When I was a freshman in college, I walked into Springfield Mall at 10:30 am, having not bought one Christmas present. I had two and a half hour to get gifts for every member of my family, my girlfriend, and a few friends who I regularly gave presents to. I only had two and a half hour, because every tore in the mall closed at 1 pm. I am fairly certain I was wearing shorts. I am also fairly certain it was cold. Oh, how the times have changed.
A couple of days ago, Youngest declared that he needed to ride his scooter to go get the Wife (known to him as "Mom") a Christmas present. Youngest is 6, so trecking down Route 50 on a scooter is not a viable plan. I asked him where he wanted to go, and he told me to Target to get Mom chocolate. I offered to do it for him, but he said no. He wanted to go himself. I offered to take him, and he said that would be acceptable.
The next day, I went to work, stopped at a store or two on my way home, ate dinner and did some wrapping. The next day, I did the same thing. The next day was Christmas Eve. I went to work. Our office closed early, so I headed home about lunchtime. I stopped by Giant on my way home. I got home and ate lunch. Shortly thereafter, we headed to church for the family Christmas Eve service, where the Boys played the three Wise Men. Eldest looked very Wise-Man-like with his long, curly hair hanging below some headdress the church provided.
After church, we ate dinner and had a special December 24 dessert surprise, which shall remain our little secret. The Boys loved the special December 24 dessert surprise, and suggested that it should become a yearly tradition. I like Christmas traditions, so much that I drafted a Blog post about Christmas traditions in my head. Sadly, it never found its way onto the computer. So, I am willing to keep this one a tradition, so long as it remains a secret between me, the Wife, the Boys, O4C and Jimmy Kimmel.
After dinner and a little clean-up, I asked Youngest if he wanted to go get Mom her chocolate. At 7:15 pm. On Christmas Eve. He very excitedly said yes, so we headed out to Target, with Middle who wanted to join us. We were all wearing shorts. And t-shirts. Going Shopping. At 7:15. PM. On Christmas Eve. The person in line in front of me asked the cashier when the store closed. He said 10 pm. Oh, how the times have changed.
I enjoyed the ability to take youngest to Target to get his mother chocolate. I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to be particularly prepared to allow him to do it. I am pleased that I didn't have to give in to his request to scoot down Route 50, floppy blonde hair in the wind, to get his mother some chocolate. I am not sure, however, how I feel about Target being open until 10 pm on Christmas Eve. I know some people didn't get off work early. I know some people have unusual work schedules. I know some people don't celebrate Christmas. I understand all of this on an intellectual level. It still seems wrong to me. Even though, there I was, at Target, at 7:15 pm, on Christmas Eve. Apparently, I am part of the problem.
I enjoy warm weather. I particularly like spring and fall, when the days are mild and the nights are chilly. I like San Diego weather. However, notwithstanding the feelings of my family in San Diego, I also believe Christmas is a winter holiday. It should be cold on Christmas. The Wife shouldn't walk outside at 10 pm on Christmas Eve and tell me that she feels fine, standing there in a tank top and jeans. I shouldn't have to allow Eldest to turn the air conditioning on during dinner, because we are all uncomfortable after the oven had been on for the potatoes. (Yes, that happened. We gave in and turned on the A/C on Christmas Eve. And slept with a ceiling fan on.) I know people live in warm weather climates and celebrate Christmas (I am related to some of them.) I understand this on an intellectual level. It still seems wrong to me. (Sorry, California Earles. Oh, and all you other people living in warm weather climates or vacationing in warm weather areas this Christmas Day.)
Despite what seems wrong to me, it is Christmas. I am sitting in my kitchen, listening to Eldest russle around in his room, unable to sleep because of the excitement of Christmas morning. (We have a 7 am rule in our house, no presents until 7, so he still has an hour to wait. However, he is allowed to get on his laptop at 6.) The tree has a plethora of presents under it. And I do mean a plethora. I am so happy to be able to use that word. The stockings are filled and sitting quietly in chairs, waiting for the insanity that will ensue in about an hour. One cat is sleeping in a place that he will not be able to sleep in just over 60 minutes.
As the Grinch learned, Christmas came. Even with the warm weather. Even with the stores staying open until 10 pm. It came, just the same. Traditions die and new ones are born. We don't do everything every year, but we have our traditions. Tonight, we will have dinner with my parents, my oldest brother and his wife. We will think about my middle brother and his family, enjoying a warm Christmas in Texas. we will think about family enjoying a warm Christmas in Rhode Island, and family enjoying a cooler than they want Christmas in San Diego. Tomorrow we will go see the in-laws to enjoy what has now been called "second Chritmas." Christmas came.
It is too warm outside. The stores were open too late last night. The A/C is on. And Christmas came. Eldest can't sleep. Middle can't sleep. The Wife, after making cookies and dinner, and all the wrapping, can. The cat doesn't know what will hit him in less than an hour. Christmas came. Life is Good.
Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Post Holiday Thanks - 2015
Yesterday I spent the morning wandering around Colonial Williamsburg, ate lunch at The Cheese Shop, came back to our cottage for a couple hours of rest, ate dinner, went back to Colonial Williamsburg for a Ghost Tour and returned to our cottage. After all this, while sitting in a chair with a glass of wine in her hand, The Wife, who crashed hard during our "couple hours of rest" looked at me and said, "Hey, you have to blog today!" Have to. I would think the one person who understands that this is a hobby and not a "have to" would be the Wife, but there she was, glass of wine in her hand, 2 hour nap in her back pocket, ordering me to get going.
I can't completely blame her. For the past 3 years, I have posted a blog on how I hate Thanksgiving. Each year, the Thanksgiving post has become a little more tongue-in-cheek. I do actually realize Thanksgiving is not the Devil's Holiday. Regardless of the trend of my Thanksgiving posts, The Wife doesn't like them. She doesn't like them for a few reasons, but mainly because she LOVES Thanksgiving and because they aren't about the Boys. This year, not only did she not like the Thanksgiving post, she didn't get it. When The Wife doesn't get it, I know I missed the mark. I guess I wasn't on top of my game Thursday. Kind of like Tony Romo. At least I came out of it without a fractured collarbone.
I knew Thursday wasn't my best work. But this year has been a pretty weak year at the Observations of a Suburban Dad Blog, so I plowed through. I needed to say something. I needed to get back in the saddle. The only two consistent subject I have blogged on are the Olympics and Thanksgiving. We are in that terrible lull of two and a half years between the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics, so I have been a little short. So it had to be Thanksgiving, whether my best work or not. Forgive me, I'm on vacation.
Now I give you my annual list of things I am thankful for. As always, these are in no particular order...really, no particular order. The first thing on the list this year may be the first thing on the list last year...and the year before, but that's just a coincidence. Really:
Alex Morgan - Now a World Cup Champion, as well as everything else.
The William and Mary Football Team - for losing last week, giving them a home game this week, instead of a bye.
My Parents - for giving us a week (almost a week) in Williamsburg, getting the family together for Thanksgiving, getting us passes to CW yesterday and, you know, raising me and stuff.
One Direction - for making the Wife feel and act like a teenage girl from time to time, or perhaps even a little more often than that.
The Wife - for finally getting out of bed, 1 hour after everyone else here has finished eating breakfast, and immediately pestering me about blogging.
The Williamsburg Ghost Tour - for giving Eldest a very fun night, Youngest a couple of fun stories and freaking the hell out of Middle.
My Brothers - for coming to Williamsburg for Thanksgiving, playing golf with me and being family .
