Honors

GP made it to the Honors Convocation (again!) this week due to his excellent grades. His best friends did, too. The three of them have been friends for years - it's so cool to see them all do well.

Medal

CP Finished 5th overall at last weekend's speech tournament. He has a whole drawer full of medals from 

Last Year of Speech

This week CP had his last showcase event at LSW. This is where all the parents and family are treated to a smattering of all the types of events in which the speech team competes.

On Saturdays, CP comes downstairs at 6:30 fully dressed and ready to compete. He's a wiz at tying his tie (and shoes, too!). He looks like a business man that's ready to take on the world. His experience with speech has given him such a useful lifelong skill.

NYC & the New WTC

After Connecticut, it was on to NYC for a day of sightseeing. It was a perfect day: 60-something degrees, no wind, no snow, blue sky, and great visibility. We drove in from CT and parked at the northwest end of central park. From there we took the subway down to the south end of Manhattan. I love public transportation!

I tried to convince JP to go on this trip, but she refused. Something about us just buying new carpet and a new roof and sofas and CP starting college this year and us being out of money. Turns out it was a good thing that she didn't go - NYC was hit with a full-on blizzard twelve hours after I left. 

The new World Trade Center is awesome, as is the view from the top. The funky white building in the foreground is the new Occulus transit station. It's really cool inside.

The memorial park is very moving and depressing. It's hard to believe that 2900 people and the old buildings were taken out by a couple of fools that were able to hijack airliners with boxcutters.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church is only a block away from the WTC. It escaped the collapses unscathed and with its 250 year old tombstones intact. It's straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story. 

Connecticut

One of the benefits of work is a bit of travel to new places. This time I went to Connecticut (never been there before) to visit a supplier. We stayed at the owner's house in Greenwich. It sits on a dammed up river/estuary next to the coast.

TPs BDay

This year, my birthday fell on a Sunday. It was a beautiful day to stay home and do nothing.

Improvised Cat Traps

We all know that the fastest way to round up cats is to put out a cat trap. Any time of day, just set out an open box and within minutes it will contain a cat, even if they don't quite fit.

What if you don't have a box? No problem - just make a fake one with tape on the floor.

The tape trap isn't as fast as the box, but it's still effective. This trap caught GP before the cat. He walked thru the room and stood in the center of the trap and asked what it was for.

If you're out of boxes and tape, then you can use your knitting project. Just set it down for a minute or two, and you will be sure to attract a cat.