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Sunday, October 7, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
YaYa takes a SCUBA course!
Early in
the summer I caught wind of an introductory SCUBA course taught through the
Milwaukee Recreation Department. The age and swim ability requirements limited
it to YaYa alone, and I quickly signed her up.
The class
was offered at a high school on the west side and taught by a guy who had been
a certified instructor since before I was born - literally. It was a three hour
class, and it began with a long recitation of the waiver form, followed by a
quick quiz. Once YaYa passed that (easy peezy lemon sqeezy for my gal) she was
fitted with fins and a tank and sent into the water.
Intitially
there were a lot of problems with her googles, so many that I secretly
questioned if she was just scared and didn't want to do this, but as usual I
was wrong.
It turns out none of the goggles were small enough for the two kids
in the class, and both girls had the same trouble. They worked through it, but
the delay in getting the gear fit meant YaYa and her newfound friend were a
litte behind the rest of the class. This worked out to their benefit, as the
instructor's assitant was assigned to just the two of them, giving them
essentially a semi-private class.
Like
reading, the class was far more exciting to DO than to watch. For me it meant
three hours of reading my Nook and yawning in a humid pool room. For YaYa, it
was three hours of learning and excitement.
By the
end of the class YaYa was spending extended amounts of time swimming along the
pool bottom, and as a result of the class she will be able to go SCUBA diving
with a professional with no additional training beyond a quick 1-2-3 refresher.
It is a
class I will certainly sign the other kids up for when they are old enough, and
I may sign YaYa up for the fulll course if the funds (and time) become
available.
The best moment of the day? When it was over YaYa, who knew I'd been the sole impetus on this activity, offered a sincere 'thank you' and told me it had been fun. Awwww :)
Friday, October 5, 2012
I Won!
Whoo-hoo! This is Customer Service Week at my job, a five day excuse to hold potlucks and play work-related bingo. In a stunning turn of events I won the employee raffle for a 20 quart Oster roasting oven – one large enough to hold a 24# turkey and a beauty that will roast, slow cook, bake AND act as a serving dish! I literally did a happy dance when I heard the news LOL
It was the most coveted prize by far (with the possible exception of “8 hours paid time off”) and I will surely endure some flack from the masses for my victory. No matter. Haters hate, it’s what they do.
Meanwhile, while they’re busy with that, I’m going to make some wicked ribs in my new roaster! Woot woot!
Prometheus, The Westing Game, and 100,000 Miles
Last
night, as Lisa took the kids to dance class, our van passed the 100,000 mile
mark on the odometer. To celebrate, it wouldn’t start on the way home. Luckily,
it appears to have been just the battery. A jump start got Lisa back on the
road, but I do not like the coincidental timing; it seems too much like an omen
for my liking.
*****
Last night I also watched Prometheus, the Ridley Scott prequel to Alien.
It’s a beautifully
filmed movie, and I think Noomi
Rapace does a good
job of anticipating the feminine warrior that comes to fruition in Ripley.
(Kudos also to Michael Fassbender for a magnificent job portraying the android,
David.)
There
were many questions left unanswered by the film, and many relationships that
existed in a vacuum and were never explored – David and his creator, the
creator and his daughter, the frigid captain, the tame affair between the lead
scientists, and so on. In some ways the film seems incomplete and vague.
Personally, I don’t mind the ambiguity regarding the plot points, because in
real life this situation would never lend itself to a tidy and comprehensive
denouement. The relationships? They bother me a lot more. Why bother bringing
them up at all, if they are to serve no purpose?
Overall,
I loved the film. Grade: A
I’ve also
finished reading The Westing Game, the Newberry award winning young adult novel
by Ellen Raskin.
Yes, the Wisconsin setting
was swell. But . . . this book won a Newberry and has been read and beloved for
more than 30 years. I have to ask: WHY? The mystery at the core of the book was
OK, but nothing special, and the writing (if the late Ms. Raskin will forgive
me) is slipshod and devoid of style or skill. I don’t see the charm or the
value of the book, and I’m going to grade it a C.
Book #79
of the year
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Congrats Miggy! (and Mitt!)
.
and on a far more controversial front than the Mike Trout/Miguel Cabrera MVP saga, congrats to Mitt Romney for trouncing President Obama in their debate last night, a fact acknowledged even by true-blue sites like CNN ("clear winner", "[Obama] took it on the chin" and MSNBC "[Romey] Outduels Obama in Debate", "Romney long on ideas".
I'm old enough to recognize that a great debate performance - even one that outs the competition as out of ideas - isn't enough to clinch a win, and I'd still lay odds on Obama winning a second term. But it was mighty nice to see someone call out the Emperor for having no clothes.
and on a far more controversial front than the Mike Trout/Miguel Cabrera MVP saga, congrats to Mitt Romney for trouncing President Obama in their debate last night, a fact acknowledged even by true-blue sites like CNN ("clear winner", "[Obama] took it on the chin" and MSNBC "[Romey] Outduels Obama in Debate", "Romney long on ideas".
I'm old enough to recognize that a great debate performance - even one that outs the competition as out of ideas - isn't enough to clinch a win, and I'd still lay odds on Obama winning a second term. But it was mighty nice to see someone call out the Emperor for having no clothes.
This and That
Just for
posterity: I passed my driver’s license exam at 11:50a.m on 05/07/93 at test
site “MSWI” (Loomis Road) with a total of 9 points deducted off.
Tuesday I made stuffed green peppers for dinner, the first time I've ever prepared it myself. They turned out very well - I seriously, objectively think they were some of the tastiest I've ever had. The kids (minus Ginger) liked 'em too, and Smiley praised my cooking. Yay me.
Yesterday,
while the peppers were cooking, I finished the last of the episodes of Psych
available for streaming through Netflix (seasons 1-5). I adore the show. I
think the characters are well developed and interact flawlessly, the mysteries
are fun and interesting, and I find myself LOL at a lot of the lines. It’s
become such a favorite in the house that I caught the kids sneaking episodes of
it on their Netflix enabled TV when they should have been sleeping! Grade:
A++++++
I’ve also
just finished Season 1 of Monk on Netflix. I’ve seen a few scattered episodes
from later years and this season lacks the humor and ease of those examples,
but that’s to be expected as a series feels its way out of the gate. It hasn’t
caught on in the house – Lisa commented that she believes it both glorifies and
diminishes those with mental illness – but I like it. Grade: B
Tonight I
finished reading “Running out of Time”, a young adult novel by Margaret
Peterson Haddix that Grace polished off a few weeks ago. It’s the story of a
young girl raised in a village in the 1830’s that discovers it is actually 1996
and her family is part of an elaborate historical preserves. When diphtheria
hits the village she alone must flee to the outside world to bring help. Remind
you of The Village? Me too, but this predates the movie and makes a lot more
sense. I liked it – Haddix has a knack for spinning a good yarn. Grade: B
Book# 78 of 2012
Do I like my new job? Hmm. Let me answer the only way an adult with four kids and a mortgage SHOULD answer: It doesn't matter. As long as the paychecks keep trickling in, and so long as there is nothing better knocking down my door, then the answer is "I am happy to have a job, ANY job, in this so-called improving economy".
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