I'm posting this one

I start so many posts. Then I delete them.

What have I been up to lately...

We made one last trip to the water park and splurged again on the cabana (and cabana girl). Once you've done the park that way, you're spoiled.

We spent Labor Day weekend in Arkansas, visiting Court's family. We both picked up colds while there, and then I got even more sick once we were back. I'm better now (after a trip to the MD), but still very tired. Fortunately I don't have a lot of work happening right now.

We had a good visit with Court's family. There were more than enough reasons to be worried for the kids. I'm relieved to say that despite all the adult dysfunction in their lives, the kids (ages 16, 13, and 10) are doing okay. One good thing going for them: they are involved in a really good church. People are looking out for them.

Court deserves sainthood for being nice to her parents and other sister (she's 25). And that's all I'll say about them.

We did our every-second-Saturday gay cafe this past weekend. We splurged on one of these. OMFG was it good.

Church is in full swing after a summer hiatus, and that has me busy. I edit the newsletter, I'm a trustee, and I'll also be leading a few services this year.

My mother called me the other night and we had a very positive conversation. This is really good. She and I have so much anger. It's time to just get over it.

So far so good with Amanda and her move from high school to the community college. The newness has worn off and now she's getting into the hard slog. She's upbeat. My days are filled with driving to campus to pick her up or drop her off.

We have a busy fall coming up. We'll be in Pennsylvania in a couple weeks to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. We also have plans to go to the State Fair in Richmond, the Wine & Garlic Festival in Amherst, the Apple Harvest Festival in Winchester, and we'll be camping at Martinsville for a weekend of racing.

I'll also fly to Kansas City next month for two days of staff meetings. I'm not looking forward to that.

I'm excited for the Chase, NASCAR's version of a playoff, which begins this weekend. My driver, Tony Stewart, is second in points. He's had a bad month, and does not have good momentum going into the final ten races. I hope he turns things around. I'm really excited for the fall race in Martinsville. Hopefully Tony will still be in contention by that race.

Of course I'm loving football now that it's back. I married a Razorback, so they are a sentimental favorite, along with Pitt and Penn State. And then there are my hometown Steelers, who I think are the worst-looking good team of the bunch. I have a hard time watching them play.

I guess that sums things up for now.

The Keystone State, Tony, and me

We drove to PA this weekend to see my parents and sibs and celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.

Tony Stewart drove in PA this weekend and won his first points race of the season.

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend to be in the Keystone state.

Off to Portland

We're off to Portland, OR this afternoon. I have to be there for staff meetings (Sunday and Monday).

I'm hoping to hook up for happy hour with a few PNW bloggers on Saturday.

On Monday we'll be spending the night with this guy.

You know you vacationed with your teenager when...

Your picture of her is this...










and her picture of you is THIS.

Apologies

Had I known it would be five days until I got back here, I'd have never left that depressing post hanging out there for so long. Sorry.

Saturday we hosted another every-second-Saturday cafe. We had low turnout, which wasn't unexpected given that it was a holiday and a lot of people told us they'd be out of town. Nonetheless, we ended up with about ten more than expected, so that was great. We had a few first-timers, and that's always VERY encouraging.

It always surprises me that people come early and stay late... to a church, where there is no alcohol, on a Saturday night.

Who'd have thought it?

It just shows ya how desperate gays are to find other gays... so desperate that they go to a church on a Saturday night.

Despite the lack of booze, we can get down-right nasty. Wound up on gallons of coffee, we had a mean game of Apple-to-Apples going most of the night... a table of mostly lesbians and our minister, who is a fun guy and a good sport. There was a lot of harsh humor going on. The minister got an earful.

I came to realize that I say "fuck" WAY too much.

It was all very silly. Who doesn't need a little of that these days?

The cafe scored it's first official pick-up, when newly-single Zack rubbed arms with a new guy. I know they left together because I was on bouncer greeter duty at that time.

We didn't have our usual cafe clean up crew, so that left all of the clean-up to us, and made us very late getting home. Worse, we had to be back early the next morning to unload the dishwasher before Sunday coffee hour.

After church, I made the mad dash to load up Judy and hit the road for Savannah, where I am as I write this. Amanda and I left East Jesus at about 2:00pm yesterday and reached our downtown hotel at about 10:10pm last night.

About fifteen minutes after we checked in, Court sent a text asking if I'd seen her car keys. I have them. Oops.

We're here in Savannah for the day. Tomorrow we drive to Naples, FL.

Help me out

I'm driving with Amanda to Naples, FL next week.

Once a year the two of us vacation together. We've been to San Diego, Vail, and Washington, DC.

We're going to Naples this year because friends of ours at the college have a beach house there, and they offered it to us for free. I love my friends. Amanda and I can have a great vacation for WAY more than I can afford, and now I can afford it. People are so nice.

Other than having my Judy checked out by a mechanic for trip-worthiness, I am sorely under-prepared for this trip.

Help me out. What am I going to forget?

Doing our part for the economy

We went on a rare spending spree this weekend.

