Still dry. Had a bday party for wifey's step mom last night. Scoth was present but I didn't have any. Drank 3 "Buckler" NA beers. Not very good. Ate too much.
Took kayak out yesterday on crosswicks creek. Low tide. water level was down nearly 7 feet. more people around the boat ramp/marina area yesterday. many working on the docks at the marina.
paddled upstream into the creek while the tide was still barely going out. Once under the RR trestle and around a bend or 2, decided to head up a feeder streem. got in there and noticed the tide had started to come in! Water was flowing upstream. The mud banks of the stream were several feet above me and the water seemed to be pulling me into the stream. Got an eery feeling and turned the boat around right away. The stream width was barely big enough to turn the boat.
Out in the main creek, noticed some fisherman in an outboard boat. Decided to head back and hopefully not have to deal w/ their wake if they decided to come in.

The kayak can float in only 2 inches of water(w/ me in it!). Paddled over many shallow areas that were dry sand only minutes before the tide had turned. The tidal change was so abrupt. By the time that I got in to the boat ramp, it had come up ~ 2 feet from an hour earlier.

Had a good speed paddling technique. Using the opposite hand to push the paddle and the paddle hand more as a fullcrum than the power. One can go fast and get into a great rhythm. It takes some effort which is OK as the more exercise for me, the better. Felt like my elbows were going wide, however. From my one kayak lesson on the Oregon oast years go, I remember that your are supposed to kep your elbows at your sides.

Some pics from the paddle today, taken using my cell phone.



Looking downstream towards the mouth of Crossicks Creek and the Delaware beyond. The bridge is Rte 295 that I drive over to get to work when not taking the train.



My feet.


View upstream on Crosswicks. The sun was trying to hard to break thru the clouds.


Another view upstream into Crosswicks.

Just lost 4 paragraphs of blog entry for today. Not retyping it cuz I'm heading to bed. Had amnio test today. Took kids to park. Went kayaking on Crosswicks Creek, "No-name creek" and Delaware.

No drinks. Not even tempted tho the sistahs (minus my wife) and G'ma were sucking them down last nite.

All set to go kayaking on Mercer Lake this morning. Got there at 10am and it was so windy that whitecps were on the surface. Being my first time in the kayak, I wasn't up for such conditions and bagged them, instead going to work to complete a database installation that I started yesterday from home.

Not sure what to do next on the blue bathroom. The vanity and sink are in but cannot open the cold water valve. Hard to get leverage in the tight space under the vanity. Also, the tub srain is slow. Wasted 2 gallons of industrial drain cleaner w/ no improvement. Seems clean up to the drain trap by the foot of the tub. Tried to get a snake in there but wouldn't go in the 90 deg turn. Frustrated enough that I can't work thru these 2 spots. Gonna hafta try some drastic approaches I think.

Baby #3 is on the way. 2 separate blood tests say there is a risk for Downs Syndrome. We have an amneiocyntsis scheduled for this Wednesday. Wifey has been mopy since the 2nd test results came in early last week. What happens, happens.


Threw

Still dry! its been over 3 weeks. This is my longeest dry in memory.

Last night, Friday night, I was a little tempted by the dark side. Felt that I wanted a kind of reward after a long work week. Driving home from work yesterday evening, I did feel some of that "Friday night" excitement that I used to get when it meant party time. Alas, no party. Sitting at home, by one's self, getting sloshed in front of the TV is not exactly a party, however.

Took the River Line light rail to work on Mond and Weds. I enjoy the train w/ a 10 min walk on either end. Train ride is only 15 minutes or so and costs $1.10 each way. Overall, it takes longer than driving and I had to drive a couple of times cuz I couldn't make the train's schedule. It only comes every 30 mins. Every 15 would be nice during rush hour.

Wifey's Mom has sold her house in VA and is moving to our neighborhood. She drove up yesterday and is doing house hunting this weekend.

Son and I are practicing Tball today. Wifey has signed him up for a league so I want to make sure that he knows how to play. When I was a kid, I never knew how to play any sports and it always made me feel like a schmuck.

Still dry! Taking it 1 day at a time and really don't miss the booze.

Went running yesterday at Rancocas woods. Got kitchen sink working. Went to Steve's house last night for dinner. Had 3 or 4 non-alcoholic molsons while everybody was drinking wine and beer.

USed to feel guilty of the AXP guys that I have lost touch with. Visiting w/ Steve or any of the few that I do keep in touch w/ always made me feel uncomfortable. Realized last night that i had no reason to feel this way. i don't really enjoy hanging out w/ those guys. Never did too much during college days anyway. the guys that i hung out w/ are mostly MIA. But the 2 or 3 that I still keep in touch w/ are enough for me. Guilt free.

Wifey actually gave me time to take out the kayak yesterday. It was sunny, in the low forties / 20-30 mph winds. wasn't feeling it so went running instead. hope to take the kayak this afternoon tho the weather is only slightly better.

