WoT Visitors

5 weeks passed between book club meetings. I'd hoped to see everyone before then (and maybe even get a board game on the agenda), but it didn't happen.

I texted the group, "Want to get together this weekend?"

Mark replied that he was "seeking permission," so I threw in "If it helps, bring the kid to the farm and my kid can help entertain!"

Mark said, "Do you want to go see horses?" was an easy sell!

I cleaned up the house to help sell it to Carrie. Loki and Shane didn't need any convincing! 

I brought Maddie in from the field, so that Hazel (7) could pet her. 

The real hit was Shane. Hazel's an only child, too, so she's been just as kid-starved as he has! They kidnapped Happy cat at first, talked a little Pokemon, but the fun kicked in to high gear when they realized they both liked Roblox.

They asked and I let them play so long as both of them were taking turns. When one got tired of clicking to earn money the other would take over. Mark said that Hazel wanted to grow up and be a YouTube commentator just like Shane! They were laughing and squealing for hours.

Meanwhile, the adults talked and played The Crew. I was happy to get a game in that even Carrie would play! You knew whenever Scott was the commander, because he'd pull out the Top Gun hat!

Tsuki was outside with us, but it was cold. She hid inside Carrie's poncho. Carrie was delighted and asked for a picture.

The kids played so well together that the visit rolled on and Carrie eventually grilled up burgers and hot dogs for everyone. I was worn out from being social by the time we called it quits.

"Can they come back tomorrow?" Shane asked.

Hazel liked the idea, too.

Hopefully, we won't go 5 weeks in between meetings next time! 

WoT You Writing?

I went to the brewery to meet up with the WoT group again. Perk of knowing the head brewer: No one was there. We went on a day it was closed, but he has a key!

Scott was kind enough to bring the prequel novel and loaned it out to me. I'm going to read it while Mark catches up to where we are (though, no one is going to catch Scott. I stopped reading, but he went ahead and finished Book 6!).

Something that came up during our hangout was world-building. You can't talk about Robert Jordan without world building coming up at some point!

However, in this case we discussed doing it ourselves. It turned out I'm not the only one who's thought (or attempted) writing a book.

I have been doing some planning. It's hard with Shane. It's been hard enough to keep up with the blog! I finished watching the writing lectures, but it was easier to watch something than it is to produce something.

I wonder if my book group could become a writing group. At least something every now and then. I'm happy to talk and looking forward to going through the Wheel of Time, so I wouldn't be disappointed if writing never came up again.

But what if?

WoT's Going On?

My book club met Tuesday night. It was a month since our last meeting! We met on my back porch instead of at the brewery this time. We stayed outside the whole time to keep it socially distant enough.

Too bad it was 90 degrees out. This July is looking to be a scorcher!

Carrie was kind enough to grill burgers for dinner. Shane thought everyone was there to visit with him until Carrie took him inside and turned the TV on. I would have been happy to break out some of my board games, but we talked the whole time instead. The three of us went for a walk around the property and Scott and Mark started to make grass whistles at the end (Gotta respect the simple pleasures of life!).

The boys left a few things behind that we'll have to remember for our next meetup.

I finished Book 5, The Fires of Heaven, shortly after their visit. I'm going to take a break between books to let Mark catch up with Scott and I. We're off for the summer (teachers), but he was not!

COVID 19 - The Coronavirus: When We Do Go Out....BEFORE the "Stay Home"

Thursday, 3/26 we went on our bi-monthly dump run. It was the first time Shane left the house since we dropped Nibbs off on 3/15. 

I had a virtual staff meeting at 1:30 PM, so Carrie didn't think we'd have time to drop off some cardboard boxes.

There was no one ahead of us. We really should have grabbed more stuff to get rid of!

I was the only one who got out of the car at the dump. When we drove to Costco Carrie was the only one who got out.

Gas prices were the lowest I've seen in over a decade. I had to have still been in college. I remember it being cheaper, but that goes all the way back to high school for me.

We dropped by Southern States on the way home and it was Carrie's turn to get out again. 

Then we swung by Ace Hardware for a final stop where Carrie backed the truck and trailer up pick up sweet feed (She had to park at a weird angle due to a semi and then brought the trailer around hard and drove up in reverse. One of the guys laughed and called out, "You can drive, girl!").

Did you see the pattern? 

Only one of us got out at each stop. Shane stuck in the car, because he can't be trusted not to crawl on the ground and lick his hands or pick his nose.

Are we high-risk for the virus? No.

Based on the numbers there's less than a 0.1% chance we'd bump into anyone who's carrier. At the time there were less than 1,000 positive test results out of over 8.5 million people in VA. Even if you suspected there were 20 times as many cases due to lack of testing and asymptomatic carriers that would put the percentage at a little over 0.2%

However, if we're going to support the system, Carrie and I figured we may as well do the self-isolation thing right. She has gone to the grocery store or hardware store a couple of times, but Shane's stayed at home and I've stayed at home.

