So it goes...

Awaiting the onslaught of snow they're calling for tomorrow and Wed. It's actually snowing now, as we're supposed to get 2-4 tonight, then 10-15 additional tomorrow night. We'll see. It could blow south and be a big nothing. Or, I could be optimistic and it could really stink. Whatever the case, I'm prepared. The blower is gassed up and ready to kick butt. Doesn't make me like it anymore, but maybe it'll get me out XC skiing for the first time this weekend. I know one thing, if I don't feel better by this weekend, I sure as heck won't be skiing. Why do that to myself? I'm already driving to work, because walking sounds like so much pain. I can't shake the congested head and cough, chills and aches. It sucks. In fact, just talking about it is making me want to go crawl into bed, which is what I think I'll do. I hope to be back to full strength soon with some longer posts, but we'll see how this crud manifests itself next. Right now I...

The 2011 Woodland Pattern Poetry Marathon was a great time. I got through 5 poems and they came off without a hitch. From all I could tell were well received. There were about 30 people in the audience I would guess. The other presenters from AllWriters were Kathie Giorgio , and Alita Baker, and Marsha Roberts. Kathy Bram unfortunately wasn't given a chance to read. They all did great and it was nice to have some supporters in the audience. A hearty thank you to AllWriters Workplace and Workshop for sponsoring the hour we had. The rest of what I saw varied in quality from brilliant and entertaining to boring and unintelligible. A great variety. If I had felt better I would have stuck around longer. Perhaps next year. The most entertaining presenter I saw was Author Paul McComas . He sang a song from a father's perspective about dating his daughter that was hilarious. Very entertaining. The other memorable ones outside of the AllWriters group were James Roberts and his piece o...

I seem to be on the up-and-up after a 3 day battle with the flu. I'm nowhere near 100%, but am well enough to stay awake for more than two hours at a crack. I swear I have bed sores. It was horrible. I daresay the worst bout of flu I've ever had (have). Everything hurt. My eyes, my stomach, my head, my nose. Accompany all of this with a lung searing cough, and a ceaselessly runny nose, and you have a recipe for misery. Heck, I was even getting charlie horses in my calves for some reason. I'm guessing it was because I was in bed so much and not walking around. Oh it was (is) horrible. Ben still has it pretty bad though is at least able to stay awake a bit more today. That's ALL you want to do is sleep. Sleep until one or the other of your arms is numb from laying on it. No motivation to eat, watch TV, read or anything else. Those things I resorted to only out of complete, absolute boredom. My wife is a saint for having put up with us, as we were a motley couple of sickos...

Last night I got hit with the flu bug that Ben had. It is hard to quantify the pain and suffering of it. EVERYTHING hurts. Will post when I get in the flipside. Blogging off and going back to bed...

I stayed home with Ben today. He is feeling horrible, sniffling, fever and a sore throat. He started fading on Saturday night, and has gone downhill until today. He'll likely miss at least one more day of school, poor boy. It always pains me to see my kids sick. I know the feeling all too well, and it sucks. All you can think about is feeling better. Hopefully it's not strep throat and he'll be back on his feet in a couple of days. Well, the old Packers did not disappoint this weekend. It's almost too good to be true. If you'd have said at the beginning of the season that they would be in the super bowl, even without all the injuries they had this year, I would have called you crazy. I still thought they were a year or two, and a star player or two away from having a super bowl team. I think Rodgers carried much of the team this year, but really it was a team effort. Many guys contributed, even unknown names like John Kuhn, and Sam Shields. So we're going to get...

My laptop's temperature gadget's reading 2 below zero as I write this. Throw the 5 mph wind into the mix and you have a windchill of about 13 below. The furnace is pissed off. Now I've seen worse, much worse actually, as I'm sure many of you have. That doesn't mean I have to like it at all, which I don't. I keep trying to think of what good this weather is. What purpose does it serve? If the freezing point is 32 and that kills most everything living, why do we need any temps below that? Why did God make a wind chill index? I'm sure there's a reason for it. If you find it, be sure and clue me in. It was another week of loss for some friends of ours. A couple who lost a father a few weeks ago lost another father on the wife's side just yesterday. It has been a weird, eerie winter that way for a number of people in our lives. Throw into that the cruddy weather of late, and its enough to make anyone go fetal. My brother came home from the hospital today,...

So the NFC Championship is going to be Packers/Bears. What a great rivalry and a great match up. I think it will be a good game, but am really hoping for a Packer blowout like they had on Saturday versus Atlanta. Wow, what a fun time we had watching that game. We went over to some friends' house and had a little playoff party that was a blast. It's always more fun watching those games with someone else. Family is fine during the regular season, but those playoff games deserve better. I don't want to get too jazzed up about it until it is certain that we've won and are going to the super bowl. That would be so cool and as I said in my prior post, if we can knock off Atlanta, we can beat anyone, including the big, bad Jets and Steelers. This game in some ways is always a bit more of a nail biter than the actual super bowl. If you don't get into the big show, nobody remembers who lost the NFC Championship in {fill in the blank year}. You've got to at least MAKE it ...