Cousins - always family no matter what.
Twitter - where to begin? For this week, I am thankful for Twitter for hashtags. On Thanksgiving, I devoured the #Iamthankfulfor on Twitter. I was wildly entertained. The number of people who are so thankful for One Direction that they have to let people know on Twitter is #hysterical. Don't they know you should express thanks for One Direction on your blog? Hashtags are the candy of the social media world.
The Beaver Moon - for providing me endless entertainment on Wednesday and Thursday, and for being quite beautiful.
O4C - for another very busy summer.
Louis Tomlinson - because he's sooooooo cute.
The US Women's Solheim Cup Team - for an epic comeback.
The US President's Cup Team - for not losing.
The US Women's Soccer Team - for winning, in dominant fashion, and getting Abby her World Cup title. Hey, did you know Jill Ellis went to William and Mary?
Black Friday - this year was a source of entertainment, as Black Friday has turned into a media war of consumerism v. family. When you spend the day in Colonial Williamsburg on a sunny 70 degree day, in late November, that media war is just fun. #BlackFriday was also fun yesterday, although a few of those posts were not family friendly.
My 5 loyal readers - you know I love you.
My boys - for being.
The Wife - for everything.
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. And if nothing else, apparently it is now OK to put up Christmas decorations.
I can't completely blame her. For the past 3 years, I have posted a blog on how I hate Thanksgiving. Each year, the Thanksgiving post has become a little more tongue-in-cheek. I do actually realize Thanksgiving is not the Devil's Holiday. Regardless of the trend of my Thanksgiving posts, The Wife doesn't like them. She doesn't like them for a few reasons, but mainly because she LOVES Thanksgiving and because they aren't about the Boys. This year, not only did she not like the Thanksgiving post, she didn't get it. When The Wife doesn't get it, I know I missed the mark. I guess I wasn't on top of my game Thursday. Kind of like Tony Romo. At least I came out of it without a fractured collarbone.
I knew Thursday wasn't my best work. But this year has been a pretty weak year at the Observations of a Suburban Dad Blog, so I plowed through. I needed to say something. I needed to get back in the saddle. The only two consistent subject I have blogged on are the Olympics and Thanksgiving. We are in that terrible lull of two and a half years between the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics, so I have been a little short. So it had to be Thanksgiving, whether my best work or not. Forgive me, I'm on vacation.
Now I give you my annual list of things I am thankful for. As always, these are in no particular order...really, no particular order. The first thing on the list this year may be the first thing on the list last year...and the year before, but that's just a coincidence. Really:
Alex Morgan - Now a World Cup Champion, as well as everything else.
The William and Mary Football Team - for losing last week, giving them a home game this week, instead of a bye.
My Parents - for giving us a week (almost a week) in Williamsburg, getting the family together for Thanksgiving, getting us passes to CW yesterday and, you know, raising me and stuff.
One Direction - for making the Wife feel and act like a teenage girl from time to time, or perhaps even a little more often than that.
The Wife - for finally getting out of bed, 1 hour after everyone else here has finished eating breakfast, and immediately pestering me about blogging.
The Williamsburg Ghost Tour - for giving Eldest a very fun night, Youngest a couple of fun stories and freaking the hell out of Middle.
My Brothers - for coming to Williamsburg for Thanksgiving, playing golf with me and being family .
Cousins - always family no matter what.
Twitter - where to begin? For this week, I am thankful for Twitter for hashtags. On Thanksgiving, I devoured the #Iamthankfulfor on Twitter. I was wildly entertained. The number of people who are so thankful for One Direction that they have to let people know on Twitter is #hysterical. Don't they know you should express thanks for One Direction on your blog? Hashtags are the candy of the social media world.
The Beaver Moon - for providing me endless entertainment on Wednesday and Thursday, and for being quite beautiful.
O4C - for another very busy summer.
Louis Tomlinson - because he's sooooooo cute.
The US Women's Solheim Cup Team - for an epic comeback.
The US President's Cup Team - for not losing.
The US Women's Soccer Team - for winning, in dominant fashion, and getting Abby her World Cup title. Hey, did you know Jill Ellis went to William and Mary?
Black Friday - this year was a source of entertainment, as Black Friday has turned into a media war of consumerism v. family. When you spend the day in Colonial Williamsburg on a sunny 70 degree day, in late November, that media war is just fun. #BlackFriday was also fun yesterday, although a few of those posts were not family friendly.
My 5 loyal readers - you know I love you.
My boys - for being.
The Wife - for everything.
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. And if nothing else, apparently it is now OK to put up Christmas decorations.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Happy Thanksgiving
I hate Thanksgiving. I think I have mentioned this before on this blog, once or twice. I am sitting in a lovely cottage in Williamsburg, VA, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season and I am reminded that I hate Thanksgiving.
In about 2 hours, I will go to a lovely Thanksgiving lunch/dinner/dunch/linner at a tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. The menu will include prime rib, so I don't have to eat turkey this year. And I hate Thanksgiving.
Later today, the 3-0 Dallas Romos will play the 10-0 Carolina Panthers in the traditional Dallas Cowboys 4:30 pm Thanksgiving Day game. Of course, the Dallas Cowboys are 3-7. They will probably lose, reminding me again that I hate Thanksgiving.
I am in the midst of 5 day mini-vacation in Williamsburg, during which I hope to see an old friend, I may go to a college football playoff game, I get to spend a little time in my old college town, show the boys the old campus (and the new campus - a little bone to you other W&M grads out there), spend some time with family, and relax a little, which is what I am doing this morning. I still hate Thanksgiving.
At least I am consistent.
As I watch the Parade with the Wife, my boys are in their rooms watching something else. They used to want to watch the Parade with me...wait a minute. Middle just came upstairs and asked what channel the Parade is on. Hmmm...progress? Maybe they still do want to watch the Parade. Maybe they just don't want to watch with me. I hate Thanksgiving.
Yesterday I played golf. I started very well for me, through 6 holes. Then I had 3 absolutely blow-up holes (9-7-9), ruining what was a pretty good round up to then. I had another 9 on the back 9, to finish with about the same score I always get. I play golf about 5 times/year, but I never get any better. I just don't understand. Yesterday was a reminder of that. I hate Thanksgiving.
The temperature in bright and sunny Williamsburg is supposed to get to 65 degrees today. After linner/dunch at noon today, we plan to walk around Colonial Williamsburg, which is apparently open today. It is kind of funny to say that. How does Colonial Williamsburg close? Regardless, it should be a lovely day to walk around Colonial Williamsburg. My mother gave the boys a children's book about Colonial Williamsburg a couple weeks ago, which Middle devoured. It is always nice when the boys (or even just one of them) gets into something that is not on a TV, a Kindle or a computer. Middle has several things he wants to see in CW (another bone to you Tribe alums.) I still hate Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go to ChristmasTown at Busch Gardens. We went 3 years ago and everyone had fun. We rode some rides, had some hot chocolate and enjoyed some lovely Chistmas lights. I still hate Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow is Black Friday. That doesn't really mean much to me, because I never go shopping on Black Friday. Plus, I have already finished almost all of my Christmas shopping for this year. But there it is, just lingering. We have commercials, people are going to go shopping and be mean to each other. I won't be there, but when I wake up at about 7 am tomorrow, I will know that they are there...shopping. I hate Thanksgiving. (Speaking of Black Friday, why does everyone complain about the people who have to go to work at some store tonight for pre-Black Friday sales, but no one seems concerned about Matt and Savannah, or the person who will be serving me linner/dunch in Colonial garb at noon today?)