Except for book club.

I have left the house for a little under 2 hours each Sunday. We've met at Mark's brewery where we were the only three people sitting around, because it was closed!

We've always sat far enough apart (I had my own table!) and Mark washed his hands before he grabbed anyone some beers.

It's not following the rules of quarantine 100%, but we did the social distancing bit and there hasn't been a stay at home order.

Until now.

The order came out at 2 PM Monday. Patrick was happy the government was endorsing his lifestyle of choice!

Carrie was in the barn when the announcement was made. She was in the process of trying to shut down when I told her to hold up.

Not that it stopped, Carrie!

She saw Madeleine pull up when we were talking in the garage. Carrie ran down to tell her we were closed ("Game off!"), but I caught up to her with the written order on my phone. I showed her what I'd read and we were back in business ("Game on!").

1.E applies to our barn from my understanding of what was written. Carrie decided that to best follow the directive, any boarders who wanted to visit would need to text or call in advance. If anyone else texted for a similar time, Carrie would direct them to come earlier or later so that only one boarder was on property at a time. That way we could ensure there were always less than 6 people around the barn to allow for easy distancing.

I don't think we even needed to do that based on Section 2. Gatherings of 10 or more people are prohibited, but I think our record was 9 people on property when the cousins and grandparents visited. At that only happened once!

We're doing our part to keep with the spirit of things, though. The 'mandate' was mainly targeted at the larges groups of people on beaches or going to parties and acting like there isn't a need for social distancing. I could understand more resistance to staying in all the time in the really rural stretches, but Virginia Beach? I get that it's outside. I get that the odds are low. However, I also know that if enough people play the odds the virus is going to get passed around more than it needs to be and the odds will become higher the more people play them (and very stealthily with the way the virus presents itself).

Planning to Catch Up

We had a quiet Sunday. Shane's mostly back to normal, but we stayed home from church. The average age of the adult congregants is probably over 60. That's not an environment to bring flu germs into. We streamed a service from New Life in Chantilly instead.

I spent a lot of the day trying to catch up. There was laundry, dishes, work, blogging....you name it. Wrestling season has taken a lot of time and energy in the past, but this year introduced a longer commute and horse chores into the mix. There simply wasn't enough time and energy to get everything done!

Shane and I listened to Spy Camp together while I worked on a list.

It's been a while, but I do like my lists. So much stuff is routine nowadays I don't feel the need to jot it all down as much.

I'd hoped to spend the work week getting everything back on track, but there was just too much to do. Shane getting the flu didn't help. It wasn't from me goofing off, either. I played a game some Tuesday night, but didn't hop back on again until today.

Busy, busy, busy.

I'd like to be caught up on grading, planning, blogging, and house chores by next Sunday. I made some blog progress, but I've been running nearly a month behind. I'll get there, but it may be a couple of weeks.

Reading Woes

"But Dad! I don't like reading! It's boring and I want action!" Shane said.

My kid acts like I'm torturing him by requiring him to read at least 20 minutes a day.

That kills me.

About the only thing Shane will read without complaint are comics like Garfield.

....and then what he wants to do is read them aloud so you hear and laugh at every joke he likes.

The kid is outrageously social.

So far he seems to like to read the Roald Dahl books and Captain Underpants some, but it's hard to get Shane to read willingly if there are no pictures or no one is sitting right next to him as he does it. He likes to listen to books and be read to, but reading on his own for fun? We're still getting there.

Finished The Princess Bride

We finished The Princess Bride last night. Carrie put on the movie today. I wanted to wait until 7:00 PM, but she was stressed, trying to work, and said, "I need this NOW."

Shane didn't mind. He was mesmerized. I can't help but to be a teacher and paused every now and then to ask a question or two.

I can't complain about Carrie putting the TV on, either. Shane and I skipped Taekwando. I could have picked him up from school early and taken him, but I was worn out. I let him stay in afterschool and decompressed some instead.

The Princess Bride

We haven't been reading at night lately, so I wanted to start up again. This time, I'm sharing The Princess Bride with Shane. I love the book and it happened to be made into a terrific movie, as well (Which Carrie adores). 

This edition included pictures!

The exposition in the beginning didn't go well. For one, it was longer than I remembered. Carrie tried to read a little one night and had no success either. If you haven't read the tale, there's a lot of satire involved where the author is rereading The Princess Bride himself and tongue-in-cheek realizing his father cut out a lot of boring description, lineages, and even whole chapters.

I skipped to Buttercup and Westley saying, "Goodbye," and it went better from there. I read most everything, but if scenes start to drag or I sense Shane's attention waning I know how to paraphrase or ask guided questions to keep him into it.

