I’m Overwhelmed

Yes, this happens from time to time, but I’m currently overwhelmed because I'm overcommitted. Setting aside my work responsibilities (which isn’t easy to do because I’m slammed right now), I have three separate volunteer positions that are keeping me way too busy. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Soccer Coach

After watching the men’s World Cup this summer, Luigi (now in 4th grade) decided he wanted to play soccer this fall for the first time in about three years. Despite playing soccer on my high school soccer team (well, being on the bench on my high school team) and being a soccer referee, my kids all stopped playing soccer years ago. So when Luigi expressed interest in playing again, and we confirmed multiple times over several weeks that he truly wanted to play, I was all for it. The one caveat was that I wasn't going to be the head coach.

In late August, we got an email from the age group coordinator stating that Luigi's team didn’t have a coach. Without another volunteer, they would be forced to consolidate the number of teams, meaning more kids per team, less playing time, and fewer games. 24 hours after receiving this email (in the hopes that someone else volunteered), I replied that I could help but as an assistant since I had several other commitments and would miss several games and practices. Two hours later, I got a response from the coordinator thanking me for being a head coach. Ugh. 

The team has two practices and a game each week. While I do have some help, particularly from one dad who creates a substitution plan/schedule for the games, it’s still up to me to come up with practice activities and then send multiple practice and game email reminders per week. On the positive side, I have a good group of kids and the team is 3-1 so far. Still, parts of each practice is like herding cats.

2. Scout Troop Volunteer

Pedro Tulo (7th grade) joined Scouts in the spring of 2025. I’m not a campout guy, so I said I would assist in helping with the Court of Honor ceremonies and with merit badges. I had no idea what any of that meant. The mom who held the Merit Badge and Rank Advancement Coordinator role (I’m still not 100% sure this is the correct title) and her son both took a break from the troop earlier this year, so I got thrown into the position. The troop holds a Court Of Honor twice a year. It’s a ceremony where the Scouts get awarded their merit badges and honored for rank advancement. While I’m fortunate that other parents help in several areas, it’s time consuming tracking the scouts’ merit badge progression and coordinating rank advancement meetings. I always have to visit the Scout Store at least once or twice (hopefully just once!) just before the Court of Honor to purchase rank pins and merit badges. 

Oh, and entering all the information into the online Scoutbook system is maddening. It’s not intuitive, and I can never figure out how to run any reports I want. Is it that difficult to allow the user to enter multiple merit badges together instead of doing each one individually? Things should hopefully settle down after the fall Court of Honor. But even then, scouts have questions about various merit badges and blue cards, and I rarely know the answers.

3. Synagogue board

We joined our synagogue about 10 years ago and attended Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services for several years before we became members. Outside of family, the synagogue and the people at the synagogue are our Jewish home. It's not too big and not too small, and there are plenty of activities and services available for me and my family. In the spring, I was asked to be on the board as the fundraising chair. I couldn't say no. I mean, I guess I could, but I didn’t. I helped organize a Bingo event in May or June and formally joined the board effective July 1. 

For the most part, my role involves event planning, but I also attend monthly board meetings and have served as a greeter/usher at a few services. The event planning part is difficult. Because I was a fairly late addition to the board, I wasn't really involved with the calendar process. So a trivia night is tentatively scheduled for later this fall, but the date isn't confirmed. We're looking to do an 80s dance party in the spring, and I'd love to hold a casino night, but that seems unlikely for the 2026-2027 year. Maybe next year. I also want to organize a "stock market" game where individuals pay something like $25 to enter, and then you pick 5 stocks, and the winner is the person who does the best. Actual cash prizes. I need some help with the specifics though.

I’ll admit that I feel a little pressure in the fundraising position. Synagogue dues don’t cover all of the operating expenses, so these events and other fundraising activities are important. And do you know what’s the biggest expense? It’s not staff salaries and benefits or building-related maintenance. It’s security. This makes me both sad and angry. Synagogues, churches, mosques, and other places of worship should be safe spaces. Unfortunately, not having security is not an option. We all know what happened at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, the synagogue I attended growing up and where I had my Bar Mitzvah. Just last month, a similar situation nearly occurred in Belleville, Ontario. Antisemitic-related incidents are the highest they have been in America in years. 

All of this is a topic for another time. While I don’t want to get into it now, sports teams, government agencies, companies, etc. will post Happy Hanukkah messages in December. And they are nice to see. But look (or don’t look) at the comments and you’ll see plenty of vile responses or those that are trying to be funny but aren’t and are insensitive or mean at best. The point is my synagogue is an important place for me, my family, and the community. And it’s more expensive to operate than it should be because of the world we’re in. Anyway, I have a trivia night that I need to plan. It will be fun, but it’s work to put together.