Last night I went to dinner at College Deli in Williamsburg, reminding me of several fond memories from my college days. The boys enjoyed some pizza and the Wife and I ahd a very nice time with my parent. College Deli is where I drank my first legal beer at 12:01 am on April 7, 1993. It was fun to remember dome of the good days, especially those crazy times we had at the Brickhouse Deli (hi, Soupy!) I hate Thanksgiving.
I would like to complain more, but I have to go shower for linner/dunch with my whole family, including my brother's family who are visiting from Texas. We are all eating dinner together. The cousins get to spend some time together. Then we will do the walking through Williamsburg. Then we will watch the game together. Then more fun for the weekend. I hate Thanksgiving.
I do have to go tomorrow. This was my widely anticipated "Why Thanksgiving is the worst holiday of the year" post. Tomorrow I will stop being so negative and give you what I am thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
In about 2 hours, I will go to a lovely Thanksgiving lunch/dinner/dunch/linner at a tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. The menu will include prime rib, so I don't have to eat turkey this year. And I hate Thanksgiving.
Later today, the 3-0 Dallas Romos will play the 10-0 Carolina Panthers in the traditional Dallas Cowboys 4:30 pm Thanksgiving Day game. Of course, the Dallas Cowboys are 3-7. They will probably lose, reminding me again that I hate Thanksgiving.
I am in the midst of 5 day mini-vacation in Williamsburg, during which I hope to see an old friend, I may go to a college football playoff game, I get to spend a little time in my old college town, show the boys the old campus (and the new campus - a little bone to you other W&M grads out there), spend some time with family, and relax a little, which is what I am doing this morning. I still hate Thanksgiving.
At least I am consistent.
As I watch the Parade with the Wife, my boys are in their rooms watching something else. They used to want to watch the Parade with me...wait a minute. Middle just came upstairs and asked what channel the Parade is on. Hmmm...progress? Maybe they still do want to watch the Parade. Maybe they just don't want to watch with me. I hate Thanksgiving.
Yesterday I played golf. I started very well for me, through 6 holes. Then I had 3 absolutely blow-up holes (9-7-9), ruining what was a pretty good round up to then. I had another 9 on the back 9, to finish with about the same score I always get. I play golf about 5 times/year, but I never get any better. I just don't understand. Yesterday was a reminder of that. I hate Thanksgiving.
The temperature in bright and sunny Williamsburg is supposed to get to 65 degrees today. After linner/dunch at noon today, we plan to walk around Colonial Williamsburg, which is apparently open today. It is kind of funny to say that. How does Colonial Williamsburg close? Regardless, it should be a lovely day to walk around Colonial Williamsburg. My mother gave the boys a children's book about Colonial Williamsburg a couple weeks ago, which Middle devoured. It is always nice when the boys (or even just one of them) gets into something that is not on a TV, a Kindle or a computer. Middle has several things he wants to see in CW (another bone to you Tribe alums.) I still hate Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go to ChristmasTown at Busch Gardens. We went 3 years ago and everyone had fun. We rode some rides, had some hot chocolate and enjoyed some lovely Chistmas lights. I still hate Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow is Black Friday. That doesn't really mean much to me, because I never go shopping on Black Friday. Plus, I have already finished almost all of my Christmas shopping for this year. But there it is, just lingering. We have commercials, people are going to go shopping and be mean to each other. I won't be there, but when I wake up at about 7 am tomorrow, I will know that they are there...shopping. I hate Thanksgiving. (Speaking of Black Friday, why does everyone complain about the people who have to go to work at some store tonight for pre-Black Friday sales, but no one seems concerned about Matt and Savannah, or the person who will be serving me linner/dunch in Colonial garb at noon today?)
Last night I went to dinner at College Deli in Williamsburg, reminding me of several fond memories from my college days. The boys enjoyed some pizza and the Wife and I ahd a very nice time with my parent. College Deli is where I drank my first legal beer at 12:01 am on April 7, 1993. It was fun to remember dome of the good days, especially those crazy times we had at the Brickhouse Deli (hi, Soupy!) I hate Thanksgiving.
I would like to complain more, but I have to go shower for linner/dunch with my whole family, including my brother's family who are visiting from Texas. We are all eating dinner together. The cousins get to spend some time together. Then we will do the walking through Williamsburg. Then we will watch the game together. Then more fun for the weekend. I hate Thanksgiving.
I do have to go tomorrow. This was my widely anticipated "Why Thanksgiving is the worst holiday of the year" post. Tomorrow I will stop being so negative and give you what I am thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, October 23, 2015
We Survived September
"We survived September."
Those were the first words (probably after "hello") The Wife said to me yesterday, when September ended and we finally entered October. I guess it makes...what?...yesterday wasn't October 1? WHAT DAY IS IT?
I kid because I love. I know it's October 16. My anniversary was just a few days ago. Huh? Really? Not October 16?
Well, perhaps I should start over...nah. Just plow ahead.
In all seriousness, those were the first words The Wife said to me on October 1. They are true words. September does seem to be the hardest month. If you consider that all 3 boys are swimming right now, and all 3 boys are playing soccer right now, and all 3 boys are in school right now, and we try to start going to church again, and two of the boys are in Cub Scouts which starts anew in September, it kind of makes sense. Of course, summer, with Kill the Family Tour combined with multiple swim meets is no breeze. In the spring, we had 2 swimmers, 2 soccer players, a baseball player, a Cub Scout, school and me teaching 2 classes at church. Winter comes with basketball and the dull, dreary days of swimming, plus there is no sun, and we have had A LOT of snow the past couple of winters. Why is September so hard again?
Again, I kid because I love.
September is hard because we are getting back into the routine. After a very busy summer, especially in 2014 and 2015 with Kill the Family Tour and Kill the Family Tour 2.0, we ease out of summer. Swim practice ends. The boys do no new sports. We have no school, we don't go to church, the sun is out late and we end it with vacation. One glorious week at the beach, with nice weather, the ocean, a round of golf, mini golf, the lazy river, a Japanese Steakhouse, a couple family movies, one last family day trip and a shark. More on the shark later.
The last several years we have gone on vacation the last week of summer. We enjoy this week, because most people are already back in school. Traffic on I-95 is relatively light, the beach is not too crowded, restaurants are rarely full and things are just relaxed. We go Saturday to Saturday, so we have 2 days after we return to get ready for the return to school on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I have blogged in the past that Labor Day is the worst day of the year, which is true, because after all that loveliness I just described - BLAM!!! - everything starts up again. Within 1 week of school starting we are back into every activity a suburban family of 5 can handle.
I think that is why September seems like the hardest month of the year. We go from easy to vacation to insane. Once we get into the routine, between soccer practices and swim practices, combined with my feeble attempts to swim at least a couple days/week, I am rarely home before 7:30 pm. This year, on swim nights, I am getting home at 8:40 pm. Then I eat dinner. Between the 5 of us, if you include The Wife's time as a Den Leader and my time as a coach, we average 15 activities between Monday and Friday. That includes 1 swim practice on Friday, so we are pulling 14 activities from Monday through Thursday.
I know I have written about this before, and I know we are not exceptional. We know several other families in the same boat, and everyone is doing the best they can with it, but I am writing now for a few reasons. First, it seems funny that The Wife said "We survived September" to begin a day that included school, work, three soccer practices and a Cub Scout meeting. It isn't like surviving a marathon or surviving a war. It wasn't over. Not even close.
