Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The state health inspector came for our annual inspection today. I feel somewhat sorry for him--all day long he drops in to visit people who aren't happy to see him. He's a nice guy and we've always passed our inspections, but I still dread him coming. And since the inspections have to be a surprise, you never know exactly when he'll show up.

Still, he's come and gone and we passed.

Why Aren't We Sleeping?

Nancy Kress wrote a science fiction novel called Beggers in Spain that I read many years ago. The key conflict involves tensions between regular people and people who were genetically engineered to never need sleep. I think about the parents of the sleepless children a lot lately.

It's 9:28 and it appears that my attempt to put LW to bed has failed. Last night we got him down at 10:00. And he's once again getting up in the middle of the night, usually around 3:00.

And Michael leaves for Canada on Saturday. Blech.

In the Beginning

Last night I finished reading In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture by Alister McGrath.

The three most interesting things I learned:

• The creation and popularity of the KJV was primarily politically motivated. King James I didn't like the most popular Bible of the day (it had lots of commentary that argued against the divine right of kings) and that led to him authorizing a new translation. Once it was finished, it wasn't very popular until after the Puritan Commonwealth (Cromwell et al.) had fallen and the people returned the monarchy (Charles II) to the throne. People turned to the KJV and rejected the Geneva Bible because the KJV was associated with the monarchy and stability and the Geneva Bible was associated with the Puritans and the instability of the Commonwealth.
• (Going along with the first item) The KJV was not immediately popular. Although it eventually came to be considered "a great work of religious literature," this view did not become generally accepted until about 1750.
  
• The KJV was written in old-fashioned language even for the time. The instructions to the translators told them to use the language in the Bishop's Bible unless they had a compelling reason to translate it differently. The translators of the Bishop's Bible, likewise, had used the language of Tyndale's translation of 1525 whenever possible. So, the language of the KJV (1611) is largely the language of Tyndale (1525) and includes several ways of speaking that were already dying out in English at the start of the 1600s, among them: thou and the "eth" and "est" verb endings.
  

Vacation Bible School

This week the twins had vacation bible school. It's a joint program with almost all the churches in the valley, held at our church. On Wednesday I was in charge of the snack--packing it up, loading it on the bus (it was field trip day), setting it up, and cleaning up afterwards. LW got to come with me and was very excited about getting to ride on a school bus to the field trip. (He's been wanting to follow the older kids onto the bus every morning this school year.)

The first half hour of VBS each day is a singing time, where the kids learn the songs that go along with the theme. (This year's theme was "Soaring to New Heights with God" and they did a lot of discussions and experiments involving hot air balloons.) Now, our congregation is a casual, friendly, and yet pretty staid group of New Englanders. We have some peppy hymns and sometimes there is a skit as part of the sermon, but we don't have any drums or electric guitars during the service. We stand to sing hymns, but we don't raise our hands above our heads or get really emotional while singing.

But VBS is different. The music is peppier, the background CD has electric instruments, there are hand motions. There is a lot more singing and a lot less talking. LW was in heaven. As soon as the kids stood up to sing the first song, he wiggled out of my arms and raced down the aisle to front and center. He mimicked every hand motion. He danced around. At the end of every song he clapped. At the beginning of every new song, he jumped up and down. The other adults found him very entertaining.

My whirling dervish toddler, who can barely make it through the announcements on Sunday, lasted the entire half hour. He even sat relatively still and quiet during the talking time. (Although even then, he elicited chuckles. The leader had asked the kids to be quiet for a minute or two so they could listen to the silence. Right in the middle of the quiet time, the bus that was taking us to the field trip pulled up. LW, who at the time was sitting in between two of EM's friends, piped up clearly into the silence, "Bus!")

For the first time ever, I find myself wishing we attended a peppy evangelical church, at least for the next couple of years. Let's see--peppy evangelical church with a progressive, non-creedal theology in New England?

Yes, I know. Not going to happen. Oh well. It was a nice thought.

Getting Back to Real Life

I spent last week in Boston for my job. I drove down on Sunday afternoon and drove home Friday night. It was really fun to be in the office for a week--and very relaxing to have only myself to worry about--but I missed Michael and the kids. It was good to see them again.

EM and I spent Saturday and Sunday taking turns reading the new Harry Potter book. We both finished it within half an hour of each other. I want to re-read a couple of scenes, but NB started reading it today, so I'll have to wait.

Yesterday was a crazy day. Drop the kids off at VBS, two hours of phone meetings, take 5 required water samples, pick kids up at VBS, drive an hour to car dealership to fix back door (parts have been backordered), another hour-long meeting on my cell phone in bagel store parking lot, get bagels, drop off water samples at testing lab, big shopping trip at Costco, drive hour home. Whew.

