The Ranch 2013

6/25/2013

Dad-For The Win!

Well, as you can see by the photo, Xander was quite happy to be finally reunited with his long-lost best bud Alex. (What you might not be able to tell is that he [Xander] asked me to wait a moment before taking the pic to furtively wipe a tear away.) Sometime this evening, Xander had for some reason left his stuffed animal in the TV room.

At least that was his (Alex's) story.

Not easy to come out the hero here at the Ranch. Seems my whole job is to say No! to my son.  He really would like nothing more than to occupy 98.4+% of his grandmother's time. Intellectually, he understands that Grandpa Harold needs a lot of help but the scope of the job is really beyond him. And so it's up to me to remind him 10-12 times a day to not add to Tutu's work. Just this morning.  it was that he should have been just as enthusiastic for the pizza option as the hamburger option. Tutu can just buy one but has to make the other. Imagine hearing something like that from your old man over and over.

And over....

He would get the idea VERY quickly were Harold to collapse to the floor (again) or something else similarly traumatic but I don't really want Xander to have to learn this lesson right now. So, he'll just have to put up with the World's Lamest Parent destroying all his hopes and dreams.

And, of course, the entire Ranch is "base"; where his person is sacrosanct and little things like manners and acceptable speech go outta the dang window.

Pester me not with your trivial concerns, old uptight man. Tutu and I must discuss the vital matter of squirrel traps. Begone! I say.

And all I want to do is reach across the dinner table is grab him by the collar and scream, "Close your #%!*¥! mouth when you eat, you pig!!" But that wouldn't be cool. At least with the M-I-L in the room. So I just try to encode positive reminders in the strained looks I give him after he has interrupted us or put his feet up on his chair for the killionth* time.

On the plus side, we have finally started reading "Eddie Dickens" and, as a favorite book reviewer promised, it's hysterical.

And we saw a moose tonight. Out in the pasture. All these years in the Valley and till last year, I just thought they were really buff deer.

Oh, and the Lionel Richie CD playing during dinner time got off track and "Hello" suddenly sounded like it was coming from the Pits of Hell. Well, more than normal. This was something only I could enjoy. Xander doesn't know what true 80s Soft Rock is supposed to sound like. Harold can't hear for squat and Tina tunes it out 'cause she hates bland music playing throughout the house. Has for decades.

Clearly, she did not imbue her daughter with the same suffer in silence mindset.

So anyway, I liked Lucifer Richie, the moose and finding my son's teddy bear. Just tomorrow has further thrills in store.

'Night!

The Hero Brian

* A number so big, it can be fatal to understand how big it is.

Sent from anyplace in Winthrop I can find with wi-fi.

(Un)Thrilling News From Silverdale!!!

8/11/2012

Hey Aunt B!

As you know, we went to the King Tut Exhibit yesterday. Glad we went but Xander ended up getting rather bored about half way through the thing. You can only look at so many old statues before antsiness sets in. But for me, highlight was seeing the Ancient Egyptian Unguent Jars. No, really. I excitedly dragged the boy and wife over to see. (To their great unexcitement.)

You see, just in the past week, I learned there is a difference between "unguent" and "ungulate". (I know, talk about embarrassing!)

In a fit of elation, I also took some unguent photos with my cell phone. Then realized what a dumb-assed thing that was to do with that piece of crud phone.

Xander's Heartfelt Writing on his wonderful day was and I quote:

I went to Seatll.

I went to the King tut egsipit.

It was okay.

It was vare long.

Wouldn't you say the boy takes after the Berry side in writing?

In the more important news category, Xander's 9th birthday went very well. The Darth Vader Piñata was a big hit. (So to speak) Young JL nearly whacked dad A in the bread basket so that was good fun. And Xander was able to salvage most of his head after the beat-down once it had been emptied. (Vader's-Not A's) Truly a terrifying sight.