4. Basketball Coach

At the beginning of this post, I wrote that there are three volunteer roles keeping me busy. Well, this is breaking news. Just in time for Luigi’s soccer season to end, I’m going to coach his basketball team again this winter. One of the parents from last year’s team requested me to be their son’s coach this year. I saw the assistant coach from last year recently, and he wants to work together again too. The end result is that I’m returning to coaching soccer.

Now part of me coaching is to help my 15 year old, The Moose. He and a few of his friends want to coach a team, but they need to be 16 to be a head coach. The idea is that the assistant coach and I will lead practices and games at the start of the season with the teenagers running some of the activities at practice. Hopefully, this goes well, and as the season progresses, they will essentially take over with us adults basically being there to supervise.

I’ve worked on this post for several weeks. Between work, my volunteer roles, and just taking kids from activity to activity, I haven’t had much time to write lately. It’s taking me forever to finish reading a book. I’m not even watching many television shows lately. I’ll get my act together again at some point, but I don’t know when that will be. Please don't feel bad for me. This is all my own fault. I'll figure it out by taking thing one day at a time. Hey, that could be a show title!

Stock market photo by Stephen Chernin / Stringer / Getty Images

Weekend Update

Ah, the weekend. It's what everyone is working for. Sometimes you're busy with lots of activities. Sometimes you can relax and unwind. Maybe sleep in. The sleeping in part never happens for me. On Saturday morning, I woke up a little after 3:00 thanks to hearing Lucy throw up. After cleaning it up with a carpet stain removal, I went back to sleep...only for Lucy to again wake me up at 5:00 because she wanted food. I love this cat, but she is so annoying. And as I’m typing this she is scratching the couch.

Okay, enough about Lucy. Let’s get to some good stuff.

The big highlight of the weekend was taking my boys to a card show. My dad took my brother and me to card shows regularly when I was in middle school, and I actually sold cards several times at the Eastland Mall Super Flea in North Versailles, PA. I love the atmosphere of card shows. For sports cards (since I skip over tables with Pokémon and non-sports cards), many people love to talk about certain cards or teams or players. At this particular card show, I learned why a guy who grew up in Northern Virginia is a Bills fan. I bought myself a $1 Bryce Eldridge card since I saw him play at Madison High School in Northern Virginia, and I hope he has a long and successful baseball career. This led to a discussion about ultimate frisbee with a father and his teenage son who plays ultimate frisbee with some guys from Madison HS. And I bought a Konnor Griffin card because why not.

The Moose bought several cards that might be valuable in the future, but for the most part, they bought cards of players they like or cool cards. For example, Pedro Tulo bought himself a Detroit Pistons Rodney Stuckey card since it included part of his jersey. While it’s a neat card, I doubt there’s a huge resale market for Rodney Stuckey cards. We did not consider getting a Lamine Yamal card for $15K or a Victor Wembanyama card for $8K. Someone else was trying to sell a signed drumstick by Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. One guy I met named Nicholas creates his own cards via Near Mint Customs. While we talked about the absurdity of Enes Kantor declaring for the WNBA draft (he was selling some of these cards that he made), I really liked his "What If" series (though Russell Wilson should have been in an Orioles or Rockies jersey since those MLB teams drafted him).

I went out to a really nice dinner the other night and mentioned that I’m seeing the Foo Fighters on Monday night. (Future blog post?) When asked who was the opening acts, I replied Queens of the Stone Age and practically had to whisper Mannequin Pussy. At a quiet, fancy restaurant, not quite the environment to say that name loudly! Actually, this was probably a missed opportunity to say the band name loudly!

Wegmans is discontinuing its mac and cheese boxes. I don’t know why. The grocery chain should really inform me of any actions taken. Anyway, did I buy 10 boxes for 26 cents each? Absolutely. I figure that I might make a box or two and I can donate the rest at an upcoming food drive.

When I was in 5th or 6th grade, my dad put a pair of red sweatpants in the washer with whites. All of my whites turned pink. At that point, I decided it was time to do my own laundry. With The Moose about to start his sophomore year in high school, he should have at least done some of his laundry years ago. Still, he did his first load of Sunday.

When the kids were away at camp, we ran the dishwasher twice a week at the most. Now that they’re home again, we’re back to running the dishwasher every day or two. So many cups get used by them!

It’s Dad Camp week, so more about that to follow.

