"Hope" is the thing with feathers, by Emily Dickinson (art by Sarah Martin)

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm - 

That could abash the little Bird - 

That kept so many warm -

I've heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

I needed to make this tonight. And thank God that I was able to find and successfully upload this image of a painting Sarah made in high school inspired by this Emily Dickinson poem.

I could have cut and pasted it.

But I needed to type it.

I needed to experience each letter of each word. Part of me is happy it is a short poem. And part of me is sad that it doesn't have more words for me to type. But the meaning is there and it is as powerful as I remembered and needed it to be.

Thank you Emily for this hope. And thank you Sarah for adding your vision and yourself to my relationship with it. May I memorize this poem to use in future prayer.

COV264D-19: Football Counter-Programming B1G Week 5

These days it feels like I am creating anxiety on a daily basis and that I am always waiting for the next shoe to drop.

There are the obvious health conditions in the country, as well as the political state of the country that are contributing to this inner turmoil. But I am also beset by worried of work and personal professional performance.

Why am I always ruining my daily life with expectations of perfection? What does that get me? How can I do good, quality work that isn't driven by a fear of mistakes. And when mistakes happen, how do I accept that failing in myself and truly (TRULY!) incorporate it as something to learn from and get better at rather than turning it into some sort of goad?

When will I learn to trust my ability and just keep doing the work that I have proven I know how to do pretty well?

You have no answer to this and you didn't come to this blog today to serve as my therapist.

***

In other news . . . Sarah hit a young buck deer on her way to work yesterday afternoon. Most luckily, she was unharmed, but half of her windshield was badly broken and part of her roof dented as well, plus a broken headlight and a misaligned panel on the side of the car. A significant accident and we are still waiting to hear what insurance will say about the state of the car.

She was only a few miles away from the house when it happened, near where a friend of mine lives. I quickly headed off to see how I could help. (So quickly that I neglected to grab a mask on my way out the door, which I realized when I was halfway there. But I didn't turn around because I was mostly concerned about getting to Sarah quickly.)

When I arrived, a man from across the road was checking to see if Sarah was alright. He was leaving as I walked up. I spoke to Sarah to see that she was physically fine and holding up emotionally. .Then I noticed that I had pulled the car along the side of the roadway very close to where the deer had come to rest. (And I had not even noticed it when I parked.) While Sarah and I were beside her car and some yards from the deer, I could see that it was still, but not dead. It was resting in a runoff ditch, beside the entrance to the neighborhood near the main road.

As Sarah and I talked, the first policeman arrived. (Sarah had already called the police while I was arriving.) He came out of his car carrying a rifle, ready to put down the deer. The officer asked Sarah and I to move away from our cars and away from the deer. We turned away and I braced for the sound. It was pretty loud but luckily he only shot once. 

Once he put the deer down, he approached and I was surprised when he asked if we had plans to keep the deer. (Grace later informed me that it is Ohio law that in these types of accidents, the person involved has a right to keep the deer if they wish.) But we had no desire to keep the meat or a way to keep it, transport it, butcher it . . . whatever. So we declined. He quickly asked if he could take it, as he could butcher it for meat. I was happy to let him have it, but that was the last part of this incident that I was mentally prepared or expecting to have at that moment. Mostly I was worried about Sarah's emotional state and the sound of the gun and didn't want her to be bothered with more thoughts of the deer that she had hit.

Once that was all over, we got down to the quotidian business of clearing out the accident. Sarah used her insurance app on her phone to contact a tow truck. 

While we waited for the tow, I made a quick call to my friend who lived nearby and asked him if he could bring me one of his masks. I was increasingly self-conscious about talking to police and whomever else might arrive with no protection on me. He quickly arrived and helped save the day. He caught up for a few minutes while Sarah sat in my car and rested. He left a few minutes later. It is good to have friends!

Lynda called to see how things were progressing. She decided to come and let Sarah borrow Grace's car so that Sarah could proceed ahead to her job and hopefully occupy her mind with other things. Lynda and I stayed with the accident to report it to insurance, and get that machinery going.

Eventually the tow truck arrived and we completed the claims report for insurance. We headed back home to complete our day and wait for next steps. Sarah got home to us from work that evening and we are all safe again together.

It was an unusual afternoon--to be sure. But nothing more than machinery and a deer were hurt. I'm glad enough for that.

Back to the normal anxieties once again.

COV132D-19: PARTY MONTH #4--Happy Birthday Sarah!

A few weeks ago I was laying in bed, trying to put another day behind me. And I started thinking about the fact that Sarah is turning twenty-years-old this year--today in fact!

