What's that now? I have a blog? Come again? I just re-read some old stuff to find an event and decided this is worth doing.
It's winter/spring/summer and we've pretty much been outside working. We made a snow-cone of mulch disappear, moved something like 200 gallons of lava rocks, fixed a fence, built a garden, and would still be at it if not for heinous world-blackening bugs.
Carter's growing fast and that is a happy way to spend time. He makes darling hand gestures and has taken an interest in basketball. Michigan's March Madness successes were of major interest to him, which was fun.
Other than family and house? Not so much. We went to the National Railroad Museum with Duder, saw a forest filled with buckets, and heard spring peepers calling densely along the swollen rivers west. We discovered a new 'big block' for walks: over the river and along the lake to Red Arrow Park and it's nice play structure. We're making a few friends and getting used to seeing familiar faces around town. I think all of this amounts to 'settling in.'
Jenelle's getting her hair did, Carter's asleep despite his best intentions of staying up until she returned, and now it's blog and rest time.
We've had a few rounds of sickness here lately: C then J then I, then still J, then C for a few bad hours, now me again. It has us feeling tired and like doing not much, which is too bad, because the bathroom project we started in mid-January is just now wrapping up. We have been able to paint the kitchen/dining walls, which was a big deal.
Winter's arrived, too. It came kind of quietly, sneaking up on us until there were thigh-deep drifts in the yard that were wind-whipped into a consistency that Carter could slide down or walk upon. He likes to play in the snow a little too much: our trips out of doors last until a meltdown ruins them. We skied Marquette Mountain, too, on a Saturday evening when 30F felt like 10F. It was just like I remembered it, except the equipment has changed a bit. That's about all.
When we first moved into 210 First we had two plastic adirondack chairs in the living room and a discarded side table which we put between them in front of the big window. The view then was of a big leafy tree and shimmery water out to Chambers Island. Tonight we're in proper chairs looking out over snow drifted against the slats of the fence and moonlight shining off the ice out to a pitch-black line which is the horizon. I love it here.
Work has been long hours as the Navy came to town, so much so that I basically missed a visit from Nanu which was extended due to a big storm. Today Carter has been sick and that's no fun. Not sure what all the weekend holds but sitting right here looking out the window wouldn't be a bad option.
I hadn't heard the 'Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiildcat GOAL!' in about a decade-point-five, but I heard it thrice Saturday night. I was up at Berry Events Center with my best girl, nostalgic for Lakeview, when the Northern Sound Machine started belting Chase's "Get It On" and all was right with the world. By the time #29 Ryan Daugherty stole the puck in the defensive zone and walked in to score a game-tying shortie I was yelling too loud to even hear "Wiiiiildcat goal!"
There was also ice skating on Little Bay, which is glassy and perfect for pulling near-toddlers in plastic sleds. It was cold and windy Sunday, which limited the time we spent out on the lake, but still a lot of fun and a reminder that skating indoors is contrived.
Me:Good night Carter. I love you. You were a very good boy tonight.
Carter: Bye bye. Door.
We're getting the bathroom closer to done, though basement congestion and lack of a tablesaw is cramping the wainscot cutting. Still, Jenelle's improbably-successful conversion of brass fixtures to polished nickel fixtures looks great and the floor is ready.
For some reason we heard "Atlantic City" in re: Hurricane Sandy's devastation of the Garden State and that's got me sad today because of two great days we had in that melancholy town. Anyway, thanks the Boss for the right song written 30 years ahead of the right time.
Holidays and work and kids and home improvement are de rigeur reasons for not blogging. Mine is more sophisticated, if not slightly outdated: Netflix recently added all eight seasons of The West Wing. Niiiiice.
We've been doing that other stuff, too. Christmas and Christmastime have been and gone, replete with a tree, family, snow, more gifts than Carter could stand, a weekend getaway, the works. We had a grown-up trip to Las Vegas with Jenelle's family that included Hoover Dam and the Buffet of Buffets. (And my 44th state: Arizona) We taught Carter about sledding, though his favorite sled-related activity is to pull it around the yard and along the beach, empty. I've been skating at the Marinette rec center on Sunday afternoons, which is hard on not-22-and-biking-100-miles-a-week feet and knees.
Sure there's also work work and house work, but meh. Jenelle seems to have caught the room-by-room redo bug and we're getting after the master bathroom first: wainscot, flooring, pulls, new light fixture, polished-nickeling the bath fixtures, etc. It's hard not to go all out and somehow the fact that it took us four years to polish a brand-new house in PA is seeming like a long-ago memory. We want it done NOW.
Winter has arrived in the form of 9F this morning and snow this evening (and terrifying commercials on the radio about winter heating bills). We're sitting in the living room enjoying and wishing the city would turn off the lights in the park.
Thanksgiving felt oddly like prior holidays when we drove from afar to be in the UP, even though today afar = 63 miles. We stayed in Delta County and did family stuff and had a date night with James Bond. It was also my birthday.
Carter's at Grandma & Grandpa's for the early part of this week so Jenelle's been scraping texture off the walls and putting spackling on the walls like crazy. I've helped in the evenings and provided moral support. It feels daunting but with primer in the near future and flooring purchased I guess that room will come together fast.
I got up chompin' at the bit to haul some rocks and mulch, but found a hard frost on the world, which included my muddy outside work shoes. While they defrost: Seeger Sessions, shopping for steel fence posts, and a blog.
Jenelle and C were/are both under the weather for various portions of the week. C got shots Wednesday at the MMC clinic and had a crazy feverish spike Thursday evening that warranted an er visit - we got to cut in the line on a weirdly busy night which is one of those things you never want to do - but he was back to normal almost as quickly and I came home Friday to find him throwing the ball and chasing cats.
We continue to do home things that aren't required when you live in a new townhome in the exurbs. Last weekend snow fence, organizing the shed, unloading inherited shop tools (who has two thumbs and a drill press? this guy), firing up the leaf blower, and wallpaper. Mom and Grandma came for a visit, which was fun, and stayed for dinner.
Jenelle did a fb post the other day telling tales of our projects at home: walls down, stove out, hearth out, mailbox/numbers/lights sprucing up the entry, and cables under floor. Grandma watched Duder to keep the pace up and allow the kind of rapid-fire work that gets inside projects and outside projects done so fast you can't remember what all got done. That took the first several days of a week of vacation. The next several days were spent in the Twin Cities at Jennifer & Kevin's, even though they (mostly) weren't there.
We explored hip Edina, checked out Hennepin, hit St. Paul for the Children's Museum, munched a burrito loco on campus on a football Saturday, and did big city/yuppie errands. A cornerstone was a lengthy trip to IKEA to pick up the new island for the kitchen, which we'd spec'd online but still had some choosing to work out. In the evenings we pretty much camped it in their cozy place and enjoyed a movie or some Thai food - vacation!
It's been election season, too, and we had a pretty important election night party up at the Rapid River Pub. Carter was a champ (again) and the candidate hung in but ultimately the news wasn't what we'd hoped. We were both proud of Sharon's campaign and apprehensive about the way our new surroundings voted. As Jenelle put it: guns and God. Election Day. Sigh.
Nate Hoss and I used to know a fair piece about the internet. Not anymore. I feel like Brooks Hatlen after he was released from Shawshank Prison. Still, after some research and a startling number of password resets I think I've gotten CNAMEs set up such that this website might work once more.
If nothing else, I'm blogging from a real computer which is now connected via one of the previously-mentioned cables. We're slowly-but-surely getting the house further in order, and an upcoming week off to focus on it will help a ton.
Our first N.E.W. cultural experience: DaVinci's machine's at the Castle in Appleton, then burritos for lunch. The machines were built from the genius' drawings using Rennaisance tools, all in working order and some to scale. Prof Harris once said DaVinci and Einstein were the best reasons to believe in aliens; the breadth of DaVinci's genius makes me inclined to agree. How can one brain be five centuries ahead of all the other brains combined?
Otherwise, home projects and Carter time. J made a great Indian meal Friday and we followed up with 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'. The big game was on the toy Saturday, so we watched. Afterwards we walked down to the lighthouse with Duder and had a fall tailgate meal.
Eventually I'll have the nonchalance to call it 'putting a ship in the water' but until then the highlight of my weekend was the side launching Saturday morning of RV Sikuliaq.
In other news: we've taken in a (campaign) lodger. Her name is Lisa and she'll be here until the election to run Sharon's Menominee office.
We met the senior senator from Michigan The Right Honorable Gentleman Mr. Carl Levin and former Representative Bart Stupak at a dinner in Esky Thursday. It was an interesting mix of politics, old reconnections, and baby-minding.
Friday night we were invited to a house-warming party at Jenelle's cousins'...it was really fun and we enjoyed a great fire with mulled cider.
We have two 100' spools of cat5e cable but I haven't mustered the strength to crawl into the 20" void under the living room to complete the run, so our desktop remains isolated and this blog remains broken. Steve Jobs could hold a grudge, boy.
It was Gray'scider party Sunday and we made a day of it. All told about 40 people were there and we made 12 bushels of apples into about 20 gallons of tasty cider. Saturday was a work day at work and at home. I made two full carload trips to the recycling center, straightened the shed and garage, and hauled sand as promised last time. Then we went to Henes Park for swing set and a little walk. It felt so much like fall that we introduced C to scarves.
Home from Saturday meeting. Carter's napping. A freighter is anchored in the bay. And Fall has arrived in every way.
Last weekend was Jenelle's birthday. Her parents watched C while we went up the street to Table Six and then over the river to 1393 for startlingly hip martinis. On her birthday proper we had family brunch then enjoyed a fall day seeing the colors on our way to Palmer and back.
We've had other days out, too. We tried Shakey Lakes park for a hike and were treated to baby loons learning to call and soaring osprey. A 'one last boat ride' turned into a Door County color tour. Throw in the around-townings of new residents like us and it's been busy days. In fact, I'm off to move sand and rocks and tackle the boxes in the shed.
I had tomatos for breakfast on Sunday. I had rolled out of bed - my own bed - and found a house sans food, so before the 53' Mayflower truck lumbered up Fresh Meadow I ate all the ripe fruit I could find before unceremoniously wrenching the tomato stands from our garden.
