If I could bike 500 miles…

So if you even read the title then you probably have deduced that I have reached a milestone of sorts. Today I watched the odometer on my bike roll past a pretty impressive number. No it wasn’t the 500 miles as referenced in the title. But now your thinking to yourself, “Self….this being the 269th day of 2010 and crazy Jon being a strapping lad such as he is, he must have rolled that bike somewhere even more than the 500 miles he’s yapping about.” I’m here to tell you folks that I have just put 100 big ones on that two wheeler. This is the point where you start thinking to yourself, “Self…this being the 269th day of the year simple math says that old crickety Jon has only managed about a third of a mile a day, what a bum.” When I did all of this advanced math and figurin I was even more disappointed than I’m sure you are. The thing that keeps me going is that I think that the 2010 total is roughly 100 miles ahead of the 2009 total and I’m picking up steam. Today I rolled up to mile number 110.

It’s some pretty rough terrain too. Here are some shots I took while fighting the elements

I’ll put it on “paper” now. My goal for 2010 is 501 miles.

Band-Aids needed

So for Sam’s 6th birthday the collective geniuses that = me and Jen decided to buy Rock Band for our Wii. This may eventually go down as one of the biggest mistakes ever. Interestingly PLAYING Rock Band is quite similar to being IN a Rock Band. Here’s why:

1. – All of the band members think they are better players than they really are.

2. – The latest gig ended up with the drummer freaking out and kicking the other members out of the band. (That was me)

3. – The guitarist / bass player is moody and can’t get along with the lead singer.

4. – Don’t even get me started on the manager…she is strung out on all sorts of medication.

Here are some promo shots of our band – Lorax

This photo is staged. No way would I look like that unless I was trying to look goofy.

Plungers and ties and hats, Oh my!

I know that playing with my kids is what I’m supposed to do, but I also know that playing with them always ends up in some kind of weirdness. They keep going and going until….this.

It wasn’t me officer

So remember the people who were calling my phone? I have another story of mistaken identity.

We moved here in 2005, settled in, got ourselves established as the Carroll family on Hawk Hill Loop. Excited to get mail at our new address I would diligently retrieve the mail every day and was pretty excited when in no time I started to get mail addressed to me. I kept thinking it was strange that after all of these years people would still send mail to JOHN Carroll. I’ve worked hard to establish myself as the “No H” Jon Carroll. Even funnier, I thought, was that the mail kept coming to our house at 22711 even though the JOHN mail said it was supposed to go to 22811. By now, being the smart people that you are, you have determined that there might be more going on that just a simple misspelling or address issue. You would be right. Curiously this is what was occurring. Here are two residents of Hawk Hill Loop and their addresses.

John Carroll – 22811 Hawk Hill Loop

Jon Carroll – 22711 Hawk Hill Loop

Haha, this is funny, strange and confusing as hell for the Postwoman. The one additional side note that made me a little wary and concerned for my own identity is that I got a couple of “Notices to Appear” for the “H” John and I can’t really remember how I found out, but it was for Possession of Marijuana. This hasn’t been a problem yet, but I envision the day when I’m tooling around Land O Lakes on my scooter, minding my own business, when I’m surrounded by Sheriffs deputies in a weird episode of COPS. Remember this when you are watching late night TV and you get to point at the screen and yell out “I KNOW THAT GUY!”

Good morning Captain!

 

I’m sure a lot of conversations or, in this case, blog posts start with “I love my son but…” Well.

I love Sam but…

His timing is killing me. Every morning I get up before everyone else and try to get my day going. You probably don’t need the details, but it only includes a shower, some breakfast and coffee. I don’t know how many times I have made the coffee, gathered up some food and sat down only to hear the shuffle of his little feet coming to find me. What can you do? You can’t look at him and say “Oh shit, you’re awake!” I always just give him a hug and ask him how he slept. Sometimes I get a story about one of his dreams or the usual “Great!” Some day I’ll realize that this was obviously the right thing to do and miss it when he’s off to college or just not interested in a morning hug. Right now I’m going to scarf down these cheerios and finish typing. Shhh.

Baseball, apple pie, and Batavus…

I’m at one of those points again where I THINK I have nothing to write about, so I just start typing. Things seem a little mundane or I’ve already gone on about whatever is in my head too much. It’s been nice to relax as summer ends here in Florida and we are looking forward to the, usually, temperate fall and winter. I am enjoying the baseball season as the Cardinals have pretty much run away with the division and I’m trying to get Sam into baseball by way of talking him through a game or 10 on TV. He seems to get it, but like most kids, gets bored with it over time. I guess it takes years to appreciate a 3-2 fastball that freezes the hitter and gets an emphatic “Strike 3” from the umpire. We aren’t even close to talking about the squeeze play.

Since most of my posts haven’t had photos to accompany them I am attaching a picture of me and Sam watching a Cardinal game. It is pretty boring, but it has all the elements. Bag of chips, remote control, Cardinal attire, and proper reclination. It’s a new word. More soon….hopefully.