Weeee're BAAAAAAAACK...

We posted the Out Of Office Reply from the Waimea Plantation Cottages, where we just happened to get a spectacular rate from walking in off the street. Well, we actually stopped there to have breakfast, day one. Loved the view so much we decided to leave our prior rental (which was totally functional but completely not romantic) and go stay among the tropical gardens and a turbulent but gorgeous seashore.

But wait... let's back up a bit.
[backward tape scrubbing noise]

The wedding was amazing. We both had a great time. Kyle Stevens composed and performed an original song for us (AND did our reception music). We were married by my friend Hans, who proclaimed, "by the power vested in me by the State of Washington AND THE INTERNET, I now pronounce you husband and wife..." And when he told us to kiss, this is what happened.

The highlights of the reception were:

1. Conga Line First Dance: Raechelle and I didn't want to do the sway-back-and-forth-on-the-dancefloor thing, so we had our MC (Raff) get everyone out on the floor to bounce to Bob Schneider's "Bambonanza". Conga line ensued, with me carrying Raechelle's train.
   
   
   
2. Steve Hartley Caricatures: Steve's wedding gift was his talent. He set up shop and drew everyone who came to sit for him.
   
   
   
3. Roses for Grandmother: We didn't do a bouquet or garter toss. Instead, Raechelle gave my grandmother her bouquet of red roses, since Omi hadn't had roses at her own wedding in 1941. It was an amazing gift.
   
   
   
4. Bride's Dad Gets a Burger: Raechelle's folks are meat-n-potato people, and the cuisine offered by the caterer was very much swanky Seattle wedding food. When my FIL joked that he just wanted a burger, my producer Dan made it happen. Out of nowhere, a Jack in the Box bag appeared, containing a cheeseburger and fries. He was a happy man.
   
   
   
5. Bride's Parents Getting Down: Apparently this is unusual behavior for them (although I'm told they were quite the hoofers back in the day). We all thought it was awesome.
   
   
6. The Speeches: Several friends and family members got up to toast our marriage. Kayleigh shut it down with a really heartwarming story about how she knew when I started dating, there was light at the end of the tunnel, and that she was happy Raechelle was the light. Not a dry eye in the house. And nobody could follow that.
   

After a swanky limo ride to the swanky hotel for a swanky wedding night, we headed back to the house for a brunch thrown by our very good friends Dan & Trish for all the out-of-town guests. Safe to say we were like a bunch of frat boys cramming themselves into a phone booth. New house = not real big. Still, much fun was had by all.

With family and friends seen safely to the airport by the end of Monday, we prepared to head to Kauai for eight days of unplugging and unstressing and undressing (Hawaii, folks - gotta dress light - get your head outta the gutter). Alaska is my favorite airline anyway, but a first class nonstop flight to Lihue, Kauai, was much better than I could have ever expected. The food was not only palatable but actually good. The extra leg room spoils me.

We got into Lihue after dark and got our car. We upgraded to a Jeep Wrangler, which turned out to be a pretty good idea on the Garden Island during the start of the rainy season. After a long, windy and wet drive to Kekaha, we found the rental house we'd booked. Although adequate (and the owners were nice), it just wasn't romantic, being a downstairs apartment in the owners' home, with a view of... the stairway. So the next morning we set out to find breakfast and potentially some different lodging. We ended up at the brew pub at the Waimea Plantation Cottages and fell in love with the place. When we inquired about availability, they checked and found a vacancy. SCORE!

We killed time until check-in by driving up to the top of Waimea Canyon, which is like a mini Grand Canyon with waterfalls. Beautiful and majestic, and one heck of a fun drive.

After we checked in, we went to find a beach - any beach - offering white sand and clear water. Since much of the south shore is made up of black volcanic rock, white sand is not as common. We did find a nice secluded cove with warm sand and gently rolling surf. We lay out awhile to get started on losing our Seattle anti-tan.

The next few days are a Hawaiian blur (which really sounds like it should be a fruity cocktail). We had a gecko sharing our cottage, which was totally cool with us, since the little guys tend to keep the bugs down, and not once did he try to sell me car insurance with a Cockney accent. Aside from that, we saw lots of cocks (ever since Hurricane Iniki swept through in 1992, Kauai has been teeming with wild chickens; the roosters are very pretty and very loud, and they're everywhere), and lots of pussies (Kauai seems to have almost as many feral cats as it does chickens). Those jokes never seemed to get old, and were later supplemented by references to nuts (macadamias seem to be in everything) and boobies (a few species of which nest along the cliffs of the north shore).

