Popularity is difficult

We've been invited to no fewer than THREE parties on the same night this weekend. Ah...memories of Superbowl Sunday. Popularity is difficult.

Maddie has a blog...Cameron will be glad to hear she has an outlet for her creativity that doesn't involve posting here.

I finished a choppy version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (w/ Jim Carrey). Unfortunately, it skipped quite a bit. Very frustrating.

And since "no one cares what you had for lunch", I bring you come creative writing (free of charge):

He stepped lightly from the last step onto the railway platform. It was slick with rain, shimmering like a thousand fireflies caught in a jar on a summer evening. He knew what he had to do, but he was stalling.

That's all I've got for now...it reminds me that there is this web site where you can write what happens next to the character. I'll see if I can find it. If you remember, post a comment.

Netflix

I just resubscribed to Netflix, so please add your movie suggestions as comments here!!

My current queue is listed on my sidebar to the left.

Molly's B-Ball Practice Schedule

Below is our practice schedule for the basketball season. Unless otherwise stated, all practices will be in the gym at OLL. Per my last e-mail message, our first game is this Sunday at 5:30pm at OLL.

Mondays 3:15 to 4:30pm

Wednesday 6:00 to 7:30pm

Fridays 3:15 to 4:30pm

Saturdays 3:30pm to 5pm. (when no games are scheduled at OLL)

Our Church Festival

From our school principal (I'll be volunteering basically all weekend - starting Thursday night!):

Don’t forget, this weekend is our Fall Festival! Food…music…rides…games… Fun for the whole family!

Hours of the festival are: Friday 5pm-11pm; Saturday 3pm-11pm; Sunday 11am-4pm.

All this week, volunteers will be selling pre-sale Ride Tickets in the parking lots before and after school (20 for $10). Not only is this less expensive than at the actual festival, but OLL receives 100% of the proceeds from these sales. If you buy ride tickets at the festival, we do not get any money from those tickets.

We have brand new game booths in the gym this year! Each classroom is sponsoring a booth and I’m sure you’ve been asked to work for an hour or two. These are sure to be neat activities. The traditional carnival booths do not support OLL.

In the Parish Center, there is a sit-down dinner on Friday and Saturday nights as well as breakfast on Sunday morning. If you’d rather eat quickly or on the go, check out the Concession Stand in the gym or the Holy Grill under the tent on the west lawn. These are all run by OLL and we raise a lot of funds through these food offerings. Again, the traditional carnival food booths do not support OLL.

For adults, the Sisters Lounge offers wine and snacks. There is a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament and the Monte Carlo room on Friday and Saturday with a bar available. New this year, Brew and Tunes on Saturday night! Sunday afternoon features the Catholic classic Bingo!

Festival weekend is a highlight of our year as it brings together all of our OLL families as well as the Irvington Community to celebrate! Invite your extended family and friends from other parishes and schools! Check out the festival website.

Rob us Blind

We are leaving for Orlando/Disney on Saturday for TWO WEEKS IN THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST. This would be a perfect time for techno-savvy robbers to figure this out via my blog, and rob us blind (which they also could have done when we went to Rome awhile back). But they don't need my blog to do that...both the girls bikes were stolen off our porch last night (the second time this has happened).

The good thing about going to Disney in August is that it's the time of year when everyone thinks the crowds will be low. The bad thing is that there are so many people thinking this, that it is crowded. But it isn't just a normal crowd, you see. It's a crowd of people who don't like crowds. And it's 150 degrees.

Can you say, "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON?"

I think I've figured out a free way to get internet down there (10 hours worth), as long as they have a working phone line. We'll see.

The title of this post reminds me of the title of that book in the 60's "Steal this Book".

Ah, the life of a bookkeeper

Court has bookclub tonight (she's reading about a child solider - one of her favorite topics...NOT), and I'm trying to get some gamage together.

My PBEM DoA tournament game #2 (I lost the first one) is just starting up - a bit slowly.

At work, I spent some time trying to figure out why our donor management and our accounting systems showed different numbers for the fiscal year. Ah, the life of a bookkeeper (which Molly keeps insisting I'm not, thinking it's some sort of librarian).

I saw a Smart Car DRIVING

While I'm thinking of it (AT 5:49 IN THE MORNING)...I saw a Smart Car DRIVING on College Ave. a week ago, when I went to pickup Molly at pottery camp. Time to buy stock, I'm tellin' ya! I'm a bit of a whiz at picking stocks, and if this is the only car they sell, then by all means, TIME TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK.

After a little research, you're not going to be able to make any cash of this one:

Preparations for the smart fortwo began in the early 1990’s with a Joint Venture between Mercedes-Benz and Swatch,

Prices are $12 - $14K, and they go on sale 1/08 (it's $99 to reserve yours now).

Did you know that every time someone sends an e-mail with the caps lock on, an internet fairy dies?

Molly's summer has been filled with camps. This past week it was tennis. She complains about them all, but really, I think she likes them.

The whole fan-damily (sans moi) is off to Michigan today and tomorrow, to return in a week. So, I'm lining up the game nights, dinners with SamA, etc. Festivities start tonight.

