Independence Day Responsibilities

I realize this is long after the fact, but I hope everyone had a nice Independence Day. We had a fun time, made all the more enjoyable by the fact that the early part of the day, the parade, went by without a hitch. This is significant due to the fact that I somehow or another (I can never remember how these things happen) was cajoled into being the Grand Marshal (GM), whatever that means.

Actually, I know exactly what it means. Basically, I’m in charge of making sure the parade runs smoothly, which means getting there early and telling everyone where they should be. The previous GM, JM, is the big man on campus, and just perfect for the job. He is, however, over-extended, and somehow thought I should do the job. Foolishly, I said yes, because the reality is, it’s an amazing parade, and we’re lucky to have it. In fact, the Boston Globe said it was one of the top summer events in New England. How can you not want to help?

Naturally this put a damper on my mood as the day approached, because I was told that people would be contacting me to get a place in the parade. On the actual day, JM said the parade runs itself, and I had RS and BS there to help, so I wasn’t alone. Plus, it’s just a parade, right? Yeah, right.

Either way, it went fine, we started on time, and things went smoothly except for a small hitch with the horses, who nobody wants to walk behind. I can’t say I blame them. I was greatly relieved, and once that last float went by, I could finally relax and enjoy the day. The weather turned out to be beautiful, and everyone had fun with friends and family. The one big downer was that a huge storm rolled in by evening time, so they had to cancel the fireworks, sort of. I learned that they have to set the fireworks off once they're set up, so they blew them off, but it was pouring rain. People all went home, but R and the kids piled into the car and sat in the car and watched from the parking lot. I stayed at home and relaxed. Needless to say, it was Miller Time.

Now I have another 364 days before I have to worry about the next parade. I can't wait.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sherman Health for the pic.

Car Exchange

Since nothing I do is ever simple, I figure why make the car exchange any easier? We got a second car (woo-hoo!) but there was a small issue with some scratched on the paint near the door. In all honesty, it wasn’t a huge deal, and I might not have noticed it had the dealer mentioned something, but since it was a new car, and they offered to pick it up and have it fixed, we wanted it done. Shearer came on Monday and got the car, giving us a loaner, which for the record was an upgrade, a Honda Accord. The kids loved it, and I admit it was nice, if not a bit big for my taste. I like the small coziness of our Fit, which also gets superior gas mileage.

We enjoyed the week with the Accord, we were in the lap of luxury and the kids loved all the bells and whistles. Plus, it was an automatic, which is nice but really makes driving a mindless endeavor. The one issue I had with the car were the automatic locks, which I really dislike. They offered them on the Fit, and we requested that they remove them. It’s a complete pain when the doors automatically lock and unlock, and I for one find no redeeming value in them.

As I mentioned, we had the Accord for the week, and on Friday our Fit was ready and they were coming to exchange. This, of course, happened to be the day of the big go-cart race, so we were busy with that. The race was at 1:00, so I asked them to come around 1:30, which in retrospect was not the best planning, but it worked out. I took the kids and the cart to the school, dropped everyone off, and then came home to do the exchange. The Shearer man was waiting, and we swapped keys and he was on his way, probably happy to have a more luxurious car with colder air conditioning. I was happy to have our Fit back.

Now life can go on as usual, and we are back to being a two Fit family. I love when that happens.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ray Chan for the pic.

Landscape Mania

The weather has been just awful, alternating between stifling heat and torrential rain. It’s a horrible combination that makes doing yard work difficult, but not impossible. It’s much better to cut the grass when it’s dry, but you do what you have to do, right? It’s also nicer to work outside when it’s not 90 degrees with 95% humidity, but you can’t have it all.

We finally got a break from the rain, and I figured it was now or never to cut the grass. All that rain really makes it grow fast, as well, which can make it chore on the lawnmower. I went out in the AM and got started, and pretty much did in one day what I normally break up into three days. Believe me, it was brutal, but at least the lawn looks better. I find I’m a little anal retentive about the lawn (and everything else in life) because it’s the one thing I know how to deal with, as opposed to building a barn or drywalling a vestibule, which the Amazing PR Man is all too aware of.

I also broke out the weed whacker and cleared the tall grassy areas, which is nice because that tall grass really makes the yard look messy. I have this grand plan to do extensive landscaping in the overgrown areas, and I got my foot in the door on this project, but it’s going to take all summer. N also requested that we make a bike path through the property so he can ride his BMX bike around and get crazy. He charted out a path and we cut and cleared it, but as of now, it’s really swampy because of the rain, so it’s hard to navigate. Once it dries out, things will be much better.

