Boxers 'n' Briefs: Gold Flinger

Ok, so now that I have inflicted the "Proud Grandpa" thing on you all, time to take a step back (or is that a pace?), and do some "proud Dad" inflicting.

While Daughter Kristi was starting to settle in with new Grandson Jordan last weekend, Daughter Juli had an Acro-Gymnastics competition. Acro-gymnastics is fascinating to watch - it combines dance and choreography with acrobatic maneuvers and balancing skills. Juli is in a "Women's age 12-14 Trio" that consists of two "bases" and a "top". Juli is a base. It is exciting and a bit scary to watch your daughter doing flips and balance contortions and flinging her partner up in the air (amazingly high, I might add), and (hopefully) catching her.

This wasn't just ANY competition last weekend, though. This was the California State Championships.

They took the Gold!

Next stop: Regionals in a few weeks. Juli's level doesn't get to go to Nationals, so this is as high as it gets. But NEXT year, she will be in a group level that CAN compete at the National level... undoubtedly, you will be hearing more about that in the future!

But for now, it was an exciting week in the Letterboxing world.

1) Stamp by stamp instructions.

2) Leaving no Stone unburned.

3) Sing along with Mr Yuk: On the Big Ox Candy Mountain...

4) Ok, so MAYBE we jumped the gun on that one...

5) Hickory Trickery Dots.

6) A great suggestion for the week minded.

7) Box to the Future.

8) We are sorry for your loss, TLP.

9) Out of sight, out of mind.

10) Putting webfoot in front of the order.

11) Traversing the plantit.

12) What a PAL!

13) She is definitely high on maintenance.

14) Saving the best for last: a wonderful group effort!

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. And don't forget to take a moment to reflect on what it is all about. Happy boxing!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Auntie Katie

My first grandchild, Jordan Christopher, was born last Friday evening (5/18/07 - his Uncle Matt's birthday, too!) at 6:19pm (PST). He weighed in at 6 lb 13 oz, and was 19.75 inches long. Baby and mommy are doing absolutely fabulously! Thank you all for your kind thoughts and wishes, and for putting up with a couple of my "false alarms"!


Needless to say, Katie has taken her Aunting duties very seriously, and has been doting on Jordan every chance she gets. And, as promised, here is one of my favoritest pictures ever in the whole wide world...



And now, I suppose I had better do the usual AQ Roundup, otherwise you all will start unsubscribing to my blog! The horror... the horrorrrrr...


1) Finger tips.

2) How long until this event? Seems like Infinity!

3) The tooth shall set you free.

4) The pounds just melt away!

5) They'll be dragon these shirts all over.

6) The moors the merrier.

7) A Summery summary.

8) Enter at your own risque.

9) This themes to be of interest.

10) Myrtle, She Wrote.

And don't forget, this coming Thursday, May 24th is "International Plant a Letterbox Day"! See you on the trails!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Still Countdowning...

Ok, so it has been almost a week, and still no sign of my grandson. My daughter gets contractions all the time, but so far nothing "productive"... you would think after six kids of my own, I would be USED to this sort of thing!

Oh well, at least I have AQ to keep me sane ( <--- feel free to insert wry comments about my supposed sanity here).

1) Is there a Doctorate in the house?

2) World Wide Webfoot

3) Good books for a good cause.

4) Enough cache to retire as a trilliumaire.

5) Postal Traumatic Stress Send-rome.

6) He was a one-eyed, one-horned, Trying Paypal Postal Meter

7) Errors with class.

8) As #6 said... BCCing you.

9) The buddy system.

10) Makes it kinda hard to find the box...

11) A reminder to be careful.

12) Oh, Everything except a Date in Kansas City.

13) When intercourse of human events... He held his truth, to be self-evident.

14) They did the DISHES??? Wanna trade kids?

15) Five down, many more to go.

16) Thin is in.

I'm still trying to figure out a good tag-line. "May all your contractions be productive" just doesn't really cut it...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Countdown...

Hello, 'boxers!
Last night, my daughter's contractions were at 8 minutes apart. Now, they are at around 5 minutes apart, though not very intense. From experience (we have 6 kids of our own), I know that this COULD be a "false alarm" - after all, her due date is still 12 days away... but I am still a bit excited and nervous about the whole thing... I'm gonna be a GRANDPA!

So, if this B'n'B cuts off unfinished halfway through, you'll know why!

1) The Big Easy PZ.

2) Do the Hokey, Pokey!

3) Alas, poor Warwick, I knew her well...

4) Simple, yet effective.

5) I don't want to know where you put the batteries in this Detector.

6) Hitcher and yon.

7) Who punched the spike?

8) Parent Training.

9) Free flowing thoughts.

10) National Lampoon's Letterboxing Vacation.

11) Mark your calendars (as if we'd let you forget)

12) Knowledge is power.

13) The response was overwhelming.

14) Did you see Rod Serling while you were out there?

15) How do you spell "precocious"?

16) Teach me to stitch, and I bind for a lifetime.

17) It's fun to take this one out of context.

Ok, that's the summaries, and my daughter is still in a holding pattern. She's resting comfortably at home, only a few minutes from the hospital, so no worries, right? RIGHT? Sheeesh, this is nerve-wracking... Have a GREAT week!!!
-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: RoboRaptor!

Warning: "Proud Papa" moment ahead. Avert your eyes, or skip down to the summaries if this sort of thing annoys you.

Still with me? Good! Katie-bug, my 6 year old daughter and bestest boxing buddy in the whole wide world, has been asking me for a couple of weeks now to do a carving for her. She got a Happy Meal toy she (for some strange reason) really loves - a mechanical dinosaur called "RoboRaptor."

I was gong to carve it this weekend, when I decided to let Katie carve it herself. I transferred the image to a piece of Mastercarve (nice and soft!) , and drew a couple of squares and squiggles off to the side, for her to practice on before tackling the actual image. I also gave her a latex surgeon's glove on her left hand, just in case her hand slipped (no accidents occurred, I am happy to report). When Katie was done, she was SOOOO THRILLED with what she had done... almost as thrilled as I was! Here, for my daddy-bragging purposes, is Katie's first real carving!

I am so proud of her!

And now, for the REAL reason you decided to click on this link...

1) Where can you hide a Virtual Letterbox? In a Hollow Fame!

2) Swiper no swiping!

3) Partyboxing.

4) Giving credit where credit is clues.

5) Thank goodness my wiki isn't showing any more!

6) Now THAT is dedication!

7) A happy ending!

8) Just like The Marx Brothers in "Horsefeathers"

9) A couple of wassa stories..

10) Breaking ground is hard to do.

11) With this Onion Ring, I thee wed.

12) Searching Rescue.

13) Amanda from Seattle, Washingaton.

14) Shhhhhh... don't tell BR1!

15) Don't forget your daily dose of irony.

16) That's why it's called "The Appellation Trail"...

17) Dash it all!

18) Foxes 'n' Boxes

19) Our condolences.

And that about wraps it up for now. Enjoy the upcoming weekend!

(Insert witty tag-line here. Mark Pepe has a great tag-line, "Get out there and box!"... I need something clever and boxy too...)

-wassamatta_u