The MCU Ranked: An Ongoing List

Grace, Jay, and I are big fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It's been many years in the making and over 30 films deep. I'm updating on WWYG?! the MCU rankings that we have compiled as we have watched the movies together.

And yes . . . you'll notice that we decided to include non-Marvel movies in our rankings. I regret nothing about this.

KEY:

Infinity Saga

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Multiverse Saga

Phase 4

Phase 5

Phase 6 

(This list is always being updated, as new movies come out.) 

1. Spider-Man: Brand New Day

2. Spider-Man: Homecoming 

[n/r] Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse

3. Iron Man 3 

4. Spider-Man: No Way Home 

5. Spider-Man: Far From Home 

6. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 

7. Avengers: Infinity War 

[n/r] Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 

8. Black Panther 

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 

10. Guardians of the Galaxy 

[n/r] Deadpool 

11. Captain America: The First Avenger 

12. Thunderbolts*

13. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

14. Thor: Ragnarok 

15. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3

16. Black Widow 

17. Avengers: Endgame 

18. Ant-Man 

19. Ant-Man and the Wasp 

20. Captain America: Civil War 

21. Iron Man 

22. Deadpool & Wolverine

[n/r] Deadpool 2

23. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

24. Thor 

25. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 

26. The Avengers 

27. The Marvels

28. Eternals 

29. Captain Marvel 

30. Iron Man 2 

31. Avengers: Age of Ultron 

32. Thor: Love and Thunder

33. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 

34. Doctor Strange

[n/a] Shazam!

35. Captain America: Brave New World 

36. Thor: The Dark World 

37. The Incredible Hulk (Ed Norton edition) 

38. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Don't like our rankings? That's fine. I know there are others out there that will suit you better. Here is another web writers thoughts on the MCU phenomenon.

And what about the MCU TVverse?

I can't really scale them in the same list as the cinematic stories, so I'm creating a separate list here. (This includes the original ABC TV shows, the original Netflix shows, and the more recent Disney+ series, movies, and specials.)

1. Daredevil

2. Jessica Jones

3. Loki

4. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

5. Agatha All Along

[special] Werewolf by Night

6. Daredevil: Born Again (only inclusive of s1 . . .)

7. Wonder Man

8. What If . . . ? (s1 through s3)

9. Agent Carter

10. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

11. WandaVision

12. Hawkeye

13. Ms. Marvel

14. The Punisher

15. Luke Cage

16. The Defenders

[special] The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

17. Echo

18. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

19. Ironheart

20. Iron Fist

21. Cloak & Dagger

22. Moon Knight

23. Punisher: One Last Kill

24. Runaways

25. Inhumans

26. Secret Invasion

Football Counter-Programming 2022: Week 7

It's good news for me today (Saturday) because The Ohio State Buckeyes are not playing today. So I don't have to work as hard (in this part of the world) to football counter-programming.

Rather I have to work hard to get in my apple-picking, pumpkin patching, leaf piling, corn mazing, or whatever else (covered bridging?) that constitutes Autumnal Bliss in this Instagram world. (Fun fact reader, I'm doing none of those things today. In part because all of Ohio is doing so as a result of the aforementioned tOSU lack of game.)

But I'm still sort of taking the day off by reducing my word count. (Really, I am. Despite that last paragraph.)

Instead of my words, I'll leave you with this video of an excellent concert that I attended on Tuesday. Grace's first concert band performance at Ohio Wesleyan. 

Yes, it is long, but it is absolutely 50 minutes well spent. 

And besides, you shouldn't be watching football anyway.

 Valdres (1904) by Johannes Hanssen

"A Letter to Herman Melville" by Karen Poremski, OWU Emeritus Professor of English

Of Sailors and Whales (1989) by Francis McBeth

    I. Ishmael

    II. Queequeg

    III. Father Mapple

    IV. Ahab

    V. The White Whale

Blues for A Killed Kat (1987) by Jack End

Schwanda, The BagPiper (1928) by Jaromir Weinberger

    I. Polka

    II. Fugue

COV106ID-19: Party Month #1 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE

You are seventeen years old today! Happy birthday!

What a summer it has been so far. And what a Party Month ahead this will be--surely the most unique Party Month that I can imagine any of us going through.

I can't say everything has been wonderful during these months of quarantine and uncertainty. But you have borne up through it all with patience and love. 

