an ironic chain of events led to this.....

update in pictures

We shaved the dog.
Cooler for him....less floor cleaning for me. Everybody wins. Except maybe his pride.

Ran a 5K with Vickie at the White Sox stadium. Lots of fun!
The mascot (okay, I'm not a real fan yet, because I can't remember his name for the life of me).....It's SOUTH PAW!!

The start,

Mile 1,

Mile 2,

and the finish!

party in the stands
Vickie catching a high ball (sorry for my weak baseball vocabulary)

...touching the turf...too bad she wasn't able to stand where Buerhle stands....


sitting on the dugouts...

a spontaneous trip to the Jelly Belly Factory with Vickie and Barb! This is the best candy in the WORLD.


Hannah displaying her gifts from our trip. (Thanks, Barb!)

I'm influencing future generations.

Home on the Range...part 2

The last stretch of our trip was the annual family reunion. This year we camped at Lake McConaughey. I'm not much of a camper, but was surprised at how much fun it was. The only downside was that most of us were too exhausted to chat into the evening around the campfire.
We spent lots of time on the beach...

...and on the water.

My sweet sisters

Grandma Jan (who is 75 years old!) riding a jet ski

H was thrilled when her cousins Danae & Bryson arrived.

A sunset canoe ride


The cousins...we've really grown up, haven't we?

Making ice cream the "old fashioned way"

One big happy family

Having fun with a white elephant gift

Home on the Range....part 1

Well, we're back. We just returned from Nebraska and we're tired. But it was fun and really good to see family. Times like these make we wish we lived closer.

But here are some highlights of our trip. I may break it up into a few entries, since I can't figure out a simple way to leave comments on individual pictures. If you want the full version, check out our family pics link in a day or two and I'll have more there.

A strange museum/landmark to break up the monotony of the Nebraska terrain.

The whole family 4-wheeling....even Schaeffer

self-explanatory...

The fourth of July festivities in Oshkosh, Nebraska:
the pancake breakfast at the fire station,

the parade,

the free lunch at the city park,

the fireworks with Grandma.

Some of my best memories are all of us hanging out at my grandparents on the fourth, putting on costumes for the parade, swimming at the free city pool, watching the city fireworks at the baseball field, then watching my uncle (and others probably as well, but my uncle is clearest in my memory)setting off our big fireworks. If all my cousins and sisters had been there this year, it would have been perfect.

Does anyone out there have a family like this?!

We've been in Nebraska for a couple days now, but the real event is the annual reunion....we are heading to the lake and meeting the rest of the family today.

My family loves to perform. Maybe I should rephrase this.....The matriarchs in my family (Grandma, mom, & aunt) love to perform and love even more bringing the rest of us along with them.

Every year we have an evening exchanging white elephant gifts (you MUST tell a story before you get a gift) and then performing (to whomever the poor souls who are camping next to us) the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance. To top it all off, this year, they have scheduled a Talent Show.....

I have to admit, this reunion always leaves me with several good stories to tell and I always silently get a kick out of the tortured look in Isaac's eyes. Poor guy. He's been dealing with this for 10 years now....and still not given in.

I'll try to post a video and pictures of the evidence of my crazy family. I can't help but love them. =)

random observation

I'm sitting here, starting on my 3rd cup of coffee and noticing that Isaac has probably only had 1 cup...maybe 2. But he tends to not finish his drink...sometimes because the temperature cools or because the bottom of the cup doesn't taste as well...or something like that.

I don't sip my coffee. I don't guzzle, but I drink every bit. The taste is growing on me and I'm starting to enjoy it more and more, but the primary reason I like coffee is the energy I feel after finishing the beverage. I mean, who knew caffeine had this AMAZING affect on me! I've been wasting my time drinking soda....too much time. I can't speak for Isaac, but I believe he enjoys the taste most and the lingering routine of the start of the day.

Our different approaches to coffee is similar to other things we do. He likes camping and long (Looooong) hikes for the sake of the experience and just being out in nature. I "like" ("like" may not be completely accurate) hiking and camping because of the challenge it presents....for the same reason I love marathons: to accomplish something difficult and prove to myself that I can fight my lazy tendencies.

In general, I look to the final product or end as I am doing things....Isaac seems to enjoy the process and is less concerned with the outcome. To be fair, he does care about the end, but I think his perspective allows him to be more flexible and open to a different ending....and enjoy the journey along the way.

All this to say, I think I need to start sipping my coffee.

assumptions

This morning, I went to Panera's rival, Atlanta Bread Company. I was hoping the coffee would be better...it is, I suppose, but lukewarm.

