My primary task on this final day of November was to get up the Christmas lights in main living areas. This meant doing things a little bit differently as we've need to adjust a variety of elements due to our expanded household. I think that the overall effect is at least as good as it has been in the past.

Speaking of the past, today is the last day of the fastest month of November that I can remember. Here are some of the highlights:
-I voted early in the state and national election.
-We moved back to standard time with little issue.
-I watched with horror as our nation voted in an already proven agent of destruction. I pray that I'm wrong, but Trump has once again shown his desire to destroy America through reckless, even dangerous, Cabinet choices. The people who voted for him this time cannot plead ignorance. They were warned; the blood that follows will be on their hands.
... ahem ... moving on ...
-We've had several colder-than-normal streaks this November. In fact, we're just pulling out of one of them now.
-Katrina and I sang at a Mass of Remembrance and followed that up with a daddy-daughter date.
-My DDF team had a great showing at our tournament in South Anchorage with one of our debate teams securing our first ever tournament win for debate.
-About half of our house now has new (and significantly improved) windows (and a door). Despite the expense, the improvement is enough that I'm seriously considering getting the rest done.
-I received my flu and COVID vaccinations. 
-My grandchildren spontaneously break into humming the Imperial March from Star Wars.
-I've decided on hold a Guardians of the Galaxy movie marathon on my birthday.
-Janelle and I drove Katrina, Peter, and the grandchildren to the airport, returning to a now all-too-quiet home.
-Tifa (my Kia Sportage) had her first birthday.
-We watched, and loved, and I rewatched the TV show Agatha All Along.
-We invited a friend over for Thanksgiving and had a great day.
-Black Friday was underwhelming from a shopping point of view, but an enjoyable day anyway.

Considering how packed this next week is both at work and at home, it seems that December will be rushing along, too.

In short, today's sales were underwhelming. I could be wrong, but I believe that this is the first Black Friday that I've attended when I did not have at least one item on a list prior to shopping. For that matter, I found fewer items that I wanted than any previous year. A particular disappointment was the lack of movie or video game sales. I think that this might be the first Black Friday that I didn't come home with at least one DVD--which is likely a sign of the power of our streaming/downloading culture. Still, I enjoyed running into (in some cases literally) people I know.

All told, I had a pretty laid-back day. After taking the boys out shopping early in the morning (but not super early), I returned home, sat in front of the upstairs TV and completed building a LEGO Alpine Lodge as part of our LEGO Christmas village while binge watching most of Agatha All Along--which is even more impressive on a second viewing. In the afternoon, I went to visit friends and play a couple games of Seven Wonders, losing to an aggressive, military strategy both times--technological development only got me so far.

It's been a fully enjoyable day.

With Katrina, Peter, and the grandkids down in Michigan, we were fortunate that one of our friends was willing to help fill our table ... and beat me at cribbage. While Janelle was up early to get the rolls ... um ... rolling, I was up early with her to be on hand for any tasks that she was willing to trust to my hands. Thus, the first part of my day was spent with cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, washing dishes, and looking for cooking items that are only utilized for holiday dinners (and I was only mostly successful at that).

That said, it was a fairly laid back Thanksgiving. Everything seemed to go well with only the rolls finishing a little late--coming out of the oven as we were in the middle of the rest of the meal. Once again, Janelle made an absolutely fantastic meal that certainly led to overindulgence. This included a turkey that literally slid off its bones. Dessert included not only her classic dark chocolate meringue pie but also a caramel torte with a chocolate ganache filling. We ate that while playing a game of Carcassonne which ended with Rowen winning for the first time.

Despite some dark turns this year, there is so much in my life for which I am thankful. My family, friends, home, coworkers, students, and job have all been fantastic! Days like today are perfect for reminding me of the good things from this past year and the need to be thankful for them. 

Our high school holds a spirit week during the short three days before Thanksgiving. There are dress-up days during the week and an assembly at the end of the day on Wednesday. Unlike other spirit weeks, this one pits the teachers against the students with different activities earning different amounts of points. 

This year, I somehow won the first dress-up day--where students dress up as teachers and teachers dress up as students. I pulled my ideas for the various parts of my outfit from different styles that I have seen from different students. That didn't stop people from trying to guess which student I was dressed as. I think that the real selling point was the attitude that I took on as I stood in the hallway between classes. My other outfits were not as inspired, but they still fit the brief. 