Second, our September schedule inspired a new phrase from The Wife, "Drive by Marriage." We are like 2 ships passing in the night, rarely seeing each other and just blowing a horn to get each other's attention. This is not my way of saying we have marital problems, because we don't. This is just a funny way to describe a marriage of 2 working parents with active kids at active ages. Again, we know several other families in the same, and sometimes an even more difficult, position. I think it is just fun to have a phrase to describe it. This summer, O4C, in an effort to make us a couple of the cool kids, encouraged us to use hashtags once we finally decided to get on Instagram. We make jokes about it when we do, because we aren't cool, but it is fun to act like it. Recently, my Volleyball Insider has gone hashtag crazy in our various email "discussions." Just for fun. I think I will see if I can make the term #drivebymarriage start to trend. Hashtags are fun.
Third, I am writing about this because it got me to write again. I have "written" several blog posts in my head over the past couple of months. One about the summer, a couple about Kill the Family Tour 2.0, the shark (still coming), saying good-bye to O4C, my anniversary. I have had a couple suggestions offered to me as well, which I still may use. But I write when I feel motivated. The fact that I was motivated to write about a comment that was said 3 weeks ago seemed funny to me; and appropriate.
As for #drivebymarriage, my anniversary was a couple weeks ago. To celebrate, The Wife and I had Chick-Fil-A for dinner. Separately. She went with the Boys before soccer practice. I picked mine up after soccer practice. She went to a meeting when I got home. I ate alone, while the Boys finished homework and got ready for bed. I am not complaining. This is the life we chose, and I wouldn't change much. Winning the lottery would be a bonus, but that is hard to do if you never play. Hard to do even if you do play. We choose family over just about everything else. And family means all of us, not just each other. So, sometimes, the anniversary dinner gets delayed until we combine it with a birthday dinner. In February. Or April. Or sometimes, we eat Chick-Fil-A, separately, and just laugh. #drivebymarriage.
I guess it is also funny that we "survived" September because of the shark. After a summer of shark attacks in the mid-Atlantic, we went to Myrtle Beach with no fear. On September 2, I was playing in the ocean with all 3 boys, when a 5 foot shark swam right past us and headed back out into the ocean. All things considered, that was probably the closest I came to not surviving September. (Although, realistically, that shark didn't care at all about me.) I brag about that story. I love that story. I saw a shark, in the wild, no more than 5 feet away from me. I think that is pretty cool. And I hope to never do it again. The boys enjoy the story, too, and we all got back in the ocean, but with a little more caution, a couple days later.
Drive by Marriage. Drive by Shark. #fun
Those were the first words (probably after "hello") The Wife said to me yesterday, when September ended and we finally entered October. I guess it makes...what?...yesterday wasn't October 1? WHAT DAY IS IT?
I kid because I love. I know it's October 16. My anniversary was just a few days ago. Huh? Really? Not October 16?
Well, perhaps I should start over...nah. Just plow ahead.
In all seriousness, those were the first words The Wife said to me on October 1. They are true words. September does seem to be the hardest month. If you consider that all 3 boys are swimming right now, and all 3 boys are playing soccer right now, and all 3 boys are in school right now, and we try to start going to church again, and two of the boys are in Cub Scouts which starts anew in September, it kind of makes sense. Of course, summer, with Kill the Family Tour combined with multiple swim meets is no breeze. In the spring, we had 2 swimmers, 2 soccer players, a baseball player, a Cub Scout, school and me teaching 2 classes at church. Winter comes with basketball and the dull, dreary days of swimming, plus there is no sun, and we have had A LOT of snow the past couple of winters. Why is September so hard again?
Again, I kid because I love.
September is hard because we are getting back into the routine. After a very busy summer, especially in 2014 and 2015 with Kill the Family Tour and Kill the Family Tour 2.0, we ease out of summer. Swim practice ends. The boys do no new sports. We have no school, we don't go to church, the sun is out late and we end it with vacation. One glorious week at the beach, with nice weather, the ocean, a round of golf, mini golf, the lazy river, a Japanese Steakhouse, a couple family movies, one last family day trip and a shark. More on the shark later.
The last several years we have gone on vacation the last week of summer. We enjoy this week, because most people are already back in school. Traffic on I-95 is relatively light, the beach is not too crowded, restaurants are rarely full and things are just relaxed. We go Saturday to Saturday, so we have 2 days after we return to get ready for the return to school on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I have blogged in the past that Labor Day is the worst day of the year, which is true, because after all that loveliness I just described - BLAM!!! - everything starts up again. Within 1 week of school starting we are back into every activity a suburban family of 5 can handle.
I think that is why September seems like the hardest month of the year. We go from easy to vacation to insane. Once we get into the routine, between soccer practices and swim practices, combined with my feeble attempts to swim at least a couple days/week, I am rarely home before 7:30 pm. This year, on swim nights, I am getting home at 8:40 pm. Then I eat dinner. Between the 5 of us, if you include The Wife's time as a Den Leader and my time as a coach, we average 15 activities between Monday and Friday. That includes 1 swim practice on Friday, so we are pulling 14 activities from Monday through Thursday.
I know I have written about this before, and I know we are not exceptional. We know several other families in the same boat, and everyone is doing the best they can with it, but I am writing now for a few reasons. First, it seems funny that The Wife said "We survived September" to begin a day that included school, work, three soccer practices and a Cub Scout meeting. It isn't like surviving a marathon or surviving a war. It wasn't over. Not even close.
Second, our September schedule inspired a new phrase from The Wife, "Drive by Marriage." We are like 2 ships passing in the night, rarely seeing each other and just blowing a horn to get each other's attention. This is not my way of saying we have marital problems, because we don't. This is just a funny way to describe a marriage of 2 working parents with active kids at active ages. Again, we know several other families in the same, and sometimes an even more difficult, position. I think it is just fun to have a phrase to describe it. This summer, O4C, in an effort to make us a couple of the cool kids, encouraged us to use hashtags once we finally decided to get on Instagram. We make jokes about it when we do, because we aren't cool, but it is fun to act like it. Recently, my Volleyball Insider has gone hashtag crazy in our various email "discussions." Just for fun. I think I will see if I can make the term #drivebymarriage start to trend. Hashtags are fun.
Third, I am writing about this because it got me to write again. I have "written" several blog posts in my head over the past couple of months. One about the summer, a couple about Kill the Family Tour 2.0, the shark (still coming), saying good-bye to O4C, my anniversary. I have had a couple suggestions offered to me as well, which I still may use. But I write when I feel motivated. The fact that I was motivated to write about a comment that was said 3 weeks ago seemed funny to me; and appropriate.
As for #drivebymarriage, my anniversary was a couple weeks ago. To celebrate, The Wife and I had Chick-Fil-A for dinner. Separately. She went with the Boys before soccer practice. I picked mine up after soccer practice. She went to a meeting when I got home. I ate alone, while the Boys finished homework and got ready for bed. I am not complaining. This is the life we chose, and I wouldn't change much. Winning the lottery would be a bonus, but that is hard to do if you never play. Hard to do even if you do play. We choose family over just about everything else. And family means all of us, not just each other. So, sometimes, the anniversary dinner gets delayed until we combine it with a birthday dinner. In February. Or April. Or sometimes, we eat Chick-Fil-A, separately, and just laugh. #drivebymarriage.
