WEEKEND!! (FINALLY)

     One work week for me is usually five days, or 40 hours, you can call it 2400 minutes, or 144,000 seconds.  However you say it, it is still less than 25% of my life.  How is it, then, that it feels like some work weeks consume 100% of my daily life?  This has definitely been one of those weeks.
     Not a particularly stressful or eventful week, just consuming.  In fact, there were aspects of work that were, for lack of a better word, enjoyable!  Just busy.  I would almost prefer 3 or 4 major projects in a week than 30 minor ones.  The only variable that I can blame is the fact that I have been going to work around 5:30 or 6:00 am.  Well, the weekend is finally here, and I am going to enjoy it!!
     I left work today to travel and pick up my oldest son from his moms house.  (he finally got a 2 day break from football practice).  There is NO better way to end a work day than changing the Sirius radio to Symphony Hall and realizing that you are driving during the 2 hours that they play all the best string concertos.  I cranked the volume, and basked in the fact that I could listen to classical music as loud as I wanted, and there was no one to complain about it!
     After I picked him up, it was just he and I.  You can imagine the fear in his eyes when he saw that I was alone.  He was trapped in the car with his lame old dad for the entire trip, with 2 choices:  Classical music, or talking.  He chose the latter, and it turned out to be one of the greatest conversations we have ever had!  We talked about almost everything, it was fantastic!
     On another note, I am down 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks!  I have told almost no one about my latest venture to be get fit, lose weight, and start riding mountain bikes again.  I miss the days that I was able to ride 10-15 miles through the woods.  Days that my will power is at it's best, I have a protein shake for breakfast and lunch.  My weaker days I have the shake for breakfast and enjoy a light lunch.  Next week, since the boys will be back at their mothers, I will be going to the gym in the mornings before work.  (after work is ME time).  I am really hoping to reach my ideal weight.  For now I will not disclose that number.
      I WILL be going to McCall next year and I WILL keep up with the group.
     For those of you who are not familiar, McCall is a small resort community in Idaho.  A beautiful place 12 months out of the year.  Every Winter, Dawn and I attend the annual Winterfest celebration in McCall, but I want her to experience what Summer can offer.  There are cross country trails galore!  For a treat, they also open the ski lifts on the ski mountain so that you and your bike can lazily ride to the top, and tear down the mountain at alarming speeds.  I am really looking forward to it.

Summer!

     So, last night was the first night of dart league, and we killed!  We started late, so we got home late.  After finally falling asleep around 2am, the 4:30 am alarm was not the best noise to hear.  As far as I was concerned, this morning was ruined!!  I checked facebook, nothing to see but post after post of children going back to school.  Yes, it seems that Summer is coming to an end.
     When I got in the car to drive to work, that's when my morning turned around!  I mean a complete 360.  This is a true testament to the power of music.  As I started the car, the radio was, of course, already set to NPR, and one of my favorite pieces had just started playing.  It is a piece simply called "Summer"  it is part of the 4 seasons string concertos brought to us from Antonio Vivaldi from the 1700s.  A really great piece!
It is amazing how that one piece of music shifted my train of thought.  I started to think about how much I love late summer, as we begin to transition into autumn, my absolute favorite!
     The power of music is something that is not new to me.  As a teenager, for reasons I will not discuss, I took a class in stress management.  This taught me a lot about how certain types of music actually decreases heart rate, anxiety and dilates blood vessels, which increases blood flow to the brain, thus meaning more oxygen to the brain, thus higher brain activity.  I have three sons, and each of them were introduced to Mozart before they were even born.

     Tonight I plan to enjoy some downtime.  There is nothing pressing to be taken care, so I will try and find a show I missed on Monday, and try to watch it online.  That's about all the excitement happening in this house tonight.  Nothing like a lazy Wednesday evening!

never enough hugs!

