Recent Pics

Sep11

Volleyball Season

Volleyball has officially started for Emma.  They had their 1st game tonight and came away with a WIN, 3-1.  They looked good, and Emma is one of the starters on the team.  She had some good serves and hits over the net.  She's been talking about how ready she is for volleyball to start, and was pretty happy tonight after the game.

Kitchen Update

The old kitchen is still in.  The only thing gone is the crown molding and a little trim from the corners.

The rest of the new appliances were delivered last Fri/Sat and the new cabinets came Tuesday.  We have a full garage!

Our installer is coming on Oct 12th to start.  So we have 2 weekends to get everything tore out.  Hope it all goes smooth!

Cooking For Life

The Cooking For Life cancer benefit was last night at the Virginia Living Museum. Angie went in around 10AM and was expecting to come home around 1 or so for a couple hours before going back in. She ended up staying the whole day! I went in around 5 and helped move all the tables and silent auction items out before the event started at 6:30. The food was great (lots of vendors this year), the band was good, and the wine was great as always. We won a couple gift certificates to the Ferguson Center for the Arts and 3 bottles of good wine. Angie stayed pretty busy the entire night doing her auction stuff (she was the committee chair) but was able to enjoy once or twice with me.

Thought of the Day

“A strong man stands up for himself, a stronger man stands up for others.”


Rivals - Josh Ripley didn’t have to stop. Running in a recent cross country meet for Andover (Minn.) High, the junior varsity runner was making his way through the trail at the Applejack Invite when he heard a loud scream during the first mile of a two-mile race. Most of the other kids running didn’t pay much attention to Lakeville South runner Mark Paulauskas, who was writhing in pain at the time, as they passed by. The only person who decided to pay attention was Ripley. As an Anoka-Hennepin school district release reported, Ripley immediately noticed Paulauskas holding his bloody ankle. Then, instead of running back and calling for help, he did the only thing he could think of: He carried the injured runner a half mile back to coaches and family members. “I didn’t think about my race, I knew I needed to stop and help him,” Ripley said in the school district release. “It was something I would expect my other teammates to do. I’m nothing special; I was just in the right place at the right time.”It was a good thing Ripley had the foresight to carry Paulauskas so he could be rushed to the emergency room. When Paulauskas arrived at the hospital, doctors realized he had been accidentally spiked by another runner’s shoe during the race. The injury required 20 stitches and a walking boot to keep the wounded area from opening up.

Remember these kids?

Taste of Fall

Temps in the 60s!  Awesome.  It was a nice cool day yesterday with sunshine.  Cool today, but a steady gentle rain has been falling.  Katelyn had a parade this morning she was supposed to be in for gymnastics, but the gym cancelled so the girls wouldn't just be walking in the rain (can't tumble on wet pavement).

We start getting some stuff for the new kitchen today.  Our new fridge and dishwasher are getting delivered.  They'll stay in the garage until we're ready.  Our cabinets should get to Richmond this Thursday and then we can set up delivery for them.  Getting closer to chaos in the house!

Pic of the Day

Bainbridge Island, WA - Jul08

10 years ago

10 years ago today was my 1st day at work with Air Force Intelligence Analysis Agency at the Pentagon. What a 1st day of work.  I left that morning from Bolling AFB leaving Angie, little Emma bean, and un-born Katelyn in temporary lodging.  I gave Ang a kiss good bye telling her I would be at the Pentagon for some of the day and at our other location the rest.  As the morning progressed events of that Sept 11th day unfolded.

Lives changed forever as spouses, sons, daughters, family members, friends, and innocent people were taken from us.  For me I had yet to get to the Pentagon that morning.  I was at our other location getting ready to head over to the Pentagon when we saw the 1st WTC tower get hit.  As we stopped to watch it and then watched with horror as the 2nd WTC was hit we immediately realized this was not an accident.  At that point we decided to wait on our trip to the Pentagon.  Things weren't so lucky that day for LtCdr Otis "Vince" Tolbert, a great man I worked with during my time at USCENTCOM in Tampa, FL.  http://pentagonmemorial.org/explore/biographies/lcdr-otis-v-tolbert-usn
It wasn't so lucky for my coworkers close friend and husband who were on Flight 93.  It wasn't so lucky for too many others on that day.  So today I ask everyone to take a few minutes in remembrance to pray for the family & friends of those left behind, the military still serving in harms way today, and for the leaders of our country to make wise, sound decisions as we wind down in Iraq and hopefully soon in Afghanistan and other far reaching locations around the globe.

Community Group

Emma started her 1st church community group last night.  She had a good time and knew a couple girls that were there too.  I'm glad she enjoyed it and hope that feeling continues each week.

Kids & WEC

We had some change this weekend at church.  Nicholas was "promoted" into Kids Kraze from WeeWorld now that he's a kindergartner!  Katelyn said he was a little shy at first but was better by the end.  Emma started her new volunteer role as a production team member in WeeWorld.  She even led the prayer with the kids this week!  She seems to really enjoy it.  She'll do this on the 3rd Sunday (all services) of every month.

Thought of the Day

After a frustrating day at work this may come in handy...

"The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one." (Oscar Wilde)