Something about lemons....

So here we are, at the end of 2012. Who would have guessed that this time last year, "Operation: Single Dad" would become a permanent blog name. I sure wouldn't have. Here I am, a week away from moving back to Colorado and I have no clue how to feel about it. Part of me is excited. A new beginning! Back with some of my family, and some of my best friends! Apparently a new job! There are definitely things to be excited about. And trust me, I really am excited about some aspects of it all. I love Colorado. I always knew someday I would be back there. There are so many people there I am so excited to finally be around permanently. I guess this just isn't the way I always envisioned it happening. It's all a big question mark. I feel like I am taking 3 steps backward when it comes to where I wanted my life to be heading at this point from where I was a year ago. And the biggest question I have is what I did to to take these backwards steps. I guess this is one of those cliches about how just when you think you have life all figured it, bam! You don't, and get to try it figure it out all again. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe a year from now I will be sitting there in Colorado blogging about how lucky I am and how life is so amazing. I guess I can only hope. The Holiday's are a rough time for lot of people. This year has been especially rough for me and for the first time, I am honestly happy to get through them.  I am missing two people especially and it was very tough watching Keira be so happy with both of her parents during Christmas, knowing in the back of my mind the entire time that this will be her final Christmas spent that way. I just love her so much and hate being a part of something that will ultimately leave her sad, angry, and mostly confused. I pray she never feels like any of it is her fault. That being said, there is also a big part of me that is honestly excited for the future. Having all these feelings I think is an important part of the healing process but I am 100% on board with moving on with my life and making things better than they have ever been. New life might be exactly what I need. New job might be the jump start to bigger and better things. I am unwilling to accept moving backward in my life. If life hands you lemons, throw them back and yell "I wanted beer!".  That's what I say. Screw Lemons. (Unless they go in beer, like Easy Street Wheat, or some other awesome beer I can have now that I will be back in Colorado, or is that Oranges. Dammit. See! I've been away too long) Wish me luck friends. And those of you in Vegas, some of the best friends a guy could ask for, I promise to keep in touch. My goal is to try and come out here at least once a year for a specific event that is personal to me, and while I am here, I will be visiting all of you. In the meantime, always remember that my facebook, email, and more importantly my phone is always available to keep in touch with me. And if you would like to come to the nation's capital, (That's Fort Collins, Colorado right?) you know that you have a friend who will put you up and give you plenty of brewery tours. (New Belgium is there. I know you guys at least know Fat Tire. Trust me when I say that is only the beginning)

-Cam

Undercover Boss

So one of my favorite reality show's is Undercover Boss. I'm not an idiot and I realize a lot of this show is fixed for ratings. As a hardworking guy who has basically remained with the same company for a very long time, just like everyone else, I wonder what would happen if the CEO of my company tried to pull one over on me to find out what is really going on behind the scenes. I like to ask myself "why can't I run into a CEO from Best Buy doing an Undercover Boss?" After 9 years with the company, in 5 different states, uncountable different positions, giving everything I have to represent the company in the best way possible, and working as hard as I can to take care of my daughter, it looks like it may all be coming to an end. As I am about to move back to Colorado, it's looking like there may no longer be a place for me. No longer can they just make room for a guy who has a long list of skill sets and experience. What bums me out about the whole thing is what I think I can bring to the table. I'm not the master at anything, but I feel I could be an asset to keep around. I feel like I have excelled at every task put in front of me. I know I will find something else and give just as much to whoever is willing to give me a chance. Sadly, in today's society, it looks like hard work, experience, and tenure are just not enough to guarantee a position when you have to uproot and go somewhere else. It's nobody's fault. I just hope that not everyone out there who runs into life changes they were not expecting doesn't have to start over in all aspects of their life. Stability is a luxury that I took for granted. Now my goal is to try and not let my kid notice that her dad is more unsure about everything in their life than he has ever been since before she was born. Things will work out. They have too. Right?

