2020 Election

 Yesterday I met up with Deborah.  A long-time friend of hers who she was also living with passed away on Sunday.  Deborah was her caretaker over the last few months.

I Zoom tutored in the afternoon.

We ate grilled chicken for dinner and then Morry and Evan went to the baseball lesson.

Today is the big day - election day.   Morry got up around 6:15am to go vote.   I voted early a few weeks ago.

Both Morry and the boys were off today.  There was no school because many of the schools are voting locations.

After I taught, I dropped my car off to get serviced.  

Morry met me there and then we went to lunch nearby at a place called Hideaway.  It was good and we were able to eat outside.

After picking up my car we went back home.

I Zoom tutored this afternoon.

Morry and Evan are at baseball practice.

When they get home we will have corned beef for dinner.

We will see what happens tonight in terms of the election.

Another Day Home

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan stayed home again this morning.  While he didn't have a fever, he didn't sound good and he didn't look good so we didn't send him to school.

I left at the same time as Noah to take my car in to get an oil change, a state inspection, and a new front headlight.  I spent most of the time talking to our CEO while I was there.

When I got home, I had a phone call with our COO.  Then I had 4 meetings with not much time in between.

Rachel got home from teaching as well as Goodwill. Rachel had to get some things from Goodwill for a campaign she's doing.

I took Evan to the doctor later in the afternoon.  Luckily, he does not have strep throat.

When we got home, we Rachel left to tutor. I took Noah to HEB to get some things for dinner.

After dinner, Rachel had some stuff to do.  Noah brought home some science homework for Evan which he did.  I put some stuff back in the attic which needed to go back up after we got our air conditioning replaced.

The boys should be getting ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Bruce Ruffin

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Chewie woke up about an hour before our alarms.  Rachel took him out and then fed the animals.

After walking Noah to school, Rachel laid back down before leaving for school.

I worked from home for a while and then took the van in to get an oil change and inspection.

When Rachel and I picked Noah up from school, the kids were really giving Chewie attention.  Two girls didn't want to leave Chewie.  One girl was saying that she's told her mom about Chewie.

Evan had baseball practice today.  TRPD got a new pitching coach.  The coach is a guy named Bruce Ruffin.  He played 11 years in the majors 6 years with the Phillies.  I remember when he got called up to the majors when I was a kid.  I know I saw him pitch many times in person.  It was surreal watching him work with Evan.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We stayed home this morning.  I had a phone meeting but other than that, we didn't have any commitments.

Rachel had a Pink Ribbon Cowgirls lunch at Whole Foods today.  The boys wanted to go with her.  Rachel took her car to get the oil changed.  The boys and I picked her up and then I dropped them off at Whole Foods for the lunch.  I took my car to get washed.  When that was over, I went back to Whole Foods and sat with the boys.  When it was done, we dropped Rachel back off at the oil change place and went home.

I had a phone meeting in the afternoon which went well.

I got a text from the father of one of Evan's friends.  He had reached out to Evan's baseball team.  They said he could come to a voluntary practice which runs every Tuesday night as a tryout.  Evan and I said we'd go with them.  So Evan, Noah and I had an early dinner while Rachel was tutoring.  Then Josh and his dad Chad came to the house.  They drove up to practice.

The high school kids were playing when we first got there while Evan and Josh warmed up.  Only Evan and Josh ended up coming to the practice.  I think that they had a good time.  Josh seemed impressed.  I think they liked Josh.  We'll see if it works out.

The kids are now in bed.

Until next time...

What's My Wine

This morning we walked to school without Lizzy.  Poor Lizzy.

I took my car in for an oil change.   Morry picked me up and we went to bagels.  As we were finishing eating I go the call that the car was ready.

We walked to pick up the kids from school.

Around 4pm Morry took the boys to the school to meet their friends.

Then, a little before 5pm he picked them up and brought them over to Grandma and Papa's house.  They were going to have dinner together and then go to services.

Morry and I went to the What's My Wine VIP Launch.  There's an app that helps you figure out what wine to buy.  They were having a launch party and invited me.  Morry and I thought it would be  chance to learn more about wine and figure out what we liked.

It was pretty crowded.  We only got through one of the stations that had 7 different wines to try.  They were okay.  We chatted with a few people there.  I spent a lot of time talking to another Instagrammer who had interest in perhaps getting an app made.

We left the party around 7:15pm.

From there, we picked up food for dinner at Madam Mam's.

Evan's friend, Reid, from baseball, met us there and we took him back to our house to spend the night.

We got home and a little while later Grandma and Papa dropped the boys off.

Now everyone is ready for bed.  Evan and Reid are set up in the game room in sleeping bags.

Here are some pictures from tonight.

Austin Spurs

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Last night, we went to watch the Austin Spurs play basketball.  The Austin Spurs are the minor league basketball team for the San Antonio Spurs.  Rachel got free tickets to go see the game.  Ryan Arcidiacano, who played for Villanova the last four years and was the NCAA tournament MVP last season, is on the Austin Spurs.  The boys, especially Evan, had been wanting to go watch him play.

