Happy Birthday Abby

Happy Birthday to Abby. She'll be 13 tomorrow. Two teen girls in the house now.

It's Ballard Homecoming Dance night. Alex has sure grown up into a beautiful girl. She and Pierre have been dating for more than a year now. He's a good kid. Not good enough for my daughter, but who would be?

Got back from Vegas today. So glad to be back home. The conference was good, but a day too long I think. Vegas just isn't my kind of town. This is the view from my 37th floor room. Look how filthy the window is.

Watching the Hawks now, and am fighting sleep. My bed will feel good tonight.

Peace-
Matt

Orchard

Madeline and I visited a couple orchards yesterday. We went to the first one to pick apples, and to the second one to play.

I'm heading to Vegas for work on Tuesday. I'll be back on Saturday. While there, I get to have dinner with Angie's Uncle Tony and Aunt Maureen. They'll be there the same time I am, visiting from England. Small world.

Peace-
Matt

(PS - Goats have crazy eyes)

Logic

Everyones favorite ex-president, Jimmy Carter, recently inferred that most folks that disagree with President Obama are racist. That's like saying that I'm anti-Semitic because I don't like Barbara Streisand music, Woody Allen movies, or anything about George Soros. Joe Wilson was right.

That's the second time I was called racist this week. Earlier this week my middle daughter posted some photos of certain celebrities on Facebook. I told her that the one of the guy with pants around the middle of his ass, chest covered with tattoos, and a pink camouflage hoodie on looked ridiculous and that I disagreed with her assessment that he is "hot". She told me I'm racist.

When did Webster change his definition?

Peace-
Matt

March

Just a quick note: The largest protest crowd 'ever' was assembled in Washington DC on Saturday. Over 2 million is the estimate. They were there to tell our representatives in Washington that we've had enough corruption and enough reckless spending. Just because they ignore us doesn't mean we're not still here.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20909-Columbia-Independent-Examiner~y2009m9d13-As-many-as-2-million-protestors-attend-912-Washington-DC-Tea-Party-Rally

Why have we not seen this on the news?

Peace-
Matt

Crack

We watched the Hawks beat up the Cyclones today. Felt good.

The time for fresh honey crisp apples is here. If you've never had a fresh picked honey crisp apple go find one. It's like apple crack.

The beans are turning yellow and it's been foggy every morning. It's hard to get to work on time when it's just so gorgeous outside.

Don't know what else.

Peace-

Matt

Pigskin

Angie and I went to the Ballard high school football game last night. It was packed and a great game. I always forget how much fun it is to watch a high scool football game. It was a nail biter too. Ballard got the win.

Speaking of football, Angie's birthday is the end of this month. She wants tickets to an Iowa game. If you have any connections, please let me know. It's a plus that my wife loves football too. Maybe more than I do sometimes.

My brother and I took advantage of his day off and the tremendous weather and went camping the other night. It's hard to get into someone's head unless you can spend one on one time with them like that. Tom and I had many good discussions.

Oh yeah, we did end up getting awarded that big 12 million dollar job I mentioned a few weeks ago. Sometimes all the hard work pays off. Sometimes.

Peace-
Matt

(PS - The blog is 3 yrs and 236 posts old today. Thanks for sticking with me)

Seven

Madeline turned 7 this past week. Between school, family, and her friends, she had several parties. She was out of gas this evening. Turning 7 is hard work.

We're having a taste of fall weather here lately. My favorite.

Peace-
Matt

Bluegill

Madeline asked me to take her fishing earlier this week. We went today. We stopped at the new Bass Pro Shop first, which is pretty impressive. After that, we went to the pond behind my office and wet our lines. Madeline picked it up fast and ended up catching a bunch of tiny bluegills. I got to fish myself for a few minutes. I caught one small bass. We both had a lot of fun.

Angie lost her job yesterday. They cut four people loose. Seems to be a common thing these days.

Peace-
Matt

Naptime

The kids are in Florida with their grandparents. They flew out last night (boy are their arms tired). I took them to the airport. We got there two hours early, just in case there were any issues with three minors flying alone. No issues. I waited with them until they boarded. I kissed them goodbye then went down to the bar and had an $8 beer while I waited for the plane to leave. It's a weird feeling watching the kids leave alone. When I talked to Madeline on the phone this morning, she told me she cried on the plane for two hours. Poor Alex & Abby.

It's a good feeling having no commitments for the entire weekend. Maybe I should take a nap now?

Yesterday at work, I bid the largest job I've ever bid. Over $12 million. I took some well deserved time off today. It will be a while before I found out how that one turned out.

Peace-
Matt