Monday – Eli screamed and cried most of the time. I did get him to stop crying for a few minutes while we did some playing. I was getting a lot of pity looks from people. Dave did not come with to the class.

Tuesday – Dave came with us (lessons are in the morning before Dave has to work) and it went much better. Eli cried as soon as we entered the building, fussed as I got him ready to swim, whined as he got in the water with Dave and I, but was laughing within 5 minutes. Dave did a wonderful job of getting him comfortable and laughing. Eli had a much better day in the water.

Wednesday – Eli was happy the entire time. We played ball with the swim instructor and the other student. He had tons of fun hanging out with Dave and making faces at me. He kept signing ‘more please’ throughout the entire class. We all had a great time!

Thursday – Eli waltzed right into the building and headed toward the locker room. He claimed a locker for us, took off his shoes and hat, he needed help with his shirt. He scurried toward the pool door, as soon as we got into the pool area he babbled about the water and balls (there are toys to play with in the pool). I jumped in the pool and Eli insisted on taking the ladder into the pool. He kicked and swam, watched me blow bubbles, threw a ball around in the water for us to chase, put a floaty device on and swam only holding onto one of my fingers and giggled a lot. Eli was having fun until we went over to the landing. He was able to stand up on his down and the water was up to his chest. However, he was not happy. It was something new and different, he wasn’t comfortable with it. There was a lot of cry, screaming and clinging to me for the last few minutes of class. Dave wasn’t able to come with us today due to his work schedule.

Each day, Eli has fallen asleep on the way home from swim lessons. Apparently swimming tires him out! We have four more days of swim lessons next week. Hopefully we can have a great week and end the lessons on a good note.

TANGENT ALERT: Forgive me if you prefer the word ‘film’ to ‘movie,’ but I have an aversion to using the former as it sounds a little too snobbish for my liking. ‘Film,’ in its current, common use, seems to imply superiority over the other. I liken it to the jargon thrown around in various industries. My own educational experiences yielded many similar examples, most glaring of which is the design industry’s preference for the term ‘typeface’ over ‘font.’ People using the latter were often corrected and occasionally perceived as amateurs. ‘Film’ conjures up similar feelings of elitism. These terms seem to be used in a way that attempts to legitimize taking the time to discuss them. </TANGENT>

I enjoyed the way the movie explored the darker side of heroes and humanity. Oddly enough, I found a similar theme in another movie the other night: The Incredibles. The heroes in that story were also shut down by the government and forced into hiding, living mundane lives as seemingly ordinary people. However, being a Disney flick, their return to glory had a bit happier ending.

A friend asked me after originally seeing Watchmen what I thought of it as a person who had not read the graphic novel [the ill-informed might have called it a comic book; perhaps I should have]. I told him that I liked the great detail that was given to each character and, because it was well done, didn’t mind the length of the show (a long 162 minutes). It would have been very easy to cut the movie down to a more common length by eliminating much of the detail and sticking to a linear plot line, but it wouldn’t have had the same impact.

I didn’t set out writing this post with any great purpose other than to say I liked Watchmen. That said, I would highly recommend this movie.

There were some others at the retreat that were sick toward the end as well. It’s hard to say if they were related, but it seems like more than just coincidence. Who knows.

After that video I noticed something interesting. I (or anyone else watching) could help choose the upcoming videos via the tv next to the one actually playing the videos. They were using a website’s texting service to choose songs (American Idol-style). The tv on the left showed previews of potential upcoming videos with a text code for each. You could also send a text to find out the current song playing.

It was kind of a neat idea, but at the same time, who cares enough to actually do that. I find myself wondering if this is the way we’re headed given everyone’s (media outlets, social networking sites, blah blah) rush to include interactivity in as many facets of their reach as possible. If so, I will play the “old man” card and say that I don’t care. I just want to eat chinese in the food court.

I’m hoping, though, that we don’t get the same variety as other places in the metro. A black bear was spotted the other day in Oakdale. I don’t have a garage to put the trash cans into yet.

Eli keeps us on our toes. He is such a bundle of energy. There is rarely a time when he just sits and vegges out; he is always on the go. I often get tired just watching him go all the time. For a few weeks he absolutely LOVED reading his books. He would bring a book to us and indicate that he wanted us to read to him. His current favorite toys are his big lego block set. He loves to stack these on top of each other, and then he takes it apart one by one only to stack them up again. Eli is walking and attempting to run everywhere. He is talking a lot more; not a lot of words (that we can understand) but he certainly knows what he is saying. The past week has been a bit rough on Eli. Last week he was diagnosed with a pink eye, Wednesday he was diagnosed with an ear infection and Thursday (after a trip to the ER) we found out he has a viral infection. Hopefully this is the worst of it and from here on out he can kick sickness to the curb.

Dave is still busy working at FedEx and driving the big truck. He recently got done designing a friend’s band’s CD cover. It turned out great! Everyone was really pleased. Recently he returned to his former hobby – interneting!! He is now back in business of buying and selling gear online. He has bought/sold several pedals and his beloved cabinet and amp set. But no worries, the new cab and amp set have been order and will be here soon. J Dave just realized the other day that softball season is just around the corner and he’s excited!!! I’m looking forward to spending the spring/summer watching the games with Eli. I’m sure I’ll do more ‘Eli chasing’ than game watching.

I’m still busy with work. I’m still driving all over the countryside teaching students, but I LOVE it (most days)!! I’ve recently started staying after school 3 days a week to tutor some students and 1 day to teach some staff sign language. It makes my schedule a bit more busy, but I’m enjoying it. I have recently decided to stop selling At Home America. I had an absolute blast selling it but had to stop for various reasons. I will miss the business but I’m looking forward to my small amount of new freedom. As always I’ve been busy crocheting when I can, I’ve gotten several more baby blankets done and always working on more. J In a few weeks I’m going away for a weekend to scrapbook/stamp. I’m really excited about that. I want to get caught up on Eli’s book, possibly make one of the changes to our house and stamp a lot of cards (I don’t have any left).

I have added pictures to various photo albums. Look at the current dates on the albums and enjoy the newest pictures!!

That is the latest with the Burlingame family!