Nature Exchange

Sunil collected 600 points for the combination of the skull and his information about where it was found and how it was identified. If we'd had the lower jaw too it would have been worth more than twice as much, but we were well pleased. I learned how to identify the different types of Canide (The Class of Carnivores with completely separable toes, nonretractable claws, and long muzzles) by looking at the back-side of their skulls. The bones of domestic dogs and coyotes make a "Y" formation, red foxes make a "V" formation and grey foxes make a "U" formation. The wolf is just much larger. As it was over 100 degrees and high noon at the time, we opted for wading in the zoo creek rather than browsing in the over-crowded (airconditioned) exchange building. We had a most pleasant day, but I'm ready for a nap.

Wedding Crashers

Sid and I managed a night out last night, actually we took Mack out as a "Thank You" for the phone service. We saw the movie Wedding Crashers and it was great. We were still laughing hours later.

Sid is working a show of some kind all day today so I was planning on taking Sunil to the zoo. just us, and a chance to turn in skull pictures and show them the actual skull. The Nature Exchange can't take actual animal parts in exchange. We usually do the zoo early so isn't not too hot, but it's 10:300 AM and Sunil is still asleep. We aren't going make early.

Mack

Mack was good enough to stop by and rewire our phones. The house had at least three seperate phone lines in the past and we want all of the jacks to run on the mainline. The phone company charges $65-$110 for this service. It pays to know handy people!

The Shed

Once again a full day was dedicated to the shed. The inside has finally been organized. We can easily reach almost everything now. We still need to trim the exterior and paint it. I'm hoping to have that done in August so that the bat house can go up before September (the best time to attract new bats).

Blood Donor

As it happens near the end of Summer each year our local blood banks have run critically low on blood so last night we arranged a blood drive here at work. I gave blood first thing this morning. It's a good way to start the day and I use it as an excuse to go have a steak at lunch. With the hurry up planning style I didn't think it all the way through this time. After giving blood I was only half-way listening to the "dos and don'ts" lecture, but it occurs to me that the last don't was heavy lifting. This is not normally a problem, I work primarily on a computer or small hand held equipment, but today we are rearranging the manufacturing line (again). A large number of benches, industrial sewing machines, ovens, etc need to be moved. OOOOPPPS! I guess I'll go supervise.

Soccer it is for Sunil

Sunil has now been registered for Soccer this fall. We wont know for a few more weeks which team he will be on but we've requested that he have the same coach as Sheela so that the practices will be right after each other. The season doesn't even begin until September 10.

Coyote Skull

This is a picture of the skull that the kids found on their Dad adventure. Actually, I think that Cousin Lisa saw it first but I could be wrong. Anyhow our brief research has shown that it's too small to be a wolf, too big for a fox, doesn't have enough teeth (or the right forehead) for a dog and it must surely be a coyote. The actual coyote picture is for Sunil's reference. He wasn't sure what a coyote was. We will take these pictures to the Nature Exchange at the Dallas Zoo and if Sunil talks about them he can earn points to trade for other neat stuff. Usually Sheela gets the big ticket items at the Exchange but she didn't go on the adventure and she's out of town.

Mom and I

Thanks to Tracey for the picture! This was taken before our horseback ride at the Smith Kith and Kin Reunion (Townsend, Tennessee, July 2005). We are wearing the blue hats of our clan.

In keeping with family tradition I'd like to take a few moments to explain some unrelated events happening off screen....... Judy, the cashier for the Next to Heaven Riding Stables, has asked that we pray for her son, Tater, who is currently serving in Iraq.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince

I managed to retrieve my copy from the Post Office yesterday along with the rest of our held mail. I just finished it and it was quite good but not as good as my favorite in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Vacation Accomplished

We made it! Nine days and 1800 miles of family fun and togetherness. I can't tell you how much fun it was, but I hope to post a zillion pictures each with its own wonderful memory and story but first I have to obtain pictures from my benevolent and photo addicted family. I didn't have a camera to take.

Here is the short version:
Family - every bit as funny and wonderful as I remember.
Horseback riding - both kids rode and loved it. I grew up riding in those same mountains and it felt really right to be there again.
Tubing on the River - The perfect way to spend a hot afternoon with friends and family.
Fishing - Sunil caught one, Sheela caught four. A stocked pond is great way to learn.
Hiking - best enjoyed when one is not asleep on ones feet. Rushing water and shade are good too!
Wildlife - can be found anywhere if you keep your eyes open and count even the bugs.