Overseeing the packing of one's possessions is both boring and embarassing. Why we have that much stuff I do not know; certainly some boxes were filled with treasured articles but 16 pages of boxes can't all be treasured. I saw friends Sunday and Monday evening, which was nice closure. Today I put a few dabs of paint on a ding in the wall, punched in the code for the garage door, and left our first house. I think the universe knew it, too, for Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone" started on the radio before I had bumped up onto the dedicated roads and out of Spring Ridge Crossing.
We're packing and moving because the house in Menominee is ours all ours. Jenelle's been going to town on the medium-sized things and I've been helping with the little things. We're talking a lot about priorities. Still, without doing a thing we have been eating meals on stools around an island with water views to the horizon. No matter what else happens, what we strip, paint, tape, sand, build, demo or otherwise do, that part is exactly the sort of awesome we desperately wanted.
C's enjoying the north, too: stroller trips to Swings 'n Things multiple times a day, a kitty door to the basement which is 1T sized, and plenty of grandparents. (Duder does not enjoy the movement of appliances. He screamed like crazy during our refrigerator swap.)
I'm in an Adirondack chair on the edge of a calm bay and thanks to technology can blog without moving.
Nice weekend: Friday night lights at RRHS, which now plays 8 man football. I think I would have enjoyed that a lot. Rapid won big, and when the lead got to 35 the lady behind us said 'oh good, put the other kids in.' This amused us because if there were other kids to put in you could play in the 11 man league. It's amazing to us that our alma mater now fields a football team with only 12 people. You know, nine less than before. Then we stopped and I had the Dairy Flo's Mackinac medley on the way home.
Saturday and Sunday were spent lazily: nap, Ferdinand's, Harbor Hideout, winery & picnic. Carter has been a champ and even played some frisbee with us in the park. I feel lucky.
Onward and upward! We're still living in the margins with a long commute and two or zero houses depending on how you look at it. Getting those two transactions done is taking some doing but also causing some excitement. Friday night last we made an incredible rummage sale find which also took up a good chunk of Saturday. I had Monday off for house detail sorting but also made time for a trip to Stonington where Carter had a meltdown for the ages and was still cute. Now it's a short week and an open weekend then a holiday weekend then a house; I'm rounding two point five weeks and a big Michigan football game but there you have it.
posted at 9:24 PM - comments
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Many days and many things to write about...
We found a house in an auction and kinda went all in to make it happen, though because it was an auction nobody knew what we were doing and in hindsight it seems like poor negotiating to go to a house that's for sale, then go back, then offer to write a check then dicker about the price. We knew our BATNA and it didn't have a beach in the backyard or a kitchen sink view of a Great Lake. This gloating will be paid back en masse when my hands are steamed to the bone and I'm standing in the midst of a great pile of wallpaper this fall.
We also sold a house. It's a big relief, though I spent a lot of time learning to buy low and sell high and that's not what we did in PA. Lots of memories on Fresh Meadow and plenty to miss; you can never have another first house.
Otherwise, new normal. Carter being Carter is a pretty fun new thing. He sat on my shoulders when a buoy tender pulled up at the municipal dock one night, pointing and 'oh oohing' the way he does when he's excited and curious. We've been to Marquette and Green Bay, watched some Olympics, and watched with pride as Sharon won her primary race for State Rep. I guess there's nothing normal about any of this, is there?
It's a blustery night on the Bay, but still light and almost warm this late. Pere Marquette 41 and Undaunted are completing a big looping turn and are headed south, empty, towards some other port of call.
Days and weeks are kinda flowing past without many markers...Le Tour? World news? All sacrificed to a summer of new job and commuting and Great Lakes. We visited AuTrain and Munising and have spent quite a bit of time with family. House hunting, too, though that's been less successful than we expected.
We walked in the Gladstone Fourth of July parade wearing 'Vote for Sharon' shirts. Carter made a friend and was a champ in the wagon. His signs said future President and First Lady support Sharon. We also saw some friends along the route and afterwards. Now we're relaxing, napping, fixing blogs and watching the boats. Dairy Flo next with fireworks from the boat to follow.
I really couldn't say why my blog is broken, though discovering it the night before I loaded two unhappy cats into a car full of dress clothes was inconvenient and, as such, I've put little time or energy into fixing it.
A good portion of my time since then has been about work and getting to and from; I was a little concerned about jumping from the frying pan into the fire and that seems to be what I've done. Still, I like it and I can see ships every day on my way to and from work, to say nothing of the giants towering above me in Building 10.
We're house shopping in a confused market, too, and seeing family and the sights in the margins. We're recalibrating our estimates of just how much of a project house young parents with a big job should tackle, but feeling excited about rolling up our sleeves.
Happy Birthday, America! This has always been my favorite holiday and spending it on Little Bay de Noc sounds pretty nice.
Breaking a looong radio silence with news about what kept the radio silent for so long in the first place: we're heading north to build ships on Lake Michigan. Side launch a naval combatant? Yes please.
Things happen fast these days and just when it seemed like the moment had passed it was opened and finished in about 30 hours. Since then we've had a holiday weekend and a dozen weeknights full of list making and home repair projects. Looks like I'll be leaving PA on June 15th and that is, like, soon yo.
In the midst of all that excitement and new-start euphoria has been a pause and a trip to the farm in Quinnesec. Nineteen folks were there Saturday night and more Sunday; it felt like summer trips from long ago with the still-squeaky, still-slammy screen door and myriad cousins but this time the generations were a bit more noticeable. In the end Carter high-fived Grandpa and that's what the trip was all about.
It was a great sunny summery weekend that felt like it should have been after Memorial Day but got the traditional season started a little early. To wit:
Saturday we lounged around the house and put up the tent in the yard and got it all fitted out for use over night. We haven't used the whole rig before and I'm fairly amazed at how well thought out everything is; there's a little edged hand-hole at the base of the sleeping bag to make it easier to get the pads to line up and a vent flap in the bottom of the stuff sack. Big Agnes for the win.
Anyway, once everything was set up we set off for Wanamakers General Store in Wanamakers, PA, to meet Smeds. It's 18 miles away and that took almost an hour of back-road winding. Once there we reveled in the great deli and grocery and enjoyed a nice meal with friends. We went back to their place for some play time in the yard, stopped for ice cream on the way, and then got home in time to crawl in and fold Duder up in the same SlumberJack mummy bag that I was folded into 31 years ago.
Today rounded out with an early start - no shades in a tent - that resulted in some serious napping midday. Then groceries and errands, breaking camp, and a wonderful asparagus, white wine, crushed black pepper, and parmesan bucatini dinner.
I'm really into this one song from The Shins called "Simple Song". Like, I loop it on youtube and listen four times in a row into it. Hunh.
Thursday night felt like the first night of summer so we went to Herman's Drive In in Topton. They have soft serve that isn't very soft, rather a star-shaped ice cream extrusion that holds up magnificently, and rocking chairs. The flavor of the week was peanut butter and the whole scene was suitably summery.
It rained other nights and that was kind of a drag. Duder's moving to the toddler room and has decided that napping is less fun than toddling, which he doesn't really do. His single short nap has been on the floor with the other big kids and then he's been a tired and weary baby in the evenings. Standing and talking seem imminent. Tomorrow night we're going camping in the yard to get him some experience in the Big House.
We dug the trains at Steamtown National Historic Site and had the good fortune to see a hobbyist riding a 1½" scale steamer around the roundhouse on a little track. We had a pretty good deep dish pizza and Carter crawled in the grass. The old buildings in town fairly screamed 'robber barons!' but also felt very European. Then home to play in the yard and let the little guy practice with the ball.
I think that of the myriad places within the day-trip radius I most enjoy the towns which line the Delaware to our south. We spent yesterday skipping from town to town; letting Carter crawl around the quad at Princeton, peering through gallery windows in Hopewell, and digging vintage this and that in Lambertville. Then the drive home, across wiry bridges of old-timey width, along the winding banks of the big river, and finally through Bucks county and back to Macungie. We saw a deer lying in the shrubs along the road and listened to some great music and Prairie Home while C slept.
Today we spent with friends. First a great Czech mid-day dinner then a great American afternoon in the yard with dessert thrown in. We (I?) haven't been all that social lately and it was really nice to see folks and catch up. It did not, however, make us want tomorrow to be Monday very much.
I'd write more often but I'm busy trying to figure out my sleep number and it's hard. We shopped like crazy for a new mattress, which is a big deal in the same way that tires are, and finally decided that we couldn't decide and should choose accordingly: a product which lets you decide continuously forever. It was much easier to haul two boxes upstairs than a new mattress, and after assembly I'd happily recommend it. (Plus there's a referral program, so.....)
Otherwise: spring. Flowers, grasses, baby in swings, baby on slides. Fizzy strawberry lemonade. New Top Gear. Work. Friends with new babes. Walking and skating and throwing pebbles in the creek.
It's supposed to be a rainy weekend in the Valley but it started sunny and bright tonight. We wrapped up last weekend's mattress project with two nights of due diligence then a purchase tonight, tricked C into liking broccoli by alternating with string cheese bits, swang on the swings to the west, and caught the end of hockey season. Top Gear is also new and on the DVR awaiting rainy weather, though I think we'd rather be swinging and playing in the yard.
posted at 11:14 PM - comments
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Rainy Sunday. We're in the loft with some tunes, dulce de leche Cheerios, and a happy babe. He's getting into things lately - pages in books, you are on notice - and getting more interested in standing because that enables reaching.
It was a quick week accelerated by rain on Wednesday canceling volleyball, hockey playoffs starting, and great outdoor weather on Saturday. We got the first things into the garden, schemed about raising the deck, and lamented a bad decision made in November not to mow one last time which appears to have caused some gray rot and etc etc etc. Fertilizer and seed here we come! Carter's gotten comfortable with crawling on the grass (a few weeks ago he turned turtle and put his feet and hands in the air if he got off the blanket) and is learning what does and does not taste very good in the yard.
I have been concentrating on computer things at home (read: taxes) and thus have returned to the over-the-ear headphones that I used in college days, along with winamp and a ton of old music. "Wind Cries Mary" just popped up and that's reason enough for a blog.
Last week I played volleyball for the first time since pre-C. It didn't go terribly and I was sore on Thursday so that counts.
