Breaking the Rides

I think Aidan was under the impression that the carnival in the park across the street would stay forever. He and Steven had a great time Friday night riding the rides and looking at all the people and lights. They didn’t want to go home. After church yesterday I found Aidan staring out his bedroom window with a long look on his face as he watched the carnies dismantle the rides.

Aidan: Why are they breaking it?

Me: There taking them down so boys in other towns can ride them.

Aidan (voice full of hope): Maybe they’re making it bigger!

Me: No, they’re packing them up. They’ll be back next year.

Aidan: Next year?

Me: Yeah, next summer. They’ll come back and we can ride on them again.

Aidan: Why can’t they stay for this summer?

Me (quoting from Madeline and the Gypsies – one of Aidan’s favorite books): Gypsies do not like to stay. They only come to go away.

Aidan: But they’re coming back, right?

Me: Yes. Next year.

Aidan (smiles): Okay. Let’s go read books Daddy!

[Aidan takes my hand and walks me to the bookshelves where we spend the next 30 minutes reading.]

Say It Ain't So

Well, this sucks. Nothing Good About Grief has stopped blogging. And she was one of my favorites reads. I understand and respect her decision. I made the same decision many years ago and for similar reasons. However, I did come back later and started blogging about my new life. (Hint, hint.)

If you ever start blogging again, Lisa, let me know. I'd love to read it.

Q&A with Abel: The Detroit Tigers

Q: It’s been forever since you’ve blogged about the Detroit Tigers. Are you still a fan even after their disappointing World Series loss last October? A: Of course! I still follow the Tigers and will always be a fan.

Q: Then how come you haven’t blogged about them recently.

A: I only have so much time to blog and just haven’t had much time to write about them yet.

Q: So what’s your opinion of this year’s team?

A: They’ve been inconsistent. I man they take a series from division leading Angels, then get swept by the Indians and lose a series to the Devil Rays of all teams. I’m glad they have a winning record but they don’t seem to be playing quite to the level they were last year. They shouldn’t have any problems with a team like Tampa Bay.

Q: Do you think they’ll make the playoffs?

A: Yes, but mostly because teams like the Yankees that are a usual playoff lock are faltering. (Ha ha ha!) Also the Indians seem to be

Q: What’s the weakest part of their team?

A: Middle relief. Their starters are solid and Todd Jones can be counted on to close out the game. It’s what happens between where the problems begin.

Q: Will you blog about them more in the future?

A: Count on it.

Q: You’ve never given us an update about Marathon Girl’s injury. Is she still running The Dam Marathon?

A: That has nothing to do with the Tigers. And, yes, I do have an update on her injury but can’t write about it quite yet. Look for an update early next week.

They're Baaaaaaaaack

The park across the street is crowded with semi-trucks stacked with games and rides -- all of which should be unpacked and set up later today.

Yes, it’s that time of year again when the carnies transform the park across the street into a carnival in celebration of the city's founding (or something like that).

Last night Aidan stared out his bedroom window with big eyes at the trucks. He asked about them and to explain the different rides. I think once these things are set up, he’s really going to want to ride them.

The last two years the carnival hasn't been a big deal for the kids because they've been too young to really care about them. Not this year. We're going to have one, at least, who is going to be very interested in the rides, noises, and flashing lights.

What I Did All Weekend

 

If you can’t tell from the photo above, I received the edited version of Room for Two from the publisher. It came Friday afternoon and I spent pretty much the entire weekend going over their changes and making final suggestions and corrections.

I quite happy with the editor and her changes. I think the story flows and reads much better. The suggestions and changes I submitted back were rather minor. According to the editor, there’s a chance my book may go to press in June – a month earlier than planned – so it will be ready for a big state book convention in August. Nothing final on the actual press date, though. Stay tuned for details.

Running Injuries?

Marathon Girl is hurt. Not sure what’s wrong with her exactly but she’s been having some problems with her right calf which has slowed her running time down considerably this last week. Fortunately she has a great sports-medicine doctor and has an appointment to see him today. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for her. The Dam Marathon is two weeks away and it’s hard for her to put all this time and effort into training only to get hurt. Running as much as she does takes a toll on the body. Hopefully the doctor will have some good news for her and a couple of days rest will be all it takes to get her running fast again.

LOST: Through the Looking Glass

Note (05/29/08): If you're looking for the Jeremy Bantham (also spelled Jeremy Bentham) refrence, scroll down to comment number six. My friend Jon called it a year ago!

I can't think of any time a television show has left me speechless. However, after the season finale of LOST last night, I don't know what to say.

