A couple of Thanksgiving morning spotted bass, taken down while out on "The Crush" with Matt "The Machine" on Lake Lanier.

To all my loyal readers (or "reader", as I fear it is only you Mum), my apologies for the long silence. We are still getting stuff setup, and I have lots of excuses: travelling (Geneva 3 times, San Francisco twice, and Dubai once, since moving back), during the move, we lost the battery charger to our Canon digitial camera (yes, with no photos it is harder to get updates out!), we are still setting up a work area with the PC (Jeanne has sent our desk out to be refurbished by our cabinet maker), and, well, we've just gotten too darn busy.

Matt has been here for a few weeks, and just headed back up North yesterday to attend an event in Fargo with his sponsor, Mosaic. Mum and Dad came in for a long weekend a week ago. Rodney was promptly put to work by Jeanne looking at lots of wiring issues around the house (the conclusion is that getting hit by lightening is bad for your electrical systems!). Mum has since gone under the knife for a plumbing tune-up, with all indications the procedure was a success. Matt will return in a few weeks, when he will have to start to get serious about planning out his attack on the 2010 FLW Tour.

In the meantime, besides getting the house setup, the boat saga continues. I bought a 2003 240 Bay Scout in August, and it ate a valve a few weeks ago, destroying the out-of-warranty powerhead (buyer beware!). It is now in the repair shop where it is getting a new Yamaha F225 four-stroke (a mere 12G's), and it won't be ready until nearly Christmas. So with Matt gone with his Ranger, I am sans-boat for the next few weeks, which is a bummer, and makes these Spots we caught yesterday morning all the more bitter-sweet.

The year seems to have gone by in a flash. Looking back at the last year's youtube posts, it seems only yesterday it was the last day of 2008. It is good we have lots of video and photos of our time in Switzerland, as they invoke some great memories.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see if we can't get you some more posts across the holidays and close-out of a very eventful 2009. Cheers!