Video: Bass Pro Shop Las Vegas.

Officials with Bass Pro Shops were in town to continue with plans to transform the Pyramid into a retail space and conservation exhibit. Memphis leaders say there are three options when it comes to The Pyramid: turn it into a Bass Pro store, leave it empty or tear it down. Robert Lipscomb, director of Housing and Community Development is over major city redevelopment projects. Lipscomb is confident that Bass Pro will do the Pyramid project. Bass Pro is currently paying $35,000 a month in rent. If the company pulls out of the deal, it’ll have to pay the city and Memphis $500,000. A spokesperson for Bass Pro says they wouldn’t spend this much money unless they were serious about setting up shop. The Bass Pro project has been on the table for years now. In 2005, Bass Pro announced it would move into The Pyramid. In 2006 the company unveiled plans for The Pyramid that includes putting a hotel inside the building. In 2008, city and county leaders toured the flagship store in Missouri. Bass Pro officials told the city an additional investment of nearly $20 million would be required to bring the building up to code and meet seismic requirements.

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Bad Boy Enterprises just announced that three of their vehicles, the Classic, XT and Stretch, are now qualified by the IRS as street-legal LSVs.  Each vehicle is eligible for a federal tax credit of $5,590.  Management reports that tax credit driven sales have, in part, caused them to increase their projected annual sales from $17 million to $20 million.  In addition, they report a 1,000 orders for their new XT vehicle and a positive response from their five-store market test with Bass Pro shops.  The retailer wants to roll-out the program with an additional 15 stores in the next three months.  Bad Boy is also talking with retailer Cabela’s about selling their vehicles.  Learn more:  Natchezdemocrat.com

Today’s economy is tough, and boating, fishing and outdoors hobbies are not cheap.  Saving money on anything you can is a priority for most.  Independent storefront dealers do what they can to offer a good selection of products, but usually at a full retail price.  They must buy from a distributor at sizable markup and resell it at a bigger markup just to try and turn a profit for the store.

So in comes Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain and other big box store chains offering a huge selection of products at “discount” prices.  For many customers, shopping at their local store or going to their Web site to purchase something has become routine.  They assume that they are getting the best or close to the best price available.  While what they are buying is cheaper than alot of places, it’s not a bargain if you shop around online.

The sames goes for stores like Best Buy, good prices, but not great.  Plus you have to pay sales tax.

If you search for a Minn Kota Trolling Motor on Google, you will find 100’s of results.  Some of them Bass Pro, Cabelas, etc.  But most of them are sites you may not have heard of before.  Are they to be ignored?  Some of them for sure, but many will offer you savings of over $100 on big ticket items, plus no sales tax if you don’t live in the same state as their business.

Obviously, buying from a Bass Pro gives you piece of mind that you are buying from a reputable business.  But there are many reputable businesses on the Internet that can give you better service at a much better price.  They have much lower overhead and can operate on a lower margin to give you better prices.

How do you know who is good and who might screw you over?  There are a few things to look at before you decide to buy.

1. Is the site secure?  Look for a security certificate like from McAffee or Verisign.  Click the certificate to make sure it is valid.  This certificates ensure that the site is secure from hackers and you information is safe.

2. Does the site have a nice design?  Sites that looked like they were done in 5 minutes probably were.  If a company doesn’t put work in on their site, they will not put work in to you give you proper service.

3. Is there a phone number to call and other contact info provided?  Don’t buy from anywhere if you can’t get ahold of someone.  They may take your money and run!

4. Are the shipping costs hidden?  Many sites won’t tell you what the shipping costs are until you’ve entered in your credit card info.  They will overcharge you and figure if you’ve gone that far, you’ll probably continue with your purchase.  It also makes price comparison shopping difficult.  It’s a bit of a shady business practice and any sign of that should be a warning.

5. Is there a shipping and return policy stated.  If you can’t find the shipping or return policy, do not buy!!!  You don’t want to be stuck with something if there is a problem.

