tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62134376462948530962026-04-16T10:56:50.187-05:00Where I write about running, Home Ownership, DIY projects, raising twins, and other Mysteries of LifeIcarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.comBlogger982125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-80334607062331193842026-04-16T09:39:00.006-05:002026-04-16T09:39:54.240-05:00

Time to update the Cost per Day for the Drama Playset.  We have now owned the Drama Playset since January 14, 2022, or 1553 days.Now the local cousins don't come over as much as they used to, but Boris swings literally every day, and Natasha joins him sometimes, especially when our pseudo third child is around.  So I'm going to keep using the previous formulas with

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-15191158890157051862026-04-01T10:42:00.001-05:002026-04-01T10:42:16.200-05:00

I answered a question on Quora, and at the bottom of the post, like many other Quorans, I said, "If you liked this answer, give me an upvote."  It seems to have worked because this is the most upvoted answer I've ever had.  It's likely more that it was posted to a very active space, and the question is getting a lot of answers.Anywho, someone commented, "I block upvote beggars" and did

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-79820685800234800402026-04-01T10:37:00.000-05:002026-04-01T10:37:22.113-05:00

 For almost the entirety of March, we were able to function with the heat and AC set to OFF.  We were even able to sleep with the windows open, and it was some of the best sleep I've had since the kiddos arrived!There were 2 cold snap days, and a few mornings I needed to run the heat for an hour so the kids could defrost and get to school.  And toward the end of the month, we did

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-81736965239095571702026-03-30T09:09:00.003-05:002026-04-16T10:56:49.962-05:00

This has been a busy but rough weekend.  First, on Thursday, we had to be in Oxford, Mississippi, for Natasha’s science fair. This required getting up fairly early to be there by 8 o’clock. The issue is it’s 62 miles away, and I didn’t get the best sleep that night.The science fair was kind of weird. Parents and chaperones were not allowed on the main floor until the lunch hour, and the

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-12220342110346256162026-03-24T11:55:00.004-05:002026-03-25T13:40:14.236-05:00

Instead of sitting around the house all day doing nothing much, I got us to go to Memphis on Saturday.  The reason was twofold.  First, I wanted to replace the last remnants of the sectional that the cats have destroyed with this:Second, I wanted to get some new running shoes.  I'm past my glory days of running piles of miles, but I think I can start doing a mile or two after

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-75619114493922504412026-03-24T11:48:00.005-05:002026-04-06T15:19:45.401-05:00

 On the Book of Faces, I shared a post from The Onion about substituting ingredients in a recipe. The first time I try a new recipe, I strive to use all the ingredients and follow directions to the letter.An exception might be that it calls for an ingredient I don’t have and don’t want to invest in. For instance, earlier this week I made česnečka soup but didn’t have marjoram (

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-38047684620699004062026-03-23T12:17:00.004-05:002026-03-24T11:28:02.409-05:00

Last week two former work colleagues reconnected with me.  I sent a text to Sasha* asking a simple yes/no/the color purple question.  A tad bit later she responded, ignored the question, and just said she was traveling back from Tampa Bay.  Date with Tom Brady?  I said no worries, we can chat/text tomorrow after you get some sleep.* I don't remember what alias I use for her

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-49748362295775015962026-03-16T12:56:00.004-05:002026-03-16T12:56:43.133-05:00

 It goes without saying that I have done a terrible job of keeping up with this blog.  It's probably a combination of laziness, not having an audience, and having a boring, mostly uneventful last remaining years of life.TrespassersAs a Stay-At-Home-Dad (SAHD), I don't get out much.  I take the kids to school, maybe run some errands, try to get some stuff done around the house, and

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-47686239892609533112026-02-17T11:57:00.005-06:002026-02-17T11:57:34.409-06:00

 I did something to my shoulder and cannot bring it full circle without the ibuprofen.  Even with the meds it still hurts a tad when I try perform some basic function that involves my left arm, like typing.  I have a lot of things I want and need to do around the house now that the weather is warming up, but I also know that if I overdo it, I will injure myself further.  So

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-39883064316350456082026-02-09T11:24:00.001-06:002026-02-09T11:24:46.041-06:00

I'm way overdue for writing this post.  So now that the SuperBowl is over, I will wrap up the Chicago Bears posts until next season.  Anyone who pays attention to football knows that the Bears not only went to the playoffs but won the Wild Card round against their archrival, the Green Bay Packers in overtime.  Katness and I often text each other during Bears games, and for 3

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-25258504190085682302026-01-28T11:02:00.003-06:002026-01-28T11:02:49.797-06:00

 We had a warm Christmas week.  It was so nice that the kids could be outside and we could have fires.  After the Michigan in-laws left, the weather cooled.  That Sunday (December 28th), we had a storm.  Sometime in the night, the winds blew down this tree.I thought about renting a chainsaw from Home Depot and cutting at least the fallen part down myself.  But my

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-17001448040010367832026-01-05T09:39:00.000-06:002026-01-21T09:39:55.297-06:00

The regular season is over and we Bears fans have one playoff game to look forward to.  With the way they played the Lions on Sunday, we fans aren't exactly holding our breath for a playoff win.  They ended the season the way they started, by losing two games.  But in between, they won 11 games and that was good enough to win a division where every team had a winning record.I

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-78728486571049367552026-01-05T09:14:00.002-06:002026-01-05T09:14:49.096-06:00

