I received this from my brother-in-law today and couldn’t resist sharing it…

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Republican.”

“I am, how did you know?”

“Well,” she answered, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”

The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Democrat.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”

“Well,” he said, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it’s my fault.”

It is with some degree of sadness that I report the 2004 Fookarwie has officially come to an end, with Wandering Hairy Turkey declared Chief.

The event was the same successful outing as normal, though I have to say that it seemed a little less raucous than normal. (This could be related to any number of causes… we’re all getting older, some of us are drinking less, and some of us were preoccuppied with other issues. It could also be due to the absence of Duke, Duke Goose. It’s hard to say.)

Driving Three Iron became the first-ever Fookin’ Hold ‘Em Champion, due to his amazingly inexpressive poker face. To be truly honest, he hardly ever had cards worth a damn, but he did have ’em when he needed ’em. Well done.

So here they are… Most of these were taken in the last few weeks around the house, some as recently as a few days ago. Toward the bottom you’ll see the kids playing in the fountains at White River Gardens. What a beautiful place to take a walk; the kids love going there as much (if not more) than the zoo. Of course, all of those butterflies don’t hurt.

The votes have been counted and the verdict is in: Lily’s birthday tea won high marks for fun. Five friends stopped by today to help Lily celebrate her fourth birthday. Attending were Lucy, Maggie, Megan, Emma, Charmaine, and Lily. Along to help were Maddie, Amanda, Moms and Grandma Field. Jack and I headed for the hills as soon as possible.

Each setting came complete with teacup, boa, flowered bonnet, and lacy gloves. After having tea (lemonade) and crumpets (cupcakes), the girls whipped out a box full of dress-up clothes and et about looking like princesses. (It was here that Jack and I left for Toys R Us.) While we were out, they played party bingo, ate a few more cupcakes, played outside, opened (and played with) gifts, painted their fingernails pink and purple, and had a few more cupcakes.

Great fun was had by everyone, and I believe they set a date for next week to do it all again. You can see a few photos here.

Abby and Grace, though battling colds, are doing great as they head toward 4mths. Both have more than doubled their birth weights: Abby is now ten pounds and Grace is near twelve. They have really started showing off their personalities by smiling, cooing, and complaining (loudly) when it’s time for bed.

This photo shows Jack in a popular spot: holding Abby.