A catch-all, catch-up post
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Dear job recruiters,
I will never, ever, ever work for AT&T. Not if it’s the last job on Earth, not if I get exclusive use of the corporate jet, not if they paid me a million bucks, not ever.
You may pass your “exciting job opportunity” to someone with lower standards than mine. Thank you, have a nice day.
At Kings Dominion
True to form, Hallie led the way, never backing down from any ride we suggested to her. She prefers the wooden coasters and enjoyed a few rides on the Rebel Yell, KD’s version of Carowinds’s Thunder Road. She didn’t even blink when I challenged her to ride the biggest, baddest coaster in the park, the Intimidator 305 (though I had to gulp when she actually accepted the challenge)! We were both laughing when we walked off that ride, and Hallie got the chance to introduce her mommy to it. I am amazed by her bravery.
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I’ve been tapped for jury duty and will thus report Monday morning to the Wake County courthouse. It’s not my first jury duty at Wake County: the last time I was summoned was perhaps 1995. Of course, I showed up for jury duty in federal court recently but wasn’t selected to serve. Prior to that I was asked to serve on the day my son Travis was born. I was excused for that one, needless to say!
Serving on a jury is disruptive, inconvenient, and sometimes costly. I could make a good case for dismissal, being that I’ll be lone parent around for the kids for most of this week. Still, I feel that would be weaseling out. If I expect our police officers to keep us safe, then I owe it to them, the defendants, and society as a whole to accept the call to weigh guilt or innocence. I take my duties as a citizen very seriously.
I don’t expect I’ll be blogging from the building but I will take mental notes of the experience and share them here afterward.
Update: I found out later that my jury number’s high enough that I won’t be needed after all.
Nyla, a.k.a "Chimmy"
We were circled around the chimnea in the driveway last night, mesmerized by its flames and enjoying the chat with our neighbors. A man walked down the street with a dog on a leash, which is certainly nothing new as it happens all the time in my neighborhood. When he walked up our driveway, though, our curiosity was raised.
“Anybody know where this dog lives?” he cheerfully asked.
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Little Raleigh Radio
I’m excited about the progress, though. It’s a good team and last night’s meeting was very productive. We can certainly get this done, and before we know it a new station will be on the air from downtown Raleigh.
A friend who’s a parent told me of an incident that happened yesterday at the newly-opened Chik-Fil-A at Cameron Village. While the kids played at the restaurant’s playground they were joined by a man who played with the kids but didn’t seem to have a kid of his own in the mix. After watching the man for a bit, my friend realized the man was intoxicated and continually tried to engage the kids. When the kids eventually moved on, the man would take a break and smoke a cigarette before approaching whatever new kids showed up.
After an hour of watching this guy my friend alerted the restaurant’s manager, who then asked the man to leave. They guy was looked much like a frat boy would, only older. He was a white male in his upper 20s wearing a button-down shirt and backwards baseball cap.
Keep an eye on your kids at all times, folks.
Triangle Radio Reading Service
Then at 6:15 I was headed over to Triangle Radio Reading Service for a volunteer shift. Earlier today I’d gotten an emergency call from TRRS’s volunteer scheduler that they desperately needed a reader for tonight’s USA Today session. I checked with Kelly to see if she’d have things under control with the kids and, once she agreed, I accepted the shift.
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I enjoyed our beautifully warm weekend. It was the weekend of the ACC basketball tournament, so I had the TV on while I worked Thursday and Friday. Kelly’s brother and his family came to visit so we spent time with them, heading downtown to the train station to take a tour of the Amtrak train.
Upon returning from the train, David joined me on the couch to watch Saturday’s horribly-officiated game between N.C. State and UNC. I cooked a lasagna dinner and we relaxed a bit after that.
Sunday morning, we headed over to Adventure Landing on Capital Boulevard for some go-kart racing and Putt-Putt golf. The kids (no matter what age) enjoyed it all. Then after lunch at Chubby’s we said goodbye to David and Anna and headed back home. Kelly got in a 5 mile run and I got in a 10 mile bike ride. We also visited with our neighbors for a bit as the sun went down.
It was a nicely-paced, fun-filled weekend, and it was nice to enjoy every minute of it!
Kelly returned from her three-day business trip yesterday and, while I missed her, I’m happy to say that I never missed a beat while she was gone. I took the kids to Hallie’s basketball tournament, appeared (briefly!) before City Council, met friends for lunch, got the kids to Hallie’s soccer practice, chaired my Mordecai Historic Park board meeting, cooked dinner, made school lunches, kept the kids in clean laundry, did some blogging, and even got a lot done at work. I even found time this week to help push a disabled Jeep off of Wade Avenue.
Dads can certainly do the “Mr. Mom” routine. The first few weeks take getting used to, and sometimes I still mix up the kids’ lunches, but overall it’s worked out very well to have Kelly away at the office while I hold down the fort at home.
Hallie played her first basketball game in her tournament last night and again I was playing assistant coach. The tipoff was after 8:30 and it was neck and neck most of the game. Then, down by three at the start of the fourth quarter, coach Lamonica Germany put in all of our shooters in a gamble to even the score. Somehow we pulled within one before subs were called and our “first-team” came out.
Before we knew it we were facing a three point deficit again. There were three minutes left in the game when I looked down the bench and saw four of our five top players sobbing uncontrollably (hey, they’re 9 years old). There was a lot of spirit there and I could see how much they wanted to win.
A timeout was called with about two minutes left and our shooters got back in the game. True to form, they used that emotion to step up their games. Within seconds we scored two three pointers in a row to take the lead. With a minute left in the game we had a seven-point lead and cruised to eventual victory.
It was an emotional game, and a real wonder to watch the kids apply their willpower to pull out a win. As amazing as the win was, it was also a bit too exciting for that time of night. I didn’t get to bed until 11 and slept fitfully the whole night. Guess I was a little too pumped up!
Hallie’s team plays again this evening at 6 (and if things go well, again at 8 for the championship game). I don’t know if I can take much more of this!
