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-House of Bennett-
The inspection was today. Papers were signed on Wednesday. A couple living in an apartment by the Galleria. Their first house I believe. A new start for them, a new chapter for us.
They have a 10 day back-out period, but I feel it's a done deal. Friday can't come soon enough. Regardless of the outcome in the next few days, I'm sticking to my moto from the last two months. "God is going to put us where He wants to put us".
House of Bennett II is coming. I can't wait to see what God has planned.

First medium grocery run (prior runs where for piddly stuff):

1. gallon of milk
2. quart of chocolate milk
   
3. bread
4. 2 boxes of cereal
5. bag of cereal
6. sausage
7. pancake mix
8. pancake syrup
9. bag of gala apples
   
10. bag of puffy cheetos
11. box of cheese danishes
12. block of cheese
13. sliced cheese

6 months?

Well, I tried. Not on purpose, though. You know, that life thing got in the way. Anyway, here's something new to read:
The grocery store bike. This bears witness to how much of a bike geek I am. I took a late 90's POS Sports Authority (Oshmans) green Mongoose mountain bike, and gave it new life. I removed the gearing and rear brake, added a 1950's Bendix "red stripe" coaster brake and Wald rear wire baskets. The gearing is horrible, rear is 22, front is 48. Puts it around 60 gear inches. The chainline is bad as well, but what can I do? I put some 1.25" slicks on it, and cruise to the grocery store at night. I love night riding. It's peaceful and cool. A front basket is planned, and I need to get a blinky and front light.

Full Circle Gaming

Although it did begin with countless hours on a Sears Video Arcade II (Atari 2600 knockoff) and an Intellivision II, it really took off in 1990. I bought myself a high school graduation present, a Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. I play it on a 13" B&W TV. Hours and hours of games I vaguely remember. Some where beaten, some laughed at me. Next was the Super NES, or SNES. F-Zero, Castlevania IV, MegaMan, Mario, oh Mario. Lots of sleep was lost. Nights with my roommate included 2l Coke (each) , a bag of Chips Ahoy (each), and a rental. We where the reason they raised late fees at the local Blockbuster. Slowly this phase quieted down. I moved, late night gaming nearly ceased.
Then came Sony. 1995, I bought a Playstation and a 32" TV. Game on. Final Fantasy VII, Doom I-II-Final, CART racing, Armored Core, fighting, racing, death & destruction. In 1998, again gaming began to fade. School was taking over along with starting a family, being responsible, etc.
Than came the Playstation 2. Like nothing I've ever seen. New standards were set. Controllers got polished through hours of hand sweat, and pressure. Super Licences where attained in racing simulators. I had on car with 1200+ miles of racing on the odometer. Hundreds of hours where logged on Final Fantasy games. Solid Snake saved the world, twice. Ratchet & Clank and the chicken gun, sheepenator, and vortex cannon. Eventually the notorious DVD board died on the PS2. Design flaw, go figure. Alas the neighbors had a PS2 sitting around, so it came to visit, for 2-3 years.
In the newest chapter, as more responsibility is piled on, gaming was starting to quiet down again. Ebb and flow. Enter Christmas 2007. The year of the Wii (Actually it's second year in production). After almost 14 years of knowing my best friend, and beloved wife, she's now infected. Infected with Wii-itus. It's actually her Wii. She's player one. She asks "Do you want to play a game?" (not like the W.O.P.R though). She stays up to 3am playing on a school night.
Full circle. I keep telling my son, there's more to life than video games. Yes it's good to play them ,just don't obsess about them. Now my wife's bitten, and it's like the twilight zone...
God sure is amazing isn't He?

Starring Down the Late Thirties

Dude. No longer early, nor mid-thirties, come Friday, I'm in my late thirties. I do feel kinda old. When my wife says "remember honey, you're not the rider you used to be", I feel a little old. (I know she has the best intentions, and I'm not making fun of her). When I take picts of those high school kids at work, I'm now TWICE their age. Ouch. Watching Star Wars with my oldest son for the first time, a bit old.
Really, I don't know what I was expecting, being old and all.
At forty, I think of my parents. I think we all see our parents as old, as adults. That's the eternal image we have. So it's hard for us to visualize ourselves as adults. I'm still in my mid-twenties in my mind. Them being young and doing "fun and cool" things is a bit abstract to us. So, do my kids see me as old? They've only know me as an adult...
I guess it's not that bad. I do plan on living to see flying cars and the year 2100, so maybe I'm still a bit young. I just need to tell the gray in my beard that news, and all will be well.

16 Feet of Fiberglass Bliss

What a blessing we just received! Some dear friends of our's are retiring, moving south, and are giving away some of their stuff. Monday night, we got a new canoe. It's a Old Town Katahdin. It's 3 feet longer, and 6 inches narrower than our other Old Town. That translates to more speed, and easier paddling. I'm so excited. My goal is to do some river running and canoe camping, and the other canoe was just too short and wide to reasonably do that. This one is perfect. EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you Joan and Jim, it truly is a blessing!