NBA- Lakers in Finals (where they belong)

"No disrespect to Kyra Sedgwick, but that damn boy Kobe Bryant is The Closer."
-- Analyst Charles Barkley, using the name of TNT's popular television drama to describe Bryant's ability to make critical plays

So last night my beloved Lakers closed out the Spurs for 4-1 series win, to advance to the NBA Finals. This Lakers team has just been so impressive to me, they keep surprising. The 3-peat teams of Shaq and Kobe, the old Showtime Lakers, those teams were almost expected to be there, to win a championship. And it was an upset for them to not at least make it to the Finals. Well this team doesn't have the same personality. They are not some team of superstars that underachieved when they lost, they are a much harder working, tough team with just the 1 super star in Kobe. And they are starting to look more and more like the Michael Jordan Bulls teams (except for the 70 win juggernaut year). When they are close it is still not surprising to look out on the court and see 2-3 bench players, or like last night when they got a surge from their entire bench squad.

And Kobe... what more can be said that hasn't already be said? I liken his role to a Superstar NFL running back, he wears teams out, and in the 4th quarter, when the game is tight he just says, put it on my shoulders, and grinds out the win. Last nights game, the close out games against the Nuggets and Jazz, in all 3 it was like one of those 80 yard drives that uses 8-10 minutes off the clock with 1 back getting all the yards. It just saps the will of the opponent, not only is Kobe not tired when that happens, he's seems fresher than everyone else. And this year, unlike the previous ones, he has the complimentary players who can get the defensive stops, or rebounds, or score a big basket off an assist. Michael Jordan will always be the apex of NBA greatness, but Kobe this year has pushed himself to the same level, if only for 1 season.

Missouri Pt. 3, in Memoriam

On Sunday we all gathered at the cemetery in Lathrop to pay our last respects to Milton and Mae Shipp. It was a solemn ceremony. We all gathered together in a circle around the 2 markers Phyllis and Karen struggled to say a few words, mostly thanks for being there, hope for Randy and best wishes from those who could not attend. I then played a selection of songs that they had chosen as songs Milton & Mae had loved, or brought back specific memories of them.

The Air Force Song, for Milton, a decorated Army Air Force pilot and Captain in World War 2
The Old Rugged Cross sung by Alan Jackson
When Irish Eyes are Smiling sung by Bing Crosby
Oh Susanna (this was chosen by Dennis as a song he remembered Mae singing to him)
Tiny Bubbles sung by Don Ho, which they always loved as a symbol of their trip to Hawaii for their 25th Anniversary
In The Garden sung by Alan Jackson
You Are my Sunshine
The Stars and Stripes Forever
On the Road Again, by Willie Nelson, which is how most of us remember them, always on the road, off on another trip.

By the end of the last song there wasn't a dry eye there, except for the kids who didn't understand what was going on. As the last song ended and I set down the radio Daniel came over to me and I was able to just hold him and cry some. Gerald then placed their combined ashes by the big head stone, and placed flags by the headstone and Milton's brother's headstone. We then went around the circle and introduced ourselves as best we could, there was a lot of crying. Then people kind of mingled for a while, Gerald and his kids went and paid their respects at his first wife's grave. It was all very nice and solemn, the kids were all good although Emily decided to start babbling during the songs. The sun broke through the clouds just as the songs started, which was a nice touch as well.

Some more pictures:
The 3 siblings
Connie and her cousin
Milton's Marker

We got some more pictures, and then headed back to the camp site. Although poor Emily, who had been kind of constipated most of the trip, decided to really feel and announce her pain on the ride back to the farm by screaming the whole time.

Missouri Trip Part 2

So, we arrived safely at Gerald & Karen's. Kim & I got a little rest, and it was time to check our our plush accommodations. What Gerald & Karen do is they have ~30 acres of land, with their house on the northern edge by the road. Well they have a spot about half way across the property to the south where they have a permanent car port pavilion, a couple of sheds, and an old camper trailer. They use this area for the camp site. It is equally distant to the small pond on the far south side of the property and to the main house. All of the family members set up their camper trailers and/or tents around the pavilion. There is plenty of room for everyone, and still lots of space for the kids to run around like crazy people and people to play lawn games.

