Holy Bloggsville.

Apparently this blogging thing is going around our family like a head cold.

LOL guest blogger Brent started his a few weeks ago, then on the secret down-low "members and invite only" his brother Jon started an invite only blog...that I think Ann might be in charge of editing. Don't look around for a link, that is top secret family only. We have to have some privacy around here.

The latest to get blogging is the one person that probably taught us all the most about computers...Lil' AJ broke his silence with a Dog-Blog...visit that one here. Or follow the link to the right...I put him under his brother simply because of age.

Now I guess we will wait for Uncle Skipper and Scotty to suit-up and start blogging. Scotty blogging might be a stretch because of all that wedding planning he is doing now. So I guess you are next in line Skipper! I think http://www.barnburner.blogspot.com/ might still be open for you!

Opps Skipper, some dude from Italy beat you to the barnburner.blogspot.com URL.

This one is for Sally...

For some reason Rick Springfield songs have been flying around the office lately. he did play the Corn Palace this year and one of the gals went to the show...so we give her a hard time about getting old.

From the stories I have heard he is pretty good in concert these days, even at 59 years old...the guy is ripped too.

So I was looking on youtube.com for a song to terrorize my co-worker with, and I found this and couldn't help but think of my sister, who loved and most likely still loves Rick's music.

Messin' With Sasquatch.

If you watch ESPN or any sporting event you have most likely seen the Jack's Links "Messin With Sasquatch" commercials.

One of the newest ones is a favorite of my boys. They come up to me with a pretend shook up drink then say, "here big fella, want a cold one?"

Then I open it pretend to get sprayed in the face and then chase them and push them down...I know it sounds lame, but we do this for hours.

The commercials are right up their with the freecreditreport.com commercials in my book, about the only creative spots out there.

Here is the one we love.

It's like Juneau up in here!

The rain has been pretty persistent over the last 8 days...the sun came out today and nobody knew what it was. Reminded me of my days living in Juneau, Alaska.

One thing that stuck with me from living in Alaska was that when it rains you don't stop your outside activities. If you did up there you would end up inside for weeks at a time.

The boys like it outside in the rain so the other day we went out for a little playing in the puddles.

Pheasant Tales: Maxim The Hunter

This weekend was the resident/public land opener for pheasant season...kind of the "hey, we live here...we get to hunt our land first" weekend. On Saturday about 10 of us guys from around the lake hunted the public ground just across the road from our house. I wanted Maxim to go with and he was more than happy to get out his new hunting vest and go walk the field with his dad and some buddies.

Saturday was great, a little bit of mist in the air and the dogs worked great. Annie was a solid as the last 12 years I have hunted behind her and Lilly finally started as good as when she is about 3 days tired. Meaning she didn't run like a crazy English Pointer, but she was controlled and solid. Both dogs had 2 points each the first day where birds were taken over their heads, and one was about the coolest thing ever. Where both dogs were pointing the same bird, (Lilly actually honoring Annie's find) and I gave the shot to a friend's kid...he nailed it with one shot and was super excited.

Maxim walked about 2.5 miles with us and loved every minute of it...we did a lot of pretending that we were Clone Troopers and fighting the bad guys. Hey, if Star Wars gets him into the wild, let it be.

Sunday was raining all day long, but I felt the call of the wild to get out in nature again, so with a steady rain falling, I asked Maxim if he wanted to go hunt again, and he was ready with his full-on rain suit and rain boots.

We walked about 2 miles and he loved it. Lilly had the only 3 points of the day...the first was a hen, the 2nd was a rooster that I took with one shot, and the 3rd point was the scariest thing I have ever been a part of...

Right at the end of our hunt, Lilly locked on point and I approached her from my usual 45 degree angle, and I noticed that she started creeping forward, so I stopped about 10 feet from her with Maxim right at my side. Since I thought the pheasant was moving I let Lilly creep without "whoaing" her. As she crept I noticed that there wasn't much cover to the area she was going, so I scanned a little harder at that spot.

In the "wild" your senses are always pretty keen and alert, and I always love the adrenaline rush I get when one of my dogs go on point...it's the rush of the hunt for me. The big pause before the explosion of wings. This was one of those "story" moments. I loved the fact that Maxim was right there with me in the controlled environment of dog, gun, father, rain, adrenaline, nature, and bird.

As Lilly crept I noticed a lump of strange grass that almost looked like a rock for a second...then it dawned on me that it wasn't a rock, and it wasn't happy and Lilly was about 2 feet from a Red-tailed Hawk with about a 4 foot wingspan and a huge open beak. I tried to call her off, but she was locked...so was the hawk. I swear it looked into my soul and noticed the fear it caused me. I had grabbed Maxim's arm and pulled him right to my side. I quickly pointed out the hawk to Maxim and said, "look right there." Just then Lilly was about a foot away from the hawk.

I didn't know what the hawk was protecting, a fresh kill or a nest so I decided that Lilly needed to get away from the area...no sense in paying a vet bill. She didn't respond to my calls so I had to buzz her on her collar, that got her attention and she came right to my side. I called in Annie and with Maxim's hand in mine we slowly walked by one ticked off hawk...about 8 feet away. The closest I have ever been to a bird that size that wasn't in a zoo.

I kind of high-tailed it out of the area since I didn't want it to attack my dogs or my son, and then Maxim and I went into full story mode. We relived the tense moments staring down a hawk and when Lilly went right up to it and it didn't move.

I can't help but wonder if he fully understood how cool today was for his dad, but I think these moments are what makes life on Earth.

New Addition Coming Soon...

I haven't officially blogged about the newest member of the family, because...well, it isn't exactly here yet. We are expecting another kid in February...we have no idea if it is a boy or a girl, but we are pretty sure it is human.

Pretty sure, because we had the ultrasound yesterday, and the technology for that has developed quite a bit since Maxim was in utero. Now with the 3D version you almost can see what your kid will look like before you get it. It does look a bit alien on the video, but at times you can see features and fingers and toes.

With that new technology I invite you to take a look at our new baby on the video below. We will call it Baby G for now.

Bob's Knee 2.0

If you know my dad you know his knee.

It was an old soccer injury from college, back in the dark ages of medicine where instead of fixing the knee, they just tore out everything. So instead of some cartilage between his bones he has bone on bone...sounds like fun.

I think the general public has prescribed a new knee for Bob for many years, but I think he was hesitant to jump on the original "hack and stack" old knee replacement they came up with about 10 years ago. So it is 2008, and he is finally convinced that the Doctors know what they are doing and he will go under the knife later this month.

He went to "knee camp" on Monday which must be a bunch of 60-something former athletes sitting around a doctors office pretending they are inmates at a prison...."So what are you in for?" Then they all give their back stories on how they tweaked-up their knees.

Almost like an AA meeting...the scene at Knee Camp goes something like this.

Bob - "Hi, my name is Bob, this is my first time at knee camp."

The Group - "Hi, Bob."

Bob - "I blew my knee out in the 60's and some doctor hacked me up pretty bad...now I really don't know what to do, I mean people tell me I need a new knee, and it hurts....it hurts pretty bad." (some tears are shed here, and a rather large woman hobbles over to Bob and hugs him...)

Large Woman - "It's OK Bob, let it out."

