I got up to 11 inches of snow this morning. Apparently the storm got downgraded from a blizzard to a winter storm, to the dismay of our hysterical news people, but its still going to give them a full news day, with the ability to talk about staying up all night, etc. It looks awfully pretty, but it doesn't seem like its nearly as bad as they predicted in terms of wind.
Bridget didn't have to go to work yesterday due to the storm, which pleased her greatly. We ran out to get some movies, so spent a night around the TV. Today may be more of the same after the snow gets moved. We did manage a trip to Brookfield Square yesterday. The Ford Model agency was having an open call, so Bridget wanted to try her luck. They just took pictures and said they would contact her. Another store was doing something similar so she registered there and also checked out when Boston Store has their prom dress fashion show. She' s been wanting to check those things out. She's glad that no one told her she was too fat but who knows how this will turn out. Probably nothing will happen.
Lucy and Liz really like snow and they are having a blast leaping like young pups through the white stuff. Its pretty funny when they bury their noses and all you can see are tails.
Sounds like the Boise folks had a great time in Denver with their great hosts. To assist Freya in her pursuit of girliness, I found a cute pink dress that I knitted for Bridget that she agreed to send to Freya for her to wear when she gets a little bigger. Its pretty simple, but has a lacy pattern around the bottom and the bottom of the sleeves. Even Bridget, whose girliness came much later, despite Michele's best efforts, liked it.
The ET kids had Friday and Monday off anyway, so no snow day for them, but hopefully they can get some snow sports in. I don't think we're going anywhere today.
Well, I have to do some work this morning. I still do all the billing and some of the financial work for the clinic, so part of the weekend is usually devoted to that. We are starting to do some serious planning for getting the basement finished again, so its a good day for that, too. Hope everyone is safe and warm and enjoying whatever their situation is. Love to all, Susan
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
tracks
Pops, the NASCAR heading wasn't supposed to refer to the photos of the animal tracks...
By the way, the tracks seem to be about 4"x6". They're elongated to about 9" in the snow, but I think that's due to the running motion. If I thought they were really 9" long, I'd be alerting the National Guard.
Mark
By the way, the tracks seem to be about 4"x6". They're elongated to about 9" in the snow, but I think that's due to the running motion. If I thought they were really 9" long, I'd be alerting the National Guard.
Mark
NASCAR!!!
Hi all,
Sure sounds like us unNASCARized brothers and sisters missed some bangup action yesterday! So how did our local boy Matt Kenseth do? Was there partying up the road in Cambridge last night that I missed out on, or is he a goat by association now for having low-down, dirty pit crew chief?
I love your southern translations, Mo. I hear that all the time at truck shows. Why waste syllables on unnecessary sounds?
We had a nice night at home last night after the Lions Chicken Dinner in Big Bend--which was much better than the Chickens Lion Dinner we were expecting. And Dave's homemade beer went down a treat! It was good to have Domi home unexpectedly last night instead of in Illinois. It sounds as though she and the other kids made the best of their 8 hour road trip to Decatur, IL and straight back home, but we wonder how much trouble her teacher Mr. Engstrom will be in when the parents' group learns that the $400 registration fee for the choral festival was wasted... ouch. I may have to actually go to that meeting. He's really a good guy, and he puts thousands of hours into this program, so I hope he doesn't get much flack. I'm bummed that Domi wasted a day, but there was no harm done.
I'm having a nice day off here, working the phones for my various side projects. I just talked with GM's Manager of Retail Placement about getting one of their fuel cell cars here for me to use and write about for a year, and she spent 15 minutes telling me why it would just be so so so hard for them to place a car with me, even if I do get a hydrogen fueling station put in and have technical support lined up..... and then at the end of the conversation she said, "Of course, I'm not saying we won't do it! We're still very interested!" So who knows? Now I'm writing to Herb Kohl and Dave Obey, both of whom are on their respective Appropriations Committees, to see if they can give us a little earmark to get the station built. Why shouldn't the system work for the little guy? Wish me luck!
I'm sending photos of the scary animal tracks from our yard... anyone want to guess what huge beast made them? Matt, does this look like it could be a wolf? Whatever it was, it was big, and it ran fast... Man?? Beast??? Man/Beast??? I really wish we had seen whatever it was!
Love to all,
Mark
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Big Bend BBQ Sunday 2/18 8:30 PM
Hi from here....
As Susan noted, it is still cold here overnight and even with the great sunshine we had today it doesn't seem to get far over 20--but we haven't had much snow since last weekend.
Very pleased to have had our guests arrive around 2PM about the same time we picked up the carry-out chicken. Mark, Calvin and Capri arrived first; then Susan and Jay followed in a few minutes by David, Ellis and Finn. Enjoyed our chicken in the sunny family room and we learned some things about Capri's week-long evening theater workshop in Jefferson with a culminating Friday night performance of Robin Hood. Finn, Ellis and David filled us in on the Disneyland adventure with some highlights about different rides and the convetible in 50 degree weather. Bridget is working a lot of hours at Alpine, so she could not come, but we heard some reports on activites of Colin and Bridget.
Those who had talked to Michele this week talked about their phone visits.
The chicken was good and we had some "store bought" Valentine cookies and lemon and chocolate bar cookies Mom had made for today and our Big Bend Vernon Senior meeting desert on Wednesday.
I don't think anyone saw any racing here, but Mark had brought a short video of Domino's performance yesterday at a Show Dance preformance program she was in yesterday as the Ft. A. high school hosted a
competition featuring a number of other schools. She was unable to come today because she had been selected to represent her school in
De Kalb, IL with a few other students in another music event. Just as
Mark was leaving here, he had a call from her and she was back home because the music instructor had missed the correct date and it had happened last weekend--so they made a long drive for nothing! At least she was safe at home.
Maura and Tim were missed, but we were glad to see that M had a yellow flag or two to give us some blogging. Mom and I spoke with her for a number of minutes yesterday, so with the blog entries we are right up to date with Baraboo. Our retired educators convention in May is at Chula Vista, so we will be in the area from Sunday to Thursday, so will hope to spend some time with them then.
The news from South Orange and Mount Holyoke is appreciated. When we get up tomorrow we'll think about Magdalena having already arisen for the first day of crew and Kevin heading for work and Lyn and Declan --and Michele--having a holiday!
Our temps are predicted to be somewhere in the 30's for daytime highs this week--with some snow or rain--, maybe 40's by the weekend. This means a little warmer for times we'll be spending in the RV getting things organized. Had hoped to leave on Thursday or Friday. but Mom has some follow-ups with two doctors this week to check on some tests and trial medications, so it will more than likely be Sunday. That way we can get to mass on Saturday evening and not have to try to find a
church on a travel day in Oklahoma or in the Amarillo area. Plan now to go first to the Phoenix area for the beginning days of March and see the relatives and friends in that area then on south to Tucson, Green Valley, Patagonia and Sierra Vista the following two weeks and then
head across mid and Rio Grande valley of Texas at the end of the month and be home around April 4. Have some folks to see in TX, too. Ann and Ed will be in Green Valley for the month of March so we will be able to do things with them during those middle weeks. The "80's" we learned about in today's papers in stories about baseball spring training in AZ sound pretty good!
