Freya's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

(My mom is writing this letter for me.)

I love you. I would like you to bring little toy pets, like a little dog that barks. Santa, please bring your reindeer. I want to pet the reindeer. My friend Toren would like a xylophone; I would like a zebra and an elephant.

Dad would like Christmas trees for his birthday and Mom would like a curling iron. I would like a pony with hair to style. Grover would like bones.

Come down our chimney. I like your white beard.

I love you,
Freya

I kept waiting to see Matt doing his snow angel. I saw Freya writing her name in the snow. Did she do that on her own? That's pretty impressive for a not quite 3 year old. It was a really cute video.

Sorry to hear about your brother, Casey. Does he have any sense of how his area of expertise is faring in terms of the job market?

Our snow storm today turned out to be quite different than what was originally projected. More rain here but it turned to snow. Shoveling wasn't as bad as we had feared, not that I can shovel. Hopefully tomorrow my nurse and Physical Therapist can come. Everything continues to go well with my recovery.

I got my cards today so can get started on that project. Colin asked if I was going crazy with boredom yet and I reminded him that this is day 2, so no, I hadn't gotten there yet. I think he was counting back to the surgery day. Have a great week. Susan

IdaSno

Greetings from Idaho, where we got our second measureable snow of the year today. Not like Wisconsin (thank heaven), where I understand you all are digging out quite frequently. Be careful out there!

Well, the Idaho economy isn't doing too well either--I found out yesterday that my eldest brother, John, lost his job this last week. He's an employee of an information technology contractor to the federal government, and I was hoping his position would be secure. Guess not. Speaking of which, we're still sending lots of good thoughts for David's job hunt.

It will likely be a quiet Christmas for us. Freya is getting a couple of good things, including a play kitchen and an art set and easel. She's very into painting, and does lots of art projects at both school and at home. We went and got our Christmas tree and some lights at Lowe's yesterday--what is the deal with everything already being 50% off and totally picked over?!? I'll never understand retail, but the good news is that our tree was half price.

Anyway, here's the latest Freya video goodness--she and Matt went out this morning and practiced their snow angels:

An update from East Troy- I would rather have been singing Christmas carols Friday night than what I was doing! The surgery was OK, and I didn't get sick till Thursday night. Since I had gotten a nerve block on my leg and spinal morphine in my back, I didn't feel much of anything till Friday afternoon. I got up walking on Friday am and was told I did great. I have been more bothered by the nausea, vomiting and not eating than anything else. So, by Sunday AM, I felt well enough to go home. It was good to get home and have access to all my stuff. I am pretty tired, and of course the medication makes you moreso, so I am napping alot. The main rehab goal right now is to get my leg straight and to bend it to 90 degrees within a week. The first time I walked on it, it straightened out and felt like it was hyperextending in the wrong direction. Felt very weird, but I am getting used to it.

Otherwise, not much happening. Mom and Dad are going to babysit me on Wednesday and the Visiting Nurses and the physical therapists are coming here for at least the first week. Hopefully, I will be able to manage on my own next week.

Well, its time for a nap. Happy St. Nick's everyone! Love, Susan

Wish You Were Here!

Lyn and I attended The Roches holiday show at our village PAC last night, and ended up on stage with them and fellow townsfolk singing "Silver Bells", "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "YakketyYak"-who knew it was a Christmas song?

hello everyone--it is another beautiful day in arvada--we all just keep saying march might be bad. we are really dry on the front range--we've had to water our trees several times this winter. lots of snow in the mountains--which is good.
david had 6 days in texas on his road bike last weekend with jim siffring, and his brother norman. they all met with a bunch of other adventure riders down near big bend NP, and roade for 3 days. david had spent some time setting himself up to camp with gear on his bike, and they did spend 2 nights out. he felt pretty good about his packing job--even though he never did use the mess kit! and he had a great visit with norman. it has been one of their brotherly dreams to ride together again, so this is only the beginning i'm sure! today he is dirt biking with some friends. we've been doing a lot lately--a couple of movies out (gran torino and slumdog millionaire), dinners out during denver restauratn week--when about 200 local restaurants offer a 3 course meal for two for 52.80 (our elevation)! we went to a fancy place in golden that was very good. i've been getting the dogs out more every week, as our days get longer and the weather warms up. i have to be really careful with link, though, his hips are really huring him. we can only go out every other day--and i don't even hardly let him off the leash anymore cuz he gets too much exercise. david gave ruby her first spring haircut yesterday--and now we can see her cute little body again! she was pretty furry.
one of our new neighbors is a personal trainer, and she is doing a "bootcamp" every sunday morning, and a couple times during the week. i've gone a couple of times, and it has been really good. gets my heart going--and i just have to walk a half a block! ddavid and i are also starting a 7 week ballroom dancing class through our rec center this week. just picture fred and ginger!
work is busy for me. i teach part of another class this coming week, then travel in april for a few weeks. david has been going to albequerque regularly, and goes to san antonio next week for several days. his business has slowed dramatically--not sure what 2009 holds for him, but it isn't looking as good as 2006, or 2007. the dominos just keep falling, and we just keep hoping for the best.
we had a great visit with mom and dad on my birthday weekend, and then a short but great visit with david and charlie. we're looking forward to S and J and C and B for a week--and celebrating colin's 21st birthday with him!
well, back to my work reading, frosting a cake i just made, and spending an hour or so in the basement on our constant quest to clean it up!
take care everyone--we love you--michele and david, linkadink and ruby

happy thanksgiving everyone! we're trying the picture mode to see if this works this morning. here is the new beemer--sorry no leather clad biker mama and dude this morning. we are still in our PJs! this is a 2001 BMW R 1150 GS adventurer. it has all the bells and whistles you can imagine! and is ready to cross the countr or go around the world--as soon as i get my leather chaps.

we are on our own today--with a 20 lb turkey. we are supposed to get snow in town--but so far it is just cloudy.

i got my neck shots on tuesday, and stayed home yesterday-alternately resting and baking and cleaning. the shots went well, and should provide some relief in the next few days. we have the rest of the weekend off, and i have plans tomorrow to hit the arvada center festival with a friend. we put up xmas lights this past weekend outside--along with our other overachieving neighbors. we'll finish that up this weekend also. we just found out that tavis and rebecca won't be here for xmas weither--so not sure what we'll do for that holiday.

we hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a relaxing weekend. talk to you soon!

love michele, david lincoln and ruby

Holiday prep

Hi all,

I bet it's just a matter of time before Dave & his old lady make the trip to Wisco on the new Bimmer, eh?

I'm basking in the glow of just having snagged some great air fares for Domino and her roommate Andee to fly home for Christmas. Andee will be in Fort for a week before flying home to Philly on the 27th. I've met her and her parents twice at Vassar now and really like them all, and Domi spent part of last spring break with them in PA, so it's nice to be able to reciprocate.

Anyway, a friend and soon to be business partner was here last weekend so we could work on some plans and she saved a bundle by buying one-way tickets for her three-pronged trip from NY to Detroit to Chicago to NY, so I tried that with the girls' tix, and damned if it doesn't work!

I'm glad to save the dough, too, because last night I took a hit: my car was broken into and my beloved GPS unit was stolen. I was at Monica's in Old Town in Chicago celebrating her getting her Ph.D. (I'm dating a Doctor!), and I just happened to leave the GPS out on the dashboard. When I came out this morning my driver's side window was gone and so was the Garmin! Well, the window was still there, technically; it was just there in a million tiny fragments. Kind of a drag, especially since I had to drive home 100 miles in 40 degree weather with no window... At first I figured it was a bitter Bears fan who went berserk at the sight of Wisconsin plates, but then I found a mark where the perp had wedged a metal bar under the weatherstripping and popped the window from underneath. Pretty slick job. And of course both the window and the GPS fall within my deductibles. Oh well, the GPS was free in the first place, the car wasn't really damaged, and no one was hurt, so I can't really complain. I will miss the girl inside the GPS's refrain of "recalculating" whenever I didn't follow her directions, though...