Bob - "All I want to do is ride my horse, shoot my guns and play with my grand kids...and I am scared, really scared that this won't help."

80 year old golfer - "It's OK Bob, we are all here for you."

And "boom" like that dad came back from Knee Camp with a new lease on life, his knee is getting fixed, which should straighten it back out and make his left leg as long as his right leg while standing. He won't have to buy size 36 x 32 x 30 Wranglers anymore, and Penny won't have to hem up the left leg of his dress pants any more.

I'll keep you updated on Bob's Knee version 2.0 throughout the surgery and recovery process, and I think since I am family I am not violating any HIPAA Laws.

Fantasy Football Team For Sale.

So I complained about the Cubs performance in the playoffs in yesterday's post, but I will not complain about the way they were managed...I love Lou Piniella, and beg him to stick around for another couple years. I believe in what he has done, even when we lose...which coming from my family is pretty good considering that my Grandpa Walt used to say that Tom Kelly was a "dummy", all the while the Twins were winning World Series titles.

So as far as being a manager of a team I am having a slump right now...after a couple years of Fantasy Football success stories, 2 trophies and a couple of great runs in the championship game I have started the year 0-4.

I would fire myself, but I don't think it is my fault, so I want to sell my franchise. If anyone wants to buy them I can put together a pretty good package deal, you don't even have to worry about a stadium to play in...all you need is an Internet connection and a computer made before 1999.

The worst part about my horrible start, is that my brother-in-law is undefeated and leading the league. Thanksgiving is not going to be fun if I don't start winning some games here soon!

Sick from bad baseball, and also a Birthday wish.

I purposely didn't blog about the great regular season the Chicago Cubs had this year because I didn't want to jinx the run for our first World Series title in 100 years. Well, the run is over. In typical Cubs fashion they self-destructed with horrible offensive production and errors all over the field. We were eliminated in the first round without winning a game.

I was physically sick on Saturday night watching they waste away the season with their unpassionate performance...but as a loyal Cubs fan, I am used to saying this..."Next year is our year!"

Now that my sports-rant is over, I must wish my favorite sister a happy 39th birthday. Sal is the reason I love figure skating, the reason I can duck out of the way of flying object while I play the drums, the reason I don't put mayo on my cucumbers or coldmeat sandwiches. She taught me the glory of french onion chip dip, Little House on the Prairie, and the Brady Bunch.

She was a super babysitter for many years, and a super friend...just wish we would get to see each other a bit more.

Happy Birthday, Sal!

Raccoon Hunting

We live in the country now and part of the deal you get on the outskirts of town include mice, bugs, and other critters that frequent the great outdoors...no big deal really, until a raccoon tries to get into your back door.

We did have one other raccoon encounter at our house...I was gone at the time, but lucky for us our next door neighbors are gun-toting officers of the law, and they had a pretty good time shooting a raccoon that had gone up a tree in between our house and the neighbor's house.

So yesterday around 4:00ish Steph calls all out of breath, "a raccoon was scratching at our bedroom screen door trying to get in!" She thought is was a cat at first, then realized that it's a cat you don't want to pet. She closed the sliding glass door and the 'coon just sat on our deck for a while and then went back by our dog kennel and they were going nuts barking and scratching at it.

So when I got home I got out the .12 gauge, and let the dogs out and it was still there all frightened and hidden under some stuff that is in between our garage and our neighbor's garage...Annie actually pointed it right away, I called them off and got them both back in the kennel and proceeded to throw stuff at the raccoon until it climbed up on some stuff where I could get a good shot at it.

The problem was if I shot it where it was at that point I would have blown a hole in my garage, so I sent Steph in to get the Red Ryder BB gun. I shot it about 4 times with that to make it uncomfortable and just tick it off enough for it to move into a different position. That worked perfect and I blew it's face off from about 10 feet away.

The boys of course wanted to see it so I scooped it up with a shovel and laid it on the road...they gawked for a while and then we threw it across a field in a ditch. As Maxim would say, "Good times, Dad, good times."

Dropping to a knee...Scotty-Style

(a little poem to celebrate Scotty F. getting engaged)

You might know this gent by his other names,
Scooter, Waldo or Scotty, it's all the same,
He's the bachelor that could never settle down,
And he is known by everyone in every town.

He always has time for a visit or a chat,
And he usually is wearing that colorful number 24 hat.
Although he loves Jeff Gordon we still think he's cool,
But if Kasey Kahne saw him he would bump draft him into a pool.

Then a few years ago he met this girl named Stephanie from the Falls,
And ever since he met her, his mother says he never calls.
A year ago he brought her to meet the family tree,
She wasn't scared of us, she actually liked Skipper, and me.

Scotty was smitten with her we all could tell that,
She even went to the races and let him wear that dumb Jeff Gordon hat.
So now some months later their love has grown,
And as Aaron said, "the family blog must let to the world be known..."

That at the NASCAR race last week in K.C.
Scotty dropped to a knee,
and said, "Stephanie, my love, will you marry me?"

Skipper and Nate caught her as she felt a little faint,
The green flag dropped and some cars traded paint,
She couldn't speak for almost an entire lap around the track,
Then she stood on her own, and answered him back...

She said, "yes", and the crowd cheered on through,
Scotty and Linda hugged Steph, and Amy did too.
He gave her the ring that he had held onto so tight,
The race went on and they all celebrated that night.

Yes, this poem is somewhat true,
He sent me a text message so I could tell you.
Waldo is engaged and we all send congrats to he and his friend
Now Linda won't have to do his wash each weekend.


CONGRATS STEPH AND SCOTT!
(jeff gordon is a loser, KASEY KAHNE RULES!)

The Brothers In The Great Outdoors

So on Saturday, on a whim, we packed the Expedition and the boat and headed for our favorite campground...Lewis & Clark right outside of Yankton.

You might say, Tom you have been traveling for the past 5 weeks, why would you want to go camping??? We needed a break from life, well actually Steph needed a break from the house and the boys.

The water was great, and the wind was non-existent so the on-water activities were a blast. I forgot how much I love that lake...Sorry Lake Byron, but the Lewis & Clark reservoir has you beat.

The boys, aka...the Wild Animals...were returned to their natural habitat for 48 hours and everyone was happy. They hugged trees, rolled in sand, took wizzes in places they shouldn't have and rode their bikes about 3 miles.

Yes, Maxim got off the gravel road in front of our house and actually got to ride on real pavement...he rocked it, and Brecken with his little bike and training wheels tried his hardest to keep up. He pumped his little pistons for 2 whole miles on Sunday morning...it was great.

We took some pictures of the loving brothers out in the "wild", and isn't it amazing when you take a picture and it captures the very essence of each child...go ahead and click on the picture to the left, and note Maxim's caring and loving nature...embracing his little brother with a hint of leadership and guidance. Also note Brecken's face...it is the look he gives right before he hits you.

Then note the very next frame...where Brecken delivered a "junk punch" to his big loving, nurturing and sometimes bossy brother. I also think Brecken's face is alot happier in the 2nd photo...which explains a lot about this little man.

This will be one of those pictures that will live a life of it's own in about 12 years at Maxim's graduation...and then again at his wedding...when his little brother gives the "Best Man" speech.