6. If nothing else, your credit card company has your back.  At the end of the day, if something goes wrong and you get ripped off, call you credit card company and let them know.  Most cc companies will immediately refund your purchase and go after the scam.

Follow these simple suggestions when searching for something online.  Compare pricing and don’t be afraid to ask for a price match.

So far this week has been great.  I got three runs in – Mon, Wed, and today,  all at a little over 5 miles each.  Monday and Wednesday were really strong.  Mainly due to the weather being unseasonably cool still.  Wednesday felt the best with me finishing up at 5.1 miles and feeling like I could have gone another half mile to mile.

Today’s run was much different.  We were gradually warming up all week and yesterday had highs back in the mid 80s with lots of humidity.  Overnight we had storms ahead of another cold front.  This morning I had set my alarm for 5:45 so that I could get a little more time in to run another half mile longer.  When I got outside at 6:10 this morning it was still very dark and very damp from the rains.  So when I was running and hit a song from Bowling for Soup on my iPod – it just came to me that it felt like soup that I was running though.  I still pushed through and got my 5 miles in but was complete drenched by the time I got back.  Starting my run while it was still dark was a different experience.  I ended up waking up a group of deer that were sleeping in the grass beside the road about a quarter of a mile up the road from the house and they scared the heck out of me when they jumped straight up and ran right in front of me.  I am sure it was humorous from there perspective watching me.

All in all – a good week so far.  I had wanted to push to get to 5.5 – 6.0 miles but didn’t make it.  I am hoping to hit the road bike this weekend and get some cross training in.  My legs are really tired and sore tonight.  The heel is very tender and calves are really tight.  Maybe a couple of days off from running will give them time to recuperate.

So maybe a cold front was all I needed to get things back in gear.  Friday morning we woke up to temps in the upper 50s! – In August!!!  Absolutely gorgeous weather.  Turns out it make a world of difference.  I had the alarm set for 5:55am so that I could be on the road by no later than 6:15.  Yesterday was my daughters first day back to school and we have to leave the house by 8am to make sure she gets to school on time.  Needless to say, the other kids(and Skylee as well) kept us up much later than we wanted – think I finally got to sleep around midnight.  So when I woke up to an alarm that had been going off for some time – I had to think twice about whether I could motivate myself to run or come up with lame excuses about how I couldn’t take a chance on being late for the second day of school.  I hurriedly got dressed and out the door and on the road by 6:30.  With the cool temps and MUCH lower humidity, it was great to be out that early.  I wasn’t the only one that thought so as I almost ran head on to a deer munching in our yard.  The workout was great – was able to get in 4.85 miles at a decent pace and could have gone more if I had more time.  The crisp air made it seem much less draining the entire run.

This upcoming week starts the 10 week training program for the half marathon and it involves cross training a couple of days a week in between running.  I got an email from the local bike shop reminding everyone about an organized ride on Saturday – the American Cancer Society’s Bike to Battle Cancer – so that worked perfectly.  The only problem there was, – I haven’t ridden in almost 6 months.  My camelback is done and needs to be replaced.  My road bike needs a good once over and tuneup.  I didn’t have any chain cleaner or lube.  All of these were things running through my head at 9pm on Friday basically trying to come up with an excuse why I could not ride on Saturday.  Luckily I had talked to a couple of friends about the ride and one of them had committed to going up for the ride as well – so accountability wins again!  Saturday started early( 5:45) so that I could get up and dressed and all the gear loaded up to meet Eric at 7:30 and be at the ride by 8am since the email said that the 25K ride started at 9am.  Overslept(again) – no suprise, and Eric was late so we ended up getting to the ride at 8:20.  What made matters worse was that the email was incorrect – the 25K ride actually started at 8:30.  So we arrive 10 minutes before the ride begins, and ask the traffic director where to go – he tells us he “thinks” it is the third entrance on the left  - no dice!  We ended up driving through the livestock barn and looping back around to where we found most of the cars parked.  Continuing on we found out why he didn’t send us that way  - we were headed straight in to the starting line for the ride.  Talk about embarrasing – the starter for the ride was very nice and asked the bikes to please make way for us to come through  - lots of glares and stares on that!!

