The 43

Ben started sneezing and being stuffy yesterday. Today, Lori and I showed the same symptoms. Damn, I better not be catching a cold to end the summer. Today seemed busy but unproductive. I went to pick up both teams' soccer uniforms and tried to get a roster mistake fixed, but to no avail. Our email address might have been compromised, and we couldn't get that resolved tonight. The DVR receiver appears to be on the fritz. And I'm doing a fantasy football draft, right now, but every pick we want seems to be going one spot before us. And, I'm sniffling. We are hoping that something we're all allergic too is simply blooming and being brought inside by the dog. I'm hoping Friday is less frustrating. Yes, I got a cold.

My, I'm tired right now as I type this. The summer is wearing even on my summer posting project. I don't want to be quick about this, but I'm ready for bed. Let's see where I go with this ... First, Tuesday, which was my first day co-oping of the new school year. And it is the first time in which I'm co-oping the entire day instead of splitting the co-op shifts between two days. This was by choice, and in the long run, I'm going to appreciate this more, but I was expecting some adapting to this schedule. By 1 or so, I was dragging a little. Next week, I need to sneak a soda (remember, I don't like coffee) in to drink before the afternoon co-oping. Otherwise, the day went well. I'm going to enjoy helping out in the boys' classes. We got home and I napped a little. Then, we took Popcorn to Petsmart, where we were enamored with a feisty kitten missing an eye that was up for adoption. Thankfully, we came home with just pet food. I made sliders for di...

Two days of posts. First, Sunday: I worked in the evening. The shift was easy, but I was annoyed when I went to Costa Vida, normally open until 8, to discover it closed at 7. Nothing else is open in the mall that late, so I drove to Wendy's for dinner -- not what I had in mind. I threw the ball to Popcorn in the morning. Did some laundry in the afternoon. Worked in the evening. Now today, Monday. This was my first full day of both boys at school the whole day. I had made this big list last week of everything I want to accomplish with the hours of extra time I will now get with Ben in school all day. So after not sleeping well last night, I woke up, ate breakfast ... and didn't know what to do next. I couldn't even fall back asleep after my rough slumber. I posted my plight to a stay-at-home-dads forum I read, and someone gave good advice: The list can wait; enjoy the serenity of today. Then another day posted this suggestion: Go to the pool and swim without the kids. The...

Kind of a boring day today. And I'm not apologizing for it. The boys went to a birthday party for one of Ben's friends. We had a minor plumbing emergency that we addressed. We watched "Mr. Mom" on Netflix. I took Popcorn for a walk. I'm sitting outside and it's actually cooler tonight. That was our Saturday. Again, no apologies. Two days of summer on deck.

I got a whole morning to myself, with the boys at school and no need for me to go in. They didn't have a full day -- those start next week, at which point my free time increases. So what did I do with my free morning? Come up with a plan for the extra time while both boys are in school full-time. More working out. More writing. More freelancing. And while summer is winding down, a little more time in the sun. I picked the boys up and brought them home, and once again, we weren't that driven to do anything. The routine will develop next week. After Lori got home and we ate dinner, we all went to a high school football game, where the local favorite Highland High defeated Cedar City 27-0. The boys had fun (Ben wanted to dance to the cheerleading songs and even belted out of a few lines of "Call Me Maybe") but tired out somewhat quickly. We returned home and I took Popcorn for a walk. Here's Day 96.

Everything seemed just off-kilter on Thursday. Maybe we were all just tired. The boys had an OK day at school. I ate lunch with Ben and helped in the classroom for the rest of the shortened day. We were slugs in the afternoon after we got home, but that wasn't surprising considering how busy our previous day was. I tried getting a roster mistake on Michael's soccer team, which I'm not coaching, fixed, but with no luck yet -- and that flustered me for the rest of the afternoon. Lori brought home Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. I played a little Wii with Michael. I took Popcorn for a three-mile walk in temps that hadn't cooled off even after dark (I have complained about this before -- this August hasn't felt like high desert). I wanted to blog last night, but sat down, watched "History Detectives" and almost dozed off during it. So, I went to bed early. A routine is imminent. Just not this week. Here comes Day 95.

Wow, what a long, eventful, great day. Next time you want to make the first day of school memorable, go to an amusement park afterward. The boys were awake bright and early, eager to start their school day. Lori made them lunches and took pictures of them outside our maple, and we loaded into the Corolla to drive to day one of the 2012-2013 school year. One great thing about the boys' school -- a co-op school where parents help in class -- is that parents aren't shunned from the classroom if it's not their co-op day. No we're not encouraged to be there every day, but on the first day of school, to see how what our kids' new classes were like, we were welcomed. I spent a good chunk of the morning in Michael's new 2/3 class and helped out a little after a co-oper failed to show. From the first couple hours, I could tell Michael is going to do great. As an older kid in his 1/2 last year, he became a role model and a good friend for the younger kids. On his firs...