The 43

When I walked on the pool deck to get Ben from swim practice this morning, I saw him sitting on the side, chattering. His coach told me he was frustrated today because he just didn't feel like swimming and was tired. She was proud of him and told him not to beat himself up so much if he is tired. He had mentioned being tired this morning before he left, then told that to Lori when he dropped him off. After I got him, he took a long, hot shower, got dressed, and watched Michael's diving practice. He seemed to exude more energy than before -- not doing cartwheels, but not totally a lump, either. After we got home and after lunch, I checked to see if Ben's forehead was warm. He didn't seem too warm, but maybe warm is the new normal in this stretch of hot weather. But when I actually took his temperature, it was around 101. That would explain the chattering and fatigue this morning, and yesterday him wanting to come home from playing with his best friend (he was complaini...

Blessedly, today wasn't a lazy day. The boys had swim practice this morning, then playdates in the early afternoon. I was participating in a blogging webinar and was grateful to have the house to myself. The webinar, hosted by Jeff Goins and Derek Halpern , was good in that it inspired me a little to really get going on starting the next blog I'm planning. Some of the advice was enlightening, but I was a little turned off when the webinar turned into a sales pitch for a longer course on blogging, seemingly more aimed toward bloggers using a blog to sell something. Though I'd love my next blog to get enough traffic to provide a few dollars off ads -- as well as providing more visibility for my writing -- I'm not looking to be an entrepreneurial blogger, which some of the strategies were aimed toward. Nonetheless, I'm glad I listened to the webinar, most importantly because it got me jazzed to seriously plan my blogs' direction. Later in the afternoon, we to...

I've mentioned a few times in the past couple weeks experiencing somewhat lazier summer days brought on sometimes out of circumstance, sometimes out of necessity. I was accepting that these days are inevitable and not to get too bent out of shape when they happen. Today was one of those days, and I'll be honest, I'm getting annoyed. Tuesday was hot again. We usually don't get this much heat until July, suggesting that by August, I might be ready for winter. No, that won't happen, but the high temps are hampering what we want to do outside. We took Popcorn to the park for a little while to throw the ball to her, but without any shade, this much heat and sun is a little too much for a sprinting black dog. We stayed only about 10-15 minutes before going home and cooling her off. The boys didn't go to swim practice this morning, instead going to the afternoon session. They have been reluctant to do anything in the heat as well, begrudgingly going to the park w...

Monday, Monday ... I'm writing this Tuesday and trying to remember my Monday. The boys had swim and dive practice in the morning. Ben was upset during his swim time because his goggles didn't work the way he wanted -- his old pair broke last week -- so later in the day we went to the swim shop and bought him two new pairs (thinking at he'll be happy with at least one of them). I bought Michael a new pair as well. The boys swam in a meet later Monday. Michael dove OK, then struggled a little during the meet. For some reason, he didn't swim a freestyle this meet, but instead competed in two backstrokes (one in a relay) and, for the first time, the breaststroke. We didn't expect much from the breast -- his time wasn't great, but the best part was the Joker-smile he appeared to be flashing every time his head came out of the water -- but thought he would do great in the backstroke after last week. He started both out strong, then lost focus. I was volunteering a...

I had a Sunday off today. I usually work Sundays -- and will go back to them come NFL season -- so I was psyched to have an extra whole weekend day off with the family. And ... we did nothing. Lori woke up feeling sick this morning and needed to take it easy all day. The heat was simmering outside again, this time with clouds (I'm outside at 11:30 and it has barely cooled off), and I didn't want to take Popcorn out in it, especially after our long hike yesterday. I thought taking the boys to the pool would be fun. I put on board shorts, filled a small cooler with snacks and asked them if they wanted to go. Amazingly, they didn't. Maybe they were tired, too, but they were content to stay inside and play all day. I was a little bummed -- I don't like wasting summer days -- but maybe the rest of the family needed the break. I said to Lori yesterday that we had nothing planned for today. Perhaps after busy day upon busy day, nothing planned equals rest. Lori surely ne...

Hiss. Rattle. Oh my.  I was hiking with Popcorn on the Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon when she looked to go down a slope to get to a little creek, presumably to get a drink. She edged down slowly while trying to find her footing when something caught her attention. That's when I heard it. Hiss. Rattle. Popcorn wisely didn't approach the rattlesnake after that, instead running down the slope to the stream. Though I never saw the whole rattlesnake, I did see its back half, including the rattle, slithering behind a gap between a board holding up the trail and the trail itself, away from where Popcorn just ran down. She ran back up straight to me, not coming near where the rattlesnake was.As we continued our four-mile hike, I wondered how I would have gotten her off the trail and out of the canyon to an animal hospital quickly. Thankfully, the rattlesnake just used its natural defenses to scare Popcorn, who got the hint. The rest of the hike was uneventful. We were i...

Today's recap is going to be as short as yesterday's. The boys had a long swim practice this morning, followed by Michael's diving practice. Afterward, we went to breakfast at The Original Pancake House, where the boys tore through their meals in less than three minutes. I fear the days when they eat everything in sight are near. When we got home, I was still tired from last night's late work shift and zonked out for long enough that I started dreaming. After waking up, I mopped the floors, started inflating the kiddie pool, took a shower and came to work. The section is small tonight and I'm done laying it out, so I'm taking some time to write here on the balcony. The air is hazy from a wildfire burning about 30 miles away. The sun has set and the breeze is nice, even if its fanning flames in the next county south. Day 34 got interesting ...