What happens now if nothing happens at all?

Thursday blog -

Getting back to the normal business of summertime, work and stupid hobby projects.
Slow time around the office means I'm not traveling and haven't been traveling for a long while and it's starting to get to me a little - yesterday I completed the last of the prep work I have for my next gig, which I don't leave for until the 14th, so I either need to start dragging my feet a bit more or I need to jump on some new projects.
As in "real" projects. As in "real work", but the artistic explosion that was the TCIF left me a super fired up about artistic endeavors and less-then-enthusiastic about getting back to showing corporations how they can get the most out of their meetings.

Been spending time out in the garage in the evenings getting the Beetle running and the boys have been "helping" me fix it (Aidan told me he has "really good thinking skills" when I tried to back him off a little, he was the tool-runner and flashlight-holder. He did scare Jim by informing him that the butterfly valve was located under the air filter. He's learning. Thinking skills indeed. ) so they were thrilled the other night when I turned the key and it fired right up. We piled the kids and their booster seats into the tiny backseat you get in a '74 VW Beetle and we drove to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Of course we had to get it drive-thru since I wasn't sure the car would start again if I shut it off so it was still a little precarious on the car-repair front but the boys love riding in the Beetle.

Last night we took the Beetle out again for a nice little breaktime for mom and just some fun, relaxing time for dad and the boys. Nice to just go do something together that doesn't involve going to "do" something, although they haven't fully grasped the idea that 'going for a drive' is an activity all by itself but they are all smiles in the backseat with the windows down and constantly exclaim that the Beetle is awesome.

The Beetle is a simple enough car that it actually makes me feel competent in the area of auto-repair. Dangerous and yet so addictive in an suburban-alpha-male way. I want to take it apart in the garage, clean it all up and then slowly assemble it again to its former condition. I know from how much time I have to spend on just fun hobby projects and from how long my father's 1950 pickup has sat in pieces in his garage that if I attempt something like that I'll end up parking my daily car outside for several winters to come and someone will write "build me" in the dust that will no doubt build up on the windshield. That person would have to be a total dick, but I bet it would happen.

Heading out, hopefully this weekend, to try once again to fire up the Jeep - previous attempts failed due mostly to needing an extra set of hands and some forethought. I have said it many times in previous years and made hald-assed attempts at it but we're selling the Jeep.

It's fun, it's a total toy/hobby vehicle and it's time to find a new home for it - preferrably with someone that will abuse it appropriately and not leave it parked in storage for as much of the summer as I have. I can't believe it's already July and I feel like a good part of the warm months have dissappeared on me.

Tonight is the little pre-July 4th thing down at the lake by our house, we'll walk down with the boys, claim a good spot with a blanket, get cotton candy and snowcones and then wonder why the kids have a hard time sitting and watching the sun go down.