     We, as humans, tend to get comfortable.  And when we reach an optimal level of comfort, we sometimes develop a false sense of security.  Maslow's hierarchy of needs stressing importance of having basic security, but this is not what I mean.  I mean the false security that causes us to take for granted the things we love most in this world.  It does not make us bad people, it's an easy habit to fall into, and we have all done it.
     Today I learned of a friend that lost a son over the weekend.  She lost a son in a most tragic way, and my heart broke for her.  I, at a young age, lost a brother.  and as a teenager, I lost another brother.  It shook my whole world.  I never could, and still do not understand how my parents could possibly cope with such a loss.  I have 3 sons of my own, and I am not confident that I could ever function as a human being if I was to lose any of them.
     Needless to say, when I returned home from work, I hugged each of my children that are here until the point they started to question it.  I called my oldest son to tell him how much he means to me, and that I love him.  I felt him rolling his eyes through the phone.
     I am so proud of all 3 of my sons, and how bright they are.  Just yesterday, Jayce asked me if I knew why plant cells had a cell wall.  I told him that I did not, so I could see the glow in his eye as he took the next 25 minutes explaining it to me.  If I have anything to say, these boys will master science and grammar.  The school system will have to handle the rest.
     As we approach the end of summer, our conversations have shifted to the anticipation of starting a new school year.  He is especially nervous, as this will be his first year in middle school.  He asks me what he should do if he encounters a bully, how he should react if he meets a girl he likes, and so on.  Most of my answers spark a laugh, or at the very least, a smile.
     This morning when I woke up, on my dresser was Dawn's old (expensive) chromatic harmonica.  I can only assume that this was left here for me, so I grabbed it, and went downstairs to play a few songs for a quick morning practice.  Spoiler alert: I am getting good.  Next year's camping trips are going to be musical.  I could feel  all three boys sighing in embarrassed disbelief as I typed that sentence.
     I did a bit of research online last night as I was waiting for the thunderstorm to pass, and I think next summer will be the summer that Jacob and I take the plunge, right out of the side of an airplane.  I was excited when he took an interest in skydiving last time we were talking about it, and I cannot wait to share this with him!  Provided I can talk his mother into giving him permission.  Until next year, I will keep chipping away at Dawn, but I do not think that she will ever agree to joining us.     
   

Coming to an end

   All good things come to an end.  This proven theory really hit home this weekend.  My sons have been here since early July, spending the remainder of their summer vacation with my me and my wife.  I realized this afternoon, as we were battling the department store for school supplies, that this summer was coming to an abrupt halt.
     While I am excited for the educational growth they are experiencing, the selfish part of me wishes that this would never end.  Jacob is starting high school, Jayce is beginning his middle school career, and Justin is excited to see his friends he has not seen since June.

   

   One thing is for sure, they are most certainly growing up, no matter what I try to do to stop it.  Shopping for new backpacks, I was looking at the superman, batman, and all other super hero backpacks.  I was quickly informed that my youngest son is "too old" for those kid backpacks, and he needed something a bit more "sophisticated".
     I also came to the realization that my boys are growing up to be just like their father.  Oh boy!  We sat back at the department stores gazing upon the mothers who had an entire caravan of screaming kindergartners, first graders, and even preschoolers.  We were all engaged in the entertainment value of watching these poor souls try with all their might to not lose total control in front of a large public crowd.           Jayce and I reminisced about the day that he remembers quite well.  A day that I matched his behavior in the middle of an extremely crowded Northtown Mall in Spokane so many years ago.  He was 3, and we were Christmas shopping out of town.  After an hour in the store that had a Thomas the Train playset in the window, we were ready to move on.  He disagreed.  He displayed his defiance by lying on the floor and screaming, an act that I had not seen from him before.  As the crowd started to gather, I did not know what to do, so I joined him, screaming and kicking expressing my desire to head to the food court for a pretzel.         The reaction I received from him was priceless.  Immediately he returned to his feet and started pleading with me to do the same.  The crowd's reaction was mixed.  Laughter, unbelief, and a few "well, I nevers".         This was the last time he attempted this particular method of manipulation.  The story, however, had lasting effects.  My youngest son was told this tale, and he never attempted, for fear he would also be the target of public embarrassment.  Watching the crusade of school shopping this afternoon, I wondered how funny it would be if all parents reacted this way.  In fact, I still do it.  All three of my children understand that if they begin misbehaving in any public setting, I take this as a cry that they lack the attention they desire, and I WILL start hugging them, kissing their foreheads, and cradle them in my arms right in front of everybody until they feel well enough that they can behave the way they are supposed to.  So far, a pretty effective threat.
   
     On another note, I am beginning to learn to play the harmonica.  This is to keep me busy until I purchase a piano, and finally realize my life-long dream of learning to play the piano.  I have always been part of a musical family.  If we were not singing, we were learning to play an instrument.  All of my brothers and sisters were in band in one way or another, and my kid sister has decided to make music her life and is finishing her degree in college.  Other than Guitar Hero, on the Xbox, or singing karaoke, I have not been a very musical person for quite sometime.  Sure, when we are camping, we all like to sing, but I always wanted an instrument that I can play in just such a situation.  I mastered the jazz trombone, but I do not want to play that around the campfire.  The other day, Dawn found some new music for her harmonica, which she plays quite well!  Eureka, this is the instrument I have been trying to think of, so I have been in the basement guest room practicing quite a bit this weekend.  It is a lot of fun!

