I have very fond memories of caroling as a child. We had these ancient hand typed cheat sheets that were packaged with our Christmas decorations. They would come out every year for general singing, but were also used as we walked around with our family and friends going door to door holding candles.

There is something magic about knocking on someone’s door, they answer not knowing who it is, and then the smile on their face as they hear the singing and call over others in the house to listen.

In college, our SCA group used to carol across the Cornell campus, singing several more period pieces (even in Latin and German)

Every year, I tell myself that I need to start doing it again. I’ve tried to push the Iron Bog caroling, but realized that I should be doing it with my family as well.

Well, this year it’s going to change. We’re going to go, and I would *love* to have your voices be heard alongside ours. Just a few hours out of your weekend to put smiles on your face and those of others.

That was part of an email I sent to friends a few weeks ago. Yesterday we were able to bring it all together. Now, my original vision of going door to door with candles was thrown for a loop with the bad weather yesterday. My rain date was also up against something else, and I *really* didn’t want to miss out on going, especially since I had several responses.

So we went with Plan B. That consisted of me tracking down a nursing home or assisted living location that would welcome us on short notice. Luckily, I found one not far from us in Deptford. I sent out an email early in the day to let folks know not to get nervous with the rain.

Overall, it went really well. We had 8 adults and 8 children, though only 2 of the kids actually joined in the singing.

Our music was holiday and seasonally inspired. Since almost half of the singers were Jewish, we want to make sure to not be overly Christian in our song choices, while at the same time including some Chanukah songs (which are really hard to find sheet music for, btw)

We wind up singing to a group of about 15-20 older women (and a few men), plus the staff. It was great to watch them sing along and smile in recognition as we worked through the songs.

It was actually more difficult to do it this way. Had we gone from house to house, we would have had breathers between songs. We could also have repeated the ones everyone knew really well, or tended to get the best reception. In this case, we just worked through the handout I’d given everyone. We sang for about 45 minutes.

Afterwards we returned to my house for cookies, hot cider, hot chocolate, and “Jewish death bread” (with clotted cream of course). Those celebrating Chanukah light their Menorah and exchanged gifts. The kids watched the classics of Rudolph and Frosty on DVD.

Thank you everyone who came and joined us. It was a wonderful evening, and hope the resident’s smiles stay with you throughout the season.

Here was our final set list of songs (* = actually sung):

The Twelve Days of Christmas *

Good King Wenceslas

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer *

Toyland

My Favorite Things *

Jingle Bells *

Let it Snow *

Over the River *

Jingle Bell Rock *

Carol of the Bells

The Holly and the Ivy

Deck the Halls *

Frosty The Snowman *

Winter Wonderland *
O Chanukah, O Chanukah *

Dreidel, Dreidel *

Oh Christmas Tree

Here we come a-caroling

We Wish You a Merry Christmas *

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) *

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

We Need a Little Christmas

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree *

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Up on the Housetop

The Night Before Christmas

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Sleigh Ride *

Mele Kalikimaka

Hey Ho Nobody Home (shortened verses)

Boar’s Head Carol

This Entry Has: (0) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

…everyone gives to their mistakes. –Oscar Wilde

So the Bachen Family went on an adventure tonight. Actually, several. I’ve been looking for an excuse to try out Chore Wars, and finally decided to do it tonight. Chore Wars is an online game which allows you to earn experience and treasure for your character by doing chores. Make work fun!As I explained to Jean, it’s like gold stars for gaming geeks.

It was a raging success! Both kids completed the adventure ‘Telling Mom and Dad about School” (15xp), and “Eating All my Lunch” (25xp). Alia’s lunch quest was uneventful, while Connor had to fight off a hungry dog. They each earned some gold coins and a golden tiger.

Alia ate all of her dinner, and completed the adventure ‘Eating All my Dinner – NonCombat”. (50xp) She earned some more gold coins and silver spoon. She traded in her silver spoon for dessert, and got some yummy vanilla pudding.

Connor didn’t want to eat his dinner tonight, but he kept wanting to go on another adventure.

We told him no. You only get to go on an adventure and fight the bad guys if you eat your dinner like Alia did. He pouted for about 10 minutes, and then decided he really wanted to try it again. So he ate his dinner! Then we went on his adventure and completed “Eating all my dinner – Combat” (50xp). This time the Monster Dog was no match for his swift sword. He vanquished the monster and found some gold coins and silver spoon – which he promptly turned in for some Jello.

It was getting late, and I wanted to take them upstairs for a bath. They wanted to watch the silly cat video again. Mom made them turn in their golden tigers that they had earned to stay up a little later and watch the video. They wanted to watch it a second time, but had no tigers left!

Oh, and everyone in the family completed the special adventure “Trying Something New with My Family”. We each earned 100 XP, and got a ruby! Who knows what you can turn THAT in for. Its so special you can only carry 1 at a time!

