Posts Tagged ‘family’
Wasn’t Easy
It was a championship game. It’s not supposed to be easy. The 58th NFL Super Bowl game last night between Kansas City and San Francisco was tied after regulation time expired in Las Vegas. Watching the game on television from the comfort of my home, I was exhausted by the end. It doesn’t feel right that one of the teams had to lose.
Congratulations to Kansas City for the overtime win.
Let the crazies grow their conspiracy theories to bizarre new lengths. It won’t make them any harder for me to ignore.
It was a great end of the season for the NFL and it makes it hard to deny the Chiefs have a reasonable claim on the beginnings of a dynasty.
I don’t know what that’s like. I grew up rooting for the Minnesota Vikings, four-time Super Bowl losers. For the record, we lost the first one to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now I need to adjust my sports spectating to college basketball in preparation for the NCAA March Madness Tournament.
While I’m waiting for that to get here, I’ll sneak in a few NHL games and watch the weather predictions for hints of possible accumulating snowfalls before the vernal equinox arrives.
We do have one bit of guaranteed excitement in store for the coming weekend. A contingent of the Hays clan will be joining us for a weekend up at the lake place in Hayward.
It won’t be easy to come up with viable outdoor winter recreation choices, but it will be a fun-filled few days, that’s for sure. I’m planning a photo contest while we are there and expect to publish some winning shots here on the blog when I can.
We are going to take Asher up with us so our time may be equally split between training him and having fun with family. I expect I’ll find it to be almost as exhausting as watching the Super Bowl game last night.
.
.
Hydrostatic Pressure
We have a new theory about the water in our basement and I have Cyndie’s brother, Ben to thank for bringing it to my attention. Ben described a situation he experienced where a rug was acting like a sponge to pull moisture out of his basement floor. That could easily apply to the soaked rugs we encountered on our basement floor.
Coincidentally, hours before Ben called I had taken pictures of an interesting phenomenon occurring in the paddocks. Rain that we received around Christmas saturated our predominantly clay soil. I am always amazed in the winter when liquid water gets pushed up to the surface by natural hydrostatic pressure (the pressure exerted by a fluid… due to the force of gravity) and then freezes. It seems counterintuitive to me that there would be liquid water near the surface in the winter.
Well, with the uncharacteristically warm winter we have been having, there seems to be more liquid water than usual.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The darkened areas are “rivers” of ice that are forming where hydrostatic pressure is pushing water to the surface.
It would not surprise me if the water pressure in the ground around our foundation was pushing its way through the concrete in some way. We aren’t putting any rugs back down for the foreseeable future.
We happen to have a “lift system” to push basement wastewater up to the pipe that drains to our septic tank. After talking with the plumber on the phone, I looked into information on troubleshooting whether that pump was functioning properly. I admit that in the 11 years we have lived here, I’ve barely given that system a thought.
Apparently, it is recommended that an annual inspection be done to avoid major problems. Now we are considering having it checked for its first-in-a-decade inspection… whether it needs it, or not.
.
.
Camera Progress
The testing phase of adding a WiFi surveillance camera to view the horses was completed successfully yesterday. Julian figured out that I needed to get a newer version of the camera software that would recognize the serial number of our new camera. After we installed that fix, the rest of the process went pretty smoothly.
With a cable strung out of a cracked open window in the den and the repeater lying on the roof, we set the camera on a step ladder by the paddock fence.
Swings appeared to supervise the strange activity of us setting up boards teetering in the ladder and stringing extension cords for power.
It worked! Julian selected a camera with pan and tilt features so we will be able to adjust the view to monitor the waterer and portion of both fields as well as the hay shed and driveway. He also used his coding skills to demonstrate a potential option that Cyndie exclaimed would keep her endlessly watching from the comfort of our bed.
We’ll be able to watch the horses on our televisions. The sound of snorting horses reverberated through our subwoofer to our great delight. It’s almost like being there!
Now if we could feed and clean up after them remotely, we could stay in bed all day! Oh, except we also have a dog.
Never mind.
.
.
Holiday Outing
Christmas 2023 is now a memory. Let’s get on with celebrating the new year and start preparing for Valentine’s Day. But before we go, how about one more glance at our festive holiday outing at CHS Field in St. Paul?
We went to the GLOW Holiday Festival on Christmas eve eve with Barry and Carlos and our friends, Paul and Beth.
The rain held off long enough for us to walk among the lights, features, and several thousand other people without getting wet.
The event added much-needed holiday spirit in the absence of snow this year. There were so many photo-worthy spectacles and selfie-hungry couples and families, that much of the time was spent dodging becoming an incidental photo bomber or waiting for a turn to get photo-bombed.
We unexpectedly ran into our friends, the Williams family among the throngs of strangers while strolling the concourse. That increased the festive energy of our evening in a most wonderful way.
