The weekend Thread

[Brian Krashpad]

That's a mighty fine looking 15 year old you have there! Glad to hear that you and her can go and share common interests. My older girl's birthday is Tuesday and she'll be the big "18". We've got a family surprise get-together planned this afternoon, so she'll be floored by that.

Tuesday night, the girls and I and one of Caraboo's friends are going out to eat at a "fancy eatin' place", as we redneck's call it, in Tallahassee. I may even have to wear a coat and tie, which I'm not looking forward to. (I hate ties, especially when I was in banking for 9 1/2 years and had to wear one every day.)

Anyway, sounds like you and baby girl had a good time. We'll probably have a hoot too. Later!

Have fun Ron! And drive safe. Happy birthday to your daughter!

If they don't let you leave your peanut shells on the floor, it's too fancy for me.

[bigoldron]

Have fun Ron! And drive safe. Happy birthday to your daughter!

If they don't let you leave your peanut shells on the floor, it's too fancy for me.

Logan's Roadhouse it ain't! It's the "Silver Slipper". Can't you hear the excitement in my voice/post? I may just pee myself... Oh well, as long as the girls have fun, I'll be along to foot the bill. (Which will be a heck of a lot higher than Logan's too!)

[Brian Krashpad]

Logan's Roadhouse it ain't! It's the "Silver Slipper". Can't you hear the excitement in my voice/post? I may just pee myself... Oh well, as long as the girls have fun, I'll be along to foot the bill. (Which will be a heck of a lot higher than Logan's too!)

or



I heard you were taller!

[Brian Krashpad]

I'm back!

I know, I know-- "You were gone?"

Anyhow, last week I went up to West Virginia with la familia Krashpad. It was a ski trip with the kids' (Hannah, 15, and Jack, 11) church group and assorted friends and parents. Monday night we took a bus up from Florida. Tuesday morning we arrived, checked into our hotel, and went out to the resort (Winterplace) to rent our skis and snowboards and check them overnight. After dinner we went to some Christian youth meeting where there was live music (one acoustic guitarist, two vox, full drum kit), and a speaker.

Wednesday, New Year's Eve, was our first full day there. The kids and I did snowboarding and Mrs. Krashpad tried skiing. It was the first time for all of us. It was snowing and windy. By the afternoon, the missus and I were pretty tired so we just hung out in the lodge/restaurant while the kids snowboarded. I got a call on my cell phone from my daughter that my son had got an injury and that the Ski Patrol was bringing him down the mountain.

I went down to the Ski Patrol and told my wife to just stay with the rest of the group and I would call her to give a status report. My daughter Hannah had told me Jack had a cut and if he was bloody and not cleaned up yet I didn't want Mrs. K to get all freaky on us.

Which was a good thing, because he was all bloody. Whole left side of his face was covered in blood from hairline to jawline. He had a nasty cut, up under his hair a couple inches above his temple, where his snowboard had whacked him. He'd been boarding with his back foot out of the binding, went down, and the board popped up and hit him. Apparently this happens enough that they have a name for it-- "the Scorpion." Since the cut was well up under his hair, they didn't stitch it up, which they otherwise would've. They just took strands of hair from either side of the gash and knotted it together temporarily, to keep the wound from opening up. Once he was cleaned up I gave Mrs. K a call and had her come down to the Ski Patrol.

The injury got us out of going to another of the Christian youth group meetings/sermons, which was OK by me because I was beat. We hung out at the hotel until the rest of the group returned, and then our kids joined the rest of them in a little celebration at midnight.

Thursday, New Year's Day, we went back out to the resort. But not on schedule. While we were down in the hotel lobby getting organized, one of the girls in the group freaked out and said one of her roomates had fainted or something and wouldn't open the door to their room. So we had to get a key from the desk and run down the hall and open the room.

Sure enough, the girl in the room had passed out. I held the door open (it was really hot in the room) and tried to calm down the first girl, who was nearing hysteria, while the other adults went in and worked on the girl who was passed out. She was initially unresponsive and since no one had seen her fall, there was the possibility she'd hit something on the way down, and they called 911.