Love,GMA and GPA
As Susan noted, it is still cold here overnight and even with the great sunshine we had today it doesn't seem to get far over 20--but we haven't had much snow since last weekend.
Very pleased to have had our guests arrive around 2PM about the same time we picked up the carry-out chicken. Mark, Calvin and Capri arrived first; then Susan and Jay followed in a few minutes by David, Ellis and Finn. Enjoyed our chicken in the sunny family room and we learned some things about Capri's week-long evening theater workshop in Jefferson with a culminating Friday night performance of Robin Hood. Finn, Ellis and David filled us in on the Disneyland adventure with some highlights about different rides and the convetible in 50 degree weather. Bridget is working a lot of hours at Alpine, so she could not come, but we heard some reports on activites of Colin and Bridget.
Those who had talked to Michele this week talked about their phone visits.
The chicken was good and we had some "store bought" Valentine cookies and lemon and chocolate bar cookies Mom had made for today and our Big Bend Vernon Senior meeting desert on Wednesday.
I don't think anyone saw any racing here, but Mark had brought a short video of Domino's performance yesterday at a Show Dance preformance program she was in yesterday as the Ft. A. high school hosted a
competition featuring a number of other schools. She was unable to come today because she had been selected to represent her school in
De Kalb, IL with a few other students in another music event. Just as
Mark was leaving here, he had a call from her and she was back home because the music instructor had missed the correct date and it had happened last weekend--so they made a long drive for nothing! At least she was safe at home.
Maura and Tim were missed, but we were glad to see that M had a yellow flag or two to give us some blogging. Mom and I spoke with her for a number of minutes yesterday, so with the blog entries we are right up to date with Baraboo. Our retired educators convention in May is at Chula Vista, so we will be in the area from Sunday to Thursday, so will hope to spend some time with them then.
The news from South Orange and Mount Holyoke is appreciated. When we get up tomorrow we'll think about Magdalena having already arisen for the first day of crew and Kevin heading for work and Lyn and Declan --and Michele--having a holiday!
Our temps are predicted to be somewhere in the 30's for daytime highs this week--with some snow or rain--, maybe 40's by the weekend. This means a little warmer for times we'll be spending in the RV getting things organized. Had hoped to leave on Thursday or Friday. but Mom has some follow-ups with two doctors this week to check on some tests and trial medications, so it will more than likely be Sunday. That way we can get to mass on Saturday evening and not have to try to find a
church on a travel day in Oklahoma or in the Amarillo area. Plan now to go first to the Phoenix area for the beginning days of March and see the relatives and friends in that area then on south to Tucson, Green Valley, Patagonia and Sierra Vista the following two weeks and then
head across mid and Rio Grande valley of Texas at the end of the month and be home around April 4. Have some folks to see in TX, too. Ann and Ed will be in Green Valley for the month of March so we will be able to do things with them during those middle weeks. The "80's" we learned about in today's papers in stories about baseball spring training in AZ sound pretty good!
Love,GMA and GPA
Daytona 500
We were home today doing an impromptu home maintenance day. Lyn has a couple days off for Presidents' Day. LOL! There was an article in today's Times exploring the puncuation of President's Day-singular possessive Washington only, plural possessive Wash/Linc, plural all Presidents (W's preference, he'll have a cake).
Anyhow, I decided to grout our subway tile kitchen backsplash, which I installed 2 Februarys ago. I think that I just spotted a holiday-painter's lingo for missed spot. I got so involved in this gritty, dirty project that we abandoned plans to go into Manhattan for a Jazz Vespers performance by a bass player that we met several years ago. Oh well. We did also manage to move the piano from Lyn's studio room to Declan's. Only had to remove one door.
Then I remembered the 500! I turned it on in time to see the big wreck with about 40 laps left, then wandered in and out and managed to see the crash at 4.5 laps out, then saw the car cross the line on its' roof. Too bad MM didn't win!
Declan's band played to small vacation week crowd on Friday night, but they all managed to make a few bucks. We'll let you all know if they manage a MySpace website. They have a nice R&B/Jazz vibe going, with keyboard, sax, guitar, bass and drums. So we did get in some live music this weekend.
Our storm was more consequential for the miscues of our public works admins than for actualsnow accumulation. In a waywe were lucky that the temp stayed in the 20s so the threat of freezing rain didn't really materialize. The TV hype that these "storms" get has to be seen to be believed, at least from my Wisconsin perspective.
Time to call Magda to check in. 'Night everyone.
Anyhow, I decided to grout our subway tile kitchen backsplash, which I installed 2 Februarys ago. I think that I just spotted a holiday-painter's lingo for missed spot. I got so involved in this gritty, dirty project that we abandoned plans to go into Manhattan for a Jazz Vespers performance by a bass player that we met several years ago. Oh well. We did also manage to move the piano from Lyn's studio room to Declan's. Only had to remove one door.
Then I remembered the 500! I turned it on in time to see the big wreck with about 40 laps left, then wandered in and out and managed to see the crash at 4.5 laps out, then saw the car cross the line on its' roof. Too bad MM didn't win!
Declan's band played to small vacation week crowd on Friday night, but they all managed to make a few bucks. We'll let you all know if they manage a MySpace website. They have a nice R&B/Jazz vibe going, with keyboard, sax, guitar, bass and drums. So we did get in some live music this weekend.
Our storm was more consequential for the miscues of our public works admins than for actualsnow accumulation. In a waywe were lucky that the temp stayed in the 20s so the threat of freezing rain didn't really materialize. The TV hype that these "storms" get has to be seen to be believed, at least from my Wisconsin perspective.
Time to call Magda to check in. 'Night everyone.
Glad I am not alone. Tim just tried to give me some shortcuts but I just basically don't get the logic here so today was about 20 minutes to get in. Okay- Magda, Alverno had custodian/maintenance tunnels that they opened on horrible days, but there were only a couple of buildings involved. Thanks for the photos.
Michele, Susan says "negative". So, you still don't feel right and still don't know what it is? So, is MS ruled out or ruled out for now, we'll check again? This still sounds scarey. Pls do a general blog update.
Daryl Waltrip has just yelled Booggity boogity boogity and the pace car pulled off. Its cold and gusty in Daytona. I love the linguistics. Sterling Marlin speaks Tennessian- its incomprehensible. Deedubya speaks more genereic southern ie "hisseff' but i think I like the lowest common denominator verb conjugating the best: seen. As in "I seen, he seen, we seen..." and no "'s' where we all would expect them in contractions- ie, "doesn't it", is pronounced duhdnit ', " ( really sounds more like dndnd ). A lttle more variety this year, in addition to the Southern and Wisconsin versions of I seen and dndnd, Mr. Montoya speaks grammatically impecable English with a lovely Antonio Banderas accent. First big spinnout- , another language/pronunciation oddity, American/Arabic Boris Said (pronounced by Sah- eeed normally) is "sed" here. Boris spun out. And there are a couple of really cute young guys.
