Once

We watched the Oscars on Sunday night...partly because my back hurt and I didn't feel like doing anything else...partly because, hey, I like the movies and I enjoy seeing the dresses. Nothing outrageous this year, either in dialog or dress.

We signed up for NetFlix a few weeks ago. One of the first movies I requested was "Once," which I had read about a while ago. It was a sleeper movie, made in Ireland, concerning a street musician who bonds with a Czechoslovakian musician. I was surprised when one of their songs was nominated for an Oscar, and they won! They appeared in person and were not dressed in designer togs and jewels. Glen's guitar looked pretty beat up. The movie was made in three weeks at a cost of $100,000. As Marketa said in her acceptance speech, "It was hope for independent musicians everywhere."

Check them out!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoSL_qayMCc

Last night there was a great full lunar eclipse. it was the last one until 2010. I thought i'd post some pictures that i took for extra credit in science class, i don't know if anyone else caught it. It went from about 9-11 EST (6-8 west coast time). it looked like something was taking bites out of the moon, until it was all gone and it turned blood red! I read on the internet that it's because of the suns rays going through Earth's atmosphere and striking the moon. Apparently there's even going to be a solar eclipse in early august, except i don't think it'll be visible from America. The pictures aren't too good because i just took them with my digital camera, but still, enjoy!

Happy Birthday !!

2/18 Roger

2/21 Stephanie (18th Birthday !)

2/26 Valerie

Weather & Taxes

Well, what a great post already !! Weather & Taxes. In a feat of super human cunning & strength, I finalized our taxes by 2/13. This will never happen again !! (Until maybe next year when we have to file college forms again !!) Of course, I want Stephanie to get in everywhere she applies, but I kinda wish the colleges had a fast reject button if there's no hope. Then we wouldn't have to file FinAid forms with 6 schools. (One of her friend's applied to 10+ schools - imagine that !!)

And, I have posted a picture of our Almost Snow. Four hours of beatiful fluffy snow, followed by 15 hours of steady rain. And of course, the ground is frozen, so lots of localized flooding. The kids did have a 2 hr delayed opening because of ice. Panther is making me crazy - she prowls my office, and occassionally steps on my keyboard with interesting results --- cabin fever !! (As of this minute, Panther is hiding behind the printer after growling at Oreo !)

All is well here. I stupidly volunteered at a Career Day on Saturday, which conflicts with my sewing time. Work has picked up a little, which is good. The homeowners here seem to be suffering from the Lake Woebegone effect. You know - It's so sad all the OTHER people are having such problems with value - In OUR neighborhood, well, prices are still increasing...

Kids are well. Report cards came out - mostly okay. Just don't ask Stephanie about Multi-variable Calculus...Stephanie is still working at Stop N Shop. Erica will be working at GS camp this summer - she's looking forward to that. Brian will be at camp most of the summer.

Jeff is in a training class these 2 weeks, which he says is really boring....

So, off to work for me.

Rob Sighting :o)

hi all, roger & i just got back from new orleans, he had his annual convention there, and he was nice enough to bring me with. first night, roger & i ate dinner at petunia's, walked up bourban st, then had beignets at cafe du monde. next day, i ran up st. charles, took street car back, then spent 2-hour detour back to hotel at bcbg (every other year i seem to get in a clothing rut -- needed help bad!), then hit reception and dinner (Brennan's) with rog. Second day, went on bayou tour with two other "girls" from the group -- saw 6 alligators, a snake, and numerous turtles. That night, another reception, and dinner at arnauds with a small group that included congressman oberstar (MN) and his wife. roger knows him quite well, and introduced me in french. Congressman O replied in french, and was very excited, because he thought i might be french...so all those years of high school french finally paid off, i was able to tell him in french that i don't speak french. last day for me, hung out with rob...had bbq shrimp and grits for b'fast (grits for first time, tasted great with the shrimp), went to sculpture garden, shopped in french quarter, bought tee shirts, drove by sites of famous Rob gigs...a great day, with a great brother! another reception and dinner at maurey's in the quarter hosted by a japanese firm...i talked the guys at our table into joining roger and me in crashing a invitation only party down on bourbon street, so we ended the evening drinking wine on a balcony, watching some girls who apparently love "negative" attention show their breasts (i mean, common, it was a work function!) while their husbands looked on approvingly, and throwing beads on the passerbys below. monday it was home for me, to ice, cold, and rain. :o(

SkyDive, AZ

One of the highlights of our visit to AZ was driving out to SkyDive where people come from all over the world to train. We watched about four planes take off, each loaded with 15-20 participants. All of a sudden, after a lull, there would be a cascade of skydivers landing right in front of us...some solo, some in tandem. Ralph said he would if I would, but neither of us would go first!

