Cimoli.com

I love technology but usually wait too long to get anything new. I also seem to rely on the charity of good friends who pass me their hand-me-downs when they have moved on to the next step. Fortunately, they usually upgrade pretty fast so I am not that far behind the technology curve.

A week agao I received an iPhone - after using it for the awesome applications (Facebook, Shazam, ShowTell and PilotWizz are my most used) for a week now, I have concluded that this is the best thing in the past 25 years. It’s absolutely amazing. I highly recommend this product to anyone!

I have used it for picking up open wireless networks in Heidelberg, Germany; Vilnius, Lithuania and Riga, Latvia.

Happy fathers day to all you Dad’s

The clues and my reward.

Just because Stef and the kids are in the States visiting family doesn’t mean that I was forgotten about on Fathers Day. Quite the contrary actually. I was given instructions to be sure to check my email first thing in the morning when I wake up on Sunday (Father’s Day). So, dutifully, I did as instructed. The email led me to a card that led me on a scavenger hunt around my house that lasted for 3.5 hours! After a series of about 15 clues I finally figured them all out and I was rewarded…so, what did I get?

• Two tubes of aftershave conditioner - guess that is so I am not such a stinky warrior and don’t smell funky when I get home from work? (hopefully it works)
• A light weight polar fleece which I will wear today since it is pouring rain and cold.

We just returned from visiting Normandy, France for the celebration of D-Day +65. While there we visited: Pegasus bridge; Longues sur Mer; Arromanche; Ste Mere Eglise; Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches…and got to talk to many returning veterans.

June 6, 2009 - 65 years to the day after the invasion of Normandy.

June 5, 1944:  The airborne assault into Normandy as part of the D-Day Allied invasion of Europe was the largest use of airborne troops up to that time. Paratroopers of the U.S. 82d and 101st Airborne divisions, the British 6th Airborne Division, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and other attached Allied units took part in the assault. Numbering more than 13,000 men, the paratroopers were flown from bases in southern England to the Cotentin Peninsula in approximately 925 C-47 airplanes. An additional 4,000 men, consisting of glider infantry with supporting weapons and medical and signal units, were to arrive in 500 gliders later on D-Day to reinforce the paratroopers.

The parachute troops were assigned what was probably the most difficult task of the initial operation — a night jump behind enemy lines five hours before the coastal landings.

Allied drop zones preceeding the D-Day beach landings

So, I turned 15 a few days ago. For my birthday I took a few friends to Phantasialand. A theme park about 2hrs from Wiesbaden. We left at 7:30 a.m. and left for home at 6:30 p.m.  Luckily there were short lines the whole day, I think the most time we waited in line was around 25 minutes! It was really fun, and all my friends enjoyed it. I’ll update later with pics!

A few weeks ago, the Wiesbaden Chaplains hosted a series of Father/Son and Father/Daughter weekends.

For the father/daughter event, they hosted a parent training seminar and brought in two guest speakers from the States. Rick Warren’s (author, “Purpose Driven Life”) brother-in-law Tom Holladay and his wife spoke to us about the challenges and opportunities of being parents. It was a great seminar and a time for Stef and I to take some time to learn something together and focus on our own thoughts and strategies.

That night, Emily, Anabelle and I dressed up and attended a formal banquet where we played some games, talked and listened to the guest speakers again. We even got to dance to a song before the night was out.

The following day we headed to the Kletterwald ropes course - which is an obstacle/confidence course that is built high in the Taunus Mountains and designed to challenge you both physically and mentally. Overall, both of these events served as a unique way to communicate with our children in a different way. Thank you!

My mom

My mom’s important to me,

She’s important to my family.

She makes us breakfast-eggs and toast

She knows that we love her the most.

She home-schools us

(And we don’t have to take a bus.)

She makes us dinner everyday,

She lets us go outside and play.

If you would ask me just one thing

Something special about my mom,

Like how important is she to you?

I’d tell you- SHE’S THE BOMB!

The new single is Magnificent and it’s now released on video along with a series of genius remixes. Take a listen. Shot in Morocco, and starring Adam, Larry, Edge and Bono…this is another great song off their newest album, “No Line on the Horizon.” Enjoy.

This is it - the new look for the ever-changing Cimoli.com.

I am working with WordPress in order to come up with a better layout for our website and to get away from the awful frames that I have been using since 1997. Thanks to my boy Glenn for keeping on my a$$ and pushing me along.

I also swapped hosts to HostMonster.com in order to get better support for PHP and other site options that would allow us some better displays - for example - check out Our Pictures and you can see my Picasa web albums. Lots of content to add.

Check for updates soon.