Stress-free Saturday

     Five days almost every week, I push myself to wake up, slither out of bed, inject myself with coffee, get ready and reluctantly get myself to a place, most often, I would rather not be.  Saturday morning, however, is a completely different tale.
     Even my young children awake differently on Saturday mornings.  They are more willing to get up, and ridiculously eager to see what this magical day will bring.
     My kitchen, usually a factory of a quick smoothie, protein shake, or bowl of cereal, transforms into what my family likes to call "Josh's Famous Pancake House."  We come up with new recipes and try them out.  The boys are always tickled to help, especially when it comes to trying a new recipe.  We sit, eat and talk...during breakfast!  We plan out the course of the day as we fight over the last pina colada pancake.
     The fondest memories I retain from my childhood are directly linked to Saturdays.  I can only hope that I am working to build solid, positive memories that my children will grasp onto and never release!
     Today was no exception.  Waking up late is always a grand idea on a Saturday.  Then, lazily moving around the kitchen to get the coffee going, the whole family starts to gather.  Today we were faced with the challenge of making the choice of which activity we would indulge.  There was a sprint boat race taking off soon from the river just down from the house.  Also, this weekend is the community Hot August Nights festival.  Last night I had a brilliant plan to get up early and take an overnight camping trip in the blue mountains.  After careful thought and much debate,  we all agreed to head downtown and join the Hot August Nights celebration.
     This turned out to be a remarkable choice!  At the show and shine, there were probably over 60 classic cars, and one 1991 Ford F250?!  We still have not figured that one out.  The boys had so much fun looking at all the cars.  There were a lot of newer cars as well.  They picked their favorite, which was a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro.  Jayce was trying to act like such a man, asking questions like "whatcha got under the hood?", and "how many miles to the gallon you get?".  Later into the afternoon, we stumbled upon a 1967 Volkswagen Bug that had been painted the colors of the Seattle Seahawks!  This was quite a treat to us!

   On another note, my oldest son is thriving at his two-a-day football practices.  He states that he is enjoying it much more than he thought he would, and is confident that he will make the freshman team.  I am so proud!  

School's out

     This evening, I received the most unusual request you could probably get from a 10 year old boy.  "Dad", he says.  "If we name at least 5 parts of an animal cell, can we not learn science tonight?"  I was tickled, and at the same time, I was heartbroken.  Am I doing them a disservice?  I hope I am not turning them away from a love for learning,

     Yesterday, my 11 year old son asked me if we, in fact, start as one cell.  An hour later they both knew everything they never wanted to know about cell division and cell function.

  Needless to say, we skipped the biology lesson tonight and talked about other things, like who makes the best pizza, and the best video games.

     On another note, My work shirts are past their prime, and ready for retirement.  I am, however, very particular on how a shirt has to feel and breath.  I could care less what it looks like, just needs to be comfortable.  Well, today I found a shirt that I liked, so I took a deep breath and now I have new shirts for every work day of the week.  I have to decide which shirts are for which days, label them and then I will be set.

     

Science 101

     I must get a bit nerdy with today's blog.  Do no turn away immediately, however, I will try and keep it brief.
     A conversation in this morning's manager sparked an old debate, so here it goes.  There is no debate on the fact that the moon, and it's lunar phases affect the waters of our planet.  This is due to the fact that the gravitational fields of the moon and earth attract each other, almost like a couple of massive magnets.  The earth is able to "hold on" to everything except water.  This is what causes the tides.  Basically, the moon is "pulling" on the oceans.
     There is also no debate on the scientific fact that 60% of the human body is water.  Why then, is there such a debate about whether or not the moon, especially when full, can make people behave strangely?
     We have all heard it.  Especially those of us that are lucky enough to work in the medical field.  "It must be a full moon!"  This is used as an explanation, an excuse, and a superstition.  I believe that the phases of the moon, by laws of science, must affect human behavior.  Enough said!

     This scientific phenomenon pretty much sums up my week, thus far! At work anyway.  I have been having a wonderful time spending time with my boys, and I am very much looking forward to taking them downtown this weekend to look at all of the cars at Hot August Nights.  This is a huge weekend festival in our community!  

