Yes, I am Alive.

I've been exceptionally busy since I returned to work. It's just my luck to return from vacation and then have to work an 85 hour week to keep up. This whole week has basically consisted of this routine:

8am - arrive at work
11pm - arrive at home

Such is the life of a graphic designer. I hope to begin posting regularly since things will be slowing down and I will actually be home a bit. Man! I need a vacation!

Questions can get you in trouble.

Her Majesty, The Brat and I met up for dinner this evening. I was working late and they drove up to meet with me and then meet up with friends. I of course, would go immediately back to work after dinner because that's what I do nowdays.

After ordering our food, we sat at a booth and Her Majesty immediately got a call on her cell-phone. She said “Hello.” and then stood up and walked outside to take the call. The Brat and I sat waiting for her for a few minutes, before she spoke.

The Brat: “Dad, is Mom an assassin?”

Me: “No honey, your mother is not an assassin.”

Awkward Silence........

Me: “She’s a secret agent.”

The Brat: "Are you a secret agent too?”

Me: “Yes I am.”

The Brat: “Have you ever tried to kill mom because she’s a secret agent too? You know, like in that Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie.”

Me: “No honey, but I've never been ordered too.”

The Brat: “You know, Your not really a secret agent if you told me.”

Me: “I know. Now I have to kill you.”

Hi Ho

Sigh.......

It's back to work in the morning.

Letters, we get letters........

In regards to the Sunday, July 9th post:

I hear butt pirates like to shave...

- Timmaa

You hear butt pirates Tim??!! God Lord!!! Get out of there while you can still walk!!!!

How a bunch of rain nearly killed me

I took my two youngest brothers camping yesterday. It had been a long time coming,, as I had been promising to take them all summer, but never had the chance to do it. I knew that I had to follow through though since the oldest of the two will be turning 18 soon and be off on his own. So this was my final chance to spend some time with both of them. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy! The temperature was in the 90's and the humidity was so high that it felt like we were breathing water. But we went anyway and arrived at the pond around 2:00pm.

Our intentions were to fish through the day and take a break around 7pm. Then we planned on fishing again around dusk, after our bellies were full of roasted hotdogs and soda.

Immediately upon arrival, we set up our tent. Yes, a tent. I'm neither fancy enough nor wealthy enough to own a camper. The pond is surrounded by woods and after searching for some high ground, we pitched the tent underneath four gigantic trees. It was perfect. We chose the areas because the trees were huge and provided both shade and a natural "umbrella" for the tent since there was a chance of thunderstorms later that night.

We spent more time trying to start a fire than anything else. It had been raining here for the past few days and we couldn't find any dry sticks or leaves to build the fire. But eventually it took off and we had a decent fire to roast out hotdogs. After the fire was built, we fished in the sweltering heat and eventually caught a small mess of bass, bluegill and red-ear.

But then the rain came. Not just any rain, mind you, but a hellish torrential downpour that made the ground hiss and sizzle. So we headed for the tent and spent most of the night in there. From around 9pm on, we sat in the "waterproof" tent, watching as the seams dripped and small puddles seeped inside from the tents floor. But we were determined to stay. So the three of us sat inside with our flashlights, talking and joking around. While this wasn't the camping trip that I had planned, it was still a lot of fun.

It was around midnight when we heard a horrendous crash to the east of us and we ran outside to investigate. Our flashlights revealed that a large branch had crashed to the ground not 30 feet away from us. The rotten wood had given way to the weight of the wet branch. We went back into the tent and sat, listening to the hooting owls and the cries of the nearby coyotes. We joked about how their shrill baying would scare someone not accustomed to hearing it.

Although we were having fun. It was apparent that there would be no sleep for any of us that night. The water had began pudding at our feet, and we had to continually move our gear to keep it dry. Hours passed and we kept talking until we were surprised to hear a loud cracking and then the while of a falling tree. It sounded like it was directly above us and we waited for it to crush us, as we were stuck in the tent, unable to do anything. The familiar crash of a limb echoed in the night and we once again ran our to nervously investigate. Another limb, this one much bigger than the first had fallen and struck the ground less then 15 feet away from us, We shuddered as we realized that if it had fallen on us, we would all have had broken bones if not have been killed under it's weight. Even more terrifying is that it had fallen in the spot where we were originally intended on pitching the tent!!!!

Shaken, but determined to stay, we moved our essential gear into the truck and sat in the cab until the storm ended. At about 3am we tried to fish some more, but the lack of sleep was wearing us down. We packed our gear and broke down camp just before daybreak to return home and catch some much needed rest.

Left: My two "little" brothers (both of who are taller than me already) preparing to set some stuff on fire as soon as we arrive at the campsight.

Right: The branch that damn near killed us all. Sorry for the grainy photo, but it was taken in the dark and I had to adjust the photo like crazy in order for the tent to show up.

How I spent my vacation........

Today I shaved.

Letters, we get letters........

White Raven sent in this email which addresses both my lack of posting and my apparent all-around laziness:

Egad! I miss the blog already. How am I to survive when you go to China?

*sigh* How's your vaca going? Hope you're having a blast and lying on the couch a lot.

- White Raven