I can't get any time to take out my new kayak! Now that the weather isn't frigid, I'm dying to go but need a few precious daylight hours. Any possible window on theweekends is usually scrubbed cuz i hafta watch the kids while prego wifey suffers from morning sickness and other symptoms. This pregnancy is just miserable for her. Now that I have some energy and drive that the booze monkey is busy elsewhere, I can't get any time to kayak. If I want to exercise, I guess that I am going to have to run at night in the dark. By then I am usually spent. I would like this to be easy but I guess not.
Working tonight and off on Weds. Weds I am Mr. Mom however.
Almost wanted a drink last night at one point but quickly passed. I'm pretty much at the point where I can sit and watch TV or play on the computer at night and not want a drink. Funny, before I dried out, I kinda thought that I would have all this energy for house projects, financial projects and personal growth projects in the evenings after the kids go to bed. BUT I don't. I'm still the same, lazy slob.
Speaking on slob, I need to start working on some weight loss. I want to be able to take my shirt off at papa's pool this summer and also the beach. Last summer sucked cuz I was so fat and insecure that I kept my shirt on and stayed out of the water. Haven't yet begun to modify my diet cuz was so happy not to be drinking. Time for the next step.
Yesterday son and I got gas, groceries and a couple of things at walmart. In the evening before dinner, took the kids on a walk thru the park and let them "explore" thru the wooded hilside that slopes from the level park down to the fence surrounding the old mill site. From there we walked to the train station(really just a platform). It is nicely done and we missed seeing one of the RiverLine trains by only a few minutes. Then made them some dinner followed by popcorn. They had their saturday night campout last night and are up as I write this though they are lounging in their sleeping bags watching cartoons.

No drinks last night. Still dry all week. y wifey asks me if i am giving up drinking for good. I can't think of it that way or i simply get overwhelmed. I prefer the "one day at a time" approach. It really works and makes it manageable.
In the past I have even used the right no approach to get me thru some tough nights. That is, "I won't have a drink right now, maybe later." Keep saying that to yourself and pretty soon, the night is over and you are still sober.
Gotta say, I have been enjoying the sobriety. I've lost 5 pounds from the alcoholic water bloat. I still eat like a pig and don't exercise regularly but that will come later.
Yesterday had an intense day at work preparing for upgrades on our main production database server. Of course ArcSDE is giving us problems and upping the anxiety level. I will have to go in either tonight or tomorrow, once I get a call from Dave, the Oracle guy, that the database is ready for ArcSDE.
Wifey and kids were at her Dad's last night for dinner and came hoe at midnight. Somehow i got out of it. I'm glad tho cuz i hate watching wifey and all the sisters kiss their Daddy's ass. I usually end up hanging w/ the kids. The only fun thing there is the scotch but I didn't want to tempt myself. Not quiite ready for that yet.

Yesterday felt like i didn't do the things that i set out to in the morning. however, i know that we accomplished alot on an unseasinably warm, sunday. Here goe...
Got up at 7am or so and wrote volumes for yesterday's entry. wifey took off on some errands and deserved "alone time" while the kids were watching crap TV on Cartoon Network after they awoke. They were finishing up on their "campout" from the night before. I let till about 9am which selfishly gave me time to write so much yesterday morning. Then baked croissants for breakfast. showered, got dressed. Gave the kids a bath and got them dressed. Went outside on poop patrol while son drove the John Deere kiddie tractor around. He's getting quite good. Later, daughter came out and both were driving around. They found the 2nd gear(fast) and were tooling around the yard like maniacs. Daughter really had the hang of it.
After wifey got home, she put the nix on going to the beach. There really wasn't enough time to do that nd other things we wanted/needed to that afternoon. She just wanted to stay in our warm and sunny yard and not the blustery beach.
I pulled out the kayak and hosed it down. Didn't actaually clean it at all but washed out any frozen bugs that mioght be in the cockpit. Also was able to feather one of the paddles. The other appears hopelessly locked in an unfeathered position. I got the used for $9 a piece so I can't complain. NEver did get on the water thouh. Too lazy I guess to get out there. Am looking at going to Mercer lake to get the feel of it. No motor boats there and hopefully the crew teams aren't practicing today. Yes, I would like to get there today if the chance arises.
But again, we are faced w/ the beach dilemma this afternoon. kids really want to see the lighthouse. i wanna work out or paddle. wifey has a baby dr. appt this morning so whatever we do, hafta wait for her to get back.
Yesterday, took the state car back to the office, returned the office laptop and LCD projector. the kids had fun riding the elevator and running around in cubicle land like banshees. We printed out an "E" size map of our town from the 2002 orthos. Would like to plot some at a larger scale next time too.
We picked up sandwhiches/subs from Wawa on the way home for dinner. They are getting better but still not nearly as good as a real sub shop like Ball PArk Deli or the like. I was alseep by 9:20pm!
I hear a child coming down the stairs. Wifey is out on her walk. Daughter is here so gotta go.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. No drinks last nite. First night w/o drinking was last Tuesday 2/24. That's 6 days and counting. Most I have gone w/o drinking was nearly 2 weeks. After which I fell right back into the bottle. Yesterday was tough at times, thinking about single malt scotch. glad there was non in the house to temp me.