02180831 - Heading to FL

02180831 - Up in the am and dropped J off at school and in to work. Getting things done at the desk and only slightly sidetracked by Scout emails this morning. Got the day back on track and took on a new project. Everyone headed out early today, I hung back to help the IT guy, but got home before L headed out for her FL trip with her girlfriends. G had his 6th grade adventure day today and had a blast.  DGF7 went to pick up D and we got to see him before JG&I headed to the high school football game. J headed off to a freshman tailgate party and G&I hooked up with the baseball team at a tailgate. In to the game to watch Gahanna get best pretty bad. All home and to bed in good time ready for an early morning tomorrow.

20180830 + Don't Remember Sleeping

20180830 + Up in the am, don't remember sleeping... Dropped J off at school and drove in to work. To the desk and ready for a heads down get'er done day. Got a lot done, just not the right stuff... Finished the day and headed home. Home only for a minute then ran to pick J up from XC. Home and we had dinner and then L packed, the boys split up to play the Xbox, and I hung out on the back porch. Had a Booster stop by to pick up some PayPal card readers and get some instructions. Finished the night and to bed in good time, but to sleep late.

20180829 - Vet$

20180829 - Up in the am and dropped J at school and in to the office and ready quick for an early meeting. At the desk getting things done. L took Lilly to the vet today to have her looked at as she can barely walk... I made some good progress and headed home through a downpour. Took the back-way home as visibility was 0 and traffic was a nightmare. Got home and L was dropping G off at baseball practice and J not home yet so I hung out on porch. L home and told me about vet vi$it, Lilly ok, nothing broken, got some shot$ and pill$. J walked himself home after running today and ran straight up to the Xbox... I ran to pick G up from practice, gave Tom a lesson in Team App. G&I swung by the varsity baseball field on the way home so G could see D's brick. Home and G on the Xbox screaming around. I did some things on the PC until late.

20180828 + Big League

20180828 + Up in the am and know why I was feeling so sore yesterday... because I played catch with G int he pool Sunday...  Up still a bit stiff but J&I up and slowly ready, Lilly getting around a bit better today. I dropped J off at school and headed in to work for a full day of face in the PC planning. Headed home and got there just as G was leaving for baseball and J was mowing Doc's yard. I hung out on the back porch until time to pick G up from practice. Got to G's practice right at the end and helped with the base running race and to push a mower into a truck. G&I swung by DQ on the way home and G had a fan, a little girl, that wanted to know all about his uniform and what sport it was and where he went to school... We had a nice treat and then swung through the post office on the way home. Home and wound down, a nice calm night.

20180827 - Hard Work

20180827 - Up in the am and got J to school and in to work. Got the day started. Headed home in good time and hung out on the porch until L called for dinner. After dinner I got J&G delivered to Scouts, then a stop at the post office to mail stuff and on to get my hear cut. After the hair cut I headed to Kroger to get some supplies and did the 'Scan and Go' thing for the first time where I scanned my groceries as I put them in the cart. It was pretty cool and made checking out easy too. Across the parking lot to get gas for the mowers and then home to unload and sit for 12 seconds before running to pick the boys up. Home and hung out for a bit watching Ninja Warrior before grabbing Doc and heading to Bible Bangers. Had a good meeting over Proverbs 1&2 and then home and up late watching TV and playing golf.

20180826 + Team

20180826 + Up in the am and the tree guys showed up. We talked to Jodi from next door and decided to only cut the dead out instead of taking the whole thing out. I got a bunch of stuff done in the office while L&J watched the tree removal. Lilly not doing well, can barely get around today... After the tree guys left Jodi the neighbor called me over and we looked at the tree and she told me she was mad at me...  The tree guy told her I was going to pay the bill and she wanted to pay her half. I explained I would pay it and she could pay me back just to keep it simpler for the tree guy, then she was happy.  I was in the office all morning and in the afternoon LJG&I headed to the pool to cool off. We had some fun and got caught in a rainstorm. We swung past Jet's Pizza on the way home to pick up dinner. We called D on the way home and wished him happy bday, it sounds like he is having a good day and was on his way to a baseball meeting. Home and settled in the basement to watch Paddington 2 and then the original Stargate. All to bed in good time.

