May 2019

Nick has goatee like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. The doctor says he's about halfway through puberty.  I didn't know they measured that stuff.  When Brandi told me on the phone, following his checkup, I thought she also said he tested, "90th percentile white", which seems an awkward thing to measure, but he's certainly whiter than other kids. She said, "height", which makes more sense. What matters is he's a good person with a sense of humor, like walking through the Meijer, pointing to the top shelf, and saying, "Look, high Tide."

It was a low-key month, with Robert Brushaber's HS graduation and a quiet Memorial Day weekend.  It's not like we did nothing, just most of the time was tending to the disaster we now call home... sewer collapsed under the driveway and backed into our basement in week six, mold in the attic, missing peak vents, no HVAC for two months and counting, no yard, no working washer-and-dryer for two months (on the second repaired set now.) The neighbors (who are all having their own problems) are going to make us Internet sensations as they keep photographing and posting the shit at our house.  Our issues are setting the pace. Nick thinks it's cool when he can pee in a bucket in the middle of the night because there's no working plumbing, so there's some thrill from all this nightmare.

We made a Taco Bell run late one evening, and I asked him not to get one of those Watermelon Freeze things because he gets so whacked out on the sugar he won't sleep and won't shut up. He convinces me a small one will be OK.  As we start to eat, he leaves the table, and comes back two minutes later with a second one, now one each hand hand. They gave him the wrong flavor, made a new one, and he got to keep both. It was a non-stop evening of blab.  Ugh.

Jason

April 2019

We attended '80's Nite' at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with the girls early in the month. Started the evening at Punch Bowl Social where the kids could run and we could eat, was busy but we squeezed our way in. I suspect Mason was surprised by the size of Nick, who is heads taller than everyone now, including his mother.

We moved from our condo at the end of April, which was a slow process over roughly six weeks.  You'll see pictures of Nick being present, but he wasn't a ton of help... wearing lampshades and laying across the back of the couch to test the view of the TV is hardly helpful. But he was patient as we shopped for furniture and got organized, it's never simple with us. As Brandi mentioned the piano requires movers, his comment, "When the piano moves you're going to have to pay me $5 to practice. I like this getting money thing." His grandfather has ruined him.

He visited SFS again for an evening of registration and selected classes.  The curriculum is like a small college, he'll be taking engineering classes in the Fall in seventh grade.

A few photos here.

Jason

March 2019

If it seems like all the pictures this month are of Nick asleep, it could be he's tired from all the moving activity into our new house. Or maybe it's the carbon monoxide coming from our furnace, which has now been inoperable for two months because it was poisoning us. Hard telling.  He hasn't lost his sense of humor, though.  I noticed a shampoo packet on the table from Mr. Bronners, and Nick had quietly scribbled out the 'r' and an 'n' when no one was looking.

He's been somewhat helpful with the move when not being gassed to sleep, such as helping me assemble my new desk.  There were areas so hard to reach, only his thin frame could squeeze in to do the job.  Then he helped me assemble a metal cabinet for the garage. Couldn't have done it without him. 

Nick also had a day at St. Francis, where we have him enrolled to start 7th Grade in the Fall.  They liked him, and he picked the school because they have good chicken nugget in the cafeteria.  Not completely, but so far it seems like a good match, as they have a very career-focused curriculum even starting at grade seven.

A few pics here.

Jason

February 2019

The preparation for moving and finishing the house consumes our time. We did an evening in Detroit again on a Saturday night.  Started at the Detroit Beer Company where we had an amazing dinner, followed by the DSO which played movie themes.  There was a rowdy bunch of guys next to us, even in the balcony, but they didn't ruin the evening... we moved.  The music was captivating, from The Magnificent Seven, to Superman, to Back to the Future.  The last seven minutes was the closing to E.T. which gave me goosebumps.  So after hearing this music, and then seeing Top Gun, Nick decided he wanted to learn the music for piano. His teacher helped him write a solid version, which he can nearly completely play now. I'll sneak of video of him playing eventually.  Along with the war documentaries, he's heavy into planes now.  A coworker sent an old John Wayne war movie, and Nick's watched it a couple of times.

Nick did get some time with friends, from a steak dinner at Blackrock with Jack, to his buddy Aiden who is a little older but has the same passion for trains. He's inspired to Nick to build a train table in our basement.  Soon, but not yet.

Few photos here this month.

Jason

January 2019

Brandi and I attended the North American International Auto Show Charity Preview this year, with Rich and Michelle Clarke. We started the evening at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Party, rode the people mover to the show, then returned to the David Whitney for dinner. It was a good reason to dress up, pull out the tuxedo and coats, and hobnob with the society of Detroit. The champagne is legendarily average, but the party handing out bedroom slippers to the women who attended was a really good idea. It was just nice to get out for an evening with good food and friends.

His birthday was relatively quiet as we recovered from the Christmas holiday. He got a Toledo Walleye jersey, which is kinda cool, but not his passion, either. (Dad thinks it's cool.)

Nick and I took a Saturday trip to Cleveland, visiting the Crawford Museum where they had a Radwood display this month (Radwood originated in California as an event for vehicles from the 80's and 90's.) There was a small war plane display as well, although not enough for Nick. An adjacent museum has an excellent collection of content from WWI, which was impressive. We followed-up the museum with pizza at Citizen Pie, and ice cream at Mitchell's.

Few pictures from here in January.

Jason