Checking in

We have been offline for a while, about a month in fact. There has undoubtedly been a lot of speculation as to what could possibly have caused this communications juggernaut to grind to a halt; but the truth is, it all came down to just 24 inches of USB cable.

[This isn't a new paragraph. I just liked the way that last sentence ended and wanted to pause on it]
Without that cable, we had 150 fair-to-prettygood photographs trapped inside our camera with no way of getting to our computer (and from there to the world).

[New paragraph]
I got a big surprise when the cable arrived this afternoon. Not only did it work, it downloaded the photos in a fraction of the time it normally takes. I've surmised that it must be "USB 2.0" while my previous cable was just "USB 1.lame" - that's the thing with being outdated, you don't really know you are, until a stranger in Hong Kong decides to mail you a padded envelope containing the new technology.

Now it may be pointed out that not having access to those photos really didn't prevent us from posting. And that's true to some extent. But the thing is, our approach is more to come up with a photo and then write something that works that photo into a story. This is in contrast with the approach that some people take of writing about things that are interesting and relevant and using pictures just to support the writing.




Which reminds me of Cringer. Cats are so fraught with personality quirks, that you are basically rolling the dice when you get one. For the most part though, Cringer has been a gamble that has really paid off. He is very gentle and patient with the kids. The only time he gets a little rowdy is at bedtime (for some reason). The kids recognize this evening transformation and refer to him during that period as "Battle Cat" instead. Aside from that, Cringer is a cuddly little guy who likes to be held and endures hair cuts and baths without any fuss.

Cringer's only odd trait is that he insists on always sitting in Deacon's spots (ie, his chair, his car seat, his stroller, or his blanket). This is either because 1) Deacon's spots are the most comfortable spots in the house, or 2) Cringer can sense that we are going to nourish and take care of Deacon and love him forever, and maybe someday put him through college, and Cringer hopes that by mimicking Deacon he might secure a similar fate. In truth, Cringer is going to have to come up with tuition on his own, but he still gets treated pretty well. For example, along with his cat food, he also gets home-made dinners of mixed turkey, rice, celery, and carrots. We also made the financial investment of taking him to the vet and having him spade.

[I know that the correct spelling is "spayed". I also realize that because Cringer is male, the correct term would have been "neutered", but on my read-over, I noticed that I used the words "dice" and "gamble" and I really wanted to get one more reference in there]




Here is a picture of our new activity. Take a long walk to the library, pick out a bunch of books, and then hang out on the couches like we are in a Chapters. It is good exercise and a library membership has to be one of the best value-for-money deals in the history of modern civilization.

The balloons are not normally part of the tradition. On our first trip I noticed that the dollar store had a helium bottle and thought it would make the walk more fun. As a side-effect it also made the pictures more interesting. (Further to that, I think that a balloon floating over the head of a child reading a book is a powerful image that would make a good statement about "dreams" or "potential" or something. If I was responsible for the library's advertising campaign I would use a picture like that with the headline, "Bayport Public Library: Maximizing and Posibilitizing Children Since 1977").

One thing that our family is working on this year is being more healthy. I don't mean the kind of healthy where you have to eat less and run on a treadmill (blech). I signed up for a class through work and it focussed more on eating whole foods and fewer processed foods. They advised against eating anything with "light" in the description because it basically means that all of the good stuff that your body needs has been removed and replaced with things like artificial sweeteners. If you are cooking, use butter instead of margarine or cooking spray, or use bacon fat - because your body recognizes bacon fat and needs it for lots of things. That's my kind of health course!

They talked about how the average person only chews their food four times before swallowing, when the real number should be closer to twenty or more. I came in the front door after the first day and announced to everyone that, "daddy was wrong, Mason was right" (Mason is our slowest eater). Now we set our forks down between bites and visit more during a meal. Predictably, drinking lots of water was something they stressed, but now we are drinking only sparingly with our meals. Apparently too much water can hamper the digestive process so now we drink a half hour before we eat and then two hours after.

The final change we have made is sleeping in 100% darkness. I thought there would be more opposition to me switching off the hallowed Hall Light, but the kids took to the change without any trouble. Apparently even a small amount of light can disrupt the body's cycle of sleep-time melatonin production, also disrupting the healing and growth process and maybe even increasing the risk of cancer. Google "malatonin and light" to see what you think - the point that really got me is when the presenter proposed that the reason we wake up feeling so awesome when we're camping isn't solely due to the fresh air, but is also due to the fact that we go to bed when the sun goes down, sleep in total darkness, and wake up when the sun comes up. I even cover the light from our alarm clock and we have been sleeping great the last few nights.

I hope the last few paragraphs don't sound too preachy or weird (actually after all these years, I'm fairly comfortable with being preachy), but because our family and closest friends are the only ones who actually read this blog, I want to share with you anything that has the potential of making us happier. I guess I am a lot like Lehi in that respect.


[This is another pause-for-effect. But I am like Lehi... specifically the, Nephi-just-broke-his-bow version of Lehi.]




- C