The game started at 8pm but the gates opened at 6:30.  Rachel was tutoring and wouldn't be able to get there until between 7:30 and 8 so the boys and I decided to get there early to see if we could meet Arcidiacano.  When we got in we found our seats which weren't really that close to the court.  We saw that both teams were shooting around and then Evan spotted Arcidiacano.  We tried to walk down but realized you had to have tickets to get the floor.  There were special tables at the end of the court where you could sit and watch the game.  In that section looked like a group of people all wearing Villanova gear.  Arcidiacano was talking to them.  We talked to an usher about how to get down and she told us to talk to customer service which was right behind that section.  We talked to them but they said you needed special tickets to get in there.  So we walked to a different section where we could see better.  The usher who was guarding the entrance to the floor came over to us and we explained we wanted to see the player.  She said "well, come on in" and let us in.  The boys walked up to Arcidiacano who was signing other autographs.  After he finished, he asked the boys if they would like his autograph (since both boys looked star struck) and they nodded yes.  Then he asked the boys if they would like a picture.  Again, they nodded yes. So I was able to get a picture of the boys with him.  When we walked away, I thought Evan was going to burst.  He was so excited.  He could hardly contain himself.

The game itself was fun.  Arcidiacano played well.  We challenged Rachel to actually watch the game and not play on her phone.  She did a good job.

I had a phone meeting this morning.  While I was doing that, Rachel met a woman who made "bullets" for coffee and was selling them.  Rachel had offered to meet her and do a blog post about it in exchange for the product.  It's like butter and coconut oil that you put in coffee to add protein.

After my meeting I drove to get my oil changed.  Rachel picked me up from there and we had lunch at Wholy Bagel.

After school, the boys played in the house and then later out with the neighbors.

I then took Evan to his hitting practice.  After hitting, we met Rachel and Noah at Taco Cabana and had dinner.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Very Busy Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today seemed like a busy day.  After taking the boys to school, I took my car into the dealership for it's 20,000 mile checkup/oil change.  As soon as I got back from that, I had a conference call.  After that I had a follow up call with Aaron and Mandy.

While I was on the conference call, Rachel went out and met Deborah for lunch and they went on a hike.

Shortly after Rachel got home, we went to get the boys from school.

I took Evan to baseball practice later in the afternoon.   Evan was able to do all his homework in the car to and from practice.

We had dinner as soon as we got home.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

The New House

Grandma and Papa left this morning to close on their house.  Morry went into the office.  The boys and I ran some errands.

We got the oil changed, exchanged a game at Game Stop, and got haircuts.

While we were waiting for haircuts Grandma and Papa texted to let us know they were done with the closing. They met us at Sport Clips and then we went to lunch at Crema.

We came back to our house for a little bit and then went over to Grandma and Papa's new house. Uncle Marvin and Aunt Sandy came over too.  Evan and Noah had a good time running around inside and outside of the house.

The boys and I walked back to our house.

When Grandma and Papa were done they came back to our house and then we all went to dinner at Burger Fi.

We are back home and soon the boys will get ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

First Grade Musical

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We were able to walk to school this morning.  It looked liked it could rain but it held off for us to walk.  I think Lizzy was glad to get out of the house.

I took my car in for its 5000 mile service this morning.  From there I went into Aaron's.  I had a meeting with people from Your Trainer in the early afternoon at Aaron's office.  It went late enough that I was not able to get home in time to walk to pick up the boys.

Rachel walked to get the boys.  The sun had come out by the afternoon.  I got home shortly after they got home.

We stayed at home all afternoon.  Then we went to the school at 6 for Noah's First Grade Musical.  All the first graders sang songs about Texas.  I'll reserve judgement on the fact that most other states do not need an entire musical to sing songs about itself.  Noah did very well.  Each class took turns on stage doing a parts of a square dance.  Noah had the beat down and was really moving well.  He looked like he was really getting into it.  It was fun to see Noah have fun.

We came home and had leftovers.

The boys are finishing showering and are about to go up to bed.

Until next time...

Oil Change

My car needed an oil change so this morning we went to get that taken care of.  While we were waiting we walked around the shopping center and got lunch at Texadelphia.  The boys were good and mostly well behaved.

We took it easy at home this afternoon.

For dinner we had leftover corned beef.

The boys are ready for bed now.

Cool Monday

This morning it was pretty cool outside.  I think it was in the upper 50s. We all wore sweatshirts on the walk to school, though Noah complained the whole time about how cold was.

While the boys were in school I got the oil changed in my car - very exciting.

Morry picked up the boys from school and Gabby came over while I was out tutoring.

For dinner we had frittata.  It's an easy quick meal.  I just put potatoes, cheese, sometimes ham/turkey, and eggs together and bake them.

The boys are playing wii together now, but we are about to get them ready for bed.

Swimming after Dinner

This morning the boys were good. I had planned on going to the gym, but it was taking a while to get everyone dressed and fed. We had plans to meet Morry for lunch and to get an oil change for my car. Instead of going to the gym we met Morry around 11:30am at Groovy Lube to drop off my car. Then, we went to lunch at Steak n Shake.

