Some of the best moments lately?
On Monday I got to take out and HOLD my first piece of computer hardware! - my memory card. Well, maybe I should add that I didn't take it out to hold it... I took it out to erase all the memory with a pencil eraser.
On Monday I also got to park the little blue Toyota in the GARAGE!! And there's even a little remote control garage door opener! Imagine not stepping outside when you go somewhere, or when you come back. That's just about too much luxury to take! Don't worry, it won't make me too Athenian... it's just a temporary graduation till Rachel's car gets fixed.
Yesterday when I went to have supper at the cafeteria with Rachel B. and Sue Ann, my 'old' roomies, there was chocolate cheesecake... just for us.
One afternoon on the treadmill I saw half an original Star Trek episode. The best part was the vibrate-y sound effect for people being zapped to another location (see, I'm not Trekky enough to even remember what it's called... zapping from one place to another... hmmm, what is that called....)
One evening I was babysitting and getting paid to sit in a comfy living room, work on homework and watch TV - and it was then that I finally saw my first ever episode of The Next Generation!
In our latest Aerobics class, our professor - also director of the Rec Center - had to see about fixing a broken basket. So he told us to go exercise for 30 minutes. I got to jog around the track right behind where the men's baseball team was doing pitching practice and then have time to cool down and actually make it to my next class before it started.
Last night Rachel had to run something over to her aunt's, and came back bearing Dove's Darks. :)
Goodness, better stop before this gets overwhelmingly happy!
(P.S. If you analyze this post even more than you're supposed to, you'll easily come up with a list of Sharon's priorities: her computer, 'her' car, chocolate, Star Trek, adrenaline, and chocolate. Too bad that's the wrong list.)
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Classes
Here is the Spring '06 schedule:
[Edit: please Change Term to Spring '07]
Global Perspectives -- MW, 13:00 - 13:50
Aerobics -- TR, 13:00 -13:50
Study Abroad Debriefing -- T, 14:00 - 14:50
Poetry & Wisdom Literature -- R, 18:00 - 20:40
Why do we get 10 minutes off our 3-hour Poetry class? Because our professor asked us where and how we wanted our 20-minute break, and some bright person suggested a 10-minute break and getting out 10 minutes early.
Global Perspectives: The idea of this course is to help students develop a biblical lens for living in a multicultural world. It probably sounds like another "diversity appreciation" class. Some people don't appreciate learning to appreciate. However, I think it is good and useful, especially since most of us don't realize how very differently other people think, much less tried thinking that way.
Taking this class seemed kind of redundant after two semesters abroad, but it's a requirement for graduation. However, my advisor, Prof. Schram, encouraged me to take the option of being a TA. So instead of taking quizzes, I grade them. That's a lot more fun, especially with three of us four TAs and Prof. Schram working together and coming across some very interesting answers!
Aerobics: This is a fun class. Coach Butler (the track coach) teaches it. He's a nice down-to-earth guy who's nuts about moving and, as the director of Grace's Gordon Rec Center, says he gets to "play all day". His goal is to teach us the principles of aerobic training so that we can train ourselves for life. Class is about fifteen minutes of relaxed, simply stated "aerobic theory" notes, then about thirty minutes of practicing them out on the track. Basically, he gives us minimum requirements to meet - at least 4 training sessions a week of getting the heartrate over 140 - and then it's up to us to do it, to do more and harder, and to keep incrementing to keep improving. Now, I really dislike being made to exercise, but I like the idea of learning how to aerobically train myself so that I always get to be in charge of my own exercise after this.
Study Abroad Debriefing: This is what study abroad students take the semester after returning. It's just one hour a week with very little homework. True, we do have to give at least half-hour presentations on our experiences to the other two debriefers and the professor. We also each have to teach a class to the whole briefing group (perhaps 10 students). We also have to pick various projects to work on during the semester. Somehow, Amy and Zach and I agreed to plan and set up the Study Abroad Chapel on February 22nd. Some of us may even be getting up there to talk. This is the kind of thing my brain simply didn't consider by default before. Before what? I don't know.