I also did more running today than I expected, but still not nearly as much as some of the other teachers. Two of the events that I was in were relays. The third was a shoe "toss" with the feet only. While I did not distinguish myself in any of those events, the teachers managed to outscore the students for the second year in a row ... it does help when a teacher is running the scoreboard.

​It was a fun short week, but I'm quite glad for the break.

Kia has sent me a couple of reminders that I bought Tifa (my Kia Sportage--that I pronounce sport TAHZH) one year ago today. Like most events in my life, this one seems like it was not so long ago and yet also farther in my past. In this case, I kept thinking that I had purchased Tifa earlier in the school year, or at least earlier in November, yet it also seems like I'm still getting used to her. 

On the whole, I am still quite pleased with Tifa. We've had some large snowfalls since she joined our family, and she really makes her way through snow like a professional--which was one of my main reasons for moving away the Prius line (which I still love). She's also quite spacious, even in the back seat. I've had multiple students whom I've taken to DDF tournaments who have commented on how comfortable the back is. I agree with this in regards to the front as well. I remember not caring for the hard plastic on the door armrests, but that seems to be something that I have become accustomed to over this past year. 

I particularly like Tifa's overall handling. She doesn't have the nimble turn radius of Mera (now Trevor's Prius), but drives smoothly and has a nice feel of power especially when I engage her all-wheel drive (although, it does bother me that I have to engage it every time I turn on the vehicle). I also love the wireless Apple CarPlay. It's strange for me now to switch to a vehicle where I need to plug in my phone. I have also become a bit spoiled by the heated seats.

There are some downsides. The most frustrating to me is that Tifa is not keyless. This is particularly frustrating when I want to warm her up while collecting my team from a hotel or when I want to leave her running while I step into the post office. I haven't yet taken the second key with me for these purposes (due to the bulk of the fob), but I seriously think that I will do so the next time we have a DDF tournament. I am also not completely happy with the automatic wipers that replaced the intermittent setting. There are times that they work fantastically, and other times that they are a complete annoyance--refusing to wipe when they should and spastically wiping when there's nothing there. Still, all told, those annoyances are minor.

I'm happy to say that Tifa and I are doing quite well as of this one-year anniversary.

I have the Queen song "Princes of the Universe" going through my head at the moment. It didn't help that I had the "I have the power!" phrase from Masters of the Universe going through my head a little while ago. In both cases, the titles of Princes or Masters of the Universe invoke a great deal more power as a concept than they did in practice. As super-powered as the "immortals" in the Highlander series or He-Man and his friends were, they were still remarkably limited in the scope of their actual (well ... fictional) power. Jesus Christ, consubstantial with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, is beyond any human imagining.

Today's homily had a the theme of not recognizing people of influence. Imagine how awkward we would feel to realize that we failed to recognize a person whom we otherwise admired, or worse, if we had dismissed them or even treated them poorly. However, Jesus tells us that He exists in everyone we meet--that is the power that He has. This means that every time we mistreat someone else, we are mistreating Him. I wonder how much greater our world would be if we all treated one another as though we were in the presence of unknown royalty and family with each person that we meet.

Janelle and I just returned from Anchorage, having dropped off Katrina, Peter, and their family at the Ted Stevens International Airport earlier in the day. They are on their way back to Michigan for a Thanksgiving (and the weeks that sandwich it). I was already the mischievous grandpa as I bought Alistair and Julian each a Spider-Man plushie (Peter Parker and Miles Morales, respectively). Janelle let Irene pick out some colorful hair attachments as well. There was some discussion about them not taking these new items on the trip and perhaps saving them for Christmas, but the grandchildren had all of them for the plane.

After the relatively quiet drive home, I still found myself surprised by how quiet the house was when we arrived. It didn't take long for there to be some noise from the younger boys once we asked them to help put away our purchases from Costco, but even then, the sound seemed localized and muted. There's no pounding of full-weighted toddler feet running across the house. No screeches or renditions of Star Wars songs randomly busting out from one location or the other. Even the pets seem more sedate.

Ironically, I find the lack of noise rather disquieting. 

I apologized to one of my classes today for erupting at them yesterday. One of the students said, "Well, we deserved it." My response was, "Yes, you did, but I've been trying to treat people better than they deserve." The fact is that I don't deserve the good things that have happened to me in my life. In the balance of cosmic forces, I owe so very much more than what I have received. I try to treat people better than they deserve as I have benefited from such treatment in my own life.