A stinky hotel, tiny TV and drained hot tubs.

I usually stay at the Hampton Inn Hotel chains...I stayed in Yankton tonight and it is a town without a Hampty, so I chose a hotel based on the pictures on Orbitz.com.

It had a nice pool, and a Minerva's restaurant attached to it. So based on the fact that Minerva's is one of the swankest restraint "mini-chains" in SD I picked this Best Western joint. Big mistake. The Minerva's is the best thing that happened to this 1970's showpiece of Yankton's Eastside.

To quote Maxim..."It smelled like a wet cow" in the hotel room. It did have newer carpet, but the comforter and bedding was brand new in 1984...it screamed Miami Vice. I cranked open both windows and aired it out. If Steph would have been along we would not have stayed at this dump...she is a bit of a hotel-Nazi, which I am fine with.

I got done working out and decided to hit the hot tub...but it was drained...another strike.

So I just flopped on the hard mattress to watch some sports on a 25" TV...The Twins won, and the Cubbies lost...so a 50-50 night.

It doesn't really matter how the Cubs do for the next few games since they clinched the division, but I don't like to see them slump going into our World Series run.

Needless to say it wasn't worth the $120 I didn't have to pay for it, but I will never stay there again...I can't wait to get home on Friday night and sleep in my own bed...even if I have to share it at 4:30 a.m. with a 6 year old pillow-stealer, a 2 year old wildman and my blanket-hogging wife.

The humming road...

I drove from Kearney to Grand Island, Nebraska today...the road was built with 500,000 recycled tires...or some crazy number like that.

The construction of that road causes your tires to make this high pitched humming sound...like a guy on a sportbike was always revving his motor to pass you.

Its interesting for 2 minutes...then annoying for 45!

Tom Solo

When you are on the road for travel you do a lot of things alone that you would usually do with family or friends.

One of those things is eat. I usually eat at chain sit-down type restaurants...tonight it was the Red Lobster. When I roll SOLO I always find a TV and sit down to watch a game or whatever is on. This means I sit at the bar and eat next to some other traveling dude.

I always have this desire to talk to the other dudes and I make sure that they know I am traveling for work, as if they would think I am some crazy loser eating by myself. I don't mind eating alone every once in a while, but it is nice to have the boys to goof off with, and Steph to gaze at me telling me with her eyes to try a little bit harder to control the boys.

The other thing I have noticed is how little time it really takes me to eat at a place like this when alone...last night I was in and out in less than 20 minutes...this would usually be at least an hour episode with the boys. Sometimes I feel like I really didn't get my money's worth by leaving that quickly...but it gives me more time to get back to the hotel and sleep.

Dock Party.

This weekend was one of those bitter-sweet weekends as our usual group of "younger" guys went around the lake pulling docks and boat lifts out for the winter.

Our crew and another group started at noon on one corner of the lake and about 15 residents later had completed our loop. There is still one or 2 left to do, but nothing big. It kind of amazes me how efficient we have become in our labor...every house is different, each place has different equipment and a different shoreline or it needs to be floated out. It took us 6.5 hours to do all of them, but the work goes quickly.

I guess with the exception of a couple of wakeboard sessions that I am bound to sneak in over the next few weeks that is the official end of another summer. Way to short this year.

Garbage to the head.

So tonight me and the boys were rolling solo, which kind of means I was babysitting. Steph pulled me on the wakeboard for a session, and then bailed off with her girlfriends for some Mexican food.

Maxim had to sign up for hockey so we zipped into town got some food, then spent an hour signing up and visiting with hockey friends. A bunch of Maxim's buddies were there so we let the kids run around the hockey rink. Both boys were red-cheeked and thirsty when it was time to leave, so I hit the gas station.

I filled up the Subaru, (which now has 172,000 miles on it) and picked up a Vitamin Water for Breck and a Milk for Maxim. Maxim pulled the "down and out". He slammed the milk and fell asleep a block later. Brecken was up for the long haul.

When I was climbing back into the car a bug landed in my hair, and so for about 5 minutes I feel as if I have this bug crawling all over me, you know the feeling. Then about half way home, this bug keeps landing in the back of my hair...again, and again...every time I get all school-girl freaked out that this bug is trying to nest in my head.

Then it hits like 3 times in a row real quick, and it feels like it is on my neck, so I am in full squirmish mode while driving in the dark at 65 mph. So I grab my neck where the bug is sitting in hopes to end it's life, and I realize that there is a tissue on my neck...and a couple more on my shoulder and back. Then I get hit by one of those rubber shoes (Crocs) that Brecken had on...I yell at him to stop and he laughs.

A little bit later I'm on the phone with cousin Erkel and he starts again with the throwing things...a couple of tissues (where they came from I have no idea) and then the other shoe, and finally the empty bottle of Vitamin Water!!! Pretty much everything he threw hit me in the head. Eric said he had no pity for me, and I actually think he was cheering Brecken on to keep throwing more junk at me.

When we got home and I opened the door to the backseat, there was tore up tissues ALL OVER.

I said, "Brecken, that was naughty, you made a mess!"

He said, "Brother do."

Someday he will learn not to blame things on his sleeping brother.

#2 with a Coke Zero...

So they tore down the McDonald's in town this week, and now that I can't have a Number 2 with a Coke Zero, funny how that makes me completly crave a McDonald's greasy burger and cold fries.

I heard someone say that its gonna be 3 months before the new one is done...now when we lived in SF we had about 5 Micky-D's to choose from, so when they tore down one I just drove to the other one...but in the H-ron there is only 1...so I'm am like a junkie without a fix.

This might be a blessing, because I have been stuck at 199lbs for about 2 months, it doesn't matter how hard I work out or how good I eat, I am not making any progress to my 6-pack abs. Maybe 90 days without McDonald's will do the trick.

Shoot the whole town might lose some weight...and if you have ever been to Wal-Mart on a given night, you know some people around here could use a little less McDonald's...me included.

Side note: If they tear down Godfather's we are moving back to Sioux Falls...the next day.

Reason to blog...

This blog is turning into one of those small town weekly newspapers...sorry but things are a bit slow around our house and I haven't had that burning desire to write lately.

But we do have a reason to blog today...because tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept 10 is Uncle Skip's B-Day.

So send him your best or better yet, drive to his house and chase him around for about 10 minutes threatening to spank him...call them Barn Burners and give him about 64? of them.

I speak on behalf of all the cousins when I say we loved and hated our birthdays because of Uncle Skipper "the Whipper".

We did love running from him and in all reality the whole Barn Burner thing was pretty fun. Now that he is almost 70 I think I could hold him over my knee for 60-some whoopin's.

Happy B-day ya old dog.

Sleeping In.

I've been working 12 hour days for about 8 days now...so I slept in today.

It was great.

I got up at 7:30 a.m. and didn't even feel guilty. I would have slept longer but Brecken came into our room around 6:00 a.m. and decided to sleep upside down in bed. When he does this you know you are going to get kicked in the face at some point.

I remember in college we used to sleep until 10:30 a.m. or some days just turn the TV on and stay in bed until we needed to eat.

