MM: Arm, Early, Equaled, Playoffs
My son really has an arm on him. I know this because he threw me a baseball yesterday, and I caught it. On the spine. Right between the shoulder blades. I happened to not be looking at the time, and he failed to alert me to his throw. But the impact certainly helped me get the message. (He also received the message that I was not pleased with his failure to warn me.)
It makes a nice bruise.
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Ethan’s back to having swim meets. I just wish they weren’t so early. We had to be over at Terpenning (Tualatin Valley Rec Center) at 7am on Saturday. I’m not a big fan of such hours on Saturdays.
I’d post video, but it was hard to get a really good angle. He did win one of his heats, and I know he finished in the top five in at least two of his events. Room to improve, but a good start to the season.
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I finished reading a book to Ethan yesterday, and I’ve now equaled last year’s Book Total of fifty-seven. I’m still a good fifteen hundred pages short, though, which means my average book length has decreased this year. I haven’t finished my Bible-reading for the year yet, though, and that’ll restore the average a bit.
(I’m still a good eight thousand pages shy of my 2005 reading record, and I don’t think that record’s coming down this year.)
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Watching the MLB Playoffs, I’m more and more glad I don’t have a team to root for in them. Because some of these games must be causing huge blood pressure swings for the fans. I like just watching and enjoying the games.
On the other hand, I’ll be willing to suffer some stress if the Mariners ever decide to make it back to the postseason.
(BTW, I find myself feeling good for A-Rod, and I’m not a Yankee fan. Is this a sign of serious mental collapse?)
MM: Swim Meet, Peaches, Pears
Ethan had a big swim meet on Saturday. Which meant we had to be out to Mt. Hood Community College before 8am. Not my dream Saturday morning start time. But it was about the boy, not about my lack of Saturday Sleep-in.
And how did he do, you might ask? Well, check out his 25-yard Freestyle (7-8 year old boys):
He won his heat (the meet was large enough that it took three heats), and took second place out of twenty-four swimmers. The boy is fast. Factor in his flop start (the starting platform was a new thing) and a bit of lane wandering and he might’ve taken the gold. But as he’ll still be in the 7-8 category next year, we figure he can move up on the podium next year.
He also took second place in the 100-yard Individual Medley (25-yards each of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle). And yes, the same flop start.
You might guess we’re slightly proud of him. For some still-frames of the meet, hit The Fair Elaine’s blog. She’s got a bunch, and they’re awesome as usual.
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Have I ever mentioned how peaches are my favorite fruit? So much that I was tempted to write “favourite,” with that “u” just being for emphasis? Or that you can get Fresh Local Peaches at the U-Pick price of $0.80 per pound at Jossy Farms?
We went and picked Redhaven, Flaming Fury, and Vivid peaches last week (there was another variety, and it was Star something, but I can’t remember). I usually forget about going to pick fruit until after the Redhavens are gone, so I was on top of it this year.
But the real hits, for me, were the Flaming Furies. They’re a delicious (on account of being peaches), pink peach, and I could hardly stop eating them. And now they’re gone. And you can’t even go pick them now. (I know because I just called Jossy Farms and got the hilariously animated recording.)
So far, my attempts to make the Perfect Peach Freezer Jam have failed. I will try again with the next batch. But my failed jam works well as a pancake topping. Just ask Ethan.
Next up are Veteran Peaches (sweet, yellow peaches, and the highlight of summer fruit, IMHO) and Bartlett Pears. I will now share a secret I learned last summer: Bartlett Pears are AWESOME dried!
Last year, I went and picked pears right at the end of the season. Then there was the ten-day wait for them to ripen. Then we ate some and dried some. By the time we realized that our dried pear slices were basically candy, it was too late to go pick more. So this year I’m picking more than one batch.
And no, you can’t have any. You’ll have to pick your own.