Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2443
Van odometer: 152791
Weight lost (in pounds): 5
Aches & pains: Left wrist, right ankle, left knee
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, CSS: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly) by Eric A. Meyer, Profiles In Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: This American Life, Jimmy Buffett
Recent viewing: The Borrowers, Celtics at Lakers, U.S. Open (golf)
Recent playing: Chain Factor, Sporcle
Recently accomplished: Mowed and trimmed lawn, assembled and mounted bike rack, paid bills, helped fix Thomas window, cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower, bed), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape, re-assemble bathroom door frame

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2423
Van odometer: 152328
Weight lost (in pounds): 4
Aches & pains: left achilles tendon, sciatic
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, CSS: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly) by Eric A. Meyer
Recent listening: This American Life, Chrome Dreams II by Neil Young
Recent viewing: Medium, NBA Playoffs, The Colbert Report, Mary Poppins, The Simpsons, Doctor Who
Recent playing: Virus 2, Multitasking
Recently accomplished: Sent Xbox in for repairs, cleaned cat boxes, haircut, best Mother’s Day ever, mowed lawn
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, GPS rebate

Happy Mother’s Day

Graham quietly woke me shortly after 7:00 this morning so I could help him prepare our annual “surprise” Mother’s Day breakfast. We made our plan and I advised him that we should wait until at least 8:00 before starting it. Graham watched TV while I napped on the couch until Tina came out at 7:45 asking where everybody had gone. I emphatically told her that she should go back to bed and she eventually understood. Graham and I then went to work making french toast, warm syrup and with orange slices on the side. We served it to Tina in bed but she decided to bring it out to the kitchen since we don’t have a good tray for eating in bed anymore.

Continue reading “Happy Mother’s Day”

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2395
Van odometer: 151992
Weight lost (in pounds): 8
Aches & pains: left achilles tendon, sciatic
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Rage Against The Machine, This American Life, Bob Wills
Recent viewing: Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Warren Miller’s Ride, Suns vs. Spurs, South Park, The Office, Numbers, Cavaliers vs. Wizards
Recent playing: TypeRacer (top speed about 75 wpm)
Recently accomplished: Cat boxes, recycling, clean and lube bikes, adjusted Thomas’ “old” bike for Graham, weed & feed, 401k loan, mowed lawn, changed voter registration, weed & feed
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, develop comprehensive reward/punishment plan for homework, oil change for van

Vital Statistics

Van odometer: 151601
Weight lost (in pounds): 10
Aches & pains: sciatic, right ankle
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Clutch, This American Life
Recent viewing: The Quiet, The Office, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Democratic Presidential Debate, America’s Funniest Home Videos
Recent playing: n/a
Recently accomplished: Joined Bally’s gym, finished 401k rollover, replaced heating element in clothes dryer, tagged old blog posts, prescription refill, coordinated Xbox repair
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, weed & feed, change voter registration, develop comprehensive reward/punishment plan for homework, bike to work

More than a million roses bloom

Thomas’ term came to an end on Friday and he still had unfinished homework. Homework has been an ongoing concern all year and the frustration level for everyone involved is high. We’ve been working on getting him organized and learning to break big projects into smaller chunks, but he still becomes overwhelmed and fails to factor in his busy schedule. He was originally scheduled to join his Boy Scout troop on a campout this weekend but we made him stay home and finish this project that had been due on Friday. He was lucky that his teacher allowed him until Monday morning to finish it before she submitted his final grade. Still, it’s been a struggle all weekend to keep him focused on the task and he’s still working on it even now. A few weeks ago we addressed these issues with him and his teachers during conferences and he said he had a good plan going forward. Since that plan has failed it’s time for our plan. More on this as it develops.

Aside from that, it’s been a very nice weekend here. The sun has been out and we even left our windows open last night. We spent this morning doing some yard work and then we let the kittens out but not for very long. It’s too hard tracking all three at the same time!

Thanks to Kathy Sue, we also have been enjoying a Starz Preview Weekend on DirecTV. My Tivo is overflowing with movies now and I’ve made most of them green (“Keep Until I Delete”) so we’ll need to watch some movies this week. We’ve already watched several including a really scary one with Luke Wilson called Vacancy. Tina kept squeezing my fingers when we were watching it and then claiming that I was squeezing hers!

Vital Statistics

Van odometer: 151601
Weight lost (in pounds): 6
Aches & pains: sciatic, right ankle
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Go Tell It On The Mountain by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett
Recent viewing: The Colbert Report, Are We Done Yet, Mystery Men, 10 Things I Hate About You, Vacancy
Recent playing: Guitar Hero III
Recently accomplished: Rynosoft.com archives, mowed and trimmed lawn, paid bills, cleaned van, groceries, cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Join gym, finish 401k rollover, sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, renew prescription

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2361
Van odometer: 151399
Weight lost (in pounds): 12
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Aches & pains: sciatic, lower back, right shoulder
Picks left in March Madness office drawing: 0
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Fresh Air, Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Recent viewing: Blades of Glory, Little Miss Sunshine, March Madness, Countdown
Recent playing: Puzzle Boy
Recently accomplished: cat box, installed new tuning pegs & strings on guitar, groceries, Time Machine for Tina, bought and assembled new vacuum, tracked Thomas’ reading homework, Song of the Day, recycling, began moving rynosoft.com, broke mower
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, taxes, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, test bike commute, join gym, 401k rollover, finish moving rynosoft.com, buy new mower, mow lawn

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2360
Van odometer: 150819
Weight lost (in pounds): 14
Hours of sleep last night: 12
Aches & pains: swollen glands/sore throat
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
Recent listening: The Band, This American Life
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Countdown, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, The Simpsons Movie
Recent playing: Spikeys Bounce Around, Chicken and Egg
Recently accomplished: two doctor’s appointments, searching for Rory
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), phone calls, finish Best of 2007, test bike commute, join gym, 401k rollover, find new internet host

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2360
Weight lost (in pounds): 22
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed last week: 0
Aches & pains: sciatic (when I stand or walk too long)
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees
Recent listening: NPR Story of the Day
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, Gilmore Girls, Incident at Loch Ness, The Year of the Yao, Tin Man, Countdown
Recent playing: Guitar Hero III (Wii), Peggle
Recently accomplished: cleaned cat boxes, recycling, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Sift through inbox, post office (Kent, Sue, Lala), sunglasses, InstantCake, phone calls, bike shop, return cans, finish Best of 2007, finish Holiday Road series