Spongebob is ultra metal

Spongebob and friends get the pit going.

Let's get back to bloggin'

sorry for the dry spell:

on Tuesday the 13th I got together with my high school buddy Sue Benz for a few beers at the Mt. Royal Tavern - we used to go their back in the day when she lived in DC and I in Baltimore -great to see her, have not seen here since before Micah was born! She is a librarian living in Brooklyn and generally living a fun, hectic life that I can live vicariously through!

the weekend of the 16th we had a grand visit from Aunt Kate and Gigi and Grandad. On Friday, Aunt Kate and Micah spent a special day together, going to Port Discovery , out to lunch, and napping! That night we bar-b-qued, and chilled.

On Saturday, Farmer's Market frenzy with Aunt Kate! Gigi and Granda showed up for lunch, and then a trip to the playground ensued. Dinner with Aunt Kate, Gigi and Grandad at McCabes was crabcake bliss. Kate and I chilled that night taking in 48 Hours (is that sensationalism trying to pass as News?), and then went to bed. Oh, and I got a ticekt for going the wrong way down a one way street in the Pimlico area - Kate and I were driving Emmet around after he fell asleep : I always cruise through various inner city neighborhoods to learn more about Bmore -neither Kate or I noticed any one way signs - but I'm guessing the cop really pulled us over to get a sense as to whether we were cruising to buy drugs. He kept asking me "so where were you going" etc...I guess, sadly, the cops see more than their fair share of people driving around with their kids looking to score.

On Sunday, we said goodbye to Aunt Kate. Later in the day Micah declared that hiw is "down with diapers" and threw his remaining diapers away (don't worry we pull them from the trash and will use for Emmet). For the past week Micah has had tremendous Potty Power, and only had a few accidents which seem to be decreasing in probability. Go Micah!!

Monday the 19th kicked off the first week of my 2 week intensive courses "Data Analysis Workshops I and II" - a half day of stats and Stata everyday for two weeks - the kind of schedule dreams are made of. The first week was hectic but fun - 45 or so students, and a great fun bunch to boot - I really enjoyed week 1 and I'm onto week 2 today!

This past weekend we had a nice visit from Paul (PSR), wife Cheryl and 1-year old daughter Mia on Saturday for lunch. That afternoon we were supposed to attend a birthday party at a pool to celebrate two of Micah's classmates turning 4: We went so far as to drive to the pool and go into the club, but something freaked Micah out big time - we think it was someone diving into the water as he seems to have this extreme love/hate relationship with persons entering water. Unfortunately, this meant we had to leave the scene without parting or swimming - Emmet and I were especially disappointed as were we ready for some pool related action.

Sunday was rainy as I don't even know what - we drove DC to rendezvous with cousins Rebecca, Jon and Rose at the Museum of Natural History - it poured on the drive down, but luckily stopped for our duration on the Mall. We had a comedy of errors in trying to meet up with folks, and by the time we did it was lunchtime - so we had a fun family lunch, and then spent another hour or so at the Air and Space Museum. We headed back to Bmore and managed to get home before the extreme rainfall of late yesterday afternoon and the entire evening.\

back at 'ya...

with some more flava!

So on Thursday Emmet had an endoscopy - while Micah has already had 2 of these, it still does not make things easier - its really difficult to see your offspring go under anesthesia - but Emmet is a trooper and by the next day he was back in action, wreckin' shit!

On Friday eve I went solo over to Karl and Aimee's; I wanted to bring the boys but Bubby and Pop were in town and I could not deny them the grandchildren! Had a great time at Karl's - hung out with Brian, Kerri, Ingo (go Germany), Karl, Giso, Andrew, Roger and Lisa, Rafa, Alex and Amina - and then went back to my crib and had a grand time with the inlaws. Got clowned a lot at Karl's - mostly for being beautiful, but also for being lame at sports (fair enough), a weak moustache grower ( guilty as charged)

On Saturday we went to the Marriot where Bubby and Pop were staying - and went swimming in the hotel pool. Fun but cool, the tension exacerbated by the icy lifeguard who was really uncomfortable (and unpleasant) with kids being at the pool. But we had fun...Later in the day went to Honfest with Emmet in the stroller- he ZZZZed, I checked out the scene. Extreme kitsch and uber-ironic-hipsters: what's not to love?

Sunday was errand day - after Bubby and Pop and Aunt Sally rolled posted brunch I went grocery shopping with Emmet, while Micah stayed at home and "took a nap" aka: pestered Roni the whole time. Feeling ad,because she has a thesis to finish in like 2 weeks, I took the boys to the local park and we had a blast!! A great way to end the whole weekend fo' shizzle.

More in a New York minute..

Catching Up

So a lot has happened in the past 2+ weeks: here's the lowdown in short for:

2 weeks ago:
1) We attended the public health prom end of the year party at the Visionary Art Museum- roni and I had fun, it was cool to introduce Roni to a bunch of my students.
2) Saturday we went to Silver Spring to visit Kate and Simon and celebrate their son Liam's first birthday - hung out with Doug and Kerry, Thames and Jerome, Tom Hickey and Jim and Lily - wnet back to Jim and Lily's new crib in Takoma Park and played with Micah, Emmet, Joseph, Loren, Anya and Benjamin.
3) On Wednesday went to JHSPH graduation at the Meyerhoff.
4) Memeorial Day Weekend - Roni's birthday!! Happy Birthday sweetie! Roni is a true altruist and wanted her present to include buying a bike with training wheels for Micah - he chose a Dora the Explorer classic! As per Micah - "Daddy - Dora is my FAVORITE exploer!".
5) Saturday of Mem Day weekend- Kellen's (Micahs schoolmate) party at Linkwood Park: an off the hook affair!
6) Sunday - Micah and Emmet were overtired - no golfing in Laurel, no Sowebo Fest alas..
7) Monday- playdate with Micah;s classmate Jake in Ellicot City - a ton of fun!
8) June 2: John turns 37. Unfortunately Emmet and Micah come down with hand, foot and mouth virus and are dismissed from daycare and need be quarantined from others the entire weekend. On the good side- we had a great at home family day!
8) Weekend CD score- it WAS my 37th bday after all:

Unearthly Trance - heavy heavy doom/hardcore metal straight outta Long Island.
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres- can't forgive them for playing W's inagural ball, but their early '70s stuff is great.
Nas - Illmatic- finally got around to getting this.
Shudder to Think - Funeral At The Movies- early '90s postcore.
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale - another classic from a Wu Tang Member!
Calexico.
Black Heart Procession.

To quote the legendary Blazin Hazen:
"I've had some fun and I'm glad we met - but now it's time for me to jet"