Super Bowl – Super Embarassment?!

Well, it’s the first week in February and the BIG GAME has already happened for 2014 – the Superbowl.  And I would love to say that the bowl game this year was a HUGE deal and it was awesome and it was exciting.  But it wasn’t.  And it’s not like it was kind of exciting, it wasn’t exciting from the minute the first ball was snapped.  Right over Payton Manning’s head!  I could not believe how poorly the Denver Broncos played at the Super Bowl this year!  They should be ashamed of themselves.  I’m a huge football fan and I have to say that the commercials were more interesting than the actual game itself.  It’s really sad when that happens.

I know some people are mad at me about my “snap” judgement about the Coca-Cola commercial, but I will say that it was to the credit of some of my friends that lead me to look at the commercial again and the point made about how it is celebrating different cultures and not trying to put down American culture is a valid one.  On the other hand, we all need to stop acting like Americans are displaced Europeans.  Yes, we were many many years ago.  But, at some point in time, Americans have to actually become Americans.  If we are going to make the argument that only “native” Americans (or Indians) are true Americans, then we should all be making the argument that we’re either from Africa or the Middle East.  Because that’s the truth, ain’t it?

Anyway, let’s talk about the life in the Crissman family for a little bit.  Ruth had an amazing Area All State Concert at Ithica last weekend and I have to say that this particular conductor was one of the most impressive conductors she’s had yet.  He got them to sing with spectacular dynamics and he got them to do all sorts of different songs from different genres and even in multiple languages.  He even added to the repertoire on Friday night when he saw how talented the group was.  It was an amazing group and an amazing performance.  Go Ruth!  The rest of the week was a pretty typical week.  Lots of work, Drama rehearsals, school, Heather working, Ruth working and it being just DOWNRIGHT COLD!  You know it’s cold when you go outside and your nose hairs want to go back inside.  But we have been surviving and we are taking things one day at a time.

2014 – A Whole NEW Year!

Well, I can honestly say that I am impressed with where I’ve come this far.  I am also surprised at where I am while I write this blog.  This post will be a long time coming I’m sure by the time it goes live, but I have to say that to get where I’ve gotten, I have had quite the journey.  I’m not currently (at the time of this post) in Binghamton, NY.  Instead I took a trip out of town and I’m proud to say that I wrote this post while in my hotel room in Lowell, Massachusetts.  I am here for a seminar on something called Performamatics.  I’m writing this blog a day early because I actually have time to write for the first time in a while and it may be the first time for a while as well.  My wife is getting busier and busier and I am getting surprised at how quickly time is flying by my head and how powerless I feel to keep up with how life is moving.  But, it’s moving in positive directions for me, so I can’t complain.

So, let me explain what Performamatics is.  It’s the concept of mixing music performance and music knowledge with computer design and computer programming.  I know, I know.  Those that know me know that this is RIGHT up my alley and trust me when I say that this workshop has been AWESOME!  It has made me thrive as a person and as an educator and I have learned about a whole bunch of programs and products that will help me and my students to excel in my classroom.  The first thing I learned about was a program called Scratch.  Not only is it a fun computer animation program that shows you the basics of computer programming in a fundamental way.  But, it also has a major program for music composition and musical exploration.  I was so excited to find out about the program and all I can say is, “where has this been my entire teaching career”?!!  Anyway, we got to work with the program and see how it functionally fits in with musical concepts.  We also explored making sounds with everyday objects.  As if that wasn’t enough, we learned about something called a Makey Makey.  Not only did we get to learn about it, but we got to play around with one, which was really cool!  Great workshop, great ideas and it has caused me to look at groups like SMASH in a different way.  I can’t wait to get back and show my students all this stuff.

