https://youtu.be/4i39OfGcW2k
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Alex's art
Thursday after school, Alex told me "I know it's last minute, but there's an art show at my school tonight." He gave me a little slip of paper with the details. So I quickly ordered pizza for dinner and made it to Glen Springs by 5:45-ish.
Some of the students, including Alex, had their artwork framed and on display in the halls.
At 6:00, the art teacher handed out awards to students for their artwork.
At the school entrance, Alex had a small piece on display. I forgot to ask what the theme was. Looks like a Day of the Dead thing, but I'm not sure. I think that's a football in front of the skeleton, which is wearing orange and blue of course.
It was a nice evening and it was wonderful to have an evening event showcasing Alex and his accomplishments.
Some of the students, including Alex, had their artwork framed and on display in the halls.
At 6:00, the art teacher handed out awards to students for their artwork.
At the school entrance, Alex had a small piece on display. I forgot to ask what the theme was. Looks like a Day of the Dead thing, but I'm not sure. I think that's a football in front of the skeleton, which is wearing orange and blue of course.
It was a nice evening and it was wonderful to have an evening event showcasing Alex and his accomplishments.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Over Two Months? Really?
Wow. It's been over two months since I posted. Gotta do something about that. I don't think I can muster up a coherent, single story. But I'll throw out a few random bits of tid.
- I'm into week 13 here at GHS. It's been a whirlwind (no Hurricane pun intended). We had our first yearbook deadline yesterday, which we met. 44 pages submitted. So this week now has a bit of breathing room. I've been working in my classroom during the past 2 weekends, so it will be nice to have the upcoming weekend with no work obligations.
- Speaking of this weekend, Sofia's marching band season culminates with the state championship in St. Pete on Friday and Saturday. Cristina will ride on the bus with the other parents and help with the uniforms during prelims on Friday. I'll drive down Saturday with Alex and Bella to watch the finals. Should be fun!
- On Sunday, after a sleep-in (estimated time of return Saturday night is 2:30 AM) we'll spend a leisurely day packing for our trip to NC for Thanksgiving.
- Tuesday after work, we'll hit the road. I'm not sure yet if we'll break up the trip in Atlanta or drive straight through. But we'll be in Asheville some time early Wednesday.
- Hmm. It's looked like rain all morning, and it's finally coming down now, along with darkened skies and heavy wind. Nice. Been a while since it rained here. I still haven't had my fill of rain. I could do with a nice thunderstorm every other day or so.
- Rough season for the Gators. Not what I expected my first year back to Gainesville. Strangely, too, I have yet to go to a game, even though we're smack dab in the middle of Gator country. Between Cristina and Sofia working the concession stand (for band) at a couple of Gator home games (necessitating me staying at home with the younger kids) and being broke, it just hasn't happened. After a 4th loss and a slew of disgruntled fans, I could probably take Bella and Alex to this weekend's game for practically free. Alas, we'll be heading to Tampa for band finals. On the basketball front, a teacher offered to sell a ticket to tonight's UF-Ohio State game, but I didn't even consider it because we have no money. Ah well.
Well, not much of a post, but my planning period just ended and I have a class coming in. Better than nothing!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
I Never Liked Spam
I hate to add a word verification thing to my comment procedure, but I've reached my tolerance threshold of spam comments to moderate. It didn't used to be so bad, but it seems that every day I have some new spam comment to moderate. In an effort to lighten my inbox, I'm now requiring the word verification.
I hope this doesn't deter my legitimate commenters from commenting.
I also apologize for not posting in a long time. I haven't fogotten. Just a little overwhelmed at my new job.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Big Update Part 2
Woo-hoo! The mother-in-law now has wireless internet in her house. No more Starbucks, public library, or going out in the back yard to steal the neighbor's unencrypted signal!
Okay, from the comfort of the dining room table, I continue the update...
Wednesday, June 30: Our nothing-but-Texas day. We left Van Horn after grabbing a quick breakfast at McDonald's (not many choices in Van Horn, and we wanted to get on the road quickly).
430 miles to San Antonio, with very little along the way. This was the most boring part of the whole trip. The only highlight was a mountain that looked like a breast, complete with nipple. Cristina took a picture of it:
We made it to San Antonio in time for a matinee movie (I told Cristina I'd take her to see Eclipse). After eating a large popcorn during the movie, we weren't quite in the mood to eat, but I grabbed a few sandwiches to-go from Chick-fil-A just in case.
We got to our KOA cabin in Columbus, Texas late, after 11 pm. The cabin was unusual. It was made of aluminum and had a bathroom, fridge, microwave, and TV. Also, the cabin had a standard queen bed instead of the usual full + bunk beds with vinyl mattresses that we expected. It was strange. It didn't feel like a KOA cabin. I hope all the KOAs aren't going that route, because this cabin definitely lacked some of the charm of the others.
Thursday, July 1: We asked the campground owners about a good place for breakfast, and they recommended Schobel’s. We got there a little after 11 am and missed the breakfast buffet. We opted for the lunch buffet, even though it felt a little strange to eat grilled chicken and mashed potatoes for our first meal of the day. Tasty though. The sweet potatoes were too candied for our preference though. Good pecan pie.
Along the trip, our biggest concern was not getting into a spot with the trucks where we’d need to back up. My truck towed our van on a car carrier, which is a platform that the entire van sits on. I can reverse with that, but Cristina pulled the Subaru on a tow dolly, where the back wheels of the car are touching the ground. You can’t reverse with a car on a dolly. And I preferred to avoid backing up anyway. I’m no good at backing up with a trailer, and even worse so when driving a 26-foot truck. We got good at finding large parking lots where we could pull our trucks side-by-side, parked in such a way that we could pull forward to get out. Even though we had no kids with us, we still had to stop frequently, since the trucks drank gas like crazy. So we were constantly scoping out places that had good pull-throughs for long trucks.
We had a lot of rain on this day, which slowed us down some. We were already traveling slower than usual due to the heavy trucks, but more so in rain. I noticed quite a difference in the descent of my gas gauge needle when I went 55-60 rather than 65-70. Technically we weren’t supposed to exceed 55 with the trailers, but we occasionally broke that rule, I must admit.
After San Antonio, the terrain became a lot more green. We made it to Louisiana and stopped at a Target in Lake Charles to buy a couple of CDs. Both trucks had CD players, but mine didn’t work (I didn’t know it until after we’d bought the CDs). So I was stuck with radio. Cristina’s truck also had an auxiliary jack, so she could listen to the iPod. At one point I listened to music on my laptop with headphones, but it was too cumbersome, so I gave it up.
We made it to our hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi close to midnight. We had booked the Scottish Inn on Expedia, and I was expecting a typical $50 dump, but it was really nice and seemed new. Not quite as good as the Country Inn in Tucson, but almost. Breakfast was served at 3:30 for all the oil workers who had to leave early, but we opted to sleep in.
Friday, July 2: I wanted a real breakfast instead of hotel donuts and juice, so we went to Denny’s and pigged out on eggs and grits, coffee and pancakes. The Latin guys in the booth beside us were watching the Netherlands-Brasil game on a smart phone, and I kept looking over my shoulder to check on the game. They didn’t seem to mind. Brasil lost, which was a great way to start the day.
Our last driving day. It was going to be a long one.
This part of the trip almost seems to go faster, because there isn’t as much distance between the bigger cities. Texas is so spread out, but once you get to Mississippi, the cities and states come a lot quicker.
We hit our target of getting to Tallahassee around dinner time and met up with Uncle John and Aunt Kathy for dinner at Applebee’s. It was nice to see them and catch up. They advised us to park our trucks in a bank parking lot and then we rode with them to the restaurant. It felt good to just be a passenger, and nice to be sitting beside Cristina, even for just a short ride.
One of the best parts of the whole trip was that Cristina and I stayed in a great mood. When I think back on the trip, my memories are that it was fun and pleasant, like an adventure. That’s the best kind of travel, no matter what happens along the way.
We pulled into Gainesville about 10:30. I briefly talked to Aaron on the phone and gave him the address for the storage unit. He gave me the name and number of an LDS person based in that area to help with unloading.
Saturday, July 3: Burt and Tyler arrived around 9 and helped Elena and me get the motorcycle out of the back of the big truck. We got to the storage units around 10 am, when the office opened. Aaron’s LDS reinforcements were there to help.
It took about 2 hours to get both trucks unloaded into 3 storage units. Our new LDS friends headed home, as did Burt and Tyler. Back at Jarue’s, we showered and then drove around to look at houses for rent. A former student of mine, Jamar, had sent me some links to rental houses on Craigslist. We drove through neighborhoods, occasionally stopping to “borrow” unencrypted wireless internet. In this way, we looked for houses online while driving around. One of the houses Jamar had sent us sounded good so I called and set up a time to look at it.
After dinner, we went to Starbucks to use their wi-fi. We stayed until they closed at 11, but Cristina barely made it through the hundreds of emails in her inbox. We didn’t have the charger for her laptop so she used the Mac and I read the newspaper.
Okay, from the comfort of the dining room table, I continue the update...
Wednesday, June 30: Our nothing-but-Texas day. We left Van Horn after grabbing a quick breakfast at McDonald's (not many choices in Van Horn, and we wanted to get on the road quickly).
430 miles to San Antonio, with very little along the way. This was the most boring part of the whole trip. The only highlight was a mountain that looked like a breast, complete with nipple. Cristina took a picture of it:
We made it to San Antonio in time for a matinee movie (I told Cristina I'd take her to see Eclipse). After eating a large popcorn during the movie, we weren't quite in the mood to eat, but I grabbed a few sandwiches to-go from Chick-fil-A just in case.
We got to our KOA cabin in Columbus, Texas late, after 11 pm. The cabin was unusual. It was made of aluminum and had a bathroom, fridge, microwave, and TV. Also, the cabin had a standard queen bed instead of the usual full + bunk beds with vinyl mattresses that we expected. It was strange. It didn't feel like a KOA cabin. I hope all the KOAs aren't going that route, because this cabin definitely lacked some of the charm of the others.
Thursday, July 1: We asked the campground owners about a good place for breakfast, and they recommended Schobel’s. We got there a little after 11 am and missed the breakfast buffet. We opted for the lunch buffet, even though it felt a little strange to eat grilled chicken and mashed potatoes for our first meal of the day. Tasty though. The sweet potatoes were too candied for our preference though. Good pecan pie.
Along the trip, our biggest concern was not getting into a spot with the trucks where we’d need to back up. My truck towed our van on a car carrier, which is a platform that the entire van sits on. I can reverse with that, but Cristina pulled the Subaru on a tow dolly, where the back wheels of the car are touching the ground. You can’t reverse with a car on a dolly. And I preferred to avoid backing up anyway. I’m no good at backing up with a trailer, and even worse so when driving a 26-foot truck. We got good at finding large parking lots where we could pull our trucks side-by-side, parked in such a way that we could pull forward to get out. Even though we had no kids with us, we still had to stop frequently, since the trucks drank gas like crazy. So we were constantly scoping out places that had good pull-throughs for long trucks.
We had a lot of rain on this day, which slowed us down some. We were already traveling slower than usual due to the heavy trucks, but more so in rain. I noticed quite a difference in the descent of my gas gauge needle when I went 55-60 rather than 65-70. Technically we weren’t supposed to exceed 55 with the trailers, but we occasionally broke that rule, I must admit.
After San Antonio, the terrain became a lot more green. We made it to Louisiana and stopped at a Target in Lake Charles to buy a couple of CDs. Both trucks had CD players, but mine didn’t work (I didn’t know it until after we’d bought the CDs). So I was stuck with radio. Cristina’s truck also had an auxiliary jack, so she could listen to the iPod. At one point I listened to music on my laptop with headphones, but it was too cumbersome, so I gave it up.
We made it to our hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi close to midnight. We had booked the Scottish Inn on Expedia, and I was expecting a typical $50 dump, but it was really nice and seemed new. Not quite as good as the Country Inn in Tucson, but almost. Breakfast was served at 3:30 for all the oil workers who had to leave early, but we opted to sleep in.