Finding Hope

So as most of you know, I just got back from a trip to Colorado. I was there for a week and was there for several specific reasons. I went to celebrate the upcoming marriage of a great friend. I went to explore some future job options for me as I get closer to moving back home. I went to visit some family and friends who I feel I don't get to see nearly enough. I went to see a concert of one of my new favorite artists, Mr Frank MF Turner. Although I was sick with a chest cold a large portion of the trip, I will say that the trip as a whole was a success. The one thing I found while I was there that I was not expecting to find was hope. I felt like maybe there is a chance that I am going to make it though this portion of my life that I am finding at times completely hopeless. As I struggle at times to have any sort of drive to continue, while there I was able to in-vision what my future could look like and for a minute or two, on several different occasions, I felt some hope. I was pulled aside by more than one friend while I was there, and told that I am a good person, and a good father. I was told by my old boss, and possible future boss again, that he had all the confidence in the world in me when it came to hiring me back on as his right hand man to help make his team even more successful that they already are. For the first time in a long time, I felt needed. Needed as a friend and needed as  a person that other people want around them. Don't get me wrong, I have great friends here in Vegas who I know support me greatly and I am going to miss dearly. I am just a person who doesn't like it when things are up in the air. I don't do well when it comes to making major life decisions without having a partner to bounce ideas of off because it effects their life as much as it does mine. I haven't had to do that for the last 12 years. Now, humility is my new best friend. I am back to square one. Lucky for me, I have a fantastic support system. I have a great family who constantly offers me support. I have amazing friends all over the country who I know have my back. Most importantly, I have a daughter who doesn't have a single doubt that she will always be loved, always have food on her plate, clothes on her back, and a roof over her head.  She knows she will always taken care of and if I ever lack confidence in myself, she never does which always helps me bounce back. Things right now are tough for me. I am not always happy, or friendly, and sometimes I am for lack of a better term, an a-hole. I am struggling. I apologize to any of you who have been on the shit end my bad day. This is the toughest my life has been in a very long time. Luckily, I think I have finally caught a glimpse of the light at the end of this tunnel. It's pretty far away and flickering, but at least it's something.

I Want This To Be My Awakening....

First of all, I would like to say I appreciate all the nice things a bunch of you all (my friends and family) said after reading my last blog. As you know, I put my heart into these blogs and it seems to be the only way I can get out how I really feel. I was told several things today that, as I am trying to heal, tore me back down again. Because of this, I said some things back that were very hurtful and then immediately felt horrible. As I won't get into too much detail about all the things said, I do want to talk about one. I was told that over the last several years, I have been a bad husband. Keeping in mind that there are always things that go on behind closed doors that only my future-ex wife and I know, for the most part my life is an open book thanks to social networking and blogging. I will NEVER claim to be the perfect husband. I am 100% aware there are things I could have done better. But there is also a list of things I think I did really well. In my heart, I believe that list is a lot longer. To me, a good husband is someone who is supportive. I was supportive by, because of her career, I was constantly relocating, finding different jobs or transferring my current job but having to reprove myself time and time again. To me a good husband is someone you can count on to make sure the household runs smoothly. Whether that be physical things like repairing things that are broken, dealing with service techs for the things I can't repair myself, running the household while she was deployed for six months, and sharing the household duties. To be a good husband is also to be a good father. I think I am a great dad and I think I have proved that every second since the day my children were born. A little less than 2 years ago, when we lost our son Connor, it was the most devastating thing I have ever gone through. And although I was in more pain than I can put in words, I did everything in my power to support my wife and put her first, because I knew she was hurting even more.

Each day is a challenge for me. I have to force myself to get up in the morning. I have to force myself to think about how this divorce is about to go down. Then I have to force myself to talk about it knowing that every time we talk, it ends in a fight. My goal (and her's too) when this all started to take place was for us to try and remain friends for two reasons. One reason is obvious, which is for the sake of Keira. I don't want her to grow up with parents who hate each other. The second reason is because we have no other option but to live in the same house together for the next 3-5 months. Most of the time we can barely make it though a day. I no longer have any desire to save this marriage. The person I fell in love with never came back from that deployment. Maybe she has been gone even longer than that.

One of my favorite bands, Yellowcard, just put out a new record. There is a song on there that jumped out at me called "Awakening". The lyrics speak to me in that they describe a place in this separation that I really want to be:

Bottoms up tonight I drink to you and I 
'cause with the morning comes the rest of my life 
And with this empty glass, I will break the past 
'cause with the morning I can open my eyes 
I want this to be my awakening 

I give this one to you, an anthem full of truth 
I tell you now, an epic tail, of what you put me through 
And even though you don't, deserve one of your own 
A melody, a song about the life that you let go 
I can't believe that I still care enough to write 

Bottoms up tonight, I drink to you and I 
'cause with the morning comes the rest of my life 
And with this empty glass, I will break the past 
'cause with the morning I can open my eyes 
I want this to be my awakening 