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good Thanksgiving-night snooze.

Love
Mark

Wow! Alot of news from Denver. The largest demographic for new motorcycle riders is the over 50 crowd. David really doesn't fit into that, but you do, Michele! I guess you won't have to get Harley duds if its a BMW. Thank God, I don't know if I could handle that.

We had a very nice weekend with Bridget. She finished up her midterms last week and needed some R and R, so she came home. We went shopping Saturday and picked up a few necessities, then hung out at the Grand Geneva health club for a few hours and had dinner at a sushi restaurant in Delavan. She visited an East Troy friend later Sat. night and again on Sunday, in between doing laundry and baking. Madison has had an outbreak of norovirus, starting in Sellery and spreading to alot of the sororities and the Evans House. No word as to whether or not Colin succumbed. Bridget was anxious to get out of there.

I planted a hundred or so bulbs in between baking and watching the Packers annihilate the Bears at Lambeau-about time. Our downstairs furnace went out, so Jay was trying to figure out what happened. The end result is that he has to call in the HVAC people so hopefully we can get that taken care of quickly and without spending a fortune. Always something!

I have three interviews-for the same job-over the next few weeks. I am applying for a Manager of Physician Integration for the South Region, which means hand holding physician recruits from their first encounter with Aurora and beyond. I have done it for all the folks we have hired in the last two years and it may be a good opportunity for me to get out of Behavioral Health. I've been at this stage with other positions and have been aced out, so who knows, but its interesting to try. I know and work with alot of the folks who will be interviewing me, so that makes it maybe more possible. It is a management position with no one reporting to it, at a higher pay grade. All of that sounds good, also. Things are much better where I am, so if I have to stay it will be OK, and of course I have Dec. off recovering from surgery, so I hope to have a new lease on life on Jan. 1 no matter what.

With all that is happening, I am not going to have a party for Jay for his birthday. We will be doing Thanksgiving dinner and will celebrate then with whoever joins us. We may go up to Madison next weekend and have dinner or brunch with B and C if this week isn't too nuts. Jay's getting alot of his long overdue medical work done and getting ready to go back to H&R if none of his other job leads come thru, so the next couple of months will be very crazy for him.

Hope everyone is well. I'm not sure where the Cruise Boat is now, but I am sure it is in a wonderful place. Have a great week! Love, Susan

hello everyone--another 60 degree day in denver. i joined our neighbors for a bronco chili party at their house--and they actually won today!
david is in SD this weekend--from thursday till late today--pheasant hunting with about 16 clients, cat and wagner people. he will be home either in the middle fo the night, or tomorrow morning. no doubt they had a great time--although it was probably cold and windy. i baatched it, and ran the dogs a couple of times, went to a christmas bizarre, got my face exfoliated, and baked brownies! the dogs are now totally out to lunch, and snoring. and i am putting together some insurance paperwork.
it will be pretty quiet here for turkey day this year. we're not even sure that shelly is coming. i have another set of neck shots scheduled for wither that week or the next, so i'll be laying kindof low anyway.
the big news at our house, is that after about a year of "shopping" david bought a 2001 BMW adventureer type motorcycle. i don't know what model it is , but it is a very nice road bike. it has all the bells and whistles, and he got a great deal on it. many of you know that i have put my foot down on a road bike for him, but he has worn me down, and he now has this one. he is quite excited about it, and i trust that he will be very cool in his use of it.
there is room for me, and i'm sure i'll get a helmet and ride with him. the dogs don't fit in the saddle bags, though.
so, that is his christmas present for about the next 10 years!
sound like the 26th is the christmas feast--and we'll be sure to call you all that day!
take care everyone--we love you--michele

I added one incorrect file, but Mom's party one is one here. Sorry-can't figure out how to remove it.

Faith and Begorra!

More YouTube fun--Drew Hardy and the Nancy Boys singing, "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama." I especially like the t-shirt they show that says, "O'bama--Vote Irish!"

sheboygan

Hi gang.  Just got back from a cross Wisconsin bike ride this week.  I figured as long as I've got some weekday time available I'd try to make some use of it.  I didn't have a chance to do a big ride this summer so decided to try to squeeze it in.  

I sent off a bunch of resumes Tuesday morning and Susan took me down to the AMTRAK station In Milwaukee and I took the late afternoon train up to La Crosse.  Put my bike back together in the station in LaCrosse while the ticket counter guy called around to find the cheapest motel room in the city.  

Set out on a very cold Wednesday morning with frozen toes but thawed by Sparta. Very spongy trail from Sparta to Elroy and then down 400 Trail to Reedsburg for another cheap motel. Called Maura and Tim to see if they'd be up for eats in Reedsburg but Maura was down for the count already and Tim wasn't feeling great but got a good pep talk out of the phone call with Tim. (Thanks again Tim) 

Thursday was warm and beautiful and after a later start got all the way to Fond Du Lac before third cheap motel.  

Easy ride in on Friday morning and home in time to be the older of the two Men In Black with Finn for trick or treating.  

3 bald eagles, 3 deer, (lots of dead ones), lots of fresh roadkill- mice, squirrels, coons, possums, 1 porcupine, 1 coyote.  0 farm dog attacks but ready with the pepper spray anyway

Laying low this weekend,  Susan is doing a boatload of cooking and baking downstairs and I'm back to sending out resumes.  More later

KAMATE KAMATE TORA TORA A-HOOKAH A-HOOKAH VASSAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted everyone to know that Sunday was the Quidditch World Cup, and the Vassar Butterbeer Brewers took SECOND out of TWELVE teams!!! I’m very, very happy and proud!!! We only lost to Middebury, and the final score was 70-40, which is quite respectable. Plus we caught the snitch. Just call us Bulgaria. 
I’ve attached some awesome pictures so that you can feel like you were there experiencing the magic, too!

You're toast!

Capri was toast for Hal- low- een. Really.

hey guys--how are you? i just got back from a long week in asheville, NC. this was the first week of this 9 week leadership training i am going to for the FS. it was quite a plane ride--through atlanta. what a crazy airport. and we started on friday night. spend a day and ahalf with our deputy chief and associate deputy chief. we went to the cradle of forestry on the pisgah national forest. where the first forestry school in the USA was. then visited the biltmore estate for a day--a castle in the middle of the mountains. what a place! i was with 40 other FS emmployees--i knew a few befor i got there--and knew several more when i left. we always have some place or toher person in common. in fact i spent some time with the former district ranger on the krassel RD, quinn carver, who knows matthew. he said his first encounter was rough, matt--the FS kid who fried the chinook for dinner? at any rate, i met some great folks. i'll see them all again in albequerque in january.
we've stayed close to home this weekend--david id dgo riding today cuz it was beautiful. i finished unpacking, ran errands, and relaxed after a week gone.
i used you guys in my first speech about myself. i said:"i'm the middle child in a family of 7 kids, so i've been speaking in front of an audience ever since i learned how to ttalk." that got a big laugh!
we hope all of you are doing well, and counting down to the end of the political ads in the light blue state to be done. this is pretty interesting.
even though we are bound by the hatch act we always end up talking at least a little politics when i get together with FS folks. oone of the guys said he heard "sarah palin can see the moon from her front porch, so now she thinks she can drive the space shuttle." oh man.
anyway, take care everyone--later

D,M,L,R

No News from Fort

Hi all,

Weather's nice, kids are good, the cat is shedding, the basement's shaping up, Japan was great, my 30th CMH reunion is coming up in 2 weeks, and things are, all-in-all, pretty nice.