Chickens!

Hawaiian Honeymoon
(50/50 orange-pineapple juice & coconut rum)

The dinner theater production of South Pacific at the Hilton in Kapa'a was... disappointing ('nuff said). We got out and explored as far as Poipu, ate at some wonderful restaurants, and were treated to phenomenal lightning displays three nights in a row. After a blissful 5 days at Waimea, and a choppy sunset dinner cruise up the Na Pali Coast, we moved our base of operations to a privately owned room at the Hilton.
The Hilton is right on the beach and has several beautiful pools and manicured grounds (including a tiki bar). Wish it hadn't been raining so insistently.

Again we headed out, exploring the north shore and down into Hanalei. We discovered the north shore is really where the money is, and upon reflection it was nice to start out in the more rustic south end and have more of an exotic "escape" for our honeymoon.

We also took a riverboat cruise up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto. We noted a Japanese tourist wearing a dry cleaning garment bag. The tour company has been family run for over sixty years, and there was fantastic entertainment along the way.

We went back to the north shore once again, checked out the Kilauea Lighthouse, got shave ice back in Hanalei, and had our last dinner at Scotty's in Kapa'a. Fantastic barbecue - highly recommended. Then we headed back to Lihue to turn in the Jeep and headed to the airport for our red-eye flight home. Whew!

I have to say, Mrs. Downing and I travel extremely well together. And I think it bodes well for our life to come.

So that's my long-ass post about the wedding and honeymoon. Sorry for the delay - hope you enjoy the pictures and narrative. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Take Me Home

Be warned - this is a long-ass post. And I'm leaving most of the pics for Raechelle to include in her welcome back post.

Well, I'm back.

Oh, I could joke about Deliverance not being a work of fiction, but that would do grave injustice to the folks I met in West Virginia. By and large, they are a friendly and helpful group of folks, and the pace of life is what one would expect from a trip to the country.

To say it was culture shock would be an understatement, and yet I think I “passed for redneck” pretty well, with my WVU cap and size 13 muddin' boots. I also started twangin' almost as soon as we were across the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border. It's just so easy.

What made it easiest, of course, was having grown up around the farm people in my family. Country is country, to a certain degree. I drove an ATV around my cousin's rice farm in Artois, California. I rode horses around the Almaden Valley. I lived in trailers in Felton and Watsonville, and on the side of a hill with a dirt road for access in Aptos. I've seen a muddy hill pour through my sister's bedroom window and shoveled the same muck out of my carport in Seattle. All of that experience turns out to have been good training for the West Virginia experience. Who knew?

And in a case of life imitating art, every time a waitress would ask, "y'all want some sweet tea?" I would think of Gary Valentine's "Atlanta Sweet Tea" stand-up bit...

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Gary Valentine - Atlanta Sweet Tea

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I know that's a lot of preamble to get to the juicy part: the in-laws-to-be. They are wonderful, warm, caring and earthy people, and we took to each other right away. Unfortunately the moving truck was delayed in Tennessee due to foul weather, so I didn't get to help with the big move-in, but I did make myself useful by hanging medicine cabinets and towel rods and the like. I even bought a small laser level for Rae's dad as a housewarming gift, and had to go all over God's Green Earth to find adhesive putty to stick it to the wall with (which we finally found in an office supply shop in Phillippi).

We laughed, we drank, we swore like sailors – often all at once. We played full-contact Uno. We slept on air mattresses on the floor. I tried to help the Dish Network guy (read: idiot) get his truck out of the mud.

Hint: Dude. Seriously. Repeating "all's it'll take is but a little tug" eleventy thousand times really doesn't do much - trust me, I've tried.

Alcohol, tobacco and/or firearms may have been involved, in a general sense. Welcome to the country. It was a good first meeting under unusually stressful circumstances, and everybody did spectacularly well.

I especially want to give a big shout out to Rae's cousin Diane and her hubby Jeff, who at one time or another fed us, sheltered us, did our laundry, and/or ran errands and brought supplies. You guys seriously rock on toast.

