Favorite Christmas Ornaments

When I was a kid I remember going to my piano teacher Mrs. Young's house for piano lessons.  The highlight of going to Mrs. Young's house was that they had a sod roof that included trees and bushes on what was an otherwise normal house.  It was so unusual.  There was one time of year when the sod roof wasn't the highlight; however, that time was Christmas.  Mrs. Young had the most amazing Christmas Tree every year.  It was so full of ornaments that one could barely even see that there was a tree underneath.  Every year, she let her students choose one ornament off her tree to take home and keep.  I remember sitting and waiting for my turn for lessons and just staring at the tree in a Christmas daze trying to decide which ornament I would call my own.  

Unfortunately, I don't think I still own any of the ornaments I received from Mrs. Young, but the memory is a good one.  It is one of the things I love about putting up the Christmas tree every year.  We get the ornaments out and most of them have stories that goes along with them. Over the years, like most others I presume, our family has collected Christmas ornaments; some are family ornaments and some are personal.  Here are a few of my favorite Christmas ornaments:

10.  Ornaments made by my kids.  I love these because as my children grow up these ornaments remind me of when they were younger.  One of my daughters learned to knit and was a part of a Knitting club at school when whe made the knit cup with hot chocoalte and marshmallows.  I thought and still do that this was so cool.  My other daughter made the art in the center of this ornament at school and then they mounted it on the silver backing.  

9.  Ornaments to remember those who we have lost.  One year when my wife lost her dad, we were given this ornament.  It is a nice reminder of  him, but also just a good reminder of all those who we've lost over the years.  I didn't get to spend many Christmas holidays with him, but the ornament reminds me of those times.  

8.  Ornaments that my kids will eventually take with them.  I don't know that I have ever bought an ornament for my kids with the thought that they will eventually take them with them when they move out, but that is what will happen.  There is something inside of me that looks forward to visiting my daughters' homes sometime in the future and seeing some of the ornaments that used to hang in my house.  I really like this one of Rapunzel from the animated film Tangled.  The scene in the movie that is depicted is is quite beautiful.  I also liked the symbolic nature that it is a lantern lighting the night.  I have always liked to believe that both of my daughters have bright futures ahead.  

7.  Ornaments that remind me of an accomplishment.  Not much to say about this one.  The ornament says it all, but I will never forget when I was about to complete my first marathon, a coach was running alongside me and to encourage me to finish strong, he said, "You are about to finish a marathon and no one can ever take that away from you."  This ornament that my wife bought me that year reminds me of that ever year.  

6.  Ornaments that show loyalty or allegiance.  I have several of these including an ornament from the college my wife and I graduated, the church I attended as a child, and an ornament from the town which I grew up.  I like those but they don't come close to finding a prominent spot on the tree as the ornament that lets everyone know my favorite sports team! 

5. Ornaments of Pop Culture.  Actually, my next four ornaments are in this category, and they have their own, special tree.  Number 5 is a new ornament to the collection this year.  It is a Funko Spider-man.  Spider-man has been my favorite comic book superhero since I can remember.  If you want a full explanation of why I love Spidey's comic book, you should become a patreon supporter of CWK Pourover and you can listen to several episodes where I discuss that topic with co-hosts Dan Zehr and Cory Club.  

4. Ornaments of Pop Culture.  This was my first Star Wars ornament from a Hallmark collection.  The Darth Vader tie-fighter comes from the 1999 collection.  The ornament has a cord that used to plug into an emply light socket, and it would light up the cockpit and laser cannons on the front.  It was a really dynamic ornament on my tree for years, but when I upgraded to LED lights, the plug was no longer compatible.  That is quite alright, as it is still in the top 5 of my favorite ornaments.  

3.  Ornaments of Pop Culture.  I have no idea when or where I found this Zeb Orrelios ornament.  I suspect I found it at a Hallmark aisle display at Kohls.  I always liked Zeb in the Star Wars Rebels show, and I always thought I would find other Rebel characters to hang on the tree with Zeb, but I never did.  So, he is a unique character to have on the tree which is why he is in the top 5 of my favorite ornaments.  It is also a really good sculpt and paint job; it looks great on the tree.  

