Period 9, Week 1

Well, the business I hoped would show up this period has yet to materialize. I guess we are still in the late summer lull, where the CSU kids aren't back yet, and parents are busy spending their money on back to school supplies and new clothes. The good news is that the NFL season has started and college football is just around the corner. I did have a good work-with on Friday with my new boss. She said it went well, and gave me an 8.9 out of 10. The route missed plan for the 3rd or 4th week in a row, only running $16,346 and missing plan by $548. Stales were high again at $355. Sometimes I wish I was back here, instead of in a hot truck trying to surpass an almost unreachable plan. Come on Albertsons, run a better deal!!

Middle School

Summer vacation has officially ended for two members of the Roth family today. Jennifer has been working in her new classroom quite a bit these last few weeks and is finally ready for students. Noah starts 6th grade today. I can't believe how big our firstborn is. He will have his mom as a teacher first thing in the morning and last in the afternoon. Should be a fun, interesting year!

This Moment

{this moment inspired by SouleMama}

A Sunday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Period 8, Week 4

Look at the execution in that Western Convenience!  There must be a reason it is running 122% to prior year. I wish I could say the same for the route this week. With no hot ads at Albertsons and only a few CSU students trickling back into town, the route missed plan by $3245, running only $17,367. And so ends a terrible period. Hopefully period 9 will be better.

INK!

All done! Almost 4 hours later my first tattoo is complete. Sooz, my tattoo artist, is an amazing woman! Her attention to detail and love of her work was incredible. She even added the small butterfly in honor of the baby that we lost 6 years ago.

As far as the tattoo goes, there is quite a bit of meaning. Where the Wild Things Are is one of my all time favorite books. I can't count the number of times I have read it to the kids. Each of the kids picked a Wild Thing to hang from the vines. The vines represent Jennifer and I, intertwined, leading to each of the kids. The vines also spell out NANS, which is the first letter of each of the kids names. The butterfly is in honor of our baby, and is placed between Nathanael and Sarabeth. 

I have been planning and thinking about this for years. Thanks to my beautiful wife for encouraging me to finally get it. I'm so excited its done!!

Dinner

What on earth did families do at dinner before the invention of cell phones? The group did do pretty well on Star Wars trivia on moms DROID.

Blood!

Today was the yearly blood drive at the place of employment.  Since I am getting the big tattoo done this coming weekend, I thought I'd warm up with one needle today before lots of needle sticks on Saturday.  Only took 8 minutes to push out a pint! And I haven't passed out or thrown up yet. Nathanael was especially interested in the entire process when I got home. That boy is going to be a doctor someday. Or a scientists. Possibly NASA.

Sunday Night BBQ

It was a great evening in Greeley last night, with Jim and Janet hosting a BBQ for the entire family. Bob and Bonnie brought Nathanael back to Greeley and were able to stay for dinner! The Lambs also attended and enjoyed talking baseball and golf with Bob and Jim. The four siblings were also together for the first time since my vacation. They enjoyed playing with the new puppy while dinner was cooking on the grill. Jim make some amazing margaritas that everyone enjoyed. The weather even cooperated, and we didn't have the heavy rain like other parts of Colorado did last night. Everything went well, until we were getting ready to leave and Sarabeth did a face plant in the driveway while racing her brothers. Thankfully, she is just scraped up, and there wasn't a concussion. She sure is a tough little girl!

Cold Stone

We were missing Nathanael tonight as the men took a trip out for ice cream. We also walked through Target, but by the time we got to the stores the boys wanted to visit (Game Stop, Best Buy) they were already closed. Which seems a bit strange at 9 PM on a Saturday. We did get to see mom at Kohl's. Their air conditioning was broken so she was a bit warm.

On a completely different note, with this post, Campingdad has reached the century mark for posts this month! Hopefully the readers have enjoyed reading about one of the busiest summer months we have ever had. It was also possibly the funnest July ever!

Period 8, Week 3

The company even cares about the color of its employees urine. This helpful chart has been placed near the free Gatorade this summer. I guess it is there to encourage the employees to drink plenty during the day in the hot trucks. I have an idea: put air conditioning in all the route trucks! Urine color aside, the route was on the slow side this week running $17,125 on a $16,268 plan. Stales were the second worst since I took over the route at $695. Hopefully next week will be better.

I am a....

Thanks to E. over at The Italian Dyes (see link in Blogs I read) for this survey. Just when I thought I was doing a good job as a husband, something like this comes along. Jen hasn't taken the survey yet, so I will let you know how she does. I guess my family would have perished in the 1930's if I was the man of the house. Thankfully we are doing better in the 2010's.

15 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

6-2

Rockies lose. Now almost 10 games out of 1st place. Heartache. But Mark had fun. So did I. Really had a good conversation with the season ticket holders we sat next to. Thanks again Bob for allowing us to use "our" season tickets. The smell of the freshly cut grass wafting in the air was a nice touch.

Dinger

What would a trip to Coors Field be without a picture of Jennifer's favorite player? So here's to you babe! Rockies still losing 6-2 in the bottom of the 8th. Losing stream might reach 8 if there isn't a big rally.

7th Inning Stretch

Rockies still down 5-2. Oh well. Fat Tire on tap too. Need to rally!

Tears

The wheels are coming off not only of the game tonight but possibly of the Rockies season. Cook throws 68 pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Rockies down 5-1 with Manny Corpas coming in from the bullpen.