Crazy Ball: Another game from the minds of kids

Required equipment: 

• open space
• at least 2 balls
• players
• 1 umperor
• Recommended but optional--slick pants

How to play:

Players 'bowl' balls along the floor trying to get their ball into other players' corners. Players defend their corners from balls.

If a ball hits the wall of another player's corner, that is a Yay. And everyone says, "Yay." If a ball hits a player, it's an ouch. If a ball hits another ball, it's a "Woo-woo". If two balls hit the same wall/object, it is a hooray. If a ball manages to bounce off of three things, it's a "Hip hooray". 

It is not required to have one ball per player. 

There are no points. The idea is just to create chaos, really.

Additional phrases can be added as players choose. 

The umperor starts and pauses play as needed. 

You can also have a wandering interruption on the court, when a non-player moseys onto the playing field. Just for kicks. 

It's easy to learn, easy to play, and plenty of laughs. So, grab your gear and have some fun!

Holiday speedbump

I like Thanksgiving. I really do. But for some reason, this year I just want to jump straight to the Christmas season. 

I don't really know why. It's a good time with family and good food and time off work. And Christmas right around the corner. But I'm so in the mood for the Christmas season. I'm ready for the lights and the trees and the music and the cold--preferably snow. I really want snow. And more time off and time with family and the fun of gift-giving (which I really do enjoy). 

And the good news is that it's almost here. And it will be fun and then Christmas. But it does feel like it's been a long time coming. And simultaneously, how can it possibly be here?

Yep. Time is just wacky.

Interruptions

I have a bookshelf I've been working on staining, varnishing, and assembling since around August. And I have these moments where I sit back and think, "How is this thing not done yet?!" I mean, seriously. How has it taken me so long?

Well, the answer is "interruptions." My life has been full of them. I swear, my day never goes as planned and I acknowledge that at least some of this is on me, but so much of it is stuff just happens. Too much work, so I stay late which means less time for projects at home. (And that's the number one reason why stuff isn't getting done right now. The work-life balance is a little not there). People needing things suddenly, shifting all the priorities for the day. An unexpected phone call--which I am notoriously bad at keeping short. 

It's also not helpful that my brain feels like mush, so by the end of a workday, I'm not at any kind of capacity. And I think everyone is feeling tired. At least, all the surveys I've done have confirmed that conclusion. Which is also not helping in the productivity department. 

But at some point, I will get that shelf done. And I'm optimistic that I will get that at some point, I'll even get a little more together and actually get some things done. Because one can dream.

 

What time is it?

Every now and then, my tendency to delay actually works in my favor. Like this morning. When I forgot that it was daylight savings (why is this still a thing?) and so didn't change my clock last night. And, slept in a bit late. Which I should regret, but honestly, it was lovely and this is possibly part of why I am not making much progress towards having a more regular sleep schedule because seriously, it is always so much nicer to stay in bed than to get out of it. Anyway, it ended up working out because it means I didn't show up at church an hour early and very confused. 

Also, I just want to say that the google newsfeed failed big time. Why on earth are they showing me articles about daylight savings time AFTER it happens? And this is why I question the intelligence of artificial intelligence.