jabberpad

Ready for the Rumble

2010-10-08T13:42:00.001-04:00

--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

little quiet at the lanes tonight

2010-09-30T23:32:00.001-04:00

--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

Flying Lemonade Squirter

2010-09-30T23:09:00.001-04:00

--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

Cool spice display

2010-09-22T23:40:00.001-04:00

Little bags with actual spices in them
--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

@scerruti Brilliant!

2009-08-14T16:56:00.001-04:00

@scerruti Brilliant!

No Vermont trip this

2009-08-14T11:47:00.001-04:00

No Vermont trip this year :-( but looks like we might get in a brief visit to Gwynn's Island in this weekend :-)

Mmmmm ... Kebabs on the grill on a beautiful evening

2009-05-21T19:18:00.001-04:00

Mmmmm ... Kebabs on the grill on a beautiful evening
Originally uploaded by stepol

25-milers get ready to hit the trail

2009-05-02T13:42:00.001-04:00

25-milers get ready to hit the trail
Originally uploaded by stepol

50-milers get ready to head out

2009-05-02T13:40:00.001-04:00

50-milers get ready to head out
Originally uploaded by stepol

Scouts head out on a bike trek during tonight's troop meeting

2009-04-28T20:46:00.001-04:00

Scouts head out on a bike trek during tonight's troop meeting
Originally uploaded by stepol

Afternoon walk around the lakes at Innsbrook

2009-04-28T17:29:00.001-04:00

Afternoon walk around the lakes at Innsbrook
Originally uploaded by stepol

My cubicle this morning

2009-04-20T08:54:00.001-04:00

My cubicle this morning
Originally uploaded by stepol

Trying to get four loads of laundry done in two hours

2009-04-03T14:07:00.001-04:00

Trying to get four loads of laundry done in two hours
Originally uploaded by stepol

So it's off to the laundramat i go!

All set to cook chicken piccata

2009-04-02T19:03:00.001-04:00

All set to cook chicken piccata
Originally uploaded by stepol

Cooking up some chipotle chicken wraps

2009-03-29T20:13:00.001-04:00

Cooking up some chipotle chicken wraps
Originally uploaded by stepol

737 clan at the OA weekend

2009-03-15T09:36:00.001-04:00

737 clan at the OA weekend
Originally uploaded by stepol

Through the dunes

2009-03-08T14:35:00.001-04:00

Through the dunes
Originally uploaded by stepol

Hiking out on the beach

2009-03-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

Hiking out on the beach
Originally uploaded by stepol

Backpacking on the beach

2009-03-07T18:39:00.001-05:00

Backpacking on the beach
Originally uploaded by stepol

Really nice barracks at Camp Pendleton

2009-03-06T21:02:00.001-05:00

Really nice barracks at Camp Pendleton
Originally uploaded by stepol

PLC meeting in action

2009-03-05T19:28:00.001-05:00

PLC meeting in action
Originally uploaded by stepol

Snowy view from the office window

2009-03-02T14:50:00.001-05:00

Snowy view from the office window
Originally uploaded by stepol

Too much tea

2009-02-20T15:44:00.001-05:00

Too much tea
Originally uploaded by stepol

Programming the bot

2009-02-07T12:59:00.001-05:00

Programming the bot
Originally uploaded by stepol

Lunch today

2009-02-05T12:46:00.001-05:00

Lunch today
Originally uploaded by stepol

Control board for 617's robot we worked on today

2009-01-24T15:56:00.001-05:00

Control board for 617's robot we worked on today
Originally uploaded by stepol

Stuck in traffic at potomac mills

2008-12-26T12:20:00.001-05:00

Stuck in traffic at potomac mills
Originally uploaded by stepol

Christmas pack meeting

2008-12-15T19:53:00.001-05:00

Christmas pack meeting
Originally uploaded by stepol

Tipi going up at Albright

2008-11-22T10:34:00.001-05:00

Tipi going up at Albright
Originally uploaded by stepol

Waiting in the fog on top of the mountain

2008-11-15T09:08:00.001-05:00

Waiting in the fog on top of the mountain
Originally uploaded by stepol

Veterans Day flag placement with the troop

2008-11-08T14:32:00.001-05:00

Veterans Day flag placement with the troop
Originally uploaded by stepol

Letting everyone at work know i voted

2008-11-04T11:31:00.001-05:00

Letting everyone at work know i voted
Originally uploaded by stepol

Scanned my "I Voted" button and printed it big to make a cubicle-sized sticker.

