A Great Weekend...

Sleepover:

Logan had a sleepover last night with 3 of his buddies.  It's like a little 10 year old party when they're here.  They're too young to get into any of the trouble that I'll have to worry about later:  drinking, driving, smoking weed, and activities that may or may not lead to pregnancy.  The prepubescent years are really sort of nice.  They were loud, they were messy, they were kids and it was wonderful.

It surprised me how much they enjoyed pounding on all the musical instruments.  Obviously, this is a novelty for them, but most of the instruments that are involved in popular music are highly tactile.  You have to actually grab them and do things with them.  Experimentation with them is a critical part of the path of learning an instrument.  Glad the boy did it and glad the other kids did, too.  Popular music is mean to be enjoyed.  Maybe this will spark an interest in music, later.

Music:
Funny, but I worried (not that much, more like a fleeting thought) that I may have gyped the boy by not getting him music lessons earlier, but to be perfectly honest, that's not where his passion has been, really.  He's intersted, but far less so than in sports.

However, it's becoming apparent that he's the only one of all his friends who can really play a musical instrument.  He's getting proficient with the chords I've shown him on the guitar.  He's right where he needs to be.  I am sure there's probably a handful of kids who started suzuki violin when they were 3, but not very many. 

Coffee:

I was considering going a different direction with coffee.  My old method was to grind beans and make a pot with a home coffee brewer (Mr. Coffee) type.  That makes not particularly good coffee, but with enough sugar and cream, it's okay.  These days, though, I drink black coffee, and home-brewer coffee really doesn't taste very good.

Years ago, my Dad gave me a Keurig brewer as a gift.  It was one of their nicer units, too. Thing is, it never really worked properly.  I kept meaning to call them about it, but never did.  Now, years and years later, I was talking about Keurigs with some others and heard another legendary story of their customer service.  I figured what the heck and called them.  Because it was misbehaving since I got it, they agreed to exchange it for a new unit. 

Truly, this is premier customer service.  Now, I do think Keurig is an expensive way to go, but for the most part, it's well-brewed coffee.  Also, I drink about one cup of coffee in the morning and maybe a cup of green tea in the evening.  So, brewing an entire pot is not that much cheaper since I'd throw most of it away. 

So, I think I'll stick with Keurig for a while.  I'll be excited to get the new unit.  One of the things that didn't work on my old unit was the ability to set the timer and have it get ready in the morning.  Not that it takes that long, but maybe 3 or 4 minutes to get the water heated and ready.  This way, I'll be able to get that first cup of joe that much sooner.

The Business:

Looks like we've survived February, with March being uncertain.  Every month I survive is a victory.  2013 will mean increasingly strong positions as the year progresses and 2014 will mean the end of all my term-loan debt.  Survive, survive, survive until 2014.  Life changes a lot, then. 

Sometimes I feel really old, but I think so long as you have something big to look forward to, there's still part of you that's young.  Plus, it sucks to be poor, but it isn't so bad if you can count down to a time when your situation is going to change.  I still have a lot of big things ahead of me.