     My eldest son is enjoying football practice so far, and I am so proud of his level of commitment.  I am very proud to have 3 outstanding sons!  

     On another note, I am starting to get a bit more used to this early morning thing.  I probably sound like a baby, whining about waking up at 5am.  I know some people that awake earlier than that, by choice!  When the boys return to their mothers home, and I adjust my schedule back to 8 am, I think it would be great to keep the habit of waking early, and hitting the gym in the morning before work.  We will see.

 

The early bird feels like a worm!

 

     You've heard people describe sunrise as a heavenly experience, waking up with nature, drinking coffee on the deck while listening to the silence that only the early morning can give..what a bunch of malarkey as far as I am concerned!
     For the remainder of this month, I chose to work a different schedule so that I can leave work early and spend more time with the kids.  This decision was made without thoughtful consideration of the living dead being that I turn into if I'm awake before 6 am.
     This morning was day one.  After slithering out of bed, I headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.  The Keurig maker should have a warning label: "Joshua should not operate this equipment before 0600 hours."
After what I think was a shower, I threw on the first clothes I pulled out of the closet.  Later to learn that I had put on my Wednesday shirt.  This threw off my entire morning, but I was far too tired to remedy the situation.
     When I arrived at work, I was pleased to see the faces of the night shift!  The only time they see me is when they call me for an emergency repair, or if I am there to perform one of Josh's famous 3:00 am fire drills.  I did tell a couple of them to be ready for a fire drill, just to try and make someone else feel as miserable as I. I am a stinker!
     The next 2 hours were amazing!  I had an abundance of time to get stuff done.  I am not speaking of regular time, I mean uninterrupted, nobody knows your there time.  No phone calls, no emails, and no work orders.  I do not believe I have ever had a more productive couple hours.
     The other joy of my day was at noon, when every other manager was going to lunch, and my day was almost over.  I came home and had some great afternoon time with the boys.  Totally worth it!
   

     On another note, I am starting to "Seahawkify" my office.  A bit early, I know, but I just cannot wait any longer for football season.  Today, I enlisted the services of my Seahawks garden gnome to protect my desk, I got out my referee yellow penalty flag.  This is a fun item to "use" at work!  I lined the back of my chair with a Seahawks jersey, and moved my signed football to a more presentable location.  This year my eldest son got me an autographed picture of Golden Tate, so I need to frame it and add that to the wall, and I am considering whether or not there is room on the wall for a huge 12th man flag.  My name is Josh, and I am a footballaholic!

Dog days of Summer

Do you know why they say "dog days" of Summer?  This dates back to the Romans who used to say "dies caniculares"  They named these days after the star Sirius, or "the dog star" The brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, which resembles...you guessed it, A DOG!.  Never say you didn't learn something new by reading my blog!

Today was a dog day.  We discovered that our puppy has a mild ear infection.  This is yet another chapter in the book of new things for Josh to learn.  Before Dawn and I were married I had never had a dog, never wanted a dog, and had already decided that I would never get a dog!  Now, we have 2 dogs.  She's very convincing.  So, we had to make an appointment for the vet.  Although the dogs drive me CRAZY most of the time, the enjoyment and companionship is totally worth it.

Yesterday I think I was under some sort of hypnosis, because I left work about 15 minutes early and went straight to the mirror and shaved my whole face.  I mean my WHOLE face.  by the time I came to my senses, it was too late.  This is also about the point that I realized that I was due at a Chamber of Commerce event in about 15 minutes.  It was a fun evening explaining to people what I had done.  I am not sure yet if I am going to stay smooth, or grow it right back, but here is a picture below of what I look like without a beard...

Work was great today!  My company has created an Android app that, pretty much, contains my entire job!  It is so great!  All of my inspections are on there, so I can document point of service, I can create and complete work orders from my tablet and assign them to different staff members.  I also have access to every service manual, wiring diagram, parts lists etc  for my entire building at the touch of a finger.  I have been using this since Wednesday, and it is so nice.  I am spending less time at my desk, and much more time out in the field.  Totally great of them to get that going.

The boys left yesterday, and I am already feeling the effects of not having them around.  Yesterday evening Dawn and I went to Brews n Blues at a local bar to debrief and relax.  We got a table poolside, and I found myself extremely tempted to start disciplining other people's children.  After all, I hadn't lectured a child in almost 12 hours!  I miss them terribly, but I get to spend Labor day weekend with all three of my sons.  I am looking forward to that!

