Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

Reading

4/29/2017

We've had an established house rule that our children are not allowed to play non-education-focused video games until they can read a chapter book. We sometimes make exceptions on holidays with certain party games, and Connor managed to con Janelle into letting him play early through sheer persistence, but it has generally been a good rule.

It certainly has been motivating Rowen lately. Just today, he brought me a "Magic Treehouse" book (after first trying a surprisingly difficult Ninjago book) and wanted to read the whole thing to me. We took turns reading sentences and only got a page in (the Ninjago book really dampened his spirits), but at least he's eager to keep at it.

Generally, all of our children have embraced reading. It's such an amazing superpower to have. I shudder every time I think that most Americans deliberately avoid reading as adults, blocking off the wondrous worlds and ideas that are out there. It's worth the time. If you haven't picked up a book lately, get some suggestions from friends (avoid the classics until you've warmed yourself up) and allow yourself to enjoy the experience.

Changing Tastes

4/28/2017

Everything tastes different right now. I didn't fully notice this until this evening, but it makes certain past meals make more sense. For example, I was really looking forward to a tiny sandwich made of black forest ham from the deli and fresh bread from the bakery. Instead, it tasted dry and ... bitter. I was quite disappointed.

Later, however, I was drinking normal, filtered water and noticed that it had a sweet flavor, almost sickeningly so. I thought that the glass I was using might have been contaminated somehow, so I used a different one, only to have the same result. Then, my dinner tasted like it had been rolled in salt with more salt sprinkled on top.

This flu is really messing with me.

Out for the Count

4/27/2017

While I had planned on going into work today, I was in no way ready to do so (which Janelle tried to tell me the day before). Instead, we went to the doctor who told me that I should not go back to work until Monday. He said that this flu bug has been particularly bad and many people who push themselves too soon end up with an extended duration or even a relapse.

I hate missing this much work. I can't think of the last time that an illness has knocked me out like this.

Going In

4/26/2017

I still do not feel well, but it is a bigger pain to stay home as a teacher than it is to tough it out. I already feel guilty that fellow staff members had to cover for my absence on Tuesday as no substitute picked up the job. The good news is that I was able to put together enough of a coherent thought to submit my homework for today. Surely that means I will be even better tomorrow.

Flattened

4/25/2017

I spent the entire day in bed with the exception of bathroom breaks and picking up Connor from the bus (Rowen also stayed home today). Now that I've written my plans for tomorrow, I'm going back to bed.

Sick and Tired

4/24/2017

The fever, ache, and chills bug that has gone around caught up with me. I've been sleeping most of the day since I got home from work. Unfortunately, I'm still running a fever. I just spent the last hour and a half typing up my sub plans for tomorrow.
Yuck.

The Second Sunday of Easter

4/23/2017

I hope that I will be forgiven as my brain is a little over-taxed at the moment. I just finished the final touches and submitted the second of two papers that were due tonight. I promise that I had something interesting to say based on today's sermon from our amazingly enthusiastic new (to this parish) priest. However, I am not certain that what follows does him justice:

In short, he spoke of the importance of obedience. This isn't mindless obedience in an attempt to divest ourselves of responsibility. Rather, it is obedience to God and His precepts that we should love one another. While it is important to question orders, especially when those orders conflict with our personal morals or society's ethics, so often we question as a way to avoid action. Obedience requires action on our parts, action which we so often procrastinate. Sure, we talk a good talk, but do we actually take steps to make the world a better place (this is certainly directed at myself).

However, rather than spend time playing the blame (including self-blame) game, he also said that we need to remember that it's okay to be flawed. Our own parents, teachers, and priests were flawed, but we still learned from them. So to will our children and others learn from us. Being flawed does not mean that we don't bring something of value. In fact, our flaws can often be the connection we need to the other flawed beings around us so that we can recognize each other and work together to overcome our flaws.

... including the flaw of waiting too long to work on two papers that were due tonight.

Sick Child

4/22/2017

There are few things more effective at demonstrating how powerless I truly am than one of my children being sick. Watching my child suffer from an illness makes me feel so completely helpless. Today, I feel even worse about it because I was giving Rowen a hard time about how "over dramatic" he was acting this afternoon. He has only recently just recovered from a fever, and I thought that he was milking some of the earlier sympathy he had received.

... then he threw up.

I felt like the mother in Calvin and Hobbes [comic attached *thank you Bill Watterson for being so amazingly awesome].

I've been reading books where people have been dying from the flu. I remember once thinking that I was glad our modern society does not have that problem. That is, until Alex had to be hospitalized as a child. Thankfully, everything turned out fine, but even now, a decade and a half later, that incident still sends shivers down my spine. I do not think I have ever been more afraid.

Here is hoping that Rowen makes a quick recovery.

An Anti-Epiphany

4/21/2017

I recently had an "ah ha" moment of the negative variety. I suppose that makes it more of an "oh no" moment. Now, I know that this won't seem like much of a revelation to those of you who know me. In fact, part of the "ah ha" (or "oh no") moment that I had this week included remembering times in my life that people have tried to explain this to me before.

The revelation was this: I think that people who disagree with me must either not understand all of the facts involved or are being deliberately stupid. Worse, I then either condescendingly try to "educate" them or treat them like the idiots that I think that they are.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "That's just Paul being Paul. He didn't know this?"

