Monthly Update

I posted some pics earlier today, so i guess this counts as my third post of the day, which brings my daily average for the month up to ... .5?

Anyway, the last few weeks have been rather hectic.

Two weeks before Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving, that is) I went fishing on the Columbia River with my father-in-law Roger, and my brother-in-law, Eric. I drove out to Eastern Washington on Friday night, and arrived at Eric's place around 11:00 PM. I made the necessary mistake of stopping at Starbucks in Ellensburg, Washington to get a cup of coffee around 9:15 PM, and therefore couldn't sleep all night. We were up at 4:00 AM to get to the river. We stopped at McDonald's on the way there for more coffee and a biscuit. Those of you who know me will be shocked by that admission. I haven't eaten at McDonald's since 1997, and had a very long streak of avoiding that place that I cherished. I hope I have now started another steak.

It was frightfully cold, but a beautiful day other than that. The stars were out, the coyotes were howling, and at sunup, the fish started biting. I landed a Steelhead at 7:15 AM, and Roger got one at 7:25. We took to the boat around 9:30 and Eric pulled in a Pike Minnow (aka Squawfish) and a Steelhead later in the day. We left the river around 2:00, drove back to Eric's, gutted and filleted the fish, and I headed home, arriving around 7:15 PM, just in time to see my kids off to bed. I slept well that night.

The following weekend, Lisa did a dance competition up in Everett, WA, and I was left with the kids for pretty much the whole weekend. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. They tend to not act up as much when it's just one of us at home. Not sure why that is.

Thanksgiving weekend we went to Lisa's parent's place for Turkey Day, and came back late at night, did our Christmas shopping on-line on Friday, and tried to take it easy. Unfortunately, while playing with Lorelai on Saturday morning, I took a spill and re-dislocated my right shoulder, something I've done four or five times in the past. This one was pretty bad though and I ended up in the ER on Saturday afternoon verifying that I had gotten it back into place correctly. I had, but it was still pretty sore for a few days.

This weekend, we took the kids to the Aquarium in downtown Seattle, and they had a blast. We got pretty tired chasing them all around, but they loved to splash in the tidal pool displays where you can touch the starfish, and it was fun to watch them point at all the fish. We also had lunch at a place called the Fisherman's Bar and Restaurant down on the pier, and they gave us a free pass to the indoor carousel next door. The kids loved riding on the horsees and I had to pry Reece's fingers loose when the ride came to a stop. We met up with Lisa's sister Katy there and she took some great photos of the kids. Lorelai loved running around the pier with her (as you can see in the photos).

In other news, my work is going very well. I'm working on a really big project that is very high profile in my industry. It's going to be a career maker if it works and I'm learning a lot about brand new technology that hasn't even been released to the public yet, doing stuff I never thought I'd get into, and really enjoying it.

My writing is still going really well too. I'm not sure if I will meet my goal of finishing the story I am working on by Christmas since I don't know how it is going to end yet, but it's nearly two hundred pages long at this point and the words keep coming, so I'll keep typing until they don't.

My reading list over the last few weeks has included:

The Sunrise Lands (SM Stirling) - Book 4 in the Change series. Pretty good, but not as good as book 1

Down the Long Hills (Louis L'Amour) - An old west yarn about two kids lost in the prairies. Pretty good and a quick read

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Stephen King) - I loved this book about a little girl lost in the woods of Maine.

The Appeal (John Grisham) - Probably my least favorite JG book I've ever read, and I think I've read all his fiction.

Latest Movies
Definitely, Maybe -Yes it's a chick flick, but a good one. I'll give it 4 stars out of 5

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - not bad. I can see why it's so popular, but the soundtrack is pretty bad.

First Snow - Not bad, but not great

Four Brothers - Horrible movie. Skip it

Casino Royale - Had to watch this before we went to see Quantum of Solace (which we still haven't seen due to my shoulder injury.) Loved this movie.

Atonement - Pretty good movie, but a little hard to get into at the start

The Machinist - Freaky movie. Christian Bale dropped to 121 lbs to make this movie and looked really disgusting. The guy gets a little too into his part for my taste.

The Incredible Hulk - Actually a pretty good flick if you accept it for what it is, a comic book on steroids

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - A complete waste of 2 good hours.

Run, Fat Boy, Run - Not bad, but not up to my expectations for Simon Pegg

More fun on the Dock

Age of Aquarium

We took a trip to the Seattle Aquarium yesterday, and then had lunch down on the pier with Lisa's sister Katy. Here are a few photos from the day.