How much can you fit in a day?

We went for a record amount of activity today.

First, there was horse chores. Second, there was TKD.

After TKD, I visited a wrestling friend who coaches lacrosse. He had some gear for Shane to borrow.

Shane really liked the gear. He was so excited about 'armoring up' for lacrosse he wore the helmet to the recycling center (our next stop!).

I told Shane we were going by 5th Street Station next. He kept asking about food the whole way and I said, "Maybe we'll get something there."

What he didn't know was that Carrie was waiting for him! They went to a SPCA fundraiser at the Alamo Drafthouse. They had lunch and watched a ton of funny cat videos together!

Meanwhile, I slid over to Panera for lunch. Then I drove north to attend Prezcon.

Prezcon is a board game convention. I've known about it for years and been curious, but never attended. This year, I decided I'd take a look.

It's funny how going to something brand new can make you a little nervous. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but adventure called!

There were lots of tournaments for popular board games with scheduled heats. If I were to go again, I would be interested in those. However, today was a scouting mission. I paid $30 for open gaming and then wandered around. There was a game library and tables downstairs.

There weren't a lot of tables open. Most people were already involved in games. Maybe my timing was off, but it's probably easier when you come with a group or meet people in the scheduled games.

There was a sign for someone play-testing a game they designed. I took the plunge and said I was in.

It was a hidden movement game with one vs all. A team of people were people and one person controlled the dinosaurs trying to eat the people.

Naturally, I played the dinosaurs!

It was a fun time! However, it wasn't Carrie's style of game and she's my 'game group,' so it won't hit my wish list any time soon. I wish the guy the best, though! I understand that desire to create something and it takes a brave person to put themselves out there for criticism. 

I found a silent auction and used games for sale area afterward, but it was already highly picked over. There were some things I was curious about, but they turned out to be expansions or parts of systems I didn't own. That meant I saved my money and walked away.

There was an auction underway, as well. If there was something I wanted, I didn't stick around to find out.

I probably could have stayed longer, but there were things that needed to be done. I stopped by Lowe's with a bunch of old batteries to recycle and was told "rechargeable only, please."

Then I dropped by Play it Again Sports. Shane's going to try lacrosse this spring (if you didn't already figure that out), so I needed to pick up gear. He wasn't with me, so I had to guess at sizes.

Gas and Costco were next! It was an eclectic shopping list today. Carrie wanted corn oil to help put more meat on Kitty's bones and I got enough Irish cream for a year's worth of Irish coffees and cooking.

And milk. We were low on milk.

I made it home in time for some cleaning and horse chores. 

I slept well.

Getting Ready to Go Back

I swear, it looked like the horses were having a morning meeting when I went out.

"The humans don't give us enough hay."

"And they're slow! We need food earlier in the morning!"

"And lunch!"

"More grain!" "More grain!" "More grain!"

They're a spoiled lot. Maddy pooped in her stall and again outside it after I'd clean. "Scoop it. I have more."

I made a small list of goals at the beginning of break:

1. Rest from school work
2. ....but somehow get a ton of grading done and don't be behind.
3. Make Carrie rest
4. Have the house in order before I go back
5. Have the barn in order before I go back
6. Make fun memories for Shane
7. See a bunch of people.

I've done a lot of work on #4 and #5 which I hoped helped #3. I've done morning and evening barn chores solo for two weeks straight save a couple exceptions. Carrie's been "running on empty" in her own words for a while now. She's really enjoyed having us home.

I avoided school for the rest of the calendar year (success), but today I had to hop back on the grading wagon. There was a ton to do and I spent hours at it. My goal was to finish everything by Saturday, so that I wouldn't do any of it on Sunday.

Shane sensed I was focused on something other than him and was constantly underfoot. The table jolted while I was at the computer and he came up with a nice bruise. He whacked himself messing with the dog!