2.  Ornaments of Pop Culture.  I received this ornament for my birthday this year, because it is no secret around my house how much I absolutely adore the character Grogu.  In fact, I'm not alone in this at my house; everyone thinks he is cute.  It is very possible that he has become the single most popular figure of my Star Wars collection.  As I look around my office, I have nine Grogu collectibles within sight.  This ornament is a Funko, and I love how it excentuates his already large ears, so cute!  Oh, there are already two other Grogu ornaments on the tree, so he has good company.  

1.  Ornaments that have family significance.  This is the ornament I look forward to seeing every year.  It holds such a significant memory for me that if it went missing, it would cause me some profound saddness.  My wife and I purchased this when we took our family on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation on a Disney Cruise.  I will never forget the emotional moment I had when my family was on the plane to fly to Florida for this wonderful adventure.  I sat there as the plane quickly gained altitude thinking that this was actually real.  It was the first trip I had taken my family that was more than two-and-a-half hours away.  It is a trip that we still look at pictures and recall the memories as if they just happened.  This ornament brings that entire trip back.  

I hope as you prepare for the Christmas season that you are able to pull ornaments out to hang on the tree and you have the same experience I do with all the stories and memories.  Hopefully, you have ornaments that remind you of people you love and places you've been.  If not, that's cool too as many ornaments are there to remind us of the joy of the season!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  

Coaching

Sixteen years ago, I walked away from coaching competitive high school speech to move on with other parts of my life like becoming a National Board Certified teacher, starting a family, and trying triathlon and marathon racing among many other things.  Last year my oldest daughter decided to try out for the speech team at our high school.  I couldn't have been any more proud and excited for her when she decided to tip her toe into something that I was so passionate about as a high school competitor and coach years ago.  Not really to my surprise but to my complete pleasure, she is pretty darn good and just missed going to our state tournament in her freshman year.  With all of that excitement, I just couldn't help myself when an assistant coaching position opened up; I had to jump back in.  

I have to say that adding this to my schedule has not been easy and quite frankly, it has been quite exhausting.  Working with the kids, however, has been nothing short of pure joy.  I love seeing their faces squish up in doubt when I say, "try it this way."  And when they do, they are surprised at how it sounded or felt.  I love their willingness to take risks, to work hard in practice, and to build their skills.  We are just a month into the season, and we took a small team to their first meet in November.  I loved seeing the nerves of the first competition collide with their confidence after weeks of practice.  A few of our students saw success and some realized that "next-in-to-finals" feeling.  But, they all learned and had fun showing off their skills through performance and public speaking.  This is exactly why I decided to return.  Yes, I'm competitive, and I want the kids to be competitive too, but it is the life-long skills of public speaking that I want them to learn.  I want them to see that practice and taking constructive feedback brings growth and improvement.  

My daughter along with over half the team did not compete because they were busy putting on a musical that weekend, but I am so pumped to see her and her teammates go to their first meet in December.  Even though I don't officially coach my daughter, I get to talk to her about her speech and her delivery.  On a personal level, I am amazed at how much she has grown up in her 15 years.  I couldn't be more proud of being a coach on her team.  I love the sound of that.  I am a coach of HER team.  What more could a father want?  

I think of the students I work with and how much their parents have watched them grow over the years.   I think of the conversations that I have with them and I feel so privileged to be a part of their story.  I am glad I walked away to accomplish the things I needed to over the last 15 years but coming back now has been wonderful on so many levels.  

