High School Snoozicle Too

My dad is 6'4" so it stands to reason that his kids would end up fairly tall as well.

But as of my 9th grade this wasn't the case. Sure my sister was a bit taller than average for a girl, but my older brother was shorter than average - and I was just plain average.

But then something changed big time. Almost to the day I started the summer vacation after 9th grade my body started changing. Suddenly I couldn't eat enough, I was tired all.the.time. and I was bursting out of my pants like Bruce Banner on a bad day. Except of course instead of looking like the Incredible Hulk I looked more like Alfalfa, but that's not the point.

The point is, I grew a full 6 inches that summer and my body was taking a beating.

Sometime around mid summer I began to wake up in the middle of the night with severe calf cramps and as I would lie there screaming in pain, my loving mom would come rushing into my bedroom to help work them out. God bless her for that.

But instead of enjoying my newfound height, I felt like a freak. Like a human giraffe. Ironically it was only a year later that John Merrick cried out in angst: "I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!" I know of which he spoke.

So why am I telling you this story?

Because now that Charli is working every day and not waking the kids up in the morning, THIS is what I come home to at lunch time.

Still asleep from the night before

Every day.

Yes, Austin is doing the same thing - minus the leg cramps (so far). He eats like a horse, and just like I did, sleeps about 12 hours a night. And he's sprouting like a weed too. I know this because I'm one of those dorky parents who keeps growth measurements on the closet door frame - and since May, he has been growing at the rate of one inch per month.

Still, even though I'm sympathetic to his plight, I can't resist teasing him.

Today when I went into the living room at lunch time to wake him up for the day I pulled the blanket off of him and said... "Hey slug, time to get your butt up and get ready for work. And try not to leave a trail of slime when you do."

He didn't laugh.

I don't think he gets me.

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Chills and Thrills

So this morning my wife opens up the freezer and there's a 1/2 gallon of Moose Tracks ice cream in there.

"When did we get Moose Tracks?" she asked.

And that's when I remembered hearing our kitchen door slam last night around 11:00 p.m. while I was lying in my bed watching Stephen Colbert. About 20 minutes later I heard it slam again.

Apparently during this time my boys decided they needed ice cream, and did what was necessary to make it happen.

I don't remember authorizing that transaction.

But my kids are growing up and there's really not much I can do about it - except maybe take pictures. For example, here's a picture I took last week of my 12 year old daughter jumping off a 25 foot cliff at a local swimming hole.

If Roseanna jumped off a cliff...

Yes, it really is as high as it looks. But it's also safe. This is an old granite quarry and the water is over 50 feet deep below that jump.

Even still, you won't find me trying that anytime soon... or EVER for that matter. I way prefer the less dangerous activities, such as eating Moose Tracks for example.

But hey, don't minimize the danger of doing that either...

... a guy could choke on a chocolate chip you know.

* * * * *

*** Update *** I found this cool video someone made of the quarry cliff Roseanna was at. Of course the people in this video aren't necessarily as intelligent as she is about it.

Take the leap and stop over here for a really good laugh!

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76 trombones did not lead this parade!

In my last post I mentioned that I had a busy weekend planned - and then later in the comments revealed that my son Austin was going to be one of the Grand Marshals in St. Cloud's Granite City Days parade on Saturday (read about it in our newspaper here).

As I'm sure most of you are aware, Austin has received some very positive recognition for leading an effort to build a skateboard plaza for the youth of our city (you can follow this series of posts for more information if you're interested).

As part of that recognition, our Mayor appointed Austin and another St. Cloud teen, Alise Post (the 2006 National BMX Women's Champion) the distinct honor of being co-Grand Marshals for our annual summer festival's parade.

And, as an added bonus for the entire Lee family... my oldest and dearest blog buddy Jennine just happened to be in town covering a story for her city's newspaper (from which she was hired as a result of her first class blogging and photography skills) and stopped by for a few minutes just to meet my parents and see Austin lead the parade.

I was deeply touched by the fact that she, her husband and son, took the time to squeeze in a visit to see us even though she had to be on the other side of town only a few minutes later to start covering her event.

