This almost makes me want a dog. Almost.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
A Modern Day Miracle
For the first time in, I think, forever, the empty paper towel role has been replaced by a full role... and I had nothing to do with it.
I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone. What is going on? Am I in a different dimension? Is this opposite day? What is happening????
I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone. What is going on? Am I in a different dimension? Is this opposite day? What is happening????
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Tonight's Music Video
Let's take a break from our busy lives and watch Jeff Lynne and Anoushka Shankar perform a song written by George Harrison...
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Winter Wonderland
This is looking out my front door a couple of nights ago. It would be pretty somewhere between, say December twenty-third and maybe December twenty-seventh. But as of right now, I'm getting pretty sick of the snow. And yes, I realize it's only mid-February.
On the other hand, it was exactly like this, on a night exactly twenty-nine years ago, when we had to leave for the hospital. Helaina was born the next day.
On the other hand, it was exactly like this, on a night exactly twenty-nine years ago, when we had to leave for the hospital. Helaina was born the next day.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
As I Was Saying...
Sam and I visited his old High School a few weeks back. I think it was at Sam’s High School graduation when he asked me if we could go back and visit. I promised him that he could, and I figured at the time, I could take him sometime the following January. January made sense because I figured he would be on a college schedule and have most of January off, while his High School would be back in session. This also was a little bit of a carrot on a stick - something to shoot for, depending on how the coming school year went.
Well, as it turned out, Sam’s January schedule is a little more like the High School schedule.
While the college is closed, Sam still has his program. Even though the program is housed in the college, it’s run by an independent organization. With the college closed for most of January, Sam instead goes to the program’s main office for three days a week. For one of these days, Sam stays at the main office and works on job skills - things like resume writing, practicing interviewing - things like that. For the other two days, Sam and another young man go with the instructor to help out at a homeless shelter,where they do things like help prepare meals and help with the dishes.So, January was a little more full than I expected, but with the shortened weekly schedule, it still left Mondays and Fridays free.
So, January came, and we had to figure out what would work. It was a good thing that we started early because it took pretty much the entire month to arrange the visit. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but we finally were able to visit on Sam’s last free Friday before resuming his full schedule.
Sam was not going to be able to spend the entire day, as I think he had hoped. It was supposedly some kind of policy (one of those details that I won’t get into). So, I figured we would add some other things to do, to help assuage any potential disappointment and maybe for at least one of us to feel a little special.
We started the day by leaving a little bit early for the High School (surprise!). But along the way, we stopped at the used clothing store. Neither of us had been there in quite a while so it seemed like a good time to visit. Most people go for the used clothing or the used books or the old VHS tapes (i guess), but not us. While I’ll look at the clothing (you can never have too many old sweaters and bathrobes), Sam hunts for stray threads for his thread collection. This, I think, is one of Sam’s favorite things to do. It’s not that he tells me that it is, he’s too self conscious about it for that (so I don’t point it out.) It's that whenever we go to any store that has any amount of clothing, this is what he likes to do.
To the outside observer, Sam appears to be meticulously examining the quality and style of the clothing. To me, he’s meticulously stuffing his pockets with threads- one thread at a time.
We spent about twenty minutes at the store - Sam procuring the threads, while I killed time looking for almost anything of interest. Finally, enough time had been killed and it was time for us to get going. I left the store without any bathrobe or sweater, but I did buy a small blanket for Sam. Sam left with several little balled-up clumps of threads.
We got to the High School and signed in at the front desk. The ladies at the front counter were thrilled to see Sam and they really laid it on - which I think it their style, thank goodness. Sam glowed and chatted for a bit and then we made our way down through the winding halls, to his old classroom.
When we got there,I figured I would kill more time out in the hall. I didn’t want to follow him into the classroom and have him to feel like I was hovering. So I found a chair and sat down as he went in. As the door closed behind him, I could hear several people, his old teacher included, shout out his name and I could imagine how much this meant to Sam. And so, I waited.
Sam visited for awhile, and then the students had to go to lunch. Sam said his goodbyes and we went down the hall, to the student run restaurant where we dined on a hamburger (me) and fried scrod (Sam). From there, we went over to the cafeteria so Sam could say ”Hi” to his old friends, The Lunch Ladies.
For the last few years of high school, Sam worked with these ladies, cleaning tables and putting away dishes and such. And when he was done, they would all eat lunch together. We will occasionally bump into one of these women when we’re on our Saturday errands, but it’s infrequent, and anyway, there’s something much nicer about seeing them in their natural habitat. Sam visited while I once again stayed in the background.
Before leaving, Sam said “Goodbye” one more time to his old teacher and his old classroom, and then we stopped by the Guidance Office before checking out at the front desk, where the women behind the counter, once again showered Sam with warmth and praise.
As we drove away, it was clear that Sam was filled with both happiness and nostalgia. And we talked about the visit and we talked about the memories - and we talked about how lucky it is that he has known such wonderful people, and that he has such wonderful memories - all of which he will carry with him, for the rest of his life.
Well, as it turned out, Sam’s January schedule is a little more like the High School schedule.
