Percussion Spectacular

As predicted, the day off was not as off as I might have liked. But knowing that going in helped make it less frustrating. The bus ride was pretty rough – when I got home, my head was still kind of ringing – but the rest of the trip was really nice. Kate enjoyed having me there, and she did a good job of balancing some time with me and some time with her friends. We got up there a little late because of the rain, so we had to rush in and get into our seats just as the performance started. They did four pieces showcasing all kinds of percussion doing both rhythm and melody. The last two pieces in particular were very good. There was a group from Africa playing a Ghanian xylophone and doing some dance. Very interesting instrument, constructed using gourds and spider egg sacs and producing a cool resonating sound. Then the last piece brought three of the percussionists out front to play all kinds of things. Kate loved it, especially since she has started playing percussion in the band. The rest of the day had some downtime and some kid time. It was fairly nice, but one day is never enough to really unwind. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Day Off?

Tomorrow I am not going to work. But I hesitate to call it a day off. I will be traveling up to the Cities on a school bus with a bunch of fourth graders. Kate wanted one of us to go with her on her field trip to a Percussion Spectacular. I am looking forward to it….I’m just thinking it will not necessarily be relaxing. Also, it’s not clear that I will actually spend time with my daughter. She originally said she would sit beside me on the bus, but is now thinking she might sit across from me with her friends. So that’s fun. The end of the day caught me a little by surprise, so I didn’t totally get everything lined up for tomorrow, but I’m trying to forget about all that and focus on a day with Kate.

Needing space

It felt like we were a little too close together today. The kids were all taking turns getting on each other’s nerves, which got on my nerves, which led to more than one meltdown. It just boggles my mind how many times we have to tell them the same things. Towards the end of the day, Kate and Quinn were wanting to play games. But of course they can’t play with each other, so I tried doing things one at a time. Then the one who isn’t getting attention hovers around and makes comments and acts in a generally annoying fashion. As much as I wanted to be happy that they still want to be with me, it seems like they get to their most needy when I am most wanting to be left alone. Funny how that works.

Not the greatest start to the week, but hopefully I can calm down and have a good week with them. On Wednesday, I am going on a field trip with Kate; on Saturday, I am taking Quinn (and maybe Paige) to a football game at Luther. I want these moments to be meaningful, but it won’t work if I can’t quit being Psycho Dad. Luckily the kids seem to be able to give fairly large doses of grace.

Great day of football

It started with Michigan jumping all over Delaware State. Not that anyone would have expected the Hornets to put up much of a fight, but it’s been a while since Michigan has just dominated a game. Then I noticed that Purdue was beating Ohio State. So I got all hyper and started flipping like crazy between those two games and the Iowa/Wisconsin game. Iowa took care of business first, which wasn’t as big of a deal but was still nice. Then Michigan’s fourth string put the finishing touches on a 63-6 win. Then Purdue managed to not choke and pulled out the upset over Ohio State. It was almost enough to make raking afterward enjoyable. I hadn’t been sure if I was pulling for Notre Dame to win or lose, but I felt happy that they lost, so that was more goodness. Finally, Kate and I watched Georgia Tech win unexpectedly over Virginia Tech. If I were still playing fantasy football, I would know that my team would get killed tomorrow because I was never lucky enough to have a whole weekend go right. Maybe that’s why I quit fantasy football.

Blinking Outliers

I’ve been reading quite a bit of Malcolm Gladwell lately. I kind of stumbled across Outliers, which I really enjoyed and which caused me to learn a little about myself in the process. Then I picked up Blink, which I remember seeing a few years back, which probably means I’m a little late to this party. Blink is pretty interesting too – I’m not quite so in love with it, but there have still been some really good nuggets. Both books seem to follow the same model – one or two unique ideas that go against the grain and then get supported by story after story. In Outliers, the idea is that all the success stories that we hear about have an untold side – the fact that fortunate timing and opportunities play as much or more of a role than talent and hard work (without discounting the latter two). Blink is about our snap judgments, why they are usually very reliable, and when we should and should not trust them. I suppose that someone could come along with all kinds of research against his ideas, but it’s pretty convincing. The books have definitely gotten me thinking (in a good way, not the exhausting overanalysis that I tend to do).

