Back to life

Ok Pat, I'm calling your bluff. I'm getting off my ass and starting this thing up again. I've been away for a LONG time. No excuses. I could go on and on about the summer and vacation and working 2 jobs, and being a father and taking care of my post-surgical father, but I won't. I'll simply get back on the horse...

But I should at least provide a bit of an update for the past few months. Things have been tough. I spent much of the summer taking care of my father, who had 2 major surgeries to correct vascular problems. Fortunately, everything is looking good, and has been for about the past 2 months. Brandon started pre-school and is doing very well. I got to take 2 trips over my blogging break. I went on a family vacation to Myrtle Beach with 3 other families. It was a total blast, and we ended up being down there during bike week. I'm not a rider, but my in-laws are, and it was amazing to see all the bikes there. 300,000 bikes by estimate. Supposedly it's now the third largest rally in the U.S. behind only Sturgis and Daytona.

My latest trip was work related (and partially financed), and was to Vancouver, BC. Vancouver is a very beautiful city. The downtown district is walking distance from the water, and visual distance from the mountains. I thought it would be a Seattle type climate, but the week we were there (Sept. 23-29), the weather was perfectly clear, 70ish during the day and 55-58 at night. I also found a killer Irish pub called Doolins which served as our rendezvous point each night. Ahh the Guinness!

So where do we go from here... Well, I'm NOT looking forward to the upcoming weather, but I am looking forward to teaching Brandon to ski sometime soon. Maybe this Winter, if not next. I also need to get him on skates more this year. On a personal note, I'm trying hard to reestablish some control over my financial situation. Things have stabilized, but it's going to be a tight winter. Next year should hopefully lend itself to a turning point, with me being able to drop the preschool bills, and Gina perhaps going back to work when Brandon starts full-time school. I guess I should be proud of keeping the ship afloat for these years by myself, but I wish I had more flexibility. I know it will come, and I have to look at the fact that I'm only 35 and I'm thisclose to a 6 figure salary. Most people would kill for that...

Sports:

Eagles are good, but need a damn running game. They aren't going anywhere without some ball control. They could easily be 6-0 with an above average running game when they need it. The defense needs to be more consistent, but that's not the main problem

Flyers are intriguing on paper, and not so good on the ice right now. They have looked dominant at times, and have looked classic Philly lost at others. No reason they shouldn't make the playoffs and make some noise, but 1-3-1 isn't scaring anyone. Team speed isn't an issue, hitting the net is...

Sixers - who cares...

Phillies - as I predicted at the beginning of the season, had alternating streaks of great, awful, and WTF. And also as predicted, managed to keep in the hunt until the end of the season, and lost just enough games to last place teams to miss the playoffs. Again by thismuch. I hate them yet every season I root for them (or as they say in Vancouver, I GO for them).

Well, that's it for now. I promise to keep up to date on here now. I just needed a spark to get writing again, and thanks to scaggy for that. Ciao bitches...

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