Game Club Dungeons and Dragons: The Scarlet Citadel Part 2

Last week I started a series of posts that will recap the Dungeons and Dragons game I am leading with a small group of teens from my Game Club.  These are brand-new players to Dungeons and Dragons.  You can review the introduction and explanation of the Game Club as well as the first session recap here:  The Scarlet Citadel Part 1  You can also catch my recap on the Podcast Teachers in the Dungeon.  Here is the link to that first episode:  Teachers in the Dungeon  

The story picks up in the town of Redtower where the adventurers Posun the Wood Elf Monk and Faist Roffton the High Elf  Sorcerer have assisted a caravan of raw materials to the town.  After delivery to Agneiska, she recommends the adventurers head to the Cage Tavern and Inn where they should find food and lodging.  The two head across town to the Cage Tavern and Inn.  They are immediately taken by the large rib cage bone structure outside the inn leading into the construction of the building itself.  As

they enter, they note that the rib cage is incorporated into the construction of the building.  They note the eclectic architecture when the proprietor of the Cage Tavern and Inn welcomes the pair.  Ariadna and Ambrozy Gjorski offer them a room that includes a warm meal and breakfast.  Then, noting that Faist and Posun are new to Redtower, they introduce them to another newcomer named Striker.  Striker is a halfling and a little suspicious of strangers.  Ariadna suggests that if they have come to Redtower for adventure, they have come to the right place.  There are plenty of avenues for mercenary work and adventure in the White Forest, but most come to explore the Scarlet Citadel.  Posun mentions that they were ambushed by goblins on their travels to Redtower and that the goblins mentioned the name Gellert the Gruesome.  Ariadna makes the connection to the Scarlet Citadel by mentioning that rumor has it that Gellert is likely in the Citadel somewhere.  

Ariadna excuses himself to wait on other customers.  Posun and Faist talk with Striker to get to know him when they notice an old, grizzly soldier seated at a nearby table has taken interest in them.  The soldier is a younger man who just giggles and grunts.  The man introduces himself and his companion as Ted and Squeeks.  Ted asks them about their adventures, then interrupts their answer to tell them about his forays into the Scarlet Citadel.  As Ted talks more about the Citadel and the riches, he becomes crazed and incoherent all the while Squeeks just giggles and encourages Ted.  The party ends the conversation rather abruptly, and they head to their rooms to sleep.  

In the morning they decide to explore Redtower a bit and head to the Sweet Sap Brewery.  They meet Remy Argentford and Mags Halfbottle.  They are a couple of halflings who purchased the business a while back, but they become quite obsessed with Striker.  Being a halfling, Remy and Mags are so glad to meet him.  When they ask about his family name, he tells them, a bit suspiciously, that he has no family or family name.  The two become quite distraught with this as they cry and wail that Striker has no one.  They pledge friendship to him, feed him well, and move on to do other work.  Faist and Posun find some enjoyment in the attention that Striker received, but Striker seems quite unphased by all of this fuss.  

The trio decides the next step is to head for the Scarlet Citadel to see what all the talk is about.  

This ended the play session.  I was happy that they reported they had a good time.  When playing with teenagers, it is always dangerous to have a session that doesn't include combat or other similar action, but they really enjoyed the role-play in Redtower.  The session met most of my goals as DM.  I wanted the players to continue to explore their characters' personalities and skills of their characters.  The role-play helped with all of that.  The only goal we didn't meet was to get to the Scarlet Citadel, but that is where they are headed.  All in all, the session went well.  Stay tuned to part three in a few weeks. 

Top 5 Foods I Can't Live Without

This could also be titled,  The Top 5 Lazy Food list, but I don't necessarily consider myself lazy.  Maybe just when it comes to foods.  These are foods that are a staple in our pantry at home, because no matter the mood, taste, or time of day, I can eat these and feel pretty happy.  Don't make the mistake though, this is not a healthy list.  Here we go:  

5. Potato Chips

Seriously, who doesn't love the crunchy, salty light snack?  Granted, it doesn't fill up the tummy, and
they should be eaten in conjunction with other foods (see #4 and #2 on this list), but potato chips are great!  My favorite chip is the plain, flat brand and not a rigid/ruffled style.  I prefer the non-flavored and I don't like too much salt.  Go easy, friends.  The best potato chip has a potato flavor with a thin chip and light salt. My favorite brands are:  Jays Potato Chips, Vitner's Potato Chips, Lays Lightly Salted Potato Chips, and Utz Original Potato Chips.  

