...make it cool!

In the lazy days after xmas my son and his friend Henry were playing with legos... i suggested a lego battle...

Henry: what's a lego battle?
Me: You build a big ship, and then you ram 'em together! No hands... only ship to ship battle!
Henry and Karsten: YES!
Henry: Oh yeah, you've got to make your ship strong, and powerful, and cool!
Karsten: Oh yeah, strong and powerful.
Me: and cool!

I had to be sure Karsten knew that 'cool' was a requirement. :-) Now that I've been married to Jana (a designer) for 12 years, i know - cool is important!

A new hole in the worst possible location

It was cold and windy today. But for some reason i felt unusually cold as i was standing on the beach... I grabbed my windsurfer and headed into the sound when a sting in my crotch made me jump! I looked down and noticed a large hole in my wetsuit - gasp! What the heck?! I took a closer look... i could see the family jewels through this hole!

On a day like today my hands are sure to go numb. In fact, anything outside my wetsuit goes numb. So you can imagine my horror when i thought about what 'else' could go numb today... I've heard about blue balls, but i sure didn't want to see any!

I dropped the board and sail and headed to the boathouse. must... find... something... to... save... balls.

packing tape. that'll work.

After a few well placed strips of tape, i was on my way.

I windsurfed for an hour on my 5.2. Wind was 20-25.

And no, they didn't turn blue... but i could sing higher than normal.

hockey mouth

hockey mouth
Originally uploaded by Andy Kleitsch.

Karsten jumped off the school bus today...

me: how's that tooth? did it fall out yet?
kk: no. but don't touch it. i want it to fall out at school.
me: let me pull it out, then you can watch tv.
kk: no! (waving his hands like he's signaling a ship)
me: let me pull it out... then you can have a cookie AND watch tv.
kk: no dad. no!
me: well, you know... the tooth fairy brings money, and with money you can buy candy or toys... (kk was rubbing his chin thinking this over, hummm)
kk: well, ok, you can give it a wiggle, but don't pull!
me: ok, i'll give it a little wiggle... open wide... YANK! :-)

He looks like a hockey kid now.

Eddie would go

Do you remember the "Eddie Would Go" bumper stickers? Of course you do. they're classic. the stickers inspired a whole generation of us to say - what the hell - why not - Eddie would do it! Of course, all those years i had no idea who Eddie was. I just knew he was a bad-ass surfer.

I just finished a library book Stealing the Wave, The Epic Struggle Between Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo. As it turns out, Eddie Aikau was the undisputed king of Wiamea bay. After his death Quicksilver created a big wave surf competition in his honor. The competition could only be held if the surf was over 20 feet. One morning the judges woke up to 30 foot waves and decided to cancel the competition "too big" they said. Mark Foo, a big wave superstar, tried to convince them to run the competition by taunting "Eddie would go!" The judges thought this was a good argument, but decided to cancel the competition anyway - but the phrase stuck, and was used by Quicksilver to promote the event.

I had a 'Eddie would go' moment today. I was on kid duty and the wind kicked in - blowing 25 to 35 from the South. It was beautiful! Big swells, no logs, low tide. I HAD to go windsurfing. Then it hit me "Eddie would find a babysitter, then go!" After a few quick calls I found a kind neighbor to watch the kids while i got my fix. :-) I got an hour of OP'd (over powered) 4.7 (that's a small sail). It was snowing in parts of Seattle today - my hands were frozen - but i had a huge grin!

Oh, regarding the book. I couldn't put it down. Loved it. I'm not sure if the book is for everybody, but if you like surfing and/or if you're crazy - then you'll find it reassuring to know that there are other crazy people out there too. This book is like candy for crazy people.

Oh, there's a great quote in the book from Buzzy Trent "A wave is not measured in feet and inches, but in increments of fear". The same could be said for catching air on a windsurfer.

Free money, whales, pineapple pancakes & legos

Jana left early this morning for work... no school for the kids, so I'm on dad duty with the ultimate question - what the hell are we going to do all day? Well, It's only 1:30pm, but the day has been great so far.

10ish: Two Orca whale pods, right here at Three Tree Point! They were spewing water (is that a whale term?). Very cool. We haven't seen em for a few years.

11ish: We went to AAA Polynesian Deli in Burien - just to poke around - but the food looked great. So, we had chicken, rice, lamb and a great fish casserole. Wow! Fatty and yummy. And the people there are VERY nice. I really like this place. I hear they have great pineapple pancakes too.

While we were eating, a very jovial guy (think polynesian saint nick) came in and started talking with me and the kids. As he was leaving he handed Karsten, Britta and me a bunch of money!?!! I was shocked. He said, "I'll probably never see you again, have a good christmas!" Britta scored about $25. Karsten $35. Me $6. I paid $10 for the food and we headed to Hans' - the best German Deli in Burien.

12ish: Hans' Deli: Lye rolls, bacon, salami, cheese, candy...

12:30: Quick trip to Burien library. Scored a Harry Potter book on tape, comic book, sing-a-long CD for britta and a book about big wave surfing for dad Stealing the wave.

1pm: Time to spend the 'free' money at Lollipops toy store in Burien! I told Karsten and Britta "now kids, we can't spend all our money, we have to save some..." yeah right, that didn't work. legos. jewelry box with spinning butterfly. and the money is gone!

I just put Britta down for a nap, Karsten is assembling his new Star Wars lego toy and Harry Potter is playing on tape... fun day!

Would you drink this?

tea
Originally uploaded by B-TownMom.

Western medicine is very predictable. You go to a doctor. The doctor prescribes a pill. The pill masks your symptoms. The pill company makes a lot of money. The doctor gets a golf trip. Everybody is happy.

Pills are clean. white. easy.

So, if western medicine is so great, why did jana visit a Chinese herbalist in the I.D.? She came home with a crazy mix of tree branches, mushrooms, flowers, and who-knows-what-else. She must boil the crazy mix for one hour, then choke it down. And believe me, this tea is stinky and nasty.

I have a theory here... sometimes to get well, you have to EARN it. The easy path (get rich quick, get skinny quick, or learn Java in 21 days) is littered with failure. So, I've got to give props to Jana - she's not afraid to earn her good health - one nasty chug at a time. :-)

Serve coffee, and wine!

Two weeks without drinking and I finally pulled the "get out of jail" card for a fun night with The Shepards, Terry Marks and his wife Laura! I broke the top off a wine bottle while opening (pent-up aggression - must get to the sweet juice!) so Kyle and I decided to filter the wine into the coffee pot. The coffee filter worked like a charm, and as an added bonus the coffee pot was a great carafe! We all joked about the old folgers commercial, "while the guests weren't looking, i secretly replaced the coffee we normally drink with a cab blend..."