Saturday, September 22, 2007

Larger than Life

I like doing laundry. Well, to be more specific I enjoy the challenge of stain removal and creating perfectly sorted clothes to go in the washer.

The aspect of laundry that is not my favorite is the putting away of clothes, especially mine. ToolMan's aren't so bad because he does not have that many categories: short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, pants, jeans, shorts and t-shirts. And as to CRB's laundry, I have to admit, I love doing CRB's clothes.

The other day I ran a large load of CRB's clothes. Sorting them out of the dryer, I was shocked at how SMALL the pants were. How TINY the socks were. How LITTLE the shirts were. It's not that I shrunk them either. I guess CRB's presence is much larger than his actual physical stature.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Saban University

Maybe it is too soon to rename the University, but I suspect before too long we will see something on campus re-branded Saban.

Yesterday the stars aligned and CRB and I managed to get out to the quad an hour and a half before gametime began. ToolMan suggested that I take the jogging stroller and it was the perfect choice with the walking we did from the car park to the quad.

CRB's favorite part of the gameday activities on the quad? A local 5-piece band's rendition of a Santana classic, dedicated to Auburn in hopes that Auburn "won't give up." Gotta love that southern hospitality.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Great Expectations

"I knew I was in trouble when he said 'I want to see the race car.' A asked 'Well, where is it?' and I said 'It's everywhere - part of it is over there, part of it is upstairs, some of it is here...'"

Tonight some friends and their two children (A&A) stopped by to look at my SUV (yes, it is for sale) and to see ToolMan's shop. Our friend was excited for his 8 year old son, A, to see what ToolMan does with computers and CNC machinery.

A has always been quite fearful of loud noises. When A was a baby, we had to be very careful of placing our cutlery down on the table too hard or suddenly, or of laughing, either of which would send A into a tissy.

ToolMan spent a large part of today getting a program to cut 2 different pieces in both vises in the machine. I had stopped by the shop a few times today (once to collect CRB who was enjoying the view in his swing). I was impressed with the lack of chatter and that ToolMan had gotten the program to the state that he could walk away instead of needing to be there to mash "feed hold."

A did last about 2 minutes longer than his 10 year old sister, and he did seem (slighty?) interested, but the noise factor was too much for him.

Once ToolMan and I were back in the house alone he said "I knew the air compressor was going to have to come on and that would run him out if the regular noise did not."

ToolMan was disappointed.

After a few seconds I told him "I think your best child candidate for appreciating and understanding what you are doing in the shop is asleep right now" and I pointed to CRB's bedroom.

ToolMan grinned, and with trigonometry fairies dancing in his head he said "You are right."