End-of-vacation blues

Got to go spend a few days at the coast last week with family and had a great time. The kids did really well, especially at night. It amazes me that we can have so many bed-time problems at home, but get in the trailer and go somewhere and everything is fine. Then we come back home and start in on the same old bed-time issues. Go figure.


Coming home was rough. Maddy was VERY sad to be packing up and going home. I remember going through the same depression every time camping was over when I was a kid....still do to some extent. I just don't cry and whine and throw myself on the floor (even though maybe I might feel like it). It seemed like Ben was ok with it, since he is only 2 1/2 and doesn't really get it yet. BUT, tried to get him in bed after we got home and he started crying, "I wanna sleep in the trailer!" I guess he gets the end-of-camping blues too.

All in all....it was a fun trip, we always have a good time, even though it seems like an immense amount of work at this time in our lives. But every time we go out, the kids are a little more autonomous, a little less in need of constant supervision. One of these years, we may actually be able to sit in a lounge chair in the middle of the afternoon for a whole hour!

Mmmm.....yummy

cake.....mmmm.....cake




(I know what you're thinking....."What the...?!" So I like cake, alright?!)

Switching Gears

So this year I decided to take up the sport of Bike Racing after a break of roughly 18 years. I've always been a cycling fan in those 18 years, just haven't always been a cyclist, if you know what I mean. I started racing when I was a teen-ager and was only competitive in a few races. Most of the time, I was getting dropped in the early part of the race. So this was a mild attempt at finding some redemption. I thought maybe I would do one or two races this year. One or two turned into about 13 or 14. I got dropped on a couple of them as before, but for the most part this year, I was in there for the duration. No impressive finishes, but I would say that I found a little redemption. I had a blast doing it and helped a friend get a new racing team off the ground in the process (see link to "Vapor Racing).


I've also been a bass player for the last 16 or so years. But when I decided I was going to pursue bike racing this year, I put the bass away in the closet. It hasn't seen the light of day since last November. Now the bike racing is pretty much tapered off, at least with regard to events that I would consider entering. It feels like it is time to break out the axe again and start brushing up on my chops. I miss it. I felt at the time that I needed a break and only wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time for a while. Maybe I'll succumb to the pleas of a couple of good freinds (you know who you are) who are always up for a good jam session. Our jam sessions in the past usually involved getting all the instruments set up and then somebody saying, "Hey, lets go drink beer", which of course we did. But that's what made them great!

It's just for a season....right?

I have to constantly remind myself that certain things that tend to drive me crazy or wear me me out, with regard to my children, are just fleeting moments that will disappear into the mist in the blink of an eye. My 2-year-old son insists that mom or dad lay with him in his bed at night-night time until he is asleep. Please don't get me wrong...it can be endearing and I certainley don't mind doing it. Just not everytime, and not when it's demanded. Mom and dad want their own time after 8 o'clock. But if we try to put him off, we are still dealing with him at 10 o'clock, about the time that my 5-year-old daughter sits up in bed in a half-awake, half-asleep diorientated fog, crying out a string of uninteligible garble until we go in, physically lay her back down, rub her legs until she yawns, rolls over and goes back to sleep. Now it's 10:30...11:00 and mom and dad are spent. The nightly routine as of late. But like I said...I will be saying tomorrow, "Remember when the kids used to want us to lay in their beds?" Better to just roll with it and have grace on them. Besides, they're just so darn cute! The pursuit of successful parenting has got to be the most unselfish act anyone can ever do (I did say "successful"...anyone can bring children into the world...am I right?).

What's in a name?

Been trying to find out what my last name means by definition. After quite a bit of searching on the web, came to find out the origin is Dutch and German (my family's nationality) and means "hangman" or "torturer". I couldn't be less like this last name....the Executioner! Ya, that's me. All the people with this name (Mennonite's) left the country and immigrated to Prussia in the 1700's. Also means "swamp" or "whiner". Good stuff, huh? My wife had to rub it in by saying, "Hope there's no Doug or Wendy in your family tree!" (Any 70's SNL fans in the house?) Thanks, dear...

"Is this thing on??"

Post 1 - Never been into the idea of blogging, but decided to give it a shot. Here goes nothing....