The 43

Summer is officially in the home stretch. The weather has even cooled. Today was a slow Monday. The weekend was lazy. We had a soccer practice last week. I took the dog on a long walk yesterday. Lori's aunt visited yesterday and today. I lounged in the sun for a little while Saturday. Work seems to be trudging along. We had a cloud day that is a sure sign of August and that summer is concluding. And last week, a good friend from the boys' school who had been battling leukemia and finally winning against the disease developed meningitis and died kind of suddenly. I read the news while standing outside my car, waiting for Ben after school, and yelled out an audible "Fuck!" Her death was a gut punch to everyone. So maybe we call summer here. I've done this before: a tragedy drains any enthusiasm I had left for the season. I'll keep writing about these last days, and I want to get to the pool one more time. And I'm not going to stop enjoying working in...

The last two days for work have just seemed slow. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm needing long time to get chugging along. I'm hoping tomorrow is more productive, even though I'm co-oping for Ben's class in the morning. A mild storm rolled in this evening, with a lot of thunder but only a little rain. Still, it feels nice outside right now, with a nice breeze pushing through. I helped Michael trim back the wisteria that had been wrapping itself around what we think is the internet cable. Made macaroni and cheese and kielbasa for dinner. Ben and I played a game of Queendomino to cap off the night (I won).

Another week down. It's at that point of summer when I'm sad that I know it's coming to an end, but I'm ready for the routine of fall. Just a few weeks left, and that feeling of inevitability and focusing on the next thing is setting in. The last seven days weren't that eventful anyway. Ben started school today; Michael has survived his first whole week of high school. Lori and I went to the parent orientation on Friday and stayed for the football game (which Judge lost 41-0, but we only stayed for half when a thunderstorm moved through; it was only 13-0 at halftime, and I was surprised they even got the second half in. Ben's first soccer practices of the season were last week, and his first game was Saturday (we lost 8-3; we need more work passing and getting back on defense). The two of us played many board games the last week. I lounged in the yard a little bit over the weekend, and it felt good. The weather cooled off a little, and the haze set in over t...

I had a love-hate relationship playing baseball when I was young. Besides enjoying watching the Cubs on TV, collecting baseball cards, watching "This Week in Baseball" every Saturday, playing All-Star Baseball and Strat-o-Matic, and going to the ballpark, I also generally loved playing the game. Unfortunately, sometimes, the game didn't love me back ... In 1978, I played in a baseball league for the first time, t-ball at Norwood Park. I'm not sure why my parents just didn't sign me up to play ball at Oriole Park, which was closer, but I had fun nonetheless. The next spring, Dad signed me up to play at Oriole, and I was ready to move up to a league in which I could bat without a tee. This is from the year before Instructional League, when I enjoyed playing t-ball and avoided busting my face. However, because of my birthday and the fact it was my first year playing at Oriole Park, I was placed in the Instructional League. We went to the informational night f...

Another Monday, another week of summer. Michael had his first real day of school, outside of orientation (although the schedule only went to 1:30). He'll get used to the routine soon enough, but at least today, he didn't come home with homework. Ben starts up next Monday. My day went well. Worked on the porch and backyard, walked the dog around the block twice and then for an hour in the evening, and ate well (and began tracking what I eat again). Plus, I didn't cough much; the haze wasn't quite as bad today. Ben and I played Ticket to Ride: The Card Game (he won) and 7 Wonders Duel (I won twice) after dinner.

Thursday, I was a dad with two grade-schoolers. Friday, of my two boys, only one is in grammar school. Michael's first day of high school was Friday, and I'm still in disbelief that my little dude nearly 15 years after he was born is a freshman. Lori and I drove him to school and walked him down to where the orientation was starting. Upperclassmen were helping guide people through, and then lined the halls as the new freshmen walked into the auditorium. We didn't follow him in -- just said goodbye and headed to the cafeteria where parents could congregate for coffee. Lori and I hung out and talked to some other parents, which was perfect because we didn't have time to be sad over Michael's momentous milestone. Instead, we drove home and started our workday. We managed to get some details out of him when he got home, but in typical Michael fashion, he didn't share too much. And I must admit, after nine years at his old school, where parents could be involve...

