Cat Seats

L's favorite spot is in CP's lap. If he's unable to accommodate, she bites his ankles.

As small as V is, she was still too big for this tiny box. That didn't stop her from trying to get comfortable in it less than 30 seconds after I put it on the floor.

Rude Awakening

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately. The other night we opened the windows for the first time since spring. At 2:00 AM, we heard the street racers racing up the hill half a mile away.

Then, at 2:30, all of the smoke alarms (they're all interconnected) went off. We searched the house top to bottom and found nothing. (I was a bit concerned about the 1974 amp that CP & I worked on that day...)

We went back to sleep and then at 3:30, they all went off again!!! 

We ended up closing up the house and turning on the AC to clear out the humidity.

The next day JP and the boys got the air compressor out and blew out all the detectors. Problem solved!

Electrical Dog Pound

While burning an hour at MusicGoRound while waiting for GP at his band rehearsal, this old amp found me. That store is a lot like the dog pound. There are all these old amps and guitars that need a good home. How could I pass this one up? 60 watts of vintage 1974 power for $25?!? 

Since CP is all set to embark on the electrical engineering program at UNL, I figured this would be a good project for us. The amp had a lot of noise when turned up with no instrument plugged in. It looked like the 40-year old capacitors were probably at fault. The big silver one on the right was oozing out its guts. We replaced several parts and now it sounds much better.

Animals at Rest

The top of the new sofa is The Spot to relax if you're a cat or small dog. 

PG has learned that he's not king of the castle when V is around. They are best friends now.

J is a frequent guest in our house. As soon as he arrives, he makes a beeline for the toy basket and promptly empties it.

K often brings her two dogs over. Her older dog sleeps on top of the sofa with the cats. She wanted to see D from next door, so it was a bit crazy for a while with four dogs in the house. Fortunately, they all get along well.

Fleabass!

GP is now playing in a band. He's been taking lessons and his instructor felt it was time to play with some other guys. This has bumped up his incentive to practice every day. You don't want to be the one guy that's not pulling his weight.

We came across a used Fleabass at the Music Go Round! GP is fired up about it. It plays well and sounds great. He can't wait to take it to practice next week.

Colorado!

The morning after the Iron Maiden concert, we piled in the car and drove to Estes Park, CO. We met G&G at their time share and spent the week with them.

We went for a hike every day in Rocky Mountain National Park. The boys remembered the death hike we took them on four years ago, and were leery each morning as we started up the mountains.

Despite their complaining, I think they had fun.

No trip to Estes Park is complete without a visit to the Stanley Hotel.

More full-resolution photos are located here: Google Photos

Dorm Room Decor

This summer we've been keeping an eye out for stuff for CP's dorm room. So far we've scored a cool Chinese-style print of a Japanese monster and a big flag from the Iron Maiden concert.

Iron Maiden!

When we stood in line to buy tickets in January, it was 5° and windy. The night of the show, it was 95. We didn't realize when we got our tickets that they were in the club section - we were treated to extra special service while waiting for the show. The boys chowed down on the buffet with unlimited Pepsi refills, and the girls enjoyed private bathrooms in the club room. 

I've been listening to Iron Maiden for the last 35 years. The boys have been listening to them since birth. JP has learned all their music via osmosis. We all had a blast singing along!

The bass player started the band in 1975. He is an idol for the boys and me. The lead singer flies the band's 747 from show to show. They hit 39 countries during this tour.

Graduated from Switzerland

C & A stopped by the weekend of the 4th. We haven't seen A in nearly seven years!!! He and the boys picked up as if he had only been gone for the weekend. He had just received word that he passed all of his high school requirements for graduation as was greatly relieved. School is a bit more rigorous in Switzerland than here.

July 4th Weekend

This year the 4th fell on a 4-day weekend, which is way too long. We spent the majority of it at the G's pool. This year we only spent $50 on fireworks and enjoyed the neighborhood show instead of our own.

Metallica!!

I went with CG & BG to see Metallica!! What an amazing show!

Squirrel!

We finally have a squirrel in our back yard!! V hates it. 

New Old Strat

Went to the pawn shop and traded in our shotgun for a nice Fender Strat. The gun was collecting dust and threatening to rust. Hadn't shot it in the last five years - hopefully this will get more use.

Baby Bunnies

CG had another batch of baby bunnies this year. They are so cute!

Orientated

We spent a full day on campus to get CP registered for classes and thru orientation for this fall. He's fired up to leave us behind and go to school. We all picked up some new Husker shirts in the bookstore. Go Big Red!!

GG

Gramma & Grampa brought their dog GG for CP's graduation. She loved everyone, including the cats.

LSW Class of 2017 Graduation

He did it! CP graduated from LSW and is ready to take on the world.

We had family and friends join us for the celebration.

Click here for more photos

Last Day of HS Recognition

During the last week of school, CP had a special day. In the morning we went to his computer lab where everyone in the class demonstrated their projects for the semester. The assignment? Arcade Video Games!!! CP's game was a classic multi-level shooter written in Python. It came out very well and is playable. Pretty amazing that these kids learned enough programming in one semester to make a real game.

Later in the day, we attended CP's final honors award ceremony. 

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.