A Calvin Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Calvin household! It's been a fun day from here as we celebrate the day, and the season. Now, I know that every household is different, so heres how it works from our house anyway and the "rules of Christmas".

First off, PRESENTS ARE TO BE OPENED CHRISTMAS DAY... that is what the day is for. It seems like total torture to have kids open presents on Christmas Eve to then turn around and send them to bed, shortly thereafter. Christmas Eve is a time to celebrate the meaning of the holiday, in all of its forms: We finish wrapping gifts, we bake cookies to put out for Santa, we read Christmas stories and then study Luke 2 from the New Testament to make sure the kids understand what we are REALLY doing in all of this. Then, before it gets too late, making for grumpy kids in the morning, the kids go to bed, since as they all know, "Santa doesn't come when the kids are awake!" This gives us plenty of time to get the house ready for Santa's arrival and still get to bed on time ourselves (well, ok... maybe in theory.. there are some of us... ahem.. who procrastinate the wrapping of presents causing us to be up unitl 2 AM on Christmas morning, but I won't mention my... or.. ehhh.. names..)

Next, KIDS DON'T SNEAK UP ON CHRISTMAS MORNING TO PEEK AT THIER GIFTS! In our household, sorry, but there is no pitter patter of little feet on the kitchen floor at 5 AM sneaking in to see what Santa brought. In between our kitchen and family room hangs a large leather belt covered in large jingle bells. The kids know they are to stay in bed, regardless what time they wake up, until they hear the jingle bells ring. Once the bells ring, they are free to get up and trample me in a puff of dust as they rampage towards their loot. This was something that was done in my house as we grew up, and now that I am an adult I see the many benefits. We can control when the kids get up to see what... I can video their first reactions to Santa's arrival and I can make sure all is ready to go before the kids are up. Plus, I have a special place in my heart for that sound of jingle bells and I mentally associate it with the magic of Christmas morning, so I enjoy sharing that with my own crazy crew.

Third, GIFTS ARE OPENED PATIENTLY, ONE AT A TIME, NOT IN A WILD ALL AT ONCE FREE-FOR-ALL. As with everything else, there are rules here, all put in place to increase the fun and enjoyment. Each person takes a gift, whether it is from their Santa pile or from under the tree, and opens that gift while the others watch and support them. This allows the kids to share that opening experience with others from the family. It encourages the joy of giving as you can actually watch the gifts that you have worked to purchase be opened. And instead of having all gifts opened in a blur of flying wrapping paper in 10 minutes, we can still be opening presents at 10 AM.

Fourth, WE ACTUALLY EAT BREAKFAST ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. Now, there is a certain order to all of this: the Santa gifts are opened first, then we take a breakfast break, and then we open up the family gifts. This extends the experience out all the more and gives us a nice meal in the process. Now, my wife may question my definition of breakfast... to her, breakfast means eggs and hash browns, but in my growing up years, Christmas breakfast was always toast, hot chocolate, and cheesecake... yes, cheesecake... for breakfast. I have no idea who's original idea that was, or what would possess my normally health conscious parents to feed us cheesecake at 6 AM, but I never complained and the tradition (at least for me) continues to this day as I take my mid present breather and eat my seriously sweet breakfast.

So how was Christmas this year? Very nice! For me it was a great balance of all my passions: Star Wars, U2, and Disney theme parks. In the Star Wars realm, Galactic Heroes ruled the day, Typically designed for 4 year olds, I began collecting these toys several years back, simply because it was so fun to see how the toy makers would take a creature from the Star Wars universe clearly designed to appeal to adult fanboys, and "cute" it down to appeal to 4 year olds. I have every set ever released, with the exception of 1, and this year, not only did I get the newly released additions of the series, but 4 new that are very hard to find in stores.

Little Calvin also fared well, more entering the digital age. He got his own "kid friendly" digital camera (and is now acting like Mr. Fashion Photographer, taking picture of everything by the dozens. He also got his own computer.. not because I actually bought him one, more because I inherited an older one and fixed it up. But to him, it works, it stores all his pictures, music and can even edit video and it plays al his CD-ROM learning games to he is happy as a clam.

