a hundred degrees

Handyman

I acted the role of a proper husband today replacing the light fixture on the ceiling in Maddie's room and installing our new dishwasher.

The Ugliest Angel

My daughter brought home an ornament she "made" today at daycare. I took a picture, but it doesn't do it justice. This thing is much uglier than it appears in the photo. It will probably be our most treasured ornament of the season.

The Future is Now

Kevin has up until this point shown very little interest in live action shows. Even kids shows. He'll watch "Zoom" but that's about it. And that's only because it comes on after "Cyberchase" which is his favorite cartoon.

Tonight though, he got interested in a movie all on his own. We caught it right at the beginning, but Lexie and I went to work on the new shelving we bought today for his room. Kevin wandered into the living room and was transfixed. He was thrilled and was repeatedly calling out "Cool!" and "Awesome!"

The magic film: 1985's "Back to the Future"

He mostly loved the Delorean. But he knew the characters' names and was following the story pretty well.

Oh the places we'll go...

Splash and Sting

I took the afternoon off yesterday to accompany my family on the last fling of summer to Splashtown. We actually had a good time. We were there from one to about six thirty. But around 2:30 we ran into Kevin's good friend Thomas, who he's been in daycare with for nearly five years, and stuck together for most of the rest of the afternoon. Thomas will be attending kindegarten in public school next year, while Kevin goes on to first grade with the same private system he's been in.

We took a break a little after three to have snacks. The designated snacking area outside the park is home to many bees who enjoy the many sugary leavings in the area. The bees were landing on our bags and foodstuffs and we were continually, but carefully trying to shoo them away.

As we were starting to gather our stuff to return to the water, a bee landed on Kevin's ear and began to climb in. He was understandably distressed and reached up to dig the invader out. This in turn frightened the bee with the predictable result.

The good news is that there was no swelling, so we have at least learned that Kevin is not allergic to bee stings. His pain, while intense at first, seemed to be fully gone (or at least forgotten) after ten minutes or so.

The rest of the day was pretty enjoyable, for Kevin and me anyway. Maddie wanted to play with her brother more. And Lexie was stuck with her while the boys and Thomas' dad and I rode lots of slides. I managed to ride every major slide in the park. The boys did everything but the three no-tube/no-mat slides that required about four more inches than they had yet achieved.

Housework

Last week Kevin stayed with my folks in Houston. Maddie and I went over to pick him up and I got to go cheer with the Texian Army and El Batallon as la Naranja held the Revs to zero shots on goal, yet still drew due to an own goal that bounced off Craig Waibel.

During that week, Lexie repainted Kevin's room twice, selected, purchased and took delivery of a refrigerator for our garage, demolished a section of shelving in the garage, and selected, purchased and helped me install new shelving in that space.

Rainfall totals are so low in San Antonio that we have gone into watering restrictions. This meant that my Monday night this week was spent trying to do enough watering to hold the lawn for the week.

Rewire

Paul provided great material and manual and administrative help for the networking shift in my house today. We needed to get the last vestiges of my study removed from Kevin's room so we can finally start redecorating for him. There was cable dropped to the cable modem there, which connected to the wireless router, which connected to the telephone router, which connected to the phone lines in the house via a long wire that ran halfway around the room. This whole bunch of equipment now lives in the space above our refrigerator.

The splitter was over near the current TV drop and from there it was a short distance to the internet cable drop in Kevin's room. We replaced the splitter with a barrel connector (female on both ends) and connected to the old TV run which terminated on the living room wall on the back side of the fridge. Then we pulled a new cable up that hole with a barrel connecter temporarily binding the cables. The cable would not come out of the hole in the wall header that also had a couple of power cables running through it while the terminator was connected. The cieling drops down above the fridge, so the wall header is exposed and I could see the cable connection below the wood, but wasn't sure how to get down there and reach it. Kevin, who "Uncle Paul" must have authorized to climb around in the attic was sent into the tight space and returned successfully with the cable joint. I then pulled up an appropriate amount of the new cable and cut the terminator off the old one so I could get it out of there. The new cable end was sent down the hole above the fridge.

We pulled new cable from the fridge hole to the current TV drop. Using the barrel connector with the existing cable eliminated the need for fishing there. We pulled network cable to from the fridge area to Kevin's room per Lexie's request for future computer possibilities. Then Paul had to run for a couple hours. I got everything hooked up and working so that we were back to the same functionality we'd had before except with Kevin's room clear of the modem and routers.

After lunch we pulled both types of cable to my recently reclaimed study. This was in a fairly difficult part of the attic to reach, but I had been up earlier in the week to lay out some plywood sheets for platforms that made it doable. After a couple wrong placed holes, we got one in the right place. Then there was a moderately challenging drop and fish session, but we got the stuff there. I hooked up the network cable and was happy to be back to full speed on my desktop. We dropped the TV cable but did not hook it up. I anticipate buying a TV card for my computer and at that point will get another splitter for the cable behind the fridge. That cable and the one to the old TV drop are both disconnected.

We hope to get a little more slick with the telephone hookup soon, too. This will help clean up the look of the cables in the kitchen.

We finished right at two. Perfect timing to watch Germany beat Portugal.
Later I mowed the back yard in which the bermuda had grown quite high with the odd bits of rain we've recieved over the last week. It put quite a strain on the lawnmower and only through careful and patient work was I able to finish the yard before the battery had totally drained.

I also found time to watch the second half of the Dynamo's dismal July fourth draw with Columbus, kick the ball with Kevin (he actually let me work with him on new skills --his first headed goals-- tonight), order and retrieve a pizza, bathe Madeline, read to both kids, and write all this stuff.

Counting Right

Jill is out of the country with her two oldest girls. We took Micah and Sara off of Rob's hands last evening.

On the way home from the Wednesday night church social a reference was made to thirty of something that I can't remember.

Micah, impressed, wonders, "Whoa! Thirty? That's right after twenty!"

Kevin, (mini-me) the junior legalist, jumps in "No (uh)!" Then checks as he finds a rule to help his friend out of his mistake, "Well, yes, if you're counting by tens."

My boyhood friend Jeff, always used to tell me to "quit being so technical." It never bothered me that it bothered other people. Now that my son is following in my footsteps I wonder what I can do to lead him into a more generous spirit.

Christ hated legalism. The Way has never been about being right. We can't be right. We will fail the law. The presumption to discern right and wrong is still the big relationship killer between us and God. Not throwing good money after bad gets high marks. Life abundant is all around for those ready and willing to abandon the bad investments. Keep your lamp trimmed and burning.

Being ready to serve instead of to assert my own structure is the only path to life, to hear the prophets tell it.

Scary stuff. Could turn out that thirty comes right after pie.

Come to Fibber Island.

Parties and Soccer

We had a full schedule this weekend: party - sleep - drive - shop - tailgate - cheer - sleep - drive - party - soccer party.

On Friday night we had nine adult guests show for an barely planned party. There was mexican food and beer. We had preachers, musicians, actors, teachers, a poet earning a living as a librarian, a guy who'll sell anything, and an ex-soldier. If more of us had been single it would have been a real Dostoyevskian gathering. Instead, there were so many stories of fecal matter that Lexie instigated the term "rectal turretts." We laughed as we showed our spotty knowledge of pop culture as defined by the makers of Trivial Pursuit. We got our children back around 9:30, just in time for everyone else to race home to watch the Spurs win game six and the series with the Kings.

Saturday morning we drove to Houston. There was some pretty severe rain just before eight o'clock but it broke in time for us to leave a little before nine. We got to my folks' house about twelve-thirty and ate spaghetti, cream corn and green beans. My mom was playing it safe with foods the kids were known to eat.