Okay, so outside of this workshop, things at home are busy but going okay.  My daughter has found out that she’s not the lead in the musical this year and was a little upset about it.  I feel bad for her.  She always comes close to being the person on top and then falls just short of being the person picked for the gig.  I pray that all God is trying to do right now is prepare her for failure now so that she can handle it later and will move closer and closer to success.  The kids are excited because their BYSO concert is this weekend and Ruth has an appointment to meet with a serious private lesson teacher who works at Binghamton University and could be a MAJOR step in the right direction for her moving toward becoming a clarinet player, and a teacher.  I hope that does work out well for her.  Austin is excited to be in the BYSO concert and is happy that things seem to be going okay for him in school.  Tara is excited because she seems to be doing well grade-wise in school and she seems to be doing well as she moves closer and closer to High School.  I am proud of her because she has come to the conclusion that she wants to be a cook in the food industry and either wants to be a Sous chef or own her own restaurant.  That is a lofty goal and I’m proud of her for setting it at such a young age.

Heather is really doing well at her job.  She seems to be moving up in the list of drivers that are on the “list” for being on call and I think she is doing well.  Her schedule is starting to be locked down more and more and we know what to expect from week to week instead of day to day which makes scheduling things easier and easier.  So, that’s it for my family.  How is yours?  How are things going with my readers and my listeners?  Just a reminder, we will be reading the book “Star Wars:  Darth Plagueis” by James Luceno.  I will be reviewing the book NEXT WEEK!  So excited to be reading faster!

GalaxyCast #106

Well, this was one of the busiest weeks I have had in a long time.  But at the same time it has been one of the most fulfilling weeks I’ve ever had as well.  There was a bit of drama, but I don’t even want to talk about it because I’m keeping my life drama free as much as I can.  Well, let me go over my weekend and week with you.

Last weekend, I was glad we did not go to Syracuse on Saturday.  We had quite a bit of snow right here in Binghamton, so I can only imagine how much snow fell in Syracuse.  Sometimes it’s more important to be safe than it is to get to a movie theater for a movie.  So, Saturday the family and I tried to just hang out and hunker down.  We worried about Heather because she was out driving in this crazy snow.  We had to work on the driveway and sidewalk three times throughout the afternoon and evening.  Then I had a problem with the snowblower that evening.  I got the cord stuck in it and had to cut the cord.  Then I had to take it apart to get the cord out.  It was just a bad night.  Sunday went better and I even had a chance to watch the St. Louis Rams play during their game today.  I don’t often get a chance to watch them play live.  Not only that, but the kids ran the church service today and after church we had a brunch with the whole church family.

Monday was another busy day.  I went to work and came home and made dinner quick and then we all headed over to the High School Concert for Ruth and Austin.  The Concert Band, Jazz Choir, and Chorus all sounded amazing and I have to say that I was very impressed with their abilities.  I even taped the performance for Heather because she didn’t get a chance to be there herself because of her job.  Tuesday was the only day that was relatively stress free this week.  I didn’t have much to do after work, but I worked hard on Tuesday to get things done to work ahead for the rest of the week.  On Wednesday I had my work day, then after work we had a faculty meeting and then I went straight to SMASH rehearsal.  I came home exhausted, but Heather was there to cook dinner for the family (luckily).  On Thursday, we had our work day and our afternoon concert where the students performed wonderfully.  After that, I made some quick changes to the lights for the performance and then came home.  I rested for a bit, made dinner and went back to the school with Austin and Tara.  After the concert, we packed up and went home and I crashed!  Which brings me to today.  I had a normal day with my classes and my secret Santa revealed herself to me today.  I got a really cool Star Wars water bottle in the reveal and she gave Heather and I tickets to a BPO Concert later this year.  It will make a GREAT date night, which we haven’t had in quite some time.  After work, I came straight home and the kids and I finished wrapping gifts and got the house ready for the Christmas vacation.  It’s going to be a great Christmas this year!

Okay, no reading tonight.  Instead, it’s time to listen to Episode #106 of the GalaxyCast Podcast.  Head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check it out.  Again, I have to thank Gary Boughton and Ian Palmer for being my co-hosts and to Mike Wilkerson and the Two Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their effort  and support over the years.  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 51

Another crazy busy week, but things are starting to look up.  Especially considering that I moved back into my classroom as of today and I got almost all of my shopping done for Christmas for my wife today as well.  As if things weren’t good enough yet, the kids got a chance to watch the “Indiana Jones” series with me today.  Apparently they haven’t watched the whole series yet.  I don’t know how they could live in my house without having watched those movies!  Anyway, lots happened this week, so let me take it one day at a time yet again.

