Labor Day weekend Fun - UPDATE

Well, in my last post, i documented the repainting of the kitchen cabinets and hanging new lights. Once we got the green on the cabinets beside the fridge, we realized how bad the counter top there looked with the green. Since we didn't want to look into something like black granite at this time, we decided to see how it would look painted black. So after some sanding, primer and paint, here it is. What do you think?

Labor Day weekend fun

Sue's parents offered to take the girls to Boston to see Dan and Julie over Labor Day weekend, and who were we to deny them??? So we decided (well, Sue decided and I agreed) to repaint the kitchen cabinets (from a cream to a white) and replace the hardware (door pulls/drawer knobs) that we've have for at least a year. No major changes (well, maybe a small one), just a fresh coat of paint that now matches the rest of the trim in the house.

So we started Saturday morning by taking all the doors/drawer fronts off, sanding them and cleaning them. Well, it was pretty much Sue who took them off (and labeled them so we'd know where to put them back) and started sanding/cleaning. While she was doing that, it was my job to install two pendant lights over the counter (yes, we have had those for ~3 years but didn't want to pay an electrician to come out and install them) and put the light over the sink onto a switch as well. My job took a bit longer than i expected but went very well. Everything "lit up" the first time.

Oh, why the green? That same green is used in the dining room (right off the kitchen) and we decided it would be a good "accent wall" type of feature.

So anyway, here are a couple before and after pics.

Happy Yellow Day!!

I'm a GONAD, are you?

You can be one too

Sea Serpents take 2nd at RSL Nationals Division Finals

After a less than successful year last year, the Sea Serpents took advantage of moving down a division to capture second place in the regular season series of dual meets, losing only to Ferry Farm. They capped off the year with a second place finish at the National Division Finals (Ferry Farm, who was our only dual meet loss and regular season champ, won).

The girls did awesome:

Camryn
25 Free - 22.13
25 Breast - 29.67
25 Fly - 28.52

Ainslie:
25 Free - 34.58
25 Back - 31.35

Swim Meet vs Lake Wilderness

The Sea Serpents rebounded from their loss against Ferry Farm with a solid win against Lake Wilderness

Spotswood - 333 Lake Wilderness -178

Camryn swam in the following:
25 Free - 23.43
25 Breast - 30.22
25 Fly - 29.93

Ainslie swam in the following:
25 Free - 32.03
25 Back - 33.99

Swim Meet vs Ferry Farm

The Sea Serpents were unable to keep their undefeated season going against Ferry Farm. With quite a few swimmers on vacation, they lost by 15 points.

Spotswood - 246 Ferry Farm - 261


Camryn continued to do well:
25 Free - 22.43
25 Breast - 29.90
25 Fly - 28.41


Ainslie continued to do well also:
25 Free - 35.83
25 Back - 34.10

Swim meet number four tonight UPDATED w/ Score

Spotswood - 270 Regency - 235

Camryn
25 Free - 22.89
25 Back - 31.28
25 Breast - 30.53

Ainslie
25 Free - 31.38
25 Back - 33.35


The Sea Serpents will try and keep their undefeated season going
tonight as we visit Regency. They should be one of our toughest tests
this season. Camryn is swimming freestyle relay and graduated relay
as well as freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. Ainslie is
swimming freestyle and backstroke.

I'll try and get scores posted before I head out for New Orleans on
Friday morning. Which reminds me, did I post scores from the last
meet??

Mike

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3rd Swim Meet Tonight: UPDATED w/ Results

SPOTSWOOD - 356 PLEASANT VALLEY - 158

Spotswood has its 3rd meet of the season at home tonight against Pleasant Valley. The girl's events are as follows:

Camryn
8U 100M Freestyle Relay, "A" Team : 1:36.59 (1)
8U 25M Freestyle : 22.19 (2)
8U 25M Butterfly : 29.78 (5)
8U 25M Breaststroke : 29.88 (2)
125M Graduated Freestyle Relay 1:32.50 (3)

Ainslie
8U 100M Freestyle Relay, "B" Team : 2:00.07 (2)
6U 25M Freestyle : 35.31 (2)
8U 25M Backstroke : 37.04 (5)

Meet begins at 6PM

Swim meet vs. Salem Fields

Spotswood was a big winner against Salem Fields last night.
Final score, Spotswood 336 - Salem Fields 153

Camryn had another great meet. A first and four seconds!!