And during those musings, it occurred to me that while she is turning 20, numerically she is starting her THIRD decade. Because every day beyond 20 is adding to a new decade of life. And isn't it odd to think that she is turning 20, but entering her third decade? It sounds so much more impressive than 20--not that her age isn't impressive enough all on its own. I just found it an odd observation.

But . . . I'm not here today to wax oddly about numerology. I'm here to praise my oldest daughter as she leaves her teen youth behind and pushes resolutely into her twenties. I hope many wonderful things come from the years ahead. I won't list any specifics here because a.) I don't want to put pressure on her and because b.) no one is guaranteed anything this day and age. As you know, the 2020 Party Month has been an unusual one. But Sarah grows and ages nonetheless.

She will take on her own challenges in the coming years, finishing some things and starting others. She will make choices--most of them good because she is wise and thoughtful. And some of them bad because she is still young and has the opportunity to take a risk. I hope that she celebrates her wins and learns from her losses. 

I am struggling to say more because I've been praising her on this space, on her birthday, since she was around 4 years old. This blog was created (in part) to capture my children growing up and so by necessity, it has captured so much of Sarah's life. 

But increasingly her life is her own and not a story that I tell about her. Her experience is outside and away from mine. And I get to see it from a remove. I must wonder more and more if she is happy about her life because it is happening away from me. And when I get a chance to share it, it brightens my day and enriches the life that I get to control.

So--happy birthday to you Sarah! I hope you can find time to feel celebrated and loved this week by family and friends.

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.

Football Counter-Programming 2019: Week 7

Welcome back to another installation of 2019 Football Counter-Programming. Each week I try to distract you from college football with my own little digital oasis of something else. And this week I'm doing things a bit differently.

FIRST--I want you to close your computer, drive over the Westerville North High School after lunch today and pay a small admissions fee to come watch the Westerville Invitational marching band competition. Because what better way to distract yourself from college football than sitting in a football stadium and NOT watching football? Watch marching bands instead. Marching bands have existed to distract you from football for over a century!

There are almost 15 bands in all shapes and sizes coming to Westerville today to perform, get scores and ratings, and just enjoy themselves. I promise you that you can't find a better way to send your beautiful afternoon and evening than doing this. And all proceeds are evenly split between the Westerville South and Westerville North marching programs.

Now--on to other things.

Because I'm going to be busy all day with the competition, I don't have tons of time to come up with and write a suitably distracting post--in the off chance that a.) you aren't coming to the Westerville Invitational or b.) you are simply living too far away to come to the Westerville Invitational.

So, I've dug up something that I wrote many years ago when Sarah's artistic talent was first being celebrated. It goes way back into my digital archives and many years back in time. But do please click to enjoy!

https://wwyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-at-state-capitol.html

(And remember. No one on the football field knows more about hashmarks than the band members.)

Until next week!

Party Month 2019: Happy Birthday no. 3

It is nearing the end of July so that means the annual tradition of Party Month is coming to a close for another 11-and-a-half months. 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)

***

Last year at this time, I was waxing poetically about Sarah growing up, graduating, and moving out onto her own in the world. And she has started to do just that. Sure, we saw quite a bit of her during her first year of college (she was only 20 minutes down the road after all). But Sarah definitely got to be more independent and she has learned more and more about how to make her own choices, set her own schedule, and see her own life in front of her rather than the life we have been laying out for the last eighteen years.

She still has miles to go before she sleeps--and she doesn't get loads of that in college anyway. But she is handling the challenges well. And Lynda and I continue to be proud of who she is, what she thinks, and how she sees herself and the world.

This summer she has been hard at work almost every day down in the North Market at Destination Donuts. It's been more exhausting than relaxing during the summer months when she hasn't been at school. But we're all glad that she has the job and that she has some extra money to spend. And she'll be able to keep working there during the school weekends to help maintain that cash flow. So, as usual, there is much to be proud of.

She's turning nineteen today and is doing a great job of figuring out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. I've been praising her on this Web site since she was four years old, so sometimes it seems like I've run out of nice things to say. But she keeps on growing and getting better. I don't always remark on it here or in person, but I'm always taking notice and being happy for what I see. 

It is hard growing up in today's world. And Lynda and I have always put high expectations on our girls. So we haven't always made it easier. But through it all Sarah has maintained her calm and found ways to be happy. She doesn't always go out of her way to show her personal side to the world, so sometimes you have to stretch out yourself to engage with her. But I promise that if you put in the effort to know her better, you'll find a thoughtful, creative, and fun person. She'll well worth knowing--and I should know because I've been paying attention for a long time.