And thanks to Jennine, I now have this awesome photo of Alise and Austin to remember this moment.

Before the parade

After the parade commenced, I quickly headed a 1/2 mile down the street to where our chairs were set up and waiting. A few minutes later this is who I see leading the parade.

Hey... somebody get that skateboarder off the parade route!

Dad! You're embarassing me!!!

Austin was lucky though. The weather had threatened the entire day to rain during this parade, but he made it through to the end without getting wet. His sister Roseanna on the other hand wasn't so lucky. She was in position #80 out of 93 floats and the rain started coming down before her karate team even left the staging area. By the time she got to us, she was drenched.

Still in good spirits though!

Oh, and here was my brush with fame for the day...

As the usual political suspects were walking by, I saw Team Franken handing out fliers but didn't think much of it - until I turned to the right to see Al himself approaching me at a pretty fast clip. So naturally I stuck out my arm and shook his hand. I was actually surprised to see him there. I really wasn't expecting it.

He's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggonit, people like him!

So as you can imagine, it was a pretty exciting day for everyone - rain or not. My kids were in the parade, my folks came down to visit, I got to see Jennine again, and The Receders played to a packed club later in the night - after which I didn't hit the sack until 3 a.m.

And now today I'm spent. But hopefully I can now get back to seeing what all of you fine folks are up to again. So until then...

Have a great week!

* * * * *

Update: Stop by Jennine's place to read her side of this event along with a very touching tribute to my parents.

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The other woman in my life

Ok, granted a very young woman, but as of today - one year closer to the real deal.

Roseanna is a sweet girl with a huge beautiful heart who never gives us any problems, worries or reasons to see her teachers during conferences. And after her two older brothers, she also is, let's just say, a refreshing contrast - and leave it at that.

So Happy 12th Birthday sweetheart! Your mom and I are extremely proud of you and we love you to pieces.

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Look out... here comes the teenage son

Ever have one of those times where do you don't know if you should be mad at your kid or give him a high five for ingenuity?

Well I did, just last week.

I was at a customer site and my work cell phone started ringing. But - instead of the normal professional ringtone I usually have it set to, I hear this instead:

On one hand I was like, "what the hell?" and on the other hand I couldn't stop giggling about it for the rest of the day.

Here's a sign I created that pretty much sums up my feelings about it.

D'oh! Don't forget to stop by homer-blogs.com!

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It really is the best of both worlds

On Sunday night I had the opportunity to take my daughter to see the Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour 2008 movie.

With the exception of Dave (who is a self admitted Hannah Montana junkie) I imagine this review will only apply to a select group of people who:
a. have daughters between the ages of 5 and 15
b. are Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana fans
c. have access to a theater actually showing this film

... but I'm going to post it anyway.

The day after I lamented that Disney was pulling a publicity stunt by limiting the release of this film, they decided to extend it. They must have heard my wrath. But I'm very glad they did, because Roseanna and I had an awesome time on our daddy/daughter night out at the movies.

After driving 60 miles to the nearest theater that was showing it, we pre-purchased our tickets and headed next door for a pizza and lemonade until showtime. And even though this film costs $15 per person as opposed to the $7.50 all the other movies did, I still think it was worth the price. I guess those plastic 3D glasses are more expensive than I thought.

The production quality of the movie was fantastic. This isn't that crappy 3D effect of the old days, where you were told to "put on your glasses now" before each 3D scene or else the rest of the film was blurry. The glasses today don't have any affect on your eyes until the 3D kicks in... and then it kicks butt! At one point the guitar player flipped his pick toward the camera and I actually moved my head avoid it. Cool stuff.

sportin our new specs after an entertaining night at the movies

Miley is an amazing talent for such a young girl. She lights up the stage with her smile and has an instinctual awareness of the audience. Because the camera puts you right up against the stage in the front row, you get to see her as big as life while she acknowledges the thousands of fans around you with her subtle wink, wiggle-wave of her fingertips and constant hand touching.