So the rest of Kim's immediate family showed up Friday afternoon, and Gerald's oldest, Elizabeth. We had an excellent Mexican meal prepared by Phyllis & Alan (with James helping out on the fire). I went to bed early but a number of people stayed up late drinking around the camp fire.

[Let me interject a point about family drinking, Kim & I don't drink, I stopped before I met Kim and Kim never started (aside from a few episodes). But other members of the family do drink, and it rarely causes a problem at family functions (occasionally people get real stupid, but this is rare). We are not teetotalers, sitting around telling everyone that they shouldn't drink, it is just something everyone accepts about us and we accept about them.]

So that night and the next morning it rained pretty hard, thank goodness we were in the trailer. But this was Missouri, so it was never really cold, just chilly, I could get away with wearing my crocs the whole time. Really the only ones who suffered were the people in tents who did not set up their tents well, camping under trees, on a slope. I may no longer be Mr. Camper, but I did learn that much from all the camping I did as a kid.

Saturday the rest of the crowd showed up, Gerald's 2 boys Lance & Jesse, with their families. It was a relaxed day with nothing too huge to do. We mostly sat around visiting, and playing various lawn games. Had lots of fun learning a new game, Ladder ball. Saturday night we had grilled chicken and beans & potatoes. More excellent food, again I went to bed somewhat early with Emily & Daniel, while Kim stayed up and took James frog hunting at night. Which I gathered was a success and lots of fun. The next morning was the Memorial service, which I will get to later.

More Trip Pix and talk of James

So James' favorite thing about the trip was the fire. Helping Uncle Gerald make the fire, and tend to the fire. He really enjoyed it. He was always finding little sticks or pieces of grass to put on the fire, and if he was around, was the go to guy when it was time to put another log on the fire.

Of course, there were times when he had to be told to get back, keep his distance, and stop putting stuff on the fire, because he was making it smoke too much or was putting things on it that he shouldn't. His solution was either to ignore us as long as possible, until he got into trouble. Or he would be sneaky, blowing his nose with tissue and then surreptitiously throwing the kleenex on the fire. Or when he was eating, his plate would be 'mysteriously' get knocked over, so he would have to get more food and throw his first plate into the fire. He really got a kick out of the whole thing.

Sometimes James finds himself in a tough place. He doesn't want to do what the other kids are doing, and they won't do what he wants to do. So he goes and sulks, like in this picture. When I am around and this happens I keep trying to reinforce that he needs to make a choice when this happens: do what the other kids are doing, and maybe they will do what he wants later. Or he can learn to do stuff on his own, and then he can either enjoy himself or the other kids will see what he is doing and will join in. It's tough, because that is a good descriptor of much of my childhood. It is hard to learn how to handle it, and develop the necessary skills. Sometimes so much of what he does reminds me of myself. And when he is having a hard time with it, and Kim is complaining about it, all I can do is help him understand his choices. and help him develop the skills he needs.

Family vacation pt. 1

(Too much to cover in 1 post, so I will break the vacation into a number of posts.)

5/22

Leave @ 6:00 MST, after hectic afternoon of packing amidst intermittent batterings from wind driven rain squalls coming down over the mountains. The car is packed and the kids are in their seats.

Some protests over the seating, and the inevitable squawking:

"I want the game he (James, Daniel) is playing."

Kim drove as far as Limon where we thankfully stopped for a break from the car and dinner. Get the kids in their PJ's and set up the DVD player. I take over the driving while Kim attempts to rest while playing peacekeeper and technology troubleshooter.

I slip on my iPod and listen to Bill Simmons while watching a tremendous lightning storm in the distance. Wonder if we will hit the storm.

Kim finally got some rest around Hayes. I was pretty tired but I decided to just keep going until Salina. In Salina we got gas and switched, and I finally slept some.

