Lunar Eclipse

I got up early this morning to watch the moon pass through the earth's shadow. Very awesome to watch. The photos don't even come close.

Peace-
Matt

Happy 5th Madeline

Uninhibited

The excitement of a 4 year old that's only 4 days from her 5th birthday is mind blowingly cute. This is my absolute favorite age of a child. She has no fear of what others might think of her. If she feels like picking her nose, she does. If she feels like singing a silly nonsense song, she does. If she feels like dancing, or running around naked, or crying for no reason, or singing out loud on the toilet, she does. If she has a question, she asks. If she has an itch, she scratches it. Pure & real, like fresh snow. How many of us can say the same thing about ourselves? She bottles nothing inside. How much do we suppress ourselves?

I wish I was more like my 4 year old.

Peace-
Matt

UFO

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Alex started 9th grade, Abby 5th, and Madeline kindergarten. It's weird having them all in school, especially Madeline. School changes them. They grow up. They gain independence a little at a time. They lose innocence a little at a time. I don't want Madeline to grow up. I don't want her to change. She's our baby. I like her how she is.

They all loved their first day and want to go back.

Peace-
Matt

Around the house

Welcome Joseph Paul

Angie and I have a new nephew, Joseph Paul Driscoll. Congratulations to Kevin, Lisa, and Brett! Angie went to Indiana last night to visit them.

School starts Tuesday. Angie's going to have a hell of a time getting the three girls up early, fed, and off to school all before 8am. I guess we should have been easing them into some sort of routine. We haven't, so it will be tough, for Angie.

Have a good weekend.

Matt

Big Brother

My nephew Brett Driscoll is going to become a big brother tomorrow. His mother, my sister in law Lisa, is going to give birth to her second son tomorrow. I'm excited for Kevin, Lisa, and Brett. May God be with them and bless them with a healthy baby.

The Healthy Living class is now over. The last weigh in was Monday. I made it to my goal. I lost 16.5 lbs in 8 weeks. I'm glad it's over now. I hope I will continue to eat right and stay in an exercise routine.

I went to the Fair on Monday evening by myself. I like to go by myself so that I can spend some time looking at all the photos. It was a hot & humid night. I had a porkchop-on-a-stick. It was damn good, even with sweat dripping into my eyes.

Peace-
Matt

10 days

10 days until school starts. Yipee. I'm looking forward to fall, football, sweatshirts, etc. One of the best parts about living in Iowa is the changes in season. I'm ready for the next one.

Peace-
Matt

What do they know?

We went to the Iowa State Fair photo contest award ceremony tonight. I got second place in the "Iowa Architecture" class for my library photo above. I got an honorable mention in the Black & White "Places" class for the grain bin photo above. Not too bad I guess. I was hoping that one of my other entries would have made it in too. I thought it was the best photo I submitted. The judges and I have very different tastes though, so I'm not surprised. I don't have a scan of it, or I'd show it to you. In fact, please don't spend too much time looking at the photos I posted above. These are very poor scans of ass kicking traditional black and white prints. The prints are sweet, the scans suck. If you want to see the prints some time, ask me. I love showing off my prints. There is nothing in the photo world better than a traditional black & white contact print, nothing.

Anyway, I did win $75 for my 2nd place. That will pay for an hour or two at the fair this weekend.

Peace-
Matt

Rain

We woke up to rain this morning. Sure is hard to get out of bed when it's dark and rainy outside. The garden has been droopy the past few days so I'm glad we finally got some.