Happy birthday to you Sarah! Here is to many, many more to come.

Party Month 2018--Closing it out

Here we are deep into August and I still haven't closed out Party Month with my traditional review of the end event--Sarah's birthday.

And this one was a milestone: her eighteenth, her achievement of majority in between high school graduation and college departure, etc. She is an adult and she is getting ready to embark on her own journey into her own life: beginning to fully take the reigns of that life and make it entirely her own. (I say all this with the hope and the perspective that she won't still need our aid, our advice, and our presence in the future--especially in these new college years.) But . . . there are new things a-comin'.

Her party? A low-key affair: per her request. A family dinner out, some elaborate dessert, some presents. The traditional Happy Birthday banner hung in her honor by the breakfast table.

She did have separate fun out with her friends. But the days of scavenger hunts, big decorations, and sugary cakes are no more.

And that's a notable point to make and something that I realize more forcefully as I type these words. Because this WWYG?! blog really began with Sarah and with Grace. It started in part as a way to chronicle my own experience as a parent and to capture the events of my children as they grew, away from the rest of my family. Forcing me to try and convey something of my own new life across a distance that I had not imagined when I was younger and thinking into my own unknown future.

Sure . . . WWYG?! is about a lot more than my kids. But family has always been the biggest category encompassing the most of the blog posts I've written over the years. (No matter how many times I might have gone on and on about LOST back in the older days when I posted multiple times a week.)

***

I won't stop posting, of course. I've got two more kids to get into adulthood and then many more exciting things to report about their achievements for years to come. (And maybe I'll do something in my own life worth remembering as well.)

Until those events happen . . . Happy Eighteen birthday Sarah! Congratulations on all that you have accomplished and all that you are.

Football Counter-Programming 2017: Conference Championship Week

NOTE: I am posting this painting here specifically because Sarah allowed Lynda to put it on Facebook. Otherwise, I would not have publicized it.

Today is Championship Week in college football. This signals at once that the football season is coming to an end while also saying that the real work is still very much ahead. All of the ups and downs of the regular season were pointed to (hopefully) getting to this point. But not everyone will experience this week and even fewer will advance beyond this with a victory to move into the playoff games ahead.

And here is where my discussion of college football stops--because this post is supposed to be diverting you from college football to something else. But my subject for today is related to this experience of working toward a goal and projecting forward towards an unknown future.

I speak--of course--about the college application experience. And since I am featuring one of Sarah's paintings above (and since she is the oldest and the one who will be trying for college first, you know that I am talking about the experience I have had as she goes through her efforts to apply to art schools.

And the first thing you need to know is that it is not finished. And that is relevant to my own struggles within the last few weeks, as I have tried to get straight in my own head the various deadlines and requirements for each individual school. You see, I thought that she was facing a hard deadline of December 1 (yesterday) for submission of paperwork, essays, transcripts, and most crucial for art schools, a collection of artwork (the portfolio) that is the bedrock of the school's evaluation of her application. And, heading into Thanksgiving week, that seems very unlikely and I was stressed out beyond belief.

But . . . I have learned that my stress was misplaced. You could get full applications in by December 1, but it was not a necessity. Scholarships for Fall 2018 would be available a few months after the Christmas holidays and all was not, in fact, lost. So, I have taken a breath and held onto hope.

Going through this has been stressful, no matter what the deadline, because Sarah has been working to find her artistic voice throughout this process and she is doing it on her own (and not my) schedule. She will get what she needs to have done when it is required--that I very much believe. But I have had to accept the fact that she is doing it her way and decidedly NOT my way. But I have to acknowledge that everything about what she is doing is hers and not mine--and not for the obvious reason you may be thinking.

Sarah is an artist. And to be an artist involves bravery and skill that I simply do not have. She is making pieces and expressing parts of herself in ways that I definitely could not do when I was seventeen. And she is embarking on a college journey that I am frightened of and also full of admiration for. She is taking a challenging road, but she is committed to accomplishing something unique. She is defining her world and her life on her own terms. And isn't that all Lynda and I have been trying to teach her to do anyway?

Plus . . . and I think this bears saying, even though I am decidedly unobjective about it . . . she is talented.And she can DO this. I believe it! I hope for it. I want it to happen.

And it may not happen in the way that I would try it. And the accomplishment of it may be unpredictable and as yet unclear. But I believe in her.

So . . . I guess that is it for this week.

If your team is in a conference championship game today--I hope you find out the results on the internet before you go to sleep tonight and don't spend your time watching it on the television. There are only a few more Counter-Programming posts remaining this season, so let's make them count.

