This Reminds Me

Archive for the ‘Way Back Machine’ Category

The holidays are coming – be ready!

One of the tricks of managing a family is to offer “separate but equal” rewards, gifts, acknowledgements, etc.   With four kids in a wide age range – that’s easier said than done.  As I am fond of saying while explaining why we can’t do this or that, “You can’t do for one what you can’t do for four.”  But, of course, you don’t have to provide identically for the four – hopefully, though, you provide comparably.  I stress hopefully because really – who knows about tomorrow?   The best plans can be derailed with a lay-off, car repair, medical bill, etc., as all of us adults know too well.

Rachel, Lois and Hannah each got a special trip for their ninth birthdays.  I took Rachel to American Girl Place in Chicago.  Keith took Lois whale watching in Seattle, and Hannah to San Francisco.

Keith took my very favorite picture e-v-e-r of Hannah on her special trip.  He had a full day planned, but she saw the Pacific ocean and begged to stop.  That’s where they spent most of the day.  This pictures captures “her” – joy and abandon.

But for Julia’s ninth birthday – the trip just didn’t work out.  We had first-year college expenses for Rachel, plus we were saving vacation time and every dime for the family cruise in December.  Julia wasn’t home to hear about the trips of Rachel, Lois and Hannah so I’m not sure her being shorted was bothering her as much as it bothered me.

One day, Keith and I would like to take her back to Russia to visit.  Let her see the beauty of St. Petersburg.  But that is a few years away, sooooo….

To celebrate her recent (12th) birthday, I took Julia to Space Center Houston to have lunch with an astronaut.  Rachel and Hannah couldn’t afford to miss work, school, Girl Scouts, etc. but Lois – grinning wickedly about “senior spring” – tagged along.

Julia’s fifth grade teacher  has their room decorated in “Early NASA.”   They’ve held several video conferences with NASA’s educational staff, and next week – they’re studying the moon.  Great timing for this trip, no?

When we lived in Houston, we visited often.  Lois (center) was only five years old in 1998 when “Space Family Woodworth” shot their Christmas card photo on site.

The three-story playground – a huge hit.   I, however, preferred the stairs to return to the ground level.

The older girls tease Julia about having a “six pack of abs,” but those weren’t much help lifting a planetary-adjusted weight.

While Julia spun around 360 degrees in this capsule….

…Lois and I could watch her on this exterior screen.  Omigosh!  Good that we did this before lunch.

Before enjoying lunch with astronaut Ken Cameron, we heard him speak for 30 minutes in the Blast Off Theater.  He spent a year training in Russia with cosmonauts.  My favorite Russian had a million questions for him – until he sat down at our table.  Then it was all “nodding of the head” and “chewing of the chicken strips.”

One small girl; one giant Saturn V rocket – part of the tram tour.  You may be asking, “Where are all the other people?”  Answer:  We went on a rainy Friday.  We had the place virtually to ourselves.  We never waited in line,  or had to elbow someone at a display.  It was awesome.  The perfect time to go!

The Saturn V building made great use of QR codes.  Lois and I got a huge kick out of scanning the codes for more info like…..

….a photo of and links to more info on the third stage.  Don’t have the AT&T scanner?  Well, heck - get it now!

The magic of a green screen!

We ended the day (5 p.m.) where we began (10 a.m.) – in the play area.  Julia absolutely loved building motorized “lunar rovers.”   This is my favorite picture of the day because it captures her fascination and concentration.

Next year, Julia will be a teenager and we’ll start those delightful adolescent experiences.

But for this year – I’m glad to still have a child to enjoy an out-of-this-world birthday.

As 2012 approaches, our family is undergoing a fundamental shift in its #1 pastime – reading.

Keith and I come from families that read constantly.  I remember Mom and Judy swapping grocery bags stuffed with books.  My mom always had a book going – in fact, several:  One each in or by her chair in the den, bedside, car, purse and yes, one in the bathroom.  No Christmas or birthday was complete without a new book.  Or two.  Or three.   My first external validation of childhood responsibility was acquiring a library card – from a Houston Book Mobile that camped in a grocery store parking lot, long before Meyer Branch Library was built.

Keith and I love to read.  Our 1992 “Three Wise Woodworths” Christmas card plus….

…the Christmas card insert.   I’ll bet I read “Muppets in my Neighborhood” to Rachel 500 times.

But over time, what do you do with books?  Swap them around, sure.  Sell an occasional load to Half Price Books, maybe.  Build/buy more shelves, assuredly.  I quit keeping any but the most rare of freshly-acquired books soon after we moved here, simply because our den and bedroom shelves overflowed.

