Dear Santa,
I'm a little early this year, but that's because I have some free time on my hands in the week before Christmas. Usually I'm running around like an owlbear with my head cut off (sorry, I've had my head in DnD land). Right now I find myself with some peace and quiet to reflect on the year and give you my list of demands wishes.
How are you this year? I hope that 2022 finds you well and that it wasn't too hard on your workshop. These past few years of experiencing supply chain issues and logistical problems has been a bit wearying, but I just have to remind myself that a little bit of discomfort is all I'm facing. People in generations before me had it way worse. So far there isn't anything we've had to go without, but my heart goes out to those who have had major issues getting the things they desperately need to survive.
How is Mrs. Claus? Are she and the elves healthy? With COVID-19 becoming an endemic problem, we've been more cavalier about our activities and discovered that the past two years of isolation meant that we mostly missed colds and the flu. We've made up for it this year with almost all of us getting majorly sick with one thing or another. But again, it's discomforting, nothing more. We've gotten over it and are working to be healthier.
Eleven years down, infinity to go
So, as for us, where do I begin? This year was a bit less eventful than years past, which I don't mind. Sarah and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary this year by going to a local Brazilian steakhouse. I ate way too much, but it was very tasty. I am very grateful that I've had that woman in my life for the past decade as I've navigated so many changes, pitfalls, and challenges. She's so patient with me and my never ending immaturity.
Getting up and close with the animals
Sarah continues to homeschool the kids, which is a huge blessing for our family. We've discovered a few particular special needs that our kids have that homeschooling addresses. There are a lot of advantages we also enjoy. For example, we belong to a few homeschool co-ops that organize field trips to various places around the area. For one trip, we went to a family-favorite place: The Armand Bayou Wildlife zoo. There you can get up and close with the many animals they have on their property. The kids thought it was a blast.
It had been too long
This year was the first time since 2019 where we were able to go to the Houston Rodeo & Livestock Show. As always, it was a blast. It was the first year where Lucy was able to go and she absolutely loved it. Her favorite event to watch was mutton busting, which is always a fun time.
Brad Paisley takes the stage
A nice visit from my parents
We also got a nice visit from my parents in the spring. I was working most of the time they were here, but they got to have a nice visit with their grandkids. They are still active and traveling around, but they are slowing down a bit. They no longer travel to Africa for humanitarian service mission purposes, but they still remain active in their own church congregation at home. It's always a joy to me to see my kids interact with them.
Visiting the conference center
The highlight of every summer is when my family makes their annual trek out to Utah and Idaho to visit family. They did a lot of sightseeing and got to visit some unique places.
Freeloading school lunches with cousins
One of the reasons they go out for so long is so they can get a chance to be with all their cousins on the Richardson side. Considering they really only have one or two cousins within their age-range on the Reynolds side, it's important for me that they get to know their cousins. I only have six cousins, the youngest of which is 14 years older than I am. So I really only had my brothers growing up. It's nice to see my kids have lots of other family relations beyond what they see at home.
Little fisher-people
I was able to come out and join my family for some fun and relaxation. One of my bucket list items for the year was to go down to the family cabin at Fish Lake. I took the kids fishing while we were there, which they had mixed reactions about. They had a hard time catching trout, so that got boring quickly. However, they loved going perch fishing. Dip your pole down and 30 seconds later you've got a fish on the line. That was about what their attention span could handle.
Visiting German cousins
I only had a short time to visit, but Sarah and the kids stayed a little longer. They had a good visit with their "German cousins". Jennifer was an exchange student from Germany with Sarah's family many years ago. This past summer she decided to take her kids on a trip to America and see many sights of the west. A lot of roadblocks popped up before their trip, but miraculously they all were taken care of in one way or another. My kids love talking about their German cousins and hopefully one day we'll be able to go visit them.
Lake Conroe, TX
Camping has here in Texas has now become one of my favorite pastimes. I try to take each of my kids on a one-on-one campout so they have some time alone with their dad, but occasionally we'll all go together. It's been great to get out with them this year.
Enjoying nature in all its glory
We can only camp from October to about April due to the heat of the area, but we sure do enjoy it. I've been accumulating more and more camping gear to make our stays more comfortable. I wish we could do it more often during the year, but nature tends to disagree.
Golden hour
Snowy egret
Blue heron. I'm pretty sure he froze in place.
Sugar plum fairies
One of the other homeschool-related activities my kids have been involved in is a music and performing arts co-op. They have really enjoyed it and it's been really fun to see their musical talents come out. Leah has become proficient in piano, guitar, and recorder, while Lucy and Sean both have taken up the ukulele. Both Leah and Lucy love to do dance as well, and it was fun to watch them at their Christmas concert this year.