Friday, July 2: I wanted a real breakfast instead of hotel donuts and juice, so we went to Denny’s and pigged out on eggs and grits, coffee and pancakes. The Latin guys in the booth beside us were watching the Netherlands-Brasil game on a smart phone, and I kept looking over my shoulder to check on the game. They didn’t seem to mind. Brasil lost, which was a great way to start the day.
Our last driving day. It was going to be a long one.
This part of the trip almost seems to go faster, because there isn’t as much distance between the bigger cities. Texas is so spread out, but once you get to Mississippi, the cities and states come a lot quicker.
We hit our target of getting to Tallahassee around dinner time and met up with Uncle John and Aunt Kathy for dinner at Applebee’s. It was nice to see them and catch up. They advised us to park our trucks in a bank parking lot and then we rode with them to the restaurant. It felt good to just be a passenger, and nice to be sitting beside Cristina, even for just a short ride.
One of the best parts of the whole trip was that Cristina and I stayed in a great mood. When I think back on the trip, my memories are that it was fun and pleasant, like an adventure. That’s the best kind of travel, no matter what happens along the way.
We pulled into Gainesville about 10:30. I briefly talked to Aaron on the phone and gave him the address for the storage unit. He gave me the name and number of an LDS person based in that area to help with unloading.
Saturday, July 3: Burt and Tyler arrived around 9 and helped Elena and me get the motorcycle out of the back of the big truck. We got to the storage units around 10 am, when the office opened. Aaron’s LDS reinforcements were there to help.
It took about 2 hours to get both trucks unloaded into 3 storage units. Our new LDS friends headed home, as did Burt and Tyler. Back at Jarue’s, we showered and then drove around to look at houses for rent. A former student of mine, Jamar, had sent me some links to rental houses on Craigslist. We drove through neighborhoods, occasionally stopping to “borrow” unencrypted wireless internet. In this way, we looked for houses online while driving around. One of the houses Jamar had sent us sounded good so I called and set up a time to look at it.
After dinner, we went to Starbucks to use their wi-fi. We stayed until they closed at 11, but Cristina barely made it through the hundreds of emails in her inbox. We didn’t have the charger for her laptop so she used the Mac and I read the newspaper.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Big Update Part 1
It's been about 3 weeks since I last posted, and I've had a hard time getting enough access to internet to post an update. Much of my time has been spent taking care of moving things: finding a place to live, registering the cars, job stuff, getting a bank account, etc. I'm at the public library right now, using the free wi-fi, so I thought I'd squeeze in a quick synopsis of the past 3 weeks.
Friday, June 25: Summer School finished without a hitch.
Saturday, June 26: We picked up the truck and car carrier from Penske. The 26-foot truck, even though it was the biggest they had, looked smaller than we remembered. About 9 Latter-Day Saints helped us load the truck. Our neighbor Bob Paxman, the husband of Sofia's piano teacher, agreed with the others that all our stuff was not going to fit in the truck (I had expressed these feelings to Cristina before, but she wasn't convinced until a third party with eyes on the actual truck confirmed it). It was a hard day for Cristina. Lots of tears with the stress of having too much stuff, of having to quickly decide what wasn't going to go, or making a plan B to get all our stuff moved.
The truck got expertly loaded within a few hot, sweaty hours. After consulting with Bob about our options, he suggested we get a second smaller truck. We made some calls. A Penske place in Glendale had one 16-foot truck and a tow dolly, and gave us a good price. We had about 2 hours to go pick it up.
We got the second truck and spent the rest of the evening boxing up the little stuff. After you get the major stuff packed, there's still all that little stuff left over. That's the worst part of moving.
Our beds loaded on the big truck, we slept at Maria Del Mar's house. When I showered, the water pouring down my face tasted like sea water. It was all the salt from my hair, from all the sweating all day.
Sunday, June 27: Claire and Luis came over and helped us pack more. If we needed more LDS help, Aaron told us to call around 4, when most would be done at church. Peter and Roben (and Wesley) came over to say goodbye, and help pack a bit. We really hoped to be done with loading the 2nd truck before 4, but when Peter saw all the stuff we still had to do, he advised us to call our LDS friends.
About 5 LDS helpers came to help load the 2nd truck. Bob was a crucial help again, after spending all day loading with us the day before. We will forever be indebted to Bob Paxman!
It turned out that we had more room in the 2nd truck than we anticipated, so we took our washer and dryer, and some of the furniture that we had decided to leave behind.
Unlike our move from Florida in 2004, we did not leave any pans or baking sheets in the drawer under the oven.
By 11 pm or so, the house was completely empty except for the last stuff in the fridge, which was going in a cooler. We didn't have time to clean the house (vacuum, clean the bathrooms, etc.) but after the exhaustion of loading the trucks, I decided we'd pay someone to come clean the house instead of staying up half the night cleaning before we hit the road. Money well-spent.
Monday, June 28: After a good night's sleep at Maria Del Mar's house, we packed up the cooler, loaded the car and van on the dolly and carrier, and headed out of town.
Almost as soon as I got on I-10 at Baseline, the check engine light came on in my truck. All the gauges read normally, so I didn't pull over. I called the Penske roadside assistance number located on the visor. After being on hold for 20 minutes, a got a human and they advised me to stop at a Penske repair place in Tucson.
Cristina had the camera, so all the "road" pictures are of me in the big truck, towing the van
The Penske guys were extremely nice and got working on the truck. Cristina and I sat in the "cafeteria," drank coffee, and waited.
Two hours later, the guy in charge came in and gave us the scoop. The truck's turbo was shot (a critical part of a diesel engine) and if it wasn't fixed, we'd never make it to Florida. Unfortunately, the nearest replacement part was in Phoenix and the earliest they could get it would be the next morning. We could be on the road by noon the next day. Another option was to do a truck swap: Penske would hire a moving company to unload our truck and load it into a similar-sized truck if they had one. That would take a minimum of 4 hours, but likely longer. Knowing that would still put us way off our schedule, plus the small detail that we had a motorcycle packed in the back of the truck, which is technically not allowed by Penske, we chose the fix rather than the swap. The good news is that Penske paid for our hotel and dinner. We spent a few hours on our cell phones switching all the places we had booked to stay at. 2 of the three just switched our nights, but the KOA in Van Horn, though willing, couldn't because their cabins were already booked for the following night. No one charged us anything extra to switch nights, and the KOA in Van Horn gave us a full refund. Sometimes things go well, even when things seem to be going badly!
We booked a nice hotel in Tucson for the night (hey, Penske's dime...why not?) and booked a dumpy motel in Van Horn for the following night.
Penske also extended the return date for us to return the truck in Gainesville. So basically, we got a free date night in Tucson, albeit with all our wordly possessions in tow. Penske allowed us to take the van off the carrier, so we didn't have to drive either big truck around Tucson. After a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant called Opa!, we went to the movies (our last trip to a Harkins...and we still had two Harkins cups!). We did a double feature: Grown Ups and Knight and Day. Back at the hotel, we slept well with no need for an alarm clock the next day.
Dinner at Opa!
Tuesday, June 29: Breakfast at the hotel was lovely. I even worked out a little in the fitness center. We called Penske around 9 to check on the truck, and they said it was done and ready to go!
One last thing Penske did to take care of us so well was they topped our tanks off for free. Penske is a great moving truck company! I don't think they could have been any nicer or done anything different to make things go more smoothly.
Our blissful little stay in Tucson ended, though, and the reality of driving across the country began to set in. It was a long day, on arguably the most boring, unattractive part of the trip. No big cities (and few small ones too) sit between Tucson and El Paso. Just 300 miles or so of big old nothingness. And after El Paso, it's not much better.
Imagine 10 hours of this
We crawled into Van Horn around 11 pm, checked into our dumpy hotel, and drove to a Wendy's (one of only 2 eating places open that late) to get a little bit of dinner.
Friday, June 25: Summer School finished without a hitch.
Saturday, June 26: We picked up the truck and car carrier from Penske. The 26-foot truck, even though it was the biggest they had, looked smaller than we remembered. About 9 Latter-Day Saints helped us load the truck. Our neighbor Bob Paxman, the husband of Sofia's piano teacher, agreed with the others that all our stuff was not going to fit in the truck (I had expressed these feelings to Cristina before, but she wasn't convinced until a third party with eyes on the actual truck confirmed it). It was a hard day for Cristina. Lots of tears with the stress of having too much stuff, of having to quickly decide what wasn't going to go, or making a plan B to get all our stuff moved.
The truck got expertly loaded within a few hot, sweaty hours. After consulting with Bob about our options, he suggested we get a second smaller truck. We made some calls. A Penske place in Glendale had one 16-foot truck and a tow dolly, and gave us a good price. We had about 2 hours to go pick it up.
We got the second truck and spent the rest of the evening boxing up the little stuff. After you get the major stuff packed, there's still all that little stuff left over. That's the worst part of moving.
Our beds loaded on the big truck, we slept at Maria Del Mar's house. When I showered, the water pouring down my face tasted like sea water. It was all the salt from my hair, from all the sweating all day.
Sunday, June 27: Claire and Luis came over and helped us pack more. If we needed more LDS help, Aaron told us to call around 4, when most would be done at church. Peter and Roben (and Wesley) came over to say goodbye, and help pack a bit. We really hoped to be done with loading the 2nd truck before 4, but when Peter saw all the stuff we still had to do, he advised us to call our LDS friends.
About 5 LDS helpers came to help load the 2nd truck. Bob was a crucial help again, after spending all day loading with us the day before. We will forever be indebted to Bob Paxman!
It turned out that we had more room in the 2nd truck than we anticipated, so we took our washer and dryer, and some of the furniture that we had decided to leave behind.
Unlike our move from Florida in 2004, we did not leave any pans or baking sheets in the drawer under the oven.
By 11 pm or so, the house was completely empty except for the last stuff in the fridge, which was going in a cooler. We didn't have time to clean the house (vacuum, clean the bathrooms, etc.) but after the exhaustion of loading the trucks, I decided we'd pay someone to come clean the house instead of staying up half the night cleaning before we hit the road. Money well-spent.
Monday, June 28: After a good night's sleep at Maria Del Mar's house, we packed up the cooler, loaded the car and van on the dolly and carrier, and headed out of town.
Almost as soon as I got on I-10 at Baseline, the check engine light came on in my truck. All the gauges read normally, so I didn't pull over. I called the Penske roadside assistance number located on the visor. After being on hold for 20 minutes, a got a human and they advised me to stop at a Penske repair place in Tucson.
Cristina had the camera, so all the "road" pictures are of me in the big truck, towing the vanThe Penske guys were extremely nice and got working on the truck. Cristina and I sat in the "cafeteria," drank coffee, and waited.
Two hours later, the guy in charge came in and gave us the scoop. The truck's turbo was shot (a critical part of a diesel engine) and if it wasn't fixed, we'd never make it to Florida. Unfortunately, the nearest replacement part was in Phoenix and the earliest they could get it would be the next morning. We could be on the road by noon the next day. Another option was to do a truck swap: Penske would hire a moving company to unload our truck and load it into a similar-sized truck if they had one. That would take a minimum of 4 hours, but likely longer. Knowing that would still put us way off our schedule, plus the small detail that we had a motorcycle packed in the back of the truck, which is technically not allowed by Penske, we chose the fix rather than the swap. The good news is that Penske paid for our hotel and dinner. We spent a few hours on our cell phones switching all the places we had booked to stay at. 2 of the three just switched our nights, but the KOA in Van Horn, though willing, couldn't because their cabins were already booked for the following night. No one charged us anything extra to switch nights, and the KOA in Van Horn gave us a full refund. Sometimes things go well, even when things seem to be going badly!
We booked a nice hotel in Tucson for the night (hey, Penske's dime...why not?) and booked a dumpy motel in Van Horn for the following night.
