McMiscellaneous

Here I am, on the way back to Houston. And before you think I am blogging while driving, please rest assured I am in a McDonald's parking lot. No, I will not eat their food, but ever since I learned that all McDonald'ses offer free wi-fi, I've been frequenting their parking lots from time to time. And yes, I will slurp one of their smoothies from time to time, actually.

It is the 20-teens, afterall. Nowadays, you can do all sorts of things. Like, for example, you can browse the current world emergencies and disasters from the comfort of your own home without turning to the news. It is from there that I was reminded our family vacation spots during my childhood, at Island Park in eastern Idaho. There is also home to one of the worlds' largest calderas, a large caldera distinct from the great Yellowstone caldera. It is older, it shares Yellowstone's high status as an 8 out of 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index, and it is--the way I understand it--part of a path of calderas which form every so often as our Earth's crust passes over the hotspot which is now responsible for the geo-active Yellowstone as we know it.



For more Snake River Plain info, just wiki it, or click here. Otherwise I'll go on and on about southern Idaho.

Anyway, I like that you can find out about what disasters are happening around the world without all the newsy drama bits. Of course, it's not the most uplifting, but hey, what do you expect from a McDonald's parking lot?

Well, the unfortunate thing about this week is that I will be flying solo in Houston until Friday. On the plus side, today is a day off for me, making up for extra hours I've already logged. I'll mozy on back to Houston, and get situated for the week. I've got teacher training, a final week at school, and presumably plenty to keep me occupied. Plus, I am headed back with a car full of stuff. Now that we got our garage somewhat cleared out, it's time to get all of our belongings that have been lingering at the Bourgs' house since way back even to Bonnie's teenage years.

Well, even though it's Mardi Gras time everywhere, I am getting reminded of how out-of-proportion it is in Louisiana. In Texas even, a few long hours away, it just isn't that big of a deal.

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.