Had to drive Lucy to practice today, after a Cubs game, and early for dry land, so I decided to waste time at World Market so I wouldn’t have to sit in more traffic. Wasn’t necessarily planning on buying anything, but then found Slow & Low Rock and Rye and Coffee Old-Fashioned, so I had to get them. Also got a Crunchie and a Violet Crumble. Also randomly got Hawaii’s Best Hawaiian Haupia Mix (think it’s just coconut gelatin). But the prize was finding Nick and Nora glasses. They’re tiny and cute, and I’m breaking them in with The Last Word and Division Bell. Also got a snifter, because I didn’t have one. Also got some random New York Seltzers, to see if the kids like them, and a single serve sake, and some odd flavored Ramunes.

Trying to get back into things after vacation. Feels like I’ve been out of it for a while, and not really in a routine at all. Still sore from the steps at Lakeside, and the wrist still hurts, so no bouldering or biking for a bit, at least until it stops hurting. Also being sore will take time off from any rucking, although I think the little I did beforehand helped. Also the freighter backpack was absolute genius and came in super handy. So I guess I won’t be getting back on a routine anytime soon. And then summer break is coming fast, and camps and stuff are going to screw with routines as well, so might just have to scratch all that off the list and take what I can get when I can get it.

Yet another beach day. One last hurrah before heading home. Lake was super calm, no wind to speak of. Water was still freezing, and a bit cloudy before the sun broke out. Still managed to get in the water one last time. Of course had a beach fire, roasted more encased meats and made more s’mores. Didn’t get Oink’s Dutch Treat on the way out, just stopped for Chipotle for a late lunch. Nice to be home though. Think I did something to my wrist biking yesterday, it’s a bit sore. Hopefully doesn’t last too long. More rotation issue than anything.

Biked 2 miles over to a farmer’s market. Jackson biked too. Pretty simple ride for his first long one, although there was a hill he had to walk up. Otherwise, pretty good. Then back down to the beach for the day, sausages for lunch and dinner, s’mores down at the beach, actually got in the water, super cold, Oink’s for a Rush Hour milkshake, and then back for Exploding Kittens. And ordered some pizza for delivery, which was pretty good. And all the kids each won once, and the adults were shut out.

Tracy managed to get out and pick up some pastries at Whistle Stop, while the rest of us slept in. Felt good to sleep. Tracy then went out with the Brizzle’s to Skip’s European Farmer’s Market, and I eventually got the kids out of the room and down to the beach. Just wanted to check it out, then Tracy came down after they came back and then I went up and got the rest of our stuff and brought it down and Brizzle’s joined us. I made a couple trips and brought down firewood (with the Freighter backpack so it was super easy) and pretty much had a fire going all afternoon. Went in the water once and tried doing a beach run with Lucy, since she’s got a triathlon coming up, but crazy just watching her take off down the beach while I’m just barely able to job. Ended up cooking hot dogs and sausages on sticks over the campfire. Sonya drove us out to OInk’s Dutch Treat for ice cream. I went with Sicilian orange sorbet and raspberry sorbet. Stopped off at Barney’s and got more buns and chips. Then sat down and played Escape from Iron Gate Pretty fun and Julia ended up winning. Probably got more sun today than I should have. And pretty sore, I was not prepared for those steps to the beach, even though they put in new ones at the top by the road.

Back at Lakeside Inn for the weekend. Been a while, but feels like coming home. Same room we had the last time we were here, 2 years ago? Had a recharge day from work, but still did a little work. Finally finished Avatar: The Way of Water. Hard to believe they’ve got 3 more movies lined up, all the way through 2028. Got a new tire for the Crosstrek. Impressed that was taken care of in like 3.5 hours at Ashland Tire & Auto. Loved that I could just leave it and walk home the 2 blocks and come back and pick it up when it was done. Used a new bike rack, the Yakima FullBack 3-Bike Trunk Rack. Need to get the Yakima TopTube adapter for Lucy’s bike, but works ok without it. However, probably need to get a hitch and a hitch bike rack if we’re going to try and take 4 bikes. Worked out this weekend because the Brizzolara’s could take Jackson’s. Didn’t do a good job packing, forgot random stuff, like spoons, an extra bike lock, board games like dominos or Mahjong, or a cooler backpack. Just poor planning.

