I’ve been reading the Silverlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. I’m on his latest, Wind & Truth. While working on our garden this evening while the boys were with Amie doing “quiet time” before bed, I finally put language to one of my favorite parts of Sanderson’s writing. His characters experience immense external stress and even greater internal anguish from their various mental ailments (acute depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple-personality disorder, and Asperger’s to name a few), but following their lives over the course of multiple books gives the reader a chance to observe them mature through their struggles. This, in turn, invites personal reflection on the ways that I’ve matured through the course of my life also which offers hope for future growth.
2025/04 Ship's Log
My mom (or Memaw to the boys) stayed with us over Spring Break!
Between my work schedule and Amie’s, my mom spent most of the first three days just with Graham and Royal. It’s hard even to remember in the whirlwind, although there was lots of laughter on the other side of my office door.
Thursday we set out for the Badlands. Although it was chilly (and later snowed), we were glad that we went. We stopped at the historic Wall Drug on the way home to pick up some souvenirs.
My mom’s United flight was cancelled on Friday so she was able to stay through Saturday morning. It turned out great since we hadn’t had a chance to go fishing yet! Although we didn’t catch anything (hard to do at 11:00 in the afternoon) I was happy we didn’t miss that opportunity.
Royal didn’t want to leave my office, so he kept his fingers inside in protest 🙄
My mom’s visiting over the boy’s Sprung Break. She flew in Monday morning and returns to Kansas Friday afternoon.
The first half of the visit is a whirlwind. I have the last two days off of work, but these first three are full days. Amie will be working Thursday, so that’s the first time that I’ll be 100% around. We’re considering a trip to the Bad Lands.
Amie’s going on a Caribbean cruise!
We were hoping to set up a girl’s trip with Laura Doo this summer. They tossed ideas back-and-forth for a few weeks, narrowing down their requirements, until it became clear that three points were crucial: 1) it must be cost-effective, and 2) it must be all-inclusive, 3) it must be less than a week. Turns out there’s not much that fits all three categories.
I’ve done something terrible today. Tragic. I accidentally deleted Graham’s most populated Minecraft world 😬. He’s probably going to kill me. So long real world…
I’ve been reading Jerome Berryman’s “Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education.” It was lent to me by Natalie as a resource for figuring out how to teach our boys about the Bible. I’m going to need to transfer my notes to a plant page at some point; there’s so much here to think about. My two favorite parts about this recommendation is that it grows from a Montessori teaching model (which fits Graham’s educational journey) and it thinks deeply about early childhood formation.
I’ve been impressed by this description of the Creative Process. Though I can’t figure out quite where Mr. Berryman’s got it from, it matches with the implicit process of a well-facilitated DBS group.
- Opening to wonder. Can be hard (tragedy) or soft (curiosity).
- Scanning. The dissonance between current frame of meaning and a discovery while wondering. Pre-language.
- Insight. Put the feelings and mental shift into words and images.
- Articulation. Communicate the insight to others for validation and feedback.
- Closure.
Our ceiling anchor continues to pay off - look at those acrobatics!
Amie and I had an amazing lunch at Mexico Tipico for my birthday, then a special dinner at my favorite restaurant, Skogen Kitchen, for dinner. The rest of the time I was eating apple pie - a lovely foodie birthday. I also ordered Amie and I tickets to a Regina Spektor concert in August!
Turns out all that digging as a child has paid off in adulthood. I didn’t expect the hole to need to be so deep to get this silly bush out, but it’s funny to watch the boys disappear into the earth.
