Not only has my prediction that I would not have time to write a full post for today proven true, but I even forgot to take a picture of us playing Catan (which is my normal MO). Let’s just say that playing the Cities and Knights expansion to Catan has seemed to give Janelle an edge. I hope everyone has had at least as enjoyable of a night as we have. Happy New Year!
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If all goes to plan tomorrow, I will not have time to write a full post, let alone a reflective one about the past month. Thus, I decided to write it a day early. I'll have to edit in any updates if anything unexpected happens tomorrow. Here are the highlights from the past month:
We just returned home from dropping off Alex, Katrina, Peter, Irene, Alistair, and Julian at the airport. The drive to and from Anchorage did not seem as treacherous as it did when we picked them up despite occasional areas of dense fog and temperatures that hit -15 degrees (Fahrenheit). The frost that coated everything due to the fog gave the impression of a fantastical winter kingdom. That was small recompense for the quiet drive home.
We again used two vehicles. I drove Tifa (my Sportage) there and back. Peter drove Janelle's Pilot (the name Navi has not really caught on) up while she drove it back with Connor as a passenger until Cooper Landing, at which point they swapped roles. Even though I drove up alone in my vehicle when we went to pick them up nine days ago, this return trip certainly seemed lonelier--although, I did use a good part of the time to have a conversation with God. These visits are wonderful, but they are all too short. I feel like there were a number of things that were left undone. Still, I'm grateful for the time that we had. Ever since we arrived home at about 2:30 in the morning on the 21st, we've been keeping a pretty late sleep schedule. Only twice since then have I gone to sleep before 11 PM--which is already about an hour and a half past my bed time. Meanwhile, we haven't been waking up until after 8 AM since last Sunday. This should make it easier for us to stay awake on our return from the Anchorage airport tomorrow night, but I have a feeling that the morning of the 2nd (which is my and Janelle's first day back to work) is going to be a rough one.
This cold has not helped matters as the sleep which I have managed to get has been restless and uncomfortable. Somehow, I even managed to twist my ankle while sleeping last night. The good news is that, although I still feel a bit foggy, I'm also breathing easier. Hopefully, that means that this cold is on its way out. The grandchildren have also had quite a turbulent sleep schedule. I would like to think that this might actual aid them when they travel back to Michigan starting tomorrow evening. Certainly, our Michigan travelers will need some time to get their circadian rhythms back in line with the correct time zone. Sure, it's not as cold as we've seen it get around here, but it's still cold enough that we don't want to spend a lot of time outside. Instead, we're enjoying our time indoors by backing, watching shows, playing video games and board games, learning new languages through Duolingo, and entertaining (or being entertained by) grandchildren. One of the reasons that I enjoy winter is getting to better appreciate the warmth within our house. One quick indicator of the outside temperature is the glass aspects of our arctic entryway. By the time it gets to single digits, we have to be careful about any food or drink that we leave out there to cool off. Meanwhile, the entirety of the door and windows is usually covered with decorative frost designs. Considering the temperature just dipped below zero (Fahrenheit), I thought that I would share a picture of the beautiful patterns made by Mother Nature.   Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12th of this year. We had preordered the game. Due to the number of people in my family who wanted to play it, I held off playing for a month. I just finished it yesterday. Granted, I've hardly played games during this past semester, but it's still a testament to the size of the game that I couldn't complete it during summer break--and not for a lack of trying.
Basically, this game took everything that was great about its predecessor and improved upon it. New powers allowed players to build better weapons, transport quickly out of caves and dungeons, and build an amazing variety of tools and vehicles. Meanwhile, it kept its challenging and interesting puzzles as well as its phenomenal world-building. Basically, it was an open world adventure and exploration game built to near perfection. My only real complaint is that there was too much to do. I was continually getting pulled away from what I was trying to do because some other interesting thing would catch my attention. In the end, I completed all of the shrines and dungeons as well as all of the quests that I knew about, but I still know that I left a lot undone. I feel that it is a "must play" for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch. We went to bed late last night with multiple family members not feeling the best. Janelle and I had sore throats (and not just from the singing), and Rowen had actually vomited just before dinner. Normally, we are awakened at 7 AM on Christmas morning, but Rowen had slept in a bit and then, instead of getting us up, walked out to the cabin with his emergency bucket in hand to ask Katrina if they were coming over to open presents. I was thus surprised to wake up on my own a bit after 8 AM with it seeming like no one else was up yet.
