Yard Work (Out)

I went over to my in-laws to fix the yard because my father in law, who is already a deacon, is too busy to do it any more like he used to. His birthday is coming up soon too, so it also served as a birthday present. It was a good workout, but I also jogged another 11 miles afterwards in under 2 hours.

Pizza Hut

We still have left-overs from the family birthday party on Sunday, but we bought another two dinner boxes last night to take to my parents and they sent those left-overs home with us too. There wasn't much more to talk about besides the trades the Pirates made recently. We traded Melacon for two left-handers: one that can help out in the 7th and one that may be better than Melacon in a few years (or who we buy with the money may be better). That's OK because Watson is cheaper now and just as good in the 9th (and Feliz is just as good in the 8th). We traded Liriano and two minor leaguers (a catcher who was at least 5th on our depth chart and an outfielder who is not going to start for years because of the long term contracts for McCutchen, Marte, and Polanco) for a major/minor league pitcher (with similar numbers as Liriano) and more cap room.

JCTCF!

I have enough in mutual funds to be safe. By safe, I mean I don't put more than 5% into any one stock. I started investing in stocks at the beginning of 2013 and my first pick, JCTCF, just doubled. It comes out to about 20% a year, which is pretty good.

Claire's Party

Our Claire was invited to little Claire's party yesterday, which was supposed to be a horseback-riding party. However, it had to be moved to Jump Zone because of a thunderstorm. The problem with that was all the noise inside Jump Zone. Our Claire wanted to go to the party, but can't handle all that noise inside, so after trying to overcome it for a long time, she ended up coming home and crying in her room.

Like Mother like Daughter

One of my nieces gets into trouble just like her mother (my sister) did growing up. She threw a tantrum at Idlewild today because she wanted to swim and it wasn't time yet, so she screamed and ran behind one of the rides. I was at another ride with Sarah, so my mom and my sister went around either side of the ride and finally corralled her. After my niece and sister went home, my mom told me about the trouble my sister gave her growing up, so the good news is that it should turn out OK, but it's still tough right now.

New Shoes

I've gone 18 months without buying new shoes, mostly because I haven't been running often. I usually buy them every 12 months and I've had holes in these for at 6. However, it's only now the those holes are starting the fray and not just the fabric is fraying, but the hard plastic cushioning is becoming hard plastic jaggers that's hard on my heels. So, after about 8 miles of blisters, I'm spending money on myself to get new shoes.

It was Emily's first real practice too and she did great. Sarah just got back from the eye doctor's and has a 6-month reprieve from glasses. Nothing new for Claire.

Diaconate

I was reviewing my career plans yesterday and put a surprising thing down. I may apply for the diaconate in 6 years. Our girls will be old enough to stay home by themselves in 4 years, which would give me time to resume visiting the shut-in members of my parish, which I hope would help others see me as morally upstanding enough to be a deacon despite my past before I was married. If not, I'll just keep doing the best I can as I am.