TEN!
Ten more blog posts, and then this 365, she is a-done for.
This would be a good place to write a look back/look forward type post, but I actually already did that while I was in Oklahoma, and to do it again would seem fairly redundant.
Besides, I'm tired. Because it's New Years, so it's late. And it was a pretty good NYE night, even if NYE morning was fairly hellish.
Hope you all, wherever you are, rang in the New Year in a way that brought a smile to your face. Whether that was sleeping, watching TV, or cleaning out the cheese trays at work, I hope you start 2010 off on a positive note!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Day Three-Hundred Forty-Nine: A Fairly Boring Blog Post
Blog Post for 12-26
It’s not 11:00 yet, and everybody’s gone to bed save for me. Quite the change from last night! (Most likely, the change is because of last night)
I was wrong about Phase 10. The game did eventually end. It was quite the spectator’s treat!
Let’s see…today has not really been what you could call a “good day,” I don’t think, but it definitely hasn’t been a bad one, either. On the whole, I think I’m a bit tired from this particular vacation. From the unexpected travel difficulties to the blizzard to the rearranged schedules due to family members arriving late due to the aforementioned blizzard, things have been exciting, but a little hectic. And even a tad stressful. Enjoyable, but still, I think I’ll be glad to get home to humid, crowded Houston on Monday.
I’m still not sure what the plans are for tomorrow, now that I think about it. Church in Coyle, I’m sure that’s first. After that? Packing? Napping? Yet another 2-hour-away day trip? Couldn’t tell you.
I’m 639 pages into the complete and uncut The Stand. In other words, I’m to the “If-you-were-reading-the-originally-published-The-Stand-you’d-be-done-by-now!” point. I’m curious as to what exactly wasn’t included in the original cut. My guess is a lot of stuff in the first 400 or so pages. (You get to page 383—the beginning of “Book Two”—and you realize that everything so far, all the superflu-related stuff, was actually just setting up the game board for the main thrust of the story. And to this reader, that was pretty awesome) This is a great, creepy, disturbing, exciting story. I hope to get through the last 500 pages before my week of mandatory vacation begins—I have other plans for that stretch of my life.
All right, back to Mother Abigail and the rest of the crew in Boulder. Sleep well.
It’s not 11:00 yet, and everybody’s gone to bed save for me. Quite the change from last night! (Most likely, the change is because of last night)
I was wrong about Phase 10. The game did eventually end. It was quite the spectator’s treat!
Let’s see…today has not really been what you could call a “good day,” I don’t think, but it definitely hasn’t been a bad one, either. On the whole, I think I’m a bit tired from this particular vacation. From the unexpected travel difficulties to the blizzard to the rearranged schedules due to family members arriving late due to the aforementioned blizzard, things have been exciting, but a little hectic. And even a tad stressful. Enjoyable, but still, I think I’ll be glad to get home to humid, crowded Houston on Monday.
I’m still not sure what the plans are for tomorrow, now that I think about it. Church in Coyle, I’m sure that’s first. After that? Packing? Napping? Yet another 2-hour-away day trip? Couldn’t tell you.
I’m 639 pages into the complete and uncut The Stand. In other words, I’m to the “If-you-were-reading-the-originally-published-The-Stand-you’d-be-done-by-now!” point. I’m curious as to what exactly wasn’t included in the original cut. My guess is a lot of stuff in the first 400 or so pages. (You get to page 383—the beginning of “Book Two”—and you realize that everything so far, all the superflu-related stuff, was actually just setting up the game board for the main thrust of the story. And to this reader, that was pretty awesome) This is a great, creepy, disturbing, exciting story. I hope to get through the last 500 pages before my week of mandatory vacation begins—I have other plans for that stretch of my life.
All right, back to Mother Abigail and the rest of the crew in Boulder. Sleep well.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Day Three-Hundred Fifty-Four: Know Thy Enemy
I forget how "in" to the international ice hockey scene I really am until a day like today. At 11:00 this morning (CST), Canada announced their men's hockey team Olympic roster.