Dinner at Topeka's with the parents

2008-11-02T16:33:00.001-05:00

Dinner at Topeka's with the parents
Originally uploaded by stepol

Getting ready for the big star party

2008-11-01T17:17:00.001-04:00

Getting ready for the big star party
Originally uploaded by stepol

Cub leader specific training

2008-10-04T10:23:00.001-04:00

Cub leader specific training
Originally uploaded by stepol

Den chief training

2008-10-04T09:43:00.001-04:00

Den chief training
Originally uploaded by stepol

Out caching in Pocahontas with buffpup

2008-09-28T20:06:00.001-04:00

Out caching in Pocahontas with buffpup
Originally uploaded by stepol

Neil Gamain reading from The Graveyard Book

2008-09-27T12:03:00.001-04:00

Neil Gamain reading from The Graveyard Book
Originally uploaded by stepol

Yesterday's Twitter log

2008-09-21T10:08:00.001-04:00

12:11 @MikeBoycourt you're a popular guy! #
12:13 Reached the halfway point of the BALOO training. going really well. #
13:34 Flickr: Eagle bricks on the flag plaza tinyurl.com/4en8q6 #
13:34 Flickr: Beautiful day to be out at the Scout camp tinyurl.com/3qfwmf #
23:48 Watching SNL ... might not make it to Update. Keep hoping more political humor shows up as it's the only funny thing left on the show #

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Beautiful day to be out at the Scout camp

2008-09-20T13:25:00.001-04:00

Beautiful day to be out at the Scout camp
Originally uploaded by stepol

Eagle bricks on the flag plaza

2008-09-20T13:22:00.001-04:00

Eagle bricks on the flag plaza
Originally uploaded by stepol

Beautiful morning out at the Scout camp

2008-09-20T09:01:00.001-04:00

Beautiful morning out at the Scout camp
Originally uploaded by stepol

Halfway point

2008-09-10T12:05:00.001-04:00

Halfway point
Originally uploaded by stepol

But we're okay now!

2008-09-01T18:27:00.001-04:00

But we're okay now!
Originally uploaded by stepol

Friendly police officer who helped us

2008-09-01T18:22:00.001-04:00

Friendly police officer who helped us
Originally uploaded by stepol

Fire Frogz tiki burgers

2008-08-23T22:07:00.001-04:00

Fire Frogz tiki burgers
Originally uploaded by stepol

Flaming Ducks excellent tiki kabobs in melon

2008-08-23T22:05:00.001-04:00

Flaming Ducks excellent tiki kabobs in melon
Originally uploaded by stepol

One of several biplanes in the sky

2008-08-17T18:18:00.001-04:00

One of several biplanes in the sky
Originally uploaded by stepol

At Steamtown National Historic Park

2008-08-17T11:30:00.001-04:00

At Steamtown National Historic Park
Originally uploaded by stepol

Greetings from the top of Vermont

2008-08-13T20:27:00.001-04:00

Greetings from the top of Vermont
Originally uploaded by stepol

Made the ferry!

2008-08-11T02:17:00.001-04:00

Made the ferry!
Originally uploaded by stepol

Made it to Ausable Chasm

2008-08-10T18:58:00.001-04:00

Made it to Ausable Chasm
Originally uploaded by stepol

New copilot

2008-08-10T17:09:00.001-04:00

New copilot
Originally uploaded by stepol

National soccer hall of fame

2008-08-10T15:01:00.001-04:00

National soccer hall of fame
Originally uploaded by stepol

My copilot

2008-08-10T12:29:00.001-04:00

My copilot
Originally uploaded by stepol

Beats the heck out of 95

2008-08-10T06:50:00.001-04:00

Beats the heck out of 95
Originally uploaded by stepol

Yay tomatoes!

