SepteRemember: Mom #1

Mom always prepared the bulletins every week for the church services and the church newsletters every few months or so. She'd create stencils on her electric typewriter then run copies off on a mimeograph machine. The ink couldn't dry fast enough so would often bleed from one copy to another. One of us kids would be drafted to stand by the machine and insert scrap paper in between the copies. It got hot and smelly but it was a fun challenge to be fast enough to get the scraps in before the next copy shot down onto the stack.

After printing there was always sorting the scraps out from the newsletter sheets and collating. Mom would put stacks of each page around the dining room table and we would run around it collecting one page from each stack. Then we would staple and attach mailing labels. It was quite the industrious printshop and mailhouse. Of course, it helped having six kids.

SepteRemember: John #1

John is about 18 months younger than me. One of my first memories of John is sitting together by the side of the road waiting for the school bus to deliver our older siblings back from their day away from home. We would play in the dirt and hang out by the mailbox of our rural red brick multistorey house in Virginia. The olders would jump off the bus and we'd all run inside for an after-school snack.

It's possible I'm making most of that up as I was probably only four.

Do You Remember...September?

September means a lot of things. The sidewalks loosen up as the tourist population decreases. Kids and teachers go back to school. Football starts up again.

For me, it means the birthdays of two of my favorite people in my family: my mom and my younger brother. I'll be posting some memories of them throughout the month.

What a Week, Vol. III

Nap Much Needed

I had such a tiring, stressful, exciting, fun week that I had to take a nap this afternoon to recover. I never ever nap but I was falling asleep watching the Little League World Series so I just had to lie down. And I slept for FOUR hours!

Now I'm watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in HD on TNTHD. It's amazing! Oh, dear. Haldir just died at Helm's Deep. So sad.

What a Week, Vol. II

Fifteen Years of Fun

Fifteen years ago Monday I arrived at San Francisco International Airport for the start of a volunteer year with an environmental non-profit organization. Eight months later my boss offered me a full-time job as Office Manager and Bookkeeper. Yesterday, my co-workers threw me surprise party celebrating those fifteen years of service. Yes, I am still working for the same organization but for a little bit more money than my volunteer stipend of $45/month!

I was told of a special all-staff meeting at 12:30pm on Thursday so suspected it might be something me-related but I couldn't be sure. Our ED's birthday is today so there was also a lot of furtive movement about the office related to surprising her with flowers and such. However, she was the one who had entered the meeting into our office calendaring system so I remained suspicious. However, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it as I had the audit to contend with!

I arrived in the conference room and there were two pies sitting with a pile of plates as well as several bars of various flavors of chocolate. My boss came over beside me and announced that we were there to celebrate my fifteen years. I was a bit overcome and really can't remember what he said but I was presented with a heavy package wrapped in thick gold paper and bound with binder twine accompanied by a lovely, clever, entertaining note from our founder (who is leaving us after 25 years in December) which I attempted to read aloud through my tears.

The package contained three books: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (what would happen to the earth without humans) and two baseball-related ones. I look forward to reading all of them. Our founder also presented me with some amazing note cards constructed with photos taken by her partner. They are truly beautiful and I can't imagine sending them off to anyone. I'll have to keep them for myself.

Our ED was celebrated with a bouquet of organic flowers, we sang Happy Birthday, then we passed around the strawberry-rhubarb and banana cream pies and chocolate with almonds and caramel as several of my long-time co-workers shared stories about me. It was very lovely; I just wished someone had remembered to provide tissues.

What a Week, Vol. I

Audit Week

So this week has been Audit Week for me and I had been a little worried after our pre-audit meeting last Monday. It turns out it was for no good reason.

The fieldwork is done and it felt easier than last year. I think all the notes they took last year helped since they hardly bothered me at all. They were happily working up in the library for three days and only rarely ventured down to my office. And the senior auditor was here for barely half a day and spent about 5 minutes talking to me. Last year she called me after the fieldwork and had lots of suggestions for how we could be doing things better. I'm curious to hear what she says this year after reviewing the work the others did this week.

Each year I take lots of notes of what they ask for and I encourage them to let me know if they want me to be doing anything different in preparing my work papers. I think reviewing those notes from last year really helped me this time.

Bad Luck in the Bathroom

Too many women work on this floor.
One stall in the bathroom isn't enough.
Whenever I checked someone was in there.
My bladder is complaining.
So am I.

Pre-Audit Jitters

I sent my files over to the auditors today at 4pm and felt such a great sense of accomplishment that I decided to leave the office early.

On my way home I remembered some potential bad news that came up during the pre-audit meeting yesterday with the Audit Committee (me, my boss, his boss, the auditors, a Board member and an outside advisor/former Board member). The audit will have some different procedures this year. Instead of testing many areas lightly, they will test fewer areas more heavily.

I'm a bit aprehensive about it since I don't really know what to expect. I fear I will get into trouble for not being careful enough. My boss and I tend to let things slide a bit too much because we trust each other and the rest of the staff and don't always insist enough on proper approvals and documentation.

A big part of what the auditors will be looking for is proper internal controls. I think we've been improving in the area of having more people involved in approval processes and oversight but it might not be good enough and we might have to get written up for it. I sure hope not!

Overheard at the Library

I was scanning my books through the self-checkout machine this morning when I heard the following phrase projected throughout the circulation desk area:

"Do you want to take this outside?"

Now I have to imagine that might be the only time that sentence has been uttered in the local library as the scene there is mostly quiet and always civil. But this was one disgruntled patron.

"I get off at 5," mumbled the check-out clerk.

"You are always rude to me," continued the father, cradling his little girl whom he had plopped upon the counter.

"I get off at 5," repeated the clerk, glad he had a counter between himself and the irate dad.

"Who is the idiot who hired you? Who is the idiot who hired you? Who is the idiot who hired you?" (I swear, he said it three times!)

I really wish the witch who is often there on Saturdays had been working circulation today. She would've taken that guy down a notch or two. However, I didn't wait to see if anyone appeared from the staff office. I high-tailed it out of there with my three sci-fi books and Plum Lovin'.

Hootie Dooty Jury Duty

I had jury duty today and the nice thing is that I can check the courthouse website the evening before to see if I have to actually report the next morning. Lucky me, I didn't have to.

The bad thing is that there's an afternoon session as well so I had to wait until 11am to see if I'd have to go in. So I did a little work at home in the a.m. then checked the website at 10:50 and they already had updated the page to say no one was needed for the afternoon either. Lucky me again!

I showered and headed out for work. I checked the closest BART station for parking spots but there were none so I went my usual station figuring I could park in a nearby lot and walk in if there weren't any places in the BART lots. I checked a couple of the closest lots anyway just in case. And lucky me, there was a spot just waiting for me!

I made it to work before 1:30 and worked until about 7:30. I didn't check the BART schedule to see when the next train was and at that time of night I could be waiting 20 minutes if I just miss one. I got down to the platform and a train was sitting there waiting with the doors closed. A minute or so later, the doors opened again. Now if you think I'm going to tell you that was my train, you'd be wrong. But the next one, a couple minutes later, was. So it was the perfect end to my lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky day.

Reprieve

August is audit month at work. It's my big annual test to see if I'm doing my job properly. It's always a stressful time and I get on people's nerves by asking them for lots of papers.

This year my auditors requested that they do the fieldwork a week earlier than normal because they had another job the week of the 20th. I said okay even though I was already going to be a bit behind from doing production on the magazine. I knew I didn't have any other layout jobs after that so I could concentrate fully on prepping for the audit. This week has been crazy trying to get all the schedules done to send over to their office next week before they get here. I think I could've done it but today I got some good news.