Yes I miss you still, And probably always will 
I'm living with, a busted heart, that I will have until 
I find the strength I know, its somewhere in my bones 
So pull the curtain up again, and get on with this show 
At least you know that I care enough to write 

Bottoms up tonight, I drink to you and I 
'cause with the morning comes the rest of my life 
And with this empty glass, I will break the past 
'cause with the morning I can open my eyes 
And maybe I will see, a different destiny 
Like maybe knowing you, at all was only a bad dream 
I want this to be my awakening 

No rest for the wicked they say 
Forgive me if I try to change 
No rest for the wicked they say 
Forgive me if I try to change 

Bottoms up tonight, I drink to you and I 
'cause with the morning comes the rest of my life 
And with this empty glass, I will break the past 
'cause with the morning I can open my eyes 
And maybe I will see, a different destiny 
Like maybe knowing you at all, was only a bad dream 
I want this to be my awakening

Yours To Destroy

           In one way or another, I have always failed in life. It sometimes would take a while, but when it came down to it, the ending has always been the same. Failure. From my earliest memories when I was a little kid, I was never able to maintain any kind of consistency. I don't think I had bad intentions but somehow I always failed. Always the kid with "so much potential" but was never able to use that potential in a positive way. Always a loser by the end of the race. This always caused me to end up in trouble at school, at home, ect. As I got older, things only became worse. Eventually this caused me to end up with the wrong crowd and I became the definition of an "troubled teenager". Drugs, trouble with the law, probation, and eventually in-patient drug rehab. Finally, at 17, I was able to get clean off of drugs and "start over".  This was the biggest accomplishment of my life at this point and for the first time, I felt like failure wasn't an option anymore. Fast forward 3 years. I am 20 years old and seem to have things under control. Stable job, car, nice place to live. I somehow by the grace of god answer the door at the house I was living at and I see an absolute Angel. The most beautiful girl I have ever known is standing there asking me if my roommate's girlfriend was there. Hardly able to speak, I mumble some nonsense and just pointed downstairs. About 2 weeks later, I am told this girl wants me to take her out on a date. I could hardly believe it, but of course, I didn't ask questions and accepted the challenge. After several years of spending practically every minute with this amazing girl, I realized I had found my soul-mate and I asked her to marry me. Yet again, I caught a break and she said yes. I felt like I was the luckiest man in the world. Over the years, we have been on some of the craziest adventures together life could throw at us. We have lived in 6 different states, had two beautiful children (although we lost our son Connor who is waiting for us in heaven) and have been a fantastic team. I have willingly supported her through her career in the Air Force and have always been very proud of her. I may not have shown it as often as I should have, but I knew in my heart, through her, I was apart of something bigger. I had the portrait of the perfect life, a beautiful daughter and loving wife. The problem is, at some point along the way, I have failed again. I don't know how, or when, but I did. I somehow without realizing it, took advantage of the most important person in my life and pushed her away. Pushed her to the point where she not only no longer loves me. Here is the kicker. Yet again, just like when I was a kid, and a teenager, I can't put my finger on what went wrong. I just failed. Still in my head but out of mind, there is still something I can't resolve. I am no longer the person she wants to be with and I feel like I have lost everything. My family is the most important thing to me and somehow, I have done whatever it takes to mess things up and end up in the cellar. Unfortunately, this feels all too familiar. I am unwilling to accept this as my destiny. I will give it all until my river runs dry. I will never understand why my wife and my best friend no longer loves me.Why, after everything we have been through together, she no longer wants to be with me. To be my wife, to be my companion, and to be my best friend. All I can hope is that the person who I have tried to be with every ounce of my being, the best husband, the best father, and a giving member to society, will at some point help me to finally win. To not be picked last. To succeed. I believe I am a better person because of our time together. And I have been given the greatest gifts a man could ever ask for: my little angel here on earth Keira, and my littler angel in heaven, Connor.  But I am tired of failing. I am tired of losing. I would do anything to turn back time and try again. But the difference between this time and all the other times is I believe in my heart that my intentions have always been good. I know there are things that I could have done better because there will always be things everyone could do better. To me, love is forever. That being said, I am confident that the person losing out or "failing" in this situation is her. Although I feel confident she will never find someone who loves and supports her the way I have, I wish her luck.  As for me, I guess it's time to start over. Again.

Balancing Plates....