While the college is closed, Sam still has his program. Even though the program is housed in the college, it’s run by an independent organization. With the college closed for most of January, Sam instead goes to the program’s main office for three days a week. For one of these days, Sam stays at the main office and works on job skills - things like resume writing, practicing interviewing - things like that. For the other two days, Sam and another young man go with the instructor to help out at a homeless shelter,where they do things like help prepare meals and help with the dishes.So, January was a little more full than I expected, but with the shortened weekly schedule, it still left Mondays and Fridays free.
So, January came, and we had to figure out what would work. It was a good thing that we started early because it took pretty much the entire month to arrange the visit. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but we finally were able to visit on Sam’s last free Friday before resuming his full schedule.
Sam was not going to be able to spend the entire day, as I think he had hoped. It was supposedly some kind of policy (one of those details that I won’t get into). So, I figured we would add some other things to do, to help assuage any potential disappointment and maybe for at least one of us to feel a little special.
We started the day by leaving a little bit early for the High School (surprise!). But along the way, we stopped at the used clothing store. Neither of us had been there in quite a while so it seemed like a good time to visit. Most people go for the used clothing or the used books or the old VHS tapes (i guess), but not us. While I’ll look at the clothing (you can never have too many old sweaters and bathrobes), Sam hunts for stray threads for his thread collection. This, I think, is one of Sam’s favorite things to do. It’s not that he tells me that it is, he’s too self conscious about it for that (so I don’t point it out.) It's that whenever we go to any store that has any amount of clothing, this is what he likes to do.
To the outside observer, Sam appears to be meticulously examining the quality and style of the clothing. To me, he’s meticulously stuffing his pockets with threads- one thread at a time.
We spent about twenty minutes at the store - Sam procuring the threads, while I killed time looking for almost anything of interest. Finally, enough time had been killed and it was time for us to get going. I left the store without any bathrobe or sweater, but I did buy a small blanket for Sam. Sam left with several little balled-up clumps of threads.
We got to the High School and signed in at the front desk. The ladies at the front counter were thrilled to see Sam and they really laid it on - which I think it their style, thank goodness. Sam glowed and chatted for a bit and then we made our way down through the winding halls, to his old classroom.
When we got there,I figured I would kill more time out in the hall. I didn’t want to follow him into the classroom and have him to feel like I was hovering. So I found a chair and sat down as he went in. As the door closed behind him, I could hear several people, his old teacher included, shout out his name and I could imagine how much this meant to Sam. And so, I waited.
Sam visited for awhile, and then the students had to go to lunch. Sam said his goodbyes and we went down the hall, to the student run restaurant where we dined on a hamburger (me) and fried scrod (Sam). From there, we went over to the cafeteria so Sam could say ”Hi” to his old friends, The Lunch Ladies.
For the last few years of high school, Sam worked with these ladies, cleaning tables and putting away dishes and such. And when he was done, they would all eat lunch together. We will occasionally bump into one of these women when we’re on our Saturday errands, but it’s infrequent, and anyway, there’s something much nicer about seeing them in their natural habitat. Sam visited while I once again stayed in the background.
Before leaving, Sam said “Goodbye” one more time to his old teacher and his old classroom, and then we stopped by the Guidance Office before checking out at the front desk, where the women behind the counter, once again showered Sam with warmth and praise.
As we drove away, it was clear that Sam was filled with both happiness and nostalgia. And we talked about the visit and we talked about the memories - and we talked about how lucky it is that he has known such wonderful people, and that he has such wonderful memories - all of which he will carry with him, for the rest of his life.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Hopefully...
I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but I think I'm finally winding down on this cold of mine. This cold wasn't particularly debilitating - certainly not any stronger than any other cold. It just lasted forever. As I write this, I've had it now for three weeks.
The worst part about it was that it developed into a cough. While fairly chronic during the day, the cough really seemed to enjoy the night life. Every night, as I put my head down on my pillow, something in my throat would awake and the coughing would begin. It would start off as a tickle, and I would try to convince myself that it wasn't even there. This would develop into a few gentle coughs to try and dislodge whatever was there. Before long, I was downstairs, hacking away, holding onto my now sore stomach - which isn't used to this, or any amount of exercise. Finally, I would prop myself up on the corner of the couch.
The few times that I finally managed to fall asleep, it would last until about two in the morning - at which point I would break out into coughing fits again, lasting until my alarm went off at five A.M.
But the night before last, I managed to sleep all the way through until four in the morning. That was nearly six hours of uninterrupted sleep! And last night... well, I didn't do quite as well, but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful...
The worst part about it was that it developed into a cough. While fairly chronic during the day, the cough really seemed to enjoy the night life. Every night, as I put my head down on my pillow, something in my throat would awake and the coughing would begin. It would start off as a tickle, and I would try to convince myself that it wasn't even there. This would develop into a few gentle coughs to try and dislodge whatever was there. Before long, I was downstairs, hacking away, holding onto my now sore stomach - which isn't used to this, or any amount of exercise. Finally, I would prop myself up on the corner of the couch.
The few times that I finally managed to fall asleep, it would last until about two in the morning - at which point I would break out into coughing fits again, lasting until my alarm went off at five A.M.
But the night before last, I managed to sleep all the way through until four in the morning. That was nearly six hours of uninterrupted sleep! And last night... well, I didn't do quite as well, but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)