Smash those bottles
She made the dress herself
I suppose I should tell you about how all the family is doing. Let's start off with the oldest. Leah continues to be a big help around the house with things that we need done. She is rapidly approaching the age at which she gets to babysit for us for free! It's awesome, but at the same time I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast.
First place in visual arts
This year she's also been involved in Beta Club and entered a few of her art projects into a competition. She won first place in visual arts and fiber arts. I think that boosted her self confidence quite a bit.
Learning she has more talent than she realizes
A little daddy-daughter date at the range. Pardon the lack of trigger discipline.
I enjoy spending time with her on activities that I wouldn't normally think were her cup of tea. She loves camping, doing art projects, and doing music. It's such a treat to listen to her play the piano or pick up the guitar and I'm amazed at her musical ear.
Getting ready for the worst night's sleep in a while
One of the many medical maladies our family seems to suffer from is sleeping disorders. This year Leah joined the list of other family members who have had a sleep study done. The results of the study led us to get her tonsils removed, although I'm pretty sure she just has plain old sleep apnea like the rest of us. Time (and an additional sleep study coming up) will tell.
Post tonsillectomy
Spooky just like dad
She is turning into a young woman faster than I would like. But at the same time I see how many great qualities she has in her that will make her a fantastic wife and mother. I only get to have her a few more years.
A winter camp out
Next we have Sean, who is just about as busy as ever. He still keeps us on our toes with how many things he wants to do and all of his interests. He still loves all things electronics-related and still wants to be an engineer when he grows up. I know he's going to be great at it, and I just hope that I can give him the proper foundation to make him successful.
Glow bug
Perch!
He and I have been able to have a few fun outings together, and I truly wish that I could have more time to spend with him one-on-one. One of the things about Sean and his ADHD is that when it's just me and him together, I get to see the real him. He's a sweet and sensitive kid with a good heart. And boy, howdy, is he intelligent. I swear, he absorbs so much information whenever he sees, hears, or reads anything.
Up close and personal with nature
My little cowboy
Tarzan!
One of the things we've learned about in regards to his ADHD is that it can affect his fine motor skills. His brain thinks faster than his limbs and extremities can react, so he is often a bit uncoordinated. This year we enrolled him in occupational therapy, which has been great for him. He loves it and his therapist does such an amazing job with him.
Getting familiar with his body
I don't know how he gets comfortable this way, but I find him like this all too often
He still loves to code, loves to build, and loves brisket. I swear, anytime I make anything meat-related, he asks for at least four helpings during the course of one dinner. He's a growing boy, but he sure is still skinny.
Safety first
He is always the first one that wants to help... as long as he's the one who thought of it. Quite often after a church activity I am struggling to find him, only to discover that he has been busy trying to put chairs away. He's a handful at times, but he's a really good kid.
Daddy daughter dance
Next we have my Lucy Goose who turned seven years old this year. She's full of heart, energy, and lots of enthusiasm. Quite often she is the one in the family who wants to go visit neighbors and bring treats to friends.
Pre-tonsillectomy drugs
We've been on a quest with Lucy to help her in her development, especially within her mouth region. Like Leah, she wound up getting her tonsils out in hopes that it would make her sleep better. In addition, she has had a palette expander installed in her mouth that will hopefully stimulate her mouth to grow to fit the size of tongue that she has. It is a huge blessing to be able to be in a place with resources to address these types of developmental problems that our family seems to be fighting against.
Her trout
Lucy is another girl that loves the outdoors and camping. I'm really grateful that my kids enjoy spending time in nature with me. It's really quite an enjoyable experience to get away from the electronics and noise of the suburban world and just get out in the trees.
Early rising during camping
Making a wish
Lucy's getting quite adept with her art skills as well. It surprises me how well my girls see the world through an artistic lens. I wish I had more time to spend on projects like that with them.
She could put Rudolph to shame with that red nose
Camping fun building Island Bob 2.0
Overall Lucy has the most spunk (and emotional variance) of my kids. When she loves something, she loves it with all the passion of her heart.
My Lucy Goose
Ice cream grins
Riding up like a caboose is our youngest, Malcolm. This year he turned three, and oh boy is he a threenager. He's such a goofy kid and he reminds me a lot of myself at times. I certainly hope he does a lot better in life than I did because he's got lots of potential.
Pretty accurate summation of his role in the family
Appropriating culture
He is constantly being doted on by his older siblings and some days he's got me wrapped around his little finger. He can be such a punk sometimes, but he often follows that up with sweet kisses and snuggles.
Getting to know uncle Barry
Bedtime stories at grandma's house
One of his favorite (and mine) pastimes is to read books before bed. Sometimes it depends on how much energy I have in me, but that usually puts things right. He loves to play with Play Doh, trains, cars, and blocks. Pretty much that's all he does in life right now, and it confuses him when I have to leave and go to work.