Random Ramblings: April 2026 Edition

When I was in preschool or early in elementary school, my mom worked as a real estate agent for Howard Hanna. While I don't think she worked in real estate for very long, and I don't remember much of her time there, all of the families were invited to a BBQ at a nice house with a big backyard. Phil Garner of the Pittsburgh Pirates was at this gathering, and I got his autograph. Garner passed away on Saturday at the age of 76.

Luigi is playing flag football this season and had his first game over the weekend. About half-way through his game, we saw another team, the Browns warming up for their game. I'm 98% sure that the Browns are coached by 3-time Pro Bowl cornerback of the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, Joe Haden. The coach definitely looks like Joe Haden and he wore Browns shorts with Haden and #23 on them. I also overheard some other parents mentioning that he played in the NFL. The only reason I'm not 100% certain that the coach is Joe Haden is because I can't figure out why he's coaching a 2nd-3rd grade team in Northern Virginia. Apparently, Haden lives in Bowie, Maryland, which isn't that far from the Northern Virginia field, but it's not necessarily close either. Luigi's team plays the Browns in mid-May. The Moose wants to meet him!

Since my wife rarely reads this blog, I'm going to share something personal today. I always throw in a dryer sheet for each load of laundry I put in the dryer. She never does. I don't understand this. Why have staticky clothes when the load finishes when this is easily preventable? 

Just finished season 3 of Shrinking. Loved it! I read that the show was renewed for a fourth season. While I think season three ended at a perfect spot and another season isn't necessary, the cast and writers are so good that I'm sure they'll figure out a way to make another season great.  

The Moose is playing recreational basketball this spring in a league of 9th and 10th graders. Even though he just played basketball this winter, the kids seem much bigger this season. Apparently, some of the kids on high school basketball teams play rec now that the high school season is over. The team The Moose faced on Sunday had two players that were at least 6'3"!

Life In Pictures

I take pictures for myself and my family, and I like to share some of them online. And then they sit on my phone for months if not years. So today, I'm putting together a post showing some of the things I saw and did over the last few months.

I took my kids to a high school baseball game in the late spring, and Pedro Tulo noticed the ring of the guy sitting next to us. It turns out that he is a retired baseball scout who spent most of his career in the Detroit Tigers organization. This ring is from the team winning the American League in either 2006 or 2012. I ended up talking with him for much of the game but the conversation mostly focused on Northern Virginia high school baseball. He still likes going to games.

The Baseball Project is a band who sings songs about baseball. They have a song about Ted Williams. A song about how Dale Murphy should be in the Hall of Fame. The video below is part of a song about Harvey Haddix and perfect games from when I saw them in September. I should probably mention that two members of The Baseball Project are Peter Buck and Mike Mills. They were also in another band you may have heard of called R.E.M.

To various degrees, my kids are all obsessed with sports. So every once in a while, I try to mix in a little culture. Twice over the last few months, I was able to mix sports and culture. In June, I took The Moose to Round House Theatre to see a 2-man show titled "King James." The show takes place in Cleveland and has four quarters: LeBron James' rookie season, after LeBron leaves, when he returns, and when the Cavs win the NBA Championship. Yes, there's plenty of sports talk, but the show is really about the relationship/friendship of the two characters over this time. 

Then, last month, I took The Moose and Pedro Tulo to see a revival of Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. I had never seen the show before, but I really enjoyed it. I'm also a big fan of seeing theater in the round. The run of Damn Yankees ended in DC, but I think the plan is for the show to go to Broadway. Both shows were big hits for the kids. 

In early September, I saw Ben Schwartz (Parks & Recreation, The Afterparty, the voice of Sonic) & Friends do an improv show at the MGM National Harbor. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. Highly recommend seeing the show if they are in your neighborhood. It's improv, so every show is completely different. For those who saw the show in the DC area, you may remember the "Attentive" song for years.

Oh, I definitely did not expect to see a Steelers' Crosby jersey at the show!

I went to a late-season Nationals-Pirates game with the lowest attendance I had ever seen at Nats Park. We also shared an elevator with the Nats mascot, Screech. I have some pictures of him posing with my kids, and um, this one of the mascot avoiding the paparazzi. Also not pictures is my kids getting pictures or autographs with Spencer Horwitz and Cam Devanney of the Pirates.

As a staff development activity, we did some painting. Even though my pumpkin doesn't look quite like the model, I'm very proud of my work. This could be worth thousands some day!

Try to guess which one is mine!

So High School

I have a lot of friends sending their kids off to college for the first time this fall. While I'm still several years away from this, The Moose started high school a few weeks ago. A few observations:

* I went to back-to-school night last week to meet his teachers and get a very brief introduction to each class. Although I've been to the school gym, auditorium, and athletic fields before, this was the first time I've truly walked around the school. And it's massive! No idea how the kids can get from a class on one side of the building to another class on the other side of the building in time.

