Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

4/16/2016

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd in today's Gospel reading. Today's homily focused on the idea that, if we're going to become like Christ, then we too need to become good shepherds. We need to care for one another and be a guiding example of God's love in the world.

The homily particularly focused on the role of parents in bringing up their children in the faith. It's not enough to drop them off at Sunday school; we must show that our faith is a part of our own lives on a day-to-day basis. This means praying with and talking with our children; activities that often get lost in our fast-paced, over-stimulated society.

The first and second readings also focused on our need to be witnesses (the Greek term being martyrs) for Christ. This doesn't have to mean going door-to-door like a traveling salesperson, but it does mean making Christ a part of our daily lives and emulating Him by caring for those around us. We must be GOOD shepherds, not the ones that beat or yell at their sheep, but those who protect them, love them, and guide them gently to the greener pasture of God's grace.

Saturday Chores

4/15/2016

With Janelle working a full shift today, the boys and I fell into our normal routine with the added element of unpacking. We did realize that Mera (my Prius) does not quite have the space for the run to the dump, but we forgot to arrange for Janelle to leave take her to work so I could take the van. In particular, we have a growing pile of packing material growing on one end of the garage. Thankfully, we were still able to take care of any real garbage today.

We also made our weekly run to the library today. Trevor was particularly eager to do so as the book he's been waiting for finally came in. Rowen picked out his usual pile of books, leaning heavily towards Dr. Seuss this trip. Connor came back empty-handed as the books he wanted weren't there, but a friendly librarian helped him put them on hold when they do arrive. I, alas, am still doing reading for the classes that I had originally planned to finish during spring break (I hardly touched them). When I do get the chance, I plan on rereading Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice series again as Trevor recently finished it for the first time and Janelle has been giggling her way through it since then. I know that we own the series, but it is most likely in boxes back in Michigan.

Meanwhile, I put together and anchored the bookcases in the living room and began emptying the boxes of movies and video games that we brought with us. The shelves are deep enough to have two rows, so I've been using some of the styrofoam pieces from our packing materials to give a little step to the back rows. On the few shelves I've gotten to, it's had a nice effect even if not all of the titles are showing.

I'm happiest about repairing the decorative well in the middle of our driveway. It must have collapsed sometime this winter with several of its pieces lying on the ground for months. It had looked so pathetic with its roof and crank sitting in the mud. With Trevor holding it up, I used a number of wood screws to put the pieces back together and strengthen some of the other parts that looked ready to go. It's not the most professional job, but it worked. Having it fixed brings a charming effect that adds a certain appeal to the entire place.

First Track Meet

4/14/2016

I'm still thawing out from this evening. While it didn't get down below freezing and only threatened to open the heavens on us, I still ended up putting on the rain jacket/windbreaker over the long sleeve shirt, t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, and fleece jacket that I was wearing. I was also happy that I remembered to bring along my winter hat and gloves.

Although I'm still partially shivering from the experience, I had a good time. Having a list of all of the events and participants goes a long way to making track meets more enjoyable, let alone understandable. I did feel a little useless. The hurdle events were first and there wasn't anything for me to do other than cheer my team on anyway. Once that was done, I just stood around cheering on the other events and watching students in the stands.

Our hurdlers did well; although not many placed, no one hit, let alone fell, from their runs. Only one student missed out on his race and that was due to lane confusion which I did not know needed to be sorted. Basically, no one died or was injured, which is a big win in my book.

Now that I think on it, I realize that this is what my Fridays will be until nearly the end of school. It's strange how fast time has passed by. I feel like I just started coaching hurdle yesterday, but it's been ten days (not counting the weekend). It is true that time flies when you're having fun.

Time for Bed

4/13/2016

Two towel bars (one of which is actually level) and a bookshelf (which took much more time than I expected) later and I'm wiped out. I've been cranky and overly snappy at the some of my students as well as my boys. With Janelle working this evening, everything seemed to take longer as well. I certainly couldn't pull off being a single parent.

Our first track meet of the season is tomorrow. While I've watched a number of them in the stands for the girls and Trevor, I'm still not fully sure I know what to expect on the field. The only thing I know for certain is that I'll be dressing in layers. Rumor has it that the track in Kenai tends to run quite a bit colder than Soldotna. Speaking of which, I still need to pack up for tomorrow before heading to bed.

