The Way Life Should Be

So true

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

I may not be much of a triathlete now but back when I was training for Ironman I was guilty of many of these :)

Snow day

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:15:00 +0000

Spent the day outside. Sledding in the morning, snowshoeing in the afternoon. Found lots of animal tracks and what appears to be the den of the bobcat/lynx that made the tracks I found last weekend. Capped it off watching the Pats ~~win~~ not lose.

Sledding with friends in the morning

Scenes from my showshoe adventure with Otto

Handsome boy

Dead crow. There were a bunch of animal tracks around here and while we were investigation something largish went crashing through the woods behind us. It was probably a deer. Yeah, that's it, a deer.

Now I know where to go when I want to take a nap without interruption.

It's all about form

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:23:00 +0000

I had intended to post about an extremely challenging swim set we did at Masters Thursday morning but I never got around to writing that post. However, the title still works.

One Friday a month our daycare hosts "Parent's Night Out" and for 20 bucks will keep your kid until 9:30 pm so you can go to dinner, see a movie, run errands, or whatever it is you want to do kid-free. Anyone who has hired a babysitter recently knows what a bargain this is. The kids get to eat pizza and watch movies in their PJs while the parents have a nice night out. Last night was "Parent's Night Out" for January and Dr. Nick and I had planned to see "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Unfortunately Dr. Nick wasn't able to get out of work early enough and we couldn't make it to the movie.

We met up at a local pub to have a beer and just relax. We decided we needed to do something and after some head scratching (and another beer) we decided we would go bowling. I don't know that the two of us have bowled together since college. I recalled seeing a bowling alley nearby but it was candlepin bowling. For those not in New England, candlepin bowling uses shorter lanes, smaller balls (LOL!), and allows three balls per frame. We headed over, not sure if it was even open for "open bowling" but figured we would check it out. We walked in and I felt a little like the guys in that scene in Animal House where they walk into the bar and the music stops and everyone stares. This bowling alley is about 100 meters from the local mill and it seemed that this was a popular after-work spot for the blue collar set. I saw no open lanes and was about to say as much and head out when I notice a rather large man waving at us. Turns out he was the owner or manager or something. He waves us over to the desk and I realize that there is a whole lower level. A couple of the lanes are being used by some 9-10 year old boys but the rest are empty.

This sign is actually done in shag carpet...on the wall.

"You familiar with candlepin?" he gruffed.
"Um, roughly?" I replied.
He obviously wasn't satisfied with my answer and decided to challenge my knowledge. "How many balls?" he asked. I responded with a blank stare as I am sure he expected. He then rattled off a brief rundown of the rules and scoring, handed us shoes and sent us on our way.

They had a computer to keep score but you had to manually enter the total number of pins. Of course on the first frame I screwed up Dr. Nick's score and was trying to figure out how to correct it. Lucky for us the 10 year old in the next lane "Nate" helped out. He took charge and corrected it for us. He then showed us how to reset the pins and explained that he bowls every Friday night and his uncle is in a league. The uncle was in another lane with "Vinny" and "Bran," two younger boys that he was teaching to play. The first frame I think I hit one pin. I exclaimed something about how bad I was and Nate looked at me and explained in a very serious tone that candlepin bowling "is all about form." I thanked him while suppressing laughter. Dr. Nick managed to beat me by about 40 pins in the first game. This of course turned on my competitive side and I was determined to improve. I started listening to Nate's uncle as he coached the boys. He kept saying "scoop the dirt." I really have no idea what that meant but I did get better and I managed to win the next 2 games! Woot!

Dr. Nick post-throw. Not much dirt scooped here.

Me and Nate

All in all it wasn't the most romantic of date nights. We wore rented shoes and it smelled like a bowling alley, a bowling alley right down the street from the mill. There were a ton of kids there running around but they weren't ours so it was ok. We still had a great time and it was much better than zoning out at a movie. We had a lot of laughs and learned that much like swimming, running, and cycling, candlepin bowling is all about form.

Stylish

Proof! Dr. Nick had high game but I won the last 2.