I woke up around Topeka when we had to get Daniel out and get him some tylenol for his legs which were hurting from sitting in the car seat. And I stayed awake while we drove the Kansas City and helped Kim make it the Gerald & Karen's house. And we only made wrong turn in Odessa! We arrived in Odessa around 6:00 MST, so ~12 hour trip. Gerald & Karen let us nap some while the boys played, eventually only Daniel stayed awake while the rest of us napped some.Then it was time fro some breakfast, and up to the camp site.

Tomorrow I will cover the first 2 days of camping, followed by the Memorial service, last night and then trip back. I have uploaded all of the good pictures on my Picasa site under the Missouri 2008 folder.

Where am I?

So I will be off work the next several days, and with no internet access for most of the time, so do not expect any new blogs or updates.

Where am I going do you ask?

We (the whole family) are going to Missouri for the weekend. Specifically Lathrop, which is right outside of Kansas City. We are planning on leaving tomorrow around 4, and driving thru the night (so the kids sleep for most of the time). We will be driving back on Monday day.

Why are we going to Missouri?

We are going to pay an official farewell as a family to Milton and Mae Shipp, Kim's grandparents, Connie's parents. Kim's older brother & sister will be there, along with most of the grandkids and great grand kids. Milton passed away abut 5 years ago, and Mae passed 2 years ago. There was a family decision to not have a funeral service here in Colorado Springs. They decided to wait and then have this service in Missouri where they were born and met. This also combines with a big Memorial day camp out that Kim's uncle has on his property every year.

I am not sure what we will do the rest of the time, other than let the kids run around like crazed monkeys in a safe country setting. And try and get some sleep. I do not anticipate that this will be a super restful vacation. But it should be fun, and a good chance for the boys to see a little more of the world.

I will try and get online Monday night or sometime on Tuesday and get some pictures posted.

Happy Anniversary

[quick aside, I am writing this today because I will be away from a computer this weekend, so I figured I would get it done now so I don't forget]

Here is my lovely wife Kim, with our lovely daughter Emily. It was 10 years ago this week that we made a commitment to each other before all those we held dear to love and cherish each other and support each other through thick and thin (I am paraphrasing because I don't have access to our actual vows).

And here it is 10 years later and I wouldn't change that commitment or doubt my doing so in any way. I love her more with each passing year. I could not have picked a better wife and mother to my children than my goofygirl.

I often comment to people that Kim is the best thing to happen to me, and they usually respond:

"What about your children?"

My response is:

"I chose Kim, and without her I would not have the children, she came first and foremost".

As a youngster my favorite comic strip was Charlie Brown, and I always sympathized with Charlie and his often troubling interactions with life. Well in the end I found my little Red Headed Girl, and I like to think that Charlie did too somehow.

So here's to you Kimmy, to 10 wonderful years, and a lifetime more...

NBA Observations

So, there I was at the zoo on Saturday and I started to to a guy in a Lakers shirt, about the game on Friday night and how there could possibly be any doubt about the whole Kobe as MVP discussion. Pondering this and other thoughts from what I saw of NBA basketball the last couple of days.

1. Kobe is The Man, hands down, period. LeBron may be more of a one man team than Kobe, but Kobe got to this point because he backed off on the 1 man team aspect of his game and got his team mate involved in games and helped them get better. But that point in Friday nights game, when it looked like Utah might get all the way back into the game, Kobe turned on a switch you very rarely see, even in the best of the best players. And just took over the game, that And 1 shot was just astounding.

2. Kevin Garnett is an amazing athlete and specimen, but he clearly lacks the switch to just take over a game that Kobe and other have. Especially in the game Friday night, I don't know how many times I saw him have a clear run to the basket, a chance for a seriously demoralizing play for the Cavs, and he would start the drive and then just stop and pass the ball or take a short fade away. Just staggering, and in both Friday and Sunday's games how many times did a guard drive into the lane and then pass the ball out to the 7 foot Garnett for another jump shot, when he should have been inside, dominating the post.