On Saturday, Heather had to work in the morning and later found out she had to work that night as well, right up until the time it was time for the orchestra to go on.  Luckily, she made it over to East Middle School in time to watch the BCO Orchestra and she event made it there in time to hear my off stage solo.  We got the auditorium back together for my classes this past week.  Even though I only had a few more days in the auditorium, I couldn’t afford to not teach during that time frame.  I had to make sure that I could get my classroom back together on the stage.  We did that in record time and then headed to the cafeteria and had a great time at our social.  On Sunday, the kids had orchestra and I continued to watch some TV and try to catch up on last weekend’s TV watching by watching things like “Undercover Boss” , “Grimm”, and “Dracula” and started to get caught up on my favorite shows.  I even watched the St. Louis Rams game live today.  That doesn’t happen very often.  Monday was a typical work day.  I had work and it was a half day and on the second half of the day, I headed over to West Middle School and worked on our curriculum and pre and post tests for school.  On Tuesday I went to work and was able to come home and relax on Tuesday night.  I worked on getting together some podcasts and then started to work on projects in the shop.  In particular, I worked on Gonk.  I am hoping to have him done by the end of this long weekend.  That’s the hope anyway.

Wednesday was a day that I had off from school.  I got a lot done on Wednesday.  Gonk started to get a full on paint job and I started to work on some Mando weapons that Gary wanted me to make for his Mandalorian costume.  He had a great concept for some prop guns and I think they are going to look spectacular when they are done.  Heather went out to work and on her way home, she picked up some groceries for Thursday’s Thanksgiving dinner.  Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was a day to try and relax and get things done at home.  I continued to work on Gonk while I watched the football games.  One of the games was a blow out, the other game was an actual game with some cliffhangers and all.  Then that night we kept up the Crissman family tradition and sat down as a family and watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”.  But we all went to bed early on Thursday because we knew today would be a rough day.

Then there was Friday.  Today was crazy busy, but all in good ways!  We got up at six o’clock this morning.  And while everyone else was fighting the crowds to get the best Christmas gifts for their loved ones, my loved ones were helping me move back into my classroom so I can start class with a smooth transition on Monday.  Not only were we able to set up my room and a majority of my posters and put things back together.  I was very happy and it we got it all done in about four hours, which has got to be some kind of record!  Meanwhile, Heather had work for a majority of the day.  So, the youngest two kids decided to go Christmas shopping with me.  We dropped Ruth off to work and then headed out into the shopping world.

It was crazy shopping out there on Black Friday.  But, we got some good deals and I think my wife is going to be extremely happy with all the gifts we found for her.  Both big and small.  I will say that for the first time since we have been shopping, we were able to stay local and find all of the items we were looking for, which is a small miracle.  We usually end up going to Syracuse or Scranton.  But we didn’t have to today.  We got all that done plus some extra shopping for my wife.  We came home and Heather had ordered pizza from Bella’s Pizza.  We finished eating pizza and then went downstairs and watched “Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark” while we wrapped Christmas gifts.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 51 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

GalaxyCast #105

Well, another crazy week has gone by and another one is right around the corner.  I keep telling myself that if I just get through this week, the next week will be that much easier.  Yet somehow that never works out.  LOL!  But I’m still taking it one day at a time and I think it is working for me and I’m starting to calm down at least a little bit.  I have been displaced from my classroom at work and the good news is that I now know that I will be back in my classroom just after Thanksgiving Break.  That will help me quite a bit because it will help to get me back into a routine and will help me organize myself a little bit.  But that’s something for another time.  Let me handle this week in the order that things happened.

