Pure Energy

This past weekend, we went down to the elementary school to kick the soccer ball around. It was about 50 degrees and just perfect for playing outside for a while. After 15 minutes, Corey picked up the ball and walked back over to me.

Corey: Can we got home?

Me: Sure. Why do you want to go back?

Corey: I'm tired and have run out of soccer energy. I have enough walking energy to get home and then all I have left is bath energy.

Higher Goals

Corey has his first loose tooth. It's on the bottom and he wiggles it constantly.

The four of us parents often joked that when his first tooth came out he might try and milk us with the tooth fairy visiting both houses to leave money for him.

He's with us this weekend and we were told to make sure that if the tooth fell out, we had to save it first for show-n-tell. (Gross.)

Still, I thought it might be prudent to prepare for the financial requirements if the tooth fell out at our house. I asked Larry what teeth were going for these days.

"I don't know. Let's just ask him. His friends have most likely lost teeth already."

We called Corey over. "Hey buddy. What do you want the tooth fairy to bring you when your tooth falls out?"

He thought for a moment.

"Tomatoes."

This is totally not my child.

"Dude, why would you want tomatoes for your tooth?"

"This past summer the squirrel came and took all my mom's tomatoes from her garden."

(Long pause)

"OK, Beefsteaks or Early Girls?"

Who Wore Who Out?

Playing castle is a lot more work than one thinks.

Snow Day?

All Virginia schools closed today. All Maryland schools closed today. Gallaudet University & Catholic University closed. Georgetown, University of Maryland, George Mason University all opening at noon.

George Washington University? Open on schedule. SIGH.

Honestly, I'm happy enough to be here since we finished Economics today. The final was this morning and I feel really good with my performance. Hopefully, this will lock me in at an "A" for this class.

We actually had one classmate--the math guy from my (bad) team--who decided that since we had classmates from PA and Annapolis, the test would most likely be canceled. We actually called him to get his ass there. He only had an hour to do the final, but hell...he's a math guy. Sadly though, his absence would have been beneficial to the curve.

Strangely enough, the professor is still teaching for another two hours. As you can tell by this blog entry, no one is really paying attention.

A Great Choice
The highlight of my week was meeting Bacchus from Family of Choice. He had an event in Baltimore, so I drove up and had dinner with him. I tried to show him the sites around the inner harbor, but everything closed and it was windy & 40 degrees. We ended up camping out at PF Changs for a few hours.

While the meal and conversation were both great, the best part of the evening was the desserts. The restaurant has this mini dessert sampling where each dessert is in a little shot glass. There were 8 flavors: carrot cake, chocolate cake, strawberry cheesecake, lemon cake, banana split, tiramisu, apple pie, and S'mores. I wanted to play it safe and each just order one, but not Bacchus. He ordered the whole sampling. God, I love this guy. This was the best choice ever. (BTW, these pics are not of our actual desserts, but ones I found online.)

Most importantly, we had a great time. I truly love meeting blog friends. They always turn out to be as much fun in real life as they are online.

Have a great weekend!

When I Am an Old Man I Shall Wear Whatever

Answer: 40-41.
Question: What age do you become middle age?

It's winter. This month, we've had weather in the teens. I know for some of you (Mrs. Chili) that's a laugh, but one of the reasons I moved away from Chicago was the cold weather. I hate it. This is tolerable, but not by much. The moment I can move to Arizona or the equator, I'm saying goodbye to the nation's capital.

I travel to work by Metro. Normally in the city, I'm jamming to my iPod; keeping in step with the music. And frankly, I look cool. There are some badly dressed folks out there and I would sacrifice comfort for looks. Until this year.

My ears just got too cold.

So I pulled out the knit stocking cap. OMG was I warm. Add to it that my head phones stayed in the whole time. I kept thinking to myself why didn't I do this earlier?

Then I caught my reflection in one of the store windows. I am my dad. (Sorry dad.) Honestly, that's not a bad thing. It's just a moment every son is convinced will never happen.

I looked as myself, all bundled up; my hair slightly sticking up as I remove my cap for the metro ride. (Note to self: hair gel and stocking caps do not mix well.) I realize that I don't give a crap what anyone thinks about my hair or my looks. I'm 40+, most likely off the market for good, and have the slightest bulge of a grad school tummy. Who the hell do I need to impressed?

Let me just say, when you hit that moment in your life, it's both inspiring and depressing all in one fell swoop. Regardless, I'm warm.

This afternoon as I was walking home, there was a man in his 20's walking next to me. All he wore was a light jacket that was completely unzipped. I wore my hat and gloves despite it being 39 degrees. We both glanced over at each other and probably had the same thoughts.

"This guy is dressed like a total idiot."

Losing Pounds and Raising Pounds

My favourite blogger from the other side of the pond needs your help. He’s trying to out do Fergie, the duchess of York, with his own weight loss program by walking 78 miles this summer. (Miles? Dude, don’t you have metric over there?)

A few years back, his friends lost their three year old son. Dan and a few other blokes are raising money for the Joseph Solomon trust, which “supports parents who have lost a child by providing financial assistance to those who need it most.”

Click on the link to Dan’s site over on the right to read more about his plans for this summer. And send a little love his way by donating even a few bucks through Paypal. Seriously, you can donate in dollars and then it gets converted into pounds…or some other crazy European currency.

If we don’t help fellow bloggers, who will?

Friday and I'm off to class

Thanks for all the nice comments on Reggie. It was a tough weekend, but getting back into routines was nice. We had to spend a lot of time at home this week for Rodney, the beagle. I had heard that other animals go through a period of mourning. I just didn't know how bad that could be for them. He's coming out of it though.

On the plus side, I had a lot of nice positives this week. I barely squeaked an "A" on the Econ mid-term, but hey... an "A" is an "A". The grades ranged from 92-29. 72+ (my grade) was an A and 50+ was a B. We still had 6 people flunk. I was mad at myself since 3 of my errors were careless. BUT, I'll be going into the final well positioned for an "A".

LOST has started and as always, I'm mesmerized by it. Naomi... who the hell are you? And Ben is still the creepiest person on TV. Anyone know how many episodes were made before the writers' strike?

Happily the work situation is over. I let go of the person last Friday. (Yeah, last Friday was a pretty bad day.) Unfortunately, it's a lot more work for me, but at least the work is being done right.

Have I mentioned how much I love my study group? There are six of us who now meet on Wednesdays (outside of our assigned groups) to go over the homework problems from the chapters. We get along, we laugh, we eat and we learn. It's exactly what I expected graduate school to be. Four of us from the group will be staying an extra three days after Vietnam to travel to Angkor Watt in Cambodia. Any recommendations on your many Cambodian travels would be appreciated.

OK off to class. Today is our 6th class of Microeconomics and 2nd class of Operations Management. The professor is not very organized for this second class. Plus he treats us like undergrads. Every week is a small quiz to make sure we've done the readings. Memorizing is just a tad ridiculous at age 41. Oh well.

Have a good Friday and a great weekend.

Reggie (1993-2008)

We will dearly miss you!