So my self hosted Mastodon server, http://abando.social (), ran out of space today, because I never set up any maintenance jobs for it. So finally figured out how to do that today. Next step is to figure out how to put media on S3 like object buckets, instead of the filesystem. But that’s for another day. But that’s one of the drawbacks of hosting my own, instead of joining someone else’s. Next up in Mastodon world I think would be figuring out relays. I think. So when I want to do more exploring or find what’s trending maybe? After dropping Lucy off at swim practice, I swung by Binny’s, again, mostly to waste time so I didn’t have to deal with traffic. But ended up getting Tip Top Cocktails Negroni. A little too sweet for my taste, but perfect size and much higher proof than others. Just ordered the party pack too, which is just a variety pack.

Napped a lot today. Trying to catch up on sleep. Ran some errands, picked up a new 3 bike trunk rack instead of the 2 bike rack we have now. I think if we want to bring 4 we’ll have to upgrade to a hitch based rack, which means getting a hitch which we don’t have. Picked up some resupplies at Binny’s. Getting tempted by all the different gin options though, lots of variations, but trying to stick with a good mixing gin, since I’m never drinking it straight. Also got some mealworms for Banana.

Thanks to Dave, went to a Cubs game today, and took advantage of our location. Met up at our house and walked over to Wrigley Field. Pretty cool. Feels like the game goes much quicker because of the pitch clock. I wonder if hitting percentages have gone up because of rushed pitches. Anyway, lines are still pretty annoying, but also took advantage of the little stands outside on the right field balcony, instead of using the concourse. Nice respite from all the work lately. Still nowhere near on a good sleep schedule, stealing naps where I can. But looks like I might be able to hit the hay soon.

Still not on a regular sleeping schedule. Napping too much and not getting to bed early enough. Not good. Means I’m still kind of out of it, not necessarily firing on all cylinders. Hopefully I can catch up soon, or get back on schedule. I did have to go out to get some lab work done after I dropped Lucy off at school. Forgot I had to give a urine sample, so bought a bottle of water and chugged that. Worked though. Stopped by Dom’s Kitchen + Market on the way home and got breakfast/lunch and finally got another Napoleon. Yum. And a cappuccino, which was pretty good. Realized they have Doughnut Vault stuff there as well, so that’s good to know. The blueberry danish was fabulous too. Reminded me of the ones I used to get up at the Mozart Cafe in Evanston.

Super sleepy. Hopefully I sleep well tonight. Snuck in a couple naps, however short today. Picked Jackson up and took him to his soccer game up in Skokie (they got killed, playing with few subs vs. a very full team, they wore their whites, and it was hot out). Quick stop at home before dropping him off at Whirlyball for a Lasertag birthday party. Ate when I got home, took a short nap before picking him up. Got another nap in while he went and played with Jackson Grady. Actually had to do a little work to make sure my little area worked after the servers moved data centers. Tried watching Avatar: The Way of Water, but don’t think I’m conscious enough for it. Tried out Taco Moro II (new place over by Domino’s for dinner. It’s ok, needs more seasoning though. Hard to believe school’s ending soon, feels like that snuck up on me pretty quick.

Out last night partying. Out tonight working. Glamorous life for me.

I like rucking. It’s just walking with a heavy backpack. I guess kids ruck all the time these days. Also, if you ruck to a coffee shop to work, and put your stuff in your backpack and use the bathroom, you don’t have to worry about someone running off with your bag, because it’s got 30 lbs in it. Would be amusing to see someone try. Anyway, chaperoned the last 2 periods of LTAC bowling unit today. Actually got some work done in those 2 periods too, so it was productive too. Lucy just barely beat me home, since I rucked home and she took the bus. Have I mentioned The Peripheral is really good? Only bad thing is the length of episodes, and the accents (makes it hard to understand sometimes).