Mark

A short one this morning from BB

Thanks for the latest notes from CO, East Troy and ID--
and news learned in recent phone visits.

Took a few minutes to load and watch Freya and Matt.
Quite a tussle. Glad for Bridget's improvement! Snow in ID and CO, and our leaves have hardly begun to fall!

Spent yesterday in Madison at a Symposium on Macular Degeration. A worthwhil event sponsored by UW Hospital Opthalmoology Dept and some WI groups associated with national assitantance for the visually
impaired. Not much new on Mom's condition, but some interesting presentations on nationwide research. Had hoped to take the RV and go to Devils' Lake overnight and see the Melkas. Rain made us change our mind and drive the Focus, and we did go to Baraboo and had dinner with Maura at Culvers--
Alex working and Tim didn't feel up to going out.
Home safely about 9 PM.

A reminder, Mom would really appreciate it if you could, after choosing a font, go to the right and give the TT and click down to the LARGEST and then click the b for BOLD. Just be a BOLD blogger.......

Most of you had some connection with members of the Kascht family members at Catholic Memorial. An article in the Journal Sentinel on Sunday 10/12 in the Waukesha section featured a gathering which was held to honor Dr. Bob for the publishing of his memoirs, "Good Genes, Luck, Lots of Prayers". A number of pictures are included. I think you can probably pull it up on 'jsonline'. We'll save it and send it to any one who would like to see it. Perhaps we could start it and you could send it along to another sibling. I have reserved a copy from the Federated Library system and learn whether he includes any of his grade school days at St. John's in Waterloo where he was 2 years ahead of me.

Rain this AM, so may not be able to finish spray painting the garage (barn). Have the north side to do. Did the other 3 sides on Saturday and worked on trim for a while on Sunday and Monday. Using the same "old" dark brown. Still wonder what it would look like painted red with white trim??? Grandma vetoed that, you may remember.

Have a tentative date to be with Mark, Domino, Calvin and Capri somewhere on the evening of 10/22.

Praying for all of you as you deal with your concerns, projects, health, jobs and school work.

Love and prayers,

Grandma and Grandpa

What an exciting week! I don't need to repeat that anytime soon. Bridget was in the ER in Madison on Saturday with severe pain in her left side. Again, for the third time in her young life, she had a cat scan, a pelvic exam and an ultrasound and had several possible diagnoses thrown at her, but at 9PM, she got released with orders to see her family doc on Monday. He took one look at the records and said he thought it was a kidney stone, so she was relieved. She doesn't take pain meds well, so she had only had a couple doses at the hospital and then used ibupropen. She went back to school Tuesday. We may never get her to another ER, but hopefully she won't need it again. She was most mad about missing the Ohio State game. The crowd was yelling as we left Merritor Hospital. We are obviously glad it was no worse than that and she got orders to drink more water.

The combination of this bizarre campaign and the economic meltdown has been very unnerving. Jay's business has been doing nothing and we lost another therapist to a real job, so he is down to two people, including himself and very few phone calls. No one is interested in paying for therapy. His major job has been dealing with FEMA and the Small Business Administration with the flood aftermath. That has been helpful, but not a long term solution. Not too many job prospects in the AODA field either. The kids are getting sick of hearing me admonish them to watch their pennies, but they are doing it.

Sorry they don't blog, but they aren't communicating much other than the occasional text message. The classes are keeping them quite busy and the weather has been pretty good, so they are out and about when they can be.

We have enjoyed the last couple of weeks of nice weather and have been taking advantage of the last few opportunities to golf after work and on weekends. We opted to stay home this weekend and get the boats and pier out before the weather turns nasty. Lots of folks out boating so we had some nice visits with neighbors as we did our chores.

David's news was the capper on a great week, unfortunately. We can provide as much moral support and free therapy as you want to use! Words just don't seem adequate for that situation!

We have been enjoying watching Rachel Maddow and Keith Overman on MSNBC on weeknights. Of course they don't like McCain or Palin, so we enjoy their descriptions of the craziness of the preceeding day. I am feeling a bit more confident about the election, if I allow myself to.

Well, I have a pretty busy week ahead so should get to bed. Love to everyone and let's hope we all come through this! Susan

Freya Attacks!

I took a bunch of stuff to a consignment joint today and got rid of some of Freya's baby things and brought home some good swag. Freya now has a pink straw cowboy hat, that goes nicely with the secondhand sixth-hand bouncy horse her Grandpa Larry brought her earlier this weekend. Fetching, isn't it?

In the picture above, she's also wearing snowboots. Those would have come in handy on Friday evening, when Boise got it's earliest measurable snow on record--one inch on October 10. I'm so thrilled to have been able to experience history in such a chilly and unwelcome way.

Matt has been very busy with hunting season, but has taken some time to do a little elk hunting here and there. I've applied for that new job I've been talking about all this time--I won't know anything for several more weeks, and even in the best-case scenario wouldn't expect to know whether I'll be getting it until mid to late November. I'm actually undecided as to whether I really want it or not, but I'd have regretted missing an opportunity had I not put in for it.

Anyway, here's Freya attacking Matt just about 15 minutes ago. She missed her nap this afternoon (elective on her part, not on mine), and she's been in rare form.

hello everyone--october 12 and i have a 3 day weekend. we went up to estes park yesterday, with one of our neighbor couples, and we went into rocky mt. NP. saw the little place matt used to live, walked around bear lake, got sleeted on. the highlight was a quiet path off one of the closed campgrounds that had three bulls and harems of elk messing around. they were really active for 1 in the afternoon, and we sat on a picnic table and watched them for quite awhile. listened to them talking and bugling. i love that. then one of the big bulls mounted one of the cows. that was something we'd never seen. it was truly cool. i could have sat there for an hour but our butts were getting cold. it was suppposed to snow, and we were planning on camping--had to cancel reservations and just go up for the day. as it turns out, we only got rained on--so it probably wouldn't have been too bad. but the day was really fun. then we stopped and had a drink at the beautiful historic (the shining!) stanley hotel. that was really fun.
we have discovered something that we think all of you could benefit from -- fleece sheets. we got them at bed bath and beyond--searching for a fleece blanket like the one bridget has on her bed, and we found sheets and a blanket. they might be better than flannel!
we're trying to get through this global mess without freaking out too much. keeping our fingers crossed that the minds that run this globe can figure out how to get back on track. and get through this election. just talked to david--
take care everyone--we wanted to say hi and let everyone know we're doing well.

Notes from Big Bend as October 2008 begins

Greetings to all,

Must begin with a salute to Domino who must more involved than most and still finds time to let us know about her busy life. A great inspiration, Domino! Thanks......

Appreciation, as well, for those who were able to be with the O'Connells at Peggy's home on 9/20. Sorry that health concerns kept Maura, Tim, Tom, Cathy, Bruce and their girls from being with us. While there has been telephone calls with info on the event, we'll try to give those unable to come with some details. Each family was represented by 3 children. Steve and Bridget Curran; Kathy, Joe Blodgett with Andrew and Kerry and Chris were there with Charleen and Bob.
Mary O'Connell Williams and Judy O'Connell were not able to attend but Terri and Sandy, Bernadette and friend Kent and Patti and Amanda Bolan were Don's gang. Susan, Jay, David and Mark were in the mix as well. (Mary was to leave the next day for a trip to Spain.) Bob suggested to Peggy that Pam and Craig Farrell be invited--and they did come and it was great to have them in the mix. There was an abundance of good food, conversation clusters, many laughs and lots of memories. It was a fine 80th celebration for Jeanne (the OLDEST), Charleen and Bob! Bernadette agreed to coordinate the 2009 event at Governor Dodge State Parkland the date is Saturday, September 19. Mark your calendar.... We must add our appreciation for the ride to and from with Susan and Jay in the van and some new IL scenery--away from expressways.