I guess it is also funny that we "survived" September because of the shark. After a summer of shark attacks in the mid-Atlantic, we went to Myrtle Beach with no fear. On September 2, I was playing in the ocean with all 3 boys, when a 5 foot shark swam right past us and headed back out into the ocean. All things considered, that was probably the closest I came to not surviving September. (Although, realistically, that shark didn't care at all about me.) I brag about that story. I love that story. I saw a shark, in the wild, no more than 5 feet away from me. I think that is pretty cool. And I hope to never do it again. The boys enjoy the story, too, and we all got back in the ocean, but with a little more caution, a couple days later.
Drive by Marriage. Drive by Shark. #fun
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
#DadAt1DConcert
I have been slow to embrace social media. I initially resisted because I thought it was stupid. As I sit here writing this, I can't even remember how it started. MySpace, I think? Regardless, what was the point of putting your entire life on the internet for anyone and everyone to see. At a minimum, it was narcissistic. On the other extreme, it was potentially dangerous. For years, I mocked anyone with a social media account. I still remember mercilessly ridiculing the first friend I learned had a MySpace account. At that point, he also had a FaceBook account, because MySpace was going bye-bye, and FaceBook was taking over.
Eventually, at the behest of a dear friend who lives halfway around the world, I created a Facebook account. I did so because she, correctly, pointed out that we could stay in some contact through FaceBook. However, even after joining the social media horde, I was slow to embrace it. I think I initially grabbed a bunch of FaceBook friends and looked at their pages. I probably made a few initial posts in the first week or so. Then, I went dormant for long stretches of time. Kind of like this blog since the Sochi Olympics. It was interesting to re-connect with some old friends and see what they were up to. I also enjoyed the informal competition with The Wife over who had the most FaceBook friends. However, it still seemed kind of stupid and superficial. I found myself connecting with old acquaintances as well as friends and learned that many people enjoyed the competition about how many "friends" they have, and not in a friendly competition with their spouse. I actually started a blog post once entitled "Why I Hate FaceBook." Like several others, I never finished it.
As I re-connected with more people, I became a little more active. I usually checked in to see what my friends were doing, but never consistently posted about my life. That changed last summer, when I started posting for "Kill the Family Tour". The primary purpose, again, was to help someone half way around the world. We posted pictures of our experiences so O4C's mother could see them. Several close friends enjoyed the posts and pictures. It was a little intoxicating and a little addictive. Especially when we started getting "likes" from around the world. With O4C's return to home, my FaceBook posting became erratic again, until Kill the Family Tour 2.0.
I think it is safe to say that I fully embraced FaceBook sometime in the last couple of years. There are still things I really dislike, but in general, it serves a useful purpose. I particularly enjoy the fact that it has been taken over by my generation.
Despite my acceptance of FaceBook, I have been slow to adopt other social media sites. One of the prmary reasons is I don't understand the purpose of multiple social media platforms. Why is Twitter, with it's character limitation preferable to FaceBook? If you can post pictures on Twitter and FaceBook, what is the point of Instagram? What exactly is SnapChat? How do all of these things differ? Why do you need an account on all of them? And to prove that I am, in fact old, how many social media sites are there that I have never even hear of?
In the interest of learning answers to these questions, I went to the source...teenagers. I asked a few. What I can tell you is they don't have answers. I did get one to admit that FaceBook has lost some status because there are too many parents. I guess there is some appeal to the brevity of Twitter, but no one could really explain why there is a need for Twitter and Instagram. There was a lot of "it's just better" or something along those lines. #BeautyIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder.
I did eventually join Twitter. I just looked and I joined about 2 years ago. I have tweeted 53 times. Some of them are actually kind of funny. As I re-read most of my 53 tweets, I remember that I was going to initially record funny things my boys said, such as "Do you know what is creepy about me?" from Middle. But I never followed through. I basically use Twitter to follow William and Mary sports. It is a good site to keep track of whatever relatively obscure thing you want to keep track of, because major news outlets won't tell me what is going on with the Tribe swim team.
This past weekend, I decided to take Twitter to a new level. I decided to tweet my way through an event. It seemed appropriate that the event was a One Direction concert. I was combining a specific site (Twitter) from an internet platform (social media) to record my observations of a concert from a boy band. All three of these things I was slow to embrace and even slower to admit I had embraced. Why was I at a One Direction concert. There are various reasons, but, I must admit, one reason was I actually like the band. You know, I am still even a little embarrassed to admit that, which is sad. But it is true, I enjoy One Direction, and they put on a hell of a show, even though Liam was a little under the weather.
I decided to truly embrace social media. I tweeted 13 times, including the initial warning that I was going to do it. I used the hashtag #DadAt1DConcert for each tweet, you know, so my musings could go viral. I would have tweeted many more times, but my phone battery died, because I couldn't charge it on the trip to Baltimore because someone (who shall remain nameless) was using my car charger. I admit 13 tweets isn't that much, but if you consider I did 13 tweets in about 10 hours, after 49 tweets in 2 years, it was pretty significant for me. I also was using multiple hashtags, because I have learned from multiple sources that cool kids use hashtags, and I want to be one of the #coolkids.
The concert was fun. My boys enjoyed it, although it was a little too much for Youngest and Middle refused to admit that he enjoyed it. Tweeting was fun. I can understand the appeal, much like I eventually understood the appeal of FaceBook. I probably won't become a big tweeter, I still think there is a little more life to live to spend time trying to record it, even at 120 characters or less. Is that right? 120? I have also opened an Instagram account, and there is no way I can do them all, but I'll do a little of each, here and there. FaceBook, the social media taken over by old people, will probably still be the most active for me. I have posted a few pictures on Instagram and re-tweeted something this morning, and learned to #toomanyhashtags things from time to time. Cuz I want to be one of the #coolkids.
I have learned a few things in my slow acceptance of social media. I generally refuse to sacrifice spelling and grammar, except when artistic license calls for it. Cool kids use hashtags. I still would rather bore you with a long essay on this blog, but I have even less time for that. And, most importantly, capital letters count. If you don't use capital letters, a brief concert by One Direction on Good Morning America can go from #1DonGMA to #1DongMa.
Eventually, at the behest of a dear friend who lives halfway around the world, I created a Facebook account. I did so because she, correctly, pointed out that we could stay in some contact through FaceBook. However, even after joining the social media horde, I was slow to embrace it. I think I initially grabbed a bunch of FaceBook friends and looked at their pages. I probably made a few initial posts in the first week or so. Then, I went dormant for long stretches of time. Kind of like this blog since the Sochi Olympics. It was interesting to re-connect with some old friends and see what they were up to. I also enjoyed the informal competition with The Wife over who had the most FaceBook friends. However, it still seemed kind of stupid and superficial. I found myself connecting with old acquaintances as well as friends and learned that many people enjoyed the competition about how many "friends" they have, and not in a friendly competition with their spouse. I actually started a blog post once entitled "Why I Hate FaceBook." Like several others, I never finished it.
As I re-connected with more people, I became a little more active. I usually checked in to see what my friends were doing, but never consistently posted about my life. That changed last summer, when I started posting for "Kill the Family Tour". The primary purpose, again, was to help someone half way around the world. We posted pictures of our experiences so O4C's mother could see them. Several close friends enjoyed the posts and pictures. It was a little intoxicating and a little addictive. Especially when we started getting "likes" from around the world. With O4C's return to home, my FaceBook posting became erratic again, until Kill the Family Tour 2.0.