While my dad played with the kids and Mom got a nap, Lexie and I went to IKEA and spent a couple hundred dollars on various stuff for the house. We got some shelving bins for Kevin's room and some drapes for my study. We tried to go to Toys 'R Us, but the traffic was horrible and we just turned around and wound our way back to my parents' house. While we were stuck in traffic, the folks in front of us opened their car door and dumped a bunch of trash on the street. Lexie was very unhappy with this flagrant act against the public motorways. Beware the folks in a little red Toyota, Texas license plate 575-KLJ, for they show no regard for the law.

When we got back I had a few minutes to lay down and rest. Then my mom kept the kids while Lex, Dad, his co-worker, and I went to the inaugural Texas derby. After getting our T-shirts, which were a package with the tickets, and wandering around a bit, we found the Texian Army tailgate and got some beer and dogs. I chatted with a few people and asked after the guy who had gotten me the info on getting tickets in the supporters' section. Never did find him but was assured repeatedly that he was "just here." Our little group left a little before the Texian Army marched in. I wanted to leave my other T-shirt in the car and I told the other three that this might be their only chance to sit down for the next couple of hours. I shopped a little before the game and got a pennant and a little T-shirt for Kevin. Then it was an hour of noise making, with a little break and another fifty minutes of noise making.

As often happens in soccer matches, the teams appeared to switch uniforms at the break. Houston had the run of the pitch for the first half and scored three goals to nil. In the second half Dwayne DeRosario (DeRo) was the only man in orange who appeared interested in attacking. Sitting back doesn't work for the Dyanmo and Dallas got two quick scores. DeRo got us back to 4-2, with the only goal scored on our end of the pitch all evening. Then they got a third and we had to hold on. Ching almost put in a fifth on a volley, but it went wide.

After the match, Dad's co-worker had out his imaginary life check list and was marking as completed "sitting with hooligans at a soccer match." Hooligans? Hardly. But then I was in marching band and we cheered for our team more than most folks. Also I've recently seen Football Factory and Green Street Hooligans and have a more specific definition than he does. I actually thought it was a little tame and not very imaginative, but this is only their fourth home game and the keg ran out before I was entirely prepared.

Sunday morning we had an uneventful drive back to SA. We caught lunch at Burger King on Rittiman on the way in to town. Maddie was looking pretty tired and had a fair amount of nasal drainage. We decided that she should get a nap rather than go to the swimming party at two. I've been blowing green for a while too, so Maddie napped and I cut and pasted the pictures together for the previous post. Lexie and Kevin went to Wal*mart for the gift we didn't buy at TRU in Houston. Then off to the birthday party for a six-year-old (scheduled 2-4pm).

They got back about four-twenty and we zipped out to the soccer fields for the coaches appreciation barbeque (scheduled 3-7pm). It turned out to be great timing, because they had apparently not done anything until we got there. I just had time to set up our chairs when they started calling for the kids versus adults game. I enjoyed my time running around playing. If they had a league for fat slow careful nearly-forty's I'd be all over it. Especially if we just played against U9's. Kevin only got to play for a little while due to some misunderstandings. Fortunately there were a couple of bounce houses and he and Maddie jumped for ages.

The good news about returning home was that we had spent enough time cleaning up for the party that the house was still on the moderately clean side and was pleasant to enter.

After the kids had gone to bed and we settled in to watch Grey's Anatomy. As Lexie turned to put her glass on the counter behind her she got something like a musle cramp in her neck which caused her a lot of pain and threatened to close her throat. It lasted nearly a minute. We need to get her to a neurologist or something to figure out what it is, since this is not the first time, but might have been the worst occurence yet.

A full weekend. Lots of hot dogs and burgers.

This week my parents will arrive on Tuesday and take the kids Wednesday to go stay in a cabin by a creek for the rest of the week. We will be joining them with Kevin's church friend, Steven, Friday night and staying all day Saturday. This precludes my making a trip to Dallas for the second leg of the derby. I plan to get a few more cable channels this week, though, so I can at least tape the game.

Steaming Happy

I don't know how much time and energy my wife and I have spent trying to get wallpaper off of walls. Yesterday she bought a steamer and we were amazed. For fifty bucks, a six hour job that would never be satisfactorily completed got fully done in a little over an hour.

During the prayer request time at church on Sunday I had asked for patience during our musical rooms project (Kevin to the guest room, Maddie to Kevin's room, the study back up front). I think the big wise God replied that we weren't ready for patience, but was pleased to present us with convenience.

Winning By Gift

There is an incident with my dad and a game which is important for me to comprehend. If I knew how to beat it, my son might be healthier.

Only Dad and I were playing Boggle when the dice landed so that it was possible to spell the words "balloon" and "balloons." I called dibs, warning Dad that he should not write down the big obvious words. I mean, how often do you get a chance to see twenty-two points in two words?

When it came time to check our lists, he called out "balloon" and I threw a screaming crying fit. I was betrayed. I'm supposed to get my way. I'm the special one. How dare he not give me the best? I was so angry.

Later he showed me that he had written "baloon" and "baloons" on his list while I had spelled the words correctly. (It only occurs to me now to question whether he had misspelled them on purpose.) He wanted to show me that I had fairly won the points. But I didn't care. So what if he was stupid? What mattered was that he didn't freely give me the big points. The big meanie.

---

This is just a clear example of my desire to be given the trophy rather than to win it. I look for small pools to dominate rather than compete in a larger crowd. I made friends with kids who were older or younger than me. I don't want peers. I'm not a joiner. I don't understand in my gut that there are other people. I seek situations that reinforce that view.

I'm actually a relatively bright person. When I was younger I had some genuine physical abilities. Never a genius or pro-athelete, but able to do more than I did.

I don't like being tested. If it's not easy I get frustrated and spiteful. Then I drop it.

---

So how do I redirect Kevin? I see the same selfish brat developing in this sweet kid. How do I help him reframe challenges so that whatever the outcome it is acceptable?

I wonder if Volunteering In The Community would make a difference. If we act like there are other people, will we come to believe that they exist? Or will it just feed the superiority complex?

I don't know how to get myself to put time in on the basic skills, so I'm not able to share this with him. Whether it's learning the "identities" to help you do advanced math, or improving ball-handling skills so you can beat your opponents we're just impatient. Tell us the trick so we can cheat on by and get to the end.

When I win fairly it doesn't bring joy. I'm entitled to win. The joy is in putting one over on the big mean unfair old world. Turning it's rules against it and proving my uniqueness. The best is not safe enough: who will be best tomorrow? I want to be the only.

So enough about me, let's get back to little me, I mean, Kevin. He's got a little more society to start with than I did. Day care since he was a few months old. Still he holds himself apart and aloof.

I don't believe the condition is fixable in me, so I have no idea how to help him. Yeah, yeah, Jesus. But what does that look like? My current guess is that I've got to hate this self so much that I put a stranglehold on the next passing angel and quite literally hold on for dear life.

Jacob was the king of cheaters. Actually there's quite a lot of cheating in the bible. If I could just make it jive with the whole "fruits of the spirit" thing I'd feel a little more comfortable.

Cat Loves Bear

The stuffed bear chair that Kevin got for Christmas three years ago has got to go.

Notice how he looks away from the camera. This is because our kitty boy, Luke, has had his way with him.

We noticed several days ago that Luke was doing a lot of kneading and seemed to be straddling the bear's leg in a very sexual way. Knowing that the boy had been neutered more than five years ago, we just didn't believe that what looked to be the case actually was. Surely he was just trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the "pillow."

Lexie reached down to swat Luke tonight while he was doing this kneading and mounting thing, to shoo him off, and felt something unexpected. When she finally shifted the cat off, the head and arm of the bear chair were damp.

When she came to tell me about it (and require me to write about it here) she asked how this could happen, "Didn't we get him fixed?" I replied in my best John Cleese (She's a Witch scene from The Holy Grail), "I got better."

I guess that we'll tell Kevin that Luke made a mess on his chair. That's truth enough. Though if he asks specifically if he puked on it, we may be forced to lie.

Stuff continues to happen

My wife chid me for not writing anything all month.