Rainy here overnight so was unable to start any outside work so the two of us spent some time finishing our homework for our Bible class tonight
Might be able to get out this afternoon. No leaves falling yet! Got all screen porch windows closed and washed on Saturday. Have been able to get all the other windows washed on the outside after
the paint dried as I went around the house and some of them have been washed on the inside, too.

Had a nice break on Thursday of last week (10/2) when we took the RV to Kohler -Andrae overnight. Susan, David, Ellis and Finn joined us for a picnic supper which we had to eat inside because of rain. Charles came for a few minutes, but had to go to his Culver job.
We were able to grill burgers and vegiburgers outside in the drizzle with help from Ellis who has enrolled in a culinary themed curriculum as he begins grade 9. While it was chilly overnight, the sun rose and Friday began as a clear day. After we had our breakfast we walked north on the beach as far as the Sanderling Nature Center and returned to the camp area on a now completed steel corded boardwalk along the crest of the dunes between the beach and north south park road--about 2 miles in all. We stopped at Harrington Beach on our way home for lunch. Observed crews in both parks completing improvements--more campsites at K-A , but now sure about H.B., but know that usage there has expanded a lot, so it probably is related to space for more patrons. (David, Mom also left your Taliesin cap on the kitchen counter before we headed south. She called out for Susan, but no one answered.)

Planning to attend a day long UW Hospitals seminar on Macular Degeneration at the Alliant Center in Madison on 10/14. Had thought we might stop at Ft. Atkinson to have supper with Mark and hear more about Japan on our way home, but he has a business obligation. If the weather will be good, we might take the RV and go on to Devils' Lake overnight an try to have a evening meal with the Melkas, if that might fit their schedule. More on this directly with them, but thought it might be good to give the M's a heads-up.

Know we haven't told all of y0u that Lucille Snyder died on 9/15. She had fallen in her home a week earlier and her monitoring service alerted us and the Rescue Squad, so Mom met them and opened the door they found her on the floor. No severe injuries were found, but she was hurting and she was taken to the hospital. After a few days there, she went to a recovery facility in Mukwonago where they would prepare her to possibly come home. Mom visited her there for a few minutes the evening before we drove to Dubuque. Unexpect ely, she died there quietly. We were involved with the midday funeral and lunch on 9/20.

Mom enjoyed her St. Columkille class reunion on 9/13-14 in Dubuque. The Sunday picnic at Eagle Point had to be moved indoors because of a cold wind. We stayed with the Vandermillens and enjoyed our visit with them.

In those days between the Dubuque reunion and the funeral, we did get out in the RV and see a lot of WI and the early beginning of fall color. By evening of 9/15 we were at Peninsula SP in Door County. on Tuesday, we had lunch at Rib Mountain SP near Wausau and camped at Lake Wissota SP near Chippewa Falls for the first time. There was another first when we camped at the WI Interstate SP on the St. Croix River about 75 northeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul onWednesday. On
Thursday, we drove south along the St. Croix, then the Mississippi to La Crosse before spending the night at the Pine View RV park at Ft. McCoy near Sparta. Lots of miles on 5 wonderful sunny, mild days! All RV systems worked perfectly and even mileage was better because we had a through tune up a year ago thinking we would be driving it to AZ last winter.

Almost forgot to mention that we saw a lot of Whitnall staff members at their annual Golf event (9-5) at a country club near Antigo where the Sutherlands are members. Had pot luck brunch at their summer home before the golfers got started and dinner together at the country club dinning room that evening. A number of questions about all of you from those who remembered you from your childhood years! A one day round trip--so we got home late. A good time!

The October calendar looks fairly open beginning today with only about major obligation per week--so were hoping for some sunshine and trying to anticipate the falling leaves.

Hope all the leaves have fallen and have been taken care of by November 7 because we have decided to leave that day for another river cruise in Europe--this time a 16 day package. We will be making flights from O'Hare to Vienna with a Amsterdam connection and cruising the Danube, Mainz and the Rhine to Amsterdam. Our return from Amsterdam to O'Hare will be November 22. The MV Harmony will be our "hotel" for 14 nights and all meals are included, an inclusive feature which is very convenient. We're already considering how LITTLE we can pack! Have found a parking spot near O'Hare where the fee will be less than 2 RT bus trips from Milwaukee. More details as the departure date is closer.

Thanks to all of you who keep sending e-mails, making phone calls and posting blogs, even though they are not acknownledged as they should be. Thanks, as well, for all the efforts you made this summer and fall to be part of Mom's birthday and the reunion at Currans in Naperville.

Prayers and best wishes to all you as you work, toil, study, explore (caves?), struggle, perform, worry and enjoy. News of your adventures will be of interest of all.....

I bet you're gonna have to beat up a hobo!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written and I figure it’s time for an update.

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was wonderful! I went to NYC with some friends to participate in Improv Everywhere’s MP3 Experiment. Check out the pictures here: http://improveverywhere.com/2008/09/27/mp3-nyc-thanks/ I’m not sure if I’m in any of them, but there’ll be a video later, and I think I’ll be in that. It was a very unique, hilarious way to spend the day. And I got to visit a good friend who transferred to Barnard, which was lovely. It was a great day to turn 19.

Everything about school right now is great, actually. I LOVE all of my classes. I’m taking Earth, Environment and Humanity (really interesting and we get to play with things like silly putty and slinkys and identify rocks), Fundamentals of Music (easy and useful!), Cartography (hard but really cool, and great for Arrested Development references!), and, my favorite, Movement for Actors (lots of yoga, lots of experimental stuff, fantastic professor, and no homework. What else could you ask for?).

Plus all my extracurriculars are going wonderfully. I’m taking voice lessons again, which are just amazing. I auditioned for, and got into, the Drama Department plays. I’m in The Skriker by Carol Churchill. It’s a pretty weird, crazy play, but the cast is great (my roommate and best friend here, Andi, is in it, too, and one of my other best friends is stage managing), and I think it’s gonna be a blast! I’m still working at the Infant Toddler Center, and after the sad realization that none of my old kids are still there, I’ve slowly grown to be trusted by the new kids, and I’m really growing to love them. They’re a great group, and a little better-behaved than the last one, which is nice. Fencing is great, as always. We just started last week and are doing a lot of conditioning, which makes me wish I’d stuck with the running over the summer, but I’m not too sore anymore, and I think I’ll survive. Hopefully. It’s looking like I’m only gonna be fencing sabre this year, which is a bit of a relief. As much as I enjoyed the absurdity of trying to fence everything, I feel like now I’ll have more time to learn to fence sabre relatively well. Maybe I’ll actually be able to beat people more often! That’d be nice. And, lastly, Quidditch is going PHENOMENALLY!!!!!!!! I’m a co-captain this year, with two friends, and our big goal for the year was to get Quidditch certified as an official organization so we could get $$ and reserve campus spaces, etc. Anyway, we got certified last week! We’re really excited! Plus, we recruited a huge group of wonderful, talented, dedicated, motivated freshman who are gonna help us put up a really good showing against Middlebury at the World Cup in October. It’s gonna be intense!

Happy almost October!