The senior auditor told me that one of the two junior auditors who normally work on our audit is leaving their company and the other one is on vacation the week we had scheduled. So she wanted to push it back a week! I was so happy. I now have all next week to finish things up. Yea!

Going Up?

The elevator here at the office has been out for repairs since Wednesday. We've all had to climb the four or five flights of stairs to get to work. I was happy I planned ahead and brought lunch so I didn't have to go out in search of food.

The stairs are pretty awful though. The treads are made of concrete which is broken in a lot of places. So you're walking along and it feels like you might fall through at any moment. I know it's just lying on top of metal but still.

And the lighting in the stairs is haphazard. Some fixtures are really bright and others are non-existent. One morning I forgot to exchange my sunglasses for my regular ones and I was stumbling around in the dark. You'd think if the building managers force us to take the stairs, they would at least put in light bulbs!

Comments on DH?

A couple people have alerted me that they tried leaving very witty, insightful comments to my last post. However, it appears that because I left my reactions to Deathly Hallows as a really long comment, Blogger refuses to accept any more for that post.

So please respond here if you wish...

The Deathly Hallows

I finished HP and the Deathly Hallows at 3am this morning but I was too tired to post anything before grabbing some Zs. I was very happy with the book overall and you can read more details (and spoilers) in the comments...

What Would Jo Do?

With only a couple days until the release of the seventh and final installment in saga of our favorite wizard, Harry Potter, I'm actually getting quite nervous. Nervous to see what scrapes he and his pals will get up to, sure, but really it's his final fate that has me on edge. Would Jo be so bold as to leave us crying?

I hear there are all kinds of spoilers all over the internet which I'm trying very hard to resist so please no comments or emails with the latest rumor you've heard. I'd like to see what Jo has come up with for us with nothing to ruin it.

The O of the P

CAUTION: Spoiler Alert

I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last week and it was great. I had purposefully kept my expectations low—since I had not been so happy with HP and the Goblet of Fire—but I didn't need to.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and the DA and Harry's detentions with Umbridge and the Hall of Prophecies were all like we had dropped into them out of the book. I especially liked the purring, meowing kitty plates mounted on the walls in Umbridge's office. The sound design made me want to look around the theater for all the kittens who had escaped from the pet store. (and to take one home, of course)

New additions Kreacher, the thestrals and Mrs. Figg were well done but the best has to be Luna Lovegood. I'm so glad she was given several scenes in the movie in which to shine. Lucius Malfoy was again a superb bad guy and this time he had sexy fighting robes and a new evil sidekick, Bellatrix Lestrange.

The only complaint I have is that I wished it could've been twice as long. So much that I loved in the book was sacrificed to tell the story within a reasonable time. Here are some of the things they had to omit:

• the screaming portrait of Sirius' mum
• the cleaning of Number Twelve, especially the Doxies
• Mrs. Weasley encountering the boggart
• Hermione and Ron as prefects
• S.P.E.W. and Hermione's knitting
  
• Quidditch in its entirety: Ron as Keeper, Harry's ban, "Weasley is Our King"
• Percy's letter to Ron vilifying Harry
• Lockhart and Neville's parents at St. Mungo's
• Harry's outlawed story in The Quibbler
• Firenze as Divination professor
• Hermione's jinx revealed on Marietta Edgecombe's face
• the staff of Hogwarts ignoring, yea, encouraging pranks after Dumbledore is removed as Headmaster (oh, the twins' swamp!)
  
• studying for and taking their OWLs
• Hagrid's firing, McGonagall taking four Stunners
• the rotating room, the brain room (Ron!), the time room in the Dept. of Mysteries
• Harry blowing up at Dumbledore and destroying the many whirring trinkets in his office
  

With that list you may wonder what was in the movie. Well, you'll just have to go and see.

Trash Car

Yes, that's right. Not trash can, trash car.

I was filling up my tank (10 gallons for $31) at the ARCO after work this evening when I noticed something sticking out of the driver's side back door. I tugged it out and it was a candy wrapper! Of a sort I would never eat. (soft centers? yuck) There was something else stuck further in so I unlocked the door, opened it, and another wrapper fell out.

Someone has been using my car as a trash receptacle and I don't like it. I guess it could be worse. At least it wasn't gum.

Just Missed

I was happily working along last night finishing up a few items before leaving for our brief one-day midweek holiday when I remembered I needed to get to my library before it closed at 8pm. I had two books on hold that I wanted to pick up to read today.

I hurried as much as I could all the way back home: from rushing through the July 4 holiday vacationers in the City, to pre-walking through the BART train so I was positioned for a quick departure from the station, to speeding along the surface roads and taking the highway, to just skimming the back end of a yellow light...

but I was 5 minutes too late. The lights were off and the sign read "Your Library Is Closed." I'm just glad the date by which I must pick them up or risk paying a fine is Saturday. I still have some time.

Roadwork Update

So far they've excavated a few rectangular blocks of pavement from the pink marked-off lanes. Then they replaced them and covered them with fresh black goo. The next day there were more pink lanes going almost the entire length of the street (it's not very long). I think a saw a machine that was slicing through the pavement along the lanes as I left one morning but I haven't seen any more signs of excavation. It's all very curious.

Road Signs

I almost ran over a guy in the middle of my street this morning when I left for work. Luckily he was wearing an orange reflective vest as he was surveying so I swerved to the right.

When I turned onto my street this evening I saw odd bright pink markings on the tarmac at regular intervals leading up to a lane a couple feet apart bordered by long pink stripes. Either someone was decorating or there's possibly going to be some road work delays in my future.

Happy Solstice!

I was at the office later than normal last night and when I got to my car at the BART station I was shocked to see it was almost 9:00 because it was still so light out. Then I realized what day it was: the summer solstice.

I hope you enjoyed the longest day of the year!

Getting Ready for HP

So by now you must've noticed the addition to the top of my sidebar: the Countdowns from MuggleNet.

With just 27 days until the movie comes out, it's time to be planning our reading schedule to prepare. Or are you just going to watch the movies? I think I'll try re-reading everything. If I time it right, I can have books 1–5 read before the movie and then read HBP.

The Order of the Phoenix is one of my favorite books of the series but after my disappointment with the last movie, my hopes are not too high for this one. I'm looking forward to Luna appearing and Hermione being a mover and shaker behind the DA. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. (can't wait!!)

Can you believe it's only a little over a month until The Deathly Hallows is out? Have you ordered yours yet? Sorry, Sal, but I ordered mine from Amazon. (I'm a bit worried that they'll try to deliver it on that Saturday to the office. I may be sitting here at home for two days while the rest of the world is reading TDH! Perhaps I should consider staking out the office until the UPS guy arrives.)

Are you sad yet that the story is ending? Who do you think is going to die? I'm thinking it'll be Ron. I hope it's not Harry. I hope I can resist reading the end before I get to it. It'll be so hard. (can't wait!!)

For a Few Brain Cells More

So I figured out why I was so confused when I started reading For a Few Demons More. I was able to fly through the first books in the series as I was lounging around being sick this week. There were only a couple days when I didn't feel up to reading much. As I started the fourth book, A Fistful of Charms, it just didn't seem familiar. In fact, I had never read it at all! Well, I'm glad I gave up on FaFDM or I would've missed a fun romp over the Mackinac Bridge.

