Enumerated Update

Our first week of summer break is in the books, and we have spent this time relaxing and making plans. Camps are scheduled, lessons planned and all that jazz.

Here are a few things on our minds:

1) Vocabulary: Fifteen words you should eliminate from your vocabulary to sound smarter. Admittedly, I have been guilty of all but one (#15) of these.

2) Income Inequality: This has been posted everywhere, but I had marked it to share a few weeks ago. In the country/suburbia, imagining trees as a luxury feels foreign, but I promise not to take our trees for granted any longer. Truthfully, they are appreciated already. One of my favorite sounds is of winds rustling in the breeze, and sitting on the deck listening to that sound is one of my sure-fire ways to relax.

3) Rainy Day Hair: After enduring a week with rain showers on the daily, I applaud the embrace of rainy day hair. However, I think a messy bun, an updo, a sleek pony or just a go-to hat would be a better option. Yeah, no, I cannot pull that off.

4) Rochambeau:  Skip and I use the time honored classic of rock, paper, scissors to decide many things around the house. Our game has evolved over the years, and we have been employing these methods for years. This scientific analysis is an interesting read nonetheless.

Fun fact about Gracie: She takes an extra fist pump thereby delivering her weapon (rock, paper, scissors) a second after everyone else's, adjusting her choice after she sees what everyone else has chosen.

By the way, what is your position on Rochambeau versus roshambo? Which way do you spell it? My fact-checking revealed that the correct spelling is "roshambo," but Skip was reading over my shoulder and reflexively backed away from the computer saying, "You have GOT to change that. That CANNOT be right." He stopped just short of shielding his eyes, but he did have a pained expression.

5) The Small Life: The best ways to be happy and fulfilled. A favorite and the most thought-provoking sentence in the piece:

This [decision trap] is an amazingly consistent phenomena whereby "big" decisions turn out to have much less impact on a life as a whole than the myriad of small seemingly insignificant ones.

I'm not sure I completely agree with that statement, but maybe a little, if that makes sense.

Have a wonderful weekend!

End of Year Party, Second Grade Edition

Last week was the last week of school, marked with school parties, winding down and wrapping up. There are a number of changes that will likely take place at the duo's school in the fall so there was a note of finality to many of these processes.  We are fighting against some of the changes, embracing others, but remembering always that change is constant.  

But for now we celebrate. These lovely ladies had fun at their ice cream party, and the duo will miss their sweet friends over the summer.  

End of Year Party, K3 Edition

William George's class party was last Thursday. 

The class played in the gym while we were waiting for the bounce houses to arrive. When they did, we went outside to watch them inflate.  George and his best friend, C, were always close by.  

After a turn in the bounce house, they went inside the caterpillar. George was a little nervous at first, but he warmed up to it quickly. 

The class had a picnic outside and then went to the classroom for an ice cream social. Below is George's expression whenever ice cream is mentioned.  

He had so much fun this year and learned so much from his talented teacher. One of his favorite things about her classroom is that each student picked a job upon arrival. His favorite jobs were 1) weather checker, 2) Christian flag holder, 3) American flag holder, 4) Bible holder, 5) door holder, and 6) line leader. George and all of his friends took their jobs very seriously, and he will miss having a daily assignment. I'm sure K4 will be loaded with fun assignments, too, and he is very excited to move up to the next class.  

Weekend Update

That was a nice long weekend, yes?

We started out with a very structured Friday, after having failed miserably to have a relaxed Thursday schedule. We completed various jobs, completed our workbooks, lunched, read and then rode bicycles in the neighborhood. Skip was inspired to take his bikes in for repair Saturday morning so that we can begin our favorite summertime activity of bicycling. He tends to ride a lot so his bikes need more than an annual tune up, as in several key components had been worn out.  I also finally broke down and purchased a decent comfort bike to go on longer distances, now that the duo are able to really manage their bikes. I had a great 21-speed bike, inherited from Skip's sister, but it was too big. The cruiser I bought on the cheap was inadequate for our hill-y neighborhood. This one is juuuust riiiight.  After our morning at the bike shop(s) (two actually, because Skip's bikes needed parts at two different locations), we grabbed lunch and came home to ride in the neighborhood all afternoon. 

After church Sunday, the trio loaded their bikes and went to Gran and Poppa's, while Skip and I had a day date, consisting of lunch and running various errands. We found new owners for my old bikes, and then grilled out for dinner with Skip's parents. 