Enter the e-Reader.

I am not a technological early adopter.  I love technology – when it works for me.  But I have no interest in being “first.”  I am more than willing for someone else to work out the bugs and let the price drop before I buy a new toy.

Keith is a technological early adopter.  The financial constraints of providing for a six-person family, however, mean that he can’t always “be first” as he usually was when he was single.  He has to weigh purchases with their value for six people, not just one.  But when he buys – wow, he knows what’s doing.   He’s been a forums user since the 90′s and scours scores of tech sites daily.   He is our family’s source for knowledge of all things that must boot.

Keith switched to an e-Reader – specifically, a Barnes & Noble Nook – about two years ago.  His motto:  “No more dead tree.”  He carries his scri-fi loaded Nook everywhere he might have a chance to read on it  He no longer buys – and very seldom reads – paper books.

I downloaded the Amazon Kindle, Nook, Borders Kobo and iBooks apps for my iPad last Christmas and slowly began to read e-Books, enticed by a great holiday sale at Borders.  I liked e-Reading fine, but still refused to chant “no dead tree.”  After a year of e-Reading mixed with paper reading, I can see advantages/disadvantages to each – especially since Lois, Hannah, Julia and my sister Judy got Nooks for Christmas this year.

Lois’ Nook on its charger amidst her desk clutter.  The best books I read this year were “Empire of the Summer Moon,” and “The Immortal Henrietta Lacks,” and I read them digitally.

Advantages to an e-Reader

1.  Portability.  You can carry multiple books with you easily.  When I traveled with “dead tree,” I always carried three books – the one I was currently reading, my next planned book and a third, just in case the “next planned” was a dog.  Now I just slip my iPad in my carry-on and I’m done.

2.  Ease of reading.  As I’ve – ummm, “matured” – I’ve noticed font sizes getting smaller.  Any decent e-reader allows font size change, brightness change (if back lit), etc.  One exception:  Most e-readers have small screens.  As Judy has pointed out – “I wish there was more on a page.”  Tablets have the bigger screens, but are also pricey.

3.  Familiarity.  My kids have always lived in a digital world.  They are more comfortable with electronics than other media.  Rachel bought her own Nook a few months ago and has more than doubled the amount of time she reads for pleasure.  We’re hoping an e-Reader will do the same for Julia, who seldom reads for fun unless goaded.

“The Magic Tree House” reads better digitally, I’m told…..

4.  Convenience.  Want that book?  Just log in and download it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.  No wasting gas driving to a b&m (bricks and mortar) store, or waiting on UPS to deliver the box.

5.  Storage.   Look around.  Enough said.

Advantages to “Dead Tree”

1.  Personalization.  An inscribed bo0k means something – at least to me.  I don’t think an Amazon gift card for a Kindle book is nearly as personal as an inscribed tome.  More practical, yes, but not as personal.

I find it difficult to give away any book my mom inscribed to me.  Ridiculous, because she was more than pen and ink.  But still difficult.  I met author Robert Massie at a luncheon this fall.  He inscribed a copy of his new “Catherine the Great” to Julia.  After I read it, I’ll place that “dead tree” copy in her room.  She’ll appreciate it one day.  I hope.

2.  Ease of sharing.  Amazon plus Barnes and Noble have very limited sharing ability.  99.99% of the time, if you bought the book, it can only be read via the device associated with your account.  You can’t – as I have done for so many years – throw that book in a closet for your next trip to Houston to hand off to your sister.

3.  Annotating.  You can digitally annotate, but my fat fingers don’t like tiny keyboards.  It’s easier for me to grab a yellow highlighter and a pen to mark up whatever devotional our Wednesday night bible class is studying.

4.  Better choices in the public library.  At least in San Antonio, the digital choices are slim compared to paper.  And who has time to drive to the library?  I just don’t.  I grew up an avid library user (both public and school) but found that after I had kids, I simply did not have time to work in non-essential car trips, or patience for one more due date.  Sounds whiny, but true.

Neutral Factors

1.  Cost.  Sure, there’s an entry cost to e-Readers, but devices have gotten much cheaper – and prices continue to fall.  I don’t think entry cost is significant any longer if you’re buying an e-Reader.  Now if you’re buying a tablet with e-Reader apps – that’s different.  Tablets definitely carry a significant entry cost.  Also, the cost of e-books versus paper books has narrowed to about $1 for new releases.  Of course, used paper books and/or late release paperbacks are cheaper.   Commensurately, late release paperback prices for e-Readers  are lower, too.  I know there are a million variables, and I am generally pretty frugal with entertainment money and – ceteris parabis – I think the costs are closing in on “equal” for most purchases.