Dawn enjoyed herself, receiving a large framed version of her favorite painting of Christ, and DVDs from one of her favorite shows: Veronica Mars as well as multiple accessories for her phone and iPod. Amanda, added to her collection of frog paraphernalia, while Tyler loaded up on science experiments, a planetarium, magic tricks and has a new bike to enjoy (if it will ever stop raining).

Finally, it was time for the last gift, and I had the honors of opening it this year. On my Christmas list this year, I had indicated that I wanted a Dog. (Now that Little Calvin is no longer afraid of them, I felt it was time). I specifically wanted a Golden Lab, like "Yellow Dog" from the movie "Funny Farm". While I was not expecting to actually get a dog, as I know my wife has many concerns about getting one, I was quite surprised to open the last box and there I found.... my little Golden Lab puppy. They had gotten me my dog!

Now, here I learned an important lesson in life... called "Be specific". I got exactly what I had asked for: A golden Lab Dog that looked like "Yellow Dog". I soon realized, as it was pointed out to me.. that I never requested that it be REAL. They had gotten my exactly what was on my list.. just stuffed. They made a very good point.. and so for the time being I will be very content with Yellow Dog, and just think of how much I will save on dog food and vet bills. He's actually a very low maintenance pet!

So now it is time to go enjoy our newly received treasures and enjoy the holiday! Merry Christmas to all! And to all.... A chimerically fantastic night!

Hau' oli la Hanau Surprise

Surprise! That was the word that I hoped I could successfully utter today. Today is my wife's birthday, yes... two days before Christmas Eve. Due to this fact, she has always mentioned how uneventful her birthdays were growing up, typically with her family just letting her take a pick at a gift already under the Christmas tree. This to me is totally a wrong approach! Birthdays need to be special and completely separate from any other day, with the day spent making lasting memories and doing something unique that makes a person feel special and important (even if that means annoying them). Past readers should remember my passion for birthday celebrations...

For the past several months.. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to celebrate Dawn's birthday this year.. something that I had toyed with doing for the past several years, but never had the time, resources, or finances to pull off: I wanted to throw her a surprise birthday party.... the stereotypical kind where by some means, the birthday girl ends up in a dark room and all her friend pop out of no where to scream Surprise!

So that was the idea... Now.. planning how to pull this off with my ever observant, logical wife, was the tricky part. I suddenly had to get very good at lying and inventing stories off the top of my head.. all for a good purpose, of course!

So with the DVDs done and out of the way, I was finally able to put on my "Evil Calvin Grin", rub my hands together in a scheming way and begin to brainstorm the details. First, I needed a location and that came fairly easy as our friend. the one friend that would happen to be the one that would be "taking her to lunch" that afternoon, happened to own a little cafe in our town. She volunteered the space and we coordinated a date and time and suddenly the party was on.

It was shortly thereafter that I made an interesting observation: I have attended many partiies, both as an invited guest and as hired DJ, but never in my life have I PLANNED a party... been the instigator.. the Inviter. Suddenly I had to learn all the little details that goes into planning such an event: How many are invited, how many will actually attend, mailing invites, planning and coordinating with catering, entertainment, music, decorations, etc. What started as a very simple idea.... as most of mine do... suddenly turned into a giant, time consuming monster. Luckily, I had some good resources in my accomplices.. my partners in crime.. all of us plotting together as to how to really pull this off.

Finally, today arrived. The morning began by my lying that I "Had to go into town to do some last minute shopping, as my work week had been crazy and I hadn't had a chance to go yet". Yea right... Partially true... I hadn't been Christmas shopping during my lunch hours.. I had been birthday party planning. But my Christmas shopping had been done for some time. This seemed perfectly reasonable to her, knowing that I am a notorious procrastinator, so off I went to decorate the cafe.

