Vacation, all I ever wanted...

It is Thursday, the 28th, (almost the 29th) and my vacation is almost over. Hawksbill has Spring Break this week, so I decided I should use some of my vacation time and take the week off with him. We have and had no plans this week. Just to not work, not think, be couch potatoes, that was it. My kind of vacation :)

I have to put in a little note for my Aunt Mary. She is having a rough week again. Last Saturday, my Aunt Lottie (her sister) was laid to rest. After she came home from the funeral, she received a call--her sister-in-law, (who was her late husband's (Uncle Mike's) twin sister) died on Saturday. Although I did not know this woman, I did go to her viewing Tuesday night. My poor Aunt Mary--in only 4 months, she has lost her husband, her sister and her sister-in-law. So, here is wishing my Aunt Mary some good luck for this year. She could use it.

An interesting fact (to me) about my Uncle Mike and his twin sister--apparently they were born on different days--he was born just before midnight on October 23rd, and she was born just after midnight on the 24th. I wonder how often twins are born on different days (or better yet, different years straddling December 31st and January 1st?)

Gwen is getting over the flu--or at least a really bad cold. She has been extremely needy, clingy, whiny, shrieky all week long. I can't move without carrying her like a baby with me. I feel like I should just get a sling or a backpack and keep her attached to me since I do not seem to have much choice this week. Do they make slings for 36-lb 3 year olds? Heh...

Speaking of weight, Simon has been watching his weight on the scale lately and I didn't know why until he ran to us all excited this week that he now weighs 40 lbs! ha ha...my 6 year old is JUST NOW hitting the 40 lb mark. He is excited because we told him he had to be 4 years, 40 inches tall, and 40 lbs before we would let him move to a booster instead of his car seat...he hit the other two goals two years ago, but my skinny, picky eater, he now just weighs in at 40 lbs (um, fully clothed that is)...which brings me to another topic...

Well child visits: Ok--is it just me, or are well child visits just a way for doctors to make you paranoid about your healthy kid? First off, in the last couple of years, I have started waiting until late March, early April to drag my kids in for this type of visit. Reason? January and February babies = flu season at the doctor's office. So, why would I want to drag my healthy kid into the doctor's office where everyone is hacking and coughing up the flu, to tell me Simon is small, and Gwen is big, so maybe we should stress us out about why Simon is so small (but perfectly healthy) and then let them catch the flu from all the sick people? I don't understand it. So, I am waiting. I guess I could have brought Gwen in for her cold/flu, but years ago I gave up going to the doctor when I had a cold/flu (unless it lasted longer than a full week) because it really grated on me that I would be home taking Tylenol and Robitussin (sp?) and go in to the doctor to be told to take Tylenol and Robitussin and that will be a $30 copay. So, sorry...Doctors I respect you, but I don't want to bring my kids in during flu season for the well child visit so don't yell at me for being 2-3 months late with it, and yes I know Simon is skinny! :)

Simon has found a new addiction this week: Scooby Doo. Ah, good old Scooby--it has been years since I watched that show, and Hawksbill decided split the cost with Simon and buy the first 25 episodes of the original show. I would enjoy it more, if it wasn't for those meddling kids! Just kidding-- please...I love Scooby Doo, too, and am glad they bought some of the original episodes instead of that late 70's early 80's crap with Scrappy Doo...not into that.

Even though it is Spring Break, Hawksbill will still go to his internship tomorrow so I will find something to do all day with the kiddos...if Gwen was 100% better and it was a little warmer, I would actually like to go to the zoo. I have always wanted to go to the zoo in the winter...I don't know why...I guess I thought it might be fun. We still have a lot of snow on the ground from Tuesday--I think I mentioned before it snows every freaking Tuesday--we finally got some packing snow and made a snowman.

Note: Might be considered a movie spoiler, so do not read if you want to see the BEST PICTURE winner and haven't already seen it: Hawksbill and I got to go out on a date tonight!! Woo hoo!! I think the last time we got to go out, just the two of us, was sometime last summer? It has been a while. We went out for Korean food and decided that we "couldn't lose" by going to see the Oscar Winning Best Picture: No Country for Old Men, by the Coen Brothers. How could we lose, right? We LOVE the Coen brothers...but, um, well...this movie sucked. OK--wait, let me give it some credit--the first 1 hour and 40 minutes were pretty darn good--I was pretty darn happy, and then something changed that. And if you saw the movie and loved it--good for you, because I still think it sucked and should never have won an Oscar for Best Picture. No way. Oh, and don't even go there with some deep meaning intellectual "REAL LIFE" bullsh*t. It sucked. They ruined it. It could have rocked and it didn't. This movie had amazing potential and they f*cked it up. So, screw you, Coen brothers!! I want my money back--and you should have to give back your Oscar because you didn't deserve it for this one!!! Losers!! I am going to go watch Raisin Arizona, Fargo, Blood Simple and Millers Crossing now and just weep for you. I might even watch The Big Lebowski!!! But you guys owe me something better than what you gave me tonight. I mean, seriously...I get to go out on a date with Hawksbill MAYBE 2-3 times per YEAR (if I am lucky) and I wanted a good movie, and you spoiled it for me. The least you could do is send me some ice cream. B*st*rds!! Or better yet--you need to COME OVER to MY HOUSE and babysit for me so we can go and see Juno. So, someone PLEASE pass the word on to the Coen brothers--they owe me a night of babysitting so I can see a GOOD MOVIE!

Well, it is February 29th and I should log off now. Thank you for letting me get that out of my system. I'll be seeing ya!

Oh my God! They're Turkeys!