Anyway, it has come to my attention that it may not be common knowledge that I'm a Nascar/Nextel fan. Its been a slow development, but as Tim gets out less, I watch more TV and Sunday PM races fill in the football off season gap. I started paying attention to Matt Kenseth and just started watching more. This week has been quite interesting- scandal and national mainstream news on racing's equivalent of a steroid scandal. But dirty driver, media darling Jeff Gordon's violation was 'inadvertent" awwww, so no huge fine/points loss. Oh, and that was a violation of racing's version of Miss Manners rules. One does not criticize the media darlings. All others got big fines and penalties. As technology improves its almost a participant activity- lots of wired and camera fitted cars. Its fun to drive 200 mph from the couch.
Sorry we are missing the BBQ chicken party. I'm still struggling to master the Quikbooks time encoding that streamlines billing, so I am billing during the race. . SPD cases may not be billed until completed, assignment to withdrawal or closure of the case, usually appeal. Several of the cases I just picked up are already two or more years old so the retired attorney has been working them all this time without payment and can finally bill his time-while I have three of them still awaiting jury trial. I have several that i have had open for nearly a year before plea/sentencing and appeal, then billing. And, altho we are getting some favorable news for SPD funds, we are currently lagging way behind. Optimium has been three weeks from submission to check, right now it's seven weeks from submission to a partial payment we got Friday, which was the first $ we have seen since first week of January. And all of my colleagues are in the same boat- all hit a post Christmas drought, regardless of how steadily they have billed. I am still sporatic in my billing, but even the folks who have enuf cases to bill almost weekly have run into this.
I keep adding cases to work towards having some billables every week, but case duration is simply not predictable. Oh well. I had a couple of particularly bizarre moments this week: one young man, , in custody since April last, announced "I dreamed of you!" the night before he got the notice he had a new attorney because of the retirement-the second was almost too surreal, reaffirmed how badly I had to get outta Dodge- Pat Barrett burst out laughing during a pretrial conference- "Oh Maura, you are SUCH an optimist!" Yikes. I am a pacifist. I am a pacifist. Punching her out would be bad for my client. I am a pacifist. Oooh, but it would be soooo satisfying to smack her in the chops. And she really thought she would be a good judge and just doesn't (whoops, ddnd) get that every body who knows her disagreed.
M&D told us last nite that my puppy monolgue last week reminded them of Living with Marley, the current Chapter A Day selection. Gliffy survived eating the plastic and wire with no apparant hardship. The two of them loved the beautiful fluffy snow we had, and are soooooo happy its warming up. Remember watching the fox hunting under the snow at Mark's last year? We must have lots of little voles and mice under the snow around here, because these two pounce and burrow all over. Inside, they discovered apples this week. Amazing how well they can play apple hockey and throw stuff without opposable thumbs. Glif is miffed because Tim found a way to secure the cage agian. So he made up for it by knocking stacks of files ovever because then you can run and skid on all those loose scattered papers. And paper makes nice satisfying crunchy sounds too. Has NOT mastered origami- that I think, requires that thumb thing. He leaves these big muddy prints all over the documents. Hums more as he gets older too.
Race blog update- rookie spins out veteran in pit row and one of the cars just started dropping big sharp pieces out the back end. Toyota is not showing so well and Matt Kenseith is doing just fine in 7th with a suspended crew chief.
Big crash, the two leaders smashed up. Inside the car camera of the crash. Interesting. They drive so fast and so close to each other! That woke the babies up. Time to take them out.
'Nite from B'oo.
Maura
Michele, Susan says "negative". So, you still don't feel right and still don't know what it is? So, is MS ruled out or ruled out for now, we'll check again? This still sounds scarey. Pls do a general blog update.
Daryl Waltrip has just yelled Booggity boogity boogity and the pace car pulled off. Its cold and gusty in Daytona. I love the linguistics. Sterling Marlin speaks Tennessian- its incomprehensible. Deedubya speaks more genereic southern ie "hisseff' but i think I like the lowest common denominator verb conjugating the best: seen. As in "I seen, he seen, we seen..." and no "'s' where we all would expect them in contractions- ie, "doesn't it", is pronounced duhdnit ', " ( really sounds more like dndnd ). A lttle more variety this year, in addition to the Southern and Wisconsin versions of I seen and dndnd, Mr. Montoya speaks grammatically impecable English with a lovely Antonio Banderas accent. First big spinnout- , another language/pronunciation oddity, American/Arabic Boris Said (pronounced by Sah- eeed normally) is "sed" here. Boris spun out. And there are a couple of really cute young guys.
Anyway, it has come to my attention that it may not be common knowledge that I'm a Nascar/Nextel fan. Its been a slow development, but as Tim gets out less, I watch more TV and Sunday PM races fill in the football off season gap. I started paying attention to Matt Kenseth and just started watching more. This week has been quite interesting- scandal and national mainstream news on racing's equivalent of a steroid scandal. But dirty driver, media darling Jeff Gordon's violation was 'inadvertent" awwww, so no huge fine/points loss. Oh, and that was a violation of racing's version of Miss Manners rules. One does not criticize the media darlings. All others got big fines and penalties. As technology improves its almost a participant activity- lots of wired and camera fitted cars. Its fun to drive 200 mph from the couch.
Sorry we are missing the BBQ chicken party. I'm still struggling to master the Quikbooks time encoding that streamlines billing, so I am billing during the race. . SPD cases may not be billed until completed, assignment to withdrawal or closure of the case, usually appeal. Several of the cases I just picked up are already two or more years old so the retired attorney has been working them all this time without payment and can finally bill his time-while I have three of them still awaiting jury trial. I have several that i have had open for nearly a year before plea/sentencing and appeal, then billing. And, altho we are getting some favorable news for SPD funds, we are currently lagging way behind. Optimium has been three weeks from submission to check, right now it's seven weeks from submission to a partial payment we got Friday, which was the first $ we have seen since first week of January. And all of my colleagues are in the same boat- all hit a post Christmas drought, regardless of how steadily they have billed. I am still sporatic in my billing, but even the folks who have enuf cases to bill almost weekly have run into this.
I keep adding cases to work towards having some billables every week, but case duration is simply not predictable. Oh well. I had a couple of particularly bizarre moments this week: one young man, , in custody since April last, announced "I dreamed of you!" the night before he got the notice he had a new attorney because of the retirement-the second was almost too surreal, reaffirmed how badly I had to get outta Dodge- Pat Barrett burst out laughing during a pretrial conference- "Oh Maura, you are SUCH an optimist!" Yikes. I am a pacifist. I am a pacifist. Punching her out would be bad for my client. I am a pacifist. Oooh, but it would be soooo satisfying to smack her in the chops. And she really thought she would be a good judge and just doesn't (whoops, ddnd) get that every body who knows her disagreed.
