Tuesday Oddities

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Some cool stuff coming in via Twitter etc.

Nazi Stealth fighters

There have been rafts of books etc. on the subject of Hitler's 'Miracle Weapons'. And certainly some of them were just complete bunk. But it's always interesting to read that some of them were valid. And a little scary of course if you play 'what if'.

It's Finally here: the Al Franken Decade has truly begun

This has been a source of alternating amusement and anger. It is amusing how Norm Coleman has become the poster child for jokes on people refusing to accept the results of an election. His name keeps cropping up in throw away lines like this twitter post:

RT @markosm RT @JC_Christian: Norm Coleman confidant Honduran Supreme Court will overtune today's MN Supreme Ct ruling

But it is immensely frustrating that the same political operatives who were so ready to throw down in 2000, declaring the Democrats and Al Gore to just be sore losers, are now backing Coleman in this protracted fight. I guess it's only good for the country when it is a Republican fighting to overturn an election.

Rediscovering the little parts of our history

So much of history is broad strokes and the big names and dates. Or sweeping cultural changes. Sometimes we forget the little stuff, where if you are a into alternate histories and time lines, just a little tweak and the amount of what if's can explode. This is a really cool little idea, to find the little stuff, and document it to some extent.

Roger Ebert takes up the Free Range gauntlet

It warms my heart every time I see or hear or read someone talking about Free Range, or just commenting along those lines. Because the more we get this message out, the more the message of: "let your kids learn, and play by themselves" the better. Today both boys are doing field trips, and the biggest concern I had was that Daniel have some sunscreen. I trust the teachers to watch him, I don't feel that Kim or I has to be there if he wants to leave the safety of the school.

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Another busy but fun weekend is past. Saturday baseball went well, with enough of a gap in between to have a quiet lunch at home. Dennis' birthday party was a good time, albeit different from years past due to absences. Sunday we did some not so fun things and then took in a Sky Sox game.

The baseball went well this week. Despite the chaos of picture day. With such a big gap between games it wasn't really noticeable that it was Picture day. James had a hard game at first, striking out 3 times, before he finally got his hit and was able to score. I now have pictures from James and Daniel up on the Picasa site and set to sync so new photos can upload every week they play. Both boys continue to enjoy themselves which is the important part.

Dennis' birthday party was fun. Pretty much the usual mix of relatives and friends, with older relatives and younger families leaving earlier. Managed to survive the rainfall, and got some nice pictures of the double rainbow as a result (or I think they were neat, despite my inability to see full rainbows. But the party was different, with Tammy and her kids not there the flavor of the kids playing was changed (plus we didn't feel like we were watching extra kids). And this was another big event where we did notice Manny's presence was missing. There was less consistent playing of games, and the overall tone was different. It will take some time to get adjusted to these things.

Sunday morning we got up and put together a grocer list and went to the store for a big shopping trip. We hadn't done one of those in a while and we did need to pick up some basics. But it wasn't much of a hassle, we have these trips down to a science by now. Then we decided to go to a Sky Sox game. They were playing an afternoon game. Which ended up being fun, the kids enjoyed watching for the most part, there wasn't a lot of bored griping at least. It was a good game to watch. And we got lucky on the timing as the rain storm hit right at the end of the game so we weren't subjected to much rain. I really think that if the stadium wasn't so far out of the way, if it was downtown for example, we would probably attend a lot more games.

Overall a good weekend, with a short week ahead. I have Friday off for the holiday. No baseball this week though. Which is good because I guess Austin will be pitching on Tuesday night, so we will get a chance to watch him pitch. On Saturday we will head over to my friends for our annual Spam festival. Otherwise should be a low key weekend.