Clogged Up and Sore

I've been sick with a sore throat and clogged up sinuses for the last week. I've been at work a total of 1.25 days this week. I was hoping to get May bookkeeping done today so I could work from home tomorrow but my boss came by and made me chat with him for over half an hour so I think I'll just hope I'm feeling as good tomorrow morning as I did this morning. Well enough to make the trek from home to work anyway.

Review, Revisit and Re-Read

Have you ever started a book, maybe the third or fourth book in a series, and after a couple chapters realized you have no idea who the characters are and what happened to them previously?

That happened to me when I started reading For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison, the fifth book in The Hollows series. Either my memory is really bad or it's been way too long since I read the other books but I had no idea who Ivy, Nick and Ceri were. I decided to give up and re-read the first ones.

I won't be able to read them on BART however since the only versions available were ebooks. I checked out the first three and downloaded them to my computer for reading at my leisure. Well, I might have to hurry since For a Few Demons More is due on the 26th. We'll see if I can get them all read by then.

I was smart enough to know I'd have no clue what was going on in Sharon Shinn's The Thirteenth House as it has been a long time since I read Mystic and Rider. So I reserved both of them and am busily re-reading M&R before delving into the sequel.

I'm not sure I'll get to my Netflix movies this weekend...

Zander Stories (circa 2000): Part II

Excerpts of emails from Joanna

Sun, 4 Jun 2000 (from Grandma W.)
Last Sunday, Sheryl was teaching Sunday School during worship hour. At one point she was reading a story about "Where Is God?" Zander was off to the side, playing by himself. She didn't think he was paying attention to her. The story asks the birds, "Where is God?" They say he's with them where it's so pretty. Also, the fish when questioned say He's with them where it's so pretty. As she ends the story, Sheryl said she asked emotionally, "Where is God?" Zander gets up, comes to her, spreads his arms and says , "I don't know, but my dad does. I'll go upstairs and ask him. Shall I go ask him?" And he takes off to do it.

Mon, 5 Jun 2000
Today, Zander and I built a garage for his cars out of wood. He even did part of the nailing. John hasn't seen it. I'm sure no building inspector in the world would approve of it. Then I taught Zander how to sew today. I had the leg I cut off a pair of pants so we turned it into a bag with a drawstring. Zander did some of the sewing so he's enthralled with it. He only poked me with the needle a couple of times so I thought it was a success.

Wed, 19 Jul 2000
Zoe [born July 10] is doing really well. She is eating and sleeping really well. She's just so quiet. I keep waiting for the crying to start. It will any day now. Zander is still so in love with her. He checks on her all the time, holds her, hugs her, and tells her he loves her. It is so cute.

Fri, 21 Jul 2000
Zoe's cord stump fell off today and Zander couldn't be happier. He kept wanting her to wear things that cover it up so he didn't have to look at it. Now he just wants to take a bath with her.

Thu, 5 Oct 2000
So this morning Zander and I were discussing Halloween and a costume for him to wear. He'll be having a party at school and it might be trick or treat night when we're down at Anne's. I suggested he go as a cowboy because he has a hat, vest, bandana, and his appaloosa stick horse. He agreed right away and said he wanted to play rodeo.
...
He went and got his appaloosa and explained that Zoe was going to be the calf. He counted to five and then said GO! He ran around the room with the horse then threw Appaloosa down, grabbed a sock off the floor and hog tied Zoe's feet. She giggled a lot and so they did it over and over and over for about 20 minutes. He'd count and then gallop around, throw down the horse, and then hogtie Zoe. Then he wanted her to be a rodeo clown so I had to put a stop to that. He said she had her own bull named Tomato that she wanted to ride but I decided it was time to read stories then.


Cowboy Zander

Tue, 10 Oct 2000
Since Zoe's starting to like the pacifier, Zander asked what "pacifier" meant. John told him that it mean "to pacify, to calm down." Zander said, "Yeah, but what's the fire part for?"

Thu, 30 Nov 2000
Zander has been so annoying lately, ignoring us and stuff. So John took him to the doctor today and found out he has a double ear infection.... I feel really bad about yelling at him now.

Zander Stories (circa 2000): Part I

Excerpts of emails from Joanna

Sun, 2 Jan 2000
Zander and my dad went for a horse ride. Zander was sitting behind the saddle, holding on to my dad. With all his winter clothes, he wasn’t stable, though. He slipped off and dad grabbed him but couldn't pull him back up without dropping the reigns. They were in a narrow stretch between the electric fence and the woods so that wasn't an option. He just dropped Zander gently in the snow. Zander thought it was great fun. Then my dad put Zander in the saddle by himself and led the horse home. Zander thought that was even better than landing in the snow.

Tue, 22 Feb 2000 (from Grandma W.)
Zander will be with us until Thursday. He just finished doing a pretty good job of rinsing and stacking the dishes, as I washed. Then he after he played in the water awhile, he wanted to soak his feet. (I think we did this before for some good reason). So I put the rinse pan on the floor and he sat on the stool he'd been standing on. He's been in and out of the water, covered the pan with the towel, and is now threatening to drown his socks (which he did- then put the socks back on!). Yesterday we went out to play in the snow a couple times. Since it was in the mid-40's the snow was 'raining' off the roof. Of course, he stood in it and 'took a shower'.

Fri, 25 Feb 2000 (more from Grandma W.)
On Wednesday Zander went with us to West Shore Hospital while Don had his MRI (on his shoulder) He ate something for breakfast, maybe a couple Pop Tarts and orange juice. At the hospital and on the way home, he ate a bag of plain M&Ms (even tho he wanted the ones with peanuts). At Burger King he took a little time out from playing/sliding to eat a few French fries and drink his whole chocolate milkshake. (Grandpa claims I've spoiled him rotten). [Uh, gee, y'think? italics added for emphasis]
...
At Ladies Aid at Reta's he wouldn't eat anything but when we got home at 3:30 he and Grandpa ate a whole lot of frosted mini-wheats. I tried giving him some chicken corn soup (with rice and noodles) for supper, but 'no luck'. Then while I was dipping my honeyed toast (no oleo) into hot tea he was willing to eat apple slices (we were having some, too) if he got a short glass with water so he could dip his apple into it. He had fun dropping them in and reaching into the water to get them out. He did eat most of an apple. He really wanted some chocolate milk with his supper, but I told him he'd had enough chocolate in the M&Ms.
...
Thursday morning he did a good job eating cheerios and blueberries with a little milk (we ran out before Don got his), but only because I fed him the last half. He eats pretty good if fed. Otherwise he's more likely to want to play with his food. He drank a bottle of orange juice on his way home.

Mon, 28 Feb 2000 (more from Grandma W.)
While we were walking the halls at West Shore Hospital, waiting for Don during his MRI, Zander and I came upon the 'chapel/mediation' room next to the Emergency Entrance. We went in and he saw the small kneeling bench and the cross on the wall above it. After examining the bench, raising and lowering it a time or two, he stood up on it and said "I'm the man who makes the speech." Then he proceeded to talk a little (quite short). Then he 'sang' - with lively movements - one of Veggie Tale songs. After that he said "God is great, God is good, and we thank him for our food. Amen" and hopped down.

Tue, 29 Feb 2000
> Speaking of amazing Zander stories, did Dad tell you
> about when they were going to get hay, and Zander said
> "Uncle Fitz has a truck just like this!" I don't know
> when the last time he would have seen it, but I'm sure
> it was a long time ago.

Erica sent this to me today. My dad bought Fitz's truck a couple of months ago....

