Yes (Say It, Mean It, Live It)

This weekend was AWESOME! Belle and I went sledding for 3 hours starting at 7am, then went out and built 3 snow forts with some friends from the neighborhood. The next evening, we played with our forts, then did some tracking (eventually finding a rabbit burrow). Belle wanted to keep the rabbits, but I was firm...

Frankly, at 7am, I was TIRED. I did not want to do ANYTHING, let alone scurry for winter clothes, dress a whirling dirvish, do the cat-herding thing to get into the car, then tromp around all creation for the day... I never want to do anything. Just ask Cheryl. If I was left to my own devices, I'd do nothing but sit at the computer all day/night, watching movies, playing games, and generally zoning out.

The trick is, even though I never feel like doing anything, I say 'yes' out of habit. As you probably know, my mom was bent on the view that variety is the spice of life (I'm with her on that). Opportunity sparks variety, so engaging in more opportunities than I feel like at the moment is key. (Grain of salt: Everything in moderation...)

Props to all you opportunity providers out there! You make my life enthusiastically enjoyable!!

Snow Tires?

I work in Victor, NY now. I used to work in downtown Rochester...

My old commute was a typical, dull, flat, traffic-packed, eye-bleeding morning scenario. My new commute however, is a lovely drive over beautiful, rolling terrain. During the summer, the birds are out, the village bustles, and there's a lot to notice on the way in to work. I now see that during the winter, there's just as much beauty to behold. Today's drive in was a quiet, deliberate mosey through a misty, snow swept wilderness. Now and again, you'd see a faint light, joined by a partner grow til out of the mist, a car heading the other direction would appear. You could catch a glimpse of patches of the road you were traveling, but only with a good eye and a little luck. For the most part, you just followed the deep tracks in front of you, taking in the mysterious, and somewhat daunting beauty while remaining vigilant for traffic ahead which appeared and vanished as the blustery white vail advanced and receded with the wind.

The road was slick, and my tires are getting old. For the most part, it just took a little convincing to get my sporty red focus to start moving (not unlike myself when the alarm went off at 6:30am), however, the light at the top of a particularly steep one of those rolling hills proved... difficult.

Traffic stopped for the light. So did I.
Traffic waited for the intersection to clear. So did I.
Traffic advanced when the light turned green. I... did not.

I teased the accelerator, attempting to go from stopped to at least a crawl, but to no avail. The front tires would spin, or stop, but no progress was to be made.

Moments felt like minutes as the line of angry traffic behind me began to realize their chance at the fleeting green ahead was getting slimmer and slimmer...

Fortunately, I wasn't going backwards. I opened my door and put a foot out....

With one foot on the gas, a hand on the door, and a hand on the wheel, I used my left foot to PUUUSH against the ridiculously slick incline. Heeaaave... heeeeave... heee.. AHA! It was working! Feathering the gas and pushing the car brought me to 1 mph... 2... 5... YES!!! I WAS MOVING AGAIN!

Me and the 5 cars closest behind me made it through the light. Phew!

For the rest of the drive, I gave myself a LOT of space between myself and the car ahead of me before hills, rushing up the incline to avoid the previous situation. A quick visit to TireRack.com and a grand later, both my Focus and Corolla will be sporting the automotive equivalent of some fancy new Gore-Tex boots for the rest of the season. :)

How has the weather been treating you?

Kids

Baby Mornings with Annabelle and Isaac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6u84hnEtKs


Some photos from October: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/BelleAndIsaacOctober2010


Kids are such a gift!!

Isaac Slideshow

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/20100921IsaacBirth

Welcome Isaac Mitchell Johnson!!

Ring ring!! Gah!! I startled out of bed after a few restles hours of sleep. Where did my phone come from? It's dark, why am I awake. Why didn't the rocket work?

Oh, there's no rocket (what a dream). I'm home. Annabelle is still asleep. It's still dark out. Where's Cheryl? Why did I wake up?

Oh! Cheryl is calling me. How did I get this phone in my hand?

After a minute of dashing through the fog between sleep and wakefulness, I was out in the living room... and Cheryl was having conTRACTIONS. Owie owie ooooooh graaaaaah!! Apparently, these were intense... and painful. I called the midwife. Halfway through the call, Cheryl said "I'm pushing!"