There was a bit of a holiday change up and that left Friday free. So: ZOO! We went to see America's oldest zoological park and were a bit disappointed. It just didn't match the size or scope of other zoos (no elephants) and was pretty crowded besides. Carter didn't care much either way. He spent most of the time amazed at his reflection on the glass, wondering why he could put his little fingers through the cage wiring, or wondering where his stroller had gotten too. Oh well...he'll grow into it and we enjoyed the day.
Saturday was around home and around town (Billy's Diner in Bethlehem after only five years...), then we packed it up Sunday morning and went to Hickory Run State Park for a walk in the woods and a picnic. We put the babe in the backpack and wandered across Boulder Field (worth a 30 second Google Mapping, yes you, I'll wait) and around Stone Trail which was fairly sandy. We got an extreme porcupine close-up and then had a picnic by the water. On the way home Jenelle took us over Blue Mountain on Bake Oven Road's gravelly switchbacks which was a "hey we're only 12 miles from home how can this be?" moment."
Venting? Venting. Topic the first: when to fertilize the lawn? I think Scotts et al should be more clear. I risked it and went last Friday to minimal avail. Topic the second: warranties. If a ceiling fan has a lifetime warranty shouldn't the receiver which controls it be included? NEIN! Only the electric motor is covered. Wonder how often those fail...
Carter's teething - badly - but still having an absolute riot of a time learning to be a human. His feline brothers provide entertainment rivaled only by beach balls on the windy lawn. Twice this week (as of Tuesday) I've blown the whole evening playing with him.
I had had a good run. The last time I missed a scheduled thing due to illness was in 10th grade when I battled Streptococcus with a D&M sub and videos from Main Street Video. Tuesday started badly but I thought I was going to make it; by 8 it was clear the streak was going to end. I spent the whole day in bed trying without success to get warm. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling basically fine and ready to get back to it. It was a sick week here: C carried the torch Wednesday then J Thursday and Friday. We're hoping that's over.
posted at 10:05 AM - comments
Saturday, March 24, 2012
It's a double film feature this weekend, though we're waiting for an overly-energetic babe to sack out before starting "Tintin". Last night Jenelle picked "The Big Year" from Redbox and we enjoyed it for the same reason "World's Fastest Indian" is a favorite - good story, sweeping photography, triumph of the human spirit.
It was a springy/summery week here. Wednesday night was our first Rita's trip of the season. Little dude rode in the carseat just like last summer but was much more interested; his first nibbles of frozen custard were a success. Otherwise pretty quiet. We were both somehow more tired than usual by week's end so things got a little pitiful in the evenings. I think we were both feeling burned out at work and I took the Wasatch whims of Mother Nature pretty hard.
Back from ski trip... six days making curvy 11's in spring hard pack and serious divots in spring snow cone. Since we left it has snowed over three feet in Little Cottonwood Canyon and that stings in a way oddly similar to Michigan's early exit from basketball. Still, I got seriously into the small radius turns and reveled in a week without a single cold shiver after lunch. I even wore a soft shell and no backpack a couple of days.
At PHL there was a happy family waiting for me on a sunny day. Carter played in the yard, we watched the Allentown St. Patrick's Day parade so that Mr. C (and I) could see pipe and drum bands, and had a burrito picnic at Fish Hatchery where the smell almost ruined dinner but the baby loved it anyway.
Ski trippin' out in SLC. The forecast has gone from winter to spring, much to my chagrin, but two sets of skis await whatever Little Cottonwood Canyon has to offer.
It was kinda strange saying goodbye to my wife and baby outside EWR. There's no spring break at WAHS, C can't ski, and I need the break so here I am.
Last Sunday was a good one. We loaded up the car and went down to Wayne to see Frauenbergers. While there we took Maia and Carter to the playground, a first for Carter. Dude loved the slides despite audible static crackling from his fleece. He liked swings, too, but mostly if a parent was oh-so-close to being knocked over at the peak of each swing. Then a simple, delicious meal with steak and chimichurri and caprese salad. Hard to top.
I've eaten a delicious and fresh lunch as we fly over the mitten. I was reading an essay and think perhaps I could be an essayist; mixing punctuation and de-emphasizing basic sentence structure to magnify observations would be an acceptable existence, though the engineer in me would always want to write essays about the cold chain which brings tasty heirloom tomatos to an airline lunch over Sleeping Bear Dunes in March.
More shenanigans related to this blog's life being roughly the same as the internet's. About six years ago I used my UMich email to join Google because Google bought blogger; now UMich is using Google to run their email and my duplicate accounts had to be merged. I wonder what might be happening to the world wide web six years from now...
This was a lightning fast week. P&R, an alternately sleepy and fussy baby, some incredible tostadas made by Jenelle, the usual. Today we walked around the big block to the east in jeans and t-shirts. Daffodils are opening around here and we're sad that winter's window has been and gone without winter actually appearing.
We weren't feeling terribly inspired about this weekend until Jenelle crafted a plan for Saturday, and it turned out to be a dern good one. Activity 1: go to the gym as a family, leave Carter with child minding, and get those ski muscles warmed up. Activity 2: get a sitter and head out on the town on a date. Activity 3: Tapas on Main for blood orange sangria and small plates. Activity 4: SteelStacks to see "The Iron Lady". It was all going deliciously until a bulb blew at the cinema and we had to punt, opting instead for dessert and a nightcap at a hip spot called The Mint. It seemed like forever or longer since we'd been on a date, which made it all the more enjoyable.
Earlier in the week I suggested southwestern salad and Jenelle obliged with a steak-topped masterpiece worthy of blog mention. It's also worthy because not a lot else is; we're in a decent stretch of routineness that doesn't afford a ton of 'new' during the week.
We went to Ottawa in search of winter. They had their Winterlude festival going, with ice sculptures, warming fires, and skating on the canal. Unfortunately the unseasonable season we've all been having meant that the canal was closed, fires were far from a necessity and unthinkable atrocities were happening to ice sculptures every afternoon. Still, we walked and enjoyed Byward Market and the incredible (but badly named) Canadian Museum of Civilization. There was also poutine, window shopping, plenty of playing with Carter, long walks along the canal and around the city, and even some fried confectioners' treat called BeaverTails.
We had smooth drives back and forth, though we learned that our GPS doesn't do roads in Canada. Hooray for dead reckoning! Monday's return was under a clear blue sky that made us think upstate New York has plenty more to explore.
My trusty blackberry is approaching five years old. The finish is wearing and the once-grippy quick keys are now smooth and tough. Inside is a memory chip which holds all kinds of Corey-clectic tunes which remind me of flights hither and yon. Right now I'm headed home from west Michigan with "Radio Nowhere" and "Float On". Little C was and is sick, though apparently nobody told him, and I'm ready to get back to being Mr. C and into President's Day weekend away.
posted at 9:12 PM - comments
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Lazy Sunday. Saturday first birthday party with friends and candy bar. Babes playing Charlie Brown's piano. Snowstorm onto dry roads and grassy yards. Goopy-eyed baby. Lunch On the Green with friends. M sports on TV. Long weeks make short weekends. Surprise Shamrock shake salvages what should have been a good Wednesday. Looking forward to guaranteed winter next weekend.
posted at 5:30 PM - comments
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Two birds, one stone! Saturday we went to Atlantic City for the indoor boat show that they have out there. It was quite a going on... I found the Scout center consoles and Regal runabouts to be the most intriguing, though for opposite reasons. Carter loved it. The shiny hullsides and sea of brightly-colored cushions was just exactly what he wanted to see, and, consequently, he passed out before we could even get him into the car. With a few extra hours available we took our GPS, New Jersey state map, and awd vehicle past Viking Yachts in New Gretna and deep into the Pine Barrens of Warren State Forest. It looked like this Panaramio image taken by a stranger named SteBehr:
Somewhere near Washington Tavern, in an ever-darkening mist, we were thoroughly spooked. When the road narrowed to one Outback-width and the ruts got deep enough to elicit a thunk from skid plates and a 'go baby go' from Jenelle, I think we both thought about those poor folks who show up on the news stranded in their cars. We saw not a hint of wildlife, just the loamy two-tracks and deep, enveloping, dark woods. It was a strange kind of relief to see the ghost town of Batsto appear out of the dark, marking the return to paved roads and other headlights.
Friday night Jenelle redboxed '50/50'. I wasn't sure how this would turn out - maybe a little heavy for TGIF movie watching? - but it was excellent. Sunday was Day 1 on my skis. They were excellent, too. The snow was very man-made and very thick, which limited the carving I really wanted, but it was great to be out in a soft shell making turns.
Things can change very suddenly for babies. Tuesday Carter started rubbing his eyes at 8 or so; this was about an hour early for him but we begrudgingly set him in his crib and braced to be up in the night. Instead he slept like a champ and has done every night.
I've been down in the basement a bit lately, now with a radio and room to roll my workbench out for more space. Tonight Carter came down to hang out in baby jail while I waxed two sets of skis. It's ski season, roughly, and I've got a new ride - this is the sports equivalent of buying a Corvette and leaving it in the garage for seven months. They're dual radius Fischers (13/17m, ski trippers) and I haven't been on carvers of that ilk since one glorious day at Baker over a decade ago.
Last year in my travels to GR I found a Thai place that was a couple-times-a-month staple. My favorite (and just about only) choice was drunken noodles... last night the temptation was just too much and we got takeout from Thai Thai in Emmaus. Indeed that was what I needed.
Carter wound up not sleeping on Monday or Tuesday morning, so Jenelle stayed home with him. We don't know what was the matter but within a few days he was back to his normal self. Laughing and tidbits of grownup food are his favorite things. He's a big fan of peek-a-boo lately, squealing whenever a parents head appears from behind a wall, door, pillow, other parent, couch arm, table, chair, bed, cat, or car. He's also crawling in a major way so we're childproofing, which isn't as easy to do in advance as we had thought. Parks and Rec Wednesday, which went long for no reason. Thursday was a foggy, Londony kind of day but when I got home a cement truck and boom were pouring foundations across the street despite the weather. Friday night we were both exhausted but discovered chorizo at Cali and wondered why it had taken so long. Weekend weather would be glorious if it were March but instead is just kind of depressing.
One day this week I stepped into the courtyard between warehouse and assembly and realized that it was a crisp, sunny winter day. The cold air choked my lungs and stung in my nose, then hung in the air when I exhaled. As it did everything made sense: it's January and I miss winter.
