New Year's Eve

Every year it's the same thing: my wife gets sleepy and goes to bed early while I stay up until midnight to see if anything amazing happens. Nothing amazing has ever happened so far. The ball drops, the TV host in Times Square blabs over the music, the confetti falls, and a few local fireworks go off. That's it. I don't feel any different, and everything is the same. Even when we flipped over to the new millenium it was the same. Remember the Y2K scare? I was so sure that something was going to happen. But the power stayed on, all the appliances kept working, the heat stayed on, and the toilet kept flushing. I was disappointed. I was hoping for at least a little disaster.

There is a group called Eddie from Ohio that sings a song called Monotony. I like it a lot. The singer goes so far as to say that he would welcome being run over by a car or hit by a bomb - as long as it would break the monotony. OK....I don't want to go that far. I understand the feeling though. They say that 'variety is the spice of life', and sometimes it feels as if I where stuck with only salt and pepper. I need some basil or something.

My van will turn over 100,000 miles this year. How often in a lifetime will I get to see that happen? But do you know what will happen when all of those zeros flip over? Absolutely nothing. What should happen? Something like this: The stereo should turn itself on and play the Stars and Stripes Forever while a booming voiceover repeats "ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES!" for five minutes. The windshield wipers should all do victory swipes to the rhythm of the march on the stereo. The lights should flash. The horn should beep a happy tune - or maybe play auld lang syne. All of the dials on the display should spin out of control for a few minutes. The whole van should bounce up and down as if it were a hotrod on airshocks. That is the sort of thing that should happen.

I know; I could make things happen. I could put in a CD, flash the lights, beep the horn, and turn on the wipers. But it isn't the same. Our vehicles all have computer chips in them. Video games give us a nice little show when we beat the Level Boss and move on to the next level. Shouldn't our cars do the same? We spend a lot more on them than we do on any video game. Maybe it's time I circulated a petition.

Happy New Year! Pass the taragon.

Alumnus Party Night

The big event of the day was a party at our place for choir alumnae. It was really all Sarah Pescha's fault. She suggested a little get together, so I started a yahoo group to get in touch with graduates, and things develeped from there. I called a healthy chunk of alums from last year, and a couple from the year before (I didn't have the class of 03 phone list at home).

A pretty decent sized crowd showed up and seemed to have a good time. We all sat around, yacked, ate, and attempted a few old choir songs. We even broke out the DDR game after awhile and jumped around to burn off the egg rolls. The party broke up around 10:30, which is nice. Ten is usual teacher bed-time, and I don't socialize well too long after that point.

I did my best to spread the word in only a few days. I told everyone I called to invite any old choir buddies that they knew were in town, but I couldn't get to everyone. I hope that I didn't bruise any egos by not being able to reach everyone personally. Over the last two years that would have amounted to about 75 people. I'm not sure the house could have handled the stress.

National Treasure & Stuff

The first full day home after the trip to Pgh we slept in and took it easy. Roman & I drove up to Lakewood to see National Treasure, and we both liked it a lot. I tried to convince him that geocaching is a milder form of treasure hunting, but he wouldn't buy it. If there is no pot of gold, he doesn't see the value in chasing the rainbow yet. The girls stayed home and did girlie things. Carmen still gets a little too wigglie during any movie that isn't a cartoon.

We also decided to throw a little party for alumni of my HS choirs this Thursday. Kind of short notice, but most college students don't plan too far ahead during their breaks anyway. I hope a good group shows up. It will be nice to find out what everybody's doing. You spend four years working on music together and then they disappear on you. It would be good to keep in touch better.

Home again

Four kids together in one house in the winter time is just trouble waiting to happen. They started to get on eachother's (and their parent's) nerves, so it was time to head home. Mike had to get back to work anyhow, doing whatever mysterious telecommunication-type things he does. (His home phone system and network is more complex than many multi-national corporations.)

The trip home was uneventful except for a short detour to attempt a geocache at the Tideoute overlook. The whole stop only took a half hour, but the family was all complaining about the cold. The view from up there was really neat, but we couldn't find it in the snow. I'll have to go back in the spring.

No matter how nice a trip is, or how good it is to see your family, it's always nice to sleep in your own bed when you get back home.

The Day after Christmas

We were hoping to be able to drop over to see the Woodrows today, but they must be up visiting family in Erie (bummer). So we slept in, had the famous Pearce stromboli for lunch, and went geocaching while Mike & his family went to visit Pam's side of the family.

The geocache was fun. It was next to a swinging bridge over a river and an ATV trail. We all had to run over the bridge, even though we didn't need it to reach the cache. Carmen ran ahead like a maniac, and Roman was certain that he was going to plunge to his death any second, but he managed it. After we found the cache we bumped into a guy riding an ATV who let me take the kids for a spin. We had a lot of fun. Now where can I come up with $5,000 or so to buy my own? (Just how important are those college funds, really.)

Christmas with the family

Christmas dinner with the family at brother Mike's house. We had a nice drive down with not much snow to worry about, and the kids didn't whine too much on the way. Mom & Dad joined us for dinner and we all thouroughly pigged out. Sister-in-law Pam really cooks a good ham. We had a great day hanging out, feasting, and teasing eachother. It's what we do best.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in beautiful Warren, Pa. The kids had a great time playing with all of the new toys; so did Dad. Everyone seems pretty happy with all of their goodies. We've been pigging down enough cookies and Christmas treats to keep us hyper for a week. No new cars, computers or large screen TVs this year, but who needs them.

I read the Christmas story to the kids tonight before they went to bed. The big, flowery, King James version with all of the "Thee"s "Thou"s and all. I stopped to translate every few minutes, but it's worth it. Most of the other Bible stories we read are in easier translations, but every once in a while, you just have to break out the KJV.

Off to Mom & Dad's for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The kids will get to see their cousins, too. They always have a lot of fun together. Gotta love Christmas.

School concerts, Fires, & Christmas Eve

The WAHS choirs sang in front of the student body today and lived to tell the tale. You gotta give them credit. Standing in front of your peers under bright lights and singing at them while they ogle you can be pretty unnerving. They did an awesome job. And there were no beachballs in the audience this year. Things are looking up.

I just got word that another director I know had a pretty bad house fire a few days ago. Thank goodness for email. Hopefully we'll be able to reach enough collegues and friends to make sure his families Christmas is still a happy one. Although sad, it helps you keep things in persepective. We all spend too much time whining about things that really aren't all that important. The family is all safe, but they lost the dogs. Keep the Camerons in your prayers.

And speaking of Christmas.....it comes early for us. The family always opens presents the first full day of Christmas vacation. This way we are free to make the rounds to family on Christmas Day. It also gives me a few extra days to play with my toys...er....the kids, I mean. Santa has already arrived, and it isn't even 11 pm yet. The first Christmas in years with "no assembly required!

If you want to see me in a tux, come to the concert.