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April 4 , 2005
Had a busy Winter....where to start? Um, Santa was very good to Trey this year and I made out pretty well too. Speaking of Trey, he started reading over the Christmas break. Dad got him some Dick and Jane books and all of a sudden bam! he was reading. During the Winter, Trey tried wrestling. He was ok at it, but the coaching for the team he was on was all geared for older kids, and the whole thing was an unorganized mess. Hopefully, he'll try it again next year at Rising Sun, which I've heard has a good program for little guys.

In Jan, he started playing indoor soccer and he really did well. He was the leading scorer on his team with 14 goals in 7 games. His coach, Mrs. Crites, was an excellent coach and gave everyone equal playing time, as well as a chance to play every position.

On March 26, Trey turned 6 and had his birthday party at the Bel Air Athletic Club. He had lots of friends show up and everyone swam and had a great time. The little punk cleaned up with presents and walked away with $110. I think I got maybe $5 when I was 6!

Next up is Little League baseball. Trey tried out to move up to the 7-8 yr old league and made it! Out of all the kids trying out he caught the most pop flies and was the fastest runner. I know the proud dad thing gets old, but he is *such* as awesome kid...

In band news, we have been severely hampered by first the holidays, and then the health of our bass player. He is undergoing some medical treaments that leave him sick as a dog. Not sure how things are going to pan out on that front....

I recently began going to Sensei Hickey house once a week to try to get back into jujitsu. I've been looking into some other stuff (JKD, Krav Maga) that really interest me from a self defense aspect, as opposed to a martial art aspect, but there is nothing near me. By the way, if you want to get into great shape, check out Bas Rutten's Mixed Martial Art Workout CDs. They are awesome. There are 4 in the set: Boxing, Muay Thai Boxing, All Around Workout, and All Around Fighting Workout.

Also I'm thinking about starting a blog (I know, it's like *so* last year) but dammit, you people need to hear me out! lol If you know me, then you know I am considered uh "opinionated". Since I can't afford my own radio station (I would love to be on talk radio), the blog is my way of railing on things that annoy me.

Oct 18 , 2004
Trey is now the proud owner of a Fender Strat! Santa was gonna bring it, but he pestered me so much that I relented and just got it for him. It's a 20 fret 3/4 size Strat Mini (candy apple red) that sounds surprisingly good. Amy went to a pawn shop and picked out a Peavey Rage 128 amp to go with it. Cool thing is the amp works just fine for Daddy to use it for practice as well :-)

Trey also got his first laptop - an Apple Powerbook 170. It's ancient, monochrome, and only good for the most basic text documents, but he thinks it's cool and that's all that matters. Plus it's a Mac, so at least he's using the right operating system.

I just played an awesome golf course in Ellicott City, MD, called Waverly Woods. To me, it is as nice as BulleRock. Beautiful layout, fast greens, pace of play was excellent. I shot 106, but had such a nice time it felt like a 90.

Finally, I just saw Fahrenheit 9/11, and all I can say is wow. No matter which side of the political fence you are on, I recommend you see this film and draw your own conclusions.

Sep 10 , 2004
Well the impossible has happened- after 8 years Black Matineé actually re-formed (and debuted in Ricky's basement lol). The 1st practice was a little shaky, but I was surprised how well the 2nd practice sounded. Here are the tunes we're playing. We have no timetable for playing out, but it'll be announced here.

Trey started Kindergarten and is loving it, especially riding the bus with his two cousins. He now has his own mini-office in my office and he feels important. He will be interviewing secretaries shortly. Oh yeah, and he lost his second tooth.

Bad news- the room we used for Ju-jitsu was converted into classrooms, so now I'm out a dojo. No more free Ju-jitsu! Bitter...

Aug 23, 2004
It's been a busy summer. We spent time at Bethany Beach, DE, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Ocean City, MD. Trey is dark as can be (he tells everyone he looks like a "Porker Rican". Other cute Trey-isms include frigelator (refrigerator), hunder (under), lellow (yellow), mahmost (almost), kerilla (gorilla), nember (remember), gammercial (commercial), and curfis (cursive). He played in a couple golf tournaments this summer and got trophies in both, including 3rd place at Chantilly for the 2nd year in a row. He's still 3'10" and around 52 lbs.

The really big news is that he lost his first tooth! Already! AND he has another tooth loose as well. He already has his six year molars in and they were just sealed by the dentist. Other news is that he got his very own fishing pole and caught his first fish down at the Port Deposit boat ramp on the Susquehanna River. He has had a fun summer and will be starting kindergarten on Tues the 31st.

My old bandmates and I have been trying all summer to jam, but so far it hasn't come to fruition. Between Memorial Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, everyone's vacations, Ronnie breaking his back, it just hasn't happened.

My golf game is in shambles, but I have stayed in pretty good shape this summer in anticipation of taking Ju-Jitsu, which starts up again after Labor Day.

May 27, 2004
Ok I finally got the web hosting thing squared away, so hopefully updates will be posted in a more timely fashion. Since my last post Trey turned 5 (March 26) and now weighs in at a solid 50 lbs. He decided after 18 months to take a break from judo. He is now playing T-Ball for the Perryville Timber Rattlers and doing well in that endeavor. He is just about done Pre-K and is excited about summer vacation.

