Welcome to October

Well it's been a long and hot September and we're all looking forward to the cool of the fall. I worked way too hard this past month- but was rewarded with a nice trip to SF for the ADA convention. I attended some lectures and... it made me really happy to be out of the school environment. Whew... those lectures were long and sometimes painful.

So... what's new with me? For starters: we sure are getting jazzed about Halloween. We bought a second fogger and are ready to bring the pirates of old back to life on Oct 31. We're going to build a ship, have smoke burning buildings and we'll shiver the timbers off those little trick or treaters this year.

News in the neighborhood: Our long time neighbors to the East (whom we loved), moved to Kansas City today. They were such good freinds and a pleasure to live next door to. We'll miss the Easterners terribly. A new family will move in over the next several weeks. By all accounts they're a nice family and we're looknig forward to meeting them.

The "other" neighbor, to the West, abandoned their house and had it foreclosed on. I heard this in the morning and was stunned. I was away for nearly a week and getting this news floored me. They were the "not so good" neighbors... with the dirty yard and the howling dogs and all. Losing the Westerners was no great loss... but they left the house in a shambles. The back yard has an old couch sitting in it along with bags of garbage and old screen doors. Rumors abound, but everyone says the inside is worse- if that's possible. It looks like a house in the burned out part of Detroit. How soon until it gets cleaned up and has new owners? Who will they be?

That's about it. We've been stunned by the news and only time will tell. So I'll drink a glass of red wine (good for the heart- you know) and contemplate life.

On a more emotional note.. it sure has been quiet without the barking dogs all night long... so good frigging riddance! Here's a toast to getting rid of a crappy and inconsiderate family.

Winemaker...

The last cork of the evening had been placed and after a very liberal sampling of all eleven wines it was time to call it a night... and so ended Saturday night's highlight. We did bottle eleven different flavors of wine: blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, strawberry, red raspberry, cherry, peach, white grape, peach, pineapple, apple spice and even mint.

Here's my big five:

1- Michigan State is 2-0 and U-M is 0-2... the world as we know it must be coming to an end... where are the four hirsemen on the Apocalypse?

2- Both the Chargers and the Lions won their opening games of the NFL season.

3- I just sent out a newsletter to all the family and friends.

4- Went to Cream for a writer meeting with Kip and we both got a lot done on our upcoming books.

5- Anyone have a good Pirate themed idea for Halloween? I'm accepting any ideas (even one's with zombies Adrian--- thanks for the comment BTW) good, bad or in between.

That's about it. I hope you all are having a cool day and enjoying the weather. After Labor Day... anything below 100 degrees seems cool.

What I did the first week of August

For me, August is the month to re-commit to all the projects and goals I've set for myself. Why? Well, you see, I turned another year older on July 30th and always take the time to re-evaluate the past year of my life. So here is what I reflected back on...

1- I retired from military service after 21 years.
2- I finished a novel for NaNoWriMo 2006.
3- I finished a movie script for ScriptFrenzy 2007.
4- I have begun to enjoy the word of Private Dental Practice.
5- We did a great spooky house for Halloween.
6- The Chargers did well in football... until the playoffs.
7- The Padres won the NL West.
8- The Tigers played in the World Series.
9- My kids made me the proudest father in San Diego. They're all smart, honest and hard working and the best kids a dad could ask for.
10- I've started back into our winemaking hobby.
11- The front yard and back yard are coming around and looking good.
12- I'm exercising every day by taking a one hour walk of about 4-5 miles.
13- I've become a better cook- by necessity.
14- I have begun several book projects and am making progress on them.

I've set some goals:
a- Travel to Europe for our 25th wedding anniversary in 2009.
b- Complete NaNoWriMo again this fall.
c- Do a great Pirates themed Halloween.
d- Lose 10 pounds by Christmas.
e- Begin running and run in a 5K race by Christmas.

So that's what happens when I enter August... for me it's New Year's Resolution Time!