What every DaddyMom needs

At long last, my home office is complete. The addition of that office phone means that when seated here, I am as good as at the office. Our wicked cool phone system allows this one to operate via VPN making my home desk just another extension on the office system.

An unexpected benefit of the new phone: when our broadband burps or goes down all together, the phone lights up and starts searching for a connection. There are times I’ll be working and not realize AT&T has missed a beat. Now, I get a flashing notice of the carrier’s incompetence. Life is sweet.

The three things I need most now at hand at all times: broadband, a phone, and coffee. If only all problems were this easily solved. I think the muse is calling now. Time to write.

Getting high with John

John and I took the trip of a lifetime: Philmont Scout Ranch. Click here to read all about it on the live blog sent from the trip.

End run for the cannon

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The constable will be making more rounds through the subdivision now that the cannon has left the garage.

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We drove by night (as usual) and left the Expedition parked here ready for unload. After breakfast, I came around the corner to discover the unload already in progress.

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I didn’t have the heart to tell Sean, Burt, and their two helpers that two boys and an old man got it THIS far.

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In the end, it was easier to pick up and carry it than try rolling those rusty wheels.

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Corrine takes command, directing strong backs and willing minds to deliver it just where she wants it.

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“Every school needs a cannon,” says Roy Williams. Now, Wizard Academy has one.

Set sail for high adventure

Come along for high adventure on the high seas of the Bahamas with John’s Boy Scout troop. It’s a DaddyMom six-minute highlight reel of our week-long experience aboard Ciganka: 14 scouts, 4 dads, 2 crew, 1 boat.

Sailor John and Cap’n DaddyMom

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Cannon run, part deux

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When an idea grabs hold of the DaddyMom, there’s nowhere to go but done. This cannon thing has taken on a life all its own. Last week, John, Zuzu and I came face-to-face with a limitation of kiddie carrrier (our Expedition). Not to be deterred, I found the trailer hitch John couldn’t (it was hidden where I told him to look) and set it up for business.

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Our circuitous route from Castle Ridge to the cannon took us through Lake Jackson. And, you simply can’t pass through the birthplace of a Texas legend without paying a visit to Buc-ce’s #1. Stella and John took my detour in stride. Our pal David, meanwhile, is still trying to get a feel for my ADHD sense of direction…

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Okay, it would have worked better had it said “half off,” but it communicates the same thing. And, John’s all in favor of the idea. Of course he is: he’s a teenager and my son.

Cannon-before

Our noble gal rests where we left her. Sorta. Last week, it was standing the other way. As luck would have it, this was better. All we had to do is get it across the room and out the door. Oh, did I mention it needed lowering about five feet?

Cannon-doorway

It’s all loaded in this picture. I didn’t snap a picture along the way because all hands were engaged in the move. Stella, David, John, Suzy (the store owner), and I managed to get it down from that rusty gate in the upper right corner and onto the trailer. Easy peezy. We rolled it forward till the barrel was pointing out toward the trailer. Then, lowered the barrel  until it was about six inches above the trailer’s deck. A short plop and there is stood–on it’s end. Pivot it on the barrel and lower it to the wheels and bam, we’re good to go. Don’t say NO to the DaddyMom.

Cannon-loaded

68 short miles to our house; miles of opportunities to make new friends with countless “patient” Texas drivers on the Gulf Freeway and Beltway. It sure turned heads when we passed through the “hood” on the way to our house.

Cannon-driveway

And now, we have the safest driveway in the subdivision. And, here she’ll stand until the final installment of our cannon adventure. In a couple weeks, I’ll drive it to the final destination: the Quarterdeck of Wizard Academy’s Tower.