Getzlaf. Iginla. Pronger.
This is a talented bunch, folks. Hockey is essentially Canada's sport. Most of the greatest players ever to play the game have come from north of the border.
Brodeur. Toews. Nash.
Heck, the guys who were left OFF this list would make up a team talented enough to win the Stanley Cup. In a lot of cases, the guys on this roster are the best among the elite.
Crosby. Niedermayer. Luongo.
And even though they don't always win it all, it's usually a safe bet that the Canadian teams are the clear favorite going into almost every single major international tournament at any level.
Bergeron. Weber. Fleury.
Doesn't matter if it's World Juniors...
Keith. Seabrook. Morrow.
...or World Championships...
Thornton. Heatley. Marleau.
...or the Olympics.
Staal. Richards. Perry.
Oh, and have we mentioned that the Games are in Vancouver this year?
Doughty. Boyle.
They are titans. They are prestige. There's not a weak link in the chain. The Russians may be able to match them in skill, but not in goal, on defense, or in experience. The Czechs may come close in international experience, but they don't have the same depth. As for the Americans...well, we don't know yet, because our team will be announced live on TV during the Winter Classic on Friday. My guess, though? We can't match them in star power, we can't match them in depth, and I'd guess we're not going to be able to match them in passion, either.
But oh, how I want to beat this team.
We'll be young. We'll be inexperienced. We'll be in very hostile territory. And we'll be a team made up of guys who are used to losing to the red and white leaf in WJCs, World Championships, and Hockey World Cups.
But we get one game. (Maybe two, depending on how the medal round shakes down) And if there's one thing our squad SHOULD be able to do, it's hit. We can hit them. And if Ryan Miller has one of the best nights of his life in goal...hey, man. Who knows? I mean, Belarus beat Sweden once. Anything can happen.
Plus, we got this kid.
Sunday, February 21st. At 16:40 (I'm assuming that's Pacific time). We will get it on. And may the best team win.
Actually, no, may the Americans win. ;-)
Getzlaf. Iginla. Pronger.
This is a talented bunch, folks. Hockey is essentially Canada's sport. Most of the greatest players ever to play the game have come from north of the border.
Brodeur. Toews. Nash.
Heck, the guys who were left OFF this list would make up a team talented enough to win the Stanley Cup. In a lot of cases, the guys on this roster are the best among the elite.
Crosby. Niedermayer. Luongo.
And even though they don't always win it all, it's usually a safe bet that the Canadian teams are the clear favorite going into almost every single major international tournament at any level.
Bergeron. Weber. Fleury.
Doesn't matter if it's World Juniors...
Keith. Seabrook. Morrow.
...or World Championships...
Thornton. Heatley. Marleau.
...or the Olympics.
Staal. Richards. Perry.
Oh, and have we mentioned that the Games are in Vancouver this year?
Doughty. Boyle.
They are titans. They are prestige. There's not a weak link in the chain. The Russians may be able to match them in skill, but not in goal, on defense, or in experience. The Czechs may come close in international experience, but they don't have the same depth. As for the Americans...well, we don't know yet, because our team will be announced live on TV during the Winter Classic on Friday. My guess, though? We can't match them in star power, we can't match them in depth, and I'd guess we're not going to be able to match them in passion, either.
But oh, how I want to beat this team.
We'll be young. We'll be inexperienced. We'll be in very hostile territory. And we'll be a team made up of guys who are used to losing to the red and white leaf in WJCs, World Championships, and Hockey World Cups.
But we get one game. (Maybe two, depending on how the medal round shakes down) And if there's one thing our squad SHOULD be able to do, it's hit. We can hit them. And if Ryan Miller has one of the best nights of his life in goal...hey, man. Who knows? I mean, Belarus beat Sweden once. Anything can happen.
Plus, we got this kid.
