School's Out

How is it possible that so much time has gone by since I've written?

Today is the kids first day of summer vacation. And ... (tee hee) ... they're out of our hair ... erhm ... I mean ... out of the house (yeah ... THAT's what I mean) for the weekend. =)

Unfortunately, the weekend is not enough time for Queen Bee and I to move to Argentina.

Let's see ... the school year. I'll start at the top of the age chain ...

I got an A (99.1%) in my Java class. I'm sure my classmates hate me - I busted all the curves except one in that class. The final was a real bugger, and I scored 97% so the curve was a whopping 3% ... and I think that was the largest curve of the semester.

Queen Bee, of course graduated from SVU with a Bachelor's degree in politics and philosophy.

Dude ... you know - I don't really know how she did. I will find out and edit this later. She is working full time (and quite a bit more) for a start-up firm in BV. She and Chuck share an apartment over that way.

Superman is taking a little time off from school, allowing him to work day shifts. He has reassured me that he will go back as soon as Rosebud finishes her school. (I'm going to hold you to that promise, son.)

** UPDATE **
Superman took College Algebra last semester, and got an A! He is taking a summer class, trig, online now. He is planning to take one class per semester for the forseeable future. Working full time and his church calling in the Stake Young Men's program keeps him really busy. We're proud of you, Superman!

Rosebud made progress at UT Tyler. She is studying accounting, and I'm very proud of her for sticking with it. She's also working full time, is active at church, and takes good care of Superman ... so this is a big deal.

** UPDATE **
Rosebud just finished her semester with two A's and one C. Yay! She has two semesters left until graduation. We're proud of you too, Rosebud!

Chuck did well (as I remember) this semester. She is also working full time for the same firm as Dude.

Fred did very well. She pulled an A in o-chem 2 out of her magic hat. I'm pretty sure she was praying for anything higher than a C. I'm not sure if she got all A's or one B this term.

I'm not sure whether Noodle got all A's or one B. She was also in several theater productions, and was the student body rep to the school board.

Peanut is a bit worried about her French grade. But I think that's the only possible trouble spot for her. She really loved her photo class.

The Boy has finally admitted that he's glad summer is here. This is the first time he hasn't been sad to see the school year end.

Spring Break

Have I mentioned I'm in school? Yeah ... one class at the local country club -erhm- community college. I thought I'd better learn some of this newfangled black magic called "PC Programming" so I'm in a first semester Java class.

Don't get me wrong - I'm learning a lot. BUt I have decided to submit a suggestion to the college that they create a "fast track" set of courses for those of us who might be able to go a bit faster than the norm. I mean ... I hate to brag ... but 30 years in the programming industry gives me a BIT of an edge over the students for whom this is REALLY a first semester class.

They expect me to complete three semesters of Java. Hah. Like I have money or something. I genuinely feel that I could handle the material from all three semesters condensed into one semester. I might have to actually study.

So this week I'm on Spring Break. I think I'll read ahead and see what trouble I can get into. =)

Addictions

Hello. My name is Steve, and I'm an electricity addict.

You never realize how good you have it until ... you don't have it.

This past Tuesday evening, Pam, Wendy, David and I were sitting in the den watching a DVD ... and BLOOP! the power went out. (Sue was off in New York on a school trip.)

Usually, this would not be a big deal ... but it was cold out. I mean COLD. Like 20 degrees or so. We'd had freezing rain since Monday night, and ice was on everything. And ... when you live in a forest, those pretty trees all around us? Yeah ... they become a real problem when they're covered in ice. They're just not designed to hold all that weight.

Any way ... the power company said they knew about it, and that they were working to restore our power.

Fast forward a day (Wednesday evening), and we're all sitting in the den ... the DARK den ... tending a fire in the fireplace, wrapped in blankets ... no power yet. The power company told me earlier that day that we had lost a main line and a main line fuse. Great. Oh ... and ... BTW ... it might be another 24 hours or more before the power comes back on. Even better.

We cooked meat on the backyard grill ... tried to cook some potatoes in a skillet over the grill (with mixed results) ... and kept tending the fire in the den. We tried to keep ourselves occupied ... you know ... telling silly stories and such. Mostly, we ended up laughing at how we'd look back on that night and how our stories were so silly.

Pam realized that she was born in this century for a good reason. All the romantic notions about how great it might be to travel back in time and live like a pioneer ... no. She assured us (in quite forceful terms) that she would never speak those words again. As if to drive the point home, she casually mentioned needing to bathe to remove all the soot and fire grime from herself. When I reminded her that the water heater ran on electricity, she cried.

Thursday morning ... still no power ... the kids get ready for school and leave. Even sponge baths are miserable when the water is just barely above freezing. Later that morning, the power comes back! YAY!

When I got home that afternoon, Pam has just arrived home from school. She announced that the power was back, and actually did a happy dance. I told her I fully expected to find her soaking in a steaming tub. She assured me it was on her list. But first ... a nice hot bowl of oatmeal. I think addictions mess with your priorities.

It was nice to cook dinner in the kitchen again. I actually enjoyed it.