Oh ack! The radio says a storm is coming that will last until Christmas day. Noooo! We're supposed to drive about 250 miles to Meckinock's on Christmas Eve. Make it stop!

And in other news, I tried to read a well-known YA book yesterday and wound up tossing it. To me, it had the depth of HOP ON POP. So I picked up Stieg Larsson's GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO instead. He's dumping a whole lot of backstory on me in chapter 1. He better make this struggle worth my while pretty quick!

An online writer friend's first book is being published in a couple of weeks, and she's going to do a blog tour, which I'm going to participate in. This is an online (read: requires no publicity money) series of interviews on blogs. The writer gets to talk to a variety of blog readers about the book and about writing. My theory is that if the writer comes across as someone the reader would like talking to, then they'll take a chance on the book even if it's not the reader's usual genre choice. I don't know how many people will read the short interview on my blog since it's scheduled for New Year's Eve. And the book is a romance, which is probably less read by my online buddies than fantasy is. But the writer is a great person who's had a long road to publication, which Eru knows, I can relate to.

Lots of winter stuff this week--not surprisingly, I guess.

The kids' area in the library always has the cutest decorations. I was there on Tuesday:

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What makes for narrative tension? What drives you through a story, eager to read the next page?

Is tension the same in fanfic, where the reader knows Aragorn is going to survive some mishap?

I ask because the topic came up for discussion on a list I belong to. It's important and not obvious.

Ames, Ia-

Today was my birthday. I turned 36. I told my wife that I feel like my life is half over. I don't mean that in a bad way. I just feel like this is a good age and 72 seems about what I am gonna get. I am thankful that I am in good health, have a wonderful family and some great friends. I am going to try to do even better with the next 36.

Woke up late this morning because Maricel was a champion and took Pharaoh to school and then went to the gym. It always feels weird to me to wander around our house without anyone else home. It feels so empty and quiet. I fielded various calls and Facebook comments from people which made me feel special. Nothing, however, makes me feel as special as my wife's earnest attempts to make my birthday special. She is so wonderful. We ate lunch at Arby's because I love it and I hadn't eaten there since coming home from Iraq. I know, sounds kind of lame to some people but it was great. Sabella was running around the restaurant being her usual cute self and making instant friends. People just can't help but respond to her personality. After lunch Maricel and I split up and I took Sabella with me. A friend was receiving her Master's Degree today and we were going to her party. I picked her up a card and Sabella and I wandered Border's for a while.

I love books. I love everything about them. I think that in another reality I became a librarian and live in a house with seventeen cats and people talk about "That weird Mr. Lloyd." See what my wife saved me from? Whew!

The party was a lot of fun and it was clear that the graduate was much loved. She could only take one class at a time due to working a full time job and so it took her six years to complete it. I am so impressed with her. Good for you.

We left the party a little early and Maricel went to pick up her dad while I brought the girls home. He was so great to come over and watch them AND Noah while we went to see Avatar for my birthday. The movie was in 3-D which was something that I wasn't even expecting. Let me tell you, those glasses have improved since 1985. Gone are the paper ones that hurt my nose. Now they are like cheap sunglasses but still were quite comfortable. I was impressed overall with the movie. It was exciting, entertaining and full of impressive new digital effects. I do think that the story had some soft parts in the plot but overall I think the movie is solid. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Science Fiction, watching cool FX or love stories. I would even go see it again.

We stopped by Starbucks after the movie and had an amazing Hot Apple Cider with Pierce and Ginny. It was nice to be out after dark and talking with adults. I bet Maricel enjoyed that even more than I did. After some excellent conversation we trundled home to find the father in law in a chair with the sleeping Noah and the girls were still awake downstairs at 11:00! I was amazed because Sabella was acting sleepy when we brought her home at 6. But now it is 11:53 and the house is quiet. The girls are sound asleep upstairs. Maricel is sound asleep downstairs. And I am almost 36 years and 1 day old. I hope I can make the next 364 days count.

Happy Birthday Fred!

