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What can I say? I kind of fell off the wagon this month. I’d like to blame it all on my vacation, but that was just one week and, well, what really happened is that I was in a lot of pain (same general area as my surgery last year) and that affected me a lot, too. (But I’m doing much better now thanks to some nifty muscle relaxants and a whole new approach to my physical therapy.)

Tomorrow is the start of NaNoWriMo, and while I won’t be participating this year, I’d still like to get my manuscript to the 50,000-word mark by the end of November. That means writing 16,000 words over the course of the next 30 days, or an average of 533 a day. Totally doable if I write a little every night.

Wish me luck.

Cute-a-saurus Rex

Ethan’s first trick-or-treat was a rousing success. I took him around the neighborhood to collect candy and he really got into it, at one point grabbing three candy bars in one fell swoop from the people across the street. Mostly, though, I think he was just excited to be outside after dark. Penny and I both thought we’d bought him a dinosaur costume, but now we’re not sure. It might be a dragon. Either way, it’s adorable.

Ethan is not amused

Note the awesome jack-o-lantern with Spider-man eyes

Action shot!

Blog-a-versary

I almost forgot! This blog passed its one-year anniversary on October 15. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of my blog stats with you.

My most viewed blog entries of the year are:

1. The Tuesday Traveler # 3: Valletta, Malta (1,130 views)

2. The Tuesday Traveler # 1: Skellig Michael, Ireland (509 views)

3. The Tuesday Traveler # 6: Plateau Point, Grand Canyon (468 views)

4. Back of the drawing board… literally! (369 views)

5. Rise of the Hidden Sun… DONE! (359 views)

Thanks, Google!

Overall, I have written 262 posts and received 303 total comments.

My most active blogging month was January (34 posts); my least active month so far is this one (14).

The category with the most posts is Parenthood (64 posts); the one with the fewest is Books (3). That makes sense: Parenting doesn’t leave much time for reading.

Fascinating stuff, right?

Random thoughts on a Thursday

Every World Series game should start in the sixth inning.

I still have a bunch of painkillers left over from my surgery last October. I’m saving them for election night.

Every time I ask Ethan where he wants to go for a walk, he tells me “Moon.” Maybe someday, kiddo.

With one more day to go, I’m 6,000 words behind on my monthly word count goal. I shouldn’t be blogging, but it’s so damn easy.

It’s too bad so few people are giving the new Amazing Spider-Man a try. It really is the best it’s been since Roger Stern’s run in the mid 1980s.

The best show on television this year? Chuck.

If I lived in California, I’d vote “no” on Proposition 8. What’s so bad about gay marriage?

This game looks phenomenal.

Ethan is dressing up as a dinosaur for Halloween. I’m going as a paleontologist.

Mango explosion

The culprit

I have only myself to blame. I dashed out of the house early this morning to catch the 7:20 a.m. train and never got a chance to eat breakfast. On my walk to the office from the train station I stopped and bought the delicious and healthy Mango Tango seen here to your right. So far so good.

Once at my desk, I set the Mango Tango aside and proceeded to read my emails. Next, distracted by my inbox, I picked up the bottle and proceeded to shake it. One problem: I’d already removed the cap.

Mango Tango everywhere! On my shirt. On my pants. On my monitor. On my keyboard.

Not exactly what I had in mind when I left the house this morning.

Pumpkins, Patriots, and Baby Mama

It was a glorious fall weekend—or a glorious Sunday, anyway. Saturday was kind of dreary, but we did manage to carve two pumpkins into sufficiently terrifying jack-o’-lanterns (I’ll download some pics later) and munch on a whole lotta baked pumpkin seeds for the remainder of the weekend.

On Saturday night we rented Baby Mama starring Tina Fay and Amy Poehler. It is my absolute favorite kind of rental: a light, funny, and thoroughly entertaining comedy. Generally speaking, probably because of the pacing, I only like to rent comedies these days. I have a hard time staying awake for dramas. Probably a side effect of being the parent of an early rising toddler—4:36 a.m. on Saturday!

Yesterday we went for a walk at Appleton Farms in Ipswich. It’s always beautiful there, and Ethan had a wonderful time mooing at the cows. He doesn’t quite grasp the concept of taking a walk, though. He’d be content to stay in one place and splash puddles, which means usually either Penny or I carries him for the bulk of the walk. It was my turn this week, and I spent most of Sunday night picking sticks and leaves and pine needles out of my hair. (He likes to build nests on my head.)

My master plan was to tape the Patriots game and then watch it when I got home, studiously avoiding all opportunities to check the score in the meantime. This is supposed to be the beauty of the DVR. Sadly, the score was spoiled for me by accident when I got home, and I was only able to catch the last 3:16 of play before it ended. At least I saw the game-winning TD in live action, anyway.

We capped the evening with a roasted chicken (yummy) and The Amazing Race, though I slept through most of it. As I type this I can’t even remember who got eliminated. Again, the life of a dad. Totally worth it, though.

Acadia vacation photos

Signage

Our Cabin

Mother Knits a Scarf

View of Sommes Sound from the Top of Acadia Mountain

Fall Foliage, Up Close and Personal

Beech Mountain Trail

Bah Hahbah at Low Tide

Brrrrrrr! It Gets Cold In Maine

Throwing Rocks at Eagle Lake

Ethan on the Rocks

Penny at Thunder Hole

Ethan Models His Jaunty Cap

Homeward Bound

Vacation!

We’re off to Maine for a week at a rental cottage just outside of Acadia National Park. Pray for warm weather—these cabins don’t have heat. Talk to you in about nine or ten days!

Tom Brady’s # 1 fan

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Excelsior!