Penske also extended the return date for us to return the truck in Gainesville. So basically, we got a free date night in Tucson, albeit with all our wordly possessions in tow. Penske allowed us to take the van off the carrier, so we didn't have to drive either big truck around Tucson. After a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant called Opa!, we went to the movies (our last trip to a Harkins...and we still had two Harkins cups!). We did a double feature: Grown Ups and Knight and Day. Back at the hotel, we slept well with no need for an alarm clock the next day.
Dinner at Opa!Tuesday, June 29: Breakfast at the hotel was lovely. I even worked out a little in the fitness center. We called Penske around 9 to check on the truck, and they said it was done and ready to go!
One last thing Penske did to take care of us so well was they topped our tanks off for free. Penske is a great moving truck company! I don't think they could have been any nicer or done anything different to make things go more smoothly.
Our blissful little stay in Tucson ended, though, and the reality of driving across the country began to set in. It was a long day, on arguably the most boring, unattractive part of the trip. No big cities (and few small ones too) sit between Tucson and El Paso. Just 300 miles or so of big old nothingness. And after El Paso, it's not much better.
Imagine 10 hours of thisWe crawled into Van Horn around 11 pm, checked into our dumpy hotel, and drove to a Wendy's (one of only 2 eating places open that late) to get a little bit of dinner.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The Big Move
Many of you know what's going on, but it's worth posting an update here for overall clarity. I apologize for the cold, passion-less tone of my update, but it's crunch time, I'm in the Zone, and I just can't muster up much writing personality right now. So here goes...
Last week, I got a job offer from Gainesville High School, which I accepted. I'll be returning to a school I taught at for 7 years before we moved to Arizona. It also happens to be the school that Cristina graduated from in 1991. Sofia will be attending this fall, incoming freshman. I went to the high school my dad taught at; Sofia will be going to the high school I teach at. Full circle.
As of today, Sofia is in Canton, North Carolina with her grandparents. She completed Band Camp #1 at Gainesville High School last week and is now enjoying time with family up in the mountains.
My sister Lynn has been with us for 4 days, helping us pack and helping with the two younger kids. We've done a little bit of fun stuff (a bit of swimming, a dinner party Saturday night, a drive up to the South Mountain summit last night) but with triple-digit temps every day, we've mostly stayed inside.
Today is Cristina's 37th birthday.
Lynn leaves with Bella and Alex on Wednesday, where they will join Sofia in North Carolina.
Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm, Cristina is having a "packing party." Anyone who is free to come stuff a box can do so to help us with the final push of pack-up.
Friday I finish summer school.
Saturday morning, I pick up the moving truck. We have some loading help from 10 to noon. Our goal is to have the truck fully loaded by Saturday night.
Sunday: cleaning and last minute errands. We hope to rest a bit and get to bed at a decent time. We'll be staying the night with friends, since there will be nothing left in our house.
Monday morning: hit the road. Cristina will drive the Odyssey. I'll drive the moving truck, pulling the Subaru behind it. Our goal for Day 1 is Van Horn, Texas.
Tuesday: Weimar, Texas is our day's destination.
Wednesday: Staying the night in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Thursday: Arrive in Gainesville.
Friday: Unload truck into storage unit. Return truck if we get it unloaded before the truck place closes. Otherwise, it's due back Saturday morning.
July will be pretty packed and crazy too, but let's get through June before I give you those details.
And by the way, our house has not sold yet, but we're hoping it will sell within the next few months.
Last week, I got a job offer from Gainesville High School, which I accepted. I'll be returning to a school I taught at for 7 years before we moved to Arizona. It also happens to be the school that Cristina graduated from in 1991. Sofia will be attending this fall, incoming freshman. I went to the high school my dad taught at; Sofia will be going to the high school I teach at. Full circle.
As of today, Sofia is in Canton, North Carolina with her grandparents. She completed Band Camp #1 at Gainesville High School last week and is now enjoying time with family up in the mountains.
My sister Lynn has been with us for 4 days, helping us pack and helping with the two younger kids. We've done a little bit of fun stuff (a bit of swimming, a dinner party Saturday night, a drive up to the South Mountain summit last night) but with triple-digit temps every day, we've mostly stayed inside.
Today is Cristina's 37th birthday.
Lynn leaves with Bella and Alex on Wednesday, where they will join Sofia in North Carolina.
Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm, Cristina is having a "packing party." Anyone who is free to come stuff a box can do so to help us with the final push of pack-up.
Friday I finish summer school.
Saturday morning, I pick up the moving truck. We have some loading help from 10 to noon. Our goal is to have the truck fully loaded by Saturday night.
Sunday: cleaning and last minute errands. We hope to rest a bit and get to bed at a decent time. We'll be staying the night with friends, since there will be nothing left in our house.
Monday morning: hit the road. Cristina will drive the Odyssey. I'll drive the moving truck, pulling the Subaru behind it. Our goal for Day 1 is Van Horn, Texas.
Tuesday: Weimar, Texas is our day's destination.
Wednesday: Staying the night in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Thursday: Arrive in Gainesville.
Friday: Unload truck into storage unit. Return truck if we get it unloaded before the truck place closes. Otherwise, it's due back Saturday morning.
July will be pretty packed and crazy too, but let's get through June before I give you those details.
And by the way, our house has not sold yet, but we're hoping it will sell within the next few months.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Bella's Dance Showcase
Bella just wrapped up her first ballet class. On Friday, June 4, she had a dance showcase. Four girls were listed on the program for her song, but I guess a couple didn't show up. Still very cute though!
https://youtu.be/dGEokwkDHdk
Monday, May 10, 2010
Backlog of stuff to post
I've got a lot of things I meant to post...photos, videos, explanations...but I've been so busy getting the house ready and job hunting that I haven't posted much.
So here are three videos to get me somewhat caught up.
I'll start with the oldest. I think it was April 27. Sofia had her last band performance of the year. They did three pieces. This is the last one, which Sofia and I both thought was the best. It's an exciting piece, especially once the lights go out. Don't quit watching when the lights go out.
https://youtu.be/6LZ96rDyWUg
Next, Sofia had a piano recital on Saturday. The first song is a duet with her piano teacher, Danya...
https://youtu.be/yEe7MHJfPfQ
And most recently, Bella's first haircut. Self-initiated; she wanted to get it cut. Cristina offered to cut it, but Bella wanted to go to the hair place (probably because she knew there would be no lollipop if her mother cut it).
https://youtu.be/ZrrVZ_P6GnE
Saturday, May 8, 2010
House for Sale
Interested in buying a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath in a beautiful neighborhood? It's only about a mile from Desert Marigold School (to all my DMS peeps out there) has two community pools and several nice parks. And, oh yeah, it's dirt cheap. Gotta love those buyer's markets. If you're a buyer.
Here's the listing!
Here's the listing!
Friday, May 7, 2010
My oldest is 14!
Sofia turns 14 today! Amazing.
Happy Birthday, 'Fia!
Happy Birthday, 'Fia!
Sofia 9 months old
Sofia 13 years oldMonday, April 26, 2010
Giving Thanks
I realized yesterday how unpleasant things have been lately. Maybe it's just me, and I take plenty of blame, but there has not been a lot of joy during the past few weeks of packing up/cleaning the house. I've been grouchy, the kids are fighting, even Cristina, who is usually the fun, cheerful one, has had her grouchy moments. So to combat all that, I thought I'd post a list of things that I'm grateful for (thanks for the idea, Helena). This list is in no particular order.
Free bagels - Gary, a friend and teacher next door to me, gave me two gift certificates for free bagels and cream cheese from Chompie's. We love bagels in our house, and Chompie's are great. And you can't beat free.
Drive-in - We took the kids to a drive-in movie Friday night. It was Sofia's first time ever, and the second time for the other two. We took Alex's friend, Seth, as well. The younger 3 sat on the roof for part of the movie. Sofia wanted to sit up there too, but I wouldn't let her. I thought it would be too much weight (next time, I'll bring something to put across the luggage rack so she can sit up there too). We saw How to Train Your Dragon and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We sat in camp chairs, ate Boston Market from paper plates, and then shared a bag of popcorn. Good times.
Best Daddy Ever - Sunday, I was running errands with Bella and Alex. We had an hour to kill while waiting for a tire to get repaired, so I went to In-and-Out Burger to get a burger for each of us. When Bella heard where we were going, she said "You're the best daddy EVER!" It was so sincere and sweet, and I realized that I won't have too many more years of hearing those kinds of comments (once the kids get older they don't quite gush like that for their parents). Right after she said it, she added, "Of course, you're my only dad." Bella, the analytical gusher.
Health - I'm so glad that even though my nose is stuffy and running, my eyes are watering, and I'm sneezing a lot, and I've been getting headaches, I don't have a fever or anything more severe that would cause me to miss work. I haven't had a true sick day in well over a year. It's probably just pollen from our mesquite tree, since blankets of the stuff are all over our front yard and constantly blowing into the garage.
Tires - Thankfully, on Friday, I had two intact tires on my car. And thankfully, one of the flat ones didn't cost anything to get repaired on Sunday. And thankfully, the other flat one will get fixed or replaced today. And a big thanks go to my little Subaru, who provides me transportation with no car payment. I thought I would have replaced that car 5 years ago, but she keeps chugging along. She turns 16 this year. Old enough to get her driver's license.
Clean Kitchen - Though we didn't get as much cleaning done this weekend as we'd hoped, the kitchen is much improved. All the counters are decluttered now, and it looks good enough to show to prospective buyers. The whole downstairs is close to being done.
Craigslist - I'm thankful for Craigslist for helping me sell stuff. It's free to advertise, and the buyers come pick the stuff up. Double win. Yesterday I posted our kitchen table and chairs, and somebody emailed me and said they'd pay me $30 more than my asking price if I'd save it for them for 3 or 4 days. I'm not desperate to get rid of it immediately, so no problem. I've never had someone offer to pay more than what I asked. Could be my best Craigslist sale ever.
Cristina to Baltimore - I'm thankful that we found a way to get Cristina to Baltimore for a Jin Shin Jyutsu training. And I'm even more grateful to the couchsurfer who is picking her up from the airport and hosting her for 6 days. I hope Cristina has a wonderful time and comes back renewed and full of joy. Our household needs a good injection of that.
Green grass - This might sound strange and trivial. I was looking at the website for Gainesville High school this morning, which had a photo of their baseball field. The grass looked so incredibly green. I felt a sense of relief and renewal just looking at it. Knowing that Gainesville is one of the places we might wind up at this summer makes me feel good.
There's plenty more I'm thankful for, but I have a class starting soon, so I have to wrap up. I'm thankful that I have a job teaching good kids. And considering the high today is 93 (34 C) I'm thankful that the air conditioning is working.
Free bagels - Gary, a friend and teacher next door to me, gave me two gift certificates for free bagels and cream cheese from Chompie's. We love bagels in our house, and Chompie's are great. And you can't beat free.
Drive-in - We took the kids to a drive-in movie Friday night. It was Sofia's first time ever, and the second time for the other two. We took Alex's friend, Seth, as well. The younger 3 sat on the roof for part of the movie. Sofia wanted to sit up there too, but I wouldn't let her. I thought it would be too much weight (next time, I'll bring something to put across the luggage rack so she can sit up there too). We saw How to Train Your Dragon and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We sat in camp chairs, ate Boston Market from paper plates, and then shared a bag of popcorn. Good times.
Best Daddy Ever - Sunday, I was running errands with Bella and Alex. We had an hour to kill while waiting for a tire to get repaired, so I went to In-and-Out Burger to get a burger for each of us. When Bella heard where we were going, she said "You're the best daddy EVER!" It was so sincere and sweet, and I realized that I won't have too many more years of hearing those kinds of comments (once the kids get older they don't quite gush like that for their parents). Right after she said it, she added, "Of course, you're my only dad." Bella, the analytical gusher.
Health - I'm so glad that even though my nose is stuffy and running, my eyes are watering, and I'm sneezing a lot, and I've been getting headaches, I don't have a fever or anything more severe that would cause me to miss work. I haven't had a true sick day in well over a year. It's probably just pollen from our mesquite tree, since blankets of the stuff are all over our front yard and constantly blowing into the garage.
