Two years ago tonight I mentioned making preparations for New Year’s Eve, but I did not mention anything about our celebration. There’s not much to it, really, but it’s a bit of an extravagance. I buy quite a few foods I would not buy at any other time of year, from pizza rolls to spinach puffs to pigs in a blanket to potato skins to mini eclairs. My evening is spent getting such things as french toast sticks and chicken dippers and potato puffs heated and served in a continuing feast, along with making a punch that contains soda, several fruit juice concentrates, and sherbet. At midnight we bang pots and open doors (this was much more difficult when we tried to keep all the cats inside, but that seems to be an objective we have abandoned, and the cats do not wish to be inside when this racket is raised). My wife is big on the tradition of chasing out the old year and letting the new one arrive; I’m in it for the food.

I mention it because that’s where I was late this afternoon, first visiting the store that

1. closes early on Sunday
2. has the best prices and
3. will be limited in selection,

and then going to the other store where I can get those items not available at the first, as long as I am willing to pay for them.

I did a bit of editing on the Romans notes–my pastor, who took the time to encourage me after church and to thank me for the Corinthians list which he says he is compiling into his own file copy, is looking forward to being able to browse through them when I’ve finished. I’ve also started writing a new song, about passing through a portal to a new world, which I keep poking at when I’m driving or otherwise intellectually underoccupied, but which I keep telling myself to save for Thursday so that I can involve Baxter and Brittany in the process, both of whom are hoping to get a bit of teaching on how to write songs from me, and not to snub Adam, he should be part of it, too. If it comes out well, we’ll add it to the Collision repertoire.

So I guess I’ve been busy, although the largest single thing in terms of time I did yesterday was take an early evening nap, which by then I needed.

–M. J. Young

I lost the better part of the morning on a venture to a medical lab with a family member who does not drive; it was entirely not his fault that the paperwork was wrong and they would not take the sample for the test. We got that in writing, so that should stimulate someone to get the right paperwork next time.

The better part of the afternoon disappeared into a dental appointment. I was anticipating undergoing root canal; I was hit with two such procedures. I am not certain whether the effects have been more severe on my mouth or my wallet.

When I returned home, several people asked if I was all right. I responded that I thought I was, or at least that I was as all right as one can expect to be after getting root canal. One of my son’s more insightful friends asked if that was actually what happened, or it that was an expression of how I felt. I’m going to have to remember that line; it will fit in a book somewhere, I’m sure.

The upshot of this is that I am sore and exhausted, and thinking that the best plan for me tonight, particularly as I do not have any additional errands, is to go to bed, get some rest, and start fresh tomorrow. I notice that there are more forum posts than I can reasonably address in a brief time, and while I would like to wade into these, it’s not practical tonight.

I do have to do laundry, put away dinner (thanks to a houseguest who cooked for me tonight), and post to the Corinthians list (several have joined in recent weeks), but I think I can put play off to tomorrow in favor of recuperative rest.

–M. J. Young

Most of what I wrote on Friday has followup news today, but there’s not much that’s new. I have been running pretty solidly since Friday, and was late to more than one engagement, but everything that needed to be done was done–some of it a bit less than smoothly.

The person I brought here Friday night for today’s meeting has tentatively decided to stay the night and return tomorrow, which saves me some driving since I have to make half the journey anyway, to get my mother-in-law to the store yet again. That complicates tomorrow’s work, but it simplifies tonight immensely.

Tonight I have to launch the new study in I Corinthians, but otherwise I’m in the winding down phase of the day.

On a subject that has not been mentioned for a while, I’ve suddenly got a stack of stuff for the Temporal Anomalies site. I have been struggling with Primer–a movie that I have thus far found very nearly unwatchable for how slowly it moves, although this might in part be because I’m always starting it sometime around midnight. I also have a copy of Lakehouse, provided at the same time by the same reader. Today I was handed two more films, Next with Nicholas Cage and Premonition with Sandra Bullock. I’m not certain whether either actually is a time travel movie, but one way or another I’ll watch them and reach some conclusion.

Speaking of conclusions, I’m hoping to reach one early tonight–that is, of my work for the day. I’ve a long drive tomorrow on top of a lot of work that normally hits on Monday, so I’d like an early night and an early start in the morning. Maybe I can get that.

–M. J. Young