I think he's had the chance to have fun over break. Sure, he's played video games and watched TV, but we've seen a ton of people and gone on a bunch of day trips. I wish we'd been able to see more friends in the area, but he reunited with cousins on both sides of the family.

Today, I made him go with me to wrestling practice again. He was still doing his old man schtick when we got there.

Then he jumped on some wrestlers and got roughed up for a while. 

I kept him off the phone. That meant he was obnoxious at times. He tried jumping on me while Coach Rick was talking to me and tried to bounce the ball past people drilling and got himself in trouble several times.

I let him wander around the back gym some and peeked at what he was up to from time to time.

The end of practice was where it got interesting. There were six kids and three coaches which was enough for three groups of three for live wrestling. Shane got to use his watch and play timer! He did a decent job, too.

I gave him the phone as a reward on the drive to TKD. The Thursday class was later in the day, so we were able to stay the whole practice (I normally leave early).

It was an older group. There were some kids younger and older than Shane, but he was the only nine year old. The bar was set higher and Shane rose to it.

He was still giggling, laughing, and being Shane (that hasn't changed), but he definitely got more of a work out than usual! Instructor Papa had everyone do a minute of front kicks non-stop.

Shane thought it was easy until it was his turn.

They did 30 seconds and 15 seconds afterward. I enjoyed the show! I'd love to make this Shane's normal class, but I don't see that happening logistically. Maybe after wrestling season.

I spent the whole class grading, by the way. No cell phone games or Netflix for me. Then we got home in time for....wait for it.....horse chores!

Unrelated, but related: I've caught up on my blog a bunch! I won't be starting the new year with a terrible backlog!

Warm Monday

It's been an odd winter break. The weather is more akin to spring. Baby grass is starting to pop up throughout the yard and we opened up all of the windows for fresh air. 

It hit 70 F in the house!

Carrie heated me up some 'taco soup' and then really wanted to catch me with a cheese runner. I obliged.

The morning was mostly quiet. Shane played around and did some Final Fantasy II and some Slime Rancher. I did barn chores, cleaning, writing, and took Loki out to pace some cars for a while. Carrie did a 'mercenary' dungeon run or two with her friend from Asia that calls her 'Sis' (True story).

The evening had more 'out of house' activity. I took Shane with me to wrestling practice.

Wrestling continues to be the one place it's okay for him to try and tackle people he doesn't know.....which turns into how he gets to know them, I guess!

Shane doesn't always get when to stop. He started trying to throw the ball at the coach as we were talking. He entertained himself for an hour before I gave him my phone for 30 minutes to let me work without worrying about him.

We left practice a little early for Shane to make it to TKD. Shane went in with a bad attitude ("Why do we have to come here?") and left singing praises ("It's always a good time when [Instructor Papa]'s there!").

We had a little talk about how attitude is important and you can be sure I pointed the transformation.

As we were leaving, Shane got a turn on a balance game.

The beginner's class is more for kids lower in rank than him and has more play, but Shane loves it. The class with higher ranks is earlier in the day and in the middle of wrestling. I'd love to take him to the higher ranking class, but it's not an option right now. We have to leave practice 20 minutes early to make it to this class!

It's not the same as having a friend over, but Shane needs to get out and about. We stayed home except for errands and church over the weekend. 

We listened to Spy School on the way home and chilled the rest of the night.

...and it was a literal chill for me. When I went into our bedroom I was hit by a wave of cold. The windows were still open! There was a thermometer on the clock that told me exactly what I was in for.

Carrie had conked out on the couch, so she was warm, snug, and none the wiser! I went full blanket burrito mode and pretended I was camping. 

Holiday Exercise

The nights are cold, but the days have been surprisingly pleasant for this time of year. I get some light exercise running around the barn and taking Loki out to get his wiggles out.

I sat on a horse jump and got some action shots of Loki pacing cars.

He likes to start early and give himself a head start. He needs it, because the speed limit is 55 mph!

He looks over his shoulder and starts to pour on speed as cars come up behind him!

He starts to bark as they pass him and keeps on chasing after!