On Monday we played in the neighborhood. William George is thrilled to have a next door neighbor who is close to his age, and they alternated between riding in the bike carrier and playing on the swings. Pixie had been riding in the carrier with him, and George said he much preferred L because she doesn't scratch the way Pixie does. Skip said he looked back to check on them, and they were holding hands (strength in numbers and all that jazz). 

Later we joined some friends of ours for dinner, and they kindly allowed us to invade their home. George and the girls adore their ten-year-old son, especially George who is happy to have an ally.  

This week we will be working on mapping out our summer plans. Sure, most people manage those sorts of things months in advance but our monkeys are never sure what they want to do until closer to time for events to start. 

Besides, having calendar pages that are blank has been a nice change of pace. 

Enumerated Update

Happy three day weekend, friends!

We have been completely slammed with school year-end activities... class parties... wrapping things up... and winding down softball.  In the meantime, here is where we are:

1) In Memory: First and foremost, we remember those who have defended our country, who have paid dearly for our freedom. Thank you to those who have served and to those who are currently serving.

2) Mad Men: One key reason for the silence on the blog is that the little sliver of spare time I had last week was spent analyzing the series and the ending, in particular. Of course, all of that has been written about at length so I will just say that the finale was spectacular. Honestly, throughout the second half of season seven, we have been thinking, "Man, this has got to pick up the pace." We watched Don engaged with characters we, frankly, care nothing about and watched him slide into oblivion. When he headed to California instead of back home to his children after learning about Betty's impending death, even Skip spoke a heated, "Come on, Don!" to the television. As an optimist, I am always pulling for a redemption story so when the first few notes of the Hilltop ad played, we yelled, "YES!" to the television. He's a horrible father, husband and friend, but at least he remains a creative genius. Instead of dying on the rocks of Big Sur, he created the most successful campaign of all time and went on to partner with Coca-Cola, selling soft drinks, the modern-day tobacco company.  He went from selling "toasted" cigarettes to selling us peace, love and harmony, embodied in a bottle of Coca-Cola, the "real thing".

I wrote briefly about the "Hilltop" ad back in 2010 (the link has been removed, so I'm including it below.)






I loved the finale.

3) Letterman: Now that I'm older and have three children who are early birds, I don't watch much late night television. At one time, I never missed Letterman, particularly in his early years. We cannot believe he is off the air. We loved watching his last guests and his favorite band, The Foo Fighters (one of my faves, too) perform his favorite song.



Also, remember Letterman on Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee?

4) Related: One more Letterman comment because this one deserves its own bullet point, the top ten list was a showcase. Hopefully extra security was on hand because a disproportionate amount of the world's "funny" was onstage at one time.  See the top ten list here.  Also, if you missed it, the finale in full is here.

5) Moms: The enumerated update has been gathering dust for the past few weeks, but I had marked John Oliver's Paid Family Leave rant to share (caution: language warning).

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, friends!

Daily Photo

We gave a continuous lecture throughout the month of May about finishing the year strong... not playing around in the final weeks, etc. Here is Grace hard at work. 

Enumerated Update

Happy Friday, friends!

1) On life: I love these thoughts from Anne Lamottt.  

2) Ear Worms: How to get rid of them. 

3) Beach Tips: Headed to the beach this summer? If so, brush up on your beach tips before hitting the sand. 

4) Books: Speaking of trips, we noticed a significant increase in the number of books - actual books - we saw while traveling over spring break and to Phoenix. Although I held onto my books for as long as possible, I'm not sure I can go back, having finally made the transition to digital, but I like seeing a reader peeking from behind a book cover. Do you think they are making a comeback? 

5) Mad Men: The season finale airs Sunday, and we are eagerly awaiting the conclusion. Here is the last promo, and here are some of the show's top feminist moments.  Not a fan?  I've got you covered here. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Blackberry Passport

As promised, Skip agreed to provide a review of his new phone, the Blackberry Passport. Persuading him was easy, given his excitement for the product, and I merely caught him one weekend morning after a couple of  coffees. His favorite topic provided the perfect outlet for his over-caffeination.  

Here it goes: 

A 1972 Allied Model Integrated Stereo Amplifier pushing 195 watts per channel through some massive Optimus 4 way speakers isn't strictly necessary to fill even your oversized great room with sound.  But, it's nice to know that power -- and that gleaming walnut cabinet -- is still there.

It reminds you of a time when things were built to do a job, those things did the job, and nobody asked you if wanted to "avail yourself" of the "Buyer Protection Plan."