After we got unloaded and started(10 minutes late) the ride was incredible!  The weather was awesome – cool – almost no humidity, and a gentle breeze.  I had forgotten how much I love to ride  I really is an invigorating workout.  Different from running in that my legs are always the first to give out.  However the running made a big difference in my lungs – I was able to ride all of the hills without stopping which is not the norm for me.  The route was great – big climb about 4 miles into the ride to get you breathing hard and then some flats with smaller climbs thrown in here and there.  The route was mostly through rural countryside with trees overhanging the roads in places and several one lane bridges over the creeks.  After all was said and done – the 25K was actually about 26K(18.1 miles) but a nice segway to get back into biking again.

I am sore today(Sunday) so it will be a couple of days before I can hit the bike again – but I am really looking forward to it on a regular basis.  Tomorrow I will see how I feel once I get on the asphalt and with the weather holding maybe try for a little over 5.  Need to hit the sack so that I don’t oversleep once again!!

Heat and humidity have been back the past few days.  Makes for a uncomfortable run even early in the morning.  Monday I was able to get a longer run in -somewhere between 4.3 and 4.5 miles(following the 10% rule in increasing mileage).  I can’t say for sure because the MapMyRun app on my iPhone crashes just about every day that I use it.  I have just gotten into the habit of making sure to note the time I start running and the time I finish up and using the website to edit the run and route details.  Pretty much useless when it comes to getting real time feedback on pace and distance while running.

Today I am 3 weeks in on the trek to the half marathon and I am having my first session of doubt.  I knew ahead of time that doubt would come into play at some point during the training – just didn’t realize it would be this quickly.  Monday I set the goal to increase my mileage by 10 % and did – but not without feeling worn out at the end.  Today I planned on an “easy 3 miles” to rest and then try to get another long run in on Friday.  Easy is relative – I still feel like 3 miles is kicking my butt when it comes to my lungs.  My legs seem to be OK – but my lungs don’t hold up.  I am not sure if the hilly route near my house is the issue, the humidity, or that I am just that out of shape in endurance.  In any case, today the first case of doubt came into play as I was finishing up the last few minutes of the run.  Seems that if I am struggling with endurance with runs under 10 miles – how will I be able to reach 13 in just another 10 weeks??  Guess doubting will not change anything – if I am going to make it, I will make it and if not – then it should at least put me that much closer to the next half marathon.  Hopefully Friday I can knock out a really good run to help boost my spirits on it.  It should be quite a bit cooler and less humidity – so there’s at least one variable eliminated from the mix.

It could also be that we have a couple of really big personal decisions we are looking at as a family.  Both of which are some of the biggest changes we have looked at in a long time.  We as a family are trying to remember to not tackle this on our own and turn it over to God to direct us.  That is the toughest part in any struggle I guess.

This week has been incredibly busy so I have not been able to keep up with the blog posts as frequently.  Monday I got things back on track with a great 4 mile run despite the oppressive humidity.  At 6:30am the humidity was over 90% and temps in the low 70s and climbing.  I had gotten spoiled with the unusually cool weather we had been having.  Nonetheless, I felt really good with the 4 miles and was even able to get a swim and strength training in afterwards.

Monday evening set the tone for the couple of days.  Our grinder pump had failed and the buzzer was going off – but it was almost inaudible unless you were standing outside next to it.  The basement was flooded!  We use our basement as a playroom for the kids and it is normally covered with toys, stuffed animals, and boxes of clothes.  Needless to say – it was not a pretty sight.  We got the pump fixed, cleared out the basement, and I started shop-vacing and finished up around 1:30am.  Tuesday night I started steam cleaning the carpet and finished up around 1am as well.