"She's pushing?" replied the midwife. Yup. In a mere 4 hours (only 40 minutes of which she thought was serious), Cheryl had gone from relaxing in bed, to a baby who was coming out. NOW...

Annabelle woke up. "Mommy is being too LOUD," she said with a slightly concerned tone. She rolled back over in bed and clamped her arms over her ears. "Daddy, would you please shut the door." And she was back asleep... just like that.

"Oooough" Low, groaning birth sounds were the order of the day. Belle woke up again and asked to join us. I picked her up and brought her to our perch. She looked concerned with Mommy's anxiety, but I smiled at her and told her the baby was coming. Wow! You should have seen the explosive smile that lit her face. "I'm going to be a sister!" She sat and waited patiently on a chair a few feet from us.

Cheryl went to feel for the head to get an idea of how far off we were. "I think I can... is that the head... ? Ow! *another contraction* HONEY CATCH THE BABY!!" *splort* out came the head, I dove. With a quick twist Isaac plunged from the birth canal towards the floor. Due to the odd angle and cramped quarters, I made a blind grab, and caught him on the way down.

Annabelle hopped off the chair to get a better look. With a proud smile, she observed "her baby", then hopped back up to her seat.

"Aaaah..." Cheryl's relief from labor was instant and complete. I quickly unraveled the cord from around his neck, wiped him clean, then verified his heart-rate and breathing. Healthy, happy, and apparently hungry, Isaac joined us in bed where we relaxed til the midwife arrived. :)

Let's Go Fly a Kite... Ack! Annabelle!!

Yesterday, Annabelle and I went to fly my kite. The temperature had dropped from the steamy 92 it had been the week before, down to the low 70's. The drop was accompanied by gale-force winds. (At least, gale-force from Annabelle's perspective.) "Daaad! I need to walk with my head down like this because my hair is going to blow away!!"

We walked to the park and set up my stunt kite. Belle held the poles while I rigged the nylon, then held the handles while I attached the strings.
(See this video for an intro to stun-kiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ghrrCNRe8)

The launch was successful, and the wind was STRONG. ZZzzzzZZZZZzzzz the nylon sang into the wind as it zipped up and down, doing spirals through the air. Belle was as excited as me! "My turn my turn!" she exclaimed as she pranced around my legs.

At first, I had her stand in front of me. Putting her hands on my hands, she got a feel for how to direct the kite's aerial ballet. After a few minutes, she wanted to drive the kite herself. So, I passed the handles off to her. "Don't let go baby. If the kite gets away from you it will float over the trees into the lake and we won't see it again," I warned.

Taking this advice to heart. She white knuckled the handles and began her flight. Dip! Dive, turn WHOOSH!! Zip! stall... neeeeewwwwwwww bang. After around a minute of successful maneuvering, the kite bit the dust. I asked her to stay there and hold the handles tight as I started to jog towards the downed kite. "Alright baby, 3, 2, 1, LAUNCH!!!" The kite was back up, and Belle was doing a fine job of flying it! She got so excited, she started running towards the kite. Without the wind, it fell back to the grass. I told her to walk backwards slowly this time as she flew. After a quick nod, the kite was back up again.

Just then, the wind doubled or tripled in strength. Whoosh! The wind hit the kite, the kite pulled the string, the baby lifted off the ground!! Ack!! Taking my advice about losing the kite, she held fast, even though she was a foot off the ground. The first crowhop lifter her about a foot off the ground and caused her to travel a yard. The continued bluster picked yanked her off the ground again the second she landed. This time though, the tug was so fierce, she went prone about 2 feet off the ground. Proing! The lines zipped out of her hand and she got a face-full of grass!

Still lying on the ground, scraped and bruised, she looked up to see the kite soaring away, diving and twisting, pilot-less. She pointed and cried, desperate to retrieve it before it hit the lake! I did a 180 (when she lifted off, I started sprinting towards her... halfway there, she pointed and my priority shifted.) She was fine, and she wanted daddy's kite!

I made a mad dash for it, and caught the looping lines a mere 10-15 feet before the water.

I picked up the kite, and brought it back, but Belle had had enough for now. She helped me disassemble the kite, and we started the trek back home...

Next time, I'm going to bring a backpack with rocks, or a stake and string to fasten her to the ground... I can't believe the wind was strong enough to lift my 20 lb kiddo!!!

Belle and Dad for a Saturday

What happens when Cheryl is away for a whole day?

Find out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtraUVFEpDU