eternally chaotic

There is a lot of detail that goes into planning a wedding. There are a lot of people that go in and out of the loop or are just curious about how the planning process is going, what decisions are being made, what kind of this or how much of that, etc… Others are just nosy I wanted us to be able to use Eternally Chaotic to publish some of those bits.  However, with the anticipation of many updates to come I did not want wedding posts to overwhelm the other aspects of our family blog.  So without further ado I would like to introduce the “Our Wedding” section of our family website. Check back often as there is much more to come.

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Isaac,
happy birthday to you!

It might a few months late getting online but that makes it no less of an event.  In November, for the first and last time, Isaac turned seven.  We planned a dinner out with family and friends as well as a party at the house so we could celebrate properly with cake and presents.  We gave Isaac the choice of where he wanted to have his birthday dinner and thankfully he chose the Olive Garden – a fantastic and much yummier choice over the more usual kiddie venues such as Chucky Cheese or Monkey Joes.  We will still eventually go to one of the others but instead of being the focus of a birthday party, we can just go and have a great time playing games or jumping around.

Dinner was fantastic.  With such a large group I didn’t know what to expect but the OG had everything organized.  They even put us in a sectioned off part of the restaurant near another large family party so we could be as loud as we wanted.  After dinner we all headed back to the house to serenade the birthday boy and eat cake.

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Well…this is certainly a case of better late than never.  A post that should have happened months back never did.  I started and stopped writing it several times but never finished.  So in lieu of keeping it perpetually updated and eventually posted, here it is:

Labor Day weekend was fantastic.  The family, all six of us, took a road trip to Indiana.  Specifically the greater Indianapolis area.  I wanted to introduce Carol, Isaac, Jacob and even Violet to my grandfather, aunts and uncles, cousins and the various kids they have all produced or acquired.  I also wanted a chance to show Carol around the areas that I grew up.  In all cases, and in contrast to the Bush definition of such, the trip was a “mission accomplished”.

The trip was indeed fantastic, regardless of how many months ago it might have been.  We were able to visit most of not all of my family, the Indianapolis Zoo, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (the Atlanta version could learn a great deal from this place), eat ice cream from Mrs. Curls, and inhale a particular northern culinary delicacy – The White Castle.

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Last night I had the pleasure of dictating a story while Jacob thought it up.  This was an assignment from school that he started but wasn’t able to finish during class, so together we completed it last night.  I love story telling from all different angles but I have usually been the story teller not the audience.  Getting a chance to hear Jacob’s story about his “Lonely Snowman” was intriguing.  His idea throughout the story was that the snowman was lonely and wanted some friends to play with.  The snowman and his friends did whatever they could to ensure they continued to have fun – including the annihilation of planets and alien species in the process.  Fun.  You have to love boys.  His story was all over the board but the general idea remained the same.   More →

I am not normally a nervous person.  I speak well in front of people, rarely with a slip of the tongue or bead of sweat.  I remember ideas instead of lines to get my point across more on the fly, rolling with any punches that might get in the way, than by recalling words from memory.  I can ramble with the best of them to keep a conversation going while I figure out what point it was I was trying to make…this list can go on and on but I might start to get an ego, and regardless of how inflated my ego might get, not a one of these traits, trained or otherwise learned over the years, helped me one bit on a very special night in November of 2009.

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We have a new kind of clarity in the house now.  Jacob started wearing glasses this week at both home and school.  He was having trouble seeing more than a few feet in front of himself and was often found within inches of the television.  After a visit to the optometrist it was determined that he needed glasses.

Well the glasses arrived on Friday and he was able to wear them to school for the first time on Monday.  He was apprehensive about getting made fun of, or called names, but Carol and I have been reassuring him that the opinions of others don’t matter – take it in stride – tell them to mind their own business – etc.  The glasses actually look great on him.  Hopefully he will grow out of the farsightedness, but until that time the frames look good and are tough and flexible.  Now we just have to get him used to taking care of them – extra chores won’t pay for replacements.

A special treat this weekend.  Stone Mountain Park was hosting the 10th annual Indian Festival and Pow-Wow.  An interesting assortment of Indian cultures and traditions.  Right inside the gate we walked into a show getting ready to start called “East vs. West”.  Two Indians, one from the eastern tribes and one from the western Sioux tribes, compared and contrasted the lifestyles and traditions of their ancestors.  Seems the eastern Indians were more civilized, happy to barter and trade to make life easier, while the western ones, the Sioux in particular, raided and pillaged to get what they wanted, or to advance their lifestyle.  I am sure this is a gross over exaggeration about the differences but it was neat to hear what they had to say and see the difference in the everyday tools used by each.

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Last night though, Carol and I booted up the xbox, ready for another episode of Dr. Who, when were greeted with a message saying that the console had been banned from xbox live for violations of the terms of service.  Destroying any hopes of fixing the problem the last sentence of the message clearly stated “there is no recourse for a banned console” meaning – enjoy your brick, thanks for playing, have a nice day, oh and by the way why don’t you hop on down to the store and purchase a new one. Needless to say the discovery was frustrating.  Talking to a friend about the ban it looks like I wasn’t alone.  Other friends have had the same luck, others have not, but are waiting patiently for their turn at exile.

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With a high level of excitement and glee, Jacob and Isaac, got to go shopping.  They each received a gift card from their Grandma Donna.  We gave them the option of saving it for later, surprisingly an option they have taken in the past, or using it now.  They opted for the latter so we headed out toy shopping.  With a figure in their head, limiting how much they could spend, they rummaged through the toys at Walmart for thirty minutes.  The decision was complex of course.  The selection had to be just right.  Had to feel perfect.  Jacob went patiently from one item to the next, meticulously inspecting its value, Nerf Swords, to G.I. Joe, to H.A.L.O to Lego.  He finally settled on a pair of Lego sets that complimented each other.  Isaac on the other hand created a moderate sized collection of his choices in the middle of an isle (wish I would have taken a picture) and mulled over the ultimate choice.  Back and forth went the decision with the price climbing in to the hundreds of dollars and then back down into teens.  With twenty-five dollars to spend it was a hard choice: does he get one larger toy that is “cool” or get a few smaller ones that offer more opportunity for play.  At the end, with the clock ticking, he panicked and left his gathered assortment of mix matched items and narrowed his focus between Lego and a selection of Star Wars characters.  Opting for the Star Wars route after some counseling from his clock watching oppressors.

Thank you Grandma Donna.  Jacob and Isaac had a great time getting to shop for their gifts.

Halloween has come and gone.  The loot has been categorized into various zip lock bags and put into deep freeze for behavior based distribution.  The kids had a month of various Halloween activities: Netflix provided movies, Carol provided the arts and crafts and I provided labor for scooping out pumpkin guts.  Costume selection happened about a month ago and the kids are already planning what they want to be for next year.  The costumes were fun.  Jacob was Ninja, Isaac was a Special Ops Soldier, Piper was Silvermist and Violet was Ariel.  The all looked great and the got to pick their own costumes – thank you Internet Gods for not making us drive all over creation looking for the perfect costume.

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