8U 100M Freestyle Relay - 1st
8U 25M Freestyle - 2nd
8U 25M Butterfly - 2nd
8U 25M Breaststroke - 2nd
Graduated Freestyle Relay - 2nd


Ainslie only swam one event this week, which she won!!

6U 25M Freestyle - 1st


I'll try to update later once our coaches post final times. And now for a couple pics
Getting ready for the meet.

Reaching for the wall.

Heat winner ribbon!!

Cam in Breaststroke

All smiles after a winning meet

Best Friends

Starting to get ready for New Orleans

I am lucky enough to have participated in 2 prior mission trips to New Orleans with my church, Spotsylvania Presbyterian (see us here). We have helped in the rebuilding effort by gutting houses the first year and then starting to rebuild others the second year. We've worked the past two years with Canal Street Presbyterian (see them here) as they help the residents of New Orleans continue to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

This year, our trip is set for July 11-19 and will be quite different. The first two trips were with approximately 10-12 people each time. Not this year. We are taking almost 30 down. What makes this remarkable is that 21 of them are high school students!! Sue keeps wondering what's worse, that i agreed to go to New Orleans in July or that i agreed to go with that many high school students. I haven't decided yet.

This year we are unable to work with Canal Street Presbyterian because they are having Vacation Bible School and their construction coordinator is on vacation that week. So we've partnered up with Trinity Christian Community (see them here). This will be another great experience that I'm looking forward to. More to come later.

2nd swim meet of the season tonight

Camryn and Ainslie have their second swim meet of the season tonight. We'll have to see how tired Camryn is tonight. She's participating in FCA Power Camp this week and is doing LOTS of swimming (among other activities) during the day-long camp.

I may try and post some times for the girls tonight if i can get them.

Camryn and Ainslie's first swim meet of the season

They called the meet (mainly because it was an exhibition against a team outside our division) due to weather after event 48 i believe, so Camryn didn't get to swim her last event which was the graduated relay, but here's how she did (and what place she finished in her event overall), with her best times from last year as comparison

	2007	2008
25 Free	22.90	21.05 (1)
25 Back	33.05	29.20 (3)
25 Fly	27.97	28.60 (3)

She was a member of the "A" 100 Freestyle relay team for 7/8 which won comfortably.

Ainslie did great as well. She was a member of the "B" 100 Freestyle relay team for 7/8 (yes, you read that right) which i believe came in either 2nd or 3rd and also swam in the 8 and under 25 Freestyle.

We are very proud of both of them.

Oh, the score. Spotswood 288 - Spotsylvania YMCA 85

Call me crazy....

What's worse that going to New Orleans in the middle of July (more on that later...)??? How about waiting for the hottest day of the year so far and going to play golf in the afternoon. I'm leaving in a couple hours to head up to
NOVA to play in the Madison Masters golf tournament with some friends from school.

Only supposed to be 100 up there today. Good thing it's going to cool off later in the week, down to the low 90s.

Relay For Life, part 2

Ok, got up early, made some coffee to take with me and was looking at the paper waiting for Sue to get home from her early morning stint at Relay For Life. Then the phone rings. Basically, Relay was to be over at 5am. :-)

So, i got up at 4:15 took a quick shower to wake up and now i get to stay up. That's Ok, now I can sympathize with Sue later in the day about how tired she is. I hope everyone that was out all night at Relay had a great night.

Relay For Life

In honor of my sister, my father and my father-in-law, as well as many other close friends, I am participating in the local Relay For Life. I just got home from my first "stint" which consisted of helping my father-in-law setup our tent area around 4pm today and then grilling burgers, brats and dogs for the early arrivals. Sue, Camryn, Ainslie and myself walked the first hour of the event, from 7-8pm and then headed home to get the girls in bed. Sue is already in bed so she can head back out from 3-5am for another walking shift. I'll be out there again from 5-7am so i'm heading to bed right after this.

If anyone would like to make a much appreciated donation to Relay For Life, please visit my Relay page
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeSouthAtlanticDivision?px=6403958&pg=personal&fr_id=8917

I might post again while walking in the morning.

Mike

A bit of work in Ainslie's room

Can't believe i haven't done anything here since beer fest.

Ainslie's room had no storage whatsoever except for her closet, so Sue and I decided to put my beginning woodworking skills to use and came up with a "built-in" idea for her wall that will include bookshelves, a desk (with some sort of hutch/shelves above it) and a bench seat with drawers for under the window.

Part 1 complete - the shelves.