Last night we were watching the first season of E.R. off Netflix and they had a Thanksgiving episode. For some reason, totally out of the blue I remembered the Thanksgiving episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, which I haven't seen or thought about for over 25 years.

In it the radio station hosts a promotion at an outdoor mall where they plan to drop turkeys from a helicopter on to the waiting crowd. Les Nessman is on site to describe the events to listeners, but Mr. Carlson made two mistakes in planning the promotion: a) he didn't tell Les what was going to happen and b) he forgot that turkeys can't fly.

After describing it to Barb and Simon (cracking them up) I thought I'd see if it was on Youtube. Sure enough... here it is... and it is as funny as I remember it.



I have two favorite memories of WKRP: this one and the one where Bailey Quarters is being wooed by a Russian diplomat who tries to seduce her with an Elton John song. Near the end of the episode he pulls her close and says: "Hold me closer tiny dancer." To this day I can't hear that song without thinking of Bailey who, for a few years in the late 1970's, embodied the perfect woman to the pre-pubescent Hawksbill.

It turns out that I'm not the only one. I stumbled across this fansite from a guy about my age who felt the same way about Jan Smithers. And he had the same memories about that Elton John song. Go figure.

Anyway, Simon loved the Youtube video above and I can keep cracking him up today by exclaiming:

Oh My God! They're Turkeys!!!

Goodbye, Aunt Lottie

My Aunt Lottie, my father's sister, passed away yesterday. I don't know how old she was because she shared a birthday with my youngest brother, Joe, so whenever they had a birthday, she just assumed his age until he turned 29. For the rest of her life if you asked her age, she answered, "29," because that was her way.

Aunt Lottie was the youngest of my father's 4 siblings. She had been in a terrible car accident in the late 1960's and was in a wheelchair, and then wore a brace on her leg for the rest of her life. She never married and had no children because she said all of us were plenty enough for her. Every birthday up until about sixth grade, she made professional bakery quality cakes for us, and she even made our wedding cake.

Aunt Lottie worked in a social services office most of her life and took care of my grandma, my Babcia, until Babcia needed more help than Aunt Lottie could provide. I never learned to speak Polish, but I remember my aunt always calling Babcia something like, "Studda Bubba" which (although I can't find it in any dictionary) meant "Old woman" or "old coot"--it very well might have meant something worse or maybe I am remembering it completely wrong, because none of the individual words translate into what I remember...but I remember hearing that, and "spanka your dupa" a lot when growing up :) I'll have to ask cousin Marie on Saturday...

It wasn't completely unexpected when my father called yesterday with the news, as Aunt Lottie has not been well for a long time, but sad to lose another relative from "The farm" after losing Uncle Mike, her brother-in-law, this fall.

Goodbye, Aunt Lottie...you will be missed....

Mama! Mia! Oh! My!

I cannot even BEGIN to say how much fun I had last night. A friend of mine from high school is starring in the touring Mama! Mia! show and a bunch of old high school buddies and I got together to see the show last night. Oh, it was so much fun!

First we met at my friend, R's, house to go to dinner. About half of us met for dinner before the show and went to Bastone's in Royal Oak which I have never heard of before, nor had I ever even noticed even though it is right on Main Street. The food was amazing...I think R described it best as a full menu of "comfort food".

Before the show we met our friend, S, in the lobby of the Fisher Theater. He is the man with glasses in the back row of this photo--S is playing the role of Sam Carmicheal, who is the "main" potential father in the show. If you don't know the story line of Mama! Mia!, basically, Sophia is a 20-year old woman about to get married on a Greek island. She was raised by a single mother never knowing who her father was. Before the show begins, Sophia finds her mother's diary from the late 1970's, and comes to the conclusion that her father must be one of 3 men, so she invites all of them to her upcoming wedding. Hilarity results as the 3 men discover why they have been invited to the wedding. And, oh yeah...there is a lot of ABBA music.



S invited us on stage after the show to see what goes on backstage and for some photo ops in the Mama! Mia! scenery. No, this isn't the cast--this is everyone who came to see S. S is front and center in the dark and light gray sweater...that's me in the lavender sweater in front on the right.


Oh, it was like a Marching Band Reunion 19 years later...that reminds me of the time, when we were at band camp!!!

Um, er...actually it DOES remind me of the time...we were at band camp...um...yeah...I was in band.

All and all, a wonderful night. :)

Happy 6th Birthday, Simon Pepper!!!

Today is your birthday, my sweet little guy! I can't believe you are six years old!!! Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday you were running around in puppy camouflage pajamas.


Simon woke up so excited today and keeps saying, "Today is the best day ever!" but I think every day with Simon is the "best day ever!" :)

This morning you opened your presents from us and from Grandma K, and received phone calls from Aunt A, cousin S, and Grandma M. You received some care bears, a jacket, some PS2 games, and finally the Star Wars: The Complete Saga that you have wanted for so long. Today we made a blue (well, more like teal) cake with green and purple frosting decorated with Backyardigans toys (of course I do not have the amazing cake decorating gene that my aunts and cousins have so it is pretty lopsided and messy). Later, we went to Target so you and Gwen could spend some of your birthday money on some legos and then we played at the mall and play. Tonight we will wait for Hawksbill to come home so we can sing to you again and eat your lovely cake.

You crack me up the way you spin around and dance and jump all day! I am looking forward to watching you grow yet another year. I am so happy to be your mom and I love you!!

Happy Birthday, Simon Pepper...I am glad you are here to show us where the pepper is!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, Baby!

I can't tell you how happy I am that you're in my life. You're the best wife a guy could ask for and the best mom I can imagine for our kids and I love it that we have a common vision for what we want our family to be. You rock my world!

And, as always... I love you more than bugs!