Kids make life fun, but they wreck mornings sometimes with their energy...I left the house today and the boys were chasing each other with a shoe, a toy gun, a blanket and a can of WD-40...who knew that those 4 items could be such entertainment at 10 minutes to 8? Steph was still in bed...LUCKY.

The Fair. The End of Summer.

The SD State Fair has a special place in our family's heart, after all it is one of the reason we moved to Huron from Wessington Springs back in the mid-70's, as dad was the State Fair Manager.

Yesterday was the big kick off of the end of summer celebration, and in typical family fashion I was there from about 7am to 11pm...working our booth, emcee duties at the Freedom Stage and we hit the bullriding last night.

I don't know what it is about the fair that I love so much, but I also, in a way, always hated the fair because it marks the end of summer. The nights are cool and the days are shorter and school REALLY starts after Labor Day.

It seems like Fall is here and the clock on "lake time" is ticking...anyone want to help get the boat lift and dock out of the water...before the water gets colder?

Just like the fights at our house...

Guest Blooger Brent S. sent this video to me from the movie Never Back Down...it must have been shot from a camera phone during the taping of the movie.

Reminds me of the fights at our house. Maxim will do all these cool Jedi and Kung Fu Panda moves...then Brecken just slugs him and walks away.

Happy B-Day to my Aunts.

My aunt Gloria and Linda have birthdays only a year and couple days apart...makes me think that Grandma and Grandpa had pretty busy schedules 60-some years ago right up until about Christmas day...if you do the math.

So today Gloria is celebrating her 2nd anniversary of her 30th birthday...which used to seem old, but now that I'm 30-something 60 is the new 40....so Happy 40th Aunt Glo.

Hard to believe these 2 young looking, hip ladies are another year older...their 2 brothers on the other hand....NOW THOSE DUDES LOOK OLD, AND WRINKLED AND 1 OR 2 STEPS FROM THE NURSING HOME!

11 year reunion

The summer after college I went to Alaska to help my sister and brother-in-law at Echo Ranch...a great opportunity and time well-enjoyed in Alaska turned into a couple of lifelong friendships thanks to the Internet and e-mail, one buddy in England and the other in Canada.

One of those guys was Donovan Epp from Canada. We hit it off from the start and have been in touch on and off through the years. Trading pictures of weddings, kids, and life event type stuff.

We hadn't seen each other since I left Alaska and somethings had worked out over the last couple weeks, that Dono and family were going to be in the area. So after a couple hitches in the schedule we finally hooked up in Mitchell on Wednesday night.

The visit was cut short by some unfortunate circumstances, but we had a blast and even though our wives or kids had never met, it was like everyday friends getting together for a little pizza.

There is one picture of Dono and I from Alaska that we both have and it has sat on every desk I have ever worked at...he's in my cowboy hat, and chaps and I have this killer thrift store shirt of his on...don't ask what led up to this photo, but it is a classic.

So we took another pic in the parking lot of the hotel on Wednesday before they got back on the road to celebrate our little reunion...here are the 2 photos.

Kindergartener

The whole first day of school turned out to be a pretty big non-event for Steph and I. I walked him in, dropped off his backpack and turned him loose on the playground. He found a buddy and was GONE. Didn't even wait to give me a hug or anything.



Here is the first day of school photo, and yes that is another black eye. His right eye just healed up and is no longer black, and on Saturday night he ran into some lumber. I promise that is how it happened...I am seriously worried about people thinking we beat the kid, but both incidents happened at Grandma Penny's so I guess she has an unsafe home.


So starts the journey....oh yeah, Grandmas...you can click on the picture for a BIG version of it.

First day of school.

NEMO - First day of school! First day of school! Wake up, wake up! C'mon, first day of school!

MARLIN - I don't wanna go to school. Five more minutes.

NEMO - Not you, dad. Me!

NEMO - Get up, get up! It's time for school! It's time for school! It's time for school!It's time for school! Oh boy! Oh boy!

--Taken from the Disney/Pixar movie Finding Nemo--

______________________________

Why do I have a feeling that this will be the exchange between me and Maxim on Monday? You mean to tell me I have to have the kid at school before 8:30! I think I can do that. No more working on Montana time for me!

Yep, kindergarten starts next week. He could care less. The only long term planning he has right now is Friday's opening of the new Star Wars movie The Clone Wars. He's been talking about that since May.

I feel sorry for his teacher, she had better brush up on her Transformers, Star Wars, Dinosaurs and Army Guys. I would love to be a fly on the wall for his first week of school.

I'm not sure he knows how long this whole school thing is. I think he is expecting a week or two of activity-based fun with buddies. Reality will set in around March, when he is still going to school...then in 5th grade it hits you...that you aren't even half done with your education.

Then when you are in your 30's you start thinking about going back to get your Master's.

Every 4 years...

Those of you who were in grade school in the '80's with me...do you remember your teacher telling you that you were going to learn the metric system of measurements, and that it would replace the English Standard Measurements in a few years.

What happened to that? I'm still filling up with gallons of gas, driving in miles at miles per hour and trying to contain my weight under 200 lbs. (I would much rather be weighed in Kilo's or stones...sounds a lot better)

With the Olympic in full swing I am doing a lot of conversions in my head trying to figure out what something or someone weighs. It's really annoying to think that I could enjoy the Olympics without doing a bunch of math in my head if my teachers would have followed through a bit.

I feel that the push to continue to turn America from English Standard to the Metric system got lost somewhere in the Clinton administration's "to do list".

I wonder if the American athletes that compete in events using different measurements bother to do the conversions. I think it would be good mentally to not do them...for instance if you were in weight lifting...67 Kilos...Ohhh I lift 67 pounds all the time.

It only worked in track and field, everyone know how far meters are, until you do the 5K.

For the record, I am in the running to win a bronze medal in Olympic event viewing.

Somewhat Old Music Day...like 4 Non-Blondes old

Since I entered the digital music world a few years ago with my first MP3 player, I have found that I rarely take any CD cases with me on road trips or day to day activity. While it is super nice to have 3 CD cases full of music on one little device, I realize that I seldom listen to some really good non-current music that I have in my collection.

Like music from my college days...I just never ripped it to my computer and downloaded it to my MP3 player out of sheer laziness. Last month I put 2 of the most definitive albums of my generation on my device, Pearl Jam's "Ten" and Nirvana's "Nevermind". It had been months if not years since I had listened to either album.

So over the last couple weeks I have been pulling some "college music" out of the case and giving it some rotation on the MP3 player. A couple of old U2 discs, They Might Be Giants, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Material Issue, Rush, Seven Mary 3, Gear Daddies, The Nixons, a 2 disc Johnny Cash gem, and House of Pain.

Now when I have the player on "shuffle" and an "old song" comes on, it's like new music to my old ears...try it this weekend. Dig way back in the cd library and pull out that old 4 Non-Blondes CD...it will take you to another time and place.

Maxim vs. a doorknob

Let this be a lesson to all children reading this blog...never run away from your parents when they tell you to put your pajamas on.

But if you do run away, make sure you are looking forward not back at your parents or you will jack your eyeball on a door knob.

Last Night...right after the incident.

This morning...Brecken keeps looking in mirrors to see if something has grown over his eye too.

YO, Adrian......

Canton, SD...North Dakota's Dirty Ashtray.