Thanks for stopping by.

Party Month 2017 #4

Sarah turns 17 today! And I've been celebrating her life and its change upon me since 2000--and on my various digital platforms since 2005.

So I sit down and wonder what else there is to say? But she is always becoming something new and teaching me something else from her point of view. There is always that to look forward to.

Sarah is getting ready, in earnest, to leave her childhood and start making her way on her own. One more year of high school ahead and then big changes are coming for us all. We don't know the answers to all of those questions yet. But I grow more confident that she is equipping herself to handle that world.

And I hope she comes home occasionally.

Happy birthday to my favorite Sarah! I am proud of who you are.

Hope

Credit: Sarah Martin

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - 

That perches in the soul - 

And sings the tune without the words - 

And never stops - at all - 

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - 

And sore must be the storm - 

That could abash the little Bird 

That kept so many warm - 

I’ve heard it in the chillest land - 

And on the strangest Sea - 

Yet - never - in Extremity, 

It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson, "Hope" is the thing with feathers

[copied via this Web site]

An artist's life

Art installation on the Fort Hayes campus; Photo credit: me

Sarah and I attended her art portfolio class orientation on Thursday evening. Her class meets in the Shot Tower, on the Ft. Hayes campus--one of the oldest spots in the Columbus area. (Click on the link in the photo caption to learn more.) Plus, its across the street from the Kroger bakery--so the air always smells great.

She met with her other classmates to listen to Mrs. Akers explain the expectations of this two-year course and get perspective on what will happen through her remaining high school experience. Next year is going to be about a lot of basics and I thought it sounded kind of like how boot camp breaks you down and builds you back up the way they want you to be. Sarah says that she is cool with that, but I hope you will stay positive when they are spending two months on how to properly draw a line . . .

Still, these basic techniques are very important. And Mrs. Akers emphasized that strongly--that no matter what you may end up doing some day and whether or not you work with charcoal or a mouse later in your career, you have to know basic techniques that apply to all matter of media.

We also heard much about the upcoming summer project--a sketchbook preparation task in which Sarah fills up one or more sketchbooks with her artistic impressions, completes research on art schools, museums and artists, art festivals, art career opportunities, and her own spur-of-the-moment thoughts. It sounds like a fun way to get Sarah to keep her eyes open and her mind engaged this summer--plus it gives Mrs. Akers a window into the minds of her new class of students. Sarah herself seems excited by the prospect and whenever you can get a teenager excited about summer homework, well . . .

I personally hope this assignment creates chances for us to visit museums, festivals, and to break out of our routine this summer. There are definitely museums within driving distance that I want to visit.And I hope Sarah fills that book up with sketches, notes, thoughts, ticket stubs, museum brochures, and more.

I am happy with Sarah's attitude about this class and I really hope it pushes, stretches, and challenges her over the next two years. If she sinks herself into this work, I really do believe that it can help her get into an art school like she wants and that it will help us find a way to pay for it.

My Log Has Something to Say About This: Twin Peaks . . . again

Sarah wants to watch #TwinPeaks to better understand the references in #GravityFalls. #WhateverItTakes #fb pic.twitter.com/9G9OCTmvfy

— David Martin (@dtm1971) August 29, 2015

 So . . . this began over the weekend. And you know that I was happy to oblige, as watching Twin Peaks was a defining moment in my high school life.

I'm happy to report that things are going well. We've watched four episodes so far--which takes us approximately this far in the story:

• Laura Palmer's body is found by Pete Martell near the Packard Mill.
• We get reactions from all of the main players/story characters in town.
• FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper arrives in Twin Peaks to investigate the murder and connect any possibly similarities to a previous murder in a different location. He also ties in the abduction and escape of Ronette Pulaski. Cooper's ongoing investigation reveals that Ronette was kidnapped along with Laura and was in danger of being murdered as well. There appears to be some connection between the perfume counter at Horne's Department Store (where Ronette and Laura worked) and working at the Canadian brothel One-Eyed Jack's.
• Agent Cooper has revealed that a.) he is deeply enamored with Twin Peaks and its citizens and b.) he is very comfortable using non-standard investigatory procedures to solve crimes. For instance, in episode three he reveals to the TP police department that he is swayed by dreams and mystical practices of Tibetan monks. (At the end of that same third episode, he experiences his first dream visit to the Red Room and sees the dancing man from another place. He also first learns of Mike, the one-armed man and his murderous friend, Bob.)
• Laura's body is buried in episode four and Leland Palmer's mental state continues to decline. He throws himself on Laura's coffin and later pleads with someone to dance with him at the Roadhouse dance hall.
• Cooper is also introduced to the presence of the Bookhouse Boys (so far shown to be Sheriff Truman, Deputy Hawk, Big Ed Hurley, James Hurley, and Joey Paulson. Cooper is warned by the Bookhouse Boys that Twin Peaks owes much of its idyllic nature to the countervailing presence of some sort of evil out in the woods.
• Bobby--Laura's former boyfriend and all around bad boy--is just generally acting like a jerk all around town. He seems very committed to being a complete HS stereotype of a bad-boy . . . but he doesn't quite know how to pull it off.
• The Bookhouse Boys also tell Cooper about the drug-running that is taking place across the Canadian border, through One-Eyed Jacks. This is being facilitated by Jacques Renault and his gang. More to come on that later.

