First Feis

A great day today at Erin's first Feis (fesh), an Irish dance competition. She entered two different dance categories and took first place in both. Attached are the before and after pictures - she was happy with her two gold medals, but not so happy about the sun in her eyes (maybe if her dad was a better photographer he would have planned that differently). She was a little bit nervous when we first got there, but relaxed right into it and did awesome (clearly). We were particularly excited because Erin was only recently moved up to a higher class where she learned to do the jig, and yet she still took gold in that dance. Most importantly, Erin had a lot of fun and she is very happy and proud of her accomplishments. Great that she got to see how all of her hard work and practice paid off.

6th Birthday

Not to be left out, Finn had a big event as well when he turned 6 on Derby Day. He made out like a bandit, and even slept with his new electronic, spring-loaded lightsaber. My buddy Mike Middleton absolutely loved the giant box kite that Finn got from his Aunt Shari and uncle Brendon (a replica of Darth Vader's Tie Fighter) but when he saw that you could also get a Millennium Falcon kite, he wondered if it could even fly. I had to explain to him that it made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs, so yes - it can fly. Mike warned me when he arrived that he might have gone overboard on his gift, but as Finn's godfather he had that authority -- he and Cindee got Finn a child sized .22 rifle. It is pretty darn cool, and Finn is very excited to go and try it out.

Irish Dance

Saturday was Conor's first communion, Sunday was Erin's first dance recital. She did an outstanding job, and made us all very proud. The photo credits go to Mike Sugrue, who has a far superior camera to mine.

First Communion

Conor's first communion was last week, and I think he wore the family tie (Brendon and I, as well as our dad, wore it for ours) with more style than we did. I will take full credit/blame for the fact that Conor is not the most serious and devoted little Catholic, but he was perfectly behaved for the occasion.

Easter!

I hope that everyone had a nice Easter weekend, because we certainly did here. It was a full house in Bardstown, as we hosted my cousin Mike and his family (wife Betsy and kids Andrew, Ryan, Scott and Katie) as well as my Mom. The kids had a blast playing together, we had a wonderful feast, and thanks to the good weather we had a big egg hunt outside. One could not ask for a better group of kids - nearly 6 hours of 7 kids running around with each other and not the first fight. We opted out of fighting crowds and packing into a church that morning, but I assure you that everyone got a lot more out of the day together with family than they would have at a church service.

Fire Dept. Banquet

It has been a while since I've posted any pictures - sorry for that, but this semester has been pretty taxing. This is a pic of Carm and I (a.k.a. beauty and the beast) from the Fire Department awards and retirement banquet. A great time was had by all, and all the credit for that goes to my Mom for watching our children and dogs while we were out partying. I hate this picture of me, but it is a good one of Carm. Hope everyone is doing well. I can't help but include the "who's that guy?" pic that I jumped into. Sorry Billy and Tam. Take note of the red dry cleaning tag in my sleeve - I at least got my uniform cleaned even though I didn't check it over that well before I put it on.

Thanks for Voting Obama

Can you believe it? Politicians that are actually following through on their campaign promises!?!? The Obama/Biden team are working to push through the FIRE act and the SAFER act as promised, which will push some federal funding to departments like mine to retain firefighters, hire new ones, ensure that apparatus are fully staffed, and purchase needed gear and equipment. They also are getting through a federal collective bargaining bill that will ensure that unions like mine will always have our rights to negotiate our contracts. In addition, the Congress just pushed through a student loan forgiveness program for professional firefighters. I don't know all the specifics of that one yet, but it looks like I'll be able to get a large sum of my student loans wiped clean. A very happy day for me, and I can't help but gloat a little bit again at the Obama victory (he did mention firefighters in his inauguration speech), but these are all programs that McCain and the wolf-killing retard were against.

More Fergus

The new pup is working out great. Keeping a constant eye on him to imprint the house training can get a bit tiring, but after three kids I think Carm and I are pretty well equipped to handle him. He is getting along with everyone quite well, and so far we are not having any problems with chewing (he has plenty of toys for that). He desperately wants to play with Tundra and Saoirse, but they are doing so only on there terms. Tundra is not all that playful, and Saoirse is still feeling him out. She will approach him and start to sniff him out, bat at his nose until he chases her around the house, get to high ground for her safety and security, then get down and go after him again. There is definitely no fear or aggression between them. Everyone else is doing fine here, hope that all is well in your respective parts of the world.

New Dog II

Our adoption attempt with Thor did not work out, but that particular wing of the Nelson County Humane Society is a no-kill shelter so we are sure he will find a happy and cat-free home. After much other looking and thinking, we decided to go ahead and get a puppy. Saoirse is not yet a year old, so if she and the puppy grow up together they will not know any different, right? So we are now the happy owners of a beautiful Golden Retriever, Fergus. We got him from a breeder way out in the country, and the cost was actually less than the adoption fees at many of the rescue societies that we were visiting. The kids love this little guy to death, Tundra is keeping him in line and even allowing Fergus to nap with him and Saoirse, although not yet ready to play with him like he wants, tolerates his presence. Although apprehensive, she is not isolated and afraid like she was with Thor around. We can already see why Goldens are so beloved and considered to be such a perfect dog.