Check back for pictures later

No T-ball for Sunil

I finally managed to get in to the registration for the fall sports and they don't have T-ball for kids as young as Sunil. The fall cut off is a five and a half so he wont get to play next fall either. I've been assured that he can play in the Spring session but I think that he missed that cut off by a month too. I wont know until that registration rolls around in January.

Vacation - It's a Good Thing

We spent Friday night in Clinton, MS and reached Opelika on Saturday afternoon. We are having a great time. Sam, Rachel, Sunil and Sheela are having a blast. Any kid not lucky enough to have Sid for a Dad should try to get him for an uncle! We took the kids to Catawalca State Park yesterday. The plan was to spend an hour or two hiking. But we came to the waterfall almost immediately and it looked too good to resist. He coaxed them out of their shoes and into the water to dip their feet. 15 minutes later he'd squired them one at a time all the way across to the other side, 10 minutes after that they were soaking wet and laughing so hard they couldn't stop. I did dip my feet but I also had the video camera, the cell phone and Sid's wallet to protect so I didn't get nearly as wet.

Today is Sam's 7th birthday. He requests that we now refer to him as Jeti Master Sam Sharma, he has, after all, spent all morning becoming proficient in the use of his newly acquired lightsaber. We will stay here for the party tonight and leave tomorrow morning for Tennessee and the second stage of our vacation.

The best day ever.....

Sid took the kids to Six Flags yesterday (Sheela earned her ticket by reading during the school year and the others we won on the dinner cruise from the radio station - thanks to Brian and Ban for that!). Apparently they had "the best day ever". They were gone from 9:30 Am until 11:00 PM. I figured they'd be done by 3:oo PM. Both kids were good sports and rode a ton of stuff. Sid had to pass on the big roller coasters as Sunil is still way too little.

Water Shortage

OOOOPPPPS! The main water line from the treatment plant to the surrounding 15 towns broke yesterday morning. This was a 6 1/2 foot diameter pipe with a 2 foot break in it. They closed all of the restaurants in McKinney yesterday (I managed to get lunch 10 minutes before the shut down became official) and imposed our emergency water restrictions. No sprinklers, no carwashes, no make up water in the swimming pools things like that. After the restrictions were imposed the water consumption rate dropped from 1.5 million gallons of water an hour to 0.5 million gallons per hour. That is still a lot of water. Our reserve holds roughly 13 million gallons.

The repair took less than a day but the restrictions will last for three more days to bring our reserve levels back up. This effectively cancels Sheela's swim classes. Oh well we are leaving tomorrow anyway so rescheduling them wouldn't have helped. We've actually had two or three good rains in the last week so I'm not too concerned about the foundation cracking even without the watering.

T-Ball Registration Approaches

We've been trying to sign Sunil up for T-ball since April. It took until mid-June for the web site to acknowledge that there is in fact a Fall season. Today for the first time they have put up the dates for Fall registration. Luckily, it opens on Friday before we leave town. Sunil will play up one year, in the 5U (five and under) league for the first year at least. Next year it may stick with the same team and always play up, stick with the league and change teams, or pitch the sport entirely.

I wish I had a picture

The hot air balloons are starting to go up again in preparation for the Plano Balloon Festival in September. I have no idea how they fly when it's already 80 degrees at 8:00 am. As I drove in to work this morning I watched a particularily bright balloon flying low and heading North. I watched until I pulled into the parking lot at which point I got out and watched it pass over the cars at an altitude of about 40 feet and then land in the field just past our parking lot. From the time I parked to the time the balloon was down and deflated was less than 10 minutes. My friend, Lynn, wanted to know if I'd collected the traditional bottle of Champagne which is presented to the landowner for the landing site. It never even occurred to me to try.

The Stingers placed 3rd overall!

It was a very tense and exciting soccer game yesterday. In the end we pulled out the win with a score of 6-5. But in the first half we spent a lot of time just watching their strongest player dribble down and take shots at Sheela. Only three got past her, but it was a rough half. Then for the first time in a month Sheela got to get out of the goal. She scored a goal almost immediately and the tide turned with four more unanswered points. We were hoping for trophies but apparently those only went to the first and second place teams. We are going to do another season before the outdoor season starts up again, but Sheela will miss the first two games. So we have a break until August.

