I’m Not a Slacker

Looks like I won’t be getting that early retirement after all.

My friends and I actually stopped talking about riding our bikes and actually started riding them again! Since we’re all old and out of shape compared to how we used to be we’ve been taking it slow, which is probably a good idea.

We’ve been riding the Katy Trail for a bit after everyone gets home from work and its a lot of fun, gradually stretching the miles each week. The problem is that we’re riding in the dark and I don’t have a light yet so it’s kinda hard to see sometimes.

Last night we decided to ride to Creve Coeur Park and as we’re at our turn around spot I notice my front tire pressure is a little lower than I would like for this kind of riding. I pump it up and when I take the pump off THE VALVE CORE SHOOTS OUT of my presta valve and the tire deflates! I don’t have a spare tube because I just started riding again and haven’t got around to buying everything I need yet. My friend has a spare but it’s the larger schrader valve so it won’t fit my rim (he has presta rims too so I’m not sure why he is carrying that tube). We mess around for 20 minutes trying different ways to keep air in the tire, none of which work. We’re 10 miles from home so I call another friend and have him meet me in a nearby commuter lot which is 3 miles away while my riding buddies take off for home.

I push my bike to the lot the same time my friend shows up to take me home and we get home the same time my riding buddies show up. Perfect timing!

So anyway, here is my shopping list:

2 innertubes!
Bike Light
Bike computer (so I know how far I’m hopefully not walking)
The wife will probably make me get a cellphone after this too

I seem to be getting over the funk I had the other day. I’m mixing up our routines, giving Gavin have a bit more freedom and letting him “help” me more. I’ve also been trying to be more active with him after dinner since I think he was getting bored.
He’s still acting like a PITA but I think most of that is because he’s 3. Hopefully my new outlook and plan will help all of us out here.

In other news, the At-Home Dad Convention is November 3rd. I’m planning on going again this year, it’s a good time!

I have been feeling like crap lately, I’m not sleeping well and I really don’t have any energy, I’m getting tired of doing the same things over and over with Gavin and his new independent attitude isn’t helping. I don’t have any patience with him at all any more and blow up at him for the silliest things. Every day around 11:30-Noon I get the worst tension headache up my neck and over the top of my head and it usually doesn’t go away until 4 or so (after he’s napped for 3 hours)

I don’t know if its just a result of being home with him for over three years, if it’s because I have to deal with a three year old all day or I know that it’s getting darker soon and the time change isn’t far away but I really don’t have much motivation to do much of anything.

Guess it’s time to stock up on St. John’s Wort again.

Gavin has a new favorite snack, wasabi encrusted dried peas. I picked some up at the fruitstand today and he won’t stop eating them! I guess it kinda makes sense since another thing he enjoys is dipping pretzels and his fingers into Koop’s Arizona Heat mustard.

What a goofy kid, but at least he likes flavor!

Normally it’s a good thing when you realize you’ve had too much to drink and ask someone else to drive you home, but at least make sure they can reach the pedals!

Today as I was cooking lunch I heard Gavin reading a book in the other room. I quickly grabbed my $70 digital camera and recorded him for a while. I know you can’t see anything but it’s my 3 1/2 year old reading “Oliver the Mighty Pig”

Gavin is beyond full on reading now. He’s reading signs as we’re driving down the street, he’s asking me questions about the newspaper in the morning… It’s CRAZY!!

I tell him that it is great that he can read words because if you can read than nobody can lie to you since you read it yourself (yeah, yeah I know… but he’s only 3, let him have a moment)
It’s not only that he reads the words but that he knows how to say it depending on the punctuation and he can paraphrase the sentence as well, so I know he understands it all.

I’ll post a video of him reading a random book off the shelf soon (for my own records) but I want to say that I’m not really bragging, I’m wondering what to do with a child who can understand things that aren’t really meant to be for a person this young. It’s already too hard to keep things contained and he’s only 3!

I was driving behind a car the other day which had a special “Kids First” branded license plate, (I guess the money goes to early learning programs or something) as I’m passing them I see two pre-school kids in the backseat and the woman driving is puffing away on a cigarette! All the windows were rolled up and you could see a haze of thick smoke inside the car.

Now normally I wouldn’t even mention it, I don’t smoke and I really don’t care if other people do, but at the same time if I WAS a smoker I wouldn’t do it in a closed up car with a KIDS FIRST license plate.

KIDS FIRST for Emphysema!

Yesterday immediately after taking out the recycle buckets I noticed a rash on the inside of my elbow. It’s two parallel lines about 1/4 inch wide with little pustules on it. When I got inside I washed it off with soap and water thinking something from the container must have irritated my skin but It’s been over 24 hours and it’s not looking any better but it doesn’t look any worse either. The weird thing is that I don’t really even notice it. It doesn’t itch, burn or sting. There is a dull feeling like something isn’t right but if I wouldn’t look at my arm I would probably forget about it.

Oh well I’m a guy and can deal, it’s just that this is the most exciting thing in my life right now and wanted to share it with you.