So the whole zodiac thing has people wondering what they are. Aries are now Pisces. Sagittarius's are now Ophiuchus. Well, that would be me and you know what? I ain't buyin ' it. In fact, I'm not buying the whole zodiac thing at all. I am who I am, not who some distant astrologer says I am. If that's the case, maybe I should read my hocus - pocus horoscope too, so I can live in fear (or un found hope) of something that someone else dreamed up. People that live by that credo crack me up. This week has been tough for our family. Rob's situation got a bit more defined this week and it's been exceptionally hard on Sarah. She has such a big heart (as does Ben) and sees the whole thing as so unfair, which it is. The whole deal has brought great clarity in our family as to what is truly important and the chaff that makes up the rest. My own struggles with it have been mounting for some time as well. This week I feel I've had some increased understanding wi...

is not the money you make - Doesn't buy love or the person you're holding a grudge against, - Resolve it! or the car you drive (or long to drive) - Your kids will drive it when it's crushed and recycled or the house you live in - Soon to be occupied by someone else or the clothes you wear - They'll look good on that third world person soon enough or the job you have - Someone's waiting in the wings for it anyway or what party you belong to - For every Democrat there's a negating Republican and vice verse. or the iPhone you have or want - Seriously? Please. or any other hand-held or electronic gadget - A new version that will make yours obsolete WHAT DOES MATTER IS: Faith, Family, and Friends in that order. Relish each day. Life is a vapor. Live, Love, Dance, Laugh. Blogging off...

I just posted on facebook a question of; Why is it the more I do, the more I feel like I'm not doing enough? It seems that now that I'm writing on a regular basis, something I used to say I never had time to do, I spend more time than ever beating myself up over how much I'm not doing. Sure, I KNOW I'm doing a good amount, and I KNOW I've had success with it and I KNOW it's more than I used to do, but I still feel like I waste an incredible amount of time doing things that could be better spent behind the keyboard. Now, the lazy sot in me says I should just do less, because then I may still feel as though I'm not doing enough, but at least I wouldn't have to work as hard. Ha! Like anything, there's a balance to be attained, and I'm still trying to find it. For now though, it's monday night and I'm beat. Blogging off...

The season is upon us. The packers are in the Wild card this year and are lucky to have that, in my honest opinion. I saw in Sports Illustrated where Peter King of ESPN has picked Green Bay to face New England in the super bowl. I just don't see that happening. The team is a bit enigmatic this year. With a sparse running game and inconsistent offense, I just don't know how they're going to get past Chicago and Atlanta. Heck, I see them having trouble containing Vick and the Eagles. I don't mean to be a naysayer. I hope they go all the way. I am a realist however and don't see this one going much past Sunday. Hope they do, wouldn't bet on them. Hope I'm proven wrong. Maybe the Seahawks will be the first team to finish 7-9 and win a super bowl. Yeah right. My brother Rob actually got out ice fishing today. It is so cool that he got the chance to get out there. After all he's been through, it is so satisfying to see him get out and do what he loves to do...

Well, it's finally out. The winter edition of Boundary Waters Journal came out this week. My article is on pg. 27. I was surprised at how little editing was done to it. It is almost all there. I can't stop being excited about it. It's such a huge step for me, despite being one measly article. There's something about getting that first recognition that lifts you up. I guess it's why writers write. I won't dwell on it anymore, lest I make myself a bore, but I will tell you it is available at Barnes and Noble retail outlets (not sure about online), Gander Mountain also carries it. I'm not sure about other outdoor stores or Cabelas , but they may if they sell books and magazines. Also I believe you can get it from Boundary Waters Journal online (I think they sell single, current issues.) So, support your local author, a small publicher and your local sporting goods store. Buy one for a friend too! Saw a house on my walk with Toby tonight that kind of freaked m...

A short excerpt I just finished for my memoir. Bear in mind it hasn't been edited yet. Note too that the song names are links to audio samples of the songs. This way you can share my insanity. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Our trips were always electronic-free. That is to say, we did not bring radios, tape players or Walkmans, those Ipods of the 80’s, for those of you who are wondering. Of course cell phones had not been invented yet, so they were not an issue either. We all agreed that being unplugged for a week was a good thing. The silence of the BW was refreshing to our souls and we knew that all the electronic noise would be waiting for us when the week was over anyway. There were times though that the noise would follow me into the wilderness and not leave me alone. It always took the form of a single song that would haunt me the whole week long. Often times it was a song that I’d heard on the car stereo on the way up. With Paul being in a band, me a ...

I fished around for a title for this post and this was the best I could do. I don't mean to jump all over the New Year bandwagon, but given the way 2010 ended, I have to focus on what might be or how I can change to make what IS happening, better or maybe more bearable. Here's what I hope to do better in 2010: Listen to people better, especially my family. This is still my weak point. If you know me, please help me with this. Read fewer "Comments" on JSOnline articles (Our online newspaper). These people do not deserve the time or energy. Most can't write a coherent, complete sentence. Take more opportunities to have coffee/cocoa with Ben and Sarah at Steaming Cup. I had such a good time with Ben playing Boggle today, I almost cried. 6 years and he'll be off to college. 3 for Sarah. Time is short. Keep in better touch with my Mom, brothers, sisters and in-laws. Break up my routine; be it small things or whatever. Give more of my time to service opportunities ...