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The Rumbler is gone. After 11 years (8 with us) and 127,000 miles (90,000 with us), we traded it in to a local Mazda dealer for a Mazda Tribute. I wish I could say it was a straight up even trade, but we did have to kick in a few dollars.

Suprisingly, we (maybe not Jodi) were sad to see that car go. When we bought it, Jodi had just been hired to teach in New Prague and I was heading for some place called Mound.

That car drove us to our apartments in New Prague and Spring Park, our townhouse in St. Boni, and our house in Waconia. More importantly, it brought Jodi to the hospital at 2:00 AM on October 9th, 2001 to deliver Jack.

So after a quick and acceptable appraisal by the Mazda dealer it's gone. The car that took us from a couple of DINKS (dual-income no kids) to parents of two boys is heading to a high school parking lot near you.

In it's place we now have a 2006 Mazda SUV with 11,000 miles on it. We like it. It has a zippy 4-cylinder engine, seats 5, and has the basic stuff you expect in a newer car. It's so new to us that I can't quite visualize it. Jodi drove it today despite the boys pleas to have me drive them to day care in it.

We had other business. With the heat wave, it was time to wash the van and put the January tabs on before the police catch me. I can't rely on my grandma down the road to put mud on the expired to tabs to foil the authorities.

Buying the car took quite awhile. We test drove, talked about pricing, got financing etc. In between we had time to walk around the show room. Mazda has some really interesting cars. Ours was actually owned by the dealer and was driven by a manager as a demo. The best perk of that job would be the chance to drive some of those cars around town (and the endless free coffee at the "M Cafe").

Flu

Five people have now died in Minnesota from the flu. Sadly, four of the victims were children, which is uncommon. According to the Star Tribune , a child hasn't died from the flu since 2004.

Suprisingly, the article mentions that over 30,000 people die from the flu each year. That includes 700-800 in Minnesota. I would imagine that most of these victims are elderly. People with other health impairments have a more difficult time fighing off the virus.

I'm glad the media is reporting this. It's good to remind people to stay home when they, or their kids, are ill. There are no awards for infecting co-workers and the day care kids. I do have a problem with the borderline sensationalism that has gone on with these deaths. The numbers I mentioned were buried in the second page of the Tribune story. Casual readers are not going to see that info that adds perspective to the story. They will see the headline declaring another flu death with a quote from a health official about how we tend to be complacent.

Valentine's Day

Today was the last of the Big Three. The school holiday season is officially over (except for May Day-celebrating kindergarten teachers). Here are the Big Three in order of teacher fatigue:

1. Christmas. The sheer build up makes this the clear-cut winner. For weeks kids are pre-occupied with wish lists, family gatherings, shopping trips, etc. Fun, but hard to focus.

Most heard quote from student "We're going to (various destination) for Christmas."


2. Halloween. Costumes + candy + late night = 2 lost days of learning.
Most heard quote from student: "Can I wear my blood-pumping mask?" Teacher: "No."

3. Valentine's Day. It's the last hurrah for school-wide sanctioned parties and fairly low key. They pass out some cards and treats. Most heard quote: "Thanks ____, for the Valentine." Really. It was cool to see kids seek other kids out to thank them.

I'm not sure why we celebrate Valentine's Day in school. How much romance can there be for K-4 students? Should there be any? From a kid's point of view it's not a day to miss. An hour off at the end of the day for a class party and some treats got a lot of kids out of bed this morning.

31.5 years old

Baseball
Was there any doubt the Twins would not sign Joe Mauer? He is the ultimate Twin - quiet, hard-working, one of the guys.

When his contract runs out he will be 27-28. At that point things will get interesting. If he continues to play as he did this year, he will command obscenely bigger money (unless pro sports' salaries become sane and sustainable like CEO pay). At this point he quits catching. It would be very suprising if they continue to pay top money for a position that breaks players down physically. My prediction is he moves to a corner infield or outfield spot then.

Day to Day:
Today I could have stayed after work for days and not caught up. Waiting for me are papers to correct, lessons to write, student data to analyze, a field trip to plan, conferences around the corner, Valentine's Day on Wednesday, and my book order got screwed up.

