the final countdown

it's the final countdown to college application deadlines and it's killing me not knowing what he's doing. the days are ticking away like minutes....3,2,1, and i'm trying to keep out of it and let him handle it. tough duty for a control freak like me. had a nice holiday- drove in to see dad & vicky... kate & anabelle were home from vegas, and kristin was in from spain. great visit despite the dodgy driving conditions on the drive there and the siberian temperatures in chicago. dad took the boys and i to see 'million dollar quartet' a play about a night at Sun studios with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. great music and interesting story. on the drive to and from chicago, the boys took turns reading short stories by david sedaris (out loud!). better than books on tape! hard to believe that this time next year, jake will have his first semester under his belt. we hope. heard a great book suggestion on NPR the other day called 'delaying the real world' full of stories of people who've taken the road less travelled. thought about getting it for jake, but then worried he might take it seriously and skip the whole college route! maybe i'll wait until he's mailed all the apps.......

out of the doghouse

so jake's out of the doghouse. been working hard, both in school and in the pool. all assignments are accounted for, all practices attended. the season is underway and Lincoln's little team has its first meet under its belt. wasn't a win, nowhere near it....but it's tough for 15 kids to take on a team of 45. the fab freshmen were the stars of the night. brady and luis got the only wins of the night. jake took a 2nd and a 3rd....still needs to get his old confidence back but he's swimming better than last year. andy and i are very happy with the coaching they're getting. think it's gonna be a good year and it's been really cool to see how close jake and brady are through this. they spend tons of time together, and seem to be having a blast. so lucky we have this one season with both of them on the team. go lincoln:) also found a bunch of pics i forgot about on my camera from jakeapalooza. go boston:)

rut row shaggy

ever heard of no-shave november? i have. now. i noticed jake was looking scruffier than usual....but thought it was just swim team keeping him from the razor. apparently though, boys all over the place do the no-shave thing in november. i am so not a fan of facial hair, especially patchy scraggly facial hair. turns out, he's not a fan either - even though he grew the thickest beard of anyone except one of the teachers. which i find hard to believe since he had this weird runway under his chin where very little hair grew. he cheated a little and shaved the morning of thanksgiving....i'll take the hit on that one- just couldn't face the idea of turkey bits and gravy stuck in his scraggly little beard. ew. looks like a completely different kid doesn't he? no more no shave. i hope.