What a wild ride!

A few days ago we had an issue at work and I had to make one of those unpopular decisions to hold a shipment. While everyone agreed with me, they were glad that they didn't have to make the decision. I was at work that night until after 8 and today the shop spent a lot of labor in setting things straight. I hate being the bad guy, but as I said, everyone, even the owner, agreed that it was best to be sure. On the whole, it's been a good, but really fast week at work.

Tonight I walked through the house and snapped few new shots of my beautiful family.
Here we have me and Spencer up in his room. I just love that wall. In a photo it's hard to see that it's stenciled and not really brick.


Here's me and my lovely bride. I am one lucky dude!


Here's me and Ian. As usual, he's gotta be a bit like Bill Engvall, here's your sign! No Cindy, I don't know what it means.

Have a great day!

Pat

Wow, two posts in a row? Yes!

Art Prize is a really cool event going on in Grand Rapids. Click on the link, ARTPRIZE and enjoy what we Michiganders like to think of as art. I haven't gone downtown to see them all, but Holly has and she brought back the following photo of Nessie, (the Loch Ness Monster) in our very own Grand River. Of all the ones that I've seen, this is my favorite.

I got this photo from my brother Dave the other day and these are his kids, Taylor, Kelsey and Bryce. Talk about spread out I think they live on 3 different continents these days. I meant to post it sooner, but alas, time keeps on slippin, slippin, into the future... Hey guys, you all look great!

Monday morning we had storms come through and my boss pointed out that we had a great rainbow in view. We all went out and Joe took this shot of the rainbow with our company seemingly being the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Very apt considering that our owner is 100% Irish.

Have a great day!

Pat

Long time, no post

Hello Everyone!

First up, a Birthday shout out to my Nephew Mike! Mike is my big brother John's oldest and a pretty cool guy that's well down the path of figuring it out very well. Below are some images I scammed off the internet (facebook is a great resource!)
Here we have Carlos, Mike and Matt Obviously Mike gravitates to winning teams.


Here's Mike and Mat. Love the hat dude!


Mike and his daughter, Lexi on probably her first flight.


All decked out and you know, Spam is a food for toddlers!

Do you think this is how Grandpa Ames looked when he was working for Hormel?

The boys and I had a pretty hectic, but weather wise, wonderful weekend at the Mackinaw Rendezvous. (the link is for some cool places in the northern lower peninsula) Oh, sure, Friday was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to get out of work early. And setting up the tents at the Mackinaw Rendezvous in the dark was classic. Oh, and don't forget being moved with a group of 1500 of your closest friends by bus, by ferry boat and by your own two feet. Needless to say, some standing around was involved. The day spent on Mackinaw Island was as good. It was sunny with a high of 75...

Great to be home, great to be back at work, is it really Tuesday already?

Have a great day!

Pat

Thursday Already

Wouldn't you know, right after I said Holly keeps me from blogging when she does computer repair, I get so busy I can't hardly see straight. Work is slamming busy, Boy Scout meeting on Monday, we're planning a trip for the weekend and I'm in charge for the first time, Tuesday is Men's BSF, and it runs late, Wednesday we have a dinner with the owners of our company and my peers for work, with spouses, always a bit uncomfortable, always great food, always a late night. Tonight we packed for the weekend Mackinaw. I know I won't get good rest on the camp out, it's supposed to be cold and wet. I'm thinking first cold of the season. Lovely!

The following I received from Cousin Herb concerning his nephew Keith, which, I think, makes him my second cousin, but don't hold me to that. Anyway, please lift up Keith and his beautiful family.

From Herb: "Let's give The Clark's all the support we can, daily update, current photos and our prayer, Keith is his father son am I for one am very proud to be his uncle."

And from Keith himself: We have safely arrived in Hefei. Sofia will be starting Kindergarten in the next couple of days and Janira and I will be starting Chinese language courses shortly, which will be a necessity as even rudimentary understanding of English is rare (partially why we came to this region, we definitely stand out when we leave the apartment). I also will start teaching classes this Monday, so everything will be rather hectic. We are all excited, though, and looking forward to our time here.
Love,
Keith
P.S. I attached a couple of photos; one of Sofia's un-Birthday in Texas, another of Sofia and I in our Kitchen here, and one of the three of us while camping in Utah.

I can see his Dad in the way he stands.

My nephew, Matt took a bride this past weekend. While we weren't able to make the trip we pray that God bless the marriage as richly as He has blessed ours. If anyone has photos that they'd like to share, send them along, I'll make up a story to go with them.

That's about it for now, I have to get Ian to finish packing so tomorrow afternoon goes as good as possible.

Have a great day/weekend!

Pat

Sunday Sunday

First up, I was off line because Holly has a friend that needed some computer attention. When that happens, I give up my connection and other stuff so that they only have to bring over the CPU. It's easier for them, but I tend to lose touch with the Internet. Here she is in her new workspace where we have it set up with enough stuff that my set up is left alone, well, at least for now. We'll see.