Snippets of Zoe (circa 2001): Part III

Exerpts of emails from Joanna: July–December 2001

Wed, 11 Jul 2001
We had a sort of [birthday] celebration for Zoe at my parents' house. My mom and dad got her a Fisher Price farm thing and Erica and Fitz got her some Veggie Tales toys and a glittery fork and spoon set and a fish plate and bowl. Zoe loves to carry her new fork around.
Thu, 12 Jul 2001
Today was Zoe's check up. She weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces. We weighed her on both baby scales and it never went up. Maybe she was just wearing heavy clothing two weeks ago when I took her in because she was 19 pounds 6 ounces, then. She's only in the 30th percentile for weight but she's in the 95th for height. The doctor said we need to get her on a high calorie diet and "fatten her up." She's supposed to get a lot of chocolate milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and whatever she wants to eat. She must be wearing off more than she's eating because of her activity level. So, we'll push a lot of food at her for a while and hope that is the reason for this. Otherwise, she was healthy and normal in her development stats.
Wed, 18 Jul 2001
Zoe has been enjoying the sandbox today. She likes to fill up buckets and dump them out. It's a little cloudy so the sand isn't burning from the sun beating down on it.
Thu, 19 Jul 2001 (from John)
Zoe is becoming more and more intentional in her communications. She has definite signs and indications of when she wants to be picked up and when she is hungry (she goes and sits in front of a specific cupboard) and when she wants more of something. She is doing very well sleeping in her own room and being weaned.
Tue, 23 Oct 2001 (Christmas Wish List)
Zoe really likes things she can carry around in her hand. Fisher Price "Little People" are really nice. She also loves taking baths and splashing water around. She wears a size 18 months right now. She looks really good in red. Side note: She usually wears things that she can move around easily in like leggings. She doesn't like anything that slows her down. She barely tolerates dresses. We've been having a problem with clothing being too wide for her skinny little body and a lot of clothing falls off her.
Thu, 6 Dec 2001
Zoe is talking more and more. It's amazing to hear how many words she puts together now. She's very relieved we can finally understand her. She especially likes to say "I want to eat" and "I want my cup." She also likes to tell John about the things I do (although one day she told him I kicked the cat and that wasn't true.....).
...
Zoe thinks she is ready to come out of her room from her nap. She's been up off the floor in her twin bed for a few months now. I'm dreading the day she learns to manipulate the door knob, though. Right now, she just knocks and calls to me when she's done sleeping. She's been so funny because now she tells us when she's pooping. She gets a funny look on her face and says "Poooooop!"
Tue, 18 Dec 2001
Zoe is running around naked. I came in here to find her some pjs. She's taking off her socks and running away again. Taz was over earlier and she got so mad she that couldn't go downstairs to play basketball with them. She kept calling "Zander! Taz!" They didn't listen to her.
Thu, 20 Dec 2001
I was speaking to my mom on the phone and Zoe was playing quietly. I walked into the kitchen and saw that Zoe had taken the eggs out of the fridge and broke them all over!! What a mess! So I bundled her up and walked to Home Depot. They didn't have child latches for fridges there. Then I walked to the new Aldi but they didn't have any there, either. So I walked home. It's brisk but sunny. I'm going to have to drive to Menard's later.
...
I took a bunch of pictures of Zoe on her new rocking horse from today. My parents got it for her for Christmas. She loves it. The only thing weird about the pictures is that she felt the need to wrinkle up her nose. She looks a little freakish, I think.


Zoe and Zippy, October 2001

Snippets of Zoe (circa 2001): Part II

Exerpts of emails from Joanna: April–June 2001

Mon, 2 Apr 2001
Zoe's new favorite food is potting soil. I was repotting our tree and she stood up and reached into the pot and ate a few handfuls. She had a huge grin on her face the whole time.
Wed, 18 Apr 2001
Zoe finally got a tooth today. It's all very exciting. I was so worried she was going to be walking first since she's getting so brave and letting go of furniture. I noticed the tooth when I was prying her mouth open to get something she grabbed off the floor.
Sat, 21 Apr 2001
Zoe took her first couple of steps today! She had been standing alone a little bit for the last day or two and today she stepped alone. Of course we didn't take any pictures of the steps but I did get a picture of her standing alone at the Gardens today. What a big week we've had. Zander turned 5. Zoe got her first tooth and she took her first step. Next week we go for Zander's kindergarten screening. I'm starting to feel so old!!
Fri, 4 May 2001
Zoe fell today and was bleeding in her mouth all over the place. It was horrible.
Fri, 22 Jun 2001 (from John)
Zoe is now at the point where she is walking more than she is crawling. When she really wants to go fast she crawls. It is so funny to be in the living room and hear her flying across the kitchen floor. She gets on to the carpet and stops to grin at you, then off she goes again. She is much more active than Zander was at this age.
Thu, 28 Jun 2001
Zoe has now moved to her own room and she sleeps on the futon mattress. She has been doing ok. She's been doing better than I thought with not breastfeeding. She gets upset and I tell her she's a big girl now and needs to drink from a cup. She doesn't scream at all in her own room. She took a three hour nap and woke up happy. She played in the pool with Zander and played outside for a long time. She's back to the sweet baby she was before! I'm so happy.

Snippets of Zoe (circa 2001): Part I

Exerpts of emails from Joanna: January–March 2001

Wed, 10 Jan 2001
Zander can't wait to have someone to play with besides his sister. She grabs and scratches a lot and doesn't like to share her legos.
Mon, 29 Jan 2001
Zoe is rolling around on the floor here, trying to figure out how to get around the desk. She's crawling backwards and starting to realize how to move her legs forward. It's a work in progress. So far her little teeth haven't popped out down below but they're letting us know they're there.
...
Looks like Zoe figured out how to get around the desk so I'd better save the roll of paper she's getting into. She just loves the sound of ripping paper.
Thu, 8 Feb 2001
Zoe is feeling much better after her system was being slow for a while. I got her some sort of laxative and she's much bettter today. In fact, she's been into everything from ripping a cover off a book to grabbing the plants to crawling under a pile of toys and getting her head stuck in a basket. She figured out yesterday that she can crawl forward, much to my horror. Nothing in the house is safe anymore and it's harder to keep track of her. As soon as I turn my head, she's gone. She especially likes to get into Zander's toys. Her two favorites are a big plastic lobster and a stuffed snake. Even so, it's a huge improvement over her being uncomfortable and whiny.
Mon, 12 Feb 2001
Zoe is crawling forward better and has now decided to stand. Nothing is safe. She was laying on her back, kicking the new cable receiver the day after we got it. I had to rescue a spider plant from her clutches. She still likes to pinch everyone. She's getting better about not pulling my hair. And still she has no teeth! For months I've been swearing they're about to pop through and then they don't. It's odd. But at least it keeps her from biting us! I was just thinking today how one of the nurses commented that they'd never seen a fetus kick around so much. Hmmm.... thought it would slow down a bit but it hasn't.
Tue, 13 Feb 2001
(when I mentioned Sasquatch in a previous email, Joanna thought I was referring to Zoe when I really had meant the hairiest John I'd ever seen)
Yes, Sasquatch is looking chubbier because she's on the verge of a growth spurt. In about two weeks, she'll look skinny and taller. Crawling all over is making her look thinner, too. She was playing around with some golf clubs tonight, holding on with one hand and having her legs straight so that her butt was up in the air. She's definitely got personality, that's for sure.
Wed, 7 Mar 2001
Zoe was asleep on the floor earlier and I went to the bathroom. While I was there, she woke up. I called to her and told her I was in the bathroom and she crawled to me. I was amazed. But then, even in her immature mind, she probably knows that's the logical place to find me!
Fri, 9 Mar 2001
Zander just came in saying he had a little baby for me and he brought a laughing Zoe. He was holding her under the armpits and she was bouncing up and down. It was cute but she's a bit too heavy for him. Now he's taking her for a walk. She's not cooperating but she's having fun.
Tue, 13 Mar 2001
Zoe took 21 steps pushing Zander's red plastic tray! She just kept walking and walking. It was crazy. The tray doesn't have wheels or anything. Once she started going, I was so shocked that I counted to see how far she would go. The tray is about 6 inches off the ground with a pocket on either side so that his legs can sit under it while he works or eats. Zoe has to bend over a little to reach it but she seems to love her new freedom. She was cruising all over the room with it. She's been cranky for a while so I finally got her to sleep - IN HER CRIB!! It's crazy!!