2008-08-08T09:36:00.001-04:00

Yay tomatoes!
Originally uploaded by stepol

Setting up the Geologist station at day camp

2008-08-07T00:24:00.001-04:00

Setting up the Geologist station at day camp
Originally uploaded by stepol

That'll slow me down

2008-07-15T12:26:00.001-04:00

That'll slow me down
Originally uploaded by stepol

Dropping Katie off at camp

2008-07-13T12:20:00.001-04:00

Dropping Katie off at camp
Originally uploaded by stepol

"a thing to do ..."

2008-07-04T01:19:00.002-04:00

"List your favorite record from every year you’ve been alive."

This idea came from one of the music blogs I subscribe to and looked like fun. Here's my list (no laughing):

1965 The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
1966 The Beatles - Revolver
1967 The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1968 The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
1969 Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
1970 The Beatles - Let It Be
1971 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
1972 David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1973 Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
1974 Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
1975 Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
1976 The Eagles - Hotel California
1977 Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
1978 Boston - Don't Look Back
1979 Supertramp - Breakfast in America
1980 AC/DC - Back in Black
1981 Styx - Paradise Theater
1982 Michael Jackson - Thriller
1983 Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
1984 Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
1985 Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
1986 Paul Simon - Graceland
1987 U2 - The Joshua Tree
1988 Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
1989 The B-52's - Cosmic Thing
1990 Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Two Worlds, One Heart
1991 Nirvana - Nevermind
1992 Barenaked Ladies - Gordon
1993 Counting Crows - August and Everything After
1994 Hootie & the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
1995 Collective Soul - Collective Soul
1996 Dave Matthews Band - Crash
1997 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It
1998 Barenaked Ladies - Stunt
1999 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2000 matchbox twenty - Mad Season
2001 Carbon Leaf - Echo Echo
2002 Sheryl Crow - C'mon C'mon
2003 Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
2004 Green Day - American Idiot
2005 Coldplay - X & Y
2006 Five for Fighting - Two Lights
2007 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2008 Radiohead - In Rainbows

Just north of Whitetop Mountain

2008-06-18T16:34:00.001-04:00

Just north of Whitetop Mountain
Originally uploaded by stepol

Another dinner shot of the Scouts

2008-06-15T18:29:00.001-04:00

Another dinner shot of the Scouts
Originally uploaded by stepol

Dinner at Dip Dog

2008-06-15T18:19:00.001-04:00

Dinner at Dip Dog
Originally uploaded by stepol

Another weekend, another Eagle Scout project

2008-06-14T10:11:00.001-04:00

Another weekend, another Eagle Scout project
Originally uploaded by stepol

Geohashing

2008-05-26T14:30:00.001-04:00

Geohashing
Originally uploaded by stepol

At the Virginia War Memorial with the troop

2008-05-26T09:50:00.001-04:00

At the Virginia War Memorial with the troop
Originally uploaded by stepol

Beautiful weather today

2008-05-24T19:41:00.001-04:00

Beautiful weather today
Originally uploaded by stepol

Out grilling in the backyard and couldn't resist a quick cameraphone shot

Combined band plays

2008-05-22T19:58:00.001-04:00

Combined band plays
Originally uploaded by stepol

Backpackers heading out

2008-05-17T10:50:00.001-04:00

Backpackers heading out
Originally uploaded by stepol

Beautiful weather for the campout

This is why I don't rush home from work

2008-05-15T17:50:00.001-04:00

This is why I don't rush home from work
Originally uploaded by stepol

The traffic in Innsbrook has gotten completely insane. I can't even imagine what it will be like when the West Broad Village monstrosity opens up

Roundtable meeting

2008-05-06T20:15:00.001-04:00

Roundtable meeting
Originally uploaded by stepol

On the weekly EAG conference call

2008-05-05T15:31:00.001-04:00

On the weekly EAG conference call
Originally uploaded by stepol

Clay, my boss, and Annie, our newest member, chatting with the other team members

Happy birthday Katie!