As with any family convergence, some things get made into in-jokes and shtick. One of the main shticks became me punching various things in the face. “Man, I just want to punch this dirt road IN THE FACE!” And so forth. It's a pretty common silly phrase several of my friends and I have used for years, but it kinda took on a life of its own on this trip. For instance:

Me punching the West Virginia mud in the face.

Me punching Uno in the face.

Raechelle punching morning in the face.

We planned out many more shots that we ended up forgetting about for one reason or another, but time ran out on us. By Thursday morning, as much fun as I'd had, I missed my kids and the salt air of the West Coast. Of course it started snowing Wednesday night, making the drive to Pittsburgh in the early morning somewhat of a Stephen King horror novel. The roads cleared some after the sun came out and we made decent time to the airport, sleep-deprived and pissy – but how else are you gonna end a week in the West Virginia winter?

To add to the “grrr” factor, I hate traveling alone. I also hate idiots and bigots, and happened to meet both rolled into one in the security line at Pittsburgh. This sixtyish "gentleman" (and that's being generous) with a belly and a walrus mustache tried to strike up a conversation. Maybe I was passing a bit too well as a redneck, because he did so in the worst possible way to get on my good side. Here's what he said:

BIGOT
Don't this just piss you off? I mean, my grandson
Just got back from killin' a bunch o' them tally-ban,
so you'd think they could lighten this [security] up some.

TD
(blank stare)

BIGOT
Fucking Muslims.

TD
(internal monologue)
Gee, mister. I'm awful sorry you've been so inconvenienced
by our current security measures, and I sure am glad your
grandson came home in one piece. But I'd wager that a whole
generation of kids who have had arms and legs blown off
simply as a result of having been born in the wrong country
are a bit more inconvenienced than either of us. So why
don't you climb down off your big white horse and have a
heapin' helpin' of shut-the-hell-up, and we can get to our
respective gates so I don't have to look at the face
of ignorance anymore.

Yeah, had I actually said that, it would've gone clear over his head and into the next county, so I simply leveled a nut-withering stare at him. And when I'm in a grouchy mood to start with, and someone wants to cozy up to me by offering a display of abject douchebaggery, those stares can be mighty nut-withering indeed.

I managed to get WiFi at the gate, and downloaded all 500+ emails that had been collecting over the past week, made some phone calls, and settled in for a long day of travel. My flight from Chicago was delayed by an hour, and despite being moved to a bulkhead seat, I was pretty uncomfortable on the trip back to Seattle. I caught a taxi home from the airport and nearly kissed the ground when I arrived home. Gavin & Michelle had really done a marvelous job in my absence, and deserve a huge shout-out too. I slept like a rock in my bed (albeit not more than five hours, but still – beats the heck out of an air mattress on the floor, right?).

Got Tyler to his sleep study consult at Children's Hospital on Friday morning, then spent some father-son bonding time (lunch, haircuts, etc). Got caught up on email, opened the pile of snail mail, all the usual catch-up stuff one does after a week away from the homestead. Last night we ordered our pizza and watched The Wedding Singer.

I'm doing more catch-up today. Paying bills, doing finances, getting Sportacus washed, cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, blah blah blah. And Kayleigh is having a friend sleep over. But I'm still gonna carve out some time for a little CoH with the boys.

Come tomorrow night, my sweetie will be home, and life can return to its normal state of crazy.

Leaving Town

So in a little less than three hours, the girl & I will be headed for Port Townsend for the weekend. I'm not bringing the laptop, so our faithful readers will have to just wait until Sunday night for a recap (if you're very very good).

We will take pictures, and post the SFW ones. [wink]

Ciao babes!

We're Back!

Man, what a week, and I'm still on vacation, damnit!

Thursday afternoon, we went to the Winchester Mystery House. We had a guide who was a cross between Charles Nelson Reilly and Peter Cook from The Princess Bride (you know, "Mawwage"). It was cool to look at all of the changes that have been done since I was there last (which I think was before the 1989 Loma Prieta quake).

We headed back briefly to Chez Creth, then drove out to Woodside, to the home of Mark and Liz, and their twin boys Alec and Max. It was good to chill with Mark & Liz again, and the boys are getting huge.