Wendi's decided to go down to 2 days a week as Mondays have started being extremely light this past six months and she only gets  paid when the clients show up. With  the long commute,  the toll, lunch and Martha  and Mary  before  and  after  school, if she  doesn't have  at least 4 clients  show up, she loses money on the day. Which has  happened quite a bit  So  we'll  be in  slightly less money  but  my Mondays will be  a lot  less harried  So I'm glad about that Plus, she's started Weight Watchers  so Monday's  will no  longer  be  the Hardy Boys'  Bacon Ice Cream Night. Good  thing? Bad thing? Time will tell.

Apparently, the moles have been laying low this past June and July only so they could launch an all out attack this past few weeks. I know I should be above all this but pretty much first thing every morning I want to put on Big Spikey Boots and jump up and down on small furry animals.

The Devil probably would've won that bet had Job faced two or three new mole hills every morning.

Okay, now I really do have to wrap it up. The Family is tag-teaming me with glares and sharp comments. Time to go

Das Va-Dawn-Ya!

Very (un)Serious News

8/8/2012

     Another thrilling Wednesday in Kitsap County. Got two texts from you today. Well, so I thought. The first told me of a Huge Scary Spider looming above the front door. The rest of the message, that is, the words below the second line, were unknown to me as I CAN'T SCROLL DOWN on my %$#@'ing phone!!! 

     (Calming breath)

    However, as you immediately sent me a devil's face text*, I just assumed it was you following up to the earlier one. Seems this was not the case.

    I swung (swang? swinged?)  by your house today after "working" a bit to see how Ms. M and your house were getting along. You know, make sure all the beer bottles were thrown WAAAY down the hill, how to hide holes in sheetrock with toothpaste and the like. Well, Ms. M. was waiting in her car for me to arrive. Apparently, the rest of the mysterious text was something to the affect of "....and would you please take care of the Huge Scary Spider when you stop by to visit??". (I, of course, had prearranged my visit with her well beforehand.) 

    So, strike one for Manly Manitude as I took care of the rather smallish arachnid. Let's hear it for the boys!

   Ms. M is doing well and your house is still in one piece. She and the cats are getting along well enough though the one under that bed has yet to come out. And none of them seem particularly good at spider-eating. We chatted for a bit and then I went on about my merry way; though now saddened by my new knowledge that I have been mixing up unguent and ungulate for who knows how long. Oh, how you gals must have snickered behind my back.

    Tomorrow, we're all meeting for our monthly Bistro gathering. Not that we need much of a reason but our old Clear Creek Comrade GS is back in town. He moved to Italy (wife's a lawyer with the DOD) about 5 years ago. Quite a hoot. Imagine me with L's technical skills and a former Navy pilot's Devil May Care attitude and you get the picture. Only with much less hair. I've still got him beat there. 

    Sure hope he doesn't want his classroom back. 

   So it'll be a pretty big crowd tomorrow including some long-time CC'ers who just want to say howdy to the prodigal son. As Mrs. B will be there, I sure hope George didn't leave for Italy with any overdue books.

   Spent most of my "working" time talking with R-Dub in her new (ha-ha) classroom. Seems the 20% chance that she might get your old classroom is driving her crazy. It's hope that is the cruelest gift. If only she'd accept her lot in life, things would be so much simpler. Right now, I'd call her a bit on edge about it if not actually Verklempt. 

   She is pretty sure that they won't make my next Game Night, which I have very tentatively scheduled for Friday of next week. Wendi and Xander are leaving for a Ranch trip on Thursday so I expect by Friday afternoon, I'll be at the beard-down-to-my-waist/saving-bottles-of-urine-under-the-bed/obsessed-with-floridation-and-the-Gold-Standard/Giggling-to-Myself-stage-of-boardom so it'll be good to have something to look forward to. Not sure who could make it. Naturalmente, it won't be the same sans my favorite Disguster Operator but don't worry, Game Night is quick, cheap and fun. Three things I like in an evening's entertainment. (And in a wife-Zing!) so we'll be doing this monthly. 