Thank you for being my Marvel movie friend. Thank you for engaging with me at any level of intellectual or pop-cultural discussion. Thanks for your enthusiasm and excitement.

Thanks for your band involvement. You've helped draw me into a new world of community and people that I didn't have. 

Thanks for being my daughter. You've pushed me to be a better father and helped me be a better friend to you and your siblings.

Things are starting to change for you. This senior year is a big transitional year for you--as well as for mom and I. I have confidence in you however your future begins. Don't be afraid of what is coming, because you are strong and confident and able to take on whatever it may be. And we are standing beside you when you need it and slightly behind you when you ask for it. But we are there, watching, cheering you, celebrating you in any and all things.

Be happy! Have fun! Remember that you are loved and be not afraid.

COV55D-19

Sarah finishes the spring semester of her sophomore year of college today.

Grace and Hannah have about two more weeks of the official school calendar. 

Grace is preparing to take three unusually-presented AP Exams in those next two weeks, along with finishing up her classwork. 

Hannah is wrapping up her first year of Middle School by closing out Sixth Grade with final reading assignments, completing research paper projects, taking weekly quizzes.

None of them are reaching these milestones in the environments they could have imagined. None of them wanted to talk to their teachers through video chats. Definitely, none of them wanted a parent to serve as their daily goad for getting work done. 

But they have persevered. And they have done well. They are succeeding, despite the circumstances. And their success is due to their inherent skill, desire, and goal-setting . . . not because of any pushes or pulls that Lynda or I have started. (Despite our presence in some cases--as they would likely remind you, were you here to ask.)

So--today's note is simply an acknowledgment of who they are and the challenges they are overcoming.

Good for them. Because they are good.

Party Month 2019: It Begins

It's the end of June, so its time for the annual tradition of Party Month. For those of you who don't know Party Month represents a sequence of:

Grace's birthday (July 26)
Lynda's birthday (July 1)
Wedding anniversary (July 8)
Sarah's birthday (July 22)

***

Grace is turning sixteen this year and he's halfway through her high school years. As always, she is taking it all in with determination and a strong work ethic. She's reading through her summer reading books and working her band preparations into the weekly schedule. (And the turmoil of shifting to a new band director out of the blue when the school year ended has made summer band even more dramatic.)

I encourage you to search back through the WWYG?! archives to see what I've written about Grace in the past. It's all complementary and I'm in awe of the person she is always growing to become.

Here is an example of something I wrote a few years back that is still 100 percent true.

And besides all of that, she's just fun to hang out with.

So, if you see Grace out there in the world, take some time to say hello and enjoy her company. Your day will definitely be improved because of the experience.

2018: A Casual Christmas Card

2018 doesn't need fanfare. It just needs to be done so that we can get busy with a new year.
Here's hoping you keep it casual this Christmas and charge up for whatever comes your way next.

Party Month 2017 #1

It is the end of June, and that means that the Martin family has entered another Party Month. First up--as always--is Grace's birthday (which occurred this pas Monday while we were on vacation in Huron, Ohio on the banks of Lake Erie).

Grace is now 14 and is preparing to become a freshman in high school.

This summer she's been mostly occupied with getting prepared for her first year of marching band. She is going to play bass drum 2 (the second smallest) in the percussion battery. As is true of everything she does, Grace is working hard and accepts from herself nothing but the best performance. Her expectations for herself are high--and she is facing a bit of a learning curve as we gets used to marching for the first time (not to mention doing so with a heavy drum strapped to your upper body).

But I have no doubt that, given time, she'll be showing others how to do it right.

Grace, in other aspects of life, is doing her thing with determination and confidence. She is growing in her political awareness and her personality is changing to match. Get ready for an ear-full if you disagree with her on political or social topics. She'll be polite (to you at least--if not always to me), but she's not going to back down from her opinion and she won't hesitate to let you know what she thinks. All great qualities to have and I am extremely proud of her.

Socially, she has maintained her friendships with a strong group of middle school friends--a rarity in my limited experience. These girls have remained tight through all of the ups and downs of those most difficult school grades and I am happy that she transitions to high school with a reliable set of old friends, while beginning to meet some new band friends for the HS years ahead.

In short, Grace is awesome and only gets better as the years go by. I am so very, very proud of who she is and what she is becoming. It's great fun being around her and watching her grow.

Happy (belated) fourteenth birthday to you Grace. And thanks for kicking off another Party Month in style!

