Signs of spring

I would like to apologize to anyone who is currently buried in snow, but here it REALLY feels like spring. It is 60 degrees and sunny today, and we're going to grill dinner (pork tenderloin) this evening. The crocuses are up, and we saw a rabbit in the yard last night. I do realize that since Dan has tickets to the Indians' home opener a week from Friday, there will most likely be a blizzard that day, but for now I'm just going to pretend that the current weather will continue for the next month. However, the true indicator of spring is, of course, when the gardening gear is broken out:
Two hours after this was taken, I had two boys covered in mud and a lovely moat near the swingset. It's very freeing to not care about a dug-up, muddy backyard, since it will be much worse in two months when the house renovations start.

Why I have at least 20 more gray hairs

Yesterday morning, Greyson had already left for the bus stop and Reece was ready to go, but I still had to get my shoes and jacket on. Reece asked if he could start walking, and I've let him do this before because 1) he's quite a slow walker, so it's easy for me to catch up with him, and 2) I would be out in less than one minute - usually about the time he would be in front of our next-door neighbors' house. So I told him "Yes" and that I would be right out. I'm sure you're already anticipating where this is going, if you know Reece at all. I put my stuff on, grabbed keys, locked the back door, and walked at my usual pretty quick pace to the end of the driveway. There was no sign of the boy. Then I looked up the street toward the bus stop, and he was RUNNING and about one house away from the corner. I took off running, yelling his name and for him to stop. He turned around, looked at me, and KEPT RUNNING. I lost sight of him, immediately heard a honk, and saw my two neighbors, who had been at the bus stop with their kids already, running back across the cross-street. My thoughts - he's been hit and is dead and I wish I had learned to run much faster. Turns out the bus was already at the corner and saw him running and honked while simultaneously telling the other moms what she could see but they couldn't - Greyson's little brother running toward the road. He actually stopped at the stop sign, which he is 75% of the time very good at doing, but of course no one knew he would do that for sure.

So he and I had a very serious talk and he is no longer allowed to go out ahead of me. And I'm still trying to get my heart to stop beating out of my chest.

25 Reasons I love Cleveland (the first 10)

Have you seen all the "25-whatever" lists going around Facebook? I like the 25 Random Things About Me one, because people get very creative and you can really learn interesting things about people you thought you knew. But some of the list topics are not so appealing. The whole first childbirth one? TMI, and some strange questions. So I decided to create my own (listed in no particular order).

Trashing Cleveland is considered fun times in some circles, and I know some people are not living here by choice. But those of us who are and who genuinely enjoy being here and appreciate its many attributes should be touting it to one and all. Just getting morale up could do wonders for the entire northeast Ohio area! Hopefully, those who actually read this blog might learn some interesting and positive facts about Cleveland here. I also welcome any additions to the list.

1) Lake Erie.
Boating, swimming, fishing. Granted, Lake Erie hasn't been the cleanest in past times. But here's a testiment to how far things have come: the Monterey Bay Aquarium lists Lake Erie Yellow Perch as its best choice for perch in its Central US Seafood Watch guide! It beats out perch from both Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. Sorry Alpena!

2) The Cleveland Orchestra is in the top tier of orchestras in the country.
Supposedly no one actually ranks orchestras, but if you ask anyone who plays an orchestral instrument as a career, they know which ones are considered the best. And ours is one. I had no idea until I met someone who moved here specifically to play in it. They offer great children's concerts, many of which we've attended.

3) The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Affectionately knows as the Rock Hall around here, the place is awesome even for those who are not rock music aficionados. And it was designed by I.M. Pei to look like a record player from the air (bet you didn't know that - or if you're young enough you don't even know what a record player is). If you want to see for yourself, go to google maps and type in "rock and roll hall of fame", then zoom in.

4) Accessible, reliable public transportation.
The Greater Cleveland RTA won the "America's Best Transit System" award for 2007.

5) Great Lakes Science Center.
This is a terrific place to take kids of varying ages. Until Greyson got too old for it, our favorite part was the Polymer Playhouse for kids age 7 and under. We discovered by accident that this is the best place to watch the Cleveland Air Show as well. If you have a child who gets scared of loud noises, you just let them play inside and you place yourself by a window that looks out over the lake.

6) The weather.
Yes, I said it. I love the changing seasons and the variety within each season. Probably March-April is the only yucky time, and that doesn't even hold this year because today it's going to be 60 and sunny! And summer and fall are terrific - we spend 3/4 of our time outdoors then.

7) West Side Market.
Fresh produce, every meat you can think of, pastries, cheeses, and pierogies with pretty much any possible filling. It makes every famous foodie's list for good reason. And it's right on the RTA path, so you don't even have to worry about parking - just making sure you don't buy so much you can't carry it home!

8) The Cleveland Museum of Art.
It just recently reopened after a 3-year renovation, so now is definitely the time to go. I took two art history classes as an undergrad at Case, and we met AT THE MUSEUM, which was awesome. Every period is represented, and major tours come through all the time.

9) Little Italy.
I know other cities have larger and more well-known little Italies, but this one fits everything you'd want into a small area and has survived many changes in areas surrounding it. A wide variety of Italian restaurant options in a span of about 5 blocks, awesome pastries, the Feast of the Assumption celebration, and Cleveland cassata cake (not to be confused with true Italian cassata cake that is somewhat like spumoni).

10) The Cleveland Playhouse and Playhouse Square.
Yes, it's confusing at first that there are two separate theater areas that sound so similar and are only a few miles down the same road from each other. They both have a wide variety of shows, although the Playhouse seems to do smaller and lesser-known plays and has an association with Case's fine arts master's program, and the Playhouse Square theaters get the Broadway plays and bigger productions.

I'll post the next 10 in a few days and then the last 5 after that.

Silliness on the 2nd floor

Reece decided on his own to create his own "headphones":




UPDATE: I don't know why it stops suddenly, but you can watch the whole thing by moving the arrow just a little each time it does that. I'll see if I can fix the problem, but don't hold your breath.

UPDATE #2: Now it's working fine, and I didn't do anything but wait a day. Probably a life lesson right there.