Weird kid, but he's all mine!

Our trip north to ride the Polar Express was fun overall. We picked up Daddy at work, fueled up the car, and headed north at about 3pm. Shortly after turning on to 40 west at Flagstaff, Galen spotted a train running in the other direction of the far side of the highway, and a few more after that until the road and the track diverged too much. We hadn't told him where we were going yet.

When we arrived in Williams, all of Galen's attention was focused on the trains parked on the other side of the road from the depot, but we had to drive over to the other side of the hotel to find parking (the Grand Canyon Rail Hotel and the Grand Canyon Rail Depot share grounds AND parking). As it turned out, we had an excellent parking spot, because the coach we were assigned to boarded right across from it.

We went into the depot to pick up the tickets, decided the insanity inside was not worth sticking around to do anything else, and walked over to the buffet/gift shop to eat before our train. The buffet IS really nice, but it's also really expensive - as in about twice what any other decent buffet would cost in Phoenix. If we do this again, we will not be eating at their buffet.

It was in the buffet that Galen got to see the earlier train leave the station (they have one at 6:30pm and one at 8pm - I bought tickets for the later train to make sure we'd be able to get there in time). We had a table near the window, but not right at the window.

When we were almost finished eating Galen started making a fuss, which escalated into a full-blown crying fit in the ladies room while I was changing him into his new Christmas pajamas. He absolutely, positively, did NOT want to ride on the train. He wanted to go home. Galen loves trains, so this was a little disconcerting, but I thought it might have been because he'd never seen one close up before (there's an old steam engine on display between the buffet and the depot) and had no idea of enormous they were. We took a closer look at the one on display on our way back to the depot (it looks a LOT like the one depicted in the movie), and he seemed fascinated - he calmed right down and started checking out the pistons and the other parts he could see. I thought we were going to be fine at this point.

We headed down the walk to the boarding area for our coach (15 total - we were in the 4th). As soon as he realized we were waiting for the train to come so we could go for a ride, he started up again. He was adamant that he wanted to go home. This turned out to be a perfect example of why you should carefully listen to what your children are actually saying, rather than making what seem like reasonable assumptions. As soon as Richard told him we would be going home after we rode the train it was like someone had flipped a switch and our happy go-lucky, train-loving little boy was back. I think I've got a rash on my chin from it hitting the pavement.

He had a blast during the ride - he didn't know all the words to the Christmas carols we sang (they provided lyrics, but of course he can't read that fast yet - and there were a lot of words he still doesn't know), but he had big smiles while he clapped and stomped and all the other things the "chefs" asked us to do while we sang. He enjoyed his hot cocoa and his cookie. He loved looking at the pictures in the book as they read the story out loud. He loved the "North Pole" they had set up beside the track - lots of lights and buildings representing the part of the city that Santa lives in (but not the toy factories which were on the other side of the hill to give Santa and the Mrs. a little peace and quiet). They had a sleigh with a huge sack loaded on it (with Bernard from The Santa Clause on a ladder doing something near the top).

After picking up Santa, we headed back to Willliams. Santa worked his way through the coaches handing each child a large bell. Galen loves this bell. It's actually a very nice one. The bell currently lives on the train table in his room. Daddy had to talk him into putting it somewhere safe instead of taking it to bed with him - the train table was his idea (Daddy suggested the book shelf).

Galen fell asleep in the car on the way home. No surprise. The bell stayed in his lap the whole time, too. We still have no idea why he made such a fuss, but it all turned out the way I had hoped.

Foggy days

Our trip on the Polar Express is today, and because we want to leave directly from Richard's work we all had to get up before the sun this morning to bring him to work. The alternative of leaving his car in the parking lot is just not acceptable. That parking lot is so attractive to car thieves - because of its size I suspect - that the police routinely leave "bait cars" to catch them.

One of the benefits of getting up this early, especially when I don't actually have to be awake enough to drive yet, is I get to see things that I wouldn't get to see otherwise. Today, the visual treat was fog. Yes, fog. In Phoenix, AZ. It happens, but given how dry the area usually is it's fairly rare. On top of that it burns off quickly, so unless you're out and about early you miss it entirely.

I love fog. For me it's always had a magical quality. I remember waiting for the bus on foggy mornings as a kid. The visual memory is so strong I can actually see the road I lived on disappearing into the fog in both directions. It made such an impression on me I wrote a rather long poem about it. Now that I think about it, that poem is probably part of the reason why the visual memory is so strong.

I also have vivid memories of driving through the Appalachian Mountains with a friend in the middle of the night, in fog so think we were literally hanging out of the open doors to try and keep the lines painted on the road in sight. It wasn't safe to try to pull over since we couldn't see what we would be pulling into, so we crept over the mountains at a speed we probably could have beaten by walking. We didn't have to be anyplace at any particular time, so we just enjoyed the experience, and drove very carefully.

The only time I can remember not enjoying fog was driving through Pennsylvania roads loaded with deer. That's a little intimidating in the fog, especially when you know people who have totaled cars in deer encounters.

Sadly, our foggy morning has burned off already. Until next time.

Returning from the void

I've been very unenthusiastic about blogging lately. I'm not even sure why - no more drama in the neighborhood or my personal life (at least not involving anyone living in my house) and nothing major going on that takes all my time and attention. I think I just feel like I have nothing worthwhile to say. I wonder how much of that is because of the depression I still deal with and how much is because nothing major is going on (good or bad)?


I do have some pretty nice things to talk about, however. I'm going back east in less than two weeks to visit with friends and family that haven't seen me for at least two years - for once the trip will even include friends in New England, who normally get bypassed in favor of the family I have spread over three states. Most of these friends haven't seen me in over 20 years (with only two exceptions I can think of off the top of my head - and one of those was a reader at my wedding).

