For those of you who don't speak French (and unlike Barbra Manatee have no time to learn), Il neige = it snows. See, I have not forgotten all the French I learned in high school. Anyhow, all 3 of my siblings have a snow day in the morning. I, on the other hand, plan to get up early and shovel snow. Maybe that will help wake me up so I am awake at work. Jenna tells me that not only did ISU close for part of the afternoon, but Rose did as well. Which means they must have gotten a ton of snow to cancel 8-10 hr during 10th week. (Needless to say I was shocked at this news).
Speaking of work, I was contacted by a certain company in Ft Wayne that had spoken with me in Dec, asking if I was still interested. I told them I was, so we will see if anything comes of it.
Also, interesting story from telling someone about work today. The Engineering Lab stuff is getting moved up north. One of the projects I have been working on of late is to write work instructions for how we build things here so the MN people will be able to do it when the time comes. This involves watching the assembler, taking notes and pictures, and then in the afternoon going back and labeling all the test fixtures and special tools. This labeling process involves the use of a Dremel, which lived in the Eng Lab, specifically one of the chests that today had a sign saying it was going to MN. I asked if the Dremel was going and mentioned that we still use it. The guy labeling stuff to go to MN told me he didn't want it to grow legs and wander off, so I could use it, but make sure it returned to said tool chest. Then this afternoon the Dremel was released to my custody indefinitely. Part of me wanted to skip back to my desk, but I maintained a more dignified approach and simply told the other engineer about the change in location. I related the basics of this story to Jess this evening, and she told me I should have a new job title, "Supervisor of the tools." After having written it, she realized what a horrible pun that was. So I got a laugh out of that.
My engineering creativity (and laziness) came to the forefront yesterday. Mary had a project where she had to give a talk about a snowman-like creation that she invented. She wanted a prop and was trying to figure out how to create such a thing out of everyday objects. Mom thought this would require an ME. I looked at it all and said, "Why not use one of the Christmas decorations?" So, much to Mom's relief, that is just what Mary did.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Accomplishments Abound
Or something of the sort. With the area being under a blizzard warning, I decided that today was a good day to go to the grocery store for meat. It was there that I finally got Rachel to keep the pacifier in her mouth long enough for her own satisfaction (sleep), and she even helped by trying to keep the thing in with her fist!
After we got back, I set her on her playmat so I could put up groceries, and she got a good grip on her musical lion - it went off continuously for a couple of minutes. Yay!
I do understand that we're in for a world of hurt later when it doesn't *stop*.
Derek got a high chair the other day while he was out returning a power supply (his computer is borked, so we're on the lookout for a cheap computer that meets our specs[0]), and the little girl seems pretty ambivalent about it. This means she doesn't complain while she's in it, probably because she can watch us eat from where she's sitting. Yay, free hands!
I think some random guy at Walmart was trying to make himself feel superior to me by asking me what the price was on a couple of sponges. The price tag, by the way, was right in front of him. I got the feeling he was going to go into a long speech about how he could save more at some other place; he sounded eerily similar to another man I'd met at another Walmart who carried around a long list of prices from other stores and stopped me just to tell me that there were better places to get things. That time I'd let him go on about the prices at three different stores scattered in a town I hardly knew my way around; this time I figured a sleeping baby was valuable time to be spent finishing up the shopping, so I took evasive maneuvers.
I can understand trying to save money, and if I really did have the time to compare prices and quality of goods, I would do so. Having random people tell me in idle chat that I'm wasting money on a product I trust instead of saving with one I don't is a little annoying. Go criticize someone else's spending habits, please, I know exactly when I waste money[1].
[0]Intel Core 2 Duo, and 1GB of RAM - yeah, we know that doesn't fit most people's standards of cheap, but we do want something worth getting.
[1]As evidenced by the things I rarely ever use.
After we got back, I set her on her playmat so I could put up groceries, and she got a good grip on her musical lion - it went off continuously for a couple of minutes. Yay!
I do understand that we're in for a world of hurt later when it doesn't *stop*.
