Monday, June 27, 2005

Returning to the scene of the crime

My friend Dan is now a daddy. His lovely wife, Kate, gave birth to Jayden on Saturday morning.
Tracy and I took the boys to the hospital to see the happy family. The boys were really into it because I kept telling them they were born in the same hospital. I pointed out the rooms they were born in. And they were actually interested.
Alex kept telling me to tell people the story of how he had to return to the hospital because of his jaundice (which happened during a major snow storm). Nobody else cared, but Alex really dug it. I think next time we go to a baseball game and I want them to pay attention, I'll tell them they were actually born on the infield.
Might work?!?!

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Nuts

Things are going a little more crazy than normal right now in the Flume household.

First, I'm still getting used to a new job at Aims Community College which is hectic right now because I'm getting the Fall enrollment campaign going before ...

Second, we leave for California to visit my mom and dad (and sister's family including our first and only niece, Alia!!). I love going there, but I hate getting ready to go there! Tracy has developed a pre-leaving plan that is more complicated (and better carried out) than the invasion of Iraq.

Third, we are getting ready for our second garage sale in the last three weeks. We never thought our house could belch out so much excess crap, but it certainly does. And we need it, because...

Fourth, we are prepping for a remodel on the house (thanks to Tracy's mom!). We're finishing the downstairs area (yeah, a bathroom!!!) and adding a little closet space upstairs. All that means is that we have two major areas of the house that have to be cleared away and it is just insane.

Fifth, the boys have been busy with summer fun classes and overnights with their friends.

Sixth, we just got over the promotion of the book for Father's Day. It is always a little crazy, but it was also cool because of the book award.

Seventh, now that the rain has stopped (to be replaced with scorching sun), we have been invaded with mosquitoes the size of small birds. No one is safe.

Eighth, we just adopted our newest pets... two toads we found in the window well of the basement as part of the remodeling effort. The boys are enamored of them. One is about the size of my fist and the other is much smaller (the size of Andy's fist). Alex said, "I won't watch TV at all as long as we have these frogs."

Ninth, this blog, my column (due this week ... AGAIN!), my fantasy baseball team (currently in second place!!!), my softball team (currently sucking, but my hitting is good!), and I guess that's it. End of my whining.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Wet Relay

One of my favorite activities of the year is always the Weld County Relay For Life which raises money for the American Cancer Society through an 18-hour team relay walk. I love the sense of community as Greeley's event has grown to be one of the biggest in the country. My life (like everybody's) has been touched by cancer and every year during Relay I think about the loved ones I've lost and the folks I know who have survived this horrible disease.

This year's Relay was a little different for me. I had a wonderful team of folks from my new job at Aims Community College. We also teamed up with local radio station, SUNNY 97.9. We had all the makings for a great event.

But then Mother Nature decided to have some fun with us.

We were setting up our camp around 3:45 p.m. and we were on the air for about 15 minutes when the rain started. Hard. We tried to keep everything dry, but we weren't really successful. I went to the opening ceremony at 6 p.m. in a downpour. From there, the event moved inside to a large exhibition building.

We hastily grabbed all of our stuff and even had the radio station back on the air in a matter of minutes. In the end, the event was a little smaller with many of the people opting to stay home where it was dry. However, about 2,000 people stuck it out and walked all night. It was amazing to see the dedication of these hearty folks. And in the end we raised a record total of $520,000. Pretty amazing.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

My job

Long time, no post...

The other day Alex was showing drawings other kids in his class did of what their father's do for a living (don't ask how he got the pictures ... let's just say he's a pack-rat).

"See, Dad, her dad is dentist. And his is a mechanic."

So, I asked him which picture was mine.

My day-job is marketing and PR -- not something easily shown in first-grade drawings.

"That's the one, Dad."

"What is that?"

"That's you working on mummies."

"That's not what I do?"

"But it's more fun," he said.

Hard to argue with that, huh?