BilikFamily.com

I haven't written anything substantial in several days. After having over six months of snow this last season, I've been so happy to have nice weather that's I just forgot about writing. There hasn't been any major event so I just kept putting things off.

Last weekend started off bumpy because Saturday was nothing but rain. That's why I was able to work on the pictures of Claire's First Communion rehearsal. Sunday turned around for the better. Claire's real First Communion went off well. We had a sitter watch Abby and the twins while Michelle, Gina, Claire, Timothy and I went to Infant Jesus for the big event. I have some nice pictures coming soon from both before and after the event.

That afternoon was sunny and warm. We played outside and later cooked hamburgers on the grill that we ate in the screened in porch.

Monday the girls and I took Gina to the airport. After seeing her off we bought lunch at the airport's McDonalds and took it up to the airport's observation deck to eat and watch the planes takeoff and land. Monday afternoon we took all the kids to Payless and K-Mart to get new summer shoes (sandals).

Tuesday was marked with a lot of services coming by. Maria came by to clean the house. While she was here I played with the boys outside and told Michelle to take the girls out to J. Beaners for some quiet mother/daughter time in front of their fireplace. Later an employee of Dube's landscaping came by to show me how to start up the sprinklers after they'd been pumped out for the winter season. It's not rocket science but with as much as a sprinkler system costs, I didn't want to break it. Claire loved the fact that the company is called Dube's landscaping, as if the twins founded it. Later the TruGreen guy came out and put down the long awaited pre-emergent. Hopefully that'll keep the crabgrass at bay compared to last summer. Since he had just sprayed the lawn, we took the kids to a park for the afternoon. I got several good pictures of their time there that I hope to work on this weekend.

When I got back to work on Wednesday I went to another going away lunch for a co-worker. This friend wasn't being asked to leave. He was leaving on his own to pursue a completely different career path. He's going to run a gas station/convenient store franchise just outside of Dover, NH. He'd had enough of the swings of the high tech industry and wanted to be his own boss. Wow! To go from logic verification (his job at ARC) to managing a roadside station. It reminds me of when I was at Wright State and one of the professors left the Computer Science department because he was going to study at a seminary.

Over the past several days Abigail has continued to work on her two wheeling skills. I'd say she has it down pat although she's still a bit wobbly. I'd feel better if she used the pedal brakes a bit more but she's getting there. I asked her if I could take off the training handle I had temporarily installed on the back. She seems to think it's the magic that makes her balance because she said no, not until she turns six years old. Every neighbor who has seen that handle has asked where to get one. It's such a back saver when you're training a kid in riding without training wheels.

Another reason I haven't written much is because I was setting up a separate weblog for technology issues. While it looks similar to this one, it's a completely different software setup on the web server. While this page uses MovableType, the other one uses software called Blosxom.

I can't get over the media ranting about yesterday's Bush carrier landing and speech to the troops. They all seem to be emphasizing about how staged it was, what a photo op it was. Well, Duh! Graduations are staged. Wedding are staged. That doesn't make the event less meaningful. Bill Clinton was the king of the photo op. Speaking as a very straight, married man and father of five, I still say the President looked quite the stud muffin. Millions of men will see that footage and wish they could hop off a jet fighter and swagger the way he did with helmet in hand.