Friday we made a plan to not make any plans. We slept late, slobbed around in our jammies until Noon, went swimming at the Chez Creth pool, then Raechelle and I drove around Palo Alto a bit. I felt strangely detached, and was actually very happy to have her there to show her the places that had once meant something to me, but no longer hold any magic. We went back, had pizza and watched The Lost Boys. It's good to know my girlfriend can quote the entire screenplay. I knew there was a geek in there somewhere.

We woke by 9AM this morning, got packed up and back to the airport. Upgraded again (so worth it!), and had a calm, uneventful flight. Caught a taxi home and found that some of the basics had been neglected by the house sitter, but at least the pets were alive and happy to see us. Raechelle saw my darkened mood and cleaned my kitchen before heading home for the night. Kayleigh and I went to Elliott Bay for dinner (vacation, remember?), grabbed some pet supplies and breakfast stuff for tomorrow, and headed home.

Speaking of tomorrow, I have coffee with Ron, and then dinner reservations at Salty's that evening. Raechelle and I are celebrating 3 months and still going strong.

I'll let her talk about her experience traveling with me and two children, but I can say from my observations it was generally positive for both of us. She got a taste of parenthood (with the authority to go with it), and got to meet my "gatekeepers" (and she was welcomed heartily by all). We both got a taste of close quarters 24/7 living, and we not only survived 7 days together, I daresay we liked it. As long as we can take off together as a couple once in awhile, put the parent identity aside for a breather every now and then, I think we're both in a good space and continuing forward with a positive attitude.

Chris and Beth were simply phenomenal hosts, and I will miss hanging out with them (thank you so much, you guys!), but just the same, it's good to be home.

The whole flickr photo set is here.

California, Mid-Week Update

Color Key:
Red = Todd
Purple = Raechelle

Saturday 8/16

Being the efficient and organized travelers we are, we were up bright and early and waiting for the SUV from the towncar company when it arrived (and already one latte (latte latte latte!) and/or giant iced tea ahead of the game). We got through security without a hitch, grabbed some food from the airport Starbucks (latte #2 for Raechelle (LATTE LATTE LATTE!), giant iced tea #2 for Todd). The kids amused themselves with their Nintendo DS thingies while the adults sat around giggling, hopped up on caffeine (heart=exploding).

Then the Alaska Airlines lady got on the PA and said they were offering $50 upgrades to first class. It took us about 30 seconds to decide to go for it. All four of us. Kids together at the bulkhead, adults together in the last row. Best $200 spent. EVER. How can we ever go back to coach?

I will not hesitate to fly first class whenever possible. As my good friend Ferris Bueller says, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." Two beers and two glasses of wine later (feelin' groovy, baby.), we landed safely in San Jose, got our luggage and took the transport bus to the rental car place. They were out of our booked mid-size car, so we were upgraded to the GMC version of the Saturn Vue for free. Comfy, leather seats, smooth ride, and an auxiliary jack for Raechelle's iPod. Sweet.

We got to Chris & Beth's place in the afternoon and got settled. Then we all headed over to Andrea's 40th b-day party, where we saw a few old high school friends including Jed, Abi, Becky, Paul & Marte. Raechelle wowed them all. Of course I did. I even wore a pirate bandana to fit in with the cool kids. Did you know I was dating a pirate? Arr.

Sunday 8/17

Went over to the Hyatt for brunch with Sam's parents, which was a bit tense for Raechelle and me, but she managed quite well, and I did gauge their general approval (which is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but was nice nonetheless).

Yes, a bit tense, but really not a bad thing. Really.

Then Randy met us back at Chez Creth, and we piled into the rent-a-rig for our trip over the hill to Santa Cruz. And I read a book on the drive. Didn't even throw up. We met up with Dave Beach and his kids downtown at Pacific Garden Mall, grabbed something to eat and chilled for a bit at Atlantis Fantasyworld, the comic shop at which I spent much of my early adolescence. Joe has been running the place for decades. He's a Santa Cruz celebrity, a singer/songwriter, advocate for prostate cancer awareness, and all around cool "uncle". He even remembered me. With Dave and Randy there, it was a mini reunion.

As an aside, for those who know the film The Lost Boys, Atlantis was the comic shop featured in the movie as the hangout of the Frog Brothers. In fact, Joe is in the background (with his bushy black beard, which is now white). In the interest of accuracy, it was the original store and not the current location that was actually used in the film. But still. And Joe gave me a copy of his folk CD, and I gave him a copy of OA.

