our last February weekend in 2011

Today was a good day. The sermon used Groundhog Day the movie as a broad illustration of living each of our days the best way we can.

Fr. Rob Price - 2/27/2011 from Dunstanite on Vimeo.

Lots of Wii tennis in the afternoon.

We also cleaned half of the toys into a new "toy chest" we have in the living room. It isn't really a toy chest, but it is a chest, and it has toys in it. Our idea is that we can store them there and every week or month or whatever, trade toys in and out of it. In this way we can keep fewer toys in circulation, and, hopefully, fewer toys scattered around on the floor.

I think I want to do this with the books too. It's a nice surprise to unpack some old favorites, and then you want to read them. When they sit on the shelf the whole while, even good old favorites get overlooked.

Bonnie's baking more cookies. She is getting a ball out of Peas and Thank you. Orry likes to sing and dance. Isaac likes to work on the computer but he struggles some with the way the mouse works. Annie does her best to stay involved and get the kind of attention only 1 yr olds get.

From yesterday:

This morning I went to a McDonalds for free wifi, only to find that the place had a padlock on their only power outlet. It would have been fine if my laptop were fully charged, but I had only about a half hour left. Of course, I found this out after I purchased a fruit smoothie to justify my sitting in the restaurant for a couple hours.

Why was I planning on sitting at McD’s for two hours? Well, this is vehicle sharing for you. This morning was a fun event at the Houston Zoo that we didn’t want to miss. Unfortunately it is also a day for my teacher training (part of going through a Texas Alternative Teacher Certification process). So we packed up the kids before dawn and drove to my destination and dumped me out so the rest of the brood could go enjoy zoo membership benefits.

Wifi isn’t working at the actual location of my teacher training, so I hoofed it to the golden arches down the road where I was confident I could spend the morning completing some tasks and stumbling upon who knows what Internet treasures.

As it was, I was able to grade a bunch of papers and get some stuff done. It’s unfortunate I can’t be plugged in during this teacher training session, but it’s not at all the end of the world. Goodness, they showed a short segment on “why we teach” that even had my steel heart leaking out emotion as I was choking back the tears.

Our Wii involvement has declined somewhat after the first-week-frenzy. I think Bonnie and I both got a little sore from our vigorous routines. Orry and I have been teaming up on our computer opponents in the game of tennis, teaching them a lesson. I have observed a heightened sense of centered balance, the attainment of which is commendable, I’d say.

a list, and forgiveness

How are your jigsaw skills? How are your competitive skills? Here is for an online jigsaw puzzle challenge for you.

On my list of things to do is to make a list of things to do. Exciting things to get you coming back here. I suppose my Wii fitness updates won't be as exciting for you all as they are for me.
And if you're curious about our IBD experiences, or about how our letter writing is going, you know right where to go. I like what I've seen some of you do with your blogs and "challenges", which make us all want to stay tuned and check out the updates. I want to do something like that. I tried to get Bonnie to post her "30-day Bean Challenge" on here, because I'm sure that would really be a gas. But there's got to be other clever ideas to keep you reading. Okay, true to form, I now have a list. I don't think it will exactly get the trumpets blaring, but now I am thinking that in addition to the usual randomness, you may also get a smattering of....

Intriguing Translations and Idioms (um...)
Neato Websites (let me stumble upon that for you)
Sermons Worth Repeating
Knowledge Worth Knowing (what's that, crickets?)

Okay, so you see, I need to work on my list. It's not the most sensational. Yet.

Today's sermon at church, though, was strangely moving to me. And odd, because really we got a play by play of the opera--yes, opera--of Dead Man Walking. You might wonder what kind of church we are going to, so let me tell you Episcopalian now and we'll get that out of the way. In fact, I just learned that you can not only listen to but watch this very sermon, which has about 75 seconds of commentary other than the literary relating.

Fr. Bob Wells - Sermon 2-20 from Dunstanite on Vimeo.

I want to tell you, that with these sermon-of-the-mount-sermons of the current lectionary, I can't go a week without thinking of forgiveness in my own life. And I never saw myself as being one with forgiveness issues. But this last decade has been a doozie, and I find myself on the fence with my personal fulfillment/development on account of my ability or inability to forgive. In spite of myself.

Upon further inspection I wonder if it's not exactly forgiveness I long for, but resolution. Like, I am forgiving/ have forgiven, but there is still a tension because the matter is unresolved. No confrontation has occurred. I just don't know.

And since you're still reading, I'll go ahead and continue so as to possibly appease your curiosity and illustrate my pains. The part of my heart that doesn't feel right is about my father's siblings and what happened in that part of my family. In the spirit of my good old grandma, I think I can accept even the worst of humanity in my loved ones (And mind you, even though sometimes I feel like it, nobody's actions or intentions here get so close as to be near the worst of humanity.), can embrace even their shortcomings or trespasses as they trespass against me, or against my good old grandparents, or father, which interestingly is more the case here I think. Like I said, all is either forgiven, or something close to it. But I think the tension remaining, which becomes apparent whenever I hear a sermon about forgiveness, has to do with never taking a chance to reconcile or at least resolve something with said loved ones. And honestly, I just don't know when or how that's going to happen. Which makes me wonder what's really going on there with my forgiveness, fear, love, or what. To be examined....