4. Pizza

I suppose anyone who has been a regular reader of this page would know that I love pizza as I did a Top 5 Frozen Pizza post back in 2021.  I sometimes believe that I could legit live on pizza.  It is such a perfect format for a variety of types of pie: breakfast, meat, barbeque chicken, veggie,

etc.  There are so many options for pizza that even if you don't have a taste for "pizza," you can probably find a pizza that doesn't taste like a traditional "pizza."  Here are a few of my favorite pizza brands: Pizza Hut thin crust cheese and sausage; Casey's sausage Breakfast Pizza; Home Run Inn Sausage and Pepperoni frozen thin crust.  

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have an unforgiving sweet tooth and it doesn't discriminate between cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, pudding, etc.  Cookies, though, take the cake (so to speak), and one cannot go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie.  I even like the Nice! brand (Walgreens) Soft Baked Chocolate Chip flavored Cookies.  Yes, chocolate chip flavored just doesn't seem right, but they are pretty good.  The chocolate chip cookie can

go anywhere with little mess.  I even like that most can stack and go into a pocket when one might feel that they need to conceal the evidence that there may be something sweet around.  Not that I would do such a thing, I say share them!  Here are a few of my favorites: Chips Ahoy! Chewy Chips Ahoy! Jimmy John's Chocolate Chunk, Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chip cookies. 

2.  Cold-Cut Deli Turkey

This might be on the list because I need something with some health benefits, but I can eat a slice of deli turkey any time.  I can put it on a salad for something healthy and the turkey will help to fill me up.  My favorite lunch is a pile of cold-cut deli turkey wrapped in a slice of Colby Jack cheese, boring but functional.  My favorite: hand cut from an
actual deli, Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, Oscar Meyer Natural Slow Roasted Turkey Breast. 

1.  Cereal  

The king of breakfast, anytime go-to meal, snack craving killer, the "just waiting for it" midnight snack, the boss of the pantry is that rectangular box of cereal.  Is this a surprise?  It shouldn't be if you caught my post in 2021.  Any time of the day, any time of the year, I can walk into the kitchen, grab a bowl and a spoon then add some almond milk and I have a cereal meal/snack.  It can be eaten dry from a zip lock bag or with milk in a bowl. Either way, cereal is a wonderfully satisfying food, and if you have multiple varieties in the pantry, you can meet any snack or meal craving.  My favorite cereals are: Frosted Mini
Wheats Original, Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oates.  

There you have it.  If there were a snowstorm and I was stuck in one place for a length of time, or if I was stranded on a desert island with a crash-landed shipment of 5 foods, this is the list.  I could survive a long time with these five foods.  

Game Club Dungeons and Dragons: Scarlet Citadel Part 1

I started a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign in my high school Game Club recently, and I plan to recap the adventure here on Seeking Positivity in the Galaxy.  Why?  Because there is so much positive to playing an RPG game, and Dungeons and Dragons happens to be the game that brings me the most joy.  On top of that, I love teaching it to new players, and my entire group of students playing is brand new to the game.  

A little about our Game Club before I get to the first recap of our game session.  The club started in the spring of 2014 in the second semester of my first year at the school.  A group of about 5 students approached me and heard I had run a game club at another school, and they hoped I would be willing to start one at this school.  If these 5 students could see the club today, I am pretty sure they would be very happy with what it has become.  The club now has four different kinds of game meetings: Board and Card games, Miniatures games, Geopolitics (a game developed by our students), and RPG's (Dungeons and Dragons).  The club has over 70 students and staff who are active in the club.  Last year, the club had an attendance of 568 for the year.  This year at the time of this post we have had 306 attendance so far!  

We have eight games of Dungeons & Dragons going this year with anywhere from 3 students to 6 students per game.  Four of the games are run by staff members and four games are run by student Dungeon Masters.  