Poetry: This is by far my heaviest class. Requires reading at least 30 pages a week, reviewing for a potential weekly pop quiz, and writing two whole 5ish page papers during the semester; that's not even including the in-class group work and class discussion. We also have to read huge chunks of Scripture, something to the tune of 40+ Psalms per week. One of the poetic terms 'we' learned was hyperbole, which I have made good use of in this paragraph for your especial health benefit (that is, make you laugh and improve your heart).
And that's the whole whopping 7-credit-hour story!
[Edit: please Change Term to Spring '07]
Global Perspectives -- MW, 13:00 - 13:50
Aerobics -- TR, 13:00 -13:50
Study Abroad Debriefing -- T, 14:00 - 14:50
Poetry & Wisdom Literature -- R, 18:00 - 20:40
Why do we get 10 minutes off our 3-hour Poetry class? Because our professor asked us where and how we wanted our 20-minute break, and some bright person suggested a 10-minute break and getting out 10 minutes early.
Global Perspectives: The idea of this course is to help students develop a biblical lens for living in a multicultural world. It probably sounds like another "diversity appreciation" class. Some people don't appreciate learning to appreciate. However, I think it is good and useful, especially since most of us don't realize how very differently other people think, much less tried thinking that way.
Taking this class seemed kind of redundant after two semesters abroad, but it's a requirement for graduation. However, my advisor, Prof. Schram, encouraged me to take the option of being a TA. So instead of taking quizzes, I grade them. That's a lot more fun, especially with three of us four TAs and Prof. Schram working together and coming across some very interesting answers!
Aerobics: This is a fun class. Coach Butler (the track coach) teaches it. He's a nice down-to-earth guy who's nuts about moving and, as the director of Grace's Gordon Rec Center, says he gets to "play all day". His goal is to teach us the principles of aerobic training so that we can train ourselves for life. Class is about fifteen minutes of relaxed, simply stated "aerobic theory" notes, then about thirty minutes of practicing them out on the track. Basically, he gives us minimum requirements to meet - at least 4 training sessions a week of getting the heartrate over 140 - and then it's up to us to do it, to do more and harder, and to keep incrementing to keep improving. Now, I really dislike being made to exercise, but I like the idea of learning how to aerobically train myself so that I always get to be in charge of my own exercise after this.
Study Abroad Debriefing: This is what study abroad students take the semester after returning. It's just one hour a week with very little homework. True, we do have to give at least half-hour presentations on our experiences to the other two debriefers and the professor. We also each have to teach a class to the whole briefing group (perhaps 10 students). We also have to pick various projects to work on during the semester. Somehow, Amy and Zach and I agreed to plan and set up the Study Abroad Chapel on February 22nd. Some of us may even be getting up there to talk. This is the kind of thing my brain simply didn't consider by default before. Before what? I don't know.
Poetry: This is by far my heaviest class. Requires reading at least 30 pages a week, reviewing for a potential weekly pop quiz, and writing two whole 5ish page papers during the semester; that's not even including the in-class group work and class discussion. We also have to read huge chunks of Scripture, something to the tune of 40+ Psalms per week. One of the poetic terms 'we' learned was hyperbole, which I have made good use of in this paragraph for your especial health benefit (that is, make you laugh and improve your heart).
And that's the whole whopping 7-credit-hour story!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Back to Tuesday night
It was interesting to watch the State of the Union Address. I was expecting President Bush to begin with the State of the Union internationally, i.e. Iraq. Instead he did a sandwich style: first domestic matters (health care, education, etc.), then the war on terror and Iraq, and finally moving back home with immigration policy. Maybe that was to emphasize the importance of these domestic matters (to him as well!) and remind that the war on terror and the war in Iraq relate directly to our domestic well-being. Rachel thought that it may have been a strategy to keep people listening... those who were willing to start watching would keep watching till he brought up the Iraq war, and then afterwards they'd be curious to hear the end topic. Either or both ways, the Middle East situation was nearly the best-detailed of the speech.
