TWB Ep4 – Schedule, what Schedule?

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Monday you’ll need to check with Grandma and Grandpa Reed. It sounds like there was a story, and maybe even a movie.

Tuesday there was no show. No stories either. That was OK though. Instead we cheered grandma on as she finished her month long fitness challenge. Oh, and we were in a pop-up camper with no electricity.

Wednesday was another no show no story day. It was also another night in the pop-up.

Thursday we were at Great-Grandma’s house. Cousin Jocelyn didn’t want to choose so Gideon got to choose Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
We let Cecilia sleep in the same room as cousin. We told her if she didn’t try sleeping she would have to come to Mom and Dad. Rumor is we maybe should have brought her down.
Since Cecilia had her special event going on, Gideon got to watch a special him and dad show – How It’s Made. (One of his favorites.)

Friday we didn’t watch shows. We watched fireworks! The kids did amazing. Gideon had to go to the bathroom but held it until we got home. Both kids fell right back asleep when moved from the car to sleeping bags.

Saturday Cecilia didn’t get to watch a show. She went to a wedding shower instead. Gideon watched Caillou, some puppet singing show, and fell asleep during Thomas and Friends. (The puppet show was only 10 minutes or so long.)

Sunday Cecilia just wanted to keep on the Disney Junior show that was on. Since Little Einsteins was half over I let them also watch Henry Hugglemonster.

TWB Ep3 – T-Ball in Full Swing.

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Monday Gideon picked Chuggington. They didn’t get to see the wait due to T-Ball.
Cecilia listened to Dad read “The City Mouse and the Country Mouse” after Mom read her “Colors.”
Gideon got to hear Mom first when she read “Pokey Little Puppy.” The next story he had was “How the Turtle Got It’s Shell.”

Tuesday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia wanted Dad to read “The Boy and the Tigers” while mom got to read “There’s No Place Like Space.”
Gideon almost didn’t get two stories because of his actions towards Mom, but after Dad read Grinch he listened to Mom read “.”

Wednesday was T-ball and picking up the new laptop from UPS after. They watched Clifford puppy short movies in the car as their show.
Cecilia heard Dad read “Ho Ho Tucker” after Mom read “The Wonderful House.”
Gideon let dad read “Llama Llama Red Pajama” while he also looked at some star charts in his telescope manual before Mom read “There’s No Place Like Space.”

Thursday we had dinner at Gideon’s school because it was the last day of the VBS they join. For a show Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
In the craziness of the night the books they had for bedtime have been lost to me. 🙁

Friday was a travel day. The stories and shows watched throughout the night are numerous.

Saturday was another travel day, but it ended at a destination. Gideon wanted Bob the Builder. It was late after a long day so they each got to pick one story and both listened to both of them.
Cecilia picked “Wizard of Oz” and asked Grandma to read. That didn’t last when we told her she would want to read it every night because it would take a whole week. Instead she picked “Over in the Meadow.” Gideon picked “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” for Dad to read.

You’ll have to ask Grandma and Grandpa about Sunday. Maybe I’ll find out and be able to fill in later.

Weekly Writing Commitments

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Every Tuesday I post to OurAgileJourney.com.

Every Sunday night I post the next TWB.

To accomplish the weekly posting at my other site I should be writing at a rate of 1.5 posts per week. I should be spending some time on it every night or two such that I always have at least one post ready to go and one partially complete, but preferably more so in each state than that. Right now I have three partial posts and none ready to go. Tomorrow. But I will either make one of the partials ready or create a whole new one by tomorrow.

The weekly posting here is a little different. All that I require of myself is to create a list of items. The beauty of this particular weekly post series is that it really requires no research to write for. (Unless you count verifying stories read by Heather as research.) What it does require (for me) is to write every night. I can’t remember by the end of the week what was watched/read earlier in the week. (Excepting 500 Hats. I think I might hot-key that title to save writing time…)

One thing I was hoping would happen by adding this second weekly post commitment is that I would write more. It would help establish a habit. That part is working. What’s more, as I write each nightly entry I am wanting to write more than a simple list. This is exactly what I was hoping to see happen.

The new goal is to nurture this and allow the nightly writing to grow. I would like to see it grow from extra details around the day & lists to writing more posts for both blogs. That is the next step. I have some ideas of the steps after that, but I’m not quite ready to share them yet.

This Weeks Bedtime (TWB) Ep 2

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Monday Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates. Cecilia didn’t get to watch because, well, let’s just say she had a rough night.
Cecilia had Mom read Words. Dad had already spent a long time trying to calm he down by then and didn’t read her a story.
Gideon had Mom read 500 Hats and Dad read Grinch Stole Christmas.

Tuesday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had Mom read “” while Dad read “No Place Like Space.”
Gideon asked Dad to read Grinch, but was kidding. Dad ended up reading 500 Hats and Mom read Grinch.

Wednesday was T-Ball for Gideon. After that we had to run the van to the shop for work on Thursday. Due to this we had showtime and books decided by Dad.
For a show we had Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks while driving to the dealer. (About half of the DVD.)
For books we had “Clifford the Firehouse Dog” and “Santa duck” on the way home.

