Their deck is a few feet up from the ground, so we piled the snow up, and covered the steps to make a sledding slope. We also packed down a “trail” across the length of the deck. The trail starts on top of some deck benches, traverses the deck, down the stairs, and across the yard. Enjoy the footage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I went to Boise for work on Wednesday afternoon, and flew back home this afternoon. As I walked onto the plane, and scanned those already seated, I happened to see the current (D) US Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden. No autographs this time, but I did have to smile when I saw him talking on his iPhone

Link [via Addison Road]

[tags]Rube Goldberg[/tags]

1. We bought a house, as I mentioned here. With home ownership comes the responsibilities of a home owner…like managing a lawn, cleaning windows, and having a pet We got us a kitty, which you can see here. His name is Orley, named in memory of New Orleans. He was born on June 15.
2. As of today the Red Sox lead the AL East by 1.5 games. It is definitely going to be another intense September.
3. Microsoft has decided to release seven — yes seven — versions of it’s next operating system named Vista. Talk about mass consumer confusion just waiting to happen. Seriously, release three version at most: Basic, Intermediate, and Professional. The MS-hater in me believes this is their way to appease anti-trust people. “See, we offer a stripped down version, but no one wants to buy it.”
4. Judah turned one. Check out the photos here.
5. I’m playing my first season of Fantasy Football. It’s kinda fun. I think I’ve got a pretty good team. My #1 QB is Carson Palmer, and he is having a monster year so far.
6. A co-worker and I are starting to develop a professional website for Christian admissions professionals. We are trying to nail down the intent and scope of the site, as well as finding a software package that will meet the intent and scope that we decide upon Right now I’m toying around with tikiwiki. I just need to find a way to make it look less “geeky”.
7. Work is keeping me ever busy. I was commenting to Aj that I don’t remember feeling this busy last year. She pointed out that last year I was still learning my job, and this year I’m doing my job. Plus I think I have more responsibility this year, including having more people to supervise, which takes up more of my time.

Ok, I think that does a fairly decent job of letting you know where I’m at. Let the next week begin.

One place we’d ride to was Rocky Butte. Up on top of the butte is a man-made lookout area where you can see up the Columbia River Gorge and gaze at Downtown Portland. And due to the closeness of Portland International Airport you can watch as planes come and go. Being so franticly hyperactive I’d ride on ahead and eventually stop and wait for the slow-pokes to catch up. By the time my mom would show up I’d be rested and ready to go again, so I’d take off. She didn’t like that too much

Another ride we would take is along (and sometimes in the middle of) I-205 from Portland, OR, to Vancouver, WA. The trip to Vancouver is tiring because the bridge is mostly uphill as you go North, but that makes the trip home that much more fun as you can fly downhill going South. It was mildly scarey with all of that traffic going by on both sides of you, but with all of the barriers you totally feel safe.

So, sometime in the next 3-4 years I’ll need to get a bike. I somehow don’t think I’ll be riding through muddy baseball fields this time around, but I’ll be waiting with a hose to spray Judah off when he does…just like my dad did for me.

I had enough energy for two people growing up, and I used it every ounce of it. I was always moving around, had to be running around doing something. If I was a kid now I probably would have been on Ritalin. I was also blessed with coordination and athletic ability, so participation in sports was a very natural and healthy outlet for me.

After spending a couple of summers playing in the dirt while my older sister played softball it was my turn to start playing t-ball. Being ADHD I was one of those kids that wasn’t too focused on the game. I was that kid in the field pretending to make the amazing catch and throw to get the guy out at the plate. I was pretending to make that amazing strikeout pitch to win the game.

Fast-forward a couple of years and I’m playing “real” baseball. I remember the field I was on at Gregory Heights Middle School. I remember I was playing second base. No outs, runners on first and second. The batter hits a pop-up to me, but the runners don’t tag up they just take off running! So, I catch the ball, step on second, and — rather than touching the runner from first or throwing to the first baseman (apparently I didn’t trust him to catch it) — I ran and stepped on first. Triple play, all by myself!

Jump to sophomore year of high school. I’m playing on the JV team. Correction, I’m sitting on the JV bench because the coach won’t put me in. I’m not a bad player. I can field the ball well. I’m smart on the base paths. I’m timid at the plate, and only get 7 at bats the entire season. I was so frustrated with my level of participation that I quit with only a few weeks left.

It’s been 11 years since then. I’m back on the diamond fielding grounders, making good — and bad — throws to first. I’m back on the dirt that I was playing in 20+ years ago. I’m happy.