    Wendi's progress on her MineCraft Pyramid proceeds apace. She has just finished her 12th row, which is about a forth of the way to go. I can see your confusion. Just trust me; this MineCraft Building will be very impressive to the folks who could give a crap about building stuff in MineCraft. No doubt there are multitudes of folks eager for such a momentous structure to be completed. 

    Sadly, there are very few such multitudes within this here TV Room. There's, like one; and she's playing the %$#%&'ing game. 

   Speaking of a digital life, you ever figure out why those birds are so dang angry at those pigs? I mean, sure you're probably dealing with stuff but this is important. Never could figure out the plot of that game.

  Welp, it's way past my bedtime and I have run out of witty, pithy things to write (Wait for it...) so it's time to wrap this sucker up. Write when you can but don't sweat it. Look forward to you getting back to your home country. Though you already know it, I'll say it again. If you need anything, I mean anything day or night, big favor or small, you just make the call and it's done. (You have Ms. M's phone number, correct?) 

I tired.

Ba-Bye.

B. 

*Hmmm....Upon reflection, that might have not been the Lord of Flies but instead a cat. That probably makes more sense...

The Productive Life

7/11/2012

Thus ends my three solo days with Wendi at work and Xander at Martha and Mary Kids' Camp. Starting tomorrow, the Mrs. and I will attempt to keep out of each other's hair. I have plenty left on my To-Do list, though it's much shorter than it was Monday morning.

Said morning, I chainsawed up the rest of the tree that fell now two winters ago. We still have a bit of firewood left over from last year but I get such a feeling of comfort from having way too much winter supplies. Bring on Snowpocolypes!

And after that came the actual falling of a still upright tree. Granted, it was mostly dead but an ax and a bow saw were required to bring down its 20-some feet of Madrona-ee goodness.

Truth be told, my original plan had been to chop down it's 40' big brother. We hate Madronas, it's not by any breakable structure and we've been told for years how great the firewood is. But when friend L swung by last week and heard my plans, he hinted maybe I should invite him over to help shout timber (!) while at the ready to dial 911 as I was likely to injure myself. That made me think, "Damn...if L thinks this is a nutty idea..."

So the smaller tree it was. One unfortunate result of my information based economy career is that working an ax for even a short amount of time left me with blisters on my hands. It's a tragedy as I have always found chopping wood very calming. Guess bringing down an irregular shaped but still upright tree and splitting uniformly sawed rounds of wood are different skill sets.

Be that as it may, the timing was somewhat bad timing as that was also the day I needed to take my "specimen" into the Group Health Lab. No doubt I'm paranoid but it did seem the lab tech spent just a half-second too long looking at my band aids as she (gingerly) took the specimen bottle.

But, warming my (delicate) hands by an open fire this winter will be nice. Of course, I'll need to find a place to hide most of it as Wendi has allotted only a pitiful amount of space in the garage for burnables storage. And us with our new fire-pit as well.  Maybe under a tarp outside.

Another project completed was redoing the emergency supplies in both the car and house. The first involved mostly restocking medicines. It won't matter if we've got jumper cables, water, bug juice and rain coats (though we do), IF Wendi finds herself broken down in Pretty Mouth, GA without any "feminine products", it's Game Over.

 As for the house supplies, restocking mostly involved food. The bottled water needn't be replaced, despite the sell-by date, so I just needn't some more canned goods for the zombie apocalypse. It was a trip to Costco, looking for the longest lasting grub to be found. Settled on 2 SIX pound cans of chili 'cause it's nourishment and heat all in one. And they'll be good for over two years.

You laugh but those two cans of joy will be like gold when the Big One hits.

I also bough a flat of canned satsumas since, well, when your other big plan is TWELVE pounds of Costco chili, you really can't have too much fiber on hand.

Another big ticket item now on the "fini" list is renewing my teaching certificate. I've still almost one year left on it but getting too close to a deadline makes me paranoid. (Hmmmm..there may be a psychological pattern here.)