I've written before about my fear of water as a kid and how the stress of it was almost as bad as the fear itself. As the 1980s progressed, I gradually -- very gradually -- overcame some of that fear to the point that in fall 1989, I actually was taking swim lessons at the YMCA that doubled as a Marquette dorm. Furthermore, I was always fascinated by water slides -- they looked like a lot of fun and I knew I was missing out. In the summer of 1985, my friends somehow convinced me to try a water slide for the first time. It didn't go quite exactly as I hoped. In suburban Oak Brook Terrace, Ebenezer Floppen Slopper's operated two stone water slides embedded into the hillside. You pretty much don't see these kinds of water slides anymore. Basically, they were concrete tracks at ground level, smoothed over so water would flow over them, and gravity would do the rest over a couple hundred twisting yards. This differed from the traditional fiberglass water slide that was ...

Today was just a plain work day, and I wasn't even in the backyard much. I had a project I wanted to finish, and it just felt I could achieve more focus at Beans and Brews than at home. Michael spent the day with a friend at Lagoon, and Ben spent another day inside -- I think he might be going a little stir crazy (he couldn't sleep last night, so I walked him around the block to wind down, but he was practically sprinting). I picked up pizzas for dinner and worked a little outside, then let Popcorn play with neighbor dogs. Ben and I played Alhambra to conclude the night (I won).

Well, I did manage a few hours sleep after my middle-of-the-night blog recapping Monday. However, I wasn't quite as dragging today as I thought. I'm tired now and will go to bed soon (and hopefully fall asleep easily), but my Tuesday wasn't as bad as I worried it would be. I worked in the backyard most of the day. The skies cleared a little bit and I could actually see blue instead of haze. I sneaked in a little nap during the afternoon. Michael and I went to Costco in the evening (where I became irritated with my doctor/the pharmacist/our insurance), then we went to Del Taco for Taco Tuesday. The wait for tacos was long, but by that point I wasn't in a rush. After dinner I took the dog for a walk. My only other complaint today was I'm in the bronchitis stage of my cold, meaning I'm coughing up crap from my lungs. It's not too bad but annoying. I'm hoping it's over tomorrow. I sick of being sick during the summer.

This post is coming to you from insomnia land. I'm having trouble falling asleep tonight, I think because I worked a little late and my brain never unwound. The haze is still hanging around the valley and I've been reluctant to take the dog on a longer walk, but I think I need to so I can properly unwind. I'm going to be dragging all day Tuesday ... As for Monday, it was a Monday of work in which I felt like worked a lot but didn't get enough done. I did meet my old friend Ryan and his wife for lunch at Wasatch Brewery, which was nice. I grilled burgers for dinner. With that, I'm going to try to get some sleep.

Most of these summer recollections have been from my youth. After 18 years out west, I wanted to share one from my adulthood: the summer we moved from Madison to Utah. Lori and I had known a change was coming. I had interviewed in Salt Lake in early June, and other newspapers were calling. Initially, The Salt Lake Tribune didn't hire me -- I found out later the paper was looking to hire a little cheaper than what I was already at. But there was no rush. Lori and I settled into another Madison summer ... and summers in Madison and Wisconsin were always great. Then around the beginning of July, I got a call asking if I still wanted the job. Another opening happened, and they now needed someone experienced to come in to fill the void. I got the offer on a Saturday, Lori and I took all day Sunday to decide if we wanted to make such a bold move, and Monday, I accepted. We had a little more three weeks before I started, and we would make the big move in about six weeks so Lori could ...

Another long break in summer blogging, but in this case, I didn't have the energy to write instead of just being lazy. The last two weeks have been busy: Ben swam at the state meet and swam well, finishing sixth in state in the 50 back and seventh in the 100 back. He also led off a relay that took fourth. The state meet is a long affair -- four days -- but we've got the routine down pretty well. His team swam great as well. On the last night, we all went to Wasatch Brewery in Sugar House to celebrate another successful state meet and long-course season.  Michael played in a basketball tournament in Vegas without us. He was asked to play up with the U15s again, and one family drove him down and back, and another took care of him for four days. He played well in the tourney -- nothing like getting a text from a dad saying Michael had a great game.  Last Thursday and Friday, Michael swam in the conference meet for his rec team and took home a trophy for being the third-high...