Tires - Thankfully, on Friday, I had two intact tires on my car. And thankfully, one of the flat ones didn't cost anything to get repaired on Sunday. And thankfully, the other flat one will get fixed or replaced today. And a big thanks go to my little Subaru, who provides me transportation with no car payment. I thought I would have replaced that car 5 years ago, but she keeps chugging along. She turns 16 this year. Old enough to get her driver's license.
Clean Kitchen - Though we didn't get as much cleaning done this weekend as we'd hoped, the kitchen is much improved. All the counters are decluttered now, and it looks good enough to show to prospective buyers. The whole downstairs is close to being done.
Craigslist - I'm thankful for Craigslist for helping me sell stuff. It's free to advertise, and the buyers come pick the stuff up. Double win. Yesterday I posted our kitchen table and chairs, and somebody emailed me and said they'd pay me $30 more than my asking price if I'd save it for them for 3 or 4 days. I'm not desperate to get rid of it immediately, so no problem. I've never had someone offer to pay more than what I asked. Could be my best Craigslist sale ever.
Cristina to Baltimore - I'm thankful that we found a way to get Cristina to Baltimore for a Jin Shin Jyutsu training. And I'm even more grateful to the couchsurfer who is picking her up from the airport and hosting her for 6 days. I hope Cristina has a wonderful time and comes back renewed and full of joy. Our household needs a good injection of that.
Green grass - This might sound strange and trivial. I was looking at the website for Gainesville High school this morning, which had a photo of their baseball field. The grass looked so incredibly green. I felt a sense of relief and renewal just looking at it. Knowing that Gainesville is one of the places we might wind up at this summer makes me feel good.
There's plenty more I'm thankful for, but I have a class starting soon, so I have to wrap up. I'm thankful that I have a job teaching good kids. And considering the high today is 93 (34 C) I'm thankful that the air conditioning is working.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Update on House Prep
As most of you know, we're planning a move this summer, and our house is going on the market. It was supposed to list yesterday, but I haven't turned in the listing paperwork yet. Just as well, too, since the house is still not ready to be shown. Our Realtor said not to worry about decluttering, just to make sure it's clean. Yeah, well, it's not. So we're not ready.
But we are making progress, which is good.
First of all, it helps that we have no pets right now. It's hard enough to keep a house clean with 3 kids, but add a dog and 2 cats, and the clean-up increases exponentially. Thank you again, Mom and Dad, for taking on 3 more animals for a few months. I know it makes more work for you guys, but I know our animals are safe and happy.
It's nice to know that we can dump a load of clean clothes on a bed without getting cat hair all over them. Or to vacuum and know that the floor will stay clean for longer than a few hours.
We tackled the downstairs last weekend. We didn't quite get it all show-ready like I wanted, but it's close. Most everything from the cabinets is boxed and, the sofa cover has been changed and all the sofa pillow covers have been washed. Our sofa is cat-hair and dog-poop free! I know, you're probably thinking "You had dog poop on your sofa?" But Frenchies sometimes get "poopie-butt," and an accidental rub of butt against the side of the sofa = poop on sofa. Thank goodness for IKEA sofas with their removable, machine-washable covers.
The kitchen even got a little decluttered: the candles, oil lamps, and trinkets on the top of our cabinets are cleaned and boxed, and two cabinets of dishes have been pared down and boxed. Cristina still has her sewing stuff all over the dining room, so it still needs some work.
Nice thing about a short sale: I don't have to worry about painting over our green kitchen or blue living room, nor do I have to replace the carpet (the animals have torn up the carpet in a couple of small places). When you're getting a house for a steal (I'm sure that's how Wells Fargo sees it) you get it as is. Clean, but not perfect.
So that's the latest. No pictures, but just thought I'd give an update, for the 2 or 3 people who care. Mom. Dad.
But we are making progress, which is good.
First of all, it helps that we have no pets right now. It's hard enough to keep a house clean with 3 kids, but add a dog and 2 cats, and the clean-up increases exponentially. Thank you again, Mom and Dad, for taking on 3 more animals for a few months. I know it makes more work for you guys, but I know our animals are safe and happy.
It's nice to know that we can dump a load of clean clothes on a bed without getting cat hair all over them. Or to vacuum and know that the floor will stay clean for longer than a few hours.
We tackled the downstairs last weekend. We didn't quite get it all show-ready like I wanted, but it's close. Most everything from the cabinets is boxed and, the sofa cover has been changed and all the sofa pillow covers have been washed. Our sofa is cat-hair and dog-poop free! I know, you're probably thinking "You had dog poop on your sofa?" But Frenchies sometimes get "poopie-butt," and an accidental rub of butt against the side of the sofa = poop on sofa. Thank goodness for IKEA sofas with their removable, machine-washable covers.
The kitchen even got a little decluttered: the candles, oil lamps, and trinkets on the top of our cabinets are cleaned and boxed, and two cabinets of dishes have been pared down and boxed. Cristina still has her sewing stuff all over the dining room, so it still needs some work.
Nice thing about a short sale: I don't have to worry about painting over our green kitchen or blue living room, nor do I have to replace the carpet (the animals have torn up the carpet in a couple of small places). When you're getting a house for a steal (I'm sure that's how Wells Fargo sees it) you get it as is. Clean, but not perfect.
So that's the latest. No pictures, but just thought I'd give an update, for the 2 or 3 people who care. Mom. Dad.
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Confederacy: Kill the Myth Once and For All
Just returning from a trip to the South, and planning a move back to the South, I've recently been thinking about this odd notion of Confederate pride. Even born and raised as a Southerner, I never understood the need some Southerners feel to fly the Confederate flag or display bumper stickers that say "The South Will Rise Again." After the governor of Virginia proclaimed April "Confederate History Month," Jeff Schweitzer wrote this article for the Huffington Post. It pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole issue, so I thought I'd reprint it here.
The Confederacy: Kill the Myth Once and For All
by Jeff Schweitzer
On April 3, 1865, Richmond, Virginia, fell to Union soldiers as Confederate troops retreated to the West, exhausted, weak, and low on supplies. The end would come soon thereafter. On April 5, Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant started an exchange of notes that would lead to Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9. As we approach this important anniversary, the time is upon us to consider, and ultimately reject, the sterilized myths of the Confederacy.
Southerners who claim a deep national pride celebrate their ancestors' efforts to dissolve the very union of states whose flag they now so proudly fly. They honor a campaign to destroy our country but claim the mantle of patriot. That makes no sense. The contradiction is always swept under the rug, but that must stop. Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the war's first battle; that is a good time to close this chapter of hypocrisy and inconsistency. A southern loyalist cannot be a patriot; the two ideals are mutually incompatible. You cannot simultaneously love the United States and love the idea of destroying the United States. To claim both is insane, the equivalent of declaring that you love all Mexican food but hate enchiladas. The claims are each exclusive of the other and therefore by definition both cannot be true.
Let us take one issue off the table immediately. Certainly one can rightly honor the bravery of fallen soldiers no matter whether they wore blue or grey. We can appreciate the rare military genius of Robert E. Lee, and the loyalty and dedication of Stonewall Jackson, George Pickett and Nathan Forrest. These generals and the men they led fought valiantly, with integrity, with honor, for a cause in which they believed passionately. For this we owe them our deepest respect.
But honoring the man is not equivalent to honoring the cause for which he fought. The cause championed by the South should cover every American with shame. Have no doubt that the South was at war to dismantle our nation, to destroy our Constitution. For this goal of secession, of which nobody should be proud, more than 630,000 soldiers (some claim up to 700,000) were killed or wounded in four years of hellish war. To put this in perspective consider that the entire population of the United States at war's end was 35 million, putting war casualties at nearly 2% of the total populace. Equivalent rates of casualties today would result in 5 million dead or wounded, dwarfing our losses in World War II, or any other war.
Why did 2% of our population suffer death or maiming? Over the issue of state sovereignty and the interpretation of the Tenth Amendment (ratified in 1791). The text is simple enough: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." But we also have the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution, which say, "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
Simply put, 11 southern states seceded from the Union in protest against federal legislation that limited the expansion of slavery claiming that such legislation violated the tenth amendment, which they argued trumped the Supremacy Clause. The war was indeed about protecting the institution of slavery, but only as a specific case of a state's right to declare a federal law null and void.
The inherent tension between Article VI and the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution has kept lawyers busy and wealthy since our founding, and the argument goes on today. But the South went a significant step further than arguing a case. In seceding from the Union those states declared the U.S. Constitution dead. The president of the United States, sworn to uphold the Constitution, had no choice but to take whatever measures were necessary to fulfill his commitment. So war came.
So what exactly about that history would lead one to fly a Confederate flag over a state capitol building, or paste one on a F150 bumper or wear one on a T-shirt? Is the South proud of its efforts to protect slavery? Or attempting to destroy the United States through dissolution? For starting a war in which 2% of the population died? For losing the war? These are odd banners to carry around for nearly 150 years.
Perhaps the pride comes from the fact that the South stood up to a greater power, at least checking or slowing the pace of an expanding federalism. But even that does not pass the smell test; by starting but then losing the war the South created the exact opposite effect, solidifying federal power like never before.
But damn if the South does not hold on to the war as if they never actually lost, fighting incongruously for a hopeless cause of questionable value while simultaneously wrapping themselves in the American flag! So we get oddities like Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell proclaiming April "Confederate History Month" without ever mentioning slavery. When questioned about this curious oversight, McDonnell lamely explained that "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia." Really? If slavery was not among the most "significant" issues for Virginia, exactly what other state right was being violated by federal law leading to the Civil War? Does McDonnell even know the history of the war? Sadly, McDonnell is the not the first governor of his state to explicitly omit slavery from lofty declarations. Former Republican Virginia Governor Republican George Allen also failed to recognize slavery when making a similar proclamation. Seems to be a disease of Republican governors, a historic irony given the role of the young Republican Party in the war.
The South started and lost a war that nearly destroyed the United States in pursuit of a terrible cause. Let it go. Let. It. Go. You fought well but lost decisively. Your cause was unjust. Your actions were treasonous. There is no part of the Confederate cause of which to be proud. There is no moral high ground here. Waving the American flag while fiercely defending the effort to tear that flag down is untenable. Make a choice; be a proud American or a proud Confederate. You cannot possibly be both.
The Confederacy: Kill the Myth Once and For All
by Jeff Schweitzer
On April 3, 1865, Richmond, Virginia, fell to Union soldiers as Confederate troops retreated to the West, exhausted, weak, and low on supplies. The end would come soon thereafter. On April 5, Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant started an exchange of notes that would lead to Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9. As we approach this important anniversary, the time is upon us to consider, and ultimately reject, the sterilized myths of the Confederacy.
Southerners who claim a deep national pride celebrate their ancestors' efforts to dissolve the very union of states whose flag they now so proudly fly. They honor a campaign to destroy our country but claim the mantle of patriot. That makes no sense. The contradiction is always swept under the rug, but that must stop. Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the war's first battle; that is a good time to close this chapter of hypocrisy and inconsistency. A southern loyalist cannot be a patriot; the two ideals are mutually incompatible. You cannot simultaneously love the United States and love the idea of destroying the United States. To claim both is insane, the equivalent of declaring that you love all Mexican food but hate enchiladas. The claims are each exclusive of the other and therefore by definition both cannot be true.
Let us take one issue off the table immediately. Certainly one can rightly honor the bravery of fallen soldiers no matter whether they wore blue or grey. We can appreciate the rare military genius of Robert E. Lee, and the loyalty and dedication of Stonewall Jackson, George Pickett and Nathan Forrest. These generals and the men they led fought valiantly, with integrity, with honor, for a cause in which they believed passionately. For this we owe them our deepest respect.