I have some big news, I have been upgraded to a Blackberry Curve for my work "phone". I put phone in quotes because, really, a Blackberry is no more a simple phone than a Lamborghini Testarossa is a simple car. My big fear is becoming addicted to the instant information that this provides. I have spent my first weekend with it and while I was obsessed, I think it was no more than my usual obsession with new gadgets. At least I hope so.

Finally, the best news of all is that Ian is becoming a driver. He's got the style, the look and the current cool clothes. The question is, does he have the knack for driving a clutch? Today was spent with Ian spending some time behind the wheel of my Ford Focus. He hates this car, but it's a pretty cool ride since only a small portion of drivers can handle a clutch. I think he sees the cool factor, just needs more time and less chuckling from the passenger side. I really am sorry Ian, I want you to do your best! Here he is with the card that shows he's ready to go. If only I was.

Have a great day!

Pat

Settling In for the Fall

As we drift along we notice milestones, those markers that help us stay grounded in where and when we are. Today I noticed several milestone markers that herald fall. The following are the ones that I wanted to share:

Spencer sent me an email and it's reprinted, in it's entirety, below. This shows that the boys are back in school, it's a fund raiser!

Do you need to renew your magazines, let them come for another year, or want a new magazine subscription? Then consider QSP. they have magazines like People, Sports Illustrated, etc. They also have books and music! sorry, US only. 40% helps North Rockford Middle school. Just e-mail spencer_travel_agency@yahoo.com if you want anything. or visit http://www.qsp.com/ to bring it into the digital age. Thank you. Spencer Young

I returned to BSF, a Tuesday night, men's really pretty serious bible study. By serious I mean that I think this is as intense as a college course. The beauty of it is that it's focused on a book I already own. It was cool to see the guys that I met last year and as you all know, I really enjoy learning more about the Bible, so it's cool. This year we're studying the book of John. I can't wait to see the discussion on the football verse. You know, John 3:16, perfect season to discuss it, that's for sure.

Leaves are turning and falling! I can't believe it, but it's happening, some of the best weather that we've had all year and it's just in time for the fall color tour. The following shot is and I quote the website: "Haven Falls near Lac La Belle. One of several beautiful waterfalls located in the Keweenaw Peninsula"

The landscaping from Labor Day is paying off with grass seedlings starting to show themselves. I think the back yard will be a cool place again, just not right now.

I saw a woolly Caterpillar, which I think means a tough winter.

Those are the milestones I saw today. Just a reminder, we're supposed to stop and look around once in awhile.

Have a great day!

Pat

Troop Elections

Since it's troop elections night, here's the showing of viable candidates.

Today were the annual troop elections where the boys elect the Senior Patrol Leader, that would be the top lad for the uninitiated. The Senior Patrol Leader then selects his own Assistant. After that the boys split up into their smaller groups for their patrol elections. We have 3 patrols, the Spartans, Wolves and Dragons. Ian was elected the patrol leader for the Dragon Patrol. I was pretty proud of him, but not able to say much for fear of causing Teen Angst.

It's fascinating, for me, to watch the boys as they vie for the coveted top position. Of the 21 boys we had there tonight, 6 were nominated for the top spot. Then we had a town hall meeting style of debate where each candidate was asked the same set of questions. The boys were really quite amusing. They laid out their platforms based on fun, service projects, fun, better campouts and, did I mention fun? You could always see how a block was voting based on how much attention they would give someone. We have simple rules, vote for one of the 6, you need a solid majority, meaning 11 votes, to lock in the position. 21 votes cast and we narrowed it down to two candidates. Now it's really simple, 21 votes possible, you need 11 to win. Here's where Florida came in, one guy gets 10, the other 9, 2 were thrown away because of official election protocol violations, well, actually they voted for Obama and Obama was not active within the troop enough to qualify. Re vote and one of the boys was selected as the clear winner. His first act was to select his Assistant, it has been found that having them select their own second helps with leadership unity. Best of all, he chose the other contestant from the run off election.

Finally, on to home news. Our landscaping is nearly complete and with completion comes the issue of maintenance. I'm pretty sure I agreed to the sickness and health part of the vows, as for weeding, well, I just don't recall. With a backyard getting pretty, some degenerates are moving in, such as the woodchuck shown below. (Please note, these are not actual photos of our woodchuck, rather they are images that I snagged off the Internet that represent our woodchuck.) Holly first told me about this guy, let's call him Phil, about 4 weeks ago. I suspected that there was some level of make believe and so I was less than supportive. Turns out that she was right and that Phil was digging around in the backyard. I was less than amused and swayed by the cute factor and so, Sunday I sat out with my weapon of choice, a Red Rider Model from Daisy. I nearly got the varmint, but he scampered before I could properly draw a bead on him. I know I only have a little time till he goes down for the winter, but I am hopeful! (actually, I also realize that I will only scare him or make him mad with my little BB gun. But I gotta try.) I'll keep you posted.

Have a great day!

Pat