Her choreography skills are fairly limited compared to those of a young Britney or Janet Jackson, but in the context of everything else she is juggling as the star of this very energized concert, it's probably for the better. Her back-up singers and dancers provide enough frenzy to keep everything moving, which leaves Miley shining like the star she is.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this film whatsoever. Miley is adorable, the music was fantastic and the production was amazing. At times I was actually feeling proud of the girl for everything she was pulling off and more than a few times I felt the urge to applaud after the songs had finished.

About the only complaint I have is that the theater we were at wasn't outfitted with surround sound and so the concert feel was basically lost. Kind of ironic that we went to a 3D concert movie but had to listen to 2D audio. Still, none of that was a fault of the film, just the crappy AMC theater they were playing it in.

Obviously I recommend taking your daughter to this movie - if it's still playing and you can actually find it.

And Dave, if you like the TV show I think you'll like the movie too - if you can find someone to drive you.

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Tough Break

Check out what Austin decided to do...


No, that's not a totally rad sleeve tattoo, but it is a totally broken arm - IN THREE PLACES!... which is why the cast goes all the way from his thumb to his armpit.

Yeah, ouch is right. He snapped it while competing in a strong-man arm wrestling competition. I hate it when that happens.

What's that? You're not buying it? I don't see why not. Could happen.

Here's a stretch... he broke it while doing some kind of trick off of a 10' half-pipe at the local snowboard hill yesterday. Apparently he missed the landing and fell down the face of the half-pipe, and tried to break his fall with his hand. Instead he broke his hand with his fall. And his wrist. And his arm.

He's not in much pain but he's totally bummed that he'll be off his snowboard and (God forbid) HIS SKATEBOARD for at least 6 weeks. I've seen him seriously jonesing after not being able to skate for 2 weeks, so I'm quite sure this is going to kill him.

Anyway, I'm not complaining too much since we've gone 15 years without a broken bone in this family. I just hope he hasn't broken our lucky streak!

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Marmite VS Vegemite - The Taste Test Challenge!

Special Video Blog!

As I mentioned last week, this was the weekend I was going to take the Marmite VS Vegemite taste test challenge, which is EXACTLY what my daughter and I did on Sunday.

But not only did we take the taste test challenge, we recorded it! So now for the first time ever you get to see me - and my lovely and talented guest star, in a video blog!

However, this was not a slam dunk event. Everything that could have gone wrong with this little endevor did. I was going to use our nice digital video camera to record this, but for some reason the battery charger has taken legs and disappeared. Therefore, instead of a nice clear, bright video - you instead get to see a grainy dark video because the only thing I had available to record this on was my little Kodak digital camera. You'll also notice a neat little break in the recording from when the SD card got filled up and I had to go switch it out with another one. But other than that, you should be able to get the picture.

So here we are in our Marmite VS Vegemite video taste test challenge. Enjoy!

Click here for YouTube link

(Update: I figured out how to lighten it up so here's another version that's easier to see in case your monitor is too dark, but I used free software that has their "trial version" stamp at the top - so please ignore that)

Oh, and this was NOT a paid product endorsement post... you know, in case you couldn't tell.

Everything tastes better at humor-blogs.com!

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What I'm dealing with here

I'm glad you all got a kick out of Brandon's little practical joke the other day.

When I mentioned in my comments to "stop praising him!" it was because he does not need to be encouraged any further. We're talking about a kid here who is already light years beyond anything I'll ever be able to do with computers. This little stunt of his to capture my password and hijack my blog was kid's play to him. Literally.

Let me give you a little background of what he does for fun just so you know what I mean.

Brandon has been into all things technical since he was very young. He was only 15 when I wrote this post about the laboratory the had become his room. It's only gotten more ridonculous since.

He is now in his junior year at high school and spends the first 2 hours of every morning over at the technical college taking (and acing) an AP course in computer networking, and will receive his CCNA (Cicso Certified Network Associate) certification upon completion this spring.

Late last year (at 16) he got hired by this local computer shop and is one of only 2 employees who perform all the services listed on that website.