Don't misunderstand. I LOVED the episode. If anything the finale proved that LOST is the best damn show in the history of television and I'm anxiously awaiting season four.

*** Major Spoiler Warning ***

But seriously, a flash forward to where Jack is miserable, his ex-wife is pregnant with another man's child, someone connected to the island (I think so, anyway) is dead, and Jack wants to return to the island.

Yeah, the clues that this was a flash-forward were all over the place, weren't they. Jack was wearing contemporary sunglasses and using a modern cell phone, he was sprawled out in a room full of maps of the Pacific Ocean, and flying on Oceanic Airlines with a glimpse of the Los Angeles Times with a headline from April of this year. But most everyone didn't catch that, did they. Instead we were trying to piece together when in Jack's past this was taking place so we were ignoring the obvious clues.

I was listening to the official podcast a couple weeks ago where and Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were talking about knowing the show would end in 2010. One of the things they said was that now that they knew how many episodes were left, they could create a beautiful tapestry that would not only answer all the show's mysteries but would show us who the charters would become in the future. I think that little clue was lost (no pun intended) on just about everyone. I think we can look for more flash-forwards in upcoming episodes next season.

So most of the Others are dead and a "escue boat" is on it's way to the island. The good news is that at least Kate and Jack will be rescued at some point. The bad news is that for one of them, that may not have been the best thing.

I Believe in Jacob

Even before Cassie warned me about reading any spoilers regarding the season finale of LOST, I was already practicing self-restraint and have refrained from visiting any LOST-related sites since last week should any part of the plot be spoiled for me.

Instead I've been discovering creative LOST merchandise that fans have created. So far the "I believe in Jacob" store in CafePress is my favorite. 

Think Different in St. George

If anyone’s ever participated in or has gone to cheer for someone running the St. George Marathon, then you know what a bother it is to find accommodations that weekend. Hotel rooms are usually booked a year in advance and go for a premium. Even though the city and the surrounding community are one of the fastest growing areas in the United States, it still hasn’t grown enough to accommodate everyone who runs it, let alone those who come to cheer their friends and family members on.

The last time Marathon Girl ran this marathon was the fall of 2002. We were dating then and I went down with her family to watch her run. It was a great trip and one that helped confirm that Marathon Girl was indeed the perfect woman for me.

The only downside of the trip was the hotel. Her family had two rooms that were nice and big by hotel standards but still didn’t provide much in the way of privacy and considered the hotel was packed with other runners, it was rather noisy and busy.

After Marathon Girl found out would be running St. George, I started looking for two hotel rooms. The few I was able to find has just one queen sized bed. That might be fine if it were just Marathon Girl and I, but where we have three kids and three other family members who want to watch her run, two small rooms like this just don’t cut it.

Besides traveling with three small kids can be tough. We need a place where the kids can have a separate room to run around or entertain themselves – especially if Marathon Girl is sleeping before the big race or needs some downtime after running 26.2 miles.

Frustrated at the hotel search, I started doing some Google searches until I came upon a website where people rent out condos. I sent out a couple of queries and got a response from a lady who just had people cancel their reservation for the marathon weekend. After looking at pictures of the place we’d be staying and reading the positive feedback from others on their experience with the owners, I took it.

And this is what we ended up with: a three bedroom, three bathroom condo (all bed rooms have king-sized beds), a full kitchen (which is great because taking three small kids to eat out every meal can be hard) and a living room. The condo complex also has six swimming pools (including a kiddie pool), a dozen tennis courts, four spas, half dozen basketball, sand volleyball courts, a weight room (maybe I’ll be benching my weight by then), playground for the kids, and is only a 10 minute drive to the marathon finish line. All this for (amazingly) about the same price we would have paid for two hotel rooms.

I’m really looking forward to this trip.

Aidan 3

Aidan turned three today. And three-year-old boys are so easy to please.

Aidan’s been pining for a bike since the snow melted and he’s observed kids riding around the park and through the neighborhood on them. He's wanted one so bad that every time we went to a store that sells bikes, he heads straight to the bike section and start climbing on them.

So when he saw a new bike sitting in the living room this afternoon, he went nuts. He spent the next hour learning how to pedal it. He hasn’t mastered the concept of pedaling completely but he made great progress today. Despite the fact he can’t pedal that well, he stuck with it until he was exhausted.

When I tucked him in bed, he asked if I’d help him learn how to ride the bike tomorrow. I told him I would.

What a great kid. He’s been such a joy and a blessing in our life.  

I just can’t believe it’s been three years since he was born. The next thing you know, he'll be asking me to borrow the keys to my car.

Love you, kid!