Staying safe

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Today's post on Another Mother Runner is all about tips for being safe while running. Although these tips are great, they are geared more toward the urban or suburban runner. I thought it might be good to share some things I think are important for running solo in more rural areas. Where I run there are no sidewalks and no streetlights. Generally there really aren't many other people either. My biggest concerns are being visible to motorists and avoiding angry wildlife.

I think the most important tip applies to any running route, rural or urban. Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. Leave a note or email someone if no one else is home.
Be visible. I wear a headlamp in the front and a blinking red light from Road ID in the back. I also wear a reflective vest and Otto has his own light from PupLight. There is no chance of not seeing us. The vest is good during daylight hours of hunting season too!
Be aware. This one is applicable anywhere as well. I don't use my iPod when I run in the dark. I want to be fully aware of my surroundings and able to hear approaching traffic or wildlife.
Carry ID. I use a Road ID on my sneaker. It's cheap and easy and prevalent enough that any medical personnel will know to look for it. I have a bonus ID too with Otto's dog tag.
Carry a phone. I think this is more relevant in a rural area since there is very little chance of being able to borrow one or find one to use in an emergency. Plus, I use the RunKeeper app which is pretty cool and tells me exactly where I have been, the elevation profile, and all that other fun data a science-geek like me enjoys.
The last tip is just to listen to your gut. If you aren't comfortable with a situation than don't go there. There will be other opportunities and life is too valuable to take chances. Even if you aren't a "mother runner" there are likely other people who would be seriously bummed if something happened to you. I have a treadmill in the basement and if the roads look slick I prefer to err on the side of caution and stay indoors. One car slides on that road at the wrong time and suddenly Dr. Nick and Jack are less one mom and O-dawg.
One last tip. If you are a driver and see a runner (or cyclist) on the road, give them as much room as you safely can. If there is oncoming traffic, slow down and let it pass so that you can move over and give them a little room.

Are there other things you do to stay safe while running?

(Not) Meant to be

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:23:00 +0000

Last weekend I made plans with Mindy to meet up at Bradbury on Sunday for my inaugural winter trail run. I really have only run on trails a time or two before and I was looking forward to learning the ropes and running a new route. As the week progressed the forecast for Sunday kept deteriorating. We got 5-6" of snow on Thursday followed by some freezing rain that created a lovely crust on top of everything. In addition, they were calling for sub zero temps on Sunday morning. Needless to say I wasn't all that sad when I got an email from Mindy. The trails were in rough shape and given the temps she suggested we reschedule for next weekend. This was at about 8pm. At about 10pm we heard Jack crying. This is pretty unusual so I went up to check on him. The poor kid had puked all over his bed, the floor and pretty much anything within range. He was scared and clearly didn't feel well. I ended up staying up until 2am when I finally decided he was done. Thankfully I didn't have to roll out of bed at 6 to meet Mindy and Dr. Nick let me sleep until 8. It's worth mentioning that at 6am (when Jack and Nick got up) it was -10 outside. We spent the morning lounging around in our PJs watching movies. In the afternoon it had warmed up to about 15 and the sun was out. Jack had gone down for a nap so I decided to take my snowshoes out for a spin. There are a lot of woods behind our house and as I discovered a number of poorly maintained old snowmobile trails. They aren't used anymore based on the number of downed trees in the paths but it was some great snowshoeing. Otto came along and had a blast sniffing all the animal tracks. I have no idea how far we went or for how long. I decided it didn't really matter. We had a great time wandering around out there and I think I may do this in lieu of a run more often on the weekends. So although I was bummed to not have made it to Bradbury I think things worked out for the best. I doubt running rutted trails in -10 degree weather on 4 hours sleep would have made for a very fun experience. I guess the universe aligned on this one for a change.

Saw these right behind the house. The front ones are around 3" across and were always in a set with the smaller ones. I think it may be a lynx but who knows.

One of the trails we followed (those our my tracks- Otto stayed right behind me to avoid post-holing)

I didn't know these existed but nice to know we live in the "Safety Zone."

More trail

Scouting the trail

The old air strip right behind our house. There were a ton of animal tracks along the edges, including the ones above.