Then just last week Brandon submitted this "how to" post to Instructables.com on how to build a computer from scratch. Not only was his story featured on the front page, it was also elevated to "popular" status by the readers. Apparently this is a pretty big deal to the geek types.

click to enlarge

You can read this and all his other tutorials here.

Here's my point... I'm not writing this to brag about his accomplishments. I'm merely trying to point out that what he did with my blog is peanuts. We're talking about someone who can field strip a computer down to nothing but a motherboard and its components and reassemble it within 15 minutes. Not only that, but he has some kind of software tool on his thumbdrive that can capture every password on any computer within a few seconds. Yikes!

Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY proud of him. He's a wonderful kid, extremely intelligent and has a huge heart. But don't think for a moment he's not a typical teenager with a mischievous side. All you have to do is read my wife's comment from that post for a good example of that.

But I will give him the credit he deserves for the clever humor of his post - which you all seemed to enjoy so much at my expense. Just don't get used to it. Because as soon as I can get him to tell me how to encrypt my passwords...

I'm going to block him from this blog!

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McGruff the Crime Dog

Hello boys and girls.

I'm here to talk to you today about the dangers of saving passwords in your browser. Some people feel the need to save their password so that they don't have to log in every time they sit down at their computer. This poses a threat to the reason a password is made.

For an example, we will assume that someone has saved the password to their blog in a computer that is accessible to many people. All one would have to do is sit down at that computer for about 30 seconds and invite themselves to contribute to the blog. Then when that person goes to his/her own computer, all they have to do is check their email and click a link. They can now post whatever they want on said blog. They might even write about the dangers of saving passwords.

Now suppose a hacker were to find their way into your computer. They might post about more serious things, like when Google is going to take over the world (they've already taken the internet). The only way to keep hackers from posting random junk that no one wants to read anyway, is to make sure they don't get your password in the first place.

Now that you know the dangers of saving your password on your computer, I would like to remind you to not talk to anybody you don't know on the internet.

-Brandon Lee

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Actual owner of this blog's note: I woke up this morning to find this on my blog from my son (who was up very late last night because he is off from school today) and promptly removed it. Then, after I squelched the urge to chew him out for messing with my blog, I thought this was pretty clever and decided to repost it for your pleasure.

Of course that doesn't mean he won't be seeing his car keys for awhile!
(just kidding... I'm not that mean)

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What to Expect When You're Expecting - Teens

Like most bloggers I have pretty diverse mix of readers who are men, women, single people, married people, people with babies/toddlers/teens and on and on.

But since I'm the father of teens at this point in my life, I thought it might be helpful to share a little "idiosyncrasy" that you might expect to experience if you have teens some day. Oh, don't get excited. I'm not talking about any earth-shattering revelations, I'm simply referring to the phenomenon of lost, missing or consumed goods.

That's right. If you got teens, you're missing things. It's that simple.

Don't ask me why, but for whatever reason - there just happens to be certain things around our house that my teens are obsessed with using, and losing. Here's the short list - at least around here:

Flashlights - At one point I had 5 of them. All working. All stored in the same place. Now I'm lucky if I can find one - with dead batteries of course.


Batteries - Between cameras, hand-held video games, remotes, mp3 players, etc etc etc... teens will eat these like candy.

Duct tape - Don't ask me why, but kids are fascinated with duct tape and will figure out a way to consume a roll in one sitting. At one point my kids were making duct tape wallets. Another time I came home to find Austin completely cocooned in tape and writhing on the floor. Yes, his brother and friends were responsible.

Other tape - It doesn't matter... scotch, packing, masking - any tape is fair game. It doesn't matter how much I buy - if I need it, I ain't got it. It's that simple.

Scissors - They're supposed to be in a clay cup in our cupboard. Two or three pairs of them. I'll give you one guess how many are in there at any given time. If you said zero then you were right.


SD memory cards - Seriously. You'd think if I had a 1 Gig memory card for my camera it would actually be IN the camera. Ya, you'd think.