Less is more

The other day my lovely bride sent me this link to a BBC article discussing the optimal age children should start school. Apparently children in Britain start school at 5 years of age whereas children in other European countries often start at about 7. In the US children start first grade at 6 years old, but are almost always in Kindergarten at 5 years and many children are in "pre-school" even earlier than that.

The main point of the article is to question this practice of early enrollment because, as the article quotes from a Cambridge report on education: "The assumption that an early starting age is beneficial for children's later attainment is not well supported in the research and therefore remains open to question."

The cited report suggests that the origins of early enrollment had little to do with education at all. In fact... "Entering full-time education at such a tender age meant reducing the malign influence of Victorian feckless parents - it was about child protection and social conditioning rather than learning." In other words, the British government didn't trust parents to raise their own children and used the education system as a surrogate family where children would be raised in an acceptable manner.

I also like this paragraph from the article:

Last year's teachers' conferences heard concerns that children were spending so little time with their own families that they were showing signs of aggression and de-socialisation, taking their behaviour from their peer group rather than absent adult role models.

One of the pro-public education arguments I usually hear is about how school helps children learn social skills that they wouldn't otherwise learn. This has seemed silly to me for some years now as we've been organizing our homeschool for exactly the reason discussed in the above paragraph. I love it when our kids have the chance to play with friends, family and peers, but if time with their peer group so dominates their social experience that it began to exclude time with us, then I would be very concerned.

I think this happens a lot in public schools. Kids spend most of their day in classes, they often have several after school activities and then they have homework to complete before the next day. The result often means surprisingly little time spent with family, which can result in estrangement from parents and an over reliance on the peer group as a source of social identity.

Basically, I think friends are great and necessary, but I think family is the best source of social identity. And, I think that building that social identity in the best and most positive way requires lots and lots of time with family. I'm not much of a believer in "quality time". I'm all about quantity.

Overall it's an interesting article. I also enjoyed the many comments from readers sharing their thoughts on the subject.

Ch ch ch changes....

We had a small change in Hawksbill's school schedule so he can see more clients, so we added Friday evening to days we don't see each other. However, he is home in the morning now, so it is nice to see him for a while instead of him taking off at 6:45 am when I am most certainly NOT awake and neither are the kids.

We are making some other small changes around here now that Gwen has moved into a big girl bed and out of the crib. She has been asking for big cups so we finally packed away all of the baby bottles and moved her to sippy cups and regular cups. She's been able to drink out of a regular cup since she was about 18 months, but preferred her milk in a bottle still, and I really didn't see any reason to take it away until this weekend when she kept demanding Dora the Explorer sippy cups--fine--you can have new sippy cups, but I need to dump this mountain of plastic in my cupboard so the bottles are packed up to give away or save.

I remember when Simon was a baby I was *so concerned* that he stop using a bottle at 18 months and I took them all away at 18 months as that was some stupid number I am sure I read in a baby book or maybe a comment at the doctor's office...now I really don't care. Ah, freedom from the experts and advisers!! Now I can do what I think is best--imagine that!

I think, sadly, we are starting to give up on "quiet time," aka, Gwen's nap. The last few weeks we are lucky if she sleeps once a week, and usually she just sits in her room and screams for us to come and get her. So, I think the afternoon nap is over. I can't complain, though, as Simon gave his up at 18 months (maybe because I took away his bottles?) but she made it almost 3 years with her daily nap...ah, well...she is three.

On the homeschool front we are still plugging along with math, art and now Simon is really into Greek Mythology--I think that is mostly because Hawksbill explained which planets are named after which Greek gods. Of course, now I am just WAITING for the day my mom asks Simon about god and he responds, "Silly Grandma, there are many gods, not just one! You know, Zeus, Apollo, Hades, Aphrodite, etc..." and of course then he'll point out the boy gods vs. the girl gods which we call goddesses. I can already see a candle lit for me at church. Probably a worrisome call from Father Frank, too! Sigh....

Simon seems to like his new math books still and we seem to do 1-2 lessons when we feel like it. We might skip a day or two, but then he will do 2 lessons but they are short and he likes them...of course he has to get creative with his answer and write them squiggly or backwards or REALLY BIG or really tiny or something else which is his way.

Simon has also decided he really wants to learn sign language and although I keep saying I am going to do this, I still need to google some kind of sign language program for him. A coworker said his daughters learned sign language in Montessori so that gives me a lead I have just been so busy with work and everything that I haven't gotten myself in gear to find what would work for him and download it or see if we can afford to order something.

Changing the subject here, today is the first day of Lent, and not that I would normally follow this Catholic event, but an internet friend from Texas (who happens to NOT be Catholic, either) and I have taken it upon ourselves to see if we can give something up for Lent. For me, it will be chocolate (except for Simon's bday in case he has chocolate cake) and for her it will be second helpings at dinner. It is only until Easter, right? I can make it without chocolate, right? I think....maybe it will help me lose those last 5 lbs that will not go away.

Changing the subject yet AGAIN, I am laughing at some silly things my kids (mostly Simon) have said this week and am just posting them so I can remember them. Maybe they aren't really funny, but they were funny to me :)

After Gwen sang some of her nighttime songs (Yesterday, Sunshine, Hush Little Baby, Santa Claus is Coming to Town) Simon commented, "Wow! I didn't know she knew all the words to that song! She could be in an opera!!"

After Simon was looking at some items in a Lego catalog, "Mommy and Daddy, I really want an R2 D2 Lego watch, but I can't get it until after my birthday because it says you have to be age 6 to buy one."

Shoot...I know there was something else...darn it, I can't remember...

