A Family Runs Through It

The Disneyland Flu

2009-11-20T00:48:00.000-08:00

I'm still processing our recent trip to Disneyland and Southern California, both mentally and photographically.

Thank goodness for those photos, because a big chunk of our vacation feels like a hazy memory right now.

I blame the media.

I had planned this trip a year ago, and saved up for it even longer, but in the months and weeks leading up to our departure it started to feel like there was a conspiracy to stress me out with scary news stories about swine flu.

It sounded almost inevitable that our trip would be ruined somehow, either on the plane surrounded by coughing passengers, or in the park where every surface we touched might contain the next deadly strain of H1N1.

The people I talked to never said, "Have a good time!" Instead, it was, "Be careful! Wear a mask and gloves on the plane, guzzle vitamins, carry hand sanitizer in your pockets. There's an EPIDEMIC, you know!"

So, rather than relax and enjoy the family having fun in Disneyland, I spent most of our first few days there with one recurring thought playing loudly in my head, "Don't get sick, don't get sick, don't ANYBODY GET SICK!"

And it wasn't necessarily because I'm afraid of the flu. No, my main concern was all those non-refundable tickets I had purchased ahead of time. Tickets for Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo, and Universal Studios. Not to mention Alaska Airlines.

But you know what? As with most good vacations, my mind began to clear after about three days. It was on our fourth day, at Universal Studios, that I stopped gritting my teeth and actually thought, "Hey, we're having fun."

I hope to share some of the experiences we had on what has now been deemed The Really Big Family Trip To Southern California. Hey, with well over a thousand photos, you didn't think I'd post a few here?

For now, I just want to give some advice to parents planning their next big family vacation.

Learn to stop worrying. Everything will be fine. You are all going to have fun.

That needs to be your mantra if you want to enjoy your time with the family.

I'll get it right on the next trip.

Are You Smarter Than A 2nd Grader?

2009-11-17T23:58:00.000-08:00

Six months later, I'm finally posting that test I made last May to wrap up my daughter's homeschooling year.

It's an assortment of 50 questions from most of the topics she studied.

Sample questions:

What is the past tense of the verb "are"?

Who was the first King of the Franks?

As I recall, my daughter missed 4 questions.

See if you're smarter than a second grader:

Idaho Dad's 2nd Grade Super Test Printable PDF

And here are the answers:

Idaho Dad's 2nd Grade Super Test ANSWERS Printable PDF

Also, don't forget to check out my previous Super Tests:

Are You Smarter Than A 4th Grader?

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

True Blue Giveaway

2009-11-15T17:12:00.001-08:00

I must confess that I had never read any David Baldacci before his publisher sent me a copy of his new novel, True Blue.

Oh, his name was familiar. Baldacci is a best-selling writer of mostly political and legal thrillers. I'd seen the Clint Eastwood movie, Absolute Power, based on Baldacci's first novel.

Whenever I start a new novel, it's almost always slow going at first as I become familiar with the characters and setting. Not so with True Blue. It hooked me right from the beginning with a blindside murder that had me quickly turning pages.

The twists and turns in this story come fast and furious, with some that border on unbelievability. But what would a good thriller be without a few head scratching scenes?

Basically, the story is about an ex-cop who tries to regain a spot on the police force by solving a murder, only to get caught up in a complex political conspiracy. To say more would lead to spoilers.

I don't know what Baldacci's other books are like, but in this one he seems to be writing specifically for busy people. His chapters are incredibly short, most topping out at just three or four pages.

These quick bursts of action are perfect for multi-tasking stay-at-home moms and dads who need a little break from reality throughout the day. I could read a chapter here and there, in between household chores or while waiting for a homeschool lesson to be completed.

True Blue is a fun, exciting read, and it impressed me enough to hunt for the rest of his books.

Hachette Books sent me an extra copy to give away to one of my readers, so if you live in the US and would like to receive David Baldacci's new hardcover novel, True Blue, simply leave a comment on this post, with a way to reach you. I'll pick a winner next weekend.

Vacation and Voting

2009-11-13T02:09:00.000-08:00

This past week we've been on a little family vacation to sunny Southern California.

We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and the San Diego Zoo.

Okay, so maybe that's not a "little" vacation.

Certainly not with 1,458 photos to sort through. I guess I'm going to be busy cropping and editing for awhile.

