I'm back.

   The 'Mercure Uncut' rhetoric is coming back.  I'm going to begin today with a mellow little blog about spring and what's going on in the Mercure house as spring moves in.

   My family and I took a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean over spring break.    I will post some of those pictures sometime in the near future.  The cruise was amazing.  We sailed out of Fort Lauderdale and stopped at St Maartin, St Thomas and Princess Cays.  The sun was warm and the sand was soft.  It was perfect.  We have been back for almost three weeks now and our tans are beginning to fade.  We love cruising.  It's not a cheap vacation, but the conveniance and variety of things to do is unrivaled.  It's kind of cool to visit several different countries and only have to unpack your suitcase one time. 

   Another spring tradition in our household is the start of the soccer season.  Our daughters Kierra and Aimee are freshman in high school this year.  That means that they are on the high school team for the first time.  They both made the team which was our first relief.  The first game was two days ago.  Our wet spring has led to the cancellation of several games.  It was good to finally get out on the field.  The game ended in a 2-2 tie.  It was fun.  Kierra starts at forward and Aimee is a starting defender.  There are few things that I like better than watching the girls play sports or take part in a band concert or a dance competition.  I still can't believe sometimes that they are 15 and half years old.

   The flowers are poking thru the mulch at home.  The green buds that will soon turn into bright red tulips and vibrant yellow daffodils are growing a little more each day.  The grass is even greening up.  Last fall I left the grass a little bit too long.  As a result when the snow melted away this spring there were little tracks of grass missing throughout my yard.  It looks like little barren paths.  It's where field mice or Voles tunneled into the grass trying to stay warm.  So the flower buds look great.  The grass... well, not so much.  But in a few weeks it will all be back and all be good.  It was a good feeling to get out and rake out the yard and just be outside.  That reminds me, I need to get the birdfeeders out and situated.  The fat Robins and pretty Cardinals are already hanging out in the woods behind our house.