20180825 + Early Bday for D

20180825 + Up in the am and J already gone, on the bus to a XC meet. LG&I got around and headed to Pickerington to watch the race. J was running with 523 other kids from 47 schools :-o He did great coming in 168th out of that whole herd. Pretty awesome for a freshman... We then jumped in the car and headed to Wilmington to see D. We got there and had lunch with him and some of his friends in the cafeteria, and then went back to his room for a bit so the boys could see it. DGF7 was there too and we all went to Walmart to get D some more things he needed for school. We then swung by a clothing store to get D some shorts for his internship and then back to the room to put things away. DGF7 needed a nap so the rest of us went out and D showed J&G where his classes were and met us with some friends and they played some basketball until time for dinner. We tried 2 places that had 45min+ waits before finding a hole in the wall BBQ place that was AWESOME. A couple of D's friends went with us and it was an enjoyable. After dinner we headed home and I did some things on the PC and J&G spent some time on the Xbox.

20180824 - Tie It

20180824 - Up in the am and J had to dress up today so I tied his tie for him. Dropped J off at school and headed into work for a busy morning of ad hoc conversations to move things forward. It was a good day at work, got a bunch of things done. Home through bad traffic and LG&I dropped J off at a XC dinner and then went to the local Greek place for dinner. We got a couple of videos and then headed home. L ran to get J and then home and J&G got on the Xbox while L and I watched 'Kidnapped' a good suspense flick that had L all balled up. Up late doing things for the Boosters.

20180823 - Folks We Know

20180823 - Up in the am and dropped J as school on the way in to work. To work and reducing mail before headed offsite to a meeting. Meeting was good and it ended in another Indian restaurant that was very good. Headed home and into the office to ship the $60 worth of ebay stuff that sold in the last day. Came out to have a nice dinner with LJ&G and then L&I headed to the middle school to walk G's classes and meet his teachers. I was a good tour and L&I saw tons of folks we knew and had a good time. Home and up late getting things done on the PC.

20180822 - Needed That

20180822 - Up in the am and dropped J off at school on the way in to work. Had an 8am meeting and then a call with my boss midday and knocking things out the rest of the afternoon. Headed home and L&G were at the batting cages, J was walking home from XC. All home and hung out on the back porch for a bit. L made some dinner, we ate and then L&I headed to the high school to walk through J's schedule and meet his teachers. We ran into tons of folks we know and then swung by DQ for a treat before heading home. Home and relaxed, got everyone off to bed.

20180821 + Let it Run

20180821 + Up in the am and dropped J at school and on in to work. Had a meeting in the morning and getting things lined up and done at the desk. Had a very busy and productive day. Headed home and hung out on the back porch with L until we had to run and get J from XC. We headed to get J and L dropped me at Tuffy to pick up my car. I got in it and it was DEAD... They came out and jumped it and I got home and let it run. L&J home, L made us dinner, I did some ebay and Amazon shipping and then we hung out on the back porch playing on our phones and watching TV until time for bed. D had a good second day.

20180820 - 1st Day of Classes for D

20180820 - Up in the am and stopped at BP to let J out and get some gas. In to work and getting ready for a busy week. Today is D's 1st day of classes. Had a heated call with AT&T about our wireless service... Finished the day discussing increases with the 2 outside my door. Headed home, relaxed on the back porch a bit and then L cooked us dinner and then she mowed the backyard. I packed up and headed to the Booster meeting. It was a long meeting as lots of folks were upset about the elimination of fundraising assistance by participant... L ran the boys to and from Scout tonight. I got home for a bit, got Doc and headed to McD's for a sparse Bible Bangers crowd. Home and watched some TV while got a couple of things done on the PC. Tried to text D but it was late and no response.

20180819 + Face-Time with D

20180819 + Up in the am and LJ&I to church. We sat with the Mallonns between us. Home and cleaned up ebay and finished up work in the office and checked in on D, he is doing fine and having a good time; classes start tomorrow... I ran to pick up G from his canoeing trip. The adults and several kids that went on the trip reported G having a great time and dancing and... When G got in the car he 'hated' it, so 'boring and stupid...'. I ran G through Wendy's to get him some food and then home where he got cleaned up, talked to his mom for about 3.7 minutes before running to the basement to plug himself in and start screaming at his friends. L&I headed to Reynoldsburg and picked up some auction items and then stopped at Meijer to get school supplies for the oblivious student, I mean J. we swung through Sonic to get slushies on the way home. Home and I retired to the back porch so I did not have to hear the Xbox screaming. L joined for a bit and then I got the grill out and cooked up some brats for us. We ate on the back porch and then hung out a bit before heading, electronics away and we played Rummikub, it was very pleasant and the boys had their snack. We face-timed with D for a bit and then everyone headed to bed.