—-

I’m not sure how we’re going to create the rest of the quests. For now, to get them involved, I made sure they were able to complete 1 immediately (lunch, which I knew they ate), 1 that required little effort (tell me about school), and 1 which took effort (eating dinner).

I made sure that they earned a treasure for dinner, by setting it to 100%. We really want them to eat dinner, and it’s the biggest fight in terms of meals. Tentatively, 1 silver spoon = dessert. Maybe you can save up for 3 and get ice cream at the mall, or have mom make a cake! Who knows.

I created two quests for meals, with (100% chance) and without (0%) combat.. That way I can ask them ahead of time, do they want to fight or not.. it doesn’t really matter as you can’t die, but it lets them have a choice.

I’ll work on the other quests later.. “Being nice to your brother/sister” and “Picking up toys”.

Plus, I have to add the adult chores.. I think taking out the trash is worth at least 30XP!

For now, I was just happy to see that a little bribery for dinner worked. Let’s hope it sticks with him, and I can get them thinking about doing things to earn xp and treasure.. obviously I’ll have to tone down the treasure at that point, but I gotta hook them in first! Rules of being a DM – make the first fight easy.

This Entry Has: (0) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

Just a reminder to all Bobos, dues can be paid annually at any time. This really shouldn’t be a problem for you, even with the economic times as bad as they are. I am fully confident in our ability to be stupid, no matter how much money is involved.

In case you’re wondering, I renewed my membership today.

So I’m outside working in the garden and hear some buzzing above the table we have setup for the kids to eat snacks and also where I had their towels (they were playing in the pool).

I looked up and saw a huge wasp’s nest in the holly tree directly above the table. So first I move the table and then I worry about the kids playing out there, so I go into Dad protector mode. I don’t actually see any movement and it’s later in the day, so I decide I’ll just chop off the branch its on and get rid of the whole thing.

Mistake #1.

The tree limb cutter didn’t cut all the way through on the first try. So the branch kinda worbled and woke up the whole hive. Apparently it wasn’t as late in the day as it should be.

Mistake #2.

So the buggers chased me across the yard and stung me three times… I was yelling like a girl, as the situation warranted. As you  can see by my picture, the clippers are still hanging in the tree branch that they failed to cut.

When I got done whacking the ones on my shoulder and taking my shirt off, Alia asked me what happened. I said I was stung by a wasp. A: What’s a wasp? Me: It’s kinda like a bee.

A: Oh, a bumblebee. You must smell like a flower.

So I called Jean, told her the whole story. Told her to buy some wasp spray. When she got home, I looked at the stuff – “Hot Shot”, “With a 27 foot stream”.

Woo Baby!! I’m taking full advantage of THAT.

I unloaded 1/2 of the can on the damn thing, and then another 1/4 from the other direction (once things settled down).

Now I have to wait 24 hours to take it away, as the wasps who weren’t there will come back to the nest and get their comeuppance.

This Entry Has: (0) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

Last night I started choking on a piece of Kielbasa. My son sat on the floor next to me going “Dad, what are you doing?” as I proceeded to choke and see stars and fall to my knees.

Of course I did the exact *wrong* thing, and put my fingers into my throat and attempted to dislodge the damn thing. I was successful, but only because it was actually a double piece that was connected by a length of skin. So I managed wedge my fingers next to it, hook the skin and pull it back out.

Now I know I’m not supposed to do that, and I even once knew about how to perform a Heimlich on myself..

Problem is, when you’re choking, all that goes out the f’ing window.

The Heimlich maneuver is one of the few methods by which a potentially life-threatening choking incident may be resolved, and its method should be learned by anyone who is in a position to potentially offer help to minors, seniors, or other individuals at potential choking risk.

However, when one is alone, the chance of successfully performing the procedure is dramatically decreased, because to perform the Heimlich upon one’s self is generally awkward, especially when one may be suffering the preliminary or advanced effects of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.

One must, before conducting the procedure, be sure that it is absolutely necessary. While the signs of life-threatening choking may be somewhat ambiguous in others, one generally knows whether or not his or her airway is obstructed, but all the same some clarifications must be made.

Partial airway blockage is not cause for the Heimlich maneuver. If you can breathe at all, speak at all, or cough, you are not a candidate for the Heimlich maneuver. Coughing is a far more effective way of removing partial blockage of the trachea, and it will clear successfully virtually all such blockages. If one cannot cough because one cannot draw air, then the Heimlich maneuver may be necessary.

There are two ways to perform the Heimlich maneuver on one’s self. The first method is much like those conducted on others.

* Place your balled fists together, about two inches above the navel, but below the breastbone. Thrust forcefully upward and into your abdomen. Repeat until the blockage is cleared. This may be difficult, as the angle at which one must place one’s arms in order to achieve this compression can be hard to reach, especially with the force required to dislodge a tracheal blockage.