Wednesday was my next running day and when the alarm went off at 6 – I was exhausted.  I was determined not to miss my schedule though so I mustered the energy to get out on on the asphalt.  Temps and humidity were much more comfortable!  However my legs felt like lead weights and my hamstrings were sore from being crouched over with the shop vac and shampooer.   I was winded before the first hill and by the time I hit the 1.2 mile mark I was feeling a tinge of shin splints.  Since I had a battle with shin splints in the winter I didn’t want to push it too much and end up sidelined so I headed back and only logged about 2.2 miles.  I was very worried that shin splints were coming back and even more dejected that I was only able to log a couple of miles.

Thursday I was determined to make sure I had a great run on Friday.   I was able to get the kids in bed by 9:30 and myself to sleep by 10:30(unheard of in our house).  I ended up getting 8 hours of sleep which is the first time since my 4 month old son was born!  That brings us up to today’s run which was really good as well.  I logged a little over 4 miles and felt like I could have tackled a little more if the terrain was flatter but I didn’t push it.  Didn’t have any shin pain today, so that is a relief.  It does go to show though how much difference a good nights sleep can make!

Next week school starts back  so there will be an additional challenge to finding time in the schedule to run. We have to leave the house by no later than8am to get my daughter to school so as long as I don’t hit the snooze button – I should be OK.  The week after next starts the actual 10 week program for the half marathon training with cross training on the off days.  It is going to get busier!

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This morning I used the heavy fog from the lake as a good excuse to sleep an extra 30 minutes and postpone my run.  I made it out the door to start my run right at 7.  I googled the issue with my iphone not playing through the playlist and just repeating the same song to infinity unless you manually forward it.  Found a couple of references that suggested turning off the “Shake to shuffle” feature – no dice!! Still won’t play through the list automatically.  C’Mon Apple – I am really disappointed in this last update – have to turn off 3g to keep battery from going dead by mid-day, no access to Google Voice, and to top it off the Ipod is messed up – not good!  As a side note, I also use the “IMapMyRun”  iPhone app and really like it other than when it crashes – which happened .92 miles into the run today – had to manually map the route online and enter the times to track it – not sure if that is an application issue or GPS issue.

As far as the run goes – today was about the same as Monday with the exception of soreness in my calves and shins.  Tried to really stretch again to avoid plantar fasciitis.  The hill 8/10 of a mile in really worked me over good again.  I did remember to set my breathing BEFORE half way up the hill this time and it really does help with endurance.  Once I made it to the decision point to either add another mile or head back – I opted to head back just to give myself enough time to ramp back up.

The excitement of the run today was when a car got close enough for me to feel the direct draft from it’s side mirrors as it passed me.  I saw it coming and was able to hit the ditch, but was really irritated since there was no other traffic in the right lane to keep them from moving over.   It still amazes me how many people do not yield(or even acknowledge and slow down) to runners and bikers.  Gold colored Jeep Liberty – I will be on the look out for you!  And next time I will make sure to watch for the license plate!

Finished up right at 3.10 miles in about 32 minutes – so not a fast pace, but again trying to make sure I ease back into running condition.  It is awesome the way you feel the rest of the day after you start out early with a run.

As far as gear, I have not ever really subscribed to all of the marketing hype of products aimed at specific sports.  However,  I do believe in spending the money on the appropriate gear to support your sport.  I used to run in the Asics GT2110 series and LOVED them – those shoes have since been traded down to yard work shoes and eventually made their way to the dumpster.  Since then I have tried the GT2120 – and was not all that impressed – wouldn’t seem that they would have gone that far off base in the next release but it was definately no GT2110.  I am now running in the Gel Numbus 10.  It is close to comfort that the GT2110 had – but not exact.  By the time I hit the half marathon, I will be in need of another pair of shoes.  I did some initial research on the Nimbus 11 and have seen several reviews that indicate it is not as comfortable as the Nimbus 10.  So I may end up trying to get a pair of the Nimbus 10 before they become scarce and putting them back until a few weeks before the race.  I have also added the moisture wicking socks.  Never used them until about 6 months ago when I found that on longer runs I was getting blisters on the arch of my feet due to the standard cotton socks bunching up.  The Asics socks have been a great addition as well.