This month was Kevin's birthday. All month. At least he wanted it that way. Just before his birthday I traded in my 1995 Ford Escort Wagon for a 2006 Toyota Sienna. He's okay with the van, but keeps asking why I opted for that instead of a red pickup.

We celebrated his birthday at Mr Gatti's pizza place. He had a good time and we didn't have to clean the house before OR after the party, which was good for us.

We took the van out for an inaugural road trip for Thanksgiving. We drove to Longview on Wednesday and to Comanche on Friday night before returning home mid-day on Sunday.

Longview and Thanksgiving were more fun than they have been in some time. I blame "Apples to Apples" and Aunt Terry's hospitality. Kevin got a little birthday celebration, along with Jacob and Gayland Friday evening just before we left. He got another set of gifts at Comanche, the best of which was a scale model John Deere tractor.

I continue to be overly interested in soccer, but it's starting to mellow a little. I'm not quite so giddy, and my wife will occasionally listen to my comments and watch a little when it's good.

Blackbird

by Kevin
about 5 weeks shy of 5 years old.

Thirty-Eighth Trip - Sendoff Party

Last night we had a bit too much fun at Double Dave's celebrating the thirty-seventh anniversary of my birth. The church's website could use updating. Maybe this shot would be good.

Reports from Houston

My mom has been home sick with a nasty virus for several weeks. Her voice is shot, so she's communicating with family by email about their preparations for Hurricane Rita.

She gave me permission to post those emails here, but I decided that I'd create her own forum. Swing Smile Savor is the name I gave to the blog I created for her transmissions.

Some Enchanted Evening

Last evening was wonderful. I held my first soccer practice of the new season and then just had time to race home, shower, and jump in the preacher's van to head over to the beer tasting at Double Dave's.

I've got some cool little kids playing soccer with us this time. Kevin and Jackson return from the spring season. With mid-November birthdays, they're the oldest ones on the team. In addition we have Kevin's good friend Micah, another strong player called Trey, and Aubrey, a ready little girl who only turned four in mid-June. Aubrey comes from a soccer family. Her dad, Sean, will be my official assistant coach this time out. We also have a little girl named Crystal on our team, however, she got spooked and sat on the sidelines for last night's training session.

I was much more at ease with running a training session this time out. It was nice to be well equipped and ready to go from the beginning. Like the old-time-radio Camel cigarette ads said, "Experience is the best teacher." I had goals, extra balls, extra shin guards, lots of cones and a sense of what to expect from this age group. I forgot my whistle. But this actually provided one less distraction. (Getting to blow the whistle is a treat to four-year-olds.)

Aubrey had to go to the restroom just before scrimmage time, so we played 2v2. She didn't have shin guards yet (I had already lent out my two extra sets when she got there) so that was just as well. These boys played aggressive ball. We're starting from quite a nice baseline. I have hopes of actually getting some marginal advances from them in the next nine weeks.

The beer tasting at DoubleDave's PizzaWorks was decadent and glorious. For twenty-two bucks a head, this was a super gastronomical delight.

We began with a milk stout from the new Texas brewery, Left Hand. This smooth creamy sweet beverage was complemented by portobello mushroom and brisket pizza with a barbecue sauce. Next we made a jump to real highbrow: St. Bernardus Brewery's Watou Tripel with caramelized onion and asparagus alfredo pizza. The tripel was my favorite beer of the evening: light, crisp, clean, and yummy. Both of these first two pizzas were superb.

We took a little break from food and enjoyed our first Lindeman's lambic of the evening: the Cassis. This beer was currant based and as sour as it was sweet. Gordon, who was driving and not generally imbibing, really liked this one and Tim, happily got him another glass since it has less alcohol than a domestic light beer.

Next up was Tim's favorite of the night: Great Divide's Double IPA. Tim isn't a big fan of sweet. I'm not a big fan of bitter. This, the beer with the highest alcohol content of the night, was served with a "Turkey Fiesta" pizza. A competent pizza, but not as rich and artery hardening as the first couple.

We finished the evening with Lindeman's Framboise lambic. This is the popular raspberry drink that Lexie enjoyed at the Map Room in Chicago while I suffered through a Rochefort 10 and a DeKonick. A peach tart-like dessert pizza accompanied this final sweet beer.

The crowd apparently drank the store out of the Lindeman's Cassis, but Gordon bought a couple of bottles of the Framboise to take home and share with his wife. I just took home happy feelings of good will toward all.

Appearances Can Be Manufactured

When we were driving home from church on Sunday I looked at Kevin in the back seat. I saw a little boy with a rich tan (despite the pints of sunscreen he's been doused in this summer), athletic legs and a slim healthy body. I asked him, "Kevin, how did you get to be so good looking?"

His immediate matter-of-fact reply: "Mom fixed my hair this morning."

School Starts

Kevin started school today. This is private kindergarten at his day care, since he won't be five until late November.

Lexie's kids started today too. As usual there are things to like and things to dislike about the beginning of the school year.

Next Generation Action Hero

Look out Uma and Carrie Ann, Mad Rae's ready to kick yo' butt!

Put her on your desktop: 800x600 1024x768 1280x1024

Mom's Ministry

My mother writes for a living. She's a grant writer for M. D. Anderson, her audiences are varied, but usually she has to dig technical information out of snobby superior doctor types and use it to appeal to whoever the bosses are trying to pry money out of. More than once I've heard her say that she'd like to just say, "People are dying! Give us your money!"

Mom sent an email to a number of folks that I wanted to share. She's not likely to start a blog, so I'm just going to stick it here.

Volunteer Removal

Two trees of the same variety were growing in our flowerbeds behind the house. One was a little over six feet tall, and the other one a little over four feet. I don't know what variety of tree they were, but I didn't feel good about them growing so near the house. With Lexie and the kids off to visit her mother, I decided to tackle the project of removing them.

Here's the first tree fully removed:

You can see that it is in three main pieces. After digging for a while I decided that the tree was in the way, so I cut it with a hacksaw at ground level. When the top of the shovel needed to be shoved below the level of the remaining trunk, and was causing interference for my foot, I cut it again.

Here's the hole:

That thing sticking out of it is a yardstick. See it from a closer point of view:

Yep, I dug over two feet down to get the tree out. At that point I was able to pull the remainder of the roots out. The whole root section was a little over a yard long which equated to right at half the exposed part of the tree's height.

This lulled me into confidence about removing the other tree. It was growing in the flowerbed on the opposite side of our patio. At only about fifty inches, I figured that the whole root would be about two feet and I could pull it after only digging a single foot into the ground. As I cleared the area around the tree, I began to suspect that things would not be so easy. Apparently I had taken the lazy approach with this plant before. It was new growth on an older (read bigger) stump.

The root seemed to get fatter, rather than thinner as I dug. The digging itself was harder, though, because the ground in this bed was much rockier. Rocks are a real pain. After digging for a while I noticed something else:

What's that yellow thing? Closer inspection showed it to be a severed cable. Great. I went in the house and there appeared to be power. I turned on the TV and heard Timmy Turner's voice, so I knew the cable was still working. On retrospection, I didn't remember seeing any cable in the earth that I turned over. I decided that I had just stumbled on someone else's buried hacking and went on digging.

Unlike the other tree, I did not cut this one off as I worked. I just moved the tree to the opposite side of the whole from where I was working. This ended up causing me to fail to remove the entire root. Because of all the rocks I moved the tree a lot. This bending back and forth caused it to weaken and separate. When I tried to pull, it just broke off.

I was already about twenty-one inches down and every inch was costing an enormous effort. I knew that I'd have to expose at least six more just to get a hand hold. I made the executive decision to quit. If it is willing to grow through nearly two feet for light, I'll let it. At least that will give me something to pull on the next time.

In each of the holes I found a big white grub. I don't know what they were or if they were harmful or beneficial. I split the difference by leaving one be and stranding the other on our patio.

