Hope the Garden Gnome

After last year’s failed artichoke growing experiment, I decided to get serious and start a box garden. Right now, we have peppers, green beans, broccoli, spinach and beets growing.

Hope likes the garden. She was good a few weeks ago with planting all the seeds. The biggest challenge, though is trying to keep her out of the garden. She likes pill bugs and worms and will go digging for them if I’m not watching her close enough.

It’s nice that she has an interest in bugs. She found a lightning bug today and let it crawl on her arm for a few seconds (she’s still learning that if she wants the bug to stay, she can’t wave her arm around). I told her about what lightning bugs can do and I’m looking forward to a few weeks from now when she can stay up a bit later and see them in action.

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A Home Improvement Tip From the King

I can’t say I’m much of a handyman. I don’t think anybody has ever asked me for advice on how to fix something around the house. Still, if there’s one bit of wisdom I’d like to pass on, it’s this:

Never, ever use clear silicone caulk in your bathroom.

It may look real nice. The label may say it’s anti-microbial or anti-mildew. You may promise yourself that you’ll clean it every day.

But trust me, you’ll be googling “how to remove caulk” 16 months later.

That’s the one thing I’ve learned. Do with it what you will.

King Tom

Lost: Moving On

Two years ago today, my biggest pre-Hope reason for blogging stopped: LOST aired its final episode.

I’m not trying to sound melodramatic, but since the last episode of Lost, television hasn’t been the same for me. There are some shows I am still really into (Community, Parks and Recreation), but I haven’t started watching a new hour-long drama in the last two years. It’s more interesting to me to go back and watch Lost than to get into something new. I’m not watching it all the time, I think I’ve only done a large-scale re-watch once since getting the complete season set.

Still, there’s nothing else that’s gripped me as much as Lost did. Not only that, but also that I have a kid now means I don’t spend as much time watching TV as I used to.

A lot has been said about the final episode- some people hated, some people thought it ended the series nicely. I have to say I thought it was a great end to the series (two years later and that hasn’t changed). There are a lot of questions that weren’t answered, but the characters came full circle.

I’ve joked before about wanting more Lost. And in a small way, part of me still does. But when I look at it, I think the show had a great run and ended at the right time.

King Tom

The Awesometown Strawberry Farm

Two summers ago, when we first moved into our new house, I planted three strawberry plants. They didn’t grow much, so by the end of the summer, I moved one. The one I moved grew, taking over our herb garden. So last year, I clipped a bunch of the runners and moved them to our side yard, where they established themselves quickly.

This spring, our strawberry plants have been growing like crazy. How crazy? Well, here’s today’s haul:

That’s been an average haul over the past week (plus a few days). One thing we’ve learned is that we have to eat them pretty quickly- these don’t last as long as the store-bought ones. But that’s not a problem for The Civee, Hope and myself (especially Hope). The most surprising thing is that Hope can be patient with the strawberries- she won’t pick them unless The Civee or I says she can and (even though she constantly asks) she waits until they’ve been washed off before eating them.

This year, I also started a box garden and planted peppers, green beans, broccoli, spinach and beets. But those won’t be ready for harvest for another few months. I’m glad our strawberries are working out. It’s rewarding to eat something you’ve grown yourself.

The other day, I was reading all about how to grow strawberries. The experts recommended doing a bunch of things that I haven’t done, like thinning the plants out, mowing the plants in the fall and putting mulch over them in the winter. I’m inspired to try some of that out later this year. Who knows? All that extra work could make what we picked today look like nothing.

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Hope’s First Civics Lesson

One of Hope’s favorite places to go is the Ohio Statehouse. We take her there on weekends when it’s empty and she loves to run around and be as loud as she can be. The Civee (who used to work there) and I enjoy our trips too, as we’re both history nerds and think that Hope is absorbing our love of the place by simply being there.

Today, we took Hope to the Statehouse, not to run around, but to be a part of the legislative process. Last fall, The Civee’s old boss, Senate Minority Leader Eric H. Kearney, introduced S.B. 135, which would designate September as Craniofacial Awareness Month.  As the Senator said in a news release:

“The inspiration for this legislation was Hope Chansky, a two-year old who suffers from a craniofacial disorder,” stated Senator Kearney. “She like many other children endure many hardships associated with this disorder and this legislation provides an opportunity to educate the public about prevention measures that can be taken.”