As you probably know, at times I have a tendency to get stressed out. I like things to laid out on the table for me. No surprises. Sadly, life doesn't work that way.  I sometimes have a difficult time putting things into perspective and I become a worry wart. Because of these tenancies, things that are important now tend to get put on the back burner as I am focusing my attention on things that may not be as important at that second. In the past, before Crystal left, I was able to count on her to help give our household balance. She and I work together to maintain our household and as a result, we are a solid team. Over the course of the last five and half months, I have had to learn to maintain our household/life by myself. This not only means I have to take care of my normal responsibilities, but also take on the jobs that my wife would normally handle. Things that, to be quite frank, I have never had to handle. For the most part, things have gone OK. I have definitely had some bonehead moves but with nobody here to smack me, I have had to bounce back on my own. Now that Keira and I have gotten into a new routine. I feel like we have stability. She and I are two peas in a pod when it comes to routine. Its the only way I can keep my sanity while balancing all these plates at once. My goal is to grow from this experience. I hope that one day I can see a challenge like this and instead of being fearful, I will have confidence. In the meantime, I am counting down the days until Crystal is home and we can all be a stable family once again. No matter what I do, I will never be able to replace what we have together.

Sympathy? Thanks but no thanks....

Over the course of the last 5 months, I have had a lot of people tell me they feel sorry for me because I am away from my wife, because I have additional responsibilities at home and with Keira while Crystal is away, or because I have to move around the country all the time. Although people's intentions are obviously not bad,  I wanted to try and explain why the sympathy is not needed. Crystal and I started dating in 2000. From the very beginning, she made it very clear and was always honest with me about what her intentions were as far as a career in the United States Air Force. We had only been dating a short time when I decided to move to San Diego with her because she had a full ride scholarship to SDSU. We were married in 2003 in Colorado. Keira was born in 2007. I honestly didn't know how life was going to actually be like when I decided to support Crystal with her career and choose to spend the rest of my life with her as a "military wife". Nobody can prepare themselves for this lifestyle. The difference is that it does't matter. I believe in what she is doing and I knew what I was getting myself into when I got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. (I am obviously very good at tricking people because she said yes.)  Over the last 11+ years I have been on a great adventure. We celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary next month.  Don't get me wrong, there are times when things are tough, but tell me about a marriage that hasn't had tough times due to one or both spouses careers. Here is my advice. The next time you want to give sympathy to a military member or their families, instead of saying you feel sorry for them, tell them that you are grateful for the sacrifices that they make for our great country. Hearing someone say think you and sincerely mean it makes it all worth it. At least it does for me.

Home Stretch

First of all, thanks for taking a few minutes out of your lives to read this blog. I am trying my best to keep it entertaining. That being said, I am starting to get the feelings that come along with being in the home stretch of this mission. I realize that there is still a ways to go but we are definitely way closer to the end than the beginning. We are about at the 1 1/2 month left mark and if we have made it this far, we can finish strong. Keira is still doing great and I am doing my best to be her rock. Crystal seems to be as strong as ever despite pushing her way through something I can't fathom. This whole experience has taught me so much. First of all, I am married to the strongest woman I have ever known. Are you frickin kidding me? Any moms/dads out there reading this think they could be away from the little girl you see in that photo for 6+ months for the better of our country? To make sure that your son/daughter and your kids generation live in a better world? How many of us have said that our goal as parents is to make sure our kid grows up in a world that is better than the world that we grew up in? Don't get me wrong, I think as parents we all do our best and the friends/parents I choose to surround myself with are all fantastic. That being said,  I would like to give credit where credit is due. My wife is making the a sacrifice that I have no clue how she is making. She is truly doing something about it. I am not brave enough nor am I emotionally strong enough to understand. What she is doing is past the mark of amazing and I will always stand by that statement. The good part is that she is almost done. For us back home, life goes on. Yes, I have had my struggles but it isn't  anything I can't handle. I cherish all the time Keira and I have had together. We talk about what Mommy is doing every day and I do my best to help her understand why Mommy is away. I know for a fact that she is proud of what Mommy is doing. She tells me everyday that "Mommy is protecting us and our family and friends from bad guys." I tell Keira she is correct and that she is doing great. We do our best to keep busy and the end will be here before we know it. Mommy will be home soon.  "Finish strong" I tell her. "We can do it!" She gets it. So do I. Home stretch.......

A General Feeling Of Satisfaction....

