Two weeks ago I went down to Wycliffe Bible Translators in West Chicago for their week-long Taste Of Translation And Linguistics course. I didn't stay the whole week, but I learned some very interesting things about Bible translation and linguistics. We had several courses on Phonetics, Language Learning (how to pick up a language through immersion), Translation, and Grammar.
I had no idea how much work went into translating the Bible for a single language group. In most cases, these language groups don't even have a written form of their language! In those cases, Wycliffe teams study the sounds and the phrases of the language and attempt to create a written language for them. This also involves demonstrating the usefulness of literacy, since it's a completely foreign concept to them. After creating a written language, Wycliffe teams study the grammar of the language and start the official "translation" process.
One of our classes involved pretending to translate Psalm 23, and we ran into some interesting problems. The instructor pointed out certain troublesome phrases, for example, "He makes me lie down in green pastures" shouldn't give the impression that the Lord is forcing the author to lie down. Also, the people group for whom we are translating might not live near any "green pastures", so we might need to use a different analogy. He cautioned us however that though it's OK to change "green pastures" into a cultural equivalent, it is not OK to change historical events. For example, even if the people group doesn't have fig trees, it's not acceptable to translate Mark 11:21 with "Rabbi, look! The mango tree you cursed has withered!"
Even though full-time missionary work isn't for me, I still enjoyed my time at Wycliffe. I met lots of great people and I learned a lot about translation. I've already used some of my new phonetics knowledge to help Rebecca pronounce some consonants. :-)
Before I left Wycliffe, I spoke with a few of their tech guys about using the computer to do some of the work remotely (mostly the grammar and translation). They admitted that they're not as far along as they'd like to be, but that they're working on it. The phonetics work and the language-learning still obviously has to be done "on-site". But the creation of the alphabet, diagramming the grammatical structure of the language, and the actual translation should be able to be done anywhere. I hope they continue to improve their infrastructure... maybe someday I'll be able to do some of the translation work from my computer here!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Prince Caspian
Kristin and I just came back from watching Prince Caspian. My recommendation: do not read the book immediately beforehand, and if you know the book very well, try to forget it before you see the movie. I learned my lesson with The Two Towers: sometimes its best to judge a movie on its own merits, instead of judging it by the book.
This is especially true of Prince Caspian, where the filmmakers radically changed the personality of one of my favorite main characters. However since I was forewarned about the change, I actually enjoyed the movie very much. The filmmakers added a few character arcs, but I thought the storyline was better for it. I cried a bit when Lucy's character arc resolves near the end of the battle sequence (you'll understand once you see it).
In my opinion, Prince Caspian is a stronger movie than LWW. But it takes a few extra liberties with the character development (especially Peter's). Try not to freak out about it. :-)
This is especially true of Prince Caspian, where the filmmakers radically changed the personality of one of my favorite main characters. However since I was forewarned about the change, I actually enjoyed the movie very much. The filmmakers added a few character arcs, but I thought the storyline was better for it. I cried a bit when Lucy's character arc resolves near the end of the battle sequence (you'll understand once you see it).
In my opinion, Prince Caspian is a stronger movie than LWW. But it takes a few extra liberties with the character development (especially Peter's). Try not to freak out about it. :-)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wicked the Musical
As many of you already know, during my blog hiatus Kristin and I took a trip downtown to see Wicked right after Thanksgiving. At first I wasn't all that impressed. At the time I thought the hype had raised my expectation too high. But the next day, neither Kristin nor I could get the songs out of our mind. Two days after the performance we bought the soundtrack. And now I'm completely convinced: Wicked is a phenomenal musical!
Wikipedia summarizes the plot as follows:
All in all, though it took a little while for me to fully appreciate much of the music, Wicked is amazing! There are too many fantastic songs, but my favorite has to be No Good Deed (about how all of Elphaba's good intentions end badly). The songs Defying Gravity, For Good, Popular, and What Is This Feeling are all close seconds. And Dancing Through Life is amazing to watch, since the cast seems to go through four or five set or costume changes during the course of that one song! If you've seen it, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it.
Wikipedia summarizes the plot as follows:
Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Their friendship struggles through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot is set mostly before Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and includes several references to well-known scenes and dialogue in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.Kristin and I hadn't seen a musical since before Kathryn was born when we saw Les Miserables (unless you count the Disney's Beauty and the Beast musical we saw with Kathryn -- I don't). I normally don't like musicals, and I consider Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals particularly loathsome for some reason. Stephen Schwartz composed the music and wrote the lyrics for Wicked, and I'd never really noticed him before. After we bought the soundtrack I looked him up on-line and discovered that he'd done the music and lyrics for The Prince of Egypt as well! I'll have to seek out some of his other works like Children of Eden or Godspell.
All in all, though it took a little while for me to fully appreciate much of the music, Wicked is amazing! There are too many fantastic songs, but my favorite has to be No Good Deed (about how all of Elphaba's good intentions end badly). The songs Defying Gravity, For Good, Popular, and What Is This Feeling are all close seconds. And Dancing Through Life is amazing to watch, since the cast seems to go through four or five set or costume changes during the course of that one song! If you've seen it, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Random Musings
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to lead worship with a half-chewed Communion wafer in one's mouth?" -- me, after an unfortunate miscommunication between the pastor and those of us on the worship team.
For those of you who don't know, my dear college friend Violet Chaos has a very funny blog over at LiveJournal. She's got a great sense of humor. Over the years in which we've known each other, I've noticed that our phraseology has grown more and more similar (which is great for me; not so great for her). My personal favorite is her Lexiambicon, which is probably the safest introduction to her writings. :-)
I recently added a few pictures of our trip to the Sears Tower. We took the train down to Chicago, walked over to the Sears Tower, rode to the top, came down, walked back to the train station, and rode home. It was a long day, but Kathryn really wanted to go to the top of the Sears Tower. There's also one older picture of the girls cuddling together on the couch.
And here's a cute video of Rebecca. I was testing my new camera, and I couldn't get the camera down low enough to take a decent video of Rebecca crawling. So I inadvisedly put the camera on the floor...
For those of you who don't know, my dear college friend Violet Chaos has a very funny blog over at LiveJournal. She's got a great sense of humor. Over the years in which we've known each other, I've noticed that our phraseology has grown more and more similar (which is great for me; not so great for her). My personal favorite is her Lexiambicon, which is probably the safest introduction to her writings. :-)
I recently added a few pictures of our trip to the Sears Tower. We took the train down to Chicago, walked over to the Sears Tower, rode to the top, came down, walked back to the train station, and rode home. It was a long day, but Kathryn really wanted to go to the top of the Sears Tower. There's also one older picture of the girls cuddling together on the couch.
And here's a cute video of Rebecca. I was testing my new camera, and I couldn't get the camera down low enough to take a decent video of Rebecca crawling. So I inadvisedly put the camera on the floor...
Saturday, May 03, 2008
I'm back
Now that several friends have started blogs of their own, I've got the itch to update mine a bit. It's been almost exactly one year since I posted anything here... I barely remember how this thing works!
So I'll start slowly. I posted some pictures on my Facebook page so you can see how much the kids have grown in the last year.
The first set is from our Cooking Night. Kathryn and I made our Shepherd's Pie together while Becca played on the toy horse.
The second set is from Kathryn's last swimming class. It's amazing how far she's come in eight weeks. Originally she wouldn't even lower herself into the pool. But now, though she's still scared, at least she overcomes her fear and swims anyway. I was a little concerned myself when on the first day of class the instructor put Kathryn and the rest of the Level 1 swimmers at the deep end (12 feet), while the other swimmers stayed at four feet! The instructor pointed out that kids learn better when they have absolutely no chance of touching the bottom. I was not relieved, but at least I understood her rationale. I attended the first class and the last class. Kathryn was so terrified during her first class that it took all my willpower not to run in and "save" her. We decided that it was best if I just stayed away for the rest of the classes. So I didn't come back until her last class so she could show me what she'd learned. :-)
So I'll start slowly. I posted some pictures on my Facebook page so you can see how much the kids have grown in the last year.
The first set is from our Cooking Night. Kathryn and I made our Shepherd's Pie together while Becca played on the toy horse.
The second set is from Kathryn's last swimming class. It's amazing how far she's come in eight weeks. Originally she wouldn't even lower herself into the pool. But now, though she's still scared, at least she overcomes her fear and swims anyway. I was a little concerned myself when on the first day of class the instructor put Kathryn and the rest of the Level 1 swimmers at the deep end (12 feet), while the other swimmers stayed at four feet! The instructor pointed out that kids learn better when they have absolutely no chance of touching the bottom. I was not relieved, but at least I understood her rationale. I attended the first class and the last class. Kathryn was so terrified during her first class that it took all my willpower not to run in and "save" her. We decided that it was best if I just stayed away for the rest of the classes. So I didn't come back until her last class so she could show me what she'd learned. :-)
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Hans Zimmer returns to the Caribbean
Our old friend at SoundtrackNet is a wonderful person. He just posted his exclusive "First Listen" for Pirates 3, and it sounds like Hans Zimmer is back with some wonderful new themes. I already know I'm gonna love everything on this album, but here are a few of my new favorites:
- the new love theme in track 3
- the playful romp and new theme in track 5
- the heroic version of the new pirate theme in track 10 (also heard in track 1 and track 7)
- a brand-new, ultra-cool arrangement of the original Pirate theme from the first movie in track 11
- the various themes woven together at the end of track 13
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Fracture
Summer isn't here yet, but the summer movies are starting to arrive. Spiderman 3 will be the "official" start of the summer movie season next week, but a few decent movies have already appeared in theaters. I recently watched Fracture (Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling), and since Ray has been asking me to start reviewing movies again, I figured I'd start with this one.
As of today, RottenTomatoes gives Fracture a 70%. I'd personally put it a bit higher (around 75%), primarily because I generally like courtroom dramas, because I like puzzle movies, and because I really like Anthony Hopkins. He doesn't break any new ground here. In fact he plays his character almost the same way he played Hannibal, but that didn't bother me in the slightest. It's enjoyable to watch Hopkins' character manipulate everyone else in the cast, despite their best efforts. But primarily I enjoyed Fracture because of the snappy dialog. I wish they'd included more scenes with Hopkins and Gosling together, because it was fun to follow their verbal sparring.
The plot does include a few holes, which is one reason I can't universally recommend it. People who go out of their way to poke plot holes (<cough>Coach</cough>) should probably avoid Fracture. But for the most part you won't see the implausibility of it until you're talking about the movie afterwards.
I also docked it a few points because it dropped in a few too many "Character Alignment Shifts". Those are the moments when a main character thinks about his/her life, realizes that he/she has been a complete jerk, and resolves to change. Most of the time, the C.A.S. is identified by a montage of contemplative scenes in which the character either:
If you like courtroom dramas or Anthony Hopkins, you'll probably like Fracture. But don't try to nit-pick it while you're in the theater. Save that for the drive home.
As of today, RottenTomatoes gives Fracture a 70%. I'd personally put it a bit higher (around 75%), primarily because I generally like courtroom dramas, because I like puzzle movies, and because I really like Anthony Hopkins. He doesn't break any new ground here. In fact he plays his character almost the same way he played Hannibal, but that didn't bother me in the slightest. It's enjoyable to watch Hopkins' character manipulate everyone else in the cast, despite their best efforts. But primarily I enjoyed Fracture because of the snappy dialog. I wish they'd included more scenes with Hopkins and Gosling together, because it was fun to follow their verbal sparring.
The plot does include a few holes, which is one reason I can't universally recommend it. People who go out of their way to poke plot holes (<cough>Coach</cough>) should probably avoid Fracture. But for the most part you won't see the implausibility of it until you're talking about the movie afterwards.
I also docked it a few points because it dropped in a few too many "Character Alignment Shifts". Those are the moments when a main character thinks about his/her life, realizes that he/she has been a complete jerk, and resolves to change. Most of the time, the C.A.S. is identified by a montage of contemplative scenes in which the character either:
a) stares off into spaceFracture's C.A.S. was a bit too outlandish for me to believe. But I understand that's not the sort of thing that seems to bother most people (after all, believe it or not, there are some people who bought into the insanity of Lady in the Water).
b) walks alone down a dimly lit street (usually at night)
c) plays an instrument alone (usually a piano or a guitar), or
d) performs some routine mindless action (like taking out the garbage), followed by one or more of the above.
If you like courtroom dramas or Anthony Hopkins, you'll probably like Fracture. But don't try to nit-pick it while you're in the theater. Save that for the drive home.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sunrise, Sunset
Last week I took Kathryn to Kindergarten screening for District 15. I thought that was bad enough. Kindergarten screening is one of those big "my baby's growing up" moments. 
But then Kathryn called me at work today to announce that she had "pulled out her loose tooth!" So Kathryn officially lost her first tooth today. Time is moving way too fast. To celebrate tonight, Kathryn chose to make a "special" popcorn while watching Star Wars with me. Though I am again encouraged that she likes to spend time watching sci-fi movies with me, I shudder to imagine what she's going to be like in a few years.
Little Becca isn't quite so little anymore. She's growing up too fast too. Last weekend I had to move the shoulder straps in her car seat up to the highest notch because she'd outgrown the smaller settings. Here are a couple of pictures for you.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Rebecca's 6-month checkup
From Kristin's e-mail:
Rebecca had her 6 month check up today, and she's doing great.
Weight: 14 lbs 11oz (between 25 - 50 percentile)Height: 25 1/4 inches (between 25 - 50 percentile)Head circumference: 16 inches
Doctor said that everything looks good, and she's right where she should be developmentally. So, you're asking yourself, where is she developmentally? Well, I'm glad you asked. Rebecca is right on the verge of many milestones.Rebecca is officially sleeping through the night now. She'll fall asleep between 10-11pm and sleep until 7-8am. Its wonderful!
- Rolling over from back to front. She actually did this a few times in late March, but had a growth spurt and hasn't done it since, but she's about to start doing it again.
- Sitting up. She has the head control, but not quite enough control of the rest of her body. She'll sit if we support her, but if we don't, she slumps over immediately.
- Teeth. Rebecca has been exhibiting all the signs of teething for the last few weeks: constant streams of drool, crankiness, gnawing on whatever gets near her mouth.
- Solid foods. Just this past weekend, Rebecca started accepting her rice cereal. And last night she ate about 8 or 9 little spoonfuls. At this rate, we'll be able to add a second serving of cereal next week, and maybe a different flavor / texture the next week.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Super Kathryn: Episode 7
Kathryn had about twenty minutes left before bedtime, so she wanted to play "Super Kathryn" with me. I told her that I didn't know how to play, but she promised to explain it to me. Basically, it's Kathryn telling a story while everyone else (in this case, just me) follows her. As she explained the basic story, I typed it. Here, for your enjoyment, is the background of Super Kathryn: Episode 7.
Kathryn: "In Super Kathryn: Episode 7, Super Kathryn and her team..."
Me: "Who's the team?"
K: "AJ, Katie, Lava Girl, and, of course, Super Kathryn their leader. And their new person, Superhero Daddy. They're all walking along, and suddenly Super Kathryn loses her powers."
M: "How did she lose her powers?"
K: "They don't know that. We'll find out in Episode 8."
M: "Oh."
K: "Now they have to go to the Sword & Shield, where they learn how to use the sword to destroy badguys when superheroes lose their powers, and the shield to protect you from badguys trying to hit you."
M: "Do I still have my powers?"
K: "No. You don't have any powers yet. To get powers, you have to go to the "what powers you want" place."
M: "Oh."
Later...
K: "Welcome to the "what powers you want" place. Here. Take this dinosaur. If you say, "Dinosaur, come alive!" you will be a dinosaur. And then, when you try to talk, you will scare the badguys away with your loud roar! Very useful."
M: "OK."
Kathryn: "In Super Kathryn: Episode 7, Super Kathryn and her team..."
Me: "Who's the team?"
K: "AJ, Katie, Lava Girl, and, of course, Super Kathryn their leader. And their new person, Superhero Daddy. They're all walking along, and suddenly Super Kathryn loses her powers."
M: "How did she lose her powers?"
K: "They don't know that. We'll find out in Episode 8."
M: "Oh."
K: "Now they have to go to the Sword & Shield, where they learn how to use the sword to destroy badguys when superheroes lose their powers, and the shield to protect you from badguys trying to hit you."
M: "Do I still have my powers?"
K: "No. You don't have any powers yet. To get powers, you have to go to the "what powers you want" place."
M: "Oh."
Later...
K: "Welcome to the "what powers you want" place. Here. Take this dinosaur. If you say, "Dinosaur, come alive!" you will be a dinosaur. And then, when you try to talk, you will scare the badguys away with your loud roar! Very useful."
M: "OK."
Monday, March 12, 2007
Our Disney Trip
I don't have time to write too much about the trip right now (and most of you have either heard about it already, or you're waiting to hear about it from Kathryn). But here are the pictures we took. You can view them at Snapfish.com.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Another Nelson Enters the World!
Randy and Amber are now the proud uncle and aunt of Christopher Paul Nelson! Christopher arrived in the world at 11:37 a.m. yesterday (February 18, 2007). He weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz. and he was 22 inches long. Congratulations to Paul and Christina and to the whole Nelson clan! Pictures to come... hopefully <that's a hint, Randy>.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Rebecca's 4-month-old update
Kristin sent out this e-mail today. Just in case she missed someone (I doubt it), I'll duplicate it here:
Greetings everyone!I can't believe how the time has flown. Rebecca is 4 months old and has grown and changed so much! I have to apologize for not sending out an update at 2 months, the last time she was at the doctor's, but we had spotty Internet connection that week, and then got caught up in the Christmas rush.
