Happy Holidays
Dec. 31st, 2010 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkIt's been a very nice, low-key holiday season - which is just the way I like it. This time of year I have barely enough energy to get out of bed in the morning and do whatever I have to do, and I start folding up around 11 pm (mighty early in my household).
Amber and Olin are here for the holidays. As usual, they have a lot of social activities of their own going on, but we've all had some lovely family times together. Usually we start a big jigsaw puzzle for the family to work on together, but this year the puzzle niche was filled by the big, colorful Color Sudoko game (played with colored balls in a big wooden tray rather than numbers). Santa didn't have time to do up stockings for the adult children this year, but surprised us with a couple of stockings for Mom and Dad! Aww.
The iPad has been a big hit, of course. I bought it explicitly for Richard, hoping that he could be trained to use email if it didn't involve a mouse and keyboard. He's still a little daunted by the email and web browser, but has become addicted to Angry Birds. I got up this morning and discovered that he had even remembered to plug the device into the charger before he went to bed, which shows that it has captured his nurturing instincts. That's a promising sign.When Richard, Amber and Olin made a quick trip to Benson on Tuesday to see the grands, he took the iPad along and used it to show his mother a selection of family pictures I'd loaded into it. So I think we're making progress. I've had a lot of fun playing with it too, of course, mostly enjoying the metagame of installing apps, downloading free books and so on. It is kind of handy to have around for quick web access downstairs. But honestly, I'm not sure why so many people are buying these things. If the welcoming touch screen helps Richard finally overcome his computerphobia, then it's worthwhile for us. But other than that, it's hard to justify spending $400+ on something that is nothing more than a very pretty hi-tech toy.
Amber got me out of the house a few times - once for skiing at Wood Lake and twice to the Y. I hoped this would give me enough momentum to get back to my almost daily exercise routine (which evaporated as soon as the dark days of November took over). So far I've only been out twice on my own, however - once to the Y and one little ski trip to the Hiawatha Golf Course. Amber got me a yoga mat and a really cool little squishy exercise ball called The Bender Ball, and I have used them a little bit each day.
Amber and Olin are here for the holidays. As usual, they have a lot of social activities of their own going on, but we've all had some lovely family times together. Usually we start a big jigsaw puzzle for the family to work on together, but this year the puzzle niche was filled by the big, colorful Color Sudoko game (played with colored balls in a big wooden tray rather than numbers). Santa didn't have time to do up stockings for the adult children this year, but surprised us with a couple of stockings for Mom and Dad! Aww.
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Amber and Thorin playing Color Sudoko game This game was the surprise hit of the holiday family time, taking over the niche usually occupied by the group jigsaw puzzle. It's actually a solitaire type game, but can be played cooperatively. |
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Mom's stocking Santa surprised us with Xmas stockings for Mom and Dad |
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Dad's Christmas stocking What the heck is it hanging from? A lamp, I think. |
The iPad has been a big hit, of course. I bought it explicitly for Richard, hoping that he could be trained to use email if it didn't involve a mouse and keyboard. He's still a little daunted by the email and web browser, but has become addicted to Angry Birds. I got up this morning and discovered that he had even remembered to plug the device into the charger before he went to bed, which shows that it has captured his nurturing instincts. That's a promising sign.When Richard, Amber and Olin made a quick trip to Benson on Tuesday to see the grands, he took the iPad along and used it to show his mother a selection of family pictures I'd loaded into it. So I think we're making progress. I've had a lot of fun playing with it too, of course, mostly enjoying the metagame of installing apps, downloading free books and so on. It is kind of handy to have around for quick web access downstairs. But honestly, I'm not sure why so many people are buying these things. If the welcoming touch screen helps Richard finally overcome his computerphobia, then it's worthwhile for us. But other than that, it's hard to justify spending $400+ on something that is nothing more than a very pretty hi-tech toy.
Amber got me out of the house a few times - once for skiing at Wood Lake and twice to the Y. I hoped this would give me enough momentum to get back to my almost daily exercise routine (which evaporated as soon as the dark days of November took over). So far I've only been out twice on my own, however - once to the Y and one little ski trip to the Hiawatha Golf Course. Amber got me a yoga mat and a really cool little squishy exercise ball called The Bender Ball, and I have used them a little bit each day.
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Date: 2010-12-31 08:38 pm (UTC)Hope you guys come out to the New Years party.
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Date: 2011-01-01 07:35 pm (UTC)