Yeah, I've been away, sorry. But I do come back funny. I love Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central...every once in a while he makes fun of places I've been to, like the Butte, MT episode and last night he made fun of Canton, SD. I actually can't think of anything in Canton except the cop that trys to bust everyone going through town.

So here is the clip...MOM, sorry about his potty mouth, but they do bleep it out.

Win-DDDD

I spent the last half of the week working in the Aberdeen and and Webster area...on early Thursday morning they got hit with a pretty nasty storm. 112 mph straight line winds for an extended period of time.

We had power out at several different towns, but Webster was the worst hit, and some customers are still out today (Saturday). Being in town right after the storm reminded me a lot of Spencer's tornado. Everyone was just walking around looking at broken stuff. (I'd put pictures up on the site, but I'm too lazy)

I actually like the emergency communications side of my job, there is a lot of energy and the days go super fast...but I don't get to see my family.

So on Friday night when I got home the boys wanted to wrestle and play...Steph had set up the slip-and-slide, and within 5 minutes of pulling in the driveway I had a swimming suit on and was flying down a sheet of plastic filled with freezing cold water. A great way to start the weekend off. The boys loved it when I threw them down the slide like bowling balls. We ate at the lake restauraunt with Papa Penny, as Brecken would call them...they are kind of like one person to him. Today is their 40th wedding anniversary. The prime rib was stellar.

We hung out on the deck for the rest of the evening enjoying some natural air conditioning, and capped the night off with a skateboard session on our halfpipe with Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda watching the boys show off.

We have some friends coming from Sioux Falls this evening, so should be a party for the rest of the weekend.

New Job Title On My Resume'

Let's start out by saying I am still up in the air about the new South Dakota High School sport of Competitive Dance Team or Competitive Cheering. I'm not gonna argue, the girl's are athletes and it takes athleticism to compete, but I find it hard to think that someday I will get to watch highlights of "competitive cheering" on the local news at night, and I will care about the outcome of a competition, or whom the state champion is.

With that said, one of Steph's friends coaches the "Competitive Dance Team" at Iroquois High School, and she asked if I would put together their dance routine music. I have watched the movie "Bring It On" and have caught some of this "competitive cheering" on ESPN 2 at 1:30 in the morning, and I kind of understood what she wanted. I like a challenge, and I have never edited a music mix of this sort, so it would be a new job title I could bestow on to myself.

So on some recent road trips I packed my MP3 player with all the Hip Hop/Dance-type music that I own, and wrote down a set list to compile the songs together...DJ style.

It is harder than it sounds, but I think I got the right amount of flow, speed, breaks, and cool samples included in the 1 minute and 15 seconds of funk that Iroquois will be the best dance team in a 5 mile radius of the town. I actually think it turned out really good.

I'm also pretty sure that my obscure taste in underground and indie music will have the girls dancing to the only mix in the state that includes music from Timbaland & L.L. Cool J., Jurassic 5, Public Enemy, Family Force 5 and sampled school bells and bomb explosions.

I guess I will be cheering for IHS' competitive dance team this year, unless someone else wants music from Lake Byron's biggest name in underground dance mixes...DJ Tommy G.

My boy Mark-O

Watch this clip...about 2:15 in you get to see Mark-O in a younger state...pretty cool to have this old video...and he's still going strong.

I fell asleep in a crib tonight.

Let's just say we have been having some trouble getting Brecken to sleep lately. I think he knows that the party dosen't stop at 9:30 p.m. when he is sleeping and it kills him not to be involved in whatever is going on.

Friday night was a late night getting home so we struggled with him. We did the right thing as parents and gave up, letting him fall asleep in our bed...then moving him to the crib.

After a day spent outside, on Saturday, I though he would collapse from exhaustion into his own bed. Nope. After his bath, he didn't want anything to do with his bed. So we faught him on it.

Steph finally got him settled enough that he would lay his head down and scream at only 50% of his volume capacity, so I took over the job of patting his back to settle him the rest of the way. Now, that is tough to do for a long period of time, because you are bent over the railing of the crib, so I decided to jump in with him.

His bed is pretty comfortable, and I must have been pretty tired, because Steph woke me up 15 minutes later...I was all curled up in a ball, and would have spent the night there if she would have left me alone. Now I am awake writing on this stupid blog at 2:30 a.m.

BobbleHeads.

Outside of the history of baseball teams giving away bobble heads, I don't really get the whole bobble head thingy, but if you want a General Lee, Oprah, Jedd Clampett, Pope BenXVI, or Tom Brokaw and Mt. Rushmore, more power to ya.

I prefer my bobble heads a little more classic in nature, even a football bobble is pushing the limits. With that said, I made these before bed tonight...for no reason at all.

Brecken had no choice, he had to be in his dad's favorite team's uniform...Maxim on the other hand has chosen the Boston Red Sox as his team, because he likes Coco Crisp...the player. He also likes Cocoa Crisp the cereal...I think there is a connection there!

Phones and Popcorn

Watch this first...then scroll down to read about it.





Click here to read more about this amazing feat.

The readers like it when I am in pain.

Saturday's post about the beatdown I received via my 2 boys caused many readers to walk up to me and say how funny it was that the boys beat me like that...glad I could give you a laugh.

Isn't it funny how we get joy out of other people's physical pain. Like when someone gets hit by a door, or falls off a bike, or someone slips on ice and breaks a hip, we laugh...and then make fun of them to their face.

I think God built us with a healthy fear of pain so that we wouldn't do things that cause us to get hurt...that being said, I have a sore back and a sunburn today. Not from wakeboarding like you would expect...I am pretty sure I got it from scooping and hauling wheelbarrows of dirt to some holes in our yard left by some tree stumps we had removed. Now why wouldn't my internal "ohhh this is gonna hurt" monitor go off before I started doing the yard work?

No more Kung Fu movies.

On behalf of fathers everywhere I am making a plea to Hollywood...no more kid movies about karate, kung fu, or any martial arts.

It seems every generation has it's karate movie that gets kids to pretend that they can control their "Fists of Fury" like some little Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Enter the Dragon, Karate Kid, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and this year's hit cartoon...Kung Fu Panda.

For the record, Kung Fu Panda was super funny and I loved the movie (I love anything with Jack Black in it), as did Maxim and his little brother. Naturally after the movie it was time to act out the fight scenes with dad as the bad guy...which is fine...when I am ready for it.

Tonight after baths the boys wanted to do a little Kung Fu action and since mom is in Minneapolis I entertained them by turning the living room into our own dojo.

The problem with my kids and their Kung Fu is that they don't pull their punches, or know when dad is expecting to be punched. We Kung Fu'ed for 15 minutes and I was kind of done...as I was getting off my knees, I got caught with a little "Fist of Fury" from Maxim. Let's just say if I was still on my knees he would have hit me in the chest, unfortunately for me I was standing up...and he hit me hard!

I went down in a pile, clinging to life, or what was left of it. As I was reeling with the pain that every man has felt, and trys with all that is in him to never feel again, Brecken came in for the kill. Did you know that 2 year olds have a fist that is the same size as your eye socket?

