New Babies & Challenges

Several friends have new babies that I have enjoyed seeing on their blogs. They are all girls!

Kalli is Jamie & Tyler's daughter in California
Ellie is Zak & Molly's daughter in Illinois
Alexandra is Wes and Michele's daughter here in Ann Arbor. Michele has also recently begun chemo for breast cancer. She and her extended family would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Here is a link to Amie's young daughter, Sadie, too, even though it is late. (I also think you're the only one reading my blog, Amie!)

...and a Happy New Year!

New Year's Day I had a post in mind... and then I was very productive this month! During the winter vacation, I had a long list of things to do around the house, and since then I have been trying to keep up with teaching and taking two master's classes. I have been really good about getting work done and not procrastinating, thus no new posts. I am bummed because I didn't get anything posted in January. Oh well.

The new year started off wonderfully. We have a semi-annual tradition of going out to Dave's cousin's house in rural Illinois. They have 300+ acres on a plot that reminds me of my grandparents' farm in the U.P. (the driveway has the exact same twists and turns). Every time we go out there, we race big wheels in circles (they've been modified to fit adults), play MarioKart, eat White Castle, watch movies, play with their kids (2 daughters- 3 years and 13 months), etc. We were lucky enough this year that it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, so we were able to sled as well. They have the greatest sledding hill right off the back of their house. We were out sledding in the snow until 11:30 at night, then came inside and I was playing Dr. Mario on an original Nintendo for the new year. Fun.

The beginning of February has started out very positively for me as well. We have a snow day today! I have the chance to get tons of grading and work for my classes done today. I couldn't sleep after the phone call came this morning, so I've been up since 6:00 grading papers and will take a nap (!) later.

Anniversary #2

A friend of mine gave me a photo album to keep pictures of Dave and I on our anniversary in. This is something I have managed to keep up on! Our anniversary was actually July 9. We went out for dinner and spent the day quietly. I don't love this picture, so I'll have to spend more time on this in future years.

Lucas is Two

My nephew turned two years old two weeks ago now. I did finally find him a SpongeBob backpack. Kmart (where I ended up after the disappointment that was Toys 'R' Us) had some backpacks that were smaller, but they had wheels and a handle, and it made it much more bulky. I also thought that the backpack would be more prone to break with the extra parts. So Lucas ended up with a Spongebob backpack that is the size of him. But he takes it everywhere. :)

There is also a picture of his cake. The cake that he knocked off the kitchen table before the party and got into, as you can see.

Toys R Us & Golf

I went to Toys R Us to find a birthday present for my nephew yesterday. As I was walking down the right-hand side of the store, I was .... (insert perfect word...) disappointed (?) to see that on one side of the aisle, everything was pink. On the other side, everything was black, dark blue, or green. My nephew loves Dora and Diego, and I want to get him a backpack for his birthday. The only backpacks I could find were Dora, and they all had mainly pink on them. Is it not OK for a boy to have a backpack? So I am looking other places.

My mom, dad, and I spent the day at the Buick Open golf tournament. According to Mom, I had been at one before. Of course, I had no recollection of that. I had the best time jumping from hole to hole, watching the players, trying to see their balls in the air, and seeing their families following them around. It helped that the weather was perfect- upper 70s, partly cloudy and breezy. Tiger Woods pulled out of the tournament, as his wife just had her baby, so he wasn't there. My mother would be very disappointed to hear me say it, but I was very disappointed. I'd like to see him play to be able to say I saw him play. I also root for him to win and continue to make history. (Shh! Don't tell Mom!)

Summer has officially hit. I am coaching and taking classes, but most of the time most days I have very little stress. I laid in the grass at the golf course and took a 15 minute nap! If anyone knows my father, it won't surprise them to hear that he did, too.

More Laughs... and other notes.

So now I hear that my father wants to trade in his Corvette and his truck and get... a Hummer H3. His house is down the street from the dealership in Vegas.

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Science Fair this week has gone wonderfully. Most of the kids have done a wonderful job of being scientists and doing an experiment. It was hard to get families to avoid doing projects (make a volcano...). Pictures to follow.

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We took out our old cement walkway this weekend and added a beautiful, brick, curvy one with the help of Dave's parents. The old one collected water and the dirt around it was eroding.

Minimum Wage

My dad retired from his job as an engineer in the automotive industry last April. He has spent much of the past year at my parents' home in Las Vegas. Lately, the lack of structure in retirement has gotten to him, so he has been on the hunt for new jobs.

I called there a few nights ago and found that he had applied to work at the golf course. He turned in an application, complete with a resume, and had an interview the following day. He was excited about his first job interview in 30 some years.

Dad started his new job yesterday. He drives a tractor around the driving range, picking up golf balls, while people aim to hit him from the tee box. (Of course, the tractor has a cage around him to protect him.) Then he washes them and puts them back in the machines for the people to hit back out on the range. And he enjoyed his first day of work. It's perfect- free golf at the course for just a few hours a week. It makes me laugh.