On Saturday, the two youngest kids and I were involved in the Star Wars at Strong Museum of Play event up in Rochester, NY.  It was loads of fun.  The kids could not get over how many pictures were taken of them and how many people actually came to the event.  I knew it would be crazy, but they weren’t really that prepared for that many people.  We then watched “Heart of an Empire” after the event and I have to say that is a great movie.  If you haven’t seen the video, find it, buy it, and watch it!  It explains why we costume at each and every event.  It was so touching, my daughter and I started balling during the middle of the movie.  After that, we went to the dinner after the event and then went back to my parents’ house.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church at the Webster Presbyterian Church with my parents and then ate breakfast out at a local diner.  After breakfast, we went home, packed up and headed back home.  We made it home just in time to unload the car and get Austin to his recording for BYSO.  I watched part of the St. Louis Rams game and got things ready for the week.  That night, Heather and I watched “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Walking Dead” along with “The Amazing Race” and then went to bed.  Monday was a typical work day and after school I had a meeting.  I then went home and had dinner with the family and while I graded papers, I tried to catch up on TV watching from the weekend and then watched “How I Met Your Mother”, “2 Broke Girls”, “Mike and Molly”, and “Moms” before heading to bed.

Tuesday was another typical work day and that night we had our last BCO rehearsal before we had our official rehearsal at East Middle before the actual concert there this weekend.  Wednesday was my day where I didn’t have too much going on.  I worked and came home and made sure Ruth got to work at Wendy’s as well.  On Thursday I started to prep things for tonight and this weekend.  But I had to be at West the second half of the day, so I had to work through my lunch hour to make it happen.  But I got the job done and last night’s rehearsal went very well.  Today was another busy day.  I had my job and as soon as I got done, I raced home and picked up Austin and loaded up the van for the dance tonight.  We then headed over to East Middle School and STAR Productions DJ’d the first dance of the year tonight and things went really well.  It was a busy night and a busy week.  But I had more things going on next week that would make it busy as well.

Okay, no reading tonight.  Instead, it’s time to listen to Episode #105 of the GalaxyCast Podcast.  Head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check it out.  Again, I have to thank Gary Boughton and Ian Palmer for being my co-hosts and to Mike Wilkerson and the Two Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their effort  and support over the years.  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 50

Well, the weeks seem to be flying by and I still feel like things are extremely out of control as far as what I can and cannot control at this point.  Those that know me well, know that I need to feel in control and when I don’t feel in control, I start to go a little bit “loopy” and lately I’ve felt quite loopy.  I’m trying to deal with the situations around me and my philosophy right now is to just take it one day at a time.  This past week we had an extra day off and I have to say that I enjoyed having another day at home and I am working anxiously to get things done that are on my work bench at home.  My bench is full of all sorts of projects and it actually annoys me when the bench is full of projects and I feel like I’m not getting anything done when those projects don’t come off the bench.  I have a lot I want to get done, and no time to get any of it done.  I also wanted to get things together for this weekend and then I have to look ahead to next weekend.

This weekend is the Star Wars at Strong Museum Event.  I had plans on staying the whole weekend, but Austin has a taping for the BYSO on Sunday, so we have to not attend the Sunday of the event and only go for Saturday.  Last weekend, for the first time in quite some time, I actually missed an Albany Comic Con.  I just have not been in a position to be able to take off to a Con like that on a weekend.  And Heather finally got her van back and we are still playing “catch up” at home trying to get things back together with her being “immobile” for over a month.  It wasn’t easy to make this house work that way and we made it work.  Now, as if I haven’t had enough kicks in the rear end this year, we find out there is a weak spot on our roof.  We want to get it repaired, but time is of the essence.  And with winter getting upon us, we need to search for a contractor to get it done rather quick.

Then there’s my job.  I will never talk about specifics when it comes to my job.  But I will say to all of my friends out there that you need to pray about the employees at my job.  There are things going on there that are stressful for all of us.  We need your thoughts and your prayers as things are getting more difficult.  On the flip side, Heather is really starting to enjoy her job and is starting to really get into the job.  There are moments when she is really tired because of the amount of hours she is working, but she enjoys the job.  The kids are excited as they are getting ready for All County auditions and their winter concerts are approaching rather quickly upon us.  It is amazing how quick Thanksgiving and even Christmas are approaching upon us.  Tonight, I had plans on making it Rochester on time to get to the Strong Museum for the kids and I to do a walkthrough, but traffic in Syracuse decided that wasn’t going to happen.  So, we stopped at the mall after dealing with an accident and decided to just go straight to my parents’ house and deal with the event tomorrow.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 50 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 45

Well, it’s the first week of October and I can say that this month is already looking to be one of the busiest months of the year for me so far.  It’s all for good reasons though and good things are about to happen and I’m hoping that some of the things that I am doing in October will help me forget what an awful year that 2013 has been for me and my family.  I really can’t wait for the bell to ring on 2014 because in my mind, next year can ONLY get better because it can’t get much worse that this particular year has been.  I will say that something that I have been praying about and that all of you have been praying about is finally a closed chapter in my life.  I can’t talk about specifics (at least not here), but I will say that the issue is resolved.  It has left a bad taste in my mouth, but it’s done.  So, I will say this…..