* I dropped off The Moose and his friend at the team's first high school football game. This will be the first of many, many, many times that I'll drop off or pick up one of my kids at the high school over the next 9 years!

* Those of you who have known me since high school know how close I lived to the school. It was about a 5-minute walk. Now that we need to get my son to or from school for after-school activities, I know that I definitely took that for granted growing up.

* The Moose's homecoming is in two weeks, which is ridiculously early in the school year. He and some friends were talking about going to the homecoming dance and taking dates. Apparently, one friend has a date. I definitely didn't think about going to a dance as a 9th grader. That's what I  thoughtt before I sat down to write this post. As I started writing, I realized that this is not true at all. My high school was only 10th-12th grade, and I went to my homecoming dance in 10th grade, my first year at the school. I actually wrote about it. Thanks again, Doogie!

Plus, we had a 9th grade formal at the end of school year. I went with a girl who ended up leaving me for someone else in the middle of the dance. There were several of us who got dumped that evening. Not that we were dating, but it was definitely an awkward car ride when my parents (or her parents) drove us to our respective homes. Fun story: the girl who left me at the dance and the guy she left me for got married, and I believe have two kids and are still together today.

Not sure if I'm ready to be a high school parent! 

Another August 2025 Random Ramblings

I received an email a few months ago from my health insurance company about getting a "Move Kit" and participating in an exercise program. The Move Kit basically consists of a generic version of a FitBit that I wear on my wrist. It syncs up with my phone and tracks my steps. The key part of this program is that it is free, so I signed up. While I've tracked steps on my phone for years, it only works when I actually have my phone in my pocket. Since I don't carry my phone when I referee soccer games, I always wondered how many steps I take during these games. Over the weekend, I finally got the chance to try it. While I'm not completely sure of the accuracy of the device on my wrist, in three 70-minute games (one as a center referee and two as an assistant referee on the sidelines) including walking to and from my car and the restroom, I took about 15,000 steps in less than 6 hours. 

Debbie Gibson has a book coming out in a few weeks. (I've written about her before.) While I'm not willing to buy it (yet?), I put it on hold at my local library.

After four years as the Dining for Dollars chair for my kids' elementary school PTA, I'm finally out! My job was to contact restaurants to set up events where a portion of the sales would go to the PTA. It wasn't a very difficult job, but it took up more time than I wanted in coordinating dates with the restaurants, the board, getting flyers made, etc. I told the PTA president at the end of last school year that I was done but would stick around if they couldn't find anyone new. I sold it as being a great position for someone who wanted to ease into getting involved but not ready for a leadership position. Someone took the role and has ideas for the school year. More importantly, I'm out!

Well, I was due. After nearly 20 years, I received a summons for jury duty. I wrote about my very limited experience years ago near the start of my blog. Might be some new blog content later this fall! (Though not nearly as good as the TV show.)

The Moose last played organized baseball in the fall of his 6th grade year. As someone who throws with his left hand, it was at this level where he could no longer play infield positions other than 1st base. He wasn't great at first, so he mostly played outfield. Although he had/has a good arm, I'm not sure if he pitched that season. Anyway, it was at this level, where you could clearly see a distinction between players. The good players were really good. There were a few kids who hit home runs and pitchers who could really throw. I don't think The Moose had more than 1-2 hits that season (though he had a good eye and walked a lot). I mention this because he just started high school last week and announced that he wants to play on the high school team this spring. As a pitcher. Not exactly sure how this is going to go, but I wish him luck.

Random Ramblings: August 2025 Edition

* My kids are home after being away at camp for three weeks. Each year, it's amazing what they bring home and don't bring home. So far, I've found several socks that don't belong to any of them and a random pillow case that belongs to someone else. Meanwhile, how did all three of them lose their camping / folding chairs?

* I averaged over 10,000 steps a day in July. It certainly helps to have two vacations in the same month! First time I've averaged that many steps in a day for an entire month since June 2022.

* I recently saw a commercial for Nemluvio, a prescription medicine to treat eczema. While I appreciate the usage of Black Box's Everybody, Everybody in the ad, replacing Everybody, Everybody with Nemluvio, Nemluvio doesn't work. It's the same amount of syllables, but it's just off. 

As a comparison, o-o-o Ozempic works perfectly. 

