It's made the summer go by lightning quick. But, let me pause to just give some updates:
My 6-year old son, Liam, started taking guitar lessons. He has quite an energetic and forceful personality, so we thought having him channel some of that energy into music would be beneficial. In fact, it was the Green Day concert that made Colleen think of this, because she said if Billy Joe Armstrong didn't have a music release, he might lead a destructive life. That got her thinking about Liam down the road. Plus, Liam is really musical -- picking up lyrics immediately, making up songs about everyday things, and being able to identify which band is playing a new song. He's had three lessons and the teacher who comes to the house is impressed with Liam's acumen. When I hear him practicing up in his room, it's a very nice sound. No careless strumming, instead, measured notes.
The Red Sox seem to be losing their identity. The other night I turned on the game in the 3rd or 4th inning and 4 batters in a row were new to the team within the last 2 weeks - either through trades, or up from the minors. The injuries are really testing this team at the wrong time -- the Yankees are on a tear and not giving back any of the ground they gained on the Sox. The mood around Boston is that we're holding on for a Wild Card berth.
I can't recommend buying a used, loaded iPod enough. I bought my 80GB Video one from a 14-year old whose dad was selling it for him. I think I may have blogged about this kid's eclectic and grown-up tastes, from jazz to rap to top 40 to rock to alternative to law lectures. It makes putting your iPod on shuffle so much fun. I probably have 5,000 songs on my iPod and only about 2,000 are ones from my collection.
We all have bikes now, which created quite a cluttered garage. I hung three of them from the rafters with a J-shaped hook (front rim slipped over the J and the bike hung straight down), but they were either too high or too heavy for Colleen and the boys to get them down. So, if I was not home, they could not ride. I had seen pulley bike hoists in a magazine or two over the years and started researching solutions. I eventually bought 4 RAD EASY Bike Hoists made by RAD Cycle Products on Amazon.com after reading really positive reviews. This past Sunday I hung them, and they're a breeze to operate. Grady, Liam and Colleen can all get their bikes down on their own safely. It was a satisfying project.
My godfather in January started getting bad back pain and then had trouble walking. Cut to 7 months later and he is at Mass General Hospital in ICU on a ventilator, and with a feeding tube in his belly, fighting for his life. It's an ALS-like disease that is ravaging his body. I feel blessed to have had so close a relationship with him all my life and hope that he can reverse some of the ill effects of this thing. The hospital is just 2 T stops away from my office, so it's been nice being able to visit him regularly, even if he doesn't always know I'm there (he's sedated quite a bit).
No comments:
Post a Comment