Latest Blog Posts
Hey Everybody, I’m Awake!
Fellow parents will agree with me that one of the best ways to wake up in the morning is to a happy, babbling and squealing baby. I just love the look on Robert’s face when I walk into his room, look down in his crib, and he seems to say, “Hey dad! It’s a GREAT day!” It is not possible to have a bad morning after a greeting like that.
I sure wish it wouldn’t happen at 4a.m., though.
On the Road
I had one of those weekends that makes me glad to get back to work on Monday so I can rest. I spent over 12 hours on the road, plus several hours in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Wayne, Nebraska. On the plus side, all those hours will help add to a nice check, but working seven days a week is still awfully draining.
Saturday was especially tiring. I reffed two games up at Dordt College—one center, one line—almost entirely in a constant cool rain. I was never chilled to the bone, but standing in the rain for four hours sucks more energy out of you than you at first realize. At least the two games were interesting, despite the blow-out score of each match.
Yesterday’s match at Wayne State was gorgeous. Does it get any better than a 1-0 game among two well-matched teams, played under a beautiful blue autumn sky?
Although I missed a lot of Robbie time this weekend, I did get to experience one milestone: he finally rolled over (front to back) for me. He had already rolled over for his mother, but I was never around to see it. On Saturday morning he finally decided to let dad in on the festivities. Thanks, kiddo!
The Diving Bell and the Poet
I’m reading two fabulous books right now. I highly recommend them both.
The first is Ted Kooser‘s Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps. It’s a wonderfully entertaining look at the Bohemian Alps of southeast Nebraska. If you have lived in this area for any length of time, you will see yourself and your neighbors in this book. And no, it’s not a book of poetry, although it is very poetic throughout.
The second is Jean-Dominique Bauby’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Bauby was the editor of Elle in France until he suffered a stroke and found himself with “locked-in” syndrome. His only means of communication—and the means by which he composed the book—was the ability to move his left eyelid. It’s a fascinating, frustrating, and peaceful look at the final days of a man dying from the outside in.
Both of these books are short, and they are both broken into small chunks that are perfect for reading in pieces, if you can avoid reading them straight through. If you’ve been looking for a book for yourself or your book club, both of these would be excellent choices.
Weekend Wrap-Up
- A tornado warning in September? That was unexpected.
- I reffed four and a half soccer games this weekend. (The half game was an odd situation.) Saturday’s heat and wind was parching, but overall it wasn’t a bad weekend for soccer. My face is red and wind-burnt, though.
- I watched Frank Solich coach the Huskers out in California. Frankly, I prefer Coach Callahan.
- Robbie is starting to feel better after more than a week of cruddiness. First he had a cold, then he reacted to his four-month immunizations. He still has a bit of “intestinal distress” that makes even Daisy stay away, but his demeanor is vastly improved.
Off By a Mile
OK, fine, my prediction, made at the start of the year, of $3.75 gas this fall may have been a little off. But if I had to be way off, isn’t it better I was way off on the high side?
Ant Attack!
Our kitchen has been taken over by ants. It started a couple days ago with just a few ants, but this morning there was a lineup like women at a public restoom. Fortunately, we had some Grant’s Kills Ants on hand. Within an hour the little buggers were lined up around the toxic blue pools of ant crack cocaine, ready to carry it back to the nest. There were even a couple corpses scattered about; they must have o.d.’d before they could even make it home. Gluttons.
For a moment I felt a little guilty about wiping out an entire ant colony. Then I noticed a couple ants wandering near Robbie’s formula. I don’t feel guilty any longer.
Right Down the Middle
Robert had his four-month well baby checkup today. He weighed in at 14lbs 12oz and measured 25” long. According to baby growth charts, he is almost exactly at the 50th percentile in weight, height, and head circumference. Robbie is, in other words, the picture of the average baby.
Robbie received four shots today as part of his checkup. He was definitely not a fan of receiving the shots, but he recovered remarkably quickly. In fact, by the time we got him dressed and made our way back to the front desk, he was already ready to flirt with the nurses.
I think Robbie is going to add a new food to his repertoire today. Carrots are a likely candidate, but The Missus may mix things up and go with a fruit instead. I’ll have to guess what it was when I get home by the color of the stains on his bib.
Three For Me
A big batch of college soccer reffing assignments showed up in my inbox this morning, and I finally received my first center assignment. In fact, I received three. Two of the games should be pretty decent (one women’s, one men’s), but in the third my biggest challenge will probably be staying awake. Still, it’s not a bad crop of games overall.
Also in the plus column is the fact that I only have one big drive on my calendar. On the 23rd I’ll have to make the long drive up to Dordt, in Sioux Center, Iowa. The rest of my assignments are all within two hours of here.
I’m glad the news was good this morning. I woke up tired—Robbie, would you care to explain to the nice people why that is?—and judging by the perceived weight of my noggin, I’d say I have a pretty respectable cold coming on. Add in the gray skies out the window and I thought today would be a real struggle. But now I have a little skip in my giddyup that ought to be enough to get me through the day.
I’m Older
As of this moment, I am officially older. I’m not old yet. I won’t be old for a couple more decades. Today I’m just older.
And there was much rejoicing.
Get Your Tickets
I have six tickets to Saturday’s Husker football game I’m trying to help get rid of. Two are in South stadium (away from the student section, if that’s a concern). The other four are some of the best seats you’ll ever have, on the 47 yard line in the East balcony. All six are available for face value. (Face value is about $50, but I can’t remember for sure right now.) I prefer to sell them in pairs, if possible.
All the tickets are first come, first served. Claim ‘em in the forum.
Whatcha Doin’, Mr. Wilson?
I have had some folks ask me in private what I’ve been up to lately. Actually, I have been working on a very large project. A web-based calendar application, to be precise. It’s easily the largest such project I have ever attempted.
Little Things
It’s amazing how easy it is as a parent who sees his child every day to miss the little things in your child’s development. Like, how Robbie laughs so much more these days, and how he laughs at things that are actually kind of funny; and how he follows people (and puppies) around the room with his eyes, even from far away; and how he is teaching himself the basics of coordination by removing and attempting to replace his pacifier; and how he has a new fascination for his feet; and how he has more than doubled in weight since Gotcha Day; and on and on. These are things other people—like his maternal grandparents, who came from Albuquerque to visit him this weekend—notice, but The Missus and I sometimes take for granted. He grows and changes every single day.
One thing hasn’t changed, though: he’s still a pretty darn cute kid.
Page 1 of 1 pages
The Blogs
-
The blog that covers everything Lincoln
-
The home of the Wilsons
-
In which Mr. T mutters and muses
-
Local and national sports chatter
The Blogroll
The Archives
- August 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004