Funny, it doesn't look like April...

...but it almost feels like it. The first two weeks of April are the busiest time for me at work, but the last weeks before vacation can also be crazy. It's especially true this year because it has been an unusually busy spring for "transaction" work - people buying and selling companies. That means I still haven't caught up on a lot of little things I put off during tax season that have to be done before vacation. That means working this weekend, and probably next weekend too.

This is all a long way of making an excuse for not posting more here. So without further ado:



Bobby played in a youth chess tournament last Saturday at the Golden Teapot, a neat little tea and coffee shop a few blocks from here. Bobby poses with other members of his his section afterwards.




I think the high point for Bobby was our bike ride there in the pouring rain. It was a tough crowd, with some of the top kid chess players in the state, including Iowa's reigning girls champion:




Dan even came to support Bobby!




The fun part for me was that the organizers set up a few extra boards and organized parent matches. It made the time go faster, but it reminded me of how hard chess can be. I went 1-2 in the "official" games, but I was happiest with a win over the the girls' champions' dad - a friendly game he kindly offered after he whipped me quickly in our "official" game. It was ego-boosting, and I needed it after he whipped me so fast the first game!

Anyway, the Golden Teapot is a very cool place. It calls itself a coffee shop, but it's really a Chinese tea shop with many different kinds of tea and a funky selection of real Chinese import goods from tea to toys to dried mushrooms to candy. No firecrackers, regrettably. The woman who runs it is the mother of a chess player, and she is incredibly nice. If you ever are in the neighborhood, stop off on Vine Street and go there.