she was in a drug-induced haze. I don't think she's ready for it yet, but hopefully will start reading some day soon.

Of course, Youngest Daughter started looking through it and turned to an email that contained a swear word. She yelled out, "Dad! You swore!" and then calmly went back to reading the email. Guess she just wanted to make sure I knew.

Just for fun or How fast can you climb?

Me and my Best Friend Growing Up used to frequent a place that was in a nearby town called Fuller's or Runnymede Farm. When I was a kid they had a herd of cows and used to sell fresh milk in a tiny store on the property.

I can remember going in there and getting a pint of chocolate milk, in a glass bottle, and then bringing home bigger bottles for the family. I used to wake up early on Saturday mornings and have a bowl of cereal with that fresh milk. In the summertime, I'd pick some local raspberries first and have a bowl of Cheerios with the raspberries and fresh, whole milk. Mmmmm.

We used to fish on the property, climb around the haylofts, help with milking the cows, and play with the goats. The only grown up that ever set any guidelines asked us to stay away from the horse barns and we did. Everything else was fair game...including the bull enclosure.

The bull lived in a cement paddock with high walls made of metal bars. Inside the barn was a smaller enclosure and his feeding trough. The trough had steel bars on either side of it and the bull had to fit his head through there to eat.

We would climb up the wall of the feeding trough, while he was outside, and see how close to the floor on the other side we dared to get before he came running and crashed against the bars of the feeding trough. It was also a trust test because we had to rely on each other to yell if he was coming while we watched our footing climbing down the other side.

I shake my head at the sheer stupidity of what we did, now, but back then we were just having fun. After a while, the bull would get mad enough and not leave the feeding area so we'd move along and do something else there instead.

Wanted to get married or You're in the Army now.

I was in college, as a music major, and Beautiful Wife and I were engaged. We wanted to get married but the economy was in a tail-spin back in the early 80s and finding gainful employment while in school was impossible.

I took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test) when I was in high school and scored a 100. I heard from recruiters non-stop but wasn't interested. Now, I was interested. Both of my parents had been in the service and I didn't see it as a bad thing.

My future out-laws freaked. They blamed the Army for the oldest son's drug problem though he was already drinking and smoking pot well before joining. They figured that I'd join the Army and their daughter would be eating dog food from a can because we'd be so poor.

Anyway, I took the test again but this time with a bunch of people. They called us all back in after grading it and read the scores out loud....Smith, 79! Jones, 52! Brown, 63! Barton, 99! Every head in the place turned to look at me like somehow I wrecked the scale. It probably didn't help that I said the test was laughably easy and that only an idiot would have trouble passing it.

I visited each of the recruiters after I got my official results, except for the Marines. I walked into his office, took one look at him and his attitude, turned around and walked back out without saying a word. The only branch of the service that would promise me the exact thing I signed up for was the Army so I went with them

I went to the processing center in Portland, ME to pick an MOS (military occupational specialty) and do the actual signing up. I wanted to do something in the medical field and told them that. They told me about the Special Forces and said I could be a medic and I would get to jump out of a plane. My father was in the 82nd Airborne so I figured if he could do it, so could I.

Just then, their systems went down and I had to stay overnight and come back the next day to make that selection. I called home and mentioned that I was signing up for the Special Forces. My father asked if I knew what I was getting into and mentioned that I might want to check into it a bit more before signing up if I wanted to see my wife at all after getting married.

The next day I asked for more information. At the time, they were using some new-fangled technology called 'laser disc' and I watched the briefing about that MOS. All of the soldiers they interviewed spoke in foreign languages and had their faces blanked out for security reasons.

I left that room and told the recruiter no way. He then noted that my highest aptitude was in the electrical section. Based on the test, I figured that meant I knew how to put in a light bulb but listened to what he had to say. He spoke of this new MOS that dealt with equipment that was basically a telephone company on the back of a big truck.

I signed on the dotted line and then went to basic training a few months later, just in time for winter....but that's another story.

One more injury story or How did this kid survive?

I guess it isn't amazing that I have a fairly high pain threshold.

I had torn cartilage in my wrist and did six months of physical therapy before they figured it out. "How did you stand the pain?" they asked.

I had appendicitis but didn't end up in the emergency room, doubled over in pain, until it was ready to burst.

I was around 12-14 years old and was sliding with some friends. We had those plastic sleds that roll up when you don't have them straightened flat on the ground. The point is that you have about an 1/8 inch of plastic between you and the ground.