The game I am running has four freshman students who are completely new to the game.  Since it has been a few years since I have run a classic dungeon crawl, that is what I went with to teach these students how to play.  I am using the published adventure titled, The Scarlet Citadel: A Dungeon of Secrets written by Steve Winter and published by Kobald Press.  

Here is the narrative I wrote to introduce the adventure:  "You have been hired by Warren Hammerstone to protect his wagons of goods headed to RedTower.  He is pretty grumpy about having to hire someone to 'protect' his goods, but there has been just enough trouble along the road that shipments are required to have protection."  

The two characters who started this adventure are Posun a wood elf Monk and Faist Roffton a high elf Sorcerer.  They met when they answered the call from Warren Hammerstone.  Posun has turned to adventure to challenge himself and discover the world.  His village burned and his father died when he was 15 when the temple took him in.  His adoptive father gave him a rune of Tyr when he left the temple.  Faist Roffton was expelled from his school of magic when he accidentally set the library of spell books and scrolls on fire.  The fire burned the goods of the library but was not hot so Faist did not realize he was in the fire.  He is unaware, but he has a rune burned into the temple of his head.  

Posun and Faist left the village to protect two wagons of goods from Hammerstone's forge and metal works with two drivers and a salesman.  The trip was to take two full days of travel; they should arrive in RedTower by dinner of the second day.  In the afternoon of the first day they encountered two soldiers on horses looking for a merchant named Dugan Lovay whom they hadn't seen, so the soldiers continued on to the village which Posun and Faist had just come that morning.  In the evening the road moved into the White Forest and as the sun was lowering, they heard a voice say, "Looks like some nice things in those wagons" as a goblin stepped out in front of the mules of the front wagon.  Another voice in the trees said, "Gellert the Gruesome might reward us well if we brought some of that treasure back!"  An arrow sailed out from the trees, hit the driver of the front wagon, and he fell dead.  

Posun and Faist fought this group of six goblins to victory, however; the archer from the trees escaped.  The driver of the second wagon and the salesman were both kept safe during the battle.  As they collected themselves, Faist decided he would drive the front wagon.  As the wagons got back on the road, Posun walking alongside the wagons, noted some boots sticking out of the grass at the edge of the forest.  He allowed the caravan to move ahead and after they passed, he examined the boots to discover they were on the feet of a dead woman.  He pulled the body out of the grass and gave her final rights and placed a rune mark of Tyr on her hand. He thinks this could be Dugan Lovay, but he did not tell anyone else of his discovery even when they arrived at RedTower and were asked about her.  They delivered the goods to Agniezka the Smith in RedTower, and that concluded our first session. 

It was fun to work with these two enthusiastic students.  They had picked up their pre-made characters in advance, so they were familiar with certain aspects, but they didn't know anything about skill checks or combat.  They picked up on that all very quickly.  It was pretty cool to see their eyes as more table items came out like miniatures and maps.  They were sold on the game pretty quickly.  It was a great start.  

I will continue to write about their adventures through the school year, so be sure to check that out here, but I will also be recapping the adventures on the podcast Teachers in the Dungeon.  Join us there too!  

Personal Stats Update end of 3rd Quarter

It has been a tough year to stay focused on consuming content!  I have really struggled to stay focused on anything for very long.  I could come up with a dozen excuses why that might be, but who wants to hear those?  No one.   

Anyway, I have been really happy with some of my choices of content that I was able to stick with.  You may notice that I did give up on a few books, and I am really good with that.  I preach to my students that they shouldn't finish anything that they don't enjoy (unless it is assigned by a teacher), so I am practicing what I preach.  That makes me happy because while I have been super selective in what I consume, I have gotten into some really great stuff.  Take a look:  

2022 Reading and Viewing stats up to October 15

Movies watched: 12
Rewatch: 8
First time: 4

TV series (streamed):
Episodes: 98
Rewatch: 22
First time: 76

Books read: 11
Graphic Novels: 4
Fiction: 6
Nonfiction:
Pages read: 2029

Books abandoned:
Graphic Novels:
Fiction: 2
Nonfiction:
Pages read:

Audiobooks: 1
Fiction: 1
Nonfiction:

Short Stories:
Pages read:

Comic books read: 120
Digital: 36
Print: 84

Book Titles:
Critical Role Vox Machina Origins Vol. 1 1/2
Legend of Zelda vol. 3 1/2
Legend of Zelda vol. 4 1/3
Legend of Zelda vol. 5 1/28
In Sylvan Shadows Book 2 Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore
Catfishing on the CatNet 3/13
The Inheritance Games 4/20
Star Wars: Queen's Hope
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen
Starlight Enclave by R.A. Salvatore (audio) 8/7/22
Dragons of Deceit by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman

Movies:
Back to the Future 1/1
Back to the Future II 1/1
Back to the Future III 1/1
Encanto 1/8, 1/29
Hamilton 1/8
The Courier 4/9
Westside Story 4/17
Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange
Star Wars A New Hope 6/17
Thor: Love and Thunder 7/9
Sing 2 7/16
Werewolf By Night 10/8


Series:
Book Of Boba Fett
Daredevil
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
National Geographic: Welcome to Earth
Hawkeye
Moon Knight
Stranger Things Season 3
Thundermans
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Ms. Marvel
The Wizard of Paws
Stranger Things Season 4
She-Hulk
Light and Magic
Andor
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power

Dungeons and Dragons Ponies??

From the office of "Things I Thought I would Never Need," comes a most adorable, fun, and unexpected surprise with a Crossover Collection of My Little Pony with Dungeons and Dragons.  This is a five-pony set of 4.5-inch pony's in a collectible box that includes an exclusive 20-sided dice, and a Dungeon Master's screen that declares, "Cutie Marks & Dragons."  Each pony wears a removable outfit that matches the class of each pony.  

There is Mysteria the Wizard, Shadowstar the Rogue, Valor Stronghoof the Barbarian, Spinner Talltalethe a Bard, and Woodheart the Kind a Druid.  The cost varies slightly between retailers, but it is listed at $74.99 on the Wal-Mart website. 

The price tag is a little high for my liking, but if the cost comes down, I will have a hard time keeping this set from my collection.  What can I say, I am a sucker for fun, cute things.  In addition, both of my daughters liked My Little Pony in their early days, and we had many of the 4.5-inch ponies running around the house.  There is a bit of nostalgia for me as it brings family memories in with my own hobby of Dungeons and Dragons.  I also appreciate the uniqueness and creativity of this set.  Who sat down and thought, "Let's dress the My Little Pony characters as D&D classes?"  I mean, seriously.  

Anyway, what a fun way to bring kids along for the ride with ponies and Dungeons and Dragons.  I wonder how far down the road a new D&D supplement will be that has stat blocks for playable miniature ponies.  

Fantasy Baseball Final: The Coca Cola Kids Break League Records!

The fantasy Baseball season has come to a close, and while the Coca-Cola Kids broke many league records, they did not have the best season ever.  The Kids lost their final week of the season 8-12, to take 8th place in the league playoffs out of 10 teams.  The shining star of the last week was Brian Reynolds of the Pittsburg Pirates batting .500 (11/22) with two doubles and three home runs.  He scored 6 runs and batted in six runners.  Shohei Ohtani batted .370 (10/27) with 2 doubles, 8 runs scored, and 4 RBI.  The pitching did not come through for the Kids in the final week.  

While the season ended about as successful as a flat tire, the Coca-Cola Kids did end up with some dubious records set for the league.  The Kids now hold the following records for the league: 

Most Pitching Losses for the season: 68

Most Hits allowed in a season: 890

Most Walks in a week:  34 

Most Walks in a season: tied 311

It is pretty apparent that the draft strategy last March was to grab as many everyday impact players.  While that may not have exactly panned out, the Kids did hold their own offensively throughout the season.  Not having an ace and a top-notch closer really showed in the standings.  

The management of the Coca-Cola Kids has a lot to ponder this offseason.  Maybe a little more draft research and strategy will make for a more competitive team next year. 

