Fast Friends

It took a whole three days for Joey and Barkley to become friends.  Barkley has lost all fear of Joey--except when she really starts moving fast; when this happens, Barkley will use her small size to her advantage and get some where Joey can't get (e.g. under a bush or under the coffee table).  I did take this movie of the two of them playing.

Joey has been so sweet and tolerant of Barkley--except he did let her know to stay away from his food bowl.  Otherwise, no issues thus far.  Pleasant Memorial Day to all.

A 4th Grader

Bode's last day of school was on Tuesday.  Hard to believe he'll be ten this year and will start 4th grade come August.  The former 3rd graders did a little spring musical last week.  Here's a picture of Bode--it's not a great picture, because it looks like Bode isn't doing anything.

Here's a sample of the Irish tunes we were treated to.

Afterwards, they posed for a large group shot.

Bode has been out of school for a few of days.  We went on a bike ride the first day, and the past two days, he's had some friends come over.  I took a group shot of the boys--we wait all year for summer, and they spend it indoors playing Mario Kart!  Pictured below are Bode, Tylen, and Eli.

I think I mentioned Bode had a swim meet earlier this month.  The other day at practice, Bode was told he now has the second fastest time ever (not sure how far back the records go--at least 100 years I'm thinking) for a 9-10 year old in the 25-yard butterfly.  His coach gave him the following.

I think I'll go to bed early--either that or I'll take Barkley on some laps to tire her out, because right now, I think she's sleeping, and it's only 6 pm.  Pleasant week to all.

Barkley

We have added another mouth to the family.  Barkley is an eight-week old rottweiler puppy.  We got her from a breeder in North Carolina--we tried to find some in Colorado, but we really wanted to get the puppy right at the end of May in order to maximize the time at home Bode and I would have with her.  Yesterday, the little girl boarded a United flight (no, she didn't get kicked off), and we picked her up at the cargo terminal at DIA.  She was quite exhausted last night, and she zonked out with her new boy on the couch.

Joey was too excited when Barkley showed up.  Plus, he's about eight times as large as Barkley, so I can understand why she was a bit skittish around Joey.  However, as time went on today, Joey mellowed out a bit and the two started to sniff each other.

Barkley is either up and about and very active or zonked out on the floor in various parts of the house.

She's sleeping in a kennel and doing great (at least she did the first night).  She was up at 4:45 this morning, so I'm quite tired, but otherwise, it was a fine first day with the Barkster (and yes, the name is a nod to Charles Barkley, who is an Auburn alum...can we ever do anything without it relating back to Auburn? :-)

The Zoo

While I was in Omaha, Ashley and Bode went to the zoo.  I can't really describe anything, other than to say they both liked it--they said the female lion was very vocal.  Here are some pictures.  First, Bode and a big cat--hopefully that glass is thick.

Next, Bode doing something with a bird on a stick.

Finally, here's Ashley with a similar bird.

I think they also went and saw Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, which they both really liked.  The reviews all say the second isn't as good as the first, but Ashley felt otherwise.  I guess I'll have to go see it at some point so I can keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Today was Bode's last day of school.  He is now a (yikes) 4th grader.

Omaha

I just returned from a four-day visit to Omaha.  My good buddy Steve was home visiting his family, and since I'm not working right now, I figured why not drive over and see some old (we are old) friends.  I brought my camera, but I was not a good photog, likely because so many people were giving me a hard time about my old cell phone (circa 2008) that I didn't want to further embarrass myself and bring out an even older camera (or just a camera in general since most peoples' phones serve that role).  Fortunately, some others took pictures and forwarded them to me.

Friday night was a mini-reunion from Papillion-LaVista class of 1991.  A group of us--me, Steve, Jon Peterson (and his wife Shelly), Dave Alati, and Aaron Thomas met at BW3's; Scott Lauritsen (Steve's older brother) and Jerrid Derr (class of 1992) were also there.  We stayed out well past our bedtimes--I think we got home past 11--and reminisced and told stories and made fun of our past behaviors.  Sadly, there are no pictures to document this.