As it turns out I went with a tropical theme, combining a Hawaiian and Caribbean tropical party into one. And so there I was in the morning, hanging tiki walls, lights, tropical masks, and decorating with lots of bright colors. As the restaurant was completely covered in Christmas decorations, I had to accept a fair amount of Christmas carry over, otherwise I'd be taking down a lot of large scaled items! When Dawn left for "Lunch" that afternoon, Little Calvin and I threw on our Hawaiian shirts and headed over to pick up food and cake.

Soon enough, everything was in place, guests were arriving and mingling and the place was starting to fill up. I found it very odd being a "host" trying to greet everyone and spend time with all of our friends simultaneously. Soon, I got the signal that she was close and everyone headed upstairs to the balcony that surrounded the cafe. As Dawn arrived, the cafe was dark, and appeared empty and quiet. It wasn't until she wandered halfway into the room that we all startled her with our "Surprise!" yell.

Now, was she totally surprised? Not really. She figured out during lunch that this would be a perfect set up for a surprise party and so she began to look for the signs that she felt might come. As she and her friend headed home and her friend said "Oh, I need to swing by the Cafe to pick up some things", she quickly added another mental check to her list. And finally, when she arrived at the cafe and was told to "just come in for a second while I grab some things" instead of the typical "wait here in the car while I grab something" she was pretty sure she had me figured out.. which she did.

But we all enjoyed ourselves. Good food, good company with a selection of people from all aspects of life: work, neighbors, church friends and volleyball coaches. She was surprised to find all the tropical touches... the birthday cake written in Hawaiian, the steel drummed background music, and we all had a good time playing "Apples to Apples": a game that I bought almost randomly not realizing it is an uber-popular party game that is selling out like crazy all over the country. I can see why... we had a ball and laughed our heads off.

Now, I just need to figure out what kind of crazy idea to pull off next year!! Bw ha ha! [gets evil Calvin scheming grin and slouches away. rubbing hands together]

Geeking Out

A long Time Ago... In a Galaxy Far, Far Away....

Ten of my favorite words, all put together in a phrase that just defines it all. I started blogging my life adventures after the Star Wars movies had run their course in the theaters, so my absolute love, adoration, and psychotic love of all things Star Wars hasn't really had a change to rear its head in this format.. Yes, I have a Star Wars Shrine in my house filled to the hilt with framed posters, toys and all things Star Wars. Today, my geekiness got to resurface in a way that just hasn't happened since attending the midnight premier of Episode 3 last year.

Today, Little Calvin (whom I rightfully converted into a Star Wars fanatic at birth) and I had a change to just "Geek Out" while taking a mini road trip to Portland to see the exhibit "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" at the OMSI Museum (That's the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for the non-locals). Dawn even had enough guts to go to this geek-fest with us, even though she is not a Star Wars fan and scratches her head in udder confusion whenever Little Calvin and I get into debates on Jedi vs. Sith or the strategies of Republic vs. Separatist troop placement. But since she is a science fan, she hoped she could find something stimulating for her so she could spend time with the family.

Taking a vacation day from work to begin the Christmas break, we left early in the morning to make the two hour trek Northward so that we could be there as they opened and get the lower crowds. But even as the doors opened, the crowds were there, flocking by the dozens to see their favorite Star Wars characters and ships.

First, it was off the ride the Millennium Falcon.. before the lines got too long. Inside one wing of the museum was a full size reproduction of the Falcon's cockpit including the entry hall into it, to make it feel more realistic. Once inside, we were treated to a blast into hyperspace, then a tour of the galaxy from the controls of the great ship. The cockpit felt very close to what was seen in the originals, and while it didn't actually move, once the show got underway it felt like we were rocketing through space, surrounded by the domed front cockpit window. With Little Calvin at the controls, and Dawn and I taking the other seats (holding true to the original, the cockpit only has 4 seats) we sailed though our mission, landing safely back on earth. For Little Calvin, this was the highlight of his day. For me it was just thrilling to sit in what felt just like the Falcon I know and love from the movies. Very well done!

