Anyone who doesn't know my youngest sister
is really missing out.
I'm not sure I know a nicer person. Happy Birthday.
11 November 2008
10 November 2008
Happy Birthday Poppa!
About 6 or 7 years ago, I'm not sure exactly, my dad started keeping bees. To tell you the truth, I'm also not sure exactly how he got started in the whole thing either. I think that it had something to do with a my grandpa's very large garden, but then it expanded from there.
I think that the bees sort of surprised me and the siblings since he's not exactly a hobby guy....well, I take that back because it depends on how you look at it. He's doesn't keep sports stats, I wouldn't call him an avid reader, and he's really not one to tinker in the garage. But if you count stuff like having an extensive flag collection in order to display the appropriate state or national flag for every visitor to the house, or watching out on eBay for (or making friends with a local artist) in order to find interesting original art for my mom, or making the rounds on his scooter on a warm summer night to pass out chocolate icecream bars to the neighborhood kids outside playing, or offering his services, time, money and whatever other resource he has available to helping anyone who needs it, then he is a very big and actively-involved hobby guy.
But now he also keeps bees. In fact, if I have the story straight, he is a blue-ribbon bee keeper, winning at the State Fair (in the very first year they entered) and the County Fair (and after having filtered the honey with such technical equipment as two pairs of nylons). When we are in town to visit, the hives are actually a pretty exciting part of the backyard. We've watched Grandpa add on a "super" to the hives, climb up into more than one tree to collect a hive that's swarmed, and introduce a new hive to a new queen. Imagine how a full hive sounds--caged in a wire mesh box, waiting to meet its new queen--when it's sitting out on the kitchen counter. It's kind of cool and kind of creepy all at the same time. And in keeping with the kind of hobbyist he is, he doesn't collect the honey to sell (it's not an economically viable hobby anyway), but rather to share. And trust me when I say that the honey is deee-licious (ok, there was that one year when it tasted like weeds, but usually...). And every year when we get our couple 'o quarts for Christmas, I hoard it away to make it last the whole year, using it with only thick slices of the best homemade bread, or when I want to show off for neighbors coming over to dinner.
I think that the bees sort of surprised me and the siblings since he's not exactly a hobby guy....well, I take that back because it depends on how you look at it. He's doesn't keep sports stats, I wouldn't call him an avid reader, and he's really not one to tinker in the garage. But if you count stuff like having an extensive flag collection in order to display the appropriate state or national flag for every visitor to the house, or watching out on eBay for (or making friends with a local artist) in order to find interesting original art for my mom, or making the rounds on his scooter on a warm summer night to pass out chocolate icecream bars to the neighborhood kids outside playing, or offering his services, time, money and whatever other resource he has available to helping anyone who needs it, then he is a very big and actively-involved hobby guy.
But now he also keeps bees. In fact, if I have the story straight, he is a blue-ribbon bee keeper, winning at the State Fair (in the very first year they entered) and the County Fair (and after having filtered the honey with such technical equipment as two pairs of nylons). When we are in town to visit, the hives are actually a pretty exciting part of the backyard. We've watched Grandpa add on a "super" to the hives, climb up into more than one tree to collect a hive that's swarmed, and introduce a new hive to a new queen. Imagine how a full hive sounds--caged in a wire mesh box, waiting to meet its new queen--when it's sitting out on the kitchen counter. It's kind of cool and kind of creepy all at the same time. And in keeping with the kind of hobbyist he is, he doesn't collect the honey to sell (it's not an economically viable hobby anyway), but rather to share. And trust me when I say that the honey is deee-licious (ok, there was that one year when it tasted like weeds, but usually...). And every year when we get our couple 'o quarts for Christmas, I hoard it away to make it last the whole year, using it with only thick slices of the best homemade bread, or when I want to show off for neighbors coming over to dinner.
So today is my dad's birthday. Thanks, Dad, for always sharing your hobbies--honey and otherwise--with us. We've benefitted more than we probably know, but we want you to know that we're still completely grateful. We hope you have a great day--you deserve it.
Honestly,
Have you ever gone to your own blog hoping that there will be a new post, even though you know you haven't done one recently? oh....just me?