Phillips screwdrivers - Check the screwdriver holder on my work bench. I have 9 slotted screwdrivers. I have no Phillips.

Drill bits - Oh, I have the big fat ones. Lots and lots of big fat ones. The guys will know what I'm talking about here.

WD-40 - Got boys? Then you don't got WD-40. At least not very long.

Hats and gloves - Last fall I bought the cutest matching set. Last winter I had the cutest glove.

Hmmm, after reviewing this post, I have now been struck by one question...

Do any of you other guys hear your dad saying, "Can you say paybacks?"

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Skate Plaza On The Roll

It's been awhile since I've written anything new about the skate plaza project, but last night was just so damned cool that I don't have a choice but to share it.

As (most of) you know already, my son Austin is leading a large project to build a world-class skateboard plaza here in St. Cloud. You can check out all the details here.


By all estimates, the total cost of this project will most likely exceed one million dollars, which is a ton of money for any organization to raise. However, our Mayor has recently committed to approving the construction of the plaza in 2008 if we can raise $250,000 by the end of this year, with the balance to be paid over the next several years. To that end, Austin has been writing letters and grants, and meeting with business presidents, CEOs and civic organizations nonstop for the last 6 months in an effort to secure this amount in pledges or donations by December 31st.

Then, just last week he received this email from the local branch of our Optimist Club:

"Hi Austin,

I have some great news for you today.

The St. Cloud Morning Optimist Club has approved a commitment of $50,000.00 total to be paid over the next five years. This will be offered as a challenge grant where we will match other contributors dollar for dollar up to the $50,000 commitment..."

The letter goes on to describe how he envisioned the presentation of the award so as to inspire other businesses to step up to the challenge and make their own donations as well.

Here is Austin receiving the check last night.


Needless to say he's been on cloud 9 all week, and last night was a major, giant, HUGE step toward his dream come true. By nature of the challenge grant, this means that if other people donate $50,000, the Optimist Club will match the $50,000 themselves for a total of $100,000 - better than a 3rd of the way to construction!

And if that wasn't exciting enough for the young man, he was also elected Vice Chairman of the Park and Recreation Board at the end of the last session. That's a pretty big honor but normally doesn't require much additional duty. Unless of course the Chairman can't make it to a board meeting - in which case the Vice Chair has to run the show.

Uh... guess who was in charge last night?

rockin the house

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Road Trip - Part 1

I know...

Oh no - a "Part 1" blog?! This can only mean Jeff is going to bore us with MORE than one anecdote of his last 5 days. QUICK - RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

Not to worry. I'll keep them brief. All 13 parts.

Why? Why did my wife and I drive Brandon 12 hours to the blue-collar capital of the world - Flint, Michigan? Because they have an excellent engineering university there that he is interested in attending when he graduates.


This school is actually a very good fit for Brandon. It's filled with engineering geeks who like to cling together in geek clumps and design geek projects so they can earn their geek degrees and move into their geeky engineering jobs immediately after graduation. It's not for everyone but if you're a... you guessed it... geek, then this is the place for you.

Because Kettering is a co-op college, the students actually have jobs at one of over 500 major corporations during their entire enrollment. They go to school for 3 months, work for 3 months, back to school and work in that cycle for 4 1/2 years. 90% of the students get hired by their co-op company when they graduate and earn $45-$65k right out of the gate. Not too shabby.

The feedback by the students was VERY positive. Everyone we talked to said they love the place and the co-op program. Of course we still have more schools to look at, but so far a big thumbs up for this one.

From the "Well duh, what did you expect?" files:

While we were there Brandon stayed on campus but Charli and I needed a place to stay as well.

NO! Please don't tell me you stayed at a Motel 6!

We couldn't resist. We were looking for a bed for just one night and they only charged $39.99! I mean come on, how bad could it be?

Specifically? Ok let me tell you.

At 11:00 p.m. we arrived in the lobby to get our non-smoking room. Of course our room was NOT a non-smoking room and smelled like it had just been the location for the World Series of Poker championships. Not only that, but one of the beds was unmade and actually missing its pillows.

