I love Google Photos... here is why...

So I obviously have to be up early for work.  So I miss out on the evening and the early morning shenanigans at home.  But Dawn and I backup all of our photos on Google with our accounts, so I can see photos from her phone and she can see mine.  So this was from Saturday night when we went to a friend's wedding reception.  

Or how about Summer and Evan hanging out on the couch.  Summer has been a fantastic big sister and so helpful.  I wish I could be around for moments like this, but at least I can see what I am missing.

While I don't THINK he knows that he is smiling here... Evan has been making so many facial expressions and I am just trying to enjoy these young months as much as possible. This was also from here phone.  

As for me... It has been busy lately with some close friends and family visiting lately, so I have had to skip afternoon naps and it's been too hot to run, so I made a few early morning runs before work.  Summer is also starting preschool next week, so we have been busy with orientation and open house with that.  Hard to believe she is getting that old already...  

In other news... I am participating in the Labor Day sale on Etsy, so if anyone is interested in saving some money... stop by my Etsy store.  Just go to BalmByBuck.com

Goodbye 90s! We can safely say that today we will not reach the 90s in Central Ohio because a cold front is passing through early this morning. The front, currently draped along I-71 from Cleveland to Cincinnati, will slowly move toward the Ohio River in SE Ohio for midday today and eventually push farther to the SE. Low Pressure along that front, currently in Western Kentucky, will slide up that front and pass by to our south. With the Low so close and the front still moving though, we are going to keep a low chance of some isolated showers today with the best chance for Southern Ohio. Clouds will slowly clear through the day with more sun by the evening along with cooler temps today and highs near 80. We will still stay a tad humid today and tomorrow then getting more humid this weekend. Tonight the clouds will clear out, but patchy fog will likely form overnight & for Friday morning. Partly cloudy Friday and comfortable with highs back in the lower-mid 80s. Then we get to your Labor Day weekend... There will be some spotty rain trying to pop up, but it will only be about a 30% chance of rain for each day. So I wouldn't cancel outdoor plans, but make sure that you are prepared in case you get caught in one of these isolated showers. Temperatures will continue to warm up from the mid to upper 80s through the extended weekend. Long term forecast models continue warming us to near 90 by the middle of next week with the chance of rain still very low. A better chance of rain returns later next week and that should help start cooling us down a little. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I am BACK! Along the #BucksBabyBeard... for today...

I got approval to keep the baby beard for one day and one day only, but it does feel good to be back into a routine, but I really did love the time I got to spend with family. 

We had family walks to the park...

I told Dawn to take some time for herself and she went to get a haircut, so I took the Evan and Summer to play at Scioto Park and play near the river... but not in the river... 

Summer got her first real haircut too and just got the ends evened out. 

I also promised Summer that we would sleep outside in the tent, so we did that two nights.

And I just had a great time hanging around with the kids and get used to the new addition to the family.

To finish off the time off on a great note... We helped celebrate Tara Morgan's wedding on Saturday night, so Dawn and I had a fun date night! It was nice to get out, without the kids, and enjoy time with just the two of us.  Love her so much.

As for the weather... Summer isn't over yet! For the next three days we will have high temps near 90 and humidity making it feel like the mid 90s. Lots of sun today with some afternoon clouds bubbling up and a slight chance for some isolated pop-up PM rain. Clearing and staying warm tonight. Tuesday should be dry for the area with the heat and humidity sticking around. A final push of hot air on Wednesday with increasing clouds and scattered showers and storms likely for the second half of the day. Some models are holding off on the rain until late into the day, but rain is likely. Some lingering early rain possible Thursday as less humid air arrives for the end of the week. Partly cloudy for late Thursday and Friday with highs near 80. A push of warmer and more humid air for the weekend along with a slight chance for some rain later Saturday into Sunday. Right now the chance of rain for the first Ohio State football game is pretty low, but we will keep an eye on it. Have a good one!


Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

The whole Michael family under one roof!

This is a very rare photo. Marcus has been in Europe teaching, Amanda is in Florida working at Disney, and Bryant lives six hours east now near Philly... so it has been about 360 days since we have all been together in person.  It was initially only supposed to be a quick lunch, but the Cleveland Browns were not on TV at my parent's house so everyone stayed later and Clark was able to come after work.  So we all got together and caught up.  Moments like this will never be overlooked.  Truly a special time to have the whole gang together.   It will probably be another 10 months until this happens again because Marcus is aiming to teach English in Hong Kong next.