Jackson’s officially a cyclist. Able to start by himself, turn both directions, come to a stop. Very cool. Definitely relieved. Granted, not sure how long until we can bike as a family anywhere. Probably have to wait until his next bike I think, which actually won’t be too much longer. Adding the stem extender helped I think. Aside from that, I did my Power Red blood donation. Had a big breakfast, came home, had a big lunch. I did skip getting McDonald’s for dinner when I got the kids dinner after soccer practice. Even though those fries smelled amazing (I admit I stole a couple out of their bag). Started watching The Peripheral. Only seen the first episode, but so far so good. I did not read the book, and I’ve done a pretty good job keeping away from any spoilers, so fresh eyes. And I’m liking it. It’s funny, but taking a little to get used to the regional accent, to the point I’m tempted to put on subtitles. And then they go to London and it’s a different accent that I’ve got to get used to. Either way, it looks like what I thought a William Gibson novel would look like. That’s a good thing. It feels right.

No exercise today. A little too much work. Or just a little lazy. Probably more lazy than busy. Finished The Mandalorian Season 3 today. I liked it. True to the title. Didn’t feel like a slog at all. The buddy cop episode was amusing. Will be happy when they finish repaving Lake Shore Drive in both directions. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take me to take the kids to soccer tomorrow. Wait and see I guess. Looks like I get to do a little data center work this weekend. They’re moving servers from the NJ datacenter over to the CHI one. Should be fun getting my hands dirty with some physical labor again. Just hope it won’t be too late.

Lucy had her Ortho-K appointment today at Village Eyecare down in University Village, so had to pick her up from school and drive through traffic to get there. Surprisingly the 90/94 traffic wasn’t the bad part, it was Western. Then we had some food and snacks (Mario’s Italian Lemonade Italian Ice was amazing and Lucy had her Mochidog and Mochinut), then I went to go drop her off at practice, and drove through traffic on LaSalle, but that was ok since we were killing time. Then I had the bright idea of taking Lake Shore north, which was OK, until I tried getting off at Irving Park which was backed up a ton, so I thought I’d get off at Montrose, but all exits north were super backed up. So I went all the way up to Granville before turning around and coming down Clark and Ashland. At least I got some gas on the way. But wow, was that annoying.

Took Jackson to Blaine Field for more bike riding practice. He’s definitely getting better. After I brought the bike back I put a stem extender on. Curious if that’ll help or not. It might be a little small for him already. Biked down and back to Verzany Patisserie for Tracy’s pastries (when she went earlier the line was out the door). Got Sal’s Trattoria for dinner, and have a bunch of desserts in the fridge. Fridge is pretty full, but doesn’t seem like it’s food. Day kind of felt like it slipped away on me.

Just sneaking this one in. Jackson’s team won their first game this morning, special thanks to their guest players filling out the roster and scoring majority of their goals. Second game was cancelled. Got to go to Candyality twice, once with Lucy to get birthday presents, and then again with Jackson for ourselves. Got some sushi for the first time in a while. Still no Napoleons at Dom’s Kitchen + Market. And got to see Ryan who was in town for a conference. Oh, and Jackson got a little bit better at riding a bike.

Even though Lucy was up early enough to take the bus today, ended up driving her to school anyway because we had to wait for her lunch to finish reheating. Northbound Lake Shore Drive is opened up, although I don’t think they’re done yet, since the manholes are still higher, but done enough. Driving back home after picking her up only took 13 minutes to get home. Coming back from dropping her off picked up desserts from Dom’s Kitchen + Market (no Napoleon), and dinner from Small Cheval for the first time. Pretty good stuff. Didn’t realize they had milkshakes though. Watched more of The Mandalorian. Didn’t go climbing, but did do a core and push-up workout. So at least I got those in. Tried a new cocktail, Paris is Burning, after seeing a reddit comment about it in a post about the Earl Grey Marteani. Pretty good, and it’s a Mezcal drink too. Thinking I should start stocking a dry gin and a botanical gin, for when cocktails call for one or the other.

