Sorry, no pictures from this past week, we were too busy having adventures!
Friday night saw my first sand volleyball game for the summer. We have a couple of new kids playing plus the other members of the team had played indoor volleyball over the winter. So we were not only getting the ball over but doing so with three well placed hits. We were looking over the teams on the B net (yes, I play C net) wondering if we were in the wrong league. But there are still many other teams to play before we let our heads get that big.
Saturday: 20 mile bike ride to the beach while Vicki was getting her nails done. That evening we cooked salmon on the grill and shared dinner with friends. Afterwards we went to see the Avengers, in 3D. Good movie but I find the 3D a bit distracting. I think my glasses get in the way.
Sunday was Mother's Day, so I escorted Vicki to Christian LIFE church. Afterwards we got together with the Bowler clan in Independence and honored all the mothers there. We even brought Jasmine, which will be the last time we do that. All she wanted to do was go home. Every chance she had, she ran to the car. I even put her in the car for awhile but took her out after she drooled over the rear seat. (It should be dry by the time I get to drive any of you.)
One piece of news from the Bowler's was Jared's wedding date: the weekend after Easter in 2013. In Puerto Rico. While the Galecki kids may not get invitations, maybe we can get together for a few days there afterwards. Something to think about....
Love to all,
Dad

Ditches to you

Josh may be posting his next entry from a ditch, since he didn't send me this link until today.  He claims he did, but I think he has been attending too many beer festivals.

Like Rachelle, we had to have AT&T come out this morning since we had no internet, TV or phone -- but unlike Rachelle, ours was due to Skipper chewing through a data cable.  Tom will be putting more protective stuff on the wires when he gets home from work today.

I will likely go to bed early tonight in anticipation of being kept busy all day tomorrow opening presents and taking phone calls from children.

Cinco de Mayo Chicago Style~Rachelle (and maybe Steve)

Thailand! Thailand! Thailand! We managed to book a hotel for Bangkok before our internet decided to start hating us again (we're having AT&T come out for the second time in a week tonight), and it's very snazzy. I expect to be riding many elephants soon.

We had our young adult fundraiser for Old St. Pat's on Saturday, which I helped to organize. I got to be in charge of decorations and trying to make it not look like a church basement. I did not take any pictures, but it was at least a partial success. There were many Christmas lights and colorful decorations. We had a live band, taco bar, and Corona donated beer, plus lots of silent auctions and raffles. Steve won tickets to a Cubs game and a free dental exam from a friend (because he shuns my dental insurance).

I went to a reading conference on Monday-Wednesday of last week and met a ton of authors. Most of them are writing more recent books, but I'm sure you all remember R.L. Stine of Goosebumps fame. He looked pretty much exactly like I thought he would.

Cinco de Mayo in Concord

Josh, thanks for initiating this forum. We just had a great weekend with Dennis and Margaret here in Concord Twp. Kicking back, enjoying the beautiful weather, celebrating Cinco de Mayo at La Mesa's for lunch. As you can imagine, lots of margaritas, vino, Great Lakes beers and PINOCHLE! Can't wait to hear what everyone else is up to these days! God bless and Love to ALL!

Cinco de Mayo ~ Josh

Hello Family!

I've decided to do some improv. There's a 10-week class I've auditioned for and joined up with. The teacher really seems to know what he's doing, so I'm hoping to learn a lot. I've done improv before, but on a more casual level and without very much guidance and teaching. At the very least, I'll improve my "invisible object" work. I think that right now I'd be the world's worst mime.

I've found out that one of my coworkers is a huge beer geek - he's one of the admins on beeradvocate.com, one of the top beer-rating websites in the country. He organized a tasting on Thursday and was kind enough to invite me to it. There were many good beers and a few terrible ones as well. One of them, Idiot's Drool, has a flavor that I described as "exactly what Tom Waits would taste like."

I went to Dolores Park in the city for the Cinco de Mayo festival. It was much more sober / family-friendly than I had anticipated. Still, it was fun to lay in the grass, enjoy some sunshine, listen to the mariachis, and watch the dogs play. So many dogs! :D

Josh

Hello Family!

Being in several thousand miles and time zones away from Ohio, it's a little bit tougher to keep up with everyone. So, I've created this blog. The idea is that, once per week, we'll each create a post - a life update, fun photos (limit 5 per post), rants against the evils of prescriptivist linguistics, or anything else you feel like doing. The exception to this once-a-week limit shall occur whenever someone is on an adventure, such as a trip to Thailand. Then, he or she shall be required to post daily.

If you need any help with blogger or you are having problems of a technical nature, send me an email and I can help you out.

Josh