It didn't take long after that for the house to get wondrously loud and lively. Janelle had set up three different kinds of rolls (one set cinnamon, one set chocolate, and one set garlic cheese) so that they were ready to go in the over once we got up, providing us with a tasty breakfast. We then spent a while opening presents and watching as excitement and joy filled our children and grandchildren's eyes. Even Connor seemed genuinely surprised and happy for his gifts (particularly the LEGO rendition of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" which he already has completed and on one of his new shelves that he put on his wall). Rowen also seemed completely recovered with his emergency bucket nowhere to be seen. Otherwise, it was a day of meal preparation as Janelle worked her Christmas magic to put together a magnificent feast with the help of our daughters. My day was not as productive; although I did manage to put together a LEGO Benatar (one of the ships for the Guardians of the Galaxy) and finally complete The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom which I started playing in the middle of this past summer. In short, despite not feeling 100%, this was another great day! Today was basically a lesson in how quickly events can sneak up on people, even when they are long expected. Due to Christmas landing on a Monday, we had not only a mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent today, but also the Christmas eve masses--the last time this happened was in 2016. That alone would be enough to make for a hectic day; however, our area was also hit with a powerful storm yesterday evening. The storm was bad enough that an avalanche due to it completely shut down our only road that connects us to the rest of Alaska.
Our music director also found herself without an easy way out of her driveway and road, so she asked if I could play guitar for the morning mass. I was already a little behind my normal schedule because I had shoveled a path from the house to our cabin where Katrina's family is staying. However, I was able to quickly switch gears and put some music together. It actually turned out pretty well--especially since Katrina led the congregation as cantor; I absolutely love her voice! I believe that Mary felt a similar sense of rushed anticipation and happiness. Despite her young age, she knew what she was getting into--and yet no one could have fully understood what was going on. In our readings at the masses, we move between Mary's acceptance of God's plan for her to the celebration of the birth of her son. Jesus' arrival was sudden enough that she had to give birth in a stable. Suddenly there were shepherds arriving with stories about angels singing, all wanting to see her child. Jesus can arrive in our lives with the same pleasant suddenness. He can bring to fruition circumstances which we had originally thought of as far away or even impossible. He can also completely change the way that we think our lives are headed. May we greet him with the same joy that Mary did. Thank you, everyone, who wished me a happy birthday in some way, shape, or form, even if the wish was not directly expressed.
Right now, my children are yelling over Mario Kart, and it's a beautiful sound. Even Irene and Alistair took turns the last round (although there was considerably less shouting for that one). To be clear, there is also a great deal of laughter. The Ahsoka marathon went well even if it felt a little less "epic" than some of my other marathons. I think that the issue was that, even though I still really like the show, it doesn't fully resolve by the end of this first season. Meanwhile, if I were to watch a series of movies, I would have dealt with multiple well-constructed plotlines. Janelle made me an excellent Boston cream cake and only had me blow out a single candle, both of which I greatly appreciated. I've also had plenty of time snuggling with my grandchildren, especially little Julian. On top of that, I've had the chance to help Katrina practice the Psalm and Gospel acclamation for tomorrow's masses--I love getting to sing with her and even just hear her sing. It's been a nice birthday. I turn fifty tomorrow, and while every morning is a new chapter of life, this one seems a little more significant. Sure, as humans beings, we tend to attach special significance to "magic" numbers. In this case, I will have passed halfway through one century and into the next half. For me, I'm more intrigued by the idea that I will no longer be in my forties.