At 1:00 a.m. our phone started ringing a quick "bring-bring" tone over and over again. It was the front desk attempting to leave us a phone message, but they weren't trained well enough to know that once you do that it makes your phone "bring-bring" until you get up, turn on the lights and figure out how to retrieve your message. The big emergency?... They were trying to let us know we had a $3 refund coming because our current non-smoking room didn't have a microwave.

At 6:00 a.m. the motel manager woke us up by knocking on our door. Because we had switched rooms after check-in, the night clerk hadn't made it clear which room we were actually in and she was trying to determine which one was the unmade one that needed cleaning. As you can see, she used a very scientific method to determine this. Knock on one of the two doors and if you wake somebody up, you have the wrong room. At 6:00 A.M.!!!

Here are a few other added bonus features from our stay at Motel Sux:
. the front desk clerk could neither speak nor understand English, which tends to come in handy if you work in a customer service position in the US
. the blankets had shredded edges and multiple holes in them
. the blankets and sheets had giant "x"s written on them with permanent marker as an anti-theft deterrent, because these linens are obviously coveted by everyone
. which explains why the pillows were missing from our first room, since they didn't have "x"s on them
. there was only one towel for our double room
. there was only one of those little mini soaps for the entire bathroom and no little shampoo or conditioner bottles

But on the upside, at least it didn't have bed bugs (trust me, I checked). So that's something.

Anyway, consider this my gift to any of you who would even consider staying at one of these places. Just don't.

Unless you want to stay there because you can't resist stealing their pillows.

Motel Sux - We'll leave the phone on for you.

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What I Did This Summer

As I mentioned the other day, I was going to fill you in today on what I've been up to over my extended weekend. And, because this post already exceeds the attention span of most bloggers, I'm going to cut right to the chase...

Thursday - A sweet day at the area's largest amusement park, Valleyfair. This place has all the big rides including this brand new roller coaster described by my son Brandon as "the best ride I've ever been on in my life!" That's a pretty ringing endorsement if you ask me.

Unfortunately, I had to restrain from all the head-whipping attractions due to the fact that my mutant giraffe-like neck has been out of whack off and on for the last few months. Hell, even the slightest jerk of my head aggravates my neck for several days. As you can imagine, this pretty much nixes my dream of spending a night at the Roxbury.

My daredevil son Austin decided he wanted to take advantage of a special they were running for one of the attractions you have to pay extra to ride. For only $10 each, he and two of his buddies got the chance to ride the 180 foot high Ripcord. This YouTube clip I found of someone else taking the plunge pretty much describes it all.




Even though this clip has all the quality of the Zapruder film, I like it because it shows an accurate perspective of just how insanely high these kids were hoisted before they were cut loose to freefall to their... mother's worst nightmare. No kidding, I think Charli was more freaked out just watching them than the kids were taking the plunge.

Friday - The next morning we took Brandon and the two boys who were with us to the University of MN for their first-ever campus tour.

Oh where oh where has my little boy gone?

Seriously, I can still vividly remember the first minute I held Brandon in my arms, sobbing with tears of joy as my little newborn's eyes connected with mine for the first time. And now we're taking him to visit colleges.

I think I may start to cry again right now. Not because he's growing up and moving on, but because I've just seen the cost of tuition. Waaaaahhhh!

Saturday - Headed on up to Battle Lake for The Receders annual show at Stubs Nightclub. And what a night we had too. The place was crowded, the people were partying and the room was hot! Literally.

In fact at one point I had to grab a bunch of napkins to wipe the sweat off my face between songs. Near the end of the set our guitar player walked over to me and said, "Jeff, what's that shit on your face? It's been on there since the beginning of the set." Apparently some wads of napkin remnants were clinging to the stubble on my cheeks so I looked like the victim of a Bic shaving incident gone bad - and he decides to wait an hour to tell me. Thank you very much.