I do have a few questions. Is American productivity actually the highest in the world? Who are these civilian who don't have to pass through boot camp?
In any case, there was certainly a theme. There were 2 announcers for the presidential entry. The president made 2 tributes to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, followed (of course) by 2 long applauses. There were lots of hero stories, about 4, I think. Someone could easily find more 2's if they wanted to keep looking.
I do have a few questions. Is American productivity actually the highest in the world? Who are these civilian who don't have to pass through boot camp?
In any case, there was certainly a theme. There were 2 announcers for the presidential entry. The president made 2 tributes to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, followed (of course) by 2 long applauses. There were lots of hero stories, about 4, I think. Someone could easily find more 2's if they wanted to keep looking.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Not complaining, just wondering
It doesn't seem right that we should have to wait along with the Easterners way up till 9:00 PM to watch the State of the Union Address. Who ever decided to take Indiana out of the Midwest and Central Time, anyway?
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Pretend A is upside-down
Q: What do these two have in common?
1) Changing a kicking baby's diaper
2) Typing out a résumé
A: They are both a little fun; they are both somewhat frustrating; they are both pretty tiring; and they both give a happy rush once just accomplished.
1) Changing a kicking baby's diaper
2) Typing out a résumé
A: They are both a little fun; they are both somewhat frustrating; they are both pretty tiring; and they both give a happy rush once just accomplished.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Sunday's Adventure, Part II
I guess I should finish telling this before we pass the two-week anniversary!
When we were last in the story, Jason had just disappeared into the terminal with his papers, his two bags, and without his gate number information or his Warcraft CD. First thing on my list was parking the car. This shouldn't have been hard, except I kept passing a million Economy Parking signs, finally caught a glimpse of the words Short-Term Parking, only to realize it applied to that exit I had just passed. However, I'd seen that short-term was in Lot D. So I kept on passing economy lots labeled B and C. But E and F were clearly too far, so I pulled into E and discovered the only turn-around option was a U-turn right in front of the gate. Oops. Oh well, that bus was plenty far behind me.
Only thing to try was going back round to the O'Hare entrance and through the terminal drop-offs in the hope of snagging that obscure sign. Since this time I wasn't looking for Terminal 1 and Gate B, the right signs did show up and so did the parking garage. Only had to back up once from starting down a row the wrong way. Got the car parked. Whew. Challenge number 1 was overcome.
Challenge number 2 was finding out if Jason was on his flight, but this was soon moved back to #3 as the problem of finding and getting to his terminal emerged. First I had to take an elevator down to the main floor. Then I took a moving belt and an escalator, only to find that the new floor didn't look right. Went back down and found that the O'Hare airport was sorry for the inconvenience, but the escalator was out of order and the elevator the only means of getting up to Terminal 1, and the elevator took two minutes to get there. And there I was again, back on the floor that didn't look right (what a waste of time). This time I got smart and took the escalator up to Checkin. Jason's flight had already disappeared from the listings. So I had a great time trying to rasp enough voice out to talk to three different people, finally getting to a flight agent, who finally got some help to look up the right page and tell me that YES! Jason was on his flight! and why was I so worried about him?! he was just fine! etc. Well, I was glad to hear that, almost didn't quite believe it.
I called back home to tell Daddy that Jason was on his way and find out what to do with the tire. Somehow I got the address noted despite all the terminal noise, and found the Sears Auto Repair despite somehow numerically skipping some 20 exits. They couldn't fix the first tire. The leak was so big you could hear air hissing out of it from a distance. So we lugged the extra tire out to put on the old rim, once again out of that well-buried under-trunk compartment.
At last I was back on the road, anticipating the exit for I-90/94 only once. The traffic was exciting but not excessive, and the Chicago Skyway was a fun drive. The only problem is that the signmakers keep changing terms on you. First they talk about I-90/94, then about the Expressway, then Local 94, then the Skyway, forgetting to mention what happened to 90. Not that I made any stupid exit calls, but it's nicer to positively know you're on the right interstate before you're halfway to the next one.