I actually didn't get my eye closed in time, and I saw his fist smack my eyeball...up close! I turtled up like I was getting beat down by muggers and tried to protect my vital internal organs and at that moment Brecken followed up with a kick to my earhole. I think he broke my hammer, anvil and stirrup. (the three little bones in your inner ear)

Needless to say I cried, "No Mas, No Mas!" and ended the beatdown.

Maxim walks away and says to Brecken, "Come on brother, the battle is over." I was crying and laughing at the same time.

What happened to "gentle rains"?

For the record, I like the rain...it waters my lawn, fills up my lake, makes the landscape of Earth look prettier, washes my Subaru...etc.

My only complaint is...this spring and summer it seems like every time there is rain forecasted it includes 70 mph winds, golf ball size hail, and an insane amount of lightning. Last night was one of those nights, I could actually see the lake's waves because of the constant lightning.

Then when the thunder hits, we get a new visitor to our bed. Brecken has figured out how to escape the crib, and then wanders into our bedroom during storms, or points where he is done sleeping and wants to hang out with other humans.

He has been doing this for a week or so. One night he couldn't find the door and he ended up sleeping under his bed for the rest of the night. Steph was surprised to find him all curled up under the crib when she went in to get him in the morning.

We did get the gentle rain this morning which was very nice, but just once this summer I would like to go to bed with the windows open and the rain falling...instead of the windows closed and the hail pinging into the glass.

SIDE NOTE:
By the way there was some excitement at my Uncle and Aunt's lake in the Huron city limits today (Ravine Lake)...you might want to check out ksfy.com or keloland.com tonight to get the full "actual" story...right now the rumor mill in Huron is in full swing.

I heard 3 or 5 aliens from the planet "ROutekliNg68U" found the old snowman that used to sit on the roof of Newberry's on the corner of 3rd and Dakota submerged in the lake and they notified local news icon Mike Carroll with the Daily Plainsmen that he should do a story on it. Mike and Roger Kasa went out this morning and found something underwater, but couldn't figure out if it was the snowman, so they called over to Ida Mae's to get the cops to come out and check it out...the rest will be on the news tonight. (seriously, the stories surrounding things like this are like movie plots from the '60's, I actually heard that an airplane with "dead body surveying technology" flew over the lake and found a car and a body. If that's true that's pretty cool technology, since the body has been in the lake since '95.)

Yeah, I took a little vacation from the blog...

I don't plan the breaks from the website...they just happen. We have been pretty busy around home and I have been traveling the mountains of Montana and Idaho over the last 2 weeks, so don't feel sorry for me. I hit the Craters if the Moon National Monument yesterday, very interesting landscape. Check it out if you are in the Eastern Idaho foothills.

You will also have to go through Arco, Idaho...drop in for lunch at the Pickle Place...super good "road food". Also a place with some character and characters!

The areas I have been to are simply beautiful, the Bozeman area and Sun Valley/Hailey, Idaho area are places everyone should visit once. Imagine the Black Hills on steroids.

Brecken and Steph are enjoying some time alone this week as Maxim is staying at his best friend's house in Sioux Falls...his first real stay over away from home. I'm going to pick him up when I get back from Idaho, it will be fun to see him.

Brecken has added a couple of new talents to his 2 year-old resume...he is a huge skateboarder, and also rode the skim-ski last week. The skim-ski is a one piece ski that most really young kids learn to ride before they double ski. I'm not sure 2 years old is the right age for a kid to be skiing on his own, but he wanted to and he loved it. Thanks to Erkel and Ray-Ray for helping him get started. He might be the first wakeboarding-skateboarding-cowboy, but that would make him very well-rounded.

Can't wait to get home, get on the lake and slow down enough to enjoy what's left of summer.

Perfect Weekend

The 4th of July is usually too busy to enjoy, but this year was different. We felt very compelled to throw a big party at the house, but we never really did. I think the most people we had last weekend was around 25, which is a perfect number...considering a lot of them were under the age of 13!

We watched the fireworks around the lake a couple nights and just enjoyed the whole perfect weather weekend. Only one day was really windy, but that made the annual Lake Byron paddle boat races very interesting.

Monday was a snap back to reality as I had to catch a 6am flight to Montana...gotta work, I guess.

Toad Scares Man To Death...

The above headline almost made it into the local paper.

Last night, as I was walking from the lake up to the house, a frog or toad jumped on my foot, and scared me...almost to death.

I had flip-flops on and when it landed on my foot the first time I screamed and kicked my foot to get it off of my foot, but it must have got caught on my sandal strap and hung there for another kick. I was dancing around like a little school girl and kind of half screaming...then I lost my balance and almost fell down some steps.

When I finally regained my composure I did a quick look around to make sure the neighbors weren't out watching or there wasn't any boats going past the house. Nobody else was around, it was just me screaming, the toad jumping and God laughing.

10:45 p.m. supper.

I spent most of the weekend at one church or another as a relative of the family got married this weekend. Basically it was the biggest party of the summer. I did some video and still camera work and stayed out of the way.

Maxim fell head over heels for the flower girl from Kansas, and also liked her brother a lot because he liked to play Super Heros. It was a great weekend for a wedding because the weather was not the best if I wanted to play on the water.

So this afternoon I get an e-mail from Cousin Erkel asking if I can come out and play tonight...I got permission from Steph and while they were at an after-wedding-party-party, Erkel, C-Hof and I spent the night on liquid. It was the best night of riding I have had all year.

Brecken with a little help from G-Pa Roger caught a 16" walleye tonight, he was so stoked!

That made me hungry for fish, so after a long day at the office and a night on the water I finally just ate some frozen fish for supper at 10:45 p.m.

Tomorrow morning is gonna be a big coffee morning!

Bumper Boats

G-pa Bob got Maxim a bumper boat for his birthday. I was a little skeptical about it's quality, as was Grandpa...the reason he only purchased one.

I pumped it up and put the small fortune in batteries into the control panel and Maxim took off with a perma-smile. Brecken seems to think he needs to wear goggles when he rides in it, which makes the people who drive by in boats laugh at him even more.

It goes pretty good and has a water gun that shoots about 15' as well. So when Grandpa got the news that his purchase was a hit, he bought another one. Now Maxim and Brecken or a buddy can terrorize each other and the folks on the dock with their water-shooting bumper boats.

We have enjoyed cousin Cassidy in town for the last week and are looking forward to her brother Carson coming next week. Should be a busy 4th of July again...just hope we don't burn down the houses.

Coke + Peanuts = Pure Pleasure

I try very hard to eat healthy and limit my intake of junk, but I have a strong sweet tooth.

Yesterday a co-worker had a huge jar of Planter's Peanuts on her desk, and asked me to help her eat them. (Like you have to ask me to help eat things) I declined, trying do the right thing nutrition-wise. It worked, I went the whole day without eating any...but all day, all I could think about was getting a Coke and putting peanuts right in the glass.

Last night around 11:30 p.m. it even crossed my mind that if I would ride my bike to work again on Friday, I would reward myself with a Coke/peanuts cocktail. I rode my bike to work today.

The peanut jar is more than half full, and I am trying to come up with an excuse to have another Coke. (Thanks for giving me this addiction, Dad.)

You are thinking about going to get a Coke and peanuts right now, aren't you?

The Shadow Chaser Turns 6 Today.

