Hills

We have a perfect, long and fairly steep hill down the street from us that Sam has been running on a fairly regular basis. Yesterday, he got momma to do a few with him.

Kicken It

Dylan and I walked down to the local park and got some kicking in. The park doesn't have goal posts but the boy needed to work the leg a bit and he looked good doing it.

Small Shirt

Sam is trying on the t-shirt from the race wasn't able to run in Va Beach due to the virus. She didn't run 26.2 miles at the beach but did run that distance the same day in DC. I would say she earned the medal and swag. Sam doesn't fit into a women's medium very well.

Fresh Air

Lots of walks these days.

Easter Dog

Things you see on walks.

Street Art

Lots of walks in the neighborhoods around us these days. The kids are staying busy decorating the streets.

Empty Streets

Running at 4am with no one in town driving to the office has its benefits.

First Offer

Sam got his first football scholarship offer today from a division 2 school in West Virginia. I'm sure more offers are in the works.

Natural Entertainment

Nature can put on a show.

Discovered on Walks

Th things you find on walks.

Social Distance Running

Exercise is important even during a pandemic. Just gotta keep that 6 foot distance and apparently, wear a very tiny green hat.

Morning View

Ive been getting at 7am, which when I usually arrive at the office to get started on work the last few days. I tend to start the day in a leather chair in the front room and watch all the dog walkers go by then move to other parts of the house as the day moves on. It's getting nice enough now that the screened porch might come into play.

Simpler Times

We got a four mile walk in this afternoon after a day of online meetings and email. Sam actually got some basketball time in at a friends court. A trip to the store, a car wash and a visit to an ATM was my only other trips out of the house. The weather was gorgeous today which helps with the locked down feeling.

Walk in the Woods

Needed more outside today.

Concentration

Dylan and I got out for some rugby drills at 8am this morning to beat the crowds. It was chilly but felt good to get fresh air.

Marathon

Sent from my iPhonenicole and her friend Sara ran the 26.2 miles they were supposed to run on Virginia Beach this weekend here at home. Got a nice dose of the cherry blossoms on the tidal basin in the first few miles.

Day 4

Sam got a football workout in with some friends and a speed coach today. 75 degrees and sunny. Gotta stay healthy to keep the virus away.

Empty Streets

Day three of the covid containment and DC is pretty empty. This is prime tourist season with the cherry blossoms hitting peak and spring breaks in full bloom. I went to the office yesterday and Nicole went in today for a tad. I will go again tomorrow but most staff are working from home for the duration. I like a little office time and the gym in the building is still open.

The boys are hanging in there and have been out on the athletic fields working out. They still have some friends they can get together with but very few restaurants to hang out in.

Social Distancing

Sam giving Jared one last hug at the basketball year end party. Jared is now Edison's all time leading scorer but sadly graduates this spring. He started on varsity since his freshman year and we will miss him badly.

Everything is cancelled except Spring

Sent from my iPhoneFlights cancelled, schools out, office is closed, no sports but spring continues to emerge.

New Jersey’s

The Warriors played Xavier of New York at Mount Saint Mary's in Maryland today. Both teams are in the top 10 nationally but Fort Hunt lost 44-25. Dylan also did a carpenter boy special and rolled his ankle. It's pretty swollen but that's what the ice machine is for. This was the first game with the new verses as well. They are quite nice.

Fordham

Sent from my iPhoneNicole and Sam drove up to about 2 miles from the George Washington bridge in Jersey last night and popped into the Bronx this morning to visit Fordham Football. They are on their way home now but Sam likes the school and the big city he would have access to if he went there. Closeness to Uncle Adam would also be a benefit. Go Rams!

Hockey

The only hockey I watch all year. The Minnesota state high school hockey championship is good tv. Particularity with scotch and a fire. Dylan and I are enjoying the action while Sam and Nicole are headed to New York for a visit to Fordham Football.

Kicking Game

Dylan really had his kicking game going today against Berks County PA. He made all his conversions and was hitting his sideouts and defensive punts. The warriors won on a cold and windy day that had me shivering with a ski jacket on. The players wore shorts.

Early Washington

Early morning run views.

