Nala has pretty much claimed the couch as her own. On the positive side she is no longer trying to eat it.

 
Today is half-and-half day at Maya’s school. She is dressed as a soccer player on top and as an equestrian on bottom. Her right side hair features a bun and the other a braid. In other respects, I see her as half way between a child and young girl.

Kyle and Nala in a face-off. Please take a look at the source of the controversy by looking over the contents of Kyle’s right hand. 

 
Jeanine’s amaryllis is in full bloom. I believe she grew this from a bulb sent to her by her father.

 
This is the reaction I get every time I try and photograph Chloe. Perhaps next time I will hand the camera to Kyle or Maya for a better result.

 
Kyle’s girlfriend Chole is like a big sister to Maya and took the time to give her French braids which I think look very nice on her.

 
I liked the available light in one particular room and coaxed Jeanine to pose for me. This is her come hither look. It works every time.

 
After their performance, the dancers invited guests to learn a few steps. I passed on the swing, but had to put my cameras down and find Jeanine when the Salsa music started.

 
It was an elegant evening featuring delectable appetizers (none of which I could sample because of the cleanse I am on), a ballroom dance performance, and a piano solo by one of the schools most talented pupils.

 
Jeanine and I attended a black tie fund raising gala for the Concord Music Conservatory held at a neighbors home this evening. Here Jeanine recognizes, Kate Yoder, the Director and Founder of the conservatory for her dream to create it and for the tireless work she has devoted to it. I was asked to photograph the event and the results can be viewed in my Web Album.

 
This morning I found Maya on the couch with her pig like this. What I first thought was a kiss was actually more like an extended period of resting with their lips touching. They both seemed to enjoy the intimacy. Later, when I picked Maya up and tossed her on the couch from a great distance as I am often prone to do, all the pig hair from her sweater transfered to my fleece and I spent the rest of the day removing it.

 
Nicolai was invited to speak to the elementary students at Mason Rice about his adventure to the top of Kilimanjaro as part of their Kids-in-Action series. The after school event, held in the aduitorium, was well attended by about 75 people and according to Jeanine, Nico was extremely poised in his presentation and really captured the imagination of the audience. Afterwards he posed for photos with some of the attendees. Photo credit to Jeanine for her first blog entry with her new camera.

 
Today I held an Engineering Management off site meeting with my team. We spent the day at the Stone Hedge Inn and broke up the day with a noon walk in the refreshing cold. I had hoped snow conditions would have allowed for a snowball fight but after a half dozen attempts it was clear that the snow was too dry. It was a productive session, enhanced by the involvement of my boss, who facilitated an afternoon brainstorming session. We finished the long day with an exquisite meal at the Left Bank restaurant which I can highly recommend. I left just in time to make my 9:45 indoor soccer game which ended in another loss, but I did manage a nice goal in the early minutes.

 
This evening everyone test fit their cold weather gear for our upcoming dog sledding adventure on the frozen boundary waters of Minnesota. Although the trip is not for a month, we needed to search the house and gather all of our existing gear before making a shopping list for the remaining items. Who knew we already had five balaclavas? Kyle does a quick mirror check to verify that he looks acceptably fashionable, warmth apparently is a secondary concern.

 
Maya has started rock climbing. Here she is shown climbing upside down in what she calls the cave. The object is to retrieve the bandanna from one of the rocks. Even though she has a harness on, it is not roped in. A fall at this stage is about ten feet onto a mat. Her instructor describes Maya as a determined and fearless climber. For this, her father will take partial credit and remind family members of the “Brave Maya” training he “inflicted” on her from the age of two.

 
I really enjoyed watching my two favorite girls working side by side. I did provide some threading and bobbin winding consulting. My mother taught me to sew and I am pretty good at it. Today, however, it was strictly a mother daughter project.

Meanwhile, Maya and Jeanine work on a sewing project together. 

 
Later in the day, Nicolai is still on the couch. This time with a group of friends watching the big Patriot’s game. Leave it to Nico to invite three girls and no boys to a football party.

 
Nicolai and Nala intertwined on the couch this morning as I returned from a 2-hour futsol scrimmage. I have lost 7 pounds in the last 10 days while on Jeanine’s cleanse and have gained a good deal of quickness at the expense of some energy.

 Yesterday, my brother Mark passed his final test and is now a commercial airline pilot. He left the engineering profession to stay at home with his kids for a while and then trained to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. We are all extremely proud of him and can’t wait to visit with his family in late February when we travel to Minnesota for the kids winter break.

 Maya was not feeling so well this morning but recovered sufficiently later in the day to go rock climbing.

