2008 was the Best Year Ever

Got to spend the day with Cassidy at Kindergarten as part of her “Star of the week”.  It was the best ever.  We did crafts and words and the 5 senses and show-and-tell and all sorts of stuff.  

One thing I learned: the kids are 100 times smarter than I expected.  They are doing stuff I didn’t do until grade 3 I’m sure.  They actually understand how molecules line up in iron to create magnetism!  Crazy.  But they’re still kids, and we had a blast goofing off.  I can relate to kindergarten age. 

 At lunch we had Macaroni & Cheese and I pretended my noodles were sailors and piled them on my bun, which was a ship, and then I was a giant shark and I bit half off and ate it real noisy and messy like a shark, and then the rest of the sailors were diving off and screaming.  The kids at my table really dug that, and pretty soon lunch was getting outta control so we had to settle down.  Then I did some magic tricks and that got a good laugh. 

Recess was super-fun, we played hide-and-seek, dug for dinosaurs, fought with the “big kids” for the playground. 

Recess at a K to 9 school is like a history-of-Europe-from-1910-to-1946 condensed into 15 minutes!  From the moment they get out the door, there are little alliances, skirmishes, wars, truces, new alliances, spying, land claims, betrayals, and deals going on everywhere. 

Just one little episode I witnessed (before I had to help a kid who peed her pants): First the grade 2’s and 1’s took control of the tower and slides.  Then the kindergarten boys, plus Cassidy, stomped up there to demand access. Then the 2’s got greedy and kicked out the 1’s too, who shifted allegiance to the K’s.  That worked for a while until the K’s noticed somebody digging in “their” dinosaur pit, and the battle shifted to the eastern front. 

I was gassing out, and they took it so seriously.  I won’t forget little Ethan trying to explain to me:

“You don’t get it!  They TOOK the top slide.  It’s THIERS.  We can’t get it back” He explained. 

“Why not?”  I asked.  Then Cassidy and another kid piped in:  “Because!  Just because! They took it, it’s THIERS now. That’s it.  Nothing we can do.” 

Then the K-boys stormed the slide from the bottom and the war was on…

We’re making a movie. 

It started pretty innocently, but like everything in our house, it went out of control pretty quick.

Just after supper the girls said that they wanted to make a play, and mom and I would be the audience.  Then they said “let’s film it.”  I told that if you film a play, it’s a movie.  Well, that set it off the rails. They lost their minds. “A movie!  Yaa!! Let’s make a movie!!”

For the rest of the night, they jumped and ran and acted and screamed and argued around the living room while I wrote it all down.  It’s all their ideas, 100%.  I just asked stuff like; “What kind of story? (Pirate/Princess/super-hero/scary/sports?) Who is in it? Why are they good/bad? Do they have any special skills or powers? Where did they get their super-power?  Why do they do that? Who will play them?”  They just kept going on and on.  I can’t wait to start. We’ve got it all mapped out, we just need to do the dialogue and make the costumes and set.  Even if it take forever, I think the process will be the fun part.  They get to paint the background and sets, make the costumes etc.  They’re excited about that.

Here’s the story so far:

A good wizard is dying, and he knows that an evil mad scientist is going to try something.  In his dying moments, the good wizard transfers all his powers to a group of kids who are having a dance party.  They don’t realize it so they discover their new powers by accident, and each only gets one or two of the powers, each something different, stuff like; the power to turn invisible, turn into various animals, become Bruce Lee (seriously – my daughter loves his movies), shoot lasers, etc. When the evil scientist poisons all the food in the world, the kids decide they are going to find a way to save everyone.  They go on a quest to find the evil scientist and along the way they have all kinds of adventures and meet; a dragon, a robot, two aliens, a pirate, a witch, and a few others…I couldn’t write fast enough, they had so many ideas.

This is gonna be the funnest project ever…woohooo!!! 

Overheard during a training ride involving sprints from a pack with the juniors this week (I think it was Le Arsonist David):

“Aw man this is the sketchiest pack I’ve ever ridden in; a bunch of Juniors, a chick, and two dads on ‘cross bikes”

I just happened to talk to a guy here at work  that has been arrow hunting and guiding for decades, and he happens to have a pyro/explosives fanatic brother, so anyway if we can find the location, and get the permits and stuff, he will hook up the bow and arrows – he said he’s got tons of old ones we can toast.  Also, he said he’ll mention it to his brother, who spent his youth making his own bombs, blowing up neighbors’ garbage cans and mailboxes, and he can rig something up to explode when the arrow hits. 

How diggable will the kids find that!!!!