Curriculum Night

Last night I went to Grace's 7th grade curriculum night at the middle school.

Sarah has already gone through all of these grades at this building and Grace is in her second year at Walnut Springs, so there was no completely new information to be learned there. But it was good to see the teachers--not all of whom are familiar--and to learn what their plans are for the year.

One of the first things that I enjoy is the simple act of walking to the school from our house. It is on the next street over and you can cut between people's yards to get to the athletic fields on the back end of the school. I will miss having such convenient access to the school when Hannah is finally done. But the (good?) news is that this won't happen for another six . . . what, really? . . . years.Ugh. I'll be almost 50 before Hannah makes it to high school.

And then when I got to the school and started following Grace's classes, I just enjoyed the fantasy of being back in school and learning stuff again.

It's probably not fair to think that way since I am adult now and I can look back on the effort of middle school learning with casualness and a lack of stress. I can see it for the opportunity of learning and thought that it is. I didn't view it so casually and with fun back when I was actually experiencing it. Still, I am glad that I can look at the opportunity of learning with a positive twinge.

And the other thing I enjoyed was hearing teachers talk about the electronic materials that they are using--especially (obviously) in the social studies class. And, yes, they are using an Ohio version of our U.S. history program--a custom creation by the looks of it, but based on the title made by my friends and colleagues just a few cubicle rows over. I am pleased that they are adopting and using the materials that we make here at MHE--and I am hopeful that it is more than simply using the electronic version of the text. I hope they are trying the digital assets and exploring the depth of stuff that we have created in the last several years.

(I wanted to speak up to the teacher and the class and let them know that I work for the company. I wanted to say that if they experience online problems, to send me an email. But I didn't. And that is probably best. The company DOES have tech support professionals--as the teacher mentioned--who can aid when needed. It is their job to clear up those sorts of problems, so I guess I should let them do it better than I could.)

Credit: me

And beyond that, the best thing about the evening was seeing the impressive reimagining of the old library space into a slick new Media Center/hangout/collaborative area/whatever. I posted some pictures of it on my Facebook page if you are over there some.

I mean, look at this space. Wouldn't you want to hang out in there? And yes, there are still plenty of books to check out--which I admit was my initial concern when Grace was describing the place to me. But the design makes the whole place more appealing and encouraging to students. So, I'm a fan.

Party Month 2015

 It's been an eventful Party Month--as they often are. (For those of you who may not know, the stretch of the calendar from late June through late July is called Party Month at our house. Why? Well, it encompasses Grace's birthday, Lynda's birthday, Lynda and my wedding anniversary, and Sarah's birthday.)

Party Month 2015 ALSO included a family trip down to Ft. Walton, Florida for some beach fun with the rest of the Martins. So, as I said . . . eventful.

We started Party Month off with a celebration of Grace's 12th birthday. I know that I say this every year . . . but I really love how Grace holds such a fierce attitude toward life and towards herself. She expects the best and the most out of herself. And while that sometimes generates feelings of frustration, I want her to hold onto her high standards and keep up the fight.
It's no secret that over the years, the quick temper that she inherited from me has caused clashes between us. But I'm very happy to say that those kinds of problems have diminished so much as she has aged and matured.
You might think that her middle child status might be a problem. But then you don't know Grace Martin. She's never going to allow you to overlook her. (And you totally should not. She's a special person and is only getting better.

As June transitioned into July, the family packed up and we went to the beach for fun with family in Florida.  I hope that everyone had as good a time as I did. And I hope Florida got to appreciate hosting the 2015 Official Hat of Summer for a few days. While we were there I hung out on the beach, played in the surf, went fishing with my brothers and my dad and enjoyed lots of good food and family time. While we were travelling down South, we also had the chance to finally eat at Amy's SASS restaurant in Thomasville and to see the new Thompson twins in Waycross. The food was delicious (as expected) and the babies were cute (as predicted). It is too bad that we can't be with family more often. But I hope we made the best of it when we have the chance.