It snowed a bit Friday night and Saturday everything was white. It was going to be regional ski trip weekend but a sick kid and iffy travel prevented long-distance guests from getting here. Frauenbergers came for the day, though, and we had quite a bit of fun. Maia's getting big and it's cool to see everything she does and know that Carter will be doing those things soon. The two of them playing piano was a highlight.
Last weekend was a three-day because both KNL and ASD celebrate Martin Luther King Jr's legacy with a day off. We elected to focus on the basement, cleaning, clearing, and purging. We set up a baby jail for Carter and made quite a bit of headway, largely because of the mother of all shop vacs which was my birthday gift from Jenelle and Carter.
I arrived home to a very bad sign: a Caterpillar excavator parked in the field across the street. Pink stakes a few weeks ago foretold this day but now the minor sinkholes have been replaced by basement-sized holes which will soon be basements. We've had a good run. In truth I don't think we really expected to be in this house when the mountain view we've enjoyed disappeared behind our neighbors, but if we could have predicted the collapse of the housing market we'd probably be in good shape anyway, mountain-view wise.
Carter's little teeth have now made it through his gums and seem to be bothering him. This must be wrenching for any parents, but I'm simply out of practice because he hasn't done his angriest laser cry since he was a few weeks old and we're very much used to happy Carter smiling happily. Feel better, duder. Solid food when you do!
As I've said before we don't seem to be New Year's Eve people, and we reinforced that this year by getting sick and having the highlight of the celebration be an 11:15pm trip to WalMart - the only business open - for Pedialyte. Can't make this stuff up.
Since the NFL is king we had a gap day then watched quite a bit of bowling, including sitting upon the edge of the couch for the State game. The next night we did the same for the Michigan game; it was late but I took half a day Wednesday and started at 8 to stay up late enough to see Brendan Gibbons put it through the uprights. So long, college football. Basketball has reasonably filled the sports void and there's hockey, too.
Our week and weekend were full of de-Christmasing, P&R, a trip south for errands and pizza, and hoping against hope that winter is just around the corner.
It's the last morning of 2011, foggy outside and in. It's Jenelle's turn with the flu; my rotation was Christmas Eve eve and Monday. I've got Carter in the loft and we're blogging, playing with scrunchy toys, reading Chapman's, and blowing out diapers - the new normal.
Master Carter had a wonderful Christmas and so did the rest of us. We're spoiled for sure and will spend the New Year using all the loot we were gifted. There were grandparents here for all of the festivities and that added to the fun of walks and talks and meals. It was a nice break for J and I to spend a few days when we mostly got happy smiling Carter and other folks took care of crying-wants-some-beans Carter.
I had to work during the intervening week while Jenelle had Christmas Break. We didn't do much with our evenings, though Smeds served up a hot chocolate party on Friday night which was a lot of fun. Jenelle made crazy snowman sculpture desserts and we both danced against Shannon on the xbox kinect.
A dizzying array of detritus this week. I'm not sure what cosmic sequence of events conspires to bring calamity to our Decembers, but the whole house is a little sick, stressed, and feeling behind. (Probably Carter's neither of the latter two.) Jenelle and C were both home 2.5 days in the middle of the week. Monday we ventured to an outdoor tree place near us and Carter helped pick his first tree, then marveled at it in the living room. The whole house is feeling quite Christmas-y, really, after we spent last weekend getting it that way. Ryan & Petra's party was Saturday night so we started the reveling season, too. I really started Friday with a 'so long Ryan have fun at your new job' happy hour to mark his move to the palladium business.
posted at 3:18 PM - comments
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Jenelle's a wiz at cooking. Not like an 'oh that tastes real good honey' wiz at cooking; more like a 'damn that tortilla soup is good' wiz at cooking. Sunday she made a turkey, which involved something called a butter massage that is a lot less sensual than it sounds. Four hours later we had turkey so juicy that the meat literally fell apart. I've never had a turkey like that. So: hooray for me.
The news with Carter is sitting and sitting up. This is nice because he requires slightly less attention and being upright helps his tiny six-month acid reflux.
The news with everything else is that it continues, though not so well that it deserves a post. We're feeling ready for winter and very much over the dark dreary season between Thanksgiving and Christmas on the Eastern seaboard.
I fear that posting meta about why I'm not posting is becoming de rigeur and that's troubling. Instead:
We went to the mitten for Thanksgiving. Carter got to see some grandparents, meet a host of other relatives, and walk around Michigan State's campus. He was a champ all the way through, hitting the 'will this drive ever end?' wall about the same time we did Monday afternoon.
The week before we left I covered second shift for somebody on vacation and learned a ton about what 24x7 really means. This week was back to regular schedule, Parks and Rec, and Christmas First Friday in Bethlehem. I don't know if it's the economy, calendar, or weather, but somehow the frantic Thanksgiving-to-Christmas switch has been less frantic this year; even I was wishing for a little more red and green sparkle Friday.
After an autumn full of rain and drear, November weekends have salvaged the season. Last Saturday we went to Tuscarora for a hike in the glorious afternoon sun. Carter fell asleep in the front pack and won't remember much, but our picnic dinner along the lake was pretty high on his list. In his little winter suit on the blanket he was a happy camper. Skipper Dipper's on the way home and that was about it. Two consecutive Sundays we've gone for long stroller walks. Last weekend it was around the big block and this weekend around Trexler Park.
The intervening weekdays haven't amounted to much. Supplier dinner Monday was about the only time one of us was away from the house after about 5:30. We're trying to do another round of cleaning/purging because it hasn't been done in awhile, but that's slow going. Plus, it's embarrassing. Why so much stuff? I guess it all seemed important and worth having or keeping at one time but now we have been filling boxes wondering why on earth we saved the 2008 Lehigh Valley Welcome Guide for four years.
Despite outward appearances blogging has not slipped much in terms of priorities; extrapolate that statement to other facets of life and imagine the carnage.
Carter has leapfrogged all other priorities, though. His latest enchanting things are eating rice cereal (with a spoon!) and approaching outgrowing the sink for baths. He's getting to be a pretty big fan of propping himself waaaay up with his arms and sticking his neck waaay out and looking around and giggling. Very cute. Many mornings I check on him before leaving and find a babbling baby boy kicking around his crib not caring one iota about daylight saving time.
I care about daylight saving time because we're now into the days when I don't see the sun except through the occasional window. I remember this from Webb days; the tail of my first semester was dark for a lot of reasons but I distinctly recall answering the dinner bell in the dark and wondering how I was going to last two more months. Incredibly I've been to Pella, Inc, in Pella, IA, since last time. This was a work benchmarking and ERP trip and it was awesome. Plus, Steve served as hometown guide and took us to the original grill-your-own steakhouse: Rube's in Montour.
The intervening weekend saw the removal of the garden and other seasonal trimmings. I filled the Vibe with grass and tomato vines for a very comical trip to the composting center. We bid adieu to potted plants and the trunk-like brussels sprouts. I mowed the lawn one last time and marveled at the fact that it still isn't dry - since June.
It was the heaviest, wettest snow we'd had in months. It totally destroyed the pumpkins and the tail end of the garden.
Amidst the snow there was a neighborhood parents' Halloween party hosted by Matt and April, dinner and a movie at home, some college football interrupted a few times an hour by blinking electricity as trees snapped all over town, breakfast at Blue Sky with the biggest gas/bank/redbox wild goose chase imaginable. We did some house type stuff and that was that.
Well, for me anyway - Jenelle had a snow day today. She'd taken a personal day Friday for the final element of a birthday celebration, too, so this was a four day fall break for her.
I wouldn't say that I 'love' history or that I'm even a 'history buff' per se, but given the chance I do enjoy a nice historic park on a sunny fall day. Case in point: this Sunday at Washington Crossing State Park. This is the spot where Washington crossed the Delaware and launched Ten Crucial Days as the park marketed the campaigns which took Trenton and Princeton. Plus, wonder of wonders, the old Continental trail is still visible - imagine 900 soldiers, half barefoot, crunching through the snow in the dead of night in search of Hessians. That was cool.
Carter rode in the stroller all by himself - no carseat - and was pretty proud about it. He loves a nice day out as much as his parents, so was all about seeing the sights along the river and stopping for a burger or flatbread on the way home. We kicked it old school otherwise. Movie night Friday after meeting little Brynne, work, work, and errands Saturday then State v Wisconsin in the night.
Carter had a pediatrician visit this afternoon and we learned that he is, statistically, tall and thin with a big head. Sorry kiddo. I've seen this movie and I know how it ends.
We've been trying to run or walk very briskly in the evenings but that's starting to be limited by darkness. Those regrettable winter days when I walk in and out of work without seeing the sun are fast upon us. There's not much else to share about evenings; last week we spent one evening meeting with Germans (from Germany!) with whom Jenelle stayed last summer but that's the extent to which we've left the house on school nights. If I'm honest we didn't do much on the weekend days, either: big game Saturday, broken derailleur Sunday and precious little in between. This was a reset, I think, and a chance to chill with Carter. Everybody said our life would change when a kid arrived and for us that's because we want it to.
I would post that this is a post about returning to reality, but if I'm honest I don't really know what reality is. Here's what I do know:
Last weekend was a blur of grandparent comings and goings, then a trip up to remote Rickett's Glen State Park. We hiked despite decidedly not awesome conditions. Carter was a champ and when all was said and done we were eating sandwiches in the parking lot deciding which of the 21 waterfalls was our favorite.
The week was a blur at work and at home, as they tend to be. By the time Friday rolled around all we really wanted to do was head to First Friday in Bethlehem. There we scouted Hello Burrito (new burrito places are risky, yo) and the South Side scene.
Saturday we left right after work to get to the Big Apple. We walked the High Line and saw a preying mantis and Prof. Rowen from Webb. Mom checked out the Occupy Wall Street protests while we found some lunch. We met at Strand, then went to Eataly, and wrapped up the visit with an Italian picnic with moonlight streaming onto the Flatiron building.
This morning was a tough one: Carter's first day at day care, aka The Academy. Dropping a smiling, kicking, bright-eyed youngster into the arms of strangers and leaving him crying (now with tears!) was not a good start to what should otherwise be a fine week.