I was going down this particular hill, kneeling on the sled because it had a tricky corner, and lost control. I veered off the course, over the edge and landed on my knees after a 3-4 foot drop from the snowbank to the asphalt of our road.

I limped home. I had torn through jeans and long underwear and my knees were a bloody mess.

I walked in the door....

Compassionate Father: Jesus Christ! What did you do now?
Me: crying a little and not yet realizing that I'm going to be in trouble
Compassionate Father: Are you bleeding? Get over by the door before you drip on the carpet.
Me: trying to explain the extent of my injuries, crying more now because I know I'm hurt AND in trouble
Compassionate Father: You tore your pants and long-johns?!?!?! You're grounded for two weeks. Now get the hell out of my sight and stack all that wood (2 cords or so) that just got delivered. AND DON'T GET BLOOD ON THE CARPET!

Just as I limped to the door my little sister (four years younger) came into the room and said that she had bumped her leg on her bed.

Compassionate Father: Come here baby...let me see...WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR YOU LITTLE BASTARD? GET OUT THERE AND STACK THE WOOD. Do you want daddy to kiss that baby?

The whole truth, so help me God.

Went to a concert or We weren't the oldest people there.

Beautiful Wife and Her Younger Sister and I went to concert Friday night. It was at the Stone Church located in Newmarket, NH. We went to see Son's, girlfriend's, brother's band, The Screen.

It was an awesome show. They made it an 18+ show so Son was able to attend, along with Other Son, Other Karate Son, and One of Son's Ex-Girlfriends. I bought meals, drinks, desserts, and made sure everyone had a fun time.

I bought a couple of beers for the girl running the merchandise stand. She's the girlfriend of one of the band members that also happens to be one of Son's room-mates. Some of Son's co-workers were standing nearby when I brought her the promised beer and she told them that I was her sugar daddy.

It made my night.

Stupid hospital or We need to know...

When you go to the doctor or hospital around here, they ask if you have insurance and then take our insurance card and photo-copy it. Without fail, there's a problem with the bill and what's the first thing they ask you for over the phone? The information off of your insurance card!

Do they photo-copy it and then make paper airplanes? Why isn't this information in the systems or at least in their files? They must think that the additional stress and bother is integral to the healing process.

Playing at the beach or Suck it up, you don't need a doctor.

We moved from Philadelphia to New Hampshire when I was 10 years old. My parents bought a home in Hampton and I lived there until I got married.

When I was a kid we only had a few requirements regarding where we went or what we did for fun:

1. Be home at meal time.
2. Get to and from there on your own (no rides! can you imagine?).
3. Pay for everything with your own money (can I borrow was not in our vocab).

I rode my bike up and down the seacoast of NH and all around Hampton without anyone knowing where I was going or when I'd be back. We didn't have cell phones, pagers, GPS, or parents that would jump in the car to get us if we got tired. Most families had one car and the father used that to get to work.

Anyway, one section of the beach had a tall, concrete wall in place to keep the waves on the beach rather than the road. The wall was slightly concave and at the bottom was the soft, fluffy sand of the beach.

We would slide/jump down the wall and land in the soft sand, great fun! One time I jumped and my pants snagged a bit on the wall and threw off my landing. My face met my knee and the next thing I knew I was looking up at my friend and wondering where I was and how I got there.

Somehow, I got to my bike and drove the two miles or so to get home. By that time my face was swollen and I was told later that I looked like a chipmunk.

Did I get an ice-pack, or rushed to the hospital for x-rays? Nope! Instead, I got asked why I was jumping off the wall and hurt myself. Let that be a lesson to you mister!

Why do I remember this event, you may ask? Because each year I get a major sinus infection, and it always worse on the side of my face that met my knee.

Some rain, some bugs or Must be Spring outdoor soccer season.

Youngest Daughter had an indoor soccer game at 1pm and then we had to drive straight to the field for her first outdoor game of the season. Turns out that the fields were actually closed, but since the other team showed up we ended up playing.

The girls lost 2-0 but since they had just finished playing an hour's worth of indoor soccer I think we can cut them some slack.

It was in the lower 50s, raining, and there was a stiff wind. The rain stopped, the wind died down, and then the black flies decided to visit. I was much happier when the wind picked up again. I'd rather be a bit chilled than have black flies in my face.