By the time the ambulance got there the girl had revived and could at least respond a bit. Turns out she was anemic to begin with, and being in the hot room with all her ski gear on, had passed out. She (and one of the leaders and some friends who went to the hospital after her) later rejoined us at the resort around noon time.

I did a little bit of snowboarding in what was left of the morning with Jack (we rented a helmet for him), and then we all had lunch. After lunch we went up the mountain to the tubing run. That was the most fun we had during the trip. No learning curve, yay! That night after dinner the whole group skipped the speaker/music meeting so we could pack up and get planety of rest.

Friday was spent on the long bus ride back to Florida. One of the best things about the trip was the price. Since the kids and I had helped with all the youth group's football parking days (our church is near Florida Field, a/k/a The Swamp, where UF plays football, and we sell spots in the church parking lot on game days), for each of us the cost was only $50-- the cost of the bus ride! My wife paid that plus $250, so for the whole family was $400, which included round trip transportation, 3 hotel nights, and most breakfasts and lunches.

Here's a couple pics, a batch more to come:

Jack, first day:


Jack and I on the slopes:

[Brian Krashpad]

Here's some more pics:



Jack, 2nd day, post-crash (note helmet):

[Katastrophe]

Yep, scalp cuts get bloody in a hurry. But, Kraspadito looks like he bounced back well in the later pic!

Sounds like an eventful trip, Brian. One of these days, I'm gonna have to do stuff like this with the family. Wife's been wanting to go camping. Maybe this summer.

[Brian Krashpad]

Yep, scalp cuts get bloody in a hurry. But, Kraspadito looks like he bounced back well in the later pic!

Sounds like an eventful trip, Brian. One of these days, I'm gonna have to do stuff like this with the family. Wife's been wanting to go camping. Maybe this summer.

Camping definitely rocks. Thank goodness for Scouting, because I doubt I'd have ever got round to it otherwise. Mrs. Krashpad is not a camper, has no desire to sleep outdoors. So Scouting allows me and the boy to go camping with no guilt.

BK & kids:



All of us:



Tubing hill:



BK & kids in tubing line:

[Brian Krashpad]

Last batch o' pix:

Hannah Beth in tubing line:



Snowball fight (Jack and HB):



Sunset at Winterplace:

[sunvalleylaw]

Ouch, bite 'o the Scorpion. Glad he is ok. Helmets are a great idea when snowboarding or skiing. These days, they are very light, comfortable and warm, and can save your bacon. Back in the olden days, before retracting ski brakes, skiers used to get injured like that when you ski popped off during a crash and windmilled around as you fell while connected by a ski leash. RE: the girl who fainted, it is common up here for altitude, cold/hot from going in and out of weather, and dehydration to cause fainting, light headedness etc.

I am glad overall your trip was a success. Looks beautiful. I spent the holiday season (through this last weekend) working my lawyer job part time as I did my ski instructor job while folks were in for vacation. This is what it looks like here now. It is snowing lightly, and absolutely beautiful conditions.

http://www.sunvalley.com/SunValley/info/mtn.cams.aspx (SV Mountain cams)

P.S. Your kids are darned cute. Good for you for taking them out to all these great places and joining in with them. It was very important to me growing up that my folks took us skiing and to scouts, etc. and participated. Yours always look like they are having fun in the pics you post. :

[Brian Krashpad]

Wow, that looks great where you are Steve. I'm back in near-80 F weather today. Quite a switch. Wonder how long it'll be before all those snow clothes we bought get used again?

I'm just glad I didn't have to drive around in the snow/ice. There were 2 wrecks right at the entrance to our hotel in the few days we were there, although apparently more from poor road/driveway design/placement than anything else.

[sunvalleylaw]

Heh, heh, that pic is from the very nice golf course that is groomed for Nordic (cross country) skiing in the winter, and where I often take a mid day office break to get some quick cardio. The mountain in the background is Bald Mountain (Baldy) where the main alpine ski resort is located. And the skies really do get that blue. There are tradeoffs for trying to make a living in a relatively remote resort area (cost of living, earning capacity, proximity to diversity), but views like that are a good thing. Glad you had that great trip!

[street music]

Hey Krash, I haven't been there during the winter but I have visited Snowshoe during the World Archery tourament and we would shoot our way down the slopes and timber areas, very nice till the bear attacked the targets.

