Take a look at Sassy’s latest hair color…this is (IIRC) her fourth or fifth different color of the summer.

Our children seem to think that we love our cat more than we love them, so they occasionally taunt the Cow Cat by calling her names and insulting her - all in a very sweet, loving voice. You know: “Cow Cat, are you a fat little kitty…?” Poor Cow Cat. But now the kids have moved beyond simple name-calling and turned to graphic representations of Cow Cat.

ME: “Sassy (my 14-y/o), before I drop you & your friend off at Hasting’s, will you run into the grocery store and buy me some Coffee-Mate? Actually, make it two.”
SASSY: “OK, dad!”

*Sassy and friend go into grocery store, emerge a few minutes later*

SASSY: “Dad, they only had one Coffee-Mate left, so I also got you a box of Fruity Pebbles.”

Man, that kid has me pegged.

Congratulations to my kid sister Jen for her promotion to the rank of Captain last week! For the first time in our respective Air Force careers, we are both wearing the same rank. She also just wrapped up a visit from our mother, who traveled from Arkansas to spend three fun-filled weeks in Italy with Jen and her family. They visited Tuscany, Venice, and other cool places, but my mom enjoyed the area around Aviano (including Sacile) the most. My mom’s verdict: “It looked just like the Napa Valley!” She meant that in a very good way, as she LOVED Northern California when she visited us in the Bay Area back in the 90s. She enjoyed the coffee bars that are everywhere, but was somewhat less thrilled by the body parts that are on display in various churches around the region. By the way, the pictures my sister sent me are great — I happen to have a very cute niece & nephew!

I felt a pain in my heart when Bunker Mulligan passed away nearly a year ago; I never met him, but read his blog often, and he was kind enough to visit mine on occasion. And now, again, the same type of pain: Rob, aka “Acidman” of Gut Rumbles, has passed away. Again, never met him, but exchanged comments and even an e-mail or two. Not as much of a shock as when Bunker died, as Rob had detailed his medical problems over the years and many in the ‘Sphere knew that his time would come sooner rather than later. But still: a shock. Vitriolic, verbose, blunt, and crotchety, and a damn fine blogger. RIP, Acidman.

ALSO: Day By Day has paid homage to Rob in today’s edition.

Strolling through my archives, I stumbled across this entry that generated some positive comments; it was a bit of a relief to know that we aren’t the only ones who do this:

My wife and I have lived with very few hard & fast rules since we wed; we’re very easy-going and adaptable. But…but. One rule that we have followed lo these many years is not allowing friends or family to stay at our house. I can hear the collective “gasp!” from many of you…”How can you be so rude? How insensitive and boorish could you possibly be? My goodness, you won’t even let your own parents stay in your house?” (more…)

As we prepare to observe Mother’s Day, I thought it would be neat to share a cool picture of me & my mom, circa 1967. I’m the one in the high-chair. Heh. And ain’t my mom cute? She’s got the whole “hip 60s chick” look about her! Love you, Mom! (more…)

Met with the local school board regarding my daughter’s hair color, and while the experience didn’t give us any resolution, we did learn how to go about addressing the school’s policy. Added bonus: I discovered how fat I look on TV!
And over at Big Sky Blog, some new folks have added some color: Griz tells a tale of a “heavenly” telephone (that even I, the lifelong atheist, very much appreciate!), and there’s some advice for those thinking of moving to Montana (Butte, specifically).

Over at my GreaterFalls site, I’m dealing with the issue of my daughter being sent home from school for having purple streaks in her hair. Not an isolated incident, apparently — there are several middle-schoolers each year who go through this. The argument from the school, of course, is that “un-natural” hair colors are (a) distracting, and (b) might be indicative of gang activity and/or membership. We might be headed to the School Board meeting on Monday evening to raise the issue, but in the meantime, I’d like to know if any of you folks have dealt with something like this in your community.

I’ve been at this blogging thing for over 5 years, which makes me something of an old-timer in the ‘Sphere. But Charles…well, Charles is about twice as old as me, in blog-years, which makes him…older? Better? Wiser? Wittier? You betcha. I was lucky enough to discover Dustbury early on, and the dude just keeps getting better. As I once wrote about Dustbury & the genius behind it:

“There’s just something deliciously satisfying about reading something that has actually been thought out in advance, where the words accurately convey not just thought, but also nuance and subtlety.”

Happy 10th Anniversary, Charles. Thanks for the good humor, amazing trivia, and the sprinkling of wisdom. And FWIW, I’ve always enjoyed the bird - cute little feller.

Decar suffered a stroke last night. We rushed her to the doctor, who sadly told us what we suspected; the prognosis was very poor. We held her tight, stroked her tummy, scratched her ears, and let her go.

Good night, Sweet Decar. We love you.

Sending out best wishes to my father on his 70th birthday today! I sent him some Phoenix Suns memorabilia…calendar, yearbook, etc. The only thing that he loves more than seeing the Suns win is to see the San Antonio Spurs lose. Heh… (more…)