Macro Quantum Mechanics

My wife and I thought that we thought we were doing well with our finances. A recent "couple quiz" failed to bear this out. It didn't say we thought we were doing poorly, it just didn't register as high as other things. This perception gap initiated some conversation and I agreed to start recording our spending on the computer again.

I haven't used Microsoft Money in a while, and the version that came with the laptop we bought last year is about five years newer than the last one I used, but the interface was familiar enough to jump right in. I haven't bothered to enter all our accounts yet, just enough to record transactions beginning this month. My wife declared that she was not interested in setting spending limits, just in seeing where the money went.

If I remember correctly what I've read and heard about quantum mechanics, which isn't much, the act of observing changes the thing being observed. I'm guessing that this is linked to the uncertainty principle, but there my knowledge ends and I'll spare you the Dave-Barry-like goofy fabrication.

This morning I was walking to the mini-fridge to get one of my Diet Dr Peppers and then reversed direction, intending to go ask my co-workers if they'd be interested in my making a taco run. The idea continued to trickle through my brain and I realized that I would have to record the transaction tonight. My inner jedi spoke through my lips, "You don't want a taco." I turned back around and headed for the fridge (with the sodas I paid for last month) obediently replying, "I don't want a taco."

Watching Basketball

In January there were five Mondays. Gordon was a little put out by the fact that our third Monday guy night would be put off by an extra week in February. Wise man that he is, he declared that we should make guy night happen on third and fifth Mondays. Today was the first fifth Monday since then. It wasn't exactly guy night, but we had a really good time.

Originally we were going to make it "invite a friend" night. I invited Rob and Tim had somebody in mind but then things changed. It turned out that Tim was going to have his kids when he hadn't realized he would. Lexie to the rescue. We just invited everybody over to our house. Rob and Jill brought their two. Tim brought his three and Gordon and Jeanene brought their two younger ones. This worked out great: two toddler girls, three four-year-old boys, two grade school girls, and two middle school girls.

We bought a Slip-and-Slide and set up our little pool that my folks bought for the beach trip last year. We also got four new water guns. These are short lived devices here where our water is so full of deposits that gunk up the works. It was worth it. The boys, in Kevin's words, "played and played and played and played and played and played and played and played and played and played." The little ones had fun, too. The bigger girls didn't all come with swim suits. They all ended up getting wet. The really fun part was dressing them in my ancient t-shirts (Stryper '85 Tour, Epcot Center circa 1983, Camp Beechpoint high school mission trip to Michigan, and DA Who Are the Real Girls?) and bike shorts while their clothes ran in the dryer.

The Spurs were playing tonight and, for a change, the game was being shown on a broadcast network. The idea that folks would gather at my house to watch a basketball game is not one that I would make up. Given the outcome and superstitions of sports fans during the playoffs, it may not happen again. The game didn't start until seven-thirty and we got going at about five which gave us plenty of time for fun prior to tip-off.

Football Fan

I caught a segment of Blue Collar TV the other night where the lead guys were declaring silly beliefs. Jeff Foxworthy, for instance, professed, "I believe that you can not study for a rectal exam." Ron White's drawling smoking drinking West Texan persona, so far from my own, nonetheless provides a consistently amusing performance. We showed our differences, though, when he proclaimed, "I believe a bad halftime show at a football game is still better than a soccer game."

I'm not so discriminating. I just like to watch football. I like real football with the amazing displays of skill, speed, and stamina and I like American football with the amazing exhibits of breeding, chemicals, and violence. I'll even put up with the weaker variations. The NFL ended it's season at the beginning of February, but the Arena Football League has been showing up on NBC in the weeks since then. Today I even caught some NFL Europe on Fox.

I've been tuning in to Azteca America and Univision and Telemundo to catch le Liga Mexicana and regional qualifying games for the 2006 World cup. The language barrier means that I miss some subtleties. Like the semifinal game yesterday between the Monarcas and the UAG Tecos ended in a 1-1 tie. The Monarcas were the home team, but the Tecos advanced to the finals. In American sports we tend to give the home field advantage to the higher seeded team. I don't know what the conditions were that gave Tecos the advantage and I wondered until the end why they weren't more aggressive in the second half of the match.

When I was at my mother-in-law's satellite subscribed home I found two or three separate channels dedicated to the world's favorite sport. Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV are two of the names I remember. I got to watch lots of matches from lots of leagues, including the English Premiere League, Ligue 1 (France), and La Liga in Spain. Plus highlights of Asian regional World Cup qualifying matches. I even sat through bits of an MLS match or two. It was handy to have an injury as an excuse to lay on the sofa and hog the TV.

Since I don't keep up with news almost at all, I wasn't aware of our exiting mayor's push to bring an MLS team to our town. Apparently he was attacked a lot for trying to do this. I'm sorry to hear that. But from the big laugh Ron White got, I can see that getting support for world class football will be a long uphill battle.

Novel Weekend

We found something new to do every day this weekend. I've written about the first two: horse races, and the church picnic (a first for my little family). Tonight was perhaps a little mundane, but we did go to a new restaraunt. The food was okay. The service lousy. The prices about in line with places like Salsalito. Still, it was a new thing.

And over dinner we talked about a couple things that mattered to us. That was good. And somewhat novel.

Fifty Cent Friday

Retama Park runs a special cheap night several times a year. This was the first "Fifty Cent Friday" of the 2005 racing season. These nights feature fifty cent hot dogs and sodas, dollar draft beers, free pony rides, free face painting, free balloon animals from clowns, a live band, and free admission. Two dollars to park.

None of the four members of my little family has ever attended a horse race before. There wasn't really much to lose by giving it a shot tonight. Especially since we had no idea of how to place bets or any desire to learn.

We got there at about ten till six, a little less than an hour before the first live post of the evening at six forty-five. We looked around a little and then Lex and the kids hung around by the track to watch the tractors and water trucks preparing the ground while I went to get dinner. I spent four dollars on dinner (including a dollar tip) and then went to join them.

I was a little surprised when they opened the evening with the National Anthem at about six twenty. Finally the first race ran and the kids and I watched from trackside, while Lex sat in the stands. After the race we went to see what was happening out front. All the free stuff had crazy-long lines, but we were able to walk over and see the horses displayed for the second race. Number two was particularly frisky and the bettors noticed. That horse was given the best odds for the race at five to two. I intentionally did the girly thing and picked number six because it was pretty.

Then we walked back to the track to watch the race. Both of the first two races were short: 330 yards. Post time for this one was seven eleven. We all stood at the rail near the finish line and passed the time watching the odds on the big board. The two horses I picked on looks, six and eleven, were showing odds of about 6:1 and 21:1 respectively. Shortly the horses were all in the gate and then they were away. A longshot (14:1), number ten, won. The frisky number two placed second. My number six was fourth. We left just after the second race at about seven twenty. They were going to run ten races tonight, and Kevin was whining that he wanted to stay and watch more.

Kevin wasn't hungry when I bought food at the Park, so we stopped at Wendy's on the way home and got him a junior burger for 92¢. The whole big fun evening cost me $6.92. It would have cost a lot more if the rest of us had eaten at Wendy's. I have a feeling that we will return to the race park on other cheap evenings.

Payback

It was very sweet to have the kids give me a little something, if only their autographs.

The trophy and Academy gift card were nice, too, but the card was the best.

Season Finale

The Jackrabbits' season came to an end tonight. Kevin scored two goals. Were having a little party at Peter Piper Pizza on Tuesday night, but one of the kids won't be able to make it. Don't get sad: she'll be on a cruise.

The game is over. Long live the game.

I signed us up for the fall season. Practice starts August 29th.

Lexie and I surfed the web a little tonight to see if we could plan a Dallas trip soon where we could go to an MLS game. The most appealing date on the FC Dallas schedule happens to be their first ever in their new facility in Frisco. Frustratingly, there didn't seem to be any way to order tickets for a single game. Also, all the prior games (at the Cotton Bowl) were being sold through Ticketmaster, so we could probably figure on three tickets running us an extra twenty or more dollars for that "convenience."