Random thoughts on a peaceful Friday

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

1. Family plans

Once again busy Saturday followed by (hopefully) relaxing Sunday. Boys baseball in the morning/early afternoon (fun picture day to boot), with a good 3 hour gap between games, time to hit library, eat lunch etc. Then Dennis' birthday part in the afternoon/evening, looking forward to another family gathering (although minus Tammy and the kids). Tammy leaves tomorrow to take the younger 3 kids to their respective fathers for 2 weeks. Should make things a little quieter (unless Tammy does something even more outrageous than last summer). Sunday we have no plans, may go to the Sky Sox game in the afternoon, or may just go for a hike/visit to the park. So should be a good weekend overall though (barring some horrible onset of illness again).

2. The Day the Icons died

What a day! The passing of Farrah didn't mean that much to me, plus it was hardly unexpected. I may be one of the few people my age who did not have her iconic poster on his wall growing up (although my best friend did). But she was an Angel and a popular Icon and symbol of the times (says something about the times when someone can become a huge icon based on one season on a popular TV show and a poster...).

All I could think about with Michael was what it meant to our culture. His career and death are so similar to Elvis Presley that it is impossible not to draw comparisons:

-Huge Icon: people forget how big Michael was. Thriller still is the top selling album of all time. His concerts were huge. And what he did as the first black musician with a MTV video changed the face of the music industry. In fact when I attended a talk on Elvis in Grad school the professor made the point that the only contemporary figure to stand with Elvis was Michael.

-Oddity: Like it or not neither figure passed away at the height of the popularity. And in fact they had both reached the stage of self parody (Michael more so than Elvis, but I attribute that to Michael living longer). And I can easily see the Neverland Ranch becoming another Graceland. And there are also reports that Michael was in bad financial position. In which case his death, like Elvis, will probably end up being a huge financial windfall for the estate.

-Dying Early: Elvis was 42, Michael 50, based on the rise in life expectancy etc. that's roughly the same for both. We won't get to see them age (gracefully or not so much). We won't be subjected to watching them attempt to wiggle their hips or moonwalk in their retirement years. Which might be a good thing but still it feels kind of sad.

-Suspicious, tragic deaths: There are so many stories about Elvis' passing. And now it appears that Michael's passing is destined to make that look like small potatoes. Really? Do we have nothing better to do that speculate and pile on? And I won't get into Michael's legal troubles because I just don't think they change/obscure his impact on our culture.

So there you have it, Michael is my generation's Elvis. And like Elvis there are more than a few young people asking why we would even care for that crazy old guy. And I seriously doubt we will see another single figure this huge. The Media and popular culture are just too big and splintered now to have 1 figure capture the hearts of so many for such a long period of time. There are contemporaries whose passing will be remarked: Madonna, Springsteen. But who amongst modern young stars will have this big of an impact for so many people? But then again in 1977 there were probably very few people who expected little Michael Jackson to reach that pinnacle.

3. Sports low point

The NBA draft was yesterday and it is such a different event from the NFL draft. Partially the amount of time is so short after the Finals it feels like the season never really ends. But it does truly signal that it is time to turn the attention to football, except that it is a month from the beginning of training camp and the first pre-season games. Which leaves baseball, tennis, soccer. All very good reasons to get out of the house and go for a walk or hike in the mountains.

Taking a moment to remind you of where I stand

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

On Saturdays when Daniel plays T-ball James' job is to take his sister across the park and play in the play ground. I can sort of see the playground from where I stand to watch Daniel and help his team. But I am confident that James will not allow his sister to run into the road, and will scream and run to me if she gets hurt. I know those things. Yet people have looked at me weird for letting my toddler toddle off across the park after her brother without me in tow.

Then last Saturday when we went to library I left Emily with her brothers. And she wandered off because James wasn't paying attention. At which point the Security guard brought her over to me with a note about leaving her alone. Was I worried that she would be kidnapped? Nope, I realized that maybe the library might not be the best place to rely on James to watch her though. So not a change in my approach, just a change in technique.