Sunday, February 21st. At 16:40 (I'm assuming that's Pacific time). We will get it on. And may the best team win.
Actually, no, may the Americans win. ;-)
Day Three-Hundred Forty-Eight: Christmas Ramble
Blog post for 12-25
Merry Christmas, blog.
Though you’ll probably be reading this on Tuesday or Wednesday, which will not be Christmas. Nevertheless, I hope you had a good one.
Today was good. The whole family made it in shortly after lunchtime. Gift exchange was chaotic and awesome. Robbie has approximately several billion bulldozer-themed Christmas presents now. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we get home and Bob the Builder is now fighting for air time against If I Were a Digger.
The window in our bedroom today looked like something from a Christmas card. The sunlight reflecting off of J.D.’s pond, a thick blanket of snow covering the yard, the wooden fence in the background with further snow-covered fields stretching to the horizon. Beautiful.
Actually, a lot of you probably received that picture via text this morning. I’m sure it lost a little something in the translation.
Currently typing this while my wife, her three sisters, and their mother play a rousing game of Phase 10. For those who don’t know, Phase 10 is possibly the longest card game in existence. It’s the Risk of card games. I anticipate this could be going on when we’re trying to load up the car to leave for home on Monday. We’ll have to take breaks between loads in the back of the car so Kim can take her turn.
I don’t know how all these bulldozers and excavators are going to fit into the car, by the way. Part of this is my fault, because I got Kim a huge present this year, and it took up almost half of the space in the trunk. It’ll work out.
Also, a game called Farkle is quite popular around these parties. Has anybody out there ever played Farkle? It’s a dice-rolling game, and Robbie is now addicted to it. As far as I can tell, it’s a game where you roll dice and randomly call out point values, and after every couple of turns you argue about the rules.
Okay, that should be enough random chatter to substantiate blogging for today. Again, Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, blog.
Though you’ll probably be reading this on Tuesday or Wednesday, which will not be Christmas. Nevertheless, I hope you had a good one.
Today was good. The whole family made it in shortly after lunchtime. Gift exchange was chaotic and awesome. Robbie has approximately several billion bulldozer-themed Christmas presents now. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we get home and Bob the Builder is now fighting for air time against If I Were a Digger.
The window in our bedroom today looked like something from a Christmas card. The sunlight reflecting off of J.D.’s pond, a thick blanket of snow covering the yard, the wooden fence in the background with further snow-covered fields stretching to the horizon. Beautiful.
Actually, a lot of you probably received that picture via text this morning. I’m sure it lost a little something in the translation.
Currently typing this while my wife, her three sisters, and their mother play a rousing game of Phase 10. For those who don’t know, Phase 10 is possibly the longest card game in existence. It’s the Risk of card games. I anticipate this could be going on when we’re trying to load up the car to leave for home on Monday. We’ll have to take breaks between loads in the back of the car so Kim can take her turn.
I don’t know how all these bulldozers and excavators are going to fit into the car, by the way. Part of this is my fault, because I got Kim a huge present this year, and it took up almost half of the space in the trunk. It’ll work out.
Also, a game called Farkle is quite popular around these parties. Has anybody out there ever played Farkle? It’s a dice-rolling game, and Robbie is now addicted to it. As far as I can tell, it’s a game where you roll dice and randomly call out point values, and after every couple of turns you argue about the rules.
Okay, that should be enough random chatter to substantiate blogging for today. Again, Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day Three-Hundred Fifty-Three: Relationship advice. More like "relationship command". And from a bear.
Okay, so I know I've got friends who are always looking for sound advice on the whole guy/girl "thing."
Well kids, Bruin Hockey Rules is happy to help.
That's some sound advice, bear.
For more pointers, check out the bear's advice on fashion, cell phone etiquette, and holiday gift giving.
Okay, but seriously. Click here for some really uplifting stories from the past 10 years of hockey. Even if you're not a hockey fan, there's some choice stuff in there.