There was barely a line when we came upon Santa Claus, so posing with him became a must-do.
Confusion broke out when two overly excited youngsters spotted him and moved in as if pulled by an invisible force. Our group quickly encouraged the kids to go ahead of us while the parents, unaware, were trying to remind the kids about the good manners of waiting their turn.
As Cyndie and I stepped up for our chance to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas, I leaned in and whispered in his ear, “They aren’t paying you enough for this.” It triggered the most wonderful knowing laugh from him that I felt as if my work was done for the night.
24 hours later, Cyndie and I were gathered with our kids, the Friswold family, and their relations at a party room of Friendship Village for the annual Friswold/Brolin Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas morning brought the Friswolds all together in Cyndie’s mom’s suite for breakfast and gift opening. In the evening, we met again, this time at Ben’s house for games and dinner.
I’m looking forward to a day after the holiday that should bring a return to our usual routine and an end to the over-saturation of Christmas music for a while. Maybe things will get so normal that we even receive some snow that covers the ground for more than a few days.
A guy can dream.
.
.
Ancestor Cloud
I made a word cloud that includes 5 generations of surnames of our children’s ancestors. That is 64 names: 2 parents; 4 grandparents; 8 great-grandparents; 16 great-great-grandparents; and 32 great-great-great-grandparents.
The name Hays occurs 5 times but there are only 4 Friswolds because that name changed from Frisvold four generations back. Cyndie’s mother’s and my mother’s maiden names show up 4 times each.
Our kids are all those people. I’m only half of the people named and Cyndie is the other half.
The kids visited yesterday for our immediate family Christmas gathering and I was mentioning how different from each other Cyndie and I are. Julian then pointed out, “And I am both of you.”
We definitely contain multitudes.
.
.
Lap Dog
Weighing in at somewhere between 75-80 pounds, we don’t think of Asher as a lap dog. Especially, because he shows little interest in climbing up to sit on our laps. However, he seems to feel differently when he finds visitors sitting down.
Our kids stopped by on Sunday and Asher climbed up to sit on Julian.
Since that doesn’t happen very often, we captured the novel moment with a photo. It was just so cute. Little did we know, it would get even more photo-worthy.
I hadn’t been paying attention until Julian mentioned his legs were starting to fall asleep.
Asher was out cold, sprawled across the arm of the chair and Julian’s legs. Cyndie has tried many times without success to entice Asher to lie down by her to share his warmth. Silly dog.
Speaking of silly, I gave Asher full freedom to dig for something that was really captivating his nose. I’m glad there weren’t any buried cables in the vicinity. He chewed through roots and dug, and dug.
I wish I knew what he was smelling that interested him so much. Ultimately, he came up with nothing but dirt.
All that digging appeared to tire him out but still, he showed no interest in resting on our laps when we got back inside.
Maybe we should refer to him as being a selective lap dog.
.
.
Calories Galore
How sweet it is. Even though I had been duly warned, there were several instances yesterday when more than the recommended number of cookies found their way into my mouth. Cyndie was a machine of efficiency, cranking out non-stop cookie magic.
She accomplished a heroic achievement. According to the television advertisements I saw during NFL games, I should reward her with a car, diamond jewelry, and expensive perfume for Christmas. Or beer. Or bundled insurance.
By the end of the day, Cyndie needed to get off her feet to control swelling in her ankle. That didn’t stop her from continuing to work on her holiday treats.
She wrapped homemade caramels while watching an episode of “All Creatures Great and Small” on her laptop.
Julian and Elysa stopped by and did their part to reduce the overload by taking home a platter of cookies each. While Julian was here, we tried tinkering with the software for our driveway surveillance camera. We made some progress so that it seemed to be working to ping my phone when a vehicle arrived.
Unfortunately, it also began pinging me even when there was no vehicle. The camera that cried wolf.
I will need to spend a lot more time tweaking the software settings, of which there are many, including a numerical adjustment of the sensitivity.
It will give me something to do while I’m continuing to taste-test Cyndie’s baking results.
.
.
Kicked Off
Yesterday, we kicked off the post-Thanksgiving holiday season with a brunch and a show. With our kids and some of Cyndie’s family, we gathered for brunch at the Copper Hen restaurant on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. The place was hopping with good energy, the ambiance was intriguing, and the food was top-notch.
From that location, it was just a short drive to Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus where Cirque du Soleil was offering their first-ever holiday show, “Twas The Night Before…” It was a little different to see a Cirque show confined to a small stage but the quality of acrobatics was first-rate and the entertaining sense of humor and high-energy music was on brand.
Making everything feel even more seasonally festive, Cyndie and I drove through some heavy falling snow on the way to Minneapolis. As we passed through the city of Hudson, we dropped Asher off at his new favorite canine hangout, the kennel that offers afternoon daycare in addition to overnight boarding.