3. While the game yesterday was reminiscent of the Dominique-Bird duel, it was not the same. So much of that game was just a up and down tit for tat contest, to where you almost expected everyone else to stop playing and just watch. Whereas yesterday was more Pierce stepping up, realizing that Garnett was again going to play the shrinking violet, and LeBron just being LeBron. There was never the sense that either player was getting to the point of playing 'can you top this', like the Bird-Dominique game. That game almost felt like a game of horse. And of course the killer point for that game was Kevin McHale's 3 at the end, when his foot was clearly on the line (not that I am bitter about it).

4. At least there was some offense yesterday, I was beginning to wonder on Friday night, when the Lakers had equaled the Cavs total points by very early in the 4th quarter. Which brings me to my final point. While the Lakers may not play superior defense I think that they will still demolish either Eastern team because they have more than 1 player who can score. And that also goes for the Spurs and Hornets. The Eastern teams will have Home Court, but for all that great defense I don't think either Boston or Detroit can beat the Western Teams.

The Zoo

Here we are at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (the first full family picture taken since Emily was born BTW).

So a few years ago Kim & I decided to pay for a family membership to the zoo, which is an excellent investment, which practically pays for itself with the first visit. And every year we give Tamily a family membership as a birthday present. Kim's reasoning, and it has been proven correct over the last couple of years, is that many times over the summer with young kids, you will have days when they are restless, and need a change from just running around the neighborhood. And the adults want something more interactive and interesting than just a walk to park, where as an adult you are kind of stuck, with not as much to do while the kids play in the play ground. And the zoo is the perfect kind of go between option. The kids get to run around, as an adult it is more interesting than just sitting on a park bench. And you get some exercise to boot.

Already Kim has been up there 2-3 times without me, and this was our second visit since the weather got warm. The boys do enjoy it, and since we have the membership there is less stress to try and see everything in every trip, because you know you will be coming again. Yesterday we only had an hour or so so we just focused on the new exhibits. Which are really nice and actually pretty amazing. I encourage people to take their kids to their local zoo whenever possible. It really is an excellent family diversion, and educational to boot.

I just asked James what he learned at the zoo yesterday:

"How to swim (by watching the bears) and how snakes move."

There really is no substitute for that kind of hands on combo of fun and education, with the exception of a good nature hike. Unfortunately the kids are just not a good age for a nature hike yet.

Cyberbullying-Crime or not?

Machinist - Salon.com

I think this will be a very interesting case to follow. What the woman did was reprehensible, and if it can be proved seems like it merits some punishment. But I agree with this columnist, what these prosecutors are doing is stretching the law to the breaking point just to find some way to punish the woman.

First I think that this woman is going to have to live with the guilt that she may have forced a teenager to kill herself, and that is probably punishment enough for anyone but a sociopath to live with. I occasionally still feel terrible about some of the things that I did as a teenager, and none of them had terrible consequences like this.

Second, I think that if any kind of legal consequences are going to enacted they need to come from a civil action, not Criminal. I think that the Web and the social networking sites are a bit of a mine field, but they won't get better because the Law makes them that way. I think this is a case where Locke's Social Contract will take over. Eventually the bad people will get forced out or kicked to the side, just like bully's on a playground. Getting the government involved is like asking for there to be police officers watching elementary school recess to prevent bullying, at some point people need to learn how to behave on their own, not at the barrel of a gun.

I have been in my share of 'flame wars' and the reality is the bullies eventually get kicked out of the play ground. Would that have stopped what this woman did? No, but I think there is a dynamic there that stems from the Helicopter Parent syndrome, what was she doing trying to fight her teenage daughters battles in the first place? We as a society are not teaching our kids to solve their own problems we are teaching them to run to the nearest authority figure and/or parent. Once we get past that, and return to letting our kids be kids, learn that a skinned knee or bruised ego is not the end of the world, the better off our society will be.

What's on the iPod?

At a loss for anything dramatic, and worn out from my forum fights about politics. So I will fall back on an old and tried post, looking at the first 5 songs on my iPod when I turn it on.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Where do you start with this song? I first heard it in High school, and it really astounded me. It is so operatic and amazing. And then when it experienced a resurrection in popularity with the death of Freddie Mercury and Wayne's World I was pretty psyched that all of a sudden everyone else seemed to like the same music as I do. While it is technically a rock song, it is really pretty undefinable, truly a classic song.

