A Proud Father

Finally, my youngest son was promoted to a Blue Belt in Tae Kwon Do. After being a professional yellow belt now for 3.5 years ;) he buckled down with determination and has worked hard to jump up two full belt ranks to Blue Belt rank.

To top it all off, I was one of three other Black Belt instructors whom took part in testing him for his Martial Arts belt promotion test. Not an easy matter for him to to endure or get through.

My wife Tina and our daughter Paige were at the belt promotion last night, and Uncle Mike & Aunt Nancy also showed up (to our surprise) to witness Jericho's promotion.

I'm very thankful that being his Dad, in addition to sometimes his Martial Arts teacher, has shown me how much he has grown up and I've been able to spend that much more time together sharing a common bond and interests.

He's growing up into quite the young man!
I'm proud of ya son!

The ultimate aim of karate-do lies not in victory or defeat,
but in the perfection of the character of its participants.”
- Gichin Funakoshi

Spring is in the air!!!

Finally, Spring is here!

Today the weather climbed near 70 degrees today and my wife and I took full advantage of it.

Today, for the first time, my wife climbed onto a motorcycle with me. Woo hoo!! This is a major accomplishment that totally thrilled me. I've been trying to convince my wife for 2 years to ride with me, but she was always hesitant and wouldn't entertain the idea because of a childhood experience with a wreckless cousin left a jarring painful memory that wasn't easy to shake.

But today, she agreed to trust me and away we went. Shortly afterwards we were running about town running after some needed items and enjoying each others' company. I've enjoyed riding solo for some time, but I really enjoy riding with my wife of 28 years!

After a short time of working at home, we decided to run out again together and go for a run to Caribou Coffee and a tour around town. Towards dark an approaching cold front was coming thru and the temps dropped into the mid 50s, which made for an even cozier ride home.

All in all, a great start to a new season of riding!! The dark days are over & Spring is here!!!