The road to Anchorage (and back) was windy and covered in ice, and the roads in Anchorage (including some of the major ones) were still unplowed from last night's storm--to the point that we saw several vehicles stuck on the side of the road, yet we made it there and back with little trouble while still getting several errands done and spending some time with friends. Katrina is safely on the plane back to Michigan, and Janelle and I are safely home. All-in-all there is little more to ask from God than safe arrivals.
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Tomorrow, Katrina begins her trek back to Michigan. It has been wonderful having her with us this past week, but the time has passed all too quickly. Still, it was nice to have everyone under the same roof for a little while. Connor took the opportunity to play Minecraft with Katrina. Alex has been showing Katrina videos of interest as well as getting her to play a scary video game so she can watch it with her. Katrina filled the empty spaces in Carcassonne, dyed fabric with Janelle, played MarioKart and Just Dance, and even taught the boys some new ice skating moves.
Many of the conversations this past week have centered on wedding plans and questions of travel. I find it difficult to watch my children take on their adult lives and move out of the nest (even if we moved the nest to the other side of the continent). It's a part of life that I have never looked forward to. Still, I am happy that she is happy. We took our dogs to the vet today to get spayed. When we dropped them off in the morning, they were full of energy, pulling on their leashes hard enough that I got rope burn, and trying to jump up on everyone at the office. It was a different story after we picked them up this afternoon. Instead of trying to push up to the front seat, River just laid down in the back while Starbuck kept bark-whining at us. For a while, neither of them were able to get comfortable. I sat next to Starbuck once we were home and gently petted her; every time I moved away, she would start whimpering again. Currently, they are both sleeping quietly downstairs--even though we have the upstairs open to them.
I do not like seeing them in pain. However, we also did not want litters of puppies as several of the neighbors often allow their dogs to wander freely and our puppies have gotten away a few times on their own. It does sadden me a bit that their unique combination will not be continued in some way because they are beautiful and intelligent dogs who, although sometimes a little too enthusiastically, love people. I couldn't have hand-chosen a better pair of dogs for our family. Now we need to keep an eye on them for the next couple of weeks--which was one of the reasons we scheduled this during the first week of winter break. We can't let them roughhouse, spend too much time out in the snow or wet, or let them lick at the incision. So far, they've been pretty good, but its clear that they still have some of the anesthetic in their systems. I just hope they feel better soon. Without a doubt, she was my first crush. To this day, she represents for me the best princess. Her candid discussions about her substance abuse and its effects on her life and her health only made me admire her more. Her response to her appearance in last year's "The Force Awakens" showed her greatness.
While she wasn't perfect, and perhaps because of her lack of perfection, she was still an amazing role-model. Like so many, I am deeply saddened by her death. 2016 has not been a good year for the celebrities of my youth, but I suppose that is a part of life as well. I had not intended to take a multi-day hiatus from my daily posts, but that's just how things seemed to turn out. Even with time on the computer today (I had gone four days without turning it on), I still almost did not even post for today, let alone make up for lost time. This makes two months out of this year that I haven't had a post for every day. That's slipping from 2015's record.
It's been a nice laid-back couple of days where we've had some good family time as well as fun with our new presents. Tomorrow, I need to start thinking about school again, but it was fun while it lasted. I need to make certain that I take these breaks from time to time; they are truly rejuvenating. After finishing grades and leaving school at the normal time, I stopped by my house for just a bit before heading to Anchorage. The drive actually had more light than I expected considering the time I left. I had to slow down a bit more than normal, but the roads weren't that bad.
In Anchorage, I picked up some supplies at Costco before having dinner at Red Robin ( I was treating myself). I then spent some time at the Dimond Mall (picking up a PS3 to replace our broken one) and then went to Barnes and Noble to pick up a few last minute presents and see Robert Jack. Katrina's flight was delayed, but she arrived safely. I am just waiting for her to disembark before we begin our trip back to Soldotna. Hopefully, I will be able to get a good three hours of sleep before waking up for tomorrow's Marvel marathon. [We ended up having to wait over 45 minutes after she got to the baggage area before her bags arrived. As a consequence, I had an airport police officer give me a lecture and take my licence "for record purposes" before letting us go. We made it home safely.] For one reason or another, I've noticed the darkness more this year than last. I wonder if part of it is being in a bigger house. Last year, we were in such a small place that any light would basically fill up our side of the duplex. With our new home, it is much more common to walk into a dark or barely lit room.
Thankfully, the Christmas lights (and their timers) have gone a long way in alleviating this problem. Not only do they make the house more festive, they also have reduced the number of times that I have stubbed a toe or tripped over something on my way to or from my bedroom. My only regret is that I haven't set up more of them. Unfortunately, the best places to put them are also the hardest to get to, hence my reluctance. For one window in particular, I would prefer if I also had the hardware to set up curtains so I only had to deal with being up on the ladder once. Still, from this day on the days only get brighter. Sure the energy storage of our oceans means that the weather gets colder for the next couple of months, but seeing the sun set a little bit later each day is quite heartening (if blinding). The next few days are going to be busy.