So I got my clock hour transcript, filled out the form, wrote out the check and popped it into the mail today. Now I wait for RD, our beloved Superintendent of Public Instruction, to give me a call saying I misspelled my name or that all my clock hours were just the District playing a joke on me.
Pretty much every time I do this (twice a decade), I think I sure hope this is the last for this foolishness. A national boards certificate would be nice but doing all the work only to have the stipend taken away by Olympia would kill me. Guess I'm a can of chili half-empty kind of guy. This state's broken my heart too many times before.

Well, I should probably wrap this thing up. Wouldn't want to over stay my welcome. (Anyone? Anyone?)

Some of you I will see at the Bistro tomorrow and those I don't, it's probably better that way.

Long Live Costco Bean Products!!!

Brian

Father Really Doesn’t Know Best

11/19/2011

(Saturday About 7:00 am)

My son is in the TV Room (aka Family Room/aka The Room Where We Watch TV) sleeping peacefully after a wild night of, well, sleeping in the TV Room. This is big stuff for him. Quite possibly the first time he's ever done that. "Why?" you ask. 

Well I tried a bit of dad psychology and it backfired. Let me set it up.

Several years ago, I listened to an interview of a writer discus his childhood. The writer (name forgotten) mentioned his great fear of bears as a young child. His dad, knowing that a simple, "No, really, there are no bears in this backyard" declaration really wouldn't do the trick so to calm fears decided to tell his son, "Tell you what, if we do see any bears back here tonight, I'll give you five bucks." With that, the ursa-phobe began to switch his focus from the horror of a grizzly attack towards the idea of "Well, it would be terrible if a bear attacked but with that $5, I could....." That story has stuck with me all this time. To my detriment, it seems.

So, last night, we're all watching a Superman animated movie. It's about 45 minutes into the show and things are looking mighty grim for the Man of Steel. There just doesn't seem to be any way he would be able to escape the deadly fate cooked up by the evil Lex Luthor*. I could see that this was really upsetting my lil' Man of Steel. The lower lip was starting to jut out, the eyes were watering and he kept looking away from me and he kept saying "He's going to die." (Way to be positive, son.)

For some strange reason, if our son broke down into tears as all three of us watched the movie, it would somehow be my fault. So, with the certainly that watching 53 thousand superhero shows/movies brings, I told Xander that I was positive that Superman would be fine by the end of the show but IF he did die, I'd pay Xander $10...and he could sleep downstairs today. With suspicious haste, Xander demanded it be doubled to $20 and that I throw in a trip to (shudder!) Chuck E. Cheese. 

Did he have some sort of inside knowledge? Hmmm...I can say that after we shook hands, he immediately and enthusiastically switched over to "Team Lex". What had I created??

When Wendi returned from drying her hair, Xander told her the bet we made. She asked exactly what I would get if I won the bet and I said, with much confidence (aka stupidity), that my son would have to admit that father knows best. The understood but unstated other advantage of winning the bet was that a weeping child did not make for a "the kid's asleep" romantic evening.

Well, at this point, you probably know where this is going. Despite my protestations that Superman was probably still alive, just...uh...trapped in the sun or about to be reborn (very deep, today's super heroes) Wendi, my wife, my love, my friend, my senior year prom date, gleefully ruled that I had lost the bet. Told Xander to go get his pillows and sleeping bag. And asked me where I'd get $20. She helpfully recommended I could mow lawns in the neighborhood.  And finally, inquired as to when I would take him to (the worst restaurant in the world) Chuck E. Cheese. 

Stupid, modern, self-important cartoons. This wouldn't have happened if we'd just stuck to Superfriends......

Better go put up my lawn service flyers.

Brian

Who Really Doesn't Know Best

*Side note. During the movie, we learned that Mr. Luthor's full first name is Alexander. My son was shocked, shocked. 

Ah, the Good Life

9/20/2011

Thanks to our new Netflix Streaming service, we have a large selection of movies/TV shows to watch whenever the fancy strikes us. (And our shitty-assed ISP isn't on the fritz.)

So Friday night, it was time to introduce the boy to some real culture.