Here are the shelves. I added a small face frame around the front and plan to make/put doors over the bottom two shelves. I have a bit of touchup to do on the shelves and trim around the closet door.










Here's the wall (well, most of it) that the other two pieces will go on.

My Favorite Beers from Beerfest

I promised a list of the beers i sampled at Beerfest and which of them were my favorites. I've put a couple asterisks (**) beside the beers which were my favorites. You'll have to scroll all the way down to see which beer i thought was the best. Here goes...

Allagash Brewing Co. (ME)
allagash.com

Tripel
Belgian style Tripel. 9.0%


Boston Beer Co. (MA)
samadams.com

3 Weiss Men
A welcome return from the Boston brewery. This strong Belgian-style Ale defies easy categorization. Brewed with a high percentage of wheat malt but without sugar, it is both rich and satisfying to taste while dry and tart in the finish. We use both a Belgian yeast and German Wiess yeast for fermentation. After aging for over a year, it has developed complex vanilla graham and peach compote aromas that compliment its bready wheat notes and spicy tropical fruit. Perfectly balanced for fireside sipping and post-sledding adventures. 8.5%

**Imperial Stout
New from the Boston brewery. Aromas of espresso, dark chocolate, smoke, caramel, and black fruits over a richly textured, silky palate and a lingering smooth, tart finish accentuated by a hefty 9.4%


Boulder Beer Co. (CO)
boulderbeer.com

MoJo RiSiN
In a moment of creative chaos, the brewers at Boulder Beer Company decided to take their hopalicious MoJo India Pale Ale to the next level. The result - MoJo Risin' Double IPA, a souped-up, extreme version of the one and only MoJo IPA. They added more than half a ton of extra malt and twice the amount of Amarillo hops, so prepare yourself for a full sensory explosion. 11.0%

**Cask Conditioned MoJo RiSiN
It's the EBF right? So why not take the Mojo Risin "higher"? Two words for ya: Cask Conditioned. And might we add its only for the EBF. 11.0%


Brewery Ommegang (NY)
ommegang.com

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout
The aroma immediately speaks of dark chocolate and dark malts. The gentle herbal nose of Perle hops compliments the darker notes, making the beer savory to the senses. The taste continues with the Belgian dark chocolate starting sweet up front but giving way to rich cocoa flavors at the back. Through it all, a subtle fruitiness from our special yeast gives the beer brightness otherwise foreign to a beer style normally associated with gray foggy skies. 7.7%


Dark Horse Brewing Co. (MI)
darkhorsebrewery.com

Pleading The 5th Imperial Stout
We're not saying a word, please come taste this yourself. 12.0%


Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (DE)
dogfish.com

**120 Minute IPA
The Holy Grail for Hopheads! Brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continually hopped with high alpha American hops, dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month and aged for a month on whole leaf hops, 120 Minute I.P.A. is by far the biggest I.P.A. ever brewed! 120IBUs. 18.0+%


Ithaca Beer Co. (NY)
ithacabeer.com

**EisKaffee
Freeze-distilled version of our Double Espresso Bock, Kaffinator. Not for the feint of heart. 14.0%


Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. (MI)
kbrewery.com

Frambois
Deep red in color, raspberries dominate in this tart treat. Malt flavor and aromas are subdued. Aged in an American oak barrel. 11.5%

Raspberry Eisbock 2007
Made using the traditional method, this beer is balanced towards the malty side. The raspberries are in the aroma as well as the smell of tootsie rolls. 11.9%

**Tenacious Cassis 2007
Deep purple, black currents and red currents flavor this luscious malty beverage. Sweet fruit up front with complex malt characters in the finish. 14.5%


Lagunitas Brewing Co. (CA)
lagunitas.com

Hop Stoopid
An Imperial IPA weighing in at 101IBUs and 8.2%

**Lumpy Gravy
All you need is some meatloaf on the side with this Imperial Brown Ale. 7.6%


Magic Hat Brewing Co. (VT)
magichat.net

**Braggot
A mead we make with Clover honey, Pilsner malt Chamomile flowers it is aged in used chardonnay barrels to create a style from years past. 9.0%


Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery (CO)
oskarblues.com

Gordon
AKA "The Velvet M-80," Gordon falls somewhere between a double IPA and an Imperial Red; 85IBUs. Gordon features an intense aroma, a sticky mouthfeel and a surprisingly comfortable finish for a beer of its size. Gordon is brewed in tribute to the late Gordon Knight, a Colorado craftbeer pioneer, Vietnam vet and grade-A citizen who died while fighting a 2002 wild fire outside of Lyons. 8.7%

