Ready for Work

I met my boss today. She asked me to come in for a quick tour. We talked over the phone for the interview and she was sick when I visited the program, so this was my first time to meet her in person.

I am at the point where I am ready to go to work again! Orientation is the first week of August. I have not felt fully connected or established in Cville, yet. Work should help remedy that.

Electronics and Me

I have a love-hate relationship with video games nowadays.

I grew up on them. I learned from them. I met and bonded with friends through them. I often use my experiences with them to connect to my students. 

But, wow, are they a time sink. 

I bought my first video game in over a year near the beginning of summer. The expansion to the XCOM remake was 75% off. The original XCOM was a favorite of mine decades ago. I first played it at Paul's house in 7th grade. I hooked Matt, Bill, and Dan on it. I read the strategy guide with my cousin Tom...

I paid $7.50 and figured I'd play every now and again. Maybe I'd talk to Patrick about it, too. I knew he'd already played it. 

Instead, I was over ambitious. I played through on a higher difficulty in Iron-man mode to unlock achievements. It was exciting for a while, but by the end I just wanted to finish, take my achievements, and turn it off!

I don't have a great amount of free time. There's almost always something I could (and porbably should) be doing. Like writing!

I thought I was going to write some Pulitzer prize winning blogs this summer. It was easier to play. XCOM was harder to resist than TV. It let me think enough not to be bored, but prevented me from working towards producing something. The interactivity and thinking required by games make them more attractive to me than most shows. When I watch something, I watch with Carrie or Shane. It's social...which is more important to me than I realized pre-marriage. Yes, the sun has set on the epic/engrossing single player game in my life.

It may soon rise in Shane's. it's almost time to introduce him to Nintendo. Shane will be introduced to games eventually. There are growing/learning opportunities through them, so it's better to be proactive than reactive. Carrie and I want to start Shane on the older games first. A good game is a good game.  I don't like how ultra-real and violent most modern games have become. Carrie and I will get to be nostalgic, and Shane will get to work his way up through an abridged and highlighted history of the industry. Hopefully, he'll learn how to appreciate imagination and good design over graphical bells and whistles along the way.

Now where can I find a cost-effective (cheap) NES or NES emulator? "Carrie! It's research time!"

No School Tuesdays

No school on Tuesdays, so it was up to me to find a way to entertain and educate my son.

Obviously, we went to the library. Free books? Who can resist? There was also a percussion program. I thought Shane would get a huge kick out of lots of noise and making music with a group.

He didn't. It was a more challenging hour than I expected.

I guess it takes practice to cooperate. Today counted as that. We still got to see a bunch of different instruments. There were times he went with the program, too. I don't regret doing it.

We checked out books and went to the Children's Discovery Museum afterwards.

Shane is equal opportunity in finding friends. He pulled over a male volunteer to become his best friend of the day.

We stayed out for over three hours. I thought I wore the little stink out, but he sang in his bed for an hour instead of napping. At least I got the dishes put away.

Back to the Usual

Monday arrived. Shane went to day-care. Carrie went to work. I did random chores and farted around on the internet instead of writing.

However, there was one chore I waited to do until Shane was home. The only Walgreen's in town isn't in town. It's a ways north.

And right next to the airport. 

Parking was free for 30 minutes, so Shane and I went to explore. We got to watch a plane take-off right after we arrived. Shane demanded we hop on the next.

The baggage carousel almost made him forget about it.

He ran back and forth.

And back and forth...

Shane was the entertainment for the evening. A couple employees offered to help me find my luggage. Shane was the only baggage I needed to drag out, though!

He was NOT happy to leave. Shane did not understand why he couldn't get on an airplane. I had to half drag him to the car.  He even scowled by the traxi traffic light (and who wouldn't that cheer up?).

Shane whimpered and fake-cried in the car. We didn't turn around and we didn't go on an airplane. I wasn't very sympathetic.

We did stop by the "John store (aka Game Store) on the way home. I picked up a few card protectors from my LOTR cards. Service was slow. Shane entertained himself and raised my blood pressure by stacking lots and lots of dice. Dice of all shapes and sizes. Dice that were teeny tiny and collected in flimsy boxes. Dice that were large and cost as much as a burrito...you get the picture.