So I was happy to get a refresher from the Free Range Kids blog today. There are a couple of good posts on here, the one that is really great is the one from the grandmother who keeps running into parents who freak out when she tries to be friendly with their children. Get a grip people! The other day when we were at the park I was pushing Emily on the swing and a little girl came up and asked me to lift her into the next swing, and I happily obliged. When her mom came over and asked her how she got in the swing I volunteered that I had lifted her in, and I got a nasty look. Here I was, pushing my own toddler on a swing so it should have been clear I had no intent of doing anything to her daughter and yet I was somehow the bad guy.

There really is a cultural paradigm that needs to shift in this country. Not every stranger in this country is a pedophile lurking to kidnap a child. People are fundamentally good, and will watch out for children. When the security guard brought Emily to me I was more worried that she was off tearing up the book stacks than she might have wandered off with someone. I know that little kids get confused and latch onto pretty much any adult, it has happened to me where a kid comes up and grabs me by the leg, then looks up and realizes I am not their parent. Not a big deal I help them find their parent and no harm done.

What I am trying to say here, in my incoherent rambling, is I want to raise Independent, thinking children who are ready to tackle the world. Not pants/apron clinging introverts who are afraid to do anything or talk to anyone. One of my proudest moments was when James voluntarily chose to go across the street and play with the neighbors and meet new friends without having me there to pimp for him (I mean arrange a "play date").

A tale from Savage Shadows

From the journals of Doc Tweak:

After the flash I recall waking up with the others, and seeing this new world. When I started seeing the explosion of what I later learned were Aura's I went into a kind of shock. I could walk and move where I was guided. I knew what was happening around me but I couldn't respond to it, or speak or interact in any way. Here is what I remember of that time:

After we woke Sergeant Zim had us all gather for his version of a pep talk:

"Ok, I want everyone to circle up and take a knee. Be on high alert and watch each others backs.

"Now I'm gonna be blunt here, and possibly even a bit disrespectful, but that's the military man coming out in me so excuse me if I'm not PC.

"I don't know where or when we are, but I'm not going to take any chances here. So listen up.

"I want everyone to take a few moments and take inventory of your possessions and rounds. I don't want to get into a firefight and find out that someone is a clip short. So check that as soon as I finish.

"Dugan, I want you and Hornet to assess the damage to the copter. I want to know how much fuel, what kind of damage we're looking at, and if we can take off if we need to. Check out what rations and supplies we have in there too... down to the last M&M. Got it?

"Sparks. You stay in one of the bunkers and try and make contact with someone. Anyone. See if you can determine the where and when. Roger that?

"Tweak, you're with me. I want you to scout the perimeter and check out the lay of the land with me. Don't get out any further than 50 meters from these stones, and keep up the chatter on the coms so we know that you're ok.

"Now, for the non-PC part. (points to Carl) I don't know who this man is. He vaguely looks, and sounds just like Hornet and IF I were a lesser form he might even taste like him. But I don't know if you are Hornet or not. So please forgive me if I'm a bit blunt with you, but you need to prove yourself to me again. Not fair to you, but them's the breaks.

"For now, I don't want you going ANYWHERE without an escort. Not to piss, not to jerk. NOWHERE. Now, hopefully you DO know me and know that it doesn't take much to prove yourself... but my eye is going to be on you. If you step out of line, I will have no problems putting a bullet into your brain. But I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt... for now.

"Stay focused and stay alert, everyone. Now move."

It may not go down in history with "win one for the Gipper" but it worked for the rest of the group. They went about their business, exploring the area around them, coming back that everything was normal, except that it appeared time had accelerated. Until we all boarded the chopper, and discovered that we were now on an island. And that island was rapidly being swallowed up by what appeared to be a vast ocean. So we headed East, towards what we hoped was land.

Just as land came into view everyone became quite agitated by the appearance of what looked like a Dragon flying towards us. We call it a dragon because it is the only word that fits a giant flying reptile that screams and breathes fire. Quite the amazing sight, the Aura of the creature was almost brighter than the sun to me. It forced us to land, but not prematurely thank goodness.