Oh man oh man oh man I can’t wait I can’t wait I can’t wait I can’t wait  

Flaming arrows original idea: http://timbrewster.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/before-you-die/ 

Holy bonus day!!!  My cruiser bike parts arrived by UPS last week!   I’m building a couple of cruiser bikes, mostly out of bits and pieces from the garage, but some small stuff I had to order like single speed freewheels and big wide handlebars.  (Plus I got Cin a really long low stretch frame for like 50 bucks) The rest I got at the recycle depot or I found (like the Banana seat I found at a yard sale!!!)  In the end it might cost me maybe $100 per bike, for Cin and I to have comfy cruisers to pull the kids around Devon, go shopping (we always walk or ride, one less car.)  Then I just have to weld a tow bar to pull the kids around in the custom wagon I made out of one chair and two BMX bikes.  We gonna be like Ramone and Flo, cruizin’ low and slow baby, low and slow.

I just got this email from my buddy Lindsay:

“Timbo . . . I heard this one at our retreat this week and I thought of you immediately…We were talking about things we gotta do before we die, and a friend of mine said that his 5-year-old son already was working on a list of things he has to do in his lifetime…

Top of the 5-year-old’s list:  “I want to shoot a burning arrow into something and burn it down.”

Who doesn’t dream of being able to shoot a burning arrow! 

So my buddy is trying to arrange a burning-arrow-shooting day on a local farm . . . they are all going to shoot burning arrows into an old farm building and burn the thing to the ground…and then clean it all up…

Aaahhh the imagination of a 5-year-old eh?” 

This is hilarious!  I want to shoot a burning arrow!  I never would’ve thought of asking someone that young but now I can’t wait to ask my kids what would be on their list.

I’m sure everyone has heard of it, but in case you haven’t:  Back in 1993 the Chicken Soup For The Soul series had a story about a guy that had a list of life goals (http://www.johngoddard.info/life_list.htm) and I remember thinking it was the coolest idea ever, so I started one immediately.   It’s not a career type thing, it’s more a really LIVE LIFE kind of list, so it doesn’t have “Become Senior Regional Manager” on it, but rather stuff like “light a match with a rifle at 100 paces” kind of stuff.   My (and now “our”) list has everything from “hike to Mt. Everest” to “Learn to do that spin-the-pen-around-the-thumb-thing”.   

It really does work: Sure, I still haven’t done 80% of it, but we’ve also done a lot more than we would’ve otherwise, simply because stuff was on the list, and so sometimes we just go do it.  We did go to everest, skydive, bungy-jump, stand on the Eiffel Tower, read some Tolstoy and Machiavelli, and a few others, simply because the list inspired us. 

Try it; make a list of things you’d like to do, (they don’t have to be big important things, just anything that would make you happy) Then, constantly look at the list and make an honest effort to tick things off.  It doesn’t have to be a individual thing either, I do all mine with the family now – makes it even more fun.  What ends up happening is that, in the process you have a ton of fun and adventures, even if you don’t ever tick much off the list.  It’s the reminder process that creates action, and it forces you to stop and dream a bit, like “what would I do if I wasn’t so chicken.” 

I started my list like about 12 years ago, and I’ve maybe ticked a only fraction, but the fun it has instigated was way worth it.

I’m definitely going to add “shoot a burning arrow into something and burn it down”, and hopefully soon I’ll get to mark it done.

I’m going to get my bike this weekend!  Wooohooo!  (My motorbike)  I started building an old-school bobber years ago, and has been sitting, half-done, in a shed at the farm, collecting rust, bird-crap and dust for years. 

This Christmas, Cin bought me a little welder, and I finally found a fuel tank for it at the wreckers, so I can drag it home and finally finish it, instead of leaving it 4 hours away at the farm. It’s a pretty cool project I think.  I got an old bike off a friend, and stripped it and cut it up with a torch, and then basically started welding together what I wanted.

It’s 15 inches longer and about 18 inches lower than original.  I cut the whole back end away and made it a hard-tail rear triangle.  Getting it all straight was the real battle…I don’t honestly know if it will track straight or not…I can’t wait to find out.  We’ll see how that goes…I’m not a rider, don’t even know how, and I’m not a wannabe, I just really dig building stuff, especially mechanical stuff, and I never did a bike before so what the hell.

I just have to put the wiring in (there’s nothing there, gonna have to do it trial and error); make a seat (one with springs!); build and mount all the foot and hand controls (haven’t decided on a suicide shifter or not – I reckon they call it that for a reason);rebuild the motor; then, finally, paint!  I think I’m going WWII bomber-style paint, with the 40’s Memphis Belle type chick on the side.

The girls are gonna help me – they love to build stuff, so now that it will be at home it can be a family project.  Giddyup!

I went for a dinner and came back with a more open mind.  Who’d a thunk it?

