August 31, 2000 - We spent Tuesday at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, Wa. 10-11 hours of as-seen-on-TV products, greasy overpriced food, cattle, chickens, ducks, pigs, games, rides, cars, campers, stoves, and hot tubs. We spent over $300 on stuff we didn't have, stuff we didn't need, food we should never had eaten, and even some things we did need. Given that we dried up our bank accounts at the beach last week, I had to do a cash advance on our credit card this week. Even so, I would gladly go out to the fair again today and spend more money we don't have. We had a great day, although it did rain a bit. We even caught some of the Doobie Brothers at the bandstand (boy, security sure was lax out there). Thanks, Nancy and Dave, it was a hoot. Heather started Jr. HS yesterday. Thus far, we haven't heard any complaints, but we plan to make sure she stays on top of her homework. Mary Ann heads back to work tomorrow and the news is she will have a new 1st assistant manager when she gets there. I just received our pictures from Westport and Long Beach and you can see some of them here.
August 28, 2000 - Today we took Heather to Cedar Heights Jr. High School for her orientation to 7th grade. Our little girl is now in Jr. High, yeow!! I physically feel much better. The stiffness in my neck and shoulder slowly went away over the weekend. I joined a fantasy football league at work and our draft is tonight. I've never done this before, so I've been researching the players and strategies for drafting. As luck would have it, I get the Number 1 pick! I would have preferred to be in the middle of the pack in that I've been racking my brain trying to figure who would be best to pick #1. We're going up to Nancy and Dave's house tonight and plan to go to the Evergreen State fair tomorrow. Heather starts school Wednesday and we felt this would be our last chance to do anything together for a while. I'll have to see if I can use Dave's computer tonight so I can draft my players.
August 25, 2000 - We returned from the coast last night and, boy, did we have a great time! We spent three days camping in Westport, a community along the Washington state Pacific coast. Westport is known more as a charter fishing and surfing community. Most people head to towns such as Ocean Shores to spend time at the beach. As a consequence, Westport's beaches aren't crowded with people. Twin Harbors Beach State Park is situated about 4 miles south of downtown Westport and has a large expanse of sandy beach, and that, of course, is where we camped. Mary Ann and Heather had road down with Nancy and Dave on Monday, and I headed down after work on Monday. On Tuesday, the weather was sunny and windy, and we spent the day on the beach flying kites and body surfing. We all have wet suits and once you are in the water, it isn't so bad, unfortunately, the waves were pretty tame. On Wednesday, we drove to Long Beach. Long Beach is a small town south of Westport along the Pacific Coast. As the crow flies, it is only about 30-40 miles, but the drive is about 80 miles. Long Beach is north of the mouth of the Columbia river, and over the years, the silt and soil washed into the Pacific from the Columbia river was pushed north by the current and deposited along what is now perhaps one of the longest sand spits in the world (hence, the name "Long Beach"). At the end of August, Long Beach has an international kite festival, and it was our intent to spend a day at the festival. It was a sight to behold. Hundreds of banners and elaborate kites and windsocks filled the sky. We, unfortunately, arrived at the end of most of the competitions for the day, but we were most impressed by what we saw. I picked up a new stunt kite and lines, a kite for Heather, and we got kite lights for night flying. After having a barbecue on the beach, we headed back to Westport that evening. The wind gods did not favor us that night, sadly, and Dave and I were unable to really fly our lighted kites (we did get to fumble around in the pitch dark and fog, though). Thursday was partly overcast, but we made the most of the day again flying kites and playing in the surf. Alas, I was truly slammed by a monstrous wave. I remember the grinding of sand into my right ear, thinking "skull fracture", then the torquing of my body on my neck as my left shoulder was driven into the sand, thinking "c-spine fracture, ow!, clavicle fracture". Thankfully, I was able to stumble to the beach in one piece with a rediscovered respect of the ocean. Mary Ann, Heather, and I packed up last night and headed home (Nancy and Dave were leaving today). I had a rough day at work today. My right ear hurts and I'm unable to turn my head to the right, and all I did was wait for the day to be done with. But for all that, I wouldn't trade the last few days for anything. And thanks, Nancy and Dave, for being great friends and great camping partners.
