Melissa's Halloween Party

The girls were invited to a wonderful Metropolis tradition put on by Mike and Melissa Rushing, a dress-up Halloween party with fun and games. The girls had a blast. True to form, Maggie was a zombie and Katie dressed as a flapper. They both are cute as buttons!

Football and a Party

Tonight, we attended a Massac County Football game, at which Carl played in the band. Maggie and Katie had a great time. After the football game, Carl went to an overnight birthday party for his best friend, Joey. Lara and I look forward to a quiet night.

Tomorrow, Carl will spend half the day with his friends, the girls will have a morning soccer game, and I will be at a huge tailgate party my work puts on during family weekend at SIU.

Last Nice Day For a Soccer Game...

From here on out, soccer will likely be cold and wet. This was the last nice soccer game at which we took some pictures. Maggie had already broken her arm, but she dressed and went out to support her team even though she couldn't play. However, about halfway through the game, Maggie started watching the game one field over.

Maggie's Arm Is Busted, And Her Brain Is Twisted...

Sorry it's taken so long to post this picture:


Katie and Maggie got in a shoving match, and Katie broke Maggie's arm when Maggie fell backwards.

Since then, Maggie got sick. With something a lot like the flu. Lara took her to the doc today, and they swabbed her cheek to see if its the swine-y version or not.

I have been traveling all over for the program at which I work. Catch my latest travels and pizza reviews at Twin Rockets Are A Go, Baby! In the last month, I've been to Minneapolis, Chicago, (twice) and Buffalo. Here's a picture of Buffalo:

Yeah, if you're not at Niagra Falls, it isn't anything special...

While I traveled, I spent a couple of nights with our dear friends, the Aimones. You know they are special when they rate their own blog tag:

Sure, you could have lived without seeing that, but why would you want to? Much more important than Tony in control of his living space, is Tony in his new kick-butt Volvo racing machine. No, this is not an oxymoron. Hey Tony, send me a picture!

Two days ago, out of the blue, Maggie looked at me after dinner and said, "Dad, I think our dog Lucky is French."

Exactly. What was I supposed to do? I laughed and laughed. Then I said, "I think so too. That explains a lot."

Lara Turns 40!

I wished my wife a happy 40th! Unfortunately, she got this:

Okay, just kidding! It was a crazy day, but a good one.

To come: Pictures of Maggie's broken arm. Yes, not Carl, but Maggie, who broke her arm a couple of days back. Never a dull moment.

Our Dog Lucky Is Weird

First, Lucky stuck her head in a box of snacks. She kept her head in the box of snacks for a long time. I went to get the camera, and she knocked the box off of her head with her paws. The photo I took catches the last moment before the box fell off.


Then, another day, Lucky just kind of laid down on the floor, while we were changing the sheets on the bed. We threw a pillow down, and it landed on her head. She didn't move or flinch. Even though she was awake, she stayed there with a pillow over her head. Tell me the last time you saw a dog do that. She is not right.

Labor Day

Carl marched in the Labor Day parade, which was fun to see. At the beginning of the parade, there was an emergency call, and an ambulance and fire truck in the parade had to hit their lights and sirens for real, and then raced down the street. It was weird to see.

Carl is the little guy playing saxophone. The band practiced Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song." How cool is that?

The Bike Saga

So, I ordered a bike at the end of August. I was expecting it on September 8th. Late on the afternoon of the 8th, I got a call from Al, of Lloyd's Paint and Paper in Crystal Lake, Illinois, who called to tell me he received my package and it looked like it was in pretty bad shape.

I called and emailed the bike company and UPS, and although it took a little bit for each to understand the situation, I think they did right by me. At first, UPS said I would need to contact the company I bought the bike from, and the company would call UPS and decide how to resolve the problem. So I did that. However, the company people could read as well as I could, and when we tracked the package, it showed it was still in transit, and therefore, there is not yet a problem. I called UPS back, and told them I knew where the bike was, and instead of going through some drawn out process, couldn't they simply retrieve their mis-delivered package, and send it to me? They actually agreed that that made sense, and dispatched someone to pick it up.

Here's the funny thing: Even though UPS apologized every time I spoke with them, and were sorry that they mis-delivered my package, and were willing to go get it and send it to me, when I tracked the package again, the folks at UPS listed the package not as being mis-delivered, but that the receiver of the package, one Al, requested a change of delivery address, and it was now being sent to my address.

Why can't people or companies simply admit when they make a mistake? I would respect that a lot more than the responsibility dodging "solution" that is the official story from UPS.

Regardless of the human drama, here are some pictures of the fattest guy you know enjoying the hell out of his new bike!

Bike riding has changed

When I was a kid, I owned Stonington on my bike. I rode from one end of town to the other, and never looked back. I would ride from dinner time until 9:59 pm. I had to be back home by 10 pm to help pack my Dad's mine bucket (he worked third shift). I rode my bike five miles to the farm where I worked in the morning in the summer, and five miles back home. A bike was freedom!

I still have the bike I rode all those years. It is a swing bike (not Schwinn, Swing) and it has a headset under the seat, and the back wheel turns like the front wheel. Mine was originally orange. I painted it several times, but the last time, I painted it black, and put on five spoke black mag wheels. Here is a picture of a swing bike:



So picture me on the back of this thing now, 100 pounds heavier than when I rode it all the time. But, I still got it! It is fun to ride, but I decided that the time was right to buy a new bike. I ordered it today. Here is a picture of the new one:



Now, while I am ordering mine, I approach Carl, and ask him if he would like a cool new bike, since his old one has seen its better days. He was like, "Eh." The girls have cool bikes, and Lara also indicated she would rather have surgery than ride bikes. This is a fundamental way in which we are different.

The title of the post, however, relates to how as parents, we just can't let Carl, Maggie, or Katie just go riding, like I used to when I was a kid. I'm not one of those who look back and say, "In my day, we could...(insert your own hyperbole here)." BUT, there is no way in hell I would let Carl ride over to his buddy's house across town by himself, let alone take a five mile ride in the country on his own twice a day.

If the times haven't changed, if bike riding hasn't changed, then I can only ask "What the hell were my parents thinking 30 years ago?!?!?"

Of course, the times have changed, and riding bikes has changed, too. But, I'm looking forward to the new cruiser.

A Sweet Day To Share Sadness.....

At the end of July and the first part of August, we took time off to work on the house and spend time with the kids. It was during this time that we learned that Sean, Lara's cousin and dear friend, died. It's hard for me to talk about his death, because I didn't really get to know Sean very well, but I know by the depth of pain felt by those close to him, like Tanya, Lara, and Dee, that he was a wonderful, sweet person. Some people were angry because Sean took his own life; some attempted to understand the nature of addiction which drove him to his end; some simply missed him and wished he were still here, and would have done anything to change what had happened.

Despite the somber circumstances which brought us together, these were wonderful pictures of Tanya with the family.







Our thoughts continue to be with Sean's family. May you rest in peace, Sean.