Musings on Writer's Block

What we do on lazy Sundays.

Alison says, "Now you know how I feel: Clueless."

I don't think it's clueless. I think it's lack of motivation. I'm doing everything else but this.

It wasn't a bad week (there were some bad days, but overall, not bad), and everyone (even Caitlyn) had a positive day at church (hurrah!). But, I just am feeling... unmotivated.

We even did fun things. The girls had friends over to play on Monday (which wasn't bad, weather-wise) and Alison went to a sleepover on Friday. Caitlyn was home sick on Thursday, but finished a video project on Saturday when her partner came over. And  Kristen -- who was such a darling when I was having a bad day -- and I took advantage of the 60 degree weather (!) yesterday (don't worry, it'll be back down in the 20s tomorrow) and went for a walk in the nature park, and out for ice cream and to get her hair cut. And Russell and I got out to see the Wakefield Mysteries -- a re-translation of a 14th century Bible Cycle play. (It was.... interesting.)

But it all seems so... ordinary.

I suppose that's what these letters are: making the ordinary a little bit extraordinary.

Even so, sometimes, it's just plain.

Which is okay, too.

Staring at a Blank Page

I've been sitting at the computer for more than an hour, trying to figure out what to say. And coming up short every. single. time. So I'm going to let the images do the talking.

 

Sunday:

The best 1 1/2 hours of television we've seen in a long time was season 3, episode 2. Seriously great.

Monday:

Russell was back to work, the girls were back at school (again), and I tried to sell books.

 

Tuesday:

I taught myself how to make origami cranes. I was quite proud of that. (I did the display below.)

 

Wednesday:

Caitlyn was having a bad day, and I was out and about, so I got donuts.

Thursday:

Was a normal day Except Russell got asked to do his sometimes gig at the local TV station. He likes feeling like a pundit sometimes.

 

Friday:

We realized that Alison and Kristen had never seen this. So we watched it. They loved it. Russell didn't.

Saturday:

Because it was nominated for an Oscar, it had an encore performance at our local movie theater. We went. We were gobsmacked. Not the deepest movie ever, but it was gorgeous and intense. Best seen on the big screen.

Annnddd... Acton!

Monday morning hit us hard. NO ONE wants to get up when it's cold, dark, and we've all been sleeping in until late for two weeks. Especially me. I've decided that bears have the right idea. Either that, or I need to find a winter home in Florida (or Hawaii!) to hide from this. There was a headline in the newspaper on Tuesday or Wednesday that essentially said, "Americans are wimps" because of the cold.

Yep. You got that right.

We shivered to school, to work, and back home, crawled under blankets, and prayed for the cold to go away. We also got out and took the kids rock climbing, but that seems kind of beside the point, when there's so much COLD. Have I mentioned how much I dislike the cold??

Quite possibly.

The rest of the week was much of the same. We came out of our freeze on Thursday, I think, and things started to become more regular.

I had my first Primary Activity Days -- I've been released as music in Primary (did I mention that? Did I also mention that I MISS IT??) and called as PAD leader -- and it went well. It's an interesting dynamic. We have two sets of sisters -- Alison and Kristen (who's coming a few months early because, well, it's easier) and Sarah and Bekah -- who have been friends forever. And they often are quite, well, crazy together. There are two other girls, one who is outgoing (but can't read very well) and another who is painfully shy. Anyway. We worked on goals and played a get-to-know-you Jenga (which was silly) but mostly I just wanted to see what the dynamic is. I think that I'm going to have to do a lot of games -- especially at the front end when they first get there -- and a lot of hands-on activities. This is not a contemplative bunch. But, I think once we figure each other out, we'll have a grand time.

Russell spent the whole week sick with a head cold. Which I caught Friday night. Not fun.

Speaking of Friday, somehow War Games ended up on our Netflix queue, and we didn't remember anything untoward in it (except for the language; I still remember that from the summer -- 1983? 1984? -- we watched it so many times, we ended up counting all the swear words in the movie) so we watched it as a family. And, you know what? It holds up as a movie. The technology is delightfully out of date (dial-up modems! Commodores! Pay phones!) but it still works as a story. And the girls -- especially Alison and Kristen (who ended up crying at the end) -- really liked it. Count that as a win for the 80s.

Yesterday we cleaned and were lazy. It warmed up enough for Russell to go out and tinker with the gate in our back fence (one of the boards keeps splitting, because the wind slams the gate shut, so we needed something that was self-locking and yet so that Kristen and Alison can open it from the outside). I cleaned the laundry room (my spring cleaning goal: clean a room when it gets so bad I  can't stand it anymore) and was sick.