Maxim turns 6 today.

Last night as we sat on the dock, in the moonlight with a big fire keeping us warm, it hit me that he is no longer a toddler. When you are 6 you are kind of a grown up kid. He sang himself to sleep on Steph's lap around 11 p.m., and we just sat there for a while laughing about "Maxim Stories".

6 years ago today we were at Sioux Valley Hospital watching the U.S. Open and waiting for Maxim. Funny that Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open that year, and he won it this year as well.

I took the above picture about a week ago and it really sums up Maxim. Barefoot, chasing his shadow, free-spirited and carefree. So much artistic and creative energy in that skinny little body running under the big sky.

Right before we put out the fire last night, I said to Steph, "Where will this boy be in 20 years?"

She said, "Probably living at home."

...if only we should be so lucky...kids are pretty amazing.

Shopping With Brecken.

Shopping with Brecken is never a good thing.

For the most part Maxim is cool with the process, as long as you can hit the toy aisle or the comic book section.

Brecken feels like most men while shopping...let me sit on the floor and cry while you do this shopping thing.

By the way, in this video, he is crying because I wouldn't let him have Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles...real tough parenting...he went with the Fruity flavor.

Father's Day Weekend.

We had a brilliant weekend at the Living On Liquid home front.

Deck & stairs building, boat lift floating and installing, kayaking, cage wrestling in the trampoline, horse riding, shooting gophers with a Red Ryder BB gun, Kathy's (AKA - ByronBum) world famous grilled walleye, no wind, temps over 75, and a great Father's Day present from an unlikely source.

Saturday was an amazing day, no wind and warm...I was busy building some steps and a deck landing into the boat house when I noticed a motorcycle pull up to the house and this tall, helmet wearing, "yellow-coated" person gets off. For a minute I thought the guy had the wrong house or something.

Then the helmet came off and it was my buddy Brian Wipf (AKA - HUB). He rolled out to Byron on his new Suzuki V-Strom.

Brian and I go way back to my first real job, he and his family lived just down the street from us and I always looked up to him and his brother as they were and still are great athletes. Hub is like 4 or so years older than me and we worked at the City Water Department together. Which means we drove around in a yellow pick up for a summer.

One day we were conserving gas or something over our lunch hour, and I jumped on the back of his motorcycle. He popped a little wheelie, and the little backrest bar behind me snapped, and I got dropped right there in the middle of 3rd street...one little scratch on my elbow was all I got.

I don't think our folks ever knew about it until a few months ago when I blogged about it. Sorry, Verlie and Bob. I am sure you 2 did some dumb stuff growing up too.
Anyway Brian gives me this great Father's Day gift...he used to ride and race the non-motorized version of bikes and he had all this great gear left from those days, and he brought me a couple of jerseys and coats. I can't tell you how excited I was to get this stuff from a real bike athlete, thanks HUB, hope the hot dog and chips paid the bill!

I wanted to jump on my bike right then and there with the new gear, but I had work to do...I am a little dissapointed that I won't be able to wear the coats until the weather gets a little cooler.

We talked bikes and motorcycles for a couple hours and just caught up...something I think we don't do enough with old friends. So thanks to HUB for spending the $.96 in gas it took the V-Strom to get to the lake and back. Nice bike buddy. Have fun in Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas and where ever your 15,000 miles of travels takes you this summer.

Storm Chasers.

I kind of understand storm chasers, it's all about the adrenaline rush of the chase, capture, escape and understanding of something bigger than you. Kind of like rock climbing, or a super fast downhill on a mountian bike. I could see myself with a video camera trying to get pictures of the tornado.

The deadly tornado last night in Iowa shows exactly why we should respect the weather, and also why we need to understand the storm more.

I only have one question, were you guys "in the tornado"?

I think the guy says it like 15 times...I lost count...kinda funny video.

Becky Hammon...To Russia With Love.

OK - It's another sports blog.

When I worked in TV there was this young, fun, energetic point guard from Rapid City that went on to play basketball for Colorado State. She was, at the time, our female version of Mike Miller. The South Dakota kid that turned heads on the national basketball scene.

Becky Hammon went on to play in the WNBA for the New York Liberty, and we continued to follow her every move. She was your typical South Dakota kid...hard worker, polite and an absolute joy to interview.

As a sports journalist you get to build a pretty cool relationship with these kids. I had great working relationship/friendship with athletes like Chad Greenway, Thomas Vanek, Brock Lesnar, Chad Lamer, Mike Miller, Jimmy Kleinsasser, Chad LaRose, Kris Tschetter, Becky Hammon, Corbin Lacina and Mark Ellis to name a few. For a brief period in their life, we were their ESPN.

The athletes on the above list all went on to great careers and represent South Dakota quite well. Including Hammon, who at the moment is receiving a little backlash because of what she will be doing at this years Olympics.

READ THE STORY HERE.

I think she made the right decision, I would have played for Russia. She is making a living playing basketball. A great living, I might add. I will be cheering for Hammon and I hope her team of fellow Russians get the silver medal.

Steph is happy.

So the Stanley Cup Finals ended last night with Detroit winning another cup.

Steph, being a Red Wings fan, was happy. I am not sure if she is more happy with Detroit winning the cup or that NHL Hockey is over for a few months. Now I have only 3 reasons to waste time in front of the TV...the Cubs, Twins and cage fighting.

Sports Blog...

I try not to blog too much about sports, sporting events or anything related because that's what most people expect out of me, but I can't control myself. The Cubs have the best record in baseball.

We are on an 8 game win streak and I will say it again...this is our year. That being said I am sure I have just "Bartman-ed" the whole thing by blogging and getting excited about it, but it's nice to celebrate the success a little bit. I like to think it's because Steph and I cheered the Cubs on so well at Spring Training in Arizona, but I'm sure there is some other reasons as well.

On to hockey...the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup almost ended last night around 9:20 pm, with the Red Wings ahead 3 to 2 with :30 some seconds left...but Maxime Talbot's hard work behind the net tied the game up and sent it to a triple overtime before the Penguins scored again.

My son Maxim was watching the game with Steph and I, and he was excited that a boy named Maxime scored such an important goal, and that he played for the Penguins. He even wore pajamas with a penguin on them last night. However, he was very disappointed to find out this morning that nobody won the "big trophy" last night. I was happy because that means there is at least one more night of hockey.

Finally a day that felt like Spring.

Yesterday someone mentioned that it was the 3rd Sunday in a row that was warm and not windy, which are the 2 things you care about while living on a lake.

I have always been a somewhat social person, and would never pass up a social gathering or party simply to get home. Sunday after church all I could think about was getting home...in fact lately, all I want to do when it's nice out, and I'm not at home, is to simply go home.

We had a pretty cool offer for a party at some friend's house on Sunday night, but we had to bail on them because the LIQUID was calling.

Yesterday after church we had lunch at mom and dad's with an old friend of mine who is visiting from MLPS, but at 2pm I couldn't find the door fast enough. Brecken and grandpa had a "cowboy day" which took them to the horses for a long ride, so we were down one boy.

By 5pm we were in the water with a loaded boat, having a great time. Although my 3rd wakeboard session of the year was anything less than stellar, it still felt good to have some fun on the water.