Nature Walk

4/12/2016

The boys requested that we spend some time outside today and, despite feeling a bit run down, I decided to oblige them. I discovered a number of things during our foray on our new property.

1. Aside from the driveway and the area immediately around the house, there is no level ground.
2. I have no idea where our back yard ends and our neighbors' yards begin.
3. We have a portion of a small pond.
4. There are moose trails everywhere (Janelle even saw two of them cross in front of our house the other day).
5. Those moose trails are loaded with moose poop.
6. Connor loves saying the phrase "moose poop."
7. Rowen doesn't like it when Connor says "moose poop."
8. Connor likes to irritate Rowen.
9. There are trees and fallen trees everywhere.
10. The boys love walking across fallen trees.
11. I am not as good at walking across fallen trees as my boys.
12. My ankle doesn't appreciate my fallen-tree-walking attempts.
13. There are places on the property where, although there are homes all around, I can't see any sign of human habitation.
14. We love our yard.

On Track

4/11/2016

I consciously decided to not work on any house projects today (I tried to do so yesterday, but failed). We've been going strong for over a week and, while there is still plenty to do, I feel that we're at a point that I can do a little recouping. I need some of that downtime as not only did we move, but I started coaching hurdles last week too.

So far it has been going well, although I had to break bad news to a number of students today as they won't be running hurdles at the meet this coming Friday. I had been directed that only students whom I feel confident about clearing the hurdles should be allowed to compete for safety concerns. I don't feel that I have enough experience to really judge this as I was told not to include seventh graders unless they were exceptional, yet after today I had a number of seventh graders whom I felt were outperforming many of the eighth graders. Meanwhile, some eighth graders who I hoped would do great kept clipping or skipping hurdles today.

This has been taking a lot more of my down time than I had expected. Not even counting staying at the school longer each day, I'm spending a lot of my time looking at video and researching techniques and drills. Although I have "coached" students in drama, newspaper, and other after school activities, this has been my first real coaching experience. While in many ways I feel quite overwhelmed, I have to admit to enjoying it as well. We'll see where I stand at the end of the season.

In the Cabin

4/10/2016

Today we spent our first extensive amount of time in our side cabin. The first order of business was replacing all of the missing bulbs. This required me to stand at the highest rung of my extended step ladder and thus gave my fear of heights a solid run for its money. Unlike the metal roof on my garage, I didn't find myself slipping on the ladder, so all went well.

Rowen had his own panic attack when it came to heights after he went up (reluctantly) to the loft. Once there, he moved as far away from the loft's ladder and railing as he could get and curled into a ball on the floor. With some coaxing, he finally got up and moved around, and even looked out the window with Connor (who was jumping around the place without a care).

Connor is determined to spend a night in the cabin. He wanted to do so today, but was convinced to wait until this weekend. That will be an interesting experience.

We measured the place, figured out the heater, and determined that our wifi does not even come close to reaching that far. We even discovered a forgotten cache of remotes and Chinese movies. The place needs some cleaning, but is definitely a nice little cabin.

The Third Sunday of Easter

4/9/2016

Today's Gospel shows the Apostles trying to go back to the way things were before Jesus. Jesus finds them again where He found many of them the first time, in a boat with little luck at catching fish. It seems as though they were trying to turn back time, to return to the only existence that they knew before Jesus entered their lives.

We often retreat when faced with tragedy. We desperately try to put our lives back to the way they were as though nothing had happened. But God always calls us forward. The changes that we experience in our lives are supposed to be opportunities for us to grow. This is shown through Peter when Christ asks him three times if Peter loves Him. Peter is distraught by the third question; he doesn't realize that Jesus is giving him a chance to redeem the three times that he denied knowing (let alone loving) Christ on the eve of the crucifixion.

The tragedy of Jesus' death and the subsequent glorious resurrection gave Peter a chance at redemption. This is true for all of us as well. With God there is never a point of no return; He is always ready to welcome us back, always ready to see us grow.