Sunday - Nothing but the good life. After getting back to our drummer's cabin at 2:30 a.m. the night before, we woke up to a day made in Heaven at the lake. I always have mixed feelings about spending such a gorgeous day at someone's deluxe cabin while floating in the water for hours on end doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. On one hand, I couldn't ask for a nicer time. On the other hand, I pretty much hate anyone who gets the opportunity to live like this on a weekly basis. That's just the kind of petty and jealous person I am.

So there you have it. While you were all sitting there blogging all weekend, I was out partying, enjoying the beautiful weather and pretty much ignoring you. And for that you'll have to forgive me -

until this weekend when I do it all over again.

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4th of July with the Lees

A photo journal:

Arrive at beautiful Canal Park in Duluth.


Set up comfy viewing spot amongst the masses.


Watch excellent fireworks display over the harbor.


Have son drop his iPod in the rocks and lose it deep down within the cracks. Return the next morning to try to attempt to find it and, if possible, retrieve it. Try not to think about the ridiculous odds of doing so.

Have wife surgically extract paper thin iPod from within the crevices 6 feet below and scream with excitement. Assist by taking pictures for your blog.

edited by request: click picture for a more "flattering" image of Charli

Have son be eternally grateful and owe his parents for... oh, I don't know - pretty much LIFE.


Go buy lottery tickets since we must be the luckiest people on the planet.

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76 Trombones

Whew - what a weekend!

Like other expectant parents, we've been spending a lot of time nurturing our baby to be... the new skate plaza that is. Taking care of a new plaza fetus requires a lot of work - feeding it fundraisers, providing it proper media nutrition - and this weekend, showing the public the sonogram plans.

Since this weekend was Granite City Days, we first set up a booth down at Lake George (near the future site of the plaza) while boarders held demos and played a tournament of s.k.a.t.e., which is the skateboarding equivalent of h.o.r.s.e.


Before that however, Charli and a team of kids spent two days putting this float together in our garage for the big parade on Saturday night. I had no idea you could be so creative with chicken wire and tissue paper!

An awesome time was had by all and nearly 3000 cards and pieces of candy were distributed to parents and kids. But there's still a lot of work to be done and a lot of edumacatin to be had - especially to our own men in blue. At one point, two skaters came up from behind our float and started doing tricks in front of the truck I was driving. As they worked their magic in front of the crowd, a cop standing on the side of the road actually walked out to one of the skaters and told him to get off the road and out of the way and "...you can't be skating out here. This is a parade." When the skater told him he was in the parade and pointed out the float that was following him, the cop said, "Well, stay close to your float."

Whatever.

So that's what we did. How was your weekend?

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Happy Birthday Sk8ter Boy

Every so many years, Austin's birthday falls on the same day as Father's Day, and I have to share the limelight with him.

But I don't like to share so when this has happened in the past, I simply concocted a guilt trip about how he should honor me as his father and sacrifice his dream of having a special day all to himself. And then I remind him how I'm bigger than he is and that I can totally take him.

However, something has changed that has completely screwed that up. After this last year, I don't stand a snowman's chance in hell of stealing any limelight from this kid any more.

And why is that you ask? Well, for those of you who don't know, please allow me to explain.

Only one year ago at our city's 4th of July celebration, Austin saw our mayor preparing to give a speech and decided to "go for it" and mention his idea for a dream he had - to build a skate plaza in St. Cloud. What happened after that is like some far-fetched kind of movie plot, so seemingly implausible that if someone had suggested to you what was going to happen to him the following year, you would have laughed in their face.

To illustrate this clearer, here's a summary of events that have taken place over the last 11 1/2 months.

July 4, 2006 - Austin meets the mayor and tells him his idea


August 2006 - Austin is appointed to the St. Cloud Park and Recreation Board


October 2006 - Following a media blitz by area newspapers and all 3 local network affiliates, ABC News picks up the story and features Austin as the Person of the Week.


March 2007 - After several months of planning, fundraising events and more media coverage, Austin and the Mayor are featured guests on this very cool national podcast by The Gen Y Project.

May 2007 - The preliminary designs of the skate plaza are complete and local architects have created this animated flyover.