Carrie was out driving, so the TV remained off tonight. I asked Shane to grab the book, so we could sit on the couch with it. We read about the kidnapping and the climb up the Cliffs of Insanity. Good times!

Bonus story: My own experience with The Princess Bride was in 9th grade with Mr. Greek. I was in an advanced English class and we were plowing through stories I loathed (like Antigone and A Tale of Two Cities). I was bored and picked up a copy of The Princess Bride from the class set for the regular English 9 class. I read it in a day and brought it back, "Why couldn't we read this!?!?!" Mr Greek may have been slightly annoyed because he knew I'd been slacking in class and then I read the book I wasn't assigned in a day.

Bonus-bonus story: We also read Ender's Game in that class. I didn't pick up the book until I started to wake up and listen in on the class discussion of battle school. I picked up the book and actually started to read it for the first time, and, again, I got so engrossed I finished it in a day. Mr. Greek was annoyed yet again.

Bonus-bonus-bonus story: I actually liked Mr Greek even if he sometimes chose terrible stories. Several of my friends and I used to hang out in his classroom before the day started and played cards and talked. I got at least two good ones out of his class. I read the next two books after Ender's Game (Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide) afterwards. I'm not sure if Mr. Greek was more annoyed or more amused that I usually had a different book in class every several days and they were rarely something he assigned. He retired after John and I's year, so maybe we drove him batty.

Get Caught Reading

I tell Shane "reading is great" all the time. I tell him I like reading better than TV. I show him books I like (including Calvin and Hobbes). I offer to read to him and I tell him that when he 'levels up' his reading he can read better books and better video games.

And I mean it.

However, how often does Shane catch me reading a book on my own?

Not often.

I don't like to start and stop novels. If I'm going to read, I normally want to do it at night when Shane's asleep, Carrie's asleep, and the TV isn't on.

During the day, I read all the time on my phone or the computer. I'll show Shane I'm reading, too (He's nosy), but I wonder if Shane sees the electronics more than the words on the screen.

This week, I've been trying to 'get caught' reading. Carrie's got a ton of Star Trek books lying around. I picked up Q Squared.

I got caught all right. It's hard to read when Shane starts to crawl on me. I got him to read a sentence or two.

All according to plan.

Bedtime Stories with Shane

Shane has opted to read to himself for bedtime story the past couple of nights. He said, "I can read and listen to you!"

I didn't buy it and that was okay. Shane read on his own and looked through books for a while each night. I read silently to myself.

Remembering the goal is always important: I want Shane to enjoy reading. Sharing stories with him is one way, but him actually wanting to read is another. We'll get back to Prydain eventually.

Summer Reading Challenge

We mixed it up. Shane and I visited Northside library instead of one of our usuals.

We had another summer reading sheet to turn in. We didn't have as many checkmarks this time, so we needed to cram in a few extra.

I love libraries.

Shane earned a book this time.

You know it's a good read when their legs give out.

I picked up a few new potential bed time stories to start after we finish Harry Potter #2. Shane's seen the movie, so I like to go back and read the final chapters we skipped to make sure he understands what all happened.

Epilogue: Back to Normal (For now)

Carrie and Shane have a new morning routine: Katamari Damacy. 

Carrie read out loud to finish the last chapter before the big reveals in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Then Shane got to watch the movie to see the climax.

"I don't want to see it! It's going to be scary!" Shane said.

"Was the book scary?"

"Yes!"

"When?"

"Uh......I don't know."

Shane loved the movie when he gave it a chance.

Big success. Carrie was glad we got it in before her trip. She loves the movies.

We are going to take a break from the Harry Potter series, though. The dementors in Prisoner of Azkaban would be too scary for Shane right now. We'll come back to the series eventually when he's older.

Bedtime Story Slack

We lost the bedtime story habit. It's time to get it back with Harry Potter.

Father's Day - In Between Trips

Everyone woke up chipper Sunday. Carrie watched an online service with me before she went down to horse country (Sonya had asked her to come Sunday instead to help introduce another possible buddy for Nibs).

She left and Shane re-familiarized himself with his toys.

I checked on all my usual chores. The chickens were molting (I don't normally see their eyes so well).

I forced Shane to play some catch with me for Father's Day before we went to church. After 10 minutes, he was protesting and I was sweating. We went inside.

It let him save his energy up for Sunday school. He didn't want to leave afterward until he realized there were donuts.

There has been one local activity I've wanted to check out. Normally, it happened on Tuesdays after work at a restaurant. However, this time it was on a Sunday afternoon at a smaller venue I know a friend frequents. I decided to take Shane on a little adventure.

Of course, it started to rain as we neared our destination.

Shane passed out.

I decided to turn off the car and let him sleep. The rain increased.

And then it really increased.