M&D told us last nite that my puppy monolgue last week reminded them of Living with Marley, the current Chapter A Day selection. Gliffy survived eating the plastic and wire with no apparant hardship. The two of them loved the beautiful fluffy snow we had, and are soooooo happy its warming up. Remember watching the fox hunting under the snow at Mark's last year? We must have lots of little voles and mice under the snow around here, because these two pounce and burrow all over. Inside, they discovered apples this week. Amazing how well they can play apple hockey and throw stuff without opposable thumbs. Glif is miffed because Tim found a way to secure the cage agian. So he made up for it by knocking stacks of files ovever because then you can run and skid on all those loose scattered papers. And paper makes nice satisfying crunchy sounds too. Has NOT mastered origami- that I think, requires that thumb thing. He leaves these big muddy prints all over the documents. Hums more as he gets older too.
Race blog update- rookie spins out veteran in pit row and one of the cars just started dropping big sharp pieces out the back end. Toyota is not showing so well and Matt Kenseith is doing just fine in 7th with a suspended crew chief.
Big crash, the two leaders smashed up. Inside the car camera of the crash. Interesting. They drive so fast and so close to each other! That woke the babies up. Time to take them out.
'Nite from B'oo.
Maura
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Nice to hear from Magdalena and Maura-I still struggle getting into this thing every time. I hope it gets easier as time goes on. I had wondered how the East Coasters were faring during the storm. Fortunately, things were just cold and somewhat snowy here, no ice balls. The cold is getting old though. Had a good visit with Michele this week after she got her negative results. I hope the symptoms go away. Other than having to pay a small fortune to get my car fixed, the week has been uneventful for me. Jay spent three hours in a dental chair getting prepped for a couple of new bridges. He wasn't looking forward to it, but it went better than expected. Another small fortune going out there. Both kids are good. Bridget is getting sick of living at Alpine and is having trouble being assertive with her boss to get her hours reduced. The boss actually called Colin in Madison and asked him to come home to work. She doesn't plan well. Most of Aurora continues to treat me well and I am liking the variety of the job. The days go quickly. Have to start the work of the weekend! Love to all, Susan
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Lots of fluffy white stuff means NO CLASSES!
Hey all!

I figured since my classes have been cancelled because of all of the snow we are supposed to get, I thought that now was as good a time as any to write my first entry in the blog. I am sitting in my room looking out my small, and slightly drafty, window watching all the snow come down wondering how much work I can get done today... after I enjoy the snow of course! Apparently it doesn't feel like soft snowflakes, but rather balls of ice. The ice rain isn't supposed to start until later! My dad said that they had ice rain when I spoke to him earlier this morning. Both my mom and my brother don't have school today but my dad has to go to work. He was pretty bummed. I don't know how much is in NJ-but, we got from 3-5 inches last night and are supposed to get close to a foot by the end of the day! This is officially our second snow storm, but this one should beat the last one by about 6 inches or so. I was hearing something like 13 feet in Upstate NY, and some schools have made tunnels from building to building! Pretty crazy, but kind of cool at the same time. (By the way, I did not make that dinosaur-our campus was scattered with various kinds of snowmen, cats, people, and camels...yes, Camels)
The semester has gotten off to a good start, busy, but good. I am taking some interesting classes, incuding: History of Mathematics, U.S. History of Economics, Modern IV, Psychology Statistics, History of South Africa(for my trip) and Elementary Spanish II. It's a handful of classes and I am working at a children's center that is a 6 minute walk from my room and just off of the Mount Holyoke campus. I am working in the infant room for a few hours (the youngest is 6 months and the oldest is around 13 months) and in a toddler room with 2 and some 3 year olds. They are adorable and so full of smiles and energy. It is refreshing (and of course somewhat exhausting) after a busy day. Things are getting more underway for my trip to South Africa, and the plane tickets should be purchased in the next few days. We will be gone for the month of August, leaving between the 3-5 of Aug. and leaving the 30th of Aug. to arrive in America on the 31st. My first day of classes is on the 5th of September. I am trying to figure out what kind of job I want to have/can find for the month of June and July. Casey, babysitting doesn't sound so bad! : ) So, that should get underway soon. I hope!
My finger seems to be recovering, but I wouldn't say beautifully...I mean, what can you expect though. Pretty soon I should have a nail, and in six months time as normal a nail as I will be able to expect. I am excited for that to happen though--I am getting sick of wearing a band-aid everyday. My January class posed as a slight problem after the surgery because the registrar had the wrong dates up, but everything turned out to be okay. I missed two days, and made it there in enough time to be involved with the construction of the piece. We will be performing March 8-10 ( Anyone want to come??? haha) in the Five College Dance Concert. Our piece is the only one representing Mount Holyoke, and will feature a collaborative work between Christian Burns (Our teacher) and the 10 other dancers that are in the piece with me.
Otherwise, things are going well here. The crew season officially starts Monday, and will be a rude awakening...literally...at 5am. Overall though, I like my professors a lot and should have a good semester. Today was a treat, to have Valentine's Day off. Hopefully dinner and movie plans don't become to difficult, but I will have to see how the weather is later in the day.

Here are a few pictures from christmas, and the zoo! Enjoy!
Love to all! And of course, enjoy the snow!
I figured since my classes have been cancelled because of all of the snow we are supposed to get, I thought that now was as good a time as any to write my first entry in the blog. I am sitting in my room looking out my small, and slightly drafty, window watching all the snow come down wondering how much work I can get done today... after I enjoy the snow of course! Apparently it doesn't feel like soft snowflakes, but rather balls of ice. The ice rain isn't supposed to start until later! My dad said that they had ice rain when I spoke to him earlier this morning. Both my mom and my brother don't have school today but my dad has to go to work. He was pretty bummed. I don't know how much is in NJ-but, we got from 3-5 inches last night and are supposed to get close to a foot by the end of the day! This is officially our second snow storm, but this one should beat the last one by about 6 inches or so. I was hearing something like 13 feet in Upstate NY, and some schools have made tunnels from building to building! Pretty crazy, but kind of cool at the same time. (By the way, I did not make that dinosaur-our campus was scattered with various kinds of snowmen, cats, people, and camels...yes, Camels)
The semester has gotten off to a good start, busy, but good. I am taking some interesting classes, incuding: History of Mathematics, U.S. History of Economics, Modern IV, Psychology Statistics, History of South Africa(for my trip) and Elementary Spanish II. It's a handful of classes and I am working at a children's center that is a 6 minute walk from my room and just off of the Mount Holyoke campus. I am working in the infant room for a few hours (the youngest is 6 months and the oldest is around 13 months) and in a toddler room with 2 and some 3 year olds. They are adorable and so full of smiles and energy. It is refreshing (and of course somewhat exhausting) after a busy day. Things are getting more underway for my trip to South Africa, and the plane tickets should be purchased in the next few days. We will be gone for the month of August, leaving between the 3-5 of Aug. and leaving the 30th of Aug. to arrive in America on the 31st. My first day of classes is on the 5th of September. I am trying to figure out what kind of job I want to have/can find for the month of June and July. Casey, babysitting doesn't sound so bad! : ) So, that should get underway soon. I hope!