There are people in this world that aim to hurt you.  No matter how much you prepare or protect yourselves from these people, they will seek you out.  They will find you and they will attempt to hurt you.  I know because someone tried to (and is continuing to try) and hurt me and my family.  These people could win, but in all honesty they only win if you let them.  I will not let these people win!  I will not be hurt by others who seek to try and sour something that I have found enjoyment and fun in for years.  I will not feel uncomfortable because it’s my hobby too!  I will not let you destroy me or the thing that I do to release stress in my life.  Instead I say this – I have been bullied all my life and you can try and bully me, but I refuse to “lay down”.  I will not be bullied anymore by those that aim to hurt me.  Try to hurt me, and you will find that I have the resilience of a tiger!  As Obi-Wan Kenobi said, “Strike me down, and you will only make me stronger”.

Okay, so back to our regularly scheduled blog.  This week was immensely busy again.  We had RoberCon on Sunday and it was a resounding success.  It went well.   There were some awkward moments, but we lived through them all and I can say that I had a blast at the event and the good news is that we recruited three new members for RE Costuming.  Anytime I have costumers there in costume that can apply on spot makes it a good event.  I got another even to do tonight, we had the Zombie Walk in Binghamton.  That was another successful event.  We had some great pictures and even a video was done.  It was a good night and things went well.  I am really looking forward to New York Comic Con now and can’t wait for Halloween to arrive!

The kids and Heather are doing well.  They joined me for RoberCon when they could, but Austin had to leave early because he had Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal.  Both Austin and Tara joined me for the Zombie Walk tonight as well.  Heather is busy at work and things seem to be going well for her there.  Ruth is working hard at music and seems a little frustrated with AP Social Studies yet again.  But things are chugging along and October has already started in the Crissman house.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 45 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno…..

‘Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 44

It’s amazing how these weeks are starting to go by.  I can’t believe how quickly things are moving along and the month of September is almost over.  I also think it’s because at work I’m having to be out of my normal element.  I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal being out of my own classroom, but I’ll admit that it’s actually throwing me off a little bit.  Things are not as smooth as I thought they would be at this point.  I keep forgetting little things and it makes it a little more difficult because I may have my weeks planned out in my heads, but then I realize that there are certain things I cannot do because the materials for those lessons are still in my classroom and I can’t just walk in there and get them.  I often want to complain about it all, but then I think of those Coolidge teachers who never even had the chance to go back in the building and get their materials to even use.  I thought about all of the personal equipment that I may have lost in a situation like that as well and I would be devastated.  So, things are not easy, but they could be much worse.

I feel like I’m in the “pipe” when it comes to convention season right now.  We just got done with Scare A Con and I have been really busy preparing for our next Con which is right in town here called RoberCon.  I really want it to be a success and I know it could become a big deal here in the Binghamton area if it’s successful this year.  So, I have a plan to take the Resident Evil Zombie game to the next level.  If you want to know more, you’ll have to come to the event.  Anyway, the kids are busy with school and Austin and Tara are still trying to improve their times for Cross Country.  The big thing I’m trying to get both of them to do is to NOT walk at any point in the race.  Austin doesn’t save any energy for the end of the race and Tara has been (apparently) waiting till she is in the wooded area and then walking a majority of the way.