Oh, well...I'll post it when I remember or if Hawksbill remembers...but, back to my countdown...10 more weeks!! Only 9 if you don't count spring break which I took off so Hawksbill and I can hang out and be lazy for another full week. 10 more weeks!! I can't believe this is really happening!! So happy about this school thing ending soon!!

Until next time....

Happy Birthday, Gwen E. Bear

Happy Birthday, Gwen!! Today you are three and I cannot believe it! Where did this year go?

This week has been kind of a birthday week for Gwen. Last Friday she had her first haircut ever--she doesn't have a lot of hair, but it has finally reached the point where the knots where too much so she had a couple of inches cut off the bottom.

On Sunday, we took apart the crib (for the first time in 6 years--sniff sniff!!!) and put it in the basement and moved Gwen into a big girl bed. More specifically, MY old big girl bed. My dad bought this bed when I was 5 years old...I still remember coming home from kindergarten and seeing it and a new pink comforter in my room. Gwen's big girl bed, however, is covered in Hello Kitty.

This morning, Gwen woke up and we opened her presents before Hawksbill had to go to his internship. She is now the proud owner of an airplane, a green care bear, Max and Ruby beanie babies, and more clothes and toy jewelry.

We are making a green cake which will be frosted pink when it cools and then a Dora the Explorer cake topper if I can figure out how to put the thing together.

Happy 3rd birthday, little girl!! I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Tuesday....aaaafternoonnn....

Just a quick update about nothing. This weekend we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to balmy Toledo for a hotel with a pool that Simon has begging us to go to. Unfortunately, COSI in Toledo is closed due to lack of money (or so I heard) so the trip was a swimming trip only. It was fun, though--we swam for about 4 hours (not in a row) and had a good time. Why Toledo? Well, we stayed at this hotel almost 2 years ago and had a blast--there are two pools--a family pool and an adults only pool. Both pools are indoor/outdoor pools, and due to this fact, are kept VERY warm. The restaurant at this particular hotel is pretty good, too--it wasn't as amazing as we remembered it being 2 years ago...but good enough :)

Today is Tuesday and based on this morning and the previous two Tuesday mornings, we have determined that it will snow every Tuesday which makes for a long morning commute for Hawksbill. There isn't much snow on the ground, but enough to make those lovely Detroit freeways a mess and add another 30-45 minutes to his already long commute.

I made the mistake of shoveling our driveway and our neighbor's driveway before 1 pm, as we had another blast of wind that swept away all my hard work. Maybe I will redo my shoveling again, but not until after 5 pm when working hours are technically over.

Let's see...it is just before 4 pm so I expect to see Hawksbill again in about 4-5 hours. Only 12 more weeks of this schedule. At least Tuesday is his only late night...it makes quite a difference being able to see him almost every night rather than only on the weekend evenings!!

On a different note, a friend of mine from high school will be starring in the upcoming production on Mama! Mia! that is coming to Detroit in February. I have already seen Mama! Mia!, however, am hoping to gather up some high school friends to go and see him in the play. I haven't spoken to this particular friend since my undergraduate years, but it is cool to see a friend from high school doing what they really wanted to do when they graduated--this friend always wanted to be an actor, and that is what he is. Super cool!

Back in the Swing of Things

Winter semester '08 is upon us, and so is another semester of homeschooling. Simon really seems to like the new math books we bought him, and I have to admit I like them a lot better, too. It seems like they have a better variety of problems, plus more colorful diagrams, and it seems a lot less repetitive. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in practice, but sometimes you need a freaking break. How many times days can you spend adding up the same two single digit numbers before you say, "Enough!"

Hawksbill and I (mostly Hawksbill) have been reading a lot of "Once upon a time" tales and now some Greek mythology stories to Simon at night, which he really seems to like. Gwen still likes reading a billion board books at night followed by singing her 5-6 songs.

Hawksbill is now into his second full week of this semester, too, and can I tell you how happy I am that we do not have to drag the kids around on a baby/car swap this semester? I don't know why it always takes 45 minutes to get them ready and into the car, but we don't have to do that due to one less class for Hawksbill, and our schedule allowing us to avoid that dreaded swap. I mentioned this to a relative (who knows we are homeschooling) who said to me, "Oh, just wait until next fall when you have to do this every day when they are in school!" I didn't say anything because I didn't want to get into a big family discussion about homeschooling that day. However, when this same, well-meaning, relative called me this morning to let me know, "I needed to register Simon NOW for school in the fall because if I don't, the state won't even know he exists and he can't go to school!!!" I reminded her that we were homeschooling in the fall, to which they added, "Well, in case you change your mind, you really should register Simon now."

This was followed by another light-hearted, "I don't know how you could stand homeschooling--I could never do it--I can't wait to send MY kids to school and get them out of my hair!" I responded, "That's too bad--I want to spend every possible precious moment with my kids, and I just wish I had even more time with them." Perhaps that wasn't very nice of me, but it is true, and sometimes I just blurt out what I am really thinking rather than bite my tongue every single time someone says something to me about not wanting to spend time with their kids. Oh, please--don't get me wrong--everyone's kids drive them batty once in a while--everyone needs a break--but I still want to be with mine more time than I am not.

It is like a very nice post on my friend Housefairy's blog recently about trusting yourself and doing what is right for YOUR OWN family. You know, I really don't care how other people are raising their kids or living their lives, but I do care about my family. You take the advice and ideas you like and use them, and you ignore the advice and junk you don't need.

My "found money" project has gotten off to an ok start this year. I think I have 44 cents now. I am trying to get Simon and Gwen into this, too, but so far they don't care (except when it comes to the time to spend the found money-ha!)

Happy New Year, everyone, and I hope the new year is treating you all just fine!

