Monday, December 30, 2013

The Secret Language Of Parents

Public Service Announcement

While cleaning out my 2013 Day Planner today I stumbled across this simple little note that I saved.


It was a note written by T with the expectation that I would 'Deal With It'.   Immediately, if not sooner, or yesterday.

Using the traditional "We are always on the same page" communmication skills that many married people posess, T knew that I'd know exactly what to do.

It just so happens that on this particular day I had let a friend of mine borrow my secret decoder ring so I had to actually verbally inquire on what exactly this note was intended to communicate.

You may be surprised to learn that this is actually a very simple request and I should have intuitively known what to do even without my decoder ring.

For the benefit of those people who are not yet married, or those who are married but have misplaced their decoder ring, I hereby present the proper interpretation of this message.  Maybe it will be of use to others in decoding similar messages they may be wresting with.

Part 1:  I needed to reschedule a braces appointment for Mikayla. 'Another Day' means there is only a 20% chance that the new day you select will work.



Part 2: I needed to reschedule Alexia's dental appointment in Bellingham to a school day that doesn't have a P.E. class.



Since P.E. classes are only every other day it should be so easy.  Unless there are holidays or half days or snow days or 1 or 2 hr delay days.

Based on a little equation I call "Infinite Improbability Formula" I eventually concluded there were less than 15 days which would possibly meet the criteria over the next three months.


Since this was the end of my stack of notes in my day planner I can only conclude that the rescheduled dates did indeed meet the minimum criteria for success.


Saturday, December 21, 2013

Winter Solstice Sledding 12-21-2013

Mikayla requested that we go sledding at Mount Baker over Christmas Vacation so with a flurry of fresh snow we opted to head up to Heather Meadows near the Mount Baker Ski area to be Powder Pigs for a day

Alexia opted out of sledding in favor of spending some time at Lang's Horse and Pony Farm with Josie.

On the way to Mt. Baker we stopped in Sedro-Woolley to pick up M's friend Allie

I wore snowshoes and the girls followed behind me with sleds in tow.

We made it all of a quarter mile from the parking lot when they were already tired of post-holing.

Lucky for us we happened to find a fresh steep slope just perfect for the occasion. I did my best to tromp down a trench for them to ascend the hill but they were on their own in creating a sledding route. All that fresh powder (and a lack of wax on the sleds) made for a bit of stop-and-go attempts, but it was clear they were having a fun time anyway. A few photos and a few videos were taken.


Sledding at Heather Meadows on Winter Solstice from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

While sledding was a lot of fun, I suspect that the lunch break may leave a longer lasting impression on them.

This was the first time the two had Robber Jays join them for lunch. Here is a short video and a couple of screen shots for you:

 

 
Robber Jays At Lunch from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

We lasted all of three hours before calling it quits with completely diluted gloves and boots.

Welcome to winter!

How many days until summer?

~E

Friday, December 20, 2013

NW Silver Stars - Holiday Invitational December 2013

Silver Stars from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Senior Level 4 Kentwood High School in Covington, WA