The Year 2001

One of the benefits offered by my employer is called Tenure/Compensatory Leave. Our salaries are based on a range of six or eight steps and when you've reached the top of the range—and therefore will get no more significant raises in the future—you are encouraged to take a four-week paid leave every three years once you've been at the organization for at least five years. I remembered taking such a leave at some point and was wondering how long ago it was and how many I've missed since then.

I figured out that it was in the fall of 2001 that I took my four weeks off but I couldn't remember where I had gone. I opened up my old email program to look for clues. I discovered that 2001 was a very busy year. After my trip to Seattle where I got severe bronchitis, I discovered in January I had asthma. My parents' house burned down also in January so everyone but me gathered there to help them recover.

I went to spring training for a weekend with my friend Tree who's from the Phoenix area. Mom and Dad went to Vienna, Austria in May and Sallie and I took a road trip that month to visit nearly everyone in the family. Mike and Beth got to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York. Anne's family moved from Ohio to Illinois in the summer. And I went to MN and MI for my month off. While I was there, my officemate totalled my car! But that's a whole 'nother story.

I Hope You're Over It By Now

I was looking back through some old emails and found this gem:

At 5:03 PM -0800 3/13/01, Joanna wrote:
>So I've been wondering what corned beef was and what
>it tasted like. I bought some last night and followed
>all the directions for cooking it. I did everything
>right and it was the most vile salty tasting crap I've
>ever had. Plus our house smells so horribly. We each
>took one bite and threw it in the trash and went to
>Russ' for dinner. I can't believe anyone would like
>corned beef. With my one bite, my tongue was
>practically swollen and I couldn't get the taste out
>of my mouth!!
>j

My reply was:
>I nearly threw up that sounds so nasty. I'm trying to
>remember if I've ever had corned beef. If it were as
>bad as you describe, I'm sure I would remember.

London Sights

I heard from Elizabeth that our former co-worker and current friend Cori is headed to London in a few weeks. If you happen to be reading this, Cori, here are some highlights of Sallie's and my visit in November:

• London Eye (I know that is already on your list.)
• British Museum (It's free, so go check it out!)
• The V&A (I always enjoy fashion and design exhibits.)
• Fish & chips at the North Sea Fish Restaurant in Bloomsbury (Our hotel was just down the street so we had take-out from here twice. Delicious!)
• Hampton Court Palace (Go on the weekend for costumed musical guides).
• Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee (I didn't go but Sallie enjoyed a spot of tea on the south side of the Thames.)
• Evensong services at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral (If you go for evensong, you can see the inside of the churches for free. Check to see when the boys are singing.)
  

For photos of our time in London, see the London pages of my photos website: captioned and for the die-hard fan.

Printing Woes

A few days ago I installed new system software on my computer at work and now I can't print. It's extremely frustrating. I just can't figure it out. And it's not like there's just one program or one user involved; every program I try ends up crashing when I try to open the Print dialog box.

I've tried so many different things to try to solve it and our IT guy is out sick (walking pneumonia). I hope he can figure it out when he gets back in. Until them I'm relegated to using other people's computers to print out checks.

ETA: Yea! My IT guy was able to get my computer printing again! I'm back to full speed ahead. Thanks, Clinton.

Bye, Girls

The Gilmore Girls series finale was tonight and even though I only caught the last half (I was installing new software at work late while my DVR was recording hockey and Idol) it's a good thing I just bought boxes of tissues yesterday. I needed a few. What a great show. I loved it from the beginning and I like how they ended it. I'll sure miss Stars Hollow.

Ooo, I just found out that they're re-airing it on Sunday so I can catch the first half. Woo hoo!

Again with The Interruptor

I once again had to have a little meeting today with The Interruptor. We were meeting with my boss this time (thank god) and while we were waiting for him to show up she had a couple questions for me.

What? Seeking knowledge? You're kidding? Well, she obviously wasn't paying attention in our last meeting (she must've been talking over me) because her "questions" were: Was I supposed to do that? Am I supposed to be doing that? Ummm...yeah, cuz that what we were meeting about last time and I was handing stuff over to you TO DO!!

In today's meeting she was so wanting to refuse to do some of her tasks. Hello?! That's what we hired you for. I was only filling in cuz no one else was doing it. It's. Not. My. Job. If my boss hadn't have been there I bet she would've be saying to me, "No, I think you should still be doing that." Too bad, bitch.

The HII

Ah, finally someone played the Hidden Immunity Idol! We've been waiting forever for that to happen. Stupid Stacey dug her own grave with her comment at Tribal about the possibility of a split vote. Yauman was clever and sneaky enough to know the implication of her slip-up and seized the moment.

I was interested to see that Boo also voted for Yauman so if Yau had not played the idol, it would not have been a tie and he would've been gone. The three back-stabbers that are left will have numbers at the next Tribal so immunity will be crucial. Boo will sure be hard to beat. Especially after not winning the truck. You just know he was dreaming of what gun rack he could put in it.

Season finale on Sunday! Woo hoo!

Stop Interrupting!!

Maybe it's because it's almost 3pm and I haven't eaten lunch but the woman I just met with was making me crazy! I was trying to teach her how to do something and she would not stop interrupting me. I would just keep talking (maybe even a little louder) to get her to be quiet but she would not shut up.

This morning she invited herself (without asking me) to a training I had set up with another person and basically took over the meeting constantly interrupting and talking over me.

If you want to learn, why are you talking over me?!!!

Final Four

Well, now that both my favorite teams are out of the Stanley Cup playoffs (Devils lost in 5 to Ottawa and the Sharks lost to Detroit in 6 tonight), I now have to choose which of the remaining four teams to root for.

A logical choice might be the Anaheim Ducks since they're in the Sharks' division but there's too strong a rivalry with San Jose and I fear that not even my admiration for long-time fave Chris Pronger will overcome it.

The Senators might have a chance since they're the lone remaining Canadian team and I do have a soft spot for the teams from north of the border. But I'm not that familiar with the Ottawa players so they're a long shot for my attention.

Buffalo has a few players I like and I could get behind the little-guy, little-town feeling of the Sabres. However, their uniforms might just be too horrid to stomach.

Which leaves me with Detroit who displayed their quality in the series against the Sharks. Tonight's decisive defeat could have left a bitter taste in my mouth but we all knew that San Jose was done for after the crushing blow of Game 4. The Wings came from behind many times and persevered through injury after injury in this year's playoffs. Here's to hoping they can give Anaheim the what-for and go on to play for the Cup. Go Wings!

