Maybe it’s just the tools that are available. Band saws make the big cuts easy. (Jigsaw, anyone? I bet Dad remembers that.) Electric sanders make the smoothing out process easy. And I’ve got to believe that our color options just weren’t as plentiful, especially for spray paint — spraying it on is so much cleaner and consistent.

Anyway, it’s fun working with Will to get his car done. Race day is tomorrow, so look for more updates soon. (He has a lot to live up to for last year.) But can I say that making a race car is SWEET?

She’s shown quite the penchant for high-risk adventure. There was the time (witnessed by the kids, but not Kellie or me) that she was supposedly hanging from the stair landing on the second floor, by her front paws — like a rock climber. (We think she lost her balance while walking on the outside of the banister.) She was able to get herself back up, apparently. There was no crash.

But she has also enjoyed herself, climbing inside our Christmas tree. Until this morning, she didn’t go more than halfway up (at least, while we’re around). But this morning, she started scaling to the heights of the tree, as you can see in the photos. Not sure what she is after - she doesn’t knock down the ornaments (though occasionally one may fall off from the shaking). But getting that high up, the ornaments were removed quickly. Don’t want them to come with a tree falling over.

She is a frisky little kitten, without much fear. Hopefully, she’ll mellow out as she gets older, like most cats do. She certainly is one-of-a-kind.

She’s a really sweet cat — loves to be petted, even by the boys (now that they know not to act so excited when close to her). Tonight, as I finished reading a book I got for Christmas (Hunger Games — a good read), she would meow at me and eventually wedge herself into my lap for some more scratching. She knows what she wants. But she is gentle and adorable — should be a good match.

70% of your purchase will be returned to my council, my unit and my Scout rewards. Online purchases help us fund fun, educational activities and help more kids experience all the things that make Scouting great. Our fundraiser last year helped send us on a camping trip to Luray, VA this fall, including visiting Luray Caverns. It was awesome seeing everything underground! I’m really looking forward to taking trips this spring for overnight trips to the Hampton Air & Space Museum and the battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk.

You can order at any time of the year, though our main sales run through early November. Even if you do not like popcorn or other treats, consider a donation to send one of these treats to our military personnel overseas via a Silver or Gold Level Donation (see the Military Sales section).

Thanks for your support,
Will

If you cannot click on the first link above, please copy and paste this full URL into your Internet browser address bar:

http://www.trails-end.com/estore/scouts/email_referral.jsp?id=4403561

I’ve already been thrown into the fire, with 2 critical projects thrown into my lap. (Yes, I’m still a project manager.) One is a 4-month project that needs to be done by the end of the year (you do the math - it is doable, if I’m lucky). The other is a pretty cool enterprise-wide collaboration tool we’re starting. (That’s all I can/should share for now.)

It’s been a while since I’ve been out of the contracting/staff augmentation role, but I’ve been looking for the right opportunity. I’m still with the team I have been with for the past almost 4 years, so I think this might work out. I’m sure it will be a wild ride.

I had to chuckle (and get a picture). Pleasant dreams, everyone!

In the meantime, if I were you, make sure you park in designated spots only when you are traveling in Vilnius, Lithuania. You wouldn’t want your car run over by a Russian tank.

If you like double-parking in your favorite urban city, you might want to watch out if the local mayor is getting a little perturbed with you and your fellow scofflaws.

Here are a few of the cool pictures from our vacation earlier this month. The weather was great (lows in the 50s, highs around 70), the crowds few, and just enough wind to fly the kites, like this evening on the beach.

We did take a trip to the Corolla Lighthouse, and all 3 kids made it to the top without a problem. It was windy (~20 mph), but it was kind of cool to let the kids see in all directions. The sky was clear enough that we were probably seeing up close to Virginia in the north.

Even cooler was the shot I got at the bottom, while Kellie and the kids visited the gift shop — an upside-down rainbow appeared behind the lighthouse.

