Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia.

This past March I went with some friends skiing at Whistler Blackcomb mountain in British Columbia. It was an amazing trip. I am anticipating a ski trip this Winter. I know that it is August and still in the 90's here... but there is something about getting cooler at night and in the morning that does something to me. It is like a switch is flipped and I am thinking about all the fun to be had this Winter. Skiing is bar none my absolute favorite activity. When I say skiing I mean skiing in the big mountains of the West. Where you can lose yourself in the mountains. When at times you are the only person on a run. The feeling of sliding through powder snow. The way adrenaline pumps throught your body as you slide down a steep fast run and all you can do is let out a primitive howl. In my opinion there is nothing that rivals skiing. As I begin anticipating the coming Winter, which happens earlier and earlier each year, I wonder how long it will be before I live permanently in the big mountains of the West.

A pretty sweet gladed run at Whistler.Josh, Myself, and Caleb.Portrait = Turd.

Children of the World - We have three kids for the week.

Carrie works for worldhelp.net and the have three groups of children that travel the US and perform.... they are The Children of the World. So, we have three boys until Friday. Two of them are from Uganda and the other is from Nepal.


From left: Jonathan (11), Deepesh (9), and Matia (claims to be 7).


All three of them are very nice. Every time I walk by Deepesh he grabs my hand and puts it around him. Matia is the smallest and is really cute. We will see what it is like with three children in our house.

The attack... sadly, it finally happened.

What you are about to see is not cute, pretty, or anything nice. This was a dangerous encounter with a deranged, wild dog.... frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this animal had rabies. Look at your own risk.

This first photo is of the dog searching for prey.

The dog angry because it is having a difficult time finding prey.

Prey found... sad.












As usual, Rummy is laid back and happy. Though he witnessed the attack he did not take part.

South Ossetia? Very sad.

South Ossetia is a province of Georgia... a former Republic of the USSR. It is very sad to see civilians being targeted or at least not avoided by military operations. The thought of war raging on US soil is foreign and difficult to imagine. Reading the news and seeing people that are the collateral damage of opposing governments is frustrating. Most of the time the casualties are the people that really don't have anything to do with whatever the conflict is. In the case of South Ossetia, the people that live in the province want to succeed from Georgia. They are primarily Russian citizens and that is why Russia is getting involved. I can understand why Georgia is trying to take back control of the region... imagine one of the US states trying to succeed. Again, however, it is very difficult to see women, children, and the elderly being harmed by the fighting.

Flowers going crazy...

In early Spring Carrie and I started what we thought was just putting in a couple of azaleas to make the backyard look better. Little did she know that 5 azaleas would lead to over 50 new shrubs. It has been a lot of fun. I have learned a few things along the way. One of the best things is watching plants grow and really do well. The series of photos below is an example of that:



It is incredible how well the plants are doing around the azaleas. They are providing great root shade. It is hard to tell but the azaleas a growing really well, too.

One thing that is stressful is when a shrub I planted dying. I don't understand why they die and no matter what I do, nothing helps. It stinks, but I guess nature takes its course.

Crape Myrtle - More landscaping...

So, I spent some time the past couple of days getting my next landscaping project underway. First I wanted to remove the old shrubs as they were really old and one was in pretty bad shape... half the truck was rotted out.

I used my a saw and fire to get the shrub and root out of the ground. I burnt the root system for about two days... this was very effective and much easier than trying to He-Man it out. So, today I replaced the old with some new.

I got these Crape Myrtles today at Lowe's for really reasonably. The subspecies of the plants from closest in the photo are: Tuscarora Crape Myrtle which grows pink and gets about 15' tall, Acoma semi-dwarf Crape Myrtle grows white blooms and about 10' tall, and Zuni Crape Myrtle grows lavender and about 9' tall. All of these plants bloom from summer to late fall. It is nice to have some color in the dog days of summer. Jerk.

Let's smoke a cigar...