Here are the numbers:Birth: 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 1/2 in2 mo: 9 lbs 5 oz, 21 1/2 in (25th percentile)4 mo: 12 lbs 1 oz, 24 in (weight between 10 and 25th percentile; height between 25 and 50 percentile)So, even though she's on the small side, she's growing very consistently, and there is no need to worry. So its time to move up to the 3-6 month size clothes (the 0-3 mo size goes to 12 lbs and 23 1/2 in). I had just noticed yesterday that she was stretching the sleeper she was wearing, and decided to get out the larger size this weekend. =)
The activities:Rebecca is smiling at us, and "talking" to us with a wide variety of sounds. We're even starting to get occasional laughs, though we can't always tell what is prompting the laughter, let alone get her to do it again. She's also starting to use her hands...the thumb is making it into the mouth with more frequency, and small toys and light blankets come along with her when we pick her up. Once or twice while I've been holding her, she's reached for my face and it seemed a deliberate motion, rather than a random one, which gives me this warm tingly feeling.
Rebecca is also starting to squirm a lot. She's no longer lying down like a lump wherever we put her. She's not (quite) at the rolling over stage, but she's definitely working on it, because she can get up onto her side or rotate herself through a 90 degree turn. When she's on her tummy, Rebecca is not yet using her arms to push herself up, and she gets frustrated really quickly that she can't see whats going on. It's really cute, because she gets her bottom higher into the air than she gets her head. =)
Teething. Ouch. The drool, the random crying, the drool and the associated dry skin on the cheeks and chin, combined with the two white spots I can see on the lower gums all point to the fact that those first teeth are on their way. Who knows when they'll appear, but we'll all be relieved when they do.
Sleeping like a baby. Rebecca has always been a good sleeper, giving me 4 hour stretches from birth. She would have a nightly "fussy" period from about 10pm - 2am, where she would want to nurse constantly. Then, at about 2 months, the fussy time shifted to 10pm- 1am. But at the 3 month mark, she made a distinct shift in pattern. When she turned 3 months, this nightly marathon vanished. (YAY!) She started to carry the feeding intervals that we'd settled into during the day (every couple of hours) into and through the evenings. She'd be eating for the last time between 11:30 - 12:30, and then sleeping until 5-7am. And in the last 2 weeks, she's started falling asleep around 11pm, after eating at 10:30, and sleeping until 6 or 7am! So we're actually in a nighttime routine! Its wonderful! This past Monday morning (Jan 29) I was woken up by the alarm clock instead of a crying baby. What an odd occurrence! =)
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Regression Ping-Pong Tournament
Yes, we really do work here, but regression is an entirely different experience. Finally, I won the regression ping-pong tourney! Hurray! :-)
Regresstion Testing, the Movie?!?
The powers that be extended our regression testing cycle by one week, so we're still in the trenches. But they also scheduled an additional "Destiny Fun" activity. Last Monday we broke into six teams (of about seven people each). Our task was to create a Destiny movie, using one famous film as a baseline. The films chosen were:
I was on the Willy Wonka team, and we decided to try to condense the whole movie down to about 10 minutes. I had the dubious honor of playing "Charlie". We remembered that the movie was set in Britain, but we couldn't remember if Charlie himself was British. So I just tossed in a Cockney accent, for the fun of it. This made the experience of watching the film very difficult for me. Like most people, I can't stand the sound of my own voice on any recording. So it was even worse to hear myself faking a falsetto Cockney accent! But we had a blast putting everything together for the film.
There were five awards given for the movies; four from the "official" judges, and one from the team (our "Viewers' Choice" awards). Horace won Best Comedic Performance (for his portrayal of a disgruntled lyricist whose lyrics were removed from John Williams' "Raiders" score). Ray won Best Supporting Actor (as Tim the Enchanter in "Monty Python"). Lou won Best Actor (as Rocky). In Lou's case, he actually drank a raw egg on screen, which made him a shoe-in for the award. I was nominated for Best Comedic Performance and Best Supporting Actor. The "official" Best Picture went to "Monty Python". But we snagged the Viewers' Choice award!
We should have a DVD of all of the films pretty soon. So if you feel like torturing yourself, drop on by... and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul.
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Grease
- Willy Wonka
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Rocky
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I was on the Willy Wonka team, and we decided to try to condense the whole movie down to about 10 minutes. I had the dubious honor of playing "Charlie". We remembered that the movie was set in Britain, but we couldn't remember if Charlie himself was British. So I just tossed in a Cockney accent, for the fun of it. This made the experience of watching the film very difficult for me. Like most people, I can't stand the sound of my own voice on any recording. So it was even worse to hear myself faking a falsetto Cockney accent! But we had a blast putting everything together for the film.
There were five awards given for the movies; four from the "official" judges, and one from the team (our "Viewers' Choice" awards). Horace won Best Comedic Performance (for his portrayal of a disgruntled lyricist whose lyrics were removed from John Williams' "Raiders" score). Ray won Best Supporting Actor (as Tim the Enchanter in "Monty Python"). Lou won Best Actor (as Rocky). In Lou's case, he actually drank a raw egg on screen, which made him a shoe-in for the award. I was nominated for Best Comedic Performance and Best Supporting Actor. The "official" Best Picture went to "Monty Python". But we snagged the Viewers' Choice award!