Pharaoh's class is having a Christmas party tomorrow and the kids decided they'd like it to have a pajama party. So everyone gets to come in their pajamas. Thing is, that Pharaoh's favorite pair of pajamas is actually in the laundry tonight, which means that when she wakes up tomorrow we'll have to take off what she slept in and put her in new pajamas. LOL
silly silly :P

Ames, Ia-

Went to bed last night after watching Battlestar Galactica and didn't sleep well. I am sure Maricel didn't sleep well either because Noah was up a lot. Then when I woke up this morning I had this horrible pain in my guts. Somehow I managed to get Pharaoh dressed, fed and make her breakfast before Maricel took her to school. Being a stay at home dad is a lot of work.

Speaking of BG, Maricel and I are calling it 4th book (BG 4.5) because it is all so unnecessary. They could have ended the series perfectly before these last 12 episodes and it would have been a good ending versus the dreck we have to watch now. Not to mention that the story now makes no sense at all. And the buildup to the final Cylon was SO overblown. Talk about a letdown. And yet I still can't turn away.

Had my TSA interview yesterday and I passed. Now I have to have the physical. It would be great if I could start the job and get paid. I am worried about my ability to receive a Top Secret security clearance due to my poor financial history. I have not always made the best decisions but none of them are recent so hopefully that counts for something. The bad thing is I could get hired, work there for six months and then be let go because of my inability to get the clearance. That would be very not good. I also interviewed for a job at the Youth Shelter Services here in Ames. It is a night gig so that part is not ideal but I really like the job. Sadly, it pays less that what we need to survive. -sigh- So there is the distant possibility that I might have to go back overseas. I am not sure but it could happen. I am just going to see how things go.

The road in front of our house is a dead end. Since I haven't been here for a lot of winters, I never noticed how poorly they were maintained. I have been calling and complaining, trying to get someone to come and fix them. Today I received a call back and the guy on the line was very nice and he is sending out a plow today to fix it. I discovered that the city stops plowing the roads 2 streets away an contracts out the rest. Uhh. Why? Oh well, squeaky wheel gets the grease I guess.

Fred could possibly go back to his job in Iraq on the 20th of this month. Technically that's when his Family Medical Leave ends but it's been his plan, since the second day of coming home, to not go back at all. He's registered for school, applied to all kinds of jobs and actually had an interview for a promising job today.
Then he tells me later in the afternoon that the chance of him going back overseas with ManTech (the company he worked for before) is 20%. This immediately makes me wonder how fast the percentage is rising and he says it's up 5% in the past 24 hours. Hm.
THIS leads me to make a LJ entry.
I've been thinking about what he's told me all day. I don't think he knows just how torn I am with the whole situation. There's no WAY I'd tell him to go back over there. There are just so many things wrong with that. For instance, it would seem like I don't want him around or that I don't care whether he's here or not, or that he's not as valuable as a husband as he is a provider, or that his kids don't need him. I wouldn't ever want him to think any of those things - even if they're imagined.
BUT The whole job in Iraq had one good thing, no other job close to use has. And I'll give you ONE guess what that is. yup. money.
The pay for the job in Iraq is so good that it's nearly addictive. There are so many things you are able to do when you're making that much money per month. Pay off credit cards repeatedly, splurge on things you don't usually get to, fix things around the house that would normally take months to save for, travel, save for retirement, even invest! -awe face- Money left over enough to invest. -whistle-
That's something we won't have the luxury for anymore in the future. In fact there are a lot of things that will be luxuries in the future.
It's really hard to think that what I say or don't say could push Fred to a decision he'd regret, which is why I don't like saying anything at all. -frown-

What would you rather?
Would you rather have your wife tell you that she thinks the money is worth you going away for longer, or that the new sacrifice you'll all have to make will be everything you've gotten used to -- in order to stay together?

:S


-sigh-

Much to my joy, this past week my parents decided it was time to graduate from diapers. I've been waiting for them to be ready and it just seemed like the right time.
Of course it was simple. They were beyond shocked that I grasped the concept so quickly (ha), and I can't even express how wonderful it is to be rid of those bulky, smelly, inconvenient, cumbersome diapers.

I'm a really lucky guy because my wife loves me and wouldn't leave me if she won the lottery.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/12/16/medina.dnt.fl.lotto.dispute.wsvn

Of course, having her love me is kind of like winning the lottery anyway.

Fred and I decided that the self-esteem demoralizing equivalent to a woman being overweight, is a man out of work.

