Today I feel like an accomplished homeowner: Gary, my father-in-law, taught me how to replace our old, non-working faucet. Here’s the new one, happily not leaking anywhere and with a working, not loose cartridge.
I got what is apparently the full plumbing experience, with water dripping all the way down my arm into my armpit.
I’m actually pretty well suited to plumbing: small, but with long arms. If I ever need a career change, I’ll keep it in mind.
This week we’ve enjoyed our annual trip to Seaside, Oregon. As Benji has gotten older, we’ve been able to do more and more fun activities, including things that involve staying up late.
I don’t want to give the impression that every day was glorious weather — in fact, on Wednesday, it rained steadily all day. We spent most of the day inside, but did take an excursion to the Tillamook Creamery, where (surprise!) we had more ice cream. On Wednesday we also played hide and seek, which is WAY more fun in the large and complicated Seaside house. It has a zillion nooks to hide in, perfect for hide and seek.
This year, we went to a number of birthday parties for kids in Benji’s class. They all followed pretty much the same formula: The parents had rented time at Pump It Up, Arena Sports, or Elevated Sports. A large number of kids showed up — usually >20, accompanied by a least one parent, for a total of 40 to 50 people. The kids were let loose in the bouncy house/play zone for an hour, followed by an hour of eating pizza, veggie tray veggies, chips, candy, and cake in an almost perfectly featureless “party room” decorated by the parents with lots of plastic banners and such. As a party favor, each kid got a plastic bag full of Pump It Up (or whatever)-brand Oriental Trading Company-quality junk that broke almost instantly and that we then had to secretly make “go away” at some point not long thereafter.
Seven years ago today, Benji entered our lives.
I can honestly say that nothing has been the same since then.
He’s grown into a curious, silly, imaginative, friendly, caring boy who loves reading, making lists, watching videos with Ian, anything Pokemon, and playing made-up games. Sometimes he wants to be a chemist when he grows up.
I look forward to seeing where we go from here.
A while ago I wrote extensively about the arterial disease in my leg, EIAE. This is an update on how it’s going and what I’m doing about it.
In my original post, I said that I was going to try to live with the disease as best I could, changing my thinking and expectations accordingly. At the same time, I continued to train for the Whistler Gran Fondo, my big event of the season, since I’m still able to ride somewhat.
Now I’m reconsidering my total opposition to surgery. Not only is the surgery becoming more common as more athletes are diagnosed, but for myself, I find it nearly impossible to imagine the rest of my life without some kind of vigorous athletic activity in it — and EIAE, in my leg at least, stops me from running as well as biking. That eliminates nearly all sports that include a running component… Which is nearly all sports.