We should have a DVD of all of the films pretty soon. So if you feel like torturing yourself, drop on by... and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Poor Swimmer!
Kathryn's first pet was a Betta fish which she named "Swimmer". We got it for her last year for Christmas. Well, Swimmer just died. So Kristin and I broke the bad news on Friday. Of course, Kathryn started crying, which made me start to tear up. But Kristin had the great idea to take Kathryn to Chuck E. Cheese for supper to take her mind off of Swimmer. Her plan worked beautifully.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if Swimmer's death has quite "hit" her yet. Whenever she prays for her meals, she still thanks God for Swimmer (and for the family, her imaginary friend, all her toys, etc). Only time will tell.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if Swimmer's death has quite "hit" her yet. Whenever she prays for her meals, she still thanks God for Swimmer (and for the family, her imaginary friend, all her toys, etc). Only time will tell.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Our trip through the snow
Early last week, I decided to schedule a long trip for Kathryn and I this weekend. I decided to drive us out to Davenport, Iowa on Friday afternoon, spend the night in a hotel, go see The Polar Express in IMAX 3D on Saturday, and drive home. Of course, I wasn't counting on having the biggest snow storm in decades on Friday morning!
I went out to shovel the driveway at 5:45 on Friday morning. An hour-and-a-half later I came back in, soaking from the very wet snow. 45 minutes after that, I couldn't tell that I'd already shoveled once -- it was snowing that much. It was about this time that I discovered (much to my relief) that FSC had closed for the day. Hurray!
But I still had to deal with the rest of the snow. So I went out at 9:00 to clear the driveway again. This time, the snow and I maintained a delicate truce until it started to taper off at 10:00. Kathryn came out to play for a while, and she managed to get herself stuck in a couple of snow drifts before retreating to safety indoors.
I knew the storm was supposed to end by noon, and the plows had already cleared most of the roads in our subdivision. So we decided to give the snowplows a few more hours, and then try to get as far as Rockford. I cancelled our reservation in Davenport and made a new one at the Comfort Inn in Rockford.
We left around 3:00 and arrived safely a few hours later. To entertain us on our drive, I packed my iPod with a few of Kathryn's favorite CDs. We sang along with her God of Wonders: Praise and Worship CD for most of the trip. Then she surprised me by asking to listen to one of my "mix" CDs. I'd played it once while Kathryn was in the car, and she really enjoyed the music from the different movies (especially Superman and Pirates of the Caribbean). She also loves Charlie Peacock's In the Light and Message Boy (which should make Bill and Paul very happy).
That night we went swimming in the hotel pool, and spent some time in the hot tub (all that shoveling was murder on my back and shoulders). Kathryn was a very good girl the whole time. (Of course, she's normally happy when she has our undivided attention).
The next morning we rose early to grab some breakfast in the hotel lobby (for some reason, the hotel breakfast is one of Kathryn's favorite things to do when at a hotel on vacation). Then we started down to Davenport. The roads were much clearer today, with just the occasional patch of packed snow. Unfortunately (as normally happens in cold weather), the wiper fluid froze up, and the trucks on the highway were kicking up great quantities of salt. I pulled over several times to pour extra fluid on the windshield. Once, while trying to thaw the wiper fluid, I couldn't get the hood to latch for a few minutes -- the spring on the catch had frozen. I spent a few minutes in fervent prayer until it finally caught again.
But finally, after many trials, we made it to the Putnam Museum and IMAX Theater in Davenport. For some unknown reason, Kathryn absolutely loves The Polar Express. We went to see it in the theater with my mom and sister when it first came out. And that was probably Kathryn's earliest memory of a theater-experience. And after that, my Mom used The Polar Express soundtrack to put Kathryn to sleep whenever Kathryn stayed overnight at Mom's house. So maybe that explains why she loves that movie so much.
As for me, I remembered it as a cute movie, but nothing spectacular. But this IMAX 3D version completely blew me away! I have never enjoyed a movie experience as much as I enjoyed this one (not even when compared with the first time I saw Fellowship)! The 3D process was absolutely perfect for this movie, with its long shots and picturesque camera moves. Most movies have too much action to work in 3D, because when the picture moves too quickly the 3D just becomes a blur. But this was absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful! If you ever have a chance to see The Polar Express in the IMAX 3D format, do it! It's amazing!