Ico & Shadow

One last note on video games before I return to real life on Tuesday.

I finished Ico late last night. It is a short game and took me only about 10 hours to complete. However, it lived up to its promise and I found it as moving and introspective as its prequel, Shadow of the Collosus.

In short it is the story of a young boy who is believed to be "cursed" by his community and is imprisoned in a gigantic fortress at the games beginning. In fact he is the latest in a long line of "cursed" boys who have been so imprisoned. The game begins with his entombment and proceeds with his attempt to escape. Along the way he find a mysterious girl in a cage who he sets free and they set off together to find their way out. Or, at least, the boy is looking for a way out. The girl is easily distracted by the clouds and small animals. She seems confused and unearthly.

Basically, your role as player is to solve puzzles which create pathways that allow Ico (the boy) and Zorda (the girl) to leave. On that level it is very Tomb Raider like and isn't all that impressive.

It is on the narrative level that Ico (and SotC) really impress me. But, it is difficult to describe the beauty of the narrative in words because the story telling technique used is so minimal. In fact, the story seems beautiful not because of what is told in the story, but because of what isn't told. It is kind of like a sculpture where everything non essential is chipped away and only the absolute barest details are left behind. And even they are subject to great interpretation.

I was just reading this narrative analysis of Ico and the author there said it best. He said that the story in Ico "insists on holding silence on its own narrative." I love this kind of story telling . If done well the audience is left stunned by witnessing something beautiful but they are also unable to describe that beauty without imbuing the story with their own interpretation.

As such, whoever is describing the story is not describing just the story. Instead they are describing the story in a way that is intertwined with their own perspective on life or beauty or whatever. Everyone brings something of themselves to the interpretation, which is required because the story is so minimal that it requires interpretation to be described.

I won't bore anyone with my own interpretations. That would be out of place here when all I really wanted to do was describe the sense of wonder I'm left with after playing these two really great games.

Some Ico and Shadow of the Colossus links:
Here are a number of nice high rez screen shots of Ico if anyone is interested.
Here is a set of fan created art which is pretty impressive.
Also, here is a blog dedicated to both games.

Hawksbill's post o' holiday gaming

Last semester was so grueling and stressful that I didn't sleep a full night from September through the middle of December. Just about every night I awoke between 3am and 4am worried about something or other, ranging from long papers I had due to getting a job after graduation. Thus, when the holidays hit and I had over two weeks off I was determined to be lazy, to have fun and not to worry about a damn thing. And, other than spending a ton of time together as a family, I was determined to feed that monkey on my back... the gaming monkey.

The guys came over last Saturday and we played board games from noon until after midnight. I got to play Goa, Power Grid (using the Italy map) and Caylus, which are three of my favorites. There were 7 of us, which meant we had to split into two groups so Paul, Jake, Steve and George played some Age of Empires III, which none of us had played before and I got to play a game of Basari with Larry and Ben, which I had not played before also. The highlight of the day, though, was when we ended by playing a huge 6 player game of Zopp, which has been sitting around in our gaming room, waiting to be played for several weeks. Zopp is probably the most expensive game I own, and I was pleased to see that it was a big hit. It's always nice to end a gaming day with a crazy dex game.

Along with board games, I was determined to feed my video game habit this holiday. I came very close to going out and indulging in a new Playstation 3, but instead I went through my library of PS2 stuff and hit a vein of great games I hadn't played before. This convinced me that I hadn't yet exhausted the PS2's potential and I made a list of highly regarded games to play before I move to the PS3.

I started off with God of War which I played through from start to finish in about 3 days a week and a half ago. This is a fine game with a pretty good story, in which you play a Greek hero seeking vengeance against the god Ares. It has great controls, fantastic graphics and a delightful amount of brutal violence.

I've owned this one for a bout a year, and played it a bit, but it never really grabbed me until a couple of weeks ago. There were a couple of really frustrating moments trying to escape from the underworld, but I guess escaping from the underworld should probably be very difficult. All in all, though, a great gaming experience.

Another game I've owned for over a year but never played is Shadow of the Colossus. In SotC you play a young lad who brings his trusty horse, a stolen magic sword and a dead girl to a mysterious temple in a lonely unpopulated land and prays for her resurrection. His prayers are answered by a booming voice that instructs him to take his magic sword and slay 16 different colossi and then the girl will be brought back to life.

Basically, it is a 3rd person action-adventure combat and puzzle solving game in which you must kill only boss-monsters. You have a horse, a bow and a sword and the monsters are sometimes hundreds of feet tall. The puzzles in the game are all about how to locate the colossi and then how to find their individual weaknesses which you exploit to kill them.

I finished Shadow of the Colossus in about 5 days and after watching the closing animation sequence I had to admit this this was likely one of the best games I've ever played. In fact, Simon had been sitting on my lap watching me play for almost all of that time and at the end of the game he actually cried a little in sympathy for the characters. The story was so sad and moving that I felt like I'd just finished a classic piece of literature. Even now, several days later I can't get it out of my head. It still haunts me.

In fact, many players have found SotC to be haunting and worthy of considerable thematic speculation. I found this plot/theory analysis over at gamefaqs.com which tries to put all the pieces together. One of the great things about this game is that the characters only speak an unintelligible Japanese/Latin combination. This means that the back story is never fully explained which allows for a lot of internal speculation while you're playing.

SotC was written by a game designer named Fumito Ueda who intended it to be a prequel to a previous PS2 game called Ico, which I had heard of before but hadn't payed much attention to. Wander, in SotC is supposed to be the ancestor of the main character of Ico, and is the first of a long line of cursed boys born each generation because of the horrors Wander committed in SotC. It turns out that Ico was something of a cult hit and new copies of it are selling for $80+, but I just ordered a used copy for a reasonable price and can't wait to play it.