Tomorrow will be another recovery day – will probably do weights again to keep the routine.

The day started a little later for me this morning.  Guess my two year old knew that I was going to be tired and sore and let me sleep in until 7am.  All in all not too bad, and not nearly as sore as I thought I would be.  Just a tinge of PF first thing this morning when I stepped out of bed but nothing that I am really worried about yet.  Mainly just a little soreness in the hips and thighs.

Did hit some core strength training this evening to keep a routine up for every day.  Tomorrow I will hit the road again and maybe push a little farther depending on how I feel once I get to the decision point.

As a side note – discovered Networkedblogs.com today that ties into Facebook – neat app that allow you to subscribe to multiple blogs and others to find yours more easily.  Worth taking a look at.  Also love the fact that WP has added the socialvibe widget to allow donations to charities of choice by simply clicking on the sponsors link – nothing out of pocket on your part to earn money for great causes – give it a shot!

Got to get to bed soon – early morning again tomorrow – lets hope the weather holds up.

It has always been a dream of mine to run in a marathon.  Dating all the way back to my high school days running track and countless 5K and even a few 10K runs, I have always aspired to run in a marathon.  So this year, I made it a goal to work a little closer to that marathon by completing my first half marathon.  So in January I searched online to see what halfs were in our area.  I found several but decided upon the Bass Pro Shops Half Marathon on November 1st.  Mainly because this would give me 10 months to prepare and the bonus is that the weather should be cool that time of year so no worries about heat affecting my ability to finish.  During the first part of the year in the late winter and early fall, I was averaging 2-3 runs per week and mileage grew to almost 7 miles at a time.  However I had been battling a reoccurring issue with Plantar Fasciitis, and eventually my runs got further and further apart.  So I ended up taking a couple of months off to give my heel some time to recover.  I have a dear friend from grade school that I am fortunate to be able to communicate with again and he has fought for years now with a obliterated ACL and most likely will never run again, so I can’t let a simple pain in the heel stop me from completing this.(Jeff you will be top of my mind every time I feel like complaining about my minor aches – wish we could push each other to complete this as a goal together)

This leads up to today.  I am 14 weeks out from the Bass Pro Half Marathon, and time is of the essence if I am going to meet this goal in this calendar year.  Thus – the creation on this blog to document my progress and to hopefully help keep me accountable to the goal of completing the run in November.  I have been utilizing a blog for my business for a while now, but never really thought about using it for personal use.   Hopefully for those that take the time to read it, it is not a waste of your time but for those of you that it does turn out to be a waste, accept my apologies upfront

5:30am – My two year old son is tugging on my arm in the darkness of our house saying in a very boisterous voice – MEEALK, MEEALK, MEEALK(translated – get up out of bed and get me my morning chocolate milk please).  I sit up confused for a moment wondering why it is still dark out and my son is grinning from ear to ear wanting to converse.  I get him to climb in bed with me and my wife hoping he will sleep for at least another hour(he is not a fan of snuggling with either one of us – no way – no how).  Lukily after 10 minutes of “Hi Daddeee” and no response he reluctantly lays down and does go to sleep – although a very restless sleep(He is very strong and has a very accurate kick for a two year old)

6:20am – after a couple of kicks I slide off the side of the bed hoping he will not wake up.  I am good for the time being and go get dressed for my first run in about 6 weeks.  When I return from getting dressed, he is sitting up in the bed grinning again and once again bellowing – MEEALK.  So I go ahead and make his chocolate milk and get my wife up to sit with him while I go run(Otherwise, he would unlock the door and follow behind me).

6:40am – finally dressed and out the door, with Iphone on, workout playlist selected(however have a really annoying bug since the last Iphone update in which songs in a playlist have to be manually forwarded or else the current one repeats to infinity) I do include about 5 minutes of stretches aimed at hopefully decreasing the chances of the Plantar Fasciitis from flaring up again.

