School starts, someone turns 30, and the beer is good.

School started for the kids and you know what that means. Back to school shopping, homework, enforced bedtimes, all sorts of fun! Kay-la has opted into the G.E.D. program and is already ready to test on 4 of 6 subjects. Noah is starting to really take off with his reading skills. He's found that he can read books all on his own if he just pays close attention to what the words REALLY are.

My 30th bday just passed and it was a BLAST! We had a number of folks over to help me celebrate and the party went into the wee morning hours. Thankfully we warned the neighbors and let them know that if we were too loud we would like them to let us know....not that we where loud, but we did go pretty late!

Several Updates rolled into one!

We bought a new camera so expect to see quite a few more photos soon!

T.e.d.'s 30th bday is coming up soon and we'll be holding a Hancock and balls party. Basically its a go watch Hancock (new Will Smith superhero movie) and then finish out the night bowling at lava lanes.

My 30th is coming up in a few months, still not sure what to do to celebrate that, but it'll be themed Beer:30.

Front yard finally got all the weeds pull, now its time to lay down new top soil and build up. The somewhat final concept is "xeriscaping" or "no grass and hearty plants". Really looking forward to that.

Shannon is planning on moving to Portland in Sept., Kay-la is headed to Job Corp in (Likely) late summer, noah isn't back until 4 weeks, I head off to the O.B.F. in 3.5 weeks

Jenn is still wondering where her Kitchen Aide is and she is going to have to keep wondering for awhile, since there isn't another good gift giving holiday until Halloween.... "Trick or Treat"....(kerplunk)..."Gee thanks!"

Lastly, the weather is kinda tough today. Lots of dry lightening over the week has spark over a thousand wild fires in N. CA and all the smoke is drifting north in to the valley here. So, its very hazy today.

Job Corps

We attended an orientation meeting with Kay-la yesterday for Job Corp. Everything has gone pretty well so far. She seems excited about it, which means that she will likely stick to the plan and do well. What struck me as odd is that she was very much like all the other students there, as far as academic and social circles goes. Guess that means that this is a good idea for her. We've been pushing her to go for awhile now and I'm glad that she finally decided that this is the next step for her to take.

Spring Term update

Man it been awhile since I posted on here! Well, I am just about to start classes for my MCSA and am going to test for my A+ certification so I've been busy studying. Other then that I have been fighting my Media Center PC. Its been randomly rebooting. Thought it might be an update issue, but wasn't. So, I tore it apart, cleaned it up, reinstalled a lot of stuff, uninstalled all the unneeded apps and what not, and it was still rebooting. Finally, I just wiped the hard drive and upgraded to Vista....still not sure if that was a good idea or not 'cause now I have a whole different set of problems :)

On the kid front, Noah is back in soccer now. I'm not sure how much he is enjoying himself. I suspect he would rather stay home and play video games or go out and play with friends. Kay-la is back home with us now. Seems to be that her time away from home was somewhat beneficial. Its been a week now and she willingly cleans up when asked, and often with out being asked at all.

I've been brewing a lot of beer for the last year or so and have been brewing "all grain" since the start of the year. All grain brewing is when you start with just malted wheat and barley, not using the syrupy malt extract. Takes a lot more time, but gives you a lot more control over the final project. About Oct of last year, I joined a newly formed brew club which has been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of fun people.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up on posting here. I've also decided to start a new beer related blog, Everyday Drinking, though so far haven't been able to post much, lol. My hope is that each weekend I can post there what I have been drinking (along with photos, description, availiblity, etc.), and write about the local beer scene and any beer related events coming up.

At this time I am planning on going to the Oregon Brewer's Festival, and Hop Madness, and my 30th birthday is just bout 6 months away. Expect to hear more details soon about the party to beat all parties!

Whats up with us?

Molly update: She came home after 8 days in the doggy E.R. and was put on a Malox and baby food diet. Apparently, she got a virus call the Corona Virus, which is a puppy bug that causes lethargy and loose stool. Then she ate something that is highly toxic to dogs (I suspect my hops the I dump in the compost after I brew my beer). The combination was so tough on her that her imune system couldn't fight the virus and it rampaged through her. So, 8 days and 900$ later, she is a perky little pup of 2 years again.

Jenn update: She is working a job that she doesn't like but she likes working....if that makes since. She was a stay at home mom for a year and a half but she got tired of cleaning up after our lazy butts. So she went and got a job.

T.E.D. update: He has Halo 3 now....

Kay-la update: Started her second year of high school a few weeks ago and went to her first dance of the year. So far so good!

Noah update: He has made some friends in the neighborhood that are rowdy little boys. Normally I wouldn't like this, except that Noah is kinda shy and needs some kids like this to bring him out of his shell....hopefully this wouldn't back fire and make Noah a rowdy little boy....

Chris update: Got my Kegerator up and running. Its a dual tap system with a 10lbs c02 tank. One tap is a Sanky (for commercial kegs) and one is for home brew. Right now I have a Kolsh from Wild River and my Belgium Golden Strong ale on tap. Work has been tough since its "back to school time" and everyone needs their problems fixed yesterday.

Summer Blogging

Well, its been a few weeks since the last post but hey, we've been busy! Jenn's party was nice. We did a little BBQ with our close friends, just what she asked for. Noah has gone up to Portland to spend 6 weeks with his mom, Kay-la is being a teenager on summer vacation, and Ted's work finely got a few more people hired. Hopefully he won't have to work as much over time soon.

Over the last few days I have been researching "Beer School" and found OSU's Fermentation Science degree program. Its pretty neat stuff. I wasn't going to seriously consider it, but then I saw that they are hiring for a position that is currently what I do here. So...I could move to Corvallis, attend Beer School, and work there doing what I do now for more pay....except that I don't think anyone else wants to move. Well, I can always go later.

WIth the 4th of July coming up we have begun making plans. Looks like we will be doing a BBQ out at Wayland's and then going over to Linda's to watch the fireworks. Linda's house is right across the street from where they shoot off the fireworks, plus we can sit int he front yard and consume my beer, yay me!

Kay-la the pirate

Kay-la's costume.

Kay-la....being way too old

Kay-la on the first day of school. She looks way too old in this picture.