You Gotta See It!

Just put The Blindside on the T.V. What a fun flick!
I thought I had the hots for Sandra Bullock before, but now I'm positively smitten.
This is the best sports flick since Remember the Titans.

An Evening Worthy of the Title

Just a classic sloth and gluttony kind of night. So much to do, haven't done shit. Unless you count putting a load of clothes in the wash. Haven't even put them in to dry yet. House guests for the weekend, place is a heap, fridge is empty, fly class tomorrow. As soon as school gets out, I'm heading for the woods for two solid weeks to get the head on straight and the body cleaned out. Nothing but mountain biking, hiking, fishing, spey casting, and cold water swimming. Gotta hold it together until then.

If I had any brains I'd use this computer for target practice, along with the T.V.

Slivers, Rivers, and Mothers Day

Weekends just don't get much better, except the fact that the camera hid on the kitchen table again this weekend.

The ill-planned track meet (the second meet this week) that I was semi-dreading turned out to be a great kick-off to the weekend. Even with one ice pack, two bandages, and a removed splinter (stupid hurts), the meet was a resounding success for the mighty Borderites (what a stupid name for a mascot). The kids competed wonderfully, and the boys 4x100 relay was the most dramatic of the season, as the guys came from dead last to win the race without two of our fastest guys. The girls managed to kick butt in the field events as our list of female runners on the I.R. is increasing.

That was followed up by a 5 1/2 drive to Sandy, Oregon Friday night/Saturday morning. I talked my buddy Ken Hubbard into meeting me there. It seemed like a decent midway point between Bellingham and Eugene. We fished with Marty Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters. I had met Marty's wife, Mia on the Skagit River this winter, and thought it would be fun to book atrip with them for this spring. Damned glad i did. Hubbbard and I always have fun, but Marty even made it more fun. The guy is the best casting instructor I have worked with. My casting improved a ton, and Ken had fun learning to fish a spey rod for the first time. What a warm, sunny day on the river. Just what the doctor ordered.

After fishing for a while this morning, it was time to head for Buckley for Mother's day with Mom, Tom and Family, and his in-laws. The food, as usual, was way too good, and the company wasn't badd either. It feels like summer. Not yet, dammit!

I Heart Track Meets

You know, the difference between track meets and ball games is that a track meet is more like an event. It's priceless to see a kid who you had to talk into doing an event, because they had no confidence, experience success. Priceless. There's a feeling of relaxed camaraderie you don't get when you're having to deal with playing time and defending the other team.

That first sentence reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw Spring Break in Idaho:

What's the difference between rodeo and football, baseball, and basketball? You only need one ball to play the other sports.

Yee haw!

Winning the Parent Lottery

I've been working with kids now for close to 30 years now. That's hard to believe and even harder to admit. So I've had a chance to see hundreds if not thousands of parents over the years. Some parents I've admired tremendously, and some have been total pieces of shit who should have never had kids. Most have been somewhere in between the two.

It's led me to be grateful for the two who brought me into the world. Now Mom and Dad are far from perfect, as evidenced by the fact that they are no longer together. But I've been blessed with a mom who has a great sense of humor and who loves her kids and grandkids completely and unconditionally. And I have a dad who will do anything to help those he loves, which is a pretty exclusive list to be on.

I've really been struck by this the last two weekends.