I hadn't thought too much about toll money, but came up with enough cash and coins without making anybody wait too long while I dug around for it.
The rest of the trip was just a breeze... 65 South, 30 East, 15 South. When it started misting I discovered I'd forgotten where the windshield wipers were, but it only took me trying the lights, the brights, the cruise control and a couple other things before - bingo! there they were!
By the way, snack mix is a great thing for the driver to have along on car trips. Drains very little brainpower and muscle coordination from the main task to reach into a Ziploc bag for a handful of peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips (no little seedy bits to decorate the car), not to mention has a good energy yield. That was most of my lunch and supper.
Oh yes, I did spend an extra quarter-hour getting lost within five miles of Tysons' house.
All in all, it was a great trip. I even coasted through two days on the gas left. A day or two after I filled the tank back up, the gas price dropped about twenty cents.
The End
(I love happy endings!)
When we were last in the story, Jason had just disappeared into the terminal with his papers, his two bags, and without his gate number information or his Warcraft CD. First thing on my list was parking the car. This shouldn't have been hard, except I kept passing a million Economy Parking signs, finally caught a glimpse of the words Short-Term Parking, only to realize it applied to that exit I had just passed. However, I'd seen that short-term was in Lot D. So I kept on passing economy lots labeled B and C. But E and F were clearly too far, so I pulled into E and discovered the only turn-around option was a U-turn right in front of the gate. Oops. Oh well, that bus was plenty far behind me.
Only thing to try was going back round to the O'Hare entrance and through the terminal drop-offs in the hope of snagging that obscure sign. Since this time I wasn't looking for Terminal 1 and Gate B, the right signs did show up and so did the parking garage. Only had to back up once from starting down a row the wrong way. Got the car parked. Whew. Challenge number 1 was overcome.
Challenge number 2 was finding out if Jason was on his flight, but this was soon moved back to #3 as the problem of finding and getting to his terminal emerged. First I had to take an elevator down to the main floor. Then I took a moving belt and an escalator, only to find that the new floor didn't look right. Went back down and found that the O'Hare airport was sorry for the inconvenience, but the escalator was out of order and the elevator the only means of getting up to Terminal 1, and the elevator took two minutes to get there. And there I was again, back on the floor that didn't look right (what a waste of time). This time I got smart and took the escalator up to Checkin. Jason's flight had already disappeared from the listings. So I had a great time trying to rasp enough voice out to talk to three different people, finally getting to a flight agent, who finally got some help to look up the right page and tell me that YES! Jason was on his flight! and why was I so worried about him?! he was just fine! etc. Well, I was glad to hear that, almost didn't quite believe it.
I called back home to tell Daddy that Jason was on his way and find out what to do with the tire. Somehow I got the address noted despite all the terminal noise, and found the Sears Auto Repair despite somehow numerically skipping some 20 exits. They couldn't fix the first tire. The leak was so big you could hear air hissing out of it from a distance. So we lugged the extra tire out to put on the old rim, once again out of that well-buried under-trunk compartment.
At last I was back on the road, anticipating the exit for I-90/94 only once. The traffic was exciting but not excessive, and the Chicago Skyway was a fun drive. The only problem is that the signmakers keep changing terms on you. First they talk about I-90/94, then about the Expressway, then Local 94, then the Skyway, forgetting to mention what happened to 90. Not that I made any stupid exit calls, but it's nicer to positively know you're on the right interstate before you're halfway to the next one.
I hadn't thought too much about toll money, but came up with enough cash and coins without making anybody wait too long while I dug around for it.
The rest of the trip was just a breeze... 65 South, 30 East, 15 South. When it started misting I discovered I'd forgotten where the windshield wipers were, but it only took me trying the lights, the brights, the cruise control and a couple other things before - bingo! there they were!
