JV Regionals Wrestling

Shane was not happy when I woke him up Saturday morning.

His tune changed when he realized what was going on. Shane rode the school bus with the wrestling team to our match! All was forgiven.

Saturday was the JV Regional Wrestling tournament.

The tournament was scheduled a week ago, but it was cancelled by the threat of snow. There was no inclement weather this weekend, but the power went out.

No main lights. No heating in the main gym.

Without flash under an emergency light.

With flash.

Shane was a complete stinker. He did not understand why we had to stay with the team. He wanted to run around. He tested me every five seconds and told me "You're not making me happy!" whenever I curtailed his wanderlust.

I made him wait to get on the mats until our wrestlers started to warm-up.

Shane showed more energy than all of them. He ran laps. When he got tired of laps, he tackled wrestlers. Any wrestler. It didn't matter what team they were on. I coached him to only go for wrestlers with the big cat logo, but then he ran and jumped on the back of another coach's leg. He had a ball! 

Shane also loved the bleachers. The only place he wanted to sit was the tippity top. Nothing else would do.

However, there was not much of this.

There was more of this.

When the wrestling started, I picked a kid, shoved Shane at him, and said, "Don't let him get away." One of the smarter wrestlers forked over a phone. Shane played Angry Birds for the next hour. The only time he moved was to ask a wrestler for help or a new phone.

Eventually, Carrie came and picked him up. The kid wore me out! I didn't get any rest until I delegated my spawn away (it's good to be the coach).

I got to go on a different emotional roller-coaster as my wrestlers hit the mats. Some belly side up. Two of our 12 kids survived through the brackets. One got 1st and the other got 2nd! We did all right overall. There were some heartbreaks. The refs ran the clocks in continuous 1 minute periods. Several of our kids were casualties of the clocks. They lost matches I felt they could have won. One kid knocked his opponent out of bounds repeatedly and the resets killed the clock and his chances. Another kid won a match crawling out of bounds that he probably should have lost, so it evened out somewhat. I would have rather seen the desperate shot win than a stall.

Our last JV dual is Wednesday. Varsity starts their post-season Friday. It's all coming to a head.

Mommy Returns!

I told Shane all week Mommy comes back on Saturday. He was so surprised when she showed up Friday night for bedtime! He gave her the biggest hug and hung on like a tick. It was a happy reunion followed by a bedtime story and tucking in.

I REMEMBER!

I remember when the moving talk got serious! It was right after I cut a check to switch disposal services in mid-November.

My Team's Style vs My Wrestling Style

My wrestlers are coached towards a very different style than I wrestled. The emphasis is on improving their stand-up game. Single-legs, hand-fighting, and finishing a shot are drilled daily. There is also a progression of moves that they can work through.

If It Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquire a Saw

Thus end all failed Craigslist buys that are overly cumbersome and unable to fit easily through doorways. 

It was fun. I found some good foam in the seat cushion, too. Maybe I'll chop that up to make storage for some of my models.

Sick Shane

Shane stayed home with me on Monday. Since I'm currently a single dad, I had to use sick leave and write sub plans. I did that at 5:40 AM. I found out Shane was sick when I heard him say "Help" over the intercom and woke up. He told me he had a sore throat. I took his temperature (101.9) and gave him some acetaminophen to get through the night. He was groggy, coughy, sneezy, and congested, but he was still running around, bouncing, happy and in the 99s with meds in his system.

Tuesday, was a well-timed snow day. Shane still had fever when he woke, so we went to the doctor.

Strep test: Negative

Ear Infection: Negative

Flu Test: Negative

The doctor basically said, "It's a virus and it'll go away sooner or later." Shane's temperature read 102.8 after nap, so I figured the latter was more likely.

Thankfully, Nana and Pop have not moved yet! Shane spent the night with them while I went to work Wednesday. When I picked him up, Nana said he didn't have any fever all day. I plan on putting him right back into day-care Thursday. My hope is he's not a typhoid Mary. I'll double-check his temperature at daybreak. Shane has to last until nap time. Then I'll spring him and make a handoff to Nana and Pop. They are going to let him spend the night, so I can go to the JV Conference Tournament. 

Think healthy thoughts, Shane!

Snow Day #3

It snowed again Tuesday.

School was cancelled.

And despite being sick, Shane still wanted to go out in it.

