Kip Dynamite: A Presidential Candidate for the Everyman

Well, things are getting back to normal now. After traveling around for a while (PA, then house sitting) we are finally back into our own house, busy getting the kids (and ourselves) back into routine. While we had fun traveling east and staying at our friends house, we always love coming back to our house. I really think that the kids missed their room and their toys and such. They have been playing a lot and sleeping better since our return.

The boys turned three yesterday, so we had a little party for them. It was quite a bit of fun, as we went out to eat with some friends and then returned home for some cake and ice cream and presents. It was really low key, as we only had a couple of gifts for the boys, but I have to say that I have never seen kids so excited about getting clothes. The boys were literally jumping around, doing somersaults, dancing, and showing off each item of clothing as they themselves discovered them among the shards of torn paper and cardboard. We all got a good laugh out of watching them and just enjoyed a good night of relaxing with friends. We were so happy that the boys had a good time and got to eat their cake and ice cream. Juancho had been anticipating this for quite some time, bringing up the party any time he could. I don't think he was disappointed. Shirley even got a little surprise when our friend Christie brought over a new "Troy" (from High School Musical) backpack full of supplies for the upcoming school year. Gifts for everyone!

Another highlight is having Brad, Traci and Joel back from Costa Rica. I picked them up a little after midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning. It has been great to have them back and to hear of their adventures down there. It certainly brings back memories for us and our trip to Colombia earlier this year. We were happy to hear that they had a great time and that they were able to see sooooo many birds (I think over 200 different varieties!!!), which is something they truly love. Now I have my dog walking buddy back, too, which is nice. Having them back is all part of us getting into our "routine", too. Good stuff.

Tonight we had another night of company, as B, T, and J came over for lasagna. We were also joined by Josh and then by Sherri, who both could make it in spite of late invitations. We had a good time sitting at the dinner table sharing stories, discussing economics/politics/social issues. And the lasagna was delicious. It has just been nice to have our little community back after the summer months in which we seemed to be going this way and that way all the time. Winter schedules (school, kids club, etc.) will soon be in full effect, too, and we will be even more settled in. I am looking forward to it, for sure.

Josiah and I met with a t-shirt distributor/printer the other day and began our quest to make t-shirts. We were able to get quite a bit of information and have been going over the drawings and prices and such to get an idea of what we might/what we are able to do. It has been very exciting, to say the least, and has been another outlet for my creative side. Hopefully we will be able to get going on that and have pictures of designs here before too long. The coffee is kind of on the back burner now, but still rests in my head as something I would really like to do. One step at a time, though. Or one project at at time, anyway.

Work has been slowing down a bit as of late. We are getting close to wrapping up our full time stage of being there, as our tool install list continues to get lower. I am not looking forward to leaving that workplace, though, and I have been curious to know if there were openings in that particular work environment. That is not to say that I would go if offered, but I would be a fool to not listen. I am really not looking forward to the unexpected and extremely variable work of land surveying outside of IMFT's clean room environment. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I hope that they forget about us and just keep us on full time down there...yeah, that would be cool.

Anyhow, I should probably get some sleep soon. I came home and fell asleep on my recliner this afternoon and I have a show to go to tomorrow (Calexico). I don't want to fall asleep during the concert...that could be embarrassing.

In the immortal words of Kip Dynamite: Peace out.