The snow from yesterday still blanketed the ground and trees this morning, creating a beautiful, frosted wonderland.  Although I woke up fighting a sore throat and congested sinuses, I felt both peaceful and energized upon seeing such a display.  We decided to go for a family drive and see what other sights we might be able to take in.  Janelle​ got a number of great pictures from our trip to both Sterling (to the east) and Kenai (to the north).

Connor and Rowen had a great time running from house to house trick-or-treating in their ninja and Captain America costumes (respectively) .  We really didn't know the normal routes, so we started in Becky Applebee​'s neighborhood which, although it did not have many people trick-or-treating, had a surprising number of houses that were handing out treats.  Unfortunately, Soldotna does not have the "leaving the lights on" signal or any other sign for which houses passed our treats and which didn't.  A few houses did have signs that said they did not celebrate Halloween and a couple of house lights turned off after the boys knocked on the doors, but otherwise it was a fairly good experience.

We found the bulk of trick-or-treaters when we decided to swing by our church which was offering hot dogs and hot chocolate as well as a place to warm up.  The road our church is on was packed with parked cars and crowds of costumed people.  Actually, although we did stop at the church, there were entirely too many people for us, and we tried a different neighborhood that I thought a coworker had told be about.  I must have gotten the name wrong, for only one house was handing out candy; however, there was a nice fog coming off the snow there, lending to a perfect Halloween ambiance.

We capped off the night by drinking hot cocoa, eating popcorn, and watching the Addams Family movie, which everyone seemed to enjoy.  We did have a few conversations over the course of the movie to talk about some of the on screen antics with Connor and Rowen.  They both seemed receptive to the discussions.

Although I missed getting to directly see my nieces and nephews while handing out candy to the many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood (as was our usual tradition these past years), I feel that we had a good Halloween.

Aside from the onset of cold symptoms, today has been an enjoyable and relaxing day.  Our professional development was held in our wonderful library, so we were all able to witness the massive flakes as they fell and started collecting on the ground.  I'm used to people seeing snowflakes and groaning, but you would think our library was filled young children based on the reactions.  While there were a few voices of concern about needing to sweep and shovel, most of the talk about the snow was in excited voices that even included a bit of cheering.  It was nice to be able to voice my support for snow without being jeered or hushed.

The boys got out early and started building snowmen before there was enough to make anything more than a few inches tall.  While I had some concerns that they would end up disappointed, the snow kept coming and we were able to build a respectable fort (I only contributed a couple of snow boulders before deciding I was too unwell to be gallivanting in the wet and cold).

This day was only made better by Janelle​ having baked home-made cinnamon rolls.  They were warm, sticky, and the perfect treat to have while watching heavy, wet flakes come down outside.  We've nearly devoured an entire tray of them just this evening.

Add in an hour or more of Borderlands 2 with Alex​, more MarioKart with Janelle and Connor, and some time to play Skyrim, and I certainly feel recharged, if not entirely hale.  

Another long, but rewarding day of parent/teacher conferences has come and gone.  Being a middle school, I saw more parents today than I have during the years that I worked at a high school.  All of my conversations were positive on both sides, and I once again felt recharged about my job and its affect on so many young lives.

I was wearing what I tend to think of as my "priest shirt" which has a high collar and a large dark button at the top.  However, underneath I was wearing my Batman t-shirt.  I didn't need the extra support today, but it's worth wearing the Batman emblem so that should an irate parent ask "Who do you think you are?" I can respond calmly while still thinking to myself "I'm Batman!"

It's a strange feeling to know that my students (and my sons) don't have school for the next two days, but that I (and the other teachers) still have to come in for work.  Tomorrow is a half day of professional development, followed by parent/teacher conferences that go until 7pm.  Friday is more professional development.  Our PD is about the "Fourth 'R'" which is unfortunately not the advanced pirate-talk workshop that I was hoping for.  [For the curious - the first three R's are Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic.  The "fourth R" is for building healthy Relationships with our students.]  

Most teachers don't look forward to parent/teacher conferences, but although I don't like the long day, I actually look forward to meeting my students' parents.  Not only does the experience help me understand my students better, it also lets the students know that they have a team who wants to help them achieve the most out of their lives.

Speaking of parent/teacher conferences, we had ours with the younger boys' teachers today.  Both teachers had a great deal of positive things to say about Rowen and Connor.  One even expressed concern that our boys might not be challenged enough by the school's curriculum.  That's always nice to hear.