We were at the Statehouse today to watch the bill go for a vote before the Senate. The bill passed unanimously, with several senators signing on as co-sponsors. Even more exciting for Hope was her being acknowledged during Senator Kearney’s floor speech, during which she waved to the crowd and threw her milk cup up in the air. You can’t see Hope, but here is the senator’s floor speech (including the shout-out), courtesy of the Ohio Channel:

Even though the bill passed in the Senate, it still has to go to the House, where who knows what will happen to it. It is nice to get some recognition for all the families, care providers and educators that help children with craniofacial disorders. Hope’s next surgery isn’t for another five or so years. But she is going to a school where she gets speech therapy, which has been helping her a lot. She has come a long way and I’m glad we could play a part in acknowledging all those who have helped her.

The next time we go to the Statehouse, it probably won’t be as exciting as today was. But Hope will get to run around all she wants, which will make her happy.

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Weezer’s Blue Album Turns Legal

Weezer’s first album Weezer (also known as The Blue Album) was released 18 years ago today.

I could go on and on with an in-depth track-by-track analysis, but all I really need to say is to me, this is the perfect album.

I didn’t hear any songs off of this album until September 1994, and didn’t get the album until that Christmas (my first CD), but I’ve been listening to it ever since. It’s the album that got me into music. Before that, I had bought, listened to and enjoyed music, but I can’t say I ever was really into a band before Weezer.

It should also probably be noted that another Weezer album, 2005’s Make Believe was also released on May 10th. While not as perfect as Blue (I can’t get behind We Are All On Drugs and Beverly Hills gets old), it’s still a very enjoyable album.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some listening to do.

King Tom

Because Kids Like to Say Salsa

I found out that today for snacktime at Hope’s school they had salsa.

While I’m happy her food choices keep expanding, I’m happier for the excuse to bust out one of my favorite routines.

(Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video), so I’ll include the text:

watch?v=EQnaRtNMGMI

GEORGE: Why don’t they have salsa on the table?

JERRY: What do you need salsa for?

GEORGE: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.

JERRY: You know why? Because people like to say “salsa.” “Excuse me, do you have salsa?” “We need more salsa.” “Where is the salsa? No salsa?”

GEORGE: You know it must be impossible for a Spanish person to order seltzer and not get salsa. (Angry) “I wanted seltzer, not salsa.”

JERRY: “Don’t you know the difference between seltzer and salsa?? You have the seltezer after the salsa!”

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Mariano Will Be Back

Like most other news, I didn’t take the events of Thursday night well. The Yankees had lost two in a row to the Orioles and Mariano Rivera was carted off the field before the game with an injury that will end his season and could have ended his career.

Fortunately, even though rumors of retirement have been swirling around Rivera this season, the Yankees closer says that’s not how he wants to end his career and he’ll be back next year.

I remember every step of Rivera’s career- from his first game to his becoming the setup man a year later and eventually the team’s closer. He’s had some failures and he hasn’t been the perfect pitcher, but he’s been close. It’s possible the Yankees could have done everything they have since 1996 without him, but it’s hard to imagine.

He’s going to retire one day- but I’m glad he’ll be around next year.

King Tom

Beard the Fourth, December 2011 – April 2012

When it comes to shaving, I hate doing it and I hate not doing it.

Since Christmas, I had a beard (I stopped shaving the day before Christmas Eve), the fourth beard I’ve grown over the past few winters. While it’s not as impressive as the beard Harrison Ford sported in The Fugitive, my beard was quite formidable, a mix of blonde and red.

While it was quite useful over the past few months, I just got sick of it. So I’m clean shaven again. I feel comfortable with how I look either way, but now I’m actually wondering how Hope would react. She has quite a memory (the other day she mentioned drilling pumpkins at school for Halloween, something that hasn’t come up in at least six months), so she surely remembers me without a beard. At the same time, she says she likes it. And I have hinted that it may be going away to no response from her.

As for the other woman in my life, I’m not too worried about how The Civee will react. I’ve been sitting in the same room with her for at least 20 minutes (with her looking right at me four times so far (make that five)) without her saying anything. This is actually normal, as it always takes her some time (and some hinting) to realize the beard is gone.

So I’ll go back to shaving every few days, even considering how much I hate doing so. I just hope when she wakes up tomorrow my daughter knows who I am.

King Tom