Baby Driver

My girl is pretty anxious to get in the driver's seat. There's no lack of independence or determination in her personality. She was also pretty hungry and ready to leave the park. The Jackrabbits' last practice was today and our last game is on Thursday night. Lexie is encouraging me to get back in the habit of daily blogging when the season is over.

Familiarity -> Contempt

The kids on my soccer team are getting a little too used to each other. There's a lot of infighting at practices. Hitting, pushing, pulling hair. Yeah, they are pretty comfortable with each other.

Perhaps I'm not keeping it interesting enough. I really don't understand anything about instilling discipline as a father or a coach.

When I started I was super scattered. I probably played seven different games with them on the first night. Wacky crap really. All of it useful if they actually followed my directions. But none of them did. Tonight I practiced one play, the goal kick, and then scrimmaged.

We don't have a game this weekend. It's the only Saturday in March and the only week in April we don't have a game. Apparently the league had a conflict for April 30, so our last game will be on the night of Thursday the twenty-eighth.

Net Settling

I called around and nobody has big fishing nets around here. I went ahead and bought the 6'x8' nets from Academy. They're a little small, but they'll do well enough. Perhaps when we go to the coast this year I can shop for some big netting I can cut to fit.

Building Goals

When we were out this weekend I noticed that Target had 4'x6' soccer goals priced at forty dollars each. Pursuant to my team's lack of scoring on Saturday I was in the market, but not at eighty bucks for a pair. I mentioned it to Paul at lunch and he suggested that I could put my own together much more cheaply. He found a plan on the internet that looked easy enough that even I could handle it, so I went and bought some PVC pipe and some joints. Including tax these materials cost me just under twenty-five dollars. I finally put my miter box to use and got the things put together in about three hours.

I went to Academy this evening to see if I could find a fishing net to use with my frames. They didn't have anything in the fishing department. Over in the team sports area I found a mulit-use net that was about 6'x8' priced at $8.88. This would bring the cost of my two goals up to about forty-five bucks. In the same part of the store I found 4'x6' soccer goals for twenty bucks apiece. Yeah, they were metal, and so would not suffer injury well, but they had carrying cases and were ready to go. If I had seen them before I had built my own, I would have bought them.

Tomorrow I may be doing some hunting for nets. I also need to scout the park and see if practice will even be possible after the big rain and hail storm this morning.

Superguys

Naming the Team

I mused for a while about the team's name.

I sort of wanted to go with Jackalopes. I normalized it instead.

We don't stand out too much in the list.

Reframing the Position

As I sat in the coaches' training meeting on Saturday, I began to feel a little put upon. There are a lot of things to put together and expectations to meet. The coach's job at this level has a lot to do with making the practices and games fun enough to encourage the kids to want to come back next year excited about the game. There are people to coordinate, skills to master and impart, and responsibilities to be aware of. There's just a lot to do.

Then I suddenly saw it in a new way.

This is a game I get to play. It is hard work, but a lot of the games I have traditionally been drawn to require a lot of preparation and time to play. If I tried to devote the kind of time to a computer game or RPG that I'm going to be spending on coaching, I'd be a crappy husband and father.

It is not a stretch to view acting as a coach as role playing and game mastering. There are specialized playing pieces to buy. There's no simple player's handbook to reach for and master. This will require time preparing my character: mentally, physically, and spiritually. There is a certain amount of authority and responsibility and a perk or two. Like the fact that I get one of the biggest roles, but don't have to pay to play.

"I hate it."

Not the words any guy wants to hear on Valentine's Day.

Real love is just accepting that you'll be painting the walls again.

Lexie has decided that the color she thought was "fun" is just too bright. We need to tone it down. We're out of practice with the painting thing. I guess we forgot how much brighter a color is when you've got a wall full of it than when you just have a little swatch.

So this thing will drag on a bit. But probably not this week. We'll just clean up and deal with it for a while. I hear that Paula is practiced in living with bright colors.

Perhaps it Will Let Up in May

Did I mention I was going to be busy?

Tomorrow night we will romantically add a second coat of paint to the bathroom to celebrate the feast of St. Valentine. (Is it a feast? Any overinformed folks out there want to share?) We got the first coat on today and it's no longer peach in there. Lexie has referred to it as swimming pool blue and Miami Vice blue. It is not baby blue. No, really, it isn't.

Tuesday night I have an elder's meeting to attend. Wednesday night we will go to church for (since we're in the Lenten season) soup and fellowship. Thursday is the coaches meeting where we will get our rosters. Friday we will try to get enough stuff into hiding that my folks will be able to use the guest room (currently strewn with things that belong in the bathroom and other stuff that just hadn't yet found its home). Saturday for most of the day (eight to three, if I recall correctly) I will attend the coaches' training session. That evening is the Second Chance Valentine's Dinner at church. Childcare is included in the price of admission, so we'll encourage my folks to come, too. Sunday we have church and leadership elections. Monday is a federal holiday and my night with the guys. Tuesday I'll hold my first practice. Wednesday we'll go to church. Thursday will be our second practice. Twice weekly practices continue through March and April. Games happen on Saturdays starting March fifth.

As far as "OFF ClOSE" goes, I did tell our lay music minister tonight that I would probably be reducing my involvement in the music team on Sunday mornings. We're starting to keep Kevin in "big church" and he needs a couple of parents to help him make the adjustment.

Bathroom Renovations In Full Swing

We floated a piece of sheetrock over the hole next to the new heat/vent/light. We need to texture over the plaster and paint the cieling.

The border that is just under the cieling was seriously glued to the wall and all we could get down was the printed layer, not the paper underneath. We're going to just texture over it and hope for the best. Lexie has taped off all the molding and switches and countertops. She's also trying to get the texture applied to the walls tonight.

My folks are planning to visit us next weekend, so we will be trying to get this knocked out by then.

One in Two Twice

On Tuesday night I got the heat/vent/light put up in our bathroom cieling. I thought I had the wiring all lined up. I paid particular attention to how the old one was wired before I took it apart. There are two main cables that come from the switches on the wall to the fixture. Each of these cables contain a black coated wire, a white coated wire and an uncoated ground (the wiring in my 1975 home is aluminum: all the copper was in Nam). The box has three pairs of wires (red & white, blue & white, and black & white), one for each of the functions, and a green ground wire. The way this is supposed to work, all of the whites from the box go to one of the big whites, each of the colored three are singly paired with the other three coated wires from the wall switch, and the grounds all go together.

Before I pulled the old one apart I noticed that the cable with the white wire that all three box whites went to was marked with green lettering and the other cable was unmarked. This struck me as surprisingly fortunate. I checked three times, turning the other cable in the light, but could find no markings on it. When I went to wire the new one in place I found, of course, that there were markings on both cables.

Trial and error are familiar companions in all my home maintenance adventures. I hooked the white and black from one cable to the white and blue pair that the documentation said ran the vent. Have I mentioned that this bath is on the far side of the house from the attic ladder? Every trip is a pain. I went down to the fuse box and turned on the circuit. Then I went to the bathroom and flipped the switches one at a time. Lexie asked why I could not leave all the switches on and just flip the fuse to check. The problem is that if I had the wrong pair I might have two hot wires joined and my knowledge of electricity is just enough to be afraid of anything where I can't be sure of the outcome. Nothing happened. Okay, the white I'm looking for must be in the other pair. I went back up and hooked up the other pair, came back down, turned the fuse back on and tried each of the switches. No vent motor humming to life.

At this point Lexie told me to quit for the evening and get a shower. After I got out of the shower I had an idea to try. I went to the unit and screwed in a lightbulb. I turned on the light switch and there was light. Well that was extra lucky. The docs were wrong about the blue wire, but it was the light switch that I had connected to the light. I had both the right white wire (a fifty-fifty shot at that point) and the right "hot" cable wire matched to the function.