While we were gone, somebody nominated my blog for a 2009 Homeschool Blog Award, as "Best Homeschool Dad."

If you'd like to vote for me, just click on over to the Best Homeschool Dad Blog page and select A Family Runs Through It.

Thanks!

In the meantime, I'm heading back to Picasa to continue sorting through our vacation memories.

Like this one, when the rhino tried to eat my wife's hand:

Circle Time

2009-11-09T03:03:00.000-08:00

Another post I found in my archives. From four years ago:

My 4-year-old daughter was running around and around the kitchen island while I was cooking dinner tonight. After the tenth circle, I reached out and grabbed her, lifted her high and asked, "What in the world are you doing?!"

She replied in an exasperated tone: "I'm exercising... Put me down, you're making me fat!"

Where's The Fire?

2009-11-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

I still enjoy seeing the little Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars spread all over the house.

It means they're being played with and loved.

And my kids' imaginations are being stoked by a little piece of plastic and metal, like this yellow firetruck I found on the living room window sill.

It does a father's heart good to see evidence of the magical wonderment of childhood play.

Of course, I take it all back when I step on one in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom.

Then I curse the devilish things to hell where they belong.

Life-Changing Music

2009-11-04T00:42:00.000-08:00

Another fun post from the archives. Back in 2005, in response to a challenge by Shotgun Daddy, I made a list of my ten "life-changing" albums:

1. The Banana Splits
The first album that I can remember owning. I still have it somewhere. There was nothing better than sitting my 5-year-old self down in front of the TV on Saturday morning and watching hour upon hour of mindless entertainment. Fleegle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky were my favorites. The music was pure bubblegum pop.

2. An Evening With John Denver
This was the only cassette tape my mom seemed to own, and we listened to it endlessly in her car. The song "Grandma's Feather Bed" scared me a little bit because I had no idea why all those people were sleeping in the same bed.

3. The Beatles 1967-1970
This is where my life got good, musically speaking. I found this on the shelf of my brother's room after my mom took me to see the stage show Beatlemania. This is probably the most important album in my life simply because it opened up a whole new world of music to me. Everything started with The Beatles.

4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack
The very first album that I purchased with my own money. I was quite proud of myself, but it didn't take long for me to realize how lame these cover versions were. Except for Steve Martin's take on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" the songs on here are forgettable. But I'll always remember it as the beginning of a very expensive music habit.

5. The Knack - Get The Knack
"My Sharona" was my first experience with a monster radio hit that everyone got excited about. I heard it at summer camp and knew instantly what it meant for a song to have a killer hook.

6. Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
This album got me out of my Beatles rut. And it was the soundtrack to the beginning of real life (those years after high school).

7. R.E.M. - Murmur
This one got me through college and the suicide of a friend. R.E.M. taught me that music can reflect emotions.

8. The Proclaimers - "Sunshine On Leith"
The soundtrack to courting my wife. "When I come home, oh I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you. And if I grow old, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you."

9. Crowded House - "Woodface"
This one represents the first part of our marriage, the eight years we had before the kids came along. And it was just so great to have Tim and Neil Finn back together again. "Weather With You" is my idea of the perfect pop song.

10. XTC - "Apple Venus"
XTC took seven years to release a new album, and when they finally got back into the studio they created a thing of beauty. My wife and I also waited a long time to create something wonderful. I remember holding my baby son in my arms while listening to the first notes of River of Orchids (which my son now calls "the drip-drop song"). A perfect moment, a perfect album. The soundtrack to the rest of my life.

Let me know if any of these albums hold special memories for you. It would be nice to see other mom and dad bloggers reminisce about the music in their lives.

Origins of Homeschooling

2009-11-02T00:57:00.000-08:00

Browsing back through my blog archives, I found a post from 2005 that reminded me why we started thinking about homeschooling in the first place.

It was a conversation I had with my son, who was in the second grade at the time:

Me: "Did you go to the library today?"
Him: "Yes, I found a Bailey School Kids book!"
Me: "Cool. You can read it tonight."
Him: "No, I already read it."
Me: "What? When?"
Him: "Today, during my free time."
Me: "Exactly how much free time do you have that you could read an 80-page chapter book in one afternoon?"
Him: "Lots."
Me: "And what is the teacher doing during all this free time?"
Him: "Making sure we're quiet."
Me: "Uh-huh, are you sure she's not doing her nails or taking a nap or something?"
Him: "No, she helps the kids who need help, and the rest of us have free time."