O-dawg

Me :)

Bonus run

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:32:00 +0000

Today I got up at 5 fully planning to get on the treadmill. The forecast was calling for snow and where I run it just isn't safe if the roads are slick. There are no shoulders, it's dark, and the posted speed limit is 40 mph which means cars (and big trucks) go anywhere from 40-60 mph. I got downstairs in shorts and a sports bra and looked out the front door. Much to my surprise there was no snow on the ground or falling from the sky. I turned right around and went back upstairs to add a few layers. Otto and I ended up doing our 4 mile loop which was much more fun than being stuck on the treadmill in the basement. It finally started to snow around 7am and they are calling for 6-10" at our house followed by freezing rain. Should be an interesting commute home.

Frittata Update and Moonshadows

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:49:00 +0000

So in my post about the Frittatas it remained to be seen if they would still be tasty after being frozen. Yesterday I swam with the masters group at 5:30 am so I tossed a couple frittatas in a tupperware to have afterwards. When I got to work I microwaved them for a minute or so and then ate them with a little salsa. I was worried that they might get a little soggy but they held up really well. They were also quite filling (I had 2) and kept me going until lunch at noon. I also calculated the weight watchers points (points plus) in case anyone was interested and they came out to be 2.5-3 each depending on how much cheese you use. I think these are keepers for sure.

This morning I ran outside at 5am. When the alarm went off I had the usual mental battle trying to convince my body to leave my nice warm snuggly bed and head outside where it was 18 degrees and dark. I used the very effective argument of "you'll feel much better after a run than you would if you stay in bed and beat yourself up about not going." Ten minutes later I was on the road with Otto. There was a full moon this morning and the sky was perfectly clear. We really didn't need our headlamps (Otto has a pup-light) but I wanted to make sure cars could see us. The moon was huge and was so bright it actually cast shadows. It was really a beautiful morning. I even saw a shooting star. At the end I was quite happy to have been out there to see it. For the most part I did feel better than I would have if I had stayed in bed. The only down side is that I am still battling a chest cold and the cold air combined with my cold resulted in a 45 minute long post-run coughing and wheezing fit. Still, that moon was worth it and now I can enjoy the rest of my day knowing I got my run in and saw a part of the day most people never get to see.

Risotto and Haddock

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:41:00 +0000

This weekend I did a lot of cooking. I made the frittatas that I mentioned already in my breakfast post, a giant vat of sausage and spinach soup for our lunches, some sesame chicken to freeze for future dinners, and Saturday night I made risotto for the first time. I had been intimidated by risotto for a long time. I think this is mostly due to the struggle it appears to be for the contestants on "Hell's Kitchen." I used arborio rice from Trader Joes and followed this recipe. It really wasn't that hard but it does require constant babysitting so it probably isn't a great idea for a dinner party. However, it was a perfect Saturday night activity for Dr. Nick and I after Jack went to bed. Yes, some people go dancing. We make risotto.

Part way through cooking (I made way too much)

We also made some haddock that we sauteed in butter, white wine, and olive oil and then sprinkled with some lemon juice.

Haddock ready to cook

The 2 most important ingredients to this meal.

These pictures are pretty lousy since I took them with my phone but my counter really is that green. Not my favorite but they came with the house and I don't get upset when Jack colors on them with markers. Someday I hope to have lovely granite counters and an awesome back splash. Until then we will live with the astro turf theme.

My sous chef preparing the fish pan

The final product. I am not one to waste time making fancy presentations but you get the idea.

In summary, risotto isn't all that hard. The contestants on Hell's Kitchen appear to be challenged (on multiple levels) and Gordon is probably a lot fussier than I am. It all came out pretty well and I think I'd make it again although it is pretty rich so I don't think it will be a very frequent item on our menu.

Breakfast revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

After I posted about breakfast I did a little searching on Pinterest and got some ideas. This was my first attempt at mini-frittatas. I started by sauteing yellow and orange peppers and some green onion and then adding some black beans right at the end to mix it all up. I put a little of this mixture into each well of a muffin tin, topped it with a little cheese and then added my egg mixture. The egg mixture was about 7 eggs and 2 egg beaters all whisked together. I baked the whole thing at 350 for 20-25 minutes or so. I gave one to Jack for dinner. He wasn't a fan but he never likes anything new the first time. We'll keep trying and I think he'll like it. I think these will be tasty with a little salsa and will be my new post-swim breakfast.

