Homerun Nico!

So, Dave got Nico a baseball bat this weekend.  Its not wooden or metal or anything (one of those fat plastic ones).  He can swing and hit the ball:


Not all the time.  But he is only 2.  Also, check out that Marlins hat.  That was from Grandpa Royse.  Apparently we are going to have to have a conversation with Mike about his taste in baseball teams :)  Just what we need is for the boy to start liking the Marlins?  Seriously, the Marlins?  There is nothing redeeming about liking the Marlins.  If you like the Red Sox or the Yankees that says something (you like the rivalry).  If you like the Cubs that says you are a glutton for punishment.  If you like the Tigers, you're old school.  But the Marlins?  To be fair, Nico hit a lot better when he was wearing the Marlins hat (than when he was wearing the Cubs hat- which is to be expected, no one hits well when they are wearing a Cubs hat... not even actual Cubs... man, I am ripping all over everything today, aren't I?)

The one thing we are going to have to work on is the fact that Nico isn't really coachable.  For example, he had this weird Tomahawk chop way of hitting... where he stands open to the pitch, raises the bat over his head and tries to hit it.  I'm trying to teach him the better way of doing it... I don't really know if it is BETTER, but I have never seen a pro hitter do the Tomahawk chop and be successful- plus the physics just don't work for me.  I also know the language at least a little bit, like, "You gotta open up your stance... get that bat off your shoulder, get your hands together... keep your eye on the ball..."  But Nico just wants to do it his way.

He got a little better about it when I batted like you're supposed to and hit two good ones.  So at least that is evidence that he could do it his way and suck or do it the right way and get hits.  I can almost see him putting 2 and 2 together and realizing his parents aren't totally full of $hit!!

The Actor's Studio

So this weekend was pretty fun.  We had a good time!  Dave was starting to get sick on Friday night, early Saturday, so we got out of the house so he could sleep in.  On Saturday, I took Nico up to Thomasville to watch some of our high school girls play soccer (they are playing for TUFC now).  Among them was our soon to be baller goalkeeper.  She did pretty well, made some big saves.  Until about 5 minutes left, when she gave up two.  But the other team (a Georgia team) was impressed and invited her to play State Cup with them.  So that is pretty cool.

Saturday afternoon, I ran some errands while Nico and Dave hung out.  Before dinner, Nico and I worked on an art project/experiment.  You see, I dont have a window in my office and I got the idea from someone I work with to get a big painting of the sky or the grass or something.  What I want is this:

But since not even I can justify 300+ dollars for a painting.... I may have to DIY this.  I think I could live with this:

In any case, I dont want to buy a 40 or 50 dollar canvas and not have it work out for me, so I bought some of the materials and did a little experiment with Nico.  Here we are putting the modeling paste onto a small canvas.  We are using actual modeling paste and some cheaper "texture paste" from Martha Stewart.  Nico was a big help!

Saturday night, Dave and I watched "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."  I had recently read the book.  It was good.  Gruesome... but good.

Sunday morning, Dave and Nico let me sleep in (which was nice).  Sunday afternoon we went to a birthday party (our little friend Zoe turned 1!!).  We had a good time at their place, playing ball and snacking.  Sunday night, Dave and I played soccer.  After his bath, Nico called me into our room to show me this:


Hilarious!!

1990

Nico is starting to pretend.  Yesterday I noticed it when we went to Earth Fare, which is a hippie grocery.  We had a coupon for 50% of fillet mignon (there is a reason its so expensive.  I was able to cut the left overs today with a plastic knife.  so good).  Plus, Nico likes going there because they have little kid sized grocery carts.  In any case, I am always a little nervous because I am afraid he is going to run the cart into someone or worse, clip in the back of my achilles.  That would be the worst.