And of course I’ll get around to reading The Tipping Point, but it’s good that I haven’t yet or that would have made for a more awkward title.

The first batch

No sign of writer’s block tonight….this is what I was originally going to write before I was so inspired by listening to Brandi Carlile. After I got back from Quinn’s tennis lesson, I headed outside to attack the leaves. I wasn’t quite sure what all I was going to do; after all, it was a brisk 35 degrees out. But about halfway through I got the idea to cut the grass as I went since the leaves seemed to be coming down as fast as I could get them up. That ended up being a decent plan (even if I did mess up my shoes before I thought to put my grubby pair). The thing that really helped was having an extra person out there. Kate stayed with me the whole time – around four hours – and it was so nice to have her helping. It was also nice to see the way she worked. She didn’t get tired or bored, and she just kept plugging along and doing everything I asked her to do. We ended things by building a huge leaf pile and jumping in – a little enjoying the fruits of our labor. Today’s work filled 22 lawn bags. There’s at least that much left on the trees, so we’ll get to do it all over again.

Give Up the Ghost

Let me start by saying that I listened to Brandi Carlile’s new album while driving in the car with the kids singing “Jingle Bells, Batman smells…” And I still thought it was great. So that’s saying something.

I was fairly nervous for this album, having absolutely loved The Story. The early reviews were great, but I still wasn’t convinced. Obviously, I shouldn’t have worried. I couldn’t catch the lyrics as well as I wanted to, especially on the second half of the album, but the music sounded wonderful. It seemed like she was very comfortable with what she was doing – like there wasn’t any need for experimentation, where there was probably a little bit of that on The Story. One of the reviews mentioned that they heard a Radiohead influence; I didn’t catch that. “Caroline” had Elton John singing, and I thought that would end up meaning it had more of an Elton John feel, but I wouldn’t have even noticed anything different. There’s nothing new about her music, but she does it incredibly well. It’s simple, but there’s also a lot of depth to it. I love it; it’s the type of thing I could listen to for a week straight. And I probably will.

First loss

Michigan went down on Saturday. I always forget what a lousy mood that puts me in. Especially right afterwards, I am just a bear. And then I dwell on it for the rest of the weekend. Especially on a weekend like this one, where there was really nothing to take my mind off things. We did go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on Saturday, which was the first time we had all been to a movie in forever, but other than that, the weather put a bit of a damper on things. Next weekend Michigan plays at Iowa in a night game, so I’ll get to spend all day Saturday worrying about the game, then likely go to bed upset and stew all day Sunday. Fun!

Two short days

I don’t need a great deal of recharging this weekend – despite my last post about frustration (and the fact that today was kind of a repeat of that), the week was fairly positive. Which was a very welcome change from many of the past weeks. Still, I have this sense of wanting to make the most of the weekend, and it’s already getting cut short due to an elders meeting tomorrow. Plus, the weather is supposed to be crummy. So we’ll see how things go.

Frustrating

Tuesday is always my roughest day. I’m not sure why – I have status in the morning, and it’s never really a big deal, but it seems to somehow send the day into a tailspin. Today was a little worse than normal. It seemed like it never really got rolling. There were just tons of small interruptions and things that didn’t go right and annoyances. It wasn’t a bad day. Just sorely trying. I feel all wound up but also like I wouldn’t mind going to bed.

On the plus side, Quinn finished his first Lego today. I thought he would get into it before now, but this is probably a normal time. He got this kit for his birthday, but he never seemed all that interested. I kind of had to push this a little bit. But he really enjoyed doing it. I think it was the most still he has been for something. Even when I read to him, he’s squirming all over the place. He really focused in on his helicopter, though, and now it’s on to the plane (it was a 3-in-1 kit). Looks like we might have a nice new activity for the boyo.