Bittersweet wednesday

As before mentioned in the title of this post, today was bittersweet.  On time to work, and productive right off the gate.

I completely caught up on some paperwork, then started on some of my inspections.  Things in my building are most certainly looking up.  When I took over this building last October, I knew I had a lot of catching up to do, and it helps that half of the new building is brand new.  It is a chore, however, to keep it looking and operating that way!  Since there were no major issues to tend to, I was able to complete several of my inspections and get a head start on some new projects.

Today was a day filled with humor.  My back is now feeling GREAT after some TLC, and the fact that I happened to marry a great masseuse.  So, feeling better, I was in a very "Josh" mood.

The one low point of the day was when I decided to perform my roof inspection just after high noon.  102 degrees!  As I descended from the shingled, pitched hell, I had a couple staff members give me a puzzled look, as though I had just finished synchronized swimming practice in my clothes.  Thank God I always keep a spare shirt in my office.   After changing my shirt, only interrupted once,(some of these women in the same hall as I am need to start knocking if they don't want to see the gun show!) I decided it would be a great time to inspect the walk in refrigerator.  That turned out to be a great choice!

All in all, today went by so fast. I left early (4:28 instead of 4:30) and rushed home to prepare for what turned out to be...let's just say an interesting boat trip.

From the hours of 8:00 am until 5:15 pm there was literally no wind in our little valley.  To say the least, I was thrilled.  This is to be the boys final evening here with Dawn and I, and it was destined to be EPIC!  We traveled to the store, grabbed some dinner, and got the 2 youngest boys into their life jackets (Look up the word frustration and you will see a picture of me trying to convince 2 young boys to allow me to snug the jackets for a proper fit)  I placed the key in the ignition and it hit, so much wind I could not tell what direction it was coming from.  As I carefully navigated out of the marina, I encountered another boat coming in.  They must not have seen me 20 feet in front of them.  I was as starboard as I could get but they kept coming closer.  Narrowly escaping collision, and biting my tongue so hard I won;t be able to taste anything  for a week, We were out in the open water.  The gods must have been satisfied with the torment, because it calmed down immediately.  We headed up river a bit and Jacob wanted to try his hand at knee boarding.  He did well!  after only 2 attempts he was able to climb up onto his knees, but then his jerk of a father thought it would be a good time to punch the throttle and turn to throw him off.  He had a lot of fun!

So, as the day is at it's end, I am thinking a lot about my family, the things I have done right raising my sons, some of the mistakes I have made, and how they have grown into exceptional young men.

Tomorrow morning I drop the boys off with their mother.  This would be the bitter part of my bittersweet day.  My 2 youngest will return on Sunday for a couple more weeks, but Jacob has to begin football practice so he will be staying with his mom.

On another note, as we were heading back down river to the marina, I lost my work hat.  My favorite work hat.  but I take it as an omen.  I need to win the lottery.  HA!

Growing up WAY too fast!!!!

I swear they grew up overnight!

I am cherishing EVERY second of these boy's childhood, before it is gone.

Unproductive Tuesday

Today was about as unproductive a day as you can get.  I arrived at work 2 minutes late to find that the only thing I needed to repair before the morning meeting was a commercial blender that was not broken at all.  Easy fix right?

As my back was still giving me quite a bit of grief, I decided to do some do a physical inspection of the grounds outside.  This lasted about 20 minutes before I was in so much pain, I could barely walk.  After yet another fun and exciting manager's meeting, I had already decided I was going to leave work for the day.  This decision was further confirmed as I walked to my office resembling someone desperately looking for a bathroom after having one too many Jamie Lee Curtis yogurts.

I arrived home and I think the boys thought I was turning into a smaller, less muscular, less green version of the Incredible Hulk.  They are good boys, so they left me alone as I went to bed.  3 hours, 3 Tylenol, and several episodes of Breaking Bad later, I felt like a new man.  Thank God nobody was there to see the physical positions I came up with to stretch my back.  Honestly, I surprised myself.

Tomorrow is the last day that I will see my eldest son for a couple weeks, so we are hoping to hang out on the river after work.  No tubing, skiing, or wake boarding, just spending some time together, sharing some laughs and an occasional leap off of the side of the boat.  Here's hoping that the weather cooperates.