We also had the opportunity to watch a balloon being inflated and launched. Nice to have front row seats.

Let the baby-proofing begin!

Now that the weather is warming up, I'm starting to look into getting the summer clothes out. Because Toby is so much larger than Michael ever was, I'm weeding clothes out left and right. I've never had so much credit at the consignment store! For perspective, here's a picture of Toby that I took last week. And a picture of Michael taken in April of 2006, when he was two years old. Same shirt.


Toby also had his second tooth come in. And, he started crawling today! I've been saying for a while that he's really close to figuring it out. Well, all he needed was for me to take his slippery sweat pants off. Now that he's bare-kneed on the floor, he has traction. Let the baby-proofing begin!

Lil and I met with her new teacher last week. We dove into her "OLS" (online shool) work and I have been pleased with how the courses are laid out. The user interface is also very easy to use. Her computer arrived on Friday, and the rest of her materials should arrive tomorrow.

On a much sadder note, Lilli's dear cat, Gaia, is no more. Lilli found her dead yesterday behind the house. After many tears, we made a little coffin and headstone for her and Shawn helped with the burial. Here's a picture Lilli took, and got a blue ribbon for at the County Fair.

Word Challenge

Kristin had discovered this site on my last trip out there and I had forgotten about it. One of my friends forwarded it to me the other day and mentioned that I might "hate" her for it, as it's addictive. And yes, it is! Check out www.freerice.com.

Super Sunday & Super Tuesday

Congrats to Stephanie - she has been accepted at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. She's excited to get that first college acceptance.

Hey, what about those Giants !! Go Eli & Plaxico !! Now, the next big thing is Super Tuesday. I have been ignoring all the political issues, since in the past the NJ primary/caucus was too late. Apparently, it was moved up, so now I have to vote tomorrow. So I'm playing catch up.....I have 24 hours to become an informed citizen !! It is confusing, because some of the guys that have dropped out are still on the ballot here.

Transcript

I sent for my transcript as requested by the staffing employee at the temp agency. She assured me that my college would still have it available. Sure enough, it did, but not in the computerized format she had probably expected. It took two weeks to get it and it still looks like the original typewritten page (complete with strike-overs instead of corrections). How archaic this seems now!

I visualize someone wandering through a dark musty basement, prowling through stacks of cardboard boxes, and wondering why the h... a 73-year-old lady needs a transcript!

New Chinchillas!

So, yesterday, Erica, Mom (laura) and i went to go pick up our brand-new chinchilla! We got her from two college students, who have been breeding chinchillas in their laundry room. It's a female, and we named her 'Zodiac'. We bought her an enormous cage, (which is now residing in Erica's room) but the people who sold us the chinchilla told us that we needed to replace all the plastic in it with wood, because chinchillas like to chew. In the beginning of march, we're going to get a companion for her. Right now she's still to young, but at the chinchilla place they still let us hold and pet her. Sorry the pictures so blurry, she just won't stay still!

I just can't resist....

I'm a sucker for cute baby pics. So here you go.....

We'll weather the weather....

no matter the weather, whether we like it or not..... Here's the view out our front door a few days ago... I seem to have inflicted weather karma on us. In return for mocking our school's snow day last week, we had snow on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Saturday was nice and sunny. Yesterday and today have been colder than a witch's toes in a snowstorm. It's also raining again. Brrrrr....... Now I know we have nothing on places like North Dakota, but usually we get one piddling snow per winter here at our elevation (a mere 2100'). But we've had 4 good snows thus far, and more winter to come. Brrrrr.........