My finger seems to be recovering, but I wouldn't say beautifully...I mean, what can you expect though. Pretty soon I should have a nail, and in six months time as normal a nail as I will be able to expect. I am excited for that to happen though--I am getting sick of wearing a band-aid everyday. My January class posed as a slight problem after the surgery because the registrar had the wrong dates up, but everything turned out to be okay. I missed two days, and made it there in enough time to be involved with the construction of the piece. We will be performing March 8-10 ( Anyone want to come??? haha) in the Five College Dance Concert. Our piece is the only one representing Mount Holyoke, and will feature a collaborative work between Christian Burns (Our teacher) and the 10 other dancers that are in the piece with me.
Here are a few pictures from christmas, and the zoo! Enjoy!
Love to all! And of course, enjoy the snow!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
saved by the snow...
I was supposed to go to Toronto tonight for an overnighter, and I was saved by the snow! My flight out tonight was ok, but tomorrow's flight back has been cancelled! A few hours at the Toronto Auto Show would have been cool, but I'm very happy to be staying home (even if I do have to shovel again).
Hope everyone's staying warm!
Hope everyone's staying warm!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Hokay here goes. Yes, I am a luddite
Y'know, the saying goes something like " Just because i'm paranoid doesn't mean there isn't someone following me..". I finally get brave enuf to play with this and I may not sign in. Tim's across the room despairing -loudly- that i cannot follow the simple directions , and I am again unable to get in. H'mm- could there be something to this? Whaddadya know! I MAY NOT SIGN IN CAUSE THERE IS SOMEBODY ELSE WITH THE SAME NAME! The odds of there being another mmelka out there are, like, a million to one? Aaaargh!
Ah, well. No exciting travel plans or too cute blackmail baby shots here, but life is plenty interesting.
Michele and Mark, we are worrying about you both. Stenosis is awful, back pain generally is awful but bad spinal tap reaction is horrible. Good luck with the visualization, but even Wild Horse Canyon Idaho didn't help me. And it got me through labor and delivery. I'm sorry you have this ordeal and worry.
No time for political reading here, for most of us, but we are glued to MSNBC daily- Keith Olberman et al on the Libby trial has been interesting. Alex keeps hearing gut wrenching stories from his Iraq veteran buddies, another friend's son has been wounded, but returned to duty, and Alex has started on Blackhawk Down now that he has seen the recent Somalian covert stuff and several 'copter crashes this month. He saw the movie before knowing the Baraboo connection and now gets it that these are real people, real families, real grieving survivors.
Amazing that Dubbya's staff are so oblivious. I deal with a lot of people who are outside of normal social mores, right and wrong, moral and ethical codes, who lie without qualm. Mostly I go visit them at Mendota, various jails and prisons.
Maybe if you have enough money and power, personality disorders can be steered into successful career path behaviors.
I did a round trip to Richland Co. Tuesday a.m. There is a reason most thrill park rides last under a minute- about all the heart can take. Tim and I have been very busy. The Baraboo SPD office manager switched two staff attorneys between Juneau and Sauk Counties and one of our favorite private practice colleagues got to retire quite suddenly, resulting in masses of reassigned cases. I've picked up more than 30 new cases since Jan. 1, and continue to get positive feedback, more court appointments, more folks asking to get me. One Sauk Judge in particular is slotting me into mental health and child protection cases because I can do jury trials on the fast statutory timelines both types of cases use. And can tell folks what is going on from both defense and prosecutor prospectives. I've continued to win revocation hearings by selling rehabilitation/treatment options to BOTH the Hearings and Appeals judges and my clients, and haven't offended all the probation agents in the process.
We have generally good news on SPD funding solutions too so we are sleeping a bit better. My connection on the Board of Directors keeps me a bit ahead of the announcments on the SPD assigned counsel web site and he was very cheery this week. Tommy Thompson's former law partner.
Puppies are loving this weather. Seamus thinks dogs should not have to go outside for their business ( feet are so cold they lie down? B4 they TCB? I've never seen that, and they are both doing it) and Glif has eaten, yes, eaten his way out of yet another cage. All the way through tthe plastic, then all the way thru the electrical wire (the big wide, industrial stuff) we jury rigged to tie the door closed. He untied it. Really. Don't know how- just saw it still knotted one moment and dragged out sstraight inside his cage the next. Has a nice big window in the cage now. Glif loves licking the snow. His tracks are now four paws and an unbroken tongue drag off to the side. Seamus is more into the inclined plane of the ramp- balls roll down! And if its slippery enuf, one can really slide down and around the corners well. He loves to race to the turn , spin out and drift all the way to the bottom. But, then he remembers its really COLD and there is a perfectly good warm floor there in the inside so he doesn't really need to go out in the yard now does he?
Baby Freya is lovely at 51 weeks and in the altogether. Looks like she has walking mastered? Please send happy birthday pictures. Try a darker bath rug?
Mom, we are now Trader Joe's addicts. The Madison store is almost as cool as the Milwaukee store. The tomato/roasted pepper soup is still the biggest hit but Two Buck Chuck red wines are right up there. Pretty good way to get our daily flavinoids(sp?). I have to keep up cases that force me to drive to Mendota so I swing down into Madison regularly now. My favorite client group right now, tho one threatened to bite me and another spent his whole hearing trying to loosen his cuffs enuf to hit me. Much more likeable than the folks who hurt their children, do meth or break into 20+ vacation homes..hey, there were only people there in two of them. Beach towels. They stole beach towels. Had no use for them. Mostly stole guns, fishing tackle, alcohol and money but all they found at one house was beach towels. Rather than leave empty handed after all the effort of breaking in, naturally, they took them. Discarded most of them. Mystifies me.
I have to write an appeal attempting to offset lying to one's PO now. Datona time trials are on in the background, its another Trader Joe's dinner later and I haven't heard a word about Anna Nicole Smith yet today so its a good time for creative writing.
Good nite and God Bless. Mom and Dad , keep the prayers coming from the group and keep targeting good medical news and world peace, say a word of thanks and farewell for Molly Ivans, and maybe Cheney, Rove and the former undersecretary will have to eat their words someday.
0 new cases
Ah, well. No exciting travel plans or too cute blackmail baby shots here, but life is plenty interesting.