Saturday morning, at home, and time for a post. It was a busy week, even by our new, adjusted, post baby, post new job standards. Jenelle had open house at work Tuesday night. I had P&R Wednesday night. Thursday was catchup time, then Friday was Jenelle's birthday. We celebrated kinda quietly at a new gastro-pubby place in Bethlehem and came home with great burgers in our bellies, a complete lack of nitrates, and a suddenly effervescent baby who wanted to stay up late and watch Daily Show reruns on the DVR. I guess that's birthdays with babies 101 and it was new for us.
posted at 9:05 AM - comments
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Some stuff worth talking about! Thursday we took our child minder for burritos and then went, just the two of us, to see the last installment of Harry Potter at Emmaus. Friday night we grilled on the deck with Smeds; burgers and zucchini orzo salad (thanks Shan!) and 'fruit' 'salad' for dessert. Very nice. We talked a bit about how new babies all but necessitate a sort of friend blackout period, which might mean we won't see Smeds for awhile. Saturday I worked and took a nap, which goofed up plans and meant that we did option 3: Celtic Classic in B'hem. We got there in time for drum major competition and massed bands. Carter stood on the rail and watched very intently as kilted pensioners strode across the field with maces in motion, and bobbed his head while over 100 pipers scared all the other little kids, to say nothing of the English army, with "Scotland the Brave". We saw the winner of the wee Gillis look-alike contest* and reveled in the power of a giant, drumless rendition of "Amazing Grace". Afterwards we had, oddly, thai food and called it a triumphant Saturday.
These midweek evenings simply evaporate. Make dinner, a quick run to the grocery, eat dinner, baby bath, clean up, read a few pages of Powder and it's bedtime. I didn't even do all of those things but the outcome is the same. This is not a complaint - just a review of the current state of things. In point of fact a smiling baby boy and a great plate of beef stroganoff are plenty to call an evening a success.
posted at 8:50 PM - comments
Friday, September 16, 2011
Vacation day to look after bambino. It's a sunny Friday and he's in a great mood so life is good.
Grandma Gray left Thursday afternoon. Her visit positively flew - in part due to activity-limiting rain - but she and Carter stayed pretty busy. He learned to roll over but not back, she worked some and took him on a walk almost every day, and we spent evenings on the deck and at Rodale.
The ladies are making homemade pizzas and we're going to be dining al fresco on a perfect September evening. Carter's in his chair kicking and carrying on; Feist/Adele/April Smith are on the stereo. Imported cider from Dublin by way of Shangy's. Grasshoppers for dessert.
Grandma Gray is in town keeping watchful eyes on Carter while Jenelle gets back to work. I'm back to work, too, but that's not news. It's been long days but we're happy for the help and to have evenings together at home.
The weekend was work, a trip to the outlets, cafe ride, laziness, work, walks, and a football game which will live in infamy. Damnation for not being there.
Labor Day weekend in the yoop. Here's what happened:
1. Babes met. In this case it was our youngster and little Leo. Bre and Greg shared their bundle of joy with us and the two guys hung out on a blanket under an oak tree and kicked away. Campin' buddies already...
2. I waterskiied in the rain and liked it even though it was like skiing while being shot with BBs. I also waterskiied in the not rain and liked that more. Huzzah the O'Brien that's older than me.
3. I did stand-up paddling in the high wind. I mostly did kneel-down paddling and at one point the tip of the board cleared a wave and the wind caught the whole rig and flipped me over.
4. Relatives were seen. Like whoa.
5. Carter flew on an airplane but didn't like it as much as he likes 'daddy arm-length airplane.' He was a champ on all legs and layovers, so we'll probably try that again sometime.
6. Dairy Flo. Culver's concrete. The new 513 T Road. Jet service. Pictures and videos. Swimming in the lake while lamenting change. Rolling baby. Skipping stones. Fall. Salads with marshmallows. Big12Ten in the background. Have one on us.
A funny thing happened this weekend: the power went out. There was a hurricane, though it didn't register as a named or numbered storm in our area, and trees fell on wires in a swampy flooded creek leaving us with no power. It wasn't really that bad since our water and gas authorities both had power; it took us about five hours to realize that there would still be water pressure, which we took as a cute sign that we're from the country and if(power=out) then(status=camp.mode).
We rejuvenated the Topton bike/car trip Saturday morning and I rode my new saddle, confirming what I had long feared: the stock saddle upon which I put over 2000 miles is not very good (and I suspect was not very good). The new one made life much better when it got rainy, too, because it holds its grip when wet. Who knew?
Today was Jenelle's first day back to WAHS. We're sad about this and the report from Petra was that Carter was sad, too. At the end of our short evening Jenelle said to him 'I feel like I hardly saw you today' and that's tough to take. Still, he smiled and fell asleep in her arms and one of those moments is worth a lifetime.
Somehow it feels later than it is, so a blog post. The past two nights have continued the string of perfect weather evenings. Last night we went for a looong walk through neighborhoods to the west and tonight we played some frisbee catch while Carter slept on a blanket. That's a kid who loves to be outside on a blanket watching the clouds go by. There's a hurricane on its way up the coast, though, so we're anticipating a wet weekend.
posted at 9:22 PM - comments
Monday, August 22, 2011
I had every intention of doing a post but then stuff happened. BoC signage presentation Wednesday. Rodale Thursday. Work night on Friday. Trip to Annapolis Saturday. Yard and garden stuff Sunday.
Wait what? Sure enough, I came home Saturday morning after a frustrating few hours and found Jenelle reading Cooking Light and lamenting that she wasn't having a seafood sandwich. The only logical outcome, then, was to jump in the car and zoom down to Annapolis for a few hours culminating in a lovely crab cake on a roll. It was zany, too late a night, too warm for Carter, and hardly long enough to walk all of City Dock before things started closing...but it felt like a whole weekend away and that's what we wanted. Well that and some seafood.
Summer's feeling like it's winding down and tonight was almost chilly; this reminded Jenelle of UP nights and so she made a picnic of wonderful Indian food and we went to Hunsicker's Grove to eat. It's a cool spot and we were happy to sit with bambino along the water.
It's dinner time on a weary dreary Sunday. It rained almost all day here, which is a shame since it was glorious all week. It was a busy week, too: The Cup on Monday evening for dulce de leche ice cream, Alison Krauss and Union Station Tuesday night at Musikfest, P&R budget workshop Wednesday, burgers with friends Thursday, and dinner on the green as a family Friday. Whew.
Musikfest this year opened a new main stage which sits in the shadows, literally, of the stacks of Bethlehem Steel may-she-rest-in-peace. So we watched this amazing bluegrass country concert by one of the most recognized musicians of our time and could hardly take our eyes off the towering blast furnaces, uplight for effect, just behind the stage. Which isn't to say the music wasn't good... it really was. The encore was my favorite: a capella 'Down in the River to Pray' and truly haunting 'Whiskey Lullaby.'
A laid back weekend followed. Work Saturday morning, Jenelle went to a baby shower mid-day while Carter and I did some errands, then a quiet evening at home. Today much the same, but all together for unfruitful shopping and then an evening.
Just got back from a three-generation guy trip around the big block. It's hot and sticky in the valley and all the guys are hot and sticky because of it. This morning we went to Das Awkscht Fest in Macungie, saw some old cars, and headed home. Yesterday I worked in the AM, we went to the Farmer's Market, and due to rain we stayed in with Grandpa Bruno and Carter all evening. That was okay - between drops we harvested tomatoes, grilled up some delicious pork chops, and admired bambino's increasingly smiley antics.
It's funny how time flies with the little guy. I honestly can't recall what we did with evenings this week, though I assume it was something. Regardless, they've been short and tired after marathon days down at KNL.
The tomatoes are out of control; their out-of-controlness has been confirmed by guests from afar. Constables and Frauenbergers were here with bairn in tow. Three cute kids and six proud parents gathered on the deck with German-themed food made for a great day. We ate pretzels with three kinds of mustard, a German potato salad where goat cheese stands in for mayo as binder, three kinds of wurst, and imported sauerkraut. A great day.
Saturday we took Carter on his first plant tour. I'm bummed it wasn't my plant, but D.G. Yuengling's brewery over in Pottsville was pretty cool. Plus, it was Ryan Smed's birthday and always fun to hand out with them. Afterwards we had some lunch at Maroon's and were on our way home for a quiet evening at home.
Else=the.usual. P&R meeting where budget frustration offset signage elation. Jenelle's been holding down the home front while I fill long hours with work. That included, this week, a triumphant pork chop roast with fig sauce from our own figs. It also included a nice evening hang out with Matt, April, Logan and Taylor digging into the tomato thicket and enjoying what we found. Kids who love gardens are the best.
I'm kinda missing Le Tour. This was such a good one - great drama and great teamwork, then an incomparable last three 'real' stages. Now it's the doldrums between sports.
You know what's great way to fill doldrums? A baby! He's always smiling and happy when I get home from work and that's a wonderful (and time consuming) way to start every evening. Over the weekend he watched while Ryan and I worked on a mosaic glass backsplash at their place, then was a total trooper while we went raspberry picking up at -------- ----- --- (name redacted to keep crowds down). There weren't many berries due to our unfortunate Sunday-evening timing, but we dunked C's feet in the river and came home.
It rained today, ending a pretty bad dry spell, and we're thinking that a sunny day or two will bring a few dozen of our tomatoes into ripe slicing season. Then it'll be blt's and bruschetta 'til fall.
Justin was here over the weekend. Carter met his uncle, we ate outside, and we went to Brooklyn on Saturday. Once again bambino was a champion: it was 93° and he lasted all day in the front carrier while we explored Williamsburg and Smorgasburg. We felt like hipster parents wandering around the coolness like foodie gypsies. Otherwise it's been mostly about work. We've done some evening cooking, made a Herman's run one night, and gotten up to precious little else.
posted at 6:10 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Here's where we are: baby boy is feeling better, which means that he's alert more while crying less. That's funner. We're doing tummy time with him and reveling in his neck strength, and working on following objects in front of his face.
Jenelle's been holding down the fort while I work long hours. We've had some good food at home and not done a whole lot productive or constructive due to the heat. Justin is headed our way this weekend so we're gearing up for that.