For me, playing Shadow of the Colossus is the video game equivalent to reading Alan Moore's comic The Swamp Thing for the first time. You are engaging in medium you think you understand and can't really be surprised about, but the story stretches that medium in simple, poetic and unexpected directions that are simultaneously beautiful and sorrowful. It really reminds you that games can be works of art, although they seldom are. Damn, I can't wait to play Ico!

For anyone interested, I found several interviews with Fumito Ueda regarding his games. One is with the Guardian another is with CVG and a third is with Wired.

After playing God of War and Shadow of the Colossus from start to finish I was determined to finish one more game before I go back to school next Tuesday. In my research I stumbled across the Prince of Persia series which, like Ico, I'd seen before but never paid a lot of attention to. I'm currently about a third of the way through the first in the PS2 trilogy called The Sands of Time.

The graphics in The Sands of Time are a bit dated, as it came out back in 2003, but are still fairly pleasant. Like the others it is a 3rd person action-adventure game, but this one has more emphasis on puzzle solving than on combat, unlike God of War which is a bit more weighted towards ripping the heads off Gorgons. Actually, I picked up this game because I read a review of Ico in which they were compared as having similar game play styles. It is a good one, but not as moving as SotC so far.

I'm very pleased, though. Most games are marginal at best and the really good ones are few and far between. I feel like I've hit a gold mine of quality gaming fun to maximize my holiday goofing off.

Once school starts up again I won't be able to be this epically lazy. But, I've put together a list of other games I plan to play on the PS2 over the next several months before switching to the PS3.

These are: Ico, God of War II, and parts II and III of the Prince of Persia series (The Warrior Within and The Two Thrones). I'm also a bit tempted by The Devil May Cry trilogy, which I have part 1 of but haven't played yet and by Psychonaughts, which I started last year and played for a couple of hours but never finished. Also I want to finish Dark Cloud II, which Simon and I started a few weeks ago and Star Ocean, which are both rpg's that look well worth playing.

I was toying with going with the xbox 360 instead of the PS3, but I've pretty much decided now to stay with Sony's console. After all, God of War is exclusive to the Playstation line. Also, and probably more importantly though, Fumito Ueda who designed Shadow of the Colossus and Ico is currently working for Sony on a 3rd game. This next one is all hush hush right now, but I'm hoping it will be set in the same universe as the others and will be as haunting as SotC.

What a great holiday this has been. I can't express what a relief it is to spend all this time with Barb and the kids and playing games instead of worrying about papers, exams, internship stuff, my upcoming graduation and getting a job.

I'll get back to that stuff next Tuesday. Until then I have misshapen Arabian sand demons to slay!

Happy New Year!!!

Yay yay yay it is 2008!! Hawksbill, Simon and Gwen and I are having a really nice, lazy, relaxing vacation...I am sad to say today is my last day off and have to go back to work tomorrow, but Hawksbill really has one more week off (if you don't count Friday when he goes in for his internship one day--school starts up next week for him!)

Gwen woke up this morning and we told her, "Happy New Year, Gwen!" and she responded, "Thanks. Did our presents come?" Ha! Sorry, little one...you'll have to wait another 3.5 weeks until your birthday for that....

I am going to restart my *found money* counter at the beginning of the new year instead of in March like I said I would. I have been having so much fun with it that I figured I might as well begin the new year fresh. So, my 2007 total ended at $9.11 which is a little more than $1/month. I only found 1 bill ($1) so all of the rest was pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters--mostly pennies and dimes.

I found this article about other people doing the found money experiment so I am not the only geek in town! However, my money will be spent on Amazon.com since we just pooled our found money with our counter change jar and turned in the change for another e-certificate. I was hoping to buy another copy of my destroyed Tae Bo tape (laugh if you will, but Billy Blanks is my hero!) so I can start up another New Year's resolution that I was doing well with last year up until about 6 weeks ago when final exam, final paper crunch time exhaustion set in (yes, I know--I wasn't writing any papers), but since Hawksbill was studying every last minute and Gwen wants me to pick her up every time I try to put on an exercise tape, the whole exercise part of last year really fizzled during the most important time of the year! However, it appears the original Tae Bo that I want to buy is some weird collector's item now that they want at least $65 for an *acceptable* condition DVD!! No thanks! I guess we will buy something else and maybe I'll try ebay for my tape or just go to the Tae Bo website and buy some new set of DVD's and try something different. However, I really really liked my old tape...so we shall see.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year. I am looking forward to Hawksbill finishing school in about 4 months (yay!!!) and going camping this summer and just having a fresh start this year.

Hello Kitty Coma and Star Wars Bliss

Merry Christmas everyone (3 days late)!! What a nice nice week we are having...I am just loving this week off (thank you university closure and holidays!) I have been off work since Friday, and we have been goofing off almost all week.



Monday afternoon the kids opened up their presents from grandma K from Arizona--mostly clothes, but my kids love getting clothes so they were happy. Monday evening was my family's Christmas party where we went to my oldest brother, J's, house and had a Christmas dinner and presents for all the cousins. Simon and Gwen have ten cousins from my side of the family, so he had fun playing with all of them and being silly all night.

This was the first year we actually went out and bought presents for all of my nieces and nephews. My older sister and I always try talking everyone into picking names or adopting a family or something but no one else E.V.E.R. wants to do this, and we usually opted out of the *buy-something-for-every-kid* part of Christmas due to limited funds. However, I guess I was feeling guilty about not buying presents for people who have been buying presents for my
kids every single year and decided to try to find something for each cousin that they would like this year. I think we did ok--except for my nephew, S, who is 13 and some kind of mad scientist. :) The remote control airplane we bought seemed pretty lame after we saw the *lightening machine* he built in the basement. I'll have to think more high tech next year.