Still drove Lucy to school this morning, she woke up super late but wasn’t late to class. Jackson on the other hand was late to school because. Got out for a bike ride today, up to Hollywood and down to Roscoe on the Lake Front Path. Hopefully back on a routine. Lucy didn’t go to practice today, so no driving to or from, although if I did I was going to try and stop by Dom’s Kitchen + Market for a Napoleon again.

Chauffeur again today. Drove Lucy to school. Dropped her off at swim practice. And going to pick her up shortly. I guess I didn’t pick her up from school this time. Bought a couple soccer balls today, since Jackson lost his, well, forgot it at Blaine Field when he and Finn went over to play (I think on Monday). Figure it’s gone. He said it was starting to fall apart too. Got a size 4 and 5, just in case. No idea if they’re any good, just wandered over to Play It Again Sports and bought the orange ones. Guess I could have done a little more research, but oh well. Should be good enough. Started watching The Mandalorian Season 3. Listening to Orphan Black: The Next Chapter podcast. It’s really well done. Didn’t think I’d enjoy listening to a story, but turns out I do.

Rucked over to Lane Tech to do my second and final chaperone stint for their PE bowling unit. It was harder than usual. Didn’t actually work this time, but got some other finance stuff done. Stopped by Trader Joe’s on the way home and picked up some Ube Mochi Pancake Mix. Try and make some of that this weekend. Oh, think the Crosstrek might have another flat, same side, rear tire this time. Currently lower pressure than the others, which is what happened with the previous flat. So going to bring it by Ashland Tire & Auto tomorrow to see if it actually is or not. Would be annoyed if it was the same screw or nail that caused the previous flat that had fallen out and then managed to run over it with a different tire.

Walked over to Movement Wrigleyville and did some bouldering today. Trying to get back on my exercise schedule. Took it easy at the gym, and want to slowly ramp up to where I was again. Stopped by Jewel and got some stuff (the usual salmon and cut melon, ice cream and popsicles, and pineapple juice). Did my 20 minute core Apple FItness+ workout and the Gravity Push-Up Workout. I did get some wasabi to put in the premade mashed potatoes to go with my salmon for lunch. Pretty good. Tried out a Perfect Martini for happy hour. Not bad. Finished up Orphan Black. Looked for the comic books, couldn’t find them, but found the Podcast and now I’ve got something to listen to for a while anyway.

Biked Jackson up to Foster for a double header today. They won the first game and tied the second. Jackson didn’t play all that well, at least not as well as he did at the tourney last weekend. But every now and then getting some real glimpses of quality football with the team. Nice to see. They didn’t get any ice cream between games, so we had to make sure to find one on the way home, which we did. Pretty warm out and didn’t cool off until after we got home. Finally hydrated some water gel beads/balls and tried out Jackon’s Gel Blaster. It’s pretty cool. No idea how it would feel to get hit with one (or multiple), nor do I know where we could play with it besides our backyard. Not something you can really use indoors, nor would I feel comfortable running around the alley or neighborhood with them. Suburbs maybe? Or find an actual place (like paintball or AirSoft)? Down to 2 episodes left of Orphan Black. Really tempted to just plow through the last two, but should probably get ready for bed instead.

Pretty quiet Saturday for me. Stayed in bed for a while this morning. Also took a nap. Took Jackson out for bike riding lessons. Getting closer. Biked out to Tea Ninja, got a medium Lychee Slush with 0% sugar and boba. Perfect. Refreshing. Tracy and Lucy brought back McDonald’s for dinner, had a Big Mac, been a while. Only got 4 more episodes of Orphan Black. Tatiana Maslany is an amazing actress. I only see all the characters she plays, don’t see her playing a bunch of clones. Impressive. Lucy’s getting used to her Herbst appliance. She’s happier now that she can actually eat more. Good to see. That first couple of days were rough.