Michele and Mark, we are worrying about you both. Stenosis is awful, back pain generally is awful but bad spinal tap reaction is horrible. Good luck with the visualization, but even Wild Horse Canyon Idaho didn't help me. And it got me through labor and delivery. I'm sorry you have this ordeal and worry.
No time for political reading here, for most of us, but we are glued to MSNBC daily- Keith Olberman et al on the Libby trial has been interesting. Alex keeps hearing gut wrenching stories from his Iraq veteran buddies, another friend's son has been wounded, but returned to duty, and Alex has started on Blackhawk Down now that he has seen the recent Somalian covert stuff and several 'copter crashes this month. He saw the movie before knowing the Baraboo connection and now gets it that these are real people, real families, real grieving survivors.
Amazing that Dubbya's staff are so oblivious. I deal with a lot of people who are outside of normal social mores, right and wrong, moral and ethical codes, who lie without qualm. Mostly I go visit them at Mendota, various jails and prisons.
Maybe if you have enough money and power, personality disorders can be steered into successful career path behaviors.
I did a round trip to Richland Co. Tuesday a.m. There is a reason most thrill park rides last under a minute- about all the heart can take. Tim and I have been very busy. The Baraboo SPD office manager switched two staff attorneys between Juneau and Sauk Counties and one of our favorite private practice colleagues got to retire quite suddenly, resulting in masses of reassigned cases. I've picked up more than 30 new cases since Jan. 1, and continue to get positive feedback, more court appointments, more folks asking to get me. One Sauk Judge in particular is slotting me into mental health and child protection cases because I can do jury trials on the fast statutory timelines both types of cases use. And can tell folks what is going on from both defense and prosecutor prospectives. I've continued to win revocation hearings by selling rehabilitation/treatment options to BOTH the Hearings and Appeals judges and my clients, and haven't offended all the probation agents in the process.
We have generally good news on SPD funding solutions too so we are sleeping a bit better. My connection on the Board of Directors keeps me a bit ahead of the announcments on the SPD assigned counsel web site and he was very cheery this week. Tommy Thompson's former law partner.
Puppies are loving this weather. Seamus thinks dogs should not have to go outside for their business ( feet are so cold they lie down? B4 they TCB? I've never seen that, and they are both doing it) and Glif has eaten, yes, eaten his way out of yet another cage. All the way through tthe plastic, then all the way thru the electrical wire (the big wide, industrial stuff) we jury rigged to tie the door closed. He untied it. Really. Don't know how- just saw it still knotted one moment and dragged out sstraight inside his cage the next. Has a nice big window in the cage now. Glif loves licking the snow. His tracks are now four paws and an unbroken tongue drag off to the side. Seamus is more into the inclined plane of the ramp- balls roll down! And if its slippery enuf, one can really slide down and around the corners well. He loves to race to the turn , spin out and drift all the way to the bottom. But, then he remembers its really COLD and there is a perfectly good warm floor there in the inside so he doesn't really need to go out in the yard now does he?
Baby Freya is lovely at 51 weeks and in the altogether. Looks like she has walking mastered? Please send happy birthday pictures. Try a darker bath rug?
Mom, we are now Trader Joe's addicts. The Madison store is almost as cool as the Milwaukee store. The tomato/roasted pepper soup is still the biggest hit but Two Buck Chuck red wines are right up there. Pretty good way to get our daily flavinoids(sp?). I have to keep up cases that force me to drive to Mendota so I swing down into Madison regularly now. My favorite client group right now, tho one threatened to bite me and another spent his whole hearing trying to loosen his cuffs enuf to hit me. Much more likeable than the folks who hurt their children, do meth or break into 20+ vacation homes..hey, there were only people there in two of them. Beach towels. They stole beach towels. Had no use for them. Mostly stole guns, fishing tackle, alcohol and money but all they found at one house was beach towels. Rather than leave empty handed after all the effort of breaking in, naturally, they took them. Discarded most of them. Mystifies me.
I have to write an appeal attempting to offset lying to one's PO now. Datona time trials are on in the background, its another Trader Joe's dinner later and I haven't heard a word about Anna Nicole Smith yet today so its a good time for creative writing.
Good nite and God Bless. Mom and Dad , keep the prayers coming from the group and keep targeting good medical news and world peace, say a word of thanks and farewell for Molly Ivans, and maybe Cheney, Rove and the former undersecretary will have to eat their words someday.
0 new cases
Saturday, February 10, 2007
small world
I came home early from the ski jump competition, and wanted to share a weird story. When we were at the jump, my friend Laurie introduced me to a friend of hers from Westby. It came out that this woman was from Muskego, so I told her I was from Big Bend.
She said she had an aunt who lived in Big Bend, and I asked her the aunt's name. She said, "Lucille Snyder."
weird, huh?
Have a great trip to AZ, Matt, Casey and Freya!!!
She said she had an aunt who lived in Big Bend, and I asked her the aunt's name. She said, "Lucille Snyder."
weird, huh?
Have a great trip to AZ, Matt, Casey and Freya!!!
Hi Everyone-Glad to see another cute Freya picture. She will hate you for that one. We are enjoying Colin's company briefly this weekend. He and a buddy came home last night. He and Bridget are trying to get some snowboarding in. I had a meeting in Sheboygan yesterday, but wasn't able to connect with any R-Os due to their jet-setting lifestyle. Everything is moving along here, but nothing too exciting. Colin just came in and indicated to me that he thought it was weird that there was an O'Connell Family blog and that he doesn't blog. Sorry, Domi. Congrats to Domi on your acceptance at Madison. No mean feat as we know! Sounds like no matter what happens you'll do OK. Have a great time in sunny AZ, you guys. I am sure you will have fun in NM also. Lots of beautiful country. We are still dealing with extreme cold, cars acting up, etc, so I would love to get some warm weather. It's nearly spring, I keep telling myself!
Friday, February 9, 2007
Off to the Southwest

Hi, all! I thought I should post some trip details. We're leaving tomorrow for Phoenix, AZ so that I can attend a training session at BLM's National Training Center. (I think Michele has been there before...) Matt and Freya will hang out together and explore PHX during the day while I am in class, and then we'll party hearty in the evenings. When training is done Friday, we'll make our leisurely way to Albuquerque to see my brother, Jason.
We hope to see quite a few National Park/Monument type things on the journey over there, and have a stop at Petrified Forest planned. I'm not sure what all we'll do for our couple of days in ABQ, but I've never been there before and it will all be new. Finally, we'll return home via Denver and will see David & Michele. Lots of driving, but I think we're ready for another journey.
Here's a picture of Freya from the other night. I put her down next to the tub, thinking I'd get some cute naked bottom pictures. I snapped a couple shots, then realized that the tub mat looked darker in one spot...she'd gone wee-wee while standing there, and in this photo is looking down, wondering why her foot is so warm all of a sudden.