[Brian Krashpad]

So, at least those in the States may've done something interesting this weekend, what say you? I watched the game but spent a lot of the weekend driving my kids all over creation.

Friday night my kids' youth group had a meeting/cookout at one of the leaders' house. He lives way out in the country on a dirt road a couple miles from the nearest paved road. They had a bonfire and lots of hotdogs, hamburgers, and picnic type food. Cold out, but fun.

I played my 12-string a lot by the campfire. It's the one pictured in the middle below:



That old beater Yamaha sure still sounds good.



Saturday morning I took my son Jack out to Camp Shands, a Boy Scout camp way east of Gainesville (we live a bit southwest of town). This is an annual event called "Camp Buc Tuocs" (Cub Scout spelled backwards) where the Boy Scouts show younger Cub Scouts scouting skills. Jack went back when he was a Cub Scout, and now this year as a Boy Scout. I packed ski clothes for him to sleep in, he was in a tent and it went down to 32 F here Saturday night! He didn't use the ski clothes though, just two sleeping bags.



After I got home and had some lunch, I had to take my daughter to meet a friend at our annual Hoggetowne Midieval Faire. Another hour+ round trip! Then a few hours later I had to go BACK to pick her up.

After I got home we had some dinner and vegged out. A lot of driving!

Sunday, went to church in the morning, and offically transferred our membership from our last church to this one. Sorta like being a "made man" in the Mafia, only you don't have to whack someone first. After that, my wife took my daughter to go to the Midieval Faire with a DIFFERENT friend, while I went to pick up Jack from returning from his camp out. Then, since it was the last day of the Faire, I took Jack out to the Faire with me! We met up with his sister when her friends left, so she could stay a little longer.

Whew.

Last evening we watched the Super Bowl and I did homework with Jack. Apparently he forgot all about a huge history test he had today. So I got up real early this morning and made him flash cards to study with. Instead of having him ride the bus I drove him to school, so he would have longer at home to study, and could study in the van with no distractions on the way over, instead of on a crowded noisy bus. Fortunately the test isn't until after lunch.

You?

[bigoldron]

Geez, Brian, you sound us. The best thing that will ever happen to you is when your oldest kid turns 16. Shuttle service drops drastically at that point!

We didn't do a whole lot. Went shopping Friday night and went to some friends house Saturday night to watch a movie with them. (Fireproof - Excellent movie! I recommend it for ANY married couple and for those who are even thinking of getting married!)

Did the usual church things on Sunday and watched the game last night. We don't usually have that many festivals around here, and we're usually too busy to go to them anyway. (Same old junk vendors, parades and entertainment, so not a whole lot to look forward to...)

Next Saturday, we're taking some of our youth group up to Mercer University in Macon. They're having a Baptist Youth Day for the kids. Free concert with their praise band, lunch, campus tour and a boys' basketball game to boot. My daughter's got her heart set on Mercer, so of course, she's excited about going. So, we've got SOMETHING to look forward to next weekend. Plus, Mama's turning 70 on the 9th, so we're having her a supper on Sunday night, so we'll eat good and have a little cake too.

[sunvalleylaw]

Good on ya Brian! I went to a training last week to keep our local scouting going and make sure our Webelos have a troop to go to in a year. I coached skiing, then skied in clinic with other coaches discussing half-pipe and park ski progressions, and skied really hard and fast with people a lot younger than I am. Sunday, I skied with my daughter during her last lesson day of a series of lessons she was in, then took came home, hung with the kids, took the dog out for an XC ski. Then the not so good part.

I went to pick up my middle son from an overnight trip to a yurt he had gone on with the developmental nordic ski team. They skinned in on telemark skis and skied and camped in the yurt overnight. You could see as he unloaded his gear from the team van how much he had grown in responsibility and confidence. Then he was telling me about it as I loaded his gear into the back of our van, and as he was showing me something, he moved his hand just as I closed the rear gate, and his left pinky got caught in the door. : : :

So, an ER trip was in order. The finger hurt, but does not appear to be broken. It is splinted for a week to be sure that there is not a hairline fracture that cannot yet be seen. Dang it!!!! I felt awful. He was very brave and snuggled with me later during story time, but it hurt me very much to make that mistake. Of course his finger probably hurt worse.