Funny Things We Hear

Thanks to my good friend Colby Mead for the topic of this week's post.  On a recent episode of Colby's podcast, The ColbyCast (episode 52 to be exact), Colby and his son Caleb discuss their favorite movies, but it is the discussion before the movie talk that caught my ear.  The father and son duo were discussing Caleb's Labor day weekend coaching hockey, and Colby mentioned a humorous conversation he heard at a hockey tournament one time.  Coming out of an ice rink, he heard one boy say to another in
passing, "Did you hear Carson fractured something?"  Colby mentions while he hopes Carson is fine (whoever Carson is) that the comment was "on point" to something you might hear at an ice rink. And in my shoes, seems like a humorously "on point" comment, and I agree, I hope Carson is fully healed now and helping his team to many victories.  

That story made me think about some "on point" comments that I hear on a fairly regular basis that are just humorous when either taken out of context or when they are, as Colby mentioned, on point. 

I will never forget, early in my daughters' gymnastic careers, them talking to friends in the back seat while I was driving them home talking about how big so-and-so's rip was.  I remember thinking, rip?  Like a rip in their leotards????  Or did they mean to say, "Did you see the rip in a certain mat, or I didn't know what!?  I discovered that a "rip" is a nasty open blister that appears on the hands of gymnasts from doing the bar event.  They often will callous, but when the callous is stretched or "ripped" it becomes quite painful and nasty to look at for a gymnast dad.  So if you hear a gymnast discussing a "rip," it has nothing to do with an outfit, bad gas, or damaged gym equipment, it is totally worthy of your sympathy
and admiration that they just keep swinging with those hands pain or no pain.  

If you hang out in my crowd of people, you may hear one of us threatening that "you just might die the next time we get together."  Out of context, someone may want to file a police report, but then you might realize that one of us is the Dungeon Master of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign and the other person's character has probably made some bad decisions.  Not to worry, someone may die, but it is "just" someone's D&D character.  

In the library, I heard some kids whispering the other day that someone wanted to get a book, and the other kid mentioned that you just go up to the counter to "rent" the book from me.  While I would be happy to rent books as a fundraiser for the library, I informed the students that they can check them out rent-free.  

I realize that sometimes life just flies by, and we miss a lot of things that are on the periphery of our awareness.  Stop to listen from time to time and like my friend, Colby, you just might catch something that is so "on point" or just a bit out of context, that it will make you smile or even laugh a little bit.  

Running

I've never been much of a fan of running.  I realize this is a rich comment coming from someone who had a time in his life when he ran several triathlons, marathons, and half-marathons.  I am here to say it was less about the running and more about being able to say, "Done it."  I wasn't winning anything; I was just competing against my personal best time.  

But now I get to look at running from a new lens, and that lens is that of a father.  My youngest daughter signed up for cross country at her school this fall.  It is the first time she, or anyone in our family, has ever attempted this sport.  My older daughter did track last year, but I'm here to tell you, cross country is a different animal.  

Unfortunately for my daughter, she got her dad's ability, and cross country is more about finishing and trying to reach small wins.  Like her dad in his races, she isn't chasing a leader.  But, what is amazing to me, is this child doesn't really seem to care.  She is just loving being a part of these crazy kids who want to run 2 miles as fast as they can.  She loves the friends she is making, and quite frankly, she loves her pack.  And, I love that!  

As young parents, we have dreams of the great things our children will do.  We imagine Olympic medals or top CEO jobs, but it is amazing to watch all of the leading kids race by, and 5 or 6 minutes later comes my daughter, and that brings tears of joy to me.  I am so proud of her in her school uniform just working her ass off.  It is amazing.  I hope all dads get to experience this sometime in their daughters or son's lives.  It may not be in cross country or even athletics.  But to watch my daughter putting it all out there is just amazing.  