But honoring the man is not equivalent to honoring the cause for which he fought. The cause championed by the South should cover every American with shame. Have no doubt that the South was at war to dismantle our nation, to destroy our Constitution. For this goal of secession, of which nobody should be proud, more than 630,000 soldiers (some claim up to 700,000) were killed or wounded in four years of hellish war. To put this in perspective consider that the entire population of the United States at war's end was 35 million, putting war casualties at nearly 2% of the total populace. Equivalent rates of casualties today would result in 5 million dead or wounded, dwarfing our losses in World War II, or any other war.
Why did 2% of our population suffer death or maiming? Over the issue of state sovereignty and the interpretation of the Tenth Amendment (ratified in 1791). The text is simple enough: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." But we also have the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution, which say, "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
Simply put, 11 southern states seceded from the Union in protest against federal legislation that limited the expansion of slavery claiming that such legislation violated the tenth amendment, which they argued trumped the Supremacy Clause. The war was indeed about protecting the institution of slavery, but only as a specific case of a state's right to declare a federal law null and void.
The inherent tension between Article VI and the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution has kept lawyers busy and wealthy since our founding, and the argument goes on today. But the South went a significant step further than arguing a case. In seceding from the Union those states declared the U.S. Constitution dead. The president of the United States, sworn to uphold the Constitution, had no choice but to take whatever measures were necessary to fulfill his commitment. So war came.
So what exactly about that history would lead one to fly a Confederate flag over a state capitol building, or paste one on a F150 bumper or wear one on a T-shirt? Is the South proud of its efforts to protect slavery? Or attempting to destroy the United States through dissolution? For starting a war in which 2% of the population died? For losing the war? These are odd banners to carry around for nearly 150 years.
Perhaps the pride comes from the fact that the South stood up to a greater power, at least checking or slowing the pace of an expanding federalism. But even that does not pass the smell test; by starting but then losing the war the South created the exact opposite effect, solidifying federal power like never before.
But damn if the South does not hold on to the war as if they never actually lost, fighting incongruously for a hopeless cause of questionable value while simultaneously wrapping themselves in the American flag! So we get oddities like Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell proclaiming April "Confederate History Month" without ever mentioning slavery. When questioned about this curious oversight, McDonnell lamely explained that "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia." Really? If slavery was not among the most "significant" issues for Virginia, exactly what other state right was being violated by federal law leading to the Civil War? Does McDonnell even know the history of the war? Sadly, McDonnell is the not the first governor of his state to explicitly omit slavery from lofty declarations. Former Republican Virginia Governor Republican George Allen also failed to recognize slavery when making a similar proclamation. Seems to be a disease of Republican governors, a historic irony given the role of the young Republican Party in the war.
The South started and lost a war that nearly destroyed the United States in pursuit of a terrible cause. Let it go. Let. It. Go. You fought well but lost decisively. Your cause was unjust. Your actions were treasonous. There is no part of the Confederate cause of which to be proud. There is no moral high ground here. Waving the American flag while fiercely defending the effort to tear that flag down is untenable. Make a choice; be a proud American or a proud Confederate. You cannot possibly be both.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Incredible Journey
The day we left Phoenix was Vivien's 3rd birthday. At breakfast, we put a "3" candle in her food and sang Happy Birthday. 
Windy didn't mind eating at the table, but Vivien isn't quite built for that. She prefers hers on the floor. Remember that movie where two dogs and a cat cross the country on their own? We had our own version of that, only it was two dogs, two cats, and three people.
Leaving Sunland AvenueLuckily, the trip was fairly uneventful, but I'll list a few random highlights.
Dad rigged a cage, covered with thick blankets, in the bed of the truck. At times, the cats were back there, and sometimes Windy rode there. Vivien is a total basket-case in any moving vehicle, so we kept her in the cab with us the whole time.
Johnny Cash Live at Tundra PrisonStill lots of snow north of Payson. None falling, just banked up on the sides of the road.
Here's a typical configuration: Ling Ling sleeping on my lap while I drove, Cash in the middle, and Windy sitting in Dad's lap, or at his feet. Vivi was in the backseat with Alex. Due to the slowness of pulling a loaded trailer up the mountain, we made bad time. Normally Phoenix to Tijeras is 8 hours. It took us closer to 11. We left Phoenix at 3:30 and got into Uncle Doug's about 2:30. We didn't even stop for dinner. We ate veggie burgers that I'd made the night before.
Had a nice breakfast with Uncle Doug and Aunt Lynn. The trailer tongue was nearly scraping the ground, so Uncle Doug lent Dad a different trailer hitch. We loaded up and left around 10:30.
Four Eury men and their dogs (probably the first time Vivi has been in a tree)Stopped for lunch/dinner in Amarillo, at an ice cream/hamburger place called Braum's. Good stuff.
From Tijeras to Alabama, the wind was gusting like crazy. It felt like a hurricane. We stopped at the Oklahoma welcome center to walk the dogs and it almost felt like you needed to hold on to something to keep from blowing away. The strong wind played havoc on the truck's cruise control, so for a huge stretch of the trip I had to drive manually.
I can't remember where this was (one of many stops for gas) but both the dogs were snuggled together. Ling Ling was on the floor, and Cash sat beside the dogs. We got to our KOA cabin in Alma, Arkansas close to 3 am. Ugg.
As we were packing up to leave the cabin, Alex offered to drive. Saturday, the last day of driving. It's all kind of a daze now. State after state, mile after mile. The day went on forever. We ate at a Huddle House north of Birmingham, Alabama.
We were so cramped that Vivien even resorted to sleeping in the litter box. Ewww!Since the I-40 west of Asheville was closed due to landslide, we had to go around, which added close to 80 miles. We chose the Memphis-Birmingham-Atlanta route.
I tried to drive as much as possible, since Dad had driven the entire route by himself just a few days earlier. The only parts Dad drove on the way back were Phoenix to Fort McDowell (the first half hour or so of the trip), a couple of hours in Oklahoma, and a couple of hours or so in Alabama. Not too bad.
Since we were getting in to Asheville so late (2:30 am) and I needed to get to Bonnie's to catch a plane the next morning (just 4 hours or so after we got there, actually) Dad dropped me off at Bonnie's and then went on to his house with Alex and the animals. I chatted with Bonnie for a little while, set my cell phone to wake me at 4:30, and then crashed on her recliner. I tried to sleep on the sofa with her dog, but it was a little crowded. He's a big dog. But the recliner was more comfortable anyway, as Bonnie had told me.
All our stuff safely stored in my parents' basement
Mom and Dad decided to put the futon in their living room
The futon, with temporary makeshift cover...and cats
Lynn and Hershey came over Tuesday nightTuesday, March 30, 2010
Paul McCartney
Sunday morning, Cristina and Bella picked me up from the airport in their pajamas. After a quick breakfast, Bella went to church with Eliana and I went to bed for a few hours. Cristina got me up around 1:30. I showered, and Sofia and I headed off to Glendale for Wrestlemania.
Random weirdness: on the way there, we passed a Mercedes on the side of the road, engulfed in flames.
Traffic to the stadium was horrible, so we got there late. Wrestlemania started at 3:30 and we didn't get to the parking lots until close to 4. The stadium parking was 20 to 30 dollars. But Jobing.com arena, where Paul McCartney would be playing, was right next door and had some free lots. But the parking lots for the arena were closed until 4:30. We saw the parking guy let someone in, so Sofia told me to ask him. He asked to see our Paul tickets, and then he let us through. All thanks to Sofia's assertiveness!
Even though we thought we had missed the beginning of Wrestlemania, by the time we got inside the stadium and found our seats, the countdown clock was at about 5 minutes. So it was actually perfect timing.
Wrestlemania was about what I thought it would be. Loud, flashy, with lots of drama. Some of the wrestlers are good guys, some are bad guys. I was surprised at how quiet the actual fight part was. They make a lot of noise leading up to the fight, blaring videos and fireworks and such, but then the fight was rather quiet. I was also amazed at how many people are so into WWE. People were yelling stuff during the fights the way people yell at college football games. Bizarre. The guy behind me kept making comments to the person he was with. Very sincere, astute observations like "He's wearing him down," or "He's got him right where he wants him." I kept thinking, "Don't these people know this is fake?"
Afterwards, when I talked about how the fights are choreographed, Sofia was surprised. She didn't realize it was fake! Of course, the wrestlers can still get hurt doing the moves they do, but it's certainly scripted out. I'm not sure if she was disappointed. Probably not. Sofia really approached the whole ordeal with an anthropologist's point of view: observing this strange ritual from a somewhat detached view.
The arena was supposed to open at 6, and we wanted time to get some food and buy shirts. So we left Wrestlemania around 5:30.
None of the restaurants around the stadium or arena looked promising. There were so many people between the two events that every restaurant had a line out the door. I thought for sure there would be some food stand selling pizza by the slice, or hot dogs, but no such luck. There was one place selling bratwurst, but Sofia wasn't too keen on brats and they were $8 each.
It was close to 6, and the crowds were massing at the gates of the arena. We decided to take our chances on the arena selling food inside. We joined the people waiting.
They didn't open the gates till close to 7. Never did find out why they waited so long to let everyone in.
We got our shirts. They had a lot of choices, and I wish I had taken a picture of them. Sofia and I wound up buying the same shirt. We both wanted one that listed all the cities on his tour, and there was only one choice that had that.
We grabbed a burger and hot dog and made our way upstairs to our seats. Not terrible, but pretty high up. But we both commented that we were just glad to be there. We weren't going to be so picky as to complain about the angle of our seats.
The concert started about 8:30 (an hour late). Paul was in fine form. I thought the audio quality of the vocals could have been better (a tad muddy at times), but that was probably more an arena issue than a Paul issue. His voice sounded great. In fact, he was hitting some higher ranges that surprised me. As singers grow older, their range lowers, and they often compensate by singing certain lines differently. He did a little bit of that, but mostly he was spot on.
My favorite moments from the concert were the songs "Two of Us" (a song Steve and I have played together a lot) and "I've Got a Feeling" (a personal favorite of mine). I also loved the little moments in between songs where he talked to the crowd. That's the good stuff that you don't get on a live album. For example, before he played "Two of Us," he said "I'd like to do a song from the 60's...which was before my time." (It's at the 1:03 mark in part 2.)
He did 5 songs off the "Band on the Run" album, which surprised me (Band on the Run, Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Let Me Roll It, and Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five). After Mrs. Vanderbilt, which has a chorus of "Ho...hey ho!" he said he had done that song in Kiev, Ukraine and the people went nuts for it, he guessed because all the "Ho, hey ho's" have sort of a Russian sound to it. I'll probably never hear that song again without thinking of his comment.
He did plenty of Beatles stuff, a couple of the Fireman songs, and lots more Wings stuff than I expected. He even started off with "Venus and Mars/Rock Show," which was how his concerts started off during his "Wings Over America" tour in the 70's. I had Sofia watch a Wings documentary the night before, so she was well-versed in his Wings years. Oh, another nice surprise was him doing a couple of John's songs: "A Day in the Life," which morphed into "Give Peace a Chance." Awesome. He also gave George's "Something" the full treatment, starting with ukulele and then blossoming into the full band version.
Paul knows how to put on a show. I love watching someone do what they absolutely love to do with their life. Paul doesn't need to tour. He's a billionaire. He's a legend. He's not touring to promote his latest album. He's touring because he loves to play live in front of a crowd. It's a win-win situation: we love his music and want to see him play, and he wants to play for us. He played a nearly 3-hour set. He did everything that was expected and more. 3 encores, all the classics, ending appropriately with "The End," which rocked, and ended the concert with a bit of poignancy, just like how "Abbey Road" ends. Perfect.
It's been about 14 years since I went to a concert, and even then it was Natalie Merchant (not exactly the rocking type). My ears were ringing after the show. But I loved every minute of it, and I especially loved sharing it with Sofia. I wish I could have afforded to take Alex as well. Paul has already said this would not be his last tour. Alex, next time is your turn!
Ringo is touring this summer, and his tickets are cheaper. He'll be in Florida in July. Sofia says we should go. I think I'm going to try to make that happen. We will more than likely be in Gainesville for the month of July, so it'll be easy enough to pop over to St. Augustine to see another Beatle.