Got to take Lucy to her swim meet, Friday night events. Didn’t have to stay until the end. She dropped time in both her events (granted her entry times were probably from last summer), but still. Also, north campus at NU is so completely different. I should have tried walking around to see what things look like, but I think I would have gotten lost. Probably needed to do some more work while I was there, but maybe I’ll do some more this weekend.

Thought about going for a bike ride, or even doing an Apple TV+ core workout, but felt sore and decided to skip. I really need to get back on a workout schedule. Instead, I ate lunch, including Talenti Gelato Layers Peanut Butter Vanilla Fudge for dessert, and watched Orphan Black. And you know how I thought work was going smoother? Well, completely forgot about another issue that I was supposed to be looking into. But I think I got it figured out in time. Hopefully. Was Lucy’s chauffeur today, driving her to school, then picking up her and Julie and Phoebe. Drove her to practice since Tracy planted one of the parkway beds today, and then picked her up since Tracy was sore and tired. So yeah, lots of driving. Also I get to take her to her swim meet tomorrow, since she actually gets to go and participate in the Friday events, but it’s early enough she’s got to go right from school, and Tracy doesn’t get off early enough, although she tried to switch schedules to do so. Had a nice little Mastodon interaction about the Star Wars CCG, when I took out and looked through, then looked up, and found out it’s still thriving, which is crazy. I think I liked the Star Trek CCG better anyway. I need to find my Netrunner CCG and Illuminati: New World Order CCG cards. I think I liked those the best.

Back and legs were sore today. Not sure if that’s because of the rucking from yesterday, or the illness that’s slowing going around. Lucy sort of had it this week, but not sure if her aches were from dry land workouts or the flu. At least she doesn’t sound sick anymore, so relatively quick recovery. Today was a decent day at work, got things done. Always nice when that happens. Fingers crossed there aren’t more issues that come up and we can go back to cruising on that process. Decided to just start serving up my “good” bourbon. I never super liked the “good” bourbons I “collected”, so just going to offer it up, or even use them in cocktails. I’m talking supposed bourbons of the year candidates for 2022, like Remus Repeal Reserve Series V and Bardstown Bourbon Co. Discovery Series #7, Calumet Farm 16]. Moved them from the back of the shelf to the front. I’ve also made good progress on clearing out my cask strength Redwood Empires.

Got some exercise in by rucking over to Lane Tech to chaperone an LTAC bowling unit at Waveland Bowl. Pretty easy volunteer effort, and was actually able to get some work done too in the short time we waited. Also had a pretty good day at work, getting some stuff done with only a few hiccups along the way. So far feels pretty smooth. Fingers crossed it keeps that way. I could use some smooth sailing.

Had to take Lucy to get her first orthodontic appliance (Herbst for those that know, which wasn’t me up to 4 days ago). But yeah, dropped her off at the office, walked back home for a work meeting, then walked back to get some info on it and pick her up, then brought her home, then took the car over to Ashland Tire & Auto to get the flat fixed, which only took 17 minutes and $35, and then back home for more work, before heading out to get Lucy soup from Panera Bread for lunch. Then finally a breather before settling in for more work. So no time to exercise today. I’m actually a Level II CPS volunteer, because I’m helping chaperone LTAC’s bowling unit. Got to walk the kids to and from Waveland Bowl for only 2 classes out of the whole month their doing the unit. Will try and get some exercise in by rucking over and back, cause work’s slammed right now. And there’s a chance I’ll be getting my hands dirty and helping with a server move into our CH2 data center this weekend. So what I should also be doing is making sure I’m getting plenty of sleep, since I might not on Saturday night. So I thought after the St. Louis tournament it would quiet down, seems like the opposite. Things seem to be ramping up. Like constantly. It’s getting tiring.