Any of you monkeys want a banana?

We had quite a day today. Xander had birthday #1 at the house, even though it's still a few days away. Nathan and Alex are here until tomorrow, primarily for this party. The food was really good, but MY GOD, was it crowded. 10 kids under 10 years, most of them my own grandchildren. It was nice, though, and it's always fun to see them together. After everyone left and Caleb was readied for bed, I held him to try and get him asleep. It had to have been no more than one minute, and he was out for the night. Cool!

The weather turned poor again a few days ago, but it's melting and should be gone in a couple more days. It'll be muddy again, but the moisture is needed and it's really not that bad. The attitude is the worst. Here it was, the last week in March and no snow............. Almost too much to believe. And that turned out to be the case, but that's ok too. We adjust. Looking forward to summer, and that's no lie.

Gabi's getting set to move to Rhode Island soon. I guess we'll get to see that part of the country sometime this year. Maybe.

The Sugar Island Festival site is mostly complete, at least until they provide more content. It was a small project, but interesting. They always are. To tell you the truth, I think building sites is one of the more fun things I do these days (aside from playing music with friends). Not much money in it, at least on the level I'm at (I don't advertise and rarely get someone that want me to do a site for any real money) but I don't even care, really. As long as my day job is solid, I can look at this as a hobby, or a labor of love, if you will. I'd much rather learn a new technique and try it out than to pursue those folks willing to pay (usually less than it's worth) but every now and again, someone comes along that is interested and interesting. I'm supposed to do a redesign of the Sugar Bush web site this spring, but nothing has been firmed up yet. It's supposed to involve a new inventory system on the site, and payment processing, so there will be a learning curve, but that's fine with me...

It's over 6 months now since Jon, Kimberly, and the kids (and Burno) moved in. There have been a few issues, but for the most part it's been a good thing. The economy in Michigan is still pretty weak, so there are few opportunities for them. For now Jonathan attends LSSU, Kimberly subs when she can, and we all try and make room for each other. As I said before, I love having them here, but I also miss the freedom and solitude I had before. I must admit it's pretty special to hear Caleb yelling a greeting as I come home, and Trenton is lots of fun, but also pretty trying on my patience at times, so maybe this is a good thing on multiple levels. I hope they'll be able to get on their own before too long, but for now, I'm enjoying the situation.