Upon landfall they herded me along with them to the tree line, and then I watched as they retrieved all of the supplies from the chopper. Giving me a backpack containing my Medical kit. And after the usual dithering about headed north to a creek, exclaiming over the sight of some tracks from a very large reptile, larger than anything that exists in our world. After a restful night we headed East, along the creek.

As we walked however the others began getting very excited again, apparently something very large was coming our way. After some discussion everyone just hid, hoping it would pass on by. What we saw next was a creature out of the movies, it looked like a large predatory dinosaur. It almost seemed like it would pass us by, until it jumped at poor Radley. This caused a brief firefight. The creature was very tough, taking several hits before it eventually collapsed. At which point Radley also collapsed. His wound was horrific, a large claw had opened his back from shoulder to rear end. Duggan did his best to stop bleeding, competently. But I felt I could do more, don't ask me how I knew I just knew. So I stepped forward and began to hold the wound together and felt... something... and somehow this something allowed his wound to knit together, I don't know how this happened or how to do it again, just that it happened.

After we hiked some more we camped that night and ate on the butchered remains of the slain creature. We were feeling tired and still frightened to an extent. We were awoken in darkness by Sparks, who had heard another of the large creatures possible hunting. We quickly roused ourselves and began our hike. We tried to stay ahead of the creature and for a time it appeared we might. But it eventually caught up to us. This we learned some lessons and were able to dispatch it more quickly, with no damage to us. In the aftermath we realized that carrying pieces of a creature that tracks by scent might have attracted others.

As we resumed our trek we heard more creature rousing in the surrounding forest so we fled. Coming to the canyon wall. Where Duggan noticed a cave behind the waterfall that fed the creek in the valley. We ducked in and hid as it became dark, cowering as another of the fearsome predators poked it's snout through the water, but fortunately it was too large to enter the cave.

As we sat in the cave I began to feel my senses and body come back to me. I don't know where this strange place we are is. All know is I have seen and felt some truly astounding things in my life and this place is like nothing I have ever seen. I have seen flying dragons and terrifying reptilian predators. I have seen of my friends transformed into what appears to be an Elf, and seen this same person move like a blur in combat. I myself have performed a miracle of healing and seen what can only be called aura's around places and creatures I have not seen before. What happens next I can only guess...

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

For such a promising beginning the weekend turned into a bit of a bummer. Friday night's game went quite well, I was happy with how my planning went. Saturday morning was a little stressful, although the boys games ended up going off without a hitch. The birthday party was not super exciting, although the boys did have a good time for the most part. Then Sunday arrived and everything went down the toilet, kind of literally. Thus bringing any fun I was having to an abrupt end.

I was very pleased with how my game went Friday night. I was prepared, I handled the groups normal tendency to disperse and dissolve into chaos. I kept the pacing the way I wanted it more or less. And the action was not over the top, but it was dangerous enough to give them a little edge, make them realize that they could get hurt, enhancing some role playing. I will write a separate entry with details later.

Saturday morning baseball was a little tough, Daniel and Emily were not too hip on the early rise, Emily especially could have slept later. But once Daniel got out there, he had a good time. I used the 2 hour interval to go to the library, where conveniently they have a Saturday reading time. Again Daniel didn't want to go but had a good time once he started. James' game was good. It was raining when it started but the sun was out by the time it ended. James went 2 for 3, with one ball hit straight to first. No major fielding problems. So it was a good time. The birthday party for Dustin was uneventful, since Kim & Connie were not there it was a little more subdued than a normal family occasion. But the kids had a good time, and I got out of there and home at a reasonable hour.

Only to be woken at around 5 by a combination of Emily crying and my stomach rumbling, which ended up being the standard for the rest of the day. I ended up spending Fathers Day laying in bed or on the couch alternating dozing and watching TV, occasionally having to run to the bathroom. Not my idea of fun at all. And that also left Kim to do the projects in the house we had planned for the day on her own, with the help of Connie for a while. I felt a little better Monday morning but not much so I stayed home from work an extra day to recover. Not contributing much to the remaining house projects other than keeping Emily while Kim ran James to the Dentist. Which was good because Emily progressively got grumpier as the day went on.

