Who's a lazy bitch?

I'm a lazy bitch! Yeah me! I would like to apologize to all of my friends that have written to me and politely told me to get my ass in gear and update my blog. The really sad part is that I have had an amazing summer filled with great memories and I haven't passed any of this on to you. I will attempt to update you on the last couple of months and try to appraise you of what the future may hold.

Where to begin? It looks like my last entry was near the end of June, so let's start with the first weekend in July. I managed to finagle six days in a row off for the 4th of July weekend, so the lovely wife and I packed the truck and headed off to Glacier National Park for some camping. We hiked, I fished, and we had an amazing time. A friend of ours was working at the Many Glacier Hotel in the park and we got to spend some time with him. We took some awe inspiring pictures and even got to see a momma moose with her two calves. Pretty scary but beautiful nonetheless. I also have been made captain of the Iceberg Lake swim team due to the fact that I swam twice in the lake, mainly due to the fact my wife forgot to take pictures the first time around. And yes, Iceberg Lake is as cold as it sounds, complete with actual icebergs floating in the lake. It is the picture at the top of the page. If you have not made it to Glacier yet, make sure that you put that near the top of your list of places to visit. I will be very disappointed if heaven doesn't look like some of the areas of the park.

The next couple of weeks of July were fairly boring, but they were all just the calm before the storm. At the end of July, some wonderful friends of ours were married here in MT at Headwaters State Park and it was a perfect day. The weather was amazing and the views were breathtaking as the ceremony was on a bluff overlooking the entire valley. They are such an amazing couple and I wish them the very best in all that they do. The day after the wedding Sy and I helped with the clean up a little and then packed our bags to head back to the Midwest.

We left MT around 6:30 am and it was 53 degrees out. We drove all the way to Mankato, MN to visit some friends that had graduated from MSU a couple of years ago. We got there around 11:00 pm and it was still 92 degrees and miserably humid. It really brought home why I don't live in the Midwest anymore. It was great to see our friends and we are going to try to stay in better contact with each other, but as you all know, I'm not the best at this. We left Mankato on Thursday enroute to Cedar Rapids, IA for my sister's wedding.

We got to Cedar Rapids and stayed with my wife's parents during our stay there. It was good to see them and they introduced us to a boardgame called the Settlers of Cataan. It is a really amazing game and I recommend that you pick it up and give it a try. Her father also showed us a new radio controlled airplane that he had purchased and we had an amazing time playing with it. So much so, that Sy and I both ended up buying planes for ourselves. They're called Air Hogs Aero Aces and anyone who's ever flown one says they are the most fun you could ever have with an airplane as they are pretty much indestructible and can be flown right out of the box.

KT's wedding was a wonderful event with a beautiful venue. The wedding was held in the Alumni Building on the Coe College campus and the reception was held in the dining hall. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and aside from being an usher, I also read the Bible passage and you'll all be amazed to hear that I didn't cry. The reception was fun and the band that played was wonderful. I was so happy for my sister and she married a good man who is a welcome addition to our family.

Sy and I next came down to the QC to spend some time with my side of the family and to see some friends. We saw most of my family and it was nice to just relax a little and catch our breaths. On Friday, Sy's parents came down to pick her up and I had the weekend to myself. I ended up going to my high school reunion after all and surprised myself by having a great time. It was great to see the people I graduated with and to see where they've ended up in life so far. I was pleasantly surprised that there didn't seem to be a lot of one-up-manship going on and that everyone seemed to be genuinely happy for where we all are. I received a lot of questions about the Land of Big Sky and put out many invitations to come and visit, but we'll see if any are cashed in. On Sunday, I went to my nephew's birthday party and had a great time with my family, but wished that my wife was there. My brother had rented out a whole water park for the evening and it was a great time playing with his kids in the pool and riding the waterslides. I wish that I was closer to home, if only to be there as an uncle for my nieces and nephew. Oh well, I'm living my life and doing the best that I can.

The drive home was uneventful and we've kind of fallen back into our old schedules of work and school. Now is the busiest time of the year for me as the students have come back, but it means that I can pick up a little overtime to pay for our trip home. I've been fly fishing a bit and just started hunting for upland game birds. Duck and big game season starts in another month, so I need to start scouting for that as well on my days off. I hope that all is well with all of you and I'll try to keep you up to date a little better on what's going on in my world.