I think it is safe to say that I fully embraced FaceBook sometime in the last couple of years. There are still things I really dislike, but in general, it serves a useful purpose. I particularly enjoy the fact that it has been taken over by my generation.
Despite my acceptance of FaceBook, I have been slow to adopt other social media sites. One of the prmary reasons is I don't understand the purpose of multiple social media platforms. Why is Twitter, with it's character limitation preferable to FaceBook? If you can post pictures on Twitter and FaceBook, what is the point of Instagram? What exactly is SnapChat? How do all of these things differ? Why do you need an account on all of them? And to prove that I am, in fact old, how many social media sites are there that I have never even hear of?
In the interest of learning answers to these questions, I went to the source...teenagers. I asked a few. What I can tell you is they don't have answers. I did get one to admit that FaceBook has lost some status because there are too many parents. I guess there is some appeal to the brevity of Twitter, but no one could really explain why there is a need for Twitter and Instagram. There was a lot of "it's just better" or something along those lines. #BeautyIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder.
I did eventually join Twitter. I just looked and I joined about 2 years ago. I have tweeted 53 times. Some of them are actually kind of funny. As I re-read most of my 53 tweets, I remember that I was going to initially record funny things my boys said, such as "Do you know what is creepy about me?" from Middle. But I never followed through. I basically use Twitter to follow William and Mary sports. It is a good site to keep track of whatever relatively obscure thing you want to keep track of, because major news outlets won't tell me what is going on with the Tribe swim team.
This past weekend, I decided to take Twitter to a new level. I decided to tweet my way through an event. It seemed appropriate that the event was a One Direction concert. I was combining a specific site (Twitter) from an internet platform (social media) to record my observations of a concert from a boy band. All three of these things I was slow to embrace and even slower to admit I had embraced. Why was I at a One Direction concert. There are various reasons, but, I must admit, one reason was I actually like the band. You know, I am still even a little embarrassed to admit that, which is sad. But it is true, I enjoy One Direction, and they put on a hell of a show, even though Liam was a little under the weather.
I decided to truly embrace social media. I tweeted 13 times, including the initial warning that I was going to do it. I used the hashtag #DadAt1DConcert for each tweet, you know, so my musings could go viral. I would have tweeted many more times, but my phone battery died, because I couldn't charge it on the trip to Baltimore because someone (who shall remain nameless) was using my car charger. I admit 13 tweets isn't that much, but if you consider I did 13 tweets in about 10 hours, after 49 tweets in 2 years, it was pretty significant for me. I also was using multiple hashtags, because I have learned from multiple sources that cool kids use hashtags, and I want to be one of the #coolkids.
The concert was fun. My boys enjoyed it, although it was a little too much for Youngest and Middle refused to admit that he enjoyed it. Tweeting was fun. I can understand the appeal, much like I eventually understood the appeal of FaceBook. I probably won't become a big tweeter, I still think there is a little more life to live to spend time trying to record it, even at 120 characters or less. Is that right? 120? I have also opened an Instagram account, and there is no way I can do them all, but I'll do a little of each, here and there. FaceBook, the social media taken over by old people, will probably still be the most active for me. I have posted a few pictures on Instagram and re-tweeted something this morning, and learned to #toomanyhashtags things from time to time. Cuz I want to be one of the #coolkids.
I have learned a few things in my slow acceptance of social media. I generally refuse to sacrifice spelling and grammar, except when artistic license calls for it. Cool kids use hashtags. I still would rather bore you with a long essay on this blog, but I have even less time for that. And, most importantly, capital letters count. If you don't use capital letters, a brief concert by One Direction on Good Morning America can go from #1DonGMA to #1DongMa.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Destroy the Lithuanian
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
OK, I should probably start with "Where the f*c* have I been?" Good question. Yeah, I did try to just jump back in with a "Happy Memorial Day Weekend!" You caught that, huh? Well it is a valid question. So before I get back to the subject at hand, I will answer the question, "Where the f*c* have I been?"
Before answering the question, though, I apologize for the language. Generally, I try to keep things PG rated. After all, I am a suburban sports dad. We need to set a good example. As do all the suburban sports moms. However, I saw a Facebook post from a friend describing the spider bomb attack on her while running. At the end of the post, she said "F*** Nature!" I laughed out loud. That reminded me of the power of an F-Bomb. The F-Bomb seemed appropriate.
Sadly, the answer is nowhere. I have just been tired, and busy and generally lazy. After a week of soccer practices, swim practices, soccer games, swim meets, cub scout events and work, I just haven't found the time to finish a blog post. And yes, I mean finish. I have started several. I have plenty of drafts. I just haven't finished any. There are a lot of other things I haven't finished, but really, this is he most important thing. I have let you down. Hence the F-Bomb.
Back to Memorial Day Weekend. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Memorial Day Weekend is not the first time we grill. Actually, you can't really say there is a "first time." We grill for Christmas sometimes. I have dug a path in 6 inches of snow so I can walk to the grill in the middle of winter. We do typically grill on Memorial Day Weekend, at least twice. This year was no exception. We took advantage of the beautiful, spring like Saturday weather and grilled chicken for the first (but definitely not the last) time this summer.
During the meal, which we ate outside for the first time this year, The Wife, as she is wont to do, asked the Boys what they were most looking forward to this summer. Eldest said "Ieva" in reference to O4C. He then said something about returning to "Destroy the Lithuanian." We are pretty sure he was talking about Kill the Family Tour 2015.
Yes, we will be killing the family again this summer. Kill the Family Tour 2015 starts some time between now and July 1, but will begin in earnest on or around July 3, 2015. O4C returns to America on July 1. We will give her a day or two to recover from the trip.
We have started to plan Kill The Family Tour 2015. I won't give anything away now, but I will be sure to update this blog, and we will track it on Facebook, just like like last summer. The Wife and I agreed last summer that if O4C returned this year, we would take it easier. Based on what we have planned, that's not going to happen. I have not been well rested in about 11 years. Why start now?
Aside from planning to "Destroy the Lithuanian," we had a typical Memorial Day Weekend. We spent half our time making up for ignoring the house, the yard, and the garden for the last month as we cleaned, planted, mowed, etc. We went to the pool. We grilled. We went out to breakfast. We enjoyed the pleasant weather. We prepared to begin the summer swim season, by buying new suits and goggles.
Memorial Day is the traditional beginning of summer, at least for my family and in the mid-Atlantic region. I think we do many of the same things as many other families. However, as much as it is nice to get a 3 day weekend, and catch up for a month's worth being too busy, Memorial Day has a greater meaning and a greater purpose. Many people posted on Facebook to remind us of that greater meaning and purpose. One post always means more.
Every year, my sister in law honors her brother who gave his life not just for our country, but also for his belief that he could make a difference in another country as well. Blake died in Iraq almost 9 years ago. He didn't die fighting, he died trying to build a better country in Iraq, and a better world for all of us. He truly believed in what he was doing.
This year, as she has done every year, my sister in law posted several pictures of her brother. He is always smiling, he is always young and he is always full of hope. I only met Blake a few times. My memories of him are exactly as he is in those pictures. Joyful. Strong. Handsome. He is missed, as are all the people honored and remembered on Memorial Day. I remember and I celebrate. I celebrate a life ended too early, but lived with purpose.
Happy Memorial Day. I hope you enjoyed the day. I hope you enjoy the weekend. And I hope you live a life with purpose.
For the next few months, I will try to "Destroy the Lithuanian" and maybe, "Kill the Family."