* It's difficult being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. As of Sunday evening, the team is 51-68. At the trade deadline, the Pirates did not trade three veterans with expiring contracts, and instead, traded other players for individuals who likely won't make the majors for several years. Understandable if the Pirates were in a "rebuild," but the team has been awful since 2018. (In 2018, the team finished with a winning record. Not in the playoffs but not awful.) While it's possible that the Pirates will finally spend money and sign free agents for 2026, based on the team's history with the owner unwilling to spend money on players, this seems unlikely.

With all of that written, the Pirates are an exemplary team compared to Sheffield Wednesday. The team has not paid players and staff on time in months, let about a dozen players leave the team (or sold the players for well-below market value), and the manager is gone. Oh, the North Stand is currently closed, deemed unsafe. The entire team is a mess. The best case scenario seems to be that the owner sells the team and maybe the team doesn't break a record for fewest points in a season and somehow avoids relegation. To dream the impossible dream!

Voting is underway through August 22nd for Pittsburgh City Paper's Best of PGH. I love the fact that there's still a Best Blog category. There are so few blogs remaining, and this is a fantastic way to highlight blogs and bloggers. This year's finalists are: 

Ana Eats Pgh

Horrorpgh

OneBURGH

Straight Facts Podcast

What Sleeps Beneath

Ana Eats Pgh seems like a website and what she posts are reels, mostly on Facebook. Ana has good stuff and maybe you can make a case that it's a video blog. Probably a stretch though.

No idea what Horrorpgh is. I found a substack that hasn't been updated since 2023. There's a YouTube page with 8 videos, and some postings on Instagram.

Straight Facts Podcast is a podcast. It's right in the name. It seems like they have videos of their podcast on YouTube. Not a blog.

OneBURGH and What Sleeps Beneath seem like actual blogs, so please vote for one of them.

April 2025 Random Ramblings

The Moose's 8th grade civics class recently did a mock trial at school. As he was describing his class to us at home, he mentioned the role of the prostitute in the case. It took a minute or two to figure out that he meant prosecutor or prosecuting. So close!

My wife makes an egg casserole with cheese, bread, and eggs. While it sounds simple, it's really good. The Moose recently asked for a piece of the carousel. Again, so close!

I'm late to this, but I started watching Cobra Kai. So much fun. So much nostalgia. My one question is how does Ralph Macchio look so young? He's 63. The first season was released in 2018 which means he was probably about 56 when the show was first made. Macchio doesn't look like he's older than 35 or 40!

I have had the same cleats for being a soccer referee for probably at least 10 years. They are slowly falling apart enough and now the stitching is coming out from the side of the right shoe. That's a nice way of writing that there's a hole in my shoe. I ordered new cleats, and they are a little tight. There's room at the toe and the heel, but it's tight around the rest of my foot. I'm trying to wear them around the house and hoping to loosen them up, but I think I may need to just give up and buy a different pair. (And wear the cleats with a hole for my next group of games and hope that they don't fall apart or that it rains.)

Six13 has a new Passover song. It's really good. 

I might be late to this, but I just watched the movie Casablanca. Really disappointed in the CGI and special effects. 

Photo by Mark Von Holden/Variety

I Survived A Campout

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going on an overnight campout with my 5th grade son, Pedro Tulo (and that I would not survive a zombie apocalypse). Well, that campout happened. And this post is proof that I survived. A lot happened to get to this point/post. 

Pedro Tulo and his Cub Scout den recently graduated (bridged is the technical term) and the leaders organized a campout as a celebration of this accomplishment. In the days leading up to the event, I received "helpful" text messages such as:

The forecast is calling for the temperature to go down to 32 Saturday night...I have worn my down puffer in my sleeping bag in a pinch.

And

While this isn't THAT cold for camping, it's possible that water in your bottles may begin to freeze in the early hours tomorrow. For this reason, it is preferable to have bottles that can be tightly sealed so that you can keep them in your sleeping bag to stay warm.

There were supposed to be 10 kids on the campout. The numbers on Saturday quickly dwindled. One kid had the flu. Another was out due to allergies/lack of energy. Another didn't give a reason (at least in the text chain). One dad wrote that they were having plumbing issues at their home and would arrive late. But would they? After meeting at the campground parking lot, we (6 kids and 6 adults) started our hike up to the site with all of our gear. About 2/3rds of the way there, one kid who had been sick but really wanted to attend vomited. They turned around and went home. It was starting to turn into Hunger Games! (Without the whole districts and teenage death thing. Oh, sorry. Spoiler!) 

Once we got to the site, things were fine. There was a nice space for the tent. 

We used pit toilets.

We boiled and filtered water.

We ate, um, gourmet meals.

Oh, a big one. We didn't see any bears.