At the end of the day Kim had the house basically ready to go for the appraisal on Wednesday, albeit without much help from me. So the big goal of the weekend was accomplished. So we handled a double dip day of baseball, plus birthday party (with another one coming up this weekend), then got a lot of house projects complete. So it was a successful weekend, just not much fun for me.

Some Changes + Updates

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Blog Changes

Decided that I would merge the 2 blogs back again. Wasn't getting much traction on the other one, and got tired of fighting myself to think of alternative posts. Also decided that Westside Rants was a little off putting. So went with the Free Range Geek name as is encompasses the flavor of the posts best.

That does mean that I will probably be posting multiple times a day again. Which is good, I think it will be more interesting for the readers that way.

Kim makes things interesting

I love Kim, we are in the middle of doing some major house cleaning this weekend. And yesterday afternoon she calls me and asks if I mind if she paints the bathroom instead of just cleaning it. That is so typical of her, to have a major task, and switch it up. The same goal of making the house more presentable will still be accomplished. It's just that it will include a different look for the back bathroom.

Weekend Plans

Once again another busy Saturday planned. Baseball for both boys in the morning, with a 2 hour gap between games. Then over to Dennis' for Dustin's birthday party. And on Saturday we have a major house project lined up, plus some yard work. Not exactly a relaxing Fathers Day, but it will be nice to get outside for most of the weekend.

Kids Progress

Yesterday morning I told James I was going to have to take him to the bar where Connie was finishing cleaning. He said he wanted to take some toys. I told him that he could take some books. The next thing I know he has a Dr. Seuss book out and is reading it out loud, with basically no problem. So his reading is making some progress.

Knowing that James was going to have to spend 3 days with Connie I made a decision that I would take advantage of the situation and have him take his bike with him. Theorizing that he might learn better under the tutelage of Austin than he did from us. And apparently I was right, he took the training wheels off right away and was already doing quite well. So now we just have to keep him practicing and we will meet the goals of reading and bike riding by the end of the summer.

Misc. Wednesday thoughts

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

1. June Birthdays

Wow, this is a heavy month for birthdays. In the family alone I have 8 in this month (not including deceased relatives). And when you throw in the Facebook friends it gets out of control, at least 1 every day this week! I guess it's a good thing most of these people can be handled with a card or a happy birthday wish, otherwise I would be broke by July. On the other hand there's a fun little game you can play: take a persons birth date, subtract 9 months, and you have a rough procreation date. Apparently September/October were some very romantic months...

2. Labor News

Speaking of broke, Kim went down and voted on the contract last night. She went with every intention of accepting the contract. But when she actually read the proposed contract, what it included and didn't include, she joined the majority of the voters in voting against it. Plain and simple it is a bad contract, far worse than what they have now. And while we all should be happy to have a job in the current economy, and my company has had to make some drastic cuts, all of what was done was temporary. This is a 5 year contract, and would be the model for the next contract etc. And approving it means they have to continue to suffer under that bad contract for 5 years, regardless of whether the economy improves. We have no idea if this vote will lead to a work stoppage or not, hopefully not, but sometimes you have to think beyond the next paycheck.

3. Making changes

I twittered earlier today that I am craving change, but am also being very careful what I wish for. With all the chaos of dealing with Austin and Tammy's other kids life has been pretty crazy and stressful lately. So I really want things to stabilize so I can find ways to change up my personal routine for the better. I am hoping that time will come soon, because I am really feeling the need to change things up. My health goals have really fallen by the wayside this month, and I attribute that to all of the stress and my negative reactions to the stress. One of these days I will develop some healthier responses to stress, but this summer has not seen that change yet.

4. Change in James' baseball schedule

Due to last weeks rain out they revised the schedule so he will still get his 6 games. I just updated the text on the site.