I think we may have started a weekend tradition, not that we needed (another) one. I rode about 32 miles around a big loop this morning and Jenelle and Carter met me in Topton for breakfast (which wound up relocating to Hunsicker's Grove for a picnic breakfast but what's the difference?). It was great and I think something we'll strive to do again.
Other than that: frisbee after work Thursday which was sweaty due to no breeze. Jenelle walked the length of Fish Hatchery while I ran up and down chasing a plastic disc. Almost nothing on Friday, though we did hatch a plan to check out our adoptive state capital on Saturday. Harrisburg was fairly meh; we did City Island and the Farmer's Market but weren't wowed. On the way out of town we found a few shoppes to check out but overall I'm afraid Hburg is probably off our list. There's also been Le Tour. I've been watching a fair amount and can't ever remember so much craziness in an entire tour, let alone the first nine stages.
Carter's first Independence Day and first day out overlapped and could hardly have gone better. He saw three waterfalls (or, to his month-old eyes, three white streaks against black backgrounds) and quite a bit of wildlife. He missed, however, his first timber rattler and didn't seem to appreciate the contemporary craft store very much.
There were two sets of fireworks in his first Fourth of July weekend: Breinigsville's show seen from Ryan and Petra's back yard in a chance coincidence when rainy weather turned our Sunday into a bit of a dud and then Bethlehem's in another chance coincidence when we turned up at the B-hem Dairy and dozens of people were sitting on blankets facing south.
Over the rest of the weekend we did a SteelStacks trip, ate at Cali, watched a fair amount of Le Tour, and got in some Rodale walking/frisbee/skating.
Back to work in the morning, and today felt like it. Grandma left this am and it was just the three of us at home, bracing for a new routine that is going to be pretty different from the luxury of the past few weeks.
Last leave weekend. Booo....but it's America's birthday and I'm always excited about that.
Carter's meeting his other grandmother this long weekend, which has been fun. We've done plenty of Carter time, plus some bike riding, Rodale-ing, and tomorrow his first big day out up at Delaware Water Gap NRA. It has been pleasant enough to just sit out on the deck for hours and hours, enjoying summer and Carter. One morning we went over to Blue Sky for a very successful brunch. In the evenings he's been super chill for slideshows, walks, and general hanging out.
Parks & Rec and other business has been something of a prelude to getting back to work. Jenelle's school news continues to be baffling, and most of the time we'd rather just thing about raising a little boy than dealing with public sector labor relations.
Parental leave is turning out to be more of the former and less of the latter, as advertised. Friday, though, there was work news for both of us. Visitors came to bat their eyes and fawn over our boy, which is always flattering, and gifts continued to arrive from near and far which makes us feel spoiled for him.
Saturday was a tough day due to a rough night, but in the afternoon C and I went on a looong walk around the big block to get Jenelle some rest. I expect there will be more of these days; it seemed like the parents hardly saw each other until Carter was fading late in the evening.
This morning we went to Trexler Park in Allentown to walk that loop, then get to Wegman's for a paper and a scone (for which we both have had hankerings lately). Now we're home for the balance, with some small stuff left to check off the list.
Our first new activity since Carter got here: ice cream at Bethlehem's Dairy Store aka The Cup. (...where I had dulce de leche ice cream and will never be the same.) People are extra interested in him and his presence anywhere. I expect this will wear off as he gets to be weeks and months and years old, but for now it makes for good laughs. Getting out was good. We've been homebodies, there's no way to sugarcoat it. Lots of time feeding, cleaning, changing, and soothing the little guy. Not a lot of other stuff.
posted at 10:53 PM - comments
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Maybe, just maybe, we're getting the hang of this. Friday's well-visit went swimmingly and we followed up with a successful family summer-Friday-midday Wegman's run. Saturday we went with Carter to get diapers, coat hooks for a project, and a webcam and he made not a peep. Then, to ice the cake, we watched a whole movie last night and were treated to almost six hours of sleep - the best Father's Day gift a 10-day Dad could get. Plus: CW is asleep in my left arm as I type this with my right.
Today's activities are slated to be an exercise trip to Rodale, work on my little project, and more general hanging out. We're taking the stroller to the park so Jenelle can walk the shady loop while I skate the big loop to try and shake off the rust of not breaking a sweat in two weeks except to worry about bm's or crying jags.
Nothing extra-ordinary about his arrival, though it started with a story that will be great for embarrassing him when he's older, but that's the way you want these things. Same with him: he's just extraordinarily happy and healthy... average weight, length, the works. We're still getting to know him but so far so good.
Carter's grandparents Gray were here for days two through six of his young life, helping keep parents and baby moving. They were a huge help and now we're wondering how to manage without an extra set of hands to take the little guy while we jump in the shower or try to grab some laundry.
It's hard to believe it's been a week since he got here, but similarly hard to believe how all-consuming he's been. I did a few little projects with Bill early in the week but that is really about it. Last night was his first trip out for fun: Rita's in Macungie with his grandparents before they left this morning.
Sunday morning we were both hungry for a scone and thus went to the market cafe in Topton to get one. When we got there it turned out they had bananas foster pancakes for a Sunday breakfast special and that was too much to pass up, so we sat outside and enjoyed both under blue-gray skies and watched a very, very long train roll heavily past. Afterwards we headed to Alec's fourth birthday party over in B-ville. I played some soccer with kids and Jenelle kept to the shade, then we came home and she whipped up some amazing spinach sausage pasta toss.
Today was the last scheduled baby doctor visit, though the outcome was scheduling another one for same time next week. We spent the evening doing this and that, making aloo gobi, and enjoying every minute possible on the deck, unsure of when weather and circumstance might afford another meal al fresco.
Kind of a busy short week. The sun continued to shine and we worked outside a bit, getting into the watering routine and nearly draining the rain barrel.
Memorial Day weekend rounded out nicely. After signing off last time we packed up a deconstructionist picnic and headed for Tuscarora and three hours of sitting on a blanket by a lake. Then we went to Skipper Dippers for ice cream, which was cool, and Hazleton just to see the city, which not so much. The holiday itself was hot but that didn't stop us from going over to Herbein's and doing some garden stuff and then skating some very sweaty laps at Rodale/reading in shade.
Somehow I've gotten out of the habit of posting about food we cook, but last night after ultimate we fired up the wok (literally - "dragon's breath" is the temperature advice Jenelle imparted) and made stir fry with udon noodles from Chinatown in Philly which had been in the freezer. This was excellent. I added some sriracha and could have eaten an entire wok full. Hooray for gourmet.
Friday night we chilled at home with Jenelle's fizzy strawberry lemonade on the deck, then went into Emmaus to pick up a redbox and try Creamery on Main. The Triangle was packed, the weather was perfect, and we felt happy about our little town.
There's probably not a less exciting way to spend several hours of a holiday weekend or several hundred dollars than getting new tires, but there was a sale and there you have it. Hope they last the 80k miles they are supposed to. After tires we felt like a road trip to test quietness and smoothness, so headed over to Topton. In the heat of the day Jenelle took some rest, so I cleaned the insides of cars, which might have been more urgent than tires. Then lawn mowing, tree watering, and an evening run to Home Depot/Five Guys/Wegman's.
We talked a long time over burgers about how to incent(ivize?) children to go to school. Some states are fining parents for their truant kids. Brazil cuts off Bolsa Familia (welfare) if kids' attendance isn't exemplary. An Arkansan judge sentenced parents to jail time equal to their child's absences above the limit. We talked about a two-tier, two-phase system: cut welfare where applicable, tax income where it isn't; then in phase two send parents to community service days equal to days missed if the problem repeats in subsequent years. This is probably the over-zealous ranting of two education fanatics, but interesting conversation just the same.
Wrapping up the week before the week before. Jenelle's down to three instructional days, barring an early arrival, and I'm trying to come to grips with the reality of having four weeks to meet and greet Baby B then tearing myself away from full time daddy duty to get down to business.
Last night was first ultimate outing of the year. It was also weather fail: 90² and 90+% humidity. That shirt's not going to be dry for awhile. I was also very, very rusty, but it was fun despite all that. Other evenings have been full of Parks & Rec, trips to the aquarium/Tex's bbq, and yard work. It finally feels like summer.
I'm not one for making choices - put another way I much prefer 'and' to 'or.' This weekend was a byproduct of that philosophy.
Saturday I went to alma mater to sing farewell to Dean Compton and Jill, who founded and led the WooFS to prominence over the last decade. They invited alums back for a sort of musical history of Webb (from the Bronx to Glen Cove with the corresponding show tunes) and we made the trip. Drives went easily and Jenelle was a trooper sitting through two lengthy rehearsals and one pouring rainstorm. Kate and Karyn (& Aaron) were there, so it was a pretty nice reunion and a full-bore time machine back to 2002. Webb was recently named America's Most-Loved College by USN&WR and days like this make it obviously so.
And I went to Maryland to run an adventure race - the Warrior Dash - with Ryan on Sunday. His sister and some friends were competing and we joined the fun, outfitted in Teenage Middle-Age Mutant Ninja Turtle tee-shirts and hats. The course was five muddy clicks with hills and obstacles aplenty; this started off as a pleasant run along a creek bottom in the woods, but ended with a hilly mile on sun-drenched hardpack, a full-bore time machine back to a bad day at UP Finals circa 1996. Still, it was fun and we actually did pretty well - flirting with the boundary of the top 25% in my age bracket. Then a turkey leg, an odd water buffalo rinse/shower, and a free monster energy drink to fuel the driver for the homeward leg.
OK, Baby B. The calendar is cleared, your room is done. We've read the books and taken the classes. We know enough to know we're probably not, but we're ready when you are.
I don't know anything about pine trees (Ed: not a comprehensive list of topics about which I know nothing) so I'm nervous about ours. It has a ring of deadness that's slowly moving up from the ground and will soon reach to top and likely shoot off into space. Above and below the brown layer are happy green branches with new growth. Seriously, a tree should just work. It's been so incredibly rainy that I seized the hour window on Monday to mow the grass and didn't realize how low the new mower was set, so now I can be worried about the impact of that high and tight cut, too.
Quiet night. After work I ran a bit to train for the upcoming Warrior Dash, we made quesadillas for the first time in forever, and then a DVRed "Tudors." Jenelle headed to bed but I'm burning the midnight oil trying to figure out what went wrong with wordpress. Looking at blogs and contemplating a new one makes me feel like this one has a real early-oughties feel that is no longer as breezy and hip as the web at large. C'est la vie.
