I had a business lunch today and spent much of the rest of the day catching up on a list of household projects. One required the use of a rented hammer drill to make a 3″ diameter hole in the foundation of the house and has left my back in need of a good massage. I was able to catch the tail end of one of Maya’s two games today. She was on fire making great defensive plays and continuing to head the ball with great tenacity. Her squad competed against the league’s top two teams and both matches ended in victory for the Concord Carlise girls.

Kyle and Hannah attended the Junior Prom this evening. In stark contrast to many of the other couples, both looked entirely comfortable in their refined evening wear and in each other’s company. For the record, Kyle is wearing the same tuxedo I was married in and in which I accepted an Emmy Award. I hope he will treat it with the respect it deserves.

I posted this photo exactly 5 years ago and could have never imagined then that I would still be at it today with 3846 posts under my belt. My initial thought was that a daily photo journal would help to improve my photography. It has, in fact, had the opposite effect. The pressure of having to publish a photo every day leaves me often settling for a “snap” shot. What I did not realize, however, was how much I would come to value a daily record of our family life and a means for keeping distant loved ones in touch with us. Occasionally I will take the time to post a really nice photo but my emphasis has shifted more towards writing about what is happening in our world. I hope one day that my children will look back at this blog with fond memories as they show their children what their childhood looked like.

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.