Zombies In The Mist

2009-10-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

The zombies were out and about at Silverwood Theme Park. Or, Scarywood, as they've been calling it this month.

Zombies gotta eat!

There were evil scarecrows as well.

The only escape was on the Midfright Express!

You all have a safe and happy Halloween. Remember that kids are smarter than you think, so be very careful when raiding their candy bags later that night.

Boarded Up

2009-10-28T01:39:00.000-07:00

My 8-year-old daughter announced that she wants a skateboard for Christmas.

My response: "Absolutely not, never in a million years, just get over it."

She already has a bike, a scooter, and a pair of roller skates.

Enough is enough.

Am I wrong?

The Singing Lizard

2009-10-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

A singing lizard?

Yeah, I thought the same thing. This is going to be like the singing chipmunks, or that dancing hamster.

But the lizard in question turns out to be Liz DeRoche, a talented singer/songwriter who has released her first children's CD, titled Alphabeat.

Her debut is aimed right at preschool to early elementary kids, so it's full of simple, easy-to-understand lyrics set to fun and bouncy music.

That could describe any number of cloyingly cute kids artists, but not The Singing Lizard. The difference with her sound is that it's a grown-up piano-based pop that would not be out of place on the radio next to such singers as Leslie Feist and Regina Spektor.

Liz gets that you don't have to sing down to kids. She takes classic songs like "Row Row Row Your Boat," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Old MacDonald" and makes them contemporary and fresh.

Along with plenty of original songs, Alphabeat makes for an incredibly fun listen for kids and parents alike. It definitely receives my highest recommendation, along with that of my 8-year-old daughter who thought she was too old for songs about the alphabet and numbers, but changed her mind after hearing The Singing Lizard sing about them.

I'm also happy to be able to offer a free giveaway of this album, only this time it's in a digital form for easy downloading to your computer or mp3 player. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite kids song.

I'll pick a winner at the end of the week, who will then need to send me their email address for a special download link from The Singing Lizard herself.

In the meantime, visit her site to listen to tracks from Alphabeat.

Watching The Wheels

2009-10-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

We spent most of Saturday at Silverwood, taking one last spin on the roller coasters and ferris wheels before they close for the winter.

After seven years of holding season passes, we're taking the next year off.

It's partly an economic decision. Things are tight all over, and this is one expense we can easily control.

As I was watching the giant ferris wheel, its colorful neon lights spinning dizzily in the night, I was struck by the thought that I've been "watching the wheels go 'round and 'round," as John Lennon sang, for quite some time.

Not a complaint, just an observation.

And a reminder that sometimes it's a good thing to start those wheels spinning in a different direction.

Making changes in your life as a reaction to economic worries can be a good thing. It can force you to try new, cheaper alternatives to things you've become accustomed to over the years.

Maybe they won't be as colorful and breathtaking, but we're all looking forward to discovering a few new "wheels" to watch in the coming year. I think they'll take us in some exciting directions.

Are you making any changes in your family's life because of the economy?

Standards

2009-10-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I have ridiculously high standards for my kids.

Well, actually, I only feel that way after talking to other parents, where the popular sentiment seems to be a hands-off, que sera sera approach.

And I can understand why they feel that way. For the most part, their kids are out of their control. They've been put into the hands of the public school system, where standards for learning and behavior are decidedly on the low side.

High standards would ultimately hurt someone's feelings, you know. And that just isn't very nice.

Because my kids are homeschooled, I can get away with telling them to always do their best. In everything they do.

My kids can never get away with not putting in their best effort, because I know them so well. That's what comes with investing so much of my time in them. Over the years, I've learned exactly what talents they have, and what they are capable of doing.

So, when they're being lazy, or holding back, I say something.

Because the worst thing I could let them do is grow accustomed to doing a half-assed job on school work, chores, sports, or hobbies. If they get away with that enough times, then that is where they will set the bar for themselves.

And I absolutely know that once the bar is set low, it'll be a long and painful undertaking to move it higher.

So, yes, I have high standards for my kids. Because they need to have high standards for themselves.

That's not ridiculous, is it?

And The Winner Is...

2009-10-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I announced a contest to give away all five CDs from kids' singer Eric Herman.

18 of you left a comment to win the discs. I wish I could send free CDs to all of you, but that might be asking a bit too much of Eric, who generously donated these five to be given away to one of my readers.