No news on our house, but I haven't given up hope that something will happen soon.

With the full moon here and my students going crazy, I decided to take out some aggression today by joining my sons outside and stopping an invasion invisible orcs, ogres, trolls, and dragons.  While my sword-wielding skills would probably make my college fencing instructor cringe, the boys certainly seemed entertained.  It was a bit cold out, but sword-flailing definitely warms a person up.

I was impressed that my sons had already devised a game where they did not swing their play-swords at one another, but rather in the defense of our residence.  Orcs, beware!

While we didn't see any rain today, we also didn't see any sun.  A blanket of gray clouds kept the sun out, but was still high enough that we could clearly see the mountains in the distance.  Mount Redoubt was even visible from my classroom.  While Connor has become less impressed with the mountains lately, they still impress me to my very core each time I see them.

My students today were certainly feeling the effects of the approaching full moon today.  Like my principal, I'm certainly glad that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year.  With parent/teacher conferences this week, I certainly don't want the week to get any stranger.  

In the category of "hoping I'm not getting my hopes up": today my mother, Cheryl​, spoke with a family interested in purchasing our house.  They said that they would have their realtor contact ours, but all of this was done after business hours, so we'll have to still wait and see.  I am cautiously optimistic.

The first reading and psalm for today both insist that we should shout with joy for the Lord has done marvelous things for us.  How often have I allowed that joy to infuse my being?  So often I am focused on some future happiness or thinking nostalgically about times past without recognizing the joy of the moment.  The Lord is with us now; He loves us in this present instant just as He has in the past and will in the future.

We have often heard the story of the blind man in today's Gospel, but we don't associate it with ourselves because we don't think we are blind.  That's the advantage that Bartimaeus had over us; he understood and recognized his blindness, thus he knew to ask for his sight to be restored.  We, instead, stumble through our lives unaware of how blind we have become.  All we need to do is say, "Master, I want to see," and our sight will be returned to us as well.  The joy we are missing will be lit up around us.

Today, Rowen was chosen to carry the offering basket tot he altar.  Connor asked to help him in case Rowen got too scared.  At first Rowen shrugged off the help, but the basket was a bit too awkward for him and the two ended up bringing it forward.  Rowen then hugged Connor, in a way that has been referred to as koala-like, all the way back to the pew.  Often, their antics in church tend to fill me with anxiety about other people's judgments about my parenting ability, but today all I saw were smiles on the faces of people who watched them pass.

At this moment, the three boys are running around in the yard whooping, growling, and pow-powing.  I'm certain that their play brings smiles on the faces of the angels and those who have gone before.

We woke up this morning, got dressed, ate breakfast, and piled into the Prius for our nearly three hour (thanks to construction) trip to Anchorage.  Despite the close quarters, we decided to take the Prius rather than the van in an effort to save on gas.  In the future, we will be using the van, as one of the main purposes of the trip up is to stock up on supplies and we really didn't have enough space in the end.

We met up with Robert​ and Shawna Jack​ and their family for lunch at Chili's in the Dimond Center, an impressive, multi-level mall.  Among the highlights was watching the pee-wee hockey team go through its "falling down and standing up" training at the indoor ice rink.  Shawna graciously offered to let our boys play with her children while Janelle​ and I went on our Costco run.

The only real downsides of the trip were my tailbone and my digestive tract, both of which were causing me pain today.  In an odd coincidence, I came out of a bathroom stall in Costco only to hear "Hey, Mr. Marks!" as I made my way to the sink.  One of my students happened to be next in line for the stall I had just come from in a store three hours away from where we normally see each other.  ... Yet I have trouble just finding Janelle again when we separate while shopping.

We had a great time with the Jack's today (although Rob had to work) and ended up going to fewer stores and leaving Anchorage later than we originally planned so we could spend more time with them.  It was a rainy drive in and a dark drive back, but I feel lit up within from the trip.

It's usually a small group at cross-fit on Fridays.  Often, like today, it's just Nurse Sue and me.  Our daily cross-fit workouts are usually written up on the white-board at the upper gym (the box) where we do our workouts.  Sometimes we need to get explanation from one of the instructors or aides, sometimes the workout is completely straightforward.  Today, it was insane: 200 pull-ups, 100 single-jumps (on the jump-rope), 70 air squats, 25 rope-pulls, and 20 push-ups.  The computer we usually use to listen to music and double-check our warm-ups was not available so we couldn't check the cross-fit site.  I thought it had to be a joke, but as the instructor was busy coaching, we decided to give it a go.