As part of cost…..if you lose a paperback book, it’s usually an annoyance, but not a big deal.  I’ve left them on the bus, at the doctor’s office, etc.  Irritating, but not devastating.  If I lost my iPad, I’d be crushed.  Crippled.  Inconsolable.  In addition to being without my best friend, it’d cost $500+ to replace it.  So I do not carry my iPad on the bus, where I none-too-gently sling around my “blue bag.”  If/when I see a killer deal on Nooks, I think I’ll get myself one strictly as my “leave the house” reader.  I tend to take care of my possessions and wouldn’t plan to lose it or break it, but if I did, I wouldn’t tear my clothes and cover myself in ashes like I would if it were my iPad.

My “bus bag, ” souvenir of working the 1992 Republican Convention.  It will wear out one day (as the numerous small holes enlarge) but in the meantime, it carries my lunch, an umbrella and my current “bus book.”  I have an entire section of a wall unit crammed with a diminishing supply of paperbacks ($.50@) and hard backs ($1@) we bought in April at the NEISD used book sale.  We’ve gone every year but I wonder if we’ll go in 2012?  I kind of doubt it.

2.  Inventory.  If it’s new, a classic or sold well in the last 50 years, chances are there’s an e-version.

I hope your 2012 is filled with life, laughter and lots of good books – however you read them.

Julia has announced her intended career.  She wants to be a dentist.  She’s been saying this for more than a year, and she’s sketched out line art and a time line to prove it.

That’s me represented in the reclining chair.  My child stick needles in my gums and run a drill in my head?  Ummm….I’m thinking not.

At age 11, I had no real idea what profession I wanted to follow.  History teacher?  Attorney?  Nurse?  I still ask myself from time to time what I want to be when I grow up, since many days, I don’t feel as much “mature” as just “older.”  I never pictured myself squeezing into panty hose, lugging a laptop downtown and managing various responsibilities for AT&T.  I think – over time – I’ve become what is essentially a “professional manager,” applying skills and knowledge acquired in one position into the next.  I’ve been very fortunate to have some great jobs the last several years, but still – I never pictured myself doing this.  In fact, I never pictured myself in most of the specifics of my life.  That’s not to say I’m unhappy with them.  I love my God, husband and kids; good books, gospel music and the neighborhood pool thrill me; I don’t envy much and I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.  But I can’t pretend my life is the result of a brilliant master plan that I’ve followed, or even that I’ve made all the choices God wanted me to make.

Hannah came to the office with me one summer day in 2004.  My good AT&T friend Vicki- always Hannah’s favorite – called her at my desk.  “My mom doesn’t really work,” Hannah told Vicki.  “She just types and talks on the phone.”

One of the events of my life I could never have foretold and had the most trouble dealing with was the death of my younger brother David in 2004.  You expect – at least intellectually – to lose your parents, aunts, uncles, etc.  That is the natural order.  To lose someone dear younger than yourself is not the natural order, and that upset adds an additional acrid layer of complexity to grief.  I’ve not been able to see his children Josh and Miriam too frequently, as they’ve moved about internationally.  But they are in Texas visiting family now, and we drove to see them yesterday.

(Clockwise from left) Lois, 17; Julia, 11; Josh, 16; Miriam, 14; Hannah, 15.  Wish Rachel had been with us, but she’s with friends from camp in Alpine this weekend.

I loved visiting with them about their school plans, and their career aspirations.  As I sat there, I thought a lot about my grandmother from the hills of Kentucky.  Barely literate.  Never flew on an plane.  And then my mom, a self-described “misplaced Hoosier” reluctantly dragged to Texas.  Voracious reader, and one of the first women to work for TWA.  She saw Charles Lindberg in the Indianapolis airport.  And now these kids – one born in Russia, two living in South America, all have traveled internationally, all with wider experiences than I had at twice their ages.

What will they be when they grow up?   Will Julia really be a dentist?  I don’t know.

What I do know is that life will deal these kids – as it does everyone else – some wild cards.  Circumstances, conditions and events none could not have foretold, and would not have chosen.  And like my grandmother losing her oldest son while rescuing her youngest from drowning, and my mother navigating the uncharted waters of rearing a disabled child – they’ll have to figure out who and what they are time and again.  Year after year.  Decade after decade.

Because no matter your profession or age, the ability handle the unplanned and unexpected is what really makes you a grown-up.