Oh, and I still am not a Steelers fan.

[bigoldron]

Then he was telling me about it as I loaded his gear into the back of our van, and as he was showing me something, he moved his hand just as I closed the rear gate, and his left pinky got caught in the door. : : :

Sorry to hear about your son's finger, SVL. Even though it was an accident, you still feel like a jack@ss. The only good thing is that the kiddies tend to heal a lot quicker than we do...

[Brian Krashpad]

I shut a car door on my daughter's fingers when she was little. Terrible feeling.

Mojo and prayers.

[Brian Krashpad]

So what'd everyone do this weekend?

Friday I took the afternoon off and helped clean up Casa Krashpad because my sister and brother-in-law from Ft. Myers were staying the night, on their way up to Atlanta to see their college-age daughter in some singing competition. Friday night after they arrived they took us out to one of our favorite resaurants, La Fiesta. We went to a branch that's a little further away from Casa Krashpad than the original location, as we tried a different restaurant first that was full. I'd never been to this location:



My old pal Moe Rodriguez (who originated calling me "Brian Krashpad" before even I did) was tending bar. This is Moe:



As you can see, Moe is an entertainer as well as a bartender; he also does show promotions and has a local music radio show.

We all had a good time at dinner.

Saturday my wife went out with some of her friends and was gone all day. While she was gone I took my son Jack for his flag football tryouts. They grade the kids so as to try and get the teams as even as possible. On the way there, we discovered he'd outgrown his cleats. So we stopped here:



We took Jack's old cleats in as trade-ins on "new" ones. Since the "new" ones we bought were really used ones that only cost a tenner to begin with, and we got 4 bucks in trade for the old ones, he got a new (to him) pair of cleats for $6. I highly recommend this approach to parents with kids who need sporting goods clothes/accessories they may grow out of! Cheap, and one less thng in the landfill.

Sunday we played hooky from church in the morning,as Mrs. Krashpad had not got back from her dinner at a friends until quite late. In the afternoon, my wife took us (me, the kids, and one of Jack's friends) out to the place she'd been with her friends during the day before, the La Chua Trail, part of the Paynes Prairie state preserve here in Gainesville. The prairie is a large semi-dry lake bed south of town that has lots of wildlife. We saw blue heron and cattle heron, LOTS of gators, bison, turtles, migrating sandhill cranes, and ducks. There's a raised trail that leads to an observation deck about a mile and a half out into the prairie, and we walked all the way out and back. I should have some photos we took posted later this week, for now here's one I found on the web already:



That night after we returned home we went to a different Mexican restaurant I'd never been to, Mexico Lindo. It was good too, although the service was a little slow. There were a few TV's around the place, like in a sports bar. During dinner I went back and forth between watching the Pro Bowl and a match from La Liga Mexicana, Pachuca versus America. Football, and futbol!

After getting home from dinner, I checked our messages and my side band were having a practice, so I jumped in the Rockmobile and drove over to the office for practice. Got to try out my "new" bass, for the first time, an old '80's Peavey Fury I:



The bass sounded good although the action was a little high. My right hand was tired by the end of practice. It'd been so long since our last practice I had problems recalling my exact bass parts at the start of a couple songs (this is a band I've gone back and forth between bass and guitar at various periods), but in general it went well and we had a good time.

Got back at around 9:30 or 10:00 and my son had overlooked one of his homework assignments and Mrs. K was tired and angry at him. I told her to go to sleep and I'd handle it, so we worked on his last assignment until about 11:30.

The end.

You?

[sunvalleylaw]

Sounds like fun Brian! And thanks Brian and Ron for the kind words about my son's hand. He still has a splint and a little soreness, but it seems to be healing well.

It was his birthday this weekend, and we had a big sleep over party, set up our big dome tent in the living room for said party, and let the boys (and his sister with a friend over as well) have fun! Quite loud, and lots of 8/9 year old boy energy going on, but everyone had fun! Of course we had ski team on Sat. a.m. and I got out for quick skate (XC) ski on the bike path at the mouth of our driveway to exercise the dog and quiet my head Sunday. Not much guitar got done this weekend, due to all the visitors, but that is ok. After all, it is a B-day weekend.