Reflecting on the Rebuild

I have to say that having a few days to tinker and rebuild fritzwinkle.com has been a bit of a joy. It has been something that I have been wanting to do for sometime.

Over the summer, I conceived of making a big switch and redoing the whole thing, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I got busy doing other things and, for the first time in awhile, just trying to enjoy some of the summer free from work. Of course, I did get myself involved in somethings that took up some time too.

Unfortunately, I had made some miscalculations with the domain name, which rendered everything offline for a bit. That forced me to have to go into a waiting mode, until that got itself worked out. I also have a tendency to get myself quite wrapped up in various projects and classes while teaching full time, as well. This has always made maintaining the site a challenge.

On the plus side, I have been riding a little bit of a website development wave. From tuning things with the various sites I have been using with students, as well as developing the new sites for both the Massachusetts Writing Project and Boston Writing Project. These autumn activities made for a quicker transition once I had everything ready. Plus, I had a lot more knowledge and understanding at the forefront of my mind since I was using it more regularly. This made it kind of fun and it didn’t take forever, which best of all.

Photo: Fall Kids

Fall Kids at Play

Now, as always, I just hope I can keep things updated and fresh, which has always been a challenge.

Still Waiting

Much to Ali’s chagrin our newest member is still in utero. Of course, it is now about as active as it might be on the outside, which leaves my poor wife feeling as though the baby is trying to make break for it out the side of her abdomen or perhaps through her belly button. Still, not even the hint of a contraction, though I suspect that labor will begin within a week or so.

Here are some updated pics of the little nugget though. You can see part of the face in this close-up, a nose and mouth.

Nugget's mouth 35 weeks

We have been trying to prepare Hadley for the arrival of her new sibling, but we are pretty sure she doesn’t get it completely just yet. She is, however, very fond of patting Ali’s belly and saying, “Baby Nunnet.”

Hugging Nugget Rainy Golfer

In the interim, summer has finally arrived in Massachusetts. The days of rain for the most part have given way to a string of lovely sunny days. Hadley and Ali have had multiple chances to head to the local beach and enjoy the sand and lake. Additionally, we all walked downtown for Hadley’s first foray into the children’s wading pool, which Hadley eventually began to enjoy.

Staying Cool Adidas Outfit

New Shades Uck Hands

I have been working way too much, especially in Ali’s eyes. Yet, with a new class to plan and a revamping of another, in addition to all the sideline projects, I have been logging a lot of computer time. Only recently have I been earnestly getting some of the household projects going. However, I am beginning to make some progress on all fronts, which is good all around.

Building Sand Castles

More news to come for sure

Preparing for the Summer

Finally, the summer is almost near. School will be complete within the week and my reprieve from students begins. Of course, it is yet another jammed season for me. This having the summers off bit of the teaching gig has never really been much of a vacation. Every summer has included a preparation for a pretty big change and this one is no different with the arrival of our new baby. By the time I repair and paint the house exterior and the new baby arrives, it already feels like the summer will be finished and I’ll be back at school.

Still, I am looking forward to getting some things done around the house, since it is so difficult to simply do on the weekends. Also, I am excited to begin doing more presentations to other teachers. I will be spending some time with the Boston Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute, as well as a local education collaborative ACCEPT. Of course, I have some other professional projects to try and manage, like planning a new course for the fall and revising another. Apart from that I will be enjoying being around my girls, especially when the younger one awakes. Fetching Hadley from her crib in the morning is one of the things I rather liked about last summer. Hopefully, we will make some more videos and there will, of course be a whole lot more photos too.