And, now, that's about enough currenttroydanielbecker for you today, wouldn't you say?

a new pastime

We got a Nintendo Wii. I was just watching "Bonnie" get hit in the head with soccer cleats, ha ha. Earlier "we" were speeding down mountain slopes, and pedaling our bikes. Orry and I "went for a run" earlier. Am I worried a little that this is replacing good old fashioned real activity? Yes. Now she just fell from an urban tightrope. But there is no question our activity level is increasing, so I'll just take that for now, and later we'll be able to arrange our lives better for real recreation.

It was a busy week for me. We administered a midterm on Tuesday which took a lot of time in preparation and follow-up. Last Saturday I spent much of the day in teacher training courses, so it has seemed like a long stretch. Hopefully next week I can relax more to make up for it. I keep getting more and more duties at the school where I work. Which is great--I hope the pay adjusts to make up for it sooner rather than later!

As for idle time nowadays, I do read up quite a bit about Inflammatory Bowel Disease and people's experiences. Today I was thinking about trying to assemble a mass study/survey in order to try and sift patterns out of thousands of Crohn's and colitis patients. Nowadays with information technology, it seems feasible that a layman could do something like this with the help of the Internet and forms. Yet it seems like a broad comprehensive study done carefully could help make great progress in untangling the mysteries of IBD. (All of you faithful readers already know about our IBDinourhome blog.).

Bonnie's got the place looking pretty good. We still have some boxes to unpack, and some stuff out in the way, but it's feeling really homey. Our family room, where most of our time is spent, connects to our dining area and has a window into the kitchen. It is a nice space, with 12 foot ceilings and now new venetian blinds on big windows along one whole wall. But the best part of it is when it's filled with five giggling Beckers, enjoying our life together.

If you want to see a bunch of aerial photography, just visit here and scroll down, looking for photos you like the best, or juxtapositions you appreciate.

a new garden

A new garden has begun on Teaside Drive. That's because we transplanted some cilantro and strawberries and basil into some little cardboard boxes. Always moving around makes it harder to get around to planting. But I say let's move our plants with us if it comes to that. Or leave them for the next guy, why not?

So are you a morning person? A night person? It turns out I am a morningdaynight person.

I hope you've packed as much fun as I have or more into the first 46 days of this prime year. It turns out that my blog readership is inversely proportional to my math topics. So how about a sweet update about the wife and kiddos?

Well, Bonnie, as most of you know, is nearing the end of her twenties. Of course she still looks every bit as young and fresh as the day we remet. I think the hardest part for her about getting older is that my hair just isn't what it used to be. Or maybe I am getting her confused with me, because I do that sometimes. Bonnie has been sewing cute state pillows and other things. She threw a great valentines/birthday hoedown. It wasn't really a hoedown, but it was like a hoedown for 3 under 5 and their parents.

The kiddos are growing and developing as if they missed the memo that this is the second year in the second decade of the third millennium CE and that time was slated for slowing down. we are doing our best to savor our experiences and drag back the reins of time with appreciation. Orry is reading more and doing more math. Isaac understands cardinality finally and is talking up a storm. His speech takes some deciphering but mostly now because some of his consonants are replaced /t/ and /sh/. But he's consistent, and once you know the code you can decipher everything. It helps when Orry's around because he's so quick picking up the context. Annie is demonstrating a lot of signs and language know-how. She's doing her best to keep up with the boys. She really likes the soothing effects of holding a blanket. She'll give kisses goodbye and goodnight, and she says thank you and please too. And shoes and socks.

It's my hope that the kids will really dig the new garden.

the day before

The day before Valentine's-Day-the-wife's-birthday, also known as Ryan Unger's birthday is usually the last day of hope in this household. The day where Bonnie might still think that maybe there's some slim chance she's going to get surprised with something special or have a decent birthday.

But this year we changed it up. I knew that it might not fare well for me if I totally slacked off yet again, so this year I secreted away a couple rolls of streamers and pink balloons and waited for Bonnie to go buy herself some birthday/valentine's gifts. Then I rallied up the troops and decked out the living room.

Then, as Orry puts it, we hid and when Daddy said "okay" we jumped out and said "Surprise!" and threw balloons in the air.

We gave Bonnie the cards we made. The idea was to give a surprise early birthday/valentine's party, but I could see the look in her eye, which means, "Man, now, not only do I have to make my own birthday meals, buy my own gifts, and plan my own day, but I need to clean all this up as well."