Hi All- I believe that is the same cave that Bridget's teacher lives just down the road from and that many of our group explored on both our spring trips out there. Outside of Richland Center about 8-10 miles on Hy 14 I think? After attempting to sleep in the larger cave, we decided that wasn't for us so we skipped Pop's Cave. More power to you guys! I was surprised at how wet and muddy they are. Great pics, though, Mark. Had a nice visit with Michele on my way home from Madison on Sunday night-headphones of course. My only regret is that I passed the Shell station in Fort which had gas at 3.79 only to need it in East Troy where it was 4.29. Hopefully, it will drop back! She is good. David was coming to Peoria this week for a class so she will be doing projects around the house.

Well, time for bed. Hope to see some of you this weekend! Susan

Caving in Wisconsin

Here are some pics of Cal's and my caving adventure this weekend. These pics were taken in and out of "Pop's Cave." If you think we look look dirty here, you should have seen us after the 2nd cave... mud from head to toe!

Good Morning-All is very quiet in East Troy, other than the sound of Jay and I busily catching up on all sorts of things. Its amazing how much time we have. We both have a long to do list that we are chipping away at. I am sure alot of it won't get done, but we are trying. We made a trip to Madison on Sunday afternoon to deliver a bike to replace the old Diamondback that was handed down from Michele that got stolen. This one is a Huffy so may not look as appealing.

Colin is working hard as the maintenance guy for the building. He is working nearly every night at his meal job, so is getting alot of food free. Bridget is working two nights and eating as often as she can. She is finding her classes somewhat challenging, but so far she has less work than some of her roommates. Colin is still pretty overwhelmed with all his engineering classes. He has an elective about the modern Middle East which he is pretty excited about since it is so different. They may come home this weekend.

I decided to take at least one more year of piano since my teacher again decided not to retire, so I am getting some time to practice.

Lots happening at work-many people are moving around to different positions, so I may have some opportunities which I will be checking out. After two years, I am starting to be accepted by most of the staff, so life is a bit more tolerable.

Well, time to get ready for the day. Hope everyone is doing well. We keep hoping that Sarah Palin will be allowed to speak soon and that her true colors will emerge and the lemmings will change course again based on something besides how cute her glasses are. If those two get elected, I guess the American people get what they deserve. Anyway, have a good week and hope to see some of you next weekend! Love, Susan

Where has August gone?

Greetings to each of you!

The amount of communication since the big birthday weekend has been limited because we have all been so busy. We were grateful for all the assurances that everyonee got back home safely.

We were especially pleased with Domino's complete account of her final days inn Italy and her safe return to Vassar, along with her birthday greetings for Grandma. We hope that there might be an English translation of her St. Catherine essay/speech.

All of the schollars beginning a new school year and/or experience have been in our thoughts and prayers. David gave Mom abrief sketch of Susan and Cooper's getting settled in Phoenix. The OC-Longs had a busy time gettingColin adn Bridget to UW; we haven't had a blow by blow recoounting, but do know it was a moving experience. Thanks to the entries from Michele, Matt/Casey, and Mark which provided some points we haven't heard in phone visits. While it takes some waiting here to get the video of the front steps Morning Train, we are able to catch some of the verse and a lots of coaching/laughing. The Smoky Mountains pictures were worthwhile, as well. Especially the snake and the Kdome prospects.

Our outdoor work projects contiunue, but the many warm dry days have us working in the shady areas only. All the window frames have freah brown paint and now we're working on the yellow window trim. The many 9"x12" glass frames require a little more attention with the brush strokes. As part of this work effort we were able to get a new rear yard light installed above the upstairs hall window to replace the mecury vapor onne which a very noisy ballast hum which could be heard all over the upstairss and outside. Appreciate the quiet now!

The tomato crop has been great, but we have had to water frequently as August has been a record for dryness.

We'll be seeing a number of our former Whitnall friends on this Friday when we drive to the Sutherland home in the Antigo area where many of them play golf and have dinner at a country club. A long day of driving, but a nice diversion.

The following weekend we will be in Dubuque for Mom's 62 year high school graduation reunnion. We'll be staying with the Vandermillens and plan to see the O'Connells, too.

Peggy has sent the official O'Connell reunion notice. This will be Sunday, 9/12, in Naperville. If any of you WI folk want to thinnk about car pooling for that day, we should be planning that promptly. The day before, 9/20, we will be meeting Charleen, Bob and some other Clarke Class of '50 members in Mundelein, IL
for a reunion lunch. C & B will be goping on to Naperville that night and we'll be returning home.

We thought we might hear from Mark today about the Obama rally in Milwaukee. It would have been fun to accept his invitation to join him, but the probability of a long walk, the mob scene at night aft er a long hot day would have been tough. We saw a little of it on TV news, but the complete event was not covered, we believe.

Have to admit that I have watched a lot of Brewer's baseball as they chase the Cubs. Had it on this evening and have switched to radio while I write. It has gone into extra innings as I write and as I am near the end I've switched it off and learn the results in the morning. Doen't lokk like we'll get to the Miller Park to see a game this year, as most September dates are sell outs.

Have a great fall everyone! Can Cooper get the Blog? Would someone in Sheboygan pass along his address or edress, please? Hope we will be able to get some news from all of you college level scholars from Baraboo and all points west, south and east!!

Love and prayers, Grandma and Grandpa

PS. Wednesday, 9/3 6:54 AM. Lost all of the trying to get it posted last night. Was able to get it on a EDIT screen but found no way to get it posted so printed it all and have retyped it this morning. Mom called "What are you doing up so early?" Hope we do better this morning !

Isn't Nature Wonderful

A couple wildlife photos from the Smokies. These were both taken in the old settler's village at Cade's Cove.

Be sure to click on the pic of the copperhead to see its evil eye. And, yes, the shiny lizard was eating the fly... 

Mark

Clingman's Dome

Hi all,

I think I told most of y'all about the shocking sight of good old Clingman's Dome when we were in the Smokies earlier this month, but I keep forgetting to post the pics. Here they are. Prety sad, eh?

Mark

back to normal

hello everyone--that video is blackmail material. the conversations and laughter behind her little voice are also pretty funny. what a great laugh!
as dad reported, we got home monday at about 10. we had a hotel adventure in north platte NE. stopped at one place that allowed dogs--it was in the coupon book, susan. it was mom and pop. we opened our room door and it smelled like a convention of cats had been there. so, i argued with the clerk who didn't believe me and sent his wife for a "smell". she called back, and said yes there is a slight odor. when the dogs walk out of the motel room, we know something is wrong.
then we went to the other newer one, 11 at night. david pulls into the front door. the hotel van comes up behind him honking its horn, and yelling at david to move his car. the guy continued to honk, david moved, and then came and got me and said no way. so we left. the last words we heard from the driver were "go back to colorado where you came from." by then , we were so rattled we kept going. by ogollala we were ready to take on another nebraska motel owner! so, we stayed there with no incident. got up and had a 3 hr drive monday. stopped and got david's computer at work, had breakfast at the nearby village inn, and went home. we may never stay in nebraska again.
anyway, i took tuesday off and worked around the house, and then went back to work on wednesday. david started work on monday morning, as soon as we were back in cell phone range.
this weekend, david took the camper and dirtbike over to taylor park, north of gunnison, to ride. so i'm enjoying cool denver.--walkiing the dogs and doing chores. next weekend we are meeting david's brother norman and wife in sante fe for labor day weekend. that will be fun. norman's multiple myloma has pulled him out of remission, and he starts some more chemo after we have our long weekend.
we had such a good time in WI, and want to thank everyone for their hospitality, generosity, tolerance of 2 goofy dogs, and 2 goofy adults for that matter! we always have so much fun with you all--so many great stories and get togethers. this was particularly fun cuz we got to lie to mom so much! i loved that!
thanks to bridget for her bed, scout for her backyward, david for his great song, mark for finding the words for freyas hit, all you wisconsinites for organizning the logistics of all this, and to dad -- for having everything that david needed to put in three toilets! i do believe you guys set a record for the least number of trips to home depot! but you did have 2 tools that he doesn't have, which soon will be findng a place on his tool bench. so thanks for that too.
we love you guys, and thank god that we have such a wonderful family.