Which leads me to believe that I like my job a lot because I'm not dreading tomorrow. Where else can you work and get a sucker on your half birthday? (last Friday-thanks for the cards)

Aidan loves puzzles. He spent at least an hour tonight solving different jigsaw puzzles. I like how he congratulates me I make a suggestion about where a piece should go. "Good job. Daddy! That's fine." He's making progress. He no longer tries to force incompatible pieces together. This used to cause him to scream when he realizes that it's not right, but he's too stubborn to admit it.

Jack Earns Game Puck

Today was a big day at the hockey rink. Jack scored two goals for his team in an offensive shoot-out against arch rival "Blue Team." The coaches have been talking for a couple of weeks now about getting Jack a goal and there was much gnashing of teeth when his first breakaway wrister ricocheted off the right pipe.

Sandra and Brian watched the game along with Jodi, Aidan, and I. After nodding heads and holding finger and thumb an inch apart to show how close he came to glory, I smelled Aidan.

When I was changing his diaper on the floor of the men's room, I thought how ironic it would be if Jack scored while I was cleaning Aidan.

Sure enough, as I carried Aidan back to our seats I could tell by Jodi and Sandra's animated discussion that Jack had scored.

That's okay, I thought. Jodi missed Jack's goal in the first game and she didn't even leave her seat. After watching a couple of more line changes, Jack had another chance and zipped a wrister past the goalie for goal #2.

The highlight of the day came when I was helping him out of his gear in the locker room with the rest of the team. The coach came in and boomed, "Game pucks for Jack and Sean for scoring their first goals of the season (I think he missed Jack's first game)! Good game you guys!"

Jack's eyes were huge as he accepted the blue game puck. If hockey wasn't his favorite sport before today, it is now.

Bright, Cold Saturday

I feel like I'm in a study to see just how cold a human can get sitting in an unheated hockey rink. Each week I dress a bit warmer and the weather gets that much colder. You'd think being inside would offer some relief, but Jack practiced at the older rink today. The ice is fine, but along the exterior walls there are huge 5-foot exhaust fans that allow in daylight (and Canadian arctic air). The rink is cold.

Jack doesn't mind. He's loving hockey and comes off the ice drenched in sweat. For a while practices where a drag for him. We'd have to coax him through the drills or watch as he skated off to sit on the bench or in the penalty box. Over the last 3 weeks he has done well following the drills. He is noticeably better than he was last month. Earlier, he still had a hard time skating backwards for more than a few yards, now he can go the length of the ice. He does it slowly, but he is doing it.

Tonight Jodi and I hired a babysitter to go out to eat. Truth be told, it was a trial run to see if she could survive Aidan when we take Jack to kindergarten registration next Thursday.

It went well, the sitter survived and the boys were in one piece. We had a nice time, too. After seeing it went well, Jodi said we need to go out once a month. I'll hold her to it. The only problem is the lack of decent restaurants nearby. Waconia has very little. Which means we have to travel. Minneapolis and St. Paul are too far, same for Eden Prairie. Which leaves Chaska: Ruby Tuesday, Pauly's, and a few others. Oh, well at once a month it's easier to swallow the $5 beer. I thought I was at the dome.

Jack Reads Books- Aidan Wants to Hold You

Some people that do not know how good they have it. For example, NBA basketball players make an average of $5 million per year ($100,000/week), according to a NPR report I heard yesterday. Yet, the commissioner of their sport had to impose a dress code to actually get them to dress as if they have a cent.

At our house, things are going pretty well. We're all healthy, happy, and warm and in the past couple of weeks Jack has begun to read. Now he's not reading Harry Potter, but he does read simple, repetitive books by Dr. Seuss and the Berensteins. It's amazing. He's not perfect, he'll insert words at times, but he reads the words. It's not memorization of the story.

To top that off, when I got to day care this afternoon he untied my boot laces and then tied them. Just like that. This morning he couldn't tie shoes, now he can. This worries me a little. If he can tie his shoe laces he can probably tie up his brother.

Aidan is a different animal. He is seldom happy to be sitting stationary for too long. He is constantly on the move between toys, people, and snacks. At this age (21 months), Jack could sit for 20 minutes and watch Teletubbies. Aidan will not watch TV. He will only sit if he's playing, or if you reading with him.

When you play with him, he is contantly barking instructions at you or asking the same question over and oveer again. My favorite is when he wants you to pick him up. He says,"Daddy, I wanna hold you. I pick you up." I thought the second kid didn't talk as much.