By popular request I am posting this early video of Maya which explains why she has grown up so tough. Please note the level of concern demonstrated by her father and brother Kyle.

Maya Goalie Practice from Carl Calabria on Vimeo.

Even the horse farm across the street takes on a whole new look when blanketed in snow. 

 
On the way into the office this morning I paused for some wonderful snowscapes. I do not know if this image will translate well on a small scale. At full size and resolution it is something I am quite pleased with. Click on the photo for a better view.

 
Today Nicolai will make a presentation to his English class as, Hel, the Norse Goddess of death. The mask he fashioned represents life and death. Nicolai hopes to be voted by his classmates onto the twelve member Council of the Gods.

An enormously proud father with his son. 

 
Inspired by the music of the day, Maya and Chloe perform their own duet. I really admire the fact that Chloe treats Maya like a little sister.

After the service, we celebrated with a reception to honor the organizers, mentors and Coming of Age participants. Jeanine has persuaded both Kyle and I to join her on a 21-day clense so the extent of our enjoyment of the feast was limitted to carrots with hummous. If not for the fact that I have lost 5 pounds in three days I would have conspired to mutiny. 

 
As part of the Coming of Age program, the teen participants conduct the entire Sunday morning worship. Kyle and his close friend Seth performed Time of Your Life for the congregation and it was nothing short of exquisite. Nicolai did an excellent job videotaping the performance and you can view it at this link.

 
In the Unitarian church, we invite our young people to develop their own credo, and to share it with the congregation. Our teens spend several months exploring their personal beliefs about religion and spirituality with a group of peers and adult mentors. We celebrate this rite of passage and call it Coming of Age. Today, this journey of self discovery culminated when Kyle stood before our parish and spoke of his beliefs and values. Jeanine and I could not have been more proud or moved as we listened to Kyle speak. Below the pulpit are masks created by each Coming of Age participant. See if you can guess which one is Kyle’s. I will post a photo of it later in the week.

It was a cold November morning when I arrived at soccer practice fifteen minutes late. To avoid extra running as punishment, I sprinted around the field and stealthily joined a group of my friends in a passing circle. They greeted me and asked “Hey man what’s going on, you have missed the last three practices, and now you’re showing up late?” “My parents are making me do this stupid coming of age thing for church,” I replied. “What’s that and what religion is it for?” they asked. I mumbled back “Unitarian Universalism.” “So what do you believe in?” they inquired. I thought a little and stumbled over some words and finally said, “We believe in whatever we want to.” The group teased me about it and practice went on as usual.

After this experience I realized I had almost no idea about what I believed in and decided it was a question worth answering.

I began to identify spiritual beliefs I could embrace as my own and to separate them from other beliefs I knew were not right for me. The first thing I realized was that I did not believe in any form of God or after life. At the same time, I concluded that science alone could not explain the beauty of nature, the cycle of life and death, the amazing human body, or our place in an infinite and mysterious universe.

I believe people have souls that are revealed through their relationships with each other. I believe there are spirits in nature that are revealed through beauty. I believe that everyone is born with a gift; a single precious life wrapped in a beautiful body. This gift is amazing but fleeting and I believe we must strive to live life to the fullest and make the most of every moment.

I then asked myself what makes for a life well lived. Is it by dying a rich man? Is it by creating a loving family? Is it by becoming famous? Is it by building enduring friendships or is it by helping the less fortunate?

How to live a fulfilling life is different for everyone. During the past few months, I began to define what it meant for me.

First: I cherish my family. I love my mother, father, brother, sister and our dog. I love my relatives and one day hope to create and nurture my own loving family.

Second: I value my friends. True friends who I can have a good time with and who are there for me when I need them, not because they have to be, but because they want to, knowing that I will be there for them as well.

Third: I want to help others. Living a fulfilling life for me will mean helping others to do so as well. I want to know that my life will have had a positive impact on the world after I have left it.

Fourth: I believe the Earth is sacred. I must fight to protect the environment so my children and their children will one day be able to enjoy it as I have.

Fifth: I want to live with integrity. I value loyalty, so I will be a good friend; I value wisdom so I will be a good student and learn from my mistakes, I value justice and equality so I will treat all people fairly and with respect.

Finally: I want to have fun. I want to explore the corners of the globe, play in a rock concert to thousands of screaming fans, parachute from an airplane, and score a goal in the World Cup. I want to live with no regrets.

I may never become a famous musician or soccer player, and I may fall short of attaining some of my goals, but I believe I will have lived fully if I never stopped reaching for them.

If you see a loving family and group of true friends gathered at my funeral remembering me as a fun loving, caring person, who made a difference in the world, my spirit will be at peace.