Derek got a high chair the other day while he was out returning a power supply (his computer is borked, so we're on the lookout for a cheap computer that meets our specs[0]), and the little girl seems pretty ambivalent about it. This means she doesn't complain while she's in it, probably because she can watch us eat from where she's sitting. Yay, free hands!
I think some random guy at Walmart was trying to make himself feel superior to me by asking me what the price was on a couple of sponges. The price tag, by the way, was right in front of him. I got the feeling he was going to go into a long speech about how he could save more at some other place; he sounded eerily similar to another man I'd met at another Walmart who carried around a long list of prices from other stores and stopped me just to tell me that there were better places to get things. That time I'd let him go on about the prices at three different stores scattered in a town I hardly knew my way around; this time I figured a sleeping baby was valuable time to be spent finishing up the shopping, so I took evasive maneuvers.
I can understand trying to save money, and if I really did have the time to compare prices and quality of goods, I would do so. Having random people tell me in idle chat that I'm wasting money on a product I trust instead of saving with one I don't is a little annoying. Go criticize someone else's spending habits, please, I know exactly when I waste money[1].
[0]Intel Core 2 Duo, and 1GB of RAM - yeah, we know that doesn't fit most people's standards of cheap, but we do want something worth getting.
[1]As evidenced by the things I rarely ever use.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Nap = Scream?
My children are all napping right now. By napping I mean that they are lying in bed wide awake trying to outscream each other. They have been grouchy all morning so I concluded that they must be tired.
Abigail is also particularly upset because I stuck band-aids on her thumbs so she won't suck them. The dentist told us yesterday that her thumb sucking has caused her to develop a bad growth pattern for her teeth, and if she does not stop the thumb sucking there will be lots of orthodontic work in her future. When I first put the band-aids on Abigail screamed for over half an hour nonstop. I am honestly surprised that she has not removed them. I really am hoping to avoid having to use tabasco sauce or "Salsa from Hell." My uncle Howard bought us a jar of "Salsa from Hell" when he was in Oklahoma; I have been afraid to taste it, but Paul says it is indeed very hot.
It has finally quieted, so I suppose I ought to do something productive.
Abigail is also particularly upset because I stuck band-aids on her thumbs so she won't suck them. The dentist told us yesterday that her thumb sucking has caused her to develop a bad growth pattern for her teeth, and if she does not stop the thumb sucking there will be lots of orthodontic work in her future. When I first put the band-aids on Abigail screamed for over half an hour nonstop. I am honestly surprised that she has not removed them. I really am hoping to avoid having to use tabasco sauce or "Salsa from Hell." My uncle Howard bought us a jar of "Salsa from Hell" when he was in Oklahoma; I have been afraid to taste it, but Paul says it is indeed very hot.
It has finally quieted, so I suppose I ought to do something productive.
Monday, February 5, 2007
There and Back Again
This weekend, because it was exceptionally cold most sane people stayed home. Not us! No we decided that it would be a good idea to take a trip to somewhere even colder. Actually, we had been planning our trip to the Windy City long before this cold snap, and we knew that changing our plans to stay home would mean that Paul would have to work Saturday.
So Friday night as soon as Paul got off work, we headed out of town. The trip to Chicago was relatively uneventful, and I actually drove the entire trip. We arrived at Amanda and Tony’s place at around 9:00 PM Chicago time. At this point our children were so tired they immediately settled down and went to sleep (and I have ocean front property in Arizona). After the children did settle down, we sat around and played Nintendo games on an emulator. One of the neatest features of the emulator was that we were able to rewind. Paul and Tony played Contra together, and because of the rewind feature, they were able to advance to levels we had never seen before. The disadvantage of the emulator is that I still have the Yoshi song in my head.
Saturday afternoon after a lovely brunch, we headed downtown (where it was really cold and windy) to the Children’s museum at Navy Pier. I believe our friends were quite bored by the museum, Scott commented that it was more geared to little children than he had expected. However, our children absolutely loved the museum. They even had little areas with cushions and mirrors and such just for babies who could not yet walk, which Isaac enjoyed immensely. I think the overall favorite exhibit was the construction zone which had supplies to put together simple wooden structures (boards, bolts etc.). Paul made a boat with the kids. I noted that he raised the bar for all the other daddies. Unfortunately we all became tired long before we had finished looking at the museum.