Enjoy.
And don't date within the division.
Well kids, Bruin Hockey Rules is happy to help.
That's some sound advice, bear.
For more pointers, check out the bear's advice on fashion, cell phone etiquette, and holiday gift giving.
Okay, but seriously. Click here for some really uplifting stories from the past 10 years of hockey. Even if you're not a hockey fan, there's some choice stuff in there.
Enjoy.
And don't date within the division.
Day Three-Hundred Forty-Seven: Arctic Adventurer
Blog post for 12/24
Bleh. I don’t want to blog tonite.
Oh, please don’t take it personally. It’s just that it’s midnight, and today has been a LONG day, and I know I’ll get very tired soon, and I’m 512 pages into the unabridged The Stand, and the unabridged The Stand has really started to get good, and I’d rather spend my last hour of coherent thought this evening reading instead of writing.
You know, I’ve almost never had the discipline to follow through with any long-term project before this blog. Next year, I’ll see if I can’t use this new-found ability for discipline to do something productive ;-)
Anyway, it’s Christmas Eve (technically Christmas, but I won’t count it until I’ve gone to bed and awaken) but it really, really doesn’t feel like it. You know all those Christmas movies where there’s this big snow storm and not all the family makes it on time to open presents Christmas morning? I’m actually in that story, and it’s kind of strange. See, this morning we wrapped up the Kansas portion of our Christmas holiday. It was really nice; I think everybody had a wonderful time. Our original plan had been to head south to Oklahoma around dinner time, but what was once a 30% chance for snow earlier this week had become a blizzard warning in south central Kansas, so we decided to hit the road right after lunch.
Well, it turns out that we were running away from one winter storm to run directly into the face of another, this one coming up from the south and hitting central Oklahoma with fury. We were informed that Oklahoma City had effectively been shut down, with every highway in the city closed and city officials urging people to stay wherever they were if they were indoors until tomorrow, whether they were at home, in the mall, at church, whatever. (There was also something about a 50-car pileup somewhere on I-40) We weren’t going quite as far as the City (“Ah, The City. My The City!”), but we didn’t know how far these treacherous conditions extended northward. We took I-35 south to Guthrie, and while visibility was not too great due to 20 mph winds (gusting at 60 mph) blowing about a blanket of snow that was simultaneously falling in huge flakes and wisping like a ghost in a fine powder across the road, there wasn’t much in the way of ice on the highway. Not, that is, until we got about 10 miles from our destination, when we saw a northbound van in the ditch, pitched completely on its side about twenty feet from the spot where tire tracks veered from the road into the snow on the ditch. A minute or two later, we found not one, but three errant cars resting comfortably in a ditch, all about fifteen feet from one another. Fortunately, this was two miles before our exit, and boy were we glad to be almost “in the clear.”
The smaller state highway had virtually disappeared underneath white, but I was able to see the edges of the road clear enough to stay on the pavement. Then, as we carefully made the turn from state highway onto gravel road, our luck finally ran out. We hit a snow drift and got stuck. Fortunately, I was manly enough to push the car out of the drift while Kim hit the gas (my back currently hurts, by the way, and I suspect this is the reason why). As I trotted up alongside the vehicle to hop back in, I discovered the road was completely encased in ice as I slid and slammed into the icy pavement. Didn’t hurt too much, though, because of the adrenaline from the snow drift, the drive, and the bitter, freezing wind. I got back in the car and, by the grace of God, we made it up the steep, snowed-over hill despite having virtually no control over the steering. (There was a terribly deep ditch on either side of the road, but the break between road and ditch had completely disappeared under snow drifts) Finally, the driveway to Kim’s grandfather’s house is in sight. We sloooooow down and manage to turn directly into the center of the driveway, and then we hit another drift. A bigger one. And there’s no pushing out of this one, either.
