Only 2,339 Days To Go

Today Alex started kindergarten. This is of course a big milestone in a child's life, not to mention a day that makes parents feel old and wonder where the time went.

He left this morning very excited with his Spider-Man backpack full of supplies and his lunch box full of lunch. I think he was just a tiny bit more nervous than he was letting on. He arrived home this afternoon tired, but proud to have completed this rite of passage. The first thing he told me when running home from the bus stop was "Dad, I wasn't even bored very much!" All in all, a good first day. We can only hope that the next 2,339 days are so interesting.

Andy Simpson

So, this is what I would look like if I were part of the Simpson's universe. Now before all you clever people say something to be witty, let me take care of that for you:

• "Hmm, don't see much difference"


• "You mean that's not an actual photo of you?"


• "You wish your goatee was that thick"


• "You wish your eyes were that small"


• "I always thought you were rather two dimmensional"


• "Its spelled 'dimensional' with just one m, Genius"


• "If I looked like that, I wouldn't be smiling"


• "Doh!"

So, you got anything else?

If you'd like to create your own Simpson-you, you can visit the Simponize web site

A Dog Days Night

On the first Saturday of every month, the town of Frederick MD hosts a First Saturday Gallery Walk. Because Sirius, the dog star, is prominent in the summer, The August Gallery Walk is held in honor of the Dog Days. Popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" (from Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813)." Frederick decided to play down the boiling seas angle and instead made it a day where dogs were welcome in downtown shops and restaurants.

We loaded Charlie into the Subaru, headed into town, met with Grammy and Grandad, and enjoyed the sights and tastes of the town. Dinner at La Paz was muy bien, dessert at Ben & Jerry's muy biener, and I got two free stickers from Two Paws Up (since I had no cash and they did not want to bother with my credit card - I told them I would return another day to buy something, and give them a bonus mention on my blog, like that is worth something.)

The best part of the night, however, was the dogs. We saw them in all shapes and sizes. The kids felt obliged to pet every dog they met (add dogs to the list of things the kids cannot just walk past), but I only took pictures of a few. These were some of my favorites:

For whatever reason, my most favorite dog only made it into one shot, along with my most favorite daughter:

All in all, it was a great outing for both man and beast. And, as far as I know, there were no burning fevers, hysterics, or phrensies.

A Week In West Virginia

Last week, 14 Roths from Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina, and Maryland converged in Canaan Valley, West Virginia for our annual family vacation. The focus of the week was relaxation for the older generations, and running around, swimming, and singing variations of the Underdog theme song for the younger generation.

Rather than go into details, I'll instead share some pictures of the trip. You can see the whole set (and more if Dave tags his the same way) on Zooomr.