Sauteing the veggies

The finished product and a little love for our "BeerME" glass.

Jack had one for dinner so this is what the inside looked like.

Experimenting

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Thank you to Emilie for inspiring me to start learning how to use iMovie. Here is my first attempt.

Edited to add that yes, that is a beer at the end and yes, that is a stick he is hitting it with. Santa brought him some new toys so now he doesn't have to play with sticks and Daddy's drink :)

New Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:48:00 +0000

Otto made some new friends today and even shared his bed.

Friday Funny

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

I should get this on a T-shirt for Jack.

Jack-isms and other stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Lately Jack has been saying the funniest things. Sometimes I wonder if he knows he is being funny or if it just comes out that way. Here are a few highlights:

Today in the car on the way to daycare he announced "the dog ate my homework." I have no idea where this came from.
Yesterday when I went to pick him up at daycare he was on the changing table. Apparently he started to poop in the diaper but then decided he wanted to use the potty so in his mind this was a complete success. One of the rewards I offered for pooping on the potty was a trip to the pool for a swim. He hopped off the changing table, marched over to me and said "take me swimming!"
We have friends that have a 5 year old that Jack idolizes. His name is Logan and Jack talks about him all the time. We were at their house for New Year's Eve and we told Jack we could have Logan over to go sledding when it snowed again. It is snowing this morning and Jack saw and immediately asked "is Logan coming sledding?"
I went to wake him up today to get ready for school and he says "Go away, I'm still sleeping." On further prodding he said, "leave me alone!"
He learned the words (sort of) to Jingle Bells for his Christmas concert but now he likes to substitute other words. Today it was "dinosaur, dinosaur all the way," followed by "snowball all the way....HEY!"

This has nothing to do with the post but it's a funny picture. This was his consolation prize from when Dr. Nick tried to take him to see Santa but got there and found out Santa had cancelled. Jack was very upset until he got a muffin.

In other news I haven't run since before Christmas. I picked up a cold that won't go away and it is firmly in my chest. I tried running on the treadmill this morning and ended up doubled over hacking away. I did walk for about 40 minutes but it wasn't the same. Then I made the mistake of getting on the scale. I know it is after the holidays and I went in to them heavier than I would have liked. Add on being sick and not working out for almost 3 weeks I shouldn't be the least bit surprised. However I haven't seen that number since I was trying to lose the weight after having Jack. I just feel gross. My clothes are a bit more snug than I would like and I just feel like a slug. I need this cold to go away so I can get back to working out. I am going swimming tomorrow and just going to see how it goes. I can always just do some kicking or something if my lungs threaten to explode. Besides, Mindy has graciously offered to lead me on a trail run so I need to get healthy. Those trails look like a lot of fun and the Otto-dawg would love it!

This also has nothing to do with the post but it is the last time I exercised. This was the hike/snowshoe/ XC ski we took Christmas Day.

Lord of the Flies

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:39:00 +0000

Every night I turn on my bedside lamp and read for a bit before going to sleep. For the last week or so my relaxing pre-sleep ritual has been interrupted by an intruder. Inevitably I will hear the somewhat loud BBZZZZZ, BZZZZZZ, of some light-drunk fly buzzing around inside my lampshade and the THWACK as he bounces off the inside of the shade. It is annoying and distracting and every night I climb out of bed and chase the damn fly around the room until I can kill it. This happens so frequently we now have a designated paperback book on hand exclusively for killing the little buggers. Last night we killed 3 of them. The Otto-dawg is especially upset by this process and will leave the room while the flies are being killed. He is such a sensitive pup. I think he just can't handle seeing the carnage. I swear we kill at least 2 every night but I never see them during the day. Where are they coming from and will I ever kill all of them?

Breakfast?