Galen and I will be arriving in Manchester on Christmas night (this way we get to spend Christmas day until about noon with Daddy, who won't be coming with us). Thanks to my brother, we'll spend the night at a hotel near the airport, and in the morning I'll pick up a rental car and the fun begins. Other than planning to spend the 27th at my brother's house so my mom can bake cookies with all the kids and spending the day there with my dad's side of the family on Jan 2nd, I have no specific plans. I'm hoping the weather will permit a short trip to DC and I'd dearly love to go skiing while I'm in New England, but otherwise I'm just looking forward to spending time with friends I haven't seen for much too long.

I'm also finished with the two classes I took this semester. The logic class was pretty much a waste of time but at least I have it on record officially now (I audited it back in the day, but that's not the same thing). The discrete mathematics class did exactly what I had hoped it would do - convinced me that going back to school to do ANOTHER graduate degree in mathematics was something I wanted. I'm torn now between taking one undergrad semester at ASU to take the two required math classes I need to enter their graduate program (along with two others just for enrichment), or taking a programming class and another mathematics course at the community college. The problem with ASU is I'd have to take daytime classes and I'm not really set to do that for spring. The problem with the community college is I'd have to wait another year to start the graduate program because they only admit in the fall.

Galen's educations is coming along nicely. He's getting really good at his reading, although he struggles to remember all the different ways the long-vowel sounds can be represented. Practice will remedy that I'm sure. We also need to work a bit on recognizing the difference between 'b'/'d' and 'p'/'q' - the last one doesn't come up as often, and he does know which one is which when I ask him what that letter is in the word, but when he's reading a passage he gets a little sloppy about carefully distinguishing between those pairs unless I remind him. His math lessons are going well, although he's clearly a little bored with them. I'm having to be creative with those because he frequently goes off on tangents that are several units ahead of what we're currently working on. I can only imagine the kind of problems that would create in a classroom where the teacher really can't just go with him on these side-trips. It actually gives me a little more sympathy for what my teachers went through with me.

In recognition of the fact that I've marveled over every stage of Galen's life and how his interests shift and change, here's a list of things that he currently loves to do:
1)  Go to the zoo - the spider monkeys, the giraffes, and the elephants are his current favorites
2)  Go to the park - playing in the sand and walking/riding around the lake
3)  Building elaborate track layouts with his Thomas Wooden Railway set
4)  Building elaborate contraptions with his Legos
5)  Coloring - until recently coloring hasn't been a favorite activity, but this seems to have changed
6)  Disney Channel kids programming - Chuggington, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, etc.
7)  Playing with trucks and cars of all kinds, both inside and out - boy can this kid get dirty!
8)  Wearing holes in the knees of perfectly good pants - LOL!
9)  He seems to be fascinated by the concept or trash and recycling because many of the contraptions he builds (or imagines) have to do with recycling or trash processing - I sense a field trip to a local facility in our near future
10)  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - again, this is a relatively recent thing

Mommy's current favorite thing to do hasn't changed much - I love to read. I hope my love of reading will rub off on Galen, because I credit most of my achievements to it.

That's all for now because it's time to get Galen ready for bed. Night all!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

...or at least getting there. I've got the replacement driver's license, credit card and the library card I use most often. I've replaced most of the stuff that wasn't part of the wallet itself, with one notable exception. I have no idea what I'll do about the cell phone. I hate the old one I'm using at the moment, but since I'm stuck with any replacement for two years I want to be sure. If I go for a smart phone, I've narrowed it down to the Palm Pre or Motorola Devour. However, as Richard pointed out, it makes no sense to buy a smartphone with it's $30/month data plan that I'm also stuck with for two years if I want an iPad, because the two would duplicate each other. On top of that, if I get the 3G-capable iPad, I can buy 3G service only as I need it - it's not unlimited like the data plan for the smart phone, but it's cheaper, there's no contract, and I can turn it on and off as needed. If I end up deciding I really do want the iPad (I'd wait until the 2nd generation iPads come out sometime before Christmas before actually getting one), then I'll just replace it with a regular cell phone, and the only thing that will change is that I'm stuck with the new phone for two years (no increase or change to our service plan).

As I've slowly been replacing stuff that was stolen, things have been returning to normal. As of today I have a valid photo ID again (I suppose I could have started carrying my passport around). The police officer who took the report said I would be fine until the replacement license arrived because they have the ability to check those records on the spot if anything happened, and I did have the receipt from ordering the replacement, but I'm still glad I have it back.

I'm in the middle of my annual overhaul of the aquariums. Once a year, usually in the fall after the temperatures drop enough that I'm not refilling the tanks with water that's too warm, I do a couple massive water changes, and systematically clean everything else over and above my regular maintenance. In the case of the smaller tanks, this is not a big deal, but the large aquarium is quite the project.

We've also done a lot of work in the front yard the past few days. I've got three gorgeous lantana bushes, but they've grown so large they're taking over the yard. We pulled a lot of dead stuff out of the one closest to the house, as well as removing anything that reached over the walk or the front patio. It's still a huge plant, but we ran out of room for the trimmings - the rest will have to wait until we have an empty trash bin again. I've also trimmed the Indian Rosewood tree so it's no longer trying to grab people walking to the front door, and we trimmed back all the dead branches on a ground shrub that technically belongs to the neighbor (they rent, and I doubt they know it's their plant because it's spread over the entire area between the two driveways).

Tomorrow I'm hoping to catch up on laundry, clean the kitchen (including the refrigerator), and tackle one of the bathrooms. Wish me luck!