Christmas Parties We spent the last week attending several Christmas parties. First off was a get together with my siblings. We spent most of a Saturday together talking and letting the kids play together. These events are different now that my mom passed away and I find myself thinking about her a lot during this …
Basketball Season Underway Ben is back playing basketball for his second season and it’s obvious that he’s improved. He’s always been a great passer and defender but his dribbling and shooting is getting better. I feel bad because we don’t have a basketball goal for him at home to practice on. Our driveway is too …
Thanksgivings We finished our two Thanksgiving dinners this year and they were excellent. The food at my wife’s family’s house was very good. The food we made at our house for my side was tremendous! I smoked a turkey, two pork tenderloins, and a bunch of sausages. The meat temped perfectly which is the absolute …
Most of my work this month involved working through Udemy’s “Complete Agile Scrum Master Certification Training”. This is a training course to prepare one to take the PSM – Professional Scrum Master Certification. This is the Ken Schwaber affiliated certification. I chose it because I’m tired of hearing the term scrum thrown about without really …
Violin Recital Ted is playing the violin and I think he’s going to continue doing it. He got up in front of everybody and played with great confidence. He is learning about effort and how practice can build confidence. Leading up to the event he was doubtful and nervous, but sometimes a little too confident …
Cincinnati Museum Center and Holiday Trains We made it here to see the Holiday Christmas trains and exhibit. First off I noticed the toys in the museum changed. Many of these are from when I was a child. I saw a Playstation (important to note we did not call it Platystation One then), and of …
Cub Scout Halloween Party This is one of our best parties of the year and it went off terrifically. Everyone had fun. The games were well thought out and appreciated by the youth. I’d say all kids dressed up and many parents. My son Ted won the “scariest costume” again, which is his third year …
I am working really hard on updating my skills and getting ready for the next step in my career. There is so much to learn. I am finding though some payoff as some of the ideas I am being exposed to have immediate application to what I am doing professionally. There are instances though of …
Kings Island Haunt Visit We visited KI as a family for our annual Haunt Visit. We arrived and went to dinner first because it was a Friday night and we needed to eat dinner. I chose the barbecue restaurant on the Coney Island Mall. We enjoyed our meal and then we split paths, half of …
Dutchman’s Trunk or Treat and Hayride One of our favorite events at Dutchman’s. Everyone puts together a good event. There are lots of people giving out candy. The boys were allowed to ride the hayride unsupervised which they enjoyed. We ate at Chipotle before and Ted had his first burrito, which he praised heartily. I …