Then we just drove home, singing nursery rhymes, worship songs, or Christmas songs most of the way. It was a very tiring trip, but all-in-all I'm glad we went.
I went out to shovel the driveway at 5:45 on Friday morning. An hour-and-a-half later I came back in, soaking from the very wet snow. 45 minutes after that, I couldn't tell that I'd already shoveled once -- it was snowing that much. It was about this time that I discovered (much to my relief) that FSC had closed for the day. Hurray!
But I still had to deal with the rest of the snow. So I went out at 9:00 to clear the driveway again. This time, the snow and I maintained a delicate truce until it started to taper off at 10:00. Kathryn came out to play for a while, and she managed to get herself stuck in a couple of snow drifts before retreating to safety indoors.
I knew the storm was supposed to end by noon, and the plows had already cleared most of the roads in our subdivision. So we decided to give the snowplows a few more hours, and then try to get as far as Rockford. I cancelled our reservation in Davenport and made a new one at the Comfort Inn in Rockford.
We left around 3:00 and arrived safely a few hours later. To entertain us on our drive, I packed my iPod with a few of Kathryn's favorite CDs. We sang along with her God of Wonders: Praise and Worship CD for most of the trip. Then she surprised me by asking to listen to one of my "mix" CDs. I'd played it once while Kathryn was in the car, and she really enjoyed the music from the different movies (especially Superman and Pirates of the Caribbean). She also loves Charlie Peacock's In the Light and Message Boy (which should make Bill and Paul very happy).
That night we went swimming in the hotel pool, and spent some time in the hot tub (all that shoveling was murder on my back and shoulders). Kathryn was a very good girl the whole time. (Of course, she's normally happy when she has our undivided attention).
The next morning we rose early to grab some breakfast in the hotel lobby (for some reason, the hotel breakfast is one of Kathryn's favorite things to do when at a hotel on vacation). Then we started down to Davenport. The roads were much clearer today, with just the occasional patch of packed snow. Unfortunately (as normally happens in cold weather), the wiper fluid froze up, and the trucks on the highway were kicking up great quantities of salt. I pulled over several times to pour extra fluid on the windshield. Once, while trying to thaw the wiper fluid, I couldn't get the hood to latch for a few minutes -- the spring on the catch had frozen. I spent a few minutes in fervent prayer until it finally caught again.
But finally, after many trials, we made it to the Putnam Museum and IMAX Theater in Davenport. For some unknown reason, Kathryn absolutely loves The Polar Express. We went to see it in the theater with my mom and sister when it first came out. And that was probably Kathryn's earliest memory of a theater-experience. And after that, my Mom used The Polar Express soundtrack to put Kathryn to sleep whenever Kathryn stayed overnight at Mom's house. So maybe that explains why she loves that movie so much.
As for me, I remembered it as a cute movie, but nothing spectacular. But this IMAX 3D version completely blew me away! I have never enjoyed a movie experience as much as I enjoyed this one (not even when compared with the first time I saw Fellowship)! The 3D process was absolutely perfect for this movie, with its long shots and picturesque camera moves. Most movies have too much action to work in 3D, because when the picture moves too quickly the 3D just becomes a blur. But this was absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful! If you ever have a chance to see The Polar Express in the IMAX 3D format, do it! It's amazing!
Then we just drove home, singing nursery rhymes, worship songs, or Christmas songs most of the way. It was a very tiring trip, but all-in-all I'm glad we went.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Some pictures
We took some family pictures for the holidays. Here are my two favorite pictures of our girls.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Yes, I'm still alive
The past few weeks have been very busy indeed. In fact, I needed to check my last post to remember when I'd last written. Lots of things have happened since then:
Kathryn and I attended the annual AWANA rollerskating party. It was Kathryn's first time on skates, and it was my first time since high-school. Kristin and Rebecca came too, since Kristin wanted to get out of the house, and wanted to see Kathryn's first rollerskating experience. We almost ended the evening early when Kathryn fell down and I nicked her finger with one of my skates. I was mortified! But she recovered and actually started to skate a bit (instead of just clomping around in the skates).
For Halloween, Kathryn was a pirate! Unfortunately, it was bitterly cold that evening, so we only visited the houses within a couple blocks of our house. When I get back home, I'll have to find the pictures of the event.
This weekend, Karin, Travis, and Sammy came to stay with us. Since the whole family was in town, Gail and Marge decided to visit too. The house was very full, and we all had a great visit. While Grandma and Grandpa were available for baby-sitting, Karin, Travis, Kristin, and I took advantage of the fact. We went out to see "Stranger Than Fiction". It was a remarkably good movie. I don't normally find Will Ferrell very funny, but this movie had all of us in stitches!