You can't be too sick if you want to run around in the cold. Shane enjoyed leaving creative tracks in the snow.

He did tire out much sooner than usual, so we backtracked by stepping in our own footprints. He was mad when I stepped on some of his and "messed them up."

It was a very well timed snow-day for me. I got to play in the snow! I also got to avoid using leave, take Shane to the doctor, and get some stuff done to prep the house.

I wonder how often it snows in Charlottesville. Carrie said that there wasn't a fleck of white to be seen....this time.

Prepping to Sell: Anime Goes, Too!

I filled three boxes with old anime DVDs to donate, too. That's close to half a Prius in stuff!

Sick Day for Shane

Carrie leaves town, a snow storm whiffs, and that's when Shane decided to get sick at 1:00 in the morning.

Prepping to Move: Carrie's Journey South

Carrie and I picked up the moving truck Saturday after 1:00 PM. We spent the rest of the day (until 10:00 PM) filling it.

The next morning, we woke up slightly after six. We threw in a few last items and were on the road by 6:45 AM. Carrie drove the truck. She's more comfortable with large vehicles than I am (lots of horse trailer experience).

No one is on the road Sunday morning at 6:45 AM. The trip took approximately two hours.

We're really not moving super far away geographically. There are (scarily) people in Charlottesville who make the commute north to Northern VA. On one hand, I wanted to farther away from the economic gravity sinkhole, but it will be nice to know old friends and haunts aren't too far out of reach.

We arrived to find the townhouse in disorder. Carrie expected it to be rough, but further along than what we found. Good thing we brought our swiffer.

Shortly after we arrived, a pair of contractors arrived to work on some trim work. They parked right on the lawn!

Carrie cleaned and talked to Comcast. I unloaded.

Once Carrie and I finished what we could, we left the house to give the contractors some space. We did errands, explored, and ate a restaurant built from a re-purposed gas station. We returned to more unpacking, furniture arranging, and errands until I left around 4:00 PM. Snow and rain were on the forecast. I didn't want to drive a moving fan with half-flat tires in the dark and wet.

I made it back to NOVA and dropped off the moving truck a little before 7:00 PM. Then I drove to my parents to pick up Shane. We returned to a quieter and emptier house for bedtime around 8:40 PM.

We would never have been able to blitz through all the packing and cleaning if Nana and Pop hadn't watched Shane. Thank you for your support!

Days of Transition: Jama Visit!

Carrie, Shane, and I went to visit Jama, Nana, and Pop at the Woodlands. Shane immediately latched on to Nana. This was fine, because we needed to turn him over to their care to move, and it left Carrie and I free to play cards with Jama.

We also found some random candy and a puzzle. Some people who shall go unnamed ate the candy and played with the puzzle. When we sat down for lunch, we overheard some residents talking about their puzzle and the missing candy. Oops.

Prepping to Sell: Slimming Down More

Every time we move, my book collection shrinks. I cleared out every novel I could find upstairs.

There's around 130 books in there to donate by my estimate. I probably only have a handful left hidden here and there. I don't need them, and if I can pass them on to someone else to enjoy great. Otherwise, they can be recycled.

I wonder if I should prune our DVD collection next. Carrie thinks it's too much effort NOT to stream things!

Couch Gymnastics

Carrie invented a new game Friday night. Shane made her keep it up until her arms were tired. Then he asked for "sixty more!" When she refused, he said, "It's okay. Daddy can do it now!"

A Drawing

This kid has tornadoes on the brain.

His drawing skills are improving immensely, though. I can tell what he's making now! Go Shane!

Days of Transition: Jama's Bachlorette Pad

Shane and I celebrated MLKJ Day by helping Jama move! I lifted heavy objects and he ran in circles.

Shane likes running in circles. Especially in newly empty rooms.

Jama's room was empty, because Matt, Pop, and I shoved everything we could into a pair of vans.

Pop staged everything in advance. It was a huge help.

Jama's move to a retirement home addresses many vital issues.

1. It's very warm there. 
2. There are a lot of bridge players
3. It's like a freaking cruise ship that doesn't move and on land.
4. They seriously have all sorts of great things
5. and it clears out Jama's room. This helps my parents stage their house to get it ready to sell

It's a great apartment. 

If they had another model with a second bedroom for Shane we could move in!

It was a family effort to pull off the move.

Some of us helped more than others.