Then it was on to the exhibit. The point of the exhibit was to show off both a large assortment of original Star Wars props, models, costumes, etc. and to show how some of the science found in the films can be brought to reality, thanks to technological innovation. We certainly were not disappointed! Once inside we found costumes including the original Darth Vader, Chewbacca and other wookies, bounty hunters, storm troopers, etc. all displayed. The droids were there: R2, 3P0, Battle droids, Destroyers droids, medical droids... you name it. I found the ship models used in the making of the films to be particularly fascinating. Ships such as the Falcon, Star Destroyers, the Tantive IV, X-wings and Y-wing fighters, all look amazing when studied up close to see the incredible amount of detail included.

While I was busy drooling on myself. mouth gaping open at the sight of all this greatness, Little Calvin and Dawn soon discovered the "science" portion of the exhibit. There they played interactive games to simulate running a farm on a hostile world such as Tatooine (all desert). Then they moved onto discovering how magnetic technology could be used as a transportation system. Working through 3 stations they built a Lego "ship" with magnets that made it float off the ground just like Luke's Landspeeder (which was also on display). They then got to learn how to race that ship magnetically through a course, making it go faster the better the magnets were placed. From there it was onto making robots. After building a core robot from available parts, they could test to see what kinds of wheels worked best for different terrain options, and then they programmed their little droid to successfully maneuver an obstacle course.

Having just spent several hours geeking out, we also watched a Planetarium show about Black Holes (very cool!) and had a nice lunch over looking downtown Portland. Finally, having received our large scale Star Wars fix, we headed back home, making sure to be there in time for the Duck's bowl game. Judging from their pathetic performance against BYU, we should have stayed in Portland a little longer (Did you all TOTALLY FORGET HOW TO PLAY FOOTBALL?!), but so goes college football....

All in all, it was a great day spent as a family, enjoying each other's company, and seeing some really cool things. The show is a traveling show and will move to Los Angeles in April of next year. If you are anywhere close, I'd highly recommend paying a visit!

You can check out some of our photos, by clicking here.

The Dream is... Delayed

Ok, time for a large dose of unwanted reality. I have been struggling for the last few weeks on a decision that somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew was coming like a roaring freight train. But I wanted more than anything to avoid... to just continue on my course and ignore.

The good news: I have had a fairly descent last few weeks of running and marathon training. I have put in a lot of miles. I got to have a nice run in the snow while in Idaho.. and the other night I had a bizarre run where it was so foggy, I couldn't see ANYTHING in front of me... a very strange feeling to not really know where you are in the run or how far you have gone.. or where the cars are! So I have been energized by my runs and where they have taken me.

The bad news: Those runs are only 5 miles a piece, not the 10 -15 that they should be at this stage of the game. And after the run is over, my knees feel... loose, for lack of a better term. Not painful, but instead of feeling like I have a nice strong support system in my legs, with ligaments and muscles holding everything together in my knees, it feels like I just have wobbly bones, with nothing really holding it all together. It feels as though I could take one wrong misstep, and everything will just fall to pieces, leaving my in a heap on the ground. It is the same way my knees felt four years ago, right before I went on a slightly too long run and blew out my right knee in an overuse injury. So I am getting paranoid, as I really don't want to repeat my past mistakes and spend the next 6 months in physical therapy trying to get my knee to move correctly again.

So that means I need to take a break and rest those knees before pushing it any harder. This way, I will prevent the overuse injury and hopefully be better off in my long term running plan in the future. BUT, that also means... gulp.. that after almost 18 months of hard work... I have to admit defeat in that I will not be able to handle the Disneyworld Marathon in 3 weeks.

Now it sucks enough that I wont be able to run the race that I was so looking forward to, but it just doesn't help that I lose all the money invested in it. I lose my entry fee, and I lose my plane tickets, purchased with frequent flier miles that they don't give back if you cancel your ticket. (And what really is logical.. if I call the airlines and CANCEL my free ticket, so that they can resell it and make their money back.. they charge me $100.... $100 to CANCEL. Whereas if I just don't show up to the flight, nothing happens, and the airlines lose money... smart thinking guys! I guess being honest costs money!)

So the dream is not over yet... Just delayed. I am looking at a half marathon here in Oregon on April 29th, giving me 4 more months to prepare without overdoing it on the marathon required 20 mile training runs.

Am I disappointed? Very! I was looking forward to beginning 2007 by accomplishing a lifelong goal and relaxing in one of my favorite places on the planet. And I may very well be grumpy come January 5th, when I was supposed to be flying out, but such is life. We take our hits, we discover realities, we find our limits, we learn from our mistakes... and then we try again.

The marathon is not dead.. just delayed for the time being.

Kitchen Makeover

It's finally done! A few weeks ago, just before the Thanksgiving holidays, my wife approached me with an idea: We need to paint the kitchen.. It's just too boring. Now, she did have a point.. it was one of the few rooms in the house that still had its base white paint on the walls from when it was built 5 and a half years ago. With the exception of some stick on borders that have come and gone over the years, the kitchen is very much like it has always been, while some rooms are already on their third paint job. And so the Kitchen re-paint began.

Now, I have to say, I came out quite lucky in this whole project. My wife wanted to come up with a creative border to line the middle of the kitchen walls, where the counter meets the walls. She had looked in multiple wallpaper stores for a border she liked, but nothing could live up to what she was picturing in her head, and she hates dealing with traditional wallpaper. So I left the design of the new kitchen up to her, and just offered feedback as she worked through different options.

So, as for actual work for me... I moved appliances.. and I painted the base color. Once I finished my job, then she came began on the border.. and the style that she designed took a lot of time, and precise work, so that it wouldn't turn into a mess.

She began prior to the holidays when we finally had a free weekend in between the busy DVD cycles. We had to take time away from the project to make a quick weekend trip to Idaho for Thanksgiving, leaving our kitchen slightly pulled apart and filled with paint cans, brushes and all matters of painting paraphernalia. But once we returned, it was back to the painting business.

This week, she finished all the detailed border work.. and now our kitchen can go back to a normal state. I must say, it looks really nice, and while I had my doubts when hearing the plans, she did great in executing her vision and the kitchen benefits from her hard work and attention to detail. Even the bread box now has the new striped pattern so that it will go with the new kitchen.

It always weird... I get so sucked into overwhelming computer projects, that I just want to take a break from the computer, and do something totally different... go build something.. paint a room. And then I get a few hours into a new project, see the enormity of it, and suddenly start wishing for that computer again. Luckily, all the overwhelming details of this one were in my wife's hands.. and after my day of work, I was able to walk away and let her finish. So it proved to be just the break I needed before getting into the final push to get DVDs done. And again, thanks to her focus and detail, the kitchen looks great!

Now, comes the big question: What room will be next and how long until I come home from work to hear those famous words "Honey, I was thinking...."

Technical Difficulties...

Yes, yes, I do need to blog. What can I say... Like I said a few posts ago, when you are working a full time job, trying to be a good husband and father, producing a film, training for a marathon AND trying to maintain a regular blog... sometimes things just slip away in priority.

Sooooo, good news and bad news... First the good news: The film is officially done. I'll post more about it later, but suffice it to say that it is DONE. I delivered the finished DVDs today. Now, I can finally breathe, sleep, maybe even relax and actually watch a movie other than my own. It was very cool to actually be able to sit down and watch the film in its entirety over the weekend without going "ohhhh, I gotta fix that... oh that audio needs to be tweaked.." and just enjoy it start to finish. It was also cool to deliver the finished DVDs to a VERY eager group today and see them get all excited as they came out of the box. It is sooooo much work to pull off the things that I do, but so worth it at the same time.

Now to the bad news.. as you can tell, by looking at my page.. well, it's a bit bland and all the photos are gone. Do not fear! The Chimerical Cosmos isn't going away or dying! I am in the process of changing my server, and it will be down for a few days while the transfer takes place.

So give me a day or two to breathe again, work out the kinks in the new server and then the Chimerical Cosmos will be back, with all sorts of stories just waiting to be shared.