It's Been a While

Hello faithful readers - if there are any of you left!!! Yes, it's been a while since I've updated the old blog, but I'm still pottering around.  Honestly there hasn't been much happening on the running front - my mileage and speed have been downgraded as other areas of my life take over.  Swings and roundabouts - that always seems to be the way of it, and it sure makes life an interesting adventure.

And as you may have guessed from the Spongebob cake above, the Gavster turned 6 this weekend.  The cake was a team effort - Nancy baked it and I decorated it.  The legs off the side were a last minute addition when I realized I didn't have enough frosting to do a basket weave, but they turned out to be a great hit.

We celebrated by throwing a party at an indoor playground chock full of bouncy castles and slides.  A bunch of his friends helped us celebrate, and they all had a blast.  The kids ran themselves into the ground (including Dylan), and I'll bet there were more than a few heads nodding on the drive home.  The birthday boy fell asleep on the living room floor still playing with his wrestlers, thus proving that he's still not too old for daddy to carry him to bed and tuck him in.



For the parents, it was another chance to socialize and get to know each other, and we seem to have a good friendly bunch. Just as well, as we'll no doubt be socializing together for quite a few years to come!!!  Nancy and I also got to see an old (young) running friend who we don't get to see anywhere near as often as we would like.

Yeah, it was a fun night.

In other news, the fight to save our school is still ongoing.  A few weeks back I was awash in meetings.  I got to meet with the CFO, Chief of Staff and Superintendent of the district and present our case - they were all very gracious and generous with their time and I am hopeful.

It was a busy and stressful week that also included a series of layoffs at work.  Those things are never easy, but I was not unduly concerned about this one.  It's time for a life change - more on that in my next post.

So on to the other thing that's been keeping me away from blogging - the pending vegetable garden.  I have invested literally hours and hours at weekends and after work on bush ripping, root pulling, earth digging, stone shifting and border building.  Many thanks to my buddy Lenny who came over with his truck on Saturday and hauled a bunch of  topsoil from the landscaping supply.  By Saturday night I had all the beds filled, raked, leveled and ready for planting.



I am proud of my efforts, and now I just need to figure out what, where and when to plant.  I've been reading up on a method known as Square Foot Gardening, and it's a lot more tactical and complex than I imagined.  I need to have my battle plans drawn up before advancing into the field of dreams.



Here's my little helper filling up a small planter box that he and his brother will be responsible for.  Note the basketball goal in the background (just in front of the remains of some of my bushes) - it was one of Gavin's birthday presents, and we spent a good part of the weekend playing with it.

The boy can shoot like nobody's business - "nothing but net" has been his chant of the weekend.