Eric's an awesome musician, and has been a good friend to my family over the years. I highly recommend that you seek out his CDs at Amazon, iTunes, or through his own website.

Anyway, a quick visit to the Random Number Generator revealed the winner as...

(drumroll, please)

The one person I thought wouldn't win, because he never wins anything on my blog.

Dan, you actually won!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting quite a few children's CD reviews, along with a number of accompanying giveaways.

So, stay tuned for more tunes!

Talking To Myself

2009-10-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

I know my son isn't deaf. He hears very well, in fact.

But there are certain things I say to him, on an almost daily basis, that he seems to be unable to hear and process. It's like I'm just talking to myself.

However, I continue to say these things, repeating them like a hypnotic mantra, and hoping that, one day, maybe, the words will get through to his brain.

Here are five of them:

1. "Don't eat like a dog."

No matter what type of food is on his plate, he inevitably ends up scraping most of it off the edge and into his mouth, with his chin planted firmly on the table. He's not fond of dogs, so I think maybe that example will dissuade him from such bad manners. He says it's easier to eat this way, and it gets him to dessert so much faster.

2. "Hang up your t-shirts."

I fold them, stack them, and leave them on his bed. And they always end up in a pile on his closet floor. They only get picked up to be worn, then tossed back into the hamper at the end of the day. And the cycle continues.

3. "Stop hitting your sister."

This is the one that perplexes me the most. If I asked my son to give his sister a hug, he would make a face, pretend to gag, then say, "Yuck, I don't want to touch her!" And yet, there seems to be no better fun than for the two of them to poke, slap, tickle, and hit each other.

4. "Turn off the light and go to sleep."

My son has no problem getting into his bed, but he will read all night if I don't remind him to stop. I don't mind this one so much, because it's good that he loves to read. I just don't like to hear all the yawning the next day. I do enough of that myself.

5. "Come here."

Such simple words. You wouldn't think anyone would have trouble understanding them. So, why do I have to repeat them five times when I need my son to come to where I am? After the fifth repetition, when my voice has gone up in volume considerably, he will then break his trance to ask, "What do you want?" When he finally does hear me, he still doesn't understand. So I have to rephrase the statement with specific directions and definitions. "I, your dad, need you, the person I'm speaking to, to get up off the couch, walk into the kitchen, stand in the general vicinity of my location, and receive special instructions concerning a chore or activity." By that time I'm usually too tired to remember why I wanted him to come there in the first place.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

A whimsical little fish makes a break for it, outside the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, in Spokane, Washington.

The Eric Herman Giveaway

2009-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not giving away the singer.

But I do have all five of Eric Herman's wonderful kids' CDs to send to one lucky reader.

Eric has had an amazing run of albums, from his first disc back in 2003, The Kid In The Mirror, that struck gold with the now classic "The Elephant Song," all the way to this year's What A Ride.

Four of his five CDs feature kid-pleasing pop with a humorous bent, while the other is a mellow mix of lullabies and soft sounds.

In this giveaway, you'll receive the following CDs:

The Kid In The Mirror
Monkey Business
Snow Day
Snail's Pace
What A Ride

So, if you've got kids who love music, or need to learn to love music, just leave a comment telling me how much you want to win these Eric Herman CDs. I'll pick a winner at the end of the week. And, yes, this contest is open to all countries.

The King of Blogs

2009-10-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to finally meet a fellow dad blogger last month.

And when I decide to do something like that, I go all out.

Whit Honea is the hardest working blogger in the business, a veritable King of Blogs. His parenting blog, The Honea Express, has long been an inspiration to me, as well as an incredible resource for insights into this strange and wonderful thing called fatherhood.

But that's just one of many sites where you can find Whit's dazzling prose. He's one of those rare bloggers who has discovered how to make a living at this. You can find him here, and here, and here for example.

While I'm lamenting the fact that I haven't written anything remotely interesting for weeks, Whit's knocking out a dozen or more blog posts a day. He's like Superman, able to leap over writer's block in a single bound.

So you can imagine how disappointing it was for me to meet him and his family for dinner at a seafood place in Seattle.

Because it turns out that Whit is just a normal guy.

When he walked into the restaurant, the only entourage I could spot was his wife and kids.

He signed no autographs and flashed no bling.