Sunday we went to church in Lawndale, where Paul and I had worked as summer missionaries in 2001. We attended Westlawn Gospel Chapel, where I had worked. It is a truly amazing church. The small mostly African American Congregation seems to be very focused on outreach both in their own community and abroad. The children behaved themselves for about the first hour of the service. Fortunately,there was a nursery. It was great to see people there again. After church we ate lunch at Lou Malnati’s, a local pizzeria with a great history (I’ll share it’s story if you care to hear it). The pizza was delicious (I have been missing that pizza for years).
On our way home we stopped in Granger to visit Loree and Derek. Baby Rachel is adorable! Loree fixed casserole for dinner, which my children did not eat (but which I liked very much). And she made us hot cocoa with marshmallows, leading us to discuss how many marshmallows could be fit into a cup. After dinner, Paul played a video game called Katamari. I think the game may have been designed by people smoking crack. The object was to roll around a large ball and get items to stick to it. Paul would have liked to play a lot longer, but we needed to go home.
At the start of the drive home it was very snow, but by the time we were 30 minutes into our drive the snow had subsided. The trip was very slow, but we only made missed one turn, and it only took us about two minutes out of our way. And now we are home!
So Friday night as soon as Paul got off work, we headed out of town. The trip to Chicago was relatively uneventful, and I actually drove the entire trip. We arrived at Amanda and Tony’s place at around 9:00 PM Chicago time. At this point our children were so tired they immediately settled down and went to sleep (and I have ocean front property in Arizona). After the children did settle down, we sat around and played Nintendo games on an emulator. One of the neatest features of the emulator was that we were able to rewind. Paul and Tony played Contra together, and because of the rewind feature, they were able to advance to levels we had never seen before. The disadvantage of the emulator is that I still have the Yoshi song in my head.
Saturday afternoon after a lovely brunch, we headed downtown (where it was really cold and windy) to the Children’s museum at Navy Pier. I believe our friends were quite bored by the museum, Scott commented that it was more geared to little children than he had expected. However, our children absolutely loved the museum. They even had little areas with cushions and mirrors and such just for babies who could not yet walk, which Isaac enjoyed immensely. I think the overall favorite exhibit was the construction zone which had supplies to put together simple wooden structures (boards, bolts etc.). Paul made a boat with the kids. I noted that he raised the bar for all the other daddies. Unfortunately we all became tired long before we had finished looking at the museum.
Sunday we went to church in Lawndale, where Paul and I had worked as summer missionaries in 2001. We attended Westlawn Gospel Chapel, where I had worked. It is a truly amazing church. The small mostly African American Congregation seems to be very focused on outreach both in their own community and abroad. The children behaved themselves for about the first hour of the service. Fortunately,there was a nursery. It was great to see people there again. After church we ate lunch at Lou Malnati’s, a local pizzeria with a great history (I’ll share it’s story if you care to hear it). The pizza was delicious (I have been missing that pizza for years).
On our way home we stopped in Granger to visit Loree and Derek. Baby Rachel is adorable! Loree fixed casserole for dinner, which my children did not eat (but which I liked very much). And she made us hot cocoa with marshmallows, leading us to discuss how many marshmallows could be fit into a cup. After dinner, Paul played a video game called Katamari. I think the game may have been designed by people smoking crack. The object was to roll around a large ball and get items to stick to it. Paul would have liked to play a lot longer, but we needed to go home.
At the start of the drive home it was very snow, but by the time we were 30 minutes into our drive the snow had subsided. The trip was very slow, but we only made missed one turn, and it only took us about two minutes out of our way. And now we are home!
Snow Everywhere!
I sliced my thumb and middle finger yesterday while chopping onions for a casserole. It was odd for a second or two, because my thumb didn't *hurt*, but rather just felt like I'd mildly hit it against a doorframe or something.
No blood (+) got in the casserole, don't worry about that. Nor did it get on the carpet.
Rachel, however, was unhappy about being un-held (we'd put her down on the playmat for a few minutes before), and was vocalizing the point while Derek ran to look for Band-Aids and ointment.
