I was the coach in the “coach pitch” part of Alex’s baseball game yesterday. Berne (the head coach) was traveling, and asked me to pitch the game. Never having done anything like that, of course I said yes.

I only hit 2 kids.

I also managed to “strike out” 3 or 4 kids, including Alex. I say “strike out” since the rules in Alex’s Pony league (North Seattle Baseball League) is that each kid gets 6 pitches to hit, and that’s it (they can keep alive on a foul ball for #6). This puts a little pressure on the pitcher, since I’ve only got 6 chances to make a good pitch to the kid.

Bottom line is that I don’t think we won, but I did get better as the game went on, our team didn’t need to go to the bullpen in relief, and that all of our kids got hits. Plus, it was a wonderfully sunny day, Anne and Leah came over to watch, and we all had a great time. I sure am proud of Alex.

Categories: Family, Sports
No Comments »

I was downstairs wrangling the laundry earlier today, and clicked on the radio to KEXP. Being Sunday morning, it was Johnny Horn. Man, this guy is great. Every week it’s nothing but the best soul and funk, and always Johnny picks the tunes that just flow so well together.

Today’s segment that I caught was just killer funky — I tuned in right at the beginning of a fantastic live version of “Having a Party” by Sam Cooke, followed up by a tune by a band called “Little Beaver”, and then a set of kick-butt tunes from an album called “James Brown’s Funky People 3” with some great singing from Lyn Collins. I turned it up loud and it made for a very entertaining laundry session…

You can listen to the streaming archive here, and I think they’ll have the show up for a couple of weeks.

P.S. you can always catch the live feed here, or on your mobile device here.

Categories: Music
No Comments »

Got a flyer in the mail inviting me to a meeting about a new “Ballard Park“. When we looked at where the location was, Anne and I noticed that the address seemed like it was right around the corner from us. When I pulled it up on the map, it definately will be close enough to walk (kinda on the way to Salmon Bay Park). Now with the 6th Ave Pocket Park right up the street, we are going to have some great park options!

Categories: Family
No Comments »

I grabbed a great deal on a new Char-Broil grill/BBQ the other day (thanks Dealnews), and managed to get it all put together correctly (although it took a while, since the cold temperatures in March - even in Seattle - were challenging my fingers during the assembly…)

The directions were pretty good, and I only ended up with one spare screw and washer (but that was kinda on purpose), but noticed that one piece of key instructions were missing — how to (pre)season the cast iron grills. So, thanks to teh Internets, I found that you need to first clean and then coat the grills with Crisco and heat them up. Tons of suggestions out there, but the directions I followed were from Char-Broil themselves (and the clearest to understand)… The only addition I’m going to make is to do a light coat with vegetable oil after they all cool down just to keep the grills moisturized — that’s what I do with my cast iron skillet and Dutch oven in the kitchen.

We’re halfway through with the seasoning process, and I might not be able to keep from slapping some ribs on for dinner before all is said and done.

I sure do love me some grilling… Mmmmm…ribs….

Categories: Food
No Comments »

I was talking with Rob today on our way to hit some golf balls at the range, and I was telling him why I have a roll of duct tape on the dash. Now, having duct tape in the car is a good idea regardless, but this specific roll is a donation-in-waiting to the corner homeless guy. Cash is always appreciated (of course), and sometimes I’ll share some of the NuGo bars that I carry in the car for kid (old and young) snack times, but I really believe that everyone can appreciate a roll of duct tape. Good for everything, and it travels well.

But, as Rob guessed, as Murphy and his Law would have it, as soon as I put the roll of tape into the car, I haven’t passed a single potential recipient. Ain’t that the way it goes sometimes…

Categories: Random
No Comments »

Sometimes, you get a real laugher when you take the time to read the license agreements for software installs. Although in this case, it doesn’t take too long at all to read…

Categories: Geek
No Comments »

Just got back from a great week in Whistler. We had a blast, got some great skiing/boarding in, and it snowed pretty much every day we were there. Alex and Leah (and Gabby and Andrew) had a fantastic time in ski camp and learned a ton — Leah has overcome any reservations she had about skiing and is now beating us all down the mountain (she just needs to learn how to stop), and Alex is looking for the next jump and black diamond.  Sharon came up for a couple of days and enjoyed the powder too!

Kris and Anna were great to travel/hang out with, and Doug and Julie were up there as well. We all enjoyed ourselves, and are looking forward to the next trip (just as soon as we recover from this one…)

Pictures are here — http://anvl.org/blog/v/Whistler2008/slideshow.html

Categories: Family
1 Comment »

So, what else is going on? We’ve said goodbye to Tilly got a new puppy (hi Zillah!), ripped off the deck on the back of the house (it was pretty rotted out), tore a big hole in the side of the house (and put a new door in), flew back and forth to DC, had a great Thanksgiving, and now it’s December already, and we only have a couple of weeks before Bob and Judy come out to visit for the holidays. Good times…good times.

Pictures are here.

Categories: Family
No Comments »

We’re in DC this week, spending Thanksgiving with the Goodwin’s. We got a bit crazy this morning and participated in a 5K run/walk (I ran [25mins] and Anne and the kids walked). Lot’s of people, a lot of fun, and we had great weather (it’s 70 degrees here - same as yesterday). Tonight it’s turkey dinner at Aunt Pat’s, and then off to Ice Mountain this weekend. Back to Seattle on Tuesday, when we can see all the work that John has done on the deck and the back room.

ANNNDDD — we’re back. We made it back on Tuesday (with not one, but two airplane trips that started out with missing pilots and almost ended with us stuck in Denver for the night). However, we made it, and it’s great to be home. Now that I have 2 seconds, I wanted to post the pictures that we took on the trip. Here you go!

Categories: Family
No Comments »

Yup, I’m going to try it this year - National Novel Writing Month.  Not that I’m a great writer, or even that I have any idea of what I’m going to write about (and Nov 1 is only 2 days away), but because I want to give it a try.  After all “No Plot?  No Problem!” is something that I can deal with…

I’ll keep you posted.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Categories: Writing
No Comments »