Tabloid Takes a Break...

Sitting in the Denver airport waiting for a connection to San Fran.  From there, over the Big Pond to Shanghai.  Because of the Chinese Govt. censorship, I'll be unable to post to the blog during my trip (bummer); no tweets or FB updates.

I will have access to MSN Hotmail, and have a temporary account:  Alex.aleami@hotmail.com.  This should work.

In my absence, Professor Sidetrack will teach two evenings of my class.  Kids will all in for the flurry of Spring of sports.  Smelliot leads the pack with her tennis exploits.  She and her doubles partner, Claire are hopeful to dominate the JV circuit, and maybe even "play up" a time or two!   Batty, was just shy of making her JV goal so may be relegated to play with JV 2 for a while before she gets called up to the JV 1 squad.  Chalupa, managed to make the varsity soccer squad.  It's good the number of drivers has increased in the house, because there is a lot of running around.

Ick will begin his soccer exploits ... three-a-week practices AND two Baseball practices.  Meanwhile, Mamacita commits to swimming one day a week, and I'll continue my minimalist training for 100 miles in the fall.  I plan to run a mile or two on the Great Wall when I get there.  Hope they'll not censor that!

Still no news on Missing Monty.  Hope is dwindling.  We have one lead still being teased out.  It's a long shot.  We'll see.  That's about it for now.  Posts will resume in by April 7 or 8th as time permits.

And so it goes....

Long Road Ahead...

I am sad to report that the pictures below were taken only a few days before our Monty was dog-napped from the shop.  I will spare you the details, but you should know that more than 1000 people have taken up the charge to find our puppy and return him.   He's been gone 10 days and we have one lead left.  The out pouring and support for Monty's return by our friends, neighbors, customers (and their owners) and complete strangers has been overwhelming.  Really, truly overwhelming.

We will be strong, but also realize he's probably gone to a new couple (not a family like he had here and his extended family at the shop).  We pray that he is being taken care of.

Speaking of long roads ahead.  All three girls are in the midst of try outs.  Smelliot is taking a shot at Tennis.  There's a new sheriff (coach) in town and I hear she is not quiet as much fun as last year.  Batty and Maggot are taking a shot at Soccer.  Addy is hoping to earn a spot on JV 1, and Maggot is working hard to earn a spot on the bench with Varsity.  Time will tell.

Ick is still playing soccer and is about to start Baseball practice, so crazy is, as crazy does.

Padre (me) is departing for Des Moines of a few days, then China until early April.  The Exec MBA Class in Des Moines needs someone around to bail them out of jail.  .  Additionally, training continues to drive towards Superior Trail 100 in September.  Slow and steady survives the race.  We'll see.  

Mamacita is less on the road and more in the shop.  She's managing growth and figuring out ways to expand our business to new retail and manufacturing locations.  We'll see.

Watching the political circus with great interest and amusement. If things don't settle down for the GOP, the convention could be pa-per-view entertaining.  We'll see.  And so it goes.   

Peace, Love and Happiness

So here is how our pets roll.  They especially love the warm sun in the morning.  Usually, the pooches get a 6:00 a.m. walk then a quick breakfast.  After that, a pay per view wrestling match takes place between Monty (puppy) and Chester (kitten).  They go full steam for about twenty minutes tearing around the house until... they collapse.  Here, on this bright morning, is where they all collapsed like one happy family of furry little beasts.


Wish I could join them. (below)
Midterms are over on Campus and after this week they will be on Spring Break. Sounds good, huh? It's the largest class I've taught, but none of the students seem to mind. So while they are someplace warm, using beer to facilitate the tanning process, I'll be hunkered down grading the short answer portion of their midterms and posting these for their return.  They are armed and dangerous, and from this point on, they begin working on their e-commerce strategic plans. 
As for Spring Break, we may take a three day road-trip to Kansas City.  While there we'll visit Southport Landing (I think that's what that's called ?).  We'll shop and visit the museum of art.  We'll also take a day trip to Lawrence so the rest of the family can see the KU Campus where Ellie is currently scheduled to begin.

We are waiting for Financial Aid decisions and for Ellie to get housing in a scholarship house (Schol House).  Once these two things are in place... all systems are go for an August start.

So for Spring Break, if we drove L'Fonda the Honda and took the hounds... we'd have some space issues as you can see from the photo. Good thing el gato is averse to automobiles.  It's all good... and so it goes...