Peter Piper by Run-D.M.C

I came a little late to the Run-D.M.C. bandwagon, not really getting into them until the release of the Raising Hell album, which this song was on. I can remember a road trip my sophomore year of college, we basically alternated between this tape and a punk rock mix tape all the way across country to Oberlin Ohio for Thanksgiving. By the end of the trip we had become huge rap fans. The highlight of which was attending the Run-D.M.C./Beastie Boys Together Forever Tour at Red Rocks. This particular song is one of the classic examples of the great interlocking vocals that made early rap great.

Blue Heaven by the Pogues

The Pogues were a unique band, really occupying a solitary niche. A rather odd mix of Irish folk music and Punk Rock. This song is typical, the lyrics are semi-intelligible, sung with a heavy Irish brogue. The tempo is quite fast for a band playing traditional acoustic instruments. I really like their music, and their Greatest Hits album is one of my absolute favorites.

Oh Daddy by Adrian Belew

Now this is a unique song, by a serious niche artist. I got this album from a friend of my mother's when I was staying with him. It was a little too weird for him. And this song is the most Pop like song on the album. I really like the way the lyrics go back and forth like a conversation between a parent and child.

One Toke over the Line by Brewer & Shipley

A classic country rock song, with some rather jarring lyrics. You certainly cannot imagine a song now where an artist would be simultaneously talking about marijuana use at the same time as praying to Jesus. Of of the references to this song that always comes to mind is in the Hunter Thompson classic Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, where the writer talks about hearing this song and being struck by how absurd it is to be talking about just 1 toke over the line when he is in the middle of an insane drug & booze aided bender.

This is excellent

A letter to a son starting out in life

I think he pretty much nails it. I can't think of anything he missed.

Missed a day

1. So Tuesday night was one of those nights where you earn your parent stripes. Around 10:15 or so Kim & are were in our room folding laundry when we hear Daniel start crying. I go in to check on him and he had thrown up in his bed. Well this was the first in a night of multiple throwing up sessions for both boys. All told Daniel went thru 4 pairs of pajamas and the boys had no clean sets of sheets by the end of the night. So I stayed home withe the boys so I could get some rest and keep them relaxed and resting as well. Daniel was a little hard as our little snacker had a hard time when all he was allowed to eat was crackers and toast.

2. I watched part of the first half of the Lakers game last night, but turned it off at the half. Just can't take the emotional pressure of watching a full game any more.

3. hooray for John Edwards! Maybe, just maybe this will finally put the nail in the coffin for Hillary and allow Obama to continue to focus on McCain. Again, everyone who is worried about Obama's ability to win over the working class white voters that Hillary has been getting. Well I think that the majority of those voters will stay with the Democratic nominee come November because these are not the folks who normally vote Republican any way. I don't think that Obama needs to have Clinton as his VP to get those voters, and while that ticket might be historic, I don't think it wins as easily come November. Because it makes it too easy on the bigot, sexist voters to line up against it.

When did Reagan stop being Ray-Gun?

Ronald Reagan, Sean Wilentz Salon Books

A fascinating article, and a subject that really hits home for me. In my youth I was an unabashed Reagan supporter. I still think fondly of the day in 1984 when I went to the post office, registered for Selective Service, then went and voted for Reagan for President. I spent my college years supporting Reagan and all that he was about. I really believed in his talk about a shrinking government, New Federalism etc.

And that talk inspired me to vote for Bush the First in 88. And I still think that was a good idea then, he really was the right man to be President when the first Gulf War happened. But his downfall was the economic impact of the war and lack of a decent domestic agenda. And of course when the Dark Lord called Lee Atwater (the original Sith Lord to Karl Rove's pale Darth Vader) back to hell, George's fate was sealed.

The attempts by the Bush administration to paint Clinton's Arkansas as a wasteland were what really sealed the deal for me, coupled with the rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party. So I started going Independent. And I think a great number of 'Reagan Democrats' did the same thing in the Clinton years. Americans want to believe in a "Big Idea", and Reagan, and by extension Reaganism, captured that.

