Our trip to Busch Gardens Europe (aka Williamsburg) over the weekend was a total success. We had great weather on the long Memorial Day weekend – going in, we thought we made a bad call because we were afraid the park would be packed – but we had beautiful sunshine, a cool-enough breeze, and almost no lines at all. We drove up Friday, hitting some traffic – apparently an overturned 18-wheeler – but we had enough time in the schedule to absorb it. We hit our traditional eatery, a nice Mexican restaurant at just about the halfway mark, and the kids collected some great custom ballons from visiting clowns – weirdness! We got in to our nifty little Econolodge in time to hit the sack, after a quick trip to Food Lion and Wawa to pick up park entry coupons – $10 off the $60 admission, the best deal around. The next day everyone was pumped up and we hit the road at 8:30am. We were at the park by 9am, in the first row of parking, whoop! They opened up Scotland at 9am, which let gave us time to pack our stuff in a locker (no bags on rides any more), ride Loch Ness Monster and get in line to storm the rest of the park. Then we hit the Griffon, and were screaming down the 200+-foot-freefall by 10am. What a start! Everyone’s heart was pumping after that, and we basically didn’t stop until 10pm that night. We crawled home and fell asleep. After a nice jump in the cool pool the next morning (with Wrenny jumping in without testing the water haha!), we headed home for some well-deserved rest. Wahoo!! Good job to the whole crew, everybody did their best to have a blast. :>
Biked to downtown for Bike-To-Work week
At 24 miles one-way, it was a good ride! There’s something extra fun about seeing skyscrapers appear on the horizon, then biking into their shadows. Ricardo and Jim joined up there. And there was swag to be had! Water bottles, leg bands, lights, and the Red Bull girls handing out free ice-cold energy in a can, whoop. I’m logging my miles here now, check the top right for the latest summary. I’ll try to add some more fun graphs soon…
An environmentalist’s bad day, with a long shot at total redemption
Eight animals runnning around on your carpet for about a decade takes its toll. Andrea’s allergies have been acting up for years, likely synchronized with the buildup of dirt and dust deep within the carpet. So this week we are getting hardwoods installed in the entire house.
I have resisted for a while. It’s very costly (hello debt). And my inner environmentalist has been saying “can’t we just make do” (for far longer than reasonable, all things considered). The fact that the hardwood boxes are marked “Made in USA” doesn’t cover my guilt. Such conflict! So… here I am. I carted three vanfuls of carpet, padding, nails and carpet tack to the dump this week. *sigh*
In other vaguely related news, I discovered a beautiful bunch of bunnies – by running over them with my electric mower – none were harmed! – but they scattered like the wind. I pulled them out from the A/C ductwork and pushed them back into their burrow. I was determined to protect them, but… I had called our lawn guy to come mow, and he said to call him back when he was back in town. I feel like I spend half my life following up on things like that, but irony would have it that he was proactive, and came to cut the lawn on his own without a followup… mowing over the bunnies – again none were hurt! But when I heard the news, I was crestfallen and depressed. When I got home from work, I searched the yard and everything seemed okay. By now, the bunnies have grown too big for the burrow, but I’ve spotted them, and mom, around the yard, and hopefully the little guys will lead long happy lives. :>
So, to sum up, I’m not completely satisfied with my environmental efforts lately. Life can be full of hard choices and challenges! But there may be an unbelievably strong light at the end of the tunnel – EGS! I’ve recently become fascinated with the potential of this alternative energy source to solve all. our. problems. Seriously! We’ll see how it plays out, stay tuned!
spectrial round 1, over
Even if had money, I would rather burn everything I owned,
and not even give them, you know, the final dust from the burning, so…
(Anna: the ashes) Yeah, the ashes.
(Anna: not even the ashes) No, not even the ashes.
They could pick them up, and then give them to someone else.
They could have the job of picking it up.
That’s what I think about that media industry.
UPDATE: …and round 2 has begun… unbelievable…
Arrested Development movie in the works?!
Hearing this news was like discovering that 10 of your best friends were found alive after crash-landing in the Alps and eating each other. Impossibly incredible!
Soccer drills that worked
We had fun at Reiley’s soccer practice tonight, here are the drills we used:
- shots on goal from outside goal box
- hard pass to one-touch shots on goal
- all-offense corner kicks
- leading-pass through cones relay race
- 4v4 half-field scrimmage, dribble thru cones to score
It’s great fun to watch the kids improve – a talented bunch!
Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me
Andrea and I braved the rain to see another awesome production with my buddy Ryan, this time by the justice theater project, with his pals Byron and Dave, playing three hostages imprisoned and chained in a windowless single room. Ryan played the Englishman, Byron the American, and Dave the Irishman – sounds like a cheap joke. But their plight, and willingness to find ways to support each other, draws you into an intense couple of hours. Once again, it’s theater like this that gives you more than any other form of culture.
9.0 Grand Torino
If you haven’t seen it, and you can tolerate a bit of violence, go check it out. Continue reading “9.0 Grand Torino”
See my bike stats, guilt me into riding!
A new page of my bike stats is available on the menu above. Check ’em out and ask me why there are big gaps. :>
Clean scan, and life is good!
I got my semi-annual CT scan last week, and the 9mm tumor near my spleen has not grown at all. NO change. That’s about the best news you can get! Dr. Levine says “keep doin’ what you’re doin!” Happy day. Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. I suppose I should throw a party!! Would you come? :P