2017-05-19: Emulsion in My Mouth

Said by Nigel during dinner this evening:

• "This macaroni noodle does not please me."
• "This tomato sauce, parsley and noodles don't really go together. It is like an emulsion in my mouth."

2017-04-02: March Madness

The family has been picking teams for March Madness this year. It is Nigel's first year participating in this family tradition. We revise our picks each round.

Semi-finals: Oregon Ducks lose to UNC. Noooooooooo! Nigel and Dad both picked the Ducks to go to the final game, and were saddened to see them lose. It was that team's first time in the Final Four since the very first Final Four!

The family is looking forward to tomorrow night's championship game, between Gonzaga and North Carolina. We are all rooting for Gonzaga, and since Nigel's wanted to watch some of the play this year, we may get to stay up a bit and watch this one!

2017-04-02: Season of Skiing Coming to an End

The family got season passes to Brighton this year, and made it to the resort to ride about every other weekend, all winter long. This was a first for the family, and everyone enjoyed it greatly. It may become a family tradition. It was also the first year Nigel did not take ski lessons, though he improved substantially just by going so often.

One of the main advantages of going so often was the ability to ride in may different conditions, from warm to moderately-cold (we skipped the coldest days), and sunny to dumping snow. It was a great snow year, with a 160" base by the end of the season, and Snowbird open until June! (Brighton, along with the other resorts, closed by Easter weekend, in April.) There were lots of soft snow days.

Nigel's favorite activity is ducking into the trees along the sides of the runs, particularly with Dad to chart a course. He can maneuver quite quickly in those situations, and has a good deal of confidence in his ability to do so.

Mom is thrilled to be able to ride her new board with little knee or ankle discomfort. (Yeah for a lightweight, flexible board, and a highly-adjustable stance!) Her turns have become smooth and easy, and she is feeling much more confident and at-ease.

Dad has really enjoyed being able to ride so much, and has taken up tuning the boards and skis himself, to help facilitate getting on the snow as much as possible. After some early struggles to get a good wax surface for riding, he found a methodology that has been producing a fast and fairly tough base, though he continues to optimize his waxing processes. (His edge tuning has been pretty good from the start.) Dad even got a request to tune a friend's board, and she was quite happy with the result!

2016-11-23: Tying His Own Shoes

Nigel has occasionally worked on learning to tie his shoes for some time now. Today, he very nearly tied them all by himself, with only one loop just barely slipping through.

2016-11-12: Counting in Various Languages and Joke

Nigel and Dad were reading Childcraft's Mathemagic volume, particularly the part about counting in various languages. Nigel came up with a joke appropriate to the topic: "What do you get when you cross a wiener with a Fiat? Five." (In Russian, the number five is pronounced Pih-Yaht.)

2016-09-10: Volcano of Music

Nigel was learning Bach's Minuet 2 with Dr. Hofer today, and after learning a few notes, he kept going and played notes that followed simply out of instinct, never having played that song before. His description of what happened: "It's like a volcano of music erupting out of my brain."

2016-07-28: Sickness and Camping

A few weeks ago, I got sick with strep throat. It hurt a lot, so I took amoxicillin. Every time I took it, my stomach hurt. I was still taking it when we went camping in the Uinta mountains this past weekend. Then, in the morning, I had my breakfast and took my amoxicillin, and I threw up all my breakfast, everywhere. I had breakfast twice and threw it up both times.

We left and went to the InstaCare in Park City, and I was moaning the entire way there, because my stomach hurt a lot. I had a bit of water in the bathroom while waiting to be seen. In the exam room, I threw up again, explosively. Mom tried to catch it, but it splashed through her hand onto three chairs. Then, I got a little emesis bag in which to throw up, and had to change my clothes again, so I changed into a hospital gown and loose pants the clinic gave me. Then, we went into my room and I got to snuggle up with a blanket on the table. I got a shot of penicillin to take care of the streptococcus without upsetting my stomach or preventing me from eating, and a prescription for some Zofran tablets, to help me if my stomach becomes upset again.

After that, we went to Harmon's to pick up my prescription, then went home to get cleaned up. That night, we slept at home, and the next morning, Grammy came over and we went back up to the campground, which was near the Smith and Morehouse reservoir. We packed up the campsite, then took the canoe to the reservoir to paddle around for a few hours. Luke came along, and got to try out his life vest. He wasn't a big fan of the canoeing, but came anyway. He probably preferred sitting with Grammy while Mom, Dad and I went out together.

While on the water, we saw a humongous rope swing, and teenagers were jumping off the rope swing and doing cannonballs into the water. It was amazing. Usually, we put mini boats out into the water and go rescue them. This time, we played a new game, though. I jumped out of the boat and into the water and the canoe came and rescued me!


presented by Nigel and Dad