My birthday is a little over a month away. I've been wanting to run a Guardians of the Galaxy movie marathon since the third movie came out. For one reason or another, I have postponed or canceled the few times that I have tried to set one up--including my birthday last year. Part of the issue is that, despite there only being three movies in the main series, there is a large amount of other film to watch to get the entire story (and I'm not even talking about the Baby Groot adventures). Basically, to get the full story, it is necessary to watch the entirety of Avengers: Infinity War (for Gamora's story) and Avengers: End Game (for Nebula's story) as well as the holiday special and at least ten minutes of Thor: Love and Thunder.

It is possible to watch the entire run in one day; however, even just watching 10 minutes of Thor: Love and Thunder (and I would want to watch the whole thing), we would have to start at 7 AM to be able to end by 9 PM (nearly 11 PM with all of Thor: Love and Thunder). Thus, it might make more sense to watch the first two movies the evening before (or the first three the afternoon through the evening before). This does mean watching the first movie (which is my favorite) at a more reasonable time, but I often hesitate to extend my birthday movie marathons over two days.

I think that my final decision on the schedule will need to be based on what other people would prefer. I have assumed that would mean the shorter one-day schedule, but when I spoke with Connor, he expressed interest in watching all of Thor: Love and Thunder. Maybe other people will feel the same.

My grandchildren have taken a liking to Star Wars. Frequently, they will ask if we are going to watch the movie with "Dark Vader." They have found and now play with the light saber toys that we got for the boys when they were younger. They keep getting into the box of Disney Infinity toys which happens have a number of Star Wars characters.

However, the most compelling evidence of their interest in the series is that they are either asking to hear the soundtrack or are actively humming parts of it. By far, the most popular song in their repertoire is "Dark Vader's" song, The Imperial March. Out of nowhere, one of them will start singing "Duh duh duh dun da dun dun da dun," and before long one or more of the others will chime in. It's quite adorable, but it can be a bit distracting as they will break into song spontaneously without warning ... during TV shows, dinner, and especially conversations. 

They're clearly being raised correctly. 

Last week Monday, Connor and I received our COVID and flu vaccinations. I normally get mine around September or October when I have one of my regular check-ins for my Type-II Diabetes, but this year my doctor moved me to six month visitations rather than three month ones (because I was doing well). With the number of students getting sick, I figured that I should probably get the shots now rather than waiting until December.

As Hawkeye Pierce says in the season two M*A*S*H* episode "Carry On, Hawkeye": "You know that little shot you game me for the flu? Well, it worked, I've got it." Now, I haven't had a full-on flu, and it might be that the timing of the shot is coincidental as Connor has not shown any of the same symptoms, but I've definitely been more run-down this past week. It's not so much that I feel sick (although there is certainly something going on in my sinuses) but that I'm tired. With the two days of the DDF tournament taking up all of Friday and Saturday, I've found myself spending my afternoons since then trying to sleep.

Who knows? It might also be the increasing darkness and the colder weather that has me seeking the comfort of my covers. Speaking of, I should probably head to bed.

There is no doubt that replacing eight windows and a door with Renewal by Anderson was expensive. I was also quite frustrated that they did the installation during some of the coldest days in November unlike late July or early August like we had originally hoped (but were quite specifically not guaranteed). However, I cannot deny the significant improvement these windows (and door) are over the ones that they replaced. They look nicer, open and close easier, and are much better insulated against the substantial cold weather we've had these past couple of weeks.

There are fifteen windows and one exterior door that are still various states of disrepair and are in need of replacement. None of them are at the need level as the other windows were, but I'm certain that their replacement would make a distinct, long-term improvement to our home. If it just wasn't so expensive ...

This is the final Sunday in Ordinary Time for the liturgical and calendar year. While we don't start Advent for two weeks, we get the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe next week. It's fitting, then, that today's readings deal with the end of days.

People love predicting the end of the world. In the books I've been reading about the history of Japan, they reference the influence and periodic resurgence of Buddhist groups who had used their insistence that they were in the final days of the world to significantly influence political policies--hundreds of years ago. Many world religions have the concept of living in the end of days as the primary focus of their religion.

In a sense, they are correct. The human lifespan is quite short in comparison to the entirety of creation. For us, the end of days is nearly upon us. Unfortunately, I've been personally reminded of that fact during this past week due to friends of mine dealing with the deaths of people whom they deeply care about. In that sense, we should always be prepared for the end of our world as we know it and make certain that we let our loved ones know how much they mean to us.