20180818 + D's Brick

20180818 + Up in the am L&J already up and out to J's practice run across town. I got up and into the office to get some things done. L&J home for a bit. L headed to school and J played on Xbox until he and I ran some errands and hit up some local businesses for ad space in the high school program. We went all over town and ended up at Rita's for a sweet treat before heading back home. Home and I got more done in the office, L home and we all headed to Moe's for a nice dinner. We then went to see the new Mission Impossible movie, it was great! Home and it's quiet around here... All to bed in good time.

20180817 - Slow Motion

20180817 - Up in the am and really tired... Dropped J off on the corner on the way in to work. Got to the office and got moving, but everything is moving in slow motion today... Checked in with D, he was up and out for more orientation stuff.

20180816 + HARD DAY

20180816 + Up way to early and LD&I headed to Wilmington College. We got there and they have quite a system to get the students checked in and then off to their dorm. We got D checked in, he got his ID and room key and then were directed to Pickett Hall. We pulled up to Pickett and a swarm of kids covered the car and carried everything up in what seemed like seconds. We went up to D's room and started arranging. I ran down to move the car and then back up to the room. We switched beds and cabinets several times until D got situated the way he liked. We then went down to the TOP (cafeteria) for a nice lunch, I have a little bit of everything :-)  After lunch we walked through the rain to the tents in on the lawn and visited some of the vendors. We dropped some stuff off int he room and then headed to Walmart and D got a text from his roommate stating that he would not be moving in today... So we added a fridge to the cart of goodies. Back to the dorm and the kids grabbed the new stuff and headed up. Back int he room and we put the new stuff in it's place. The TV cable wasn't long enough and D needed some tools so I headed to the hardware store to get some items and picked up some fun stuff I saw while I was in there (wiffle ball set, spinners, solar dancing flower...). back to the room and helped L&D finalize his room just in time to head back to the TOP for an ice cream social. They introduced a bunch of people and then started dismissing the kids. Time to say goodbye... L teared up a little bit and I held it together. Off we went, D stayed.



We drove home and G was at baseball practice. I sat on the porch and went through some mail. Went in and had a moment with L and we cried it out... Off to pick up J from XC and then G. We headed to Steak n' Shake for dinner and catch up with the boys on their first real day of school. Over to Best Buy to get L&I a new TV for our bedroom. Home and set up the TV, to bed in good time. I checked in with D and he had a good evening, had to introduce himself to the student-body with the other baseball players.

20180815 - First Day

20180815 - Up in the am and J up with L&I all ready for his first day of high school. He is so big his head is hitting the branches of the front tree as he stood to get his picture taken. J&I headed out and I dropped him off at the BP and off he went. I headed in to work and L sent me pics of G on his first day of middle school. In to work and at the desk knocking things out and getting a plan.

20180814 + Final Prep

20180814 + Barely up this am and got myself around and in to work. I have a feeling it is going to be a long slow day.... It was but I still got a bunch of stuff done. Headed home in good time and L and I caught up on the back porch, D&DGF7 packing D's stuff for college, J at XC and G playing the Xbox. L ran to get J, he stayed home and the rest of us went to On The Boarder for a nice dinner and then Target to get some school stuff for the boys. Home and I had bobble head syndrome on the back porch while L got a bunch of things done. Boys a little snappy tonight as I think they are all nervous about tomorrow... L&I watched a movie, not up late.

20180813 + Blur Day

20180813 + Up in the am and walking around half asleep. Somehow made it to work, Talked to CB a bit about our kids and the events of this upcoming week... In my office catching up and organizing. Made some good moves and implementation steps today on a couple of things. Day gone before I knew it. Left a bit later than usual and got home and L had finally sat down from a busy day, D was up in his room he had an eye exam in the morning and then worked. J at XC and G at a buddies. J&G home and we all had dinner. D took off with DGF7, I ran J&G to Scouts and signed G up for a bunch of camping trips (he's not so happy about that...). Picked up boys after Scouts and ran some movie back, dropped them off at home, got Doc and headed to McD's for Bible Bangers, super light crowd, everyone busy, was trying to plan a back to school event, guess I'll miss it for 2 years in a row... Home not to late, but up WAY TOO LATE doing Booster stuff.