Church today was okay. Nothing major, either good or bad. And now we're settled in for the afternoon, reading and watching movies. And resting up before another week of crazy.

Stay warm.

"I'm Warm and I Won't Ever Get Hurt."

Wichita Art Museum

The last Friday of break, we looked at the girls and realized that we hadn't been out of the house (except for play dates and a couple of movies) in two weeks, and that we should do something together. We spun the wheel (not literally, of course), and decided that it's been forever since we went to the Wichita Art Museum. So, we chose that.

The girls favorite thing was the overhang full of glass pieces. It's really cool.

The other favorite thing is the glass "chandelier" in the main lobby space:

Plus bonus reflective floor:

Our favorite exhibit was also the first one we went through. They had, on loan, some really cool digital art from San Jose. It's too bad we couldn't take pictures.

Then we went through the rest of the museum proper. I managed to snap a couple of pictures.

They also have some sculptures on the grounds. It was a bit chilly out, but we had to check out the scarves and hats on this one.

I left feeling a little underwhelmed. I should be grateful for the museum; at least we have one. But I've been spoiled having gone to so many other, better art museums. We should take advantage of this one more often, if only so that the girls will have an appreciation of how great the Great museums are.

An Introvert's Nightmare

Two things first: 1) I'm really not a die-hard introvert. I do work in retail, and have to interact with people when I'm there, and I do like hanging out with small groups of friends on occasion and 2) I married an extrovert, and some of that has rubbed off over the years. I'm not as introverted as I could be. (In fact, in some crowds -- like at KidlitCon -- I'm the extrovert.)

That said, some weeks are such that by the end of them, the idea of running away to a quiet house with absolutely no interruptions for a very long time sounds like my idea of heaven.

It was one of those weeks.

It's not that it was a bad week. It wasn't. I went to work on Monday and Tuesday, we celebrated Russell's birthday, and Russell took the younger two girls to see Cloudy With a Change of Meatballs 2 on Tuesday. (It was barely worth the "flashback" price of $1.50 per person, but Alison and Kristen liked it.) We stayed up late drinking hot cocoa, watching stupid viral YouTube videos (Google goat remixes, if you're curious) and Skyfall (which was okay until Mr. Penelope Cruz showed up. It went downhill from there, and the ending was outright mockable).

Wednesday was our New Year's party. I am always grateful we have so many friends, but sometimes having them ALL in the house at one time is a bit... exhausting. I think everyone has a great time, there is good food, and fun games, and lots and lots of talking (football? They play football on New Years Day?? *sigh*). But, by the end of it all, I'm happy that they all go away.

Then, Thursday, I faced one of my big fears and gave an hour-long presentation to two groups of (probably) fifty middle- and high-school teachers. I wasn't alone -- the store owner (and my boss) came along to help and lend some gravitas to the program -- but since I'm the designated "expert", it was my show. I went into the store for a couple hours before, and I was a nervous wreck. (Then again, I am always a nervous wreck.) The presentations went fine (the first better than the second. Next time, bring water and peanuts!). You wouldn't think talking for two hours would make you tired, but, I was. How do teachers do it day in and day out? (Makes me happy I didn't choose teaching as a profession.)

And the kids have been home all week, and getting increasingly restless. We decided that winter break is more difficult than summer, if only because you're stuck inside and with your family with no escape for two solid weeks. By the end of it, though no one really wants to get up early and go to school, we're all more than happy to get back into a routine.

Friday, we decided that we needed to get OUT and dragged the girls to the art museum. It really is a nice museum, for what it is. We finished (I think I've been there two or three times total since we moved here), and I went away with the feeling "that's all?" But that's only because I've been spoiled: Detroit, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York. Wichita can hardly compare. But there were some nice exhibits -- our favorite was the virtual/digital art from San Jose -- and the girls had fun (or enjoyed it at any rate). But we got out, which was the most important part.

There was Dr. Who watching and cleaning and failed sleepovers, and not-so-failed play dates, and a funeral (for a ward member) in there as well. And today we're back to morning church, much to my enjoyment (yay!) and the girls displeasure (they miss sleeping in!). And tomorrow, in spite of the cold and snow, we're back to a SCHEDULE. Yay for those!

Only two more weeks until Sherlock. (It makes January seem shorter.)

Happy New Year!

We had a crowded house, but there was yummy food:

Good conversation:

Games:

TV watching:

And silliness:

(Russell's not in any of these because he's the only one who thinks it's important to document this.)

A great way to start a new year.