Barry’s Daily Web News

Well-Rested Kids

Sean and Ethan seemed more rested today, as they did not have the crankiness problems they had yesterday. Maybe it’s an every other day thing. If so, tomorrow should be interesting.

Sean told me about the marble party at school. I actually think it is a clever idea by Sean’s teacher. If the kids behave and follow directions for the day, they get a marble. I might try this idea at home.

Tired Kids

I guess the excitement of the first day of school yesterday finally caught up with Sean and Ethan around dinner time this evening. They were both worn out; tired and cranky. We put Ethan to bed early, but Sean had his gym class. We gave some thought to skipping the class, but Sean would not be able to make it up any time soon, so I took him anyway. I could tell Sean was tired at the gym, and I had a tough time with him when he got home. The good news is our kids are only a good night’s sleep away from turning normal again.

Sean’s First Full Day of School

Here’s a picture of Sean at his desk waiting for the other students to arrive:

I asked Sean how his day at school was, and the first thing to come out of his mouth was that he had two recesses. Sean had an actual homework assignment as well.

Summer’s Over?

Sean starts first grade tomorrow, and I think he is really excited. We had him practice his writing this evening, and put him to bed early so he will be well rested tomorrow.

I guess Sean’s summer is over, but with two more months of hot weather still to continue, it doesn’t seem like Summer is over to me.

I did not drive the new car today, but I did play with the radio, setting up the XM stations, and testing out a MP3 disk and my MP3 player.

The New Car

I can’t think of a better way to describe a big event than with some pictures. (Click on the pictures to see the full-sized image)

The proud owner of a new vehicle:

It’s a new Honda Element. Cortney is playing with the storage bin above the console area.

Lot’s of room in the back seat, and the cup holders double as toy storage.

The rear seats fold up into the sides, leaving a large cargo (or impromptu play) area.

The new car feels at home next to it’s older sister, our Honda Odyssey. The Element is slightly taller than the Odyssey, even though it is narrower and much shorter.

Even though I miss my old car, and haven’t made the adjustment for driving a sports coupe to a small SUV, I am very impressed with the Element. The car has a very smooth ride, reasonable acceleration, and a smooth shifting transmission. The car was surprisingly nimble navigating through heavy mall traffic this evening. I admit it’s beauty takes awhile to grow on you, but at least the car is easy to find in the parking lot.

A Rough Week

This has been a rough week, with the car issues and all that. So, I’m not going to write much tonight, but just end with a teaser — I drove home a new vehicle this evening. Stay tuned tomorrow for all of the details.

Meet the Teacher

Tonight was meet the teacher night at Sean’s school. Of course, we were able to meet Sean’s teacher, and tour the classroom. Sean has his own desk, with his name on it! Sean is going to have so much fun, at least until the initial excitement wears off. I was teasing the girl who will be sitting across from Sean that she will have to look at Sean all day long. I then found out that the seating arrangements get shuffled every few weeks. I can see why.

Sean and Ethan were treating the entire school facility as a playground, so it was just as enjoyable to leave the school as it was to initially enter Sean’s classroom.

Good Bye, BMW

It looks like my BMW driving days are over, at least until I reach a mid-life crisis (that’s actually a joke, since by most considerations I am mid-life already). After the hassle of arranging yet another towing, I received the bad news late this afternoon. The prognosis is bent valves on the engine, and the repair will cost more than the car is worth. It’s still a mystery how my car transitioned from drivable vehicle to worthless scrap over such a short period of time. One possibility is that some bizarre failure caused engine damage while trying to start with a weak battery. Another possibility is the place the car was originally towed to damaged the engine while trying to fix the starting problem. Other than just curiosity, it’s a mute point. It would cost more money than anyone is willing to pay to find out what happened.

At least I had over thirteen years of fun driving with that car, even though I expected another seven.

Car Troubles, Continued

After waiting at Wal-Mart for over an hour this morning, I finally found out for sure that my car would not start, so I had it towed. More than likely, I have a bad alternator, but the shop the car was towed to hasn’t figured it out yet. Or, they just haven’t looked at it. Either way, I was without a car today, and will likely be again tomorrow.

I spent the day working at home, so I was able to spend a little bit of extra time with Sean and Ethan.

Car Trouble

After taking Sean to gym class, I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription. On the way out, my car would not start. I called Cortney up on the phone, and asked her to bring the minivan over to jump start my car. This required waking Ethan up.

Jumping the car was not successful. I made a decision not to worry about the car tonight, and just went home with Cortney. I was too tired, and it was just too hot out to worry about it this evening. I plan to call AAA up tomorrow, and have them look at the car.

A new car is looking pretty good right now, but I don’t think that will happen any time soon.

A New Look to the Kid’s Room

Cortney has just about finished painting the kid’s room. The closet doors still need to be painted, but otherwise, the room is done. We will likely move the kids back in tomorrow night, or maybe the night after.

Other than that, today was a usual Sunday. Yard work, reading the newspaper, time with the kids, and laundry.

Hair Cut Day

Sean and I went and test drove a Honda Element. This car sure looks ugly on the outside, but it is seems to be a practical vehicle that drives well. Eventually, I will be looking to replace my car with a vehicle that can navigate fire roads, so we have better access to the hiking trails in Arizona.

Sean and Ethan both had their hair cut today. We wanted them to have neat haircuts for the start of the school year. Afterwards, I took Sean in the pool with me. Ethan went out to the pool with us, but he is still recovering from swimmer’s ear, so he stayed out of the water. At least mostly. His clothes got wet, but he at least kept his head dry.

Dinner and Time with the Kids

We went out for gourmet Italian fast food this evening. The food was good, and Cortney and I even finished off the kid’s dishes, but the meal was a little too fast. We were done with two hours left before the kid’s bedtime. At least I was able to spend time with Sean and Ethan after being away for three days.

Cute Little Angels

I arrived home from the Tucson trip just after the kid’s bedtime, but I was still hoping to say goodnight to Sean before he fell asleep. But I guess both kids had a busy day, as they were sound asleep when I went into the bedroom. I couldn’t help but think they looked like cute little angels as they lay there sleeping in the bed.

Second day in Tucson

After another full day of meetings, we went out to dinner. The dinner was nice, but nearly as fun as yesterday’s baseball game. In fact, I would much rather have spent this evening home with the family.

We will be leaving Tucson right after tomorrow’s meeting, so I hope to be home in time to put Sean to bed.