Finally, we worked on filling the ruts in our driveway, which is another story, in and of itself, so I’ll leave it at that. I will say this, N was very helpful, and willingly so. You gotta love that.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Graham Detonator for the pic.

Nice Rack

And how! We just learned that the rack we bought for the now defunct Mazda can be adjusted to work on our Fit. How cool is that? Now we can bring N’s bike with us when we have to do boring adult stuff, like run the farmer’s market. This not only makes it fun for him, but it also adds the cool factor (which will help him impress the ladies) that is always inherent in any parental endeavor. Plus, it means that he’s not complaining about how bored he is and asking when we’re going home, not that he ever does that in the first place.

Finally, it means we don’t have to spend more money buying a new rack for the car, and you know how happy that makes me.

The next project will be to see if our old Thule roof rack will go on the Fit. If so, then we are stoked!

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Kyle Wilson for the pic.

Setting a New Course

I’ve been reading about copywriting as a way to make some money, and it seems more realistic and attainable, at least in the short term. I love the idea of writing creatively, but trying to make a living that way is one of the “pie in the sky” aspirations. Not impossible, of course, but could take some time, especially with the likes of me. I can make a few dollars here and there blogging on the various sites I write for, but at times it’s frustrating because I don’t know when the pieces will publish and the money is pretty small. Then again, what did I expect?

With this in mind, I’m venturing into new territory, once again. Copywriting will involve making a new website and seeking out new opportunities to get some experience, but I think it’s doable. Sure, it won’t happen overnight, but it could happen sooner than you think. You just never know, and the only sure thing is that it will never happen if I don’t at least try. Then how will we support our fabulously opulent lifestyles?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Nancy Regan for the pic.

Guitar Player

Ever since A got back from camp she has been inspired on guitar, and it’s really cool to see. It’s one of those situations that you really hope will happen but you can’t force the issue, or you can, but they end up hating or resenting it. This is great because she’s gravitating to the instrument on her own, sort of. When she was little I did everything I could to inspire and encourage her to play an instrument, any instrument, but guitar has the cool element, more so than piano. I even started learning myself, and got her a little guitar. She was lukewarm on the whole thing, and didn’t really find her groove with it until we did some lessons with other kids, and suddenly she realized the cool factor of playing guitar.

That sparked a little interest, but it wasn’t until she hooked up with our friend KR for lessons when it got to be fun for her. KR plays a lot in the area, she’s an outstanding guitarist and singer, and she’s always been nice in inviting A to come up and sing/play with her. I think A likes to be on stage performing, so it inspired her even more. We eventually moved on (at KR’s suggestion) to a new teacher, EE, and even he commented on A’s guitar abilities. It’s good because he’s a guitar officianado, and challenges A to try newer, more difficult and technical pieces. Best of all, she embraces the challenge. Plus, he gives his students many opportunities to perform.

The final piece of inspiration came when she went to camp and played at the talent show. Some of the other kids were apparently very good at guitar, and A came home truly inspired. She couldn’t wait to get back to playing with EE, which is too cool for words. Now she plays all the time. Often when she has free time, she’ll pluck away up in her room, which is music to my ears, literally and figuratively.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Alex Lenkei for the pic.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head

And how! This weather has been crazy, and despite the fact that I tend to whine and complain, I think it’s fairly warranted in this situation. This summer has been brutal, and if there is a complaints department, I’d like to submit a claim. Thus far, May and June have set records for rainfall, and it just keeps coming. The weather has been an awful combination of extremely humid heat followed by torrential downpours. It’s like living in a rainforest, I kid you not. Everything is damp and musty, and it’s kind of a drag.

It makes it hard to do things outside, like take care of the yard and do the farmer’s market, but nobody said life in New England was easy. Only real men apply, or at least real men in training. There is some cause for concern because the rain has come down so hard at times that we’ve had some flooding. In fact, our road got washed out a bit, as did our driveway, and now we need to do some repair work, like I know how to do that. The town came and fixed the road right away, and I was hoping they’d just dump a bit of gravel on the end of our driveway, as well, but no such luck. The ruts are pretty big, and it makes driving a little bumpy, so I can’t embrace my favorite approach of ignoring it. What a bummer.

Oh well, what’s life without a little drama and adventure. This is something I’ll have to look into, and hopefully there will be a simple solution, but that never seems to be the case, does it?

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Cuba Gallery for the pic.