But praise God, we had made it. It’s a bit of hike up the driveway to the house, and the wind was getting stronger and colder each time I had to make the trip, but we made it. We had to bust out the tractor to try to plow enough snow out of the front of the car to get it the rest of the way up the drive, but it didn’t work. There are actually two cars currently stuck in the driveway and a third stuck next door at Kim’s aunt’s house. Two of my sisters-in-law are stuck in Oklahoma City, waiting for the roads to open up again, and my mother-and-father-in-law had to turn back and settle in Stillwater for the night, because the roads were simply impassible without the interstates open.
So, the annual Christmas Eve dinner lost a bit of its luster. We celebrated heartily with everyone who was able to make it, grateful that we’d all managed to get here safely, but of course it wasn’t the same. Tomorrow, this family’s tradition is to travel to a MASSIVE Christmas day celebration of more family members than I can keep track of (I seriously don’t know who all of those people are. Heck, Kim doesn’t know who all of those people are, and she’s been Christmassing with them for over twenty years!), but according to the weather man, we’re not going anywhere.
Anyway, I’ll still enjoy Christmas in whatever form we have it tomorrow. I know there won’t be any rush to get up early this year, and I’ll be glad for that, but missing out on the feast will be a little sad. Hopefully everybody else makes it here by tomorrow evening, and perhaps we’ll celebrate the fact that we can celebrate as a family with a little more meaning than usual. I dunno.
By the way, just for the record, this has been the worst snow storm Oklahoma has had in December in recorded history. And while we haven’t gotten foot upon foot of snow (we topped out at around one foot), I’ve never seen one storm shut down such a large city so completely. It’s eerie. At the same time, I’m glad my Oklahoma family and friends are accounted for, even if we/they can’t all be together as the 24th turns into the 25th.
First the hotel, now a blizzard. Crazy Christmas, no?
Bleh. I don’t want to blog tonite.
Oh, please don’t take it personally. It’s just that it’s midnight, and today has been a LONG day, and I know I’ll get very tired soon, and I’m 512 pages into the unabridged The Stand, and the unabridged The Stand has really started to get good, and I’d rather spend my last hour of coherent thought this evening reading instead of writing.
You know, I’ve almost never had the discipline to follow through with any long-term project before this blog. Next year, I’ll see if I can’t use this new-found ability for discipline to do something productive ;-)
Anyway, it’s Christmas Eve (technically Christmas, but I won’t count it until I’ve gone to bed and awaken) but it really, really doesn’t feel like it. You know all those Christmas movies where there’s this big snow storm and not all the family makes it on time to open presents Christmas morning? I’m actually in that story, and it’s kind of strange. See, this morning we wrapped up the Kansas portion of our Christmas holiday. It was really nice; I think everybody had a wonderful time. Our original plan had been to head south to Oklahoma around dinner time, but what was once a 30% chance for snow earlier this week had become a blizzard warning in south central Kansas, so we decided to hit the road right after lunch.
Well, it turns out that we were running away from one winter storm to run directly into the face of another, this one coming up from the south and hitting central Oklahoma with fury. We were informed that Oklahoma City had effectively been shut down, with every highway in the city closed and city officials urging people to stay wherever they were if they were indoors until tomorrow, whether they were at home, in the mall, at church, whatever. (There was also something about a 50-car pileup somewhere on I-40) We weren’t going quite as far as the City (“Ah, The City. My The City!”), but we didn’t know how far these treacherous conditions extended northward. We took I-35 south to Guthrie, and while visibility was not too great due to 20 mph winds (gusting at 60 mph) blowing about a blanket of snow that was simultaneously falling in huge flakes and wisping like a ghost in a fine powder across the road, there wasn’t much in the way of ice on the highway. Not, that is, until we got about 10 miles from our destination, when we saw a northbound van in the ditch, pitched completely on its side about twenty feet from the spot where tire tracks veered from the road into the snow on the ditch. A minute or two later, we found not one, but three errant cars resting comfortably in a ditch, all about fifteen feet from one another. Fortunately, this was two miles before our exit, and boy were we glad to be almost “in the clear.”