Midwest Vacation: #10

On Monday I slept in and missed going to do baggie books at Zoe's class. Zander had stayed home from school sick but was allowed to watch movies with me so we started our Harry Potter marathon. We watched the first one then made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and discussed our theories about the seventh book. We watched the second one then he had to take a nap before Zoe got home from school.

Uncle Fitz was playing in a hockey game that evening so John and the kids and I went to watch him. Zoe seemed more interested in the vending machines but we had fun cheering for Fitz. We were the only ones there for awhile until a couple other fans showed up. His team won a very high scoring game. Good job, Number 0!



The kids took off school on Tuesday so the whole family could spend the day in Chicago with me before dropping me off at O'Hare to catch my evening flight back home. We arrived in time to take their uncle Bryan out for a delicious pizza lunch near his downtown office then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Here's a baby mongoose. They were so cute and really fast. They wouldn't stay still enough to get many good shots.



These penguins kept teasing us that they were getting in the water but they never did.



The kitties seemed to be enjoying the cool day.




Was this giraffe trying to hide behind the rock and his neck was just too long?



The pygmy hippos were highly interesting until one pooped in his own tank. We got out of there fast.



I loved this display.


John was on call and had to get back before too long so we said our sad goodbyes at the airport with plenty of time for me to make it through security and grab some orange chicken at the food court before going to my gate. I surprisingly slept most of the flight to Oakland. We landed a little late and I was concerned I'd miss the last BART train but I needn't have worried and got home just fine.

Midwest Vacation: #9

Sunday was going to be hot. And we were going to a baseball game. I hadn't packed for hot weather so I decided to transform the older pair of jeans I had brought into shorts. They needed patched where my legs rub togther anyway so it was a good solution. I could use what I cut off the bottoms to patch the holes. Joanna got out her sewing machine and I spent the morning cutting, pinning and sewing while everyone else was at church.

My folks were going to be in the area attending church nearby so we invited them to join us at the game. Zoe was spending the day with friends so it was Zander's day out at the ballpark. Even though he was feeling rather ill he went anyway and even got to go down onto the field to get his hat autographed and to play a bit of catch with his dad.





We had chosen our seats so my dad wouldn't have to navigate too many stairs and lucky for us they ended up being in the shade the entire game. I had forgotten to apply sunscreen on Saturday so I needed to stay out of the sun. There was a nice breeze so we weren't too hot either. It was just a beautiful day for being at the yard.

This matching pair of ladies must've thought so as well. Though something tells me they're die-hard fans and would be there no matter what. Joanna and I thought they were rather cute.

Midwest Vacation: #8

I love tulips. They are my favorite flower by far. I like their simplicity. They're not too busy. Not a lot is going on in each bloom. I think yellow tulips are my favorites but, really, I love them all. The area John and Joanna live in was settled by the Dutch and there's even a town called Holland. They grow lots of tulips and celebrate a tulip festival in May. I thought I'd take advantage of being there in the spring and go in search of tulips so on Saturday we headed over to Holland.



It was a gorgeous sunny day but the town wasn't crowded with tourists. It was a bit early in the year for tulip season. We found a parking place downtown and settled on the Windmill Restaurant for lunch. I was in the mood for a burger so got the $2.85 quarter pounder with a side of onion rings instead of fries. I was so glad I got the rings. They were the best onion rings I've had in a long long time. I'd go back there just for those.

After lunch we walked around the downtown area. The street banners are reproductions of famous paintings with tulips inserted in them in funny, creative ways. We stopped in a shop that had a "Pickle Tasting Today" sign in the window. I mean, really, who could resist that? They not only had pickles to taste but all kinds of other things including some hickory potato chips that were awesome so we bought some but then forgot to eat them while I was there. I hope you enjoy them, John.

We also saw some fun street sculptures including Ben Franklin sitting on a park bench and these musicians. Which one doesn't belong?



After stopping in a candy shop (what small tourist town is complete without one?), we were deciding what to do next when I saw a calendar of events posted on a informational board. It was Community Day out at the tulip farm so we made a note of the address and headed that way.

Not only is Veldheer's a tulip farm but they also have bison. And it was free that day. A good combo. They had an area of formal, laid-out gardens that didn't have many flowers yet but there were a few sections of blooms out in the fields.





I loved these pale yellow flowers.



I was amazed to get this shot of a bee in amongst the blooms. They were so speedy it was hard to catch them in the frame.



Can you believe how close we got to the bison? These were fairly docile but another one kept snorting at people. It was kinda funny.



We stopped for ice cream on the way home. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Midwest Vacation: #7

I know I'm a bit behind catching you all up on the end of my vacation seeing as how I've been home since Tuesday but I will do it anyway. I think I left off on Monday the 16th after I had been to Zoe's class for baggie books and then watched Planet Earth for the the afternoon. The rest of the days of that week are now merged together in my mind though I know I left the house at least once a day. I watched some Ellen and finally saw Rosie on The View. I even got to see Jeff Probst on Live with Regis and Kelly. I kept caught up with Dancing with the Stars and American Idol and watched 24 with Joanna.

Zoe and I made fun things with homemade play-dough on Tuesday. I made some dishes and food. Can you see the bacon and egg?



I can't remember for the life of me what we did on Wednesday. I'm sure I did a few of the following: hold the baby, try really hard not to pet the cat, watch Zoe jump rope, hold the baby, have a cup or two of tea, watch baseball, eat really good food, watch the baby wave her arms in the air.

I think that was the night I stayed up really late listening to the Sharks game online. I had headed to bed and while listening to the local sports talk radio station heard about Buerle's no-no so went back out to tell John. He had the Sharks game on so I watched SportsCenter to get the White Sox highlights and stayed up to listen to San Jose go up 3-1 over Nashville in the first round.

On Thursday Joanna, Vienna and I went to Joanna's sister's house for lunch with some of their friends and their little kids. It turned out to be a little surprise baby shower. I wish Erica would've warned me; I could've brought something for Vienna as well. I had sent some fleece blankets back in the fall the first time they thought they were getting a child but I ended up not getting anything specifically for Vienna. I still can I suppose.

Here's a pic I liked of one of the kids with Erica's very adorable cat.



I think it was Friday that Joanna and I had lunch at Costco. I had a couple Polish sausages. They were good but, man, I was full. Not too full to share an ice cream bar on the way out though. I can't wait for Sallie to move out here and get her to take me to Costco for a snack. I think my favorite thing we got at Costco was the pineapple spears that John later grilled. They were amazing.

Friday was also Zander's birthday. He had received an iPod from his folks but was still using some old headphones I had discarded the last time I visited a year and a half ago. They weren't even working in one ear. I got him some new ones from Best Buy, as well as a Police CD I picked up at Costco. We had crème brûlée cheesecake from the GFS Marketplace store after school with his cousins to celebrate. I forgot to get the camera out so maybe someone else who took some pictures could send me a couple.

John took Zander and a friend out for games and supper Friday night so Zoe, Joanna and I had a girls' night in. We all love sesame and orange chicken so we tried out three different kinds of sauce: a sesame and a dark and a light orange sauce. All three were awesome. Then we watched Happy Feet. It was so cute. The Mexican penguins were hilarious. Just how many voices did Robin Williams do in that movie anyway?

Next to the Last Minute

I thought surely yesterday's Sharks/Wings game was headed for an overtime period after the Wings came back from again being two goals down in the first period to tie it up early in the third. But a next-to-the-last-minute goal at 18:36 by the crafty Pavel Datsyuk put the Wings ahead tying the series at one game apiece.

