Glad I stuck it out

So about two weeks ago I was thinking about withdrawing from my Stats Class since I had been sick for so much of the first of the quarter. I decided to stick it out though because if I withdrew then or this coming Tuesday (the last day to withdraw) it would show up exactly the same and I still wouldn’t have gotten any money back. After the last three quizzes though I now have my grade up to an 84% - and could be up to an A by the Midterm on Monday. I really didn’t think it would be that quick of a turn around. I’m still struggling catching up and it’s taking me longer to think about things since I don’t have the base that those first three weeks talked about – but it’s coming around. And I’m sure glad I stuck it out.

Small Rants

End of quarter - I'm really excited for the quarter to be over. Like most times I'm ending something though I think about what I should have done. I wish that I would have done my Extra Credit sooner for my business law class. I just did it today (End of quarter is tomorrow). It was only required that we spend 1 hr at court - I spent 90 min and still feel like I didn't really see much. (Mainly because the court I was waiting on didn't start on time). What I did see though was pretty cool and I would have like to been able to stay to see the outcome of the case - but since I also had a test in that class I had to go.

Motorcycle class - I took a motorcycle class over the weekend and it was amazing. A great instructor - Paul from Puget Sound Safety taught the class. It was a maintenance class and it went over a ton of basics. The best part besides the humor was that if you brought your bike - which most of us did - he went over where the parts were located on our individual bike. That was very helpful. I came home and was able to tighten the suspension on my bike and probably on Wednesday I'm going to do an oil change on it. can't wait.

Garage Selling - Poor Sonya had a garage sell this weekend and didn't make very much money. I thought it was good for the boys though who each had some of there stuff out there to sell to see that we can't just keep everything and that instead of throwing it away we can sell it to others. I have to stop by the dollar store though because we did have to bribe them with new shinny police badges.

Overtime - it's a love/hate here. I love the money and love that I feel I'm helping out. But when your trying to go to school (and live 45 min away - by choice) its a time crunch even to do 3 hrs which has been required almost weekly for the last few weeks. But like I said - come pay day I love it. At least I have a job - and a good one at that.

Mariners - I am loving this. The past 3 weeks or so has been absolutely amazing and I really hope that they can keep it up.

Well that's it - I didn't feel that I had anything long enough for a detailed post - so these are just some rants.

Isaac's First Fishing Trip

So I took Isaac fishing for the first time yesterday. A little background - he turned four in March and got a Spiderman fishing pole for his birthday from me - mainly because if I didn't hurry up and get it for him his Papa(Sonya's Dad) would have. Isaac has been practicing with his pole in the back yard for almost three months and was ready to go. He's been looking forward to this trip for quite some time, and so have I.

So this weekend we were in Walla Walla, WA and they have a park that has a Juvenile Pond Jefferson Pond for 15 and under to fish at. It's only a mile away from the grandparents house so that was our first stop. We arrived and were the only ones there. We got all our gear on - I put my vest on so that when he caught something I could easily get to it and help him. Isaac had on his Fishing Hat, his Cowboy boots and his Spiderman life vest that we bought to go with his fishing pole. We bought the life vest because if theres one thing my boys are good at it's lack of balance - walking becomes an issue if they get distracted... I didn't need him falling in the pond/river and not being able to get to him in time. Anyway, we got the plastic fish off his line that he had been practicing with - I explained the details and let him pick out his first hook. He threw it in a few times and it went about 5 feet - then he started remembering what he had practiced and I realized we'd have to go to the bigger side of the pond. (theres a little island in the middle so one side is kind of small.) We went to the other side and spent about the next 15 min or so just casting - he did so well and had quite a bit of fun. He did fall in what looked to be a snake hole once right on the bank and got his boot all wet - but he didn't complain and we kept going. After about thirty min of being there though he got distracted and couldn't take it anymore because at this pond they also have a really cool park and he wanted to go play. So not wanting him to have a bad experience his first time out we went and played in the park. Then went across the street to McDonald's and had a quick breakfast.

Then the important question came and it changed my whole day - I asked if he wanted to go back to Nanna's house or if he wanted to try and fish again. He wanted to fish - I was so excited, but I wanted to fish too. So we took a little trip to Mcdowll road(I think that's the name) They have a bridge there and we parked and went right under the bridge- it was really a fast river there so we went down stream a little bit and found a rock beach that was perfect for a little boy. I did have to carry him over the water a little but that was kind of cool too. He only snagged a few times but did really well. He was casting about half way into the river. It was moving too quick and we didn't have any success there but he was having fun. We stayed there for an hour or so and then got back in the car. He had so much fun.

About half way back though was when I realized that I made a little mistake and that he still has a lot to learn. I asked him if he liked it - he started to smile and then said, "But dad... we didn't catch anything..." and that's when the tears came. Now I'll admit that my boy is a little dramatic and emotional - I'll blame that on his mother - but this I really felt bad for. I thought really fast - I couldn't let his whole day be ruined because he didn't catch anything. I've been fishing a couple dozen times - I still have yet to catch anything more than "trash fish" as my father in law calls them. But anyway for Isaac this was a big deal - so I did what any responsible dad would do...