With Heather’s 90 days being up at Transit, I don’t feel like we are under as much pressure as we were before.  The only thing that has us worried now is that they are talking of privatizing the Broome County Transit Authority.  I’m not sure what it would mean for her or her job and she is a little concerned about it as well.  But that’s something we will have to deal with a little farther down the road.  I’m taking life one day at a time right now until things settle down a little bit and I can get back into a bit of a routine.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 44 of “Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 5

Well, it was Saturday and the kids and I committed to an event today for the 501st.  I warned the kids that we may go up to Rochester today and deal with a wet and rainy day, but reminded them that when we make commitments to something, we follow through with that.  I got up around eight o’clock this morning because Heather had gotten up that early.  She headed downstairs and started to work on some sewing projects and I headed outside and finished cleaning up from our project with the weeds from earlier this week.  I then headed inside and got some breakfast after some time and then the kids and I put all of our materials together in the living room.

We sat down and had a small lunch and got on the road.  I warned the kids that I had no idea when we would be eating again, so we ate a burger at McDonalds on the way to the Rochester Red Wings game in Rochester.  We took route 81 North to the Thruway and on our way through the city of Syracuse, I noticed that 81 South suddenly doesn’t even exist in the city!  Meaning that there was no road there.  Obviously they decided to do some construction, but there were no warning signs or anything.  I knew it was something I would have to worry about, but that would have to wait for the way home.  We got to the stadium a little later than we wanted to.  We said hello to everyone and then headed into the changing room and got dressed for the event.  We saw some minor issues with the kids’ armor that we needed to fix but got out into the game.  It rained on and off all night long, but we stayed under the cover of the bleachers and remained relatively dry.  The event went well and the kids and I had fun interacting with the crowd and taking pictures.  LOVE seeing the look on young kids’ faces when they get a chance to see their favorite Star Wars characters come to life.

We ended up leaving early from the event because we didn’t want to get back at one in the morning.  Also, we had to get dinner yet and I had to deal with the 81 South situation AND, Tara’s boots started to fall apart and I was afraid she was going to hurt herself.  We left the stadium and had a little bit of trouble navigating the streets of Rochester because of cops closing off roads (not sure why).  We then headed over to Penfield and ate at the Bill Gray’s there and as a treat, I bought the kids some Abbot’s Frozen Custard for putting up with all the rain, etc.  On the way home, I drank an Amp to keep myself awake and then called Heather and we tried to brainstorm a way to get back to Binghamton without using 81 South.  We figured out that if you went to the next exit over on the Thruway for 481 South, you could take that south of Syracuse and pick it up from there.  I then drove the entire distance home.  I got home and was surprised by my wife who had gotten a hair cut today.  She asked me how short to go and I said not to go above her shoulders.  However, she cut her hair almost up to her ears!  I will say that I was NOT happy with the hair cut.  I’m not sure why she always feels the need to go to this extreme when she cuts her hair with anyone but her own sister.  Guess I’m going to have to insist she go back to her sister to get her hair cut again.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 5 of “Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno…….

‘Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 2

Wednesday.  I can’t believe that I had to go to work this morning, but I actually had to go to work.  And just when I was getting used to being on summer vacation and actually was starting to get into vacation mode.  So, I got up at 6:30 this morning and took my shower while Tara helped me out by making a portable lunch for me.  I got dressed and got things together and was out the door by 7:30 this morning.  Of course, Heather was already out the door to transit and her job.  I got to work and worked on the super top secret project I’m not allowed to talk to you all about.  Here’s what I will say.  I’m a music teacher in New York State, I have taught General Music for eleven years now and I was at the BOCES building in Johnson City.  I think you can put the dots together on what I was doing.  I got done doing what I needed to do for today and I have a LOT to get done tomorrow, but I think I can get most of it done.  At least I hope so.  I got out around 3 PM and I came home and met up with Heather.

We sat down and made dinner and ate not too long after I got home and then Heather set about making jackets for Marcia and I went into the other room and decided to decompress by playing some of “Star Wars Legos III: The Clone Wars”.  I was pretty excited because by the end of the night I had all but one of the Red Bricks and I was getting so many studs, I didn’t know what to do with them all.  After I got done playing for about two hours, we watched “Master Chef”, “Big Brother”, and “Top Shot All Stars” together as a family and decided to go to bed a little late tonight.  Tomorrow night we have a plan that will also get us going to bed late.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 2 of “Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……