One Boy at a Time

NICO

Nico's latest hijinks involve charming cute girls and then taking advantage of them. Everyday for pre-school, we (mostly Carma) pack Nico a bunch of food for snacks throughout the day to complement his school lunch. This apparently is still not enough food to satisfy his insatiable appetite. 

No, now Nico has resorted to charming the girls in his class to share their lunches with him too.

We found out about this recently, as we usually ask Nico how his lunch was. We've found all sorts of interesting things (like the foods he'll eat at school, but not at home) this way, but this is the most alarming (so far). One day he told us "I had four chicken nuggets. Then Julia shared her nuggets with me too." Today, we found that Saranya "shared" her pizza with him. Other days, other foods, other girls. For all we know, he's left a trail of broken hearts as well as crumbs in the cafeteria. I'm sure we'll hear more about it at his parent-teacher conference next week.

The other reason this really worries me: if he eats this much now, imagine how bad it will be when he's a teenager. I may have to get a second job at the grocery store just for the discounts.

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THURMAN

Thurman may not be breaking hearts or swindling food, but he is having another rough time on the sporting front. He's now in the Hoboken basketball little league (unsure of the exact name of the program), and they've played two games so far. Both have been ridiculously crushing defeats where the opposing team has scored at least 25 points, and they have only broken double digits once (10).

Given the losing season he endured for soccer last fall, I feel sorry for the kid. On his team, he's literally one of four players who are able to dribble and walk at the same time, much less actually make a basket or play defense. Unfortunately, only one or two of the others that can play show up on any given week. Compound this with the fact that so far the teams they've faced are taller, better coordinated, and can dribble, shoot, run, and defend, it just seems like the entire league is rigged against them.

I'm not sure they'll be able to win any games this season, and I'm sure it will be an exercise in frustration to watch. I'm not sure how else to show my support though. It's not like I have any pointers or advice I can give to Thurman, I suck at basketball worse than some of his teammates. 

I do have to give Thurman a lot of credit though. He hustles to the ball, and does his best. Last week he scored 4 of the team's 10 points, getting a bucket and sinking two foul shots. I can only hope that the rest of the team tries as hard as he does. Hopefully perseverance will pay off for them.

25 Random Things About Me

I'm completely cribbing this from FaceBook, but I thought it would be OK to cross-post.



1. Since high school, I have never lived in the same dwelling for more than two years. I'm awfully tired of moving.

2. I refrained from eating macaroni and cheese for 14 years because I once mistakenly thought there were onions in it. However, now I can only eat it with tuna fish.

3. In Iowa City, IA, I was once a suspect in a bank robbery. I was interviewed by a detective and everything. Clearly I wasn't guilty, which is probably why I considered it fascinating at the time.

4. I love rollercoasters and other thrill rides. The taller and faster, the better. But for some reason, I absolutely do not enjoy waterslides.

5. I am still heart-broken, bitter, and upset over the Minnesota Vikings losing the NFC Championship game in 1999.

6. I have been to 20 Major League Baseball stadiums, as has my wife. Though we have a couple differences. (She's been to Toronto and Oakland, while I've been to Colorado and San Diego). I'm hoping to take the lead on her when I go to Atlanta this spring.

7. Since graduating college (Moorhead, MN) I've lived in Nebraska (Fremont and Omaha), Illinois (Evanston), Iowa (Iowa City), New York (NYC), and New Jersey (Hoboken).

8. States I've never been in: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Vermont.

9. My right foot angles about 45 degree out from the direction it should. This makes it impossibly painful to ski, but is great for soccer. (Not that I'm any good at soccer or enjoy it, I'm just saying.)

10. I'm very grateful to have two wonderful sons. I love having two boys. Nothing against girls, it's just that I'm not sure I would know what to do with one. I'd probably ruin her forever. Besides, it gives me excuses to play with Legos and watch cartoons I like, which would probably not happen so often if we had girls instead.

11. I have been to 12 They Might Be Giants concerts in 6 states (Minnesota, Iowa (2), Kansas, Missouri (2), Illinois (2), and New York (4).) in the last 12 years. Sadly, only three of those times have I actually lived in the same state where I saw them perform.

12. Remember all those books we were supposed to read in high school for English? Moby Dick, Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter, etc.? I never read them. Well, I did read 1984. Oh well. I didn't read all of my grad school books either.

13. I can't believe I'm only on number 13. I'm putting way too much though and/or energy into this.

14. I am fundamentally a stats geek. I do data anlysis (amongts other things) for a living and enjoy it. I even went to a week of "Stats camp" last summer without any sense of dread. I loved Statistics as a student, and excelled at it. But basic accounting befuddles me.

15. I planned a lot of my own wedding (my bride to be lived out of state, but her mother lived in Omaha and helped a lot). I always joke that I wanted to have the reception at Chuck E. Cheese, but my wife has forbidden me to speak that joke again.

16. My sense of humor is very expansive, to a fault. I find lots of things funny that other people don't. I make a lot of jokes at home that no one laughs at, except me. I retell jokes too many times. My kids will tell me to stop trying to be funny. But sometimes, just sometimes, I can make people laugh so hard they cry.

17. I'm guessing I got some of this from my father. He apparently also retold jokes a lot. He apparently would telegraph the fact that he was about to tell a joke, because he would laugh at it first and then tell it.

18. My father died almost a year ago (Feb. 14th, 2008). Sadly, I didn't have much contact with him until just three years ago, when I was finally able to find him. I'm glad I did, but wish I had done so sooner.

19. I used to be a decent bowler. I hardly ever get the chance to go bowling these days. I wish I could more often.

20. Actually, I used to do a lot of fun things I hardly ever get to do anymore. Racquetball, video games, staying up late, watching too much TV, roleplaying games, and the like. I don't regret anything, I've just got different priorities now.

21. Some of the dumbest things I used to do (in high school): cat & mouse (vehicles chasing one another at high speeds in and around town), driving with friends around Fountian Lake and crawling out of the car onto the trunk/roof while the car was still in motion, participating in "drive by shootings" with squirtguns and the like. I am not proud of these reckless/stupid things.

22. I've really gotten into audiobooks in big way. It certainly helps my commute go by quickly. I highly recommend most of Bill Bryson's books, especially those read by him. He has a great sense of humor that is doubly funny when he presents it himself.

23. My wife is fantastic; I'm a very, very fortunate man. She makes me a better person, and puts up with my antics admirably well. We will celebrate 10 years of marriage in August.

24. At my church, I have been an Edler's Quorum president for the past three years. Being such, I am often referred to as "President Lincoln", which was very unnerving to me for awhile.

25. I'm going to post this in my blog as well. If you're interested to find out more about me, please feel free to visit lincolnlogger.blogspot.com.

MIA

So, yes. It has been too long. Again.

The lack of blogging has nothing to do with a lack of subject matter, to be sure. Much more of a "I need to do these 17 things, and the other 12 things I want to do are going to have to wait." problem.

So, I'm hoping to get to blogs in the near future. The whole family/Disney trip, and lots of other goings-on. Hang in there!