Rock Band Drummer

Today I completed my Rock Band solo tour on drums at the hard level. My arms almost fell off after Run To the Hills, and I barely made it through Next to You and Won't Get Fooled Again. Wow, is that fun!

Opossum Patrol

Last night Chris said she heard a noise in the garage. I investigated and came up with the lame explanation of a loose piece of siding rubbing on the side of the house. Well, this morning walking through the garage to get to my car, I heard something that was definately not a piece of siding. After pulling the cars out of the garage and searching around, I found this little guy curled up in a ball behind my lawn mower. And he was content to just stay right there. No amount of cajoling would budge him. I finally had to get him in a sandwich with 2 rakes and drag him out, after which he prompty ran under our neighbor's shed. We probably haven't seen the last of him.

Feeling Old

Feeling a little old today. If having an 11-year-old son doesn't make you feel old enough, Michael passed a milestone today that has me feeling like he'll be asking for the car keys next week. Yesterday, unknown to us, Michael got a loose tooth at school, managed to pry it loose during the course of the day, and stuck it in his pocket. Came home and didn't say anything. Put it under his pillow at bedtime without saying anything. The next morning, when the tooth was still there, he said "Mom, Dad, you got some 'splainin' to do!" We were totally busted. He devised this entire plan to test if the Tooth Fairy was real, and planned to base his belief on all other mythical creatures that leave things in the middle of the night on this test (it all sounded rather scientific to me). Well, we had no choice but to come clean. We explained traditions that get passed down from parents to children, enhancing the childhood memories of anticipation during Holidays, and easing the potentially traumatic experience of your teeth falling out. We cast it as another step in the long stairway to adulthood. The fact that he discovered this on his own demonstrated problem solving and confidence to question perceived reality, which are important traits to have.

We were worried about backlash and trust issues (after all it's a big brainwashing isn't it?), but he seems OK with it. Santa Claus was the big one. We told him about the difference between taking things literally and figuratively and that the real magic of Christmas is gathering the ones you love around you when it's getting cold and dark outside. We welcomed him into the "circle of trust" and now he has a responsibility to let other kids around him find out on their own and not spoil it for them.

So, life rolls along, and if you're not rolling with it you'll just be watching it roll by. OK, that fulfills my sappy post quota for the month.

Not melting fast enough

A while I posted a picture of the snowbank at the end of my driveway. Well here it is today and it doesn't look much different. I have a feeling this is going to be a long Spring.

Beer Bottle Blues

This can mean only one of two things: either Dad is getting ready to brew beer again, or it's time for him to go back to the clinic.

In Palm Springs at a business conference.

Rising Star

Congratulations to Chris for winning the 2007 Hilton Garden Inn Director of Sales of the Year award! The Hilton Corporation recognized her with this award as the most outstanding Director of Sales among all the Hilton Garden Inn franchises worldwide. Wow! What an accomplishment! Drop Chris a line to congratulate her. The best part is that she has won a trip to here:

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Huskies Season Finale

Michael had his season-ending tournament this weekend for his Huskies team. They lost all 3 games and were outscored something like 20-3. The good news is that Michael scored 2 out of the 3 goals. Only 2 kids from his team are moving up to the next age level next year, so they should do much better next year.

Schedule Woes

I was just looking at our schedule for the upcoming week. In the next 7 days we, as a family, collectively have 4 ice hockey games, 2 ice hockey practices, 2 floor hockey games, 2 hockey parties, 2 baseball practices, 2 gymnastics practices, 2 business trips, 1 swimming lessons, 1 dentist appointment, and 1 hockey Board meeting. Holy Cow, what on Earth did we do with our time before we had kids?

Gorham MS Hockey

Michael's Middle School hockey team won their first playoff game today, 5-3. They advance next weekend against a team that crushed them twice this season.

Let It Snow

We have had so much snow this year that even Mainers are starting to complain. This reminds me of when I lived in Buffalo. Here are some pictures of the snow cover at our house.