OK, I should probably start with "Where the f*c* have I been?" Good question. Yeah, I did try to just jump back in with a "Happy Memorial Day Weekend!" You caught that, huh? Well it is a valid question. So before I get back to the subject at hand, I will answer the question, "Where the f*c* have I been?"
Before answering the question, though, I apologize for the language. Generally, I try to keep things PG rated. After all, I am a suburban sports dad. We need to set a good example. As do all the suburban sports moms. However, I saw a Facebook post from a friend describing the spider bomb attack on her while running. At the end of the post, she said "F*** Nature!" I laughed out loud. That reminded me of the power of an F-Bomb. The F-Bomb seemed appropriate.
Sadly, the answer is nowhere. I have just been tired, and busy and generally lazy. After a week of soccer practices, swim practices, soccer games, swim meets, cub scout events and work, I just haven't found the time to finish a blog post. And yes, I mean finish. I have started several. I have plenty of drafts. I just haven't finished any. There are a lot of other things I haven't finished, but really, this is he most important thing. I have let you down. Hence the F-Bomb.
Back to Memorial Day Weekend. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Memorial Day Weekend is not the first time we grill. Actually, you can't really say there is a "first time." We grill for Christmas sometimes. I have dug a path in 6 inches of snow so I can walk to the grill in the middle of winter. We do typically grill on Memorial Day Weekend, at least twice. This year was no exception. We took advantage of the beautiful, spring like Saturday weather and grilled chicken for the first (but definitely not the last) time this summer.
During the meal, which we ate outside for the first time this year, The Wife, as she is wont to do, asked the Boys what they were most looking forward to this summer. Eldest said "Ieva" in reference to O4C. He then said something about returning to "Destroy the Lithuanian." We are pretty sure he was talking about Kill the Family Tour 2015.
Yes, we will be killing the family again this summer. Kill the Family Tour 2015 starts some time between now and July 1, but will begin in earnest on or around July 3, 2015. O4C returns to America on July 1. We will give her a day or two to recover from the trip.
We have started to plan Kill The Family Tour 2015. I won't give anything away now, but I will be sure to update this blog, and we will track it on Facebook, just like like last summer. The Wife and I agreed last summer that if O4C returned this year, we would take it easier. Based on what we have planned, that's not going to happen. I have not been well rested in about 11 years. Why start now?
Aside from planning to "Destroy the Lithuanian," we had a typical Memorial Day Weekend. We spent half our time making up for ignoring the house, the yard, and the garden for the last month as we cleaned, planted, mowed, etc. We went to the pool. We grilled. We went out to breakfast. We enjoyed the pleasant weather. We prepared to begin the summer swim season, by buying new suits and goggles.
Memorial Day is the traditional beginning of summer, at least for my family and in the mid-Atlantic region. I think we do many of the same things as many other families. However, as much as it is nice to get a 3 day weekend, and catch up for a month's worth being too busy, Memorial Day has a greater meaning and a greater purpose. Many people posted on Facebook to remind us of that greater meaning and purpose. One post always means more.
Every year, my sister in law honors her brother who gave his life not just for our country, but also for his belief that he could make a difference in another country as well. Blake died in Iraq almost 9 years ago. He didn't die fighting, he died trying to build a better country in Iraq, and a better world for all of us. He truly believed in what he was doing.
This year, as she has done every year, my sister in law posted several pictures of her brother. He is always smiling, he is always young and he is always full of hope. I only met Blake a few times. My memories of him are exactly as he is in those pictures. Joyful. Strong. Handsome. He is missed, as are all the people honored and remembered on Memorial Day. I remember and I celebrate. I celebrate a life ended too early, but lived with purpose.
Happy Memorial Day. I hope you enjoyed the day. I hope you enjoy the weekend. And I hope you live a life with purpose.
For the next few months, I will try to "Destroy the Lithuanian" and maybe, "Kill the Family."
Friday, March 6, 2015
Snow Day
Today is the 10th Snow Day for Fairfax County schools. Yesterday was the 9th. The Wife and I like to call these days "Middle is a Caged Animal" Days. Middle is like a barely controlled nuclear reaction. He has an unlimited amount of energy, and no idea what to do with it. On cold days off from school, he often paces back and forth throughout much of the day, much like a caged tiger. Pacing is not exactly the right word. He runs. Back and forth. Along a line that is anywhere from 10 feet to 60 feet. Non-stop. Often pretending to do a lay-up or slam dunk at the end of each run. It is one of the most annoying things to experience. Middle needs an end to snow days.
Today is the 10th Snow Day for Fairfax County schools. Yesterday was the 9th. The Wife and I like to call these days "Youngest is a Unabomber" Days. Youngest is in Kindergarten and loves school. When school is cancelled, he literally has no idea what to do with himself. He doesn't like to play in snow that much. He doesn't like to be cold. So he huddles up in a corner with a Kindle, or meanders to the basement with the X-Box, and disappears. Yes, I know, we are terrible parents for letting him do this. On a small scale, we let it happen because he rarely gets free time. When schools aren't cancelled, between school and sports and homework and other activities, all three rarely get time to just be boys. Youngest really gets the short end of the stick, because he often isn't doing the activity. He is just being dragged to the activity for his brothers. Youngest needs an end to snow days.
Today is the 10th Snow Day for Fairfax County schools. Yesterday was the 9th. We have no nickname for these days as they relate to Eldest. He spends too much time on his computer playing games and Skyping with friends. But at least he is being social.
This is the second big winter for school in a row. When Eldest was in 2nd grade, I think he had 2 snow days. When Eldest was in 3rd grade, they had one rain day. Not kidding. The first Friday of school it rained really hard and school was cancelled. After that, nothing. At the end of the school year, Fairfax County cancelled the last 2 days of school, because they hadn't used all their snow days. I wrote a blog post, begging Mother Nature for snow. The last 2 years, Mother Nature bitch slapped me for that post.
Last winter, the boys loved the snow. They went out side and played while it was snowing. They played while I shoveled. They played when it stopped snowing. This winter, they seem less interested. Middle does help he shovel a little, but I think he just needs to be around someone. His older brother is on the computer, so he's boring. His younger brother is on the Kindle or X-Box, so he's boring. If Middle goes outside with me while I am shoveling, he knows he has a trapped audience to listen to his theories on LeBron's life, Bosh's future and the NBA playoffs. He also gets to ask me questions like, "When was Ray Allen drafted?" I have more than my share of obscure sports facts in my head. For example, I can tell you, off the top of my head, who won the Super Bowl XVIII MVP and what school he went to, who won the 1993 NCAA Men's Basketball champion and the MOP, and who won the Heisman Trophy in 1981. Just for fun, the person described in the first and third examples is the same person. I do not, however, have the detailed information Middle requires on a regular basis.
Yesterday, they at least went outside and played for a while. All three boys and two friends from the neighborhood went and played. Yesterday was good playing snow. It was light and fluffy, and there was a lot of it. It was not great for snowballs or snowmen, but good to just play. It would have been great for skiing, but I don't live on a mountain. I'm just glad they enjoyed it, rather than spending all day on some electronic device, or driving me up the wall running back and forth...back and forth...back and forth.