Everyone commented on this amazing flower arrangement that a good viewer friend, Mindi, dropped off last week.  It was a group gift from some of my amazing friends on Twitter: Mindi, Cathy, Rick, and Dawn.  They are sitting here beside me now and still look amazing.  Mindi also got a few small things for Summer and Evan too.  Summer has not stopped playing with her vet doctor toys.  She keeps using the stethoscope to check our eyes.

Speaking of Evan... he is about to set sail!  He has been sleeping a LOT, but slowly waking up a little more each day and is a champion eater!

I have not ran much while off because of how there are a bunch of moving targets with all that is going on, but I did wake up before the rest of the house yesterday and went for a seven mile run before the sun came up. 

But made it back in time to make breakfast for the family.  The garden is doing alright... Tomatoes have started to die off from the hot May and June, but peppers are going crazy!  I foresee some Philly cheesecake stuffed peppers in the near future. I used a few peppers on the omelets yesterday.

Also yesterday... well technically Saturday, the Ohio Valley Emmy's took place.  I was nominated for three categories and won in the category of Technical Achievement for the Augmented Reality weather forecasts.  A director and photographer also entered with me so the three of us brought home some hardware.  I was not able to go with the newborn, but Edwin, the photographer, came by the house yesterday to drop off the Emmy.  So many other people from our station won as well.  So honored to be recognized and also to work with such great coworkers.  Edwin gave a great speech thanking God, family, and our management, who push us to raise the bar. Summer was confused and I had to tell her it was not a toy. It will have to be put away with my others, until the kids are old enough not to play with them.  HAHA.

Today's breakfast is simple.  Along with my black coffee as I post this.  It sounds like the rest of the house is waking up so time to get ready to start the day.  Sorry for any typos... got to go! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Home as a family of four

Here are a couple more photos of the family at the hospital before we came home.

Someone told us that your other kid will look like a grown adult and they are right.  Summer looks so big in this photo...

But even more when we came home and her and Evan could lay out on the baby blanket.  It is really crazy how fast time flies and how fast they grow up.

When Summer was born we were soaked with rain for the next straight 20+ days.  One of the big rains brought more than 3" of rain after she was born, within a 24 hour period.  Well... Same thing happened with Evan.  We had almost 3.5" of rain over the weekend.

The garden beds drain fast, so they likely didn't get all of that to soak, so I had Evan help me with some watering.  Things are going pretty well at the house.  Evan is sleeping better than Summer, but the hard part is trying to entertain a 3 year old while caring for the newborn the entire time.  Thankfully Evan sleeps a lot and he is pretty chill.  Things are going well and I will check back in soon.  So blessed to have time to spend with the family and adjust to the new addition.  See you all soon!  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Evan Joseph Michael, welcome to the world!

It's a boy!!!  Welcome to the world Evan Joseph Michael!

Here is Dawn and I before leaving for the hospital Thursday evening. Evan was a bit of a stinker during labor!  We got him out just fine, but it was a bit of a rough go overnight.  Since Dawn was full 40 weeks and gestational diabetic, the doctor decided to induce at 40 weeks and during the induction Evan flipped from his head down to now with his back down. We tried doing different positions for a few hours, but the doc came in at 3 AM to try to flip the baby back to the head down.  It worked! Evan was born at 11:59AM on Friday, August, 10th.

In the delivery room it was me and Dawn's mom there to help move the process along and help with the coaching.

My parents had Summer and she was a little unsure about what was going on at first, despite us preparing her the last few weeks.  But she finally got it and she kept saying "Evan, Evan, Evan."

Here is a quick family photo with all four of us.  Dawn was a champ!  This was only about three hours after birth.  Rock star!

Marcus is also back from Europe and he came up with my parents.  My mom said that Marcus really loved spending time with Summer.  Now Marcus can do more of that and also with Evan.  So happy to have Marcus home again... for however long that is. But anyway... my heard is overjoyed and Dawn and I got a decent amount of sleep at the hospital and I think we will have one more night here.  Summer will have fun with Dawn's parents and brother staying at our house for tonight.  I will be taking two weeks off, but I promise to do some updates on here.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Our final full day with Summer, gift from a friend

Man... The emotions are high at our house! With my crazy schedule working the overnight/early morning shift I go to bed by around 7PM and get home from work around 10AM.  We have been lucky to avoid daycare because Dawn watches Summer while I am sleeping or gone, then I take over when I get home.  So Dawn spends a couple hours every morning with Summer before Dawn starts work then gets to spend the evenings with Summer and does the night time routines.  Those two have been best buddies the last three years and two months.  Well it has been hitting Dawn that it will no longer be just the two of them since we are inducing this evening.  Lots of tears mix of sadness and happiness the last few days and especially yesterday. 

