May 2023

School was done early this year, before Memorial Day. Nick aced his exams and finished with mostly A's and a couple B's.  And somehow I never see him study.  Now I know what the other side of this equation feels like.  It's already time to sort out classes for next year. He finished the last day (Brandi was in Atlanta for Seth's HS graduation), and the two of us got mowing and car washing and perparing for a long restful weekend.  Two hours outside and he still manages to fart just at the moment we get into the car, rolling down the wet window and smearing the clean glass; this is now known as 'FartGate'.  He did practice for his most recent piano recital, two pieces, very well done, posted the video here.

I took a short trip around the south for a couple days, two stops for business in Atlanta which included a my first ballgame at Truist Park (with $70 parking), Chattanooga for dinner with friends at the Flying Squirrel, watching Noah win his championship baseball game in a 10-0 mercy in 5 innings in Cincinnati, touring the Biltmore, two GA car museums in the Savoy and Old Car City, a weekend with Cindy around Athens which included two art fairs, rooftop bars, AWS wine tasting (no skydiving), and too much eating, and finally a stop in Pinehurst. It felt good to get out and stretch.

Nick's best line of the month:
Me: "You don't eat enough vegetables."
Nick: "I accidentally ate the paper on the summer sausage, it's made from a tree, technically that's a vegetable."

Photos for the year so far are here.

Jason

April 2023

We took a family outing to Mansfield, OH to visit the Ohio Reformatory, which is a non-profit museum now, the prison where Shawshank was filmed.  We were packing to leave, and Brandi is stuffing medallions of St. Benedict in our pockets so the ghosts don't follow us home.  Apparently sold in bags of 150, she's spread them all over our property.  Came in handy, though, I traded one to the tour guide at the prison for a sneak peak to some bonus areas. The stories of suffering echo throughout the building, it's fascinating and awkward all at once.  And a great pizza at Two Cousins pizza in town.  Check out Brandi's Shawshank pose at the warden's desk... dark, and sweet.

Easter was quiet at home, Nick still gets baskets and eggs filled with cash. And I made a short trip to Catawba where Brad and I took a drive around Lakeside to take in the outdoors before the crowds come for summer. It was a quiet month with Brandi still working until June, so we're staying close to home.

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.