While we were in Florida, Lynda and I observed our 20th wedding anniversary. We got to go out by ourselves and had a really great dinner--with incredibly fast service--at the Red Bar. It was highly recommended by many people that we talked to and I definitely wasn't disappointed by the experience.
(I feel that much of this stuff isn't really news to you guys, because we've already posted these pictures and made comments on the Facebook pages while it was happening. But the institutional pull of WWYG?! and occasional blogging demands that I try to put some of these events into a different perspective anyway. Maybe I did a better job describing Party Month in years past when my digital focus wasn't pulled onto different platforms and social media services so often.)
And there are many, many more things to say about the 20 years of happiness that Lynda and I have shared. But I'm hoping to focus on that stuff later this year . . . when bigger plans for a anniversary-dedicated trip can be discussed. So, just assume that I know I'm incredibly lucky.

Once we got home from Florida, it's time to settle back into the rest of the summer and look for fun before the mid-August first-day-of-school arrives. Part of THAT effort was when Grace and Sarah and I stood in line outside Columbus' Ohio Theater to experience a bit of the Paper Towns movie pre-release madness. The weather wasn't too hot or rainy and the crowds were amiable and excited. We were treated to a 19 minute preview of the film and a question & answer session with author John Green and three members of the film's cast. I think we all had fun experiencing a bit of Nerdfighteria IRL. Maybe it wasn't as intense as the Pottercast visit back in 2007 . . . but it was still fun.

And then, as happens each year . . . Party Month comes to a close with Sarah's birthday. This year she is turning 15 and is firmly established in teenagerdom and high schoolery. And as is often the case, her birthday overlaps with some other event. In years past it was either our church's Vacation Bible School or when she was out-of-town at a summer camp. In 2015, it just happened to be both of those things at once!
So, she wasn't here when the big day came. But we'll find a way to celebrate after she (and Grace) return from Procter Camp this weekend.
From my perspective, I think Sarah is handling her teenage years pretty well. There are definitely highs and lows--but she is holding onto a pretty clear understanding of who she is. Unfortunately, she is just having to wait for other people to catch up to her. And I dearly wish it could happen faster. Sarah is funny and smart and engaging and great and I really want more and more people to understand that. Someday they will. And we can say we knew it first.

So, goodbye Party Month 2015. It was a good one.

The Girl and the Dragon

Once upon a time there lived a princess named Hannah. She had two princess sisters named Sarah and Grace. Hannah was the youngest so she was last in line to become queen. At that time, their mother, Queen Lynda and her father, King David were ruling their kingdom wonderfully. But one day later a dragon came to the land and laid an egg right next to the castle's pond.

Hannah was the first to find it. She knew what it was. She took it back to her room and made it a home. The egg did fine and in a month of taking care of it, it hatched. Hannah was as happy as could be when she saw the baby dragon. She took it to her sisters to show them her new pet.

Her sisters were amazed and jealous at the same time. Sarah was worried that the mother dragon would not like her baby being taken away from her. Grace just thought it was super cool. Then Hannah showed it to her parents and they loved it. Hannah decided to name him (They found out it was a boy.) David Jr. after her dad.

They loved each other very much. They lived happily ever after.

THE END

Sequels-- 1.) The Girl and Her Dragon, 2.) David Jr. Flight, 3.) The Last Scale

Series Name--A Dragon's Life

Through the Years

Tomorrow begins another year of school for Sarah and Grace. I'll add another photo to the list of their first days . . . as they grow older, more able, more prepared to walk out that door for the first time--for real.

Sarah entering Kindergarten in August 2005

First day of 1st Grade for Sarah in August 2006

Sarah entering 2nd Grade in August 2007

First day of Kindergarten for Grace in September 2008

Sarah in 3rd Grade in September 2008

First day of 4th grade for Sarah in August 2009

First day of 1st Grade for Grace in August 2009

Grace in 2nd Grade in the Fall of 2010

Sarah in 5th Grade in the Fall of 2010

Grace at the end of 2nd Grade and Sarah at the end of 6th Grade in June 2011

Happy 9th Grace!

You are nine years old today, even though you've been acting at least that old for several years now. You are becoming a very unique young lady right in front of me, finding your own personality and skills as you become more independent.

You retain your strongest characteristic--a fierce sense of independence and confidence. This has set you apart from many in our family and will give you the power and energy to become a very significant person in the years to come. Your ability to excel in school has already been proven and this summer you've added some pretty impressive budding softball skills to your repertoire.

What's next for you? Who knows . . . and the best thing is that you don't want to be held back and limited. As you have always done, you want to charge ahead and learn more, be more, do more, control more. I am excited about who you are becoming and (honestly) a little bit scared about what you'll want to do next. You are always going to be pushing the envelope and it'll be up to me to reign you in when I must and allow you to challenge yourself whenever possible. Being a parent isn't easy, and being a proper steward to someone with as much potential as you is a privilege.