i had my last kringle yesterday morning.....

take care everyone--love M, D, L, and R

Jet Lag

Greetings from exotic Poughkeepsie! I am back safe and sound, though missing both Siena and Fort Atkinson.
The last week in Siena was a frenzy of work. We had a final project, which consisted of a 5-7 minute oral presentation in Italian on any topic we wanted, due Thursday, and our exam was Friday. Yikes. The project was much more stressful than the exam. 5-7 minutes is a lot of dialogue to have memorized. I chose to research St. Catherine, the patron Saint of both Siena and Italy. I discovered that she’d never learned to write so I decided to do a monologue of her life. It was the longest monologue I have ever attempted to memorize, and it was in Italian… sometimes I’m not very smart… so every day after school I practiced for hours. I pretty much didn’t leave my room from Monday to Wednesday, which was a shame considering it was my last week. But it ended up being worth it because the monologue went incredibly well and my professor loved it. She actually asked me for a copy of the text to keep. I have yet to see my grade, but I’m thinking it’s good… Then Thursday night I needed a break, so I wandered around Siena with Claudia and Dronile. We got lost, but it’s okay because we saw parts of Siena we’d never seen before and it was very pretty. We ended up eating at a little restaurant we’d never seen before, and it was quite good. Then I went back to my room and studied for the exam. I think the exam went well. I’m hoping, anyway. At any rate, it’s over and I’m done thinking about it.
Friday afternoon Gabi and I wandered around buying all the final things we had neglected to buy for five weeks. And a shopkeeper asked us if we were Italian! YES! Friday night we meant to all hang out, but everyone was exhausted and ended up falling asleep really early.
Saturday was Palio! Have I explained Palio at all? My apologies if I haven’t, it’s basically a huge horse race. Siena is broken up into 17 Contrade, and 10 compete in the Palio. Which 10 compete depends on who competed last year and a random draw, etc. There are two Palios, one in July and one in August. August is the bigger, technically more important, one. Almost every Contrada has an enemy Contrada, who they will prevent from winning at any cost. Our dorm was located in the Contrada della Chiocciola (the snail), so that’s who we should have been rooting for. Unfortunately, Chiocciola wasn’t running. Their enemy, Tortuca (the tortoise), was. So obviously we couldn’t root for them. Some of us ended up rooting for Pantera (panther), one for Drago (dragon), I think one for Nicchio (shell), and some, including myself, rooted for Torre (the tower, but represented by an elephant). The race itself takes place in the piazza. The horses run three laps. It’s over in just about 2 minutes.
We got to the Piazza at about 3:30pm. The race starts at 7. By 5, the piazza was packed. Then the parade started. It’s about a million people dressed in medieval clothing twirling flags and beating drums and riding in carts pulled by oxen and lasts until about 7. Then the main event begins. By the time the Palio actually started (after about 6 false starts), the Piazza was so crowded I could hardly see a thing. I swear tall people were popping out of the ground. It was a little frustrating. But I saw enough of the race for it to be really fun! Bruco (the caterpillar) won! Which was good and bad, good because it wasn’t Tortuca, and no one in our group got bragging rights, but bad because it wasn’t Torre.
After the Palio, while parties raged outside (the entire city pretty much gets reeling drunk. Even though Chiocciola didn’t run, they were partying like they had won just because Tortuca hadn’t.) we went and slept. Boring, I know, but necessary.
Sunday we packed. Depressing. Then Gabi and I went out and finally took pictures of ourselves in cool doors, which we’d meant to do since the first week and never had. It was hilarious! Gabi has all those pictures, though, because my camera ran out of batteries. I got Pippo Pippo gelato one last time. Then we went back to the dorm to work on the presents the class gave to Pazit, Guzzi, Lucia, Dudu, and Carlotta. We had dinner all together at Due Porte (or Du Porta as the Canadians call it), which is where we ate the first night in Siena. It was fun, but kinda sad. And Pazit was out of control! Oh man. Then we got gelato and sat in the Piazza one last time. I planned on going back to the dorm to sleep, but, due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up getting very little sleep.
Being at the airport was very sad. We had to say goodbye to Edoardo and Carlotta  and Gabi, because she was going to Ecuador on a separate flight. The flight itself was ok, tho. I sat next to Serena and we kicked butt at a couple crossword puzzles. And slept. That was good. When we landed, most people either got picked up by their parents or caught flights home. Claudia and I, however, took the familiar bus-to-train to Poughkeepsie. I am very, very lucky that Claudia was traveling with me, because when we arrived at Vassar at 10:30pm, the ROC, where I was supposed to get my key, was closed. Claudia was staying with friends, though, and they were wonderful enough to let me crash their house. And give me a ride back to Vassar the next day. So I’m in my room right now, and very much looking forward to the arrival of my roommate later today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry that i couldn't be at your party! It sounds like it was a blast! I was thinking of all of you! I would have written sooner, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise....

Heard from Michele last night that she and David had made it home safely as well so that was good news. The Freya video tops all! I had missed the original performance, so this was a real treat. She was the star of the show. Sorry, Grandma!

We all returned to work and our chores yesterday. Colin felt sick on Sunday and Bridget was down yesterday, but they are back on track taking care of the last minute stuff. We had a nice dinner on the deck last night enjoying the water skiing show. Jay finished the brakes on the Escort and is starting on the red convertible, so is making progress there. We have a load of stuff being taken away today, so my car may be able to return to the garage.

We had a great time seeing everyone and hosting the big event. It will be harder to get everyone together, as we can tell already, but to get so many of us together at one time is quite a feat. And to have us all so healthy and happy is also wonderful. Thanks to everyone for the efforts to get here and for all your help getting it together.

Well, off to work for me! I am sure this week will go quickly with all of our last minute stuff! Hope everyone has a good week. Love, Susan

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

We're back in Idaho, safe and sound. We left Big Bend this morning at about 4:45, made it 5 minutes out of town, and realized we'd left one of our carry-on bags in the living room. We about-faced and discovered Dad had already taken off with it to intercept us at the airport. We found each other and were reunited with the bag, and then we were off. The flights were uneventful and we made it home and had a good nap. I'm still exhausted!

Thanks to everyone for such a great trip and visit time, and especially to those who offered up your homes for us to share!

Without further ado, here's Freya rocking the stage at Potter's Lake with that Sheena Easton classic, "Morning Train":



Love,
Casey, Matt & Freya

I Cavalli Della Contrada Della Chiocciola

Well, I thought I’d take pity on you all and write now, because otherwise you’d have to wait until after Palio, and that would be the world’s longest note. Also, I must tell you that it’s refreshing to be writing in English, so I don’t have to think for five minutes before every verb to make sure it’s in the right tense. Having said that, (ßlook! A passato gerundio!) I will begin the actual interesting part of this message:

First things first, after the posting of a couple threatening (tho entirely untrue) notes around the dorm threatening room searches if the missing clothes didn’t reappear, Gabi’s clothes magically turned up behind the washing machine (where we’d checked at least three times when we first realized the clothes were gone). So she has her clothes back and we have all just gotten used to having drying clothes strewn about our rooms, which gets a little soggy, but keeps them safe.