In any case, we're walking around the store and when we stop, I get what we need, hand it to Nico and he puts it in the cart.  Then I say, "Okay let's go to_______", to which he says, "No!  I gotta get some more stuff!"  And then he picks out a spot on the floor, runs over to it, "picks something up" and runs back to the cart to "put it in" (pretending).  It was really funny.  I guess its better than the other thing he did, which is to put random items in my cart (including a 6 dollar wedge of Davinci Gouda... on the upside, he does have good taste (even if he didnt like the cheese himself, it ended up being pretty good), on the downside, he apparently has expensive taste).

In any case, now that the time has changed, we are having more fun at home.  We water the garden nearly every day.  Nico likes to work the hose and "brace his legs like a fireman".  We had a bit of a dustup yesterday because someone (Dave) put socks AND sandals on Nico.  And by dustup, I mostly just made fun of him.  Behold!

Heh!  All for now!!

Funs and Travels.

We had a really fun weekend around here.  It started on Saturday when I went down to Woodville for a run and to train my new goalkeeper (side note:  She's going to be pretty good.  She is so STRONG!  has a good work ethic.  And while she has been on the verge of tears several times during training sessions, she hasn't quit goalkeeping yet.  She's a great kid, too.  And she isn't a princess.  I dont think I am going to have to have the conversation about why wearing makeup in games....this is a bonus!!)

I ran on the trail... which was like, "meh."  I was having a good time of it, feeling good (it was only a three mile run) when I get passed by a pack of GAZELLES.  Here I am, overweight, red, sweaty, puffy faced, ready to die, and this pack of gazelles moves around me like I am standing still, in their little uniforms of spandex shorts and sports bras and six packs and pin straight hair pulled back into thin ponytails.  Oh well.

On my way back into town, I stopped by the hardware store in Woodville and picked up some more plants and seeds.  When I got home, I worked in the garden a bit because Dave and Nico weren't home yet.  They had gone swimming (so much fun!).  Saturday night Dave took Nico to the Irish festival downtown, Nico got to see bagpipes, which was cool.  We had a Nap:Fail on Saturday, so they didnt stay long.  I was at home doing cleans.

Sunday, Nico and I headed out early.  We had some errands to run.  Nico needed socks and such.  We also had to take his books back to the library in Woodville.  Since we were there, we stopped and played soccer and played on the play ground.



He had a really good time.  We went home and had lunch and naps.  Sunday night, Dave and I went to go play soccer.  Nico was not really that happy about this.  Dave and I had fun.  We picked up onto another team (since our team had a bye).  We didnt think that the team would be that good... it looked like some jackassery from the start.  One of our guys was sent off with an undeserved red card.  And we played against a kick and run team with a bunch of fast Hispanic guys up front.

The bad news is that I gave up 3 goals.  Obviously not pleased with that.  But we did win and I made a bunch of saves.  Good ones.  And I got my arm scrapped up:

So that was cool.  Dave and I have some fun travel plans for the next few months.  First, we are going to Louisville for Derby week next month.  Yay.  There will be boat races and parades and hot air balloon races. Fun.  Then we are going to a wedding on Siesta Key in May.  We have also bought tickets for a soccer game  (US men v. Scotland) on May 26 in Jacksonville.  I dont think I have ever seen the US men play, so that is pretty exciting.

I have a conference in Orlando in June- so Dave and Nico might come down for a trip to Sea World.  I think that would be a major blast.  Nico would really like it, I think.  Then in July we are going to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a Bishop family holiday.  Nicole and Cody are coming East and we are heading west.  Should be lots of fun.  I am hoping to fish and swim and be a bum.

I am trying to get some players together to play in Dallas at Labor Day.  My good friend Julia lives there now (and plays).  Am hoping she might be able to take the 4 players we have put us on a team.  That would be fun.

All for now.  I am off.

Dancing Man

Last night I took this video of Nico dancing:


Isn't he just adorable?