Retirement homes are a giant, warm playground for my son. Some of the inhabitants leave candy out in front of their doors for guests, too (fair game!).

He was very confused about the ballroom, though. It had no balls! They were all in the craft room. What's up with that?

Jama's new apartment looked fantastic. I bet she'll have a lot of fun and a lot of stories from her time at the Woodlands.

And because it was a funny moment:

I don't think he's looking, Nana!

Days of Transition

Almost everyone I am directly related to is going through a transition.

Jama moved to the woodlands Monday.
Nana and Pop are selling their house and moving to South Carolina.
Matt and Renee are shopping for a house. Hopefully, before Nana and Pop sell theirs and they're homeless.
Patrick is changing his career trajectory and going into phlebotomy. I don't know if he'll stay in VA when he's done or if he'll follow the heads of the clan to SC.
Megan and Billy are about to transfer from India to new (and sadly separate) countries.
My brother-in-law, Chris, started a new job in Florida. His family moved there and they are living in a rental while they build a home.
Grandma and Grandpa are about to go to Montana to help with MomMom.
Carrie reports to her first day of work in Charlottesville on Friday. She moves down this weekend.
Shane started preschool/day-care again Tuesday.

The only family unit not moving is Kathleen's and they're losing sleep from a brand new baby, Evelyn! Stu nixed the idea of any future moves. He's had enough!

Lots and lots going on. I probably missed something in my list, too. It's hard to keep up with all of it. I plan on throwing up some updates around the family from time to time (especially if I can get a picture of Shane in on the action!).

We are living in interesting times.

Prepping to Sell: Slimming Down

Thanks to random people online, we're down three heavy items and $50 richer.

We gave away the sun-room IKEA couch...

...and the basement IKEA couch.

Most IKEA items don't survive multiple moves very well. Both couches had some wear and tear. I'm thrilled I don't have to load and unload them from a truck now. We hope they make someone happy, as well (win-win!).

Carrie sold this piece online for $50.

She thinks Shane's race car bed weighs a ton and could fetch a nice price, too. So far, I've nixed that. Race car beds are cool! I wonder how heavy it really is, though.....

Random Filler: Everyone Likes Boxes

Look, cat. A box! 

Let me drop you on top of it.

What do you see inside?

Okay, that's pretty scary. You can vault off and run bushy-tailed now.

New Trick

Shane said, "Pull my finger?"

So proud!

Prepping to Sell: Distraction Duty

While Carrie painted, I was on distraction duty. Shane's help is no help at all! Ha!

We started off our journeys at Chic-Fil-A.

We met a friend from last weekend who really wanted to play. There was an older girl who was a bit of a snert, too. Guess which one Shane kept trying to play with? It wasn't the nice girl who wanted to play with him. Maybe that's typical male? It was not the best play time, so I hope it was somewhat of a learning time.

Next, we went to the library to see John. We wandered into the kid's section while John finished his desk duty. Shane walked up to the first kid he found and said,"Want to be my best friend?"

"Sure!"

"Can you help me find Little Einsteins book?"

"Sure!"

And like that an alliance was forged. The boy's older sister even helped them look Little Einsteins up on the computer! Shane danced while they typed.

I stayed back and tried not to help. Sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. It was fun to watch.

The fellowship disbanded once Shane found some books.

He was so absorbed he didn't see John sneak up over him.

I told Shane to look up when I noticed John's head hit code red. Otherwise, I think John would have passed out before Shane noticed.

John's office is a book filled wonderland.

We convinced Shane that John was a library pirate. He sails to different libraries to raid them for books (yarr!).

Our next stop was Nana's for nap. We took a minor detour to jump in an ankle deep pile of leaves.

Shane was too pumped to sleep at Nana's. I had to lay down with him. He woke up psyched, too. Nana forgot to take down the pickle. Shane spotted it, Pop stole it, but somehow Shane ended up with a promise to go to the dollar store.

We headed home with a new dinosaur toy. 

When we got there, Carrie was sore, tired, and thrilled with how much she accomplished. Shane and I went on a Home Depot run to give her a break.

Which turned out to be remarkable. An employee, Raquel, grabbed Shane and some other random boys. She took them behind the scenes (no dads allowed) and gave them all presents! Some assembly was required.

Shane's kept getting covered in hot lava from the concrete volcano.

I didn't paint any, but I was tired by the end of the day, too. Moving is hard work!