By the way, snack mix is a great thing for the driver to have along on car trips. Drains very little brainpower and muscle coordination from the main task to reach into a Ziploc bag for a handful of peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips (no little seedy bits to decorate the car), not to mention has a good energy yield. That was most of my lunch and supper.
Oh yes, I did spend an extra quarter-hour getting lost within five miles of Tysons' house.
All in all, it was a great trip. I even coasted through two days on the gas left. A day or two after I filled the tank back up, the gas price dropped about twenty cents.
The End
(I love happy endings!)
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Lately
"Is there a connection between you talking and his getting confused?"
(From page 36, Culture From the Inside Out, by Alan Cornes)
"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
(Some student in Aerobic Fitness class)
How can you not laugh after reading those?
(From page 36, Culture From the Inside Out, by Alan Cornes)
"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
(Some student in Aerobic Fitness class)
How can you not laugh after reading those?
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Warning that isn't on the label
If you get up in the middle of the night to put some cream on cracking hands and reach carefully in the dark to pump the tall bottle of lotion on the dresser, please, please make sure it really is that extra tall one of cream lotion and not just the middlingly tall one of alcohol-containing sanitizer lotion. Because if you don't, this is what you feel:
OWWWWW!!
That really hurts.
But who knows - maybe you'd enjoy laughing over it once the stinging subsides! (especially at an unknown hour of the night)
On third thought, that would be a great way to get your hands up in the morning.
OWWWWW!!
That really hurts.
But who knows - maybe you'd enjoy laughing over it once the stinging subsides! (especially at an unknown hour of the night)
On third thought, that would be a great way to get your hands up in the morning.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Sunday's Adventure, Part I
[Isn't it odd how blood relatives can have such a different take on events?... you can read Jason's account here.]
Well, we made it! Actually we made it two nights ago... someone just didn't have Internet or get around to posting. Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Jason and I left Iowa, and Sunday night he was safely in Texas and I was safely in Indiana.
This story actually begins Saturday evening, when Jason and Kendra were helping me pack up the trunk and I mentioned - as we stuffed boxes and bags onto the spare tire with wheel, the extra tire, salt bags and shovel - that we'd better not need that stuff the next day.
Sunday we left right on time, only to discover about three minutes down the road that I had forgotten to grab the lunch (after remembering to put in the refrigerated food and the freezer pack just before walking out the door). So we went back and got it. Lucky Jason, with his Iowa-restricted permit, got to drive the first shift into the morning sun. He was a good sport about it and got us to the border in good time.
When I started driving, I thought that Jason had done a pretty good job of making driving with the new snow tires seem easy. Daddy had said it might feel a little loose up around 65 and 70, but I couldn't seem to keep the thing going straight at all; every little correction snowballed into a right-left-right mini rollercoaster. After about fifteen miles I was getting resigned to having the drunk-driving look all the way to Chicago. Jason was starting to look out his window. Then he told me we should probably check on it. "You mean pull over on the highway?" "Yeah." He hit the flashers as I pulled over (what a good brother to not even give me time) and hopped out. It wasn't very comforting half-seeing and half-hearing his reactions and pauses. He came back and told me there were 8 pounds in the right rear tire. That didn't sound too good. I pulled out the cellphone to call Daddy while Jason checked the others. Daddy told me that no, it wasn't too good, not even good enough to get us to the next place. I was just hanging up when Jason informed me that the police had arrived.
Well, the policeman was just there to keep people from hitting us, despite the fact that I had pulled well off the road. Anyway, nothing for it but go dig the spare tire out of the under-trunk compartment. Isn't it funny how the things that shouldn't happen happen?
Jason calmly and capably got the spare on, then the policeman gave us some lefts and rights for an auto service place. The spare was a donut (mini), fifty pounds needing an extra ten, so we went to a gas station first and Jason pumped it up while I got clearer directions from the cashier. Then we went, found the Farm and Fleet, hunted around for mechanics who sent us back to Tire Repair to get a work order, discovered it would be another half-hour, and decided we'd better hit the road.
