Here Comes a Regular

With the school year's start comes the return to a more regimented morning for me. Gone are the days when I can sleep in until 7:15. Now I'm up at 6:10 and I transform into a sleepy drill sergeant; Deb's out the door around 4:30 a.m. so it's on me to get the girls up and ready for school. I roust the girls from a deep sleep and cajole them to get downstairs and eat breakfast. There's some whining and initial refusals, but I can't dawdle. Then they eat breakfast, brush their teeth, get changed and do their hair. Once they're basically ready to go, I turn the TV on and let them watch a show while I jump in the shower. By the time I get changed and put their lunchboxes in their backpacks, it's time to head out to the bus stop at the end of the street. The bus arrives around 7:18 every day. After they head off, I have a little downtime to eat breakfast, load up my iPod, and make my lunch before I leave for work.

As I documented earlier in the week, Lily started kindergarten on Tuesday. She was excited to go and I drove her in for her first day. It wasn't until we got into the cafeteria where all the kindergarten classes had gathered that she got really quiet and shy. I talked to her teacher and left her there as the classes moved to different parts of the room. I watched her hesitate and it was tough to let her go; I wanted to hug her again, but I knew it was time to let her go. Finally, I left. Sure enough, she had a blast and by the end of the week was loving everything about school. She rides the bus with her sister, who's already sick of having to sit with her, but I can relate.

This time next week, I'll be up in New Hampshire with a van of fellow relay runners participating in Reach the Beach. According to our estimated times, I should be heading out for my three legs at 5:20 p.m. Friday, 3:25 a.m. Saturday and 2:40 p.m. Saturday. I think the hardest part will probably be getting enough rest in the van. But whatever the case, it should be fun. Speaking of running at night, my running column this week covers that very topic.

There was a lot of 9/11 rehashing today, eight years after the terrorist attacks. I didn't participate. Not really sure why, I just was too busy to think about it too much. At any rate, here's a pretty thorough recollection I wrote back in 2003 about the events of that day.

My Wednesday night skate started up again this week. I felt pretty good, given that I'd skated several times over the summer. I ended up popping in a goal while I got used to the new stick I bought the other night.