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:37:00 +0000

I eat the same thing for breakfast pretty much every day. I have a bowl of cheerios, bran flakes, and spoon size shredded wheat all mixed together. It is very carb heavy and probably way too many calories for one sitting. The issue is that when I work out in the morning I am hungry after. This breakfast fills me up and gets me to about 10am when I eat a banana. Then I check the clock regularly until 11:20 when I deem it socially acceptable to eat. On days I swim I pack a whole wheat bagel with natural peanut butter and eat it when I get to work. I never eat before I swim or any weekday morning workout since that would mean getting up even earlier.

I need some suggestions for breakfast that might be just as filling but not so carb laden and high calorie. It also needs to be pretty quick to make since we are all trying to get out the door by 7:10 or so.

Back to the grind

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Vacation is over, the Christmas decorations are put away and there aren't any holidays in the near future. I am actually pretty ready to be back in my normal routine. I definitely overindulged over the holidays on food, wine, TV, and general laziness. I still have a nasty cold which prevented me from working out for the last week. It was a shame too since it was 48 degrees and sunny here on Sunday. I took a walk with Jack in the jogger in just a T-shirt. How often can you do that in Maine on New Years Day? Of course tonight the temps are expected to plummet below zero so we'll be back to the winter we have come to expect. Still no snow on the ground though.

I am going to try to be better about blogging more regularly. I know I say this every year but maybe it will happen this time. Looking at my stats I see that my posts were pretty infrequent last year. I guess life got in the way.

I don't have much in the way of a cohesive story so here are some bullets:

I am considering joining the local gym (5 minutes from home). They have a boot camp class in the evening from 7:30-8:15. I am not much of a night workout person but this seems like a nice way to mix things up. Jack is in bed and TV is lousy so why not? Trying to decide if I will really go and if I can justify the cost.
Whoever invented Hot Wheels wall tracks is a genius. Jack got these for Christmas and they are really cool. Also, I don't have to pick them up before the cleaning lady comes (I know, first world problem.)
I got myself some new boots and they are awesome! I have calves on the larger size and usually knee-high boots don't work for me. I got Keen "Bern baby Bern" boots and they fit perfectly. They are also comfy. Win.
We finally hired a plow guy and I got snowshoes for Christmas. It hasn't snowed since Thanksgiving and no snow in the 10-day forecast. Lose.

That's it. Happy New Year.

Fun Day

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Today we went to the Children's Museum of Maine with some friends. It was a total mob scene but we had a great time. Jack gave it two thumbs up- especially the fire truck with working lights and sirens.

Ski bum

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:13:00 +0000

Hey, he's got to start somewhere.

LOL

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:42:00 +0000

Dr. Nick got a juggling set for Christmas and has been spending some time practicing since we have been home. Tonight Jack announced as he was grabbing for the juggling set, "I want to play with Daddy's balls!"

2011 Training summary

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:16:00 +0000

2011 Totals:
Bike: 22h 57m 66 miles
Run: 75h 02m 42s - 423.53 miles
Swim: 118h 02m 40s - 331331.1 yards(188.3 miles)
Strength: 2h 20m

No love for the bike this year I guess. Run was fairly unimpressive too. Of course the only races I did this year were swim races and that is reflected in the training numbers. Perhaps I will try to aim for more balance in 2012. I won't lie though, swimming is my favorite. It's the only sport I get to train for with friends. All 75 hours of that run time was solo (well, Otto was there but he isn't very chatty). At least I was out there. Here's to staying with it in 2012.

Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:29:00 +0000

It's that time of year again when we all resolving to change our lives in the next year. I have had lots of ideas in my head about what I would like to do in 2012 but I think I need to be realistic. I am not going to go gluten-free or switch to a Paleo diet. I don't care how good it is supposed to make me feel. Bread and beer are pretty much staples in my diet. Don't judge. I also thought about making some sort of fitness or race goals for next year but that seems like cheating since those are things I will be working on anyway. I decided that I need to work on something a little harder to measure. I need to work on my head. I have a hard time living in the moment and always feel as though there is something that needs to be done. I struggle with letting things go and it is hard on me and on my family. I read a lot of blogs and sometimes I start to compare myself to the version of these moms I see on the Internet. I have to remember that what is on a blog isn't always the reality. I also have to remember that a lot of those women don't work 50 hours a week or have kids that are in school. There is pretty much no way I can stay fit, clean the house, do crafts, sew a Halloween costume, and bake (gluten-free, sugar-free) cookies in the few precious hours of the day I am home.