I don't even want to think about what may come when you think about boys and they wise up enough to start paying attention to you. But, luckily, that is a few more years away. I am sure THAT will be a whole new set of challenges . . . but one we'll work on together.

I'm happy and proud to be your dad and I am very excited to see you experience your ninth year. Don't ever give up on yourself and what you want to do!

Happy Birthday to you!

Nerd Out Saturday

So, as I teased on Tumblr this morning, today was a nerd-filled day.

After lunch, Sarah (one of her friends) and I went to see the Hunger Games movie. It was an excellent adaptation of the books (which I enjoyed very much). It strayed very little from the story clearly presented in the novel . . . which is why I find it odd that I liked it so much, considering I find the movie version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at fault for doing the same thing.

Still, the movie was well acted, well-shot, and didn't stray away from the grim reality of what the story is really all about. I've not seen Jennifer Lawrence in anything else, but I found her to be a very convincing Katniss. If I had to pick nits, I'd say Lawrence was too emotionally vulnerable in a few spots that Katniss would never have been while being viewed on screen (her character said as much in the book). But I know that, without the benefit of internal monologue, Lawrence went for a human moment.

Another change that was a bit surprising, but--again--understandable, was the portrayal of Woody Harrelson's Haymitch. This movie version of the former District 12 victor was not taken directly from the pages of Collin's first novel. Harrelson's Haymitch was more forthright, more willing to help, and far less of a besotted stumblebum.

I won't go into details on other stuff that were all smart cinematic adjustments to make a movie more approachable. It was well done and definitely tense when it needed to be tense. I feel certain that a sequel (based on Catching Fire) will be green-lit. But I am, at least for now, less excited about them. The Hunger Games has always been my favorite of the three books.

After we got back from seeing the movie, I knew I had to set some time aside to be with Grace. She had been disappointed that I would not let her go see the movie. (She hasn't read the books yet and is a bit young still to be dealing with the violence of the movie imagery.)

As luck would have it though, we had another nerd-tastic option available to us. So, we sat down and watched the online premiere of Nickelodeon's new Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel--The Legend of Korra. Even though the TV show doesn't premiere until mid April, I knew that the first two episodes were being unlocked this weekend. So I held that in reserve to ensure a special time for Grace and myself.

I've found that I need to balance my time with the girls and make sure they are both given special attention from time to time. And especially I should not single one out above the other. So, it was good for me to have these two distinct options that I could turn to for them . . . and for me.

As I've said before, they are only going to grow older and progressively away from me--as they rightly should. But . . . for now, the odds are ever in my favor.

NaBloWriMo #15: Homework

As I type this, I'm listening to Sarah practice "Jingle Bells" in the kitchen behind me. Grace is listening to a math personal tutor video that is speaking to her over my right shoulder. And Hannah is playing on the iPad on the floor by my feet. It's educational bliss, right?

How did we get here?

It wasn't that long before this that Grace was upset with me for a criticism I made of something she was doing with Hannah. She was angry in the other room. In the meantime, we asked Sarah to practice her clarinet, and that led to the making of this video.



Halfway through the filming of that video, Grace--having calmed down--came into the room with her math notebook. I knew that she wanted to show the new things she learned today, so I made sure to take a video of her performing her new (and definitely impressive) math abilities.



Part of parenting is trying to provide equal time, trying to give each child the feeling that they are an important part of the family group and, at the same time, uniquely themselves. These videos are brief examples of me trying to accomplish this. When these video started, Grace was angry and I was frustrated. By the time this was all over, the calm had been restored and the anger had been forgotten.

Grace's 8th birthday signals the start of another Party Month

Grace's Invention Convention

I mentioned that one of the cool things to happen to us in the last few weeks since I posted was Grace's experience with the elementary school's Invention Convention competition.

Think of the Invention Convention as a junior Science Fair. The rules were to state a problem and devise a solution to fix that problem. In the end you have to come up with a model prototype of your solution. It is a method of getting kids to think about how to go through some of the steps of the Scientific Method. Along with the model, each participating student has to keep a log of their thought process and invention steps.

Grace decided that her problem was how to fix yourself some food if both of your parents were sick. To that end she considered describing a food-making robot to fix her some food . . . but soon realized that a robot was too complicated and mostly unnecessary. Eventually she decided that devising a simpler machine that could automatically make macaroni and cheese was more possible and easier to model.