Here are my videos from the concert. It's a lot, so I doubt many of my readers will watch all 40 minutes. But I wanted to put it all on there for Sofia, who didn't see the video before I left for North Carolina Monday morning. Definitely gives a nice overview of the whole concert, though my battery died before "Hey Jude," which is Sofia's favorite song (I think). I did manage to squeak out about 10 seconds of battery during the "Na na na na's." So at least there's that. "Live and Let Die" is always so impressive, I recorded the whole thing. I guess I should have conserved my battery. Oh well!
Random weirdness: on the way there, we passed a Mercedes on the side of the road, engulfed in flames.
Traffic to the stadium was horrible, so we got there late. Wrestlemania started at 3:30 and we didn't get to the parking lots until close to 4. The stadium parking was 20 to 30 dollars. But Jobing.com arena, where Paul McCartney would be playing, was right next door and had some free lots. But the parking lots for the arena were closed until 4:30. We saw the parking guy let someone in, so Sofia told me to ask him. He asked to see our Paul tickets, and then he let us through. All thanks to Sofia's assertiveness!
Even though we thought we had missed the beginning of Wrestlemania, by the time we got inside the stadium and found our seats, the countdown clock was at about 5 minutes. So it was actually perfect timing.
Wrestlemania was about what I thought it would be. Loud, flashy, with lots of drama. Some of the wrestlers are good guys, some are bad guys. I was surprised at how quiet the actual fight part was. They make a lot of noise leading up to the fight, blaring videos and fireworks and such, but then the fight was rather quiet. I was also amazed at how many people are so into WWE. People were yelling stuff during the fights the way people yell at college football games. Bizarre. The guy behind me kept making comments to the person he was with. Very sincere, astute observations like "He's wearing him down," or "He's got him right where he wants him." I kept thinking, "Don't these people know this is fake?"
Afterwards, when I talked about how the fights are choreographed, Sofia was surprised. She didn't realize it was fake! Of course, the wrestlers can still get hurt doing the moves they do, but it's certainly scripted out. I'm not sure if she was disappointed. Probably not. Sofia really approached the whole ordeal with an anthropologist's point of view: observing this strange ritual from a somewhat detached view.
The arena was supposed to open at 6, and we wanted time to get some food and buy shirts. So we left Wrestlemania around 5:30.
None of the restaurants around the stadium or arena looked promising. There were so many people between the two events that every restaurant had a line out the door. I thought for sure there would be some food stand selling pizza by the slice, or hot dogs, but no such luck. There was one place selling bratwurst, but Sofia wasn't too keen on brats and they were $8 each.
It was close to 6, and the crowds were massing at the gates of the arena. We decided to take our chances on the arena selling food inside. We joined the people waiting.
They didn't open the gates till close to 7. Never did find out why they waited so long to let everyone in.
We got our shirts. They had a lot of choices, and I wish I had taken a picture of them. Sofia and I wound up buying the same shirt. We both wanted one that listed all the cities on his tour, and there was only one choice that had that.
We grabbed a burger and hot dog and made our way upstairs to our seats. Not terrible, but pretty high up. But we both commented that we were just glad to be there. We weren't going to be so picky as to complain about the angle of our seats.
The concert started about 8:30 (an hour late). Paul was in fine form. I thought the audio quality of the vocals could have been better (a tad muddy at times), but that was probably more an arena issue than a Paul issue. His voice sounded great. In fact, he was hitting some higher ranges that surprised me. As singers grow older, their range lowers, and they often compensate by singing certain lines differently. He did a little bit of that, but mostly he was spot on.
My favorite moments from the concert were the songs "Two of Us" (a song Steve and I have played together a lot) and "I've Got a Feeling" (a personal favorite of mine). I also loved the little moments in between songs where he talked to the crowd. That's the good stuff that you don't get on a live album. For example, before he played "Two of Us," he said "I'd like to do a song from the 60's...which was before my time." (It's at the 1:03 mark in part 2.)
He did 5 songs off the "Band on the Run" album, which surprised me (Band on the Run, Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Let Me Roll It, and Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five). After Mrs. Vanderbilt, which has a chorus of "Ho...hey ho!" he said he had done that song in Kiev, Ukraine and the people went nuts for it, he guessed because all the "Ho, hey ho's" have sort of a Russian sound to it. I'll probably never hear that song again without thinking of his comment.
He did plenty of Beatles stuff, a couple of the Fireman songs, and lots more Wings stuff than I expected. He even started off with "Venus and Mars/Rock Show," which was how his concerts started off during his "Wings Over America" tour in the 70's. I had Sofia watch a Wings documentary the night before, so she was well-versed in his Wings years. Oh, another nice surprise was him doing a couple of John's songs: "A Day in the Life," which morphed into "Give Peace a Chance." Awesome. He also gave George's "Something" the full treatment, starting with ukulele and then blossoming into the full band version.
Paul knows how to put on a show. I love watching someone do what they absolutely love to do with their life. Paul doesn't need to tour. He's a billionaire. He's a legend. He's not touring to promote his latest album. He's touring because he loves to play live in front of a crowd. It's a win-win situation: we love his music and want to see him play, and he wants to play for us. He played a nearly 3-hour set. He did everything that was expected and more. 3 encores, all the classics, ending appropriately with "The End," which rocked, and ended the concert with a bit of poignancy, just like how "Abbey Road" ends. Perfect.
It's been about 14 years since I went to a concert, and even then it was Natalie Merchant (not exactly the rocking type). My ears were ringing after the show. But I loved every minute of it, and I especially loved sharing it with Sofia. I wish I could have afforded to take Alex as well. Paul has already said this would not be his last tour. Alex, next time is your turn!
Ringo is touring this summer, and his tickets are cheaper. He'll be in Florida in July. Sofia says we should go. I think I'm going to try to make that happen. We will more than likely be in Gainesville for the month of July, so it'll be easy enough to pop over to St. Augustine to see another Beatle.
Here are my videos from the concert. It's a lot, so I doubt many of my readers will watch all 40 minutes. But I wanted to put it all on there for Sofia, who didn't see the video before I left for North Carolina Monday morning. Definitely gives a nice overview of the whole concert, though my battery died before "Hey Jude," which is Sofia's favorite song (I think). I did manage to squeak out about 10 seconds of battery during the "Na na na na's." So at least there's that. "Live and Let Die" is always so impressive, I recorded the whole thing. I guess I should have conserved my battery. Oh well!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Asheville Airport
I'm sitting in the Asheville airport, waiting for my flight to board. It was a long tiring drive across country with my Dad, Alex, and four animals. But we made it safely and now I'm headed back for a day of wrestling and Paul McCartney. Man, that sounds weird.
It will be very surreal to be back in Phoenix after just driving for three days.
I think this is my first time inside the Asheville airport. Hmm. It's small. I got frisked by security. I guess a single male passenger with no checked bags gets flagged for a little feelie-feelie. Whatever. Is this the first time I've ever flown out of a regional airport? It might be. I fly to Atlanta first, then I switch planes. It's only a four hour drive from Asheville to Atlanta, so I'm guessing that the plane will hardly get up in the air before it's coming down again.
Bella wanted me to bring her a surprise, but I barely had time to get an hour of sleep, let alone get her something. She'll have to wait for my second return, next Sunday.
I have plenty I could blog about regarding the past 3 days, but I'm so mind-numbingly tired and dazed that I just wanted to check my email and then take a nap. I have a Netflix movie I need to watch. We'll see if I get to it.
When Dad dropped me off at Bonnie's, I tried to collect everything I might need or want for this little return trip, but I left one important thing in his truck: my camera. I'm so bummed. I really wanted Sofia and I to both have our cameras for the concert, but I guess we'll only have hers. Well, at least she has a good camera. It could be worse. At least I wasn't foolish enough to bring the concert tickets with me, and then leave them in the truck. The tickets are safe and sound at my house in Phoenix.
I'm ready to board. Let's get this party started!
It will be very surreal to be back in Phoenix after just driving for three days.
I think this is my first time inside the Asheville airport. Hmm. It's small. I got frisked by security. I guess a single male passenger with no checked bags gets flagged for a little feelie-feelie. Whatever. Is this the first time I've ever flown out of a regional airport? It might be. I fly to Atlanta first, then I switch planes. It's only a four hour drive from Asheville to Atlanta, so I'm guessing that the plane will hardly get up in the air before it's coming down again.
Bella wanted me to bring her a surprise, but I barely had time to get an hour of sleep, let alone get her something. She'll have to wait for my second return, next Sunday.
I have plenty I could blog about regarding the past 3 days, but I'm so mind-numbingly tired and dazed that I just wanted to check my email and then take a nap. I have a Netflix movie I need to watch. We'll see if I get to it.
When Dad dropped me off at Bonnie's, I tried to collect everything I might need or want for this little return trip, but I left one important thing in his truck: my camera. I'm so bummed. I really wanted Sofia and I to both have our cameras for the concert, but I guess we'll only have hers. Well, at least she has a good camera. It could be worse. At least I wasn't foolish enough to bring the concert tickets with me, and then leave them in the truck. The tickets are safe and sound at my house in Phoenix.
I'm ready to board. Let's get this party started!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The Journey Begins
Today is Vivien's birthday. She's 3 today. Happy birthday, Chocolate-Chip Meat-Muffin! We all sang to her at breakfast while a "3" candle burned in her food dish. She got to stand on the table (with Alex assisting her) while we sang, and then I gave her a piece of bacon with her breakfast. That's her birthday present.
The trailer is loaded. The animals are ready. I gave Vivi a bath this morning. The cats harnesses are adjusted and they spent a few hours in the crate on the back of the truck yesterday to get used to it.
I'm at work right now, my last day before the trip. During my planning period, I ran to Fry's and the bank, tying up some final loose ends. It's crunch time, so from now till April 5, it's going to be pretty hectic. But fun. The drive should be memorable with my dad, Alex, and 4 animals.
I'll have my laptop with me, but I'm not sure when I'll be checking in. I'll try to take pictures and video throughout the trip, and get things posted on the blog whenever I can. Bella especially would like to see how the animals are doing.
The only stress (sort of) is my self-imposed deadline: I have to be at the Asheville airport by Sunday morning. But the weather looks good and we've got plenty of time. It'll be great.
I've got a box of veggie burgers all wrapped up and ready to go, so we don't even need to stop for dinner tonight. If we can get to my aunt and uncle's house before midnight (AZ time) I'll be satisfied with today's leg of the trip.
The trailer is loaded. The animals are ready. I gave Vivi a bath this morning. The cats harnesses are adjusted and they spent a few hours in the crate on the back of the truck yesterday to get used to it.
I'm at work right now, my last day before the trip. During my planning period, I ran to Fry's and the bank, tying up some final loose ends. It's crunch time, so from now till April 5, it's going to be pretty hectic. But fun. The drive should be memorable with my dad, Alex, and 4 animals.
I'll have my laptop with me, but I'm not sure when I'll be checking in. I'll try to take pictures and video throughout the trip, and get things posted on the blog whenever I can. Bella especially would like to see how the animals are doing.
The only stress (sort of) is my self-imposed deadline: I have to be at the Asheville airport by Sunday morning. But the weather looks good and we've got plenty of time. It'll be great.
I've got a box of veggie burgers all wrapped up and ready to go, so we don't even need to stop for dinner tonight. If we can get to my aunt and uncle's house before midnight (AZ time) I'll be satisfied with today's leg of the trip.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Paul McCartney
On February 22, I found out that Paul McCartney was kicking off a new concert tour, and the first place he's playing...is Phoenix! The last time he came here was 2005 and back then I thought about getting tickets to take Sofia, but they were expensive, she was only 9 years old, and I wound up not getting the tickets. I regretted that, because afterwards I realized that it may have been our last chance to see him. Paul McCartney seems healthy enough, but he is getting older (he'll be 68 this June). And who knows how many more times he's going to tour? So I decided over the past few years that if he ever toured again, I would bite the bullet and take Sofia, so at least she would have a chance to see one of the Beatles perform live.
