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Showing posts from October, 2023

A day at the Museum with the Kids

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You always looked forward to a field trip when you were a kid. It meant getting out of school for a day. If you were lucky, it would be something that genuinely interested you and wasn't boring. For me, the best trips were the ones to Canobie Lake Park . The Boy had a field trip last week to the Museum of Science . This is a place Wife and I have always enjoyed visiting with our children. She went with The Oppressed when it was her turn. I wanted to go, but The Boy had a field trip to the zoo on the same day. The Night Before and the Morning of the Field Trip If you've donated to the Museum of Science before, you may be getting another letter in the mail asking for more money. We began planning our day on the night before. This meant going to the store and buying things to make our lunches. Lunches were prepared and packed. The Boy left for the bus the next morning. I was driving since chaperones are not allowed to ride the bus with the teachers and children. I said a little pr

How I Master the Parent Teacher Conference

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It's not always easy finding out what's happening at school. Thankfully, parents have help in obvious places when they want to know the real story of what's going on in Academia. Like other parents, it's my job to keep my little miracles of Christ alive, healthy, and happy. Well... alive and healthy, anyways. It's also my job to make sure things get done around the house. This can also be easier said than done, especially when it comes to the child receiving the instructions about doing things around the house. Part of my job in keeping the little cherubs alive and healthy is checking in on them after school. I like to know how their day was and what happened. Things every parent does to make sure things outside the home are going smoothly and there are no crises. Elementary school. One of the sites where we get to meet the teachers. Asking your kids what Happened at School Of course, there are no crises at our home. Everything is "great" and "good&qu

A Busy Weekend with (and without) the Family

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. No rest for the wicked. Our family is constantly pulled into different directions at the same time. If we're lucky, we'll be pulled in one direction at the same time. Things are good when that happens. When it doesn't happen, we strap in and do the best we can. Friday Night Football Friday. The glorious beginning to the weekend. First, we need to survive the day before we can do that victory lap into the weekend. Surviving the day meant getting the car back into the shop for more repairs. I think we got a dud as far as cars are concerned, but that's another story for another day. "See some old friends, good for the soul." - Bob Seger High school friends and I have been planning a get-together for a while. We were finally able to pin down last Friday's football game for a mini-reunion at our Alma Mater, Bishop Fenwick High School . In the middle of trading messages and coordinating everything, I found out

Is the Book Better than the Movie?

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A constant argument is whether the book or the movie is better. When a book is made into a movie, readers and fans are curious to see how the film turns out. Did the director stay true to the story? Did the actors and actresses do the book justice? Was the book better? Does the movie measure up at all? I, personally, am a fan of Tom Clancy, especially the Jack Ryan movie series. I liked watching Harrison Ford in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". I would liked to have seen him in "Debt of Honor" where he puts his private sector know-how to work to avoid a Wall Street meltdown. Stop me if you've heard of Wall Street collapsing before. I was disappointed in "Sum of All Fears". I blame the writers and directors for that one. If you've read the book, don't watch the movie. Readers of this blog know about The Oppressed and her infatuation with books , especially mythology and Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series

What Happened on that Summer Day I Met Tim Wakefield

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Tim Wakefield (Photo: Wikipedia) I was laying down on my bed, scrolling through Facebook, on a typical Sunday afternoon. I was thinking to myself on this first Sunday of October about baseball. This first Sunday used to be when the regular season ended for Major League Baseball. If I was lucky, the Boston Red Sox would be in the playoffs and I would be able to watch them again. If not, at least there would be more baseball for me to watch and I would get as much of it as I could before the last out of the World Series and I would have to wait until next year. My scrolling stopped and I gasped out loud when I saw the news that Tim Wakefield had passed away. It was no secret he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. I broke the news to Wife. We had both known he was ill. We had no idea the cancer had spread as much or as fast as it did. Then again, we're not people who are paying attention to the news every waking moment of the day. The Day I Met Tim Wakefield One summer, I was at my