The smaller state highway had virtually disappeared underneath white, but I was able to see the edges of the road clear enough to stay on the pavement. Then, as we carefully made the turn from state highway onto gravel road, our luck finally ran out. We hit a snow drift and got stuck. Fortunately, I was manly enough to push the car out of the drift while Kim hit the gas (my back currently hurts, by the way, and I suspect this is the reason why). As I trotted up alongside the vehicle to hop back in, I discovered the road was completely encased in ice as I slid and slammed into the icy pavement. Didn’t hurt too much, though, because of the adrenaline from the snow drift, the drive, and the bitter, freezing wind. I got back in the car and, by the grace of God, we made it up the steep, snowed-over hill despite having virtually no control over the steering. (There was a terribly deep ditch on either side of the road, but the break between road and ditch had completely disappeared under snow drifts) Finally, the driveway to Kim’s grandfather’s house is in sight. We sloooooow down and manage to turn directly into the center of the driveway, and then we hit another drift. A bigger one. And there’s no pushing out of this one, either.
But praise God, we had made it. It’s a bit of hike up the driveway to the house, and the wind was getting stronger and colder each time I had to make the trip, but we made it. We had to bust out the tractor to try to plow enough snow out of the front of the car to get it the rest of the way up the drive, but it didn’t work. There are actually two cars currently stuck in the driveway and a third stuck next door at Kim’s aunt’s house. Two of my sisters-in-law are stuck in Oklahoma City, waiting for the roads to open up again, and my mother-and-father-in-law had to turn back and settle in Stillwater for the night, because the roads were simply impassible without the interstates open.
So, the annual Christmas Eve dinner lost a bit of its luster. We celebrated heartily with everyone who was able to make it, grateful that we’d all managed to get here safely, but of course it wasn’t the same. Tomorrow, this family’s tradition is to travel to a MASSIVE Christmas day celebration of more family members than I can keep track of (I seriously don’t know who all of those people are. Heck, Kim doesn’t know who all of those people are, and she’s been Christmassing with them for over twenty years!), but according to the weather man, we’re not going anywhere.
Anyway, I’ll still enjoy Christmas in whatever form we have it tomorrow. I know there won’t be any rush to get up early this year, and I’ll be glad for that, but missing out on the feast will be a little sad. Hopefully everybody else makes it here by tomorrow evening, and perhaps we’ll celebrate the fact that we can celebrate as a family with a little more meaning than usual. I dunno.
By the way, just for the record, this has been the worst snow storm Oklahoma has had in December in recorded history. And while we haven’t gotten foot upon foot of snow (we topped out at around one foot), I’ve never seen one storm shut down such a large city so completely. It’s eerie. At the same time, I’m glad my Oklahoma family and friends are accounted for, even if we/they can’t all be together as the 24th turns into the 25th.
First the hotel, now a blizzard. Crazy Christmas, no?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day Three-Hundred Fifty-Two: Checking In
Hey folks.
Just checking in to say we're home and safe. Double-posting should begin tomorrow until we get caught up. The back half of this Christmas vacation was quite the adventure!
Didn't get any work on Far-Sighted done this week. Blame Steve King. Tired now. Currently watching current Aero call-up Clayton Stoner and the Wild play the L.A. Kings. (Thanks, Hockey Night on Y!)
Expect posting about stuff in the days to come. Back to work tomorrow morning!
Just checking in to say we're home and safe. Double-posting should begin tomorrow until we get caught up. The back half of this Christmas vacation was quite the adventure!
Didn't get any work on Far-Sighted done this week. Blame Steve King. Tired now. Currently watching current Aero call-up Clayton Stoner and the Wild play the L.A. Kings. (Thanks, Hockey Night on Y!)
Expect posting about stuff in the days to come. Back to work tomorrow morning!
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