If you are reading this then you know how big of a sports fan I am. I want to blog a little bit about some feelings I am having about the hockey season ending and how I believe it relates to life. As the Avs season came to a close last night, I read the blog on the Denver Post website and found myself angry and discouraged. http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2012/04/05/clock-starts-avalanche-battled-hard-excusemaking/10266/
I didn't miss a single Avs game on TV this entire season. (although many were an hour or two behind because I am unwilling to sacrifice my time with Keira in the evening because a game is on) Even though missing the playoffs by a single win or two is a bummer, Hockey has helped to keep me sane while my wife is away saving the world. I couldn't be prouder of Crystal but it leaves me with a lot of time to myself in the evenings. Watching the Avs play several nights a week has helped get me out of my head as I spend night after night alone after Keira goes to bed. (Shout out to my buddy Cameron Wells who came over for a bunch of games just so I wasn't always alone. He is the definition of a great friend.) I think this is similar with life. I truly try my best every single day both at work and at home to be the best person/employee/daddy I can be. I may not score a goal every day but I will be damned if I am not trying my best to get on that scoreboard. I am not the type of person who expects nothing less than a championship to be a successful season. It's more about improving. Am I a better team today than I was at the end of last season? If my answer is yes, than it has been a successful season. "Operation: Single Dad" has a little less than 2 months left and I definitely think our team (Keira and I) are prepared to finish the season strong. Keira has been a warrior as unbelievably tough throughout the last 4 months. She is our teams MVP and the whenever the next season starts and Mommy's duty calls, I know now that we are a force to be reckoned with. Thank you friends for all your support. It truly means more than I can express.

(Side Note: Here is what I believe the final blog should look like for the Avs season coming to an end. http://www.avshockeypodcast.com/2012/04/thanksgiving-in-april-avalanche-style/)

Yup, it's been month...

.  I understand it's been like a month since I blogged. I know, I know. Life can be busy sometimes. Or maybe I am lazy. Or maybe there has been a hockey game on TV every other night. Either way, Sorry. If I don't do something every day, it's hard for me to remember to do it. Even if I read someone else's blog every day, I still don't think about it. No, I am not blogging every day. Anyway, so things are going well. Keira is staying busy with school, swimming, and now... gymnastics. We put ice skating on hold (against what I want her to do) and have gone back to gymnastics. I want her to be an awesome ice skater more than any of her other activities but she told me she was ready to go back to gymnastics and I respect that. Sadly, we have been going a month and now she says she is ready for soccer. I am looking into that. I know what you are saying, why not do it all?!? SHhhhhhhHHhhhhhh! We can only do 2 things at at time when we only have 2 days off. That's the way it goes. We still want time to go to the park, or waste a bunch of money to watch half a movie before she gets bored and we have to leave the theater. Stuff like that. 

2 activities at a time is where I draw the line. Otherwise, she has been a pretty good partner in crime in this whole operation single dad stuff.

Back to reality...

So if you somehow missed my bulletins, photos, and status updates on Facebook, Keira and I just got home from Spokane Washington. We flew out there to spend time with my Brother (Brosmith), his wife, and Keira's two cousins who are a 3 year old (Neilia) and 9 month old (Ivy) respectively.  We were there for 7 days, and although we had a great time, neither one of us wanted to go home when our last day arrived. I know leaving was emotionally  hard for Keira because instead of her being her normal usual self, today she had a couple complete emotional break downs. Two of them were because she misses Mommy (which has been normal for her)  and the other two were her being sad becaiuse she alrealdy misses my Brothers and his family. Anyway, we both had a great time and did lots of fun stuff including ice-skating, went to a children's museum and a Valentine party for Neilia's school at a bouncy castle place.The whole trip was super fun but starting Tuesday, it's back to the daily grind. I am really proud of Keira with this whole trip. She was a great sport and was excellent with the plane rides. Crytsal's parents/ grand parents along with her cousin Chloe surprised Keira and I by showing up at the airport in Denver and bought us dinner. Anyway, I hope you are all having a kick ass day and i will be talking with you soon.

Almost Vacation Time!

First off, I apologize to my regular readers and I realize I have been slacking on my blog lately. (I am sure both of them will forgive me.) I can't say I really have a good excuse. Yes, I am a very busy person/daddy but as we just passed the 2 month mark, at this point it's nothing I am not used too. I am well passed the point of this new routine being foreign to me. I will say I have had some rough days and some days that are better but honestly, who doesn't. My bigger concern is trying not to let those bad days affect Keira and in turn cause her to have bad days. The best thing I have found I can do is just continue to try and keep us both busy. We have times we miss Mommy, times we are both exhausted and times when we probably get under each others skin but we are hanging in there. The good news is Keira still tells me she loves me 4-5 times a day. As long as that continues, I consider things successful.

