Car Show - Family - Birthday

April 21st - Been a few busy days since my last post. Been fighting the pollen; enjoying the car; but most importantly, been spending great time with my family and friends. - - - The first two pictures below show me "trying" to keep up with the pollen collecting on the car, and my first neighborhood hotrod night (Note the car the people are focusing on). Regarding the pollen, to give you an idea of how bad it's been, I started wiping down the entire car...starting with the hood. By the time I got around the sides and back, the hood was already lightly covered with pollen. The only thing to do was to drive the car fast and let the pollen blow off...which is why I've been out driving the car so much! (Laughing...) - - - The car show was pretty cool as my brother-in-law (Bill) asked me to take him out driving, and he had me going all over some back roads, then had me turn into the parking lot where the show was going on. I was quite surprised...but pleased. It was fun. Saw lots of 70s models, which brought back some nice memories.

The first two pictures below show my nieces Rebecca and Megan. You can tell by the smiles that they love their Uncle Tom...or it could be that they're PERFECT models for the camera.

The picture below shows Rebecca's boyfriend (Scott), and Megan's boyfriend (Jake). They sure have fun together and it just makes a person smile being around them.

Well, as my dear wife and friends know in Colorado, I couldn't stay away from a Buffalo Wild Wings for too long or I'd start going through withdrawals for my wings (with Wild sauce). The first shows the whole gang, and the picture on the right shows two boys playing with technology. Scott wanted to show me how his phone also scans bar codes, but, since there wasn't enough light, I turned on my Blackberry and used its light to help Scott make the scan. It worked (sort of). Anyway, we had a fun night at BWWs.

As I said earlier, I've also been enjoying being able to see a lot of my friends from work with General Dynamics. Pictured below (left to right) are Sonja, Karla, Dave, and Peggy. I also got to visit with Tom, the VP and friend that promoted me to a senior position that brought me to Colorado Springs (many years ago). I also met up with another friend, Tom, who is the Environmental, Health and Safety Director. I enjoyed having a couple beers with him and shooting some pool. (We both still stink at pool!)

Finally, I had a wonderful day/evening (on the 19th) with my family as they helped me celebrate my birthday. Megan made the day special by bringing me a birthday balloon. - - - Shown below are Bill and Kathleen (Sister), and my niece (Megan) and I. (May sound like a broken record, but I sure am lucky to have such a great family.)

These next two pictures show: a lucky Uncle getting to have two gorgeous ladies sitting on his lap for the birthday picture; and a shot of the cake provided by the Alto Plaza restaurant. If anyone is in the Chantilly, VA area, I strongly recommend this restaurant if you like Mexican food. It was great!

The only thing bad about the restaurant was that our server made me help make the guacamole. (Just kidding.) I asked if I could have a picture taken, and she said I could make it (if I wanted). Not to pass up a good photo op, you know me, I started to help. It was delicious.

Well, I'm off to have lunch with another friend, then dinner with a few more. Man, this retirement thing is tough!