She called it The Mac. I help prod her with though-provoking questions and guided her in realizing when she was going down a difficult path. I did NOT do her work for her, but helped out when she asked and gave her advice on some model-building questions. (I also used the hot glue gun when making the model so she wouldn't burn herself.

Here she is on the day of the presentation dinner. We had built the model for The Mac over the previous weekend, taking a shoe box that was spray-painted gold. We glued a plastic spoon on the ride to act as the lever that would open the back access panel of the model to push out the completed bowl of macaroni and cheese. (Remember that this was non-functional and only representing what could happen.)

Here is a look down into the insides of the model. The plastic bowl at the bottom is filled with blue tissue paper which represents the water the macaroni would boil in. Once cooked, the plastic swirly spoons on the sides of the bowl (mechanical levers) would lilt the cooking water & noodles into the device on top of the photo. This mesh netting would catch the completed noodles while another straw underneath siphons away the cooking liquid.

The the noodles would be tilted back into the first bowl to be combined with the melted cheese and mixed. (We couldn't get into a lot of these mechanical details on the model, but there were described in a step-by-step sequence by Grace in her Invention Log.)

She had to describe all of this to the judges and answer questions about her model and her process during the school day. That night there was a catered dinner for all of the participants' families. The school principal announced the winners in each grade level (K-2, 3-4, 5) as well as the overall winner that would continue on with their invention to the district competition.

Grace won for her age group and we were very, very proud of her. I really like how she took on this challenge and did so much of the work and thoughts on her own. 

The last few weeks

I know that I have a few FAQ questions that are waiting to be answered, and I will do so (thanks for the submissions!), but the last few weeks have been unusually "interesting," so I thought I would actually generate some content of my own by describing what I've been up to.

First, Grace and I were in a car accident two weeks ago. It was on a Monday night and I was taking her to her Daisy Scouts meeting a few blocks down from our house at the local elementary school. Lynda, Sarah, and Hannah were already on their way to church for one of the weekly Lenten book discussion meetings. As Grace and I were leaving our neighborhood and turning left at the four-way stop onto Spring Road, the offending driver came barrelling right at me. I saw her coming right at me in the corner of my left eye and had just enough to to think that she wasn't even attempting to slow down for the stop sign facing her. I stomped on the gas and attempted to avoid her, but it was too late. She came straight through the sign and hit straight into the driver's side passenger door--right where Grace was sitting behind me. The station wagon spun about 180 degrees and we ended up in the middle of the intersection facing diagonally into the lane that she had just driven through.

In those brief few seconds, I heard Grace scream and then it was over. Once the car stopped, I turned around to see how Grace was doing. She was shouting something like "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" but then she stopped and heard me as I asked if she was okay. She was.

I tried to get out of the car, but I couldn't open my door. I crawled out of the passenger's side front door and tried to open Grace's door. But it was already crushed and the top of the door was sticking out of its frame. I went back around to the other side of the car, opened the door, and crawled inside to get a good look at Grace. I immediately saw that she had a small bump in the corner of her left eye and the beginnings of a bruise that was running down a streak on the side of her face. But she wasnt bleeding and it seemed that she was mostly okay.

I got out to survey the damage and try to figure what to do. And there was another bystander who stepped up and helped me keep calm and make sure that things were stable. It was really nice to have complete strangers take time out to help. We waited for the police to come and I finally located the offending driver's car off to the side, parked on the side of the road past where the accident originally occurred. The driver was staying in her car--either because she was simply waiting, or because she was worried about whether Grace had been injured, or I don't know what. But throughout the entire process of turning in information and talking to the police she stayed away. (It was probably precautionary, but I didn't blame her for staying away. It wasn't because I was mad. I just didn't know what to say to her and I was more worried about Grace. She remained lucid and calm throughout and I stopped thinking that she was injured. But I made sure that the arriving EMTs took some time to ask her questions and make sure there weren't any concussion problems.

Once all the paperwork was done, the tow truck was there to take the car away for evaluation and the policeman drove Grace and I back down the block to the house. I kept an eye on her for the rest of the night to make sure that she didn't pass out or anything that might indicate some concussion symptoms.

