Hosted by Chris
Day 112
April 23: If I knew who came up with the idea for Chili's To Go, I would kiss them.
Right on the mouth.
After a long week, nothing sweeps away your cares like a sixteen ounce steak, and loaded mashed potatoes.
I'm happy to report that I made it out in three minutes and was neither crushed, nor melted.
Day 113
April 24: Emma's first 1K.
It's only about a fifth of a mile, and took about two minutes to complete, but she trained like it was the New York Marathon. She asked every night that week if we had washed her shorts, because she was running a race on Saturday, and needed to wear shorts. She also drew a track on the back patio, in chalk, to practice on.
Emma, being Emma, I was actually surprised that she not only ran the race, but when her older brother left her in the dust, she finished anyway.
I was very proud.
And so was she.
Day 114
April 25: I know what you're thinking.
"Does he always take pictures on the trampoline on Sunday?"
Yes. Yes I do.
These are my girls. There are six years between them, and they are at ages where it might as well be twenty years. Jordan is becoming a woman, and Emma is just learning to be a girl. They don't have a lot in common.
But the trampoline is common ground.
Day 115
April 26: A quarter ounce of relief -- when your lips get cracked and dry from the constant wind, when your stuffy nose causes you to breathe through your mouth while sleeping, driving your wife to the couch. (I didn't know until the next day!)
This makes no sense at all.
I was just running out of time, Ok?!
Day 116
April 27: I have a bad case of tulip envy.
We have dozens of tulips in our yard, and NONE of them are opened.
Well, I lied. Five of them are open(ish) -- three little purple flowers and these two sad little yellow ones.
All the plants have sprouted, but the flowers are not opening.
EVERY OTHER YARD is full of tulips! Why are mine taking so long? What do I need to do?
It's giving me a complex.
I feel very florally inadequate. Very horticulturally impotent.
Help me.
(By the way, do you know how hard it is to take a close up picture of tulips in 70mph winds?)
Day 117
April 28: Fearless.
I told Emma I'd let her jump off the back of my car, if she'd let me take pictures of her doing it.
That wasn't good enough -- she made me turn the car on, crank up the stereo, and play Taylor Swift's Fearless.
So I laid under the car, Emma jumped off the bumper, and Taylor gave the neighborhood an impromptu concert.
I often wonder what the neighbors think, when they look out the window...
Day 118
April 29: I blame this picture on Neil Diamond.
When you drive the same way to and from work every day, the only thing that changes is the sky.
I've always been drawn to dramatic skies.
When I was a kid, I used to haul my boom box (that's what we called them back then, ok?) up to the roof, and listen to "Be" by Neil Diamond, while I watched the sunset.
I know you're laughing now, but there was a reason I chose that song -- it contains the line:
"Lost, on a painted sky, where the clouds are hung for the poet's eye."
I still think of those words every time I see a scene like this.