6:45 – I hit the road for my typical run in our neighborhood.  My normal route is pretty good for the first 3/4 mile in that is has a few easy hills to get your blood pumping, but not so much that it overworks you to the point of being breathless.  I hit the 8/10 mile mark and this is the hardest part of my entire run – about a 100 foot climb in less than 1/10 of a mile.  After a few weeks of running this doesn’t hurt as bad, but after being off for numerous weeks – it kills me today.  By the time I top the hill my legs are BURNING almost as bad as my lungs are.  The next 2/10 of a mile include a small incline followed by a downhill route so I get to catch up a bit.  The next climb hits me at about the 1.4 mile mark and is not quite as bad as the first climb but enough to get me breathing heaving again.  I push up this climb and within another 5 minutes I am at the decision point – I can either turn and start my return trip or cross the intersection and go on for another segment that will add another mile to my trek.  Since the time off, I decide to go ahead and turn to start the return trip.  Going back is no where near as hard, but I am still breathing pretty heavily.  I am not sure if the humidity is affecting me some or if it is just the extended time off.  The rest of the trip is relatively easy until the last 1/10 mile.  Again a climb that takes it out of me and by the time I clear the top of the hill, I am at the 3 mile mark, out of breath, legs burning and sweating buckets.  Time to take a swim to cool off.

Now it is after midnight so technically I am actually starting the second day of my trek, but one thing is for sure – it is going to take a lot more running to get to the point that I can complete 13.1 in a single run.  But one of the things that I thought was really moving was the song in my playlist that played during the toughest climb of my run was “One More” by Superchick – talk about motivation – God I am one of those that has to have it spelled out for me to understand what you are saying and that was pretty plain.   That song is definitely going to help me along in this process.

Day one down – 96 days left!!  Tomorrow will be a rest day and hopefully I will not be too sore.  I will most likely do some strength training on my core as just about every article I read sings the praises of a strong core( I just wish someone would recognize the value of the round core).

Today was a great day. Yep, I am not lying, it really was. In the afternoon, Chantel, my brother’s girlfriend, accompanied by her brother picked me up to go to the mall and then another mall after that. We were there to shop for gifts for my brother, Brandon, who turns 21 today. She picked the funniest, cutest gifts! 21 packets of Ramen, 21 the movie, 21 Ferrero Roche (favorite chocolate), $21 gift cards to Old Navy & EMS (sports store), and a shot glass (commemorating his turning 21).

But I’m going to talk about two significant places today, Bass Pro & Five Guys. I went to these two places with Chantel, her brother, his girlfriend & her sister. Confusing, but I’d rather not reveal all their names. Anyhow, in Bass Pro, Chantel’s brother paid $2 for us to use the hunting game they provide inside.

HILARIOUS. Chantel cannot hunt, apparently, and cannot follow instructions too. Just kidding if you’re reading this, Chantel!

The instructions said do not shoot the doe but rather the buck. First shot is the doe. Her brother and I burst out into laughter. We laugh at her shooting birds that fly up even though I’m not really sure why we laughed. Maybe it’s because she couldn’t shoot them.

Just kidding, it was all in good fun. I don’t mean for any of this to malign her.

Next stop, Five Guys! Oh my goodness, burger heaven. No, really, it was delicious. But a guilty pleasure I must say!

I had a little cheeseburger (trying to be healthy) and tried to refuse fries. However, her brother and his girlfriend bought small fries that should not be called small at all. I could not refuse when I saw a gigantic pile of fries (from just one of the two small fries!) and ate and ate.

Now I sit here, regretting that somewhat.

Do I talk too much? Totally irrelevant but I love typing and realizing towards the end that nobody will probably finish reading this.

And for my brother’s birthday, check out this cake!

It’s hard not to want to be an outdoorsman when walking around the Bass Pro Shop.  With all the camouflage, stuffed deer and guns around you, only a man’s man gets respect walking through this store… and I am not one to fit the part.

Since it was raining all day today, we wanted to go somewhere we could take Hatch to get him out of the apartment and Bass Pro allows leashed dogs in the store.  Hatch did a pretty good job around all the kids and fake animals, one being a fake dog.

