On Thursday evenings I usually play soccer under the lights at CCHS. Today I decided to give my troubled left knee a break and settled into the couch with the DVR remote after dinner. Just as I was getting comfortable Maya began urging me to go into the back yard and throw the Frisbee with her (something we have never done before). Although the presence of mosquitoes made it a short outing I really enjoyed playing with Maya who when measured earlier this week has grown a full inch since January.

Every now and then, I have the right lens on my camera to capture something out of the ordinary. This was one of two military aircraft that I can only assume were scrambled to address a possible threat, given their low altitude and extremely high rate of speed.

Nicolai is a master of the header. He is able to out jump most of his opponents and has an uncanny mastery of 3D kinematics and physics (the ball goes where he wants it to). His team beat what I thought was a stronger side by a score of 2-1.

Jeanine has been growing and harvesting her own limes for some time now. This one seems just about ready for picking. There is something very satisfying about growing your own food and I feel lucky to be married to someone who takes pleasure in doing so. UPDATE: I have just learned that these “limes” are actually lemons. A couple days of direct sunlight and they are turning a pretty yellow.  Lemonade anyone?

Jeanine’s Mother’s Day request was very simple. No cooking and no cleaning. Her day started with tea in bed and ended with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. In between she enjoyed a long bike ride to Chelmsford with her friends and came home to a clean kitchen courtesy of Nicolai and Maya.

My left knee cap has been bothering me all week so I decided to start in goal this morning rather than risk further injury on the soccer field. By the second half I was ready to give running a try but quickly concluded that I would not be able to play and sat out for the remainder of the game. Nicolai was also in action on the soccer pitch today facing what I perceived to be a stronger opponent. Despite the mismatch the Concord Carlisle team was able to produce an unexpected and exciting 2-1 victory.

Kyle decided to shave his “beard” this morning and I decided that that was good enough reason to take a series of photos of him with Hannah. Maya’s soccer game was cancelled due to a thunder storm and I took an uncharacteristic 2 hour afternoon nap to recharge my batteries after a long week at work.

When I returned from work this evening I found our home chock full of kids. Nicolai had 5 of his friends over, Maya had 2 and Kyle, who stepped up as grill master, was joined by Hannah. Unplanned gatherings such as this are something we truly enjoy as a family and really makes us feel like an important part of our kids lives and our community. Later on I took Nico and his friends plus one we picked up on the way to the movies to see Iron Man 2.

Landscapers spent the day moving existing plant material from the front of our home to the side yard/garden helping to create a thick visual and acoustic shield from Williams Rd. These were replaced by several new tress and shrubs giving a whole new look to the front of our home. Jeanine is quite giddy with excitement over the new look which I will no doubt feature in a future photo.

It has been 60 days since I left Sonos for iRobot and the last day on which I can exercise my vested stock options. Despite my reasons for leaving, I am still a huge fan of the company and of the people there. This investment in Sonos stock will either cost us the equivalent of a summer vacation home or produce enough proceeds to send the next three generations of Calabria children to college.

Despite the power outage, Jeanine was able to prepare a nice meal which we enjoyed by candlelight. The absence of TV, video games, and on-line computers throughout the evening, represented a nice departure from our usual routine. The next time I feel like the family is getting too disconnected by all our electronic distractions (I am as guilty as anyone in this regard), I must remember that our circuit breaker box has a single switch that offers a solution and the ability to reproduce the conditions we enjoyed this evening.

The final leg of my evening commute was delayed while crews removed a fallen tree from the road leading to our neighborhood. In addition to blocking the road, the tree took down electricity, telephone, and cable/internet services to our home for the entire evening. High winds accompanying a brief but intense thunderstorm no doubt caused the incident.

While parked at a soccer field where I was watching Maya play over the weekend, my car was side swiped by another car. Both doors and the rear quarter panel are going to need metal and paint work. Fortunately, the guilty party left a note, was very apologetic and intends to make things right. Still the hassle of getting this work done could not come at a more inconvenient time. I choose, however, to look at the bright side; far better to sustain car damage in this fashion rather than in a collision with precious cargo on board.

Nicolai returned from his Coming of Age vision quest which took place in New Hampshire over the weekend. Youth in our church our encouraged to develop their own understanding of spirituality and to create a personal credo reflecting their personal religious beliefs. Nicolai chose to spend a portion of his 6 hour solo adventure perched in a tree looking out across a beautiful lake. When he decided to climb even higher the branch he was standing on gave way and he fell 20 feet to the ground. Miraculously he walked away from what could have been a life ending fall with nothing more than minor abrasions. He informs me that his credo will start with the sentence; There is nothing like a brush with death to help you appreciate life. I believe that things happen for a reason and I hope Nicolai will learn a powerful lesson from this experience that will inform wiser choices in the future.

On a less dramatic note my soccer team produced a 2-1 win over the first place team in our division. I put several shots on net but each seemed to find the goalie and one powerful blast that rattled the cross bar but did not go in. It was a very physical game and I was fortunate to get the better end of several hard collisions and finished the game with no injuries.

Each week for almost two years Jeanine has met with this group of writers to hone her skills and share feedback and encouragement. This evening husbands were invited to join their wives at a delightful dinner party (which may, hint, hint, become an annual event). Concord has a long tradition of producing influential writers and this group may well contain the next famous author from our area. I have never thought of myself as a writer, but it occurs to me on the five year anniversary of this blog, that I have made some 3,832 posts which would roughly translate to a 300,000 word book. Hmmm.