Stir Crazy

Saturday, J.P. and I were both a little stir crazy.  After his nap, I strolled him down to Bongo Java.  It was windy and a little cold, so we stayed inside after we arrived.  He enjoyed walking around and looking at people seated at tables, as they worked on their laptops, drank coffee and talked.  As always, he was enthralled with the barristas making lattes, mochas, etc. 

It was good to get out of the house, for sure.  I think with spring seemingly just around the corner, it makes it even harder to stay inside now, even if it's still cold outside.

I took the photo above while he was outside Saturday morning, playing with Jude and her parents, who were in town for the weekend. 

Race Judicata 2010

Saturday morning, I ran in the Race Judicata, a 10k road race in Percy Warner Park.  It's sponsored by the Young Lawyers' Division of the Nashville Bar Association.  This year, Renewal House (where Jude works) was the primary beneficiary of the funds generated through sponsors' donations and registration fees.  As I understand it, there was a record number of sponsors and a record number of runners, which is awesome! 

It's been several years since I've run in the Race Judicata.  As a result, I had forgotten how hilly the course is.  Fortunately, there were downhill portions that kind of offset the uphill portions of the course.  It was a beautiful morning, albeit a little chilly.  Percy Warner Park is a fantastic place to run, though.  I had hoped to finish the race in under 52 minutes, so I was pleased to clock a 49:29, which included about 30 extra seconds when I stopped to talk to Jude at a water stop around mile 2. 

Really, I've not run any races in quite a while, concentrating more on reaching annual mileage goals.  It was nice to run in a race again. 

"Let's see, I guess we'll need a piece of wood just about this long . . . "

Tool Time

Living in an older home, like we do, it's helpful to have a son who is good with his hands and tools.  You know, just like his old man. 

Rock Star

"It's just so hard, really, to not even be able to eat breakfast without being recognized, then asked to sign autographs."

"Uh, excuse me?"

More Salad Days

Today might have been a perfect Sunday. 

This morning, I got up with John Patrick, with plans to take him out for breakfast.  Jude got up, too, and she accompanied us to the Sweet Tea Diner, less than a mile from our house.  It was early - a little after 8 a.m. - and the restaurant had just opened, so we had the run of the place.  That worked out well, actually, because John Patrick was able to do laps through the restaurant, around the booths, while we waited on our breakfast.  The wait staff got a kick out of watching him, running and laughing.

Next, it was back to the house, then off to 11 a.m. church at St. Patrick's.  At the end of the service, as he usually does, Father David Perkin asked if anyone would be celebrating a birthday or anniversay this week.  Of course, Jude and I raised our hands, since our wedding anniversary is tomorrow, February 22.  He asked us what number and I smiled and announced, quite proudly, "number 8!"  Jude looked at me strangely, then looked back and Father Perkin, and said, "number 7."  My face turned red as a beet as everyone laughed.  Okay, 7 it is.

After church, I went to Shelby Park and ran 7 miles on the trails in Shelby Bottoms.  There were a lot of cyclists, walkers, hikers and runners out, because it was such a beautiful day, especially for late February.  Temperature in the mid-60s and sunny!  I returned home to find Jude pulling John Patrick around the front yard on a sled.  Very funny.  When she stopped, he would stand up, step out of the sled, step back in, and sit down again, ready for her to start pulling him again.  It's hard to believe we were pulling him on the same sled, in the snow, a couple of weeks ago.

Next, nap time for all three of us.  When he woke up about 5 p.m., Jude, John Patrick and I strolled down to Bongo Java for coffee.  Just a gorgeous evening.  He played on the soccer field at Belmont University on the way home.  As we strolled up Caldwell, in sight of the fire station, he could see a fire engine in the garage and he made a siren sound as we walked.

Tonight, we had takeout cheeseburgers from Bricktops and watched the Winter Olympics.  Team USA upset Canada in what was a fantastic hockey game.  Very exciting. 

A full day, indeed.   

Mush Mommy!

Luge

"I'll see you at the 2026 Winter Olympics.  Location to be announced." 

2026 Winter Olympics

Inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics, which Jude and I have been watching religiously the past week, we decided it's time to start training John Patrick for the one man luge event in the 2026 Winter Olympics.  He had a good workout today, as you can see.  So did I.

