new resolve

what can i say?

thanks to this blog, it seems the only time i write in this crazy thing anymore is new year's eve, to get my resolutions down in print.

well, recognizing the new limits a child brings to our former way of life, i have pared what was already a sparse list of five resolutions down to three:

1. pray: give the Lord 15 minutes a day to speak to you.
2. save money: for yourself and your son's education.
3. exercise: get back your old wind and tone.

i'm asking even less of myself than even last year, which was attempted in short bursts, but not in any sustained fashion.

maybe if i can keep things few and simple, i can actually get them done.

happy new year, everyone.

in the rear view

just getting in under the wire again.

on the whole, i think most of my friends are glad to put this past year behind us.

at least in my experience, i hadn't had a year so fraught with loss and illness among my friends and loved ones since 1991, a really terrible year.

and yet, for all its pains and heartaches, 2010 was redeemed by the birth of our baby boy, who has been a constant source of blessings and joy.

for this, kris and i give thanks to a kind and generous God.

a little drink

so today, the boy drank out of a sippy cup.

this was a unilateral decision by his mom, seconded by me.

this was one of those "he has to stop drinking from the bottle by this age" kinds of things that mama worries about.

our first effort was a scrub. when offered the choice between a bottle of water and a sippy cup of milk, he wanted it both ways, which led to a lot of screaming and struggling.

mama had to go to work, so i had to do the next round solo.

after a nice nap, daddy and baby went to the kitchen, where i poured milk into a cup and let him sip, minus the lid.

then, i let him nibble on the spout on the lid, which he sort of gnawed on.

then i put the lid on the cup with milk.

and i'll be danged if he didn't start drinking. he must have taken about six ounces or so.

he finished a container of yogurt and a few cheerios for a full breakfast.

it sure felt like a miracle.

kris reported that he drank all his milk the same way at daycare and supper, to boot.

and he finished about five ounces not an hour ago.

maybe by week's end, we'll have washed his last bottle.

and another door to infanthood will have closed.

it really does move fast, doesn't it?

this is business not personal

so this guy writes about his feelings now that his beloved west virginia mountaineers have hired a hotshot offensive coordinator, but is conflicted over the manner in which it was handled.

long story short, football head coach bill stewart was told he'd either be fired at the end of the season or he could train his replacement next season and then retire.

seems kind of harsh, doesn't it?

but it's the way of big-time college athletics. it's a business upon which other sports entities at the university depend for funding.

would that all decisions be soft and fluffy and have a happy ending. but when it comes to dollars and cents, it's either loss or gain.

such a black and white view of situations is probably the reason i'm not a very good middle manager. i only see bubbling stew in decisions while strong managers boil them down.

next season may very well be like looking at a neatly wrapped package of ground sirloin in the supermarket in that i'm excited about the prospects a new offensive coordinator brings, but i wish i didn't have to watch how the final product came about.

season's fleeting

all lit up
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

while i always look forward to the christmas season, i can't say i've enjoyed one for some time.

maybe it's my line of work, what with daily deadlines and eagerly ticking off each edition as one step closer to the weekend.

we eat seasons in five-day chunks, so, yeah, why should the time between thanksgiving and new years be any different?

i wrote about this last year, too. maybe the addition of a baby who also makes demands on our time has made these days fly even faster than before.

(of course, once the boy gets the hang of having to wait for new toys, from his point of view, this period will move excruciatingly slowly.)

so i'm going to try to savor this time.

tonight, while i folded laundry, i listened to christmas music on the itunes radio and turned my christmas mixes to "shuffle."

i like listening more to radio than i do my own mixes or albums at holiday time because it feels more communal. everyone's listening, so the season must be here.

while i might be horking down this holiday in giant bites, i can at least take the moments to try to chew them well when i can.

turnaround time

i don't think i've ever gotten my picture taken while driving and i haven't shot anything from behind the wheel lately, so this photo will have to suffice.

but given it was shot at the turnaround point of a 30-hour thanksgiving car trip to southern florida, it also illustrates my latest concession to age: a slower recovery time.