But, I will miss them, and they me.

TONIGHT: FREE BEER

Bought a pony keg for the first time in my life this morning (for our block party). We're hoping free beer will attract people. Reminds me of that joke about a rock band named "Free Beer". On the marquee "TONIGHT: FREE BEER".

For the first time in at least a MONTH I actually learned a new move in my Tai Chi class (as opposed to just perfecting moves I already have learned). It has to do with breaking an elbow (not yours, your opponents).

I played TS with DanD last night, til about oh-dark-30. I won (I think...it was a bit confusing since we didn't finish, and the time clock was misunderstood a bit), but it was his first game, so we were just playing to "learn the rules". That's what I told him anyway...I still log it in the "win" column.

You know the muffin man? He's here!

This is what I heard SamP say yesterday, as I was under the time pressure of a chess clock, playing TS with Leroy.

I ignored him, no no avail.

Finally, I went outside to be greeted by some guy standing next to a bread truck, trying to sell me bread out of the back of his truck (a' la The Chicken Man). "No Thanks," I tell him, and start to shut the door.

Turns out, he's a neighbor with his own business, trying to GIVE me about 300 buns for a block party we're planning this weekend. Talk about putting your foot in your mouth! [Picture above is the actual buns, currently sitting in my entryway]

The President is in 2nd grade

Sweet success...I've now got two DVRs daisy-chained together, both seemingly working (via some sort of hot-wired IR dongle-thingy). And I didn't even need to call up tech support. If ever a wiz a wiz there was, I am that wiz.

I don't really need two DVRs, but the one only costs like $5 a month, and it isn't broken now, so I'm hard pressed to break it to save $60 a year.

In other news, we are having A BLOCK PARTY on 6/2. I just passed out all the fliers to our neighbors (except our next-door ones, since I ran out due to poor planning on Courtney's fault).

Courtney invited someone NOT ON OUR BLOCK (who is related to someone on our block), which made me mad...but I got over it (and of course it allowed me to convince her to be inclusive rather than exclusive anyway and just invite people within walking distance who we know).

In chess club, we elected a new slate of officers. I think the President is in 2nd grade.

A couple Thursdays ago, I went up to Noblesville and played in a mini tournament with five other players. I lost every game, including one to the top-ranked player IN THE STATE. Based on my performance, I was awarded a ranking of 841P5 (Quick).

The P5 means "based on 5 games", the (Quick) means that we had less than 30 minutes each to finish our games (it was 10 minutes). The top-ranked player kicked my butt in about 3 minutes flat.

He Had a Zen Baby

We had some friends (The M's) over for dinner last night, and played 4 games: Wits and Wagers, Taboo, Password, and Werewolf. They are quite compatible with us, and we had fun.

Papa M (Pat) mentioned that he reads my blog sometimes (Hi Pat!), and that he noticed my post re: "When I am hungry...", and that he used to tell friends he had a zen baby (who ate when he was hungry...). Pat's the one who loaned me "The Book of the 5 Rings". It does my heart good when I hear that I have blog readers - please continue to comment on posts as you read them (even if it's just the occasional "hi Kieron").

I do have some statistics on blog readership (I've recently begun excluding hits from my home computer, to make them more reliable), but I like to know WHO is reading.

We (Maddie and I) are leaving in five minutes to wo-man the girl scouts garage sale - it's HUGE (two big tents, right on Emerson). It think this is the first year it's been done (at least recently).

I went to Tai-Chi today - I helped a new person (her first day), and worked on my hand position and some timing things. I've still only learned about 50% of the form, and am now working on perfecting it.

When I am hungry, I eat; when I am tired, I sleep.

I just went to the "living stations of the cross", having given SamA a ride (we swung by Kroger's too). Maddie was some sort of shepherd on station #10.

Now I'm home, and no one is here (girls at school for another hour or so - they (the whole school) aren't allowed to talk for the rest of the 1/2 day...since it's Good Friday). Court is at lunch with Dene.

So, I'm thinking about what to do (having decided to call up Amos and see how he's doing - but I couldn't find his phone number (it's at work), so I gave up on that).

Here (in no particular order) are some options:

1. Blog my options (doing it now)
2. Put in some pictures on the blog (things are more interesting w/ pics, don't you think?)
3. Clean the kitchen
4. Do the laundry
5. Read my book (currently, The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen)
6. Take a nap
7. Check my e-mail (checking it now)
8. Clean out the fridge (this is over 1/2 done already - just need to do the top of the door, and the two top shelves)
9. Do my tai-chi
10. Call John and see if he still needs help setting up his e-mail for roadrunner (doing that now, left a message)
11. Clean up the back deck (trashy)
    

Ok, I'm tired of brainstorming, now to prioritize (heuristic: Chores, then things that help others, then things that help myself).

1. Clean the kitchen
2. Do the laundry
3. Clean out the fridge (this is over 1/2 done already - just need to do the top of the door, and the two top shelves)
4. Clean up the back deck (trashy)
5. Put in some pictures on the blog (things are more interesting w/ pics, don't you think?)
6. Do my tai-chi
7. Read my book (currently, The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen)
8. Take a nap

Whew! Now that that's done, I'm tired, so I'm taking a nap. ;-)

Dae-Ju said, "Zen is very easy. It is not difficult at all. When I am hungry, I eat; when I am tired, I sleep.''

