Well, you knew it couldn't last. I'm back on FirstNews and here at Blogger Central. Your spring break, from me, is over. As always, thanks for all the e-mails wishing me a happy retirement but I returned, anyway.

We, as a family, enjoyed the warm beaches of Lodi, Wisconsin. Keeping with a family tradition established by my father, we left home in the middle of the night. He did that so he could smoke and listen to Charley Pride without being interrupted. I do it because I am most awake and used to driving at those hours. I just pretend I'm driving to work about 17 times. You know the trip was a success when the passengers say it was an easy two hour trip after nine hours in the vehicle. I had decided we would not tell grandma and grandpa we were coming. You may be thinking that it was for the surprise factor...actually, it meant they wouldn't have the opportunity to be "out-of-town." It wouldn't have been the first time we caught them hiding behind trees until they thought we were safely out of sight. We parked so they couldn't see the van and sent the two youngest down to the door, alone. They knocked on the door and told grandma they had run away from Sunday School.

The lake was still mostly frozen and there was a little left-over snow on the hill so the sled came out for a few trips. The boys also got their grandpa-special haircuts right off the bat. Much of the week, though, was spent playing cards. Our two middle kids have developed into master euchre players. Euchre is a game that involves using Jacks as high cards and, with your partner, taking at least three out of five tricks. That's for four-handed. When you expand to six-handed you have to add a Joker and a two of diamonds...and, every third hand, run around the house in your underwear singing On Top of Old Smokey. Okay, the last one is not true...at least not for family-friendly games.

We made a stop at the post office to see if we could catch my brother at work. He retired from the Air Force last year and has moved into his second career. Our kids were hoping he would be there so they could say "Hello, Newman." It's little known fact, but my brother much prefers comparisons to Cliff from Cheers. Instead we found him at home where he mentioned that he figured I was off since I had not written a blog for Monday. So, having been reminded that he does read this thing from time to time, let me say, for the record, that he is a great person who served his country with honor for a quarter of a century and now brings that same devotion to his job as a postal worker. (There. I said it. Now, would you please tell your dog to release my pant leg? It made driving home a real challenge.)

The other hot-spot to visit back home is the beautiful, new St. Vincent De Paul store. The women who work there are fastidious and exacting so the merchandise is like new even when it's old. When you're a kid with a five dollar bill, a place like this can make you feel like Bill Gates. For example, our youngest found a framed poster of the Olympics basketball dream team from the Jordan/Barkley era...bought it and still had plenty of money left. Our daughter is the grand champion discount shopper. She always walks out with a bag full of goodies...mostly for other people. She got grandma a little bear figurine, a couple of books for me and an Easter pin for her mom. She also toyed with the idea of getting another book for herself, entitled Caring For Your Aging Parents. Funny girl.

It was a great way to spend the first half of spring break week. Tomorrow: Part Two!!! It doesn't really merit three exclamation points or even one, but, after all these years in broadcasting, I can't help the hype!!!!!!!!