Tonight I was able to get up there and finish the job. I got the other two "hot" wires matched to the right functions the first time. Another fifty-fifty chance that fell my way.

We'll see how long it takes us to float new sheetrock, retexture the cieling and paint it.

Bathroom Fixture

I spent some time tonight working to replace our heater/vent/light fixture in the hall bath. I've got it in place and the greater part of the wiring figured out. We just have to float some sheetrock to fill the old hole.

Accidental Art

While I'm posting pictures, here's a couple of the family.

Soccer Coach

Kevin wants to play soccer. So he says, anyway. So we went to sign him up today with SAYSAT. He's actually a little younger than they publish as the bottom end of the eligible ages, but they said that he could play.

There's just this one thing.

All the teams are full. So they could put him on a waiting list, or they could register him for a new team if I would agree to coach it.

"Yeah, okay."

For this age group they only have five or six kids on a team and the coaches are on the field with the kids during games. They say that most of the time I'll be trying to remind them that they're on the "Same team!" or that they're going the "Wrong way!" I have a couple meetings to attend and then twice weekly practices start the last week of this month and games are on all the Saturdays in March and April with the possible exception of Spring Break.

So, which creates the greater disconnect in your mind: someone calling me "coach" or my volunteering to work with preschoolers?

Mexican Sweat

I never learned to play poker for money or chips. We didn't do that in my family. I'm a lousy liar anyway. We just played hands. There was no overall winner, just a new one each hand. I remember playing enough that I learned the ranks of the hands fairly well. I also remember loving wild cards. I'd call goofy things like Dr Pepper (2's, 4's, & 10's) and Baseball (3's, 6's, & 9's) in the same hand.

In addition to five card draw my dad taught me to play Mexican Sweat. This is a variation where everybody gets seven cards face down and you take turns revealing one card at a time until you have the best hand on the table. There is no thought or skill here. Even in the betting version I imagine it is somewhat like betting on a horse race since everything is played in the open. Well, on the theoretical unrigged horse race, anyway.

School Ahead

Lexie and I went to an informational meeting tonight at the day care our kids attend. They'll be starting a kindergarten program in the fall using the A Beka curriculum. If we start Kevin in the fall, then he'll either have to repeat kindergarten in the public school or stick with private school for first grade as well. His late fall birthday that will make him one of the youngest in his class if he takes the second option. We will just have to see how his skills develop to make a good decision.

Mini-Blog

We've been writing something on Kevin's calendar every day. It's his own little journal that we can look back on and review. It's a fun exercise to reflect on the day and pick out the defining event.

Babysitting Barter

Last week we had the pastor's eldest come babysit for us while we went to dinner. She's the one I lent my electric guitar to. Her dad told me that she wasn't playing it much. When I asked her about it, she said that she had frequent insomnia and would often practiced with her headphones on. She said that she tried finding tabs and trying to play them but really felt that she needed some basics to start with. She told me that her parents were busy, and did not seem to be able to find the time to take her to the bookstore to find a guitar book.

When we got home from our dinner I proposed that I pay her by buying her a guitar book. She thought that was a great idea, so I got on Amazon and found something that appeared to be the sort of thing she was looking for. I ordered a couple other things to get the free shipping, too.

The order arrived in the mail yesterday. Lexie went out with "the girls," the pastor's wife and the poet, and she handed off the book to be passed along. I'll ask what guitar girl thinks about it on Sunday.

Like Him

Madeline climbed up the plastic "rock wall" at the playground and went down the big slide all by herself. She did choose to go down feet first on her tummy. This worked out well for her dismount. She wants to be a big kid just like her brother. With her improved climbing skills it is just a matter of time before she figures out how to get out of her crib.

New Phones

Lexie has been wanting a new mobile phone for a while now. Sometime this weekend she lost her phone and so we finally got out to make it happen. Well, it seems that our service is no longer available, so we both had to get new GSM phones. The numbers will stay the same. She'll have her flip phone.

We also decided to change over to VoIP service at home. Since we've never signed up for any Do Not Call lists we get a lot of unwanted calls at home. We will have a new number for home service which we will not list publicly. It's a lot cheaper than plain old telephone service. Unfortunately I did not realize that there was a reference special going on, or I could have saved myself and my friend who recommended it to me some money. Let me know if you're interested...

Plumbing Continues

This afternoon I replaced the faucet on the sink in the kids' bathroom. The old one was really hard to pull on and off. This resulted in Kevin frequently leaving it dripping.

I ended up having to replace the shutoff valves and supply lines too. The left one had no compression ring. It's a mystery how the thing stayed on for the last thirty years. I couldn't get the ring off of the other one so you can see the older, non-shiny nut on the right.

Firmly Attached

Finally some closure to this story.
We handled it pretty much like Paul suggested.

In addition to getting this done this weekend (Lexie applied the joint compound and paint), I reattached the other towel bar (just some bigger anchors and some hot glue this time), and replaced the valve in the shower. We're starting to talk seriously about a water softener. It's getting annoying replacing these valves every two years.

Pseudostrabismus

The word from the eye doctor is that Madeline's eyes are not crossed.

... the eyes appear to be crossed but are actually straight. This is a common condition in infant's facial structures. The wide bridge of the nose and small folds of eyelid skin on the nasal side of the eye contribute to this appearance by covering the "white" of the eye. This especially will become apparent when the infant looks to the right or the left. Then nearly all of the "white" is covered and the eyes appear crossed. As the infant's facial structures mature, this appearance of crossing will improve, and oftentimes disappear.

The doctor did note that she had slight far-sightedness, but said that was a normal condition at her age. He recommended a follow-up exam in one year, but told us to come in right away if we saw signs of true strabismus, which is recognizable by observing an asymmetrical reflection of a flashlight on her pupils.

This picture from October shows the phenomenon that caused us concern.

Sleepover

Kevin went to spend the night with a friend. He spent the week at Granny's and the the two of them had a great time this past summer, but this is his first time to just go and visit a friend. He was thrilled and we were glad for a little change in the routine. These are church folks, so they'll just bring him with them in the morning.

Race Game Idea

Kevin wanted to show me that he could put together a Heroscape layout last night. He just started building it and got some help from me only when the spaces got tight. Maybe we will get to play on his layout this evening. Maybe we'll do something different.

While Kevin was building the layout he said, "I want a new thing. I want a racing car game." Okay. Let me think about that.

Car Wars is probably at least seven years in his future. Even Mille Bournes involves gameplay and math that is a little harder than he can handle, plus I have the feeling that it may be too abstract. He wants to play with cars.

I have a really simple idea that I'm going to give a try. We'll race across the house with Hot Wheels, dice, and rulers.

Our House Speedway

Each player's turn will consist of three moving actions.

Moving Action: Roll a pair of six-sided dice (2d6) and move ahead that number of inches.

Handling Check: If during your move you change direction or driving surface (eg. carpet to vinyl) then you must roll the amount of your current move or higher on a twelve-sided die (1d12) or forfeit the rest of your move and your next moving action. If the handling error occurs on a player's third action then his car is reversed to remind him that his first action on his next turn is forfeit.

The first one across the finish line wins.

I'll throw a number of obstacles on the floor so we have a more interesting course than just a few straightaways. I'm also thinking about allowing a "Push" action that would cost a full turn, and extra turns if the push resulted in the car colliding with an obstacle or flipping over.

Gift Report

I haven't said much about Christmas. I might get around to it when I get some time. I did want to note that Lexie got me Mythology which was the subject of my tenth post to this web log. It's still very pretty and I'll tell you more about it when I've read some of the text.

Purges Begin Anew

The holidays are ending. We can finally put things back in order. Or at least attempt to. We have our last gift exchange tomorrow afternoon, but it's not at our house.

We have too much junk we'll never use again. We have things falling apart. We have kids growing and changing their needs and demands. We have growing (and shrinking) to do.