Tuesday morning Santa had delivered presents to our house and the kids were happy that Santa got them EXACTLY what they asked for, and not some extra stuff Santa thought they might like but then never use. So, this year Simon wanted an inflatable solar system (which was a lot bigger than I expected, but he loves it!), the latest 3 Star Wars Movies, and the strategy guide for Star Wars Lego: The Complete Saga (which, btw, is actually useless to us since we don't have this game nor do we have the proper system to buy it, however Simon insisted he get this particular strategy guide--ok!). All Gwen wanted was a doll house and a teddy bear, however Santa did bring her a Hello Kitty blanket because we have a thing about blankets around here. The kids also opened up their presents from our attorney ;) and they loved the card game and Beatles lullaby CD. (Thank you also for the cool T-shirt, game and chocolate!! Oh, how I love the chocolate!! It rocks!!!)

After opening up presents from Santa, we loaded up the car and made the long drive to Grand Rapids where grandpa I and Aunt S gave the kids even more nice things, so they were having an extra special spoiled Christmas. Gwen is officially Hello Kitty and Disney Princessed out. I never ever thought in a million years I would have a princess girl. I know I say this over and over, but I have given up and let the pink side take over. The girl has never even SEEN a Disney princess movie, but I tell you whatever evil mastermind at Disney decided to combine the likes of all princesses and market it to little girls better have received some really big bonus (and have a special dark place in he77 reserved for him/her) because I haven't been able to get the girl out of the pink pajamas in 4 days now. Sigh...I give up. Hello Kitty is cool, but princess? I just give up...she loves it...she is 2...I will just keep repeating those things over and over again.

Simon watched all three Star Wars movies already and read most of his strategy guide...and our house is full of planet beach balls...he is a very happy boy.

As if this wasn't enough, Aunt M from Georgia and their other cousins from Georgia sent a bunch more presents for the kids which they opened on Wednesday morning--mostly clothes again which is nice because then I don't have to buy any new clothes this year :) and again the kids really love clothes...this is so weird to ME since I remember being horribly disappointed at Christmas if Santa brought me clothes instead of a toy...ha ha ha....oh, well!!

But presents aside, this has just been a nice nice nice week. The presents are nice (but unnecessary--but GREATLY appreciated) but just having time to wind down and rest and relax and do absolutely nothing except watch bad movies and eat gobs of chocolate (I received a lot of chocolate this year--woo hoo!) is all I care about. Not having to work, write papers, think, etc...I am really thankful and amazed at what a nice week this has been. I am glad we opted to be pretty darn lazy after Christmas because last year was a bit too chaotic for me trying to make sure we saw every friend on the planet. This year it is couch potato week and I am enjoying every bit of it!!

Tomorrow is gaming day for the guys at our house, so the house will be filled with gaming buddies and what not...however, it is also my older sister's anniversary and I had already agreed to babysit before this game day was planned so the kiddos and I will be over her house tomorrow night. But then I still have 3 more days off after that, so I will be enjoying every lazy minute of it!!!!

Yeeee Haa!!!

The semester is finally over. This one was more grueling than the previous two, for some reason. Especially December. Since Thanksgiving, until yesterday, we never had a day to spend together as a family. I had to take every available moment to go to the library to work on papers for one class or another. But, now I can take a break.

Over the last few days I've made the rounds to the local game stores (video, not board) and picked up a few tidbits to keep me occupied until I return to classes in January. I bought Star Ocean, Dark Cloud 2 and Bard's Tale for the PS2. So far, Simon and I are both enjoying Dark Cloud. It has a very cartoony feel to it, but also very deep gameplay on both a story and mechanical level. Along with fighting your way through dungeons and moving through the plot, the main character also has a camera with him which he uses to document "ideas" which are then used to "invent" new items that you use in the game. It's quite well done. I haven't had the chance to try the others yet. It is nice that he and I can play games like this together now. It's a single player game, but we can take turns with the controller. He likes to explore more than he likes combat, but its a blast that we're enjoying the same hobbies.

Also, based on my attorney's recommendation, I sneaked out alone last night to see the new Will Smith movie, I am Legend. I'm a big sucker for last-man-on-earth movies, and also zombie movies so I couldn't resist the combination of the two. I was a bit annoyed by the hokey religious element at the end, but overall I quite liked it. To sum up, I liked that it was introspective and was more about humanity than about zombies. I liked how the struggle to save humanity was mirrored by the protagonists personal struggle to stay sane and I enjoyed implication that the zombies were somewhat sentient. The basic story element to save the zombies was also a nice change from the usual plot to kill them. Good stuff.

I should probably re-rent 28 Days Later, and I've never seen its sequel, 28 Weeks Later. I'm also kind of interested in 30 Days of Night, just because I also like vampires and Alaska, but I have a feeling any fun in these films will be primarily on a visceral and not an introspective level.

All in all the holidays are off to a good start. Good games, good movies and more time to spend together as a family. Also, we're planning a big board gaming day at our house on the 29th and it is looking like we may have 10 or 11 players going from noon until we all pass out from gaming-related exhaustion. Woot!

Oh, and lest I forget, Simon has been saving up for 10+ weeks to buy a Lego X-Wing fighter. It was on backorder but it arrived in the mail at the same time that he saved enough of his allowance to buy it. We finished assembling it together yesterday before I went out to shovel. I always wanted an X-Wing when I was a kid. I'm overjoyed that my son is willing to save for months to buy toys that I've been wanting for 30 years.