The Lost Boys is one of my absolute favorite movies, by the way. When Todd asked if I wanted to go to Santa Cruz, my first questions was "Isn't that where Lost Boys was filmed?!" My only request for this trip was to see the Boardwalk. And to see a vampire. That's all. Really.

We drove around Aptos for awhile and then headed down to meet my uncle Russell and his wife Gah neh na, (herein known as "Sally", cause it's easier for me) his son Aaron and his wife, his other son Noah and his girlfriend for dinner at a nice little Mexican place in Seascape (very close to where I used to live). Then we all drove out to Russell's place in the Santa Cruz hills.

It's a gorgeous property with 360-degree privacy, beautiful bird-friendly gardens, a waterfall, a hot tub, outdoor shower, flagstone walkways... an island of serenity with views of Monterey Bay from the back deck.

Holy crap, talk about a retreat. We saw a mama deer with her two babies on the drive up, oodles of birds, and Russell said they've even had a mountain lion wander across their deck. While they were sitting in the hot tub. It's like Wild Kingdom, I tell ya.

Speaking of Russell, the man has got some stories. And you'd swear he's making them up, until you see the pictures. One of him touching a rhino's horn. One of a charging lion (that he almost peed on). One of of him hugging a tiger. My new favorite joke is, when Todd mentions Russell, I say "So, this one time I was on a Mayan temple......" And he was. He has pictures.

Monday 8/18

We awoke to fog and hummingbirds outside the window, and spent a leisurely morning with Russell et al, eating fresh pastries from Gayle's, drinking tea and watching the birds at the feeders. It was well after Noon when we got ourselves organized and down to the Boardwalk. There were no vampires. Crap. We ate some corn dogs and fries, and the kids and Randy rode some rides. I took Raechelle on The Cave Train, which is possibly the lamest, cheesiest ride in amusement park history, but it's one of those things that's so bad it must be experienced. Only for my man.....

We packed up and headed back over the hill to Chez Creth, and Tyler bowed out of dinner. Raechelle, Kayleigh and I joined Randy for dinner at Frankie, Johnny & Luigi's. Then Randy went home to Rocklin.

Tuesday 8/19

We took a well-deserved rest, sleeping late. I slept until 9am! Just like old times! We were on the road to Half Moon Bay by about 2PM. Raechelle got to see some beautiful views to and from, and we had the pleasure of sitting in a traffic jam (from a wild fire being seen to). Once in Half Moon Bay, we (hit a wall of fog. Sunny behind us. Fog in front of us. Bathing suit....and a sweater.) found a pretty empty section of beach, and toodled there awhile among the throngs of pelicans (I don't know what a flock of pelicans actually is, but man were there throngs of them). BIRDS EVERYWHERE. Actually, these weren't so scary. I've never seen a pelican before. Other than on Finding Nemo. Tyler even took his shirt off and body surfed awhile. It was only on the way back to the car that we saw this sign.

Back in Santa Clara, we met up with my buddy Hans (freakin' hysterical) and he and Raechelle and I went to Indian food, followed by a few drinks at the Boardwalk sports bar in Mountain View.

Wednesday 8/20

Another late morning (I love vacation!). Kids didn't even stir until noon. Raechelle and I found some beach towels on sale at Ross, then stopped at Chili's for lunch and a margarita, and some quality mushy adult time. Then Beth, Julia, Tyler, Kayleigh, Raechelle and I walked to the pool. Only Tyler had borrowed and then left my swim trunks at the beach in Half Moon Bay, so I couldn't go in. It was the capper on a crappy day (a bunch of technical and mundane stuff I won't go into). But I got in the pool! In my new bathing suit! Of which there are no pics. Wait. I think Todd actually got a pic of it at the beach. D'oh!

But it was redeemed by our evening jaunt up to Menlo Park to visit Steven Fox and his girlfriend Angela. He took us out to dinner at Jeffrey's (a sort of retro burger joint). There were milkshakes. And they were good. Now we're back at Chez Creth and winding down. Have a full couple of days left to go.

Ready... Set...

Counting down. In about 24 hours, we'll be in San Jose. I've spent the last 24 hours doing laundry and getting plans squared away, and having a couple panicky moments... Is it too soon? Will it be a bonding experience for us, or will it stress Raechelle (and by extension, me) out? Blah blah blah, etc etc. I don't know. I have hope. I guess we'll see. I suppose if it were a bad idea, we'd have decided against booking the trip (or house hunting together) awhile back.

