I’ve been doing some blog maintenance lately, going back and adding tags to all of my nearly 3500 posts. After two weeks of work, I’m about two-thirds of the way complete. I’m not really sure why I decided to do this. Tags are hard. I tried to use them years ago and gave up because I was never sure how to granular to get when categorizing posts. Even now, I don’t really understand their utility. Am I going to start searching old posts by tag? Probably not. But I got a bug that made me want to do it, so here I am.
Related, there is now a tag cloud in the right sidebar if you want to dive into any specific topics.
In addition to working backwards adding tags, I also continue my monthly review of what I posted exactly 20 years ago. This month’s entries included month two of fatherhood, and leaving my corporate job. While working through the archives, I realized I got away from the entries fill with small, random thoughts. Thus, today’s post!
L started getting letters from college basketball programs a year ago. I don’t know if it was her AAU program or CHS that shared her contact info, but she received about a letter a week from various small schools. They were always for camps and showcases, not actual recruiting letters.
Last month this was in the mailbox, and I got momentarily excited.
Then I realized it wasn’t THE UM, but rather a satellite campus. They are also the Wolverines, but play at the NAIA level. I guess all the IU campuses use the same logo as the main campus in Bloomington, so this isn’t unusual. It was kind of disappointing, at least to me. She didn’t seem to care.
L has pre-season practice on Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting at 6:00. We leave the house at 5:30, which means my alarm is set for 5:20. There is zero traffic so I’m usually back home right at 6:00. For some reason I can never fall back to sleep when I return home, and my attempt to catch about an hour of shuteye before I start the process of getting C out of bed is a failure. And then I’m a wreck the rest of the day, no matter how much caffeine I drink or if I can squeeze a nap in later.
I thought as you age getting up earlier in the morning was supposed to be easier. My mom’s dad would get up at like 4:30 and sit there smoking his pipe and drinking coffee until the TV stations in central Kansas came back on air at 6:00. Maybe I need a pipe…
I’m also hungry all day on Tuesdays/Thursdays. I’m only getting up 90 minutes earlier than normal. It shouldn’t be this destructive to my body.
S and I take walks once or twice a week as her schedule allows. We usually walk through the neighborhoods around us, but occasionally take the Monon Trail that runs near our home. When we do that, I like to be a grumpy old man and keep track of how many people riding bikes either ring a bell or announce themselves as they pass you. On our most recent trip down the Monon, just three of 14 bikers did the courteous thing. Also, a group of four bikers coming the opposite way rode four-across, forcing us to get out of their way even though two of them were well across the middle line.
WE ARE LIVING IN A SOCIETY, PEOPLE!
Another weird fact about me: I actually enjoy cleaning up after a gathering. As long as it can be the next day. Last Sunday morning, following the get-together we hosted the night before, I had no problem getting motivated to collect all the trash and recycling, clean the kitchen, put outdoor furniture away, etc. Same on holidays. As much as I enjoy Thanksgiving day, there’s something super satisfying about getting up the next morning, with the kids still in bed and S at work, and spending an hour or so working through the remaining dishes, getting things put back into their proper cabinets, and so on. Maybe it’s because there’s way less stress than when you are prepping and it serves as a mental bookend to the event.
A true sign that fall is arriving. I’ve had to wear a jacket to the gym a couple mornings. No need for pants over shorts yet. I can usually make my two minute walk there without too many layers until it truly gets cold. It’s the walk back, though, with sweaty clothes, when the added clothing is a must.
Those days were momentary exceptions, though. It looks like we are going to be in the mid–80s for at least the next two weeks. Summer lingers.
Another sign that fall is creeping up on us: I listened to my working list for favorite songs of the year for the first time yesterday. Just one pass through, enough to jot notes about a couple songs, but I won’t truly dive in for another 5–6 weeks. Still plenty of time for new songs to work their way in before I start whittling it down to its final order.