So in the photo above, Summer was opening up a gift form a good friend and viewer, Cathy.  Cathy knitted Summer a blanket, and a couple hats, when she was a baby and Cathy also knitted a new blanket for the next baby.  Cathy is a sweetheart!  She also got Summer this cat and Summer LOVED it!

It also was International Cat Day. We picked up the toys yesterday, with family coming to town, and the only toy she didn't want to put away was her new cat. 

I mowed the grass during her nap and then went out for my final run before the baby arrives.  Easy 3 miles around the neighborhood.  I have not ran in a week because I have an inflamed nerve in the front ball of my left foot.  Felt good to get a good sweat on, yesterday.

Today will be the pick day of the extended forecast to enjoy outside! We will be warm today with high temps in the mid 80s and a tad humid. We will start out with some patchy fog in the morning then sun followed by a few building clouds later in the day. There will be a push of some showers late in the day from the north, but as it moves in it will slowly dissipate, but there is a slight chance for rain late and mainly north.

Friday and for the weekend... and on... Get ready for a typical humid summer pattern. We will stay warm overnights with low temps in the upper 60s and afternoon high temps in the mid-lower 80s. We will be humid enough and warm enough for some pop-up isolated showers and storms possible each afternoon and early evening. I would not cancel outdoor plans, but be sure to have a backup plan in case one of the isolated showers and storms pop-up where you will be. This pattern will continue into early next week as well and then sticking around a while. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I plan on doing a post here once the baby arrives.  So be sure to check back in, in the coming days.

Busy work day, yesterday, before the baby

Three posts in three days?!?!  It is like I am back to my old ways!  I plan on doing some posting too when the baby arrives.  In case you missed that update: here is my post from a couple days ago.

Yesterday was busy at work trying to get as much done as possible before the baby.  We shot the gardening segments for the time off I have planned.  LOTS of viewer questions from my Facebook LIVE videos from the garden.  Be sure to catch those on Saturday mornings!

We also had a fun promo shoot for Good Day Columbus yesterday.  I am excited to see how they turn out.  Then I went home and made tacos for Tuesday then made some garden salsa before taking a nap.  Gotta rest up!

Roads will be wet in spots this morning from some overnight showers and storms and get ready for more today. We could see a few spotty showers for the morning, but then once we heat up in the afternoon scattered showers and storms will develop. The chance of severe weather is very low today, but heavy downpours possible. A cold front will pass through tonight and push the rain out of here. Patchy fog possible overnight and for Thursday morning. Thursday looks like the best day of the week with partly cloudy skies, slightly lower humidity, and warm temps. There is a slight chance for some spotty showers sneaking in from the north later tomorrow, so adding a 20% chance of rain for Thursday evening, but that is the only change from the previous forecast. Another approaching front will help to trigger scattered showers and storms for Friday and the weekend. Temps will top out in the lower 80s as well through the weekend. So staying warm, humid, with the chance of rain for a lot of the extended forecast. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More rain for your Tuesday, one dry day on the way...

Another day with LOTS of coffee!  I managed to get a nap yesterday, but only about 4 hours of sleep last night.  

I did have Summer help yesterday with shipping out my first orders from my Etsy store. She loves doing anything possible to help around the house and will be a huge help soon with the baby coming later this week. 

We did have a few storms roll through early this morning, but with less energy overnight the storms continued to weaken as they moved in. 

The rain will take a bit of a break for the first half of the daylight hours today. Mostly cloudy today and muggy then more scattered showers and storms will develop this afternoon with a Marginal Risk for some gusty storms. The rain will weaken some overnight with just a few showers or storms lingering. More scattered showers and storms Wednesday for midday and the afternoon then some drier air will start moving in for the evening as a cold front moves through. Partly cloudy on Thursday and most of the state will stay dry with temps in the mid 80s. More pop-up showers and storms possible Friday and the weekend with highs in the mid-lower 80s. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Baby #2 is coming this week!

