Peaceful day with Diane’s faily.. we all slept in.. then Diane and I went for a run on the flood wall..Mid day we drove to Binghampton and picked up Max at the bus station.    We all went home and had an early xmas dinner. We toasted each other.. and those not with us.. Vincent was still in Boston waiting on his last final.. and of course we were missing Sam.. It was good all being together

Vincent’s birthday is on Monday so we had a small celebration for him..

After a few minutes of digestion.. we dug into presents.. it felt like Christmas !

Max, Gabe and cousin Victor looking sharp in their new bathrobes.

Sam was there in spirit.. and in our hearts.

He even got presents.. . one was a a donation to sam’s charitable foundation.. the other was a Hess truck.. all three boys have gotten them since they were little. it’s hard not to do that.

Afterwords, we got our nephew Vincent at Boston University on Skype.. we even got to see his dorm room and meet his girlfriend

Around 7 we headed over to David and Lindas for dinner number 2. It was great to see them and Andrea !

We exchanged presents.. I got a cool pipe.. (never used..).. and wonderfully weird.

It was grat seeing our oldest friends..

OK.. driving home early tomorrow.. so I need to sleep. More tomorrow !

nite all, nite sam

-me

Hello from Endicott NY.. Diane, Gabe and I just drove down to visit my inlaws. Max is coming in tomorrow.    It’s warm and welcoming here.. There’s always a new shock when we get here.. and I feel Sam not being with us.

I had another busy. busy day. The highpoint was a Jolts and Volts show at Underhill Central School. No matter how many big talks or TV  things I do.. nothing feels as good as volunteering in a classroom.

The kids at this school have seen me do this every year.. but somehow they still like seeing the same old show..

Here’s the response to my question “who’s a nerd”  ? nice !

Here’s a sampling of van de graaf results

At the end of the show the kids all jumped up and tried to hug me.. to my great surprise and (I think) the teachers horror. It was great !

On the nerd theme.. we all listened to a whole season a a show called ‘Big Bang tehory’ in the car on the way down. I can’t tell you how many folks have asked me if I loved this show.. Well.. I gotta tell you .. I don’t love it.. i don’t even like it. The science they superficially work in is all (surprisingly) accurate. unfortunately, the characters social cluelessness just propogates a really innaccurate and dated sterotype..   And the laugh track makes it that much worse.

The fact that so many folks think I’d like the show makes me realize whow nerdy I must seem to people..

I’m not that kind of nerd..

ok.. more from endicott tomorrow..

nite all, nite sam

-me

I got home at 7 after a very long and busy day. I’m still feeling energized my new job.. That said. the pace of my job is more frenetic than I ever remember.. and.. that’s really saying something.

I got home before Diane and Gabe.. they were still at the store so I started dinner. Like everything, that involves strange  choices . .. I had my heart set on pasta.. I went digging for a pot to boil the water. I picked up our big pasta pot.. it holds a lot of water.. and it’s only the three of us.. .. I put it down and picked up a smaller. pot.. You don’t need that much water for only three people.. The smaller pot felt small and sad in my hands..    not big enough for a family ..  Holding it made me feel small and saddish. . ..I had to push that back. I tossed the smaller pot back in the cabinet and pulled out the bigger pot, filled it with water and put it on to boil..

sometimes you have to move forward in small steps.

nite all, nite sam.

-me

Drove back to Vt today after a good series of meeting sin NY. I have coem to love the solitarytime in the car driving the 6 hours each way.. Today I listend to the radio.. Here’s what I heard..

• NPR for news from a perspective that resonated with me
• BBC for news from a perspective I can’t understand
• country western music.. tear jerk love songs songs that reminded  me to call diane and tell her that I love her
• classical music.. .. today it was late beethoven string concerti.. .. lots of cello.. I love driving to cello music
• spanish radio stations.. to keep my spanish up.. and I love the chatter
• college stations.. mostly reggae and headbanging music.. today.. avenged 7 fold ((I thin).. sam loved them..
• christian radio.. yes. believe it or not.. I listen to this stuff regularly because I love hearing a world view so foreign to my own.   THeir news is a so very different take on thworld events.. I just can’t understand it.. which is wonderful.  I listen to a show called ”open forum’ by a guy named Harold Camping. He is so very passionate.. so leanred.. and believes stuff I can’t believe he believes..all the way down and back he was telling me that the end of the world is going to e may 21 2011..
• Jazz.. no.. still can’t really listen to jazz…

Thanks goodness for radio

nite all.. nite sam

-me