The surprise of our visit? It would have to be the raccoon that decided to hang out next to one of our sliding doors. We have no idea why he thought we’d be a good place to hang out. The only reason he left is that the maintenance staff (with a little assistance from me) almost caught the bugger (he escaped the fish net they originally snagged him in). He ran off after that, never to be seen again. Not to say we weren’t paranoid he might return.

Here’s hoping everyone has a great summer planned. May you not be visited by uninvited guests — like our racoon.

And if you haven’t seen the Inherit the Mirth and aren’t offended by finding the humor in the Bible, do check it out. Nana and Grampa had sent one of his books (Get Me To The Ark On Time) to Sean and Daniel, and they love reading it. Very silly, but a great lesson.

As for his other humorous posters, I like many of them, like these. These even still tie into the Easter story. Good stuff all around. It’s good to support those who spread the message and stories in a way that makes one smile.

And back in the home, the kids had a blast today. They survived church (or was that Mommy and Daddy survived church with them), and because it was so hot this afternoon (near 90 — the highest temp so far this year), they got to run through the front yard sprinklers. Topped it off with a visit to Brusters.

We hope your Easter was as fun as ours. Now, it’s back to work for me — weekend fun is over.

For once, I’m almost organized enough to announce his fundraising plan here. Kellie set up a website for pledges and donations if you want to sponsor him.

Good luck, Will! And have fun (as you always do)!

I kid you not.

Then there are the 72 people living among the statues on Monument Avenue. And no, these are supposedly not homeless people — just misplaced on the GIS, I’m sure.

But if City Jail is overcrowded now (and it is), imagine trying to house everyone on the median strip out front instead?

I’m sure everything else is accurate about the Census. Oh wait, the City of Richmond found 95 separate instances of errors. In a city of 200,000. That’s a pretty high error rate, if you ask me.

Sorry, I just found this incredibly amusing. (And for some, I’m sure it confirms their biases.)

I found Daniel in this pose when I went in late this afternoon. Sean had just awoken from his nap, but Daniel was still asleep. I went to wake up Daniel, and I found him in a rather odd pose. And he was totally asleep. Even the flash didn’t wake him up.

Hey, no comments about his fashion sense! (Nor mine.)

I will say this — this isn’t even the oddest sleeping posture for these guys. Wait until I get a chance to show you what Sean does.

To be honest, it was more competitive than I ever figured.

Will won his race against his Bear den. Well, there are only 2 Cubs in his Bear den, so the competition wasn’t too stiff. (Although the other Cub took second overall last year.) That win got Will pumped.

But it also meant he got to go against the winners in the other 3 dens. His first race was against the winner from the Webelos den, and it was a photo finish. (You can see this race, as well as every other race, in the video below.) The Scouts manning the finish line actually thought Will had won, but the electronic eye said otherwise. (And slowing down the video at home shows that as well.)

But Will won the consolation round race and got into a final run for the top 3. It was close, but he could only pull out a 3rd place finish. (The car he essentially tied earlier won the overall title.) So somehow, Will and his mechanically-ungifted* Dad had constructed a top 3 Pinewood Derby racing car.

Who knew?

*If you need further evidence of my ungiftedness, just consider that the night before the race, I split the wood in 2 separate places, trying to install the wheels, causing one of the pieces to completely break off. And another wheel was first installed to almost rub against the car — it was installed not too straight. Luckily, the kids were asleep and I was in the garage, so the words I chose to use during those 45 minutes were not heard. (And Crazy Glue helped put it back together without the damage being too noticeable.)

I don’t know how we’ll top it next year. There are definitely some lessons learned on putting it together, and we’ll see what style Will wants to go with next year. But it sure doesn’t beat the feeling of winning. Wait a minute — I mean I’m sure Will is really proud of winning. (Yeah, that’s what I meant. Ha ha!)

The kids (particularly the twins) are kind of disappointed that they couldn’t play in the snow. And they are calling for a winter much closer to normal (i.e., not as much snow as last year), so we won’t probably have the multiple large snowfalls of last year, much to the kids’ chagrin.

And here’s wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend.