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 – Republic Commandos: True Colors’ – Chapter 19 (Part 2)

Sunday.  We had the want to go to church, but too much work to do in order to actually make that happen.  We ended up getting up around eight o’clock this morning.  The kids and I went outside and started to clean up some of the mess from all of the construction from yesterday.  There was a lot to be done and we got a lot finished.  After a while, I went into the basement and started to edit out the two versions of “The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” that I had recorded yesterday morning.  I got those finished and then started to edit out the next episode of “GalaxyCast” and I was able to at least get that up on the server.

I then ate lunch and watched “Fox NFL Sunday” and then David showed up and we worked on some projects while we talked about our weekends and he got a first look at our porch before it has to get changed.  We then went in the basement and Gary showed up.  After that, we watched the “Clone Wars” from this past Friday and then recorded our next episode of “GalaxyCast” about it.  After that, we talked some more and Heather left to take Ruth to Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal and came back.  We then decided to get some “Subway” for dinner and I continued working on my projects and David and Gary helped where they could, but left just before dinner.

I ate dinner with the family and then went back into the basement and continued to work on my projects.  I got the armor for the wedding dress done and was starting to prime it.  I then worked on trimming out Gary’s new leg armor and started to work on downloading songs for DJing this coming Friday for the school dance.  While I did that, I watched “The Amazing Race”, “The Good Wife”, and “CSI: Miami” before going to bed.  What a weekend!  And I have something after school everyday this week.  My wife just seems to be amping up and not slowing down.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 19 of “Star Wars – Republic Commandos: True Colors” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – The Republic Commandos: True Colors’ – Chapter 14 (Part 3)

Sunday.  We didn’t have a chance to sleep in today, but that was okay because the plan was to never sleep in today anyway.  Heather got out of bed at six-thirty this morning and made some homemade coffee cake for us to have in the kitchen.  She came back to bed for about a half hour while it was baking.  We then got up and got the kids up and going for church.  I took a shower and then got out and ate some coffee cake for breakfast while we watched the “Today Show” on NBC.  After dressing for church and getting ready, we headed out for church and my brother and his family took their trip on the way home.

We went to our church and got there a little late, so we sat down right away.  We had a good service, up until the financial officers decided to (yet again) give a synopsis of how the church was doing during the service.  They were begging for help, and I get it that my church needs financial help.  I’m just not convinced that asking during the service is the right way to go.  Call a meeting of the congregation, ask for a session after the service, provide written information and simply ask people to read it.  Anyway, we then had a better rest of the service and I liked the pastor’s sermon.  He preached about how Jesus wanted the Twelve Disciples to “get it” and how he fed the four thousand and then the five thousand and they didn’t get “it”.  The fact that he could perform miracles and it was almost like they kept forgetting that he could.  It was fitting and it was a reminder that we need to just “get it”.  After the service, the kids went to Sunday School and Heather and I came home.

We took care of some things at the house and had to go back over and pick up the kids.  We came home and we all took a nap (the entire family) for about a half an hour.  After our nap, I started to work on bringing this blog up to date as I received some info online about other things.  I finished watching “Mythbusters” and then watched “Unforgettable” and a few episodes of “South Park”.  Heather had taken Ruth to Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra and I went and picked her up later in the afternoon.  I watched a little bit of the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots game and I have to admit that the NFL world is almost flipped on end now that the Bills have started out 3-0.  I picked up Ruth and I swear the road was filled with idiots!  Just bad drivers and even pedestrians everywhere.  We got home and ate dinner.

After dinner, I headed into the basement and watched some more football and observed that my Rams got crushed by the Baltimore Ravens today.  We then switched over to watching “60 Minutes” and I kept working on my blog.  After that, we watched “The Amazing Race”, “The Good Wife”, and “CSI: Miami” while we DVR’d “Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos” on the Comedy Central Channel.  After that, we went to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 14 of “Star Wars – The Republic Commandos: True Colors” by Karen Traviss……..

‘Star Wars: Republic Commandos: Triple Zero’ – Chapter 8 (Part 1)

Sunday.  A day of rest and we may have taken that too far at the Crissman household today.  But, I don’t think it helps that my wife is not feeling well, so we’re all not real motivated to get going this morning.  I got up this morning to some Christmas music and got myself out of bed rather slowly.  I got disgusted with my children because they were in a fog this morning and weren’t getting ready for church.  So, I kind of had to kick my own children into overdrive and get them going for the day.  Heather helped me out a little and then I went into the shower and got ready for church.  I then got some breakfast while we watched “The Today Show” on NBC before heading off to church.

We got to church and Heather was not shaking hands with anyone because she is still feeling so bad.  I feel bad for her because her voice is sounding so rhaspy now.  She sounds like a female with a tenor voice.  We had an interesting church service and after church, we picked up our evergreen orders from the Boy Scouts and Austin had to stay behind for Sunday School and we took Tara home.  We got home and I worked on some Ebooks and then I had to go back to the church and pick Austin up.  We went home and I grabbed some money from Heather and headed over to “Dunkin Donuts” and got her and I some Vanilla Chai’s to try and warm us up and make us feel better.  I came home and went into the basement and had some lunch.

After lunch I watched some NFL football as I continued to work on my continuous projects, including ebook conversions and Mandalorian armor.  I worked through the afternoon as I watched the Buffalo Bills get walloped by the Minnesota Vikings, even without Brett Favre!  After that, I switched over to watching the Indiannapolis Colts play the Dallas Cowboys and I have to give the Cowboys credit for hanging it out there and winning the game in overtime.  I won’t lie, I took a bit of an afternoon nap myself.  The kids and Heather went upstairs and watched “Fred Claus” while I watched football.

We then sat down and ate a dinner of ham and au gratin potatoes along with some corn for our meal.  We also had some homemade bread.  After dinner, I continued working on my projects including my ebooks and my Mandalorian armor.  By eight o’clock, I decided to take a break and started to work on this blog and started to watch our usual Sunday night shows.  Tonight we watched “The Amazing Race”, “Boardwalk Empire”, and “CSI:Miami” while I DVR’d “The Simpsons”, “The Cleveland Show”, and “American Dad” and then went to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 8 of “Star Wars:  Republic Commandos:  Triple Zero” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – Republic Commandos: Triple Zero’ – Chapter 5 (Part 9)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!

Well, we had the best of intentions in the world this morning.  We had planned on going to church, but I just don’t think it was in the cards.  The alarm went off and I was so tired, I didn’t even acknowledge the alarm going off and when Heather went to hit snooze, she turned off the alarm instead.  So, we never even got up until almost nine-thirty this morning, and when we did, it was WAY to late to get ready for church.  So, we sat around together as a family and just hung out together.  We watched “Mythbusters” on TV and the kids helped me put together our pumpkin seeds.  They had dried out over night, so I was able to put together a salt/garlic mixture which we spread over the seeds and then baked the seeds for about forty minutes at 350 degrees.  They came out pretty well.  After I got done baking the seeds, we seperated them from the wax paper and then had some seeds and then a light lunch.

After lunch, I went into the basement and started to watch some football.  It was interesting watching the Buffalo Bills actually fight, for once in their life, for a win!  While I watched the Bills game, I was just as excited to see that the Saint Louis Rams were beating the Carolina Panthers.  I then joined Heather for a dinner of some scalloped potatoes and some ham.  After dinner, I took a nap downstairs while I watched some more football.  After my nap, I joined the kids upstairs and started to help Heather put together her “haunted” house for outside and then got into my Imperial Officer’s costume and my friends met up at my house.  We then went out trick or treating along Chenango Street.  It was a cold night, but not too brisk.  We got done trick or treating and I came home and we said goodbye to each other.

After trick or treating, I then watched “The Amazing Race”, “Undercover Boss”, and “CSI: Miami” on CBS with Heather and then we went to bed together.

Okay, let’s discuss Part 9 of Chapter 5 of “Star Wars – Republic Commandos:  Triple Zero” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – Republic Commandos: Triple Zero’ – Chapter 5 (Part 2)

Sunday.  It was yet another day that was not a day of rest for my family.  But today was a day to get a lot done and we had a con today and I have to say, it was one of the best cons I’ve attended with the Falco Clan yet.  I got up really early today to make that happen, though.  My alarm clock went off at five o’clock this morning and I looked at the clock and could not believe I was voluntarily waking up this early.  But, I got up and took my shower and finished packing up the car for the con.  I woke the kids up and they were a little grumpy and Ruth was a LOT grumpy because she had stayed up until three o’clock last night at her event.  I can tell you that she was in Utica, NY meeting Peter Facinelli from the “Twilight” films and he signed a picture and her “Twilight” book, but was out so late that Heather had to stay out till three this morning driving.

We got the kids dressed up and loaded up the car and headed out.  We were going to Albany Comic Con to partake in their comic book convention and I’ll admit that I have never been to their con before.  So, we left a little early and ate some breakfast at McDonalds on or way out to the Con.  We arrived there at nine o’clock and set up our table and got things rolling.  By eleven o’clock, we had everyone in costume/make-up and rolling full on for the con.  We had a great time socializing with people at the con, attending panels, talking to artists, taking pictures, and Tara even won the children’s costume contest (gave her a little bit of a bloated head though).  We spent the entire day there and really had an AWESOME time.  After the con, we headed over to “Moe’s” and had a nice dinner and talked shop as the Falco Clan.

We got home around eight o’clock or so, talked a little bit and then the kids took showers and went to bed.  I worked on repairs (Austin had speaker problems and I had a codpiece that was broken with an event on Tuesday).  While I worked, I watched “The Amazing Race”, “Undercover Boss”, and “CSI: Miami” before heading to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 5 of “Star Wars – Republic Commandos:  Triple Zero” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – Republic Commandos: Triple Zero’ – Chapter 4 (Part 11)

Sunday.  It should be a day of rest and for the most part, our house was restful, although we had a lot to get done today before heading back to work tomorrow.  We decided not to go to church today just because of all the things that had happened this week.  Besides, in my mind’s eye, God and I had plenty of time to “talk” this week.  Today was about having some time with the family.  Heather and I did not get up until almost nine o’clock which is a rarity for us in this house.  The kids let us sleep in and we enjoyed that.  We decided to go into the basement and finish watching the shows we couldn’t catch up on yesterday, including “CSI”, three episodes of “Boardwalk Empire”.  Yeah, I’ll admit that we were being lazy.  We then ate a quick lunch and then took a shower and headed back to the Ross Park Zoo.

We got to the zoo and started to work on taking down our set up. I took apart the jail while Heather worked on the EZ Up.  We had most of the things down within twenty minutes and Jackie and Derrick showed up and were nice enough to help out getting it all down.  We then brought everything back to the car and loaded up (and the tub we had was heavy).  We loaded the car up and left behind the power panel and the lightsabers to pick up later this week.  We got done and were home by three o’clock.  I tried to watch some football and was happy to see the St. Louis Rams win yet again.  I then took an afternoon nap and then got woken up by Heather.

I went upstairs and joined the family for dinner.  After dinner, I went into the basement and decided that I needed to relax a little.  I played “Call of Duty 4” on the PS3 till Heather came downstairs and said we needed to go.  Her truck was repaired by one of her friends and we headed over to his house and picked her truck up.  We finally have working heat in the truck again.  We drove home and got home in time to watch our usual shows, including “The Amazing Race”, “Undercover Boss”, and “CSI:Miami”.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 11 of Chapter 4 of “Star Wars – Republic Commandos:  Triple Zero” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – Republic Commandos: Triple Zero’ – Chapter 3 (Part 13)

Sunday.  I would love to say it was a day of rest for us, but it was not.  We did sleep in a little today and got up fairly late in the morning when we woke up at nine o’clock.  Of course it didn’t help that my children got us awake at six-thirty and then again at seven-thirty.  I swear my younger two children have it in their head that I’m not allowed to sleep in.  Especially on the weekends.  We ended up being slow to get up and we all got up and started to get ready to leave today.  We were heading home back to Binghamton, NY.  Not that Rockaway, NJ was all that bad, but it will be nice to get home.  I got a shower and Heather got one after me.  We ate some breakfast at their continental breakfast.  We had some yogurt, bagels, and fruit.   We drank some orange juice and then loaded up the car while Heather took the keys down to the front desk.  We then got into the car, turned on our Garmin and started on the road.  We were on the road and got to the Deleware Water Gap when I realized that we had forgotten my pillow that we brought from home.  Needless to say, I was not happy and  was pretty hot about the situation.  So, we turned around at the Pennsylvannia/New Jersey border and headed back, losing an HOUR on our trip!

We got back to the hotel, got our pillow and headed out on our way back home.  It was  pretty silent trip on the way home until we got to lunch.  We decided to stop near Scranton, Pennsylvannia and got some lunch at McDonald’s there in an attempt to get more of the Star Wars:  The Clone Wars toys from them.  I also started to follow the St. Louis Rams game on my Motorola flip and was shocked to find out that my team was actually beating the Seattle Seahawks and things were looking really good for them.  I continued following the game while we drove home.  We got home and quickly unloaded the car.  Heather went to the bedroom and took a nap while I went into the basement and watched some NFL games while I watched the back of my eyelids.  The kids chilled and watched “The Disney Channel”.

After we got up from our naps, I started to work on trying to catch up this blog and the kids joined Heather outside and started to take down the pool.  I played with the dog a while (he needed some attention desperately because he had been crated for a full 24 hours) and then helped with the pool.  Afterward, I played “Call of Duty4” for about an hour on my PS3 and then started to watch my Sunday night shows including “The Amazing Race”, “Undercover Boss”, and “CSI:Miami” while I DVRd “Boardwalk Empire”.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 13 of Chapter 3 of “Star Wars – Republic Commandos:  Triple Zero” by Karen Traviss……

‘Star Wars – Medstar II: Jedi Healer, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 12 (Part 4)

Easter!  Happy Easter everyone!  I got up early this morning because I was going to have to play for church and needed to be there early in order to practice.  So, I got up around seven-thirty this morning and got right into the shower and go myself ready.  I was a little upset because my children were killing me because they were dragging their feet even though they were overly excited about their gifts for Easter.  They each got a movie.  Ruth got “New Moon”, Austin got “Up” and Tara got “Alvin and the Chipmunks:  The Squeakwal”.  We all ate breakfast and were on our way to church (late).  I got to church, ran through our song and then was offered to sing with the choir, so I decided to.  So, I sang with the choir and played on the hymns.  The service started and I was very happy with how it went.  I played well, the message was clear and a realization hit me today.  Jesus was MY age when he decided to sacrifice himself for me and my sins.  That’s pretty powerful to me!