Well, until I can get around to a new post, here's a little slide that Adam made for me because he thinks that he's so funny.
Well, until I can get around to a new post, here's a little slide that Adam made for me because he thinks that he's so funny.
05 November 2008
Yes We Can
After taking the day to revel in the post-election coverage, I couldn't let the opportunity pass to say that I think that it's a good day for America.
"What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change.
And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. . . . In this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. " --President-elect Barack Obama, Chicago, November 4, 2008
02 November 2008
Halloween Scare
We did have ourselves a little Halloween scare this year. Our cat never came home that night and then didn't show up again in the morning either. We had been out checking in the yard and the car (his last "lost" spot) and any other remotely likely place, but no luck.
I kept thinking that most likely he just went following one of the, like, five trick-or-treaters that came to our door--since he loves to follow people, like when we go on walks or to the bus stop--and that certainly one of those nasty boys that I had so generously given more than one piece of candy to had then stuffed our poor little baby kitten in a mailbox where he was surely suffocating to death. I didn't sleep well.
So Max made this very informative flier (ready for copying, he told me) that we could put around the neighborhood in order to find the cat.
I kept thinking that most likely he just went following one of the, like, five trick-or-treaters that came to our door--since he loves to follow people, like when we go on walks or to the bus stop--and that certainly one of those nasty boys that I had so generously given more than one piece of candy to had then stuffed our poor little baby kitten in a mailbox where he was surely suffocating to death. I didn't sleep well.
So Max made this very informative flier (ready for copying, he told me) that we could put around the neighborhood in order to find the cat.
It says "My Cat" and then our phone number (which I blocked out for this photo) at the bottomWell, we didn't find him until the next afternoon and it turns out that he had wandered over to our (relatively) new elderly neighbor's house (who didn't know that we had a new cat) and that she had felt sorry for him thinking he was homeless and cold and hungry and had taken him in. So he was fine....but no doubt I've been pampering him ever since just in case he has any ideas that the neighbor's plush carpet and life indoors is better than the stone-cold porch room that I've previously relegated him to. 
I can has naps together.
Halloween 2008
Another Halloween done. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Halloween (and actually maybe all holidays, come to think of it). In some ways I hate it because I keep thinking that I should be doing more...making better costumes, decorating my house more creatively, etc., and then I just never do. Basically, my only decorations are two plain black, simple wooden cats that I painted at some craft night in college (about the extent of my crafting ability), and a tin jack-o-lantern bucket that a neighbor in Berkeley gave me. Oh, yeah, and last year I picked up a "Happy Halloween" sign on clearance for $1 from World Market that I strung up across our doorway--so I'm improving, I guess.
And when it comes to costumes, my basic MO is: what can I talk my kids into that can come from either a hand-me-down in the dress-up box or something that I can pilfer off a neighbor with much more creativity. It doesn't exactly help that Max absolutely hates dressing up. Really hates it. I am really not exaggerating this, and it's been this way for his entire life. Have you known a child that refused to even wear a fireman's helmet or Superman cape? But Max will always refuse. This year he told me that he wanted to dress up just as a regular person. I told him: that costume=no candy. So this year Adam came up with a costume idea for him that was as close to that as we could get.
But back to me.....I always want to do more and keep thinking that it would be so much more fun if I did, but I just never do. This is approximately how it goes down for every holiday. Good intentions never realized. (Hey, remember that one for my tombstone someday!)
However, Halloween is awesome!--at least in our neighborhood. We don't get too many knocks at our door itself because we're on a dead end that's kind-of off of the main drag, but the more main streets are like a parade. Plenty of kids out in costume. The houses are decorated, and some with live "scare shows" on the lawn. Some neighbors havelittle bonfires at the top of their driveway and are passing out hot dogs, hot chocolate and hot cider. The adults are strolling the streets with drinks (and pulling coolers with more drinks). And every year, one of the families has hosted a pre-trick-or-treating pizza party as a neighborhood get together. Gee, I just love the suburbs!
So anyway, this year the guys were:
Max as Johnny Appleseed
Olivia as a "nice witch"
and Isabel baring her claws as a lion (in the obligatory costume that both the older guys wore when they were two...poor girl--her mom has no creativity).
