Happy 40ish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know who you are.

26 Things My Dog Is Afraid Of

1. Thunderstorms
2. Fireworks
3. Big Trucks
4. The Vacuum Cleaner
5. Hairdryers
6. Bicycles
7. Balloons
8. Parades
9. Chainsaws
10. Skateboards
11. Lawnmowers
12. Weedeaters
13. My Cell Phone
14. The Microwave
15. Jet Skis
16. Wooden Docks
17. Baths
18. Fly Swaters
19. Computer Printers
20. Camera Flashes
21. Tornado Sirens
22. The UPS Guy (or maybe she wants to eat him...it's hard to tell)
23. Blenders
24. Coffee Grinders
25. The Basement
26. And some unnamed thing tonight which may keep us both up all night.

The "New" Gang

This is what it looks like when the people you've been friends with since

you were children...have children.

(from left-Brenner, Pierce, Sam, Riley, Cohen, Jessica, Carter, Ashley and Kendall)

They ate every hot dog I cooked and most of the Popsicle's.

My Fence Project

This project has kept me busy for a few days...of course, I don't have any before pictures but...

Next...the front yard. Sigh...

Tour Of Missouri

I got a chance to see some world class cycling right here in KC. I saw the Tour Of Missouri as the riders rode west on 45 highway, crossing I-435 and then I met a friend in Parkville and watched them scream through on their way back to the Plaza.

Very Cool!!!

Here they are coming towards me as I stand on the I-435 overpass

looking east at 45 Highway.

It was a quick blur and they were by...fast.

I've always been amazed at the things the support teams do while

hanging out the window of a car!Here is the long line of team cars. We saw more of them than we did of the riders. A guy standing next to me remarked "I sure wouldn't go all the way to France to see that".

Here is the beginning of the big group as they come around the corner in Parkville.

I think that's George Hincapie there in the middle. (He's my favorite)
They zipped around the corner and were gone.

WOW!

ARGHHHHHHH

That's all really.

(oh yeah, the kids got in to the Head Of The Charles in Boston in October...YEAH!!!!!)

It's Only Been A Week...

Thanks to those of you who check back in hope that I'll post something already!

Just a few quick Tuesday thoughts:

1. Happy Birthday to my little sister - You are one of many great things that happened on September 11...don't let them take your day away.

2. God Bless this great country we live in. I love her with all her faults.

3. When you give your kid a new antibiotic, sleep lightly that first night. We ran a little guy the other night with a severe allergic reaction to a new antibiotic.

4. Trying to get 9 high school students to complete a task is a bit like training cats.

5. seems like there was more but I need to get showered and outta here...Petty Girls Do Lunch.

Why My Sister May Not Let Me Take My Nephews Anywhere Again...

How I Ended Up With Labor Day Weekend Off...I have No Idea

But I'm grabbing my stuff and heading to Arkansas.

Floating, porch sitting and some blissful rowing await me!

Have a great weekend!

9 Things Dispatchers Should Know

1. A dispatcher should be familiar with the address of the stations he/she dispatches.

2. A dispatcher should know that Greely is not pronounced "girly".

3. A dispatcher should understand that at 3am "pumper 7" and "pumper 17" sound quite the same when said at the beginning of the dispatch and not repeated. And not get snippy when called and asked "did you dispatch pumper 7 or pumper 17?"

4. A dispatcher should understand the difference between handheld radios and station speakers. (see post below)

5. A dispatcher should understand that when he/she talks on the phone to you over her head set you cannot hear her and when you ask her to repeat 17 times she might want to try the regular phone.

6. A dispatcher should understand the difference between Melody Ct and Melody Dr and not get snippy when you explain the difference....after all you are the one sitting in front of the house.

7. A dispatcher should understand the territory he/she dispatches well enough to understand that it is impossible for there to be a motor vehicle accident at the corner of two streets that run parallel to each other!

8. A dispatcher should understand why it is important to know if the accident on south bound 1-70 at 635 is east or west of 635 ...think about it.

9. A dispatcher should not need to know why you need PD on scene. If you're asking, you need them!

Sometimes My Job Is Great Fun

If you happen to drive in the 2400 block of south 55th, look for the little house on the east side...the little house that used to be yellow but now is black. 4:30 am "house fire for the following companies....." Yeah!!!

A new paramedic, on the job 3 weeks, her first fire. She's about 115 pounds and tough as nails. She was great and looked like she was having a blast. The guys on the crew I've been working with were great. I did okay if you don't count losing my radio...

We stayed on scene looking for it, came back to the station and looked some more. I called dispatch, explained that I'd misplaced my radio and asked if they would tone on tach 1 (the channel the radio was tuned to for fire operations). 30 seconds later we began hearing a tone over the station speakers.

I called back to clarify.
"Did you send a tone on tach 1? we heard a tone on the stations speakers"
"Yes, we toned the station speakers."
"Well...I didn't lose the station speakers, I lost my radio!"
After some conversation they toned tach 1 and we found my radio.
Quality employees....

But it was great fun to catch a house fire and mix it up a little.

Happy Birthday Aus!

This little darling turns 15 today!

Today Is My First Day Of "School"

Fall Rowing starts today!

My days of hanging around most of the afternoon, complaining about how hot it is...are over. Fall is here. The kids will be back at the lake today. I can't wait to see who I'll have for the Fall season. Many of the novice are returning as I've had emails from them. I've lost some of my varsity to graduation and one to the pressure of senior year. We have two new juniors coaches and things will be different. I'm anxious to get started and see what the season will bring!

For Comparison

August 1997
August 2007

1st Day

Funny, Very, Very Funny

It is not very often that things make me laugh out loud.
The Wooden Porch has a hysterical cat video today. If you have ever lived with a cat it's a don't miss!

PS AJ started kindergarten this morning! We had some camera issues (I forgot mine and Kim couldn't find her memory card) so I took some pics with the new I Phone. Will post some as soon as I figure out how.

Still Hot!

Well...that about says it all.

I'm not sure if the heat has sucked every ounce of creativity out of my brain or if the lack of fresh air is beginning to affect my personality.

I'd like to throw open the doors and windows and let the breezes in, sit on the front porch with my coffee and not sweat onto the keyboard of my laptop, drive my car with the windows down...I feel like a prisoner.

When I spend this much time locked in my house (and why is that...if the doors and windows are open nothing is locked but if the AC is on and the doors are shut, man, I've locked every lock I have...) When I spend this much time locked in my house everything starts to bug me.

I can't stand the tile in the bathroom. I need new blinds. I really do live like a college student. I haven't paid for any piece of furniture I have. Arghhh...I need to get out of here! Or I need to stop watching all of those redecorating/renovating shows.

I even think the dogs are a little stir crazy. Rescue seems to be making friends with the cats and Maggie goes out, comes in, goes out, comes in, goes out...see the problem...she doesn't want to be inside and once outside she realizes it's a bit like standing on the sun. But her memory is very short. Good thing she's cute.

Well...I Did It...Crazy, I Know.

My cell phone died and it seemed silly to spend $50-$100 on a phone I know I don't want only to buy this one eventually.

So... if I call you randomly and hang up it's because I haven't yet figured out how to use the dang thing and it seems to want to call everyone...even when I'm just trying to turn it off.

(and if I don't call you at all it's because when my cell died it took all my phone numbers with it!)

He Starts High School Tomorrow...Yikes.

Enough Already

It's 102 degrees...holy frying pan!