Speak and spell

My poor car squeals and knocks even on the freeway as I continue my elongated commute to work. What royalty I've become. Must get this checked. Amy left this morning, in a whirlwind at frozen 5 AM, to go to Dana Point in San Juan Capistrano for the weekend with her family. The annual retreat of the sisters. We'll miss her, as right now Adie and Heather are at home watching the babes, and I get them all to myself the whole weekend long. We will have loads of fatherly parental fun.

So last Saturday we (and I say we meaning mostly Amy) threw a Halloween costume party. Amy was highly concerned about whether or not it would turn out, and if many people would show. She is always so worried about making things perfect and pleasing others, she's very empathetic and that's a trait I'm quite proud she has, but I don't want her to overly stress or otherwise trouble herself with unnecessary concerns. Anyway, the party ended up a success. Many people came, 25 at least, and a few enjoyable games were played with costume judging and music and the like. Amy dressed as Emily the Corpse Bride, while I was her would-be lover, Victor Van Dort. A joyous time was to be held by all.

Sunday we awoke a bit late and I mulled about getting ready for a nice drive up towards Markleeville to see the sights of the fall-affected aspens. We piled in around noon finally and started the drive. Adie rode with Dad while Amy and I and the kids were in the Jeep. We took Mormon Emigrant Trail from 50 to 88, the time just flew by peacefully as we listened to Iron and Wine. It was a beautiful, calm, wonderful midday. Due to our October Birthdays dinner scheduled at 2:30 at the Smiths', we had to cut our leg of the journey short. We all stopped up at Kirkwood and ventured out to view the mountainside and the ski lifts. Jarom loved the sight of the 'gondolas' and scampered up the lift ladders like an employee. It was brisk and we hadn't especially dressed for the occasion, so our stop was short-lived. We took a few photos and admired the countryside, then packed up and parted ways - us back down the hill, Adie and Dad to continue their trip.

We took Omo Ranch road home. I thought it may be quicker, which it turns out it most likely was not, but it was a nice glorious diversion, and I always get a sense of foreign togetherness out there in the backroad seemingly nowhere villes, where I'm awestruck and touristy but also feel somehow intertwined and belonging. We spent the rest of the evening at the Smiths' with family, enjoying ourselves and eating, eating, eating.

Then the week began. Monday was Monday. Tuesday morning I was supposed to be at the Placerville courthouse at 9:30 AM for jury selection duty, but, not realizing I was supposed to call a jury duty hotline at a precise window of time the previous day, I missed my selection due to the fact it was moved to the Cameron Park courthouse an hour earlier. Wonderful. Now I'm rescheduled to go in on December 5th (Zack's birthday). Not particularly looking forward to it, I understand and appreciate the importance of jury duty, but the whole process has been so convoluted and confusing at each step of the way that I must say I'm somewhat disillusioned with the whole thing. I prepared a partial informative speech on Myanmar/Burma for school that evening, but luckily my name was not called as I put off until Thursday.

I was able to successfully return my iPod, and I'm looking forward to the iPod Video that's currently en route to me somewhere spawning from Shanghai. It's something to look forward to, okay?

Thursday I did my speech and did fairly well. A-. Not bad, I could've been better but the assignment has opened my eyes to Burma and its plight and I'm grateful simply for that fact alone. I received an A on my Karen Horney paper in English and again I rejoiced. It's that wonderful, really.

And now for Friday. I sit and think and ponder and wait and miss and enjoy and love and stall and engender and fascinate and study and read and dream and sing and rock and talk and write and tell and eat and eat and then I just let the life surround me and thickly hold me up, because without it I would fall to the ground like a body without skeleton.

Audio: Something to Write Home About|The Get Up Kids
Video: Monty Python and the Holy Grail [1975|Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones]
Text: The Giver|Lois Lowry

My word of the day: incredulous