Full weekend.

This was quite a weekend, for me at least.
Friday night was spent bowling and drinking with my good friend Cory. We ended up bowling 5 games and drinking far too many beers. I've been bowling at regular intervals lately, but Cory hasn't bowled in years. Needless to say, he had the high score of the night, a 181. Not too shabby.
Saturday morning was spent trying to be tough and not show my wife I was completely hung over. The smells of frying bacon and fresh ground coffee proved to be impossible to sleep through, so up and at 'em at 8:00 a.m. (that is still sleeping in with two kids.) We loaded up the chitlins and headed for the nearest All-Clad dealer in the area in search of new kitchen ware. We had been setting aside money for this for a while so this was exciting enough to put the hangover on the back burner. After hemming and hawing over adding a 10" fry pan to the set, we settled on the All-Clad MC2 7 piece set. Jess bought the kids a cookie in the coffee shop next door, and we headed home to try out the new pans. After lunch (green eggs and ham) I took a leisurely 3 hour nap. Hangover cured.
I made a great dinner using the new cookware, but that will have to be a separate post.
Sunday brought sunshine and a vino induced hangover for Jess. Did I mention I made a great dinner the night before? Good food has a way of making you drink too much good wine. Anyway, we loaded up the kids, the kayak, and my guitar and headed to Jess's sister's house. Jake and I had a river float planned, and after the float we were to watch the 5 kids while Jess and her sister relaxed and drank coffee and spoke glowingly of their adoring husbands.
The float was a blast! We put in on the Apple River on the Church St. Bridge. The weather was nice: 37 degrees with sunshine, and almost zero wind at water level. We dressed accordingly and were extremely comfortable. Nice stretch of river with high banks, a few riffles, and hundreds of geese. We actually saw a snowmobile while kayaking, a first for both of us. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed being back on the water after 3 months. We even managed to play in some fast water at the takeout.
After that, back to reality and dealing with cooking dinner for 5 kids and 2 ravenous kayakers.
It was the best weekend of the year, so far.....

Monday morning white-out.

March, someone once said, is the cruelest month. Or was that April? Hmmmmm. Either way, March has given us the extremes in weather that seems to be the norm these days. Yesterday it was nearly 50 degrees and sunny. We are currently in the middle of a snow storm that will apparently dump over 10 inches on us today. March snow is usually wet and sticky, so clean-up is always a bit of a drag. I fired up the snowblower this morning and cleared the driveway, but you can hardly tell with the way this storm is dumping the white stuff.
I'm on a holding pattern for my commute into work today. We lost power to our building , but the generator is holding up so far.
Just another day in Northwest WI.

Catching up.

It has been a while since I posted last (not counting the sleek backside of the nymph below).
Not much has changed over the winter. The family is doing good. DawnWon is finished with her classes and has taking all of her teaching exams. She is looking forward to substitute teaching this year, and next semester will start her student teaching.
#1 son is doing great in pre-K classes and is looking forward to starting kindergarten next year. He has made great strides these last six months. #2 son is turning into quite a character. He should be finishing up potty training this spring, and seems like he is ready to start kindergarten as well. I love my two healthy, happy boys.
I'm still commuting 4-5 times a week. 180 miles round trip.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law, along with their 3 kids are moving to Seattle this summer. It is a great opportunity and I wish them the best of luck. We will be sad to see them go. I'm losing my golfing, kayaking, and drinking buddy. Fortunately, there are plenty of guys willing to golf, paddle, and drink so it shouldn't be too bad.

I'm looking forward to spring and summer as usual. I forget how inactive I can be in the winter. I have put on the standard winter layer of insulation once again and can't wait to take it off. I'm planning a garden this spring, again. Hopefully I'll follow through this year. We'll see.

More to follow.....

Yet another ass man post.

Sleek.