It was a random day of random events here: coworker garage giveaway, used lawnmower shopping/fixing/using, important meetings with boss and boss², and then inexplicable tiredness in the loft after chores and dinner. It had been a long time since I'd been around a small engine but it made me miss the simplicity. The proprietor of the lawnmower shop had three supplies: sparkplugs, gasket maker, and pull-start ropes. This old push bagger needed an air filter - easy - and then a bit of gas and I'm back to powered cutting of the grass.
Baby B is becoming a small engine, too. Jenelle's said now two days in a row that baby is out of room and I think that's taking its toll. She took the time to share an album of baby's room and is hard at work getting ready to not be at work. We've both been dedicating some brainpower to our new little blog project and to an odd intermittent fetish with minimal prefab dwellings. I think we are aware that this is an unusual time for us and that's manifest in our rambling never-quite-settled minds.
A fair amount of more of the same has been happening here. The weather didn't help us get much done outside, but we walked around the neighborhood today. Earlier weekend activities included a burger at BCMR Friday and out-and-about-ness on Saturday. Thursday night was last hoops, which is always bittersweet. ("Diploma's in the mail" says Coach Phil.) Also bittersweet was the end of my interest in sports 'til fall. What else? I practiced for next weekend's Follies. I had a great idea and reserved a domain name for it. Plenty of relaxed time with cats and phones and Jenelle, too.
posted at 9:07 PM - comments
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Time is just gliding past... It was a sunny Cinqo de Mayo for tacos at Cali, then finally a summery weekend. We took advantage with outdoor stuff and child care class and grilling with friends on their new deck. Saturday's baby class was an education that made things feel urgently close, so Sunday we made a list of the baby necessities and got them. That has filled weeknights with assembly and bag packing, which has freaked the cats to no end. Jenelle got the deck pots seeded and planted with the help of stairs and husband; we went to Rodale where I jogged and she walked. Oh yeah, and there's been hockey riveting enough to prompt a spousal haiku while I cheered winged wheeled men into Game 7. Tonight we sat on the deck after work and had Vernors while the cats chased birds. It feels like early summer baby limbo - a thing which had never existed until seven words ago but feels somehow familiar.
posted at 6:10 PM - comments
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
The wild hubbub of the weekend has given way to a surprisingly standard week. Monday we went to a sporting goods store closing sale, which is never good. Tuesday I helped LMT dedicate a pathway that I voted for and think is great. Wednesday's going to be laundry/lazy, with a smattering of thank you cards. There's an outside possibility that it might frost over the next few nights, so we're going to tackle covering the garden. Also, the loaner gas mower that we used all last summer took it's ride north Monday evening so we're back to push power, which will increase the frequency of lawn mowing.
Jenelle's mac baby countdown ticked off 35 today. Getting close.
It was baby shower weekend and we had family and friends in town for a couple days. I was out of town leading up to guests and missed the first night. Thursday was at home for dinner and catching up and tours, then more of the same on Friday with aunts. Saturday we prepped for the big party and then went to the big party, hosted by Ryan and Petra. There were games to play and a meal to eat and a treasure trove of baby gifts... baby Bruno is one spoiled person before even getting here. Out-of-towners gathered at our place afterwards for more food and talk. Sunday we kind of hung out at home. There was skating, casino, sitting on the deck, a big meal of salad and leftovers (esp. cake). When everybody loaded up and headed out this morning it suddenly felt very quiet at home, kinda just waiting for baby.
posted at 6:25 PM - comments
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
I'm blogging early and remotely because that's when it will work- c'est la vie.
Since last time we've been hanging out with spring cleaning's masochistic cousin, spring nesting. We worked hard all weekend but got SO much done: deck stairs punch list complete and first coat of stain applied, garden shape changed and filled and planted, aquarium set up, screen (mostly) fixed, collage wall installed, and plenty of cleaning besides. I guess we're ready for baby shower guests and baby.
Monday was going to be more, but the weather was gorgeous so we went to Rodale where I skated 6.5 and Jenelle read in the sun. We came home to leftover crock pot Indian food and cat bathing.
Now it's early, I'm at ABE heading to GRR and Jenelle's back to work for a short week.
It was a good Good Friday to get a bunch of stuff done. Some of the stuff was purely recreational: Blue Sky for breakfast and nursery browsing. Some of it was deck punchlist: fascia boards, screw/nail exchange on joist hangers, rotate cap rail, and sanding. Some of it was spring planting: mulch everywhere, pots emptied, and trees fertilized. Some of it was business: emails, documents, you name it.
Thursday felt like Friday and that was good, too. We saw our friend Christine the notary again, and I played hoops badly, along with everybody else. Tuesday and Wednesday we did some work in baby's room - finished? - and Jenelle made an awesome sausage and pepper dinner one night. Plus the usual: work, cats, hockey, laundry, bills, facebook, craft projects, bathroom fixture fixing.
Naval architects - and possibly other engineers - will know of a thing called a soft patch which allows for easy access to engine rooms or other critical spaces. I mention this because there's now a soft patch in the top of the closet in the nursery. I wish there wasn't, but we wanted lights in there and that's what it took to get the wiring done. (It also took a trip to Home Depot to replace a faulty dimmer switch after one of the most frustrating hours of my life. Thanks for nothing, Lutron.)
I guess it would have been a pretty normal weekend if we were electricians who liked playoff hockey. Sunday's seriously intense wind curtailed outside activity, so tonight was a blitzkrieg of lawn care before more rain and darkness. Then I patched over the little access panel and did shelving and we're done with tools on the second floor for awhile. I think we're ready for that. Plus, Jenelle made shephard's pie while I worked and the house smells wonderful and it was tasty.
Thursday was one of those glorious summer days that arrives early; MGMT was on the radio when I left work and that felt like the first three minutes of summer. Friday and Saturday have been back to cold and drear - or worse - and it's postponing outdoor things that I want and need to do. Inside we're wiring and polishing the nursery in anticipation of giving tours and/or going outside to work on the deck and garden. What else? Hockey. Hoops. Work transitions. Ice cream. Lots of packages arriving. Cute cat antics.
posted at 9:53 PM - comments
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Back in the routine... Neil Young's crooning "Harvest Moon" in the loft and we're contemplating what to do with our evening. There's fresh trim to paint, a CollageWall to spec, and a week's worth of catching up to do. Sad circumstances meant that Jenelle joined me in Michigan for two days of my GR trip last week. We both got back late Thursday night and then Dad was in town to make the hobby room the rest of the way into a nursery. Now it looks great, save for the aforementioned trim painting, and I think we're feeling ready for baby B just to get here. In the meantime there's hockey and basketball, work and chores, and a garden to plant and tend.
posted at 6:32 PM - comments
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Today I'm reporting on momentous things which have occurred.
Thing the First: Magnum bars in our grocery store. This came as quite a surprise to Jenelle, who naturally picked up a box (at roughly Florentine hostel circa 2001 prices!) and we consumed them in haste Friday night.
Thing the Second: dinner with Constables in Philly! They're headed to the DR on a few days' vacation and were flying from PHL so we met at Beau Monde for a crepey dinner and quite a bit of fun. We like being close enough to do such things.
Thing the Third: Men's hoops! The season's in full swing and that has been fun. I came home with a pretty sore back and torso from leaping hither and yon (to some avail, for a change) and am feeling ready for frisbee.
Through a variety of loyalty programs and diligent deal-watching we find ourselves in Florida on a bit of a baby-moon as the kids call it these days.
Saturday we traveled down, went to the boat show, and had a stylishly late -and wonderfully delicious- dinner at Rocco's Tacos. The boat show was more yachty than boaty, which is hard for the casual middle-class show goer. I think the smallest boat in the water was 40 feet, and very few of the brands that I worked on back in the day were there.
Sunday we went to an art fair at CityPlace, walked the craziness of Worth Avenue, and hit the beach. Sharks meant no swimming, though cold water and high winds might have kept us out anyway. Kite surfers were out in force for our entertainment, though, and we enjoyed a sunny day with not a cloud in the sky and burgers for dinner with a milk shake night cap.
This morning broke cloudy and rainy. We ducked the rain in Palm Beach (including watching 24 yachts parade under the Flagler bridge in one long opening) then headed to PBI. Now here we sit, on a busy Delta jet, waiting to head home.
What a weekend. It felt like spring, so we had a party. That led to spring cleaning. Spring cleaning always takes longer than you expect...doubly so when it's the first weekend of March Madness and Michigan advances and plays Duke on Sunday. Then we had a pasta party! We made pumpkin ravioli for grownups and fettucini ala burro for the kiddos. Friends supplied salad and dessert and it was a fun time. The highlight - other than kids cranking the machine - was the trio of kids stalking Jay under the table while the adults ate. It was funny.
Otherwise: men's league hoops and Upper Perk hoops filled evenings. We went to Rodale on Saturday and I jogged, which was about as painful as I had expected. Saturday we did outside stuff until we were tired enough to justify the first trip to Countryside of the season. There was plenty of baby news; some babies arrived, others were announced, and ours is now visibly kicking and tumbling. It's starting to feel close!
I've had "(Nothing but) Flowers" in my head since last week and now I've caved and have it playing as I blog. David Byrne you mythic genius, you.
For reasons unknown I've had the Sunday-Thursday head cold again. This marks twice in one month, though happily I've been in PA the whole time. Sadly it means that I haven't gotten much done around the house - two after-work naps were required to keep myself well enough not to need a day off. Jenelle had a work gathering Tuesday evening and I've basketball tonight. Huh. Another week!
Ooops there went a week. I was in Michigan for two long days of it, doing the GRR-DTW shift to get home as scheduled on Wednesday. Along the way I discovered the Shamrock shake at McDonald's. Don't know that I've ever had one but now I've had two and they are amazing.
It was go-live weekend at work so we stuck pretty close to the blackberry. Friday night we went to Bethlehem to give the Irish pub at the casino a date-night try; it was decent but I can hardly imagine a more joyless atmosphere than a casino. Saturday we made hay on the car, the crown molding, and curtains/clothes/shoes. It was very productive. Sunday I had a bit of a cold but that didn't slow Jenelle down. She kept on the cleaning and organizing tear, we lounged in the loft a bit, and assembled baby's changing table.
