Record skipper

No, this post is not about those vinyl disks that contain little grooves that a needle bounces on and skips off of when it encounters a scratch... It is about rocks, not what one says when they hear music that they think is swell. (Ok, I'll stop now...)

Just like most people (guys), I try to skip a few rocks whenever I get the chance and I think I'm pretty decent at it. My kids are impressed, at least, but I'm nothing compared to this guy. They got a video of him skipping rocks in a 2002 rock skipping competition and the video is just amazing. It seems like the rock is going to stop at any moment but it just keeps going.

I've been trying to update my del.icio.us video links as I run across funny or amazing videos. Take a look when you get a chance.

Windstorm

This morning we had our second windstorm. The first was in Dec, and it blew our fence over. Kipp fixed the main structure, but has been unable to get the final slats up for about 6 weeks because it has been raining every single weekend (except last Sunday, but it was Superbowl). We were looking forward to some sun this weekend so he could finish. This morning in the early hours a big wind storm hit. Woke us up most of the night, and blew trees down everywhere. The biggest problem is that it's been raining non-stop for weeks! The first picture here is a big tree in our sport court, which is leaning dangerously close over our fence. There were many other trees in our neighborhood that went down, and one in particular was from the beltway into someone else's yard. Our homeowner's assoc. had already called a tree service to get rid of it (it was blocking thier driveway), and they were able to come down here also and get our tree. They didn't even touch the fence! So Kipp can finish it tomorrow. The other picture is from a house around the corner, on the corner of 164th, by where the kids waited for the bus last year. About 6 huge cottonwood trees fell on top of this poor house. They reached all the way to the next house. They worked on it most of the day, using a crane to get them off the roof. This is the biggest tree. The roots are about 8 ft diameter, sticking up toward the main street. You can't see all the other trees on the house, but they are still laying on the other side of the roof. An older lady lives there, but she wasn't home at the time. There were trees down on the way to Ilea's school today also, and power lines completely down. Ilea got to come home about 1pm because power still hadn't been restored. I guess they sat in the dark most of the day. It's been a wild day. 30-40 mph winds, with gusts to 60mph. We're pretty safe now. There are no trees now that could hit our house. 2 more big ones went down in the sport court, and 3 or 4 very large ones went down at the top of our neighborhood. Hopefully things can start to dry up now, since we've had sun for a few days!

Kipp's observations

In church sitting in the row behind us was a lady with a new baby. I nudged Kipp so he could see her too. He leaned over and said, " I guess a new baby is to women as an Ipod is to men."

Martha Stewart Day

On Sat, 2/4, I truly had a Martha Stewart day. After breakfast, I prepared most or all of 5 or 6 different appetizers for the Superbowl the next day. Some just needed cutting and marinading, many needed prep to assemble the next day. There was Salmon stuffed pasta shells, crab puffs in marinated mushrooms, dates wtih goat cheese and pistachios, a lemon bundt cake, and tortellini with a roasted garlic sauce. Late morning, I realized I needed a present for a 50th Wedding anniversary reception we were going to that afternoon, so I used a heart shaped bevel, and soldered around the outside, added some wire like ribbon, and finished that. Next I had to make a card, so I quickly created one of white paper and a gold embossed heart. It was very elegant. Then a quick lunch and we were off to the stained glass store in Tacoma. I was almost done with the dogwood panel, and needed 2 pieces of white glass. The only large piece I had was 2 inches too short, of course. So we got that, and stopped by Starbucks. Back up to Auburn to visit at the reception for a while. When we got home, about 3:15, I spent an hour finishing the stained glass panel and putting it up in our window! I was very excited about that, so sent out some emails. We finally got dinner somehow, and then I finished some more cooking. I made brownies, prepped the filling for homemade potstickers, ran a load or two of dishes, cleaned the kitchen for the next day, and picked up the family room. Finally, Kipp and I watched a movie. Not a bad day's work...