This Bass Pro was a lot bigger than the one in Savannah.  It’s a stand alone store in the middle of the woods.  Around the back it has a pond, picnic areas, and a hiking trail.  Hatch loved to be off the leash in the open area.

We also wanted to go check out the progress on the potential house and the Bass Pro is just a few minutes down the road from construction.  They’ve got the windows in and the framing is just about done.  They’re about to get started on the wiring.

To be honest, I’m still not totally sold on the house.  It’s definitely the right house for the price… my concern is completely the location.  I’m worried about resale and whether we’ll be happy being so far from Hoover and actual Birmingham.  This is certainly something we’ll be praying about this month.  We still have about six weeks until we’re fully committed to the house.

THE ADVOCATE reports, “Bass Pro Shops projects an attendance of 150,000 people for a 17-day event that begins late this month and extends into March at its Denham Springs store.”

Gear up to catch some Louisiana Fish.

UPDATE: A true patriot sent me this photo – PROOF that our Northern border is vulnerable to terrorist invasion!

My fellow Americans, if you’re like me, you’re so sick of politics you could puke up a kidney.

It’s like my TV’s got only one channel and it’s an Urkel marathon.

I just know the new Communist-in-Chief is coming to steal my guns and my rabbit ears and my brand new turkey deep fryer from Bass Pro. I’m so worked up, my doctor says I can’t write about politics for a while, dagnabbit.

So here’s something else that’s been burning my bunions. Remember that airplane that landed on the river in New York last week? They say a bunch of Canada geese flew into the engines and made it crash.

Now ladies and gentlemen, I still remember the good old days when geese flew south for the winter. What in blazes were they doing up north in the middle of January?

Well, do-gooders feed those damn geese in the park, that’s what! It’s downright unnatural. If those do-gooders hadn’t fed the geese, they would’ve flown down South like the Good Lord meant them too, and crashed some commie Cuban airplane instead of one of ours.

Now, I don’t care much for that weirdo mayor they’ve got in the Big Apple. But seeing as he loves banning everything, he should ban feeding geese in Central Park. It’s bad enough the damn dirty things crap Tootsie Roll turds all over the place. Now they’re crashing planes like the terrorist foreigners they are!

If Rudy the Great was still in charge, those freeloading, pooping-in-public Canada geese would’ve been shipped back to Canuckistan long ago!

Some folks say we should feed the geese to the homeless. Heck, I say: feed the homeless to the geese, then ship ‘em back to Draftdoger Central!

On Monday night, we took bb to see Santa. Bass Pro Shops has THE best Santa yet. He was wonderful — funny, loving, gentle, all that a Santa should be. Bb saw him, ran right to him (YAY! a total 180 from last year, where our family photo shows him with as huge of a mad unhappy face as is capturable on camera) and started to recite his list. With a few discreet nods from me, behind bb, Santa was able to nod appropriately to his requests. It went great! Dd also visited, and came away with a big smile on her face. (We followed it up with dinner at Isla Morado Fish Company, their restaurant. Shout out for good food!)

So, score one for this holiday season. PHEW.

Yesterday, while at training, I took my phone out on lunch break to see that there was a voicemail from my son’s school. Oh. No. Here I am, no closer than a 1.5 hour’s drive if traffic cooperates. I returned her call, and as always, she was wonderful. Ds had a bad moment on the playground, thought he was in trouble and had lost all his friends, so the teacher and principal together determined it was a good time to have him call me and see if that calmed him. Apparently, he visibly relaxed when she said he could call me, so she brought him back to the office and we talked. He was upset, but not where he had to go home, and our call made it even better. He happily went back to class, and while I was desperate to hug him, I was thrilled it was a successful resolution… but I did call dh to advise him to keep an ear out as I’d suggested they call dad if anything else happened during the remainder of the day. And that call never came, ds’s day ended up being fine, and he went into class today without any further upset. Score another one for the third to last day of the school year!