Tomato Dream Can Come True

The wife and I bought our house over 4 years ago. We closed October 14, 2005 and moved in October 17, 2005. This of course was our life before Shaan. So it is kind of fuzzy. But one thing I do remember, is harrassing my wife about a party that I wanted to have, a very specific themed party.

Just by way of description, we have a backyard that is a pretty good size. Big opening in the middle and surrounded by trees and other shrubbery.

So my idea was to have a Tomatino party. For those of you unfamiiliar(Shaan I am assuming by the time you read this, if the party did in fact happen, you will have heard the story many time and be intimately familiar with what it is), it is a festival in Spain, near Valencia, that happens every August. Somewhere in the range of 20,000 people get together.....and throw over ripe tomatoes at each other. That is it. Well there's more - something about trying to climb a greased pole to get a ham(gotta work that in somehow).

My idea was to get a bunch of friends together. Everyone bring their own tomatoes and then we just chuck em at each other. How much fucking fun would that be.

Well after 4 years of harrassing my wife, she has agreed. The first one will be this summer. Sometime in late August. Here's how I picture it. Sat. morning. Call people over by 10:00 a.m. or so. Start drinking. Around 1, everybody gathers in the backyard, on the blow of a whistle, start throwing. We can have everybody bring a towel and change of clothes. We'll put up a slip and slide and booze, lots of booze. Then drink the day away. What a grand way to spend a summer's sat. afternoon.

I must make this happen. We already have one attendee.

The Things We Do - They Do

So at the end of a crazy week, so much has gone on, that I am struggling to remember all the things I wanted to include in this journal for Shaan.



From off the top of my head, I remember that Shaan put his own shoes on this week for the first time, straps and everything. At leas the first time that I have seen it. Which I think is a fairly big accomplishment. He also seems to be getting the hang of puzzles.

I picked up writing here more than a week later. Oh the things that happen. One of things I really wanted to include was that I had a week off of work from Jan. 9-16 that I got to stay home with Shaan. It was some really cool Dad-Man Child time. Unfortunately he was sick for the early part of the week and the weather was the typical Pittsburgh, which just really equates to crap. Finally though on Thursday after being trapped in the house for 3 days, we were able to go out. In the morning we went to the Natural History Museum. We got to see dinosaur and whale exhibits which are just fantastic. Also, we walked around the other parts, including an Egyptian exhibit. Upon entering, Shaan says in perfect diction, "Look Dad, Heirogylphics." no flinching, with the word, no struggling. This boy is going to be a better man than me, and may already be.

On the family front, we have added a new member to the brood - sort of. We have a rat. Thats right, a rat. I've seen it, twice now. It has cost us some money. He has chewed through some plastic piping under the sink, and may have caused more trouble the plumbing for both our upstairs bathrooms. Both are leaking - toilet, shower and sink, into our kitchen. Can not be used at all. It is costing us a fortune to fix it. Including not being able to use our kitchen. Life is a bit hellish in the home right now, not easy.

If and when I get this rat, I am going to torture it. First, I am going to pull off its legs with pliers. Then I am going to poke at its eyes with a thumb tack. Then I am going to make it watch reruns of "Two and Half Men", Clockwork Orange style. Then I am going to chop its tail off in bits and feed it to itself slowly, mixed in a tasty stew, so it wont even know, its eating itself. Then after it is dead, I will leave it on a stake outside for all other rats to see, like Vlad the impaler used to do.

Anywho. On a more positive note, the training for the half marathon has had its ups and downs.
I reinjured my knee at yoga last week, doing this weird twisting position. Still not 100%, but I''m doing lighter training. So this past saturday's big run did not happen. The week before did, when I ran 5 miles in 51:30. the weight loss plan also has had its ups and downs. After gaining .2 lbs t get back up to 164.8, on the weigh in this monday, I lost .8 and am at 164.0 even right now. More than half way to my goal.

Thinking about the run today. Up till now, I have been planning to train to not be the last one to finish in my group, or out of everyone running. But I've had it all wrong. New goal, do you best, but train within my limits, but try to finish first. What kind of lesson would I be teaching to the boy if I taught him to try to just get by. Do you best, but always try to be the best. Its amazing what people are capable of, if they just try.

Supercuts People Have Nothing on Me

I'm actually writing this with the little man sitting right next to me. I'm home this week, having taken the week off, because the nanny was not available this week. So its me and the boy. Lucky or not, he is sick this week. Its always good when a parent his home with him when he is sick. The fever reached 103.1 on Sunday and there was little throw up that day as well - which he incidentally calls a "Spill." Accurate on some levels I guess. We have been having fun, but with a sick kid, 15 degrees outside, we are a bit cabin feverish at the moment. He is getting better, so i think later in the week, we can go out. Wehave been building a lot of forts, painting and playing with legos. But that doesnt take up the entire day. There has been a fair amount of TV watching, and sadly he wants to keep watching the same episode of "Little Einsteins." It is kind of hellish. I did give him a haircut yesterday. Which was a lot of fun. He hated it at first, but then settled in. We used to take him to supercuts or this local place called Little Snips. But he hated those and would not sit still. So I got a set of clippers with hair cutting scissors and voila. Its not the best, but neither were his previous haircuts. The wife liked it and was quite impressed.

The journey to 13.1 miles continues. I ran 4.5 miles over the weekend. Once again the longest I have ever run. I did it in 50 minutes. Which I dont think is that bad, but certainly something that can be approved on. I lost another 1.2 lbs this week. I am down to 164.6, from 165.8 last week and 168.4 the week before that. Just gotta keep plugging away. I also took some time off my mid-week two mile runs.

This New Year

In my attempt to run 13.1 miles on May 2, 2010 through the streets of Pittsburgh, I have been attempting to train a little bit and lose some of the spare tire that I have around my waist.

This past Sat., Jan. 3, 2010, for the first time in my life I ran 4 miles in one stretch. It took me 45 minutes and 18 seconds. Coicidentally, just about the exact amount of time of a downloaded pod cast of Wait Wait Dont Tell Me from NPR. It was an interesting thing to listen to while running, because it kept me laughing, so that was nice.

Also I weighed myself this morning. 165.8. I think at my last weigh in I was 168.4. So I have lost 2.6 lbs. Not too shabby. The gut in all its glory is still there, so still working on that one.

The Little man is not doing so well. He woke up at his grandparents on Sat., with a swollen left eye, almost shut and very red on the lids. It has not cleared up since. I took him to the doctor yesterday and the doc doesnt know what it is. He gave anti-biotics. So we'll see.

Shaan did wear his doctors outfit to the office. He has a stethoscope and one of those things that looks in the ear and mouth. He also wore the plastic glasses that came with it. The doctor got a slight kick out of it, but I thought he would like it more. However, this doc is not known for his sense of humor, so I didnt expect much. But he said that he thought it was great that Shaan wanted to dress up like a doctor.