It's Raining Again!

In "The Matrix," Keanu Reeves espoused, "I know Kung Fu..." In our house, it's, "I know Tae Kwon Do..." or at least they've experienced their first session with Master Jung. The punches were flying, kicks erupting and all sorts of muscles the boys didn't know they had, were stretching well beyond what they ever experienced previously. And they liked it. They loved it!

The youngest lad, Jordan, kicked his last ball at soccer this morning. Protecting the net and spraying his coach with as much silly string as possible made this sunny, rainy, warmish, slightly breezy morning a lot of fun! And Taylor was chillin' with his bud Brad for some quality sleepover time and of course, the obligatory Wii time.

Mom and dad still got it going on - momma keeping the Harbor Heights school books balanced, the kids at all their events, homework/piano practice happening and the house and all finances intact. Bernanke could take some advice from the momma of this house! Everyone said it would get harder as kids get older... they were right. But at least now we get to sleep a bit more!!! amen... dad kept his job... sanofi-aventis is currently "restructuring it's sales force" and several folks are losing jobs or getting different jobs than they had (laterals and demotions). My district grew to include 10 reps in Nevada, San Fran/northern CA, and I kept WA and OR [I know I switched to 1st person on you there... roll with it... not retyping ]. Everything turned out very good for my Team and me. No lost jobs and no demotions... very nice.

So yes, we're in the rain... working to keep the moss from overtaking our sun-deprived backyard, getting the leaves that are now part of the driveway/sidewalk off those surfaces and Taylor did one last cutting of the grass/sucking of the leaves (love that mower!) before the Toro got shelved for the season. The front yard does look like the 18th fairway at Torrey Pines... he does good work, that kid.

And our dog... ahh yes... Lucy. She's adapting well so far... vigilance is key with small dogs. And so we are. It can take up to a year to train the shih-tzu to potty outside but when you take her out every two hourse, you minimize your potential for accidents significantly! And so it goes... so far so good.

Time for me to print a picture of the American flag for Jordan so he has a reference for his submission as the cover of the school yearbook. The artist is hard at it again! Peace.

Think of a time in your life when you were eating "the-impossible-is-genuinely-in-no-way-possible" sandwich. Now slather on a layer of "absolutely no way will that happen." Then you serve it up on a "it'll be a cold day in pergatory..." plate. That's what I was making for dinner yesterday when my neighbor asked if we were ever going to get another dog.

Last night, at about 7:15pm, I had finished cutting the grass and was admiring the handywork with a cool beverage and some Wheat Thins, when our trusty Sienna minivan pulled into our driveway with not three, but four "souls" on board, and 10 legs. Remember, I was already sitting in my driveway admiring the finely manicured green splendor in front of me, and I don't have four legs. In the van there was mom, Taylor, Jordan, and... you guessed it, the tan shih-tzu from the local pet store that she couldn't resist. Kristen and the boys have been wanting a dog for many months and I was the roadblock. Today, I gave in. She said she saw a cute little tan shih-tzu (we wanted a little dog) and I knew this would be liberating for me if I approved. So, I'm now liberated! And we have a cute, little, new puppy!

Her name is Lucy, affectionately named after our cat that had to be put down after only two short years. We're about 16hrs into this journey and so far, so good. No poo or pee in the hacienda.

So, all the good times that come with dog ownership are now here in our home. Welcome home, Lucy!

Whistler 08

It's 55 degrees, raining, and the kids made up a new game with the hot tub cover! Here's our first contestant, with a strong slide! Currently in 1st place!

She... could... go... all... the... way... a solid slide! A new 1st place!

The new "hot-tub-cover-water-slide-competition" winner!

Daddy and Jordan hit the luge too... mommy was happy that daddy didn't make them fly off the track! but we did go really fast! :-)

T hitting the wall, scaling the monolith in record time!!! The boy has moves...

Yes... that's Kristen shredding the luge track at mach 3!

Here's the luge that made them grin from ear to ear!

Daddy! Get me down from here!!! "Grab my hand, honey!" just kidding... a total "hi-5" from daddy to Lo-Lo on the zip line! :-)

Check me out... just shredded the "zip" line!

Taylor on his new MTB, right before he did a gnarley trick, and crashed! you guessed it... all is well...

Here's Lauryn, right before she rode the "teeter-totter" (typically a playground toy), and crashed! no worries... all is well...

Here's Jordan, right before he hit a jump, caught some air, and crashed! all is well...

a quick preview of the podium in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics... go USA!

the jamaicans have NO chance against these track thrashers!

time for the tub! in 60 degree whistler, BC... will someone please tell Canada it's SUMMER!!! And then we went home... bungee trampolining, alpine luge, climbing wall, moutain bike riding, shopping, eating, eating, eating... good times with the Cooneys and Costins in Whistler! Time to go back to school!

Day in Shelton...

Today we went to Shelton, WA, where dad grew up... he was in hog heaven! we have no pix... yet. standby!

The color version is at the end of this posting! a ridiculously great pic of T & J and their cousins, Alex and Anna -


Men building levvies... protectors of all that is dry... we were almost victorious against mother nature...



Scott moving earth... in defense of base camp. It was fun trying to defend camp :-)

time for a breather after rippin' some gnarley surf -

you wondered why we go here?

when the photog said, "jump," some listened more than others...

this is our goofy mojo!

shredomatic wave buster!

the family christmas card for 08! you saw it here, first.

or maybe this is the card... TBD. some good-lookin' fellas!

studman needs a breather from taming the bonzai pipeline...

do you have bad times at the beach?!

cool do on that brother!

happy, I am -

oh yeah... the master of the pipeline is hard at work!

The best pictures are never planned - Taylor and Jordan with their cousins Alex and Anna, in first place, having just heard the announcement, "time for ice cream!!!!!!"

Day One of the Costin Mojo! Aug 9, 2007; incidentally, our 17th wedding anniversary :-)

The pressure from friends is relentless - "you gotta check out my blog! did you read that blog?! why don't you have a blog?! are you a freak?!" perhaps... but now we're possibly a bit on the lunatic fringe, albeit with a blog!!! Welcome to The Costin Mojo! Why "mojo" you ask; two reasons.

1. It nicely grips the essence of who we are in one word; all that we're about; all that we are, all that we have to offer; it is our "mojo"
2. "Costins" was taken as a url for blog-o-mania-land out there so we needed a smattering of creativity in this department

What better way to get aquainted with this posse than to check out photos from the most recent trip to the Outer Banks of NC (7/31/08 - 8/8/08) - a major haul across the US of A but worth it in a laaaarrrrge way! Dig on this action!