20180812 - New Team Picnic

20180812 - L got us all up in the am and we headed to church. It was good to see some folks at church and people were happy to see us. Home and I headed to the backyard to get things set up for G's travel team that is coming over for a cookout. DJ&G helped set up the big tent, move tables, set up games and ready before we knew it. Soon folks started showing up, 3 new families joined us this year; it was nice to meet them and they seemed to fit in well. The boys played and played, I cooked 40 burgers and 40 hot dogs and everyone got their fill. The main events in the afternoon were pear hitting and some corn-hole between watching Tiger Woods ALMOST win a big golf game. Party over, LDDGF7J&I got the backyard cleaned up in a jiffy and everything, including the big tent put away. D &DGF7 went out, J headed to the Mallonn's for a game night, D to the basement on the Xbox and L&I had leftovers for dinner and watched 'Life of the Party' and L laughed so hard a couple of times I thought she was going to pee her pants... D home and cleaned up, he ran to get J for us. All boys home and up to bed. I stayed up watching the movie 'Blockers' until very late.

20180811 + Practice Run

20180811 + Up in the am and L&J long gone and at J's XC scrimmage. L got home and had left J with the team for the traditional start of season bfast. D up and soon Jason stopped by to talk to us about potentially investing D's $ he had from graduation. It was a great visit and I hope D learned something from it... I then headed into the office and knocked stuff out. L took a nap from having to get up at 5am, and then headed out in the yard. DJ&G tried to set things up so all 3 of them could play the Xbox together. D left with DGF7 and J&G played more Xbox. G eventually out to help L. I finished up an then headed out and G&I cleaned out the sandbox. G&I then head out on some errands; gas, bank, grocery, video store and Cane's for some dinner. Home and LJG&I headed to the basement to watch Rampage, it was pretty good. D got home and L&G headed up and DJ&I watched 12 Strong about the horse soldiers, it was awesome. Everyone up to bed.

20180810 - GpaW Bday

20180810 - Another slow start to the day, just dragging... but up and out to work. Met with some guys to get directions defined and then settled into the office for a meeting free get-it-done day. Ended up having some meetings but got a lot done. Headed home, had a couple beers on the back porch and Gma&paW showed up and we headed out through the rain to PF Chang's for a nice dinner. After dinner we headed home and played JG&I some euchre w/ GamW until G reneged... We then had sand happy bday to GpaW and had some cupcakes and ice cream. Everyone to bed in good time.

20180809 - New IDs

20180809 - Barely up in the am, got ready and stumbled out the door. Got to work and dove in reviewing best practices for Change Control. Had a couple really good meetings on getting the process defined and documented. Played a couple more games of shuffleboard and lost... had lunch in the break room and then did some config on the new handbook site before heading out late. Home and hung out on the back porch while L grilled some dinner. We ate and then L&I ran to Home Depot to get some stuff to fix the kitchen sink, then to Meijer for some supplies and then home. The Mallonns stopped over and Penn helped with the sink repair. G&I hung out on the back porch playing on our phones and watching syfy. To bed and up late doing booster stuff, L up most of the night coughing.

20180808 - Caught Up

20180808 - Work, a bit discouraged today as things are not as done as I wished when I went on vacation. So I talked through it with some of the owners, played 2 games of shuffle board and headed home. Home and D was at work, J not feeling well so in his robe in his den for the night. G with Gma&paW doing soccer golf with his buddy Eddie. I hung out on the back porch with L for a bit before heading to a Landscape Board meeting. It was a short meeting and I swung by Jersey Mike's Subs to get dinner for LJ&I. Home and ate on the back porch. Gma&paW, G and Eddie showed up. We sat on the porch and chatted a bit. Eddie is spending the night so I ran him home to get his stuff. Home and into the office to finally get caught up from vacation. D swung through on the way to a friends and got a couple of things done for me. I was on the pc and catching up until 3am...

20180807 - Orientation

20180807 - Up before the sun even thought about coming up... LD&I headed to Wilmington for D's orientation. When we got there D was greeted with smiles and hugs from the baseball coaches... We spent the day walking the campus, sitting in lectures about what to expect and how they do things, helpful tips, a good lunch... D met a couple more baseball players and seems to fit in very well. We got his schedule, bought his books and headed home. In the evening LJG&I headed to J's Cross Country (XC) meet the team pool night. We ran into a lot of families we knew and J got himself some new shoes. Home and crashed from a busy day.

20180806 - Toooooo Busy

20180806 - Up in the am, too early, needed a day to recover, and in to work. Getting caught up on email and setting direction for the next several weeks.