Thank you DQ for saving what ended up being a great day. I love being a dad and seeing Isaac out there enjoying something like that with me was really special.

Just One More

Love this time of year – the sun starts shining well into the evening, there are a few days here and there that don’t have any rain, and the bike comes out of the garage. What I also love is every bikers enthusiasm for this time of year. It’s like a bear that hibernates all winter is finally coming out of its cave and ready to roar – oh man I love to hear the roar of the pipes. Something that also has caught my eye is the fact that bikes start going up for sale like crazy. I was looking at craigslist and I went through almost 2 pages of bike gear posting in just the last 24 hours – during the winter there may only be a couple pages for the last week. It’s incredible to see all the bikes and knowing that these are going to be going to new homes and out with me on the road this summer. It also makes me understand more fully the line I heard last year when someone asked how many bikes should a person have – the answer was, just one more. I won’t be buying a new bike this year that’s for sure – but I love looking and maybe someday I can get my first, “Just one more.”

Keep the shinny side up and enjoy the ride – I know I am.

Who Owns the Fish?

We had a riddle to solve in my Computer Information System for Extra Credit. I solved it by putting all the options on paper and then photographed each step. I then put the instructions and the pictures in a power point. My teacher was impressed. (My teachers didn't have the sport - it had smokes in place of it - but I found this version online) So, Who owns the Fish?




There are five houses in a row and in five different colors. In each house lives a different person from a different country. Each person drinks a certain drink, plays a certain sport, and keeps a certain pet. No two people drink the same drink, play the same sport, or keep the same pet. One of these people owns a pet fish, but who? Here are the facts:

•The Brit lives in a red house
•The Swede keeps dogs
•The Dane drinks tea
•The green house is on the left of the white house
•The owner of the green house drinks coffee
•The person who plays polo keeps birds
•The owner of the yellow house plays hockey
•The person who lives in the house in the middle of the others drinks milk
•The Norwegian lives in the first house
•The person who plays baseball lives next to the person who keeps cats
•The person who keeps horses lives next to the one who plays hockey
•The person who plays billiards drinks beer
•The German plays soccer
•The Norwegian lives next to the blue house
•The person who plays baseball lives next to somebody who drinks water

So, who owns the fish?

Royality

Sonya and I watched the Royal Wedding today of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I really only got interested in it about 3 days ago when they started posting who all was going to be there and about the procession that was going to take place. I really like History - especially when I get a chance to see something that is rare. Seeing a marriage of two people that could be the King and Queen someday seemed like a big enough deal to lose a little sleep over.

I was not disappointed at all. I loved watching the crowds react to all the cars driving to the Abby and the roar when they got out. The wedding itself was wonderful. I loved hearing the "sermons" that were given - it surprised me to hear so much that I understood - it made their religion not seem as different from my own as I know there is. A lot of beliefs concerning marriage are dead on with how I feel.

I thought it funny when they said the Richer or Poorer part - you could see the princess giggle - I don't think poorer is in her future and she knows it.

Watching the ride back to the palace was the most touching for me - both William and Kate were smiling so big and just seemed to be thrilled for this to be "over." The kiss on the balcony was sweet - at least the second time around. I respect William for not liking the PDA so much. He is a royal and as much as it might have been cute to see them really kiss - it would have opened him up and that's not something dignitaries should do.

I really enjoyed it - I for one and grateful that we do not have a King and a Queen - but seeing how another country operates with one was a great experience. One I won't soon forget - now if I could only find time today for a nap.

Accomplishments

It should probably go without saying, that the more we accomplish the better we feel. That however is something I was reminded of this week. Last quarter going to school I had some success in the class room and that really fed off it's self. It only related to school though. This quarter has been the same. I feel like I'm doing well in school but it's not really positively impacting my life in other ways.

This past weekend though I had a great experience. I found a Rainbow Play system on Craigslist and was able to get a great deal on it. Of course the catch was that I had to disassemble it at it's current residence and then reassemble it for my boys at our house. It was a lot of work since I was pretty much on my own. About 15 hours total of carefully tearing it down and then rebuilding it. When I was done though I had a finished product that I was extremely happy with. I had something that I could look at and watch the boys play on and it made me feel that I had done good work.

It also transferred to another area of my life - or at least the idea did. In my job quality is very important but so is quantity - the faster you can finish a task the more people you can help - so it's a balance. I haven't always been the fastest at my job. This week though I've thought a lot about seeing a result and being happy with it. I have counted how many items I'm able to do during my shift and really tried to make a great effort to improve this week and I have.

This feeling of Accomplishment at home and at work has made me feel even better about school - although it's also reinforced that there has to be balance. I need to make sure that I am trying hard in all aspects of my life and sometimes back off of one to focus on another.

I know I'm a lucky man and have a great life - this week, I'm even feeling like I do.