My attendance has been spotty as of late. I've been working on a post, but it's not ready yet.

On the plus side, besides spending much of my time trying to earn the next house payment, I've been caught up in two very gratifying projects.

A group from our scout troop (including my son) is headed off to Philmont this summer where they will spend 12 days hiking some 70+ miles, at times at elevations over 10,000 feet. I had to make the hard decision that I'd be foolish to attempt the hike with my current knees, but I've been spending a lot of time working the admin end of things for them.

Best of all, we now have what's called a Venture Crew. Ventures are the next step in scouting, open to boys and girls from 14 to 21. I've been extremely vociferous in my criticisms of behavior and promotion standards in the troop, so it's justice of a sort that I am on the leadership staff for the new crew. We'll be launching in a few short months and there's a lot to do there. The down side is that I have to get "trained" again, which involves watching a child protection video that literally makes my skin crawl.