And throughout our meal, not once did he text, email, or make mental notes. For two hours he was not a writing machine.

He just sat and talked dad talk with me.

So, my disappointment was relief. My first meeting with a fellow dad blogger was a pleasant success, an affirmation that the circle of men who write about being fathers is hands-down the most valuable resource I have for being good at my job.

Whit, thanks for the evening of grown-up talk. Oh, and thanks for not tugging on my beard.

The King and I

Growing Up Too Fast

2009-10-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

"Experts said that by age six, girls needed branded clothes, at seven they wanted styled hair, by eight they were beginning diets, at nine they were styling their hair and by early teens were engaging in sex or sending sexually explicit text messages."

So says a news article by Gemma Jones and Clementine Cuneo that appeared in The Daily Telegraph, out of Sydney, Australia.

Either this is just an Australian phenomenon or my family is severely isolated, because I'm not seeing this in my 8-year-old daughter or her friends.

To my eyes, they seem like normal little girls. No make-up, fashion talk, fancy hair, or cell phones.

You might now be shaking your head and saying, "Poor naive homeschooling dad, he doesn't know what it's like out there."

Because my kids are homeschooled, and I'm out of touch with what goes on in the public schools these past few years.

And we don't have cable or satellite channels beaming TV commercials into our subconscious.

Yes, it's true, there are certain negative influences missing from our lives.

But I'd like to think that it's not just my kids who are growing up at their own natural and age-appropriate pace.

I'd like to think that other little girls my daughter's age are still coloring pictures of butterflies, cuddling on the couch with their pet cat, reading stories of pioneer girls, and running through the park just to feel the wind in their hair.

Please tell me that article is just some weird social anomaly unique to the other side of the world, and that I don't have to worry about my kids growing up too fast.

If you want to tell me otherwise, maybe it's best that I just don't know.

A Diagnosis For Her Little Girl

2009-10-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

A guest post, of sorts, from Kevin at Always Home and Uncool. I've been reading his blog for quite awhile, and wanted to repost this important message from him to raise awareness about juvenile myositis, a rare autoimmune disease that his daughter was diagnosed with on this day seven years ago. The day also happens to be his wife’s birthday.

Please take a few minutes to read Kevin's words:

Our pediatrician admitted it early on.

The rash on our 2-year-old daughter’s cheeks, joints and legs was something he’d never seen before.

The next doctor wouldn’t admit to not knowing.

He rattled off the names of several skins conditions — none of them seemingly worth his time or bedside manner — then quickly prescribed antibiotics and showed us the door.

The third doctor admitted she didn’t know much.

The biopsy of the chunk of skin she had removed from our daughter’s knee showed signs of an “allergic reaction” even though we had ruled out every allergy source — obvious and otherwise — that we could.

The fourth doctor had barely closed the door behind her when, looking at the limp blonde cherub in my lap, she admitted she had seen this before. At least one too many times before.

She brought in a gaggle of med students. She pointed out each of the physical symptoms in our daughter:

The rash across her face and temples resembling the silhouette of a butterfly.

The purple-brown spots and smears, called heliotrope, on her eyelids.

The reddish alligator-like skin, known as Gottron papules, covering the knuckles of her hands.

The onset of crippling muscle weakness in her legs and upper body.

She then had an assistant bring in a handful of pages photocopied from an old medical textbook. She handed them to my wife, whose birthday it happened to be that day.

This was her gift — a diagnosis for her little girl.

That was seven years ago — Oct. 2, 2002 — the day our daughter was found to have juvenile dermatomyositis, one of a family of rare autoimmune diseases that can have debilitating and even fatal consequences when not treated quickly and effectively.

Our daughter’s first year with the disease consisted of surgical procedures, intravenous infusions, staph infections, pulmonary treatments and worry. Her muscles were too weak for her to walk or swallow solid food for several months. When not in the hospital, she sat on our living room couch, propped up by pillows so she wouldn’t tip over, as medicine or nourishment dripped from a bag into her body.

Our daughter, Thing 1, Megan, now age 9, remembers little of that today when she dances or sings or plays soccer. All that remain with her are scars, six to be exact, and the array of pills she takes twice a day to help keep the disease at bay.

What would have happened if it took us more than two months and four doctors before we lucked into someone who could piece all the symptoms together? I don’t know.

I do know that the fourth doctor, the one who brought in others to see our daughter’s condition so they could easily recognize it if they ever had the misfortune to be presented with it again, was a step toward making sure other parents also never have to find out.