More Pics of the Trip

Valentine Vacation

According to the school calendar, the kids were supposed to have a four day weekend over Valentine's Day. They ended up losing those two days off to make up snow days lost to the ice storm, but we had already paid for a couple of nights at a downtown hotel in Nashville, as well as tickets to see the Predators take on the Boston Bruins. So the kids missed Friday. We spent Friday at Nashville's Adventure Science Center, and it was a great time. The kids got to do just about everything that they had to offer there (which is plenty) including seeing a cool movie about the life cycle of stars which was played on the ceiling of their planetarium. We had a great dinner that night, as well as a good lunch at a BBQ place on Saturday. Saturday morning I ran in a 5k sponsored by the Predators, and while waiting to start I got to meet a few of the Boston Bruins as they were arriving for a morning practice. Their captain, Chara, is 6'9", 260lbs, and shaking his hand is like grabbing a bunch of bananas. The game that night was great - the kids' first pro sporting event. Boston tied it up 2-2 with less than 2 minutes in the game, the 5 min. OT was undecided, and then the Predators pulled it out in a shootout. The kids had a blast and are now fans, so I can take the loss to my Bruins.

New dog, part II

There was not to be a getting to know you period with Thor and Saoirse. The initial avoidance was quickly followed by two days of the dog trying to get the cat when the opportunity showed itself. This was not a playful "lets make friends" kind of chase, he wanted the cat. I stopped by the humane society this morning to ask some advice to see if there was anything we could do differently, and their instant and unanimous advice was to return the dog right away before he killed the cat. He is a very sweet dog, wonderful with the kids and had adjusted quite easily to a crate for bed time and when Carm was at work, but we can't endanger one of our pets to take on a new one. There were many, many tears this morning as I took the dog back, but none from Saoirse who could once again walk around the house and didn't need to be escorted to her food dish and litter box lest she be attacked. The humane society was very apologetic, but they could not have known this aspect of the dog's personality, and this experience will give them more information about placing him with the right family. (The picture is not new, but as you can see, Saoirse is a part of the family)

The Mighty Thor

We have been kicking it around for a while, and finally pulled the trigger on getting another dog. We've been checking rescue sites, the paper, and the humane society for a little bit looking for something in the vicinity of a German Shepherd, or a Labrador or Golden Retriever. Yesterday we walked into the humane society and saw what looks to be all of those wrapped up into one. He is 2 years old and was given up because he was too big (what moron doesn't realize that such a dog is going to get big?). He is very sweet natured and was good around the kids. Today we took Tundra up there to see how they would get along, and came home with him. He had been named Sam, but we have changed that to Thor - a far more fitting and unique name. The only disadvantage is that he had been an outdoor dog, so he is not fully housebroken. Also they had kept him constantly on a chain which is just not good, and by the way he occasionally cowers I think they might have hit him. He will certainly have plenty of love here. Saoirse is not so sure about him yet, but I believe they will come to an understanding soon.

The Ice Storm Cometh

I would like to say that we are out of the woods, but the kids were still out of school today. This is now 8 school days in a row that they have missed. Most of the ice is gone, but quite a few people are still without power and one of the county high schools is still being used as a Red Cross shelter so the school system is still shut down. The Catholic schools are supposed to go ahead and get the kids back tomorrow, so we are hopeful. We lost power last Tuesday and were out until Sunday morning. In the interim we stayed with two different friends and then with my mom in Lexington. As you can imagine, we have been very busy at the firehouse as a result. Lots of downed power lines, and fires from people doing anything to stay warm - even if it means burning their house down and killing their children. Crazy times . . . hope things will be somewhat normal again in the near future.

Happy Birthday to Me

So I am now officially in a new age bracket. No longer can I click on the 25-34, or 30-34 - - I am in the 35+ range. I certainly do not feel all that old, and I am not saying that I am. However history and math will point out that unless I plan on living to 100+, I am in early middle age. In class at UofL the other day I was speaking with a girl that was planning a trip to D.C. for the inauguration and was a bit worried about getting around the city. I gave her some tips about where to go and where not to, etc. and explained how I had lived there for 3 years after standing duty for the inauguration just back in '93. Then I realized that there is no just when you are talking about 16 years ago. She was probably 3 at the time, yet I remember it so clearly. Funny stuff. Anyway, I had a great birthday party with family and a bunch of old Marine buddies, and I really do have a wonderful life.

Christmustache Results

I have been derelict in my duties. The Christmustache contest came to an end on December 23rd with a whimper. Participants were so weary of carrying around their creepy lip-sweaters that they were more eager to shave than to glory in their appearance. Rather than a group comparison, people simply showed that they had indeed held on until the designated date and then swiftly cleaned themselves up. Morale is extremely low at our beleaguered fire department, and the mayor's contempt for us was able to bleed over and bring down even this magnificent social experiment.