Saturday, I went over to the Wolfe-pack's house and went to lunch with Kristine (Sharp).  This name is probably familiar to all the blog readers, as the Wolfe-pack spent New Year's 2017 at our house.  We had a lovely lunch, and then played three games of Scrabble, all of which were won by yours truly, making it something like five in a row (not that I'm counting).  Sadly, again, no pictures.  Saturday night, Steve, Kristine, and I met up with Jenny Lashier (Montgomery), who was in town with her family for her parent's 50th anniversary.  We met up for drinks and what not, telling familiar stories from days long ago.  Fortunately, there are some pictures.  First, a nice shot of the four of us from the bar.

Around 10 pm, Big Stiv convinced Jenny to take us back to her parent's house.  I can't imagine how I would react to a few clowns coming to my house late at night--I think Jenny's husband, Andy, and one of her daughters were already asleep.  However, they could not have been more gracious, and it was simply lovely to see Peggy and Arlyn (Jenny's parents).  At some point, Peggy mentioned something about a Ping-Pong table in the basic.  Immediately, Steve and I had our engrained Pavlovian response to the words "Ping-Pong" as we spent many hours playing in my parent's basement.  One thing led to another, and soon, we were all in the basement playing games and such.  Andy (Jenny's husband) suggested a game of doubles.  Steve and I versus Arlyn (who is 70 years old) and Andy.  Sadly, we were smoked, and smoked badly.  In the first three games, I don't think we scored in the double-digits, as is evident by my exasperated look.

We think Andy and Arlyn just wanted to go to bed, because we actually won the forth game, at which point we realized we should let this poor family sleep (although we feel we could have played for many more hours due to the rabid fan we had in Jenny's daughter who kept chanting "Jeff and Steve!  Jeff and Steve!" any time we did something good.  We took time for one more picture, and made our way home before we turned into pumpkins.

Sunday was a golf day, and like a moron, I again left my camera in the car.  I played with Jon and Shelly at their country club.  I hadn't played in over five years, and boy did it show.  I should have paid more attention to Shelly, who doesn't crush the ball, but she just hit the ball straight and true.  I'm sure she got tired of having to wait (multiple times) while we looked in vain for my ball.  Something must be wrong with my driver because most of my tee shots had a horrific slice.  After golf, we ate Mexican, which was awesome.  Yesterday was my last day, and I spent some time driving around Papillion.  The place is nothing like it was back in 1991.  Then again, Colorado Springs is nothing like it was back in 2000; I guess that's just what happens as we get older.  I also got to see Ken and Mary Peterson (Jon's parents), who are doing great.  And Monday night was a quiet night at Steve's Mom's (Sue), watching her beloved Spurs get eliminated from the playoffs :-(

Today, I came home and was reminded that, despite what the news will have you think, most people are quite nice.  Case in point:  As I was leaving Ogalala, Nebraska, where I filled up with gas, I left my wallet on the roof of my car.  I had no idea I had done this until I got a call saying my wallet had been found in the middle of the street.  The effort these two people went through to track me down is amazing--I don't have my cell number in my wallet, but an hour after it was lost, I got the call.  At first, I was just mad at what I'd done, but when I thought about how bad it could have been, I realized I was quite lucky.  Yes, I had to turn around and drive back, which added about 100 miles to my trip, but it was worth it, both to get my wallet back and to have this subtle reminder that nice people do exist in the world :-)  I had a lovely trip to Nebraska, and must thank Ashley and Bode for letting me go have fun while they slaved away at the home front (although they did forget to put the trash out...)  Pleasant week to all.

Snow!

It is the 18th of May, and it is simply pouring snow outside.  And it's not a nice gentle snow where everything melts when it lands.  It's cold, it's accumulating, it's heavy and wet, and I have already been outside (twice) to try to knock the snow from tree branches and my garden net.