We kept to the same planned itinerary, 80 East to 55 North to 294 North, and kept the speed up too. Poor Jason was feeling kind of nervous, had been since the very start, just did a good job of not showing it. He did manage to get down a little lunch, even as we approached Chicago. Kind of hate to admit it, but aside from hoping we didn't miss his plane, I was enjoying zipping along in increasingly Chicago-like traffic at Chicago-style speed. Managed to scramble up the change or cash needed for several tolls. There were plenty of signs to get us to the O'Hare exit, plus one or two jets taking off slowly and mightily overhead. "Just think, Jason, pretty soon you'll be on one of those things!" Jason didn't seem quite so enthusaistic about his first plane ride as I was for him.
As we would be arriving about the time Jason's plane was to start boarding, Daddy had suggested in the last phone call that I drop Jason off. So we coasted along and found Terminal 1, arriving at the end of the drop-off area to decide that they didn't have the gates marked and he would just have to find it. First, maybe he should just find his pre-printed boarding pass. We got out and started going through the whole backseat, then Jason stumbled across his papers, grabbed his bags, and headed for the doors. I have to admit I'm impressed with his cool-headedness (even despite stomach turbulence). Let's face it, if that were me plunging into O'Hare for my first plane trip, good chance of a confused and soon-lost little girl.
Apparently he had no trouble. But I didn't know that yet. The rest of the story is coming soon to an Internet-connected computer near you...
[And we'll let you be the judge of who's giving more facts.]
Well, we made it! Actually we made it two nights ago... someone just didn't have Internet or get around to posting. Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Jason and I left Iowa, and Sunday night he was safely in Texas and I was safely in Indiana.
This story actually begins Saturday evening, when Jason and Kendra were helping me pack up the trunk and I mentioned - as we stuffed boxes and bags onto the spare tire with wheel, the extra tire, salt bags and shovel - that we'd better not need that stuff the next day.
Sunday we left right on time, only to discover about three minutes down the road that I had forgotten to grab the lunch (after remembering to put in the refrigerated food and the freezer pack just before walking out the door). So we went back and got it. Lucky Jason, with his Iowa-restricted permit, got to drive the first shift into the morning sun. He was a good sport about it and got us to the border in good time.
When I started driving, I thought that Jason had done a pretty good job of making driving with the new snow tires seem easy. Daddy had said it might feel a little loose up around 65 and 70, but I couldn't seem to keep the thing going straight at all; every little correction snowballed into a right-left-right mini rollercoaster. After about fifteen miles I was getting resigned to having the drunk-driving look all the way to Chicago. Jason was starting to look out his window. Then he told me we should probably check on it. "You mean pull over on the highway?" "Yeah." He hit the flashers as I pulled over (what a good brother to not even give me time) and hopped out. It wasn't very comforting half-seeing and half-hearing his reactions and pauses. He came back and told me there were 8 pounds in the right rear tire. That didn't sound too good. I pulled out the cellphone to call Daddy while Jason checked the others. Daddy told me that no, it wasn't too good, not even good enough to get us to the next place. I was just hanging up when Jason informed me that the police had arrived.
Well, the policeman was just there to keep people from hitting us, despite the fact that I had pulled well off the road. Anyway, nothing for it but go dig the spare tire out of the under-trunk compartment. Isn't it funny how the things that shouldn't happen happen?
Jason calmly and capably got the spare on, then the policeman gave us some lefts and rights for an auto service place. The spare was a donut (mini), fifty pounds needing an extra ten, so we went to a gas station first and Jason pumped it up while I got clearer directions from the cashier. Then we went, found the Farm and Fleet, hunted around for mechanics who sent us back to Tire Repair to get a work order, discovered it would be another half-hour, and decided we'd better hit the road.