* If it is not cleared, one may alternatively lean over a chair or similar prop to attempt compression. Place yourself over a chest-high chair, and, if possible, force yourself upon it quickly and forcefully in an attempt to force out the blockage. This may, depending upon your strength and stature, be more or less effective than the traditional fisted method.

Many people find it difficult to perform the Heimlich maneuver upon ones self for much the same reason that it is difficult to slap, cut, or otherwise hurt one’s self–the natural instinct against the self-infliction of pain. However, one must do what is possible to ensure that the necessary force is used, because consciousness will quickly fail in conditions of hypoxia, as with tracheal blockage. To fall unconscious in a room alone with a blocked air passage is, needless to say, unlikely to be resolved with a positive outcome.

Proper instruction in CPR technique and official certification may allow you further practice with the Heimlich maneuver as it is practiced both upon one’s self and upon others. Seek out health and safety programs in your community for more information on certification and training courses designed to instruct the community in safety technique.

This Entry Has: (0) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

…who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius

Well today was the day. After being with my current company for 12 years, I’ve given my two weeks notice.

While woodwindy (woodwindy) was wondering if we were moving to her neck of the woods, we’re not. We’re staying where we are, *but* I will be working in Philadelphia, so I guess that’s technically close enough.

This is the best thing for my family right now. I’m moving to a much larger company, and with that comes stability. The economy has really hurt my current employer (a real estate developer), and we’ve seen several years of decreased cash flow. This has affected our annual reviews, our year end bonuses, and our profit sharing. We’ve also had a round of layoffs starting last year (which incidentally coincides to exactly when I started getting serious about looking for another job, and then another just two weeks ago.

So while their future doesn’t look so bright right now, I think the future for me is much better. I’ll be receiving an increased salary and be part of an executive team for the first time. Sure, I may wind up working harder, but there will be benefits from that hard work. This change once again opens the possibility of a larger family, or a larger house – just two of the things I thought I had put behind me forever in the current economy.

Who knows where the future will take us, but today is about change. Certainly not on the same level as the Presidential change and the change in our country, but to me, change that is much more important.

Current Mood:  ecstatic

This Entry Has: (1) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

My wedding ring is once again upon my finger. No more phantom limb syndrome. We picked up the rings last night, and Jean is wearing hers again after 3 years.

We had a nice dinner at Don Pablos to celebrate a big change in our lives – forthcoming. I’ll fill you in when the details are all flushed out.

By the time you read this, have you voted yet?

This Entry Has: (1) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

I got married 7 years ago. On that day, I put my wedding ring on. I haven’t taken it off, with very few exceptions (notably dropping a dresser on my hand while moving – and having the ring stop the dresser from breaking my finger against the stairs ~~ very The Abyss). Now, I’ve been without it for 3 days and I keep thumbing the empty spot and wondering what’s missing.

My ring is very similar to the picture, with black enamel between all the knots. Consequently, the enameling between the knots is kind of worn, and actually has come off in a few places.

Jean’s ring has always been a tight fit. When the kids were born, she stopped being able to wear it at all. So she’s been ‘naked’ for over 3 years.

This weekend, we went to a FSMom hayride in DE, and decided to head down early and stop in at Robbin’s Delaware Diamonds, where we got the rings, and have both of those things taken of.

We had to get hers resized from 6 to 6.5. The stretching wouldn’t have been too big a deal, except that it also breaks the enamel. So they took both of our rings and sent them off for an estimate. 1 resizing, and 2 reenameling. Could take a few weeks, but we think that the total cost may be less than $75 – money well spent.

Jean is looking forward to being able to wear her ring again more than I am to make mine look nice, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do both.

I’m thinking about hitting some singles bars this week to try out my new found freedom…

This Entry Has: (4) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]

The kids are just a pile of talkative recently. Connor has alot to say, although we still have trouble understanding him. I would say we’re about to about 80% understanding of what he is saying. Now whether others understand that much is yet to be seen (heard). Maybe Jean’s comprehension is a little higher because she works with him everyday, but it’s still not where I think it should be. Alia enjoys singing and knows the words to dozens of songs. They are both into imaginative play and direct each other to play parts, such as the princess, or the rescuer, or the bad guy.

What’s great is that they are moving in the combination of thoughts and phrases that are culled from previous conversations and are putting it all together.

Yesterday, they came to visit me at work as part of our recent car fiasco.

When they came in the front door:

Me: Connor, say hi to Marie.

Connor: Hi Marie. This is my sister Alia.

When they came back to my office:

Me: This is where I go everyday when I leave you guys and go to work.

Connor: This is a nice place.

When I showed him the pictures of themselves on my ‘keep my happy’ wall:

Me: Connor, who’s in the pictures?

Connor: That’s us.   <- Note the use of the of the plural pronoun. Usually he identifies himself and Alia separately, so it’s nice to see the combo.

This Entry Has: (0) Comments ~ (0) Trackbacks ~ [Leave a Comment]