Just posting to let folks know that I'm alive and well. All is fine, but it doesn't feel like there's anything interesting to say. Kathy's progressing through pregnancy -- she's starting to show, but is at an awkward stage where she feels like the slight bulge doesn't make her look pregnant, just fat. I have a feeling that in late August, when she's seven months pregnant, she'll be wondering why she didn't appreciate the slight bulge stage more.
Summer travel has begun -- Chattanooga last weekend for a beer meet-up was fun. Friday night I stayed at a fellow beergeek's place ~75 minutes from Chattanooga. His house is beautiful, it's on 300+ acres in the middle of nowhere, and I have to admit I was jealous of the natural beauty and tranquility. Kathy and I talk from time to time about moving to the middle of nowhere, and regularly indulge that little fantasy by looking at ads here. On the flight back from Tennessee, the guy next to me and I talked about beer, and he said that when his wife was pregnant (and this happened a lot -- he has 5 children), he'd wanted to give up beer but never was able to bring himself to do it. And he figured that with his wife's hormones out of whack due to the pregnancy, he didn't need the added stress of not drinking to complicate his marriage. It sounds like a good theory, but I can't say it's the reasoning I used. Basically, I have few interests in life, and enjoying good beer, together with traveling to enjoy it, are among my favorites. I'll be cutting way back on these soon enough, so I figure I may as well enjoy them now.
This weekend the two of us are going to Cleveland. No idea what we're going to do there, but I'm sure there's more to do there than see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I don't expect to see a burning river, but maybe a Burning River Pale Ale.