Love to all of you!
Casey, Matt and Freya
Thursday, February 8, 2007
broken up
Hi everyone, and Happy Birthday Freya!!
I'm back from Tampa, and heading out tomorrow for the traditional ski jump weekend in Westby with the Blatz drinkin' high school & college crowd. Last year we didn't go because they had no snow, but this year should be a great competition, and maybe we'll even see a new hill record broken! I really love this weekend--ski jumping is just amazing to watch live and in person, and the athletes here come in from around the world, so this is not amateur hour.
Next week DaimlerChrysler is treating me to an overnight trip to the Toronto Auto Show for the introduction of the same truck they brought me to Stuttgart to see last February, and to Detroit to see in December... I am milking this product intro for all it's worth!
The big news this week is in the picture. Domino was playing tackle football... uh, inside, at the local evangelical Christian megachurch, during the Superbowl halftime. I'll let her explain all that, because it's just too weird for me to even contemplate. Anyway, she got tackled on a hard floor and broke the lowest knuckle on her right pinkie. She's in pain, can barely write (but, miraculously, can still chat online to beat the band), and she will have to be in the splint for a month. So tonight we were filling in college & scholarship application forms, with me writing and her dictating (talk about milking things...)
She has been accepted to UW-Madison and has to resubmit some personal information before she hears from Vassar, but she has been nominated for a full-boat scholarship to a Wisconsin state school so she'll definitely have something to fall back on, I think.
Love to all, and we hope you're all staying toasty warm!
Mark
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Sunday evening quickie
Glad for these late updates from East Troy and Boise.
Have seen a little of the game today but we both have been reading. I finished Cobra II and am even more disturbed with both the White House and the R Congress. C really had its head somewhere in the sand or deeper during this whole fiasco--And that is the next book I am ordering FIASCO!
Had a good phone visit withKevin this morning and just responded to a couple of
items David had in 2 recent e-mails.
Sorry all the guests could not be with Freya for her party. Maybe that will be an
excuse to have a second one!!
We'll be praying for good traveling weather for all of you in the days to come.
Apparently Mark had clear weather for hif flight today. Hope the sunshines and the snow holds off for your big rectangular trip, Casey, Matt and Freya!
Thanks for remembering the bigger PRINT!!
Love, Grandma and Grandpa
Have seen a little of the game today but we both have been reading. I finished Cobra II and am even more disturbed with both the White House and the R Congress. C really had its head somewhere in the sand or deeper during this whole fiasco--And that is the next book I am ordering FIASCO!
Had a good phone visit withKevin this morning and just responded to a couple of
items David had in 2 recent e-mails.
Sorry all the guests could not be with Freya for her party. Maybe that will be an
excuse to have a second one!!
We'll be praying for good traveling weather for all of you in the days to come.
Apparently Mark had clear weather for hif flight today. Hope the sunshines and the snow holds off for your big rectangular trip, Casey, Matt and Freya!
Thanks for remembering the bigger PRINT!!
Love, Grandma and Grandpa
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Feb 3, 2007
Hi Everyone-Just got back from Madison. Bridget's buddy Susan Hiller's family gave us four tickets to the Badger's game this afternoon. We found a couple friends to go with us and headed out this AM. Colin was off with the Evans crew to play basketball in IL, so we didn't see him. We had a small adventure when we left our lights on and came back to a dead car. Fortunately, AAA came in about 20 minutes and we were on our way. I had done it earlier in the week. The chimes that alert you when you leave your lights on aren't working anymore, which we just realized, so hopefully we will remember in the future. It was very very cold walking through Madison and driving home. Bridget worked at the ski hill and said it got pretty quiet after dark. She works tomorrow during the SuperBowl and figures it will be dead. I haven't said anything to them about a cousin blog, but I will. Neither of them are on the computer much other than doing homework, so I don't know what will happen.
I will be taking down the Christmas tree tomorrow. It still looks great and I haven't wanted to get rid of it. I think its time, though. I will be calling David this week to see if I can stop in Sheboygan on Friday afternoon and stay for a visit or overnight. I have a meeting there and hope to get a chance to see a few folks. Colin is coming home also. We do plan on heading out to Denver at Easter for a visit. It will be good to see the new house and all the improvements.
Congrats to Freya on making it through one whole year! I hope she has many, many more! Have a great time.
The girls are hating this weather and would prefer to never go out, but that's not happening, so hopefully, this cold snap will be short. Love to everyone-Susan
I will be taking down the Christmas tree tomorrow. It still looks great and I haven't wanted to get rid of it. I think its time, though. I will be calling David this week to see if I can stop in Sheboygan on Friday afternoon and stay for a visit or overnight. I have a meeting there and hope to get a chance to see a few folks. Colin is coming home also. We do plan on heading out to Denver at Easter for a visit. It will be good to see the new house and all the improvements.
Congrats to Freya on making it through one whole year! I hope she has many, many more! Have a great time.
The girls are hating this weather and would prefer to never go out, but that's not happening, so hopefully, this cold snap will be short. Love to everyone-Susan
February Already?!
Happy weekend, all! I thought I'd get in a post while Freya and I are hanging out upstairs and Matt is downstairs preparing Freya's birthday party dinner. It will be a small crew tonight: my dad and his fiancee were going to come, but she's come up with the shingles, and they're staying home. (I'm pretty sure the shingles are highly contagious, especially to those who haven't had chicken pox, so while we'll miss the company, I'm glad to not be dealing with the possibility of Freya getting an infection.) Now our guest list is reduced to Tess & Sean, our neighbors/Freya's care-giver, and their son Kaie.
Freya is just getting over a cold. We had her in to the pediatrician last week because she was running a pretty good fever, but he said it was just a cold. He didn't even try to force antibiotics on us, which was nice (and unexpected).
We got her some new bath toys and a Little People school bus for her birthday. There is a card from Grandma & Grandpa awaiting her, as well. We'll post some pictures to the site after the party.
Mark, good luck with all your travels--we'll be interested to hear what kind of special activity they have for all you trucker types. Possibly another jet flight? We hope all you Wisconsinites are staying warm.
Love,
Casey, Matt & Freya
Freya is just getting over a cold. We had her in to the pediatrician last week because she was running a pretty good fever, but he said it was just a cold. He didn't even try to force antibiotics on us, which was nice (and unexpected).
We got her some new bath toys and a Little People school bus for her birthday. There is a card from Grandma & Grandpa awaiting her, as well. We'll post some pictures to the site after the party.
Mark, good luck with all your travels--we'll be interested to hear what kind of special activity they have for all you trucker types. Possibly another jet flight? We hope all you Wisconsinites are staying warm.
Love,
Casey, Matt & Freya
Finally WINTER in Big Bend
It was near "0" here this morning but there will be some sun. In an hour or so, I'll get out to brush a little overnight snow dusting off the deck, walks and drive so that whatever solar energy there is can help prevent any ice formation.
