Life Sized

For CP's graduation party, we made a life-size poster of him so that anyone could have their photo taken with him in his suit.

L LOVES him, real or not.

Pink Rain

I was treated to a sunrise-lit downpour on my way to work. The sun had just come up and was shining under the clouds.

Sunshine Season Again

The season of blue skies and sunshine is almost here!

We had a couple days near 90, so CG fired up his pool. 

Swing Dance

GP went to the LSW Swing Dance with the girl he's been seeing. As expected, they had a blast.

Cats in the Sun

We rearranged the living room so that now the cats can lie in the sun and we can watch TV without glare. We're all happy now.

Senior Prom 2017

CP went stag to his senior prom. He had a good time with all his friends.

Birds to Be

Spring has sprung and we will soon have some new residents in our yard.

Hairball 2017

This year we took the Gs with us to see Hairball in Omaha. Knowing what to expect, the boys were all over it.

We had fantastic front-row seats right by the stage.

The Ron Keel Band opened and played for an hour before Hairball took the stage and rocked the house for three more hours. What an incredible show! They have three singers that rotate and do a couple songs each dressed in full costume of an 80's era rockstar. We got to see Ozzy, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Queen, AC/DC, etc. Everyone there knew every song by heart.

 

Just One More Bass

The problem with musical instruments is that you always want one more. And they're really cool. And the stores that sell them let you trade in stuff, like a DJ controller and power management device that were collecting dust.

This is our new Squier Pete Wentz signature P-Bass. It's pretty good shape and is a blast to play.

Last Speech

We were sad to attend this year's LSW Speech and Debate awards banquet. This was the last time. Cam was part of the largest senior class in the 15 year history of LSW Forensics. 

CP won a bunch of awards for his performances this year. He has lettered every year! GP only made it thru a third of the year, so he got a certificate of participation. JP won Booster Parent of the Year for her endless volunteering and organization.

Hats off to Matt and Toni Heimes, the husband and wife team that make the whole speech program work. Without them, there would be no speech team. They have been such a positive influence on so many kids and given them some real life skills. This year we had 14 All-American academics on the speech team - the most in the entire US! 

Lodge Dinner #2

The same group we had a couple months ago reunited for another excellent wine tasting dinner at the Lodge @ WR. Five courses of fabulous food and wine is a lot.

Science!

We had a beautiful day for the March for Science last weekend. JP and the boys weren't interested, but I was. We had a good size crowd that marched from the UNL campus down to the capitol building.

Trump's assault on scientific community needs to be stopped. The problem is that he and his administration are denying facts, which are a lot different than opinions. This is giving credence to the morons that believe the earth is flat (wrong) or only 6,000 years old (wrong again). 

How have we gotten to the point where there are 100,000 people that belong to the Chemtrail Facebook group? These people all believe that the airplane contrails we see every day are actually chemicals being deposited by the governments in a plot to make us sick.

If you're ever unsure about something that sounds funny, ask your nearest scientist. 

Easter Saturday Brunch

We had a beautiful day for our annual Easter Saturday Brunch. This year, we had 25 (including us). JP and the boys cleared out the living room and we rented some tables so that everyone had a seat. 

JP made her favorite vegetable frittata. I made sausage gravy for the triple batch of biscuits that JP whipped up.

JP planned out where all the ingredients for the Bloody Mary bar should go. It was impressive! 

Jackyl

The G's got me a ticket to go with them to see Jackyl downtown at the Bourbon Theatre. CG ended up going to another, more better, show (Tosh), so I went with BG anyway and we had a good time. (JP was NOT interested in going) 

The highlight was the last song - Lumberjack, where the lead singer played a chainsaw on stage. 

DIY Bass Speaker Cabinet

I've had two speakers laying around forever on my workbench. Last weekend I went to the Home Depot and got a couple warped 1 x 12's for 70% off and built a decent looking cabinet for them. Not bad for $6 and an bit of work in the garage. The cabinet is now in the music room, connected to the bass amp.