I moved some of my pumpkin plants outside over the weekend.  I didn't move them all--I figured on the off-chance it got cold, I didn't want to risk them.  I had no idea we'd get three or four inches of snow, and a potential for a bad freeze tonight.  It's the second part of May.  Farmer's says the last freeze (50% probability) is 4 May.  A good rule of thumb has been 15 May.  But this much snow?  Now?  My poor garden...

Bode's final game of the season was last weekend.  The team played awesome together, passing and really doing a lot of the things we talked about.  Technically, the teams tied 2-2, but we declared victory because Bode (yes, our little dude) had a shot of goal that was clearly a goal, but the ref did not rule it as such.  Oh well--the boys had a great time, and finished with some post-game pizza.

I don't know what I'll do the rest of today--certainly not yard work.  Perhaps I'll go to the gym or clean the house (nah).  Pleasant day.

Early Mother's Day

Even though Mother's Day is next weekend, we decided to celebrate a week early.  The reason we did this is because we wanted to go to the Broadmoor for brunch.  The place was booked solid for Mother's Day, so we opted to skip the crowds and go this past Sunday.  There were two mothers (Ashley and my Mom) and two sons (me and Bode).  Bode had a make-up soccer game before the meal, so by the time we got to the table, the kid was starving.

We feasted like kings (and queens) on crab claws, shrimp, bison, meats, cheeses, fruits, and who knows what else.  All told, Bode had seven (seven!) plates of food and three cups of ice cream.  We definitely got our money's worth.

Afterwards, we managed to get outside and hang out for some pictures by the lake.

Needless to say, we didn't have much for supper :-)

Today marked a big event.  My car--a 2004 BMW 325--was starting to show some signs of wear.  The Christmas tree-like dash board (numerous indicator lights illuminated) was probably the most urgent sign for me to realize it was time for a replacement.  After some careful searching and hard negotiating, it was time to say good bye to the silver steed...

and say hello to Baby Blue.

It almost the same car--a 2014 BMW 328.  It's an automatic vice a stick-shift (bah!), but otherwise, it's a very nice little piece of machinery.  I'd go into the technical specs, but I don't want to bore you (embarrass me) with my car knowledge :-)  Happy driving.

Spitz. Phelps. McGuirk?

Bode had a swim meet last weekend, and he put in a performance for the ages.  Sort of.  The meet, admittingly, was not a large one.  "A great meet for early swimmers" is how it was described.  Still, there were other kids swimming in Bode's age group in all the events.  To spoil the ending, Bode earned three first-places, and likely would have had a fourth one had he not been DQed :-)  The first event of the day was the 25-yard butterfly.  Here's Bode getting ready to swim.

Note the boy next to him--slightly taller and older.  The heats were not done by age, but rather qualifying time.  Bode was near the top in all his events, so he was swimming against the older boys.  I tell you this because in the video, it's obvious he doesn't win the heat, but the boy in the lane next to him was 10.  Thus, Bode had the best time for a 9-year old.

Next up was the 50-yard backstroke.  Here's Bode's start

I thought he might have been DQed on his turn, but I think the judge was feeling generous (being a small meet and all).  I was scared when I went to see the results, but was thrilled when I saw Bode's name at the top of the list.

Bode also swam the 100-yard freestyle.  Here he is executing one of his turns.

Bode managed another first in this race as well.

The final event was the 50-yard butterfly.  Bode would have won this one (he was the only 9-year old in the event), but he was DQed due to a bad kick.  When he gets tired, his legs start to come apart which cannot happen.  The other three first-places softened the blow of the DQ :-)  All winners got a first-place trophy, but they only gave one trophy per swimmer, so Bode only got one trophy even though he won three events.  I was outraged and had to be dragged from the pool--do the Olympics do this?  I think not :-)  Here's Bode with his trophy

School is almost out; soon he'll be a 4th grader.  Pleasant day.