We got done with church and Heather and I went to Wendy’s for lunch and then picked up some things at Lowe’s and came home.  We then picked up the kids and then came home.  I decided that I wanted to work on the steps to our house that don’t belong anymore.  We had steps to a side entrance to the house and quite honestly, we don’t need the stairs anymore and I want those steps to go.  So, after taking a nap and letting the kids chill for a little bit, I went outside and started to whack away at the concrete steps.  I was doing pretty well, till I made the most “numpty brained” move ever.  I came down with the sledge, hit a hard part of concrete that was solidly connected to the rebar and it bounced off and the head of the sledge hammer hit my ankle.  All I can say is “OW!!”  I was in extreme pain and tried to write it off.  I simply went slower the rest of the day and decided to take it easy.  I went into the basement and worked down there until it was time for Heather’s big dinner.

We had a nice dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, and carrots.  It was a very nice dinner.  After dinner, I decided to watch “The Passion of the Christ” and then continued to work on the basement as I watched another episode or two of “Stargate SG-1” and then watched my usual nightly shows including “‘Till Death”, “The Amazing Race”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, and then I went to bed because my new DVR (which Heather got this past week) recorded “The Pacific” and “Undercover Boss” for me to watch later.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 4 of Chapter 12 of “Star Wars – Medstar II:  Jedi Healer,  A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar II: Jedi Healer, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 11 Part 4)

Sunday.  For the rest of the world, it was a day of rest.  At the Crissman household in Binghamton, it seemed like just another day of mass chaos.  Heather and I ended up really getting up around six-thirty this morning because my youngest two children decided to wake up right about then and tried to play around with Easter baskets in the living room and we had to yell at them to NOT open gifts.  So, I got up about a half hour later and headed upstairs and we watched TV for a little bit and then I got into the shower.  I came out of the shower and goofed around with the family a little bit as we watched “Fox News” this morning and ate some muffins my mom brought with her (chocolate chip – yummy!).  We then got ready for church and were on our way to church early because the kids had something special to do with Palm Sunday.

We got to church early and went into the sanctuary and then had a nice service.  I liked the service as we talked about all the different places the term “rock” was usedi n the Bible.  It’s amazing how many different stories rely on the “rock” as a metaphor to something.  We got done with the church service and talked with a few people very briefly, but my wife insist we get out the door.  We left church and came home and dropped the ham in the oven and Heather got dinner together as we talked a little bit.  Then my dad and I went to the church to pick up the kids and bring them home.

We then celebrated Easter with my parents today (my kids will be lucky enough to get another Easter next week) and opened the gifts my parents got for them.  I started to help them open their packages, but Heather moved me aside because we needed to eat our dinner quickly.  We had a dinner/lunch of ham, potatoes au gratin, corn, and some strawberries.  We ate dinner and had a great time, but before we knew it, Ruth had to be at the High School.  Heather ran her over to the school and then I got ready to leave and then my parents left to go home.  Heather and I then headed to Chenango Valley High School to watch their production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”.  It was a really nice production and I was very impressed with how the students performed.  They did a great job.  We got done and got Ruth and then came right home.

We got home and I headed into the basement to work on some things, including this blog, and I did some painting outside on Garry’s rifle.  I then went back inside and watched “Star Trek:  The Next Generation” as I worked on some paperwork for school and the drama club.  Heather took Ruth to a meeting for the church and then came home.  I went upstairs to check on Garry’s gun and it was raining outside (it was pouring) and my wife didn’t even tell me!  She walked right past the project and never even mentioned it to me!  Oi!  I went outside and tried to rush the project inside, but it was too late.  Paint came off and the glue came off.  I was pretty much back to square one!  Crap!  So, I started working that project again as I watched a little bit more of “Star Trek” and then my usual TV shows including “The Simpsons”, “The Cleveland Show”, and “Celebrity Apprentice” and taped “The Amazing Race” and “Undercover Boss” and then watched “The Pacific” before going to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 4 of Chapter 11 of “Star Wars – Medstar II:  Jedi Healer, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…….