I keep telling myself I should get more consistent at writing some of my thoughts, as they seem to be short-lived the older I get. And while I would love to dissect specific topics and share my views, I have decided on this somewhat sleepless night, to just ramble the thoughts going through my head. So, here goes…
* Drove to Colorado last Thursday night to attend my nephew Nathan’s high school graduation in Fort Collins. Thursday was a pretty hectic day at work, and I wasn’t sure if I was still up for an all night drive. Well, I guess I wasn’t. The drive took just over 9 hours of drive time. I think I drove 4 hours, Rebecca took over for about 2 while I took a cat nap, I drove, then she drove, then I drove again. Anyway, we made it, and Braelyn slept for the most part. Stopping for gas would wake her up and she would fuss a bit, but all-in-all, pretty good traveler she was.
* Speaking of stopping for gas… the tides turned this year. Last year gas was cheaper in Kansas, as I recall, and quite a bit more pricey in Colorado. This year, gas in Colorado was about 25 cents a gallon cheaper than Kansas. I am pretty sure that we just plain get screwed on gas during the summer. Some say they bring out the “summer blend” which is less pollutant. I say they jack up the prices because they know people will be traveling more.
* Further thought on gas… at the lake last week, gas was over $2.64 per gallon (on the water). This is a significant improvement over last year’s prices which were in excess of $4.25 per gallon. We’ll see next time I am down there if my theory of sticking it to the consumer is right… now that Memorial Day has come, the boat season is officially on and I bet gas prices have shot up on the lake.
* Back to graduation and the trip to Colorado. It was great to see my parents, both of my sisters, my two awesome brother-in-laws, and all of my nephews and nieces. A mini family reunion! Had a great time seeing everyone. Wish I could have seen my grandma and my grandpa, but grandma doesn’t travel anymore because of her age and arthritis, and grandpa doesn’t travel much as his Alzheimers continues to progress (such a sick, sick disease).
* I am so proud of Nate… he is an awesome “kid”, or should I say, young man. He had a lot of fun, and I could definitely tell he was happy reaching this milestone in life. It was awesome he let Spencer hang out with him a bunch… made it a great trip for Spencer.
* Two of the Lecher kids are now graduated… or, “gradumamated” as Nate calls it.
* Sidebar: watching the Tonight Show with Jay Leno… it’s the final week with Jay as host after 17 years. He has owned the late night ratings for 15 of the years, but I suspect Dave Letterman will take that title over real soon, as I don’t think the traditional Tonight Show audience is going to enjoy the ever annoying Conan O’brien. Time will tell, but I predict a turn-about in ratings.
* The world is in a mess, and while many are thankful Obama is “in charge”, I for one am not. With North Korea going nuts, I really wish we had a better commander in chief. I fear we will “talk” our way into a major issue with them… those nuts aren’t messing around. I don’t really mean this, but I sometimes think we should show them the power of the nuke and show ‘em just how dangerous they are. As I said, I don’t really mean that, but we better not tinker around here. We must take some serious action before they do.
* So, California’s supreme court says no-no to gay marriage, except for the 18,000 that did it before the election in November. Surprisingly, as a very conservative person, this is just one of those topics I don’t really have a solid opinion on. In this, the land of the free, who are we to tell people who they can be with and who they can’t? While we don’t have to condone or agree with things, this is the land of diversity and I hate to see people not have the right to be who they are, and to be with whomever they want. I don’t think it really hurts us as a society for gays to be married. Of course there is the argument that it can run insurance and medical costs up because of the associated risks of AIDS and whatnot, I think we have a lot of other issues affecting us economically that don’t infringe upon people’s rights. There are a lot of “legal” things that I don’t agree with, but that doesn’t mean they should be illegal. Oh well, just some ranting on a topic that I, as I said before, don’t have a real solid opinion on, though I guess as I typed this, maybe I do… Hope I don’t get banned from the Republican Party or the Christian religion for my thoughts on it.
* Tomorrow (Wednesday) marks Hoover’s four week mark after his leg surgery. Four more weeks until he gets checked-up, and hopefully cleared to increase his activity. Hoover has pretty well decided he is done with his no activity period, and we find it harder by the day to keep the big dawg down. Tonight he wanted to jump and play and it took some serious force and stern words to get him to refrain. Poor guy… just wants to have some fun! And Sophie wasn’t helping…. she wants to play, too. She kept bringing toys over and dropping them in front of Hooverm trying to entice him into play. Fortunately, from my perspective, he seems to be getting much better, and I certainly hope a month from now, he will get cleared to run a bit!
* Braelyn continues to grow, run, play, make messes…. she is such a doll. One thing is she seems to find countless ways to get bruised. From running into walls and doors, to tripping over imaginary lines, the girl is showing some marks! Good thing is she is rarely hurt… hopefully she will progress quickly into a bit more control! Her curiosity definitely gets the best of her at times. She is going to be a great big sister, though… she knows where the baby is now. Well, she has narrowed it down at least… sometimes it’s in Rebecca’s tummy and other times it is in her tummy!
* The ‘rents are going on a 2500 mile or so journey in about a week, with a final stop through OP next Friday/Saturday. Will be great to see them again, even though its only been a few days.
* Hope the Nuggets make it to the finals! While I like Coach Phil and the Lakers as a rule, I don’t much care for Kobe Bryant, and would love to see Denver do well! Of course, I really don’t care for the NBA, so let’s just scrap this point altogether.
* Learned some sad news when in Fort Collins. One of my all-time favorite teachers, Tom Staffelino, has cancer and isn’t expected to make it more than another week or two. I really loved this guy as a teacher, and really got to know him on more of a personal level after high school when I was officiating high school sports and when I did my student teaching at Kelly Walsh High School. I hate to see the good ones go down. Staff, or Coach Staff as we all called him, was probably my second favorite teacher in Junior/Senior High School. Bill Callahan was definitely my all time favorite, and he passed quite a few years ago. Mr. Bocott, my 6th grade teacher, was in my top few, and he, too, has already passed. Other notable teachers were Mrs. Finchem (3rd grade), who I believe is still kickin’ it, and Ms. Simons (also still kickin’). I’m sure there are more, but these few definitely left lasting impressions on me in a positive way. I had those that left non-positive impressions, too… one old hag who taught physics but thankfully I can’t remember her name… man, she was a beyatch…. oh, I digress. Anyway, my thoughts and prayers are with Staff and his family and friends. His life was spent grooming young men and women to make something of themselves… and he succeeded.
* Of A Revolution (O.A.R.) concert coming up on June 6th at Sandstone… can’t wait! One of my favorite bands.
* Dave Matthews Band new studio album comes out Tuesday… Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Can’t wait to get it. Also can’t wait until June 17 (Rebecca and my third anniversary)… we will be spending it in St Louis at the DMB concert. Great way to celebrate our anniversary!
Well, I think that’s enough rambling for tonight. You can see my head wanders a lot…. maybe blogging it will help me get to sleep. I will finish my glass of A to Z wine and turn off the tube.
Hey, life is short… we are all on this earth for a millisecond in time… make the best of it, enjoy it, and be happy. Catch me on twitter (@relledge) for my thoughts in 140 characters or less at a time.
Peace….
-RElledge
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