The family with plumbing problems joined us. All was good. Except for the sleep part. I fell asleep before 10:00 and woke up in the middle of the night. When I checked my phone to see the time, I discovered that it was only 11:05 PM. That was it?!? I woke up several more times to put on more clothing layers, to use the bathroom, because my back hurt, or from Pedro Tulo waking me up. I finally got up around 7:30. 10:00-7:30 would be an incredible night of sleep except for the whole waking up at least a half dozen times. 

Oh, this was Pedro Tulo just before he woke up.

Overall, we had a great time. At night, we had clear skies to see beautiful views of stars and satellites. I really do enjoy hikes and eating by a campfire. I can just do without tents and sleeping on the ground.

Finance Park

When I was a sophomore in high school, I participated in Junior Achievement. Once a week in the evening, I would carpool with two friends and join about 20-30 other students from the Eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. I don’t remember much of what we did other than make hangars and sell them. While I appreciated the mission and purpose of JA, I really haven’t thought about the organization in years.

Fast forward to a few months ago at The Moose’s back-to-school night where his Civics teacher mentioned a field trip and the need for volunteers. All Fairfax County 8th graders visit Junior Achievement’s Finance Park. There are several in the DC area and probably many more across the country. According to their website, Finance Park is an experiential education designed to engage middle school students for life and work in the real world. It combines classroom curriculum taught by teachers with a high-impact situation. While this sounded great, I had no idea what this meant.

On the field trip day, I arrived at Finance Park and got a tour of the facility and received a brief training which left me with more questions than answers. We were then ushered into the auditorium with about 150 8th graders. Each student had already been assigned a group, and when the individual group was announced, each volunteer escorted the students to the particular room. Once in the room, I introduced myself to my group of 8 students, they introduced themselves to me, and I distributed tablets to each of them. The tablet showed each student a specific occupation, salary (including how much was taken out for taxes), and indicated whether the students had a spouse and/or children. After a few minutes making sure everyone was set with their tablets, each group went to one of about 15-20 rooms. The purpose was for the students to make a budget from their monthly salaries. This was my room:

I was assigned health, life, and disability insurance, which is definitely a fan favorite among 8th graders. A group would come into the room, and I asked them if they knew what health insurance, life insurance, and disability insurance is. While they did okay with health insurance, no one got disability insurance correct. At least 3 groups joked that life insurance is when you die, and they were shocked that this was actually correct. Then, the students would set a budget in their tablets before going to the next room. There was only about 2-3 minutes per group, so there really wasn’t time to explain how health, life, and disability insurance are often tied to employment. I enjoyed seeing each group including many of The Moose’s friends and The Moose himself. More about him momentarily.

After each group went to the 15+ rooms where they budgeted for many areas including transportation, housing, childcare, and utilities, the groups returned to their original room. Once back, they got to spend their money. It was fun seeing how many kids wanted a sports car or if they were able to sell off their kids or get a divorce. They quickly discovered that childcare can be expensive. And while you might want a sportscar, your spouse is going to have to find a way to get around too. My group was, um, interesting. One kid literally put his head on the table and didn’t really do the spending part. It’s a field trip! Pretend to be interested! Another kid discovered how to access YouTube on the tablet and played Travis Scott videos. Perspective is nice. You could really see several of the kids trying to be cool by not taking the activity seriously because another kid didn’t. At the end of the day, The Moose told me that the kids in my group were annoying. 

The best part of the day was seeing The Moose and him being happy to see me. He smiled and waved every time he passed the room. He will not want to see me in social settings at some point in the near future, but that hasn’t happened yet. I'll take that as a win.

As for Finance Park, I wish I had this in 8th grade. It really shows how many expenses adults have. I’m also willing to volunteer again though it won’t be until my other boys reach 8th grade!

(The first picture is from the Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. The rest are by me.)

New Family 5K

Over the weekend, the boys and I ran a 5K for a good cause in honor/memory of a former teacher at their elementary school. This is the first time all four of us ran a race together, so the plan was for The Moose (13) to run ahead, and I would stick with Pedro Tulo (10) and especially Luigi (7). It was a contained race course without any cars/traffic, so I wasn’t worried about splitting up, but I still wanted to run with my youngest. I also figured that I could use him as an excuse to take a break and walk because he would need to take a break and walk.

I figured wrong. 

The race started with the experienced runners going first. The Moose declared that he should be in this group, so off he went. About 20-30 seconds later, the remaining runners started (including us) followed by those walking the course. Luigi went ahead of Pedro Tulo and me, but I could still see him. As we continued, it was Pedro Tulo (and me) needing to take breaks and not Luigi as I expected. At a certain point, Luigi was too far ahead of me to see. On the second lap of the course, I spotted The Moose ahead but no sign of Luigi. I started getting a little concerned. I kind of figured that The Moose would have eyes on him even if I didn't and thought that maybe Luigi stopped not realizing that you had to run the course twice.

