A New iPod, or, The Year Winding Down

Here I sit. It's my week off; forced in fact. At the U, you loose a certain portion of vacation time each year if it goes unused. I don't vacation a lot, so consequently I went in to the holiday season with 31 hours of use it or loose it time. Thus, here I sit, wondering what to do with myself. I went ahead and scheduled a couple of meetings for this week. That is okay, right?

This morning, after a night of almost no sleep, I watched PBS. I had tivo'd all the Lutheran Choral concerts that air each year - St. Olaf, Luther and Concordia, specifically. As a student of the Lutheran Choral tradition, these concerts are almost my "reason for the season." They allow me to live in the past and remember the tradition I come from. St. Olaf, especially, since Waldorf's choir and their were founded by the same composer, F. Melius Christiansen. We shared a lot of the same Presidents, faculty, staff and students. I have a warm place in my heart for them.

Christmas was again a blessed time for me. My cynical response to "Did Santa bring you everything you wanted" is typically, "My family doesn't exchange gifts, just barbs and insults." There is no truth to that statement, but I find it hilarious none the less.

This year, my parents relocated to Fargo, ND, and thus my Grandmother played the musical nursing home game. While Ashley, or the surrounding areas, has been her home for the duration of her life, all of her family has no left the area. She willingly relocated to the Good Samaritan Home in Oakes, ND, where her 2nd oldest, Jocelyn, lives. Several of the family members got together in Oakes to celebrate the holiday with my Grandma on Friday. It was a wonderful time, and a throwback to when my grandparents threw huge holiday gatherings on the family farm. Keep in mind, there are seven children (plus spouses), seventeen grand children, and seven great grand childern (plus some grandchildren's spouses). This, coupled with the fact that the Klipfel's know how to have a good time, made for enjoyable holiday family time.

Now, those children and grandchildren have scattered the nation, and our get-to-gethers are few and far between. That said, we still know how to have a good time.

The rest of Christmas was celebrated in Fargo at my parents house, and my niece and nephew proved the theory that Christmas really is about children. Each present was met with awe struck, pure, thanks. The time was relaxing, and the food was to die for. The fat clothes had to come off the top shelf, and I am planning on spending some of the holiday forced vacation in serious detox.

As I finally was able to afford a new iPod without too much strain, I am surrounded by piles of CDs. This week of vacation will exhaust me, and has flown by so quickly I am not sure what is going on.

In arts news, I will be starting as an interim executive director of the Fire Hall Theatre on the 9th of January, while still serving as the ED of the MSP through June. This will be an interesting transition, but we will be working with the Fire Hall and it's potential, upcoming merger. Things should start to get very interesting. Giddy up.

Peace::Ben::TeamCulturePulse