Shane slept through most of it. When he was fully awake, we braved the drizzle to learn Chickapig!

Chickapig is a locally designed boardgame. It has a following including Dave Matthews from the Dave Matthews Band (He know the creator). I've been curious, but I didn't want to take Shane to a crowded restaurant/beer hall after a busy workday and then not play.

Today, we played.

Shane liked it enough I bought a copy, too. It was more than I'd normally want to pay for a game, but the creator was local, the venues it's played at are local, the pieces are all made local, and the guy demoing it was local. I'm willing to pay a little extra for people to have opportunities local.

Apparently, we were at the second stop on what's supposed to be a countrywide tour. Jonah, the guy I talked to, converted his van, so he can live it in and drive around all summer. He's a teacher and needed to fill his summer break somehow, so he was happy to help his friend, Brian (the creator).

It's neat to see a dream in action. I'm happy to help support that.

We went to visit Dylan and co after. Krista had the boys help make cookies.

They're an excitable bunch.

This time, the older boys mainly played together and Eli stuck to his own at first. He showed off some puzzle solving skills for the adults.

At one point, the boys were all playing so well Krista didn't know what to do with herself. She turned on Mario and Shane came running (which led to the other boys down the line). Here, John was trying to show Shane where a secret 1-up was.

The night ended with dominoes. Dylan and Shane would have liked to keep playing, but I wanted to end on a high note (before either got tired and cranky).

Mom was waiting for us! She read the entire first chapter of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone to Shane for his bedtime story.

Tomorrow, Shane and I are going to hit the road again. The new HVAC is going to be installed and we need to drop off the air beds from the beach at Jama's. Lots of trips, lots of memories.

LOTR

I started Shane on Lord of the Rings the other night. I'm not convinced he's old enough for it, but it starts with Bilbo and is a fun reminisce for me.

With Daddy abridging, our bedtime stories went like so:

Night 1: Bilbo's going to have a party for him and Frodo. Oh, look! Gandalf and fireworks!

Night 2: The party! Poof! Where'd he go?

Night 3: Why's it so hard to put this thing down?

Shane did a much better job than I expected when I paused for some think-a-louds. He had a pretty good memory for The Hobbit!

My plan is to read at least until Gandalf reveals the nature of the ring. Maybe we'll get to the Black Riders, but it's more likely we'll look at The Hobbit again or pick up another book. LOTR is probably too expansive for Shane at this age. If he's interested and seems to understand the basic action, I'll continue. If not, we'll read a book he chooses. Either way, I look forward to reading it with him eventually and then showing him the movies!

Popcorn and PJ's Book Night for Homework

"Big" Books we've read with Shane:
Magic Treehouse: Twister on Tuesday (the first)
Magic Treehouse: Earthquake in the Early Morning.
The Hobbit (Daddy abridged)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Peter Pan (Great Illustrated Classic version)
The BFG (edited out a lot of the child eating details, but not 'human beans')
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Esio Trot
The Magic Finger


Observation: British lit rules.

Didn't plan it that way. The twister book just happened to have a tornado on the cover. That started Shane on chapter books (bigger than Fly Guy). Then, JRR Tolkien and then CS Lewis were my influence. Peter Pan happened to be on a book shelf and Shane likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Then Roald Dahl showed up in a collection for Christmas.

Mary Pope Osborne is the only American author on the list, but the kids help Morgan Le Fey (the Librarian) and go to Camelot in the Magic Tree house books. Coincidence? (Those are Arthurian references for the uniformed - Very British).

I did not include audio books in the list. We've certainly listened to a few! (Not much lately, though).

There, But Not Yet Back Again

A month has passed and we're almost in Mirkwood. I could tell after the initial reading, Shane would require an abridged version. I skipped to the trolls and added funny voices the next read. 

I know there's still a bunch that goes over Shane's head. He doesn't have any background troll knowledge and the vocabulary is not typical American 5-year old. 

So, sometimes I stop to ask questions or summarize. 

"Do you know what menacing means?"

Shane shook his head.

"Scary or about to hurt you."

"Ooohh....."

Other times, I doodle.

I never said I was an artist. Shane doesn't have a lot of patience either. He wouldn't want me to take the time to really get the scale or look up what the correct Gondorian heraldry/armor might be.

It's a good break from listening for him. It also gives me something to do when we're drawing tornadoes and I want to think of something else.

Saturday night, the Lord of the Eagles rescued the party from burning trees.

And then Bilbo had to hang on to Dori's boot or fall far below. (Note: "Hey! That's one of my tornadoes!" I don't waste paper).

Shane must be picking up some of it. He drew his own picture.

Beorn came along Sunday morning. 

I think it's important to let Shane imagine some of this stuff before he sees anything similar on TV. I want to watch the cartoon and then the Lord of the Rings with him eventually, but after he's got an imagination workout.