I suspect it is borderline OCD but maybe it is just my inherent "Type A-ness" that is the culprit. The reality is that it doesn't matter if there is dog hair in tufts all over the floor or that Jack has yet again missed the potty while going pee or has goldfish as his snack EVERY SINGLE DAY. Life goes on and my son won't be little forever. He loves those damn goldfish and I need to realize that it's ok to let it go and go play in the snow. This is what I am going to work on in 2012.

That said- who wants chicken nuggets and tater tots for dinner! I have a train set to play with.

Ho ho humbug

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:05:00 +0000

Well Christmas has come and gone, at least on the calendar. My house still looks like a Toys R Us truck dumped its load in my living room.

We spend Christmas with my whole extended family which this year meant 17 people on Christmas morning. 4 of those people are boys under the age of 5. There were also 2 big dogs. It was a lot of fun but "relaxing" is not a word I would use to describe it. I have to admit that there is something I love about that chaos. We have been doing Christmas like this since I was 10. I honestly don't know what it would be like to sleep in my own bed or (gasp) relax on Christmas day and actually use/play with/try on any of my Christmas presents. We have to be pretty good about keeping things boxed up and controlled so that we don't lose anything or leave it behind when we leave on the 26th. It was a challenge this year with all of the boys wanting to open everything immediately.

17 people have 17 stockings

17 people also means a lot of presents

Highlights from Christmas this year (in no particular order):

Seeing the little boys' faces Christmas morning.
Getting snowshoes from Dr. Nick- can't wait to get some snow so I can use them!
Watching Jack open presents and interact with his little cousins.
Playing in the snow with Otto and Gully (6 month old golden retriever that belongs to my aunt and uncle).
Playing in the snow with the little boys and almost getting them to stay out as long as it took to get them all dressed in snow gear.
A long snowshoe through the woods and fields with almost the whole family.
Food and wine.
Discovering that Jack loves ham and bacon.

We were home by noon on the 26th and really only had the time (and energy) to empty the car out and help Jack open up some of his new toys before we were back in "prepare for work and daycare" mode. The down side of traveling for Christmas is that we all got overtired and now Jack and I are sick. I am also extremely tired of tripping over stuff that is all over the house. I need to get Christmas packed up and put away. Thank goodness for a long weekend coming up. I am ready to move on and put my house back together again.

I haven't even had time to get my pictures off my phone (I forgot the camera) yet but will add some when I get time.

"Tis the Season

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:59:00 +0000

We have had a busy month with a visit from Gramma and Grampa, a Christmas Concert at daycare, a trip to Sesame Street Live, selecting a cutting down our Christmas tree, and decorating cookies.

The daycare Christmas Concert. Jack and many of his classmates cried through the entire (8 minute) performance. It was hilarious.

Jack with Dad and Grampa headed to Sesame St Live

Our favorite stars on the stage

Waiting for it to start

Family photo with Gramma and Grampa

Looking for the perfect tree

Jack liked this one but it was a little small for all the ornaments

Jack reluctantly helping decorate the cookies

Dad did a nice job decorating Jack spent most of the time eating the sprinkles.

Blessed

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Today is my 36th birthday. I find this pretty hard to believe. It seems like not all that long ago I was celebrating my 30th in a bar in Boston. Between then and now I have completed my PhD, gotten a "real" job, completed Ironman Lake Placid, bought a house, and given birth to a little boy who is now almost 3. I pretty much have the life I always wanted. Not too shabby I guess. Sure there are little things that bother me here and there but I have a great family, a nice home, and we are all healthy. It doesn't get much better than that.

Also, Christmas celebrating begins tomorrow!

Yum

noreply@blogger.com (Nitsirk) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:38:00 +0000

This year I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner. I made the cranberries and stuffing from scratch, the turkey was moist, and my gravy was yummy. It was nice to finally use my china and crystal and break out my grandmother's silver. Jack had a really nice time with Yiayia and Papou and is a little sad now that they are gone.

After dinner Jack provided the entertainment. I figure if college is too expensive we can send him off with the carnival.