I set a limit on how tall things could go, but didn't stop him. It kept him close by. I caught the one near-spill in the nick of time. I bet we get faster service next time!

Another errand turned into an opportunity for exploration. The usual.

Something New in North Carolina

The Chic-Fil-A we met Nana and Pop at in North Carolina had a mouthwash dispenser. I took a picture, to prove I'm not making it up.

Gaston's in the House!

It was a busy morning. After Sunday school and soccer outfitting, Carrie's old boss/mentor, Gaston, stopped by! 

Carrie has wanted to see him again forever! Gaston dropped off his youngest son at a park for YCC and we were on the way back. Convenient! The laughter and booming voices ended Shane's nap before it really began. Shane was excited to see Gaston, too. He wanted to show off his new garbage truck from Nana.

What you don't see in that picture, is Gaston and I laughing as Shane put a mostly full cup of water in the back of his truck. We carefully drove it across the table and Mommy's anxiety level!

The busted nap was well worth seeing Gaston. Shane sometimes resists/skips it anyway, so I didn't think much of it.

Then Shane fell asleep on the way to Whole Foods. It's about a ten minute drive. He didn't wake up when we went in either.

The place was packed and Shane was out like a light. He flinched when we walked under the fans at the entry, but that was it. No music, no crowds woke him. I strolled around with Carrie until we picked out the coffee. I decided to sit down after that.

Shane slept on. I couldn't believe it. I even took out my phone for a selfie.

After half an hour and a large drool spot on my shirt, I started to worry the nap would mess up bedtime. It was after 4:00 PM. 

I still saw the opportunity for plenty of fun, though. Shane slept on when I put him on the counter.

I felt a little guilty about the cold metal and moved Shane to a bench after the photo op. A spot had opened up.

Shane was still groggy and out of it. He started to really come to as Carrie went through the check out line!

It all worked out in the end. Carrie and I got new coffee and Shane went to bed at a decent time. He doesn't know about the pictures.....yet!

Geared Up

Carrie found a used sports equipment store. We went there after church. It cost $25 to gear Shane up with cleats, pads, socks, and a soccer ball. Not too shabby!

Shane tells everyone he's going to "be on a team in December." I tried to tell him it was sooner, but Nana got December stuck in his head.

Shane's Back!

Shane returned from Camp Nana-Pop Saturday. He missed them and especially Coleman! I managed to distract him with a flip book. My little animation made a ball bounce and turn into a plane.

Shane loved it. His reaction inspired Carrie. She wanted to make the flip book to end them all. It had a storm, lightning, and a tornado (she knew her audience). Carrie made me stall and keep Shane up past bed time until she finished.

And he loved it.

We missed Shane and were glad he's back!

Camp Nana-Pop

Shane spent the past week in South Carolina. Nana and Pop picked him up Sunday on their way back from Jama's.

He had a blast.

They visited Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Stu's family. They went to a gymnastics gym. They hung out in fast food restaurants with playgrounds and went to a science museum.

Nana posted a ton of pictures of all the shenanigans online. I loved them. They made me wish I was there with everyone.  I re-posted a few of them here.

Nap Time is Futile

Oh horror of horrors, can it be true? Is Shane out-growing nap time?

He skips at school. I'm sure the teachers love it. I can wear him out enough most of the time, but there are some days Shane refuses for me, too. 

He's compliant enough. Shane plops into bed when put there. However, instead of sleeping he will roll around, read, sing, and sometimes chant "Daddy, I'm awake!"

I still leave him in there. An hour of quiet won't hurt. Shane usually stays in his bed, but if he wanted to climb out and play that's a-okay. I don't usually remind him. I'd rather he stay in bed. 

If I'm lucky, Shane will slip into a snooze 30-40 minutes after I bring him up.  

If I'm unlucky, I spring him 45 minutes to an hour later. 

Nana said Shane set a record today. He laid in his bed for over two hours while everyone else (save Pop) zonked out.  

Meanwhile, Carrie sleeps more as he sleeps less. Carrie took pre-work naps all week. She started working half-days on Wednesday. I hope she'll be back up to full days next week in case a certain someone nixes his naps.