On another note, I am seriously considering shaving my beard clean off.  My hesitation stems from the fact that it has been so long, and I am a bit concerned about what might be under there. For those of you who have not seen me for a bit, do not misunderstand.  I do not look as though I should be manufacturing duck calls on the history channel, or singing "cheap sunglasses".  I keep it trimmed, just long enough to drive my wife insane!  I just think it might be time for a different look.

 

Updated goals

I have decided to finally finish my novel that I started writing YEARS ago.  I set a goal for December 1st to have my manuscript complete and edited.  The month of December will be dedicated to writing and editing my synopsis, or "pitch".

January of next year I will be entering the Amazon.com breakthrough novel contest.  I entered an extremely rough draft a few years ago, and ended up in the top 3,000.  That does not sound like a super accomplishment, but out of 10,000 entries, I felt okay about it.  Especially since I created the last 3 chapters in 48 hours so that I could meet the deadline.  I was not expecting to do well, I was using the experience as a way to receive feedback and criticism.  Since then, I have made some changes, and done some editing.  There is much work to be done, but I would really like to make the contest next year.

On another note, I am enjoying the little remaining time that my children are here.  Jacob leaves Thursday, so that he can attend 2 a day football practice, and Jayce and Justin are only here for a couple more weeks.  After that, it's back to the every other weekend schedule.  They have been here for almost a month and a half, and I will sure miss being able to see them every day.

The boys have spent the day today creating different variations to the game of ping pong, and I have been told that there is a family tournament scheduled for later tonight.  I don't have the heart to turn them down, although my back is causing me quite a severe amount of pain.

So, my goal for tonight is to play a bit of ping pong, and perhaps an early bedtime.

Monday, Monday, Monday

If there is such a thing as a stereotypical Monday, today was it.  You know, the Mondays that Garfield complains about on that coffee mug?

Today was supposed to be a pretty relaxing day.  I had one major inspection scheduled, but other than that I was planning on catching up on a bit of paperwork.  Upon arrival, I discovered that one part of our television broadcast system had shorted out, leaving static on half the channels of our over 100 televisions!  Replacement part on the way...done right?  WRONG!  try explaining technological issues to someone who is 89 years old, and just wants her local news.  Better yet, try explaining that to 19 people! Wow!

Upon successfully delivering the bad news to the majority of our residents, I decided to take advantage of the 20 minutes I had until our morning management meeting.  Mondays are the days I perform tests on my 2 emergency backup generators, so I figured I would start both generators, run them during the meeting and check them afterward.  Nope.  starter was bad on one generator and battery was bad on the other.  Needless to say, I "missed" the morning meeting.

By 10:00 am, I had both generators running like a top.  Time to head to the office for a 15 minute sit down.
This lasted several seconds.  I soon realized that not only my office, but the entire Administrative wing was very quickly approaching 80+ degrees.  To the roof!!

I did get a few hours this afternoon to focus on some much needed paperwork, and luckily, my inspector did not need too much from me.

This is why I love my job!  Every day there is some new challenge! Some days, like today, there are numerous challenges!

All in all, there today had excitement, pressure, some disappointment, and some satisfaction.  All in a day's work!

Intro and feeling OLD!

So, today I decided to start a blog.  I'm not exactly sure what influenced my decision to start an online journal.  I suppose I enjoy writing and talking about myself.  I guess, in a way, this blog will serve as a connection between me and family and friends afar.  For a majority of my family (you know who you are), this will serve as a means for you to satisfy a craving for correcting grammatical mistakes.

So far, this has been a wonderful summer season!  My 3 sons are here spending the latter half of their vacation with my wife and I, and I could not be more pleased!  We have been doing a lot of boating, swimming, and just spending quality time together.  This is especially great, because I realized lat week that I am getting OLD, and my time with them as children is growing endangered.

Last Thursday I drove my eldest son to Couer d Alene, ID.  This is where my sons live, with their mother.  On this particular date, there was a mandatory meeting for parents and players for...get this,  Freshman football.  I still do not understand how it is possible that I have a son that is starting high school.  Only a few, short years ago Him and I were inseparable.  Anything that he was doing, he wanted me to be an active participant.  Now he is your typical teenage boy.  This makes me realize that this specific type of time with my other 2 boys will be just as short lived.  After all, Jayce will be 12 this year and Justin just turned 10.

For those of you that do not know, I am the director of maintenance at a skilled nursing facility.  This is about as interesting as it gets!  never a dull moment.  I assume that a sizable portion of this blog will provide me with an outlet for generalized "whining" about my job.  I can not really complain, I love my job and enjoy almost everyone that I work with.