Truthfully? I didn't. And that is hard for me to admit. Up until this week (seriously, just a few days ago), I thought that when people in the past have called me a jerk (or worse) that it was because of my tendency to say off-the-cuff (and sometime not entirely appropriate) jokes, my habit of quickly saying a "humorous" insult that fits the moment, or my penchant to pout when I am losing a game (and, yes, I understand that those are still some of the reasons that people might think I'm a jerk). I have been confused many times when someone has called me a jerk (usually worse) even though I haven't made one of those humorous comments or been anywhere near a competition with them. I have even rationalized it to myself that some people just don't like me for unknowable reasons (and that might still be the case in some instances).

The thing is ... I've always liked being the guy with the answers. I like telling people things that they didn't know before. I also hold some strong religious, ethical, economic, social, and political opinions, and I did not understand why other people did not hold them too.

One thing that my current classes has been helping me examine are my own biases, and I'm finding that I have quite a few. This past week, one of our readings focused specifically on how researchers unknowingly affect the results of their studies because of their unconscious body motions, facial expressions, and lines of questioning. It was when mentally applying the reading to myself that I had my ... well, I don't want to call it an epiphany due to its negative reflection on myself so ... anti-epiphany.

While knowing of a problem is a step towards fixing that problem, it has only made me more keenly aware of how often this is an issue for me. From online posts to comments made at school, I find myself judging people time and again as being ... tragically uninformed. I've caught myself multiple times in the past few days using facial expressions and body language to convey my feelings of their inadequacy.

This is going to be a long, hard struggle.

All Well

4/20/2017

As of today, all of the boys have been well enough to go back to school. Although Trevor still has a rather racking cough, none of the them had a fever to keep them from furthering their education. I am a little concerned about Trevor's claims that he didn't really miss anything for the three days that he was gone and his claims that he is now all caught up with his school work. I hope that we don't suddenly see a grade dip as a result of this absence (which I believe is his first absence--and second and third--absence[s] of the school year).

Thus far, Janelle, Alex, and I seem to be disease-free. I wonder if the boys only just now caught the bug that we had wrestled with earlier in the school year. One way or the other, I at least want to stay healthy through this Sunday so that the final children's choir of the school year goes off without problems of that sort.

I'm certainly happy that my boys are feeling better. Especially considering the beautiful weather that we've had, it's been nice to see them healthy enough to enjoy time outside. I should really emulate them more in that regard.

Radiant

4/19/2017

Every once and a while, there are moments in life that take my breath away. Today, I happened to walk into my church at the perfect moment. Pollen from the Easter lilies permeated the air, and the sun lit up the room with rays of light leading directly to the cross. All that was missing was a chorus of angels.

Confrontations

4/18/2017

I'm terrible at confrontations. Often, I try to avoid them entirely. When I can't, I either freeze up and become a pushover, or I become overly aggressive and raise the confrontation to a new level. One way or the other, my chest, neck, and lower face redden like I have a case of hives, causing further discomfort by the amount of heat I suddenly give off. Basically, I am not at my best when in a confrontation.

Point in fact, I sat looking at my phone for almost half an hour before working up the courage to call the company that put in the leach field to our house. One of the conditions of buying the house was that the septic had to be working, and ours failed the test quite spectacularly. Now at breakup, we find the septic causing the same sort of problems again, despite the fact that this company was supposed to fix it.

They've blamed it on a colder-than-normal winter with more-than normal amounts of snow (although I don't think that we actually hit any records), the fact that the tank and field are a hundred feet away from the house, and that the entire pipe from house to tank is 4 inches in diameter. However, all of these things were true (or possibilities) when they were hired to fix the problem last year. I don't have enough knowledge about septic systems to really argue more than that one point. Nor do I know what I can do if they say that there's nothing they can do.

I managed to stay cool through the phone call, but ultimately I just postponed the confrontation. The guy is supposed to come out later this week again to "assess" the issue and talk about our options. I just want our system to work regularly.

I hope my "hives" don't show. Maybe I should wear a turtleneck ...

Breaking Out the Shorts

4/17/2017

Sure, other people might think that the mid fifties isn't really shorts weather, but those people aren't me. I've been looking forward to getting them out ever since I put my cargo shorts away for the winter. True, I've been wearing gym shorts when I've been picking up the boys from their bus stop for the last month or so, but that's because I'm usually just leaving my end-of-the-school day workout, and putting sweat pants on over them (like I do in sub-freezing temperatures) makes me too warm.

Instead of feeling chilled, I felt more comfortable (temperature wise) at home than I have for a little while. Part of this might be due to the amount of sun we've had lately combined with the number and size of our upstairs windows. It's been warm enough that I've been opening the windows a bit when I've been up there.

Still, I just prefer the feel of shorts ... and I love the convenience of the cargo pockets. Roll your eyes all you like. This is my kind of fashion.

Easter Sunday 2017

4/16/2017

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus rose from the grave, bringing all of us the hope of everlasting life. Ever since, we have been celebrating this miracle in one of the oldest holidays celebrated in the Christian faith. To those who believe, this is about more than decorated eggs, chocolate bunnies, and pastel-colored plastic grass. This is a celebration of hope and love.

May this Easter season bring us all peace.