Friday, December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas

Once a local Utah bank had a comercial that ended with a shot of a little girl dancing on stage. The shot lasted about one second, if that. My sister Elizabeth used to make fun of me because without fail, when that add came on my eyes were glued to the screen and I teared up.

Now I can't say it was particularly good advertising, since I have no idea which bank it was, but it definitely struck a cord in me. What can I say? I'm a sucker. Lately, GK and I have seen some of the stupider Christmas specials. Yep. I'm a sucker. No matter how much I make fun of them... at some point, the tears well up in my eyes and I try to hold on a little tighter to GK, and Reggie doesn't bother me quite as much (even when he tries to chew open the Christmas presents under the tree).

Anyway, Merry Christmas a day late. We'll add some Christmas details soon.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Finals Week and Drawing Waves...

It's sleeting.

It has been sleeting all day. There was a forecast of snow, but instead we've had a constant downfall of wet, slushy rain that freezes on the ground to make the roads and sidewalks treacherous. Luckily, I have rain boots, and a lot of really sturdy Patagonia gear (thanks to Liza and GK). So I can't complain much.

I had planned on a shopping trip in town to get some fun food at Trader Joe's, but the trek just wasn't worth the risk. So I ran some errands closer by and then planned on just giving my house a little love. It's had a rough week. It's finals week for GK and he has been putting in long hours (and doing EXTREMELY well I don't mind bragging), and I have been under the weather (although I seem to be emerging).

Well, just as I got back to the house from my errands, GK called me. He had arrived at school only to realize that he had left the only bit of information and paperwork he needed to prepare for the final he has tonight... accounting. When I found it, I offered to bring it to him instead of making him lose two hours of studying to make the round trip.

So I headed out in my lime green parka, my two-toned polka-dotted rain boots (not blending in well in the sea of New Yorkers in their black). I took the study guide to GK and hung out with him a little while he studied. He explained to me the process of creating a "cashflow chart" and a bunch of other stuff about calculating year-end reports. I was impressed at how well he seemed to have the subject mastered, especially considering how much he hates math.

At one point we were having a hard time figuring out where his professor had produced some of the numbers in the example. That was when GK said, "Oh yeah, he ran into trouble at one point and then spent fifteen minutes trying to correct the problem. But I wasn't paying attention. I think I was drawing waves."

I almost fell off my chair laughing. "Drawing waves?" I asked. Sure enough, he flipped over a couple of pages in his notebook and there were some pictures of quite beautiful, detailed waves crashing. Needless to say, my sweet husband misses home. I love being reminded of how much he loves the ocean. I love his determination to surf even on days when all I can do is sit on the beach totally wrapped in blankets and drink cocoa. I love the way he knows by name every inlet and break along the California coastline (and is quickly learning the beaches here).

The temporary wave-drawing didn't seem to affect his overall understanding of the final and I think he'll do quite well.