I didn't even get a chance to start my annual first post of the year before things went bad for us in the United States of America.  We attacked Venezuela over the weekend and are about to annex it, at least temporarily.  Every year, I revisit what to do with this blog.  It takes more effort than it use to for me to write posts that even I'm interested in, but I also like the

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-17928617982088285652025-12-29T10:01:00.001-06:002025-12-29T10:01:36.876-06:00

The Bears clinched a playoff spot a couple weeks ago.  Then, last week, they clinched the division.  The only thing left was to try and score the First Round Bye.  Unfortunately, a loss in a close game against the 49ers eliminated any chance of that.  With the last game against Detroit, they are playing for either the 2nd Seed or the 3rd Seed. If Chicago beats the Detroit

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-2398605343358241042025-12-22T11:09:00.004-06:002025-12-22T11:09:36.315-06:00

There isn't really a lot to write about these days.  Which is why I don't write much here. I don't even bother with quick two paragraphs and a picture posts like I once did.  I guess I'm getting over blogging.During the week it's simply get up, get the kids feed, dressed and to school and then pick them up at 3.  Feed them dinner, get them to martial arts or soccer and then get

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-36256702931472130632025-12-01T09:28:00.003-06:002025-12-03T10:41:50.779-06:00

The NFL season is three-quarters over, with most of the teams completing their bye weeks and the Chicago Bears are 9-3.  I don't know whether to go with Wow or OMG.  My pre-season predictions had them at 6-6 and I've never been happier to be so wrong.and Swept Pennsylvania tooThere are a lot of haters out there saying the Bears haven't played anyone.  Yet they just

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-9531075815866196402025-11-14T12:54:00.024-06:002025-11-17T09:13:14.012-06:00

With the exception of preparing their lunches, which Nightingale does, I am in charge of getting the kids ready and off to school.  Almost every day is a challenge, but different than the day before.  I get them up at 7 and ask what they want for breakfast.  They rarely, if ever, want the same thing.  Once they are sitting and eating breakfast, I pick out Boris's clothes.

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-12940032787955858422025-11-10T10:12:00.001-06:002025-11-10T10:12:26.465-06:00

 Last week, I finally got around to doing a really good deep cleaning of the grill my FIL gave us four years ago when we moved down here.The reason is one part laziness and two parts, not doing it during the window when it’s not too hot and not too cold down here.  To be fair, I'm certain FIL never deep-cleaned it either. There was a lot of dirty, caked-up grease, charred food bits

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-81984820835355521182025-11-07T11:18:00.001-06:002025-11-07T12:45:33.867-06:00

The NFL season is about halfway over, and the Chicago Bears are a surprising 5-3, which is what I predicted them to be at this point of the season.  I'm 6 and 2 in my predictions.  The Bears could conceivably be 7-1 were it not for the meltdown in the season opener and the anemic offense against Baltimore.  They could also be a lot worse because three of those wins could have

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-33041000858506406112025-10-31T12:05:00.001-05:002025-11-07T11:27:17.008-06:00

A few things happened this month that I should have written about in real time but was busy with the things.  Or being lazy.  Firstly, the weather finally became more bearable. In fact, early last week, I was able to turn off the AC.  Now it's cold in the mornings and warm in the afternoons and early evenings and chilly overnight.  I did put the heat on low a couple days

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-34035373988774499242025-10-15T14:01:00.005-05:002025-10-15T14:01:40.062-05:00

After losing two games against the Brewers, the Chicago Cubs did a rare thing since the playoff format changed some time ago: they forced a Game 5.  I did not expect that to happen and actually had a reasonable belief they might be able to pull it off.Alas, they did not.  Milwaukee won and moved on.  But I'm grateful that the Cubs gave us fans 8 more games beyond the regular season

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-16313186305117094662025-10-06T08:26:00.004-05:002025-10-06T08:32:49.552-05:00

The long renovation project is completed.  Demolition began on July 28th, and the final touches were completed on September 17th.  There was some idle time in between because it took longer than anticipated to receive the tile, the vanity, the shower door, and other items.  Some of that was supple chain issues.  Some of it was our own, sitting on our butt instead of making a

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-1812244525207712402025-10-04T14:00:00.006-05:002025-10-04T14:23:59.992-05:00

The Cubs managed to win the series 2-1.  The latest MLB playoff format had every wild card game occur at the ballpark of the team with the best record.  This meant all 3 games were at Wrigley Field.  And I got to watch all three of them.  Now they move on to the Divisional Round against the Brewers.  This is a best of five format, with the first two games at Brewers,

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-39275140093309470112025-09-30T13:52:00.000-05:002025-10-13T15:26:44.467-05:00

I wrote about three opportunities that arrived in my LinkedIn message box in early August.  It should come as no surprise that none of them panned out.  I cannot say what legitimate shot I had at any of these but for a hot minute, it looked like either Big Bank or Consulting Gig would have hired me.  I was feeling a little randy so I emailed the guy who went on vacation 2

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6213437646294853096.post-18732349525249868172025-09-30T09:54:00.005-05:002025-09-30T10:21:48.488-05:00

The NFL season is already 1/4 over, and the Chicago Bears are 2-2.  I had them at 3-1, and they would have been had they not melted down in the 4th quarter of the first game against the Vikings.  And they almost lost Sunday against the lowly Raiders.  Instead, the Bears win on a blocked field goal and they are 2-2 going into the Bye Week.  I suspect the early Bye week is

Icarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10281923011888879081noreply@blogger.com0