By the fortieth pull-up, I was using all three resistance bands to help modify the exercise.  By one-hundred, we were both only doing one or two at a time.  We decided to stop at that point since we already used up half of our 20-minute maximum time on just the one exercise.  Our hands were burning, so we also cut the rope-pulls to 20, but otherwise we powered through the rest of the workout.  I barely made the last push-up before the time was up.  It was at that moment that our normal instructor came up with some of his team.  

He looked at the two of us drenched in sweat, and then pointed at the board asking, "You two didn't actually do that workout, did you?  That was a joke."  Because we hadn't turned on the music, he didn't think anyone was up here so he didn't come up to give us the actual workout.  ... I'm a bit sore ...

Today was also Oktoberfest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  We took the boys there, and they had a blast.  While we now know that they were supposed to dress up in Halloween costumes for the event, they managed to enjoy themselves anyway.  They spent a while just playing in the indoor leaf pile.  Other kids weren't playing in it because this was the first year that it wasn't hiding candy, but Connor and Rowen didn't know about that lack and so they just were enjoying themselves rolling in and throwing around the leaves.

They also both showed a great deal of coordination at the dart-throwing balloon-pop events.  Connor got three out of five hits at the one set up for older kids where I had earlier seen some of my middle schools students go away without a single balloon popped.  Rowen also did well at the younger kids' booth, but I figured I'd write down the story the way he told it:  "I threw the dart ... Wa-pow! ... pop! ... Sha-bam! ... miss ... Wa-bam! ... miss ... Wa-pow! ... pop! ... Wa-pow! ... miss ... and they gave me candy!"

And to top off a great day, we were on our way home when we passed by some student's from Trevor​'s school.  One of the girls waved at him.  When he waved back, she asked if he was going to the dance.  He told her no and followed us to the car.  When I pried, he said that there was a dance tonight, but he didn't want to go because he didn't have a costume.  I pried further and he said that the girl who spoke to him was in one of his classes but he didn't know her name.  

If I didn't know better, I'd think he was playing hard-to-get ...

Not everything has been wonderful up here in Soldotna.  On occasion, small disturbances can mar what has otherwise been a good couple of months.  Unfortunately, today held a few such moments.

Skyview Middle School is located rather close to the Central Peninsula Landfill (the dump).  This is actually one of the reasons why there are so many bald eagle nests near the school.  Normally, we just have the benefit of getting to see those magnificent (if scavenger) birds.  Today, a mischievous wind brought us smoke from the incinerator.  It wasn't a noxious smoke--more like a heavy wood fire--but it was rather strong and distracting.

On returning home from work, I was informed that our van's rear driver's side tire had gone flat.  It took considerably more time and force than I expected to remove the tire and I wasn't able to make it to a local tire shop in time to get it repaired or replaced (the gash in the tire is beyond my simple repair skills).  This means that tomorrow will require everyone to get up early with Trevor​ and me to take the two of us to our schools.  It should be an interesting morning.

Finally, I was informed today that all new staff members are expected to create a group act (most have been dances) and perform together for the "Turkey Trot" pep assembly before Thanksgiving.  The other new teachers have already started panicking and planning for this event.  While I normally love performing in front of others, I'm a little concerned about the intensity of past performances that we have been told about and some of my fellow newbies' desire to somehow top them.  ... Who am I kidding?  It'll be a blast!

Before people start using my new hardships to suggest that I need to return Michigan, I should inform you that I also got a see a young moose up close today on my return home from the tire shop.  It was on its "elbows" patiently eating something on the ground until I stopped nearby to watch, at which point it stood up and stared back at me.  That alone beats smoke, tires, and dances together.

I spent most of the school day wishing students a "Happy Back to the Future Day."  While some of my fellow staff members expressed concern that the students wouldn't know what I was talking about (not to mention concern for my sanity), a surprising number of students' eyes lit up; several students spoke enthusiastically about how their parents had them watch the movie "when they were young."  Among staff, by far the most common response was "That's today; isn't it?", but that was closely followed by "I want my hoverboard" or something similar.  

I, too, a missing the hoverboard or the flying car that Back to the Future II seemed to promise us, but all-in-all I prefer our 2015 to the 2015 predicted in the movie (except that I would have liked for the Cubs to at least make it to, if not win, the World Series).  We have made great advances in the past thirty years.  They might not seem so extraordinary to us since we've been on their journey of development, but so much of what we use every day is greater than anyone in the 80's could have predicted.  