In general, this was a good decade for me. For a couple of years, I was at the healthiest weight and shape that I had been since my early twenties. Sadly, I'm almost exactly back where I started, if a little more conscious of my health. I also seem to have come to better terms with who I am as a person. It was soon after I turned 40 that I decided that I was in the correct profession after all and decided to really embrace the concept of being a teacher. I know that might sound a little weird, but until then I had thought of teaching as something that I was doing until I figured out what I was going to do with my life. It's been a nice decade of not fighting myself about who I am. That's not to say that there haven't been significant changes in the direction of my life these past ten years. For one, I finally stopped just thinking about moving back to Alaska and actually made the move. In doing so, I quickly found that there was a definite place for me here, certainly there has been a deep sense of belonging. Just having snow on my birthday feels right to me. I also self-published a novel, wrote a dissertation, earned my doctorate, and became a grandfather (not in that order). I've had one other significant achievement of sorts: this blog. My entire life, I've had a desire to record the thoughts and events from my day to day experiences. I began writing this blog sporadically over a dozen years ago (I had been occasionally writing on LiveJournal for a decade or so before then), but it was during my forties that I made the conscious effort to write a unique post every (or almost every) day. I hit the ten year mark in just over two months. My forties have been a great decade of my life--in many ways the best one so far. I'm looking forward to what my fifties will bring. I find myself strangely jet-lagged on this shortest day of the year. We didn't pull into our driveway until about 2:30 AM this morning as surprising amount of freezing drizzle slowed down our return from Anchorage. I didn't find my way to bed until after 3:00, but I was still up a little after 7:30. I decided to try and avoid napping to help me readjust back to a "normal" wake and sleep pattern, but I was not all that successful as I lost at least an hour in the middle of the day.
The house is definitely more alive with everyone here. I've even seen more of Connor and Rowen as they've been playing with their niece and nephews--Trevor has still had to work. Not all of the noise has been joyful, but it has largely filled my heart. We also watched the Barbie movie today. I expected to like it and was not disappointed. There was a great deal in it regarding empowerment, misconceptions in and of society, self-identity, and the realization that there are no easy answers to life, but that it is important to live life and to recognize our own value and the value of our experiences. All of it was handled in a humorous, but still clearly self-aware, manner (no matter how oblivious some of the characters were made to be). I do recommend it. All-in-all, I feel that the following days will all be a bit brighter. I feel pretty ready for the arrival of my family. I woke up earlier than I planned, and found that I couldn't fall back to sleep. Once Janelle left for work, I changed a lightbulb in our kitchen and then started working on wrapping all of the presents that I knew about based off of the sorting that Janelle and I did last night. Once I finished wrapping Rowen's presents, I asked if he wanted to join me (as he had expressed interest earlier), and we tackled the piles together. Towards the end, Connor joined us in wrapping the last of Irene's presents. We managed to finish the entire task in a little over two hours.
