And Now For Something Completely Different...

Here are some lyrics to a great song. Considering the sheer scope of things to do while here in mortality, these are amazingly similar to things I haven't done...

I’ve never plucked a rooster
and I’m not too good at ping-pong
and I’ve never thrown my mashed potatoes up against the wall
and I’ve never kissed a chipmunk
and I’ve never gotten head lice
and I’ve never been to Boston in the fall.

I’ve never licked a spark plug
and I’ve never sniffed a stinkbug
and I’ve never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball
and I’ve never bathed in yogurt
and I don’t look good in leggings
and I’ve never been to Boston in the fall.

The Writing Bug

I've really gotten the itch to do more creative writing lately. I used to do A LOT of it back in high school with my friends. For some reason I stopped doing it. Too many other things grabbed my attention, I guess.

I came across a new edition of a writing book that I discovered my first year in college, The Elements of Style. It is a fantastic little book and having reread it again makes me want to write more. So I might be starting a third blog for random writings. We'll see just how long that lasts. I'm still fairly impressed with myself that I have kept this blog going as long as I have.

MAJOR EDIT!!!

Ahem...I have been duly chastised. I did not just "come across" the book mentioned above. It was a Christmas present from my beautiful, darling, and extremely observant wife. Now that the record is amended, we will return you to your regularly scheduled blog...

Post-Christmas Recovery

I was going to write something Christmasy yesterday, but I'm so worn out. Spending several days with the in-laws can do that to a fella. Don't get me wrong, I love my in-laws. I just think I do better when I have several major geographical features between me and extended family. Case in point: my dad and one sister are down in Arizona, another sister is in Wales (yes, that is on that foggy little island northwest of mainland Europe). I'd do just about anything for them. I love 'em...just at a distance.

The kids had a good Christmas. They got their presents (not a lot, but enough), sang in church on Christmas day, and spent a lot of time with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Me? I would have preferred to end my day after church. I just wasn't feeling very sociable. I did get some gaming in, but on the whole I'd rather have been at home.

The things we do for love...

Blanket Forts, Late Nights, and Sleep-Overs

On Friday night, Mary got to sleep over at a friend's house. Isaiah and Rebekah were a bit upset that she got to do that and they didn't, so I promised them we'd make a blanket fort in the living room and watch a movie. I picked up a Looney Toons collection for the occasion. I figure my kid's education isn't complete without a little classical grounding...

Anyway, long story short, it wasn't a great idea. Isaiah and I stayed up way too late - and, wow, was he cranky the next day...all day. Mary wasn't that much better off when she came home.

So yeah, we had a crank-fest this weekend.

(P.S. I'm proud to announce that all my kids are roadrunner and coyote fans! Some days I wonder how my wife puts up with us...)

Works And Plays Well With Others

Yesterday I spent the whole morning in Isaiah's kindergarten class. They were having some big holiday craft day and parents were invited, so I decided to stay for the whole time and help out in the classroom. I had a lot of fun - good ol' cut and paste type day for me. It was also a little sad because there were a few kids who didn't have a parent show up. Now I completely understand that not all family situations allow for a free parent - if I was working full time, there would be no way Leslie could have gone with two additional little kids tagging along.

So I formed a little group of kids who didn't have a parent there. It was really chaotic, but we all had fun as we moved from station to station. Isaiah now wants me to come to school with him every day. I'd love to help out. He has a great teacher and with most of the college students out of town, it looks like she might need some help. However, I still have final exams to take and work to go to.

Still it was a fun morning.

New Blog

Because of their length, I'm moving my religious posts over to another blog. I'll keep this one dealing with life, family, and the general chaos that is my life. Just click on the title above to go to the "Smaller Blog of Steve." And yes, the name is referring to something - you get lots of brownie points if you can figure it out.

Old Gaming Entries

I just spent most of the night transferring some old journal entries (and comments) I had made on a website called Board Game Geek over to this blog. I love board games, and I'm a geek, so the site has been a favorite of mine for quite a few years now. If you ever want to know about any game ever created in the history of mankind, you can (most likely) find information about it there.

Anyway, all the entries on this blog from February 2005 and earlier are from that site. Feel free to point fingers and mock - I revel in my geekiness!

Dead Week and the Last Time I'll Register!

Well, last time I'll register as an undergraduate anyway. In spite of being dead week, I still have a few test to take - which will actually be the final exam for those classes. I guess the professors want to get out of town as much as the students. Can't say I blame them.

Okay, here are my classes for my final semester:

Archaeological Processes

Maya/Aztec/Inca

Integrated Themes in Anthropology (kind of a capstone course for the department)

Swim Conditioning

SCUBA Diving

Put some newspaper down on the floor! I'm as excited as a little puppy to finally be done with school!

Dashing Through the Snow

A half-hour to go until I get off work and go sledding with my family! Woohoo! It has been a long time since I actually went sledding. We got the kids all decked out with coats, snow pants, gloves, hats, etc. So they have been going bonkers the last few days with the sled and snow forts and what not. They can't wait until I get to go out with them (it is usually too dark to do anything by the time I get home).

As for me...my normal shoes have holes in them, so I've taken to wearing my steel-toed military boots that I had in the back of my closet. My coat also "went the way of all the earth" this week. It has so many holes and rips in it - and the zipper finally exploded (yes, exploded) a few days ago. Overall, though, it's not bad. While there is snow, it really isn't that cold. Besides, thermal underwear does wonders for that winter-warm-fuzzy-feeling.

Crippled by Technology

Is is just my computer or did my whole blog take a jump to the left? (Physical-left, not political-left...that too is a topic for another post) I'm not sure what happened or how to fix it. Sigh...this is why I didn't pursue the technology field any further. It hates me...