The first episode of Star Trek we watched was "Arena". I picked it as there was a Mythbusters tie-in. Two seasons ago, the Myth Team built a bamboo cannon to see how affective it would be. (Note: If you find yourself locked in mortal combat with a Gorn, your best bet would be to hand this weapon to your enemy. It's a much greater threat to the person aiming it than the person being aimed at.)

So anyway, Xander was somewhat familiar with Arena and seemed to enjoy it. Granted, while the enemy slowly walked towards Capt. Kirk, Xander started shouting, "Run! Run!"

We should all be so involved in art.

So after that, it was "The Corbinite [?] Maneuver". No physical violence but lots of spaceship shooting. Granted, when Ballock showed up, Xander turned to me to tell me that if he had a nightmare, it would be my fault.

Sadly, at that point, Netflix or my ISP decided to cut out. %#€£¥!! So we finished the episode Saturday night. I myself have always found the Clint Howard character the most terrifying aspect of that particular show.

We finished up with "Balance of Terror".

By this time, Xander's enthusiasm was waning but I was enjoying myself. I suspect you all are like me in never actually watching ST on anything other than crappy old commercial TV. Well, in HD, sans advertisements it's a different experience. Further, 4 or 5 years ago, Paramount went all George Lucas on the series redoing just about all the special effects; especially the spaceflight scenes. Obviously, a tie in with HD but it adds a nice touch.

This was all lost on my dear wife, sadly. Seems she didn't spend her youth watching and rewatching The Five Year Mission. But Superfriends, she knows forward and backward. Her loss.

So that's the latest update on the Xander Front. In other vital news, this weekend marks JP Patches final public appearance. Sigh. Well, he gave us a good 45-50 years.

Adios, Julius Pierpont.

See you soon.

B.

Well, I Wonder If This How Most Land Barons Started Out

4/10/2011

Well, when we left off last night's Monopoly game, our first "for reals" attempt, Xander had the most money, Wendi had the most property and I had less than $100 and one of my properties was mortgaged. This was after roughly 90 minutes. It didn't look good. 

With the game being rather complicated for a 7 year old, he rather well: reading the property cards, figuring out how much he had to pay, how much change he would get, that sort of thing. In fact, the biggest challenge Xander had was in getting the right place value for his money; saying the property cost $20, instead of the proper $200. Handing us $7, instead of $70 for rent. 

Granted, he could just be a con man. 

Did I say this was his biggest challenge? Make that his second biggest challenge.  Numero Uno was in not fiddling with his money, rolling around on the floor (we played on the Living Room floor), refraining from the non-stop (and usually irrelevant) commentary and just generally driving his two opponents bonkers. 

Again, he might just be the master at mind games. 

Today, with a rainy cold afternoon, we thought we would pick right up where we left off. Xander almost immediately took a clear lead with the purchase of Boardwalk and Park Place, soon after putting down one, two and then three houses before Ms. Wendi and I had any monopolies of our own. Time for the two old folks to start swapping. I got two RRs and she got the Electric Company and 1/2 off all future train tickets. It still wasn't enough as Land Baron Xander added another house to the Royal Blue Properties and we were one unlucky roll away from losing everything. 

My nadir was soon after when I had to trade all my RR for one stay at Boardwalk. Like a (short) colossus, Xander bestrode the world of little real estate development. Our one advantage we had over him was years and years of haggling experience. And with it and a bit of luck (good luck for me/bad luck for him), things started to turn around. 

Sadly, he made a classic real estate mistake; one that many a former millionaire learned in 2008/09. He was property rich but cash poor. When he needed a large amount of money (like when landing on my North Carolina Avenue with 2 houses), it's a buyer's market. I got my RRs back and a promise of two free stays at any of his resorts. I could see the eyes go a bit misty but he accepted the deal and we moved on.