Thursday Mom’s softball game got rained out. We decided to have Mom do grocery shopping at bedtime instead. Gideon had some “issues,” not the get in trouble kind though. Dad decided to split the bedtime routine.
Cecilia got to watch Sophia the First followed by reading “The Sailor Dog.”
Gideon watched Sheriff Callie’s Wild West and then heard “Splat the Cat on With the Show.”
When Mom got home she read Cecilia “Words” and Gideon “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”

Friday we watched Turbo Dogs while hanging out at the Huisinga’s. Gideon and Cecilia watched part of Frozen on the way home. (They always call it “Disney Frozen.”) Mom gave that ride to them. Dad stayed behind and read A phonic’s Hello Kitty story to Lydia, Alladin to Lydia and Isiah, and a story about cows typing to Lydia.

Saturday Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia wanted mom to read “How the Turtle Got It’s Shell.” Dad was asked to read “Under My Hood I Have A Hat.”
Gideon picked 500 Hats. Mom got to read “Double Play! Monkeying Around With Addition.” This is a book Gideon picked up from the library when his class went earlier in the week.

Sunday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia asked Mom to read “Color Kittens” while Dad read “Weights & Measures.”
Gideon got 500 Hats from Dad and asked mom to read “The Lorax.” He told Dad Mom would be reading “How the Grinch Stole Christmas..”

This weeks bedtime.

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Monday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia started with “Bobcat Bootcamp” and ended with Dad reading “Duck on a Bike.”
Gideon had Dad read 500 Hats and finished with Mom making it all the way through “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Tuesday Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had Dad read “The Bunny Book” and got to hear Gideons choice of 500 hats.

Wednesday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia got both “Whisper in My Ear” and “What do Animals Do?” from Mom while Dad read her “The Fox and the Crow.”
Gideon wanted Dad to read 500 hats and Mom got to read “Bearenstain Bears Go Out for the Team.”

Thursday Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
The kids decided to do their “art projects” instead of getting a story, so no stories this night.

Friday Cecilia pickled Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had both Mom and Dad read the Golden Books “Words”.
Gideon was told by Dad he had to pick a short one because it was later than planned. Dad read “Gertrude McFuzz” while Mom read “The Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Saturday we made a long trip to get dinner after church and got home a little later than normal. Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia didn’t get a story from Dad. Mom read “Pip Goes to London” and “Chipmunk’ s Birthday Party”.
Gideon didn’t get a story from Dad. Mom read “Chipmunk’s Birthday Party”.

Sunday we got home late after taking an extra park break. Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had a “The Bunny Book” from Mom. She had Dad read her “There’s No Place Like Space.”
Gideon let Dad choose because it was very late. Dad picked “There’s No Place Like Space.” Mom read him “Clifford in the Circus”.

Sorry I didn’t get the weekend readings recorded very well. Heather might edit her entries for the weekend. I’m pretty sure Saturday ended up being a no story day but could just be remembering wrong. (It has been updated by Heather)

This week in entertainment.

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Last Sunday, Cecilia picked Sophia the first.
Gideon wanted “500 Hats” from both Mom & Dad.
Cecilia had Dad read “There is No Place Like Space” after Mom read “Words” from the golden books series.

Monday, Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Gideon let Dad read “Lorax” and had Mom read “500 Hats”.
Cecilia got to hear Mom read “Santa Duck” while Dad read “Duck on a Bike.”

Tuesday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Gideon picked “How the Grinch Saved Christmas” but changed to “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street” on the opening line while Cecilia picked “See and Say Shapes.” (Mom isn’t home for bedtime Tuesdays.)

Wednesday Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had Mom read “Bobcat Boot Camp” and Dad read “Bearenstain Bears Joy of Giving.”
Gideon told Dad to read “500 Hats.” He wanted Mom to as well, but didn’t get to hear her finish because he kept playing.

Thursday Mom played softball and the kids watched until late. They picked a show and Cecilia decided on Jake & the Neverland Pirates.

Friday was Gideons graduation so after we all got home late Gideon picked Chuggington.

Saturday Cecilia picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
We went to the library today and each kid got to pick out 2 books. Gideon had Dad read “Berenstain Bears Go Out for the Team” from that trip. He had Mom read “The Wheels on the Bus A Read-Along Sing-Along Trip to the Zoo.”
Cecilia started out with Mom reading “Clifford to the Rescue.” Dad got to read “Is This the House of Mistress Mouse?”

Tonight Gideon picked Jake & the Neverland Pirates.
Cecilia had Mom read “Chipmunks Birthday Party.” Dad read her “Clifford at the Circus.”
Gideon had Dad start with 500 Hats. Mom also read 500 Hats but didn’t finish because he wasn’t listening.

New post series.

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Anyone who has preschoolers in this day and age knows that some nights a 30 minute TV show is worth the cost of an entire months cable subscription. Our nighttime routine has become a half hour show followed by bedtime stories.

The show so far has been a Disney Junior show. (25 minutes or so.) As they are commercial free they are generally followed by 5 minutes of station promos. In these promos is usually a 30-60 second short. At some point this 5 minutes segment became known as the “wait.”