Tomorrow, I need to bring my guitar to school as it is the last day before break, I plan to continue my tradition of singing holiday songs in the halls during passing time. I need to pick up the little boys from school as Janelle is working through the day. We are then going to do some carolling with the Faith Formation students (although I don't plan on bringing my guitar considering how cold it's supposed to get). Thursday, the students will be gone, but we teachers have a day to get our grades in order and plan for next semester. I still have a ton of end of term essays to read, so I will need to bring coffee. I don't have to pick up the boys as they don't have school, but I need to get the mail and pick up Thor 2 from the library (I was just informed that it is being held for me per my request). I am then heading to Anchorage, doing a little bit of shopping there (and planning to have dinner at Red Robin), and then picking up Katrina from the airport. Friday, technically, my birthday starts with driving Katrina home from Anchorage, but I plan on getting two or three hours of sleep and then starting the movie marathon of Marvel Phase II. Saturday, I plan to sleep in a bit to recover from Thursday and Friday. I am playing the guitar and leading the children's choir at the 5 PM mass and then singing with the adult choir at the 9 PM celebration of the "midnight" mass. Sunday, we are opening presents. I also have a couple of class assignments that are due that evening (seriously). I've done a little bit of prep work, but I know that I will mostly be working on them that day. Janelle and I had the opportunity to go on a date last night to see the new stand-alone Star Wars movie; Alex and Trevor had already seen it the night before. Without giving too much away, I both liked and didn't like the movie. Although I would certainly rank it higher than any of the prequels, I also wouldn't rank it higher than the originals or last year's The Force Awakens. We saw it in 3D which did not really add anything to, but neither did it detract from, the experience.
There are many things that it does right. It certainly puts the battle between the Rebellion and the Empire into a different light, definitely showing the desperation of the Rebel Forces. It illuminates some elements of the earlier movies that had been bothering me. It serves as an effective bridge between the prequels and the originals. It also managed to bring in characters from the other movies in interesting ways. However, there are a few things that fall a bit flat. The biggest one is the musical score. Without John Williams at the helm, the movie just feels ... different. Worse, there were times that parts of the earlier movies' music would begin to rise only to be followed by a new interpretation that ... well ... sounded like someone had made a mistake. There was no opening scrawl. Sure, this isn't one of the numbered movies, but even all of the video games have had an opening scrawl; it's part of what makes Star Wars, Star Wars. The movie is certainly dark. Sure, Revenge of the Sith is probably the darkest of the Star Wars movies if total body count and the massacre of Jedi children is taken into account, but somehow this movie felt grittier. I cannot begin to imagine how much darker it was before the Disney executives required the reshooting of 40% of the movie. Lastly, some of the CGI, especially when dealing with human faces, was noticeably warped, almost like a funhouse mirror. It was enough to crack my suspension of disbelief in a few scenes. Still, it was a movie that I would be willing to see again. I liked the characters, felt the story was well-constructed, and appreciated it as a prequel more than any of the others that came before it. It is certainly a good movie for Star Wars fans. That said, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Today's Gospel is the challenge that faced Joseph. Mary's unexplained pregnancy could have earned her the death sentence under the law of the time. I cannot help but wonder what Joseph felt. Did he feel Mary was crazy when she told him what had happened? Did he feel betrayed? An angel appears to him and confirms her story, urging him to stay by her side. Even then, he could have still said no. He would have had some sort of idea of what he was getting himself into. We know from later events that he would be forced to take his young family and flee his home to escape the wrath of a mad king.
The Bible never tells us what Joseph says. Never does it repeat a word from his mouth. Instead, Joseph is a man of action, and his actions speak greatly about the man and his character. May our actions show our character to be great as well. Whining to go out, the dogs woke me up at my normal weekday 5:30 AM. After taking care of them, I went back to sleep and slept in later than I expected. Immediately after breakfast, Trevor and I went out to shovel our driveway as the earlier snow and more recent ice rain had made at least one section of it a bit difficult to navigate. Considering we have people coming here tomorrow for Trevor's birthday party, I figured we needed to at least get that section done. After about an hour, I had to head back inside to get ready for a long day out, so Trevor was left to finish the remainder.