Believe it or not, tomorrow will be almost that crazy.

I've lost my mind

Once, I was sane and organized. I have vague memories of being able to find keys, checkbooks, and shoes. There was a time when I remembered appointments.

No more.

This week I have:

• Finally, after days of searching, found the checkbook I've been missing since July 2. The sad thing about this is that the checkbook belongs in a specific file folder in the filing cabinet, and I am usually very good at returning it there. Where did I finally find it? Two file folders over. Did I get distracted while putting it away and stick it in the wrong folder? Did LW get into the filing cabinet again and helpfully move the checkbook for me? I'll never know.
• Forgotten to pick EM up from his Tale of Two Cities class. The class normally meets in the afternoon, but one day this week they needed to meet from 6-8 in the evening instead. No problem. I dropped him off at 6 and returned home to dishes, supervising baths, entertaining a fussy baby. At 8:20 I was sitting on the couch with Michael when he asked IM to go get EM. I said automatically, "EM isn't here. He's at Gabe's . . . and I should have picked him up 20 minutes ago!" *sigh* Way to reward my friends for organizing and teaching this fun, free class for my kid.
• Completely spaced the twins' make-up swimming class today. (The thunder and lightening yesterday afternoon ended their swimming class before it even started, so Michael rescheduled it for today.) He told me. Heck, he even wrote it on the calendar (not normal behavior). But it wasn't until the swimming instructor called to ask why we weren't there that I even thought about the swimming lessons. (No, Flylady, I didn't check my calendar this morning.)

The twins have a sleepover party tomorrow. Anyone want to place a bet on whether or not I'll remember to buy a present and take them? Or remember to pick them up on Saturday morning?

Not quite ready for Dickens

So, EM and I have abandoned our quest to finish A Tale of Two Cities before his class starts on Monday. We will be watching the movie this afternoon during LW's nap.

Two things have surprised me about the book: how much I'm enjoying it and how little EM is. I haven't read Dickens in years, not since middle school, and I've never read A Tale of Two Cities, although of course I'm familiar with the opening and closing lines. I do remember the long, long sentences. I've quoted the opening line many times, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and I had a vague sense that there was more to the sentence, but I didn't realize that there was so much more. The first sentence has 119 words (give or take a few to allow for counting errors). The book definitely isn't paced for a modern audience, but I'm enjoying it immensely nevertheless.

EM, on the other hand, can barely keep his eyes open when I read it. He's getting better at following the plot, but there are still times when I'll read for a bit and then ask him what's happening, and he has no idea. Or he has a wrong idea.

I'm hoping he'll enjoy the movie more, although it was made in 1935 and it's black and white, so it will be a change from his usual viewing habits. It'll be a change for me, too. I must confess, I far prefer my movies in color and preferably no more than 15 years old. Yes, I'm plebian.

Dilla!

LW is fascinated by the squirrels and chipmunks that have taken over the bird feeders. He calls them dillas, short for ardilla, the Spanish word for squirrel.

It's the same story every year. Sometime in the early spring, we see a chipmunk or red squirrel nibbling the seeds the birds knock to the deck. It's fun to watch it scurry about. However, it doesn't take long before it decides the seeds knocked to the ground aren't sufficient, and figures out how to climb or leap onto the bird feeders.

Then the friends and relatives move in. This year is especially bad. We are up to three chipmunks and three squirrels, and they are an unusually cheeky lot. The squirrels camp out on the feeder and eat as fast as they can. The chipmunks fill their mouths and scurry back and forth to their den under the deck to store it away for the winter. The poor birds don't stand a chance, although occasionally a group of blue jays will drive the chipmunks off for a few minutes.

We've decided, just as we do every year, that they have to go. So we've set out the live trap. So far, we've released four into the woods surrounding the beaver pond across the road, but we aren't noticing a drop in numbers here. Are they finding their way back? Or did we just have more than we thought?

The other day, LW got to the trap before we did and freed the captive. He was heartbroken when it went away, since he spends a good chunk of his outside play time trying to catch a squirrel. I think he wants to give it a hug.

"Dilla," he said, spreading his arms wide and shaking his head. "Go?"

Kids at the River

A picture of the kids playing at the river

Attempting Photos

Apologies in advance if I crash your computer . . .














NB and LW on the carousel at Avignon.
















Michael, LW, NB, IM, and EM at the Pont du Gard.















All of us on the old bridge with the old city of Carcassonne in the background.