Ready for action
This kid was born for the outdoors
One of the things this kid loves is being outside. It's probably because he's stuck inside with his siblings so much during the summer. If you get him outside, he just loves to run. He's not quite sure about camping yet, but he loves it when we can go somewhere... as long as it isn't far from home.
My lovely wife and one of our timeshare dogs, Luna
Next up Sarah has been busy this year making sure our kids are prepared for life. She is 100% teacher, 100% volunteer, and 100% medical researcher, which shows that she's giving 3X as much effort as a normal person in any circumstance. I seriously don't know how she is able to fit it all in, but I am grateful that I have her as a partner in this.
Tasty confusion
I've tried to make sure she has enough time to do things with friends, or get some peace. I wish I could do more for her (or with her), but this is the part of life that we're in right now, I guess.
Soapmaker extraordinaire
One of the amazing things she has done over the past year is refined her skills in soapmaking. This lady has come up with some crazy-good concoctions in the cleansing department. It's been so much fun to see her get so passionate about them and see the fun things she creates.
Yummy cranberry soaps
Fuzzy goofball in his happy place
As for me, well, I'm still hanging in there. I'm busy trying to be the best dad that I can be, given the circumstances that we live with. I'd like to think that I am doing a decent job, but I also have good kids. I'm glad they love going camping with me and I hope that we can continue that tradition in the future. It's preparing them for the inevitable apocalypse where we all have to don our leather and barbed wire outfits roaming the land in search of petroleum products. That and it's fun to do.
No, we're not getting a dog and that's final!
With the passing of our beloved timeshare dog, Philly, and our other timeshare dog Luna moving to California, I'll admit that I'm missing a few doggy snuggles these days. We've tended other dogs, in the meantime but we miss our regular customers. I'm still not getting a dog, though. We like the positives of having a dog without any of the responsibilities.
Trying to work from home
Work continues to go well for me. I am still doing work at NASA at Johnson Space Center, still working on cool things. This year we launched Artemis I, which was a huge milestone for the agency. It's been exciting to be a part of it. In addition to working at NASA, I have also been working more internally with my company on the proposal development team, developing graphics for business proposals. I didn't know if I would enjoy it or not when I first started it , but I really grew to love the complexity of the concepts and strategies I have been learning. Additionally, it's given me a chance to rub elbows with the company's senior management and get to know some really smart people.
Bradley's Birthday Brisket
I continue to dabble in the alchemy of smoked meats. Seriously, though, I finally figured out a lot of what it takes to get a good brisket. My smoker has been used quite a bit over the past year, and I don't regret a single meal made on it.
The mighty hunting dog waiting for gravity to do its job
Over-the-top pot roast
Calzone made with poolish
This year I also decided to learn how to bake bread. It's always been a mystery to me and I've left the job up to my wife. However, I wanted to learn how to do it on my own, so I started with some basic recipes. It's led me to make way more bread than I probably should, but I have loved doing it. It also helps that my kids complement me every time I make something. I also learned what poolish is and why it's important for making pizza dough.
A little hobby to make some extra dough
Getting back into the groove
With my kids getting into music, we decided to get out all my old guitars and hang them on the wall. In the past they've been sitting under a bed or something, out of the way of tiny fingers. However, now that they're out, I've been trying to get back into playing on them. I still don't get much time, but it's been nice to jam out occasionally.
Mental health issues are few and far between, but they still suck
In terms of my mental health, I can say that over the past year, I've actually been fairly stable. The combined regimen of a CPAP and new medication has helped keep my mood stable. I can count on one hand the times I've had some issues over the past year, which is way less than I have been able to before. I still have some issues to work out, but it's nice to be in a place where I am not in despair every single waking hour.
My gaggle of redheads
Overall I can't complain about my life. Anything that has been a struggle, has mainly been viewed in the end as an inconvenience in the end. We haven't had any real bad tragedy in our lives and compared to the rest of the world, we're doing pretty darn good. I just wish we could share some of that goodwill with others.
Frolicking around Candy Cane Lane
So I really don't know what to ask for for Christmas, Santa. I don't have time to play with toys, and I don't have money to buy toys anyway. I guess all I want is to be able to do a better job at using my time wisely. That's the one thing I can't earn any more of, no matter how hard I try. My clock in still ticking, my kids are still growing, and I'm not getting any younger. If there's any way you could enhance the time I do have, that is probably what would be best for me. I've got everything I want, especially when all I want is my family and good memories.
So we'll see you when we see you this year, Santa. Stay warm as you traverse the snowy skies this Christmas. You know where we'll be: snug asleep, dreaming of smoked meats.
Love,
-Brad
P.S. Okay, so maybe if you've got a spare top of the line graphics PC with an RTX 4090 and the latest and greatest VR headset, I'd take one of those. I love to play Microsoft Flight Simulator in VR...