Today some of the streamers started coming down, but I got the duct tape out so I think we'll be okay through tomorrow.

For now, it's off to church with us!

Oh, and for your extra reading pleasure, check out our letter writing blog, notjustthebills.

the white field, solid red circle post

Congratulations America. We might get another world champion chess player in Hikaru Nakamura. Sure, Hikaru, you were born in the land of the rising sun (only 23 years ago), but thanks for pushing those pawns for the stars and stripes.

I wrote up some math notions about cousin primes and double cousin primes and got a nice email back today about prime gaps of 2^n. Nothing about troy-troy-semiprimes, but I wouldn't be surprised that somebody has listed the troy-troy-semiprimes but with some other inferior name.

Wait! No more math this post, I promise.

I went to a CCFA support group today. If you want to read up about Isaac's colitis, visit our other blog IBD in our home. I haven't written it there yet, but you know, Isaac's chronic disease is teaching me about life. When I come home from work he pops up and yells Surprise! from behind a piece of furniture (after having watched his brother do the same for the past 6 months). Then he wants to spin in the air like an airplane. And come on, who doesn't?! He is just full of life and love and such a delight.

The other news of late is the buzz on ancestry.com about some Becker photos that surfaced and so my dad and I have been reminiscing and remembering old memories that weren't really ours in the first place. That has had me thinking a lot about the old Becker farm, barn, and so on.

And then, of course, lots of work, work, work at the school. As soon as I get halfway done with what I need to get done, I get new tasks that double my workload. Oops. Well, you don't need to figure the proportions--I just mean to say that I'm always a little too busy. And in such a great month, one likes to be comfrotably busy, but able to enjoy lots of extra time with his beautiful wife and delightful offspring.

We had some guests yesterday who are bringing Japanese into our house. Breathing the spirit of kokoro where our family members have forgotten it. The couple, students at the language school, have fascinating lives which I should tell you about another time, when you have more time.

Feb 4

Well, happy birthday to me!

Actually, I sure hit the jackpot when Bonnie agreed to marry me. What a gal. What a lovely little family we make, and what a life.

Our school was canceled today so it really is a nice birthday surprise to spend it with Bon and the tots. What will we do? I think an obstacle course is in order. And spinning. Lots of spinning.

I'm up good and early, spending my hours looking at IBD and colitis stuff for Isaac's IBD blog. It is uplifting to think that even though we're talking about chronic conditions, Isaac seems to be doing so well now and that even though he is "unlucky" in some sense, he is very "lucky" in another. There's your quota of quotes for the day.

Why was our school cancelled? The massive winter storm that has covered most of our western hemisphere in white also put down some freezing rain and left Houstonians feeling all apocalyptic. But before you comment on climate change, I did read that in 1895, Houston got 20 inches of snow in February. What?! Bring it.

And speaking of, my wife has brought a delicious breakfast to the table. So on with my wonderful day....

February!

And you know what that means. Yours Truly sleeps under a star arrangement moreorless the same as the arrangement in which he squeezed out to breathe his first precious breaths. Cancer, Sirius trailing Orion, Pegasus. Cygnus rising.

February, brrr! The last few days the house was fine with no extra heat source. Now I'm wrapped in a blanket and my nose is cold. Because February has bite. Sure, it might pussyfoot around toward the end of the month. But when February comes, you best be ready for a cold snap. Especially you, Midwest.

The cold, as you know, is a nice set up for the most romantic day of the year, my wife's birthday. Over the years, I've slyly conditioned Bonnie to have low expectations on that sweet sweet day, so maybe this year I will surprise her and do one little thing like offer to do the dishes or change one of the pee diapers on that day. Or maybe I'll bring her home some fresh ingredients so she can make some of her delicious homemade ginger cookies in the shapes of little hearts. Then in the evening I will get her a blanket so she can wrap up in it while I write some weblog entries. (Don't tell her but I'm thinking about getting her a nosemitten.).

There is, of course, the Super Bowl. They changed it to February because, let's face it, February is when athletes and mothers do their best work.

Another unsung hero of the days of month two is Presidents Day. In a month exactly four weeks long, why not make the work load even less! This means that salary is sweeter in February. Not to mention it makes another three day weekend so I can do something else special for Bonnie. Oh, snap! I just checked my schedule and it looks like my school doesn't observe that federal holiday. So goodbye, sweet salary. Goodbye, something special.

Still, February, it's better to have a birthmonth of low expectations and a little disappointment, than to not have a birthmonth at all. So thank you for existing.

Today is groundhog day. This means that depending on your desires for Winter or Spring, this could be a day of joy or of less joy. In Houston, with the temperature having dropped 50 degrees in the past day, I doubt any groundhogs are going to be putting their noses anywhere except snuggled up in their mate's fur. And that is sounding good to me as the night draws on, except that with Bonnie, it is called hair, and I'm going to go snuggle my nose in it.