So last night we're watching one of the Star Wars films and Calvin turns to me and says, "Dad, you need to drink less beer." (I was drinking one at the time.)
A bit taken aback, I said, "Why? Am I a bad dad when I drink beer?"
"No, but it fills up the recycling with bottles and then it's heavy."
NB 1. We have the boys take our recycling down to the recycling collection point.
NB 2. The recycling collection point is about 25 feet away from our house now.
NB 3. For the record, I drank exactly two beers this weekend.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
I'm a rambling....rambling guy
So, what's up? Long time no write. It's times like this I wish I were an inspired writer who had witty things to say about observations I made that day of human behavior or the natural world or politics or whatever, but I spend most days in a concrete block room staring at two computers. Sometimes I wear shoes. A lot to complain about, I know.
I was recently chatting with a friend and asked how the weather was on the East Coast, and she said "It's warm - 70 degrees. How is it there?" And I replied...wait for it..."It's cold - 70 degrees." Ahahahahahahhha. I'm so witty.
Anyhoo...turns out Cub Scouts teaches some practical skills. Hobbes had been working on his Engineering Activity Badge, so I called him out on it. I took him in the backyard and made him help me figure out how many pavers we'd need to finish the back yard. First we drew a sketch of the back yard - where the deck is, where the shed is, where the gardens are, where the tree is. Then we blocked out areas the stone will go. Finally we measured and calculated the area to be covered. Practical math! Hobbes was reluctant to work on this at first because, you know, it sounded like work. But he warmed to the task, and I think by the end he would even admit he had some fun.
For her birthday, Sweetie got (from me) a new blender, (from Calvin) a little box with shells glued all over it, and (from Hobbes) new bicycle tires. Okay, one out of three romantics isn't great. This weekend we finally got around to putting on Sweetie's new tires. Hobbes and I made it into a photojournalism project. Through the magic of blogging, it will seem like no time at all while I go get the camera and upload our pictures. Okay, there are too many to post here, so I'll put them in a Picasa Web Album. I changed the front tire as a demonstration, and then let Hobbes have at the rear tire. He did a great job! The next day we were able to go for a family bike ride to Ballast Point and Well's Beach. Then I tried to fix Hobbe's bike and now it has to go to the shop. Moving on...
We didn't fix Sweetie's bike last weekend because we were, as they say, "over town". Sweetie was there to attend a Catalina Conservancy research symposium, and I was taking the boys to the USC v Stanford football game (Beat the Tree!) It was Homecoming, so campus was crazy. We got there around 9am and there were already popups all over campus with hordes of cardinal-and-gold-clad fans of all ages. We braved the Bookstore so Hobbes could get a sweatshirt, and, of course, Calvin ended up with a new jersey. (For the weekend, I didn't have to pay for the tickets, our lodgings, the parking, or brunch, so I thought I could splurge.) We then headed over to the brunch at the University Club, hosted by a couple who are not only donors to the Wrigley Institute, but also sponsors of the Song Girls, check that, the World Famous Song Girls. Alas, it being Homecoming, the Song Girls couldn't attend the brunch (they normally do). The boys were very polite to these delightful people. We headed over to the game with the rest of the horde. Hobbes would be sitting with our friends, and Calvin would be with me. We had nose-bleeds in the end zone, but it's not like there's a bad seat in the Coliseum. Calvin had a great time. He knew when good plays happened, and when bad plays happened. He clapped along with the fight song and flashed his "V". In the end, Stanford really whipped USC - quite unexpected. Calvin wasn't too disappointed. We met back up with Hobbes. He had a good time, too. We drove back to the apartment exhausted. Sweetie was also exhausted from her day, so we had a quiet dinner and called it a night.
So that was chronologically a little out of order, but that's all right. It adds flavor - keeps the reader off-balance - they'll never expect it when the end of the entry suddenly
I was recently chatting with a friend and asked how the weather was on the East Coast, and she said "It's warm - 70 degrees. How is it there?" And I replied...wait for it..."It's cold - 70 degrees." Ahahahahahahhha. I'm so witty.
Anyhoo...turns out Cub Scouts teaches some practical skills. Hobbes had been working on his Engineering Activity Badge, so I called him out on it. I took him in the backyard and made him help me figure out how many pavers we'd need to finish the back yard. First we drew a sketch of the back yard - where the deck is, where the shed is, where the gardens are, where the tree is. Then we blocked out areas the stone will go. Finally we measured and calculated the area to be covered. Practical math! Hobbes was reluctant to work on this at first because, you know, it sounded like work. But he warmed to the task, and I think by the end he would even admit he had some fun.
For her birthday, Sweetie got (from me) a new blender, (from Calvin) a little box with shells glued all over it, and (from Hobbes) new bicycle tires. Okay, one out of three romantics isn't great. This weekend we finally got around to putting on Sweetie's new tires. Hobbes and I made it into a photojournalism project. Through the magic of blogging, it will seem like no time at all while I go get the camera and upload our pictures. Okay, there are too many to post here, so I'll put them in a Picasa Web Album. I changed the front tire as a demonstration, and then let Hobbes have at the rear tire. He did a great job! The next day we were able to go for a family bike ride to Ballast Point and Well's Beach. Then I tried to fix Hobbe's bike and now it has to go to the shop. Moving on...
We didn't fix Sweetie's bike last weekend because we were, as they say, "over town". Sweetie was there to attend a Catalina Conservancy research symposium, and I was taking the boys to the USC v Stanford football game (Beat the Tree!) It was Homecoming, so campus was crazy. We got there around 9am and there were already popups all over campus with hordes of cardinal-and-gold-clad fans of all ages. We braved the Bookstore so Hobbes could get a sweatshirt, and, of course, Calvin ended up with a new jersey. (For the weekend, I didn't have to pay for the tickets, our lodgings, the parking, or brunch, so I thought I could splurge.) We then headed over to the brunch at the University Club, hosted by a couple who are not only donors to the Wrigley Institute, but also sponsors of the Song Girls, check that, the World Famous Song Girls. Alas, it being Homecoming, the Song Girls couldn't attend the brunch (they normally do). The boys were very polite to these delightful people. We headed over to the game with the rest of the horde. Hobbes would be sitting with our friends, and Calvin would be with me. We had nose-bleeds in the end zone, but it's not like there's a bad seat in the Coliseum. Calvin had a great time. He knew when good plays happened, and when bad plays happened. He clapped along with the fight song and flashed his "V". In the end, Stanford really whipped USC - quite unexpected. Calvin wasn't too disappointed. We met back up with Hobbes. He had a good time, too. We drove back to the apartment exhausted. Sweetie was also exhausted from her day, so we had a quiet dinner and called it a night.
So that was chronologically a little out of order, but that's all right. It adds flavor - keeps the reader off-balance - they'll never expect it when the end of the entry suddenly
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