Went to the city today to get an MRI done. However, the doctor made a mistake and didn't send an order for the test. So, no test. I did get to meet with Zouave and have lunch. We had a nice visit.

Tonight I made some last minute revisions to my Iron Warriors army list. I think I have finally found the combination of wargear and equipment that makes my force well rounded and dangerous. It is dependant on ranged combat. But, with the recent changes in the close combat rules it should not be a problem. I'm looking forward to destroying AmonRa's Orks.

I got an email this morning from Tess. She's the girl that wants to move to our area with her son. She wanted me to address something I said last month in this blog. Unfortunately, as the time approaches for her to move here I think she is getting more nervous. I don't blame her... She's about to embark on an adventure for better or worse. I am positive about one thing, she needs to take an active part in her sons life. No matter what happens she needs to get her boy away from her ex-husband who is a total loser. From what I understand, he has been neglecting his son in just about every way. Basically, I think that Tess is looking to be included as part of our extended family and wants some reassurance that it will happen. I hope my message did just that.

Still no word yet from the bank about our business loan. I hope that is a good sign.

Tonight I had a nice chat with Zouave. It's always good to hear from him. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll hook up and visit before my MRI. He said some progress has been made in finding a solution to his back trouble. I am so very happy about that, it is the answer to many of my prayers for him. I get worried about the guy because he goes so long without answering my emails. Tonight he said he's been having problems sending emails lately. With as much as he fiddles and tinkers with his computer, he probably erased some crucial file for sending emails. LOLOLOLOL

I had a Physical Therapy session today with a different Therapist. She was a nice lady. She kinda pushed me hard in my workouts. But, I left feeling good with only minor pain. Apparently, she works part time as a therapist filling in when needed. She said she was from Southern California and moved here as an adventure. I could definitely sense a sadness in her when she told me her story. I think perhaps she got divorced or something. If I work with her more I won't pry. But it is interesting to me, as an observer of people, to scry into another life.

Well, the pressure is on to organize a nice mothers day for my wife. Unfortunately, she has to work that day. But, on the bright side I can make a nice dinner or something for her while she's away. Sometimes my honey is so hard to shop for just because she won't tell me what she wants. I may have to get her a belated present this year to coincide with my next paycheck. I think she would most appreciate being taken shopping for clothes somewhere. A couple new outfits would go a long way to showing her our appreciation.

On the flip side, Mother's Day is a bit hard for me because I had a close friend in high school that died on that day. I was only a freshman then but it impacted me alot. To this day I believe that he was killed by his own Father to get back at his mother for filing for divorce. Before he died my friend told me many times that he thought his Dad was going to kill him. What a hell for a teenaged boy to go through. I plan to visit his grave on that day.

I'm beginning to think it is dangerous to take walks with my son. Today we took a short hike along an old road in the woods. As we approached the bottom of a hill I heard a tremendous crash in the bushes ahead. Then no more than 10 yards from us a brown bear shot out of the underbrush and took off into the woods. It was quite a large animal, probably an adult. Obvioulsy, the boy and I slowly backed our way out of the area and headed down another path. This is the second time the two of us came across a wild animal in the woods. Last year in Oregon a mountain lion darted out of the woods in front of us. Again, we slowly backed out of the area and the animal left us alone. I was scared that time because I know mountain lions are attracted to little children.

I think the reason this keeps happening is because I try to walk so quietly through the woods in order to hear what's going on around me. I've always heard that it's not good to sneak up on wild animals. I'm just glad the bear thought discretion was the better part of valor.

My two younger daughters played softball games in town today. Both did real well. I watched one game while my wife watched the other. Of course, in their league its not really about winning it's about playing. So sometimes it can be comical the errors made on the field by the kids. The whole experience is good for them. I look forward to a few years when they are playing competative games like my older daughter.

Finally, I heard from my former spiritual father this week. He wrote me an email after over a year of silence. It was good to hear from him, I do miss his friendship. I'm glad to hear that his life is going well in Southern California. I think that Mordor kinda chewed him up and spit him out like me. Hopefully, we can continue our dialogue.

