My whole family had an extremely relaxing holiday weekend at my parent’s house out in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania. How relaxing? Well, let’s just say I woke up bright and early this morning, went down to the basement office, and balanced ten days of banking activity and paid off a half dozen bills, all while whistling Christmas carols.
Read lots and lots: 240 pages of Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku; 85 pages of A Clash of Kings; 150 pages of Oswald’s Tale. I also skimmed through a book on diet and nutrition, and was able to experiment with what I put into my body over the next three days. Basic kernel of knowledge gained: Sugar is my enemy. Saps energy and leads directly to a restless night’s sleep. Also, upon recommendation, I switched around the time of day I take my supplements and as a result found mucho more mojo during my waking hours.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, as it always is. My wife came up with a killer sweet potato recipe. Pumpkin pie, which I can live on, followed. After the kiddies went down we indulged in a Thanksgiving Night family tradition: Watching Clark and Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation. Ah. Now, the Christmas season is here!
As I blogged about a few days’ back, we went shopping on Friday and I snagged a quartet of cool SF books. The girls found tons and tons of discounted clothes and Christmas presents. I took my Little One out for a lemonade and a slice of pizza to a restaurant that had a fascinating fish tank. Saturday my wife and mother went back out. The wife actually bought a pair of used cowboy boots, which kinda grossed me out. Not only the fact that they were used, but the fact that I never in a million years would expect to see her wearing a pair. Oh well. To each her own.
Watched some football games, some miscellaneous shows. I awoke early on Friday and went for a nature walk. Very solitary and lonely, but I compensated with a feeling of surging energy. The next day I awoke even earlier, and, being too windy, tiptoed down to the refinished basement and watched a couple of weird movies (one was a strange, overly-arty Electra Glide in Blue) waiting for the others to wake up. We all had tacos Saturday night. Later, the wife and I watched Sinatra in a 1980 concert.
One morning we went to the golf club my parents belong to for buffet breakfast, and guess who showed up? Santa! Got a lot of cute pictures with the little ones. Patch wasn’t buying the whole thing, but my older one, the original Little One, was brave enough to sit on his lap and tell him a couple of toys she wanted. Later, she made a stained-glass gingerbread man tree ornament before we left for home.
Sunday afternoon, while surfing on their PC, I came across the sad fact of the death of Robert Holdstock. Who was he? He was a British science fiction and fantasy writer, active since the mid-70s. When my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Napa Valley in April of 2001, in our room at our deluxe resort, on a shelf, sat one of Holdstock’s most famous book, the award-winning Mythago Wood. It was hardcover, with fantastical illustrations between its covers. I was taken with it, but in all the excitement could not really read it. So I put it on my list, and I found it at a used book store in September of 2007. Its behind me right now, dutifully standing on line, ready to be read. Mr. Holdstock died, tragically, of all things, of an e coli infection. Think I’ll move that paperback up in the reading rotation.
Anyway, what great holiday R&R! I’m now looking forward to Christmas week, when the family motors down to South Carolina to spend some time with my wife’s parents.
Read lots and lots: 240 pages of Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku; 85 pages of A Clash of Kings; 150 pages of Oswald’s Tale. I also skimmed through a book on diet and nutrition, and was able to experiment with what I put into my body over the next three days. Basic kernel of knowledge gained: Sugar is my enemy. Saps energy and leads directly to a restless night’s sleep. Also, upon recommendation, I switched around the time of day I take my supplements and as a result found mucho more mojo during my waking hours.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, as it always is. My wife came up with a killer sweet potato recipe. Pumpkin pie, which I can live on, followed. After the kiddies went down we indulged in a Thanksgiving Night family tradition: Watching Clark and Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation. Ah. Now, the Christmas season is here!
As I blogged about a few days’ back, we went shopping on Friday and I snagged a quartet of cool SF books. The girls found tons and tons of discounted clothes and Christmas presents. I took my Little One out for a lemonade and a slice of pizza to a restaurant that had a fascinating fish tank. Saturday my wife and mother went back out. The wife actually bought a pair of used cowboy boots, which kinda grossed me out. Not only the fact that they were used, but the fact that I never in a million years would expect to see her wearing a pair. Oh well. To each her own.
Watched some football games, some miscellaneous shows. I awoke early on Friday and went for a nature walk. Very solitary and lonely, but I compensated with a feeling of surging energy. The next day I awoke even earlier, and, being too windy, tiptoed down to the refinished basement and watched a couple of weird movies (one was a strange, overly-arty Electra Glide in Blue) waiting for the others to wake up. We all had tacos Saturday night. Later, the wife and I watched Sinatra in a 1980 concert.
One morning we went to the golf club my parents belong to for buffet breakfast, and guess who showed up? Santa! Got a lot of cute pictures with the little ones. Patch wasn’t buying the whole thing, but my older one, the original Little One, was brave enough to sit on his lap and tell him a couple of toys she wanted. Later, she made a stained-glass gingerbread man tree ornament before we left for home.
Sunday afternoon, while surfing on their PC, I came across the sad fact of the death of Robert Holdstock. Who was he? He was a British science fiction and fantasy writer, active since the mid-70s. When my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Napa Valley in April of 2001, in our room at our deluxe resort, on a shelf, sat one of Holdstock’s most famous book, the award-winning Mythago Wood. It was hardcover, with fantastical illustrations between its covers. I was taken with it, but in all the excitement could not really read it. So I put it on my list, and I found it at a used book store in September of 2007. Its behind me right now, dutifully standing on line, ready to be read. Mr. Holdstock died, tragically, of all things, of an e coli infection. Think I’ll move that paperback up in the reading rotation.
Anyway, what great holiday R&R! I’m now looking forward to Christmas week, when the family motors down to South Carolina to spend some time with my wife’s parents.
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