It's the new year and we have goals. Lexie is making lists. I'm looking at things with an expiration date in mind. The second half of my three score and ten has begun to have an affect on my framework.

Lexie gave me a book for Christmas that collects short selections of writing from authors who influenced C.S. Lewis. In the introduction the editor tells how the books in Lewis' personal library show clear evidence of Lewis' engagement with and like or dislike of the author and content through the many notes he made in the margins.

I'll never be a Lewis, but a personal library only makes sense if it is indeed personalized. On top of this my wife reads my book reviews on this site and tells me, "It sounds like you're just reading crappy books." And my pastor goes on about how he has become very intentional in his reading, choosing only high quality pieces: aware of his limited time.

So I found a little over two feet of books to let go. I don't know if the used store will want any of them, but I'll try there before they go to the next donation pick-up.

How cliched to use a new year's day entry to talk about the passing of time and looming exit ramps and resolving to do better with the time we have. Cliches and stereotypes don't come from a vacuum. Though we may not believe them in our youth we find them coming out of our mouths just as we feel we have the wisdom to express something new.

Friends for Her

Lexie got to go out tonight with some gals from church. She had a good time and they'll likely do it again.

I slept a little late today and didn't get to work until eight. It ended up being okay because when I checked my calendar I learned that my meeting today was from three thirty to five. This meant that I got to see my wife for about five minutes before she left, so I'd like to spend some time with her now.

Christmas Season Sick Day

Stayed home with Madeline today. The idea was for her to get some rest. She refused to sleep. She was down for maybe fifty minutes this morning. That was it.

Did some shopping this afternoon. Gift certificates for various family members whose names we drew in this year's exchange. A few other items. Hopefully a surprise or two.

Decorated the tree tonight. Stopped about 9:30. Lexie is reading to Kevin now, she'll probably have him down a little after ten.

Scary Medicine

Madeline's nose has been runny for a few days and in the last couple she developed a bad cough. Today I took her to the doctor. He heard a little bit of what he alternately called rasping and wheezing in her breathing, so she got an air treatment. This involved me and the nurse spending ten minutes trying to keep a breathing mask on a fighting screaming scared inconsolable little fifteen-and-a-half-month-old girl. The nurse, speaking for Madeline, said that this was an awful way to get medicine.

Her ears are infected, so we got a prescription for Omnicef. The doctor also gave us a prescription for inhaler medicine (albuterol?) if we heard more wheezing. I think that she had the infection, which led to heavy sinus drainage, which got her coughing and roughed up her throat a bit. If we can beat the infection, we'll be most of the way there. But I'm clearly not a doctor and have misdiagnosed lots of things before.

Oh, and since she was crying anyway, we went ahead and got her a flu shot. I don't think she has ever been happier to leave a place than the doctor's office today.

Easy Tree

This year we went to Home Depot which is where I got our very nice tree last year. We cut open two trees. The second was a winner. An employee carried the tree to the front of the garden section for us, we paid in the self pay lane, walked around front and moved the car to the loading lane. We waited only a couple of minutes for them to cut the trunk and wrap the tree. Three bungee cords held it to the top of the car and we headed home.

Only one limb was required for sacrifice to the god-of-getting-the-bloody-thing-in-the-stand. Fortunately, this year, it was one of the tree's. We got it inside and had to do one reseating to straighten it up.

This was an amazingly easy experience. Many years I have fought the tree for hours and days. I'm pretty sure that the trick is the stand. The stand we bought last year is better than the variety of other stands that have usually only lasted for one tree.

Practical Anatomy

Kevin is noticing things. He's also noticing that some things affect other things. That second part is new. It's caught us a little flatfooted and we do a little scrambling.

You know what I mean. Like when we pray for sunshine and it rains instead, he concludes that God doesn't listen to us.

We've been bathing the kids together. He recently noticed that his sister doesn't have something that he has. We shared with him the general case of that difference and he will now gladly repeat to you that "boys have penises and girls don't." We wondered briefly if this awareness meant that we should start to bathe them separately, but decided that it was not that big a deal.

Tonight he took it to the next step. "Where does Maddie pee from?"

"Um, well, from the same general area you do, from her crotch."

Female anatomy remains a bit of a mystery to me. I wasn't all that crazy about biology class and I didn't have anywhere else to learn it in high school, if you follow me. Marriage and a couple childbirths have put me a long way ahead of where I used to be, though.

Back then I vaguely understood that girls had two holes. I just kind of figured that one was for sex and the other was for everything else. This messy arrangement explained why they always had to have toilet paper, since there was no clear distinction for them between number one and number two. Girls don't usually give specifics about the particular call they're receiving from nature, but occasionally one would make it clear that they had to pee. I wondered how they knew it was just that, but you can't ask those sorts of questions.

Kevin was unsatisfied with my vague answer. I didn't want to make a big deal about it since I knew that would only increase his interest. Anyway, I don't believe that my lack of knowledge about female anatomy is what kept me out of it prior to my wedding night. So, I gave Kevin a quick look and he was satisfied. "Oh, she's got a little penis down under there."

Well that's close enough.

I told Lexie about the incident. She asked what we were going to call it. It hadn't occured to me until then that I will be engaged in talk about female anatomy with my daughter. I figured, "Wipe yourself off" would pretty well cover me in the bathroom. Experience with Kevin should have informed me otherwise. I don't think either of us knew the proper name. Lexie suggested "pee hole" and I offered "tinkle spot." Maybe it's a good thing that Madeline isn't talking yet: we need a little time to get our act together.

Dinosaur Picture

Kevin handed me his Magnadoodle and asked for "a dinosaur going to school."

"How will we know that he's going to school, Kevin?"

"He'll have his backpack on."

Of course. How silly of me to ask.

This request was a pretty good distance from the trains and S.U.V.s he usually asks me to draw. Before you overestimate Kevin's imagination you should know that he owns this book. I gave the drawing a shot and when Lexie saw it she was so impressed she told me to get a picture of it. Not that the drawing was impressive, just that I managed to make something that looked anything like what my son demanded.

I don't know what I'd do with this goofy picture of a schoolbound dino if I didn't post it here.

Heroscape - Up the Tower

Kevin and I got a couple of games of Heroscape in this weekend. I set up a nifty scenario called "Up the Tower" that some folks posted in the scenario discussion area of the Heroscape fan site. This scenario has a long field with the players starting their armies at opposite ends. There is a token on the top of the water-surrounded tower in the middle of the field. You can win by either killing off the other player's army or by grabbing the token and bringing it back to your corner.

Since he's four we use the basic rules and I walk Kevin through a number of things, but he loves to roll the dice.

The first time we played I arrayed Syvarris, Carr, Ne-Gok-Sa, and Sgt. Drake against his Grimnak, Deathwalker, Airborne Elite, and Finn. I got first blood by eliminating Grimnak, but his Airborne Elite wiped me out pretty quickly. The last roll he got two on four dice and I got no shields on seven dice losing Ne-Gok-Sa.

Tonight I went for a bigger fight. I traded Carr and Drake for Viking Warriors, Krav Maga Agents, and Izumi Samurai. On his side I pulled Deathwalker and put in the Marro Warriors. He saw the setup and insisted I play with the dragon. So I pulled Ne-Gok-Sa and the Viking Warriors and put Mimring into play.

I just kept sending the Samurai up the tower. This gave him the opportunity to bring the Marro Warriors over to my side of the field. The Krav Maga killed only one Marro before they were all down. Syvarris never even got activated. By this time my Samurai were headed down with the prize. Amazingly they survived multiple attacks and were able to get the token back to base for the win.

Shots and Pictures

Lexie lined up some appointments for today. Shots for Kevin and Christmas pictures at the mall. Then she got sick. So I got to stay home today and run around with the family. This means I'll work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. Feels a little silly.

