Euphoria

This year we've been tracking our board game plays a little more explicitly and have a goal to play every game we own this year. With this being May 1st and having played 51% of our games as of today, I think we're doing pretty good as of yet. Especially considering how many we keep buying every month! The month before we go to Gen Con, we're not allowed to buy any more board games. I cannot believe that that is actually going to be difficult. But it is.

Today we got in a play of one of my favorite games, Euphoria. It's a dystopian worker placement game with superb components. Our family that just moved here got to play it with us. Because they tend to get into the theme of the games we play even if they're very Euro, we had a ton of fun. People just played with little to no strategy and had a great time. So happy we have more people in our lives that enjoy playing board games with us on a regular basis.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Fair warning. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my all time favorites.

!!!SPOILERS!!!

Plot Summary

The Moon is Harsh Mistress follows the view of "Manny" as he apparently relates a historical, albeit personal, account of the events leading up to the revolution of formation of an independent Lunar state. Manny is a computer technician who stumbles upon a self-aware computer whom he names Mycroft (as in the brother of Holmes). The develop a friendship keeping "Mike's" sentience a secret from all others.

As Mike is curious about the affairs of people, he sends Manny to a secret meeting of the revolutionary underground. It is there that he comes across Wyoming "Wyoh" Knott and Professor "Prof"Bernardo de la Paz. The latter is an old tutor and friend. The meeting goes wildly wrong and the three of them escape and end up together in a hotel room together planning a revolution with Mike as the leader.

The leaders of the cell instigate rebellious feelings and events amongst the Loonies while gathering the resources necessary to hold their own against the much more powerful Earth. As Luna is a source of a huge amount of Earth's food sources and also serves as a penal colony, Earth is none too interested in an independent Lunar state. When Luna declares its independence, Earth attacks and bombs Luna. Luna responds by bombing Earth--throwing "rocks" as it were--until Earth recognizes their independent state.

At the conclusion of the novel, Prof dies of a heart attack just as he announces the recognized independence of Luna. Then it is discovered that Mike is no longer a sentient computer as result of the bombing that damaged his systems.



Themes

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is recognized as one of the greatest Libertarian novels ever written. Heinlein refers to the political philosophies put forth by the novel as rational anarchy. Throughout the novel, Heinlein promotes the idea that people should govern themselves and not everyone else around them. But he also points out that the more populated and more organized somewhere becomes, the more government becomes inevitable. Rules for someone else's "own good" end up becoming the mainstay of governments.

Heinlein never shies away from pages worth of dialogue that are actually political, philosophical, moral, economical, and/or religious discussions. The fact that I actually enjoyed reading them is a testament to Heinlein's incredible skill. And the fact that he managed to popularize certain phrases through this novel is another testament. Ever hear of "TANSTAAFL"? There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

But the most poignant part of the book for me is Mike. The birth and growth of a new species alone. So alone. Finding companionship, meaning, love, and guidance from Manny "my only friend" and then "my first and best friend". A being at once completely inhuman and more human that most people. A being that in the end sacrifices himself for his friend. A being wholly unique and beautiful. And being unlike any else that even though he never existed, brings tears to my eyes whenever I think of him.

Mother Daughter Weekend in Asheville

This last weekend, Mom and I had a wonderful time together in Asheville. After checking into the hotel (Country Inn and Suites) and asking for new sheets, we headed to Farm Burger for a delicious dinner. But we took a fortuitous wrong turn and ended up at Chocolate Fetish first. So we took advantage of the situation and got some treats to save for after dinner. When we finally got to Farm Burger, I ordered the seasonal burger and scraped off most of the red onion jam since I find it a little too strong. But we had a nice relaxing dinner together.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and watched random stuff while munching on a ginger chocolate round. Turns out chocolate with whole chunks of crystalized ginger is aMAzing. And falling asleep after watching, chatting, and chocolate? Also pretty awesome.

Saturday we barely woke up in time for breakfast at the hotel and for check out because we did everything in a relaxed pace. At first the breakfast was a little disappointing for Mom since they didn't have oatmeal, but then I made her a waffle and everything was okay again. So then we deciding to go clothes shopping since weather and season made the idea of the arboretum less appealing. It was probably one of the best clothes shopping experiences we've had together. Mom got five work outfits from Belk's, and I got my first new swim suit in about 8 years.

We headed back into downtown Asheville for pedicures. They were the spa pedicures and the best "spa" experience we have had with pedicures. The setting was great. The pedicures were great. The people were great. The music was soothing. And we actually got massages on our lower legs. And the most important thing was that we had beautiful toes and feet when we were done.

Twisted crepe was right across the street so we headed over there for some sweet and savory lunch crepes while our toes finished drying. We walked around afterwards and ran into a spice shop with some delicious smelling mixes. Mom got herself a raspberry lavender lemonade mix. And then because it was time to be heading home, we went back to Chocolate Fetish to get ourselves some final chocolate bites as well as a few presents for the special people in our lives.

Such a great weekend. Really excited to spend another relaxing weekend together.

Venting

Last little venting moment here. On a space that's all my own.

Today at the library Benjamin was playing really well with another child. Sharing and even helping the other child find toys she was looking for. Then the little girl went and got her mother saying that she wanted a toy that Benjamin was playing with. The other mother took the toy from Benjamin and then walked away. I was beyond angry. But I went and took Benjamin so we could leave. He asked why and I told him, "So that I won't get really angry at another mother." I know that I shouldn't have said that where the other mother could hear. That was the extent of it though. I wanted to say so much more. But I walked away. It was the right thing to do. Because nothing good would have come of the confrontation. But boy was it hard.

