Its a mixed up amazing life and a MUni to boot
Wonderful, bizarre, heartbreaking, fulfilling, enlivening, beautiful, satisfying, disappointing, peaceful, stressful, unsure, secure, fun, happy... yeah, I think that pretty much sums up the holiday season for me. It all began with exams...those works of wonder conjured up by the state to give a uniform standard of measure no matter what the cost - emotionally, academically, or financially. And once again I got to watch students who know the subject well enough fail because they don't read/comprehend multiple choice questions real well. And by fail, I mean that they pass the class and the exam but they don't score quite high enough on the exam to be given credit. So they don't fail, but they do. The system is bizarre and hurtful. Oh, and did I mention that its kind of a ju-ju as to how the test is graded. Some questions don't count, but no one knows which ones those are. Its all a mystery wrapped in an enigma, balled up in a piece of toilet paper. Its frustrating. At the same token, there are plenty of students who don't know the subject well enough but are really good at multiple choice. They always do fine. After all, passing can be as low as the single digit percentile rank some years. OK, must move on. Christmas was really nice. Kathy came up a day early and just as she was getting here a quick rain sprinkled over the area turning the cold roads to ice. I picked her up at Valle Crucis and we crept back to the house. Christmas ended up being a bit excessive. And we really tried to tone it down. Grandparents don't help at all here. All I can say is that we got more than we deserve. We bought one big gift for each person and did the same for Heifer International. Ash got a sewing machine, the kids got a nice table and chairs, Zoe got a great handmade doll, Adia got a nice toy piano, and I got the gift of gifts.... the mountain Unicycle...MUni for the uninitiated. So I guess I win. I feel like Ralphie on "A Christmas Story"... "I want an orange Nimbus 24 inch MUnicycle with a leopard 3 inch tire and Kris Holm cranks" Ah, if it only had a compass in the stock. I fighting off the urge to go outside to look at it right now. Yes, I do have issues. Some unicycling is coming back to me, however... like weakness and pain - I forgot how unicycling brings out those feelings - but it will be a long time before I venture on a trail. It does fill a needed place in my life however. I'm not training for anything, I will soon have no time (after the baby is born) - so I needed something that could really work me over that I could do in my backyard or while walking with the kids... and the MUni has the added benefit of being dangerous... and wicked cool! Score. Now if I could only get over this soreness...
I tried to get out to Damascus the day after christmas with the kids, but had a break issue show up again after a hiatus - it must be dragging caliper or something. We let it cool off in Mountain City and played in a graveyard...well, near a graveyard. And then on the way back spent some fun time at the Old Mabel School. It was so warm, Zoe and Adia both got in the creek...briefly. I got a short bike ride in in the wonderful weather as well. Then today Kelli and Gray came up for a visit. They brought Teri's kids rabbit for us to keep. We promised we'd try not to kill this one. Although it is quite stout and I joked about frying or stewing. Kidding. I took Gray and Zoe to Grandfather mountain (dollar days!) and we got a bit muddy on the trails but had a really wonderful time. The picture up there is after we were catching in our mouths drops of water dripping of a cliff. I, in my infinite biological knowledge, took them to the bear enclosure and it never crossed my mind that it was winter and that bears tend to do a lot of sleeping in the winter. In my defense, it was pretty warm. Gray grabbed the electric wire fence to get a better look at the deer and got quite a zap. I really tried not to laugh.
We got to see my parents in Asheville early on and had a great visit. Adia pretty much ran dad ragged, but thats what she does to everyone. I'm trying to bridge some gaps with my family and the weather seems to be improving on that front as well. It sure has been a blessing to talk more with my new half-sister. She seems to be one of those truly wonderful people. I think she is going to try to come up after the baby is born. I can't wait to meet her. Speaking of which. The date for the induction with the midwives in Asheville is Jan 13. Amazing. A couple of weeks and we will have a new baby in the house. Little bald Adia will be a big sister. Wow. Ashley is doing really well even got back to walking - after the clot diagnosis, it kind of derailed exercise for her - which sucks because that is a major stress reliever for her. She's getting close to the end now - 37 weeks which means the baby is not even considered premature if it is born now. Thank God. But she's pretty uncomfortable. The last 2 weeks will be like the last 2 weeks of any pregnancy - a reason to go through labor. We are settling in on a name - the frontrunner is Esme Ruth. Esme means beloved and Ruth was the name of my grandmother. We'll see. Many of the women in the family think that it might be a boy. We'll see.
On a down note, I went to the visitation for the step father of a former student of mine (current friend). He was murdered in downtown Boone at the pawn shop. I don't really know any details except that there is a suspect at large and that the family is heartbroken. I wonder what the world would be like if we didn't kill each other. We can be very stupid apes. I did get the hug of a lifetime from my student in the visitation line, however. My heart aches for that kid and that whole family.
And for all the things that sit in my mind so wonderfully all the time. The many times a day that I witness my kids do something or say something amazing. Whether it is Adia climbing, dancing, playing that piano like crazy, pillowfighting, or just being difficult - or Zoe serving tea, sir, or replying so matter of factly to a woman on the trail who said that she was surely wearing the wrong shoes "well, I don't care" as she scrambles up some difficult rocks, or her questions, or her laughter... it is quite a wonderful life. OK, thats it. I need to get some sleep so I can MUni tomorrow.
