June Service trip to Mexico ( a little fun and touring too)

Bryce's 16th . . .

Hi! Heather and I took Bryce to Mammoth Lakes for his 16th birthday - along with 6 other teen-agers. . . yes, girls and guys. Don't worry we brought along reinforcements (other parents) so things went pretty smoothly. We went sledding, skiing and boarding, but I think the kids had the most fun just hanging around the cabin, playing games and talking. A bunch of the girls decorated the cabin with hearts, balloons and assorted candies (mostly kisses) for the big day. It snowed up here every day during our stay . . . it's looking like a big snow year for the entire Sierra Nevada.

We survived All Hallows Eve

Halloween was pretty great. Bryce had a few friends (fiends) over to watch a movie and play games. Heather and I got into the 'spirit' of the evening . . . as El Zorro and the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West . . . to keep tabs on the party and keep the trick-or-treaters at bay. We had a lot of trick-or-treaters this year. They were mostly younger kids. Hope we didn't scare them too much. One of Bryce's friends showed up in a full gorilla suit.

Greetings from Dante's Inferno . . .

Hello from the frontlines. Yes, we're in the middle of the fourth of our "four seasons" here in Southern Kalifornia. Most people don't think of California as having 4 seasons, but we do . . . First comes the wet season (Jan-Feb), then the growing season (April - June), then the dry season (Jul-Sep) and finally FIRE season (now thru Christmas). The ash and smoke are pretty thick in Temekula, but we haven't had any flames (yet). The strong Santa Ana Winds are beginning to abate, so moist air will replace this dry air by the week-end and we should begin to return to "normal". Two of our neighbors had big trees blown over in their yards. One came down on the driveway (no cars underneath) and one came down into (and over) the pool. Luckily, no one was hurt by falling timber. The tree-trimming services will be doing booming business this week (and next).

HI,

First edition of "skywritings" comes to you from Temecula, CA while listening to Sirius Satellite Radio. Yes, I got a free 3-day subscription, so I'm listening all day and all night. It's pretty cool. I actually invested in Sirius when it was $1.98 per share (before Howard Stern). The price went to 7 bucks for a while, so I sold it (and paid the capital gains tax) (15%) . . . then it fell again, so I should buy some more before John Edwards gets elected President and pushes the capital gains tax to 28 or 30 percent. He was actually on TV last week advocating just that. I was watching a financial show while on the treadmill at the fitness center. Anyway, financial analysts were taking his position apart and predicting what some of his asinine policies would do to the economy. (not good). Where do these socialists (baby commies) get the idea that the primary purpose of government is to redistribute wealth?? It's Robin Hood run amok!!

Okay, enuff ranting for one day . . .

see ya tomorrow

p.s. how does one add photos to these blogs??