We kept to the same planned itinerary, 80 East to 55 North to 294 North, and kept the speed up too. Poor Jason was feeling kind of nervous, had been since the very start, just did a good job of not showing it. He did manage to get down a little lunch, even as we approached Chicago. Kind of hate to admit it, but aside from hoping we didn't miss his plane, I was enjoying zipping along in increasingly Chicago-like traffic at Chicago-style speed. Managed to scramble up the change or cash needed for several tolls. There were plenty of signs to get us to the O'Hare exit, plus one or two jets taking off slowly and mightily overhead. "Just think, Jason, pretty soon you'll be on one of those things!" Jason didn't seem quite so enthusaistic about his first plane ride as I was for him.
As we would be arriving about the time Jason's plane was to start boarding, Daddy had suggested in the last phone call that I drop Jason off. So we coasted along and found Terminal 1, arriving at the end of the drop-off area to decide that they didn't have the gates marked and he would just have to find it. First, maybe he should just find his pre-printed boarding pass. We got out and started going through the whole backseat, then Jason stumbled across his papers, grabbed his bags, and headed for the doors. I have to admit I'm impressed with his cool-headedness (even despite stomach turbulence). Let's face it, if that were me plunging into O'Hare for my first plane trip, good chance of a confused and soon-lost little girl.
Apparently he had no trouble. But I didn't know that yet. The rest of the story is coming soon to an Internet-connected computer near you...
[And we'll let you be the judge of who's giving more facts.]
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Bye!
We're leaving at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!
Pray that I wouldn't feel sick (who cares how horribly the virus is ravaging my body as long as I'm not aware of it). Thank the Lord that the second day of the cold feels like the end; and that my brother Jason is along to drive to the Iowa border, to keep me awake through Illinois, and to help me hunt down O'Hare. After that, getting to Warsaw, Indiana will be a piece of cake... that is, a bar of chocolate, provided I remember to buy more when we stop for gas.
Let's keep this short and sweet so the laptop battery can get charged up before bed.
Sending you all love and wishes for a joyful, restful Sunday!
Pray that I wouldn't feel sick (who cares how horribly the virus is ravaging my body as long as I'm not aware of it). Thank the Lord that the second day of the cold feels like the end; and that my brother Jason is along to drive to the Iowa border, to keep me awake through Illinois, and to help me hunt down O'Hare. After that, getting to Warsaw, Indiana will be a piece of cake... that is, a bar of chocolate, provided I remember to buy more when we stop for gas.
Let's keep this short and sweet so the laptop battery can get charged up before bed.
Sending you all love and wishes for a joyful, restful Sunday!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Super Menards
Yes, that's right, sounds like Menards is following the way of WalMart and all good superstores. Friends from church who do general contract work were telling about a current project at one Menards. The store is putting in freezers and hauling in carts of Wrangler's jeans. Now the mom can ask the dad to pick up some milk when he goes to get lumber!
I haven't had time to find a link yet, but someone else can!
I haven't had time to find a link yet, but someone else can!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The rest of Vacation from vacation [edited]
I never did finish telling about our stay at Ardith's. Jason already posted about that, but of course he left out a few things.
First, you know that the real reason we went down was to help Ardith test out her new TV. Sister #2 just has to show it off, since sister #1 probably won't. It's a nice improvement over what she had, as you can see here. My, that thing is big. Actually, that "old" TV was the best one we had before Daddy found us [a used] widescreen. So guess where the best "old" one went, now that Ardith's done with it? Daddy put it out in the garage. After all, people who work out in garages like to stay informed too.
As I mentioned, we went to see Eragon Thursday night. It was a powerful movie, considering how we reacted to it. That is, Jason was not impressed, Kendra was not thrilled, I never cried, and Ardith got all riled up. To get the real lowdown on how the movie plays copycat with various science fiction and fantasy works, you will have to ask Ardith... but even those of us with limited experience - that is, LOTR, Narnia, and Star Trek - could pick out clear rips: a spoken intro, sweeping-vista shots, an Aragorn figure, a group of slightly dangerous Ranger-types, etc. etc. Not to mention the poorish acting and the pathetic plot (and by pathetic, I don't mean a plot that makes your heart wring in anguish, unless maybe because it's just that bad). All that could be overlooked more easily if it weren't for stealing other people's ideas.
