Oh, Grandma

Grandma (Sandy's Mom) was over for Christmas Day to watch the boys open presents in the morning. She likes to help out while she is here. She attempts to do dishes and pick up and stuff. God bless her for trying. Her heart is in the right place. But there are things that she has trouble with. Pretty much anything having to do with electronics/technology is just beyond her grasp. Thursday, after the fury of the present openings, Sandy and I were in the kitchen doing the lunch dishes. She started cracking up and pointed out the scene below. Grandma had hung up the TV remote. I couldn't help but imagine her saying, "Sandy, I don't know what's wrong. Every time I turn to channel 911, the cops show up at the door."

Blue Moon

Blue Moon is a decent beer. I have only drank it on a few occasions. Each time with very strange results. One time was the night out with the Symantec guys, Heather, Anna, and the tornadoes. Thursday night there was a holiday party for the businesses in our building. Good food and free drinks. Mine were of the Blue Moon variety. After two and a half, I was pretty chatty. But otherwise fine. Sandy & I went to see a movie at the cheap theater. Nothing's too good for my girl you know. We watched Changeling. Pretty good, I thought. It's a story of abuse of power by the LA police force. Not really what I was expecting but good. Anyway, that night I had the strangest dream. In the dream I had been drinking. I was driving the van alone through a graveyard. I got very sleepy drunk and could not focus to drive. Somehow I got onto a footpath then started mowing down headstones. One got caught under the van and I was stuck. I hoofed it home (but not to my house) because I didn't want to face the cops in that condition. Soon I was asleep. Yeah, I went to sleep in my dream and had another dream. I don't remember what that dream was about but there were no vehicular causalities. The worries about the van floated away into dreamland. Eventually I awoke from the inner dream. Wakefulness brought with it that nasty gut wrenching feeling that you get when you remember all the crap you did while you were drunk the night before. I remembered the van was wrecked and that I'd have to take care of that ugliness. Ugh. I started walking back to the graveyard. Then I woke up. For real this time. It took me quite a while to figure out what was dream and what was reality and whether the van was wrecked or not. I've never taken any hallucinogenics, but... Blue Moon does seem to have some funky effects on me.

Toothy Questions

Lately, we've noticed that Jacob is having trouble brushing his teeth thoroughly enough. When we were at my Mom's last weekend, I brushed them a bit myself and I could see the gums bleeding some. I had a talk with him and explained that he needs to do a better job, making sure every tooth gets brushed. Sandy and I tried to convince him that going to the dentist with a cavity is very unpleasant experience. I think he got the idea because later he came to Sandy and said, "I need to talk to you about something. I just read 'little critter goes to the dentist' and he had a cavity. I'm afraid to go to the dentist now." Sandy told him everything would be fine as long as he brushed his teeth well enough. The next morning he brush his teeth for about five minutes. :-)
Every night before bed, he brushes his teeth and uses a fluoride rinse. Last night he asked, "Dad, what is that rinse I use?" I told him it is a fluoride rinse to help strengthen the enamel on his teeth and prevent cavities. He said, "Oh boy. I just have so many questions." I was just able to contain my laughter. I told him to go ahead and ask some of his questions. Sandy started cracking up and soon I was laughing too. He asked, "What is fluoride? What is enamel? Why is the rinse red or green?" I did my best to explain everything and sent him off to bed.

Cloud Cult - Again

Sandy and I are going to another Cloud Cult show this Friday. I can't wait! I'm so glad I got acquainted with their music. (Thanks Steve). It's not very often that you find music that makes you change your outlook on life. That's how powerful it is - to me at least. I suppose it's not for everyone. Everyone has their own musical preferences. Their lyrics are very personal and courageously open. I've tried to introduce some family and friends to them, with some success. My Mom said she likes them a lot. And Sandy loves them like I do. To me, the sharing of music one likes with others can be a strangely touchy area. I realize that listening to music is a personal thing and the last thing I want to do is to push my tastes onto someone else. Like, "You Must Like This". I hate it when others do that, with religion, politics, or whatever. But rather my position is this, "You know, I found something that I really enjoy. I want to share it with you because I care for you. I hope you might get the same enjoyment from it that I do." End of pitch. No pressure.

Actually,

I’ve discovered the following property of Girl:

int Girl::getNumActuallys()
{
    //The number of times a girl says Actually is directly
    //proportional to the product of her stupidity and hotness.

    return this.getStupidity() * this.getHotness();
}

Grandma Kate

My Grandma (Dad's Mom) passed away last week. We traveled to Goshen, Indiana for the funeral. I don't have a whole lot of memories of her. A big yard to play in, a swing hanging from a tree branch, and pie. That's about it. She was a very kind lady. Unfortunately she married an unkind man. That led to my belief that visiting her house was not a joyous affair. She was tough, stubborn, hardened, and dutiful. I realize that's because she had a difficult road in life. She still managed to be very loving to us grandkids and she will be missed.

Going Home

We're hading to Chippewa this weekend to visit my Mom. I always enjoy a trip back home. The kids love to see grandma Julie. Of course she spoils them terribly, but I figure that's a grandmother's privilege. Sandy and I plan on taking advantage of the free babysitting opportunity to go out and catch a movie. We've both been wanting to see The Dark Knight. I'm not so sure she'll like it but she wants to see it because of Heath Ledger. She's been a fan since she saw Brokeback Mountain.

Mom had me order her a new computer last week. So part of my entertainment will be setting up her new system. Her last computer she had built by a freind with a computer business. It overheated and fried out. She was not at all happy about that. I directed her to Dell this time. I've had pretty good luck with them in the past. Since I'm a computer programmer I feel somehow responsible for my Mom's computing experiece. Wierd.

Lately, during breaks, I've been going out the the park that's next to my workplace. The weather is beautiful this time of year. Sitting outside really relaxes me. There are usually some - let's just say less fortunate - people sitting on the benches out there. If I have some change in my pocket I leave a quater on my bench. It's dumb, but I figure it means nothing to me and it might make someone else's day brighter. I'd leave more but well, I don't. And I'm sure if I was to give someone a quarter, he'd be offended and upset at the amount. But if he finds the quarter, he picks it up and feels fortunate. Funny how people are. And I don't exclude myself from that.