So I want to make a promise... I will get into a better habit of updating this! Instead of one or two big entries a week, I would love to get back in the habit of updating my blog daily.  Especially with the changes about to come with the family.  I want to make sure I document all the memories our family is about to have from going to the three of us to four of us!  More on that shortly! The weather team was the grand marshals for the Ohio State Fair.  Lots of fun out there!

I surprised Dawn with tickets to go see En Vogue and TLC at the Ohio State fair for an anniversary gift.  Last Monday we celebrated our 7th year of being married.  

With baby #2 on the way this week I have been spending a lot of time with Summer and just enjoying being a kid.  Grass is a little fried from the lack of rain, but the flowers are still holding on!

Summer and I had fun in the backyard making s'mores and camping out. 

Such a fun time!  She did NOT want to fall asleep.  She wanted to talk and keep checking on the fire to see if it would come back awake.  But it kept sleeping when she checked on it.

We woke up bright and early for a run with my buddy Maclin.  My running will be cut back big time soon.

The garden has been "off" this year.  The heat in May and June caused most of the vegetables to push hard and not get big.  So I was able to make a little salsa, but not as much as last year. 

This photo is from Saturday.  Our cousin made the Centerville soccer team and they were scrimmaging Dublin, so we went to watch.  It was HOT! Dawn was a champ for sitting out in the eat and being 39+ weeks pregnant. But we had fun watching Jake... So more on the baby on the way...

Dawn is due Friday with baby #2.  She has gestational diabetes (again), which can often lead to big babies and our doctor wants to induce this week because of that and the fact that this pregnancy has been harder on Dawn.  Plus big babies are on my side of the family... I was the first of my four siblings at 9 lb. 9 oz and the smallest...  Dawn has been a trooper and Summer and I have been helping as much as possible with her.  So unless the baby comes early, then we are inducing on Thursday night and likely have the baby on Friday, which is the due date. Not sure of the gender yet, but we are pretty sure on the names for both genders. We are beyond the moon excited to expand our small family, but it was a little sad this weekend thinking that it would be the end of just the three of us.  Excited for the next chapter!  I will be sure to update the blog this week with any updates and also have more photos once the baby is born.

Maybe not the best timing, with a baby on the way... but in the past few weeks I officially started a new business.  I have been making my own balm to style my hair for the past few years.  I have been giving it to my coworkers to test out and get feedback and they have been telling me to sell it because they think it is so great.  So I finally got all the paperwork in order to start selling it.  It is all natural with organic and as-many-as-possible locally sourced ingredients like beeswax from Honeyrun Farms in Pickaway County.  No chemicals... just pure ingredients to use to style your hair or on your skin as a moisturizer.  You just scrape a small amount of it with your fingernail, rub it between your fingers to warm it up, then apply how you like... and a little goes along way!

I have four scents.  The first is Unsceneted, which still has a slight hint of shea butter and beeswax, but you have to have a nose like a bloodhound to smell that.  I also have a Clean version that has a light scent of lavender.  Mint and Forest are pretty straight forward.  Forest is my favorite.

I spent Sunday stocking up my inventory.  If none of them sell, then I will be set for decades! Each one normally lasts me about 3 to 4 months, so it really does not take much product to get my hair set.
If you are inclined to try it out, you can buy it at the craft store in Hilliard called The Burlap Sunflower.  I also have a shop on Etsy and can ship it anywhere across the country.
Here is a link to get to my store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BalmByBuck

If you want to check out the social media accounts, here they are:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalmByBuck
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BalmByBuck
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balmbybuck/

The heat will stick around for one more day then rain will help cool us off. Today we will top out near 90 again, just like the last couple of days. There is a slight chance for some pop-up isolated showers or storms this afternoon, but most of us will remain dry, other than sweating in the heat and high humidity. On and off rain on the way starting late tonight through the next couple days. The models are indicating the first push of rain will be during the early morning hours Tuesday then mostly cloudy and another round of scattered showers and storms in the afternoon and evening Tuesday. So have the rain gear handy for your Tuesday and then again on Wednesday with more scattered showers and storms. The rain takes a brief break on Thursday then more isolated showers and storms return Friday and for the weekend with highs staying in the mid-lower 80s.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael