Camp Thorkildsen: Playing Ketchup

Yes, of course, I know that I spelled catch up like a condiment. I actually started to spell it correctly but I changed my mind. I had a moment where I thought "It is kind of funny that we have so many spellings for so many words. Thru and through and threw. Dear and deer. I'm going to use the wrong word on purpose." Silly I know, now back to the post.

Every nite for the past few weeks I have wanted to make a new post. Well hear it is. So much has been going on but sometimes it still seems like the status quo. Since the last post, I've been to Baltimore, Atlanta, and Tulsa for work. Keri's gone to Las Vegas. Joss has been saying more and more words and is getting more and more coordinated. Hunting season started. We picked a name for Luke Jr. (Luke Jr. is not it) Crazy political business has been going on. Stock market craziness. And on and on.

Baltimore was a cool place. We went to a whole in the wall crab shack that was awesome. They just piled pounds and pounds of steamed crabs on the table and the only silverware we had was a wooden mallet and a strong plastic knife. I learned to clean the crabs and man-o-man were they good. Had it not been for my co-worker who lives there I would have been starving at the end of the nite. We also went to a Orioles game at Camden Yard. That is an awesome stadium. We played the cup game while we watched the game. There were 15 of us there and each person put in dollar in a cup. Basically, you get the cup fore one at-batt. If you batter gets a hit, you get all the money in the cup and everyone puts another dollar in the cup. If your batter does not get a hit you put one dollar in the cup and pass it to the next person. This continues for the hole game. It really gets you into the game. I won the cup once witch meant that I almost broke even for the night. Won guy one the cup 5 times. He won close to a hundred bucks. Cool game. Try it next time you are at a ball game. You can play with as little as 2 people.

Atlanta was a weird trip. I went down there for a sales blitz that was not really a sales blitz because of the economy. I was supposed to be the tool expert to sell local lumber yards our tools. Well it was the same story almost everywhere we went. One place said that they had not shipped a frame pack (a shipment of lumber for a new house - this is a lumberyards bread and butter) in 4 months. I like to think that I can overcome a lot of sales objections but what can you say to that, other than man that is rough. I could not sell these guys anything when it is really questionable weather or not they will be in business in a few months. It was an eye opening experience to see how bad the economy was in Georgia. That really made me appreciate the relatively strong economy we have in Texas.

Keri went to Las Vegas for a friend/coworker's wedding. It was pretty much a girls trip. And while she had a really good time relaxing a bit, I became very appreciative of single parents. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved spending 4 days with Joss. But, man that is some work. It's not that it is hard work, it just does not end. Dishes can weight, I can mow the yard tomorrow, I'll take the trash out in the morning, and I can skip a meal if need to. A baby, however can not do anything later. It must be done now. Hunger, better feed that kid now. Tired, don't miss that window of opportunity for a nap. You just can't put off anything baby related for more that 1 minute. I am not complaining and this was all stuff that I already knew. When your spouse/teammate is not there for a substitution you get to really understand it. Confucius say "Here it and you will forget, See it and you will learn, Do it and you will understand it." I don't really know if he said that or not but I think he may or may not have.

Joss has been a blast lately. She is really developing a lot of personality. She can say google, banana, duck, dog, mom, dad, quack, and several others. She is an awesome sleeper still. Often when I get up in the morning I can here her playing in her bed. I'll call Keri after I get to work and come to find out Joss went back to sleep in her bed and did not get up till a few hours after I first heard her. She loves animals and playing in the yard. She knows where her belly button is and where her boobies are(I might should not have said that but if you ever get lucky enough to see her point to them you will understand.) She has noticed that Keri's belly has been growing and she likes to pull up her shirt and point it out too her. I can't wait two see what she does with a little brother.

I am getting tired now. I will end with some pics you may or may not want to see, but I like them so take a look.