Isabel really figured out what was going on this year. While Adam took the bigger kids around the whole neighborhood, I took her to only the nearby houses and she had no problem ringing doorbells, saying trick-or-treat, and then taking two or three pieces of candy when offered. Thank goodness for that too, because I'm counting on her stash for future raiding.
25 October 2008
Official Declaration
It's (going to be) a boy!
But while I'm on the subject of pregnancy, I've got a pregnancy sleeping problem. But who doesn't when they're pregnant, I guess. Or mabye I'm just a lazy, undisciplined pregnant person and this is a lame sleeping problem....but whatever it is, I think that it's got to stop. Most nights, come 8:30pm. and we get the kids to bed, and I've already made some lame excuse about why I can't possibly take another two minutes to tell them a made-up bedtime story ("see, it's already past 8...maybe tomorrow if you go to bed earlier we'll have time for a story"), I walk immediately to my own bed for what I tell myself will be just a little "lay down." I just need to rest my legs--just for a few minutes. But next thing I know, it's 11:30 or midnight and the evening's gone. And then I'm awake--wide awake--for at least a couple of hours. Adam, bless his heart, has tried to wake me up earlier to keep this from happening, but I usually ignore him and go right back to sleep. Actually, what's really bad is that there's been a couple of times where my falling asleep early has made him fall asleep early because he'll sit down in the chair in our room to read while waiting for me (since I've assured him that I just need only a few minutes to rest), but then he falls asleep too. Maybe a better person would think that this might not be so bad because once I'm up, I could just get stuff done (sans extra distractions) in the couple of hours where I'm awake in the middle of the night, but no, I don't. Instead, I force myself to go back to sleep and I'm a good enought sleeper that I can usually toss and turn until it happens. It's pathetic.
So rather than take any actual personal responsibility to remedy this, if people could start calling me at 9pm, or if someone would like to plan on bringing over some sort of delicious dessert each night at, say, 8:45ish, certainly I'd get up for that.
Like some people who aren't actually "officially" engaged until they've got the ring, even though they've been talking about and planning the upcoming for months, I figured I hadn't yet posted the obligatory ultrasound photo and so mabye it was time to make our news official too.
Ta Da!!
It's a he, and he should make his arrival in mid-March. So far all looks good and he's already comfortable with kicking me. This should just round things out nicely for our family with two and two.....and you can take that in exactly the way that I meant it to be taken. Let's just say, I'm not planning on pulling out (or on) those stupid support hose ever, ever again after March. Besides, I keep hearing that four is the new eight.
But while I'm on the subject of pregnancy, I've got a pregnancy sleeping problem. But who doesn't when they're pregnant, I guess. Or mabye I'm just a lazy, undisciplined pregnant person and this is a lame sleeping problem....but whatever it is, I think that it's got to stop. Most nights, come 8:30pm. and we get the kids to bed, and I've already made some lame excuse about why I can't possibly take another two minutes to tell them a made-up bedtime story ("see, it's already past 8...maybe tomorrow if you go to bed earlier we'll have time for a story"), I walk immediately to my own bed for what I tell myself will be just a little "lay down." I just need to rest my legs--just for a few minutes. But next thing I know, it's 11:30 or midnight and the evening's gone. And then I'm awake--wide awake--for at least a couple of hours. Adam, bless his heart, has tried to wake me up earlier to keep this from happening, but I usually ignore him and go right back to sleep. Actually, what's really bad is that there's been a couple of times where my falling asleep early has made him fall asleep early because he'll sit down in the chair in our room to read while waiting for me (since I've assured him that I just need only a few minutes to rest), but then he falls asleep too. Maybe a better person would think that this might not be so bad because once I'm up, I could just get stuff done (sans extra distractions) in the couple of hours where I'm awake in the middle of the night, but no, I don't. Instead, I force myself to go back to sleep and I'm a good enought sleeper that I can usually toss and turn until it happens. It's pathetic.
So rather than take any actual personal responsibility to remedy this, if people could start calling me at 9pm, or if someone would like to plan on bringing over some sort of delicious dessert each night at, say, 8:45ish, certainly I'd get up for that.
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