We have a vacation coming up this Friday. We are heading out to Spokane, WA to visit "Uncle" and his fam for a week. Words cannot express the excitement Keira is somehow containing. She talks about it daily. I am pretty excited too as I finally get to meet my newest niece Ivy. Traveling with Keira without Mommy will be a first and we have a layover in Denver so cross your fingers for us. This time of year, weather can play a big role in travel plans. Keira is also really looking forward to giving her 3 year old cousin Neilia some ice skating lessons while in Spokane. She is gushing with big sister skills and is patiently waiting to use them. I think she see's this as a chance to use some of those skills.

Side Note:
I wanted to share my friend's Krista's blog. She is a stay at home mom with WAAAY too much time on her hands but has an absolute killer knack for creativity when it comes to parenting, cooking, ect.  If you have a toddler at home, you will see some awesome ideas in this blog and if you don't, it's still pretty frickin entertaining.
http://thebrighterwriter.blogspot.com/

Until next time,
Cam

Truckin...

I am going to continue with the once a week blogging schedule. This week was not horrible or great. I would say indifferent. (Minus the Bronco blowout playoff loss. Insert Tebow sucking joke here) Keira has been doing ok all things considered. I still sense some sadness from her daily and was even informed by her pre-k teacher that she hasn't been herself a lot of the time while at school. I was told she just seems bummed out a lot of the time. I have already noticed this at home so it wasn't that big of a surprise. I am just working with her daily to make sure it is nothing more than just missing Mommy and not a bigger issue. I have also been working vigorously to make sure she knows she is doing a great job staying strong and how proud of her I am.  We also have been trying to do fun stuff each weekend on top of her ice-skating and swimming lessons. Next weekend we have a birthday party to go too which she is super pumped about and in a few weeks we will be heading out to Spokane to visit my brother and his family. (Also something she talks about daily) We have been continuing to web-cam with Mommy almost every morning which is great. The only thing I feel like I am slacking on is making sure I have time to myself but I am working on it. Hoping I can find a sitter on a random night even if it's just to catch a movie with a buddy or something. I am also very grateful for the NHL. Hockey games are on daily and with the Avalanche being fairly consistently good, it helps me to have a break/keep my mind busy in the evenings after Keira goes to bed. It can be pretty lonely spending every single night by yourself. I have also been watching the show "Breaking Bad" on Netflix which is insanely addicting. If you guys haven't watched it, I would HIGHLY suggest it. I guess that is about all for now. Thanks for taking the time to chime into my boring life... Oh, and by the way, my wife Crystal was selected as Flight Commander Of The Year at work. I am so proud of her and everything that she does. Her work ethic is absolutely ridiculous. Feel free to congratulate her on her Facebook wall if you are "friends" with her.

-Cam

2nd Blog. Round 2....

Hi friends.
           Sorry I haven't been keeping up as much as I wish but things are a bit hectic. For the most part things have been going ok. The 2 of us have been butting heads a little, but I am pretty sure its a combination of me being the only authority figure in the house and secondly Keira just dealing with not having a mommy around. I am trying very hard to be patient and sensitive while maintaining a position of authority. I have said this once and I will say it again. I really respect single parents. Especially those who take care of their kids solo for 18 years. 
           If you are friends with me on facebook (which I am sure you are) you may or may not have noticed that Keira has a black eye. She got it staying the night at a friends and I still for the life of me can't get an exact answer of how it happened. She is a tough kid and probably didn't want to stop playing. Then yesterday when Keira and I got home from pre-school, Keira opened her car door, climbed out and somehow slammed the door shut on her left middle and pointer finger. I was getting out on the opposite side of the car and I heard Keira screaming bloody murder. I ran over as fast as I could and found the door completely closed with her fingers lodged inside. LUCKILY there isn't anything broken however she may lose a nail or two. Fatter fingers would have been a problem. Tomorrow Keira begins ice skating lessons again and then tomorrow night we are going to the Circus. Keira is SOOOO excited for that. Then Sunday s swimming lessons followed by some Denver Bronco playoff football.  Anyway, hope all is well,


Camron