March 2023

Nick says they are 'washing feet' at school.  I've asked what this means in every way I can think of, and considering the school is Catholic, I can assume it's some sort of gesture to others.  But with a school full of smelly teenage boys, it sounds awkward at best.  I concluded Nick wasn't washing anyone's feet, so that's what matters, I suppose.

I asked Nick why he doesn’t unpack the Hot Wheels cars I buy him, and his response was, "Why don't you drive you car?"  Fair point.

Oh, and I turned 50 this month.  The girls came to the house with 50 beers and a very nice card, and we enjoyed the evening just catching up. It was a surprise gathering, even though I had it figured out a month in advance, and had to pick up my cake and dinner. It was the perfect low-key gathering, and I enjoyed it. I treated myself to a pair of hockey games this month, the Red Wings with the guys from work, and the Walleye with Jay. The latter also included some a good band at the Bier Stube, felt good to get out for an evening.

We finally got the scrap boards junked from all the insulation Brandi had delivered.  In 'Operation Woodchuck', we snuck them out under the cover of darkness and dropped them in the construction scrap pile in the next neighborhood over.

There are no photos with Nick in them this month, not even for my birthday.  When the celebration happened, he was nowhere to be found.

February 2023

We made a New Year's resolution to each more German sausages this year, I have no idea why. So far we're failing miserably.  Nick has discovered Granny Smith Apples, though, "Where have you been all my life?"
Nick's best line this month: "Can you smell that? I’m nose deaf."

Nick and I went to downtown Toledo to the Toledo Auto Show again this year, for some cars and a stop at Papalis across the street.  All I got out of it was a dent in the car.  Makes me want to hide all the more.

I was mostly gone for the month with work trips, from the great ice storm in Dallas to the blizzard in Park City. Successful work adventures for F-150 and Land Rover, saw some new places, including my coworker Gwen's farm (chickens!) north of Plano. From sliding thru Dallas on 2" of ice in my RWD Charger, to eating ham sandwiches for two days because everything was closed, then driving every FSPU on the market in Utah, and pushing the car along SR224 when 24" fell in 24 hours.  So there's no photos of Nick this month, I barely saw him, and I'm sure he's fine with that.  So all I got is clinic pictures.

January 2023

Nick's 16th birthday was a simple affair, he got a small cake and cookies from Mema, which be proceeded to light up in a near multi-alarm blaze, melting the wax on a good china plate.  He lives on paper plates, but when he goes for something outrageous like flames and sugar, he grabs the good dishes.

He learned the meaning of BFE this month, so that's something.  And he taught me about tank armor which he'd learned from podcasts, so that's what he's listening to frequently. 

Overall I was traveling for work to CES, where I saw my first concert in 30 years, Def Leppard at The Virgin, and got a demo of Handy.com.  I also did axe throwing for the first time on a short trip to see my California team.  Lots of travel early this year. 

Christmas 2022

Best vacation is Daytona Beach during the coldest Christmas in Florida in forty years, following a hurricane, and when those up north were snowed in and couldn't access the roads. Our first five days we barely saw other people, and had the hotel to ourselves.  We stayed at a new resort call The Max Resort Daytona, which was built to be condos but changed to a hotel before opening in June, so there was a full living room and kitchen, with two full bedrooms and baths, and our own laundry room. Best place we've stayed by far, and we've stayed in some nice places.

The resort was so nice we didn't venture out much. Did get to see the light display at the Daytona Speedway on Christmas Eve, which was cheesy but pleasant (and the one video Brandi shot has me cursing.)  Took a two-hour kayak run along the Halifax River, but it was too cold to see any wildlife, just boats and birds, and heavy waves from the wind that kept us paddling hard (Joey, our guide, was lame-o.) And I visited the Daytona Speedway for a track tour one morning on my own.  Nick spent most days on his laptop in the condo kitchen, but that's the vacation he wanted. (He was on the beach for one minute, and I got a photo.)

We walked the beach every day. Tide was high most of the time, and the view was generally remaining damage from Hurricane Nicole a couple months earlier, so many barriers and beach washed away. It was only 'warm' (above 65 degrees) on our first and last days, so we ate outside those days, but we still bundled up and got outside as much as possible.  We had fish at Riptide, stopped at

Landshark and Crabby's on the Beach, dinner at an outstanding Mexican restaurant where Brandi ordered 'the pig', and attempted twice to find decent pizza, being successful once.  From experience, Christmas dinner is the toughest, most places being closed, but the hotel had an outstanding chef, so we ate in at the hotel, and they served us in the 12th floor lounge, no one else around. The staff was outstanding, and well organized for the newness of the facility.

Nick got in a couple stops a Buc-ees along the highway, because his brisket sandwiches and candied cashews are the travel priority, and we avoided the bad weather at home. 

Photos here.

Jason

Nick's Life on the Beach

Got a photo of Nick on the beach again this year, and it aligned well with those from the past. Funny none of these are from Clearwater Beach where we've spent the most time. He's certainly traveled to his share of places in his young life.