Suggest that you all use the large, bold type options so that these entries easier for G'ma to read. Thanks. This is Large & Bold!
Mark's travel plans are certainly varied and have to be demanding.
Know that he can keep all this straight. We wonder about Domino's trip to Branson. When will this be and realize it is probably related to Show Choir activity and wonder if it is in a competative setting. Hope we hear more about this. Has she had any luck getting a cousin e-mail exchange/blog underway?
Do hope that the RO'C's trip to Orlando will be at a time of good weather. The tornado activity in that area yesterday would really be terrible to encounter.
Think now we will be heading for the SW on Feb. 22 or 23. Had the RV over at Peter Fickau's yesterday for some check-up details. Hope for
some milder days for packing and preparation.
Have been able to arrange a frequent flyer trip to Boise to enjoy more
of Freya's progress and discoveries. We will leave on April 19 and return April 29. Had to do some juggling to find open seats on days when they were available on the needed connecting flights in Minneapolis. Will hope that Idaho will have some more snow and rain in the meantime, as Matt tells us that things are really dry.
Hope that Maura and Tim pick a weekend which will have favorable weather for both driving and enjoying things with Stephen in Carbondale.
As we plan to head for St. Louis and then directly to Texas when we depart, we hope for good weather, too, as we head south from Beloit on I-39.
No doubt, Michele and David will really enjoy having the O'Connell Long gang with them at Easter. That should be a nice break for them.
We told Magdalena early in January that we might try to see her in rowing events over the Easter weekend, but with our other travel plans, we decided that we didn't want to try to make a hurried trip at such a heavy travel weekend. Will make a more concerted effort to be with her for a September event.
Saw our new urologist in January. Mom is involved with some follow-up testing so that he can have a better idea for her future. He determined that I'm OK to see him next in Jan. '08 and I already have an appointment.
Enjoyed a Catholic Schools Week visit with the current St. Joe's staff at an open house after mass last Sunday. While the enrollment is down, things seem to be going pretty well. All your graduation pictures are again displayed and tastefully arranged. It is quite a gallery now after 50+ years.
Love and prayers, G'ma and G'pa
Suggest that you all use the large, bold type options so that these entries easier for G'ma to read. Thanks. This is Large & Bold!
Mark's travel plans are certainly varied and have to be demanding.
Know that he can keep all this straight. We wonder about Domino's trip to Branson. When will this be and realize it is probably related to Show Choir activity and wonder if it is in a competative setting. Hope we hear more about this. Has she had any luck getting a cousin e-mail exchange/blog underway?
Do hope that the RO'C's trip to Orlando will be at a time of good weather. The tornado activity in that area yesterday would really be terrible to encounter.
Think now we will be heading for the SW on Feb. 22 or 23. Had the RV over at Peter Fickau's yesterday for some check-up details. Hope for
some milder days for packing and preparation.
Have been able to arrange a frequent flyer trip to Boise to enjoy more
of Freya's progress and discoveries. We will leave on April 19 and return April 29. Had to do some juggling to find open seats on days when they were available on the needed connecting flights in Minneapolis. Will hope that Idaho will have some more snow and rain in the meantime, as Matt tells us that things are really dry.
Hope that Maura and Tim pick a weekend which will have favorable weather for both driving and enjoying things with Stephen in Carbondale.
As we plan to head for St. Louis and then directly to Texas when we depart, we hope for good weather, too, as we head south from Beloit on I-39.
No doubt, Michele and David will really enjoy having the O'Connell Long gang with them at Easter. That should be a nice break for them.
We told Magdalena early in January that we might try to see her in rowing events over the Easter weekend, but with our other travel plans, we decided that we didn't want to try to make a hurried trip at such a heavy travel weekend. Will make a more concerted effort to be with her for a September event.
Saw our new urologist in January. Mom is involved with some follow-up testing so that he can have a better idea for her future. He determined that I'm OK to see him next in Jan. '08 and I already have an appointment.
Enjoyed a Catholic Schools Week visit with the current St. Joe's staff at an open house after mass last Sunday. While the enrollment is down, things seem to be going pretty well. All your graduation pictures are again displayed and tastefully arranged. It is quite a gallery now after 50+ years.
Love and prayers, G'ma and G'pa
leaving on a jet plane
Hi all,
I leave tomorrow for sunny Tampa. FL, for a few days and nights of partying with truck mechanics... Sometimes I like the travel, but I don't like having to miss a Sunday with the kids. But it might be fun watching the SuperBowl at the hotel with my trucking buddies.
This will be a busy couple of months. As soon as I get back from Tampa go to the traditional Ski Jump weekend up in Westby with friends, then I go to an overnighter at the Toronto Auto Show as a guest of DaimlerChrysler, then a trip to Indianapolis, then Louisville, then Anaheim. At least in Anaheim I can stay a few days and meet with my agent and see some friends! I finally got my China footage edited and I'm shipping the dvds out to my agent today, so maybe by the time I get to Anaheim we'll have something shaking on that project.
Then in early April I'm going down to Austin to work with this producer-director who's optioning my script "American Ice." We need to do a little polishing on the script to enter it into the Sundance Institute, so that should be entertaining!
The kids are all great. Domi's up to her eyeballs in scholarship applications and show choir season--she's heading to Eau Claire for a competition today (and she's been accepted at UW-Madison), Nemo is taking an online course at UW this semester, working off some prereq courses the easy way with Verizon paying the tuition, Cal's playing endlessly with his new sound mixer, and Capri is Capri :)
Mom & Dad, please send your intinerary before you go!
Love to all!
Mark
I leave tomorrow for sunny Tampa. FL, for a few days and nights of partying with truck mechanics... Sometimes I like the travel, but I don't like having to miss a Sunday with the kids. But it might be fun watching the SuperBowl at the hotel with my trucking buddies.
This will be a busy couple of months. As soon as I get back from Tampa go to the traditional Ski Jump weekend up in Westby with friends, then I go to an overnighter at the Toronto Auto Show as a guest of DaimlerChrysler, then a trip to Indianapolis, then Louisville, then Anaheim. At least in Anaheim I can stay a few days and meet with my agent and see some friends! I finally got my China footage edited and I'm shipping the dvds out to my agent today, so maybe by the time I get to Anaheim we'll have something shaking on that project.
Then in early April I'm going down to Austin to work with this producer-director who's optioning my script "American Ice." We need to do a little polishing on the script to enter it into the Sundance Institute, so that should be entertaining!
The kids are all great. Domi's up to her eyeballs in scholarship applications and show choir season--she's heading to Eau Claire for a competition today (and she's been accepted at UW-Madison), Nemo is taking an online course at UW this semester, working off some prereq courses the easy way with Verizon paying the tuition, Cal's playing endlessly with his new sound mixer, and Capri is Capri :)
Mom & Dad, please send your intinerary before you go!
Love to all!
Mark
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