We had to be at the ice rink at noon for the little boys' final skating practice of the year. Trevor didn't go because it was mostly just a rehearsal for the later performance. He didn't want to be part of the performance because the rest of his group was comprised of girls who were all quite a bit younger than him. The performance then started at 1:15 and lasted until 3:15. It was enjoyable, but my back was hurting by the end due to the bleacher-style seats. I was quite impressed by both of my sons' performances and overall behavior during the event. From there, we had to go to the church for rehearsal of tomorrow's Christmas pageant. Aside from a short fit from Rowen that was solved by having him play a soldier rather than an angel, this also went quite well. This practice was followed by evening mass which was then followed by my church choir rehearsal of our Christmas music. I didn't end up eating dinner (or lunch) until getting home at about 7:30. This next week promises to be nearly as jam-packed. I'm certainly looking forward to the break that follows. One week from today is my annual movie marathon (also known as my birthday). Despite some concerns, I still plan on watching Marvel Phase II bookended by the Avengers and Captain America: Civil War. I say that this schedule is tentative as I still do not have copies of Thor: The Dark World or Ant-Man. Should one or both of these movies not be present, I will adjust start and end times accordingly.
I have a few notes about watching movies with me and my family: 1. We talk during the movie, even if it's one that we haven't seen before. We try to limit this while in movie theaters, but home viewings are fair game. 2. We shush each other often while watching movies and are completely unabashed about how hypocritical we are when we do so. 3. We watch movies with subtitles. Considering the aforementioned talking, this allows those who can read the ability to still follow the movie. 4. We have noisy children who are not always interested in watching the movie. We do have other areas of the house where their noise is not as bothersome and we do use subtitles (as mentioned in 3). 5. We have not yet tested the upper limits of our seating. The room currently has two couches, a love seat, a captain's chair, and plenty of more room for other chairs as needed. 6. There is not a set meal time. 7. The movies do not pause once they start with the exception of emergency situations (bathrooms breaks are not considered emergencies). 8. We have a LOT of fun! The tentative schedule: 6:00 AM - 8:20 AM The Avengers (2h 23m) 8:25 AM - 10:35 AM Iron Man 3 (2h 10m) 10:40 AM - 12:30 PM Thor: The Dark World (1h 52m) 12:35 PM - 2:50 PM Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2h 16m) 2:55 PM - 4:55 PM Guardians of the Galaxy (2h 2m) 5:00 PM - 7:20 PM Avengers: Age of Ultron (2h 22m) 7:20 PM - 9:20 PM Ant-Man (1h 58m) 9:25 PM - 11:55 PM Captain America: Civil War (2h 27m) Today, my eldest son reached one of the milestone birthdays: sixteen. I'll gloss over the statements about how old this makes me feel, but rest assured that they are there. I'll also avoid the comments I could make about how cute he was and how fast he's grown; believe me, I'm thinking them anyway. Instead, I think that I'll hit some of the highlights of what I've noticed about Trevor this past year.
He's becoming more dependable. Sure, Janelle has to spell out a list of what she wants him to do, and there's always a chance that he won't get to everything every day. However, the days of him erasing or crossing out items on the list in the hopes that we won't notice he did so seem to have become a thing of the past. He is also getting better about the quality of the work that he is doing, to the point that we don't need to double check everything he's done (at least, not when he's still working on it). There's still room for improvement, but some people have said that about me too. He's becoming more social. In the past year, we've gone from Trevor not inviting anyone over, to inviting over a friend, to inviting over a couple of friends, to going over to a friend's house (sometimes forgetting to let us know he set these events up until the day of). It's still a small group of people, but I like the expanding trend. He's developing a clearer idea of what he likes to do. This year, I saw a change from Trevor wanting to do anything that I was doing to him deciding that there were some things he liked doing with me and others that he would prefer to avoid. While there is a bit of a sense of loss on my part, I like that he is developing a greater sense of independence. In short, Trevor has been making the steps from being a boy to being a young man. I am tremendously proud of him. Last Saturday, I was sure that I was approaching the end of a mild cold that had been dogging me for about a week and a half. Since then, I have come to understand that what I had before was only an appetizer. Unfortunately, the stuffed sinuses, coughing, and aching that has since hit has done nothing for my disposition. My already bad jokes have turned full sour. I feel like I've been only halfway involved nearly any conversation that I've had for the past couple of days. Meanwhile, I've made at least two errors today that were potentially serious (details will not be forthcoming due to my Fifth Amendment protections) due at least partially to this distracted state that I'm in.
Still, there is enough hope on the horizon to keep me moving. 1) A new Star Wars movie comes out tomorrow. I don't know when I'm going to see it, but it will be sometime in the next couple of weeks. 2) One week from today is our final day with students for this year (calendar, not school). 3) One week from tomorrow and we pick up Katrina from Anchorage. 4) The day after that, I hold my birthday movie marathon (details still to come). 5) Snow is in the forecast for most of the days between now and Christmas (there's some "winter mix" and "ice rain" hints out there too, but I'll be wearing my snow sweater to show which side I support). All in all, it's enough to keep dragging me out of bed in the morning. |
You Have Been Warned:The writings within hold wit, wisdom, and whimsy, with no warning as to what is which. Blog collections:Single documents with all of the blogs for the selected year(s).
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