When I got to the finish line, Luigi was there with his brother. He ended up finishing at least a minute or two ahead of The Moose. (This wasn't a formal 5K with anyone tracking the time, so we don't know the official time.) Luigi was just fast. As we were drinking Gatorade, a guy who is probably in his late 20s or early 30s introduced himself to us and said that he ran a good portion of the last part of the race with Luigi. He said that he passed him at the end, and I replied that I would do the same thing since I wouldn't want to get beat by a kid. I mean, that was my motivation down the stretch in the last 5K I ran with my family.

I think Luigi is excited to run another 5K. While I'll join him, I know that I won't be able to keep up with him!

Photo from Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home

Busy Times

This post is being published / was published on September 17th. This is my first post in September. I'm using this post to explain what I've been up to this month. Or maybe more accurately, what my kids have been up to recently.

School started for the kids on Monday, August 19th. The first two weeks represented the calm before the storm. No or limited homework and activities hadn't started yet. We had a significant family event over Labor Day weekend and then the fun began. The events below occurred starting on September 3rd through this past weekend. These are their stories.

 

* 3 flag football practices for Luigi (2nd grade)

* Cub Scouts pack meeting and a Cub Scouts den meeting for Pedro Tulo (5th grade)

* 1 flag football practice for The Moose (8th grade)

* 3 separate back-to-school nights

* Sunday school for all three kids

* Dentist appointment for The Moose.

* The first flag football games for both Luigi and The Moose

* Basketball try-out for The Moose

* Family outing to a Nationals game for Luigi's birthday

Oh, I should also mention that I saw both Bruce Springsteen & Pearl Jam over the last two weeks (though not together...that would have been a 6-hour show!). 

Maybe I'll write more about the concerts later. In any event, there will be more posts soon. Or at some point.

Parenting Fail

We bought a new washer and dryer set a few months ago. The previous set had some significant problems near the end that made every laundry load an adventure. While the new set isn’t perfect, it’s nice to have a functional and dependable washer and dryer. 

Recently, realizing that I left a load of towels in the dryer, I called The Moose and asked him to clear the lint trap and turn up the dryer, so that I could fold it when I got home. While I tried to explain what I thought was a very simple process, he struggled to figure out how the lint trap worked. Eventually, it seemed like he figured it out as he turned up the dryer before we ended the call.

When I got home, I found this.

I have no idea what he did to the lint trap, but it no longer goes all the way in. We have a warranty for the dryer, but I’m not sure it covers “13 year-old.” The dryer still seems to work fine, and I don’t know if this is a big concern or not. I also don’t want to spend the time or money on what is hopefully an easy fix. I guess I can probably just buy a new lint trap, but the point is that I haven’t really taught my kids how to use the washer and dryer. That’s going to change soon. Unless he manages to break something else!

On a different subject, I always called this the lint tray instead of a lint trap. Am I the only one?

Potomac League

While I don't remember how I learned about it, I took the boys to several Potomac League baseball games in Tysons last summer. They had a great time. It's an intimate experience watching collegiate baseball players play, and you're so close that you can clearly see and hear all of the action.

We've attended two games so far this season, and in the first game, all three boys got league T-shirts, Pedro Tulo (10) participated in an on-field dizzy bat race, and The Moose (13) and Luigi (6) competed in a between-inning bocce ball contest where they rolled a ball from near the pitcher's mound to get the ball closest to home plate. (Luigi defeated his brother and two other older kids.) I think my kids are well-known among the league since they are the only kids approaching players for autographs after the game.

Despite going to games the last two summers, I didn't really know much about the league. So I sent some questions to the league, and intern Ella was nice enough to respond. 

1. When did the Potomac League begin?

The Potomac League had its first season last summer in 2023, previously it was known as NVCL. 

2. How does the league find players to participate? Is there someone that recruits local high school graduates now playing in college?

Players are knowledgeable about the league due to many reasons. Capital One Park is the home field for Marymount University, and all of the coaches in the league are high school coaches in the area. These players are all primarily from the Northern Virginia area, and players recruit college teammates, and coaches recruit former players.

3. How are the teams selected? Is there a draft?

Yes, players are selected by a draft that is held in the middle of spring.

4. It seems like each team plays about 5 days a week. Do some of the players have other jobs or internships during the summer?

Yes, some players do have jobs while playing in the league. We try to plan our schedule so that teams play at different times during the week, which in turn helps those who have internships or jobs be able to work a bit later during the week if they are in the 6:45 game.

