Holidays Archives - Page 6 of 16

Giving Thanks

November 22, 2012 TechyDad Holidays

Today is Thanksgiving, a day when we think of the things we’re thankful for. Here is a short lot of some of the things I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful that my friends and family weathered Hurricane Sandy with no injuries and with minimal damage to their houses.

I’m thankful that JSL loves playing his "video game" – a bunch of magnets on the refrigerator that he uses to make up games – while I cook dinner.

I’m thankful that NHL is loving school and learning so much.

I’m thankful that both of my kids (but especially NHL) are geeks-in-training.

I’m thankful that I have a wonderfully smart (and wonderfully beautiful) wife to share the parenting highs and lows with.

I’m thankful my friends on social media with whom I talk about parenting, geeky pursuits, and just about anything that crosses our minds.

Here’s hoping that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you have plenty to be thankful for now and in the coming year.

What are you thankful for this year?

Note: The Turkey image above is by Jamain and is available from Wikimedia Commons.

Aloha Friday: Stuffed With Stuffing

November 16, 2012 TechyDad Aloha Friday, Food, Holidays

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Getting together with family. Remembering what you’re thankful for. And food. All of the food.

I love eating turkey with gravy, sweet potato pie (with melted marshmallows on top, of course), and stuffing. In fact, I like the latter two so much, I’ll often load my plate up with stuffing and sweet potatoes and skip the turkey. I’ll also often eat a little more of those wonderful dishes when I really should realize that I’m full.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: What Thanksgiving dishes do you stuff yourself with?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #165

A Lack of Trick or Treat Enthusiasm

November 1, 2012 TechyDad Holidays, Weather

I want to write a long, photo filled blog post about Halloween. After all, the boys got a big treat yesterday. Since Sandy didn’t strike us as badly as we thought it would, they were actually able to go out Trick or Treating.

The kids had a great time during trick or treating and so did I. So why can’t I work up the enthusiasm write about it?

One word:

As I said above, Sandy didn’t hit us hard. It did hit my family and friends, though. My parents lost power and had trees down all over. Just to get out of their residential area, three trees had to be moved. My sister has power back now, but she lost it for over a day. During her outage, she tried to find a place to buy ice. While driving, she had to keep turning down different roads to avoid downed trees and power lines. She made so many twists and turns that she got lost.

During one of my brief conversations with my parents, they asked me to check in with my uncle. Not only was he in the path of the storm as well, but all of my cousins were including one cousin who lives in New Jersey. After a full day of calling, I finally reached him. We spoke briefly, but he confirmed that they were without power as were all of my cousins. They were all safe (as were my cousins), but they needed to drive under a partially downed tree leaning on a power line to get out of their driveway.

The last person I was trying to contact was a friend of mine. We’ve been friends since junior high school, he was my best man in my wedding, and I was a groomsman in his wedding. No matter how often I tried, though, I couldn’t get through to him. I left voicemail messages and sent e-mails hoping something would reach him. Finally, yesterday, I heard from him. He was ok as is his family in New York and New Jersey. A tree ripped out the power line going to their house and they were looking at at least a week without power. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a long time to chat with him. He called with only 2% of his cellphone battery left and the phone cut out.

Even though I know they’re ok, I’m used to the era of instant communication. I want to talk to my parents so I pick up a phone, dial their home or cell number and reach them. I’ll admit that, at times, I’m lax in communicating with them because of this freedom. After all, what’s the rush to call when I can talk to them at any moment? However, not having that instant communication ability is maddening. I want to know what’s going on and how they’re doing, but I am only able to speak with them for brief moments every so often.

Here’s hoping that power is restored soon and that the recovery efforts move speedily.

Sandy’s Halloween Trick

October 30, 2012 TechyDad Fun, Harry Potter, Holidays, JSL, NHL

Wednesday is Halloween. However, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, going Trick or Treating is the last thing on many people’s minds. We knew that Wednesday was likely going to be a washout here. Of course, if that’s Sandy’s only legacy by us, we’ll count ourselves lucky.

On Sunday, the sky was cloudy, but there was no rain. It was a perfect time for the boys to a) be outside (something they won’t get to do for the next couple of days) and b) try out their costumes.

JSL had decided he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. Unfortunately, all of the Buzz costumes were for little kids and didn’t fit him. After Buzz, he couldn’t decide on Indiana Jones or Captain America. In the end, Captain America prevailed.

The costume itself was purchased for Halloween, but the mask and shield were items JSL already owned. (His mask fit better than the costume’s included mask.)

NHL chose Harry Potter, of course. We’re in the middle of reading the books and he’s in love with the entire series. When he needed glasses, back in March, he even picked a frame out because it looked like Harry’s.

NHL loves casting spells with his wand, even if he wasn’t quite character-accurate with the magic he was doing. Hint: Harry Potter does not tend to use Unforgiveable Curses like Cruciatus or Avada Kedavra.

The kids had a blast playing in their costumes. We don’t know what the next few days will bring. Hopefully, we’ll escape this hurricane with minimal damage. At least the boys were able to have some fun before Sandy struck.

Sweet New Year

September 17, 2012 TechyDad Holidays, Judaism, Religion

I’m going to be offline for the next two days while we celebrate Rosh Hashana. Thus the short post today and lack-of-a-post tomorrow.

For those who don’t know, this is the Jewish New Year. One of the many traditions on this holiday is to eat apples and honey. This is supposed to help you have a sweet year. I’ve got plenty of both here.

If you celebrate Rosh Hashana, I hope you have a good year ("L’shanah tovah"). If you don’t, I hope the rest of your year (and all of the ones after this one) are very sweet.

What is a favorite holiday tradition you have?

Disclaimer: The image above was created by combining Apples by gnokii and Honey Jar by PrinterKiller. Both of these images are available on OpenClipArt.org.

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