In April I turned the big 4-0! Now I get to start using phrases like "Back in my day..." and "Kids today! Why I remember....". I'm also looking forward to my mid-life crisis and the red corvette, gold jewelry, and young mistress that come with it. I'm still talking with some of my old bandmates about doing something, but as of right now it's just talk. A couple of weeks ago I tested for, and received, my green belt in Ju-Jitsu, which I am very proud of. Three other birthdays of note- my nephew Tyler turned 7 the day after my birthday; my best friend Josh, who is the owner of Intext Lighting in Nashville, turned 40 last week (and celebrated by going to Hawaii); and Amy turned 29 for the 6th time yesterday.

I'll try to get some of the links at the top hooked up shortly- especially Trey's page where I will post some pics.

Mar 1, 2004
Ok so I've been really, really, really lame with the updates. My domain expired, I switched web hosting companies, yadda yadda. Uh let's see, Christmas was good, as was New Year's Eve. I got a spanking Mac G5 with 2 gigs of RAM at work , so that's pretty sweet. Got my yellow belt in Nihon Ryu Ju-Jitsu, and am looking forward for my green belt test in early summer.

Trey is still taking judo and is 46" and 48 lbs. He can do 20 pushups and count to 326. Yes I actually had to sit there and listen to him count to 326. Amy has starting working for her mom's business, Triple Care, which provides a home and health care for veterans who have become disabled while serving their country.

One cool thing I recently checked out was GarageBand. Even though it is a bit limited, it is unbelievable easy and intuitive way to record/create your own music and loops.

Oct 1, 2003
Ok so I've been really lame with the updates- so sue me. We had a busy summer- setting up the new house, going to Ocean City, dealing with hurricanes, etc.

What's new? Well, Trey just started Pre-K and is very excited to have some new friends. He's still taking judo and is also taking gymnastics. Trey started playing golf this year and out of the 3 tournaments he entered, he got two 3rd Place finishes. He also learned to ride a bike this summer w/o training wheels. He's the man!

My back is better (see old news) and I just started taking Jujitsu again (against everyone's advice). Also I hope to have some band news shortly (although I've said that before...)

May 9, 2003
We had a final walk-through today. Everything turned out great. Our builder did a fine job. Now the fun really begins- moving furniture.

May 8, 2003
The builder (SLD Homes) called today and informed us that our CO (Certificate of Use and Occupancy) is ready. That means we can move in! Yay!

May 6, 2003
The results from the MRI I had done on 5/2 came back negative, which is a good thing. I'm still kinda freaked out about the numbness and tingling I have.....

Apr 29, 2003
Last week they poured the walkway, and put in the hardwood floors and the carpet. Today they did the final grade and seeded the lot. What else is left?

Apr 19, 2003
Trey got tested in his judo class and became the 1st Little Dragon to get his red belt!

Apr 14, 2003
Happy Happy Birthday to Me! The house has the cabinets and kitchen and bathroom flooring installed.

Apr 13, 2003
Wedding Anniversary #7, the Wool/Copper year.

Apr 12, 2003
Well I finally have a couple pics of the house:
pic 1 | pic 2

Apr 5, 2003
I got a major boo-boo in my Jujitsu class today. I got slammed and ended up with a compression fracture on my T9 vertebrae. Bottom line: no jujitsu (or anything else physical) for 8 weeks!

Mar 31, 2003
House update: the stone is on, the siding is on, the drywall is done, and the trim is mostly done. Basically all that's left is the flooring, painting, and cabinetry!

Mar 30, 2003
Trey had his birthday party today. He got a bunch of toys, some clothes, plus a set of golf clubs (including a real Nike driver) and a 5' x 10' mat for practicing judo.

Mar 26, 2003
My little boy turned 4 today and he's not so little anymore (43 lbs and 42"). However he is the cutest, smartest, and sweetest 4 year old ever (I'm not biased on or anything).

Mar 5, 2003
This past week the heat ducts, roughed plumbing, and electric were installed. They also hooked into the water. The Town of Perryville has been charging us $65 a month for water since December, even though we were physically unable to use it. Nice.

Feb 26, 2003
This week they got the roof shingled and put in the heating ducts. Guess what-we are expecting more snow tomorrow. :-(

Feb 19, 2003
After getting 2' of snow over the weekend (biggest snowstorm in MD history) the framers put the rest of the roof on. Last year when my brother-in-law built his house we had a drought (aka perfect building weather)- now that our house is being built, it has done nothing but rain and snow! (Forecast for this weekend is for 2" of heavy rain). Narf......

Feb 13, 2003
The framers put most of the roof and porch on today. You can really tell what the house is going to look like now! (Just in time, too, as we are expecting more snow this weekend).

Feb 10, 2003
Dad's birthday. He figures, based on the biblical idea of the average lifespan being 120 years, that he is just now entering middle-age. The framers are now on the 2nd floor.

Feb 9, 2003
Grandma's birthday.

Feb 8, 2003
The framers finished building the 1st floor exterior walls. It snowed 6" yesterday and I had the fun job of shoveling all the snow out of the house. Also, Trey got elevated to Orange Belt in his Little Dragons Judo class.

Feb 6, 2003
The framers started building the 1st floor exterior walls.

Jan 30, 2003
The basement, formerly a giant hole in the ground, now has poured concrete walls. They also laid the stone for the driveway.

Jan 29, 2003
Despite the light snow, the builder started on our house today by digging the hole for the basement. We also locked in our mortgage rate at 5.75%- sweet!

Jan 28, 2003
I got tested in my jujitsu class tonite (it was a total surprise) and got elevated to Advanced White Belt. Oooh I bet you're scared now (not!).