WMCKA

Just got back and settled in from the West Michigan Coastal Kayaker's Association Symposium. Here is a link to a few of my photos. Above is Derrick, describing how big......something was. Getting late, gotta go, enjoy the photos, I plan to add some in the days to come.

First Time Out

This season anyway. Last night was perfect paddling weather. I paddled on the little lakes near the house for about an hour and a half. Drifted a lot too, just listening to the geese. Almost had the lake to myself, just a little fishing boat way off to the southwest. Found a tick while I was paddling. The big brown kind, some call em dog ticks or wood ticks, anyway not the little deer ones with lime disease. He hadn't dug in yet, so I flicked him out into the water, fish food I hope. I hate the things, every time I find one, they give me the creepy crawlies for the next day or two. Speaking of itches. Silbs has a good post today. Every time I read about rolling, I get the itch. It always sounds so simple when you read about rolling. Then when you try it, you seem to forget everything that you were thinking was going to work. I have plans to clean up my extended paddle sweep roll at the WMCKA symposium over Memorial weekend. Lots of great talent and knowledge there to draw upon. May have to see if my roll still works this month before I go. It was dependable but ugly the last time I rolled, and it has been awhile. There's that itch again.

Symposium Time

I made it onto the front page of The West Michigan Coastal Kayaker Association's web page. This is a picture that was taken at the 2006 symposium. I'm the good looking guy in the middle with the blue ball cap and sun glasses. That's Simon Osborne on the right.

I just got the OK from my wife yesterday to go again this year. She was scheduled to work on Sunday night to Monday, but was over-staffed. I don't know how many times I will get to go in the next few years with the little ones under foot, so I am going to make the best of this year. The kids program at this symposium is one of the best, but only for kids between 7 and 12 years of age, so it will be at least six years before Maddie is ready, and seven before Claire is ready. I say under foot with tongue in cheek, I do love my kids and really enjoy spending time with them.

Here is a photo of Maddie and myself on the bike tonight. Finally got the seat, and a helmet that fits, and then some warm temps, so that we could try it out. Now all we need is a small kayak and a short paddle.

Falling Waters Trail

I got outside on the Big Bad Kona Hoss today for a few hours. I rode a total of nine miles along a new Rails-to-trails project called the Falling Waters Trail in Jackson County, Michigan. Yippie! the snow is melting, the air is warmer, the days are longer....I made it through another long Michigan winter. It's not kayaking, but it was good to get out of the house.

No GORP for you!

There is only one real way to find out if a kid is allergic to peanuts. Just make sure you have benadryl on hand and several hours available to spend at the local ER. Ah... the joys and terror of being a parent.

The sample next to the "N" (for nuts) is a positive for peanut allergy.

Finally Home

This is Claire just before we loaded-up to go home. She sure is a lot cuter without all of the wires and tubes.

Ready for her first car ride. It's good to have everybody home together.

Claire Elise

OK, here is some good news. This is our new baby Claire Elise. She was born 29 December 2007. She is 18.5 inches long, and 6lbs 5oz. She wasn't doing very well inside mommy, so she needed to come out about a month early. Because she was born early, her breathing is not as good as the doctors would like on her own, so she is spending a few days in the NICU on O2. Otherwise, she and mommy are doing great, and we hope to bring Claire home soon.

So turning 40 really sucks.

I have spent the last three weeks fighting Mononucleosis. The problem, is that until a week ago, we didn't know that. Between visits to the doctor's office and the ER, it took several procedures to eliminate all of the other possibilities, that included Leukemia, Meningitis, and some other long named virus that could put our unborn baby a risk. Oh yeah, and one of my first lab cultures got contaminated first thing, so they though I may have had a staph infection as well, bring on the antibiotics. The good news is that all I have is Mono. That's all that I ever had. I was presenting classic Flu-like symptoms, except that my fevers had been going on for more than ten days and they were getting worse, in the 102-103F range. The only way to rule out Meningitis, is with a spinal tap. I don't ever want another one. It took two different people five tries to finally get it. The average person requires a 3 1/2 " needle for a spinal tap. They had to get a longer one for me. I had eight chest x-rays, four sinus x-rays, and a CT scan. Even when I left the hospital on Monday night, Mono wasn't guaranteed, it was the only thing left. The University of Michigan is probably the best possible place to be for something like this, but it is a learning institution, and I really hate being a guinea pig.

Update: What I really have is Mono's evil twin: Cytomegalovirus. Just like Mono, only named different. It turns out that I was exposed at some point to mono, but not CMV, and CMV is what I really have. The same syptoms, the same treatment, the same duration, they are even from the same group of virus': Epstein-Barr.

Fever 40

I turned 40 today.

I have been running a low grade fever all day.

Bummer.

I got a remote switch "shutter release" for my camera, the DVD Ratatouille, and a book: The Photographer's Eye, by Michael Freeman.

Now I need to get to bed.

Daddy and Maddie Day

Mommy had to work today, so it was a stay at home, and do nothing kind of day.

Lots of Fall Color

Mostly really busy right now, that's the reason for my lack of kayaking and blogging. I have been able to get away for a couple of hours here and there, and usually just take my camera. This photo was taken on a Photowalk in Northville Michigan on the 28th of October. I met up with five other hobbyist photographers and we walked around a little historical museum, village type of park, taking pictures of whatever we liked. You can see more of those pictures here and here.

Chicken Little

I took this just before we left to go to the grandparents houses for Trick-or-Treat.