Rebecca's doing fine, but she's got a slight case of the sniffles. I'll try to be a bit more prolific with these blog entries in future... I hope. If I fall behind again, please just e-mail me a slap-upside-the-head to get me back on track. Thanks!
Kathryn and I attended the annual AWANA rollerskating party. It was Kathryn's first time on skates, and it was my first time since high-school. Kristin and Rebecca came too, since Kristin wanted to get out of the house, and wanted to see Kathryn's first rollerskating experience. We almost ended the evening early when Kathryn fell down and I nicked her finger with one of my skates. I was mortified! But she recovered and actually started to skate a bit (instead of just clomping around in the skates).
For Halloween, Kathryn was a pirate! Unfortunately, it was bitterly cold that evening, so we only visited the houses within a couple blocks of our house. When I get back home, I'll have to find the pictures of the event.
This weekend, Karin, Travis, and Sammy came to stay with us. Since the whole family was in town, Gail and Marge decided to visit too. The house was very full, and we all had a great visit. While Grandma and Grandpa were available for baby-sitting, Karin, Travis, Kristin, and I took advantage of the fact. We went out to see "Stranger Than Fiction". It was a remarkably good movie. I don't normally find Will Ferrell very funny, but this movie had all of us in stitches!
Rebecca's doing fine, but she's got a slight case of the sniffles. I'll try to be a bit more prolific with these blog entries in future... I hope. If I fall behind again, please just e-mail me a slap-upside-the-head to get me back on track. Thanks!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
The Family Shopping Outing
Yesterday was our first full "outing" with the whole family since Rebecca was born. We had a few tough times, but we all survived.
Our first stop was at Kathryn's pre-school for a fundraising Fun Fair. I volunteered to help, and was assigned to the Bean-Bag Bucket Toss (like Bozo buckets, with candy in each bucket). The kids were mostly around that happy age that delights in everything (somewhere between 2 and 6) so I had a blast! Kristin took Kathryn and Rebecca around to the other games, and Kathryn came back with a lot of goodies.
Then we drove down to Pita Inn for lunch. Kristin doesn't like it as much as Kathryn and I do, but she still enjoys it in moderation. After that, we hit the main object of our day: Woodfield Mall. We found some early Christmas gifts, and some birthday gifts for Kathryn and for my mother. And we did a lot of walking.
I particularly enjoyed one moment, during dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Rebecca started getting hungry, and the nearby Motherhood Maternity store allows breast-feeding in their fitting rooms. But our food had just arrived, and Kristin naturally wanted to eat a bit before being chased out with Rebecca. So I held her for a while, using my pinky knuckle to satisfy Rebecca for as long as I could (see the post Rebecca's Habits). Of course, now I can't eat, since both of my hands are occupied. So Kathryn used my fork to feed me some of my pasta while I held Rebecca.
And another notable occurrence: Kathryn's been coloring her speech with many little extra flourishes lately, as in this example yesterday, "It's a good thing I got that 'Get Out of Jail Free' card, because on the very next turn... BAM... I landed right on the 'Go to Jail' space." For some reason, that "BAM" really cracked me up.
Our first stop was at Kathryn's pre-school for a fundraising Fun Fair. I volunteered to help, and was assigned to the Bean-Bag Bucket Toss (like Bozo buckets, with candy in each bucket). The kids were mostly around that happy age that delights in everything (somewhere between 2 and 6) so I had a blast! Kristin took Kathryn and Rebecca around to the other games, and Kathryn came back with a lot of goodies.
Then we drove down to Pita Inn for lunch. Kristin doesn't like it as much as Kathryn and I do, but she still enjoys it in moderation. After that, we hit the main object of our day: Woodfield Mall. We found some early Christmas gifts, and some birthday gifts for Kathryn and for my mother. And we did a lot of walking.
I particularly enjoyed one moment, during dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Rebecca started getting hungry, and the nearby Motherhood Maternity store allows breast-feeding in their fitting rooms. But our food had just arrived, and Kristin naturally wanted to eat a bit before being chased out with Rebecca. So I held her for a while, using my pinky knuckle to satisfy Rebecca for as long as I could (see the post Rebecca's Habits). Of course, now I can't eat, since both of my hands are occupied. So Kathryn used my fork to feed me some of my pasta while I held Rebecca.
And another notable occurrence: Kathryn's been coloring her speech with many little extra flourishes lately, as in this example yesterday, "It's a good thing I got that 'Get Out of Jail Free' card, because on the very next turn... BAM... I landed right on the 'Go to Jail' space." For some reason, that "BAM" really cracked me up.
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