The Shark Tank will be loud and exciting tomorrow night for Game 3. I'm looking forward to watching our old crew on FSN Bay Area. I hear Drew Remenda is back from Hockey Night in Canada to do color with Randy Hahn. I feel sorry for those of you who have to watch it on VS.

My other team, New Jersey, was able to win their Game 2 in overtime to even that series with the Senators. I fear for them because Ottawa seems so very very good. Brodeur and the D will have to be better for them to come out winners in that round.

Sharks Win! Sharks Win!!

After two quick goals (within 24 seconds) halfway through the first period, the San Jose Sharks shut down the Red Wings with some good defense and even better goaltending from Nabokov (34 saves) to win the first game of the second round. The not-a-sellout crowd at the Joe didn't have much to cheer about and weren't a factor even though San Jose has rarely won in Detroit.

The Wings seemed to really miss Holmstrom in front of the net. We'll see if his injured eye will let him get on the ice next time out.

Game 2 is on Saturday. On NBC. In HD. At noon (PDT). Make your plans.

Midwest Vacation: #6

On Sunday morning I had some nice quiet alone time and made sloppy joes for the family for when they got home from church. I was feeling rather clumsy and had a couple spills so I spent a bit of my time cleaning up too. Whoops!

After lunch John and the kids and I went into Grand Rapids to Heritage Hill and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May House. It was reconstructed about twenty years ago to its 1909 design. The house is owned by the Steelcase corporation who uses it for company events.



I was surprised how many people were there. There was already a group of people watching the film they show about the reconstruction when we arrived. So we sat in the conference room looking at binders of photos. Zander found this pop-up book that shows several Wright designs.



After touring the house, we drove around Heritage Hill a little bit. The next time Anne visits, she really must spend some time in this neighborhood. This was one of our favorites. Don't you love the keyhole window?

For supper, we cooked up a Chinese feast. Joanna and Zoe made homemade egg rolls. The kids and I used up the remaining wrappers for shrimp rolls. Joanna and I worked on some sesame chicken and she made some coconut shrimp. Everything was so tasty.

On Monday morning, I went with Joanna to Zoe and Zander's school to volunteer listening to the kids in Zoe's class read what they call their "baggie books." The books are just photocopies stapled together which the kid carries in their backpack in a gallon-sized ziptop bag. Every day, each kid reads a book to a volunteer parent (or other). So our job is to correct any mistakes the child makes and to pass them on to the next book in the list. If they make more than three mistakes, they have to keep working on that book. I only had one girl who was close to not passing but I thought she did a good enough job so I gave her the next book. What can I say? I'm a softie.

One girl had a book with the word "zyzomys" in it. Now who knows what those are? I sure didn't! We agreed to disagree on how to pronounce it and when she read that it meant "rock rat" she decided to read that out loud instead of zyzomys from then on. She was pretty funny. And I learned something at school that day.

That afternoon I discovered on their DVR a show called Planet Earth. Have you heard of it? It's amazing. I watched three and a half shows! The photography is amazing and one of the cool things about it is that with new technology they were able to capture footage of animals we don't normally get to see: snow leopards, wild baby giant pandas, for example. It's pretty amazing stuff. It's a Discovery Channel 11-part miniseries, so check it out.

Midwest Vacation: #5

Tuesday Sal and I drove up to my folks' in Kaleva. My dad had an appointment in Manistee so we meet them there for lunch at the newly re-opened House of Flavors. I got a brat with some deep fried cauliflower. The brat was okay but the batter on the cauliflower was too thick so they weren't so appetizing. I had to get some ice cream too so had a vanilla malt with extra malt. It was delicious.

The next few days were filled with puzzle-solving, riding in the car with Dad to his doctor's appointments, cooking, reading, watching baseball and hockey, and sleeping. Just like a vacation should be. I, of course, spent just enough time on the computer as well. I even did a little IT support for my mom when she wanted to figure out how to create PDFs on her computers. I hope that's working out for you, Mom.

Sal had to be back to work in Minnesota on Friday afternoon so she left early Thursday morning.



It was long debate whether she should go the southern route through Chicago or cross the Mackinac Bridge and go west through the Upper Peninsula. For awhile it looked like it might be better to go through all snow in the north rather than a snow/rain mix in the south, but in the end she made the correct choice to stay on the big highways through the more populated areas. She arrived safely home around 10:00pm after 13.5 hours of driving without any weather difficulties at all.

Mom went down to camp on Friday night so Dad and I had a quiet evening and then drove down Saturday morning. I had my camera out and was able to capture this family of turkeys crossing the road. It was my third sighting of turkeys that week. I was lucky to catch them with a background of snow. Otherwise they tend to blend in with the trees.



I just barely caught this fun barn as we turned south on 80th Avenue.



I spent about an hour or so looking around the camp lodge seeing all the changes since I'd been there last. It was awhile ago. John, Joanna and the kids got there around noon and Zander, Zoe and I took advantage of the ping pong table in the rec room to get some practice in. We all need it!

The people who were there for the meeting were about to sit down for their potluck lunch so we took off and headed south in search of our own lunch. We couldn't agree on being hungry or where to eat so we ended up at one of their favorite Chinese buffets near their home. It was soooo good. I had a few bites of sesame chicken, orange chicken, honey chicken and pepper chicken all on my plate at once. No wonder they call it the Jumbo Buffet.

Another fun note about the Buffet was that all the hand-written signage was in Spanish and what it said was that kids three-years-old or younger had to be accompanied by an adult. Three? So four-year-olds are allowed to go get food by themselves? I don't even think they could hold their own plate much less reach the food. The delicious, delicious food.

Saturday evening was the last home game for the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team and was an important one for them to stay in the playoff race. I went with John, Zander, Joanna's bro-in-law (thanks for the tix, Fitz!), and his two younger kids. We had a good time. The team didn't end up winning but it was a fun game (and the onion strips were lovely). I spent a lot of my time entertaining three-year-old Elise who was sitting beside me. She obviously wasn't that interested in the game so I tried to get her to dance and play with me so she would have a good time too. The weather is supposed to be really warm on Sunday so we're planning on going to the West Michigan Whitecaps game so I'll get my hockey and baseball goals met for this trip. Woo hoo!

Midwest Vacation: #4

I had decided to ride up to my folks' with Sal when she went up on Tuesday so Sunday and Monday were spent quietly at home with John's new expanded family. After a really long time waiting to adopt a baby, they finally got the good news that their four was now five. They named her Vienna Marguerite after the city in which my parents were married and after Joanna's maternal grandmother. I loved the name when I heard it and I now love the named even more. She is a cutie, sweetie, cuddlie, bundlie ... oh I can feel my teeth aching from the sweetness.

On Sunday, Zander and John began exploring the CD-ROM they got at the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop. There are photos, movies, drawings and descriptions of all his creations. We discovered the house nearby was open on Sundays but not on Easter. We made plans to go the next weekend.

We decorated Easter Eggs in the afternoon with a speckled egg kit. It used concentrated liquid dyes applied using little sponges. Sal, Zo, Zander and I all had our unique methods and results. I forgot to take some pictures, sorry. I'm hoping John took some.

Sunday evening, Joanna, Erica and I went to see Blades of Glory. I don't think I've laughed so much in a theater for a very very long time. It was so funny. I was glad to see it with those two because everything seems funnier when I'm with Joanna. The kids wanted to watch Eragon while we were gone so Sal got to watch it again. Poor thing.