2008-05-04T19:29:00.001-04:00

Happy birthday Katie!
Originally uploaded by stepol

We drove down to Williamsburg to take the birthday girl out to dinner and take the first load of her stuff home

A new geeky hero is born

2008-05-03T16:25:00.001-04:00

A new geeky hero is born
Originally uploaded by stepol

Big crowd at the online PE Meeting

2008-05-02T17:59:00.001-04:00

Big crowd at the online PE Meeting
Originally uploaded by stepol

John's taking physical education online this summer so he can fit in all his engineering classes

31-cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins

2008-04-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

31-cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins
Originally uploaded by stepol

Because the free ice cream at Ben and Jerry yesterday wasn't enough

View from my office window

2008-04-30T17:32:00.001-04:00

View from my office window
Originally uploaded by stepol

It's far too nice a day to be stuck inside writing security whitepapers

Waiting for the conference call to finally be over

2008-04-30T13:03:00.001-04:00

Waiting for the conference call to finally be over
Originally uploaded by stepol

The biweekly IT Architecture Team meeting is always informative but seems to last forever.

Pack meeting tonight

2008-04-28T19:32:00.001-04:00

Pack meeting tonight
Originally uploaded by stepol

John and Stephen with their dens

Saturday morning with plants

2008-04-26T13:45:00.004-04:00

The boys are off biking with the troop on the C&O Canal in Maryland so Polly went to a class at Strange's about native plants while I worked in the yard. Saw that this Iris is about to bloom so I snapped a shot.

We also spread the last 12 bags of mulch and took down the old swing set to make way for a new vegetable garden.

Saturday morning with plants
Originally uploaded by stepol

Testing the Flickr blogging service

2008-04-24T17:07:00.001-04:00

Testing the Flickr blogging service
Originally uploaded by stepol

This is an old photo but I wanted to see how well the Flickr blogging service compares to mobypicture which i'm not thrilled with

Painting swords

2008-03-27T18:54:00.001-04:00

This is an MMS message.Boys paint sword props for Johns Shakespeare play at school

- Posted using MobyPicture.com

Testing mobypicture service

2008-03-26T10:21:00.001-04:00

This is an MMS message. My messy desk at work

- Posted using MobyPicture.com

YoungerSon shows off his mad math skillz

2008-03-18T17:36:00.002-04:00

At the end of February, Tuckahoe Middle School participated in the annual Virginia Math League competition. Students are given a 40-question multiple-choice test and 30 minutes to complete it. YoungerSon scored the highest for the entire seventh grade at TMS ...

... out of 428 students!

Math League's 7th grade contests challenge students and schools in interschool league competitions. Students in each league compete for the highest scores, while schools compete for the highest team score: the total of the top 5 scores in each school. Each contest's questions cover material appropriate to each grade level. Questions may cover: basic topics, plus exponents, fractions, reciprocals, decimals, rates, ratios, percents, angle measurement, perimeter, area, circumference, basic roots, patterns, sequences, integers, triangles and right triangles, and other topics, depending on the grade level. These contests encourage a variety of problem-solving skills and methods, to improve students' abilities and understanding of mathematical connections, while having fun!

Tuckahoe Middle School came in 29th place in the state (out of 64) with a combined score of 129.

Merit Badge Weekend

2008-03-13T17:26:00.003-04:00

Flickr Album: Merit Badge Weekend 2008

Well ... that wasn't too bad.

Last year Scott Davis and I foolishly agreed to be Camp Director and Program Director for our local Boy Scout district's Merit Badge Weekend. Little did we know what we were stepping into. The camp was held from Friday, February 29th to Sunday, March 2nd and attracted over 750 people! We had over 550 Scouts signed up in over 30 merit badge classes and thanks to efforts of our incredible staff of over 75 dedicated Scouters, we managed to pull off what many called the best MBW they ever attended.

And I might ... just might ... be willing to do it again (I can already hear polMom sighing).

And of course our boys participated. Here's a picture of OlderSon helping instruct during the Scouting Fundamentals course that's sponsored by our Order of the Arrow chapter. Every year during MBW the Pamunkey chapter of the Nawakwa lodge holds an all-day course for new Scouts that have recently crossed over from Webelos into a Boy Scout troop. They focus on teaching some of the Scout skills that are requirements for the early Boy Scout ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. It's always a popular class and this year was no exception with over 60 new Scouts attending.