This makes us a sorry pair. lol
But, just temporarily.

I have no doubt that Fred will find work, and I am doing my darndest to lose weight as quickly as possible. Eventually it will all work out and we'll be more "happy". But for now we get to console and cheer one another on, until our goals are achieved.
It's nice to have a partner who cares and wants to see you succeed, even if there is nothing they can do to help you.

Thanks Fred.
Good luck on the TSA interview tomorrow!
All the other places you applied to, will want to hire you but feel sad they weren't good enough for you. -smile-

Holy crap. The UK Border's is closing. I hope the US isn't headed this way too.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/106737-borders-to-close-22nd-december-unless-buyer-comes-forward.html

As an aside, I remember when Borders was just the local independent bookstore in Ann Arbor.

As you all know (because I've whined endlessly), we had a snow storm this week. The storm started last Tuesday. Here's a view off my front porch from early in the storm.

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Ames, Ia

Herein you will find the transcript of a 2 year old narrating an NFL game.

Sabella: Oh he run fast!

(Pause)

Sabella: He fall down, daddy!


Honestly she's better than half of the play by play guys out there :D

I'm reading a book about feng shui that's very cool. My house has bad feng shui, which must explain everything!

Also, I'm reading Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which my sister recommended. I'm in the middle of a sequence in which the little girl is undergoing foot binding. It's so brutal that I have to take frequent breaks. The goal was feet as long as a thumb. The four smaller toes were bound under. The goal was for the toes to meet the heel. The woman would walk on her big toe, assuming she wound up able to walk. The bones broke. One in ten girls died from foot binding and the pain was awful.

Sabella
talks with her hands. It's so funny.
And boy can she go off about something or another. On the way to the church for our Ward Christmas party dinner she was just jabbering away. I could only make out about 30% of the words she was saying, but it seemed to be very involved and went on and on, taking up the entire 18 min drive to the church building. I would've enjoyed it quite a bit more if Noah hadn't been crying so terribly. -sad face-

Our ward dinner was nice. I made a pumpkin pie for the potluck dessert table. We sat next to the family we shared our Thanksgiving dinner with (Jessica, Andrew, Ethan and Ross Barker). Then after eating we got to sing Christmas songs that went with the nativity story. It was a nice way to spend the evening. I thought that maybe Fred would think it tedious, but he held up really well --- even though he'd been wrestling around with the girls this afternoon which wore him out and at the end of the dinner when the kids (not just ours, but all the kids in the whole ward!!) going CRAZY from all the sugar they'd ingested and running spastically all over the gymnasium as people were cleaning up.
-smile- He said he didn't know how I made it through a whole year like that since today wiped him out so thoroughly. That comment made me want to hug him. -laugh-

Now we're off to bed. -stretch-
Tomorrow should be fun. Game day!! Lots o' folks comin'. Hoorah!

Ames, Ia-

Me: Are you still looking at old LJ entries?

Maricel: I like looking at old LJ entries.

Me: I like it to. I like LJ. In fact, I practically invented LJ.

Maricel: -stare-

As of three days ago we've begun potty training Sabella. I didn't know just how well she'd do but I figured it was about time, since we started Pharaoh at 18mo and Sabella is nearly at 27mo now.
The catalyst was the fact that Fred said she had peed for him in the toilet. Once I heard that I knew she was ready and, as expected, the first day went really smoothly. We kept her out of pants or even a diaper (which makes me wish it was summer time rather than single-digit winter weather!!). She's done a good job of recognizing when she needs to go and telling us right away.
Though I think the reward of getting a tick-tack is tempting enough for her to sometime get on kicks where she'll go three times in a row just to get one repeatedly. haha

Sabella's Christmas gift to us?
No more diapers.

My email is acting up. I seem to be getting messages (I think) though many of them come late, but I can't send email at all. Patience.

I have to go dig my mailbox out now. Otherwise, I won't get mail until May.

It's still very cold outside. Not as bitterly as yesterday, when we were snowed in, but close.
It looks like they finally plowed our driveway. Fred went off to the plasma center this afternoon and will get back in time for lunch and the girl's naps. Pharaoh is off from school again today. I'm wondering if they'll take these snow days and tack them on to the end of the year. Hm