I have been derelict in my duties...

what with all the political postings, I have been remiss on regaling you with stories of what's going on with my family and me.

So...what's going on?

Nothin'

Except for Madison's birthday party a few weeks ago. She is 8 years old. She told us she wanted a book party. Apropos because she is a voracious reader. She reads all the time.

Kelly, as she tends to do, took this idea, ran with it and made it the best darn book party you could have imagined. She went to many Barnes and Nobles and asked if they had any children's book displays left over she could have for her daughter's birthday. We got tons of stuff. We also got tons of stuff from Madison's Aunt Kim.

On top of that, she asked that everyone come dressed as their favorite book character. All 24 guests came dressed up. That was really cool. They all dressed up.

We played pin the hat on the life size cat. Had a treasure hunt and played book bingo.

Madison was Junie B Jones.

It was a great party! Great idea! Great execution! Just Great!

Now if we travel further back in time, we can see, through the mist that always seems to accompany a travel back in time, our trip to Corpus Christi/San Antonio.

We had a wonderful time. Stayed at a Condo right on the beach. Weather was good. Except for the 101 degree temperature I was running, it was a grand trip.

This one's for you, dad. Aboard the USS Lexington.