On another note, I've been learning that when I pull my computer out, people assume I'm fluent in computer-speak. This happened to me teaching, except all I had to do to impress other colleagues was do "fancy" things with Microsoft Word or find cool websites.

I just met this retired man who started up a conversation with me by saying, "So tell me what your computer can do." Then proceeded to ask me what he needs for his laptop to be wireless, yet for his desktop to be connected as well. This conversation went on longer than expected. I, of course, knew nothing, but he still seemed to think I might be of some help before heading next door to.....BEST BUY.

He was pretty chatty, telling me about his work with government and nuclear waste storage facilities....then proceeded with a few choice racist remarks about his trip to the Middle East.

After learning I had a friend who lived in that region of the world (Don't worry, I was very vague, my friend!), he asked me, "What are those people thinking?! I just can't imagine what goes through their heads to do the things they do....blah, blah..." LoLo, I wish you were here, but I think you would have been proud of me. Pretty much all I said was that both sides don't understand each other and have completely different methods of thinking. He paused, then said, "So who are you voting for?" I don't know, I say. "My wife is voting for that damned Hilary Clinton." Nice.

Sidenote: the guy, I thought, was on his way out...but I just looked to the other end of the restaruant, and he's looking over the shoulder of some guy with an Apple laptop. The poor guy even has his headphones on....clear message: LEAVE ME ALONE PLEASE...but Mr. Retirement has just sat down. =) But I just heard, "wireless router".....hey, I said that too!

On another sidenote, do I even notice the assumptions I make of others? Even the ones closest to me? I think I'm too focused on fixing the wrong assumptions others have of me to even notice my own erroneous thinking.

It's turning out to be a routine

I should be out running right now, but instead I'm at Panera: the newspaper, coffee, and free WiFi, . The coffee's not that good....warm, not hot and always out of the blend I like. But it's better than running in this humidity. At least that's my excuse.

I have never felt more like Isaac.

The scoop

Here's a rundown on our trip so far:
Hannah surrounded by Dora, watching Dora...


Downtown Augusta...home of James Brown:
(He was a little man!)


Visiting the gypsy community:
Bambi was very anxious and paranoid, so I had to be sneaky in taking pics. But this whole area had enormous homes with trailers behind them. Legend (or truth...depending on who's talking) has it that they won't move in their large homes for a year or so...so that the evil spirits will leave. Many of these "mansions" had their windows completely covered.
As you can tell, I'm a bit of a sceptic about all this, so I know I'm going to get reprimanded by my dear sister....so I may have to revise my comments. =)



Our lovely host and hostess.
I love you guys and am so glad we were able to come!


H at the Greenjackets game...a minor league for the Giants.


Fun in the sun at Hilton Head



Back in Augusta walking the path on the canal:

That's called the ocean

Well, we're in the midst of our vacation.....we drove to Georgia, are staying with my sister and her husband, and now Isaac is in Florida for his class while we are relaxing at Hilton Head.

Here are a few pics of Hannah's first time on the beach...I'll keep posting more.

conference week

He's gone...but I still made our morning coffee. It's just not the same without him.

Merging....

my two addictions: a good deal & Jelly Bellys

I almost hope the Belly Flops aren't as affordable as they are promising. The Jelly Belly perfume, however, sounds kind of disgusting. If I were twelve, I may feel differently.

Pirate Adventure

I still can't believe we did this.....well, as you can see, we weren't as brave or committed as others.

Aarg, I can't believe I'm doing this...

Hannah is off playing at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Isaac and I are trying to make the most of our free time by working around the house.

BUT...we will be joining our crazy group of friends to see "Pirates" at the theater,

in pirate costume.

eating first at Long John Silvers.

did I mention, in COSTUME?!

Depending on how humiliating this experience is, I may or may not be posting pictures.

Stay tuned.

Aarg.

A grumpy start to the morning for me and the local AARP

If the local newspaper knew how important the daily puzzles were:

-they wouldn't overlook the repeat of YESTERDAY's puzzles in TODAY's paper,
-the Cryptoquip wouldn't predictably repeat the use of the following words: might, could, should, "I'd say he/she," if, suppose, guess, people,
-the crossword puzzles will STOP using "Xena" princess warrior and "Uma" Thurman as the primary ways to use "x" and "u,"
-they would print them on a single sheet rather than a double page....it's an especially good day when this happens,and
-Sunday should still include the usual puzzles AND print them on the same page.

I feel a bit better now. Maybe I should take up knitting.