The Passport from Blackberry is like that.  It does its jobs, it does them well, and it doesn't ask for your undue attention and adulation in doing them.  In this way, I think it's the perfect phone for the already highly irritated late 20th Centrury modern American male.  The ones who, like me, are just looking for a moment or 2 of peace, fer [crying out loud]!  And, of course, the ability to make fun of your buddies who aren't getting that.  How does the Passport do these things?  Let us count the ways.

First, the Passport does the first and most important job of a phone.  It makes and places calls...easily.  With a combination of class-leading Paratek antenna technology, Blackberry Natural Sound, and a QUAD ARRAY of military grade background noise suppressing microphones built in ([Man]!  That was a satisfying list to recite.  I mean, contrast that to some Apple sunshine and unicorn speak about connections being "more clear than ever!"), this fella can make calls from the middle of his buddies' underground beer brewing bunker, surrounded by rotating cock fights and MMA qualifying rounds, all while purring in Momma's ear that "of course I'll be home to take Miffy out" in "just a few."

Then, the Passport does what this good citizen of corporate America needs it to do.  It places me INSIDE the heavily fortified walls that IT has constructed, the ones that -- let's face it -- have proven to be as effective at keeping its own employees out as letting various hackers in.  When the Passport does this, and it lets me actually see and use the things the way this world runs?  Which is to say by Microsoft Outlook and Office, it means, what exactly?

It means I'm not logging in and out of multiple [stupid] things all day.  Apps!  What good are these @$#^@#$%!%& APPS?  When are they going to make an APP that will paint my house?  Cut the grass?  Listen to her stories?  Tell the kids it will be ok?  Automatically reallocate mutual fund choices based on performance?  Arrange for appropriate but not non-necessary orthodontia?  Reach out and remove the Cinnamon Cluster from my hand? Advise me that romance and kindness DO matter?

Breaching the walls means I have a file manager where I can save the last versions of documents all of the chiming-in nimrods have [messed] up in their precious "iterations."  These always start and end the same.  Endless orations from leadership about how we "don't need to boil the ocean," or "get too tactical."  Followed by endless requests from the same people if we can "drill down a bit," or "peel back the layers of the onion" to find if the "juice is worth the squeeze."

It means I can see where newly minted SVP "Graham" (first name) has a block on his (her?  who knows?  who remembers/cares?) calendar for when the "kids get home" (awww).  It means....I can invest the absolute minimum of duplication and rework in a world whose VERY existence was founded and dependent upon duplication and rework.

Used to be when you were done out e-mailing and out calendar'ing the yippers and panty-waists back in their cages, you'd take a minute in the Fayetteville Regional Airport's rattan seats and enjoy yourself some well-earned Brick Breaker.....Important aside: Hat tip to those [impressive] Canadian geniuses for everything about Brick Breaker!  I mean, has there ever been a better metaphor perpetuated on a societal group than corporate drones playing endless rounds of glassy-eyed airport gate "Brick Breaker?"  I don't think so, but open to counters.  Fill the comments, people!

Or, maybe you'd use your hard-earned/"because BB is so efficient" break to send a text over to that Georgia Bulldogs fan with a preview line of "Last Meaningful Game Played By Dawgs?" (Never gets old, works EVERY year).  I mean, it's not like you were going to BROWSE the INTERNET on this WORK TOOL, right?  And, loathe to anyone who dared suggest it.  "Surf the INTERNET?!?  Why don't you go do some actual work, you [crazy] goldbricking sheeple [people!!!!]"

Now -- now -- NOW, HOWEVER?  Oh, it's a brand new world.  First, the Passport has a 2.2 GHz Quad Core SnapDragon processor with 3GB of onboard RAM.  This is better than experience of using it to do that long-awaited browsing, i.e., Snarling at the Fanbois that while their previous "walled garden" doesn't "really need that much power" (sniff-sniff, "do you have any moisturizer?  It's SO dry in here, don't'cha think?") that you enjoy having it because you might need to monitor real time horsepower readings from your DODGE because it DOESN'T SEEM TO BE BREATHING AT THE TOP OF THE REV BAND LIKE YOU THOUGHT IT MIGHT WITH SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVEN HORSEPOWER UNDER THE HOOD.

Whew.  Sorry.  Sorry!  Wrong review.  (Gotta get that [bob]cat. Why else am I working, cranking out these reviews and such?!?).