i was wondering this week why i've been so slack with the little things like bottle washing and making formula, choosing instead to veg out and/or sleep.

well, it dawned on me -- again, as it has lately after long excursions -- that my body doesn't bounce back like it used to after days on the road with little sleep.

compound that the following week with a much shorter, but still intense, there-and-back to morgantown (with a three-hour drive in the snow) and it isn't surprising at all that i've been so beat.

well, we're staying home this weekend. i've just finished paying bills. i'm staring at dishes that can be washed tomorrow. there's laundry to do.

and i'll be ready to go at it -- right after i go back to bed.

let's hope our ailing boy -- another ear infection -- will be kind to us this evening.

last home game

bogo
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

the missus indulged me one last ball game saturday.

armed with dad's last pair of west virginia u season tickets and no one left to go with, i headed up the interstate for morgantown for my first solo road trip in i don't know how long.

i listened to the radio and cds and sang songs and had the time to let my mind roam in a way i hadn't in some time.

actually took the i-68 route into town that i always bypass and found i only had to stop at lights, not long lines of traffic. i guess the university recommends that route for a reason.

took time for a burger, shake and fries at hardees and ate at my sister's place before walking in a little late for the game.

with the temps at around 30 degrees, i was pretty warm in five layers of clothing -- union suit, t-shirt, thermal shirt, fleece jacket, stadium coat -- plus gloves, scarf, hat and thinsulate boots.

this wasn't the first time i'd sat by myself in the stands. as ever, the fans are ready to share in their joy and jawbone every once in a while about nothing. i high-fived and chatted with the old guy behind me a number of times. so it wasn't like being alone.

on the way out after the game, the souvenir tent offered a buy-one-get-one sale to get rid of merchandise. i found a couple of toddler-sized jerseys that i thought would fit the boy for the next couple of years.

(as you can see, either nike sizes pretty small or our boy is getting pretty long.)

took a quick nap, then went to see my old buddy jake over at his place and got to see his girlfriend, micalyn, and another buddy, matt, and his girlfriend, emily. we watched wvu's basketball team blow a 13-point lead and lose to miami, then i left for charleston.

it snowed the whole way down. driving kris' honda wasn't too much unlike driving my sister joy's old civic si back in the day.

listened to florida state play virginia tech, then oklahoma-nebraska on the am radio and just focused, focused, focused on driving. passed at least three salt trucks on the way down.

with all-season tires and careful, controlled passing, i made it back in three hours, including a fuel stop and burger and shake stop.

it was intense, but it was nice to know i can still do the light snow drive without the jeep.

funny thing about the alone drive that i think the boy should learn over the course of his life. he should learn the importance of knowing how to live and conduct himself in solitude and that there's nothing wrong with it.

on the contrary, i can think of no better way to get to know yourself and develop self-awareness. i hope he learns how to do this.

the mullenium bug

i don't know if west virginia's offensive coordinator did enough this last month to save his job. i suppose i won't be sure until after the champs sports bowl in orlando later this month.

if he can call a good game there, i wouldn't be surprised if he were back next year.

if he is, i hope he's learned the lesson of having a handful of plays that are run well instead of a garbage bag of tricks that sometimes work.

he reminds me of me as a high schooler and undergrad. instead of focusing on the tried-and-true formula of achievement -- good grades -- i concentrated on versatility in extracurriculars.

and you can see where that got me.

oh well

oh well
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

actually made another mountaineer game this year -- the last one.

even after this year's missteps, there was a lot at stake -- a big east championship and, more importantly, a chance to go to a bcs bowl game.

we beat an injured, snakebit and heart-heavy rutgers squad in tidy fashion.

no overwrought gadget plays, just good straight up running and passing. we actually looked good and i didn't want to eat my own liver watching.

then we had to depend on the university of south florida to win us our chance to play, since we missed our own opportunity with an inept, fumble-filled loss to the university of connecticut back in october.

that we had to depend on a third party to determine our fate should serve as a lesson. we had our chance and we blew it. this time it cost us.

south florida lost to uconn on a last-minute field goal in regulation, sending the huskies to play the oklahoma sooners in the fiesta bowl.

poop.