There's something about reaching a day that was predicted in a movie or book from the past.  Today gave all of a chance to look back over the past thirty years (or 26) and see how far we've come, and how far we have to go.  It gave us a chance to measure ourselves against our expectations.  I would like to think that we've done quite well.

If nothing else, I'm glad we were wrong about the "future's" fashions.

I haven't slept well for the past couple of nights.  Partly, I feel like I might be fighting something off as I've been over warm and uncomfortable.  The younger boys both had a bug go through them recently and I don't doubt the my school's ecosystem is full of germs just looking for a nice, warm home.

At least some portion of my sleeplessness is due to the aches of the cross-fit program I've been following.  While I quite enjoyed the obstacle course yesterday, the ankle that I "rolled" back in July has been acting up.  Still, I'm much less sore than I was the first couple of weeks.  Granted, I was reminded today that I was still doing my box jumps at the "girls' height."

I know that another part of this insomnia is that my mind has been constantly in the "on" position while thinking about lessons, finances, housing, and the upcoming holidays.  I know I should worry less and trust more, but I can't help but try to plan.

And at least a portion of the problem is that I screwed up a portion of the last song that I performed for a graduation service on Sunday.  That particular line has been running round and round my head, taunting me ever since.  Otherwise, the service went quite well.  I received one of my favorite compliments on my singing: those in attendance said they felt like I helped them sing better.

I'm too tired to think of a good wrap-up for this post at the moment.  Maybe I'll be better rested tomorrow.

Three star-related items really brought out my inner geek today.
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The first was the morning sky.  I forgot to turn on the outside light before going out to de-ice my car this morning.  Before my fear of what might be hiding in the darkness (being afraid of darkness itself is a little silly) had a chance to kick into gear, I saw the constellation of Orion beaming brightly at me.  Within a few moments, my eyes adjusted and my vision was filled with heavenly light.  Between the light pollution back in Michigan and the cloudy skies here, it has been a while since I have seen a night sky shine so enthusiastically.  I wish I had not been in such a rush this morning, but I still took a few moments to appreciate the beauty of it.

The second was the new Starcraft II expansion which my brother pre-purchased for me so we could play its beta.  The game is quite a bit quicker now, which I thought would be a problem, but I quickly came to appreciate.  The new terran units are fantastic, but I wasn't as impressed with the other races.  Still, I'm largely happy with the changes and I look forward to playing more.

And the third was the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Sure, I have my concerns about what Abrams and Disney might do to this franchise that was such an important part of my life, but watching the trailer only made me want to see more (which is good, since that's what trailers should do).  Episodes I-III were hard for me, so I hope that these new movies restore my confidence in that galaxy far, far away.

... A galaxy I probably saw in the sky this morning.

Today's readings remind us that Jesus suffered for our sins out of love for us.  We bear our own sufferings for many reasons: sometimes out of obligation, sometimes to feed ourselves, sometimes for the end results of our works ... the list goes on.  The sufferings for which we feel the best, however, are when we suffer to help someone we love.  The pain, the sweat, the tears all seem worth it when we see the ultimate results of our tribulations.

The Gospel also tells of the time when James and John ask Jesus to sit at His right and left when He attains His kingdom.  Jesus warns them that it doesn't work that way.  Instead, those who are thought of as the best must be those who have sacrificed the most in serving others.  If done out of love, those sacrifices will bring the greatest rewards, but not rewards in the way the world so often makes us think of them.  This isn't about achieving wealth, fame, power, or pride, but being the best we possibly can be to make the world the best it possibly can be as well.

I've also been reminded several times today that it is Alaska Day.  One would think that since I am so enamored with the 49th state, this would be a great day of celebration for me.  However, I have bad associations with the day that Alaska was purchased by the U.S. from Russia.  The first time I ever heard about it was because one of my checks bounced since the bank didn't take my deposit because of Alaska day (and then processed debts before deposits when it opened the next day).  It's been over twenty years, and I should get over this at some point, but it won't be today.

On a much happier note, today is my nephew Colby's fifth birthday.  The boys insisted that I call so they could wish him a happy birthday.  Rowen told Colby that he wanted be at his birthday party, to which Colby replied, "You can still come over."  While I'm still quite happy with our decision to move, not being with family during these sorts of events is one of the largest downsides.