My back-up laptop (the one Amanda used) died last week. We bought a new one on Friday. Court will get it, and her old laptop will be handed down to Amanda. Amanda isn't happy about that, but she's hard on PCs.

Our digital camera has been slowly dying since summer. First, the digital display stopped working. Then the controls jammed. So while we were at Best Buy getting the laptop, we bought a new camera. What's another hundred or so bucks, eh?

One of these days I want a real camera.

We traveled north to Pennsylvania this weekend to see my family and celebrate Amanda's birthday. Rather than stay with my friend Tina as we usually do (in her camper), we splurged on hotel rooms. Court and I booked the jacuzzi suite, which is as big as our entire house. Very nice.

My parents and siblings were not pleased when Amanda showed them the navel piercing she got for her birthday. They're really negative and judgmental about stuff like that.

My friend Tina wasn't happy about Amanda's piercing, either. That's because her daughter, who turns 16 in May, wants a navel piercing. Tina and her husband are against it.

In December, a classmate from high school found me through a class registry. We've exchanged a few emails since then. While in PA for the weekend, we hooked up for lunch and had a very nice visit. She and I hadn't seen each other in 30 years.

She says I haven't changed. I have changed, a lot, in 30 years, but I always take it as a compliment when a friend from childhood says I'm the same person I always was.

By the time we returned to East Jesus last night, we had contributed a few grand to the economy. Honestly, I was surprised at how busy Best Buy was. A lot of people were shopping (and buying big things). I was also surprised at how busy restaurants were. Our hotel was completely booked too.

Greetings from Little Rock

We're having a fine Christmas with Court's family. There has been minimal drama, for which we are grateful. Things are quite improved from last year.

Court's grandfather, who broke his hip and shattered his elbow nine weeks ago, was able to come home for the day. It is good to see him. He's lost a lot of weight but otherwise is doing well.

The kids had major parts in the church Christmas Eve service, so we went. Court's dad introduced me to the minister as Court's "spouse." This is huge. The minister was very welcoming. We were impressed.

Court gave me a Christmas gift for the ages: a gift-certificate for eight laps in a Sprint Cup car at a track of my choosing. I'd love to do it at Talledega, but I'll most likely cash it in at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. I am so excited.

We took the kids to see Marley & Me. It's a good movie, but has a sadder ending than My Dog Skip. There wasn't a dry eye in the theater. Even Amanda cried, and she has emotions of steel.

We're taking it easy today. Tomorrow we are headed to Hot Springs for the Mid-America Science Museum.

She must have skipped that chapter

I've been taking a real razzing all week from Court.

She's razzing me because I called my mother to make a meal request.

I asked for turkey & waffles.

Go ahead. Make a funny face. It's a Pennsylvania Dutch dish. And it's delicious.

Court thinks it's gross. And apparently so does everyone else, judging from the sympathy she's getting for having to endure turkey & waffles with the in-laws this weekend.

It's just as I'd expect; she hangs out with a bunch of academic snobs. She (and they) don't get it. Turkey & waffles is delicious.

I love turkey & waffles. And I haven't had it since I left home. Court just rolls her eyes whenever I mention turkey & waffles.

Interestingly, she never puts turkey & waffles on the meal plan. EVER. A good wife would serve it up at least once, if not twice, in the time we've been together. It's her duty. Right? Work with me here.

As luck would have it, my mother is delighted to host us for a meal of turkey & waffles. We're driving up tomorrow, and will arrive just in time for dinner at six.



I am going to eat until I explode.

My wife is mean

Look at the card she tucked into my luggage.




Tease.






I was in Kansas City this week for staff meetings. The company is six full-time people. Business is up 45% this year, and we expect it to go up at least as much next year. We'll be adding two more full-time people this year (one guy straight out of college in June). It's exciting.

Mike started the company ten years ago. And for a long time it was just him. He's a good person. He really cares about us all. He wants us to have our dreams. It's sounds cliche to tell it. But he is genuinely interested in what we want from life, and how being in the company can make that happen. I've talked to him several times over the years about what I want from life. And thanks to Mike, I'm on my way.

I had a great meal at Room 39. The weather sucked. I was stranded for hours in Atlanta last night.

Our next staff meeting is in Portland next summer. I may finally meet Guy after all these years.

DC crab boat cruise

Pictures from the cruise are HERE.

Back from the reunion

We had a great weekend in Ohio for the reunion. It was a real step back in time for me.

Everyone looked great. We've all been knocked around in the years since we were first-time grad students. But you wouldn't have known it to see us this weekend.

Court & I spent much of our time visiting with Margaret, who made me laugh with her squirrel stories. She's terrified of squirrels. And they know it; they chase her all the time.

I'm too old and out of shape for late night parties, three nights in a row. It was worth how tired I'm still feeling.

Right after we arrived in BG Thursday afternoon, I got a call from the consultants. Another analyst has been slammed with projects, and they wanted to know if I would do some of the work. Of course I said yes. And, as these things usually go, a couple of things were due Monday. I spent a good bit of our trip working. I wasn't so happy about that.