And after that it was the ordinary bureaucracy of determining what to do with the damaged wagon (it was determined to be totaled by the other insurance agency), finding a replacement vehicle, and figuring out how to pay for it. Most of this was done during Holy (Easter) Week, helped mightily by Lynda's dad. (Her parents were visiting during that time.) By the start of this past week, we had settled on replacing the station wagon with another (newer) minivan, figuring that our current minivan (main car) will probably also need replacing in the next few years so we'd have another one ready to roll by then. It is a Chrysler Town & Country and has a few nice features that wasn't featured in the Dodge Grand Caravan that we bought from the Thompsons a few years back . . . but still retains all the features we liked about that van.

I enjoy the time spent getting used to a new car, the new buttons, features, radio presets, and such. It is a prototypical "male" time for me and I do my best to live up to the expectation. The only problem is that all cars today--especially the more complicated ones--have HUGE key fobs that instantly make your keys into a snarled mess that reminds me of how girls use to gussy up their keys back when they were in 6th grade. (Something I never did as a 6th grade girl.) But, such is the technological life.

*****

For the past two-and-a-half days, I 've been traveling (as you might have surmised from my Twitter and Facebook posts). It's unusual for me to do that, so I enjoyed the difference. But I am glad to be home and even more glad to have a day off at the end of the week to close our my kids Spring Break. Next Monday everything resets back to normal and I dive headlong in my new work project.

I hope I am able to resurface sometime before Christmas.

Another night, another video

Since my last post, which was heavily video-centric, was well received, why not tempt the fates again, keep playin' with what brought me, go back to the well, and other similar cliches and sayings?

So, tonight, I present Grace as she expounds on how Hannah reacts to Christmas. (How Grace knows this, since last Christmas Hannah was almost one-year-old and therefore not reacting to much of anything except warm formula . . . well, that is up to Grace to explain to you some other time. Personally, I think that Grace is suffering from what psychologists call transference.)

Hannah sings the ABCs . . . sort of.

I might apologize for relying on a video for today's post. I might take it to heart that I haven't done much thoughtful blogging lately and I might decide to take some time tonight when the kids are watching a movie to reflect on the past week, consider what is good and what needs improving in my life, try to formulate cogent opinions on the important topics of the day.

I might do these things.

But it is a Friday night and I've had a busy, illness-filled week of late nights, crying babies, fevers, single parenting and what not.

(And, really, it's the what not that wears you out the most.)

So, yeah . . . tonight it's only a video.

(But it's a cute one, right?)

School Daze Begins Again

Today is the first day of school (finally!) for Sarah and Grace.

Sarah enters fourth grade and Grace is moving into the first grade. I think they are both excited to get into it and see their friends that they weren't able to connect to all summer. Grace has Sarah's first grade teacher, so that is nice for us. I hope that Grace benefits from Mrs. Yoho's emphasis on reading skills and that we see an improvement on her already good reading skills. I also hope (as I did for Sarah at that time) that this experience will help her learn how to control herself emotional outbursts a bit before things escalate too far. Plus, first grade is full day, so we'll see how she handles the extended hours.

The scuttlebutt Lynda and I hear from other parents is that fourth grade has an increase in the amount and quality of homework from previous years, so it will be a challenge for Sarah and for our daily routine to match those expectations. I hope we are all up to it, but I expect Sarah to face that challenge most of all, obviously.

Also, I think we are going to take the plunge and let Sarah begin riding her bike to school this year--after we catch up this weekend and get her a proper bike lock and a house key (in case she gets home a few minutes before we do). Lynda and I still plan for one of us to leave work at the end of the school hours to be home with the kids in the afternoon, but due to traffic and the fact that we'll (for n0w) still be picking Grace up and driving home. I think Sarah might beat the car home by a few minutes, so its best to give her a key to get in, rather than sitting on the porch waiting. It's all so new and a slight bit unsettling for us, but Sarah wants to be more independent as she ages and we want to give her small bits of freedom. We're just trying to be smart about it. I think and hope that perhaps Grace will see Sarah riding her bike to and from school and might become more motivated to learn how to ride her own bike more effectively (minus the training wheels) as a result. If that happens, they can ride together and Lynda or I can meet them at home after picking up Hannah--again, with only a few minutes difference.

I try not to worry, remembering that I walked at least the same distance every single day of elementary school without any incident. I want them to be independent. I think they are capable of it. And its going to happen someday, whether I like it or not. Best start slowly getting used to the feeling, while I still have some say in the matter.