Circus

So what do I have planned for this weekend you ask? Well, I am going to go the circus which I have not been to in probably more than 15 years but I thought the kids would like. I will also probably go see the new Indiana Jones movie with the kids. Sunday, I have to take the middle one to a bowling party and there is the Art Fest to attend. It should be a busy weekend.

What makes things painful is that I lost my debit card so I called and canceled it as well as ordering a new one. The problem is that it will take 5 - 7 days to get it so I have to make what cash I have stretch or use my checkbook since I got rid of all my credit cards. Should be fun.

Viola

When I was in the third, forth and fifth grade I played the Viola. It was a good experience but I was more interested in playing soccer and never continued. Even if I wanted to today, I wouldn't be able to play due to limited wrist movement. I thought of all this last night while watching my friends girlfriend's 6 - 8 graders perform.

Obviously, this is no symphony but it was still a good show. I don't listen to classic music in the car or at work. I tend to enjoy my Bad Religion, Lords of Acid, Doors and so forth. However, I enjoy the symphony and classical music so this was a refreshing change to my ordinary schedule of events.

This weekend I'm taking the kids to the Circus. WooHoo!

Packing

I have been steadily packing boxes, removing pictures from the walls and throwing a ton of things away. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates in your house and I've only been here for a year and a half. The greatest part of moving is finding things you completely forgot you had.

Tonight I found a microscope set I had when I was a kid. I wasn't sure if it would still work but I threw some batteries into it and sure enough, it still workds. I found the box of slides and me and the girls went to town checking out slides. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of my youth.

I have all 20+ boxes of books packed and will probably have to buy a few bookshelves when I move. That's the bad part about moving, you find a ton of stuff you need. I need pots/pans (new ones bought), a knife set (bought), an Iron, silverwear (a complete set), and a few other odds and ends. I'm making a list and checking it twice.

It's one week until moving day and then it's off to Enola and I can dust off the grim of Newport forever. Since it's a new year, new age and new house I'm hoping things start looking up since everything has been down for so long.


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Now playing: Tool - Part Of Me
via FoxyTunes

The Governator

I have a hangover so please listen to my friend.

Shades of Grey

There was once a time when things for me where in black and white. I liked you or I didn't. I did something or I didn't. Here or there. Buy it or don't buy it. I had no commitments, no bills and nothing to keep me from doing whatever I wanted to do.

Everything seemed to have an easy answer and unfortunately I never really learned about the grey. Even after I had kids and I changed what, where and when I did things it was still black and white only the priority changed. It was no longer buy this or that for me....it was buy this or that based on the needs of those who needed me. There was still no grey for me. I still thought people where good or bad, right or wrong.

I had a set of rules or morals I followed pretty strictly. I listened to my heart and not my head. I went with what was, in my mind, the right thing to do. Everything was an easy clear cut decision.

In the last 4 years, I've learned the meaning of grey. I'm slowly learning to distinguish those items which don't fit wholly in the black or the white space. I'm starting to understand the reasons for what people do and why they do it. Sometimes I find those reasons flawed, but try to at least understand. The hardest part, is keeping my opinion seperate from that of others and making a more informed choice which may go someplace in between the black and white.

I'm hoping that 2008 really pushes that stance to a new level and allows me to do things that I want to do not based on what's right and wrong or black and white but grounded somewhere in the middle. Maybe 31 is a magic number for me. You never stop learning and the shades of grey are hopefully just the beginning.

Losing

So what do you do when you think you've lost the most important thing in your life?

Over the years I've done some really stupid things. I have missed important events, coerced the best thing in my life to do things she didn't want to do (like working full time), ignored them, kept my feelings bottled inside and never gave them enough attention. Now I guess I have to reap what I sowed.

There isn't much you can do except let them know you care, apologize and maybe get down on your hands and knees and beg.

101 Family Vacation Games - Review

After reviewing all the games presented in this book, I was left wondering why some where included and other excluded. Almost every kid I know, and probably most parents, have heard of a fair number of the games presented in the book since I was hoping for games my wife and I haven't played with our three girls.

Games like Family Sing-Along, "Rock, Paper, Scissors", I Spy, Toe Fencing, Treasure Hunt, Hop Scotch, Frisbee Golf, Frisbee Tag, Musical Chairs, Guess Who, Peek-A-Boo and quite a few others seemed to be better suited to a book titled "101 Classic Children's Games". The book's title also seems somewhat misleading since I was expecting games specifically to be used on vacation (in the car, on a plane, train or bus, in the hotel) but there are sections for the beach specifically (and some of those games can just be played in the back yard), for toddlers and for birthday parties.

While I find the book a great asset when attempting to find something for my three girls to do at home, I was expecting more from a book title "101 Family Vacation Games" that I could use while traveling.