We didn’t really know what Steak n Shake was, but it was close to Groovy Lube. It turned out to be a great place for the kids. It’s kind of like a fast food diner. You sit down and are served at the table. They had cars made out of paper that you have to fold up and chef hats for the kids to wear. Evan and Noah ate well. Noah had hot dog and Evan had peanut butter and jelly.

After lunch we picked up my car and everything worked out well.

I thought maybe we’d go to the gym afterwards, but both boys were getting a little cranky. It was already 1:00, so I decided just to go home.

It took Noah a while to nap and he didn’t nap that long.

For dinner we made pasta and then went to the gym so the boys could go swimming. Evan and Noah had a great time. We were hoping it would wear them out. They are in their rooms now, but Noah is still making noise at his gate.

Another Busy One

This morning Evan got up early while Morry was getting ready for work.

At 10:30 we went to the JCC for Tot Shabbat. They were having a clothing swap. You bring in clothes your kid/s no longer wears and maybe get some other clothes they can wear now. I brought a big bag of stuff. Most the stuff there was for babies or small toddlers, but I did get a few size 3 and 4 stuff for Evan.

After the JCC we went to get an oil change and inspection. Morry met us there and then we went out to lunch. We ate at Zuzu’s across from Morry’s work. After lunch Morry dropped us off at the car place and we had to wait a while. Evan and Noah were good considering we were there for a long time.

Then, we went to Evan’s school. There was an open house from 2-3 for the kids to come see their new classrooms. School starts next week. Both Evan and Noah had a great time playing in Evan’s new room.

We came home and I put the boys down for naps. They both slept.

While they were napping a tv repairman came by. Our tv will occasionally freeze. Luckily, it froze while he was here. That never happens. Whenever you have a problem and someone comes to fix it, it always seems fine. Anyway, he took some notes, and will hopefully come back next week to fix the tv.

I packed food for the boys and we left the house around 6pm to meet Morry, Matt, Ben, and Molly for dinner at Phil’s Icehouse. Evan and Noah had a great time playing on the playground, but they didn’t eat much.

We just put the boys to bed. Evan is still up.

Long Oil Change

It was another rainy and cold day. We stayed inside this morning. Yenis, her mom, and Kevin came over for about 30 minutes to play until it was time for us to leave.

We met Morry at Lambs to get my oil changed. When it’s time for oil changes, we normally meet Morry and go to lunch while we wait for the car. This time we went over to Chick-Fil-A and ate a quick lunch. At Chick-Fil-A Evan asked for ice cream. We told him if he was good the rest of the day we’d get ice cream after dinner.

Morry had to be back at work for a meeting. We got back to Lambs after about an hour and the car still hadn’t been serviced. Since Morry had to go to work, I just sat at Lambs with the boys. They told us it would be about another 30 minutes. Well, an hour later my car was finally ready. That was the worst hour ever. Since it was rainy we couldn’t even go outside. They just have a small area with chairs to sit on inside. Evan was very well behaved, but Noah was horrible. He screamed and cried almost the whole time. I tried everything – food, juice, pacifier, diaper change (on the floor since there was no changing station). I don’t know what took so long. I’m sure the crying was driving other people nuts as well. They shouldn’t have made us wait so long. When the car was finally ready I asked if something was wrong with the car because it took so long. They said the car was fine and that it was in the middle of the line and they were waiting on another car to finish, or something like that. When I finally got the boys in the car Noah fell asleep right away. We didn’t get home until about 2:45.

I put Evan and Noah down for naps and they both slept well.

For dinner we went to Hula Hut. Rainy days are the best times to go there. Sometimes you can end up waiting an hour or 2 on a nice day. Since it’s on the lake and most people go for the view, you don’t have to wait long on a rainy day. We got seated right away. Evan and Noah were very good at the restaurant. Both boys ate a ton. We ordered a fried shrimp kids meal for Evan. At first he wouldn’t eat the shrimp. I think he didn’t really realize it was shrimp, even though we told him. As soon as we took the breading off, he ate it up. Evan ate chips, cheese, tortillas, the shrimp, rice, and fruit. Noah had baby food, cheese, a leftover biscuit from last night, chips, and fruit.

After dinner we decided to go to TCBY for ice cream/yogurt since Evan was really good today. When we got there, the store was closed, for good. We felt bad since we told Evan he could have ice cream so we tried to think of other places we could go. We ended up a Wendy’s to get Frosties. In the car Evan kept saying he wanted cherry ice cream or cherries in his ice cream. At Wendy’s we asked if there was a way they could put a cherry on Evan’s kid’s frosty. The guy was very nice and put 2 cherries on top of Evan’s frosty. He was very excited and Evan thanked the guy. It was cute. We spent a long time at Wendy’s, but Evan did end up eating all of his Frosty. Noah ate a lot too. Noah would do the “more” sign before he even swallowed all the ice cream in his mouth.

We got home somewhat late and just put the boys to bed. I hope they sleep since they ate all that ice cream.