Another win for my daughter's softball team. Everyone on her team played extremely well, They won by over ten points(frankly I lost count). However, my daughter had a hard lesson in sportsmanship. She made an off hand, rude comment after the game to one of the opposing players. The poor girl just hung her head and walked away but I jumped all over my daughter about it. We were originally going to Round Table pizza to celebrate, but it got nixed because of that incident. I was sorry to cut short her happiness. But, she needs to know not to kick someone when they're down. For all we know that girl may quit softball because of that. We are all condemned by our tongues.

This week I have been working on assembling my Iron Warriors. So far, I have two squads together and primered. However, I have alot of painting to do. I guess I'm not in a big hurry since I'm not going to Kublacon. But, I want to get them done to see them all before me. My wife has promised to assemble her Dark Eldar so we can play game soon. Also, my friend AmonRa in Mordor said he wants to come over with his Orks this summer to play a game. I hope he can, I really like playing against him. My hope is that I can kick some Orky butt to get him back for stomping me last time.

Finally, I heard from the owner of that store we wanted in the old Depot in town. She agreed to rent to someone else. But, she said if it falls through she'll call me. My wife originally had reservations about that spot just because of it's size. I liked it alot because of it's location. Oh well, I guess we'll start the search again. As a side note, we got the last of our information in to the loan agent today. We should hear something in a few days.

Happy Pascha everyone. Today is Eastern Orthodox Easter. Frankly, I've been so out of touch with Church that I didn't realize it was Pascha until today. Orthodox Easter used to be my favorite Church celebration. The end of Lent, and the dawning of a new season. But, the last few Paschal celebrations at the Orthodox Church in Mordor left me empty and sad. There was so much bad blood in that place for me that I could not even give proper worship to Christ. My challenge in the next year is to realign myself with the Church and find the joy in religion again.

Today we spent some time out at the lake. It was warm enough to go swimming but we didn't. I layed out in the sun with my wife while the kids played in the forest. It was nice, Spring is turning towards Summer and life is turning slow and enjoyable. Frankly, I was kinda quiet today just basking in the joy of life.

Heard some interesting news... a friend of mine who works at the local ski park talked with their promotions director recently. He mentioned that I had several years experience working in radio on a morning show. The director is apparently interested in possibly hiring me next season to do on-air promotions around the area, namely in Mordor where I used to work. I really like the idea of going on the air with my old buddies giving away snow boards and ski passes. Lets hope it works out.

Lastly I heard from Stout today that he saw another old friend of mine, Valkyrie-X, in Burger King. Stout said he mentioned that we were living in the area and she said that she had heard. Hmmmmm... I sent her an email several months ago saying hi and she didn't respond. Valkyrie-X is very reclusive and I imagine she purposefully failed to respond because she didn't want to talk to me. I doubt that she knows anyone that I know here. Which leads me to think she had no other way to know that we moved here besides actually receiving that email. So, I'm plagued with yet another person trying to avoid me. I must really be an a*shole!! It's unfortunate because she knows alot about anime and I'm wanting to pick her brain about adding anime DVDs to my store inventory. I think she's reclusive because she fears that I'll reveal something about her past. Frankly, I wasn't even aware of a past associated with her worth being ashamed of.

Took this goofy nobility quiz to determine my place in the hypothetical royalty food chain. In a handful of questions it determined that I was a king among men. Kinda flattering but, the quiz is far from scientific. Don't ask me why I took it. If your interested the address is at http://www.usagiandmamoru.com/quiz/royalty.html

Sometimes shopping really stresses me out. We went to Walmart to pick up some things we need and I kinda lost it. Ended up coming home feeling like crap with a major headache. Fortunately, I didn't lose my cool with the kids or my wife. However, we went to Taco Bell and I ended up getting sick on the food. For the past 6 months I've been boycotting fast food except for Taco Hell. Now I guess the king of cheap mexican food has to go too.

My third daughter played her first game of the season today. It was so nice to sit out in the sun and watch her play. She did good, like her older sister she's playing right field and first base. Didn't get anyone out, but she didn't really get the opportunity to. She did make two base hits during the game and ended up scoring twice. Shes a fast runner so she tends to beat the throws around the field. I think once she gets to majors she's gonna be good. I am proud of her.