The other day we got invited over to have dinner at the neighbors’ across the street.  My daughters play with their son (Surya), and they are always going there, or he is coming here.   They are an Indian (as in Delhi) family, and very traditional in many ways, including their food.  Sometimes we send baking or treats home with Surya, sometimes they send Indian food our way.  They’re always pleasant to talk to, but we really didn’t know much about them, since Surya was our only real source of information, and the kid has incredible imagination, which is hugely entertaining, but not always reliable.    

I admit, I had preconceptions about them:

Surya is always talking about Indian gods, (they’re like super-heroes to him, I guess they have weapons) and I wondered what they thought or said about our beliefs.

Surya’s parents were an arranged marriage, and we privately wondered how in the world could someone do that!!?

Anyway we went for dinner, and the food was incredible.  They described each dish and how it was made.  I was blown away by how good it all was.  Mostly though, I was surprised by how open-minded they were, how aware they were that some of their customs would be perceived oddly here.

The topic came up about their wedding, (the day they met!) and they were able to explain it in a way I hadn’t really considered: They explained how parents go to great lengths, arguably greater lengths than prospective couples, when picking a mate; how if parents truly know their kids and have the kids’ interests at heart, they can make excellent choices; how parents will likely ask important questions, about love, compatibility, and commitment, and aren’t swayed by the bling like kids can be.  (How many of us have been attracted to someone based on how they dress, only to find out later it don’t matter?) 

Seeing that we were genuinely interested in the topic, they brought out their wedding album and explained all the ceremony and rituals.  It was super interesting, and very clear that it was right for them, a very proud and happy moment in their lives.

Now, I still don’t think that arranged marriages are my bag, but the visit really opened my eyes to how something that originally seemed so preposterous might make a little sense when someone gets a chance to explain their view.

In the end, a glimpse into a completely different culture and an opportunity to learn about something I never understood before, was always right across the street.

My 5-year-old daughter Cassidy says she wants to get a job. 

Yep.  She announced that yesterday when they were in the tub. 

She says “Dad, I need to have a job, I need to get paid some dollars like you do.” 

I say “oh, ok…”

She says: “ Yup, see, I want the Gymmnasti-brat doll but you guys said no more dolls, that you won’t buy any more but I really want it.  So I want to do a work thing where I do work and somebody gives me money and I will buy the doll myself because it will be my money and I can do whatever I want with it.  So you have to think of some jobs or something  that I can do for you and you can pay me.  Is that a good deal?”

I honestly have no idea what to do about this one.

In an an earlier post, or maybe the “about Timbo” section, I made the comment that “it’s all in how you choose to see it” or something like that.   I was thinking that that’s kind of an easy thing to say, without any actual proof or suggestion of how to do it.  That’s like telling a bike racer”just ride faster!”  They’re gonna go “ok, how, exactly???”  

So I was thinking, how does that work really?  When one chooses to see something the positive way, what are the actual mechanics of that?  How would one, especially one who is used to seeing the glass empty, switch to half full?

Well, I’m not a psychologist or anything, so I could be way off, but I’ll tell you what I’m gonna try.

In the old days, we used to do alot of imagery and visualizatiuon to tune out the hullabalu of race day, or to learn a track in the head when track time was limited (it was often pretty limited for me, because you buy track time, and I didn’t have any money!)  Anyway, it’s not any easy thing to coach yer brain.  Here: don’t think of an elephant with red spots.  What did you just think of?  Hahahha.   So you gotta start small.  We used to start by just doing imagery about a static situation.  Something where you create a favourable scenario in your head: In your mind, make everything perfect:  you’re wearing your favorite outfit, your at your fittest, you’re somewhere you love to go.  Then from there you just build on getting good at creating that positive feeling from scratch.

The other way was to pick someone you want to be like, and literally, imagine you are them.  If they are world champion, then you act and feel like you would if you were world champion.  Then you react to situations the way they would. 

So, I’m gonna issue a challenge to the incredibly small number of people that read this:  try to change your attitude into a full “glass-is-half-full” one by starting at the small stuff. 

Here’s the challenge:  Every time you have a negative experience (spill a drink, drop a plate, get flat tire, miss an important call) stop, take a Breath and try to think of a positive, an “upside” to what just happened.  It’s not easy, but I bet it will get easier, then become habit, and eventually you’ll do it subconciously. 

I’m going to start right now:  my head and throat are pounding, I feel completely weak from this flu/cold.  So I’m going to miss spin.  Well, the upside is that my kids think I’m going to be gone all night, so they are going to be soooo surprised to see me, and we can lay on the couch with a blanket and just watch the hockey game, guilt free.

If anyone else does actually try it, let me know how it works out.