I know. I live in the Pacific Northwest, I should be used to this weather. I am. However, the reason why I especially hate the weather right now, in June to be specific, is that I was really looking forward to this season for cycling. Last year I was just getting my legs, getting into rides and figuring out how it all worked. This time around I kept up some spin during the winter so I kept my leg strength from completely atrophying (kept my arm tan too, somehow) and I tried to hit the ground running, as they say. I took advantage of the sporadic nice days during winter and early spring and did a 62 mile ride a whole two months earlier in the season than last year.

And yet.

Here we are with snow in Snoqualmie Pass, branches on the ground, rain falling constantly and temperatures in the 50s. Enough.

This is my last week of school and Thursday and Friday are half days. I am moving to 6th grade next year so I may be using student labor to move my classroom tomorrow but there are about 6 of us moving and we are all depending on the other to move at the same time, otherwise it won’t work.

Milo seems to be getting more teeth to fill in the gaps between his molars and canines. He likes to fall asleep on my arm, snuggled up next to me. He knows me as “the guy who gets him to fall asleep”. He won’t do the same thing with Rose but as soon as I come to bed he lays down and goes to sleep.

Right now things are good with Oskar but lately he has been getting stuck several times a day. What I mean is that he will not be able to move forward until a precise series of events transpire, sometimes in a seemingly arbitrary way. If you move forward using a different series of events he will have to reverse them and go back to the beginning and then in the direction he feels is the “right” way.

Rose has a final tonight in one of her Childbirth Education classes and then she takes a break for the summer. Her last day for watching the kids is next Tuesday.

Other events coming up include a BBQ for Jeremy’s 35th and the Flying Wheels Century. STP is a month away and then the Summit to Surf is two weeks after that. I really hope the weather improves. I feel like a slob when I can’t ride for a week or two because of the rain and cold.

I finally realized what my problem was with this whole internetting blogging thing, I live too much in my head. I create posts while I’m driving to work, in the shower, whatever but that’s as far as they go. I wrote a couple things with my students this week and had no problem, class was quiet and I wrote alongside them. Oh yeah, I also have two kids and a wife and a job and a house and the last thing I have time for is sitting at the computer unless kids are asleep and the wife isn’t using it.

Milo is growing up so much. Rose sent me a picture she took of him sitting at a kid table eating breakfast with a spoon on Friday, this is our little boy? Oskar is becoming such a great big brother too. He is asking more and more to do things with Milo, they’re sleeping in Milo’s room together right now. When Oskar was sleeping Thursday night Milo went and banged on his door and said something that sounded like “my brother”. He missed him and wanted to play with him.

Couple of weeks ago I road 60 miles in the Daffodil Classic, about half of which was with Jeremy and his friend who are training for an Ironman this summer. They asked if they could go on ahead and I said yes please. I was just happy I hung with them for 33 miles. Tomorrow I might be riding out to the cabin with Gerry.

Rose rode 30 miles today! I’m so proud of her! We packed up the kids and the bikes and went down to the Foothills trail and rode out to South Prarie and back. The boys did pretty well considering they were crammed into a bike trailer for a good 4 hours or so. We stopped in South Prarie for a smoothie and a rest. About 3 miles from our car Milo started crying pretty hard so I kicked it up a notch or two and sped off so I could get the boys out and settled down. Rose showed up a couple minutes later and then we all headed home. She is sore but she did it, that’s quite a feat especially since she hasn’t ridden her bike in years. I think.

We are all looking forward to summer. I weeded a bit of our patio today in the sunshine and I’ve been preemptive with our lawn this year. At least the back yard. I gave up the front yard to moss years ago and now the battle will be waged for the side yard by the driveway, I’m not ready to concede on that front yet.

Oskar’s school work has improved dramatically. He wanted to show me his work where he colored the “beautiful flowers” as he said. His teachers told Rose to “keep telling him what ever we were telling him”. She didn’t tell them that we’ve changed nothing, he just likes school a lot right now and is doing very well. His reading and counting are great, he has a 100 board (that I haven’t put up yet) but he can practice counting to 100. He is rhyming words (has been for a while) and working on spelling simple CVC 3 letter words like DAD and DOG. He tried to spell POND and I had to help him with the last sound but I was pleased he could figure out the blend.

I know I’m missing some obvious things here but that’s what happens when you don’t post very frequently.

For the first time in I don’t know how long, I am under 190 lbs. Just barely though, maybe 189.5 but considering I weighed myself a week or so who know what I’m at now. Rose has been losing weight too and we joke about it because we haven’t been doing anything to facilitate said weight loss. My training has been negligible since we moved the boys swimming to Tuesday and Thursday. That used to be my spin days and it’s been hard to find time to go. I have my bike in my classroom now with a Tour de Milton route lined up hoping that I can hop on my bike and do 12 miles or so plus hills after school but with this crazy weather I haven’t had an opportunity.

However, there’s a huge problem for me with losing this weight: My ring is perilously close to falling off on its own. It’s already happened twice and I was showing Rose this morning by shaking my hand as if I was trying to get something off of it and off it slipped. I guess I have to work on building up my finger muscles.

With the promise of Spring actually making an appearance I will be getting out more and training harder and better and faster and stronger. I’m still really excited about cycling this season but I feel like I’ve had a couple false starts due to the weather and my family’s busy schedule. I’ve also got some new geegaws and cycling atire that I haven’t been able to try out yet so I’m looking forward to next week if it clears up like it’s supposed to and the temperature to come back up.

A sampling of things going on right now:

This was a friend in elementary and middle school. I doubt you heard about it but apparently in our state of affairs these days it merits little mention.

Oskar’s swim classes have begun again but he has yet to go. He’s been sleepy and/or cranky.

I started spin again. Gone twice so far. Started a group of cyclists in the district. Will do STP and other rides again.

Milo walks here and there but prefers the crawling; he can go faster and he knows it.

Teaching is going well but lots of big projects going on at once now and perhaps other possible things for next year.

I will be presenting at a local eductional technology conference for the second time in as many years.

Holidays were fun. Every morning Oskar asked who we were visiting that day.

Boys got a bike trailer for Christmas. Oskar broke it in with me in the rain (good way to get the dust and cobwebs off your bike).

Looking forward to new Death Cab album in May …