Pick On Someone Your Own Size

A moment ago I noticed Tell (5) with his finger pointed in Nolan's (12) face. "Hey boys, what's going on? Tell are you irritating Nolan?" Tell quickly answered with a sincere face, "No, we're juth gonna haf a lil fight. If Nolan wins I hath a help pick up Nolanth's room and then play Legos. If I win then I can juth play Legos." I looked askance at Nolan, who was wearing a mischievous grin. He clearly understood that he had a significant size advantage in this clash. Wanting to make sure that Tell knew what he was getting into, I said, "You do understand that Nolan is much stronger than you?" Without missing a beat, Tell retorted, "We'll juth thee about that, huh." and off he went. A few minutes later, I heard Tell vehemently protesting the outcome of the battle. Nolan had won.

Catan Quote

Growing up as a Romano meant that you learned to deal with competition early. My Dad always balanced well the art of teaching us to play a game but never letting us win, even when we were very young. Dad plays to win. I believe it is actually BauBau, my maternal grandmother, that has passed this genetic trait onto her children. In my younger years, the traditional family Thanksgiving game of Risk with all the aunts, uncles and cousins, was at times brutal.
These days, Settlers of Catan has replaced Risk at our family gatherings. With Robert and Jodi visiting we took the opportunity to teach them the game as well. While explaining the rules and a bit of strategy, Jubal and Dad began to discuss the ratio of strategy to luck involved in winning Catan. Ever confident in his ability to master a board game, Dad, with a slight smile and glint in his eye, simply stated the following: "Well, there has to be a bit of luck involved because I don't always win."

It Smells Like Spring

People have their own ways of judging the arrival of spring. For some it is the arrival of the Robins, for others, the blooms of crocus among melting mounds of snow. I have always awaited that first whiff of pungent skunk odor as a sure sign that warmer days will soon arrive. Today I had my confirmation that spring is right around the corner. Either that or it was Jubal's socks I was smelling..........

Back To The Books

No photo tonight as I'm using iBlogger. Jubal is hogging the computer for schoolwork. He has been working on his term paper so I thought we should become reacquainted with Patten Free Library. I dropped him off to research and study while I went to the gym, which, by the way, I've been very faithful with. (That was me patting myself on the back before my moment of shame.) I am ashamed to say that Tell is five and has only stepped foot in the library twice! So after paying 33.00 in late fees, we're ready to once again make a library trip the bi-weekly event it was when Nolan and Jubal were little. Now I just need a vortex-free place for library books to reside while visiting our house.

Mobile Blogging from here.

North To South

I returned, a few days ago, from a week long trip to Rock Hill, South Carolina with my friend Deb Fisher. The purpose of the journey was to visit her daughter Sarah, who is due to have a baby girl in about 5 weeks. We made it as far as New Jersey the first night and stayed at the home of Deb's sister, Mary. Though it was a short visit (with a very nice supper), I enjoyed the company and hospitality of Mary and her husband Glen. The next morning it was off to meet more of Deb's family, who packed as much baby gear as humanly possible into the back seat and trunk of our small rental car. Before heading back onto the highway, I was introduced to Wegman's. To call this just an upper class grocery store is to do this delightful food palace an injustice. Deb and I decided that a Wegman's is needed in Maine, but not so close to us that we could visit every day. That would be bad for the belly and budget. After purchasing a fresh fruit tart to share with Frank and Sarah, it was back on the road for a LONG day of driving. After avoiding being hit by a swerving double semi AND a truck hauling a racing car just above Charlotte, NC, we arrived in SC around midnight. Poor Frank waited up with Sarah for us to arrive even though he needed to be up again for work at 5. I'm not sure that he appreciated the late night laughter and nuttiness that hit us as the hour hand moved from 12 to 1. We certainly made up for our loss of sleep during the rest of the visit, sleeping in until at least 9 each morning..........speaking of sleep, the time is late and I'll post more on the visit tomorrow.

Health Summary for the past two weeks:
VERY BAD! Have been to the gym only two times, and eaten far too much of too many unhealthy but deliciously delectable things. I won't beat myself up about it. These things happen when you travel. Life goes on. This is a new week, a clean slate.