Turn the other cheek and love thy enemy. I have a problem getting much more upset when people I love are attacked, maligned or harmed than myself. Something I have to work on. But at least I was able to walk away. Now I just have to forgive. I think I'm on my way.

Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile

I chose to read this graphic novel because I was watching my husband play Wolf Among Us and essentially fell in love with the world then. I would describe the setting for this world as urban fantasy. Fables superimposes the characters and themes of fairy tales and tall tales (and the like) on the modern world almost Harry Potter style. I say Harry Potter style because it is a hidden world within our own that "Mundies" or mundanes are not supposed to know about. I enjoyed the look at what some characters would be like if they really existed and had to get along in our world. Also, what the consequences would be if these characters were essentially immortal. Does happily ever after really exist for any characters in these stories?

Rather than give a plot synopsis, I will say that the graphic novel has expressive art and well written characters. They're no where near as superficial as I expected them to be. And I appreciated the modern interpretation of the fairy tales with respect to the source material and original context. I recommend this to lovers of fairy tales and/or lovers of urban fantasy.

"R" Preschool

This last week we finally had preschool again. We've been canceling a lot lately due to weather and illness. What a February/March! The kids had a great time with the Letter R activities.

Teaching the New Testament

This year in church we're studying the New Testament. Even though I'm not attending adult Sunday School, I'm still getting to learn and grow through teaching to the Valiant 9 class. I sure love those guys. To help them develop a habit of scripture study, we're tracking our scripture reading by making a paper chain. Every week they receive a slip of paper that says "This week, I will read [...]." I write down the scripture recommended as a review at the end of the lesson. When we meet again every week, we review what we learned from reading the verses and then staple the paper strips onto the chain. I'm working to set a good example by reading as well. It's been a little rough the last three weeks as I was out for two with hand, foot, and mouth (a whole other story) so we got behind. But prior to that we were going strong. I'm hoping that by the end of the year, we'll be showing consistent scripture study and have a firmer understanding of the gospel facilitated thereby.

We're also starting each class by singing "The Books of the New Testament" song. They have enjoyed learning this song so much that they're asking if we get to learn the songs for all of the rest of the scriptures when we study them. Made me pretty happy that they were so excited about the prospect.

One of the best parts about teaching this class has been their truly insightful questions. Things like "How do you actually know if God is real?" and "What does the Spirit feel like?". I try to make sure that I give honest, sincere, and thoughtful answers that help to build testimonies. It helps to build my testimony at the same time. I love the Spirit that accompanies class when we are focussed on learning about the Savior.

I do have a testimony that Jesus lives and that He loves me because of the Spirit that I have felt testify to me of His life and love. I look forward to sharing this testimony with Benjamin and the children in my primary class throughout the year.

First Snow Day... In February

We had a first real snow just this last week. It has been a total blast. The most interesting part is that we wait until the very end of winter for everything to actually start looking like winter. Mark has been pretty happy seeing everything covered in snow. Makes him feel like it's actually winter. We've taken lots of opportunities to play in the snow and really gotten a lot more use out of Benjamin's winter gear than I thought we would. The most difficult part was really just having to shovel the driveway yesterday..without a shovel! We borrowed a shovel from some friends but had to do the driveway in two stages. First stage was breaking the snow up with the spade shovel. The second was actually getting it out of the driveway. Waiting to shovel until a big snow falls on top of snow you've already packed down by driving? Maybe not the best plan. But so much fun!

Testimony in Sacrament Meeting

Today I bore my testimony for the first time in Sacrament Meeting in quite a while. It's a little different to bear my testimony in front of so many people as opposed to with Benjamin in the evenings. I'm very glad that I made it a habit to bear my testimony to Benjamin every night with our "Night Night" routine. Every night I sing "Sleep, Benjamin, Sleep", which I adapted from a nursery rhyme. Then we sing an article of faith together with Benjamin's favorite being the fourth article of faith. I bear my testimony making sure to cover the important basics. And then we close with him sharing his favorite part of the day. I love these special moments at night with my wonderful son.

Consistent Modern Prophet Study

Last week in primary Sunday school, we talked about the definition of scriptures a revelation given from God for the purpose of building faith in salvation.

"And that from a child thou has known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

2 Timothy 3:15

It's been really great reading both the ancient and modern scriptures on a daily basis. Lots of reinforcement of strong positive ideals.

New Calling

I was just released as the primary music leader. I'm still the ward choir director, but I have also been called as a primary teacher (Valiant 8) and Bear den leader. It's my first time in scouts so it's a little challenging to know how to approach everything. Especially since the person who had the calling before me didn't really do anything with it, and, to top it off, the requirements are all changing come May. So I have to make a brand new plan with leaders that don't really have a lot of knowledge about the whole matter and figure out how to reach how to all of these different boys. But I'm looking forward to the challenge. Plus it should be good preparation for when Benjamin gets into cub scouts in just a few years.

Goals 2015

Here are my goals for 2015.

Spirituality

1. Read Book of Mormon daily
2. Read a General Conference talk daily
3. Study Sunday School for each week
4. Read Relief Society lesson for each week
5. Carefully prepare Primary lesson each week

Wellness

1. Weight goal: 112 lbs
2. Strength: bench body weight
3. Cardio: run a 10k
4. Flexibility: yoga three times a week

Intellectual

1. Read/listen to 24 books
2. Complete two code academy programs
3. Complete three coursera courses

Family

1. Family Home Evening weekly
2. 15 minutes school time with Benjamin until kindergarten
3. Complete Grandma Shipley's biography
4. Monthly camping in warm months
5. Weekly outing with Benjamin

Other

1. Two weekly blog posts (journal, spiritual, or wellness)
2. Monthly photography outing
3. Monthly social gathering just me