Also, the test I was afraid of? It went just as badly as I thought. But I’m over it, and I did much, much better on the one we just took, so it’s all good.

Ok, so on to the really good stuff: VENICE!!!!

We arrived in Venice at around three in the afternoon and took a watertaxi to our hotel. Everyone says Venice stinks, but I honestly never really found it smelly. It’s possible that I was just so overwhelmed visually the whole time that my nose stopped functioning in order to allow my eyes more sensory perception. (ßI am obviously in need of sleep. That sentence is absurd. Oh well, I’m going to leave it. Deal.) Anyhoo, the hotel was not quite as snazzy as the one in Rome, but it was very pretty, and Gabi and I got to room together, which was great! The first day we didn’t have anything planned until 6ish, and Gabi and I were exhausted, so we started watching some ridiculous Italian priest-as-detective show called “Matteo” I think. It was hilarious, and also was about the Palio! Unfortunately, we both accidentally fell asleep and only woke up when Edoardo called us to see where we were because everyone was waiting for us in the lobby. Oops. But I’m actually really glad that I was still half-asleep, because Guzzi had arranged a surprise Gondola ride for us, and in my dazed state, I really thought I was dreaming the whole time. It was absolutely a dream come true. I just… I’m still having a hard time realizing that it absolutely really, truly happened. Oh, and our gondola was the prettiest. It had red upholstery so the big seat looked like a heart and there were golden seahorses on the side and *sigh* I love Venice! I absolutely have to visit it again before it sinks.

The next day we had a tour of the piazza and Saint Mark’s in the morning. The piazza was slightly claustrophobic, and I think I prefer Piazza del Campo in Siena, but it was lovely. Tho covered in pigeons. Really tame pigeons. One caught my head with its wing as it targeted tourists with bread. At one point Zack and I, just because we’re cool, went running through a HUGE flock of pigeons and set them all flapping (or waddling..) away. They were surprisingly resistant to taking off, tho, and we had to sort of shuffle through them, which made the whole exercise even more ridiculous than it already was. Going in to Saint Mark’s was interesting. No one had warned us that we had to have knees and shoulders covered again, so there were some interesting hoodie-skirts that inevitably came untied half-way through the tour and had to be hurriedly re-adjusted. The church itself was really beautiful, but the poor thing just couldn’t compare to the Sistine chapel or St. Peter’s.

Yes, I did just spend more time talking about pigeons than about a famous building.

Then we toured the Doge’s palace. It’s sad, but the thing I remember most is the unbearable heat. We saw some cool things, the huge globes, the dungeons, the largest room in the world without columns supporting the roof, and the paintings in said room, including portraits of all the Doges, except the one who was a traitor, and the stairs where they used to have public executions so the heads would roll down the stairs, awesome, huh?

After the tour we saw a demonstration of how they make things out of murano glass. Way cool! I wish I could make a horse out of a glob of molten glass! Crazy. I also wish I could have bought some of the dishes or clocks, but I feel like getting them home would have been impossible.

We had the rest of the day free, so Gabi and I went shopping! It was great, because we wandered off the beaten track and ended up finding all these cool little shops that were cheaper than the stuff on the main tourist drag. I think my favorite place was this little hole-in-the-wall antique store. The owners were incredibly nice, and there was some beautiful stuff. I didn’t buy anything, but Gabi got a beautiful locket ring and an old coin and I think something else. We really wanted to buy cameos, which we later realized we should have done there because they were authentic and about half as expensive as everywhere else, but by the time we realized that, the place was closed. Sad. My other favorite store was the one with the wallets and the nicest old lady worker/owner! She was absolutely the sweetest lady ever. Oh man, I bought so many souvenirs! And if I ever have lots of extra cash to blow (key word “if”), I want to go back to Venice to spend it. After having spent most of it on my family, of course…..

The next day was free until we had to leave, and we intended to go to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, but we got sidetracked by roughly 4000 stores that we hadn’t seen the day before and ended up just barely making it back to the hotel on time.

Did I mention that I taught 3 people to play euchre? I taught 3 people to play euchre. They’re totally hooked, which makes me very happy!

We got back to Siena Sunday evening and basically unpacked and did homework.

Last Monday is hardly worth mentioning, I studied for 9 and a half hours, it was boring. But necessary.

Tuesday we had a test. It was hard, but I did better on it that any of the others, so that’s good. Then we had a Palio expert give a lecture to teach us the intricacies of Palio. I won’t bore you with them, but it was really fascinating! And essential to the fabric of society in Siena. I am absurdly excited for Palio! Oh yeah, then we visited a museum of one of the contrade, and that was mostly fun. The highlight being the adorable old bald man with the huge mustache. Seriously, I wish it wouldn’t have been incredibly weird to take a picture of this man, he was always smiling and just absolutely adorable. Hehe.

Wednesday we toured the main government building. There were three really cool frescos, one being what “good” government looks like, one being the results of “good” government, and the last being “bad” government and it’s results. It’s a little oversimplified, but I feel like George Bush could probably use the visuals, he might understand it better… ;)

Thursday we had a workshop on traditional music and dance. It was incredible. The woman had an AMAZING voice! And we learned the tarantella!!! It’s a really hilarious, fun, and easy dance! I made the unfortunate discovery, however, that I am more sketchy doing the guy’s part than Zack is, and that’s just not okay… later Thursday we all got together in the garden and drank and went to a great little club here in Siena. It was really fun until, well, some people drank a little too much and, suffice to say that I was holding up hair for the rest of the night. Not my own, however.

Needless to say, waking up for class on Friday was great! Haha.

This weekend has been very quiet. I spent all of Saturday sleeping, watching the Olympics, playing volleyball and doing gymnastics in the garden, and working on my final project. It was actually quite fun.

Yesterday I worked on my project all day. Yuck.

Then I spent all of today working on my project. Guess what I’m doing tomorrow?

A few random end things: I have two new favorite candies, Happy Hippo and Choco Rhino. They’re delicious and adorable, what more could you ask for? Plus, there’s a Happy Hippo gelato called Pippo Pippo that’s also delicious and makes me very happy.

Favre ≠ a New York Jet. What is this crap?! Not okay.

And, next time I write will probably be from Poughkeepsie!

A Plague of Insects, and Plague of Toads, and a Plague of…Canadians?

Well, things have been…interesting since I last wrote. Kinda good, kinda not…

We had an incredible workshop that was an introduction to Italian opera. It was so good! Our Italian professor lectured for almost 3 hours and we listened to and watched clips of operas. I could have listened for another 3. It really, really made me want to try to sing opera. Not professionally, I don’t think, but I will DEFINITELY be trying out for the opera workshop at Vassar 2^nd semester and I can’t wait!!!

Short interjection: Italian keyboards are set up differently than American ones, and it took awhile to adjust, but we can only access the internet on the Italian computers, so I’ve been using them a lot. Now, however, I am on my laptop so that I can take as much time as I need to write this, and I keep hitting the wrong buttons because I’m used to the Italian places now. So I apologize if my punctuation is wrong…

We left for Rome early Thursday morning and arrived in time for lunch. Then we went to Piazza di Spagna, which was beautiful, and surrounded by stores like Gucci. After that trek, and a little window shopping, emphasis on window, we ate dinner at a lovely little restaurant. Our table was outside and there were violinists serenading the diners. The food was fabulous, as usual, and after dinner we found one of the best gelaterias in Rome. It was truly incredible. I had ginger and cinnamon and honey. Holy yum. If anything in the world deserves Roald Dahl’s title of “scrumdidlyumtious” it is ginger and cinnamon gelato. And then we ate our gelato by the Trevi fountain, which, especially lit up at night, looks like the entrance to a fairy kingdom. It was a magical experience.