June 2007 - As retiring Park and Rec board members end their 3-year terms, new vacancies are opened up for board Chair and Vice-Chair. After electing a new board Chair, Austin is nominated and unanimously elected as the new Vice-Chair of the St. Cloud Park and Recreation Board.

Next - All details of this project including full media clips, newspaper articles and designs can be found at stcloudskatepark.com for anyone who wants to learn more. As well, you can click the "Skatepark" tag at the bottom to read all the other stories I've written about this wacky adventure. As for the next steps, Austin and the fundraising committee are busy planning more events and knocking on doors, and things are going very well. In fact, the mayor has already indicated that he hopes to break ground on the new plaza next summer.

And that only partially sums up Austin's year as a 14 year-old. Not a bad year's work - IF YOU'RE 50! Hmm, let's see - what did I accomplish when I was 14. Oh yeah, nothing.

So happy birthday bud. Keeping track of everything you've got going on is making me dizzy, but I hope I'm letting you know enough how proud I am of you and how much I love you. Because I am VERY proud, and I love you VERY much.

And I hope you have a fantastic 15th birthday and that you have a blast next week at skateboard camp.

But as for our shared birthday/Father's Day? You go ahead and keep the limelight, you deserve it. And all I want for a gift is for you to think that I had something to do with how you turned out.

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My Girl

Today is a very special day.

Not just because it's Monday and time for another installment of Monday Night Live (see post below) - but because 11 years ago today, my wife and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Roseanna. Ok, technically she had more to do with the "birth" part of it but still - I was there and had to stay up late and and and... it was kind of hard for me too.

So in honor of my beautiful baby tween, here are a few pictures we've taken over the last year or two.

At First Communion. A very rare picture because it's one of only a handful of times anyone has ever seen Rosie in a dress.

On a hike. A much more representative shot of how you'll see my nature girl on a daily basis.

Cliff diving at the local swimming hole. Definitely not a wimp. Rosie likes to try everything.

Watcha gonna do. Dressed in blue for Halloween.

As a BFF. Actually, Rosie is everybody's friend - that's just the way she rolls.

Happy birthday baby girl!
I love you.

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My Dinner With Austin

Dad.

Ya.

Would you die if you were put in a microwave for 2 minutes?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure. A microwave cooks from the inside out so right away your blood would probably start to gel and then you'd die.

Really? Yuk.

Yeah, yuk.

* * *

Dad.

Ya.

What about for 30 seconds. Would that kill you?

I'm not sure, but I'm sure it wouldn't help you.

Hey, maybe the radiation would give you super powers. You know, like Spider-Man!

No, he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Microwaves are different. You'd only end up with microwave powers, and they'd probably be pretty lame.

Like what?

You know, like the ability to pop a bag of popcorn by holding it. Or heat up pizza rolls by waving your hands over them. You'd probably be pretty popular at college parties, but other than that you'd be pretty lame.

Heh. I think it'd be sweet. I could make Ramen noodles like anywhere I was. Like if I was skating somewhere I could just throw em in a bowl with water and they'd be like ready.

* * *

Dad.

Ya.

What would happen if you were in a microwave for only 5 seconds. Would that do anything?

Hmm. That's hard to say. Maybe not right away but you'd probably end up with some weird kind of cancer in a few years.

Oh. Well then I guess I won't try it.

Good idea.

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Happy Mother's Day - from the kids

Today I have a few guest writers - aka my kids.

Here, in their very own words, are their Mother's Day wishes to their mom...

From our daughter Roseanna:
Mom. I love you so much. I hope you love everything. All this stuff is given to you from my heart. The love is what came mostly from my heart.

Love you mom.
Roseanna



From our son Austin:
You are the *steeziest mom in the world. You are very cool and rad. You are always there for us kids and teach us great morals.

You rock mom.
Austin

*Steezy, with a "t"


From our son Brandon:
Thank you for always being there for me. When ever I have problems you always seem to end up making them better. I know that I can always count on you. Thank you so much.

Happy Mothers Day,
Brandon

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