In other news, really glad it is the weekend.  I got paid from Wakulla this week (finally).  And now I am getting an ipad.  I have been wanting a tablet for a while... I told Dave not to get me anything for Christmas or Valentines Day because I wanted to get a tablet and not feel bad about it.  I had the hardest time figuring out what I wanted.  I didnt want to lose all my current Kindle content.  And I wanted to be able to watch video content even if I didnt have a wifi or a 3g signal (having a 64 gb hard drive would suffice, I think).  Plus, being able to run it off 3G is nice.  I waited to see if the ipad3 would have something really amazing (like it would fly or allow me to get my 21 year old body back).  Since it didnt, I felt no need to get the ipad 3.  The upgrades they made from the ipad 2 probably wouldnt even be noticable by yours truly.  So I pulled the trigger and got it.
Woo hoo!! So excited.  Hopefully it will come this weekend.  Now the only thing will be to keep Nico from using it.  :)

Also, I think we are going to Louisville for the week before Derby.  I have gotten the okay from my boss.  Nico is going to love it.  We are going the week before because we think he'd like the hot air balloon race, the boat show and the parade.  Wont stay for the race though.

I gotta do some chores!

Not much new going around here.  Last week Granny You was up to hang with Nico while his school was closed during Spring Break.  I think they pretty much wore each other out.

Thursday night, I took Nico up to the Capitol to see Dave.  Since it was the last week of the session, he had a bunch of late nights.  So I took Nico up there to say good night to Dave.  It was nice.  Nico was not too happy about having to leave.

Saturday, I drove Granny You back to SW Florida and caught some of Madi's game at the IMG soccer tournament in Bradenton.  If you will remember, I played one glorious summer with IMG in the W-League.  The facility is still really nice.  It would be wonderful if we were ever in a place to be able to allow Nico to do that when he gets older (if he likes soccer that much).  Madi did well.  Scored 2 of 4 goals in their win on Friday night.  Assisted the equalizer on Saturday.

Nico caught a quick nap in the car on the way to Bradenton and was a champ.  After dinner he slept most of the way home while I listened to Girl with a Dragon tattoo.  Am hoping to finish it soon so I can see the movie (FINALLY).  

Sunday we hung around the house and relaxed mostly. Dave and Nico let me sleep in.  During this time, Nico told Dave that he had to do some chores.  And when they went to get breakfast, Nico ordered his own food.  Can you believe that? That is amazing! When I woke up, I took Nico up to see some of our other Wakulla girls play soccer at the FSU IM fields.  I have been slowly working on getting the house back in order.

Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time getting mine and Dave's room back in shape.  Then we went to see Safe House last night.  It was pretty good.  Again, Nico was not too happy to be left with the sitter.  :(
Am sorta glad daylight savings time here is here, so we can start working in the garden again.  Nico really likes helping.  And I'd like to get some seeds in the ground.  :)

Snail Mail

So we've had Granny You in town of late.  She is here to hang out with Nico during his spring break.  Oh yeah, you heard me.  HIS SPRING BREAK.  Wha-what?  Know that saying, "Youth is wasted on the young?"  this particular situation exemplifies this.  What does he need a spring break for?  What does he know?

So, like a chump, I have been working.  Not so much a big fan of the work during spring break.  :(

This is pretty cool... so one of the things about this project I am working on, is requesting medical records for patients who consented to be part of our study.  I have been a bit bummed because it seems like we werent getting a lot of records that we had requested.  Until I passed an Admin Assistant in the hall and she told me that my mail box was blowing up.  Turns out a lot of offices are sending records via snail mail.  Isnt that awesome?  Woooo hooooo!!

In other news, a peer at FSU (she is an instructor in Sociology) turned me on to new music.  This guy Yt is apparently a grad student in Sociology.  At FSU.


I am currently trying to figure out how to ask him to write/record a song for the War Eagles.  Seriously.  How amazing would that be?

Fencing...

Nico and Dave fencing.



Yes.  Nico is wearing a garbage can on his head.  As a shield.  Whatev!