About half way through Spring quarter.... Feeling tired every day and looking forward to Summer break, and then only one more year to go!

It's been hot and sunny all week and I've been outside every lunch hour. It's felt real good. And the bike rides have been nice, though I did have one foggy morning ride and one super windy ride home.

H has been working on the garden a lot, doing some new stuff in the front yard. Her improv classes are going well too.

The kids are all in various stages of colds right now. I've been playing a lot of Pokemon battles with them. It's fascinating to relate to them on the level of game-play, especially their games.

Guess that's all for now.

The quarter is off to a roaring start! Got test pages up on the web server for 543 and will start doing PHP scripts soon. 560 is moving into Information Literacy, and I have a paper due on Sunday about the ARCS motivational model.

H is working on a barter deal with the Mt. Baker Theatre where she would help manage one of their summer programs in exchange for the use of their space for Kids At Play performances. It's a great deal and hopefully will go through.

I'm on the transfer list for a reference position that's opening up at WWU - it would be a step in the right direction career-wise and I've been encouraged by Paul to go for it. He hasn't steered me wrong yet so I am.

Allen and I continue collaborating on our Crime Doctor story over at the Mandala Press blog. It's a lot of fun. My chapter is due this Friday.

The kids have had a couple of rough days but seem to be on the mend, though we continue to be plagued with negative sibling interactions. On the other hand they are super enthusiastic about learning, and are especially jazzed about doing their learning in a more structured way, i.e. with "textbooks" and other educational materials. I think they like having the process/product dynamic right in front of them, and surely feel a great sense of accomplishment and self-worth when they can see their learning result in tangible products.

Bought Popcorn DVD writing software, and with MacTheRipper was able to make a copy of Playtime. Much easier than having to remake the whole movie. We also bought a Porsche-designed Lacie 250gb hard-drive with which we've backed everything up on our two computers. *And* I bought myself a 60gb iPod Photo. It's sweet. I've been listening to a lot of music. I've got about 20gbs of music on it so far...

What else? Went up to Vancouver last Friday with Andrew, Dave, Ken and Dean to play darts. We took the train up and back. It was a hoot, though I drank a few pints too many. Speaking of which I finally bottled my super hoppy IPA. It went from an OG of 1.050 to a FG of 1.010, making it around 5% alcohol. It tasted great too. Can't wait to try a bottle in a couple of weeks. I'm down to my last few bottles of stout. Will have to brew something soon, and get started on that Lambic....

Just finished my residency for Spring '05. Should be a good quarter - 560 looks interesting and 543 will be a good challenge. I have schoolwork to do already, though I don't feel like starting in on it quite yet...

Celebrated Jim L's 40th yesterday and AnD's house, which was combined with a Hotluck they were hosting and was a total surprise for Jim. Had fun with the kids there and played lots of guitar with Brian and Shannon. Got home late, though, and I'm still pretty tired.

Set up my new 250gb hard drive today and am currently backing up my music collection on it.