Annual exam…

and as long as the table at the Pediatrician’s office.

He will certainly take over as tallest in our family, someday in the not too distant future.

Kinda like swimming

I’m head long into week two of ironman training.  All has gone reasonably well so far.  This week I have about 120 miles on my bike, random running which includes a track workout and three days of swimming.

My plan was to lift, do yoga and swim all winter long.  I have weaknesses and I was suppose to hone all that stuff right to the perfect tip.  Did I?  No!

Which brings me to this morning and the pool and the time trial.  Time trials always makes me nervous. It’s hard freaking work.  I don’t really like going balls to the wall for that long of a period of time.  This morning’s time trial consisted of 3x300s as hard as you can.  You time each 300, get 30 seconds rest between them and then they better be within 15 seconds of each other or the time trial isn’t valid.

The entire “deal” with warm up and cool down really only takes about 30 minutes, but it’s hell while it’s happening.

Here is the breakdown of what went on this am in my head:

1st 100: Oh yeah, feeling good, no problem, you are liquid fast and sleek and efficient and super quiet…keep it up.

2nd 100: Ummm, it’s getting hard to breath in here.  Can anyone see my arms, I can’t really feel them as the blood is starting to pool in my core.  Oh but my legs, wait my legs, I feel those and they seem to feel like logs that are dragging  me to the bottom of the pool and drowned me slowly and painfully.  Are they even moving right now?  Am I swimming or just flailing?  Clearly flailing.  Is the lifeguard coming yet?

3rd 100:  Oh good, the feeling is back in my arms but I really can’t breath, is there something caught in my throat?  Why is there no air?  Why am I moving so much slower? Come on, you can go fast.  Who are you talking to?  You.  What?  Fuck off, this sucks, where’s my coffee?  You should have stayed in bed. No…no…no you can’t talk like this right now, you have 50 more to go.  Shut it, just tell Welle to F-off.  It’s only 50 more, come on, suck it up and don’t be so weak. Done.

30 second rest:  Arms flopped up on pool deck, DEEP LABORING BREATHS, quick drink, repeat all over again 2 more times, ONLY WORSE.

Lip Smacker

I never really thought of PJ as having big lips until my Medieval Queen Lipstick showed up on the scene.

Then we both tried it on (usually an unacceptable practice at my house) and then chose to take photos.

Big lips is kinda like having curly hair, you can spend your time hating it, wishing it was something other than what it is, trying to change it or you can embrace it.

As we perused the photos, PJ said she didn’t want to have as big of lips as mine.

My response to her, work with what you got baby!

F.D.

He looks a bit sad today doesn’t he?

Maybe he knows mom doesn’t want to bathe him again.

Actually, this is his I am about to poop face.  He’s pooping for the 5th time because he ate almost an entire loaf of Irish soda bread in the middle of the night.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day Murphy!

Doggies

Ruby and Murphy enjoying a little bit of an afternoon romp in the park.

As I look at this photo I think, wouldn’t it be funny if people played like this?  Hey buddy come here, I’m going to chase you around in circles as fast as I can and then tackle you, bite on your ear and face and then snif your butt a little later just cause I can.

Oh how I wish this was clear, but you get the idea.  I am sure there will be more opportunities for dirty dog shots, especially with Murphy.

It’s not because he likes fashion…

It’s because he has no shorts that fit.

So why wouldn’t you make your own, at the park on the first really warm day of Spring?

My Father In Law

Dennis

I was taking head shots of this amazing man today for the U of M.

We took 12, then it was a wrap and THEN he made me choose the best one.

I liked this one.

3-1=2

I was at the funeral of a neighbor a few weeks ago.  It was not your typical funeral, it was a service set in a theater.

There were poems, video montages of his work, photos of his life and stories shared by those he worked with and those who loved him most.  He made a huge impact in people lives.  He gave so much of his soul and spirit to his work, to his family and to everything he did.

I knew he and his wife and his daughter were a tight knit trio, but I had no idea how close.  Every facet of their lives were intertwined.  It was as if together they were a three legged stool and one of the legs had just broken off, never to be fixed.

The pain of loss so great.

I wept as I listened.

I wept at their loss.

I wept as the raw feelings being set out before everyone slowly washed over the theater.  This person with so much talent, love and wit, was now suddenly gone.

Life will not be the same.

Tiny pieces of him remain, but it isn’t the same.

It will never be the same.

After listening and seeing and experiencing who Bob was, through the eyes of so many, I walked away from the experience filled with the hope that I may live my life in such a way, that touches so many, so profoundly.

Oh how I love this…

It makes me want to crank up some music and throw some things around.

Mikhael Paskalev – I spy from André Chocron on Vimeo.

New Installment

After stumbling upon one of KP’s collections, I’ve decided I’m creating a new category called, “Funny shit my kids do”. And by “funny”, I most certainly mean odd.

KP likes to squirrel things away. I think as the third in the line, he feels like he doesn’t own anything of his own. So when he gets something, he wants to keep it, protect it and make sure nothing happens to it.

This is sitting on his desk. The plastic covering came from a toy he got at Christmas. It houses two pottery bowls he made at school.  A snoopy figure CT made at school and a jar of jam that he got from a French restaurant.

I couldn’t tell from just looking what was in the jar, so I dismantled it to find out.

I pulled out the jar and there was an odd shaped light yellow thing inside, it almost looked like a bloated dead wax worm you would use for fishing.

I opened up the lid…ohhhhh, it’s a garlic clove with a little bit of water to keep it nice and moist!

Those Chinese teachers would be proud, they taught the kids how to grow garlic over Christmas break, however it wasn’t in a jar, in the dark, but still there was some good knowledge transfer there, right? After all, he did set the terrarium like display in the sun.

I’ll check back at Easter to give you the mold report.