YoungerSon participated in the Cooking merit badge class taught by Richard Brett who is a great instructor and a longtime Scouting friend. Richard was my mentor during our Cub Scout years and is the one who presented me with my Wood Badge beads. He also runs one of the most popular merit badge classes at camp. Scouts in his class had to come in early to cook breakfast and stay late to cook dinner. In between, they learned about safety, cleanliness, how to plan meals, how to budget, and also became proficient with different cooking techniques. They even took a field trip to a local supermarket to test their planning and budget skills.

During the evening campfire, YougerSon also got "called out" for the Order of the Arrow. We had elections at our troop meeting on February 26th and all Scouts that received votes on over 50% of the ballots that were turned in were elected. To become a full member, he will be participating in an "ordeal" during the OA Spring Service Weekend that takes place March 14th-16th.

Egg Drop and Engineering

2008-03-13T17:01:00.002-04:00

Flickr Album: Egg Drop Contest & Engineering Day

On Sunday, February 24th, the Science Museum of Virginia hosted an Engineering Career Day that was sponsored by the Richmond Joint Engineers Council. There were several engineering groups there, like the IEEE, that had stations set up in the lobby area and provided hands-on experiments as well as career information. Both boys visited groups representing chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering.

The big draw, however, was for the 15th Annual Great Egg Drop Contest. The goal is to create an egg container that is light, but strong enough to prevent a medium-side egg from cracking. There were two divisions for middle school and high school students and each division awarded prizes in three categories: 1) the lightest cushion-type container that hits or comes closest to the target; 2) the lightest parachute-type device that hits or comes closest to the target; and 3) the most creative design.

YoungerSon was going for lightest so he created a padded container from the top of soda bottle attached to a parachute. OlderSon went straight for creative as he built his own version of DaVinci's "Aerial Screw" from wooden dowels and Mylar.

During the competition, both boys dropped their contraptions from 25 feet and attempted to hit the target on the floor below. YoungerSon's parachute got caught by a breeze and drifted away from the target but his egg was intact. OlderSon hit the target and also had his egg survive.

Both boys received 3rd place (and $15) for "Most Creative" in their divisions. Both boys were also interviewed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and OlderSon was mentioned at the end of the article:

John Hutchinson, a ninth-grader at the Center for Engineering at Highland Springs High School in Henrico County, won third place for creativity for a design inspired by scientist, artist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci.

John assembled his parachute-style "flying screw" using Mylar polyester and dowel rods on Saturday night.
"I saw it online, and I thought it would be cool to make one like that," he said.

Very cool!

Catching up ...

2008-03-13T17:00:00.002-04:00

I have about seven blog postings I've got to get up from events that have taken place over the past couple of weeks. Look for them to come out over the next couple of days (hopefully).

Windwalkers in action!

2008-02-25T00:40:00.003-05:00

Flickr photo set: Windwalkers performance at Deep Run

The above picture was taken Saturday night during the 3rd Annual Deep Run High School Winter Guard Competition. The performance shown is that of the Windwalkers, the Indoor ColorGuard at William and Mary that CollegeGirl is a member of. It's hard to see but that's her all the way to the right. You can see lots more pictures in the Flickr album by clicking on the link.

polMom and the boys drove down to Williamsburg to pick her up and drive her back to Richmond so she would have time to interview to again be on the Cub Scout sumer camp staff. I think she's hoping to be director of the Nature Center this year. After the interview they treated her to a Taco Bell lunch (her favorite) before dropping her off at Deep Run HS.

Not too long after that polMom got a call that CollegeGirl didn't bring her flag and her team had also left Billsburg without it. With the memory of the primary day fiasco still fresh in her memory, polMom graciously volunteered to once again make the 100+ mile roundtrip to Williamsburg to retrieve it. When we totaled up polMom's total mileage for the day we figured she could have driven down to Sunset Beach instead.