We threw together another impromptu party, grandma and the grandpa delivered a sleeping cowboy to the house, he woke up we put him in the boat and he turned into the boat party chairperson.

Maxim had a pretty big day too, he was playing on one of his favorite spots, the roof of Vic and Peggy's boat house. I think he was up there for 3 hours straight, making big battles with his action figures.

We capped the night with a pull behind cousin Erkel's Malibu and one last run across the lake. Maxim drove the boat the whole way, he did remarkably good, of course I didn't let him run the throttle, or today's post would be very different!

42 mile bike to work.

Living On Liquid guest columnist "Cousin Brent" submitted this video post about a guy that bikes 42 miles to work each day.

Click HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO FROM CNN.

Yes, he saved $400 in gas, but from experience....he probably ate about $200 more to fuel the machine that pedals his bike.

My motto lately...BIKE BIG, EAT BIG...

Thanks Brent.

Kayaking Byron.

I have pirated our neighbor's kayaks. I planned on returning them on Sunday when I borrowed them, but it is almost easier to keep them in our boat house, because I have been using them more than they do.

Last night Steph, the boys and I kayaked for about 2 hours...3.5 miles to be exact...using my mapping tool. It was somewhat chilly, but we had hats and long sleeves, and when the wind died down it was perfect.

Kayaking is so different than what we usually use the lake for. A more organic experience, you see things you would have never seen before. We scared a fox up the shoreline...Maxim got to see him running over the rocks as he ran away from us. He didn't know they were more orange than red.

The highlight of the night was when we found his Dora The Explorer ball washed up on shore about 2 miles from our house. It had blown off the dock late last fall and we had no chance of retrieving it. We rescued it from the rocky shore and he stowed it away in the hull of the kayak...somewhere there is still a basketball of ours out there too...we will try to find that on another adventure.

I was wrong on my facts...

I know...details are important when you are writing a story. So I have to admit that I inadvertently lengthened the bike ride distances traveled from last week, as was correctly brought to my attention.

A year or so ago I used the Subaru trip-ometer to figure out the distance between the office and home. It came up at 18 miles, the problem was that I zeroed it out at the gas station D&S Mini-mart. Which is about a half a mile from my office.

So to keep things legit on my website, I did not complete an 18 mile ride 2 different times last week...they were only mere 17.59 mile rides. I did not want to lead anyone astray. (Of course I post this with the utmost humor, funny story telling, and good intentions for the 3 people involved in this story, you know whom you all are!)

To attain my goal of riding my bike 18 miles to work I will, from now on, continue south on Dakota Ave. to the Donut Shoppe, grab 2 cream filled chocolate long johns and a Mountain Dew, then return to the office, making it a true 18 mile ride. But then again the trips to the Donut Shoppe is the reason I need to ride my bike in the first place.

Here is the map for documentation

Memorial Weekend Repeat.

Anyone remember last year' s Memorial Day Weekend weather? From what I remember, we got an exact repeat this year...but with a bonus 15 degree increase in temperatures on Sunday.

We spent Friday and Saturday in Sioux Falls with friends. Saturday morning we were planning to head to Newton Hills for a good mountain bike session, but we got rained out. Riding Newton after a rain is a muddy mess...to the point where your forks build up with mud and it feels like your are riding your brakes all the time. We ate raspberry and blueberry crepe's and sipped gourmet coffee instead.

On the way home we detoured north to Brookings to see Cooper, the newest addition to Dr. Schneider's family. Everyone was sleeping so we just looked at him through the glass, like we were watching him play hockey...it dawned on me that I should pound on the glass and yell, "Cooper, Cooper!" (Like the NHL commercial) but I didn't want to get thrown out of a hospital again.

Sunday was the day...I think I put 4 miles on the kayak and I have the life jacket sunburn to prove it. We worked around the yard and played outside all day Monday. I knew the boys had a good day when around 9:45 pm, by his own will, Maxim climbed into bed, then called us in to pray with him so he could go to sleep.

Maybe we can boost the temperatures to the high 60's this weekend.

Biking to work...

If you have visited my friend over at Minus Car Project you know his dedication to riding his bike all the time, to reduce his carbon foot print and save the Earth. I have those same tendencies, but it is hard not to rely on a car when you choose to live 15 miles from town. However, 2 days this week I have biked to work. 18 miles door to door.

Don't go thinking I am going to drive my bike full time, but I will make a conscience effort to bike to town if Steph and the boys are also coming in that day. I'm not doing it to save money on gas, or so much to reduce my carbon footprint, those are just nice things that go along with it. I am more doing it to help recycle. Recycle some clothes that didn't fit about 5 months ago that is.

I have been running 3 miles 5 times a week and lifting 5 to 6 times a week for over 3 months now, and I read something the other day about shocking your body through new additions to your work outs.

Believe me, my body was shocked this morning. At mile 14 I hit a wall, and it was time to go to my happy place and just pedal. I sat in the hot tub at the office for about 10 minutes before I showered...that was the pay off.

Jay Leno Headlines

I want to say I was tempted to send to Jay Leno's Headlines the "Syrians will blow" advert the Wagner paper ran a week or so ago. I didn't send it, but somebody did.

Living On Liquid readers have informed me that Jay did indeed run the advert on his "Headlines" segement last night. It garnered a good laugh from the crowd as well.

Here it is again in case you missed it the first time, and on Leno last night.

Guilty Pleasures On My MP3 Player...

I learned something about myself today...I have guilty pleasures right there on my MP3 player.


Guilty pleasures in my circle of friends would be described as something that you like, but don't tell your buddies about it. Be it figure skating, home decorating, flower planting, Celine Dion's music, any movie with Julia Roberts or Hugh Grant...you get the picture. Basically un-manly things. (For the record the above named things were simply examples and do not reflect my guilty pleasures in any way, shape or form. With the exception of figure skating during Olympic years)

So during a lull in a meeting today somebody mentioned that they couldn't get this Brittney Spears song out of their head today. When interrogated about the lingering tune, it turns out that this person has 2 albums of Brit on HIS (yes...HIS) iPod.
So it was "come to Jesus time" and around the room we went giving our "guilty pleasures of music" that is loaded on our MP3 players. A couple of folks had 'NSync, and an over 60 lady had 98 degrees and Color Me Badd! Some other notables...The Chipmunks, Boy George and Milli Vannilli.


It came to me, and I had to actually think pretty hard about the music that would get me ridiculed in a hockey locker room. I came up with Pink, the Dixie Chicks and Vanilla Ice's "Extremely Live" album. The last one of the 3 made me the butt of every ensuing joke for the meeting. So as soon as I got done with the meeting I deleted every Van-Ice song from my MP3 player.
It wasn't a peer pressure thing, I just don't want aliens to find me someday running around the lake listening to "Ice, Ice, Baby". Pretty sure any chance I had of being abducted, taken on a space voyage and then returned to Earth to write a book about it would be shattered if they thought Earthlings listened to that kind of musical junk. I would much rather have them find me listening to Johnny Cash or mewithoutYou. I think they would think I was smarter than most that way.
I kept Pink and the Dixie Chicks on the player, because of their musical talent and vocal range. I think the aliens would agree with me on that in theory anyway.