Unfortunately along with the love of the Big Idea there is a meanness in the American body politic, a willingness to believe the worst about our politicians. And that spirit has been captured by the Talk Radio-Fox News-NeoCon pack. It is the same spirit that elected Nixon twice. And it is the same spirit that the Republican party operators have proven unusually adept at handling. From the infamous Neshoba County Fair in 1980 where Reagan announced his candidacy accompanied by no small amount of veiled white fear and racism, thru Willie Horton to Karl Rove.

I can only hope that Obama's talk of Hope and Change can turn the corner, and get America back on a track of following the Big Idea and Spirit so we can improve our country, but not at the expense of others.

Mothers Day

First a very special and warm thank you to all the Mothers out there. Especially all those who play such a bit part in my life: Kim, Mom, Cella, Connie, Tammy, Megan. Sorry for the late post but I couldn't come up with much last week. So just a big thank you for all the hard work and special roles you play in the lives of the children.

So, very definitely a low key Mothers Day. Kim had to work, and my Mom was out of town. So the only event was to go to Dennis' house in the afternoon. Which was very low key, I didn't even take any pictures.

Of course as soon as we got there there was some excitement, Dennis' 3 dogs came charging out of the house barking and poor James just froze, until the little dog jumped out and bit him on the leg. Dennis & Megan quickly got the dogs inside and in the back yard. Megan got James bandaged up. I was very calm, did not lose my cool as I normally do when one of the kids gets hurt in a non accident. James eventually calmed down and was able to even play some with the dogs as the afternoon wore on.

And the rest of the time was very relaxed, of course that is probably because Tammy's kids didn't show up until 7:30. She is the living epitome of the phrase 'she would show up late for her own funeral'. And of course she still had to go and get Brandon, so as near as we could determine she spent all of Mothers day without any of her kids. Since Mitchell was in town and had the older 3 all weekend. Really a classic example of her misplaced priorities.

James' soccer game went well, he had 2 very near assists, his teammates were just off on the shots. He continues to really grow in his field/court sense. I think I will ask his coach this week if he thinks he should go to the 7-8 year olds next year or stay 1 more year in the 5-6 year olds.

I took Friday off so I could take James to see Iron Man, very good movie. We both really enjoyed it. It was worth it to take the time off.

The Morning After

So for the Hillary Clinton campaign it's come down to this. It's no men on, bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, down by 5 runs and the pitchers at the plate. Or it's the 2 minute warning, they're down by 3 touchdowns and the other team has the ball. In other words, yes it is possible that they could pull off a miracle, Obama could get caught in bed with a goat and a small child, but it is highly highly improbable.



When I hear the Clinton campaigns comments that Obama doesn't bring in the white male working class vote I am reminded of one of the many smart (but evil) things Karl Rove did. Back in 2000 he knew that while abortion was a hot button issue for certain elements of the Republican party he was not going to make it an issue in Bush's campaign, because he knew that those voters would not look at the Democratic candidate and say: "hey if you don't want my vote I will just vote for the other side". I think that the people that Hillary brings to the table: the white working class, the women, the Catholics, the majority of those voters will not wake up in November and say "Hey Obama just doesn't represent my interests, what I need to do is vote for a Republican candidate who represents another 4 years of corrupt, idiotic misrule".



When August and September roll around I think that for every Reverend Wright ad, or elitist charge there will be 5-10 ads showing that McCain is 4 more years of this idiotic, corrupt administration. And when the country is still suffering from 4-5$ gas and the housing crisis and all of the assorted ills falling out from those problems, they will not want to hear that we will get 4 more years of the same thing. I am not saying this is a slam dunk election for the Democrats, after George I lost to Clinton it is clear there is no such thing as a slam dunk election, but they will have to work pretty hard to lose it.

Hug an Economist: We Need It

Hug an Economist: We Need It - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog#more-2603

This whole thing is just great to watch. It's really extraordinary when a major candidate comes out and states:

“Well I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.” (Hillary Clinton)

Gee Hillary you don't think that maybe, just maybe when you cannot find a single economist to back up your position, that maybe this whole idea is not smart?

