Ever since Lucy stopped having morning swim practices, I've been lazier than usual. Something about the early starts made me a lot more focused and disciplined. Or maybe those 3 months or so are about how long I can be that ordered. I was sleeping earlier, trying to keep the sink clean by doing dishes as soon as I see them, but both of those have gone out the window. Trying to get back on the horse. On the other hand, I've started trying swimming for exercise. I'm using MySwimPro app/service, which is nice because it provides workouts and progressions and swimming plans. Still slow, but starting to feel better in the water, like my freestyle (the only stroke I'm currently working on) is finally starting to feel a little natural. But I'm currently keeping up with going 3 times a week. Started back in the middle of September. I got all the practice gear, and the first couple of weeks was dependent on the flippers, so had to restart my training not using flippers at all. Haven't had to use the paddles or the snorkel yet. Also I've been biking to the gym and back, so it's a good warm up/cool down. Which takes me to another thing: my Raleigh Carbon Clubman is back. I got a replacement frame (in black, not sky blue) from eBay back in July, put it together as much as I could, and gave in and brought it to Roscoe Village Bikes to finish it off and double check my work. Turns out I put the wrong chain on, and they fixed any shifting issues, and then I had to get a new front wheel (couldn't be trued). Rim doesn't match, apparently they don't have rounded chrome rims at all. But looks well enough for me. Had to get new Carradice bags to color match (black), and then got a bigger one (Nelson Longflap) so I could carry all my swim practice gear in a saddlebag instead of a backpack although it's so big it's riding on the fender. But having a nice bike again? Priceless. I am just waiting to get hit again, and wondering if I should preemptively buy a backup frame. Lucy's switch swim teams, so I'm up at eBar at the Nordstrom's at Old Orchard which she practices with Swift at Niles North.

Picked up Lucy and Matilda from swim practice. Then after a quick bite and some packing, brought Lucy to lifeguard camp. Had to do some work, even though I'm on PTO. Just the important stuff for now. Got Jackson a new mouse (gaming?) and keyboard (mechanical). I guess baby steps to getting rid of the Mac stuff for him. Maybe at the 5 year mark I'll look into getting a replacement PC for him. Swapped out the basement can light warm white bulbs for daylight temps. Such a different feel now. Definitely feels like I'll be more awake more when I'm back to work. Also got a bunch of other random Amazon purchases. Excited to try the oil sprayer. Got a smaller fan that should be better for working at my desk. Got a USB-C retractable cord for my desk, oh and a USB AA Battery replacer, so I can just plug in my trackpad jiggler.

Maybe time to update again. So what's new since the eclipse? Lucy graduated 8th grade. Summer started with camps and stuff. I've been eating worse and not exercising and putting on the pounds. Realized I no longer have a bourbon collection, but rather an Irish Whiskey collection. Went ahead and installed a developer beta on the Apple Vision Pro. Got Lucy an Apple Watch. Finally have someone to share Fitness activity with. She probably uses it more than I do. Jackson did a School of Rock camp and might be interested in drumming. Figured out how to soft boil eggs for ramen. Lucy found out she can eat fish. Did another soccer tourney in St. Louis with Jackson. Had another hibachi team dinner. Did a bunch of chaperoning for LTAC Bowling. Had Chicago style hot dogs for a couple weeks. Lucy also got her Herbst appliance and expanders out, and swapped in braces. And currently working my way through the Terminator Universe, currently on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Oh, finally won on eBay a Brydge 12.9 Max+ keyboard. I had been using the MacBook Air, because the Magic Keyboard for the 12.9" iPad had a bum left shift key. Bad enough that I didn't want to use it. This Brydge keyboard is nice, maybe just because it works. Otherwise it's so much bigger and heavier than the Magic Keyboard. Not sure if I want to invest in another Magic Keyboard, or maybe wait and get a new M4 13 iPad Pro. Although being on a Mac has been nice. Also started using my old NUC as a work computer (Jump Desktop into my work desktop has been getting slower and slower). When using Jump on the MacBook Air I don't have to BootCamp into Windows anymore. Also because I'm watching more stuff on the Apple Vision Pro, I've been upgrading videos on Plex to 4K where available and deemed necessary. And now I have to shuffle things around because I'm running out of space. First world problems.

Took the kids out of school and went down to Indianapolis last night to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse today. And it was worth it. Absolutely amazing. When the sun is gone, it's just the ring of fire, and it's darkness, it's so surreal, so crazy, so amazing. Seeing it was right out of a movie. So so cool. Special thanks to Tracy for booking the room a year ago and making us go. So worth it.

Spring Break was fun, but surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, didn't catch up on sleep at all. I'm still way behind on getting a full night's sleep. But Costa Rica was a good time. Fun times with the Thorngrens. Figured out way too late that my Fujifilm X-T5 does panoramic photos. Also brought way too much camera gear that didn't get used. I did manage to do a 7 Minute Workout twice, but did a lot of hiking the first 2 full days, so think I got enough exercise for vacation. Didn't really come back with anything except bug bites that are still really itchy. Pretty annoying. Also didn't come back wildly overweight, which is a change. Otherwise, back to the grind for work this week. Not so much for the kids though; Lucy's swim season doesn't start until next week and Jackson's first outdoor practice got cancelled since it was rain/snowing on Wednesday.

Hard to believe, but actually finished packing early. Well, not like within 8 hours of leaving. Seems pretty crazy. Might have to look into Peak Design Shoe Pouch, instead of just using the small cubes. Otherwise, no notes on packing. Definitely making some packing choices, we'll see if it pans out.

Managed to work out again today. Trying to keep it up before vacation. Wonder if I'll be able to keep up anything on vacation, or if I'll even have to. Maybe at least try and keep up the 7 Minute Workouts? Short enough that I should be able to sneak those in, like in the morning before anyone wakes up? Started packing, which might be a first for me, not the night before. Oh, I'd had a blister on my finger from cooking, and was slightly worried about it, but it managed to pop itself sometime either last night or this morning, and now it just feels like a callus.