Family Reunions....

This is going to be a solid month of family for us and it's off to a good start. The in-laws are mostly settled in. Their oldest son has brought his family for a four day visit. We haven't seen Ravi, Renee and the girls (Katie and Samantha) in five years so this has been a long time coming. Their youngest (and only daughter) has brought her two daughters over too. We see them more often but the girls are Sheela's age and they all play well together. I took all the kids (the older two are 12 and 15) to a birthday party at a nickle arcade last night. Today all 13 of us went out on a rented pontoon boat for a few hours, ate a picnic lunch, swam in the lake and let the kids drive the boat. Then Sushama took, Sheela, Seema and Nita to see Herbie the Love bug: Fully Loaded. We are on our way to dinner tonight.

Casual Day

Normally Friday is the best day of the work week. There are very few things that make me happier than getting to come to work in jeans. This week however someone has scheduled another VIP tour (four Senators, two Congressmen and a couple of large company bigwigs) so I not only didn't get to dress down I had to dress up (in an actual dress). That's the sort of thing that will ruin my whole day.

It seemed like a good idea at the time....

I just agreed to come pick up some bedroom furniture for Sunil. We've been trying to get him a dresser (on the cheap) for a few weeks. The old Wal-mart, press board drawers have given up on his old stuff. They were originally purchased as nursery furniture for Sheela and weren't expected to last more than two years. Oh well, we got seven years out of them and moved them at least twice. Anyhow, I was just offered some stuff FREE if I come get it tonight but I have to take it all. Okay, it's close to the house, why not. So now I'm getting a twin/full bunk bed, a dresser with a mirror, a computer desk and a couple of end tables. It still sounds pretty good, except that I already have a full sized futon, and two cheap Wal-mart, press board dresser/shelving units and a twin bed in my house that I don't need and can't find room for. I have seven house guests coming to visit by the weekend (not to mention in-laws) . I have more furniture than I do floor space already. Accckkkk! I just hope that the dresser is nice. We may end up giving away the rest of the stuff, I just don't know if we can do it quickly enough. This is what I get for checking email while I'm at work.

This is Sheela in her goalie jersey. She wears the same one for both the outdoor games and the indoor games. The regular Panthers' jersey is bright pink and the regular Stingers' jersey is dark blue. This one is my favorite. 

I found a few of the pictures....

New Pictures

OOOppppsss! I forgot to actually bring the new pictures with me today. I'll try to put them out there when I go back home. We are having some new bookcases delivered today so I'll go home and take a turn waiting on the truck and then come back to work.

Sid decided to add tile to the "lip" across the wall by the house instead of putting the wood over it. That took an extra day but came out nicely. Sunday we got the wood floor down and Monday we moved in the furniture (most of it). We still need to trim the edges and touch up some of the paint but it feels like the end is just around the corner.

In the midst of all of this my vertigo came back. I still have the scrip that my doctor gave me (just in case) but it's more than a year old. During my begging and pleading with the pharmacist to fill it anyway (it's only two weeks out of date) I discovered that it's now available over the counter, yeah! So she set me up right away. It takes less than an hour to make the dizziness stop, but causes quite a bit of fatigue which lasts for hours. Oh well, two days of that and it seems to be gone again. Hopefully it will be another year before it comes back.

Last night we managed to get Dr. Sharma's main computer hooked back up to the internet (we've been using the laptop) and we managed to install the wireless router with no problem. The we tried to hook up the wireless receiver to our computer which is still upstairs and hit a snag. The computer insists that the receiver cables are disconnected. It may be an actual problem with the receiver, a problem with the router, a security mis-communication or that the USB hub that we are using has too slow a connection for the signal. I'm hoping for the security settings being out of synch. I'll work on that while I wait for the bookshelves. Then I'll try to set the laptop up to acknowledge its wireless card and see if I can get into the network that way too.

The cover of Sunil's Independence day card.

Sunil wishes you all the best!

Cosmetic work remains

We still have to secure the A/C lines on the outside and camouflage them somehow. The original plan had them running down inside the walls but the unit did not arrive in time. I'm thinking about putting them inside of a down spout. We still have to paint the new siding white too which will help.

Hey look, it's me! I'm plugging in the A/C unit and preparing myself for the chill. 

I could have turned off the fan to take this picture but it was too hot! We hadn't finished the electrical connections yet on the A/C. You can see the inside unit on the wall.