Kitchen Helper

John Patrick absolutely loves to play with Ayden Elliott's toy kitchen, which I, of course, find a bit unsettling.  I'm thinking of trying to find him a toy wet bar, with a toy flat screen, pretend liquor bottles and a fake ice maker.  You know, something more manly than the kitchen.

Ayden's Birthday Party

Saturday morning, Jude, John Patrick and I walked down to Rob and Anne Marie Elliott's house for the daughter Ayden's birthday party.  Ayden just turned two.  Here's a photo of Jude and John Patrick playing at the party.

Popeye the Sailor Man

I took this photo the other night, right before John Patrick left the house to work his shift at the docks, down on the Cumberland River.  What can I say, times are tough.  Every little bit helps. 

Teaching Moment

"Wow.  Gnash has a nose just like me.  Well, sort of like mine."

Gnash and Me

I've got friends in low places.  Gnash and I go way back.

Gnash

For reasons I've never quite understood, Jude and I have become huge hockey fans. 

We're in a group that has four season tickets to the Nashville Predators' games.  We have 14 games each season, great seats and really, from day one of Nashville receiving an expansion NHL team, Jude and I have really enjoyed going to the games.  It helps, I guess, since we live maybe five minutes away from the Sommet Center, where the Predators play.  It's easy to leave John Patrick with a babysitter and slip out after dinner for a game.  Actually, we watch them on television most nights when they're at home and we don't have tickets or when they're on the road.

While many of my friends don't share my passion for hockey, some do.  It's pretty special, I think, for a city the size of Nashville to have two professional sports franchises - the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators.  Of course, Jude and I also have Titans' season tickets, University of Tennessee football season tickets and Nashville Sounds' baseball season tickets.  Yeah, we're sports fans.

Yesterday, Valentine's Day, I mentioned to Jude as we were getting dressed for church that I might drive separately, so I could go for a run afterwards.  She looked at me kind of funny, then suggested we should ride together.  I was mildly irritated, asked her why, after which she said, "I need you to be home at 12:30 p.m.  "Uh oh," I thought, "she's got something planned for Valentine's Day."  I didn't ask any questions.  I just said, "ok."

We got home from church about 12:15 p.m.  I was curious and thought, at one point, I saw Jude glance out our front door.  12:30 p.m. came and went and I started to get bored.  While I was channel surfing, I realized the Predators were on television, playing Pittsburgh and Sid "the Kid" Crosby at the Igloo.  I settled in my chair to watch the game and within a few minutes, fell asleep.

Suddenly, I heard Jude say, "Phil, someone is at the door."  "What," I said, sitting up, looking confused.  "Someone is at the door.  Will you get it," she said.  "Sure," I replied.  I stood up, turned around and was startled, to say the least, to see Gnash, the Nashville Predators' mascot, staring in our front door, waving at me.  Actually, I was speechless, which doesn't happen very often.

I opened the door and Gnash stepped inside our house.  He had "cupid wings" on his back, for Valentine's Day, and was carrying flowers and a couple of bags of goodies (t-shirts, hockey pucks, etc.) for John Patrick and me.  Way cool.

Jude carried John Patrick up to Gnash.  I wasn't quite sure how he would react - John Patrick, not Gnash - particularly after the reaction he had to Santa Claus (tears, tears and more tears).  Jude and were pleasantly surprised when John Patrick just looked at Gnash, then reached out to touch his nose.  I grabbed my camera and quickly snapped some photos.

That's a Valentine's Day I'll never forget.

Sniffles

For the second time in the last couple of weeks, John Patrick has picked up a cold. He's sniffling and coughing some during the day, but it's a lot worse at night. He's congested, too, which makes him uncomfortable. Last night, he was restless and didn't sleep well at all. I got up with him twice and Jude got up with him once, because he was standing in his crib and crying inconsolably.

We've been fortunate thus far, as John Patrick really hadn't been sick at all. I guess because we have a nanny and he's not around a lot of other children, he hasn't been exposed to germs, colds, etc., that children normally carry. I called his pediatrician last week and described his symptoms to his nurse. She told us not to worry about him and to let the cold run its course, as long as he was active, in a good mood and eating relatively well. Thankfully, that's been the case so far, but I'm still a bit worried.

Being sick is no fun, but having a sick child is even worse.