Sarah has taken to the show in good faith. I was concerned that the slow pace of the scenes and each individual episode would be too much for her.* And she seems to be really like the odd quirkiness of the characters.

There are still many episodes to go in the (good) first season and then the (disappointing) second season. And we haven't seen much of Bob yet. (I am afraid of how she'll react to some of the upcoming Bob stuff--some of which is a bit intense.) But I am enjoying watchng the show again as well.

It is hard to get back to the headspace I was in in 1989 and 1990 when this show meant everything to me. Television is so very different now and the variety of voices and styles is so much greater now than then. So I intellectually understand how radically Twin Peaks stood out to me then. It is much harder to accomplish that today. Even as a fan, I see the limitations of the acting and am frustrated by the glacial plotting of the show as it was back then.

Just don't expect me to recap every episode. Because you know how THAT would turn out.


* I was also wondering if she might be terribly confused by the intense melodrama surrounding Laura's death. The characters do seem to lose their shit over her death really fast. (Sarah noted that Laura seemed to be the only thing holding these people together.) And I thought she might be confused by that because she has--unfortunately--lived her formative years in a time of increased mass shootings and teenage deaths. I thought she wouldn't understand what all the fuss was about?

What I didn't consider was that this melodrama was Lynch's style for the show. He wanted this to be very soap opera-y . . . at least in some of these early episodes. As a parent, I was trying to interpret how my child's lifestyle might affect her interpretation of something. I should have thought like a media critic and discussed the collective vision of the artist.

And it probably shouldn't matter anyway. She spent some of her early childhood years watching Disney Channel and other "kids" shows that seemed to specialize in 1000% personalities that emoted through lots of shouting. That is pretty Lynchian.

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.

BEDA 16: Honest Trailers, Harry Potter edition

Sarah showed me this Honest Trailer today on the YouTubes.
If you haven't heard of Honest Trailers, well, you'll get the idea once you see the trailer.

(There is a slight bit of suggestive language--but only just a little. If that sort of thing offends you, you've been warned. But it really isn't that bad.)

BEDA 12: A Day Without Ideas

I don't have any good ideas for today.

(Click the picture for a larger version to get a better look at details.)

So, I'm posting a picture that Sarah drew about a week ago.

Cheers.

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 12th Birthday!

(Party Month is now officially over for another year.)

Is there something special about number twelve? I seem to remember it being so for me all those years ago, but I don't remember why.

Sarah said that her eleventh was a special year, as 11 is her lucky number (old enough for Hogwarts but TOO young for the Reaping).

But she was looking forward to this year as well. She is growing more mature, responsible, and confident by the day. Still, she retains an ability to laugh at herself and find the humor in the world. It is that quality I especially cherish in her.

Keep smiling and laughing Sarah. I promise to be doing it beside 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.

Parents Wordle

Most of the time, the papers that the kids bring home from school are just the daily detritus of their time away from us . . . worksheets, old tests, homework papers we first saw when they were blank and mysterious. And after a perfunctory scan to see that there are no important notes from the teacher, a report from the school nurse, or warnings of academic insufficiency . . . they are recycled or tossed into the trash can.

So, when Sarah pulled out a stack of papers this afternoon, I was prepared for more of the same. I flipped through and examined the old tests, to see what she had been getting wrong. I looked for old stories that I didn't know she had written. I check teacher comments to see encouraging things like "Good job!" "Well described!" and the like.

But then I saw a Wordle in the mix and a few of the words caught my eye--words I recognized such as "boo yah." "awesome," and "Mom." I asked her what it was and found that in her technology class last month they were asked to create a Wordle describing her parents. And I am happy to see the nice things that Sarah conjured to describe us.

Enjoy!
(I know that I did.)

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.