Boring Sports Weekend

It hasn't cooled off any around here and it hasn't rained. I'm officially ready for summer to be over. I'm not sure how many more weeks of this we have, but the fewer the better. The only positive is that I haven't had to mow the grass in a month. It looks like crap even though we water it every night, but at least I haven't had to be out in the heat mowing. It would take me a whole 30 minutes to mow our tenth of an acre, but that might be enough to do me in.

Most of the last month has been spent staying inside trying to keep cool. I was fine because the Tour de France has been on for the last 3 weeks. I guess it is lucky I enjoy watching dudes in spandex pedaling bicycles. Amanda and Amelia... not so much. Amelia loves being outside and staying in has been driving her crazy. She asks to go out all the time. I can't wait for the fall when we can take her to the park more and enjoy a lot more time outside.

Every July the Tour de France motivates me to get out on the bike and put some miles in. However, it is almost always 100°+ this time of year so I struggle to actually do it. There was a time when I woke up really early in the morning and rode before work. I haven't been able to make that happen this year. I think I am the laziest I have ever been. I need to find time to do something. Actually I don't think time is the limiting factor here. It is motivation. I should say that I wish I could find the motivation and energy to get out and exercise after being at work all day.

It was the perfect storm of long (mostly uneventful) sporting events with British Open this weekend too? That ending today was crazy. Tiger couldn't get anything going on the weekend and once again his swing faltered when it counted most. I think we all thought Adam Scott had it in the bag... then we had to watch the painful process of him giving it away. I feel horrible for him. Even so, it was awesome to see Ernie get the win. It has been a rough few years for him and I will always root for his success. This has been a good time to watch golf. 16 separate winners in the last 16 majors. The field is wide open.

If you couldn't tell, most of my weekend was spent watching "boring sports." That and playing with Amelia. This was the 3rd Saturday morning in a row Amelia and I have gone to Sam's Club. The last 2 weeks we had legitimate reasons but yesterday we just wanted to go look at the little-kid trampoline. We are thinking about buying one, but it would be pointless right now because it is too hot to use it. Maybe buying it would give me some motivation to lose weight. There is a 100 lb weight limit on it, so I have a ways to go. Maybe by next spring.

The Terrible 1.5's

Yesterday my daughter turned 18 months old. Even though she hasn't hit the age on the number yet, I think we are officially in the "terrible two's" stage. That is not to imply in any way that she is terrible. However, she has become much more strong willed, and her happiness from moment to moment seems to be hanging by a thread.

Over the first 17 months of her life she may have just been extremely happy and easy going. Either that or we were way too easy on her and let her get away with whatever she wanted. She has learned the word "No" and she loves to use it, but hates to hear it. For a tiny person that has no knowledge of how the human brain operates she has an uncanny ability to manipulate it. Her skills might have something to do with her adorable face, but I think there is also an innate understanding of human emotion that she uses as effectively as those sweet puppy-dog eyes.

The next year of our lives are going to be interesting for sure. She is so much fun. You never know what she is going to do or come up with next. The entire experience of watching her grow and learn is amazing. She can count to 5 on her own. She knows a lot of her colors and can identify them and match them correctly. She thinks she knows the words to every song and sings along no matter what. She is taking in the world and you can see her trying to process everything. It is truly remarkable.

For the first time as a parent I feel like I can really screw things up. In the past, I could fail to secure a diaper tightly and have a mess to clean up. That is minor. That is fixable. Now I feel like I could fail in guiding her to be a good person... a respectful child... a courteous member of society. I want to give her everything in the world. I want her to always be happy. I want her to be humble. I want her to be mindful. Every parent struggles with balancing on the continuum between friend and disciplinarian. I'm just starting to find my footing.

We have the cutest little girl!

We've had a laid back weekend with lots of playing at home. The heat has kept us in-doors for the last couple weeks most of the time, but yesterday we got some rain and it is supposed to cool off some going into next week. I'm looking forward to it. We might venture out for a snow cone later but other than that we don't have any plans.

I love that sweet little smile.

Just a kiddie pool blowing down the street.