Thank you Sean!

It's not the first time it has hit close to home since the war started (Kyle Anderson), but I hope it's the last!
This is the uncle of one of Gina's current students:

A soldier from Rosemount died Sunday in Baghdad of wounds suffered when a bomb exploded near his  vehicle, the Defense Department announced Wednesday. Specialist Sean K. McDonald, 21, was assigned to the Army's 9th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Wiesbaden, Germany. A spokesman for the Army's 1st Armored Division could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. McDonald is the 55th person with Minnesota ties to die in connection with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1087771.html

I'm not a politically driven person, but I will at least state that this death should never have happened.  It's unfortunate that it takes something like this to open a person's eyes but I feel very compelled at the moment to state how much I appreciate what our soldiers are doing to protect our country across the world.  They aren't asked whether or not they want to go.  When they enlist they give their life to our country and just do what they are told (and it almost all cases they do it with honor and do it extremely well).

THANK YOU!

The Ugly Mug

I was recently decided to play softball this summer.  I subbed for a team in Farmington a few times last year and they asked me to play full time with them.  At first I graciously declined but Gina talked me into playing.  Our friend Justin is now coaching the team so that helped with the decision, as well as the fact that his wife Erin and their two girls will likely be there most nights as well.

A local tavern named the Ugly Mug is going to sponsor the team.

Now that I'm officially on the team I am starting to get a little more excited about it.

Over the years, softball has treated me pretty well...I just haven't enjoyed it all that much.  I think I made the mistake of trying to substitute it for playing baseball (something I still miss incredibly).

I've only played sparingly (maybe six to eight games) since Tenacious D broke up in 2002 and I am hoping that this time around I can enjoy softball for what it is now that I have had time some subsantial away from it.

 

I can tell you this though...I do miss the smell of a ball field.  I am very much looking forward to that again.

The order of the phoenix

My brother informed me over the weekend that him and Morgan were randomly selected to view a pre-screening of the new Harry Potter movie which will be released in July.

 

After the showing they were asked to fill out surveys and were encouraged to stick around for focus group discussions.  Matt was guessing that a couple of the movie's bigwigs were in attendance.

 

He said that some of the special effects were not completed yet but that they both enjoyed the film quite a bit.  Chalk one up to the benefits of living in Chicago.