It would be one thing if you were dealing with an issue where economists disagreed, or at least some economists some where would back up the idea. But this is simply not the case here. No economist has stepped up and said the Gas Tax holiday is a good thing.

Weekend Recap

So Kim had to work day shifts both days which meant I was more or less on my own with the kids.

1. Boys soccer: went well, James played with Daniel's team, along with another big brother. This was a one time thing to counter the fact that the other team was just too good and loaded. I felt kind of bad except for the fact that the big kids mostly played goalie, it wasn't a blowout. And there was one point when one of the big kids was playing goalie and was trying to throw the ball in and one of the kids on the other team headed the ball right back twice! You don't see too many 6 year olds willing to try and head the ball much less a 4 year old! So clearly there was a real talent mismatch against Daniels regular team which is composed of mostly 3 year olds with no experience. I missed half of James game taking Daniel to the bathroom and getting Emily from childwatch. But I did see James' goal, which was an excellent shot from about the half field point from the side line.

2. I had the on call work phone and it was real busy so I got kind of frustrated with that. Kind of hard to try and handle calls when you have a screaming 6 year old and 3 year old.

3. I got some yard work done, I worked out some goals on Friday and got started with some basics on Sunday. I have a tendency to plan myself into paralysis with these things so the goal is to do this right. But I have to remember the overall plan of keeping it simple and that a lawn is a living thing and subject to change form.

4. So I decided to start watching Wild Wild West with James. So I got the first DVD from netflix a week ago, and while he liked it he didn't much like black and white filming. So I got the first disc in season 2 this weekend and we watched one of the episodes. And he liked is as well, they are really not bad shows, yeah tremendously unrealistic. But who cares? It's a fun show, with cowboys and spies and really cool gadgets. And as a side note, so far in the 3 episodes we have watched I have seen Suzane Pleshette and Richard Pryor in supporting roles. Who knows who we might see next?

The decline of the American lawn.

The decline of the American lawn. - By Tom Vanderbilt - Slate Magazine

This really hit home. In recent weeks I have been agonizing over the disaster that is our lawn. Our lawn wasn't impeccable last year, but it was serviceable, and I worked pretty hard on it. But in December we had to have our sewer line replaced. This meant that the front lawn (and the poinsettia bush I had treasured and worked hard on) was completely torn out. In addition our sprinkler system got cut up and was not repaired (which was an agreed upon part of the contract). So here we are, May 2, and I have no lawn in the front yard, no sprinkler system to water what there is. And this has just been killing me. The last couple of years I have worked pretty hard on our yard. And now it is in worse shape than it was when we moved in.

So I have been thinking about what to do with the yard. And there has been the disaster area that is the back yard as well. The disaster is that we filled the kids play yard with pea gravel several years back. Well we have several stray cats in our neighborhood. And they use the play area as a litter box. Normally I would say no big deal, trap the strays and take them to the Humane society. Well the problem is that our neighbor and his wife have made semi-pets of these strays. Of course they don't have kids, are rarely if ever out of doors and so they don't care that the yard smells horrid and that there is a health hazard.

So these are the obstacles I face going into the spring and summer months. This article though made me think. What am I trying to do with the yard? What is my goal here, actually? I want a place where the kids can play number one. And number two would be appearances. Growing up I had 2 houses that I would consider "childhood homes": my Mom's house and my Dad's. Both houses had large lots and not much traditional play equipment. And I didn't feel slighted or any worse for wear for not having that. I enjoyed the heck out of both yards, with lots of different areas to play soldier in.

So I have resolved, right now, this instant, to change my viewpoint on the yard. My focus is on creating something that is functional for the kids and adults first. This means a large semi-flat area in both front and back for playing boccie ball, soccer etc. And have some nice areas for entertaining and sitting for folks watching the above fun activities. What I don't want is areas of no fun, don't touch or walk. And I don't want something unmanageable, that will be a huge pain to take care of. So, less plastic play toys, more trees and bushes, especially now that the kids have reached an age where they can enjoy and appreciate the idea of growing something.