On Monday morning Sal and Joanna visited Zoe's class to test the first graders' reading skills. (I'll get to do it this next Monday. I'll describe the process then.) So that meant that I got to babysit Vienna all by myself. John left her swinging in her swing as he left for work saying she'd fall asleep soon. She didn't. She started to get fussy about 10 minutes later so I fed her some and she still didn't seem interested in napping. That was fine with me.

We met up with Erica and her two preschool kids at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. My orange peel chicken was lovely but the egg drop soup and the egg roll were subpar. I might stick with the crab rangoons next time.

When the kids got home from school we went to the library and Target -- two of my favorite places. I actually had a headache at the library so I got a hot drink at the cafe and sat outside in the cool air while the others found their books and movies. We met up with John at Target when he was done with work. Sal and I bought Zoe some pretty ponytail holders and at the last second I found the cutest dress for her. It was supposed to be a nightgown but it will make a nice summer dress. I have to remember to take a picture of her in it. We had steaks on the grill for supper and then watched some baseball and then 24. It was a great day.

It started snowing on Monday so I thought I'd try to capture it. Harder than I thought.

Puzzled?

I've never been a big fan of jigsaw puzzles but Zoe and I did a couple easy ones together before I came up to my folks'. My dad loves puzzles and I thought this week would be a good time to scratch my incipient jigsaw itch. I found this one and thought it wouldn't be too hard. I struggled a bit but in the end was surprised I actually got it done so quickly. And I learned a lot about butterfly anatomy in the process!

Midwest Vacation: #3

We met for breakfast on Saturday in the fanciest McDonald's I've ever seen. It's the flagship restaurant near Hamburger U. It had a McCafe so I got hot chocolate. It was delicious. We sat around the center elevated oval table and decided to split into two groups for the morning activities and meet up for lunch at Ann Sather. I went with the group going to the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio while some others went to the Lincoln Zoo. We had to wait about a half hour for our guided tour so we spent some time exploring the gift shop.

The tour was fun, the tour guide was irreverent and both the house and studio were very interesting. We weren't allowed to take photos inside so I had to do with shots outside and of items in the shop.





Ann Sather specializes in Swedish food but I ordered the Southern Decadence: poached eggs, biscuits and gravy. It was superb but, when I tasted Zander's Swedish pancakes, I wished I had ordered those instead. I do love a thin, eggy pancake. I'm glad I wasn't sitting too close to the three people who ordered Reubens. I feel a little sick when I smell sauerkraut.

After a brief stop at Trader Joe's, I was off to Michigan with Joanna and the kids while Sallie and John took her car. The visit in Chicago was highly successful. I'm so glad we were able to get together even for a brief time.

Midwest Vacation: #2

The plan for Friday (my dad's birthday) was to meet at the meatball counter at IKEA at noon. The rest of the Michigan relatives were to arrive in the morning so Sal and I checked out of the Suites and caught a ride with Anne and Don while Jordan rode with his grandparents. We meandered through the lovely furniture and accessories and finally tracked down the others. It was so great to see the kids, especially the newest one: just two months old on Apr. 2. She's a real sweetie!

I picked up a couple flexible cutting sheets for Joanna's kitchen and a big, soft, fluffy hippopotamus for Sal. She loved it so much I just had to get it. I can't find it on the IKEA website so you just have to imagine it. Here's Zoe getting caught in the act of smacking her dad in the behind. Naughty girl!




With three recent birthdays in the family, we had to spread them out over the day so we celebrated Anne's before eating. She got a Car-eoke book for Christmas sing-alongs in the car. After a delicous lunch of Swedish meatballs and macaroni and cheese, I received my 40th birthday gift from my siblings. It's a new green iPod shuffle. They engraved a message on the back: "Breeze by 40 Love, your Siblings" Thank you all. I love it so much.

We were all staying in the same hotel that night so we all headed over to the Garden Inn to check in after lunch. The kids wanted to go swimming so after exploring each other's rooms, we six adults watched the three kids frolic in the pool for awhile. We agreed on a place to go for Dad's birthday dinner: the Kopper Kitchen. John ordered saganaki (flaming cheese) which was fairly exciting. Dad seemed to appreciate his new pretty dress shirts and the CD of us singing together at our last mini-reunion.

The guys headed off to help Joanna's brother with a mechanical problem at the theater he volunteers at and everyone else seemed interested in an early evening so Sal and I ended up watching Hidalgo in our room by ourselves. I really really liked it.

Here's a couple photos of what today looked like in Kaleva. Yes, it's April.

Midwest Vacation: #1

I've been on vacation for a week and it's been great.

I flew to Chicago last Wednesday...well, with a brief, unanticipated stop in Salt Lake City. We were about an hour into the 4-hour flight from Oakland to O'Hare when the pilot announced that because of a valve malfunction, all the onboard water had been lost overboard. Oops! They decided that we really needed water for flushing the toilets and washing the hands so we had to fill up in Salt Lake. It took about an hour to land, determine the problem, fix it, acquire more fuel and take off again. I did get to see the snow-capped Grand Teutons and the big salty lake. I wish I had gotten my camera out.

I also later wished I had borrowed my seatmate's cellphone and made a call to Sal who was picking me up. She was driving down from MN but did have her phone in the car. She didn't bother checking the status of my flight so drove around the airport for an hour before finally deciding to park and find a restroom. She was just checking the arrivals board when I found her in baggage claim. We headed out into the cold, cold Chicago night and our fancy room at the Hilton Suites.

My folks had arrived earlier in the day so we called them to arrange a shared breakfast the next morning in our suite. They arrived with some egg, Canadian bacon, muffin sandwiches which we matched with the apples and plums Sal had brought from Costco. My dad's birthday was Friday and I wanted to go shopping for a present with my mom. She suggested some new dress shirts so we left my dad at the hotel and headed for the fancy mall next door.

It was just a little too fancy for us so we set out in search of the Men's Wearhouse we were told was nearby. We didn't find it and were about to head elsewhere when I asked a woman in the car next to us in the left-turn lane. She confirmed it was just where we were headed. It wasn't. And we got caught in a railroad-crossing traffic jam. We gave up again and headed for Borders.

And, of course, right there on the side of the road was a Big & Tall Men's Clothing Store. Just the kind of store we were looking for. And they were open. And they had lots of pretty dress shirts to choose from. So we agreed on a couple, bought them and were about to leave the store when Sal sadly realized that she had locked her car keys inside her car -- along with her cellphone. Fortunately, she had her AAA card in her wallet in her jeans pocket so made a really long call and finally got someone to come out and open the car. In the meantime, Mom and I had found the short-sleeved dress shirts and decided Dad needed one of those as well. He's a lucky, lucky guy.

Anne, Don and Jordan arrived that afternoon and Anne needed to get some gift wrap for her presents for the new baby. I volunteered to go out with her while the others watched a movie on the portable DVD player Sal had borrowed from Mike and had hooked up to our hotel TV (pretty cool, huh?). Anne thought for sure she had seen a Target back the way they had come so out we went. And kept going. And going. And going. I swear we drove 20 minutes to this Target. We had fun choosing some greeting cards and she found a wine box that looked cool and was just the right size to fit all her outfits in. We got back to the suite and pretty soon the others left for Love Feast at a local church.

Sal and I started watching Eragon but about halfway through we realized we were really hungry so we went search of dinner. We had seen a restaurant next to the Borders just around the corner. So we stopped for some books first then had dinner at J. Alexander's. It was a bit pricey but the filet I got was amazing. I think the Alex salad that Sal got with her burger was almost as good. I wanted to go back there again. Maybe some day...