Visit

had an interesting visit to Towson University yesterday and Sam got his first jersey shot. Kids love putting on the jersey and thinking about playing college football. The university was nice and in a great location. Kind of urban, but not too urban being 20 minutes from central Baltimore and about 70 miles from Alexandria. He like the school and the football program. One down and many more visits to go. Sam and I are heading to Davidson in North Carolina in a couple week and then maybe to UMass in April.

Conversion

The Warriors beat North Shore 58-0;this afternoon and Dylan made most of his conversions. This one looks like it's going to successful.

Benefits of an Early Run

Nicole did 18 along the Potomac this morning.

In the Spotlight

Where Sam loves to be.

Nice Win

National District Champions

Your Edison Eagles!

Cuttin the Net

Beat Wakefield a second time this season and took home the hardware for the National District Championship. Sam cut his little piece of net that he may sleep with.

Season High for #24

Sam scored the first 6 points of the game and 16 total points in tonight's district semi-final win over Justice. The most points he's had all year and he would have had more but being up 40 at the end of the third, the bench got lots of time while the starters rested. They will need that rest for a tough final against Wakefield at Edison on Friday.

Boy Band

the winners of the winter pep rally lip sync contest. Second win in a row for this bunch. Can they do it senior year? They better start practicing now, the underclass men are coming for them.

Shippensburg

Sam's buddy Noer is playing at Shippensburg next year and signed his commitment letter this afternoon. The football bro's were all in with one of their own hitting the big time.

First Try of 2020

Dylan looked strong in his first game back.

Regular Season

First real game of the season and Dylan's first since getting injured on March 22nd 2019. He had a try and kicked all three conversions for a total of 11 points. He's back baby.

Fire

A apartment building under construction about a mile from our house went up in flames this morning. It was quite a scene and smack dab between home and Dylan's rugby game at West Potomac high school. Major road closures made for a difficult trip to see the game. It was windy and the fire spread to some other stores in a strip mall and some occupied townhomes next door. No one was injured.

A new Aldi grocery store was going to open in the ground floor of that building, not anymore.

Rugby Boy Returns

Dylan played his first rugby match, post knee surgery on Saturday. It was a scrimmage but he could not wear the knee brace because it was full tackle. He played well with a try, a couple a tackles and he was tackled a few times. The knee was still in one piece for an Eagle Impact Rugby Clinic at Mount St. Mary's today. He's a trooper.

Outdoors

I dropped Dylan off at a Rugby clinic at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmittsville Maryland then drove up into the Catoctin mountains and hiked 6 miles. It was really nice to get outside for an extended period and bask in the silence of the woods. The weather was perfect at 45 degrees and sunny.

Canadian Embassy

Dylan had a chance to interview employees of the Canadian and Australian embassy's about their countries gun control laws. His rugby coach Scotty works there and set him up with the discussions. Dylan did a great job and got a ton of first hand information for a big school project.

Running and snow

Two of Nicole's favorite things. This is the second phunt in Elkton Maryland and I think snow beats mud any day.

Phunt

A 25k trail race in the snow. Good use of a Saturday in January.

The Beard

Movember continues in January for Sammy. We have four basketball games this week. We won the first two in an ugly fashion but the next two game are more difficult. They did get some new uniforms this week which are quite popular.

Summer Run

its 72 degrees around here. Easy running weather.

Before the hair harvest

Going short for a cause.

No Car

The boys both got their drivers license last week and have been slowly venturing out with our cars on their own. Nicole is downtown and Dylan drove my car to his rugby practice. I just went to the mailbox and was walking back up the driveway, with my head down looking at the the mail and thought, look up, don't run into a car. No cars in the driveway while I was home for the first time in the 18 years I lived here. Weird.

Sent from my iPad

1000

Jared scored his 1000th point last week and the team celebrated it after last nights game. He has been a starter on varsity all four years at Edison and an all around great kid. The team didn't do so well against Wakefield. The boys didn't really show up and lost by 30. We will play them again this year and it won't be so lopsided next time. They are better than that.

Another Day

A morning run for momma and a new day for the Vikings as they head to San Francisco after win over the saints.

Early Run

All this happens before I get up at 5:45am.

Happy New Year