The Very Busy Month of May
So, it has been a month and the question of "Where's Hicks?" has really not been answered. Yes, I did report picking up my sheepskin (the diploma for my MBA) and noted that I liked the movie Speed Racer. I told you about my new desktop wallpaper based on the "new" old Enterprise, but not really talked about what has been going on, so I am finally going to post about that.
J. spent a week in Atlanta, GA for the Intel International Engineering and Science Fair, a student from DCHS won grand prize for roach barrier research at the State level and it was J.'s turn to go (it is a perk of being a science teacher). She got to visit the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Zoo and the cyclorama among other things. She said that she had a great time and I think that she was so busy and worn out that the fact she was away from all of her boys for six days did not cross her mind (too much).
It meant that I got to spend the whole week with the boys on my own and we had a good time. I made dinner every night and did the dishes and laundry just fine thank you. We went to the Greenfield Village a few times and the zoo, lots of bike riding was done, and for the most part it went pretty smoothly. The Boy's pre-school year came to a close last Wednesday with a picnic in the park, which was a lot cooler and breezier than is normal for this time of year. Last Friday was his kindergarten round-up and I think that he will love it. The Little One is getting ready to go to pre-school next year as part of the 3-year olds' program, but we have the summer to get through before that happens and I am hoping for as long a summer as can be.
I have been on and off of vacation for the last couple of weeks, to spend time with the boys and to get some things done that just needed doing, like the pre-school picnic. We all went down to Muncie, IN to visit my dad last weekend and it was a fairly relaxing trip, save for the fact that J. is madly grading away - the last day of school is about a week away and grades need to be posted prior to final exams. On our way down, we stayed overnight in Auburn, IN at the Comfort Suites and you know what? It was one of the most pleasant hotel stays that I have had in my life, I recommend at least that hotel to anyone heading south.
What is in Auburn? Well, the town is reinventing itself as a "destination" with museums of many sorts there. We visited the World War II Victory Museum and the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum. The boys were interested in the cars, especially the race cars, so much so that they could not keep their hands off of them. They were pretty worn out by the time we visited the other side of the facility for the military stuff, but they were able to identify the real vehicles that I and my friend M.A. have for our Flames of War 15mm miniatures game. Next time we go through we will probably visit the aircraft museum and railroad depot just outside of town.
The visit with dad was relaxing for me, the boys wore out my dad's wife and they even watched the boys while J. and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I have to say it is not as good as "Last Crusade" or even "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but it was an Indiana Jones movie and I liked it. The script needed one more rewrite to smooth some awkward dialog and the SFX needed some reworking, but you know what it was funny and action-packed.
I talked at length with my dad's wife about running her counseling business as a business, she went independent a year ago and is finding that she needs to bring in high-paying customers to succeed. Non-paying clients or Medicare clients eats up her available time and does not keep her in business. Quite simply, if her counseling business is not in business, she cannot help anybody. Dad and I also had the chance to play Memoir '44 and evenly-split the victories.
We got back home to a rather chilly Michigan, we apparently missed the one muggy, 80 degree day before the temperature plunged to the low 40s. In Indiana, we could not have asked for better weather, so it was a bit of a shock. Thankfully the grass did not grow too quickly while we were away and it should not take too much to trim it this week.
I was pleased to read that my friends vrettalin and masteralida will be coming back to U-Con 2008 and I guess that it is high time to plan the games that I want to run. I'm still thinking about a sequel to the Zombie apocalypse LARP that I ran two years ago, but it will be set "28 Days Later". Alternately, I'm thinking abou a serialized zombie apocalypse game, with one event running each day, "The Day Before", the "The Day of the Dead", and the "The Day After". Or, something like that.
Anyhow, enough of the info dump. In general, you all seem to be doing pretty well, and I'm pleased to read that.
J. spent a week in Atlanta, GA for the Intel International Engineering and Science Fair, a student from DCHS won grand prize for roach barrier research at the State level and it was J.'s turn to go (it is a perk of being a science teacher). She got to visit the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Zoo and the cyclorama among other things. She said that she had a great time and I think that she was so busy and worn out that the fact she was away from all of her boys for six days did not cross her mind (too much).
It meant that I got to spend the whole week with the boys on my own and we had a good time. I made dinner every night and did the dishes and laundry just fine thank you. We went to the Greenfield Village a few times and the zoo, lots of bike riding was done, and for the most part it went pretty smoothly. The Boy's pre-school year came to a close last Wednesday with a picnic in the park, which was a lot cooler and breezier than is normal for this time of year. Last Friday was his kindergarten round-up and I think that he will love it. The Little One is getting ready to go to pre-school next year as part of the 3-year olds' program, but we have the summer to get through before that happens and I am hoping for as long a summer as can be.
I have been on and off of vacation for the last couple of weeks, to spend time with the boys and to get some things done that just needed doing, like the pre-school picnic. We all went down to Muncie, IN to visit my dad last weekend and it was a fairly relaxing trip, save for the fact that J. is madly grading away - the last day of school is about a week away and grades need to be posted prior to final exams. On our way down, we stayed overnight in Auburn, IN at the Comfort Suites and you know what? It was one of the most pleasant hotel stays that I have had in my life, I recommend at least that hotel to anyone heading south.
What is in Auburn? Well, the town is reinventing itself as a "destination" with museums of many sorts there. We visited the World War II Victory Museum and the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum. The boys were interested in the cars, especially the race cars, so much so that they could not keep their hands off of them. They were pretty worn out by the time we visited the other side of the facility for the military stuff, but they were able to identify the real vehicles that I and my friend M.A. have for our Flames of War 15mm miniatures game. Next time we go through we will probably visit the aircraft museum and railroad depot just outside of town.
The visit with dad was relaxing for me, the boys wore out my dad's wife and they even watched the boys while J. and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I have to say it is not as good as "Last Crusade" or even "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but it was an Indiana Jones movie and I liked it. The script needed one more rewrite to smooth some awkward dialog and the SFX needed some reworking, but you know what it was funny and action-packed.
I talked at length with my dad's wife about running her counseling business as a business, she went independent a year ago and is finding that she needs to bring in high-paying customers to succeed. Non-paying clients or Medicare clients eats up her available time and does not keep her in business. Quite simply, if her counseling business is not in business, she cannot help anybody. Dad and I also had the chance to play Memoir '44 and evenly-split the victories.
We got back home to a rather chilly Michigan, we apparently missed the one muggy, 80 degree day before the temperature plunged to the low 40s. In Indiana, we could not have asked for better weather, so it was a bit of a shock. Thankfully the grass did not grow too quickly while we were away and it should not take too much to trim it this week.
I was pleased to read that my friends vrettalin and masteralida will be coming back to U-Con 2008 and I guess that it is high time to plan the games that I want to run. I'm still thinking about a sequel to the Zombie apocalypse LARP that I ran two years ago, but it will be set "28 Days Later". Alternately, I'm thinking abou a serialized zombie apocalypse game, with one event running each day, "The Day Before", the "The Day of the Dead", and the "The Day After". Or, something like that.
Anyhow, enough of the info dump. In general, you all seem to be doing pretty well, and I'm pleased to read that.