I learned a new word yesterday. Tiffin (n) - a lunchbox made from stackable bowls (from India) or the meal which comes out of it. We learned this by asking the nice folks at Tiffin (n) - an unbelievably good Indian take-away chain in northern Philadelphia. We went down to Chestnut Hill for a day out (but really to buy a pasta maker at the world's very best kitchen store) and went to Tiffin for dinner, IKEA for nursery supplies, and then headed home to watch a very important basketball game.
I've enjoyed being home since Friday. We kicked it old school with broiler bbq chicken, potatoes, and broccolini and "Get Low" from redbox. There was some trim painting for the nursery and some pre-spring outside work, too. We were going to work some more but ultimately bailed for our day out.
I'm in GR all week. Is it weird to get back to the hotel after a full-throttle day and suddenly feel like the alma mater should be playing? I guess on some level today was a hard-fought contest like those at Yost. Probably an odd sentiment but Hail! to the colors that float in the light all the same.
posted at 9:16 PM - comments
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Lehigh Valley Hospital now certifies that we're ready to have a baby, and we celebrated by choosing all the baby stuff that modern families use to ensure that baby will grow up to be above average. The baby class was Friday night, so we hit Cali and then went over to learn about what Nick described as 'the thing.' We were back at it Saturday morning, then toured the hospital's family wing and were done with class in the sunny mid-afternoon. Not ones to miss out on an afternoon we went to Lowe's for some crown molding and Jo-Ann for some fabric. Then home for a hoops game and relaxy time. This morning we went to Blue Sky and then spent most of the day at badly-named BuyBuyBaby doing the registering for which parents and grandparents have been clamoring. It was quite a project and virtually undid any confidence I had gained that we know what we're doing.
Annual chair photo, this year from Alaska and with a Tonga standing in for Gram:
The only lazy night this week. We had a doctor appointment earlier, heard a steadily-slowing heartbeat, and then Jenelle zipped away to a ASD Board meeting and I'm at home catching up on facebook, P&R duties, and trying to motivate myself to unpack.
Shuttle Discovery headed to space today for one last trip. It makes me sad that our flirtation with manned space flight is coming to a close. What it instead of spending $35b on refueling tankers we kept going to space?
On day three of ski trip we were not having a good time. The first two days were full of powdery goodness but that morning had been cold and windy, the snow was pretty crunchy, and I fully expected the tram ride up from lunch to be our last. Instead the sun came out, MGMT came on the tram speakers, and it was on. We lapped North Face until thighs throbbed and feet ached, kids who didn't want to go inside.
Alyeska provided the pros and cons of big mountain skiing on a small mountain. The North Face and High Traverse provided memorable steeps, bowls, and trees, but slides and high wind limited access at times. Off the mountain we chilled at the b&b because there is virtually nothing in Girdwood. The Sitzmark provided a weekend evening's entertainment but there was little else.
Of course it was Alaska, too. It got cold. Lifts started at 10:30 and run until 5:30. Food was pricey and scenery plentiful and majestic. It was basically everything you would imagine if you imagined skiing in Alaska.
I'm flying high over mid-America towards ski trip. The destination for this eight annual adventure: Alyeska in Girdwood, AK. (Sixth annual cookie selection: chocolate chip.) I've been hoping to ski in Alaska since Capt. Reichelm declined to put us ashore in Valdez a decade ago...plus, Alaska!
We've been hard at it lately. Friday night we checked out an Allen hoops double header wherein both girls and boys rolled against Dieruff and an east-side v. west-side brawl outside was the best competition of the evening. I skied Elk Saturday while Jenelle held down the fort in the lodge. With a canoe seat for back support, a Thermos of hot cocoa, and plenty to grade and read I think this worked out well. It worked well for me, too, as I punished my shins with about 20 runs of hard carving and about 5 runs of moguls. And, as always, wrapped the day with heated seats and Prairie Home on the southbound drive.
Monday was Valentine's and we opted to dine in with a full crepe dinner avec French music and the trimmings: roasted garlic and croquettes, pear and goat cheese salad, savory with creamy roasted leeks and spinach, and sweet with Nutella. It was wonderful and wonderfully reminiscent of our Tuesday night cooking dates during MEng days. It's often hard to believe that this was our seventh official Valentines but also seems hard to imagine things any other way.
Tuesday and Wednesday were busy getting ready for me to go - tune and hot wax for battle-ready b3s, cat prep, cleaning, the works.
Whoa. DTW has new power kiosks in the gate area with AC and USB ports. They are shimmery aluminum blades with glowing glass signage on the top. It could almost be Italy in here. Air travel is fodder for about 41% of standup comedy but nobody jokes about being in the airport...too dismal I guess, especially if you have to eat. Or get online. (Or charge your blackberry, until a few moments ago.)
I'm traveling home. It was a productive week in GR and phase one zero hour has all but arrived. Outside it's cold and the sun is setting. Ten thousand swooping swirling starlings are dirtying planes and ground crews. It's supposed to be fine skiing weather Saturday and that sounds great.
I seem to have a cold. I have not had a cold since MEng when my body reminded me that fall weather is colder in Michigan than Florida. There's no smoking gun for this go-round, but it's little cold life is being extended by two plus hours this morning in petri dishes called regional jets.
Fortunately our weekend was totally unimpacted. The highlight was a Super Bowl party at Smeds, where I was the only grown up willing to dance with Black Eyed Peas and some hyped-up toddlers. Plus, a win for the Packers is a win for the great white north and for the green bay on which I grew up.
We also completed a mini-overhaul of our bathroom by putting up new wall fixtures. This was Jenelle's idea. I resisted painting and new furnishings but now feel badly about that because it looks really nice.
There was also Super Bowl-sized good news in DC, where Doug and Johanna welcomed a bouncing baby girl! Hurray!
We were supposed to go skiing today. We got far enough along to be in the car, about to enter the turnpike and head north to Elk when we realized that it was raining, likely to get worse, and this was not going to be a nice day for skiing...let alone 200 miles of driving.
In lieu of skiing we puttered around the house. I started with a nice nap to catch up on a week's worth of sleep not gotten, but we rounded into form with a new towel bar in the bathroom, paint touch ups around the second floor wherever they were needed, work on the mirror frame project which drags on, and some general cleaning/clearing. Now it's evening and time for dinner and "Little Fockers" at Emmaus.
Last night was fun, too, as we stepped out to celebrate Gryffin's 6th birthday at Kome. Many things excite a six year old, but few as much as a flaming hibachi grill and a chef with a full repertoire of grill-tool tricks. It was fun.
I survived DeathStorm 2011 or, as I prefer to call it, Wednesday. It definitely did snow a lot in west Michigan - maybe 14-16 inches - starting last night during my drive to Holland and back and wrapping up roughly during my lunch with a vendor. This morning I headed to the plant, with snow coming up onto the hood of my rental car, and discovered three cars in the parking lot. By mid afternoon the sun was out and the world was brilliant white. Winter is a beautiful thing, and I expect a good portion of the folks who had the day off 'round here headed out to take advantage. I guess I'm jealous.
posted at 8:39 PM - comments
Saturday, January 29, 2011
An unsolicited piece of advice (say, what's the singular unit for 'advice'
anyway?) for the nice lady at Cali this afternoon: don't crowd the salsa bar. We needed to get away from paint and painter's tape adhesive so I went for a haircut, we trounced some errands, and found ourselves at Cali, fighting towards white bean/black bean salsa and bliss.
The nursery walls are done. There's still molding to be done and then floors, but we're really pleased with how it is coming so far. I'm working on a Collage Wall and we're perpetually rug shopping. Friends and family are contributing baby-necessities and we're refreshing college furnishings to round out the place. It's going to be great. As Jenelle said, all the other babies are going to be jealous.
Two nights out for Jenelle rounded out the week. Thursday night was Copperhead Grille (apres snow day) with English department colleagues and Friday night was girls' night out with friends. The big snows cancelled Wednesday's meeting and replaced it with shoveling. So much shoveling, in fact, that I have created a snow pile taller than myself.
Tuesday night, pre-storm. Jenelle's zonked from a day of school drama, packing boxes for a classroom move, and creating a human in her belly. The loft is warm, cats are around, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are singing "Home" on youtube.
We got to hear baby yesterday and the pulse is slowing as he (or she, you infer-ers) grows. I anticipate an inverse relationship between baby's heart rate and mine. It's also amazing how easy it is for doctor to find now; that first appointment with two minutes of prodding had me kinda nervous. (Speaking of elevated heart rates I played Upper Perk hoops last night. It was fun but, as ever, I was completely exhausted by the end.)
Oh yeah sure we were supposed to get a bunch of stuff done this weekend. Instead Jenelle had a snow day Friday and we punted: The King's Speech at Civic Theatre Friday night instead of WAHS boys' hoops. Massive baby gear comparison shopping instead of tons of nursery work Saturday. Blue Sky (they have sandwiches, too! Wooot!) and relaxing/reading instead of activity on Sunday. I started in on a mirror/frame/conversion/thing on Saturday and continued Sunday, but that's the extent of our efforts on the home front.
Here are some of the things which are on my mind but I will not blog about:
-newspapers publishing weather complaining
-baby gear being expensive and/or complicated
-cats being adorable and cuddly
-water-soluble polyurethane existing
-not having to travel almost feeling like having a week off.
Two hour delay for DL1630 means blog post from GRR. I've been here since Tuesday. It has been acceptable. The other KNL folks here are tapping my accumulated GR restaurant knowledge info; last night was Olive's for the best Cuban sandwich in town.
The biggest news this week is the armed robbery of the old Baybank in Rapid River. Actually that's the second biggest news...the biggest is that the Sheriff has a Snowmobile Unit which was called in to apprehend the suspects. Awwww yeah! Snowmobile cops. There are no words.
We got paint pretty well wrapped up on Monday, mounted a practically-stolen vanity light, and pulled down the blue tape to complete a very nice update to the bathroom. In the nursery there's a wonderful base coat and we're ready for the next step. I can't decide whether this should just be a surprise to blog readers or whether we should do a painstaking Young House Love play-by-play of the project. I guess deferring a decision is the same as choosing the former for now. (First person meta content is fun.)
Saturday, May 18, 2013