I'm bringing the laptop, so hopefully there will be updates and pictures from the road.

Stay tuned...

Sushi Picnic

Went to Rae's office. Saw the mood on her dry erase board was happy. I added rosy cheeks, stars and hearts. We walked to the park and ate us some sushi. She, California rolls. Me, cucumber rolls. We chatted. She vented about work. Looking forward to the trip.

Came home and was immediately attacked by a vicious nap. Have much laundry to do. Feeling mushy, but I realize I'll have the whole week with TBGE to be mushy. It's all good. Eventually.

Stray Bullets

• Met Raechelle's sister Wendy last night. Due to some crossed wires on the proposed time and a cell phone left in a car, Kayleigh and I ended up going to The Swell first for happy hour appetizers because by that point we were hungry. And when TD is hungry and blood sugar is low, peasants beware the full fury of the dragon.
• So with the edge off my hunger and a pint of Manny's in me, I was in a much better mood when Raechelle and Wendy arrived. Wendy & I got along just fine, being a couple of freckled, redheaded Celts with similar opinions on alcohol, sports and sailing. And she and her husband used to live aboard a sailboat at Shilshole Marina briefly at the same dock as Volant! Curiouser and curiouser.
• Booked our trip to California. Now I just need to arrange for the housesitting.
• Today, I did the week's grocery shopping. Picked up some fresh sushi and took it to Raechelle's office for some lunch in the park (after adorning the whiteboard in her office with some dark clouds and lightning to compliment the drawing of "Raechelle's Mood Is:"). Sun, sushi and a hot chick by my side. Life is good.
• Have to replace our land line telephone. It is totally McFuggered. The cordless handset has been dropped so many times the battery cover is gone and the battery pack hangs out the back, and both the cordless and the corded desk handset deliver nothing but static.
• First OA series production meeting in a long while tonight. I'm looking forward to getting re-inspired. And I've written a few more scenes in the pilot script. It's coming together pretty well.

Pink Vespa & Imperfection as Desirable

Two things, completely unrelated:

1) I just saw a fortysomething woman on a pink classic Vespa. With a pink helmet. And a matching pink leather Euro-style long motorcycle jacket. The all-pink Vespa lady. So that was awesome.

2) I had the option of spending slightly more on a brand new replacement ring from Ireland and waiting 5 days for arrival, or have the local jeweler insert a small... well... insert in the current ring, as the knotwork is too delicate to stretch up in size. Which would mean there would be a small break in the knotwork (which can easily be worn under the finger, palm-side). But it would be the original ring, and it would symbolize the fact that no relationship is perfect, and they take work. I kinda like that. Plus, it'll be ready for the weekend and I'm an impatient bastard.

No, wait. Three things:

3) Looks like we're going to California for a week in late August.

Did I Actually Skip a Day??

Had a BBQ on Tuesday night with Katherine, Gavin & Michelle and the kids. Sara and Zadie arrived from France and shared some pictures and experiences, then headed home.

Wednesday was another action-packed adventure. Wrestled Tyler to school (not literally, thank God). Found out I can make bank deposits at the Alaska Federal Credit Union in my local QFC and don't have to drive halfway down California Ave. to the BECU kiosk. Which made me happy.

Caleb made an appearance in the afternoon, and we had a nice catch-up. He's taking a bartending class (which, I must say, is just the most perfect vocation for that man - the well-read poet/bartender). Let's hear it for an English degree!

Katherine came over to work in the garden. We have spinach and broccoli, among other wonders. Kayleigh was supposed to help, but she was caught up in watching Red Dwarf with her brother. Went up to Raechelle's apartment and grabbed her cough medicine for the weekend, as she doesn't anticipate sleeping there until Sunday night. Got back in time for Tyler to head to bed (at 6:30PM), and the girl called at around 7:15. We had a nice chat. She's ready to come home. I'll pick her up at the airport tonight, and this weekend we're just gonna chill. No big plans, except to take Gavin & Michelle out to dinner as a thank you for all the childcare they've been providing so we can actually date. There's more development on the Gavin/Deep7 front, but we can't make any announcements for awhile.

Yard work today, and a good hosing-down for Ruby, who has been parked in front of my house all week and is a bit on the dusty side.