August 19, 2000 - Man, talk about being tired!! We picked up Nancy and Fallon at the airport Thursday night and Mary Ann and I didn't get to bed until 2:30 A.M. That was immediately followed by one of our cats throwing up several hairballs all over our bed. So, after Bisselling the mattress and changing sheets, we finally got back to bed at about 5 A.M., only to listen to our other cat catowail the rest of the morning until about 8. Last night followed the same sad path. We took Zephen to the airport and got home around 2 A.M. this morning. Heather called at 5 A.M. to let us know that they missed her flight. Her father wanted us to pay the additional charge for changing her flight, and after several calls from her and talking to TWA, she was finally put on a later flight with no extra charges. And here we are again at 8:30 A.M., with the dog making all sorts of noise and us with little sleep again. We are going out to Mary Ann's mom's house today for Bernadette's wake and we both fear we just don't have the energy. We had planned to go out after Heather's flight got here, but with that being 3 hours later now (5 P.M.), we've decided to go out early and then return there after we pick her up. Bremerton and back a few time in one day with little rest .... this is going to be a nightmare :^(
August 16, 2000 - In a few more days, Zephen will be on his way to Florida and Heather will be on her way back. I talked with Zephen's psychiatrist on Monday. Without Heather here, Zephen's behavior has improved immeasurably. We see the two kids in a constant state of war, and Zephen's anger and bad behavior always seems to get the better of him. The psychiatrist had asked if we thought of ever separating the kids on a more permanent basis, and at that time I presented that idea to Zephen. His father is willing to try and Zephen is enthusiastic about living in Florida, so we're going to trial it and see what happens. Mary Ann has had a lot of ups and downs so far this week. She helped her mom some more on Monday, arranging plans about Bernadette, and she's held up well for the most part. The stress of Zephen leaving and Bernadette dying has been heavy on her and I'm trying to do the best I can to be there for her.
August 14, 2000 - It is with great sadness that we have to say good-bye to Mary Ann's sister, Bernadette Freeman. Bernadette had died in her sleep Friday evening. Mary Ann and I both left work early on Saturday and spent the weekend at her parents' house in Bremerton with her family. Our thoughts and feelings go out to all those effected. Bernadette was 39 years old - one year younger than me - and it was quite unexpected that this tragedy occurred.
August 9, 2000 - What a blast!!! Yesterday, we spent the entire day at Wild Waves, a water park situated about 20 miles south of Seattle along Interstate 5. We were invited by our friends, Nancy and Dave, to celebrate their son's 13th birthday. Lately, we've had overcast skies in the morning that has been burning off by noon. This has translated into several beautiful afternoons with the temperature between 75 and 80 degrees. Yesterday was just such a day. We really didn't see any of the kids the entire afternoon and all us adults relived a lot of our youth playing on the water slides and in the water for over 8 hours. Outside of a sore back and neck, and a little sunburn on my shoulders, I'd have to say it was a perfect day of fun. Thanks, guys, for inviting us!! Heather is still at her father's in Florida. The last time Mary Ann spoke to her, she was getting a little bored and looking forward to coming home. We've missed her a lot and can't wait to see her. Mary Ann has gotten the okay for some vacation in a few weeks. We have tentatively planned to go to Long Beach for a kite festival and to go camping and hiking the week after that as well. I need to call today to see if we can find a camp site. Hopefully, the weather pattern we've had lately will continue to hold up.
August 5, 2000 - Boy, just a bunch of real boring days. I've been plugging away at work and finally got today off. The weather has been great, but unfortunately, Mary Ann and I caught Zephen's cold (it sucks to have a kid in the house that doesn't wash his hands). I'm doing my best to ward it off, but it looks like it will get a foothold. We're going to go to Wild Waves on Tuesday for a friend's son's birthday and I suspect I'll probably be sickest by then. Zephen had fun at camp, earning one merit badge and meeting some advancement requirements for boy scouts. Mary Ann has gotten some kudos at work from her manager and is getting more responsibilities - doing things that a first assistant is suppose to do. We think that this will make it easier for her to get a promotion. I just finished reading a book that Sis got me for my birthday and really enjoyed it. It was called "The Empire of Unreason" by J. Gregory Keyes. It is the third book in a series, and as a consequence, I just ordered the first two books from Amazon.com. Thanks, Sis, It was a good choice.
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
December 1999/January 2000