Oh yes, Jason convinced Ardith to put on Hellboy on Friday (not linking it for the sake of younger siblings). I don't know what it's supposed to be... superhero or horror or comedy or fantasy or just a very confusing mix of all of those.
For Friday night supper we had a good conversation topic - since we ate in the living room, and Ardith's living room has a lot of outlets, and this means plenty of laptops plugged in at once and plenty of newssurfers going at once. All that to say that we learned that Saddam Hussein was to be executed Saturday morning... that is, about an hour later that night our time. Then followed a discussion of why the process had been speeded up, who might have ulterior motives, and more generally, whether questions had one, two, or three-plus sides. Seeing as the trial wasn't (supposed) to be broadcast live, we went to see Night at the Museum, which movie we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Saturday we all managed to get up at a decent hour and get spiffed up for a nice lunch of deli food (fifth heaven for some in our family!) with the rest of the family. Eventually we all ended up in the basement, mostly so the little boys could try out all Ardith's TV seating (beanbag, beanbag footrest, weird rockerless rocker).
That's plenty of "we"'s for one post!, plenty of movies for one vacation, and plenty of posting for today.
First, you know that the real reason we went down was to help Ardith test out her new TV. Sister #2 just has to show it off, since sister #1 probably won't. It's a nice improvement over what she had, as you can see here. My, that thing is big. Actually, that "old" TV was the best one we had before Daddy found us [a used] widescreen. So guess where the best "old" one went, now that Ardith's done with it? Daddy put it out in the garage. After all, people who work out in garages like to stay informed too.
As I mentioned, we went to see Eragon Thursday night. It was a powerful movie, considering how we reacted to it. That is, Jason was not impressed, Kendra was not thrilled, I never cried, and Ardith got all riled up. To get the real lowdown on how the movie plays copycat with various science fiction and fantasy works, you will have to ask Ardith... but even those of us with limited experience - that is, LOTR, Narnia, and Star Trek - could pick out clear rips: a spoken intro, sweeping-vista shots, an Aragorn figure, a group of slightly dangerous Ranger-types, etc. etc. Not to mention the poorish acting and the pathetic plot (and by pathetic, I don't mean a plot that makes your heart wring in anguish, unless maybe because it's just that bad). All that could be overlooked more easily if it weren't for stealing other people's ideas.
Oh yes, Jason convinced Ardith to put on Hellboy on Friday (not linking it for the sake of younger siblings). I don't know what it's supposed to be... superhero or horror or comedy or fantasy or just a very confusing mix of all of those.
For Friday night supper we had a good conversation topic - since we ate in the living room, and Ardith's living room has a lot of outlets, and this means plenty of laptops plugged in at once and plenty of newssurfers going at once. All that to say that we learned that Saddam Hussein was to be executed Saturday morning... that is, about an hour later that night our time. Then followed a discussion of why the process had been speeded up, who might have ulterior motives, and more generally, whether questions had one, two, or three-plus sides. Seeing as the trial wasn't (supposed) to be broadcast live, we went to see Night at the Museum, which movie we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Saturday we all managed to get up at a decent hour and get spiffed up for a nice lunch of deli food (fifth heaven for some in our family!) with the rest of the family. Eventually we all ended up in the basement, mostly so the little boys could try out all Ardith's TV seating (beanbag, beanbag footrest, weird rockerless rocker).
That's plenty of "we"'s for one post!, plenty of movies for one vacation, and plenty of posting for today.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year's!
Is there such a thing as New Year's Day presents? Well, either way, you might enjoy something I ran across on a friend's blog.
A Lego Bible
[Later: Except I took the link out and changed the name (after Thainamu's caution) to protect people like my younger brothers and sisters.]
A Lego Bible
[Later: Except I took the link out and changed the name (after Thainamu's caution) to protect people like my younger brothers and sisters.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)