OK, what else?  What else do those professional Engadget type reviewers talk about?  Oh yeah.  The software.  Blackberry has theirs, just like all the rest.  Personally, I think it's all about what you're used to.  Although, I did see one feature that when I described it to a similarly situated buddy, his response went from "I'm barely listening while I'm surfing F250 diesel engine options" to "you now have my complete attention."

Specifically, when you get that little reminder telling you that it's time to dial in for a webex meeting, you see the usual choices on the reminder (along with the reflection in the glass of your soul dying).  But.  You also see this pictogram of a little man running.  Clicking it, you learn that you can tell either the organizers or the WHOLE ATTENDING CROWD that you are "running late" by 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes, etc.

Wait.  Is this reason enough to buy a different phone?  OF COURSE IT IS.  I've just automagically told all these people a couple different things:

1.  I'm more important than you are, as demonstrated by my running late, or at the very least, later than YOU.
2.  I'm so much more important that I don't even have time to tell you myself, personally, but had this little machine thingie do it for me.

I mean, honestly, the only thing remotely better would be to not have a phone at all.

Which, to that end, is still what the Blackberry does better than any phone.  It reduces the lag time between what you WANT and NEED to do and DOING IT.

It does it by applying a relentless empathy to its target audience (working professional) and engineering elegant/comprehensive/simple to operate solutions that get jobs done.

AND, just as the American buyer has NOT abandoned the most important and profitable segment of the auto industry for the Toyota Tundra, Nissan Frontier or any other pretenders, my sisters and brethren in these situations are going to awake, they are going to see, and they are going to come Back to Black.

...................................................................................................................................................................

Skip kept meaning to come back to this review and craft a conclusion, but we both decided that ending on the "Back to Black" tag line was best. Speaking of, we are dumfounded as to why they have not purchased rights to use "Back in Black" for a campaign. 

My rebuttal to the review are the following points: 

1) When Skip first showed me the Blackberry video overview of the new Passport, I asked, in total seriousness, "Is this a parody?" While Apple really overdoes the drama with their events, Blackberry could use a little more polish since the video is actually a commercial for its latest product. Blackberry's video looks like two people in the cubicles next to you filmed a segment on their phones and posted it to YouTube.

2) When he first began using the Blackberry and his emails bore the "sent from my Blackberry Passport" stamp, he received MANY responses of the, "Is Blackberry still AROUND?" variety. "Do you REALLY have a BLACKBERRY?" they would ask incredulously.  "They still exist??!!!"

For the record and as Skip can attest, I am pulling for Blackberry; I really am. It just happens to be a sinking ship, and it's best not to climb aboard. 

3) He became very excited over this week's Apple rumor that they may be purchasing Blackberry. 

4) While he loves the device for work (and honestly I don't blame him; the interface with corporate tools is unmatched), he continues to use his iPad for personal use.  Ahem. I rest my case. 

Finally, I edited/censored a few colorful words in the above review. Edited portions are denoted with brackets, such as these:  [...].  

Playing Favorites

When William George chose Snoopy as his attachment object, the obvious move seemed to be to have an exact spare on hand in the event of loss. He probably has a dozen or more Snoopy animals in his collection, but only prefers "old Snoopy," the dingy one on the right (above), with a dangling nose.  We have a Valentine's Snoopy, an Easter Snoopy, a Halloween Snoopy, and a Christmas Snoopy. We also have three that are exactly the same - completely identical. When we try to sell him on the idea of updating with a new and clean Snoopy, he says, "Maybe Santa will bring me a new 'old Snoopy.'"

Dance Recital 2015

Lauren and Grace performed in their annual dance recital - their fifth - this weekend.  Throughout the history of this blog, I have mentioned many times how monumental of a day this is for them each year, and this year was no different. With rehearsal and the performance, this is an all day event, and this year we had William George along for the ride as well. Due to some skillful entertaining by Grammie (rehearsal) and Poppa (recital), George was amused the entire time. By watching the choreography of the stage lighting, Poppa had practically trained George to be a stage hand by the end of the show.

We are so proud of them and enjoy watching them do something they love. Lauren, Grace, you are so beautiful, determined and talented. Watching you perform is an honor.  

To our families who came to support them, Grammie, Gran & Poppa, Aunt Melinda and Lexie, we thank you so much for your love and support.  To the studio, thank you for another awesome recital. NJAD is full of talented, nurturing instructors who love their students as much as they love to dance. 

Ballet

Tap

Jazz

Past Dance Recitals

2014

2013

2012

2011