As I sit here on my computer at 8:57 in the morning, I am thankful to be an American because I get the day off of work. There are other reasons why I am thankful, like the whole freedom of religion and speech and such, but being able to write on here and know that I am getting paid while I do it is truly a benefit of being an American. My 4th will be pretty tame. I am doing laundry right now and I may take the day to pick up my house a little bit. I'm sure that I'll catch some sort of fireworks tonight, but I'm not sure where yet. I haven't done too much in the past month. I did participate in the Bateman Invitational, but I think I will stick to playing golf only once or twice a year. I wasn't very good. I guess the golf genes weren't hereditary from Grandpa Klopp. I took one weekend in June to visit some friends in Duluth and take pictures at a wedding in Two Harbors. Last weekend I went up to my parent's cabin to do some 4-wheeling and fishing. I've been hanging out with my girlfriend quite a bit, which is nice because I hardly get to see her when she is at school. We went to the Como Zoo the other day. By the way, the zoo was much cooler when we were little, but it was still fun to visit. We went fishing yesterday but didn't catch much, as usual. I've been playing church league softball on Monday nights. We are 3-2 for the season so far, which isn't too bad. It gives me a little exercise which is always welcome. Other than that, I've just been working, playing with my dog, Rhoda, and living the American Dream!