The timing was perfect, in a way, because of Sofia's recent increase in appreciation for all things Beatles, her 3rd quarter presentation about the Beatles, etc. Plus, at nearly 14, she's at a great age for her first real rock concert.
There was only one complication.
The concert is on Sunday, March 28. The day Dad, Alex, and I are scheduled to be arriving in North Carolina with a trailer-full of stuff.
I wracked my brain over how I could still make this work. One option was to get two tickets and let Cristina take Sofia (and someone would have to watch Bella). But Sofia and I have this special Beatles connection that, while Cristina is appreciative, she just doesn't quite share. I really want to do this with Sofia. Finally, I decided that if I could get tickets (not a guaranteed thing, as they sell out quickly) this is what I'd do:
I'll take Friday off of work, allowing Dad, Alex, and me to leave from Phoenix Thursday, March 25. We'll follow the same travel schedule, staying Thursday night in Tijeras, Friday night somewhere around Fort Smith, Arkansas, and getting to Canton by dinnertime on Saturday. Basically just sliding the whole trip up one day. Then Sunday, I fly back to Phoenix, go to the show with Sofia, and fly back to NC Monday morning. Alex will stay with my parents for the 24 hours or so that I'm gone.
I know it sounds a little crazy, but I think it's the best way to do it. I got a decently priced flight from Asheville Sunday morning, and then I fly back to Charlotte Monday afternoon, where Mom and Dad can pick me up at the airport.
The night before tickets went on sale, I did a little research. I haven't gone to a big concert in years. I've seen Paul McCartney twice before, once in 1990, and again in 1993. Both times, I camped out at a Spec's music store to buy tickets. Well, with the internet, camping out for tickets is a bit antiquated, thank goodness. I found a helpful website where a guy explains his tips for getting tickets online through Ticketmaster. Pretty cool. It involved stuff like an atomic clock download so you can synchronize your computer's clock to an atomic clock, therefore guaranteeing that the second tickets go on sale, you can hit the button to start the purchasing process. Good stuff.
Armed with all my newfound ticket-buying knowledge, I went to work the next day and anxiously waited for 10 o'clock to come. I had to proctor the AIMS test that morning, so at 5 till 10, I ducked out for a few minutes to get to my computer (another teacher was administering the test with me).
10 am came. I did my thing, and I got two tickets. They're upper level, but we're in.
Then I had to keep it a secret from Sofia, which was hard.
I wasn't even sure if she knew that he was coming to Phoenix. Cristina was at a store with Sofia a few days later, and someone mentioned Paul McCartney coming. Cristina hoped Sofia didn't hear, and she didn't. Then when I took Sofia on the drama field trip to Tucson, on the way back to Phoenix, we passed a sign for McCartney Road. The bus driver pointed it out and said something about Paul McCartney coming to the Valley. But Sofia was reading and didn't hear him or see the sign.
Finally, on March 11, in the car after Sofia's presentation on the Beatles and the Counterculture, I broke the news to Sofia that I'd be flying back on the 28th from North Carolina to go to Wrestlemania with her. She was confused. Then I handed her the envelope with the Paul McCartney tickets and said, "And I thought after Wrestlemania was over, we could walk over to the arena and use these." (Paul McCartney is performing at Jobing.com arena, just across the parking lot from University of Phoenix Stadium, where Wrestlemania will be.) It took a few moments for her to figure it out, but when it finally sunk in, she was shocked and surprised. She had no idea he was coming to the Valley. I think she was in awe for a while that she was going to see Paul McCartney, one of the legends she'd been researching and learning about so much for the past few months, live in concert.
A few days ago we were in Fry's grocery, and "No More Lonely Nights" was playing in the store. She wasn't familiar with the song. When we got home, I put some of Paul McCartney's solo albums on her iPod, including his greatest hits. She's got some catching up to do before the 28th. She's getting fairly astute with the Beatles, but she's got to bone up on his solo work.
Stay tuned for the blog about the concert itself...
The timing was perfect, in a way, because of Sofia's recent increase in appreciation for all things Beatles, her 3rd quarter presentation about the Beatles, etc. Plus, at nearly 14, she's at a great age for her first real rock concert.
There was only one complication.
The concert is on Sunday, March 28. The day Dad, Alex, and I are scheduled to be arriving in North Carolina with a trailer-full of stuff.
I wracked my brain over how I could still make this work. One option was to get two tickets and let Cristina take Sofia (and someone would have to watch Bella). But Sofia and I have this special Beatles connection that, while Cristina is appreciative, she just doesn't quite share. I really want to do this with Sofia. Finally, I decided that if I could get tickets (not a guaranteed thing, as they sell out quickly) this is what I'd do:
I'll take Friday off of work, allowing Dad, Alex, and me to leave from Phoenix Thursday, March 25. We'll follow the same travel schedule, staying Thursday night in Tijeras, Friday night somewhere around Fort Smith, Arkansas, and getting to Canton by dinnertime on Saturday. Basically just sliding the whole trip up one day. Then Sunday, I fly back to Phoenix, go to the show with Sofia, and fly back to NC Monday morning. Alex will stay with my parents for the 24 hours or so that I'm gone.
I know it sounds a little crazy, but I think it's the best way to do it. I got a decently priced flight from Asheville Sunday morning, and then I fly back to Charlotte Monday afternoon, where Mom and Dad can pick me up at the airport.
The night before tickets went on sale, I did a little research. I haven't gone to a big concert in years. I've seen Paul McCartney twice before, once in 1990, and again in 1993. Both times, I camped out at a Spec's music store to buy tickets. Well, with the internet, camping out for tickets is a bit antiquated, thank goodness. I found a helpful website where a guy explains his tips for getting tickets online through Ticketmaster. Pretty cool. It involved stuff like an atomic clock download so you can synchronize your computer's clock to an atomic clock, therefore guaranteeing that the second tickets go on sale, you can hit the button to start the purchasing process. Good stuff.
Armed with all my newfound ticket-buying knowledge, I went to work the next day and anxiously waited for 10 o'clock to come. I had to proctor the AIMS test that morning, so at 5 till 10, I ducked out for a few minutes to get to my computer (another teacher was administering the test with me).
10 am came. I did my thing, and I got two tickets. They're upper level, but we're in.
Then I had to keep it a secret from Sofia, which was hard.
I wasn't even sure if she knew that he was coming to Phoenix. Cristina was at a store with Sofia a few days later, and someone mentioned Paul McCartney coming. Cristina hoped Sofia didn't hear, and she didn't. Then when I took Sofia on the drama field trip to Tucson, on the way back to Phoenix, we passed a sign for McCartney Road. The bus driver pointed it out and said something about Paul McCartney coming to the Valley. But Sofia was reading and didn't hear him or see the sign.
Finally, on March 11, in the car after Sofia's presentation on the Beatles and the Counterculture, I broke the news to Sofia that I'd be flying back on the 28th from North Carolina to go to Wrestlemania with her. She was confused. Then I handed her the envelope with the Paul McCartney tickets and said, "And I thought after Wrestlemania was over, we could walk over to the arena and use these." (Paul McCartney is performing at Jobing.com arena, just across the parking lot from University of Phoenix Stadium, where Wrestlemania will be.) It took a few moments for her to figure it out, but when it finally sunk in, she was shocked and surprised. She had no idea he was coming to the Valley. I think she was in awe for a while that she was going to see Paul McCartney, one of the legends she'd been researching and learning about so much for the past few months, live in concert.
A few days ago we were in Fry's grocery, and "No More Lonely Nights" was playing in the store. She wasn't familiar with the song. When we got home, I put some of Paul McCartney's solo albums on her iPod, including his greatest hits. She's got some catching up to do before the 28th. She's getting fairly astute with the Beatles, but she's got to bone up on his solo work.
Stay tuned for the blog about the concert itself...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Frogs iz durty
Alex got a fish last summer. A betta. We started out small, with one fish in a simple 1-gallon fishbowl. The problem with a bowl that has no filter is that it has to be cleaned every week.
That got old fast.
So I picked out a larger, but still modest, 5-gallon tank that came with a filter. The good news with this set-up is that we only needed to clean the tank once a month. That I could handle.
Plus, the larger size allowed us to add a few more creatures. Bella bought a snail with her own money. Alex bought a tiny catfish and a frog.
They all seemed to love their new home.
I kept careful records of when we cleaned the tank. Before the first month with the filter had passed, the tank was already looking pretty dirty. But I held out for the one month mark, because I wanted to be efficient. Like clockwork.
When the one month mark arrived, I cleaned the tank, the rocks, the fake plants, the filter. The tank was filthy after a month. When I poured the water out in the tub and sifted the rocks into a net, it smelled like a putrid fisherman's wharf. Really nasty. But after a thorough cleaning, it was perfect. You could almost hear the fish sigh with relief as they were placed back in their pristine tank.
And then the frog died.
I don't know why the frog died. It may have been completely unrelated to the tank cleaning. It may have been a congenital defect. Maybe it was something he ate. I don't know.
I cleaned the tank again after the dead frog was out, just in case any dead frog essence remained in the tank. If I was a betta, I wouldn't want to be swimming around in the cloud of my dead ex-roommate. The catfish and the snail didn't care. Bottom-feeders.
We meant to have a proper funeral for the frog, whose name was Rainey (the betta is named Sunny and the catfish, who is milky-white in color, is called Cloudy...sorry, the meteorology names end there. Bella's snail is named Shelly). Rainey's corpse sat floating in a plastic container on the bathroom counter until everyone got tired of seeing it, and Alex's emotional attachment had ended. Rainey got flushed.
But here's the amazing part of the story.
A month went by after the post-mortem tank cleaning. Things were really busy and I didn't get around to doing it on the one-month mark. Besides, the tank looked fine. It looked just as clean as when I had first cleaned it. Soon we got to the 2 month mark. Now I really felt like I was pushing it. But things got busy and it got put off. It's easy to put the fish tank low on the list of priorities, and there was always something else that needed doing that bumped it on the schedule.
It had been over four months since I cleaned the tank, and this morning I decided I'd better stop pushing my luck and clean the tank.
And you know what? It wasn't even that dirty.
I mean, sure. It was dirty. Cleaning it was the right thing to do. But after four months, it wasn't even close to the level of dirtiness that it was after one month when the frog was living there.
Which leads me to one conclusion.
Frogs iz durty.
That got old fast.
So I picked out a larger, but still modest, 5-gallon tank that came with a filter. The good news with this set-up is that we only needed to clean the tank once a month. That I could handle.
Plus, the larger size allowed us to add a few more creatures. Bella bought a snail with her own money. Alex bought a tiny catfish and a frog.
They all seemed to love their new home.
I kept careful records of when we cleaned the tank. Before the first month with the filter had passed, the tank was already looking pretty dirty. But I held out for the one month mark, because I wanted to be efficient. Like clockwork.
When the one month mark arrived, I cleaned the tank, the rocks, the fake plants, the filter. The tank was filthy after a month. When I poured the water out in the tub and sifted the rocks into a net, it smelled like a putrid fisherman's wharf. Really nasty. But after a thorough cleaning, it was perfect. You could almost hear the fish sigh with relief as they were placed back in their pristine tank.
And then the frog died.
I don't know why the frog died. It may have been completely unrelated to the tank cleaning. It may have been a congenital defect. Maybe it was something he ate. I don't know.
I cleaned the tank again after the dead frog was out, just in case any dead frog essence remained in the tank. If I was a betta, I wouldn't want to be swimming around in the cloud of my dead ex-roommate. The catfish and the snail didn't care. Bottom-feeders.
We meant to have a proper funeral for the frog, whose name was Rainey (the betta is named Sunny and the catfish, who is milky-white in color, is called Cloudy...sorry, the meteorology names end there. Bella's snail is named Shelly). Rainey's corpse sat floating in a plastic container on the bathroom counter until everyone got tired of seeing it, and Alex's emotional attachment had ended. Rainey got flushed.