That is, till two turns later when he again landed on another pricey spot. This time he was going to have to sell houses. His beloved Boardwalk/Park Place houses. That's when the tears started. I seriously doubt Donald Trump ever cried while being held by Steve Wynn over a Las Vegas business deal that went south but that's what our little formerly wealthy speculator did. He spent the remainder of the game (just two more turns before we pulled the plug) being held by mommy while tearfully losing more and more of his filthy lucre. 

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Trump has acted like that when faced with similar situations a time or two. 

Mommy dared suggest we modify the "Pay $40 per house" Chance card to a mere $10 per. Not A Chance! Ya places yer bets, ya takes your chances. He'll thank me one day. 

On the post game walk around the neighborhood, Xander suggested we play "Stratego" next week. I'll think about it. 

Or maybe checkers.....

Swim Lessons

10/3/2010

Glad “Fame” rocked. This B Kid may just have a future in show business. R-Dub’s coming over tonight so we can go tonight. She forgot that today’s S’s Birthday, so I guess he’ll be eating cake all by himself. How monumentally sad.

Yesterday was a pretty good day (though, of course I woke too early. Why do I ever stay up late when I know I’ll just get up the same time as always?) Xander’s current swim lessons are over so Wendi and he’ll just go to open swim. (Wendi is just sure the Lifeguard will spot her cold sore and throw her out. You there! You in the water! Let me take a closer look at that lip!) His lesson time is now two hours before open swim so we’re not sure if he’ll stay with lessons.

Swim Instructor M is quite a card; while in the pool, he poured some water from his water bottle onto Xander’s head. Xander responded by loudly calling him a moron. (Darn that 101 Dalmations and its saucy language!) Hearing this, Wendi responded by turning into a pint-sized Hulk, picking up Xander by the ear and hurling him out the window, giving all his toys/clothes to charity, setting fire to his favorite stuffed animal Alex, renting out his room to his 2nd grade nemesis and then driving a truck over Xander repeatedly. Or something like that. I couldn’t get the details. Wendi was VERY NOT PLEASED and Xander was VERY contrite while describing the incident to me later.

Later, I taught Xander the Manly Art of Vacuuming, which was very exciting. He is now able to vacuum his room. And he and I went for a walk about the neighborhood. He is hunting for the cat that pooped in our yard last week. We also encountered some neighborhood kids about his age who were going door to door selling Cougar Valley fundraising stuff. Xander’s going to raise some money that way, too but only by the time-honored method of pestering relatives. Grab your checkbook, Tutu! Pretty sure CV kids aren’t supposed to sell door to door.

After that, we threw the tennis ball around. It’s one of those tennis ball/Velcro things. (Not really a mitt but more of a saucer-like device with Velcro on one side and a hand strap on the other.) Xander’s getting…better than he was at throwing. Still, there’s more enthusiasm than control.

Somewhere, he picked up the word “momentum” so everything was “momentum” this and “momentum” that to describe the throws. Sadly, Xander was using “momentum” when he really meant “velocity”. Sigh. He is going to be so embarrassed when I bring this up in the future….

We also tried to avoid the 2,432,501 new spider webs coating the entire property. I’m getting sick of doing my little arachnodance every time I walk into a web. Hope my neighbors don’t look out their back windows early in the mornings ‘cause I’ve just taken to swinging my arms around while walking out to the car. Clears the webs but I must look really goofy while do it.

Well, think I’ll celebrate my insomnia by going to the gym. It opens in 10 minutes

See you!

Brian

BTW: Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts tomorrow!

Thrilling Celebrity Visit

9/26/2010

First, some background. For the past couple of weeks, Xander has been enthralled by “The Spiderwick Chronicles”; a series of five short books which detail the adventures of the modern-day Grace Family as I have read the books to him each night (two or three nights per books) and now he had all 5 books on CD borrowed from the Public Library. (He now has suggestions for my dramatic readings….)

In addition to the set of 5 books, he also now has Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to Fantastical Creatures, again borrowed from the Library, so the young man is has become the expert on these types of creatures. Still a little fuzzy on whether they actually, you know, exist but in a 7-year-old’s mind, that’s not as important as how friggin’ cool they are.