CGM

My Dr. talked me into trying out a continuous glucose monitor. Instead of just checking my blood sugar a couple times a day, this checks it every five minutes. If I'm going too high or too low, it beeps and buzzes to let me know. So far, after a week, it's like we have a newborn in the house again - it's waking us up two or three times every night as my blood sugar drops below 80. Good to know and it's really opened my eyes on how the food I eat impacts my body. I can see the effect of eating just one pretzel stick.

I install a sensor once a week using a pre-packaged installation device. It uses a needle to embed a small wire under my skin. Not much different than taking a shot.

Spring Ducks

Every year, we get these ducks that walk thru our yard. We're not sure where they're coming from or where they're going; there aren't any ponds in our neighborhood.

More Cat Traps

Whether it's a plain cardboard box, or a bowl of fruit, the cats feel the need to put their paws in it.

Cabin Fever

Spring is the toughest time of the year. We get teased with the promise of good weather, but yet it never fully arrives. That's where it's fun to spend a day working on a big puzzle instead of watching TV.

Brown Dogs

We got to babysit our neighbors' puppy again last night. He was a terror! Chased M and the cats, pooped on the living room rug, and actually barked. Good thing he's so cute.

The neighbors' other dog is a few years old and he gets along with everyone a little better.

March Madness

It's March and the rabbits have invaded our yard. V is fit to be tied.

Exciting Taxi

This year we launched our new "Radius" model of zero turn mower. It'd aimed at the home owner with acreage and the entry level pro. Last week I was pleased to see it on display in the main hallway at our corporate office in Minneapolis. 

On the way home, I tried out a new place in the Minneapolis airport. On their menu, they have a yummy sounding frittata with an option for griddled SPAM. Not something you see in other parts of the country.

The plane to Lincoln left the gate on time and was on its way to the runway when trouble struck. As the left engine spooled up, it puked out a couple of fireballs. I was sitting on the left side and noticed the flashes and the sound of the engines slowing down - Hmmmm, that's strange... We sat there for five minutes before the captain announced what had happened and a herd of firetrucks rushed out and escorted us back to the gate. Fortunately, we were able to get a new plane and made it home only two hours late.

New Cat Toy

Last night we babysat our friends' new puppy. He is the cutest! The cats and dog tolerated him. Barely. At one point, V was stalking him like a lioness - she didn't know whether to play with him or kill him like a mouse. 

St. Patrick's Day

We had beautiful weather for St. Patrick's Day. We took the boys downtown - the Irish pubs had a street party with green (and black) beer, Irish dancers, and lots of people. 

Bassman

Since GP dropped out of speech, we've been pushing him to do something. He is now taking bass lessons at the Nebraska Music Academy. The instructor there is more about playing for fun than teaching theory. He groups his students together in bands and has them play together around town. It sounds like there's a shortage of bass players, so maybe GP will have a gig in his future.

ConExpo 2017

Last week I went to Vegas for ConExpo - Vegas' largest show. It only comes around every three years. The white part of the excavator boom above was "printed" on a new metal printing machine. The cab was also printed out of composite plastic.

There were thousands of vendors selling everything from o-rings to large forgings like this connecting rod.

There was every type of construction equipment at the show. All shiny and new. We walked about eight miles each day trying to take in as much as we could.

Thunder, Snow, & Hail

A couple weeks ago, we had the craziest weather day we've ever had in Nebraska. The wind blew for 24 hours at 30 mph straight out of the south. It warmed up a little and then the cold front passed. It started raining, then thunder and lightning, then hail (on our new roof!!), then snow. Until this, it has been an exceptionally mild winter. Hopefully we have a tame spring.

Door Prize

We went with CP to the Champion's Club on campus for an intro to UNL event. He met with someone in the engineering department that went over the basics of the learning group he  is joining.

CP had fun overall, but what really made his night was winning a new tablet as a door prize. How cool is that?

New Stove

A few weeks ago, we were wandering through Lowe's and saw the stove we've been looking at for the last two years was on clearance. Now all the appliances match.