April 15th Downtime.

As you all know by now, I'm in exile somewhere in Fargo, North Dakota.  My traveling has stopped for a bit.  At the end of May, I'll be flying back to San Diego.  Laurie and I will then fly out to DC for the annual National TAPS Seminar on Memorial weekend.  After that, it's back to San Diego to wrap things up there and begin the drive home for a summer on our little farmstead.

Maybe this will all generate things to blog about.


Thank you for your patience.

Oh, hey!! it's taxday.

April 6th, 1985 - Hero's Birthday

Thirty-one years ago, a boy was born. It would be almost 4 years before he became a solid part of my life.  He grew up a fine man.  A leader, and a fierce friend.  We miss him constantly and I constantly see his effect on the personalities of his brother and sister.

I Remember

I remember chasing him around our apartment building and catching him and us falling into a giggling pile.

I remember I remember his often battles with his brother until I told them, "Friends come and go, you two are family.  You two have to be there for each other."  They took it to heart and they were a pair from then on.  For better or worse.

I remember T-ball, soccer, hockey, and football.

I remember watching him grow from a wannabe punk to a strong warrior for God.

I remember getting a tattoo with him.

I remember playing pool with him.

I remember teaching him chess, playing it with him.  His favorite piece was the knight.

I remember going to Promise Keepers with him.  and Newsboys concerts, and Spirit Fest.  His excitement over the band, Skillet.

I remember his graduation from boot camp.

I remember and still have his beat-up Ford Ranger.

I remember many struggles, tears, joy, Christmases, fun, love, pride, successes, and most of all, I boy who wanted to be a hero, who was never embarrassed to kiss his mother in from of his friends, even in high school.

I don't have to remember much, he is with me everyday.  And I miss him.

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah.

March 25 - April 1st - This week

Needed to fly to North Dakota to help out our daughter.  So the last week or so has not been very eventful.  Left a sunny San Diego only to land in Fargo where it was snowing.  It hasn't snowed since though there has been some rain.  It's March so the weather is unsettled.  It was warm a few days and has been cold some, too.  We got to do an Easter egg hunt and they got buckets rather than baskets. Jeremiah started back to school this week, and the kiddos are not taking rigorous naps except Corby really needs them.  I'm just trying to provide some additional structure and consistency in their lives.

Chicago O'Hare. As usual, landing and departure gates were far apart and I had little time.  Made it, though.

Selfie with the kiddos as we leave the airport.  You can see it's snowing.

Easter Morning

Nap time.  

A lunch tale

March 24th - Gillespie Field El Cajon, Ca - A Geocaching inspired adventure

There is a county owned public airport for small aircraft on the border of El Cajon and Santee in San Diego county.  While researching geocaches around Santee, specifically around Prospect Ave, I found out there was what is called a virtual cache located there.  These caches aren't a physical container, but a location that will draw your attention to see some place of note.  With these caches, you are asked a few questions about what you see at that location and email the answers to the person who placed the cache.

I won't list the questions or the answers for the cache, but here is the link to the cache page at geocaching.com.
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC7A8E_3-2-1?guid=43d7a4c6-84d8-451a-92ed-6e12608b527b#.
The cache is called 3..2..1.  The place to where we were led was the Gillespe Field Annex of the San Diego Air and Space Museum.  I did not know it was there. On the grounds are a number of historic aircraft and exhibits.  It didn't take long to check them out, but it was pretty fun.

If you are out there, especially with kids, you should check it out.  It's free and open Monday, Wednesday thru Friday from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.