Friday, April 24, 2015

A Day to Dye For

Today was the last day of school before the week-long Spring vacation in our district. At William's school, that means that it's the end of Spirit Week. All week long there have been events and competitions, and on the last day, it's Team Spirit Week. William belongs to Team Vista, and the students are encouraged to wear the team color, purple. They have team T-shirts, but William decided to take it one step further.

He dyed his hair purple.

When he first came to me with the idea, I had only three concerns. One is that we make sure to do it safely, since dyeing dark hair like William's requires bleaching it first. The second was that we do it without making a mess. And the third was that we actually made sure we had enough time to do it.

Oh, how did I feel about my son having purple hair? Well, the way the Karen and I look at it, it's just another way for him to express himself, one that does no harm, and is not permanent. Piercings and tattoos are another matter, but the purple hair will disappear with his next summer haircut.

As for my other three concerns, Karen came to the rescue, did her research, and managed to squeeze it all in the night before, despite the fact that we'd had to take the car to the shop that day, and that Karen had not gotten off work until 6:30. Both long stories.

How did it turn out? You'll have to wait for the next Picture Of the Day to find out, unless you are one of the lucky recipients of Karen's email on the subject.

And if you missed that picture, it will show up in the Gallery (Pictures Of the Day Part 7) starting on the 27th of April.

Meanwhile, vacation has officially begun, and I have the boys at home for the next nine days. Karen has only two of those off, and several of them are predicted to be rainy days.

I don't think I'm going to get a lot of work done.

Monday, April 13, 2015

A Warm Feeling

It's finally warm enough to open the windows and let in a little fresh air. Granted, there's still snow on the ground in places, but the stream next to the house is running, which can only mean that the ice is slowly melting (as George Harrison famously sang).

That means that instead of having to get on the treadmill for exercise, I can actually go for a walk. Soon, Karen will be able to swim in the lake instead of just the pool, and we'll be able to take out the kayaks and enjoy the water here at the pond.

Okay, not that soon. The pond is still almost completely frozen. But with a string of relatively warm days coming up, with above-freezing nights and some rain, that layer of solidified water will be liquid again, and the piles of dirty white stuff will be just a memory before we know it.

It's about time.

Thursday, April 09, 2015

New Jersey Trek

We took the long drive to New Jersey so that we could visit Karen's family over the Easter weekend. Going down wasn't bad—especially considering we made a stop in Westwood to pick up our chocolate bunnies from Conrad's—but the trip back was really long, with three accidents along I-84 in Connecticut. But I'm sure glad we made the trip.

It was great to see everyone again, and on the way to Easter dinner in Hillsborough, we all (and I mean all: five each from the three families, which rarely happens) met at the estate of the late Doris Duke for a nice, long walk around the Duke Farm. It was fascinating, and it felt good to be able to take a walk outside, even with the stiff breeze, without needing a winter coat and heavy gloves. We still have a substantial amount of snow on the ground here at home.

Dinner was wonderful, too, and we got lots of chances to talk together. The only bad part was that it just doesn't happen often enough.

We have a bit more snow today, though I'm hoping it's Winter's last gasp. At least that's what the weather-prdicting folk say, and I'm inclined to believe them, if only to preserve my own sanity.

Such as it is.