There are worse ways to live.

Just on a whim, I recently rented the Spiderwick movie which came out about 2 years ago and is loosely based on the books. About 24 minutes in, he decided he’d rather have me read to him upstairs. Xander is still pretty cautious about PG movies. That is, he gets scared. Oh, well. Maybe when he’s 8.

However, a cheesy movie is nothing compared to the other momentous occurrence from yesterday; a tooth fell out! From Xander. (We’re not that old.) So this presented an opportunity to interact with a real live faerie! Again, he’s still on the fence about the reality of the situation. He is, however, convinced that cold, hard cash will be coming his way. The Tooth Faerie leaves 3 one dollar coins (which, are gold-colored, btw) under his pillow. Of money’s reality, there is no doubt.

Since she would be stopping by, Xander thought he might ask an expert a question that’s been bugging him. With Mommy’s help, he produced the below letter….

 …and tucked it under his pillow. Well, to our astonishment, Xander found a reply under pillow (along with the customary $3) this morning.

 The note from TF reads as follows:

Dear Xander,

Thanks you, for your letter kind,

It shows a bright and curious mind,

And for your letter and your tooth,

I shall gift you with the truth,

Yes! Fairies, my child, are everywhere,

Though you might never glimpse them there.

                                     The Tooth Fairy

I didn’t have the heart to mention (aloud) that the second comma was superfluous and breaks the meter. Things like that have a way of getting back to the Source and causing trouble but this is now an heirloom which shall be handed down for generations of Hardys to come. Truly a red letter day.

Time to get back to mundane existence. I need to fill out some HMO paperwork, the lawn needs mowing and the ice dispenser is jammed again.

Sigh. A 7 year old’s world sounds pretty friggin’ cool sometimes…

Brian

Happy Birthday to You!

7/24/2010

Well, Xander has survived his 7th birthday. Though he didn’t get much in the way of presents. In fact, the only concrete thing he had to show for the day are two tiny plastic rabbits and a corresponding little hutch. Some kids would be dissatisfied with such a haul but not X-man. He picked out the bunnies himself while at Toys R Us where we were ordering him a bike. Not the 24” monster the “expert” recommended. At 20” wheels, he was barely able to stand up and reaching for the handbrakes was iffy at best. I foresaw many crashes as my son, my heir, furiously tried to apply the non-existent foot brakes. So we went with the smaller bike which needed to be special ordered. A larger bike would have lasted longer but he wouldn’t have.

Earlier in the day, we went to brother-in-law Stuart (and Britt ’s house for a housewarming. It’s a very nice house and he and his new bride will be very happy there. They very kindly bought a small cake for Xander AND had some ponies delivered so all the little kids (including very grown-up 7 year olds) could take pony rides. So, Xander did have both cake and a pony ride on his birthday; just not through any effort from his parents.

As we were leaving, Xander started his long good-bye routine where he’ll go around to EVERYONE at the party to give them a so long, farewell there. Since we knew exactly 7 people out of the 45 or so there, most looked upon this young man with bemusement. However, his no-fun parents hurried him up; eager to be on their way.

The same thing happened at his Great Grandpa Hardy’s Wake. The Viewing was another matter. Xander simply started crying when we got to the funeral home and didn’t stop the whole time. This despite wiping lots of tears/mucus onto my shoulder. He is very sensitive about how people feel around him. Wendi decided he didn’t need to go to the cemetery and so went directly to Grandpa’s house where mounds of food, candy and drink soothed his pain.

And as we were leaving, he made his rounds of the entire house, giving everyone: relative, friends of Grandpa, neighbors, caterer a big, heartfelt hug as he left. No doubt he’ll out grow this habit but not too soon, I hope.

Well, the day ended with Xander crushing both his parents in games of Trouble and Uno. (For like the zillionth time in a row. Good thing I am above caring about that sort of thing…)

Well, it’s time to go read to the little fellow. Thanks for reading this far and I hope to see you soon.

Brian