Enjoying the newly installed grass led to...

...a water fight with my son! Too much fun! He is such a great guy. I can still out wrestle him, but for how long?!?! :)

Installed a lawn over the weekend

Pictures of the before and after. Hard work, and my back may take a week to recover, but it looks good! My dog seems to enjoy it! But we had to get it installed before the really hot weather comes in a month or so. Talk soon!

Ballparks I have been to...

I love the game of baseball and have visited many ballparks. Most have been with my friend Kevin, who is so much fun to be with. He has never met a stranger...you have to love a person that can strike up a conversation with anyone at any time. Kevin, you rock! These pictures are just a sample and more will be posted later...Oh, and my favorite Ballpark? PNC in Pittsburgh! I am a beloved San Diego Padre fan and love Petco, but in my opinion PNC is the best ballpark that I have visited so far.

Talk soon!

Here is a video of me shooting at the competition

Once again, it is amazing how easy it is to miss at even close ranges under a competion format. I know for me a lot of this was nerves having only done this one other time. But even some of the good shooters miss occasionally- which gives me hope! On this attached video, I actually miss three targets. (If you watch you will see me shake my head in frustration at one point after my third miss).
The format on this stage was to shoot 10 rounds from the rifle, alternating targets. Then put the rifle down and shoot 5 shots each from both revolvers, again alternating targets. Then load the empty shotgun and knock the 4 targets down. With a double barrel shotgun, that means load both barrels, shoot two targets, unload the spent shells and reload new shells, and shoot the other two targets.
Hope you enjoy this! :)
Oh, and coming soon, a tribute posting that is going to be very sentamental and quite a bit sappy. It will have nothing to do with SASS or any goofy stuff. But the 20th rememberence of my mom's passing is coming up and I will be posting a tribute to her in time to honor her passing in a few weeks...
Talk soon! MM

More CAS action!

Yesterday I competed in my second CAS (Cowboy Action Shooting) event...It was a boatload of fun! (Or maybe a "Stagecoach of fun" is more appropriate...?) My results were horrible, but I still had a great time. I sped up over my first time, but I missed some targets- even at close range! In fact, one of the things I like about thi shooting is that it demonstrates how inneffective I am at shooting when under pressure. I have been shooting for a while and think that I know what I am doing. And while I hope that I never have to use force to protect myself or my family, I calmly think to myself that it wouldn't be a problem to shoot effectively under pressure. But it is AMAZING how bad I start to shoot when the timer buzzes and the pressure of competition comes and the adrenaline starts to flow!

Anyway, we had a great time. My wife Brenda went and took the pictures. One picture is really cool- you can see the ejected brass from the rifle from the previous shot still in the air while I am taking my next shot. And I am one of the slow shooters! LOL

My son Daniel went too, and spent the day collecting brass (the spent brass cases that fall from the guns. Many of us reload the used brass so it is very valuable). At the end of the shoot the "posse" (the shooting group) that my son was picking up brass for took a collection to give to my son and he actually made a few bucks! Great job Daniel! My boy is working! Wahoo! :)

Oh! I got my new "Cowboy pants" and suspenders...how do they look?

Well, thanks for reading and we will talk soon!

MM