Pack 330 - 2009 Blue & Gold awards banquets

In addition to this event marking Kyle's graduation from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, it also marked the end of my stint as Cubmaster. I spent a year and a half as Assistant Cubmaster under Wayne, then when he left the pack (because his son graduated to Boy Scouts), I naturally assumed command. I spent the last two years as 'leader of the pack'. :-)
I truly had an awesome experience, mostly due to the people with whom I worked.
Julie (pictured with me as we both departed the pack), Cathy, Natalie, MaryGen, Scott, Eric, and all the other den leaders were an incredible group to work with and I will treasure the time we spent together. The great part is that it is not really over... I will still see them at church and school and can stop by and visit whenever I want.
It's not like I am moving away from the area, destined never to see these people again, whom I now consider my friends.
Although, as Kyle gets involved in Troop 370 in Eden Prairie, I will naturally get more involved with them and devote more time to assist the boys achieve their rank and merit badges.
Scouting was an awesome experience for me as I was growing up, and I am very happy that Kyle is getting as much out of it as he does. He seems to have the drive and ambition to go as far as Eagle, although there are lots of distractions along the way... the 'fumes'... perfumes and car fumes. Those were definitely my distractions and were ultimately the reasons I left scouting at the age of 16. Also, back in the early 70's, scouting wasn't as cool or accepted as it is today.

Cub Scout graduation ceremony

Well, after 5 years of uninterrupted Cub Scouting, Kyle has graduated from Cub Scouts and earned the Arrow of Light award. He participated in the crossover ceremony to symbolize leaving his parents and Cub Scouts behind, and crossing the bridge to Boy Scouts.
He is very excited about his Boy Scout adventure and has promised me he will get his Eagle award someday. He said he was doing it 'for me'... I told him I didn't want that kind of guilt in my life.
I have enough guilt... I don't need that.
All kidding aside, he is gung-ho and is eager to start working on his rank badges. Our first meeting with Troop 370 in Eden Prairie is March 16th... the day after we get home from Hawaii.

Skiing at BuckHill

Kyle and I went skiing on Saturday in order to brush up on the basic skills before his class trip next Friday. It is a challenge due to his tendency to give up fairly quickly on things he can't do right away although I was impressed with his tenacity this time. The $125 we spent this day was an expensive day just for the short time we actually skied. We also went tubing which was awesome... they have quite the cool setup for tubing... formed snow lanes so you aren't going all over the place and nice tubes with which to ride. They have a tow rope that you hook your tube rope onto and you just sit in the tube while it brings you up the hill. The magic carpet mechanism they use on the beginner hills is also pretty cool. I posted a picture in case you haven't seen one before. We will see how the class trip goes for my son...

The momentum of Facebook

There is a phenomenon called 'critical mass' which was originally coined for nuclear weapons and is defined as:

n.

1. The smallest mass of a fissionable material that will sustain a nuclear chain reaction at a constant level.

The current fascination with Facebook in the news and its popularity (with everyone I know) seems that it is reaching its critical mass... where its user base growth begins continually multiplying exponentially until there is no one else interested in joining, or another 'flash in the pan' fad takes over.
FB seems like it is always in the news lately and that is one of the signs of its surging popularity.

2009 Pinewood Derby - Cub Scout Pack 330

Well, our final Cub Scout Pinewood Derby took place on Saturday. It went off without a hitch and I will miss being the emcee of this important event in coming years. (In this picture are: Nathan, Alex, Ryan, Matt, Jordan, Kyle and my son Kyle.)
My hidden desires to be an announcer definitely come out when I have the microphone in my hand and a captive audience of 7 - 11 year olds. The parents are too polite to not laugh at my lame jokes; it is the perfect gig... although the pay is lousy. :-)
The usual kids whose dads built the cars won the race... unfortunately my son never won an award in his 5 years, and this fact really hit him hard this year and he broke down. It is a good life lesson to learn... you don't win everything (or anything). Although a win every once in a while does give you some hope...

Bangladesh elephants

My niece sent Kyle a postcard from Thailand, so I thought it would be nice to scan it and post it.
Kate is working in Bangladesh teaching English at the Asian University for Women in Chittagong.
In case you are interested in reading of her travels and adventures, click here to read her blog.

Ice fishing on Lake Mille Lacs

Well, John and I spent a great weekend with our kids in an ice shack up north, although the 'catch' was less than impressive. We were in an ice house at "Randy's on Mille Lacs", measuring about 8' x 20', in about 20 feet of crystal clear water. I know that since I could clearly see the ice scoop I dropped down the ice hole earlier on Friday, quietly resting on the bottom, seemingly mocking me for the rest of the weekend.
We could see fish hanging out near our bait and just staring at our minnows... but couldn't figure out why they wouldn't bite. A little later on, John decided to try a wax worm and feverishly tried to get them to eat it. Well, it worked and he brought his 'trophy fish' up to the surface. The fish measured maybe 3 - 4 inches long... nearly twice as long as our minnows. :-)
Putting things into perspective: That is the equivalent of someone dangling a 3-foot Subway BMT sandwich in front of your face expecting to lure you away from the cubicle you spend your entire day mindlessly pecking away at a computer. OK, that scenario may actually work for me, but it is unlikely that I would be able to fit the entire sandwich in my mouth. :-)
What else did we do during our 48-hour ordeal? We went to the Grand Casino buffet for dinner on Friday night and enjoyed the endless crab legs that were available, then spent some of our hard-earned money at the arcade in an attempt to garner some cheap, valueless trinkets at the redemption counter while contributing our funds to the Indian Reservation income. On Saturday, we ate breakfast at Eddy's restaurant and then after a tiring day of fishing :-), we rented a shared snowmobile for 4-hours and all had a great time zipping around Mille Lacs. After snowmobiling, we took in a movie: "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" which we all enjoyed (a lot) and spent the rest of the weekend recalling funny scenes from the movie.
Other than the inability of our 'ice-shack slumlord' to provide a working TV/DVD player, it was a pretty good trip.
We returned late Sunday morning... after a our second large breakfast at Eddy's.