Their performance wasn't scheduled until 8:19pm so we arrived a little bit before 8pm and CollegeGirl greeted us with complimentary passes. We also got to meet her instructor/mentor/coach Samantha who recruited me to record a video if their performance. This enabled me to view their performance from the ultra-exclusive video platform ... also known as the top corner of the stands. At least it was easy to see.

polMom had been to guard competitions before when CollegeGirl was still HighSchoolGirl but this was my first time at one and I was really impressed. The Windwalkers' routine was inspired by Hairspray and was upbeat and fun. The girls looked like they were really enjoying themselves. The video was posted to YouTube that same night so you can view it below (CollegeGirl starts third from the left if you want to try and follow her):

Afterwards we got a chance to chat with her a bit while they were packing up. It was great to see her and we're looking forward to seeing her a bit more over Spring Break in a couple of weeks.

Preparing for the gathering storm

2008-02-25T00:14:00.002-05:00

If you check my Facebook profile right now you'll see that my status says that I "need to stop volunteering for things." It's actually been my status since last Thursday and refers mainly to the upcoming Cardinal District Merit Badge Weekend (MBW) that I (foolishly) volunteered to be Program Director for.

The three distinguished gentlemen in the picture are (from left to right) our district's Program Director, the Camp Director for MBW (my cohort), and the MBW business manager. We all got together on Saturday to walk around the council's Scout reservation and check all the facilities and hammer out the what we hope are the last of the details so we'll ready for the 700 people who will be coming to the event this coming weekend.

Yes ... 700 people. About 550 Scouts, 100 adult leaders and 50 staff members. For heavens sake, the Persian army only had to deal with a lousy 300. Even Spartans would be worried about 550 Boy Scouts.

When I ran the Cub Scout Day Camp I'd get this panicky feeling that would start about two weeks before the event and would culminate in a massive bout of worry and absolutely no sleep on the night before the event. For this event, I've tried to be pretty mellow but just tonight at our last staff meeting I started to feel that familiar twinge in the lower part of my back that will slowly creep up and spread during the week as my mind starts to realize that the event will really happen. All these kids are really going to show up. And I'm responsible for the program.

Why did I sign up for this? What on earth was I thinking?

Actually, I'm sure everything will be fine and if it isn't I can always hold on to the same thought that got me through day camp: At some point, the event will be over and I'll live to see another day.

CollegeGirl returns to the immersion life

2008-02-21T00:49:00.002-05:00

CollegeGirl is terribly excited because she found out this week that she was accepted to live in William and Mary's French House for next year! The French House (which really isn't a house but the third floor of Giles Hall) provides both a language and a cultural immersion environment for French students. The house also sponsors activities such as conversation hours, cooking classes, movie nights, and cultural celebrations.

Apparently the competition for the spots is pretty serious. CollegeGirl had said she wasn't at all sure of her chances so it was a big announcement that she made it in. We look forward to hearing more about it in the coming months.

provides a

language and cultural immersion environment

It's OlderSon's FIRST arm!

2008-02-21T00:10:00.004-05:00

Flickr album: Highland Springs FIRST Robotics

Guess I should explain the post's title. Both OlderSon and YoungerSon are members of FIRST robotics teams that are participating in this year's competition. OlderSon is a member of Highland Springs HS team 617, also known as LOCOmotion whose robot is shown at the left. YoungerSon is a member of JR Tucker HS team 384, also known as Sparky whose robot is shown to the right. The schools, of course, are on opposite sides of the county but both relatively close to Interstate 64 so driving back and forth between them several times a day isn't too bad.

Here's OlderSon in the HSHS's Center for Engineering workshop with his design for the robot's "Scorpion" arm used to knock the giant ball off it's perch 6.5 feet in the air. Normally freshmen on the team are seen rather than heard but OlderSon got his design selected by the team to include on the production robot. He was really excited and it was great to see him so enthusiastic about the event.

Both boys spent Saturday and all day on Monday (which was a school holiday) with their teams putting the final touches on their robots to get them ready before they had to be boxed up and shipped out on Tuesday. They'll both be competing in the Richmond Regionals at VCU on March 6th, 7th, and 8th.

Shed cleaning

2008-02-20T23:30:00.003-05:00

Flickr album: Troop Shed Cleanup

A couple of times a year the boys' Scout troop hauls everything out of our shed, inventories the equipment, throws away the stuff we don't need anymore, organizes everything that's left, and neatly places it back in the shed. Our troop's two quartermasters organized such an effort this past Saturday and OlderSon and I went to help.

