Throughout my life, I have always stared from the sidelines at motorcycles.  You see, back when I was a child, I made a promise to my mother that I would never ride one.  The reasoning behind her request is that she had a boyfriend that was seriously injured riding a bike, and she didn’t want that to happen to me.

A promise is a promise for me, so I decided to do what I had said.  But, I have always wanted to ride a bike – even if I wasn’t the guy driving.

It wasn’t until I met my girlfriend that I was actually in the position to go for a ride.  You see, she sold used motorcycles, and she offered to give me a ride.  The problem was, I still had the promise that I made to my mother, so I had to decline.

I talked to my mother about it, and told her how much I wanted to go for a ride, and she finally let me relinquish my promise – provided I wore a helmet.

As I got on the back of the bike behind my girlfriend, I knew one thing: I would have the ride of my life.

I know that summer is a ways off, but I am getting very excited.  Not only will I be able to spend days at the beach, but the best part will be to spend time on the water.  In fact, I have gone down to the yacht storage units just to make sure my yacht made it through the winter in good condition.

You see, a couple of years back, I decided that using yacht storage would be a smarter idea than just parking my yacht on a trailer.  Not only would it be safer for the boat, but the insurance for those months would be cheaper than just leaving it on a trailer.

After trying a yacht storage unit or two, I found the best company in our area for my yacht.  They take very good care of it over the winter, and it is nice to see it in the summer.  I just can’t wait until it is a little warmer, then I will have to take it out.

Every Friday night, my girlfriends and I go out for a night on the town. It is our night to unwind after a busy week at work and get some much needed social time, as well as some much needed partying time. We all like the same kinds of music and clubs and we never miss a Friday together.

On Sunday afternoon, we get together for coffee and then decide what gigs we are going to hit up on Friday night. We talk about what we are going to wear and then we basically sit and gossip about what cute guys we met on Friday and what places had the best music.

It is a ritual for us and I don’t know how we are going to survive without it when we get married and start to have families. It is our moment of sanity in our insane week and it is the day I look forward to most of all. In fact, thoughts of Friday night are what gets me through Monday morning.

We just purchased our son a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. It is the first video game system that we have ever owned and I was so surprised to find out the prices of the games. I knew the system was expensive, but I never considered that buying him the system meant that we would forever be shelling out money for new games.

I decided that there had to be a place online to find cheap Wii games. I did a search and found a website that carried all sorts of Nintendo products and their prices were so much better than they were at the department store. In fact, I could purchase two games from this site for the price of one here in town.

This made my son happy, as he thought this meant that he could get twice as many games. I laughed at that and explained that it meant he could actually get a game once in awhile, not many games. He didn’t dare argue for fear of losing his system. I told him that he could earn them and that seemed to be a good deal.

I grew up in the very far north and we were certainly not scared of cold weather. We had winter for so many months of the year that it was just a part of our life and we did not know any different. We had a lot of fun as kids, playing in the snow and doing all sorts of winter activities, including going camping.

Winter camping is one of my best memories of childhood. People who did not grow up in the north think this is really odd and they almost fall off of their chairs when they learn that we actually slept in tents. I love to tell the stories to new people because they end up thinking that I am really tough. I don’t mind letting them think this way.

In fact, my father owned a couple of canvas wall tents and these people do not realize that we had a wood stove in the tents for warmth. To me, it was as warm as the house and with warm sleeping bags, we were always very comfortable. It was a great time and it is an experience that I want my own kids to have. I certainly want them to have this fond memory that I have from my childhood.

Last month, for the first time ever, we had a circus come to our small city. It was like Christmas for the kids as the whole town worked together to make it happen and prepare for the event. It was all they could talk about for days before the event and all they could talk about for weeks afterwards.

I must admit that it was a little odd to see circus and fire entertainers practicing their acts outside of the town’s auditorium before the performance, but it just added to the excitement for the kids. I know that anywhere we went, we had to drive by so that the kids could see who was out practicing.

My young son thought that it was the greatest thing in the world to drive by what was usually an empty parking lot and see elephants lazily munching on hay. It was a great experience for the whole family and it went over so well that I am sure we will see them back next year. I know two little ones that can hardly wait!

I live in Saskatchewan and it is the home of the Craven Country Jamboree every summer. We get some big name entertainers, such as Reba McIntyre and Keith Urban. I never miss a single year and I look forward to it when the winter starts to seem a bit too long and a bit too cold.

As summer draws closer, I know it is time to buy event tickets to this year’s jamboree. The talent list is really good, as usual and I can’t wait to see the friends that I have made over the years.  There is one group of us that always camps together so we can sit outside our tents at night with a beer and a good visit.

I also love to do some dancing while I am there. We get tourists from all over the place come out and it is a great time of entertainment and partying for many. I have already booked off my holidays from work and am searching yard sales for camping gear that might come in handy this year.

I have always wanted to learn to play the piano. I was not permitted to take lessons as a child because we did not have a piano and it was pointless for me to take lessons if I had nothing to practice on. I watched all of my friends learn to play and was always envious that it wasn’t me up there tickling the ivories.

On a whim, one day, I went out and bought myself a piano. I sat at it and plucked out “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” That was about the extent of what I could play. I did not want to take lessons, because at my age, I thought that would be embarrassing. So, I decided to go and browse through a music store and see what was available for self taught lessons.

I found a great set of DVDs by Will Barrow and learn master piano. I thought that this would be worth a try, so I purchased them. It is the most amazing thing that I have ever done. I can now sit with a book and play songs. I love my piano and I will be forever grateful to Will Barrow for teaching me that I do have some talent, after all.

I have a five year old son who has been to more concerts already than I had been to by the time I was thirty. I have been to many now, but it has mostly been Sesame Street, the Backyardigans, the Wiggles and others in the same genre. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I was at an adult concert.

I don’t mind it so much and my son has a wonderful time. There is nothing that he likes better than live shows, so whenever an age appropriate one is coming to town, I jump at the chance to take him. To be completely honest, I might just enjoy them as much as he does.

I get up there and dance and sing along right with the kids. I know that he will grow way too fast and I will actually miss the days of going to kiddy concerts and getting away with it. One day he will be going to rock concerts and certainly will not want his mother to come along. So, I will cherish what I have while I have it.

I have been playing golf for a number of years now, and I really love it.  There is nothing better than to be up in the early morning, enjoying nature and playing a game that I love.  It not only gives me an inner peace, but a time to escape from my busy life.

But I am not expert.  Sure, I would like to think that I am pretty good, but my philosophy is that there is always room for improvement.  So this year, I thought that I would work on my game and enroll myself in a Golf school.

It turns out that the South Carolina Golf School has a class on the week that I have off of work.  Many of my friends have seen a dramatic increase in their golfing skill after receiving the golf instruction that the school offers.

So, I am going to try it out and see if I can improve my game.  Worst case, it will give me a chance to play the game I love – best case, I will come back a pro.  Either way, I think I will have a lot of fun.