A Four-Year-Old

Unfortunately the big engine that supposed to pull passengers several hundred yard out-and-back once an hour was having battery troubles and was not running. A bit of a bummer. Still the pullman cars were pretty cool and the kids had fun running around and climbing on stuff.

Learning to Fly

My cousin Kate's wedding and reception were in McKinney, Texas this weekend. That's somewhere north of Dallas. My parents offered to buy us plane tickets as their Christmas gift to us this year and we took them up on that offer. Four plane tickets for trips to and from Love field from San Antonio International were $370 on Southwest. A pretty good deal and a nice gift. Thanks, folks.

We haven't flown since our honeymoon back in 1997, add to that an almost four-year-old and a fourteen-month-old and we approached this venture with fear and trembling. Well, at least with a lot of apprehensive preparation.

Tree in the Ear

Kevin told us last night that a kid at daycare had stuck a little piece of a toy way down in his (Kevin's) ear. He said it was a red and green piece of a play tree. We didn't see anything with a flashlight, but I'm going to run him to the doctor this afternoon for a quick look.

UPDATE: Well, scratch that. He says it hasn't bothered him all day.

Free Day

It was one of those great days when the school and the bank were closed but the daycare was open. Thank you, veterans!

Lexie and I slept late -- after an initial interruption to get the kids to daycare -- and went to see "The Incredibles." Cute show. Some really great superhero action. Nods to Star Wars as usual with a Pixar flick. A little bit of a "Spy Kids" feel.

I tried to play a little disc golf, but the wind was really playing havoc with me and I quit after ten baskets. I did, however, find somebody's disc with a name and phone number. I called the guy and told him I'd leave it at Nick's (the local disc geek's supplier) for him. I sure like it when that happens to me so it's good to return the favor to the community.

Play Date

Rob and Jill came over with their kids tonight. Their son is two months younger than Kevin and their daughter is a month older than Madeline.

Sarah slept the whole time they were here. Kevin and Micah played well together unsupervised. Madeline was uncommonly good. The result was that we got to have a nice dinner and gaming session.

We played Carcassonne. Rob or Jill won depending on whether or not we counted the right things. We had simple adult fun. Amazing.

Hissy

"Five friends I had, and two of them snakes." - Godric - Frederick Buechner

When Lexie was cleaning out the shelves in our bedroom yesterday she found the beanie baby snake that I bought some years ago. Kevin asked if he could have it. He has since proclaimed that it is his best friend.

Kevin named the snake "Hissy" which may well be the same name that Ty gave the toy, but the tag is long gone and I don't know for sure.

A dear lady at our church is in the final stages of cancer. On the blanket this morning the kids were told that she is sick and very likely going to die. They were given a posterboard to decorate that would be taken to her immediately after church. A few of the kids, including ours had already worked on it on Wednesday night.

Today while Kevin was out on the disc golf course at me he started pretending about Hissy. He told me that Hissy is sick. In fact next year Hissy is going to die. He went on to say that Hissy went to see the doctor and got a shot and now has a band-aid.

Is this one of those "teachable moments" or is it just a little boy playing with concepts that he's not really ready to understand yet? I took a middle path. I told him that I was sorry about Hissy's impending doom and encouraged him to spend time enjoying his sick friend and playing with him any way that he could in the time remaining. I asked what would happen when Hissy died. Would there be a coffin? funeral? burial?

When Lexie heard about it she had a simple response: "They're talking too much about Barbara to these kids." Maybe. Maybe they're just keeping us parents on our toes and aware of just how much each kid is able to process. It's tricky to tell the truth in a way that fits the schema of a nearly four-year-old.

Heroscape

The basic game is easy enough for him to be led through. At least a few rounds. He did very well finding the appropriate numbers on the unit cards. I would say, "Find the blue number on the dragon card" and he got it right from the first time.

We got kind of a late start and his rolling was not terribly lucky. The very first attack of the game, I killed his dragon. We re-rolled. Eventually he succeeded in killing one of my airborne elite with the dragon, but on the next turn one of the dead guy's squadmates rolled three skulls on four dice to Mimring's (the dragon's) two shields on eight. It was eight-twenty so we called it quits for the night.
 

Kevin and the Seven

Drew and Sarah and their three girls came to town for Alumni Weekend. Last night we kept their three girls and tonight we left all five kids with Gordon's three girls to watch and play with. If you count you will find that we left Kevin with seven girls tonight. Better when he's three than fifteen.

According to the baby sitters most everyone got along quite well. The problem child was Madeline who we suspect to be cutting yet more teeth.

We four adults had a nice dinner and mini golf game. Drew and Sarah are wonderful folks. We are blessed to be even long distance friends.

Pictured below are Emily, Grace, and Kevin as, respectively, a nurse, a police officer, and The Edge.

Mr. Conductor

Kevin's Grandma provided this year's costume.

Self Portait

Bad Gas

Lexie's mom is home. It turned out that she just had a lot of gas in her tummy, likely due to really bad acid reflux. She will return to the hospital in a couple weeks to have a few things checked out, but in the 'tween time is feeling much better.

Eclipse This

It has not been an easy day.

Lexie called me mid-morning stressed out by the way grading the TAKS essays was going. The rubrick samples were so specious and contradictory that the folks participating in grading today argued over them for over two hours before they began looking at the actual student essays.

She asked me to pick up the kids so that she would have more time in peace tonight for the sixty essays she was bringing home. I came home to change first so that we could go straight to church from the day care.

I had the kids in the car and had just passed HEB when Gordon called from church asking if I could pick up some paper plates for tonight. He was going to be driving to get the pizzas soon and didn't have time for the additional stop. It was only about five fifteen, so I told him that we could easily turn around and get the plates. Before I could get back to HEB, Lexie called.

Her sister had called to tell her that her mom was in the hospital. They don't know what's causing it, but she's got some vague pains and is vomiting. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow, but my wife is, by her own admission, no good at waiting.

Returning to the car with the paper plates I noticed that my cell phone, which I had inadvertantly not returned to my pocket, showed "1 missed call." It was from Gordon and when I returned it he told me that his car had overheated, but he had since reached Michael who was going to pick up him and the pizzas.

Finally we headed for church. As we were driving the last half mile I smelled a foul odor. I wondered aloud if Madeline had pooped her pants, but when I looked around I found her covered in vomit. Lexie had not packed any spare clothes in the bag she put together for me to care for her at church with, so I had to call her and ask her to come to the rescue.

Just one thing after another.

Between breaks in the clouds we got to see a couple stages of the lunar eclipse tonight. I knew how she felt. Something came between us and the sun today, too.

Eight Hours without Power

Yesterday I got both kids down for a nap within a half an hour of each other. I raced to the park and got five holes in (021 00) before the rain started coming down. By the time I got home, the power was out and I had to phone Lex from the driveway to manually open the garage doors from the inside.

The backyard swale was full of water running like a little river. The flow ran into a kind of dam created by the fence and backed up in a mini-reservoir. I took these pictures just before five o'clock when the power had been out for about an hour. Madeline got up at 4:30 and Kevin about an hour later. The power company had its hands full and was not personally answering calls, but using its automated system which gave no estimated time of renewed service.

At six-thirty we hit the road and got dinner out. We arrived home at eight-thirty and still didn't have power. The kids got baths by candlelight. When I called the power company at ten I was informed that a primary line was down and that a line crew had been called to the area. They expected our service to be restored in an hour. At 12:23 it kicked back on.

It might have been worse. A guy in the office didn't get his power on until 7:30 this morning.

Surprise Visit

My dad called from a pay phone at 5:03 this evening. He told me that they were in Uvalde and asked if they could stay with us tonight. They've been in Big Bend this week and are on their way home to Houston.

They arrived a little before seven and ate some pizza. Kevin and Lexie made some banana nut bread which we ate hot out of the oven at about 8:30. They'll head out tomorrow soon after lunch.

A Hat for the Girls

At Toys'R'Us tonight we found a princess hat. See it modeled below.