Troubles McSteans

Well, if you've been periodically checking Troubles the past couple of months and are shocked to see it open for business today, you can probably guess what my New Year's resolution is. I'm giving this blogging thing another go. Around October I kind of just ran out of ideas and went on a little hiatus. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things, because I do honestly enjoy writing. I'd like to start on a somber note, by honoring my big orange friend Melbotis, who passed away one year ago today. I still miss my buddy every day and that's all I'll say on the matter for fear of getting verklempt and upsetting Lucy. I don't have any Earth shattering news, other than Scout thinks she's in the Great Escape and has run off into the wilds of Grand Oaks subdivision twice now. She returned to us relatively unharmed once by the kindness of strangers and once by the tenacity of my mother in the pouring rain. Sometimes I think I hear her throwing a tennis...

Quotes of the night: Ryan, to pint sized storm trooper : "Hey! Storm trooper!" Storm trooper : "How did you know I was a storm trooper?" Ryan : "How did 'I' know you were a storm trooper???" Tiny Batman, to Ryan : "I'm here to help you save the day, Superman!" We had a great Halloween with tons of kids, beautiful weather, and a surprise visit from Steven and Lauren. Thanks for stopping by, guys! Steven was so enamored with his tri-cornered hat it may make further appearances as his pontificatin' hat.

I loved the 4th of July as a kid. My dad would drive us to the firework stand on the south end of town and we'd stock up on small fireworks for the backyard. Even in the relatively small community of Lawton, OK , fireworks were illegal inside city limits so we stuck to mild explosives such as snakes, chickens, tanks and sparklers. The Snake is the least amusing 'firework' ever conceived. We felt confident that most of these tame fireworks would neither attract attention nor ignite the shrubbery, although we did have a scare one year when we branched out with a product labeled 'bees'. They advertised themselves as colorful spinning lights but said nothing about 'flight' so they were determined safe enough for purchase. When we lit the first one, however, we all watched in horror as it immediately whizzed 30 feet into the air into the branches of our large Oak. Luckily we'd had enough rain that year that the tree did not catch on fire, but the remaini...