Until a car comes the other way. Then it's a quick about face!

Traffic is intermittent, but Loki's normally panting good and hard after 15 minutes or so. He's good about following me in....as long as he doesn't hear another car approaching on the wind! Sometimes, I have to pick him up and walk him halfway back out of the temptation zone.

Speaking of temptation, there is a real temptation to simply let Shane veg out on electronics for break. It's less effort for me........at first. Shane inevitably needs to get his own wiggles out. I loved video games as a kid, but I couldn't sit still ALL day.

I took Shane with me to wrestling practice.

There were only six kids practicing and three coaches including me. I ended up doing half an hour of drill with Sam (~165 lbs?). I can keep up with drills, because it's just slow enough and with enough breaks to breathe my cardio doesn't give out!

I made Shane read for a bit before I gave him my phone. He swore he read the whole book The Twits, but it was awfully quick!

I had to hand over the phone to keep him from hopping up and trying to hit wrestlers with a pool noodle, though!

We left a little early to get Shane to TKD (notice the uniform?). It was a beginner's class, so there were a bunch of games!

They chased someone around to pull a belt off their back and Shane won a running game! He looked like he was having a lot of fun.

Shane had to practice his form some with a blackbelt after class.

He looked pretty clueless! You can tell we haven't been to class very regularly since the move.

We'll attend several more classes over the break as long as we're not traveling. We're not doing any winter sports and I just renewed our membership.

Active Saturday

It felt like forever since Shane had been to TKD. It also felt like forever since we did a recycling run.

Why not combine the two?

10/10. Would recommend to do again!

Maybe next weekend.

It's not the furthest drive, but being 20 minutes out encourages me to try to knock off as many items on the to-do list as possible whenever we're in Cville.

TKD, recylcing, and picking up dog food make for an efficient trip.

Shane found a cute kitten who really liked to play and climb.

I sent Carrie some pictures and, in retrospect, I'm lucky we didn't end up with a third cat. I asked some clarifying questions about the dog food I was supposed to buy, but she didn't answer. She'd put down her phone to resist the temptation.

I bought the wrong food, but it worked out. Loki liked it better than his old brand!

Carrie had me lug jumps down to the arena when we got home. She set things up the way she liked it and dragged the arena for pictures.

Loki tried to eat plastic flowers from the flower boxes.

Carrie appreciated my help more than his.

Shane had a soccer game that afternoon we made it on time for! Shane's bonded with the tree beside the field as much as he has with his team.

Shane actually ran some today! Normally he runs more off the field than on. His team was 2-0 in a few minutes when he was on the sideline. When he popped on as a defender they were 1-0, but lasted a much longer time. He had some good stops and actually played like he wanted to play.

Shane was the goalie for the second half.

Despite being distracted at times, he played a good half. His team went 1-1 while he was in the goal.

I keep wanting to practice soccer with Shane and then never do. He's not exactly raring to go, but it would be great if he had a few more skills he could access in a game. He's had no direct instruction in anything goal related outside of advice during games.

The coach gathered the kids for a team picture at the end of practice.

We may not have been the most reliable about games and practices, but I'm still glad we played this season.

There was more work to be done when we got home. Carrie needed all the jumps rotated. I did one by hand as proof I could do it if I really wanted to...

...and then we got smart.

Carrie and Shane rode backed up the gator to push the jumps I rotate closer to the fence line.

Then I hopped in and they gave me a ride to the next set of jumps!

We used a combination of mechanical power and Michael power to turn the last few. Nibs showed up to supervise.

For the record, the last jump was definitely too heavy for me only. The gator saved us a lot of effort and creative problem solving.

The sun was going down by the time we finished.

Carrie hit the gas and we completed the circuit before calling it a night. Shane didn't get his playdate, but it was a far cry from doing nothing.

Carrie has an active listing for the barn up now, too. Hopefully, she's feeling better and jumping Samwise over some of the jumps we rotated before too long.