One of the quartermaster's dads is an assistant Scoutmaster and brought his laptop with him so we now have a great computerized record of everything we have as well as an accurate list of equipment we still need.

I was amazed at the amount of work that got accomplished by the six Scouts and four adults in attendance. As one of the dads said, "we could hold a square dance in there now." We also found quite a bit of equipment that we thought was lost for all time so, all in all, it was a good way to spend four hours on a Saturday morning.

Yes ... I'm a lazy blogger

2008-02-20T22:33:00.002-05:00

Did I really say back in December that I was going to blog everyday? Haven't done a very good job of that. Let see if we can pick up the pace a bit with a couple of new articles.

Scenes From a Scout Restaurant

2008-02-10T00:11:00.001-05:00

A short video about our troop's annual Scout Mass Dinner that we held on Saturday night.

View From My Window

2008-01-17T10:20:00.001-05:00

We woke up this morning to a snow flurry that didn't amount to much but did do a nice job of covering the grass and plants with a thin dusting of white. It's probably the closest we'll get to a real snowstorm all year so we're enjoying it.

We uploaded a few pictures to our Flickr account which you can see by [clicking here].

Snowball fight!

2007-12-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Christmastime is here!

2007-12-26T00:14:00.000-05:00

"And then the true meaning of Christmas came through and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!"

I don't want to leave the impression that Christmas Eve was all bad because it was filled with lots of good stuff too. For instance, polMom and I ran into friends at Krogers and had a very nice chat in the canned vegetables aisle. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the best grocery store conversations take place in the produce section ... right? However, on this day Fate put us together in canned vegetables and it worked out very nicely. We got to catch up and as a bonus got a great recipe from them for a seasoned oyster cracker snack.

We also came home to the decorated tree and were able to have lovely dinner at home with the family. We had pork chops marinated in lemon and garlic, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and sugar snap peas. We even had sparkling apple cider for the kids. It was actually very nice to not be rushing around in the evening (the early evening anyway).

We opted to go to Saint Michael's Christmas mass at 9:30pm instead of the true midnight mass at the Cathedral that we did last year. The mass at the Cathedral is beautiful and wonderful and full of the spirit of the season but you don't get home until 2am which was just wasn't in the cards this year. Maybe next year we'll be better organized and ... no ... never mind. Anyway, the mass at Saint Michael's was great although highly attended which meant the five of us were sharing four seats for most of the mass. I personally had the opportunity to develop an intimate relationship with the concrete post next to me. In the end we decided a long-term thing wouldn't work and we've agreed to just be friends.

The music program at Saint Michael's is wonderful and, unlike DysfunctionalChurch's new design, the nave was built for great acoustics. The singing accompanied by violins, trumpets, french horns, clarinets, and even a bass guitar put us all in the proper mood. We also saw lots of friends there so it was in a better Christmas spirit that we traveled home.

The kids hung the stockings by the chimney with care and hustled on up to bed. polMom and I then pulled the traditional Christmas all-nighter in which we help prepare the way for Good Old St. Nick. This year were helped along in our quest by watching "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" and "Speed." It was more background noise as neither one of us could probably tell you what happened in either of these DVDs. We finally went to bed about 5-ish which netted us about three hours of sleep each. But it was worth it.

[Click here] to see our Christmas Eve Flickr album.

Dah who dor-aze!

2007-12-25T23:00:00.000-05:00

"He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

Maybe ... but that didn't stop us from running all over town on Christmas Eve spending lots of money because, as lovely as the sentiment is, in the end somebody's got to go out and buy the roast beast. And, of course, the who-hash.

As you can see from the picture, the tree finally got decorated. ChaplainScout called us on Christmas Eve morning to let us know that his wife was ill so the big Christmas Eve bash that we attend at their house every year would be canceled. We felt very bad for the family, wished his wife a speedy recovery, and then selfishly realized that we now had to come up with a dinner for Christmas Eve. So we tasked the children with decorating the tree as polMom and I took our lives into our hands and headed out to ... (cue ominous music) ... Ukrops. On purpose. On Christmas Eve.