5, For you personally, how did you get involved with the league? Has it been everything you hoped it would be?

I found out about the league through my Athletic Communications Director at Marymount University. We are lucky enough that Capital One Park is our home field and I was able to apply for the internship last year. I loved it so much, I decided to come back for a second year. We have a great group of players, a wonderful fan base & a strong leadership committee that makes showing up everyday easy!

Thanks to Ella for answering my questions. Since my kids are still young enough for free admission, it only cost me $10 to attend a game ($5 for a ticket and $5 for parking). Great deal. While this isn't the major leagues and I prefer a grass field to a turf one, the games are competitive and fun to watch. If you're in the DC/Northern Virginia area, check out a game.

More information about the Potomac League is available on their website.

Tooth Fairy Fail (Almost)

On Sunday just after lunch, Luigi (6) lost his second tooth. He was very excited. We put his tooth in a bag for him to put under his pillow and went to our neighborhood swimming pool. We then had family over for dinner, and after they left, I went grocery shopping at Wegmans. After getting the kids ready for bed, I did a little work and watched some TV before falling asleep on the couch. I finally woke up after 3:00, cleaned Lucy’s litter box and took a shower since I never did that after swimming. Nothing like a 4:00 AM shower! I went to sleep and woke up only a few hours later to go to work. 

As I was getting ready to leave, Luigi woke up and was on the verge of tears holding the bag with his tooth. Crap! The tooth fairy completely forgot to do his, I mean, her job. I tried to calm him down by calling the tooth fairy. He heard me leave a message for her (on my work voicemail), and then he decided to lay down on my bedroom floor. With the bag in my hand and then put in my pocket, the tooth fairy magically put $2 under his pillow. I told Luigi to go back to bed and that the tooth fairy would come soon. Fortunately, he must have been too tired or upset to think about putting the tooth back under his pillow or to look to see if money was there. About 10 minutes later, he got out of bed and happily showed off the $2.

SAVE!

* Looking at the bottom of his mouth, we're fully aware that braces are in Luigi's future. 

The Moose's Bar Mitzvah

The Moose recently turned 13 and celebrated his Bar MItzvah. This is a very big deal. A Bar Mitzvah (for a boy) or a Bat Mitzvah (for a girl) is a coming of age ceremony in Judaism. He went from being a boy to becoming a man. Let's celebrate with a little Motownphilly!

The Moose read from the Torah and led a significant portion of the Shabbat (Sabbath) services. He worked really hard learning prayers in Hebrew and taking weekly lessons over about a 10-11 month period. He did an amazing job.

While I could (and probably should) write more about the Bar Mitzvah and celebration, this post is about the program we created for the service. Actually, this is about the fake program that I created that was not distributed during the service. Here are a few excerpts:

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony takes place when a Jewish child reaches the age of 13. The word Bar Mitzvah means “son of a mitzvah.” Son of a mitzvah sounds much better than a different expression starting with “son of a.” Clearly, this is in reference to the Dusty Springfield song, Son of a Preacher Man. Are you thinking of something else? A mitzvah is an action which connects Jews both to the divine and to all other Jews past, present, and future. In practical terms, this means that this is the age when a Jewish child is considered old enough to assume the rights and responsibilities of Jewish adulthood. The Moose will now be expected to fulfill these moral and ethical commandments throughout his daily life. As an adult, he is also expected to start paying rent and make meals for his brothers. Cleaning the cat’s litter box would also be appreciated.

During the Torah service, the weekly reading is divided into sections, each called an aliyah. At least eight people, including The Moose, will be honored by being called up for an aliyah to the Torah. Before and after each section of the Torah is read, the individual called up for that aliyah recites a blessing or sings songs/reads lyrics of songs by the late singer/actress Aaliyah, most notably from “Try Again” or “Are You That Somebody.” Those with Pittsburgh ties may choose to sing “Ah, Leah” by Donnie Iris.

Two books are used during the service – Lev Shalem, the smaller red prayerbook, and Etz Hayim, the larger red volume, which contains the Torah, selections from the Prophets, and commentary. There used to be a third book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but the rabbis determined that scarlet was not the correct shade of red. The rabbis do approve of the scarlet and gray. O-H!

I also had fun including various celebrities like Adam Sandler, Drake, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis (A Black Swan reunion!), Benny Blanco, Gal Gadot, Rowdy Tellez, Deni Avdija, and others as receiving honors during the service. Dolly Parton and the late Kenny Rogers (via hologram) are listed as reading the poem "No Religion is an Island" since they like islands (in streams).