lack of posting doesn't mean I have stopped thinking....

Life is busy. I know we all feel it. We all have family, friends, jobs, bills and endless activity in our lives.

For me my life revolves around family, faith, and friends. My family keeps me busy. I am seemingly always either on my way to or from the dance studio. My faith keeps me busy with time spent at church, worshipping or volunteering. My friends keep me busy as we try to keep relationships fresh.

All of these things are well worth it. Each brings joy and purpose to life. At times it takes a lot of effort to keep it all in balance, but most of the time it is just fine.

Fantasy football helps.

Well here it is. This is the used van we purchased to replace our older one. So far it has been great. The furthest we have been in it is Hayward, Wisconsin. We hope it lasts at least 5 years as these things are expensive, even used! 

L-R Shaye, Sunny, Krista, Tim, Scott. Taken on July 4th. 

Van replacement

We have been thinking about replacing our minivan for some time now. It is a 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager that we bought new just after our son was born. This van has been everywhere with us. It has been on a trip to Florida and one to South Dakota and Colorado, and all over Minnesota and Wisconsin many times. It has been a good van but with things going wrong with it now and with 163,000 plus miles it has reached the end.

So yesterday I told Krista we needed to get serious about replacement. Having looked at many vans online, we were mostly ready. Abby and Krista went out for a haircut and were near one of the places that had a van we had seen online. Well, one thing led to another, I ended up over there too, and we will pick up our "new to us" van today.

It is much the same as the one we have, just newer and with more options. It is a 2000 Chrysler Grand Voyager. It is blue, which Krista likes. It has captain's chairs in the back instead of a bench seat, which the kids like. It has operational air conditioning and power locks, which I like.

It isn't really new, but it will hopefully get us through the next 6 years or so.

Minivans are not exciting, but they do make great functional sense for a family like ours. I will post a picture when I have one..

One of my nephews got married this past Saturday, and he and Heidi made it through the day. Here is a picture of Darren with Gabe and Abby. Congratulations Darren and Heidi!! 

Fantasy baseball update

I am sure almost none of you care, but I have moved up the standings in my fantasy baseball league. I have been consistently in 10th place, and spent one day in 9th. I have been stuck in 12th to 14th in our 14 team league for two seasons.

I had hoped for this improvement using a more long term approach, and planning on reaching the top tier of teams by the end of next season. After that I hope to challenge for the title.

A quick hello to the other at-home dads that make up our league including Marty, the owner of the hated Milwaukee Polka, and Chapa whom I am finally ahead of.

A nice lunch on 4/19 at Old Chicago in downtown Minneapolis with my Mom, my brother Thom, and my sister Kris. We didn't sit this close for the entire lunch. 

Fantasy baseball

Tonight I have my fantasy baseball draft. I have been playing in a league with other stay-at-home dads for about 5 years now. Some of the team owners have changed over time, but most are the same. I have never won in this league but I enjoy it every year.

Our draft tonight will take place online, and we have guys participating from coast to coast. I already have 8 players, 7 that I kept from last season and one I picked up in our pre-draft since I didn't keep our max of eight players. I have Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau of my hometown Twins and six others. I hope to do much better this year as I finished second to last last season.

Fantasy sports are a fun diversion. I participate in a football league during the NFL season, and am currently involved in fantasy golf (PGA), racing (NASCAR), and the NCAA basketball tournament.

Me and my beautiful daughter, Abigail Lee. 

Winter...bring it on!

This winter has been quite mediocre so far. We have had some snow, which is nice but with stretches of temperatures above freezing we have lost most of it.

Winter here in Minnesota is always better with a lot of snow and temperatures just below freezing. All the fun stuff you can do here depends on the snow, otherwise it is just dreary and brown. The kids like to go sliding, and there hasn't been much good snow for that. They did get out with Krista during the last snowfall and made a snowman in the front yard.

Minnesota is a great place to live, but sometimes winter can drag on. There is so little daylight with so many overcast days, and the days of light are short to begin with. We need our snow to make it fun.