As for me, I tried something new. For the first time in my life, I tried to keep up with the snow. I shoveled about every two hours, on the theory that shoveling 1-2 inches of snow 3-4 times would be easier than shoveling 6-8 inches once. The first time I remember seeing this theory in use was during the blizzard of 1996. I lived with three friends that winter and we got blasted in early January. After about 4 inches had fallen, one of my roommates, who shares a personality trait with Middle, decided to shovel. He was already suffering from cabin fever and decided that shoveling early would make it easier when the storm ended because we would have less to do then. The next morning, due to a ton more snow and a lot of wind, you could see absolutely no evidence that he had done anything. Our sidewalk looked exactly like everyone else's and the snow was perfectly even everywhere.
Despite this failure nearly 20 years ago (good God, it was 20 YEARS AGO!!), I tried it yesterday. By 5 pm, I had shoveled three times and was exhausted. However, I went out at 5 pm, did a 10 minute touch up, and all was clear. I was pleased, because 5 pm was a lot colder than 10 am yesterday. While many of my neighbors were just starting, I was done. I am sure I spent more time than most of my neighbors throughout the day, but I think I spent less effort, and I didn't have to do anything when the sun was going down. I'm not sure I will ever do this again, but it did work. Sort of. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Hopefully winter is done for us. At least they don't have to make up any school days. (Yet?) Since I was a kid, Fairfax County built three snow days into the school year. Last year, they used about 10, so they had several make up days. I think school ended around July 4th. Because of this problem, the county changed the schedule and built in 11 snow days. The did not add any days. Winter and spring breaks are exactly the same duration. They have the same number of teacher workdays, or about the same number, and no major holidays were changed. Somehow, though, they built in 11 snow days. This was quite a magic trick. I'm trying to figure out how they did it, because I would like to take a 6 week vacation this summer, and if I can figure out hoe Fairfax turned 3 snow days into 11, without changing anything, I should be allowed off from July 4th to Labor Day.
I know the people in Boston are laughing at us poor southerners who can't handle 6-8 inches of snow (or to be honest 1-4). Even my loyal readers in Philly probably mock us. They have a point. But none of it matters. I need to unleash the aged animal and get Youngest to realize that Skylanders Trap Team and Marvel are not, actually, the real world. We've had winter. In one week I am supposed to play 72 holes of golf in two days, in Delaware. We've had enough of winter. Snow Days have come. Now go away.
***I know it has been a while. Apparently I need to take a little break from time to time. Next week, I will write of one, and hopefully two, historic sports achievements. That I promise, for whatever a promise from me is worth these days.
Today is the 10th Snow Day for Fairfax County schools. Yesterday was the 9th. The Wife and I like to call these days "Youngest is a Unabomber" Days. Youngest is in Kindergarten and loves school. When school is cancelled, he literally has no idea what to do with himself. He doesn't like to play in snow that much. He doesn't like to be cold. So he huddles up in a corner with a Kindle, or meanders to the basement with the X-Box, and disappears. Yes, I know, we are terrible parents for letting him do this. On a small scale, we let it happen because he rarely gets free time. When schools aren't cancelled, between school and sports and homework and other activities, all three rarely get time to just be boys. Youngest really gets the short end of the stick, because he often isn't doing the activity. He is just being dragged to the activity for his brothers. Youngest needs an end to snow days.
Today is the 10th Snow Day for Fairfax County schools. Yesterday was the 9th. We have no nickname for these days as they relate to Eldest. He spends too much time on his computer playing games and Skyping with friends. But at least he is being social.
This is the second big winter for school in a row. When Eldest was in 2nd grade, I think he had 2 snow days. When Eldest was in 3rd grade, they had one rain day. Not kidding. The first Friday of school it rained really hard and school was cancelled. After that, nothing. At the end of the school year, Fairfax County cancelled the last 2 days of school, because they hadn't used all their snow days. I wrote a blog post, begging Mother Nature for snow. The last 2 years, Mother Nature bitch slapped me for that post.
Last winter, the boys loved the snow. They went out side and played while it was snowing. They played while I shoveled. They played when it stopped snowing. This winter, they seem less interested. Middle does help he shovel a little, but I think he just needs to be around someone. His older brother is on the computer, so he's boring. His younger brother is on the Kindle or X-Box, so he's boring. If Middle goes outside with me while I am shoveling, he knows he has a trapped audience to listen to his theories on LeBron's life, Bosh's future and the NBA playoffs. He also gets to ask me questions like, "When was Ray Allen drafted?" I have more than my share of obscure sports facts in my head. For example, I can tell you, off the top of my head, who won the Super Bowl XVIII MVP and what school he went to, who won the 1993 NCAA Men's Basketball champion and the MOP, and who won the Heisman Trophy in 1981. Just for fun, the person described in the first and third examples is the same person. I do not, however, have the detailed information Middle requires on a regular basis.
Yesterday, they at least went outside and played for a while. All three boys and two friends from the neighborhood went and played. Yesterday was good playing snow. It was light and fluffy, and there was a lot of it. It was not great for snowballs or snowmen, but good to just play. It would have been great for skiing, but I don't live on a mountain. I'm just glad they enjoyed it, rather than spending all day on some electronic device, or driving me up the wall running back and forth...back and forth...back and forth.
As for me, I tried something new. For the first time in my life, I tried to keep up with the snow. I shoveled about every two hours, on the theory that shoveling 1-2 inches of snow 3-4 times would be easier than shoveling 6-8 inches once. The first time I remember seeing this theory in use was during the blizzard of 1996. I lived with three friends that winter and we got blasted in early January. After about 4 inches had fallen, one of my roommates, who shares a personality trait with Middle, decided to shovel. He was already suffering from cabin fever and decided that shoveling early would make it easier when the storm ended because we would have less to do then. The next morning, due to a ton more snow and a lot of wind, you could see absolutely no evidence that he had done anything. Our sidewalk looked exactly like everyone else's and the snow was perfectly even everywhere.
Despite this failure nearly 20 years ago (good God, it was 20 YEARS AGO!!), I tried it yesterday. By 5 pm, I had shoveled three times and was exhausted. However, I went out at 5 pm, did a 10 minute touch up, and all was clear. I was pleased, because 5 pm was a lot colder than 10 am yesterday. While many of my neighbors were just starting, I was done. I am sure I spent more time than most of my neighbors throughout the day, but I think I spent less effort, and I didn't have to do anything when the sun was going down. I'm not sure I will ever do this again, but it did work. Sort of. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Hopefully winter is done for us. At least they don't have to make up any school days. (Yet?) Since I was a kid, Fairfax County built three snow days into the school year. Last year, they used about 10, so they had several make up days. I think school ended around July 4th. Because of this problem, the county changed the schedule and built in 11 snow days. The did not add any days. Winter and spring breaks are exactly the same duration. They have the same number of teacher workdays, or about the same number, and no major holidays were changed. Somehow, though, they built in 11 snow days. This was quite a magic trick. I'm trying to figure out how they did it, because I would like to take a 6 week vacation this summer, and if I can figure out hoe Fairfax turned 3 snow days into 11, without changing anything, I should be allowed off from July 4th to Labor Day.
I know the people in Boston are laughing at us poor southerners who can't handle 6-8 inches of snow (or to be honest 1-4). Even my loyal readers in Philly probably mock us. They have a point. But none of it matters. I need to unleash the aged animal and get Youngest to realize that Skylanders Trap Team and Marvel are not, actually, the real world. We've had winter. In one week I am supposed to play 72 holes of golf in two days, in Delaware. We've had enough of winter. Snow Days have come. Now go away.
***I know it has been a while. Apparently I need to take a little break from time to time. Next week, I will write of one, and hopefully two, historic sports achievements. That I promise, for whatever a promise from me is worth these days.
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