**Ten FIDY Imperial Stout
Ten FIDY is slowly crafted with gargantuan amounts of five different malts, American hops, and a hearty dose of roasted barley. This dicephalous dark beer is an opaque, opulent, gentle-giant masterpiece. It features a viscous body, an espresso-like head and neck-deep flavors of dark-roasted malts, chocolate and coffee. Ten FIDY's massive charms and hops (approx. 98 IBUs) are rounded out by a hearty addition of oats. 10.0%


Short's Brewing Co. (MI)
shortsbrewing.com

**Cup A Joe
Robust Stout brewed with Espresso and lactose. 6.0%

The Woodmaster
Imperial Brown Ale brewed with late season maple syrup and fermented with pureed pecans. 9.5%

**Über Goober Oatmeal Stout
Robust Stout fermented with fresh roasted peanuts. 6.5%


Sixpoint Craft Ales (NY)
sixpointcraftales.com

Belgian Triple
Not your average Tripel-dry, slightly tart, and a firm, spicy hop finish helps round out our first foray into one of Sixpoint's favorite styles. 10.1%

Gorilla Warfare Porter
A silky smooth porter made with 40 pounds of Park Slope's Gorilla Coffee Ethiopian Yirgacheffe blend, a Fair Trade and Organic Certified coffee roasted in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The coffee has winey, spicy notes with hints of baker's chocolate. Combined with patent malt, the signature of many great English-style porters, this is one coffee-rich porter. 7.8%


Southern Tier Brewing Co. (NY)
southerntierbrewing.com

**Choklat
Imperial Stout made using dark and bittersweet chocolate. Limited release and probably the chocolatiest beer on planet Earth. 10.0%

**Jah-va
A massive Imperial Coffee Stout infused with real coffee. 12.0%

Raspberry Porter
Chocolaty porter brewed with fresh raspberries. Winter seasonal brewed for the first time ever in October 2007. 7.0%


Ok, before i tell you my favorite, i have to tell you about a beer that i had from Southern Tier Brewing Co. (NY). They were mixing their Choklat and Jah-va beers together to make what they called "Mocha". It was very tasty.

Now, my favorite beer was Braggot from Magic Hat Brewing Co. (VT). I've never been much of a mead fan before, but this was an amazing beer. During the Extreme Panel, Jim Koch from Boston Beer Co. said that he would gladly give up wine at meals if he could have Braggot. I think i would have to agree with him. :-)

Back from the Beerfest

Another great Beerfest. My brother-in-law agree that it's the best we've been to. As soon as i get a bit of time from work, i'll post a recap of the beers we tried and which ones i liked best.

One more thought from Beerfest

It was just pointed out to me that Jim Koch is double fisting

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Extreme Panel - Beerfest speakers

Guest Speaker Panel Participants
Matt Cohen - Head Brewer Magic Hat Brewing Co.
Jeremy Cowan - Proprietor Shmaltz Brewing Co.
Jim Koch - Founder & Brewer Boston Beer Co.
Todd Charbonneau - Head Brewer Harpoon Brewery
Jeff O'Neil - Head Brewer Ithaca Beer

Moderated by: Andy Crouch - Beer Writer & Author of "The Good Beer Guide
to New England" and columnist for BeerAdvocate magazine

Awesome speakers and discussions on the beer that I love

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I'm home ;-)

Just arrived for the Sam Adams Brewery tour

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Security lines

The only bad part about travelling is the wait in the security lines.
I've been lucky the last few times I've flown, no waiting. No such
luck today.

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Heading for Boston on Friday for the Extreme Beer Fest

It's become an annual event that i go visit Sue's brother Dan and his wife Julie for the Extreme Beer Fest each February. I think the only thing missing this year will be snow.

Assuming the keys on the Blackberry don't get any smaller as the afternoon goes on, i might try to give a "live" update throughout the day.

http://beeradvocate.com/fests/ebf

Extreme Beer Fest is being held @ The Cyclorama / Boston Center for the Arts (539 Tremont Street, Boston)

My smart little girl

Camryn made the honor roll with STRAIGHT A's. Way to go Camryn!!!

Virginia's Primary

I voted today, did you?

Second post

But how many actually do a trivial second post :-)

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First post

Everyone has to have one, right?

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