"I always miss."
- El Wrong-Way from PLANET BLOG

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Kenobi-fan returns! Kenobi who!? Yeah, yeah...I know. Ha!

I'm sure a billion blog entries have been written between the date of my last blog on Feb. 24 and today. I've tried to stay in touch but I'm sure I've missed a lot. For those with inquiring minds, here's some of the events that occurred in my life during my nearly 2-month absence from blogging:

My wife's grandfather died in early March. I wrote about him briefly here. He was 93. Although I've never been comfortable with the whole 'losing the will to live' reason for dying, I have to say that was pretty much the doctor's assessment of why he passed away following surgery last January.

My brother and his wife divorced after being married for more than a decade much to my surprise and those that knew them (or thought they did). I was so shocked by this news that I felt I needed to make a mid-week trip from Chicago to St. Louis to see what happened and speak to my brother personally. All I can really say is that it was a sad and depressing experience. Although many of you know this, the end of a marriage is always hard regardless of how amicable it might.

My wife and I went on vacation in Wisconsin where we explored several state parks while also engaging in several snowshoe hikes - don't laugh. Although cold and snowy, we had a lot of fun. My wife is becoming quite the 'hiker'. It's not something we've always done, but following a trip to Yellowstone National Park a few years back, hiking appears to be a growing passion of ours.

A friend and mentor of mine from work had a reoccurrence of breast cancer after being in remission for several years. After losing one co-worker to liver cancer earlier this year, this news was devastating. She undergoes surgery (again) soon. It goes without saying but cancer, regardless of the form...sucks!

I attended a jazz recital performed by jedi_princess_77 whom I also said a brief 'hello' too. Of note is the fact that JP77 is the first 'blogger' I've seen and talked to since I started blogging in Sept. '05. Sadly, due to my compressed schedule that week I was forced to leave early missing three other bloggers who also attended to concert: Jedi Melinda Wolf, ewanandhaydenfan5, and JediPug1. It was my loss but the concert was great. JP77 can really sing!

My wife and I enjoyed exploring Wisconsin so much we made another foray into their state parks over Easter weekend, specifically Devil's Lake State Park (5.5-mile hike) and Governor Dodge State Park (5.2-mile hike). Devil's Lake was the steepest and rockiest hike we've taken yet. I've never been so close to a cliff's edge without a barrier between me and it. The available path had to be no more than 5-ft wide with nothing standing between me and the bottom of the bluff some 200+ feet below. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. I can't wait to do something like that again!

I also saw one movie during this period - Grindhouse - which you've probably guessed by now. I loved it! My wife is not into those types of movies so I had permission to attend alone (ha!). Yes, it had plenty of gross out moments, but it was always tongue-in-cheek and both movies (and the previews) were great fun. It has my recommendation with regard to all like-minded adults. It's long at just over 3-hours but I still had a great time.

Anywho, those are just some of the events that made blogging less of a priority for the past several weeks. My schedule is beginning to calm down now (I hope) allowing me a bit more time to blog and read the blogs of others. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for sticking with me!

The End...


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(NOT) COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU...

NEXU-WOMEN OF THE 501st
A nefarious story of ferocious felines and feisty females conjoined during a horrific experiment of true Imperial terror gone horribly wrong.
"Look, sir...hairballs."

LIFE-DAY
The night...er, day...Han came home.
"I shot him six-times...before the scene was digitally altered to make it look like he shot at me six-times first."

DUCK!
Before boarding your ship...duck!
Before closing that hatch...duck!
Before fixing that hyperdrive...duck!
...or you could find yourself being laughed at like a silly GOOSE!