Documentary Kick

Carrie and I have been on the Smithsonian channel lately. They have a great series called The Real Story that investigates the history behind movies and characters (The inspiration for Indiana Jones, Hunt for Red October, Jurassic Park, James Bond...). We started Patterns of Evidence: Exodus the other night.

And some nights, I put Shane to bed and come down to a scenario like this:

We don't watch much then! (Though, I did watch something on Camp X after Carrie fell asleep on me one day).

PS - Saturday night, we watched about the introduction of sewers to Chicago. That doesn't sound awesome, but it was awesome. Where else can you hear about traffic stopping so a house can cross the street?

Wrestling Season Ends

Last Thursday, I got an email at 10:00 PM: "Winter Sports Banquet Tuesday." I emailed my parents the next day.

Tuesday, school was closed. The banquet was rescheduled.

Thursday night, Shane and I went.

I had two surprises:

1) The season ended Friday.

2) I had to give a speech.

Thank God, the cheerleader coach went first. I had some ideas going in, but I wasn't sure what the admin expected. 

However, the season end caught me completely off-guard. 

I asked when the season ended before, and was told "March 9th." I double-checked my email when I got home. I wasn't crazy; March 9th was there. 

My first thought was "No way! Let's at least go another week!" 

Then I thought about it some more. I wanted to show respect to whoever the spring coaches were. We're all on the same team. No one poached kids from me when my season started. I emailed all the parents Friday to thank them for a good season.

There were a lot of surprises this winter. The next should go smoother. All the kids said they want to come back. We'll have our own end-of-the-season party next weekend (I thought I had weeks left to plan).

And I have one last surprise. A parent told me that the HS already hired a new Wrestling Coach. I didn't expect a new coach to be hired so soon. Our kids only got knocked out of Regionals last Saturday. It sounds like a great hire, though. The new coach reffed our first match, and then I met him at CWC. He's a guidance counselor in the building, so he can recruit. If I can build the middle school program and he can build the high school one the city can be more competitive a couple of years down the road. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Embarrassing Moment

The TVs for sale at Costco pasted 60"+ pictures of the Great Wall of China in front of us when we entered.

Maybe that's why Shane had China on the brain.

A woman walked by us later. "Daddy!?" Shane pointed. "Is she from China?"

His voice carried. 

The woman looked up, surprised. "No.."

I apologized quickly. Then Shane and I had a talk.

Curiosity is a wonderful thing, but it makes for some interesting moments.

The Basement Mystery

Months later, Nova is still here and something of a mystery. She works, goes to classes, and her car won't start in cold weather. Sometimes, we smell when she cooks something. 

Other than that, facts are scarce. Carrie's talked to her a couple of times and we invited her up for dinner over the historical snow weekend. She declined due to a diet. Shane and I helped her clear snow off her car later. She's friendly whenever our paths cross, but they don't cross that often. 

Maybe we'll see her more when the weather is nicer. Shane and I used to see Emily a lot when we played outside (Raheem even raced her once).

A Snow Day Becomes Two

4 AM the power flickered. 

6 AM it went off for the rest of the day.

Both my work and Shane's daycare decided to open on a two-hour delay.

We decided to have some morning fun. Board games only require the power of imagination (and not losing the pieces).

Shane had the most fun when he ran off with the pieces and made helicopter noises (It was imaginative! I was fine with it).

Carrie used a lighter to ignite a burner. Power or not, there would be caffeine.

Then my school closed. There weren't enough bus drivers. The city roads were fine, but many employees live in the surrounding county. Those roads were treacherous. Ice is not to be taken lightly.

That left me free to take Shane to school. Carrie took off, as well. She works Saturday, so she had to take a day off and an ice storm and time with me were a good argument for today.

No work, no power, no Shane, and a lovely wife?

We went to see Star Wars.

That's another story.

We ate out and ran some errands the rest of the day. Carrie used the power outage to fiddle with some light fixtures.

The power outage was still a novelty to Shane when he got home. He played kitty and chased a laser light.

It looked like this without the flash.

We played with flashlights, read books, and unclogged a drain the rest of the time (Shane needs more practice holding the light steady).

9:00 PM the power came back on. I never minded power outages as a kid, but I was thrilled to charge my phone as an adult. After all, it's my alarm clock! The sun melted all the snow and there was no way school would be closed again. We've missed six days so far this year.

Bowing Bamboo

Thank God, no trees fell. The bamboo is much more flexible. Made for a cool sight.

I've never been able to see directly into our hilltop neighbors' back yards before. Pretty interesting.

Wake-Up Call

Bamboo bent under the weight of ice and grazed the side of the house. It jolted Carrie awake after she'd fallen asleep on the couch. 

Curse you, bamboo!

Another Snow Day

It snowed again! Too much TV rots the brain, so Shane and I drew instead. He still likes tornadoes. I tried to draw something cold instead.

Then the teacher in me came out. I tried to show Shane a break down of how to make a Christmas tree.

Not bad, kid. The mountain was Shane's idea. He wanted to show me how to draw one of those (it's funny he numbered his steps).

I showed Shane how to make a flap book with post-it notes next. I like to throw new ideas at him.

Cave:

Bear!

Shane mostly got the concept.

Tree that somehow shrank to fit on post-it note and you can still the other tree behind it:

Bird eggs!

I wanted to make a whole flap book, but Shane's interest level waned.

We tried to help Mommy work from home instead.

Spoiled Already!

Carrie bounced at the door when Shane returned home from Nana and Pop's. It was a high-energy reunion.

Shortly afterward,

Shane: "Mommy, do you have a surprise for me?"

Mommy: "Hugs and kisses!"

Shane: "That's it?"

Shane's Back!

The spawn returns! Nana and Pop handed him off to me in Greensboro, NC.

Carrie and I are glad to have our little stink home again.

Nana and Pop are probably glad to have a chance to rest. They took Shane and Cole out to do multiple things every day. There aren't enough Chuck E Cheese's within a hundred mile radius for Carrie and I to live up to the pace they set last week!

Snow's on the horizon. Shane will probably have a day at home before going back to school on Tuesday.