Catching up!

Holy cow, it's been a long time since I posted!

What's new? I'm glad you asked...

Some highlights:

Soccer - My first season came to an end a few weeks ago - we ended up finishing a perfect 0-8 on the season. Doh! We have continued to improve, which is great. We also picked up a new player who is unbelievably good - rumor has it that he plays semi-pro or something. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet pulled us to a victory. Last week, we managed our first tie, though, which was awesome! I thought we all played very well, which was great. We have a practice this week, which will be our third and I'm looking forward to it.

Cub Scouts - My son finished his Cub Scout years and graduated to Boy Scouts. We had his Blue and Gold banquet, where he received his Arrow of Light, which was a great achievement for him and I am very, very proud of him!

Boy Scouts - With his graduation, my son immediately moved into Boy Scouts. He joined a local troop and has attended 3 weekly meetings and has also (just this past week) gone on his very first Boy Scout weekend outing! Very busy and it's costing us a fortune between the uniform and the cost for the weekend! Yikes!

Brownies - My daughter has been to regular Brownie meetings - she's really enjoying that and I'm glad she's into it. We bought a bunch of Girl Scout cookies in February, needless to say.

First Communion - My daughter is also preparing for her First Communion, which she'll be celebrating in May. Big doings for her! This past weekend (while my son was away at Boy Scout camp), my wife and I took her to buy her dress. She's got a very pretty dress now and a nice veil to go with it.

Detroit Pistons Game - A few weeks ago, we all went to a Detroit Pistons game. My kids' school had an assembly about 2 months ago where one of the Pistons' assistant coaches came and talked to the kids and the kids got free tickets. We had to buy tickets for me and my wife, but it was still pretty cheap. The game itself was exciting - the Pistons were down by 11 at one point but managed to pull back to a win. The "show" was also pretty fun - I liked the giant flaming torches that they brought out before the game for the intro of the players.

Roller Skating - Let's see... Two weeks ago, the kids had their monthly outing to one of the local roller skating rinks. I am surprised how much they and their friends from school are into skating! I thought it was no longer cool. Go figure.

Plumbing! - My god, I hate plumbing. Lately, it seems like we have all sorts of problems. We had our entry way redone a few months ago and when the toilet in the downstairs bathroom was put back in place (the downstairs bathroom was re-tiled), we had to do some adjustment to the innards. No big deal. Then, a few weeks ago, I discovered we had a leak in the outflow pipe from the kitchen sink! Luckily, my neighbor is brilliant with home improvement work and was able to help me and also teach me a thing or two. Just this weekend, the toilet off the master bedroom started making an odd noise that sounded like air escaping out of it. I figured that the innards just needed to be replaced (I'd done that in this same toilet about 3 or 4 years ago). On Sunday, I turned off the inflow valve and found that it wouldn't shut off! argh! A brief call to my savior, er..., neighbor gave me his insight (need a new inflow valve) and some direction on what to get. He then called back a few minutes later to say he was already on the way to Home Depot, so he'd pick up what I needed. Whew! He later on came over and helped me with the whole job! Woo hoo! Got to love the handy neighbor, I say :-)

Anniversary - Last, but certainly not least, my wife and I celebrated our 14th anniversary. My wife and I had a great night out (our neighbors ended up taking my daughter while my son had an overnight at a friend's house). I just managed to get my wife a reasonably nice anniversary present - a new digital camera. I hope she likes it!