Carrie and I were hanging out on the deck last night. Carrie insisted on having a smoke. It was an Oliva which rated 94 in Cigar Aficionado. It is nice sitting on the deck under the umbrella. If your not under the umbrella it is way too hot... it has been over 90 deg for a good while. Enjoy!





She looks like a pro!

Breaking Dawn

Last night I went to the midnight release party at Barnes & Noble for the forth and final book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn.
It was interesting to say the least. I went with a co-worker, Megan, and we were definitely in the minority - over 20 and not dressed up as a vampire or in Prom dresses. I felt very much out of place, but it was a lot of fun hearing the excitement of these middle/high schoolers and seeing some of their outrageous outfits. I really wished I had my camera, but my crappy camera phone had to do.... here is a glimpse of one person we saw:

At 12:01 the first book was sold. Megan and I were in group "G" so we got our books around 12:30. I actually saw one girl from the first group open her book to the very last page, she couldn't wait to know who Bella chose, Edward or Jacob. Megan and I quickly got as far away from her as we could. The girl had a "Team Edward" shirt on and heart with Edward's name on her arm, so I knew whatever her reaction was we'd be able to tell the outcome and she ruin it for us. We darted around a bookcase out of eyesight and earshot - crisis adverted.
I didn't get home until almost 1 am, and seeing as I'm not used to staying out late anymore, I chose to go to bed rather than start reading. I'd guess most of those kids stayed up all night to read the entire book.

Giving for Today

I am in the process of starting a non-profit. I had no idea what the process was like until recently, let me tell you... it is not fun and takes a long time. But like some say, if it worth having it is worth working for. Fortunately, I have some great people around me that are giving some much needed guidance.

I won't forget the adventure.

Some say life is an adventure. It is easy to say something but have no indication that what you say is what is so. Looking at my life there is a lot of adventure. This adventure may not be apparent to those around me, I guess it shouldn't be because its not their adventure. I have seen and experienced adventure with money, time, relationships, and stuff.

Money: I have dug Carrie and I some pretty deep financial holes. Thankfully, Carrie is great at managing the books. I had a very difficult time accepting our personal financial crisis. But I can tell you that we were not able to experience freedom from this pit until we took responsibility and owned our debt. We are close.

Time: I have attempted to free up time by giving up some hobbies. Back in the day I golfed all the time. I don't anymore... I may go 4 or 5 times per season which is enough for me. I have made a commitment to myself that any new hobby I take on Carrie must be able to join in. We went fly fishing together and it was a great time!

Relationships: Spending time with people is fun. I enjoy conversation. I enjoy sharing my vision and hearing about other peoples vision. It is especially great when two visions can be joined for a greater vision.

Stuff: Carrie and I have gotten rid of a lot of the "stuff" that filled our house. It is a constant struggle for me to get rid of stuff. I think what if I need this or that again... it is not worth keeping if I use it every once in a while. I prefer to borrow a friends. I tell my friends if I have something don't buy it because you can use mine.

Observations from gardening...

Our garden has begun to produce a fair amount of vegetables. Something I have noticed is the savings gained by growing your own food. If we don't use the vegetables fairly quickly they will be no good. I have noticed on a few occasions when we would have had to make some sort of side dish we have been able to use vegetables from our garden. Another thing... it is crazy the way people light up when you give them food. Carrie and I have given the people across the street cucumbers and a zucchini bread and they love it. It is great to see people happy simply by giving them a vegetable. I can see how communities were developed back in the day when everyone was growing and sharing food.


Carrie made this zucchini bread. The loaf in the middle has poppy seeds on it.

Sundays with Zucchini...

After church this past Sunday Carrie and I came home and had a great lunch. Carrie took zucchini that we grew and cut it up into what looked like french fries. Then she breaded them and fried them in oil... they were really great!




I know that in the photo Rummy looks like he is happy to see you. Well, he isn't. This is the face he makes when he wants to say, "I don't like you." Get over it.

Carrie - The Dog Talker.

Carrie is great with our dogs. In fact, she is so good they like to use her as a pillow. Rummy is a great dog and Madi is not bad.

New Furniture

Here they are as promised...