The election was a frequent topic of discussion. It was a decidedly partisan group. I was honest and told everyone Obama hadn't sold me. All I got by way of response was how awful Sarah Palin is. The last time I saw this much loathing for a political figure, was when Robert Bork was nominated for the Supreme Court.

I worried we'd have to drive through Ike to get home on Sunday, but the storm blew north leaving us with great weather for the trek back to East Jesus.

It's good to be home.

Sign of the day

These signs made me giggle like a 12-year old

I saw these signs while driving around Washington DC. They made me giggle.

We had a very good time. Ann and Brook are great hosts. They took us to lunch at Amanda's favorite Lebanese restaurant up past DuPont Circle in the swanky part of town.

Ann and Brook live downtown, near L' Enfant Plaza, so we walked the few blocks to the Smithsonian and spent the afternoon there. Saturday night I drove us across town to the U Street area for our first taste of Ethiopian cooking. Yum!

I love Ann & Brook's cats.

We had a really great time. The music Friday night was fantastic. Coming back Sunday we made a pit stop in Culpeper. It's a beautiful, quaint town and we will definitely take in a wine or farm tour there in the fall.

This morning I was up bright and early to see my girls off to their respective schools. I made French toast for Amanda and packed her lunch. I drove Courtney to work so she wouldn't have to deal with first-day-of-class traffic at the college.

As for my day, I uploaded a report and began work on another one. And I was given another report to do, due Friday.

I danced all through the house today, just because I could.

Life is good. Really good.

Still finding my rhythm

I'm still adjusting to life as an employed stay-at-home mother. I suspect my adjustment will continue for a long while.

I enjoyed mothering all the kids while they were here. And now I am enjoying the last couple of weeks with Amanda before she goes back to school on the 25th.

I had a stretch of 12-hour days with nine projects due in the last two weeks of July, and now I am coming off seven days of no work. Yesterday I was given three projects, all due on Wednesday. More will come.

We've been doing SO much driving. We rented a Grand Caravan for the trip to Little Rock, and turned it in having driven 2,099 miles in five days. While the kids were here we made day trips to Greensboro, NC; Virginia Beach; Lexington, VA; and Natural Bridge, VA (sometimes in two cars).

This past Tuesday we drove to Charlottesville to meet the very fine Ms. Chapin. She says we cooked dinner for her. The truth is, we took her to a fondue restaurant.

We're not done traveling. My paternal family reunion is tomorrow in PA. We're driving up early in the morning for the afternoon picnic. Afterward we'll head over to BFF Tina's for Karaoke night at Johnny Angels.

Tonight for date night we are going to the Pittsylvania County rodeo.


Court and I had an anniversary on Sunday, while we were in Little Rock. It seems impossible that she and I have been together only four years. We fit like time-tested precision, well beyond our years as a couple. Nevertheless, it was just four years ago, on Aug 3, that I drove to Little Rock to move her to Radford, VA for graduate school. That was also our first face-to-face meeting.

Yes, Court and I started out as an Internet romance.

So. Tawdry.

Our first year was rocky. I was still smarting from my divorce. I was broke and demoralized. And I wasn't out to anyone that mattered. The first night she was in my home, I looked at her and said to myself, "She's going to break my heart."

She hasn't.

Ever.

Near the end of our first year I panicked. I had doubts. I suddenly felt like life with her was not what I wanted. And I told her so. It was honest, it was the right thing to do, but it was a brutal blow to her. The woman NEVER wavered. And she impressed me. My panicking wasn't an attempt to test her, but in that crisis, she proved herself a keeper.

I've not doubted since.


I have to be the luckiest, and happiest, woman alive right now.

Road trippin' again

We're headed to Syd's and then to the in-laws in Little Rock to return the kids.

Back Tuesday.

Road trip

We're on the road this weekend to middle TN and back. My in-laws are bringing the kids half way from Little Rock. The kids will be living with us for the next three weeks.

Two moms and four kids (8, 12, 14, 15). A reality show in the making: Kim & Court plus Four.

Having a good time

My feet are killing me. We must have walked 20 miles today.


At a DC restaurant I overheard a beltway insider mention that Obama has picked his running mate.

So far... not so good

Arrived DC suburbs Saturday evening. Chilled out at hotel and watched Juno on Pay-per-view. Great movie, especially for mother-daughter viewing.

Sunday had brunch at a finer restaurant. I enjoyed the best Eggs Benedict EVER.

Sunday afternoon, I was sick as a dog from the eggs benedict. I don't know what it is with me and restaurant eggs, but more often than not they make me sick. This time it as worth it.

The kid and I both slept about 12 hours after that. Oh, and just to keep things interesting, I forgot to take my crazy meds yesterday. I am feeling especially loopy this morning.


Today Amanda needs to do her laundry and then I'm sending her to a day spa for full-body massage, facial, manicure & pedicure.

As for me, I have to work. Consulting obligations have been never ending, but the work is paying for the vacation. It's all good.

Tomorrow we'll hit the Smithsonian.

Oh yes she did!

Take a look at what my wife gave me for Christmas.