When we arrived we were greeted by the entire population of Richmond. Okay ... maybe I exaggerate. It was only everyone who lives west of I95, south of I64, east of 288, and north of the River. I have never seen it so crowded and though we were gripped by fear we had to persevere because this is where the ~~roast beast~~ Edwards Country Ham was and you can't make proper ham biscuits without it. Ukrops also had the last six packages of Pepperidge Farms Party Rolls in a 60-mile radius which are also a required component of ham biscuits. Six years ago we were forced to use Sunbeam Dinner Rolls and there are still family members that hold it against us to this day. Finally, Ukrops is the only store in the area that carries Crystal Hot Sauce that was needed by the WestPointCrowd. So into the store we went.

We sneaked in through the Back Door (which is a real thing at the Village Ukrops) and the first thing we noticed was that the lines at the checkouts were about 15-deep. We immediately vowed to get only the things unique to Ukrops and leave normal items for a normal (and hopefully less crowded) store. Our primary objective, the deli counter, was all the way on the other side of the store so we needed to be swift and agile. We eschewed the normal carts and grabbed the last thin "sports cart" ... the James Bond Aston Martin of shopping carts. This allowed us to bob and weave through the sea of humanity clogging the aisles. We were moving pretty well until we hit a 20-cart pileup at the butcher area from all the uber-organized people trying to get the party trays they pre-ordered on Labor Day. I saw a small hint of daylight between two carts and forced my way through. Now I had a clear shot at the deli counter as I raced a 72-year-old grandmother for the next "now serving" number. I executed a perfect turn around the European cheese stand and easily grabbed the next ticket, 93, and looked up to see what number was currently being served.

Number 78.

After waiting for a period of time that can only be described in geologic terms, they finally got around to take my order. My order? Oh no! I've been here so long I've forgotten. Oh right, ham biscuits. Six sets. A quarter pound per set. Pound and a half of Edwards Country Ham. Sliced thin. No ... thinner. No ... thinner than that. [sigh] Yes, that'll do (but should be thinner as it needs to melt into the biscuit). Slice, slice, slice. Anything else? No, that'll do. Thank you.

I regroup with Polly who's holding a defensive position at the cheese stand. No ... wait ... she's shopping! Apparently the kids need cheese (I don't question anymore I just react). We've also decided to obtain those items on our list that are in lightly defended areas that we might spot as we fight our way back to the other side. We manage to get oranges, apples, eggs (organic AND free range), cream cheese, Crystal Hot Sauce (4 bottles ... can never have enough hot sauce), bread, and toilet paper. We made a feint towards Ukrop's White House rolls to throw off our pursuers and came away with the Pepperidge Farm rolls fairly unscathed. A quick (relatively) march through the checkout and we were able to breathe fresh air again.

And live to fight another day.

It's Christmas Eve?!? Oh holy ... night

2007-12-24T01:21:00.000-05:00

The clock on the computer tells me it's 1:23am which means it's officially Christmas Eve and, as usual, we're nowhere near ready. I took this picture of the tree on Friday afternoon ... and it still looks the same. We've had three abortive decorating sessions so maybe we can find time before Santa arrives to throw a couple of decorations on it. Or we could just go for the minimalist natural look ... harking back to the Martin Luther-inspired origins of the tree as described by Garrison Keillor:

Martin Luther was walking through the cold, dark woods at night when he looked up and saw the stars shining through the branches of a tree and thought "The stars in heaven are boundless but are contained here within the branches of this humble tree. I'll cut this tree down and take it home and set lights upon to celebrate the birth of Christ, the Light of Lights, here on Earth."

But that was a story told to us by women and men know differently. Martin Luther was walking through the woods, it was night, it was cold, and it was dark. And he walked ... WHAM! ... straight into a tree. He hit it hard and as he lay there on the ground a bit stunned he said "if someone would put lights on that tree this wouldn't have happened."

So we're not procrastinating, we're rejecting the crass commercialism of the season and harkening back to a simpler time to preserve the true meaning of Christmas ... and procrastinating.