Like I said, "Yeeee Haa!!!"

Who Ordered All This Snow?

The weatherman was right--we were buried in snow today...makes us wish that we had a working snowblower...poor Hawksbill shoveled it all by hand today while I tried to clean the inside of the house, so we are both exhausted now.

Hawksbill finished his final exam and papers (woo hoo!) and other than having to go in one day for his internship next week, he basically has the next 2-2.5 weeks off!! Woo hoo! Again! One more semester to go!!

We never ended up getting Indian food the other night...just cheap pizza and cheesecake...good enough for me. Maybe when things clear up a bit we can go out. We did all go out Friday night and see, Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was cute, not great, but what do you expect? I was suffering a bit of sticker shock, however, when the ticket bill came to $29 for two adults and two kids!! Geez!! It hardly seems worth it when you know you could buy the DVD in a few months for probably half that price.

Simon and Gwen decided they needed to tell jokes today...they usually start out with some standards and then make up their own. Gwen's favorite is, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" to which she always takes about 10 minutes to get out her answer, "Because he wanted to... because he getted to the other side!!!" This is followed by her repeating this joke 100 more times....Simon's favorite today was the classic, "What time is it when the elephant sits on the fence?" Which we all know the answer to...but then he starts making them up...so we get...
"Why did the chicken lay an egg?" "Because it had CHEESE in it!!"
"What time is it when an ant sits on a lego?" "Time to get the ant off the lego!"
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" "Because he was walking!!"
"Why did the chicken eat cheese?" Because he was a CHEESE chicken!!"

I don't know about their future in stand up, but they were certainly amused today. :)

2 More Hours....

I am taking my countdown very seriously...Hawksbill is taking his last final exam as I type this and should be finished by 5. I cannot wait until he gets home in (hopefully) about 3 hours. Of course, I would feel better in two more hours if I didn't have to go to work next week, but alas, I do...oh, well...

I am trying very hard to enjoy today but it isn't working out very well. I worked all day yesterday but then put in another 2 hours last night before going to bed. I don't think dreaming about work counts as work hours, but that is all I had to dream about last night...only to wake up to emails that made me less than happy from coworkers who work very hard to avoid doing anything...I usually don't write about work and I try VERY hard to avoid the topic, but today happens to be my birthday and I really wanted to take today off and not work at all...so instead of baking a cake or cookies, I am yelling at the babies to stop climbing on top of the kitchen counter and jumping through the window leading to the funroom, cleaning up a full cup of hot cocoa that darling Gwen spilled all over the counter which had the really sweet birthday card from Hawksbill, my mom, plus a few new Christmas cards, trying to keep Gwen from formatting our hard drive (she is going to succeed one of these days, I can feel it!), and trying to get twenty hours of work done in less than eight hours so we might be able to go out to dinner tonight.

So, dear Simon and Gwen, I am sorry mommy is a crab today, but it isn't going exactly as planned...

Sorry for the whiny post. In general life is wonderful and I am thankful for everything, my babies, and Hawksbill...but I would really just like some sugar cookies and Indian food...or maybe Pizzapopolis (sp?) or some other incredibly comforting food :)

One more week

So, Hawksbill is at school today for his last day of Thursday classes. Next Thursday is final paper/final exam day, but this is the last week of classes. I don't remember the last day we all hung out together--maybe Thanksgiving???

Hawksbill gave me an early birthday present of a digital camera!! Yay!! No more running to have pictures developed and then having to scan them all in!! Woo hoo!! Also, no more spending a ton of money of developing a bunch of pictures that didn't turn out quite right...of course, now I am worried that I won't have anything developed but I guess I can keep online photo albums, right?

Simon and Gwen are enjoying this 1/2 inch of snow we got this week. I, for one, am NOT enjoying the cold this week. Maybe it will snow some more and warm up a little.

Just one more week...I can make it, right? I am so over this semester. Then next semester is it for Hawksbill...I still can't believe it. I think I posted before that I told a friend when HE completed Grad School, Simon would be three and I couldn't imagine Simon being three...but I told Hawksbill Simon would be 6 and Gwen would be 3 when he finished Grad School...and it will be happening in about 4.5 months...wow...time flies...I don't know ...I am glad time is passing quickly so Hawksbill will be finished with school, but I miss Simon and Gwen being babies and tiny...they seem so big now...ah, well. Enough babbling for me...I just can't wait until I can see Hawksbill again when he ISN'T working on a paper or studying for an exam :)

A Fowl Discovery

Tonight I was putting together a quick dinner of leftovers and grilled cheese sandwiches. While I was cutting up some chicken for Simon, he pointed to something and said,

"What's that?"

"A bone," I answered.

"What do you mean, 'A bone'?" he asked.

"A chicken bone."

Looking completely surprised, "Um, do you mean a chicken bone? The animal chicken?"

"Yes, Simon, an animal chicken."

"You mean, that chicken is a chicken????"

"Yes, Simon, this is an animal chicken and we eat it. We eat the meat. Just like when we eat a hamburger, it is cow meat."

"I didn't know we ate animals."

"Do you still want the chicken for dinner?"

"OK...well, no, I think I'll have an apple instead."

Sigh...so anyway...it happened. Simon has finally put two and two together. And his decision to eat an apple instead of his chicken doesn't have me jumping to the conclusion that he is destined to be a vegetarian or anything (which if he chooses to be one, that is fine) but the fact is, the boy eats so LITTLE as it is, I am going to have a hard time if he decides he can't eat the few morsels of meat that he will stomach each week. If he liked beans or peanut butter or some other form of protein, I wouldn't care so much, but he hates almost everything so I hope this new found discovery doesn't decrease his tiny appetite even more.