Moving on

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

The NBA season is over. The Lakers won the championship, in an almost anticlimactic fashion. I was happy they won, but this team underlined my changing perspective on the NBA. It just wasn't that much fun to watch any of these playoffs. The game has become so professional, so business like that it is losing it's allure. I almost wished the Magic could have won for the same reasons I was cheering for the Suns the last couple of seasons. Something new. I know that basketball, and the NBA especially, is a star driven sport. But it has been missing something in the last few years. Teams are slowly losing their uniqueness. And I think that is what makes any league great. Having teams play with a certain style.

Growing up the NBA had that flavor. The Lakers were Showtime, the Nuggets were Run'n'Gun, the Pistons were the Bad Boys, the Celtics were the brutes, the Jazz were (and still are) about execution. But that is disappearing, instead it's about what stars are on the team: the Lakers are Kobe, the Heat are Dwayne Wade, the Cavs are Lebron etc. And I have lost my taste for watching games like that, especially when the biggest stars seem to get preferential treatment from the Media and the Refs etc.

So it is with not much regret that I move on from the end of the NBA season. And get to look forward to my favorite game: football. Because the beauty of football is that as big as the stars are, they are still wearing that uniform and helmet, and are therefore still faceless to an extent. And therefore th rooting interest is still about the teams first, and players second. And that allows teams to maintain a sense of personality and identity. The Cowboys will always be the team of stars, the Raiders will always be the mismatched group of outlaws, the Bears will always be the Monsters of the Midway. Players and stars may come and go, but the teams are always there, and hold that allure and fan base. And it is the same story with college football as well, stars may come and go, but the teams and the fan base don't care.

Of course I have to endure the next 2 months without any sports with a serious rooting interest, but that is not a bad thing. I can continue working on my ability to watch sports without getting attached to the outcome by watching baseball, because I know I don't much care about baseball, at least not to the point of dying with every outcome.

Happy Birthday Dan

 


Happy Birthday Dan!

Thinking of you today Dan Danger.

I hope it's a good one for you.

I know it's a special one too,

With an extra addition to your wonderful family.

Here's for all the great memories and good times.

Have a great one.

Love,

Mike

Happy Birthday Dave

 


Happy 50th Birthday to my Brother Dave

To my big brother

We may not always see eye to eye (because you'll always be taller than me...)

And we may not do things the same way (because we're different OK?)

But you've always been there (sometimes more than I might have wanted...)

And you're a great uncle to my kids (thanks for taking some of the wrestling heat off me)

For all of that and more I wish you the best of birthdays (may you have so many more)

Your little brother

Mike

Weekend Plans

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Relaxing Friday, super busy Saturday, rest on Sunday, that's my plan. We have nothing on tap tonight, might glance at the scores from the hockey game, watch a movie with the kids. Saturday: 2 baseball games, shop, drive to Denver, family birthday party. Sunday Kim will work then get a much deserved evening off so it will be me and the kids, relaxing.

Saturday will be a test, both boys having baseball games, but with a 2 hour gap in between. I am looking forward to it. Daniel is happy to get back into baseball and seems genuinely excited to play this year. And James is making a step up, but I think he is ready for the challenge of pure coach pitch (judging by the fact that he nailed the first pitch in practice right down the line). The 2 hour gap will be challenging, but I plan to use that time to run to the store and then get some lunch, before returning for James' game. The nice thing is that the games are at Bonny park this year so there is a nice play ground to distract the kids when they are not playing.

Then we will drive up to Denver for my brothers 50th birthday party. Wow, 50?! It should be a fun party, although I imagine it will test the limits of their new house capacity. I hope to get lots of pictures etc.

Sunday I will effectively be playing single dad. I hope to get some yard projects done. Maybe get some work done on my next RPG adventure. Some where in there I imagine I will take the kids some where to run around, maybe take a walk, get out of the house etc. Depends on the weather, although it is supposed to be nice.