It's Holy Week

Chess club went well yesterday...we had like 32 kids.

It's Holy Week (what Sunday is to the week is what Holy week is to the year):

1. Mass tomorrow morning (Molly is reading the psalm).
2. Mass the next evening (Thursday) at 7pm (getting my feet washed, always a good thing)
3. Living stations of the cross on Friday morning (the children do this - Maddie is going to be part of it) - 9am.
4. Mass at 1:30pm that same day (I think it's at 1:30).
5. Then the culmination the next evening (Saturday) - the Easter vigil mass at 8:30p...where the new members of the church are baptized. It's a three-hour mass, followed by adoration until midnight.

I would be going tonight to the "Chrism" mass downtown (where the oils to be used for various rites are blessed), but I've got a DoA game scheduled. It's important to have your priorities set correctly.

Weekend Plans

Today (Saturday): Tai Chi at 10a, Molly's (8) basketball game from 11:30 - 12:00, lunch discussing God one on one from 12:30 - 2:30, coffee with Courtney (my wife) after she works out, then church, then dinner with friends, and I'm not even thinking about tomorrow!

Yesterday after work entailed sitting through a TWO AND A HALF-HOUR high school play (a musical, no less...shuddder).

Actually, there is much good to be said about the musical...which I will say later.

Back the to Grind

Today, Tuesday after Labor day:

Vivian made it off to the airport this morning, and the girls got off to school on time (it took me awhile to find my keys and my wallet, not having used either for about three days).

At work I need to prepare for an audit (deadline in one week), and Amos (a Liberian refugee) needs help getting to the BMV to get his licence (his car was towed since he was driving it with expired plates, and it wasn't titled in his name, and he didn't have it registered, and he didn't have a "real" licence...he had some sort of a temporary licence). I've had my car impounded under similar circumstances. If you have a few strikes against you, they tend to go for the impound...

This evening:

1. Maddie has kickball after school,
2. Courtney is playing tennis with her mom at 5pm,
3. I am having dinner w/ my pa, then playing poker,
4. Molly is going to Jill's after school, then has her piano lesson at 7:30.

Well, gotta jet off to work.

Hi to those I think may be reading this: Cameron, Court, Dan, Jay, Kelley, Marshall, Mom. If you read fairly consistently, but I didn't list you, write a comment or drop me an e-mail!

My shoulder aches, MRI is tomorrow ($1,600 - we have a deductible of $500 - YIKES!).

TTFN

Grasshoppers, and Tennis

Molly just finished a four-day day camp (8am - noon) at Fatima. It was called "Grasshopper Day Camp", and she really had fun. She made a really cool nametag that looked like a tie-die shirt.

Maddie (and Molly) have been going to tennis lessons (put on by the Indy parks department), and now Courtney is all fired up for us to play as a family. It should be fun (if it isn't too hot).

We just finished watching the "Most Extreme" on Animal Planet. It was a top-ten of the toughest animals on the planet. Like a camel, a tube worm, etc.

#1 was the "Waterbear", which is a microscopic animal that can survive in suspended animation temperatures of -350 to 350, and even in a VACUUM! And I don't mean a vacuum cleaner.

I think I'm going to rent "Spellbound". It's a documentary about the national spelling bee, and is supposed to be really good.

I've got a busy week on tap next week:

1. Monday: Men's Prayer Group
2. Tuesday: Faith Formation Comission Meeting
3. Wednesday: Games with some friends
4. Thursday: Poker at my house

Whew! But...I haven't had anything at all this week, so I guess it's ok.

Poker - and Packing

Tonight I have a poker game (just small stakes $0.05/$0.10 blinds/ante). I've had trouble filling out the roster - must be the memorial day weekend. I still have two seats open last time I looked (I use e-vite)...he checks...yep, still two open seats.

The girls are leaving tomorrow for Memphis (they'll be back Monday), so I assume they'll be packing tonight.

At work, I'm upgrading our donor tracking software. Could be quite interesting (as interesting as these things get, that is).

On Tap for Today

Courtney: Book club at 7p.

Molly: Has friend (Madeline - no relation) over until 7:10p.

Maddie: Went to Sam's baseball game (is there now).

Kieron: Church meeting (Faith Formation Commission) at 7:30p.

Jackpot: Running around whining 'cause we won't let her out back to terrorize poor Madeline.

Daisy: Don't know.

Plan for the Day - Sunday

Me:

1. (or A.) Church
2. (or B.) Visit 'rents
3. (no longer humorous redundant numbering system): Home

Molly:

1. (or A.) Church
2. (or B.) Visit 'rents
3. (no longer humorous redundant numbering system): Home
4. Bridging ceremony (for brownies...Molly gets some patches for her vest)

Maddie:

1. (or A.) Church
2. Party
3. Don't know

Courtney:

1. Church
2. Prep for bridging ceremony
4. Bridging ceremony

Whew! Gotta motor - off to #1 (or A.)