20180805 + Different Backyard

20180805 + Up in the am and down to the lobby for bfast. I met the Meijs and ate with them. We chatted for a bit, said goodbye until next time and then loaded up our stuff and hit the road. Five hours later, no traffic issues, no stops we swung through our McD's to get lunch. Home and Ashley was waiting for D's in his room, it was their 2 year anniversary last Monday while we were on vacation. I ran J to the high school to get his XC jersey but he has to wait until Monday... Home and we ate and I helped put some stuff away while the boys picked up the bug bombs, L cleaned everything and headed to the back porch to watch some pickers, do a logic puzzle and get caught up on email. We lost another big tree while on vacation, seems to be a common theme. L came out to mow and then hung out o the porch with me. We ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut that was a disaster... After dinner G didn't feel well so we hung out watching some TV and taking it easy for the rest of the evening.

20180804 + Netherland Friends

20180804 + Up in the am and LJ&I headed out to stick our feet in the ocean one last time before heading home. We took our chair, umbrella and 2 boogie boards with us and found families that just got there for vacation and gave it to them. Back to the room and got things packed. I got the car and we got things packed up in good time. We hit McD's and a tiny church on the way out of town and then drove straight to the World's Largest Strawberry for an ice cream treat before the second leg of our journey to Wytheville VA. We made it to our hotel, I had to make a couple of calls about the tree removal happening tomorrow and relaxed for a couple of minutes. We then headed downstairs and met the Meijs, Andre, Nicole and Oriana from the Netherlands. oriana was at an English Camp for the last 2 weeks. We chatted for a bit and then headed to the same Chinese restaurant we always go to for a fantastic meal. After some great conversation we headed to get some gas and then back to the hotel where we hung out in the lounge chatting until the wee hours of the morning about everything under the sun to get caught up. It was great to see them!

20180803 - Retake


20180803 - Up in the am and L on the beach for an hour already. I got the boys up ad we ate and headed down. We only got to stay on the beach a short time before a monsoon blew in and we made it to the room only seconds before the downpour hit. We hung out in the room for a bit and then DJ&I headed to Best Buy to look for a laptop for D as the one I got him from Amazon was DOA with many of the keys not working... We walked in, got some help, evaluated the couple we narrowed it down to and picked an awesome laptop! back to the room and D started getting things set up, I helped him a bit and it was flying. After a bit DG&I ran across the road and played putt putt on the course that was partially flooded for fun. t was a good time. After golf G&I headed to a Hilton property to see if we could find a new timeshare. They were all full so we didn't get a tour so we headed back to the room. We all got ready and headed to North Myrtle Beach and my favorite putt putt place, Mayday Golf. We played a quick round and of course I won :-)
I got myself a tshirt and we got back on the road towards our final destination with a quick stop at a pawn shop. We made it to the Pirate Voyage dinner show and had a ball. It was a great show. After the show we got back to the room and DJG&I were up until 2 playing euchre, having fun and G laughed so hard he peed his pants. A good last day!

20180802 - Big Shark

20180802 - Up in the am, L already down at the beach. The boys and I got up and around and headed down to join L. We spent some tie in the ocean and then the pool. We headed up to the room to get cleaned up and made some lunch. We then headed South on the beachfront road looking at all the sights all the way to our destination 'Shipwreck Island' for another round of putt putt. It was a good course and L won! We then headed North to Barefoot Landing where we walked around in all the shops and everyone looked around and found something they loved. We ended up in a little pub where G hung out in the courtyard watching a street performer until the food came. It was a good meal and we hit an ice cream place on the way to the car. We stopped at the Tanger Outlets on the way back where L&J got some shoes and then we headed back to the resort. It was late when we got back and we just hung out in front of the TV and I searched for laptops for D.

20180801 + Geometric Design

20180801 + Up late in the am. L&G down to the beach first. DJ&I got ourselves around and headed down. We built a sandcastle fort thing and then DJ&G headed to the pool whil L&I guarded the castle and sat at the edge of the surf. I went to join the boys in the pool and played for a bit until the boys got out of hand and D vanished back to the room. L joined JG&I for a bit at the pool then we all headed up to get ready for another round of putt putt. The golf place was a bit busy and the boys a bit touchy, so it was a quick round, L&I tied for the win. We then headed to Captain George’s to gorge ourselves on crab legs. We had our fill and stopped at a CVS on the way back to the resort. Back to the resort and L&I had a little chat with the boys about their constant fighting. Down to the beach where the boys played a paddle ball tournament in the sand and then a bit of time at the noisy not so lazy river... LD&G up to the room, J&I shortly after and I took a walk to get some poke-balls. Back to the room and L had made us Caipirinhas. We all stayed up around the table and played Hearts and laughed and laughed, especially at J's lactation!