But here's the amazing part of the story.
A month went by after the post-mortem tank cleaning. Things were really busy and I didn't get around to doing it on the one-month mark. Besides, the tank looked fine. It looked just as clean as when I had first cleaned it. Soon we got to the 2 month mark. Now I really felt like I was pushing it. But things got busy and it got put off. It's easy to put the fish tank low on the list of priorities, and there was always something else that needed doing that bumped it on the schedule.
It had been over four months since I cleaned the tank, and this morning I decided I'd better stop pushing my luck and clean the tank.
And you know what? It wasn't even that dirty.
I mean, sure. It was dirty. Cleaning it was the right thing to do. But after four months, it wasn't even close to the level of dirtiness that it was after one month when the frog was living there.
Which leads me to one conclusion.
Frogs iz durty.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Update Blog
Lots of stuff going on.
Sofia read the book they sent her. She read it within a couple of hours. The book is about stock car racing, or something like that. It seemed very male-oriented, not surprisingly, but she enjoyed it. She said she'd read it a few more times before the competition. She does like to compete, even if the prize is not that big of a deal to her.
Oh yeah. In addition to the tickets to Wrestlemania, Sofia won $300 cash, and $2000 for the Phoenix Public Library System. And her bookmark will be published for schools and libraries around the country.
Here's Sofia's winning bookmark. This is a scan of a color copy, so it has lost a lot of the detail.
She has the things in her picture labeled, like the sun is labeled "Sun of Reality" and the lightning is coming from the "Cloud of Dreams." The lightning bolt itself says "Hardship." And the tree is labeled "Tree of Life." Very metaphoric and meaningful. Which is probably why it won! I can't wait to get my own to use in my books. Hopefully I can get my hands on a few cases of them.
Last Friday, the drama department at my school went on a field trip to the University of Arizona in Tucson to tour their theatre department and watch their production of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." The drama teacher asked the faculty if anyone could chaperon. I said I'd do it if my daughter could come along, which she was fine with. So Sofia took a day off of school and we went to Tucson for a little Shakespeare. Since Sofia enjoys drama, I thought it would be a great experience. We had a good time.
Before the show, the students got to go backstage and check out the set, which looked really cool
First of all, Ayyam-i-Ha ended last night. It was a good one. We did it up big this year, since we'll be on a much tighter budget next year and for years to come.
One of Bella's gifts was a Razor scooter. Not the motorized kind, just the "kick" scooter. Even though she learned to ride a bike in the past couple of weeks, she really wanted a scooter and is enjoying it.
Sunday we had Roben and Freedom over to help make Ayyam-i-Ha gift baskets for the faculty and staff at DMS and ASA (Freedom's son goes to DMS...and she's a Baha'i, thus the connection with Roben). Freedom brought her little Boston Terrier, Charlie, who enjoys pulling people on scooters or skateboards. Of course Bella had to try it out. I should have made her wear her helmet, because, well, see for yourself:
https://youtu.be/FUnV7ERAN3A
So if you thought Alex was our only daredevil, think again.
In other news, Sofia entered a library contest a few weeks ago. The contest was to design a bookmark. I thought her design was beautiful and probably had a good chance of winning, but it was a nationwide contest, so we didn't get our hopes up.
Well, she won.
But guess what she won. And this is the funny part.
Apparently, the contest is sponsored by the WWE. For those who don't know, that stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. Yes, the same people who brought you Hulk Hogan and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock. They have a a touring "wrestling" show (I use the word wrestling in quotes out of respect for the athletes who actually wrestle as a sport in high schools, colleges, the Olympics, etc.) The show is called Wrestlemania. It's coming to Phoenix in late March, and Sofia won an all-expense paid trip for two to see Wrestlemania live!
Something like 18 kids won from across the U.S. and Canada. WWE is flying those kids to Phoenix and putting them in the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Of course, since we already live here, we don't need airfare or hotel (although we're considering getting the hotel just for the fun of it). Alex and I will be driving to North Carolina that weekend, so it will have to be Cristina who takes her.
Cristina and Sofia. At Wrestlemania. Now that's funny!
And it gets better. WWE is having a reading competition at the Burton Barr Library from 10 to 12pm on the Saturday before the event. All the 18 winners were sent books to read, and then they'll have a quiz on the book, kind of "Jeopardy" style, I'd imagine. And the winner of that competition gets ringside seats for Wrestlemania.
I checked on Ticketmaster. Ringside seats cost $750 a piece!
So after a brief education of what WWE is (Sofia had no clue...nor did Alex or Bella), Sofia decided she'd go to it, and she'd bring a book in case it got boring. She considered giving the tickets to someone who cares more about WWE, but I encouraged her to go, for the experience of it.
She had to fill out a questionnaire, and one of the questions was "Who is your favorite wrestler?" It would have been funny to list Rulon Gardner, the U.S. Olympic wrestler who shocked the world by winning the gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 2000 Olympics. But we were respectful of the sponsors of this competition. I suggested The Rock, since Sofia enjoyed Dwayne Johnson in The Tooth Fairy and Race to Witch Mountain. She had no idea he was a "wrestler" before he was an actor. I showed her a bit of his wrestling days on YouTube.
And it gets better. WWE is having a reading competition at the Burton Barr Library from 10 to 12pm on the Saturday before the event. All the 18 winners were sent books to read, and then they'll have a quiz on the book, kind of "Jeopardy" style, I'd imagine. And the winner of that competition gets ringside seats for Wrestlemania.
I checked on Ticketmaster. Ringside seats cost $750 a piece!
So after a brief education of what WWE is (Sofia had no clue...nor did Alex or Bella), Sofia decided she'd go to it, and she'd bring a book in case it got boring. She considered giving the tickets to someone who cares more about WWE, but I encouraged her to go, for the experience of it.
She had to fill out a questionnaire, and one of the questions was "Who is your favorite wrestler?" It would have been funny to list Rulon Gardner, the U.S. Olympic wrestler who shocked the world by winning the gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 2000 Olympics. But we were respectful of the sponsors of this competition. I suggested The Rock, since Sofia enjoyed Dwayne Johnson in The Tooth Fairy and Race to Witch Mountain. She had no idea he was a "wrestler" before he was an actor. I showed her a bit of his wrestling days on YouTube.
She has the things in her picture labeled, like the sun is labeled "Sun of Reality" and the lightning is coming from the "Cloud of Dreams." The lightning bolt itself says "Hardship." And the tree is labeled "Tree of Life." Very metaphoric and meaningful. Which is probably why it won! I can't wait to get my own to use in my books. Hopefully I can get my hands on a few cases of them.
In other news, Cristina's mother, Jarue, had a nice visit with us and is back home in Florida now. No broken bones, which is always a preferred thing when a mother/mother-in-law comes to visit.
We made brownies for Alex and Bella to give to their classes for Ayyam-i-Ha
We made brownies for Alex and Bella to give to their classes for Ayyam-i-Ha
Before the show, the students got to go backstage and check out the set, which looked really cool
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Out of Tribulation Comes Triumph!
Bella is over the chicken pox. She returned to school today. All said, it was a very manageable case. Not super-mild, but not super-bad either.
Perhaps it took having the chicken pox to nudge Bella over the edge of readiness to ride a bike without training wheels. In the midst of the pox, she asked me to take the training wheels off. She practiced coasting in the driveway. The next day, she was getting the start-off and some wobbly pedaling down. Yesterday, she had nailed it. She's still perfecting the brakes, but she has completely mastered the start-off, pedaling, and steering.
Now it's time to get her a bigger bike. As you can see in this video, hers is too small. I'm not sure if she'll get one for Ayyam-i-Ha, which is less than 2 weeks away. It might wait till her birthday in June. Although with us packing up to move, she might get a "bike coupon" for her birthday, redeemable in whatever city we move to.
https://youtu.be/2qBYGY9HFTs
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A Valentine's Day Poem
Alex has a friend in his class who happens to be a girl (she'll remain nameless for now). They get along really well, enjoy play dates together, and play every day at school. It's been nice to see Alex, our rough-and-tumble boy's boy, have such a sincere friendship with a girl, though he's hesitant to admit it.
On Thursday, Alex and Bella made Valentines to distribute to the kids in their classes. Alex's were all the same: he wrote his name in nice cursive, and then wrote "Happy Valentine's Day." And that was it. All the same.
Except for one.
Cristina and I noticed that on one of the Valentines, he had printed his friend's name, the nameless friend, as well as the simple message "I love you."
That's the sweetest Valentine's Day gift I've ever seen.
I'm not a huge fan of love poems, but this is one that has stuck with me through the years. My son's lovely, innocent gesture made me think of it, and I thought it would be fitting to share it today.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
On Thursday, Alex and Bella made Valentines to distribute to the kids in their classes. Alex's were all the same: he wrote his name in nice cursive, and then wrote "Happy Valentine's Day." And that was it. All the same.
Except for one.
Cristina and I noticed that on one of the Valentines, he had printed his friend's name, the nameless friend, as well as the simple message "I love you."
That's the sweetest Valentine's Day gift I've ever seen.
I'm not a huge fan of love poems, but this is one that has stuck with me through the years. My son's lovely, innocent gesture made me think of it, and I thought it would be fitting to share it today.
"Oranges"
by Gary Soto
The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather.
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
Touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers,
And asked what she wanted -
Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickle in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn't say anything.
I took the nickle from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter. When I looked up,
The lady's eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About.
Outside,
A few cars hissing past,
Fog hanging like old
Coats between the trees.
I took my girl's hand
In mine for two blocks,
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Bella's got Chicken Pox
A little over a week ago, we took Bella to a chicken pox party. Thursday evening, she started showing a few teeny red spots. By Friday, the diagnosis was definite. Our attempts to expose our daughter to a disease had proven successful.
Friday morning...it begins. She was sad because she would miss exchanging Valentines with her class.
One of her first pox
Sofia and Alex both got the chicken pox vaccine years ago (Sofia got the shot out of necessity for school, and Alex because I took him to get his shots once and was persuaded by the nurse to get it...I didn't know I was supposed to decline it). Cristina and I both had chicken pox as kids. We prefer the immunity gained from contracting the disease, which while inconvenient and uncomfortable, is better than the vaccine. Even my mother-in-law, who is a major proponent of vaccines, says the chicken pox vaccine is not that great.
Friday night...Bella ate her heart pizza from the comfort of an oatmeal bath
So Bella is rockin' the pox. Her fever has yet to get above 100, but she's in the full-fledged itchy phase. But it'll eventually be over and then she won't have to worry about it again.
Saturday morning...the pox are spreading and have reached her face.
She seems happy, but she begrudgingly agreed to pose for pictures. Poor thing has one on her lower eyelid. And on the top of her head. And in between her toes. And some other private areas.
Not too sick to play with the dog a little.
Cristina wanted me to list the various remedies she's been using, but I'll go ahead and post now and add her stuff later.
Friday morning...it begins. She was sad because she would miss exchanging Valentines with her class.
One of her first poxSofia and Alex both got the chicken pox vaccine years ago (Sofia got the shot out of necessity for school, and Alex because I took him to get his shots once and was persuaded by the nurse to get it...I didn't know I was supposed to decline it). Cristina and I both had chicken pox as kids. We prefer the immunity gained from contracting the disease, which while inconvenient and uncomfortable, is better than the vaccine. Even my mother-in-law, who is a major proponent of vaccines, says the chicken pox vaccine is not that great.
Friday night...Bella ate her heart pizza from the comfort of an oatmeal bath So Bella is rockin' the pox. Her fever has yet to get above 100, but she's in the full-fledged itchy phase. But it'll eventually be over and then she won't have to worry about it again.
Saturday morning...the pox are spreading and have reached her face.
She seems happy, but she begrudgingly agreed to pose for pictures. Poor thing has one on her lower eyelid. And on the top of her head. And in between her toes. And some other private areas.
Not too sick to play with the dog a little.Cristina wanted me to list the various remedies she's been using, but I'll go ahead and post now and add her stuff later.
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