Stories at this point consist of each child getting a story from Mom and a separate one from Dad. The boys are usually together first, then the parents swap rooms. Pretty soon, especially with Gideon, we should change this up to part of a longer story.

There are exceptions. Late nights don’t always result in both, or either, bedtime event. If one parent is not home for bedtime the other usually reads two stories, one picked by each child, to both of them.

Where am I going with this? It started with a desire to prove that Gideon really was going overboard with wanting Dr Suess’s 500 ahts of Bartholomew Cubbins. Then I wished I had come up with the idea years ago. Finally I decided I’d just go forward with the idea. The result is going to be a weekly update on the standard entertainment for the week..

 

Starting tomorrow.

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

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I struggle with this. I think most people do at one time or another. It can take many forms. I’ve spent far too long choosing between two color settings on a display in the past for instance. Maybe someone has had a project car waiting for that new side panel for two years. Perhaps you’ve had a song written, but not “ready to share” since you were in high school.

The relevance to right now is that most often I don’t write down ideas for posting; to this blog or Our Agile Journey. The problem, as I tell it to myself, is that my thoughts aren’t fully formed yet. See, I rarely write an actual draft of anything. I often re-write parts of a post as I’m writing it. I may re-order things, cut them out completely and post them to a new post, or add new stuff to earlier thoughts. I don’t write a draft start to finish without editing followed by a couple rounds of editing to a final. Of course, that means I never actually write when my thoughts are fully formed, I just feel that way as I am able to complete the post.

The real problem then is I don’t want to write something down until I can finish it. I want to start a post and let it flow to the end. I don’t want to jot down a single sentence and come back to it later. Whether due lack of time or lack of direction I tend to avoid it until the whole thing can happen at once. It translates into my preferred style of playing video games as well. I’m a bit of a completionist.

Historically if there is a percent done counter on a game I struggle to move on until it makes it to 100. I’ve gotten better. Realities of available time (and talent depending on the game) have gotten me to accept getting the main story and possibly some side-stories. I no longer try to get all the multiple endings of any given game. I also struggle to play sessions of only a half hour or an hour. For example, if I allotted myself 3 hours a week to play games I would rather do it all at one go then half an hour a night most of the week. That may or may not be related.

Now I need to bring the ability to not always go 100% from gaming to writing. I need to learn to be ok writing a little bit down, taking a voice note, or cutting and pasting a headline and web address. That needs to be enough for me to expand the effort. If not, I fear I’ll never get ahead on the other blog, contribute to this one, or complete speeches for Toastmasters.

Nothing to Report Here

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Cold, Grey, and Snowy parking lot.

Beautiful early April spring morning in Minnesota.

One of the primary messages in the writing class I signed up for is to write often. A lot. Write even more than you might think you should.

This is hard for me on some levels. It’s kind of a chicken and egg thing. I want to write a lot. I often have half-formed ideas of things to share. I’ve been getting little flashes of inspiration from time to time. Usually this happens when I have no easy way to take notes on the inspiration. I should try to remedy this by always having a way to take notes. When I actually have time and means to try writing, nothing. The inspirations I had before are no more. I feel like if I write more I’ll have more to write about. The problem is that I have trouble writing when I have nothing to write about. It’s a feedback loop really.

What I need to do is use this space to write, even when I don’t feel as if what I have to share is worthwhile. The problem with this is that some of what I have to write is interesting and/or useful to some people. I fear those posts would get lost in the noise. Seriously, imagine it takes a year to get to where I write mostly useful/interesting stuff. How many people would stick around that long? The months of noise would cause people to tune out, and when the proverbial music appeared later it would go unheard.

Maybe I’ll have a standard opening line letting people know that a given post didn’t really feel like it was worth sharing. When the line is there people would know that I really don’t care if anyone reads the post. When the line is missing it’s a post I feel might be interesting or valuable to others in some way.

Spinning Blade of Correction

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I have seen the future. In it the snow doth recede.
According to prophecy when the snow doth recede there shall be grass beneath.
And this grass shall grow. And it shall not be good.

We must prevent this grass from attaining great heights. We must stop it mere inches from the ground. We must correct it when it tries to rise past the station we have designated for it. This duty was mine. Now, should you prove worthy, it is yours.

To accomplish this feat I offer you the Spinning Blade of Correction.

This is a good blade. It has served me well for 6 years.
It spins fast, powered by explosions up to 190cc.
It has large wheels in the back with five corrective height settings.
It corrects the grass 22″ at a time. It can collect the pieces in an attached bag, spit them off to the side, or (my favorite) mince them and let them lay next to their brethren as a warning.
It starts with a pull, sometimes two. It also has a key which draws on arcane reserves, but the mystical cord of reserve filling has long been broken. A new cord should refill the power of the key.
It pulls itself forward when taken firmly by the handle. It is easy to tame as selectively releasing part of the handle preserves the spinning while removing the forward pull.
The inside can easily be cleansed of the clingy grass pieces via a magical water portal in the outer shell.
We have writings that came with the Spinning Blade of Correction and tell many of it’s secrets.

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