That, too, is my purpose today.

It is also my birthday gift to my wife, My Love, Rhonda, for all you have done these past seven years to make others aware of juvenile myositis diseases and help find a cure for them once and for all.

To read more about children and families affected by juvenile myositis diseases, visit Cure JM Foundation at www.curejm.org.

To make a tax-deductible donation toward JM research, go to www.firstgiving.com/rhondaandkevinmckeever or www.curejm.com/team/donations.htm.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-30T18:00:00.001-07:00

One of the joys of homeschooling.

Not for the cat, obviously.

The Watcher in the Woods

2009-09-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

Strange experience at my son's soccer practice this evening.

Shortly after arriving, I took my place on a nearby grassy hill along with the other parents.

Along one side of the soccer field is a forested area. I soon noticed that there was a man in the woods, leaning against a tree, watching the field.

I didn't think much of it, as there were five or six practices going on all over the field, and parents are all around the perimeter watching their kids.

Sure enough, next time I glanced that way the man was gone.

That's when another parent noticed the man was now lying face-down on the grass, sniper-like, behind a low hill at the edge of the field, aiming a camera with telephoto lens at our kids.

Alarm bells went off in everyone's head, so one of the dads got up and walked over to find out what the man was doing.

The man showed the dad the pictures on his camera, then whipped out his wallet to show some ID.

Turns out the man works for the ATF and was investigating someone on the far side of the field, where a parks & rec football team was practicing.

He didn't say if it was a player or a parent.

Kind of freaky, but at least he wasn't some pervert taking pictures.

However, a note to all ATF investigators: You'll probably have an easier time gathering information if you don't disguise yourself as a pervert taking pictures.

Oh, and I hope I didn't just blow your secret investigation.

Imperial Bedroom

2009-09-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

She wanted a pink bedroom, so I bought pink paint.

Then she wanted a purple bedroom, so I bought purple paint.

Then she wanted both, so I gave her a two-tone room, with opposite walls of each color.

Then she wanted a real bed instead of just a mattress and box spring, so we searched all over town, and the next town, and the town beyond that, and finally found a beautiful, solid bed with a trundle drawer underneath where she could keep her Webkinz menagerie.

Then she wanted a set of shelves, like her brother's, where she could stack her books and display her trophies and trinkets. So we drove 300 miles to IKEA and found a set that just happened to match her bed perfectly.

And after all of that - the paint, the bed, and the shelves - her new room was finally ready for her by the end of summer.

And she wanted none of it.

We're back to her climbing into our bed at all hours of the night, telling us, "My bedroom makes me sick."

Yes, for all the time and money we spent on that room, it kind of makes me sick too.

The Short Walk

2009-09-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm getting emails from people who think I've gone insane.

They ask, "Why would you leave your family for months and months to walk across the country?"

I should've been more specific.

It will take me only six days to walk across the country.

Oh. Maybe I should be even more specific.

Because you didn't really think... What? You did? I mean, seriously? You thought I was going to walk across the United States? Now that would be crazy on my part.

You know, the last guy that did that ended up divorced. Yikes!

No, my intention is to traverse the width of a very thin country. Chile, Panama, and New Zealand looked attractive. Italy and Portugal were certainly candidates.

But the invite came from my blogger friend Dan, to join him next summer on a week-long trek across England, following the path of Hadrian's Wall from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway. All in the name of a wonderful children's charity, which I'll discuss at a later date.

Coast to coast. 84 miles in six days.

I can do that. I hope.

One big thing I need to get done over the next ten months is to get in shape. Hikes of around 15 miles each day demand some stamina, and I'm told by Dan that anyone lagging behind on the trail will have to bed down for the night in some ancient Roman latrine.

So, that's my big adventure. Not as big as you thought. Sorry about that.

But still, quite exciting for me. Like I said before, a big step out of my comfort zone.

The Long Walk

2009-09-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

I've made a big decision to go for a long walk.

Next summer I'll leave my wife and children, and my long-occupied comfort zone, to embark on a personal odyssey.

I will be walking across the country.

From one coast to the other.

For charity, for myself, and for whoever wants to live vicariously through my journey.

I have a new pair of sturdy boots, in which training has already begun.

Soon I'll be looking for sponsors to help me raise some money for a good cause.

More details in the months to come!