In the Positive

4/8/2016

Today had a series of minor setbacks, the worst of which was spending over forty-five minutes cleaning out the dishwasher because a glass broke in it. A close second was discovering that my fear of heights is still nearly paralyzing as I tried to figure out how to fix the heater exhaust on my garage's roof (the solution? Pay someone else to do it). Those moments (and a few others) were washed away by various high points:

Getting to see some of my students' award-winning artwork at the Kenai Fine Arts Center (Connor kept reading the students' names on the work and asking if they were mine or not; he seemed to be keeping a running tally).

Connor showing me his "secret hideout" which is a split moss-covered boulder on our property (I'll keep the actual location secret).

Rowen and I having a classic lightsaber battle in our darkened living room after we finished watching The Force Awakens (having just picked up the movie yesterday).

Finally handing over the keys to our rented house. When I asked the boys if they wanted to go in one last time, they all declined. Trevor went so far as to say that he never wants to go back there again. He doesn't think it was a bad place; he said that he had just seen enough of it.

I think I'll choose to focus on the high points and not on the things that I failed to get done.

Odds and Ends

4/7/2016

Janelle made a master effort and finished clearing out and cleaning the house we were renting. All we have to do is get the keys into the owner's hands. Meanwhile, I added two quick shower head replacements (we prefer hand sprayers), adjusting our dishwasher (although I need to find a way to make it more permanent), and realigning door latches so the doors can, well, lash to my list of accomplishments.

The boys were happiest, however, when I surprised them by finally setting up Connor's Gorilla Gym which Rachel bought him for his last birthday. I put it up in the doorway that leads to their walk-in closet, and kept them out of their room while I installed it. When I finally let Connor into the room, he literally jumped for joy (deftly catching the bar and immediately doing a chin up while doing so). It had been bothering me that we hadn't told him about his gift, let alone given it to him, but it was worth it to see the surprise and enthusiasm on his face.

Still Going

4/6/2016

I had planned to take it easier today and perhaps catch up on some of my posts. Instead, I was inspired by Janelle, who cleared out the rows of boxes in the dining room while I was gone, to keep going, albeit at a slower pace. As a consequence, the curio cabinet is finally where Janelle wants it and our TV is mounted on the living room wall. We watched the final episode of Daredevil's second season on it in celebration.

I do need to get more sleep. I was snapping at students today and inverting words more frequently than I usually do. I think coffee will be a requirement tomorrow.

Catching Up

4/5/2016

So, I am still not at a point that I have the time to sit down and really explain everything that we've been doing, but I'm getting closer. Today I got back later than I expected from track practice but still managed to put a light fixture into the downstairs hallway (I don't know why the previous owner had removed it without replacing it) and two more into the master bathroom (they used the fluorescent ring bulbs and were burned out). I found some inexpensive LED fixtures (they don't use bulbs) and used those to replace them. I also put up blinds over window in the master bedroom exterior door (yes, it has one) and the large window in the master bedroom. Hopefully, they will help block out the amazingly strong lamppost light that stands sentinel over our driveway so that Janelle can sleep better. I also finally added clasps to the leaf in our table so it stays together better. Finally, I figured out how to get the master bathroom toilet to flush and reset without a lot of handle jiggling.

With the other work that I've done, I've completed most of the jobs that I have supplies for. Offhand, I know that I still need to replace the outlets near our kitchen and master bathroom sinks with GFCI outlets and covers (I need at least two more for the house and probably at least one for the cabin). I need to put light bulbs in the cabin as all but two were removed. It also needs a shower rod installed. I have a couple more light fixtures that I would like to switch out due to their terrible fluorescent light (although that can probably wait). I have to replace the exhaust pipe for the garage heater as well as its snow guard (that's waiting until I'm more certain of the ground where I plan to put the ladder). I also need to build a permanent step for our corner downstairs room so that it meets egress window firecode (we have a large enough of a window, but it's just a bit too high off the ground). This doesn't count any of the painting or floor changes that Janelle wants to do. However, most importantly, I need to attach our TV to the living room wall. That will require several people. Janelle doesn't believe that she and Trevor are enough to help me based on our experience with the medicine cabinet/mirror we installed yesterday.

There is some other work that we will need some experts to do as well (such as moving a circuit box out of a closet and fixing the jacuzzi bathtub). Still, all told, things are shaping up nicely. I'm tired, but it's an accomplished sort of tired.