Spring Update

I've a lot to talk about since I have had a bunch of different things going on the past few weeks, so the best way to cover everything is gonna be a brief update on each thing.  

For starters, we decided to get a dog.  Homer came to us from a North Carolina rescue, Mayberry4Paws, in the first week of March.  Homer is a 6/7 year old hound mix, super friendly, loves to walk, get petted and take naps.  He fit right in to our household, sniffing around the yard and sprawling by the fireplace.  Originally we had planned on waiting until summer to get a dog, but now that he is here, I'm glad we didn't wait!

Secondly, we started phase 2 of the basement.  Originally used for storage, we converted part of it into a home office.  Last year we hung drywall and painted one whole side (the frame was already in place).  This past month we framed, then hung more drywall and primed another quarter of the basement.  It looks 100x better now and we still have to put on the final coat of paint and put the rug down before we can move the furniture put back in place.  I'm not very handy and have never done anything like this before, but it didn't turn out half bad.

After some heated discussion, we settled on a summer holiday.  The original plan was Scotland and Ireland which morphed into Lisbon, Portugal which then turned into Iceland and Ireland.  Iceland looks amazing, my coworker went there last year and gave me an idea about the place.  Ireland, well how the hell could I not go to Ireland?  My childhood wasn't the best but I always had the stories of Ireland that my grandmother, uncle, aunts and cousins would tell me about.  To youthful me, it became a mythical place, and as an adult it hasn't disappointed.  Even being born in the US, I consider Ireland "home".  I've tentatively planned three training sessions for our trip, one in Iceland and two in Ireland.

I think I need to start varying my training partners and trying to do a bit of traveling.  I'm too comfortable and I think it's time to shake things up.  Comfort leads to lack of focus and that is nothing I want to be associated with.  Last weekend there was a tournament and it didn't go how I'd envisioned.  Other then some small projects around the house, my calendar is pretty clear until late summer.  This will afford me the opportunity to drive to Black Hole or a few other schools I know to get some fresh bodies.  Last year I didn't do much traveling to get rounds in, I think now would be a good time to restart.