The girl doesn't like being put down anywhere, really. We've invested in a sling and carrier specifically for those times when she realizes that we have laid her down so she could play with her toys (and we could get some other things done) and doesn't like it one bit. All that advice about putting a baby on his/her tummy for playtime? We couldn't really start that until about the second month, and even then, she didn't last long before wanting to be held again (not turned over, held).
So much for reading.
No blood (+) got in the casserole, don't worry about that. Nor did it get on the carpet.
Rachel, however, was unhappy about being un-held (we'd put her down on the playmat for a few minutes before), and was vocalizing the point while Derek ran to look for Band-Aids and ointment.
The girl doesn't like being put down anywhere, really. We've invested in a sling and carrier specifically for those times when she realizes that we have laid her down so she could play with her toys (and we could get some other things done) and doesn't like it one bit. All that advice about putting a baby on his/her tummy for playtime? We couldn't really start that until about the second month, and even then, she didn't last long before wanting to be held again (not turned over, held).
So much for reading.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Links
As you can see, I have added links to the page. If anyone has a link they would like me to add let me know. And by the wey, it was really easy to do, I didn't need Paul's help!
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Bipolar Bears
This afternoon while Abigail and Sam were napping, I baked some cinnamon rolls and read the newspaper. A synopsis of the news (arranged according to my level of interest): the price of tortillas is soaring, causing outraged Mexicans to demand price fixing (ouch!). Three babies were born on Interstate 5 in Seattle last week. Oh yeah, there’s also some football game on Sunday. Actually a vast majority of articles were related to the Super Bowl. A local man wrote a commercial that might air. The city of Fort Wayne sent gift baskets to both coaches. Chicago has two players with the last name Manning. Peyton Manning had to do the Tango in an eighth grade school play.
What is more bizarre to me than the fact that they print such articles, is the fact that I seriously enjoy reading them. I find myself curious to know more. Paul has decided to root for the Bears, and I (still being grateful for all the upgrades to my college dorm) will root for the Colts. Neither of us actually cares a whole lot, but since we are spending the weekend in Chicago, I will keep my mouth shut.
Last night, I went out to buy a stripper. And I was rather surprised to learn that this required showing my ID. Seriously! I have this antique walnut hutch in my basement, and I have been meaning to strip the paint off for a long time. I am hoping it is in relatively good shape under the paint. But now that I have a stripper it shouldn’t be long before I know. After all I found a round “tuit” in my coat pocket the other day when I was cleaning the closet.
We did get the basement painted, and have set up a play area for the kids. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the hardest parts are accomplished.
Abigail has been running around today saying bipolar bears. I have never encountered a bipolar bear in my life, but I do not think it would be a pleasant experience. I finally realized that she probably got the idea from hearing her daddy talk about bipolar junction transistors. We are having a party to celebrate Sammy having his feeding tube out on Sun. Feb. 25th. Eventually I will send invitations, but if you are interested in coming, by all means don’t wait on my slow self. Just ask for information.
What is more bizarre to me than the fact that they print such articles, is the fact that I seriously enjoy reading them. I find myself curious to know more. Paul has decided to root for the Bears, and I (still being grateful for all the upgrades to my college dorm) will root for the Colts. Neither of us actually cares a whole lot, but since we are spending the weekend in Chicago, I will keep my mouth shut.
Last night, I went out to buy a stripper. And I was rather surprised to learn that this required showing my ID. Seriously! I have this antique walnut hutch in my basement, and I have been meaning to strip the paint off for a long time. I am hoping it is in relatively good shape under the paint. But now that I have a stripper it shouldn’t be long before I know. After all I found a round “tuit” in my coat pocket the other day when I was cleaning the closet.
We did get the basement painted, and have set up a play area for the kids. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the hardest parts are accomplished.
Abigail has been running around today saying bipolar bears. I have never encountered a bipolar bear in my life, but I do not think it would be a pleasant experience. I finally realized that she probably got the idea from hearing her daddy talk about bipolar junction transistors. We are having a party to celebrate Sammy having his feeding tube out on Sun. Feb. 25th. Eventually I will send invitations, but if you are interested in coming, by all means don’t wait on my slow self. Just ask for information.
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