Passion

Abby is playing high school golf this spring. She golfed for the first time ever last May at the Miller Open. She did pretty well for her first time and was hooked. She golfed three holes at practice on Friday and tells me that she shot par on all three. I'm not sure I've parred three holes my entire life. Good job kid!

47 days until my fishing trip. 90 days until the Colorado trip.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday for us Catholics; the Sunday before Easter. It's when we read "The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ". It's a long mass. It's also about the time I remember that I need to do some Easter shopping. 40 days comes and goes quick sometimes.

If I don't see you before next Sunday, Happy Easter!

Peace-
Matt

Lingering

Robby died 17 years ago today. We still feel his presence in our lives. We are thankful for that.

Peace-
Matt

Front and Center

What a great week of weather we've had here. It's hit the 80's nearly every day of spring break. Somebody around here has got karma on their side, and I know it ain't me.

My knee is doing ok I guess. I met with the doc a week ago. He told me that I shouldn't run much anymore, and not at all in the next six weeks. He told me to try an elliptical machine and some glucosamine chondroitin. I haven't done a lick of exercise since my birthday, and have been a lazy jerk (Madeline's words). Angie and I have decided to purchase an elliptical machine and will put it in the living room, replacing a recliner. Maybe we'll use it more if it's front and center in our daily routines.

The annual Troutslayer fishing trip is 61 days away. We will be going to Minnesota again this year. I feel like I'm due for a wall mounter. A 15lb Walleye would do.

The big Colorado vacation is still on for the end of June. That should be good fodder for photographs... if I make the time.

It's late and I should be sleeping.

Peace-
Matt

Scoped

I had arthroscopic knee surgery today, to fix some torn meniscus and torn cartilage. I've never had surgery before. Everything went well I guess, but time will tell for sure. The doc says I'll be back to running pretty quick. I'm looking forward to that. I've been a lazy bum since I tweaked it doing Kosama in January.

Not much else to say right now. The pain pills have got me cloudy.

Peace-
Matt

Thoughts

A few thoughts from today...

Children are easy to love but difficult to live with.
Desire leads to unhappiness. To be happy, desire less. (Why can't I get this?)
Old bodies wear out. We all find out first hand.
Everyone is messed up, including you and me, and that's a good thing.

Peace-
Matt

Observation

Parents are funny people.

At Abby's winter formal there were about 20 parents at the pre-dance get together. Every one of the mothers had a camera, and every one of them took a hundred photos. 10 photos of each couple, 10 photos of 10 different poses of the girls and 10 different poses of the boys, on and on and on. Thousands of photos were taken. It was surreal to me. What are they going to do with all of them?

Madeline had a science fair on Friday. She built a volcano out of play doh for her project. It was her design. It worked great and was a lot of fun. This was a project for the kids. They got graded on it. I did help Madeline a little bit, but she did 90% of it. Other kids had science projects that looked college level. No way the kids had anything to do with them. There was a giant volcano down the table from Madeline that looked real, with detailed hand painting. Whatever.

I guess the groundhog saw his shadow this week. Like it matters. Madeline asked me how Groundhog Day got started. I had no idea. What a dumbass "holiday".

Yeah I know. I'm grouchy and cynical. Go Giants.

Peace-
Matt

Flakes

Winter has finally arrived. We all knew it was coming, though we didn’t want to believe it. The holidays are over. The long “dead season” is here. The groundhog will pop out in a couple weeks, so spring is really not that far off. A short winter is fine with me, though I don’t mind a little stretch of it.

There is a strange, perverse pleasure in falling snow, at least the first few times. When the ground is covered with snow, the light is different than at any other time. I guess it’s brighter, it bounces around more. It’s also quiet when it’s snowing. Sound doesn’t travel as well maybe, I don’t know. I actually like shoveling snow the first time or two each year. The extreme cold is another story.

Angie is working nights now, 3 or 4 times a week. I couldn’t do it. I can’t sleep when it’s light out. She’s part vampire it seems, so she’s adapted well. She likes it ok, but it won’t be the last job she’ll have. It’s a stepping stone I guess, putting her time in to gain experience.

A couple weeks ago one of my sisters sent an email mentioning western Colorado. We (two of my sisters and I) got into an email conversation about how much we like that area and how we’d like to go back. After a day of this we decided to do just that. Two of my sisters and our families, about 15 in all, will be vacationing in the Durango area for a week this summer. It should be a great time. Madeline’s never seen the mountains, and it’s been 12 years since Alex and Abby have.

Next week is a birthday week at our house. I will be 43 on Tuesday; Alex will be 19 on Friday. Happy Birthday Alex! I’m very proud of you and I love you very much.

Peace-
Matt

Center

We had our big family Christmas gathering this weekend at the St Thomas More Center in Panora, IA. It's been a few years since we went to STM. The past few have been at the 4H camp in Boone. We all like STM better. It's a lot bigger and we don't feel so cramped.

It was a great weekend. Everyone had a lot of fun. We are all wiped out though. I probably got 3 good hours sleep. I'm counting the minutes until it gets dark, so I can go to bed for the night. Too bad too, because it's like 52 degrees outside right now. I wish I felt like enjoying it. A day this nice doesn't come around very often this time of year.

Six days until Santa comes.

Peace-
Matt

Noel

The shopping is mostly done. Good thing too, because the money is mostly gone.

My favorite Christmas Carol

If I don't talk to you soon, have a great Christmas.

Peace-
Matt

Blown

Friday morning at work I received a company wide email from the owner's assistant, asking if anyone was interested in purchasing some tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert on the next night. My boss bought these tickets and was not going to end up going. I knew that my daughter, Abby, really like this band. I also knew that two of my sisters already had tickets to this show. I gave it some thought.

Popular country music, which is where the general consensus on the Zac Brown Band currently falls, just isn't my bag. Most of today's "country" music is studio created bullshit. No real talent. Tight jeans, fancy haircuts, pretty faces, and the same two songs over and over. I have heard a few of their songs on the radio though, and they seemed to me to have something different and promising. I knew Abby would be thrilled to go and that a daddy-daughter date would be very cool, so I jumped on the tickets. What a great move.

I've been to some great concerts over the years. I saw Paul McCartney while he could still sing. I saw U2 in their prime. I went to an Aerosmith concert and saw some opening band no one had ever heard of at the time, Guns and Roses. I was rendered comfortably numb by Pink Floyd at the Unidome.

This band was real. They don't fit the "country" label at all. I saw southern rock, bluegrass, and AC-DC all together. These were six men, playing six instruments masterfully. So much talent. I was blown away.

I'm a picky music listener. I loathe Top 40 auto tuned photoshopped crap. This was the real deal. I was just hoping for a fun night with my daughter. I got so much more.

I sit here, well after midnight early Sunday morning, smoking a cigar and un-blowing my mind. My wife just landed a sweet job at an awesome facility, ISU beat OSU, Iowa finally won a road game, and tonight I saw an awesome spectacle of pure talent and real-ness. How lucky I am.

Peace-
Matt

(PS - Don't go buy a Zac Brown Band cd and tell me I'm full of shit. Go see them live and then we can talk)