NBA Thoughts

Well the Lakers are a win away from the championship. I will be glad for that, but from just watching the Overtime last night, and then reading about the game, this is still shaping up to be a forgettable Finals. If I want to watch slow down, run a play, then have a ref blow a whistle I want to watch football. These games are just not really watchable. I will be happy for all of my Laker fan friends, and the members of the Lakers who deserve a ring. But I will also be glad the series is over because it wasn't exactly high quality basketball.

Misc. Midweek thoughts

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

1. Austin finished his treatment early so we did not have the girls and Brandon last night or tonight. Although they will stay with us Thursday night since Tammy has to take Austin back up to Denver early Friday morning. And I can tell you Friday night cannot come soon enough for all of us. We are all ready for a break from cousins/nieces and nephews.

2. Got the schedules for baseball, most weeks it looks like I will have at least a 2 hour gap between games. So I will use that time to run kids home, take a break, etc. I can handle a 1 hour gap because the games will be at a park with a decent play ground. But 2 hours will be too much. I will post both schedules tomorrow once I have them in front of me.

3. I am ready for the NBA playoffs to be over. I want the Lakers to win but basketball has lost it's charm as far as watchability. The way NBA games go is just not that fun to watch any more. There is so much referee interference and so little flow it is almost like watching a football game. And there is so little consistency in how the refs call the games it is just crazy. I admire Kobe Bryant, but he gets so many calls at this point that it just isn't much fun to watch. Not that I am eager to watch baseball, the 2 months before football starts can be pretty agonizing. The sooner football returns the better.

4. For those who twitter you can always follow me @freerangegeek Twitter is getting to be far more interesting to me for it's versatility and ease of use.

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

An excellent weekend overall. I had a good game Friday night. Had a nice time taking the kids to the library and park. And a relaxing afternoon. Sunday we got some cleaning done, particularly the grey van. Then a nice trip up to Denver to see Austin. More good news on that front. And back to a more normal schedule this week.

My game went very well Friday night. We had a good time and everyone seemed to enjoy what I had prepared. It meant I was a little tired Saturday morning but it was well worth it. And I needed the night to recharge my batteries with the impending week of house guests.

Saturday morning I had to come into work for a couple of hours, then went and picked up the kids. Took the boys to the library to get signed up for the summer reading program. Then took them all to America the Beautiful park. At first it was a little chilly so Emily had no interest in the cold spray from the fountain. But the boys had fun. We then went over to the playground for a while. The kids had a great time there, Emily wandered all over the place. Then it was back to the fountain, where Emily finally got brave enough to get in for a little while. It was nice, although the grass is non-existent, I really feel bad for that.

We cam home where we relaxed and basically did nothing. I made a nice little dinner and we got the kids to bed for a good nights rest. Sunday we cleaned up the van and packed up for a trip to Denver.

It was a nice drive, although a little exciting as we got to watch the tornado form up and come down well to the north of us, pretty amazing. There was a pretty big rain storm up there which meant we weren't able to go to the park as we had planned. But the kids got to run around in the play room of Ronald McDonald house for a while. Then we all went to lunch at Cici's. James got a good visit with Austin which I think helped things out. Then on the way home we accidentally ended up driving right past the area where that same tornado touched down. So we got to see all of the devastation. All of which was very good for James as it will help him to realize that while tornadoes are things to be wary of, they are not so bad that the fear should paralyze you.

So this week we have the 3 kids, although maybe just for tonight and Thursday night. We just got word that they may stop the treatment of Austin for now, and maybe let him come home tomorrow night. Which will be very good for everyone. Either way though the girls will be going to Boys and Girls club the rest of this week. So it was a good busy weekend, but not overly stressful for once. Looking forward to what should be a more normal week.

Austin Update

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Things are looking better. First, Austin was never showing any ill effects, his heart is currently functioning correctly. He has developed coronary heart disease (or something like that I am getting this information third hand). Which means that some of the veins and arteries to his heart are not there or functioning. But some of the other ones are fine and in fact show indications that they might be growing new branches to compensate for the ones that are damaged. Or at least that is the interpretation I was given. He is beginning a 7 day course of anti-rejection medication and steroids that will foster the new growth. He will be out of ICU sometime today and transferred to Ronald McDonald House for the remaining 5 days of treatment. After that he will be allowed to come home and resume activities as normal. As far as I know there will be no limitations. Apparently this will be a condition he will be stuck with and will have to be monitored but should not affect his day to day life unless his heart functions begin to be affected.