To find positivity in the galaxy, we don't have to look very far.  It kind of scares me as a dad that I will miss these moments.  Both of my kids and if you have children too, we know they do amazing things all the time.  Stop and watch.  I am so thankful for my daughter and thankful that she decided to give cross country a try.  Even though it is impossible to see it all,  I try to catch all the cool things my kids do, but I am glad my daughter caught my special attention when she started running.  

2022 Coca Cola Kids Fantasy Baseball update: It isn't pretty

Let's just say, there is no joy in Cola-ville this season for the Coca-Cola Kids baseball club could never
get it together.  The playoffs have begun and, well, the Kids didn't make it.  They will head to the consolation bracket, so maybe they can finish at the top of that.  They finished the regular season in last place in their division and 8th out of 10 in the league. 

Individually, several players have had nice seasons, but no one seems to have been willing to carry the team. Here is the current roster of the Coca Cola Kids: 

C:  Sean Murphy, Oakland A's

1B:  Nathaniel Lowe, Texas Rangers

2B:  Christopher Morel, Chicago Cubs

3B: Ezequiel Duran, Texas Rangers

SS: Eugenio Suarez, Seattle Mariners

OF1: Aledmys Diaz, Houston Astros

OF2: Brian Reynolds, Pittsburg Pirates

OF3: Cedric Mullins, Baltimore Orioles

Utlility:  Shohei Ohtani, Los Angels Angels

SP:  Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox 

SP: Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres

SP: Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Guardians

SP: Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs

RP: Gregory Soto, Detroit Tigers

RP: Erik Swanson, Seattle Mariners

P:  Jason Adam, Tampa Bay Rays 

P:  Jordan Montgomery, St. Louis Cardinals

Bench: Jonathan India, Cincinnati Reds, 2B; Chris Taylor, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2B, 3B, SS, OF; Wilmer Flores, San Francisco Giants, 1B, 2B, 3B; Riley Green, Detroit Tigers, OF; Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals, SP. 

In some cases, the Kids have been attempting to pick up youth for next year in the case of Morel, Duran, and McKenzie.  In other cases, the Kids have picked up some veterans hoping for a resurgence in numbers like Suarez, Soto, and Darvish.   Nonetheless, it has been a rough year for the Kids.  We will report back in at the end of the playoffs with a final report.  

Personal Stats Update mid 3rd Quarter

This post is probably more for my own interest as I have been recording my own media and reading stats for the second year in a row. I haven't taken much time to analyze how the stats compare between similar times last year, but I will take that time at the conclusion of the year. If it piques your interest here are the statistics October 1, 2021.

Movies watched: 11 Rewatch: 7                                                                                                                            First time: 4

TV series (streamed):
Episodes: 85
Rewatch: 20
First time: 65

Books read: 10
Graphic Novels: 4
Fiction: 6
Nonfiction:
Pages read: 1648

Books abandoned:
Graphic Novels:
Fiction: 1
Nonfiction:
Pages read:

Audiobooks: 1
Fiction: 1
Nonfiction:

Short Stories:
Pages read:

Comic books read: 116
Digital: 36
Print: 80

Book Titles:
Critical Role Vox Machina Origins Vol. 1 1/2
Legend of Zelda vol. 3 1/2
Legend of Zelda vol. 4 1/3
Legend of Zelda vol. 5 1/28
In Sylvan Shadows Book 2 Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore
Catfishing on the CatNet 3/13
The Inheritance Games 4/20
Star Wars: Queen's Hope
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen
Starlight Enclave by R.A. Salvatore (audio) 8/7/22

Movies:
Back to the Future 1/1
Back to the Future II 1/1
Back to the Future III 1/1
Encanto 1/8, 1/29
Hamilton 1/8
The Courier 4/9
Westside Story 4/17
Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange
Star Wars A New Hope 6/17
Thor: Love and Thunder 7/9
Sing 2 7/16

Series:
Book Of Boba Fett
Daredevil
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
National Geographic: Welcome to Earth
Hawkeye
Moon Knight
Stranger Things Season 3
Thundermans
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Ms. Marvel
The Wizard of Paws
Stranger Things Season 4
She-Hulk
Light and Magic