During lunch, Rowen and I watched the new Percy Jackson show on Disney Plus. I had hoped to watch Rebel Moon, but it apparently isn't available until tomorrow. I'm kind of on my own when it comes to watching Snyder's films, so I'll likely need to wait a few months now to watch it--not that it was a high priority anyway. As for Percy Jackson, the show wasn't bad, but it didn't seem to hold Rowen's interest, which was the main thing that I was hoping for. After lunch, I headed out to plow with Scarlet (my ATV). My intent was to both plow the recent snowfall and to push back the edges a bit. I hit a bit of a snag when the wire on Scarlet's winch that lifts the plow blade snapped. This then necessitated that I remove the broken piece of wire and then reattach the hook to the remaining wire that's still attached to the winch. It was a frustrating and pokey process that was made more irritating by the thick wet fog that descended, making everything slick. I ended up wrapping the end of wire in duct tape to cut down on the number of snags and holes that the wire was poking into my gloves and skin. It looks to be set for now, and I was able to finish the wetter-than-expected job (especially since the temperature was in the low 20s Fahrenheit) even if it took significantly longer than I expected. This is the point that I'm at now. I've checked the weather as well as the 511 Alaska road conditions site. It looks like we should have a decent drive. I'm debating whether I want to take a bit of a nap before Janelle gets home--I'm really leaning towards the nap idea. Once she arrives, we will eat dinner, pack up any snacks for the road, and leave for the airport at around 7:45 PM. Their flight arrives around 10:50, and it will likely take time for them to deplane, but I like having a bit of a buffer so that we aren't rushing on the driving--especially since Connor will be driving to the airport. Hopefully, we will be home by around 2 AM. Yep, a short nap sounds like a good idea. As I've told a few people, I was recently asked if I was enjoying the quiet before my grandchildren come up, and I responded that I'm looking forward to the noise. Too me, a quiet house is usually too eerie, to the point that I'm downright uncomfortable when left alone. I prefer to have people over, to talk and share and play games. While it is certainly possible for things to get to be too loud, I'm looking forward to having giggling grandchildren running about or even seemingly inconsolable children who come to me for comfort (that usually takes a day or two before they are used to me again). In short, bring the noise!
I think that we are largely set for their arrival. The cabin is mostly ready for Katrina's family; it just needs Trevor to blow up the air mattress once he comes back from work tomorrow so that it is ready to go when we arrive from Anchorage in the early hours of Thursday morning. The spare bed for Alex is made up in the room that we use as our pantry; we just need to turn off the motion-sensitive lights. We're not leaving until late tomorrow to pick them up from the airport. I have plenty of time before then to plow our driveway again and get a start of wrapping presents. I'm still a little concerned about the drive home. While I am used to (and actually love) that drive in the dark, we're bringing two vehicles. I don't think that they've fully figured out who will be driving the other one. There are five licensed drivers to choose from, but three of them will have been traveling all day and will be facing the drive at the equivalent of 3 to 6 AM Michigan time, one will have worked all day before driving up, and one just got his license about a month ago. I'm just glad that it looks like the weather will be cooperating with us. I'm really ready for them to be here! During the trivia game for our end of semester/holiday assembly, the teams were asked to name as many Christmas movies that they could come up with. While standard Christmas movies such as Rudolf, Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, The Polar Express, and The Santa Clause (and its sequels) were named, so to were movies that just happen to be set at Christmas such as Home Alone (and its sequels). Strangely, no one mentioned Love Actually (which I somehow like despite almost every plot being completely terrible) or The Holiday (which is my favorite). The teachers won by also including Die Hard--which I count as a Christmas movie. In fact, it was at the top of my list as I was coming up with unlikely Christmas movies.
While the competition was going on, I came up with my own list of Christmas-adjacent movies that the teams did not mention. They included: Die Hard II--while not as popular as the first movie (and for good reason), it's still clearly set at Christmas Lethal Weapon--being set in Los Angeles is one of the reasons that people tend to forget that this favorite buddy-cop movie was set at Christmas Star Trek Generations--sure, it's just a scene set in the fantasy realm of the Ribbon, but Picard had quite a set of Christmas decorations set up for his imaginary family. Batman Returns--I recently saw an article that claimed that the Batman/Catwoman relationship makes this one of the best romantic Christmas movies. I will say that the recognition scene at the party is one of my all time favorite movie moments: "Does this mean that we have to start fighting?" Iron Man 3--again, Christmas doesn't play a huge role, but it is set at Christmas The Long Kiss Goodnight--this is a personal guilty pleasure with two of my favorite stars working together: Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson Rocky IV--one of my favorite Rocky movies has its fight in Russia on Christmas day There must be others, but these are the ones that made my list. I don't think that any of them really banked on the role of Christmas in the movies as a draw to theaters, but it's an interesting touch that each of them have added. By the way, although they don't count as movies, I've been pleased the past couple of years with Marvel's new additions to my list of Christmas favorites: The Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special and Hawkeye. I highly recommend both of them. |
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