It seems like he is starting to recognize the route because he got increasingly excited as we approached. In the lobby, where he had previously shown some hesitation to be separated from us, he left Cyndie behind without a glance and rushed right in to be with the rest of the hounds in attendance.
Although it made it nice for us to have him well cared for while we were out, it forced us to make a hasty exit after the show. We left the family with a nod and a wink to get our car out of the parking ramp and hit the road so we could pick him back up before they closed for the day. If we didn’t get there in time he would become an unwitting overnight guest.
During the show, our phones pinged with a weather warning that icy road conditions were possible in the area. That heightened our sense of urgency in rushing off but neither time nor weather proved to be a problem and everything worked out nicely.
I think I may have kicked off a few earworms of Christmas songs that could get old real quick, but it was special this year to jump into the festive cheer with family before the Thanksgiving weekend had even ended.
December will be here before you know it. Ho ho ho. Visions of sugar plums dead ahead.
.
.
Feeling Thankful
I’m particularly thankful on this final day of the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The good fortunes bestowed upon us by the universe, chance, choices, and a smattering of genuine efforts are beyond measure. As such, engaging in the exercise of naming a few that come to mind provides valuable perspective for a immeasurable phenomenon.
When I realized the automatic waterer for the horses in the paddocks was getting warmer than a hot tub, I looked up the temp control details online. Upon opening the access panel of the waterer, I found there was no thermocouple to adjust. After I got over the shock and traced wires several times, suddenly my fingers landed on the leads to the unit that was just dangling in air. I don’t know what caused it to slide out but I’m extremely thankful the fix was so easy and the water is now a reasonable temperature that won’t sting the horses’ lips.
- The surgical incisions on Cyndie’s ankle have a ways to go before the skin has healed fully. Still, already she is experiencing joyful relief over the absence of the screws and plates that once held the shattered bones together. They eventually became a problem of their own. I’m really thankful for the good work of the surgeon and staff of the hospital and Tria Orthopedic for their excellent treatment of Cyndie’s injury.
- This is an ongoing appreciation but lately, I’m feeling particularly aware of the mental benefits of successfully treating the depression that dominated much of my life from childhood through roughly mid-life. I am so very thankful for the doctors and therapists who guided and educated me, some of whom I can’t even recall names or faces. I guess I wasn’t focused on the guides but on the destination.
- Lastly, for this exercise, I want to tell you how thankful I am that you are reading the odd chronicles I decide to post here every day on Relative Something. To the worldwide audience of WordPress bloggers who happen upon random posts and end up returning for more and the friends and family who understand I don’t use other social media and keep in touch by reading me here. Even if I don’t know you are following along, if you are reading these words right now it means something to me and I am thankful internet stranger(s).
Maybe by exercising my thankfulness muscles in this way, I will continue to gain prowess in my journey toward optimum health. Mental “planks” as compared to the back-saving core exercise I continue to employ. Thankfully, those seem to be helping me to avoid prolonged repeated episodes of debilitating pain.
Happy last day of this (U.S.) holiday weekend!
.
.
Easy Patient
It was almost “just another Thursday” except for the fact Cyndie was only one day away from surgery on her ankle. Her extensive experience with the routine of recovering from surgeries makes her a pretty easy patient to watch over. She has been in good spirits throughout the whole process, surviving the first night with only minimally interrupted sleep from pain.
You may think she is doing so well because of the care I’ve been providing, but I can’t take credit. It’s the healed ankle bones that are all the difference. More specifically, it’s that she doesn’t have pain from the shattered bones and she is not forced to avoid putting any weight on her right foot.
Cyndie’s brother, Steve stopped by for a visit and provided good energy. He and Asher got along really well, especially when Steve accepted Asher’s challenges to wrestle by dishing out plenty of roughhouse competition.
In the afternoon, Cyndie occupied herself in the recliner by making a “snuffle mat” for Asher. My sister, Judy provided inspiration with photos of mats that she makes. The project fit well with the homemade dog chews Cyndie had just sewn for our pup.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Asher took to it like a natural, individually sniffing out and chomping each little morsel Cyndie had scattered. It occupied him for about a minute or two.
I allowed him some off-leash time around the outside of the house while I moved all the deck furniture to storage behind the house for the winter. He was a good sport and stayed close but went nuts doing Zoomies to burn pent-up energy.
I think he senses something weird with Cyndie’s behavior and is rising to respect her space while looking toward other avenues to get his needs met. At the same time, I think he really misses the “old” version of his momma.
It won’t be long before she is back to her old ways.
Last year, I was more concerned with how soon she could return to tossing around hay bales. This year, I’m looking toward how soon she can get back to entertaining Asher when he gets overly whiny.
I really wish I could convince him to simply “use [his] words!” whenever I can’t figure out what he wants.
He is not what I’d call an easy patient.
.
.
Relative Something 