Taking him Down to Chinatown!

We're changing Nico's school situation so that he is only going three days a week. It's much cheaper, which is nice, but frankly, I wanted to be able to do some fun things with him- it seems like our weekends go by so fast. I'm looking forward to doing summer stuff with him, since he's starting to get cool. Uncle JJ had a few unexpected days off this weekend, so he came down to Chicago.   We ended up taking him with us to the dragon boat races in Chinatown- which was cool. Nico's still stressing me out with the food. We went to a Chinese place and ordered him fried dough- which came with a dish of frosting. He wanted no part of it. None!!

I guess some day he'll figure it out- that his parents aren't totally full of shit. Until then- I guess we'll do with hotdogs and grilled cheese.

Strawberries and Summer

This weekend was pretty fun.  I had two photoshoots on Saturday- one for a woman who is getting her social media/branding/blogging business of the ground and a CrossFit event.  The first was nice because she was a photographer's dream: she moved and held different kinds of poses, was open and flexible to my ideas, had several different outfits.  The second was fun because it was CrossFit, and since most of my Chicago friends are my gym friends, it was cool. 

Sunday, we drove out to Earlville to go Strawberry picking.  This is our second annual trip.  Last year, it was just Nico and me, and well, he was pretty much done after about 20 minutes.  This year, he was much more into it... although it was a scotch warm.  Dave came with us this time, which dramatically increased our strawberry haul.  All said, I think we ended up with about 4 gallons of strawberries.  Which is good news for me, because I am working on a pie.  And its good news for Nico because well, strawberries.  

Summer is about to be on us.  I am done teaching (yay).  We are going to change Nico's school situation- so that instead of sending him 5 days a week, we'll send him three days a week.  I am pretty excited about this, because it increases the time for adventures.  Let's just say that he'll be glad when school starts, because he will be worn out from all the adventures I am planning on us doing.  

Other than that, not much going on.  Joe and Jack are coming to town (one of Dave's oldest Tallahassee friends and his son), and they're all going to a Cubs game tonight.  Even better, the house is moderately clean (yay for out of town guests!!).  One of my gym friends is doing a thing tonight for the Moth radio hour, so I might go check that out!  Life is pretty great now.   

Fun for the boys, none for the mom!

It's the end of the quarter and I just want it to be over.  I want the grading to be over.  I explicitly set up the quarter to have final projects due the second to last week of class and then exams in the last week of class.  In my benevolent mercy, I granted an extension on the final projects.  STUPID.  Because now the grading seems like it will never end.  Boo!!

Dave and Nico are in Louisville this week.  Dave's parents came up from Miami for a high school reunion (I think).  So Nico and Dave went down there this weekend and are staying with Mike and Gay with Tony and Kathy.  Nico is having a blast with them... following Grandma around, catching lightning bugs with Kaley (Tony and Kathy's grand daughter), and riding on lawnmowers.  

What is not to love, right?

Dave has been doing judo. And I have been stuck in Chicago!  Doing work!!  I never get to have any fun!!  

Spring and Summer

It's been busy here. 

Hey guess what I learned?  Teaching in quarters is actually harder than teaching in semesters.The quarters feel so much shorter than semesters.  I am very much looking forward to not teaching for a couple of months.  Biking to and from work every day.  Hanging out with my boys in the evenings.  Picnics at the Lake. I have even made my list of things I want to do this summer.  It's pretty crazy. I think in the next couple of weeks we might be able to go strawberry picking.  STRAWBERRY PICKING!! 

The good news is that summer is ramping up a bit.  The weather has been nice-so we've been outside a lot more.  We got a new law guy and got the grass cut for the first time since last summer. We were totally those people.  Meh. 

Nico is getting pretty funny lately.  I know I have said it every age since he was born, but THIS age  is my favorite.  We're getting to the age where it isn't all about him all the time.  Case in point: we have started reading The Little House in the Big Woods.  Which is kind of a departure from most books he likes... there aren't many pictures, and its not about super heroes or fireman or police men.  So that is nice.

Also, we have started trying to broaden what he watches... he still likes Lego shows and such.  But he's starting to sit down for things like Ken Burns' The West.  He's also starting to get into playing a lot by himself.  Of course, he is also starting to get very dramatic.  His new thing is lay on the floor and claim to be too tired to ________________.  It's not annoying.  At all. 

Other than that, I have started to do olympic lifting at my gym.  Remember when I had three knee surgeries in college?  Remember when I also had an ankle surgery in 2010? The result was that I hadn't gone down into a full squat (hips below knees) in like 15 years.  And when I started CrossFit, I skipped any day that had snatches (taking the bar from the floor to overhead) or cleans (taking the bar to shoulders).  The full movement results in hips below knees (which was a no fly zone for me).  But then I found out I could modify the movements to the power position (which is standing mostly up) and love them both now.  One of our coaches has been doing a fundamentals class once a week which is pretty great. 

I'm terrible at them.  It's largely a function of the way I approach mastery of movements... which is to do something thousands of times not till I get it right, but until I never get it wrong. I think my movement is getting decent with cleans, but snatches are an absolute disaster.  In fact, last week, I racked myself in the chin with the bar.  And then about 10 minutes later I caught myself on the top of my own head.  My own head.  I don't even understand how that happened.   

But it's pretty fun.  Now that the weather is nice, Dave and I are looking forward to playing outdoor soccer again.  Just gotta find a team.