Friday we toured the ruins of the Roman Forum and the palaces of several Roman rulers. It was only one palace, really, but each successive emperor had rebuilt it in his own style. One of the coolest things, I think, was getting to walk on the original Roman road. And standing in a piazza designed by Michelangelo. After that, we visited the Pantheon and 7 of us bought tickets for an opera on Saturday night. All before lunch. Then we went to the Collosseum. Zack and I had a mock gladiator battle. I won, of course, and Gabi, acting as emperor, decreed that he was to die. I’ll post the pictures once I’m back at Vassar. We trudged back to the hotel, napped, and went to dinner.

Dinner, again, was an incredible affair. We took a bus a little way outside Rome and ate in a, not really graveyard, more a mausoleum, with small niches for bones in the wall. Sounds creepy, but I should clarify that there weren’t any bones, and it was actually quite beautiful. The owner was a good friend of Guzzi’s, our professor from Vassar, and quite the performer. He was a riot. Also, he was a Harley-Davison man, which made me feel right at home. We what was probably my favorite meal so far, especially the cheese, which was possibly the best I’ve ever tasted, and the chocolate mousse. Yum. The group was split between three tables, which was sad, but my table played fun mind games, such as “umbrella,” all meal, which was hysterical. When we got back to the hotel, as an extension of what we were doing at dinner, everyone stayed up and played “psychiatrist,” with mixed success. Edoardo was scarily good at it.

Saturday we had to dress with special attention to cover our knees and shoulders, as they were considered too scandalous for our destinations: the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s . The Sistine Chapel was truly breathtaking. Even before you enter the chapel itself, the collections of statues and maps and tapestries is staggering. And the chapel itself is just… it’s like you’re actually in a painting. There are a zillion other people in the room, and despite the “no talking” signs and announcements there is a constant buzzing that occasionally grows to a dull roar, but you don’t notice. You forget that people are shoving past you and you stare at the ceiling and the walls and wonder how someone could have possibly created it. Maybe it’s because we had a guide who filled us in on some of the sordid details of Michelangelo’s fresco on the wall about the Final Judgement (the self portrait, the portrayal of a critic as the gatekeeper to hell, etc.), but I actually think I loved that painting more than the famous God/Adam one on the ceiling. Not that the ceiling wasn’t awing. I think I still have a crick in my neck from how long I stared, but, while the ceiling showed Michelangelo’s genius, the wall showed himself, and I found that more interesting. Then was St. Peter’s. Oh. My. God. It was…monumental? Gigantic? Monolithic? Freaking gorgeous? Words fail. It was an experience, no doubt. Wow.

After the tour, more mundane things like lunch were almost forgotten. Dronile and I went back to the amazing gelato place, tho, and I got my favorite flavor, plus chocolate meringue, which was almost as good. Then we went back to the hotel, napped, and got ready for the opera. We saw “La Traviata,” which is pretty much Moulin Rouge, only in Italian and with fewer pop songs. Also, no eyecandy. It was pretty good. Obviously, we were able to afford it, so it wasn’t a really well known cast or anything, but the lead, Violetta, was terrific! Not that I’ve heard a lot of opera, but she was easily in the top three singers I’ve heard. And that includes professionals on the recordings we heard in class. Unfortunately, the rest of the performers weren’t as gifted. Most annoying was the man playing Alfredo (the hero)’s father. Yes, the whole opera was in Italian and I understood about 6 words, but this man mumbled soooooo badly it was infuriating. I watched his mouth change shapes, but still heard the same vowel. Gragh. And his eyebrows! Admittedly, eyebrows are very important when you’re singing, but when you move them at COMPLETELY RANDOM times, they are not helping you in any way shape or form and it just makes oyu look CREEPY and UNTRUSTWORTHY!!!! AH!!! Sorry. It’s a bit of a sore spot.

Anyway, then we went to a club. It was a blast! Some of the Italian boys, and, more unfortunately, men, were a tad skeezy, but the boys on the trip were truly wonderful at rescuing us, for which we are all eternally grateful. Us girls were also quite good at well-timed trips to the bathroom. We stayed out until 4am. Fun!

We left too early on Sunday. We actually left at like noon, but we had to be out of our rooms by 10 and after dancing until 4, that is just not enough sleep. So we slept on the bus back. Then Gabi and I unpacked and fell asleep in our room. The idea was to nap for a couple hours, then get up and study since we had a test on Monday, and the go to our review session, study more, and go to sleep early. Instead, we slept for 6 hours, woke up 3 minutes before our review, which we rushed to half asleep, without our homework done, and giggled through because we had no idea what was going on. It helped though, I swear. Then, in a panic, we went back to our room and studied for several hours and then tried to sleep. Having slept all day, however, we were wide awake, so we watched Grey’s Anatomy until 3am. It’s a great show, I’m pretty addicted now.

Monday’s test went ok. Not as well as I would have liked, but not bad considering the circumstances.

Wednesday we visited a tiny town that was home to a Pope. It was extremely picturesque. And we climbed to the top of an ancient fortress, very cool! And very windy! We walked to an adorable little restaurant were we had, surprise surprise, another fantastic meal. With the 2^nd best cheese I’ve ever tasted. With honey and hot peppers. Sounds gross, tastes amazing!

Friday we had another test. I don’t really want to think about it. I studied for hours, cuz I really wanted to better on this one, but it was pretty awful. Ugh. I’m just hoping I did better than I think I did. After the test we had an awkward party at Pazit, the professor’s, apartment. It’s a lovely apartment, but we were all miserable about the test, and there was no food, and really nothing for us to do, so we sat around uncomfortably for half an hour and then left to drown our worries in pizza and chocolate. It is somewhat comforting to know that everyone walked out of the test nauseous. We had a wonderfully tasty dinner and then all bought our own bottles of ridiculously cheap wine and sat in the piazza drinking, eating gelato, and talking about everything from how our parents’ met, to funny experiences with squirrels. It was a nice way to end a not great day.

This weekend has been pretty quite. Most people went to Bologna, and a couple people’s parents are here visiting, but Gabi, Sophie, Sophia, and I went to Firenze again to shop! I bought some presents for people back home, and a cute pair of shorts and adorable shoes and it was a very nice day. We had dinner at Cice’s, which is pretty much our favorite restaurant here in Siena, and then had a quiet night in.

Sunday was our first day to really sleep in. Unfortunately, the Canadians have arrived, and that made sleep at all, much less late, slightly difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to Canada twice and loved it. I generally genuinely like Canadians. These ones, however…. There were 3 sitting in the hall not talking but shouting until 5am. There are so many of them. They’re everywhere! And they’re so loud! It’s ridiculous. The poor door ladies at the dorm are going crazy because they don’t speak English and the Canadians don’t speak Italian, and they can’t make the Canadians hush. I would be nicer, but someone just stole Gabi’s $200 dress out of the washing machine, and her beautiful shirt, and we no longer feel safe, or even really comfortable, in our own dorm. We suspect the Canadians because we’ve done laundry before, when there were only Italians and us here, and didn’t have any problems at all. Argh. It is really not okay at all.

The one good thing that’s come of this is that the door ladies really, really love us now! Even the one who didn’t like Gabi and I before (there was a miscommunication about a missing pillow…), is now pretty much our best friend. She’s been commiserating with us about the Canadians. I’m really glad to be able to talk to her even a little, and it’s also very gratifying to know that we aren’t seen as inconsiderate intruders. That, more than anything else, makes me want to keep learning Italian.

Wow. I’m sorry this is so ungodly long. I really meant to keep it short, but so much has happened! Venice next weekend! I’ll write more after that!