So it is not as an immediate health threat as we were initially led to believe. Although I still had to stay home as there were no other child care options. But that should be covered the rest of the week. So life should return more or less to normally tomorrow and next week. We all appreciate all of the good wishes, thoughts and prayers, now we just have to wait for modern medicine to do it's thing.

Startling and very sad news

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

This afternoon Kim called me at work with some unexpected and possibly horrible sad news. Austin had gone to Denver today for his annual checkup on his heart. For those who don't know he was born with a defective heart and had a transplant at 26 days, and had gone all this time with no problems. Well they discovered that he he has some very serious problems. I don't know all the details, but it breaks down to he is on heavy medication right now and if the medication doesn't do the trick very soon he will need another transplant.

As you can imagine this is just horrid, tragic and totally unexpected news. I guess there were some reports of kids like him who received early transplants going into rejection when they hit puberty, but of course you don't and can't expect that to happen. So he is in the hospital tonight on medication. Kim drove her mom up there and they are there with Tammy just waiting. I have the other 6 kids sleeping here tonight.

I had a little cry on the way home, and of course some more when Kim left. It just doesn't seem right for this many horrible things to hit the family in such a short time. All we can do at this point is hope and think good thoughts (and pray for those who do pray). Of course that meant I had to lay it out here, my form of stress relief (that and eating way too much junk food for dinner).

I will be staying home tomorrow with the kids, hopefully we can make other arrangements by Thursday. That or the news will change what we are doing, I just don't know at this point. All I know is I will be home tomorrow.

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Busy busy weekend, CSS alumni events, birthday parties, hiking and driving oh my! It was a good time, but I will be glad to settle back into something of a routine. I got lots of good pictures, that are up on Picasa or Facebook by now. But this week with James going to Boys & Girls club, Daniel to West Center and both starting baseball practice (barring rain) the summer routine should arrive.

I found it quite funny that I had made the comment last week after Kirk's birthday party about age, and how I was spending more time with my nieces because their kids were close to mine in age. Because the single thing that struck me after the Friday night alumni family dinner was how old everyone had gotten! Maybe not old in spirit, but certainly in appearance and actual age. All of a sudden I was hanging with a bunch of 40 year olds (how on earth did that happen?)! But the CSS events were a lot of fun, the kids really enjoyed the family dinner, running around with the other kids. I had a good time seeing and talking to people I hadn't seen in years. I think that the Facebook connection drew more people in who might not have come, than it kept people away who had already caught up via Facebook. All in all I was very glad I got to go.

Sunday morning we all just got in the car and went for a drive. Stopping at the park in Manitou Springs for some play time, then ended up at the Florissant Fossil beds for a hike. Which was a good hike, I think the biggest thing to focus on for James with these hikes is creating a similar game thing where he has a focus like finding X amount of plants etc. Keep him focused, and maybe draw Daniel into it. Just to keep them from noticing that they are getting exercise. It's not like they are tied to the TV, in fact they will play outside all day if they have someone to play with. But the hikes are different, need to have goals and distractions.

Overall, we had a good weekend though. And it was a good end to the crazy first week of summer what with Memorial Day, then Kirk's birthday party etc. I didn't do much for my routine either, but hope to get back into it this week.

NBA Thoughts

Well the Lakers are in the Finals. The Nuggets got a little taste of Championship want to for the lack of a better term. And next year they could very well be right there again. My Finals prediction fell through, I really thought that the Lebron's would pull it out, but it was nice to see a balance team win from the East. It should be an interesting match up, bot teams will give the other one a hard time defensively. I am still going to try and maintain my distance, it is so much easier this way.