Staude Stuff

When the Fairies Dance you have to Smile!

2012-01-09T23:20:00.000-06:00

I had a delightful Saturday this past weekend. Got to spend it with 8 little gals all 4 and under who were at my daughter's house to help Sydney celebrate her birthday. Being four... wow, can't remember being four. That was, after all, in 1959, I think I got a puppy but I am not completely sure.

Syd, however, had a marvelous time. A highlight was when "the birthday fairy" arrived. One of the youth from our church is a high school junior who dances at the studio where Syd takes class. She graciously consented to come and fill the role! She was absolutely convincing as a fairy and the little gals fell in love with her! Kudos to Taylor Plodzien for being one very classy gal who made all those little people smile. The photos will tell the rest of the story.

Cards, wrapping, and Assorted Craziness

2011-12-19T22:59:00.001-06:00

"the world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing...."

Sign me up for this kind of Christmas! It's been a hectic couple of weeks as I busily go about checking things off of to-do lists and wondering where I will find more time in the days to get things wrapped, posted, and so forth.

I have always said I wished Christmad were more like Thanksgiving... A true holiday without too much excess busy-ness. Unfortunately, I have never managed to scale back my Christmas "have-to's" in order to achieve this. And every year at almost exactly this time, I ask myself "why not"? Part of me almost wishes I would be keeping the day on some in some faraway land that lacks a strong Judeo-Chrisitian cultural backdrop, say like Nepal, where no one would expect December to be filled with all this running about like a crazy chicken. That would be the essence of peace on earth to me.

This year I keep saying to myself that what doesn't get done before Christmas will just have to get done after it. We shall see.....

Knitting Update

2011-11-13T09:33:00.000-06:00

I've had busy needles since my last post and as of today have sold 5 headbands and 4 wine totes! I've also managed to make headbands for both granddaughters and am working on more. It's been so much fun to see people excited about my work. I love how happy they are when they get excited to wear it!

Such A KnitWit

2011-10-22T14:45:00.003-05:00

I have an addiction... yep...

My name is Claudia and I'm a knit-aholic. Can't walk past a yarn shop or craft store without sneaking down an aisle where I can put the squeeze on a few skeins of wooly stuff. Have two Rubbermaid bins FULL of the stuff at home too. My daughters pray that before I die I use it all up - but they have NO idea the extent to which I love to look at yarn. I bring it home with me from wherever I get to travel, I read magazines devoted to the hobby, and I am an active member of Ravelry.com which is like Facebook for knitters/crocheters (yeah, I do that too, just not as much!)

This past week, I finally opened my very first Etsy site and whether I ever sell anything or not, I love putting my stuff up there to showcase and hopefully attract a customer or two. I have several secrets dreams that go with this addiction... so this might be a good place to put them out there for real....

First, just like Ed has his winery... I dream about owning a yarn shop. Actually, a combination bookstore and yarn shop. I think reading, talking about books, and knitting go together quite nicely and it would be endlessly fun to own a shop.

My second dream is more bizarre than my first. If I couldn't own an actual shop, I would LOVE to own a few sheep and at least ONE alpaca so that I could learn how to spin my own yarn from my OWN wool source! Now this one would be pretty do-able if we ever were to build a house out at our vineyard.... I could easily keep a couple of sheep and an alpaca on the space we have.

Now that you know what a knitwit I am, I'll quietly go back to working on the hat I am making. Just had to post this out there... cos' today has been a perfect knitting day out at the vineyard. I have been sitting in the sun, knitting away to my heart's content, and yes, - RELAXING. I challenge any of you, dear readers, to pick up a pair of needles, grab a glass of wine or mug of coffee, and join me!

Back in the Saddle Again

2011-08-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

We have been back to school since August 10th and what a wild ride it has been. If any of you have peeked at my classroom blog, you know we have embarked on a grand adventure at Lutheran High this year! We are doing a 4x4 intensive block schedule and are using 1:1 iPad2 technology as a tool in our classrooms. This has been QUITE an interesting 2 weeks! Kids are holding up well and so are the teachers. It's been rather fun to see all the collaboration that goes on when one or two people in a room need help. (esp. if one of them is the teacher!) While I can't say I am completely comfortable in my "new format" yet, I am definitely enjoying the ride! I like the way my students are tackling the new things alongside of the old, and it has reinvigorated my teaching... so as of right now, it's a thumbs up from this old teacher!

Summer seemed to slip away all too quickly this year, but it is STILL hot and the pool is still open and now that my left foot is pretty much all healed up, I am trying to enjoy every minute of it that I can.

Here I Go Again - Summer Surgeries Part Two!

2011-07-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I had my second encounter with a surgeon this summer. Had been putting off dealing with my left foot when it began acting like my right one had back in 2008. However, once I was involved in my May surgery, it seemed logical to do the other while the deductible for the year was satisfied.

So yesterday, Dr. Kranzusch, my friendly podiatrist rebuilt and redesigned my left big toe. Not going to drag you through the gory details here, but I am excited about soon being able to wear any shoes I want without pain as the price!

The upshot is that for the next few days I will be doing as little walking as possible and only with crutches. Then I move into "das boot" - for about 3 weeks. It will look like this.

It's Rumbley Outside AGAIN!

2011-06-27T09:04:00.000-05:00

We have been enduring several days of unsettled stormy weather. It's been particularly bad at night. We go to sleep with one eye on the weather and severe storm warnings and tornado watches scrolling across the screen. Saturday night was horrible! The rain came down in deluges and we ended up scrambling into the basement at one in the morning to deal with a waterfall coming into our cellar from an overflowing window well. What a mess! We worked until 3 and then slept til 7. Then we spent all Sunday cleaning up and reorganizing the basement to be able to cope if it happened again. On the up side, it caused us to finally replace our long gone dehumidifier which should make for a drier basement longterm. On the downside- our pool has taken on so much rainwater that I don't know when we'll have it clear again!! I am grateful that we were spared some of the more severe results of this weather. There are folks in town who lost trees and have FULLY flooded basements. A little rainwater seems insignificant compared to that.

Wandering About Makes Home Even Sweeter

2011-06-18T10:04:00.002-05:00

Ed and I have been Globe-trotting during the first couple weeks of the summer. We escorted a merry band of 20 students and 6 adults all around Italy. It was Ed's 2nd trip to that country and my 3rd. We started in Venice on June 5th and traveled all the way south to the "tip of the boot" in Capri by June 15th.

It was a great adventure and we made some wonderful memories, particularly because our daughter Gretchen was also able to travel with us. Seeing others experience a place for the very first time is a delightful thing. I will never forget watching my students' jaws drop at their first sight of the Duomo in Florence or the Coliseum in Rome!

In addition, I was able to see a couple of new things that I'd never seen as well. We got to stop on the island of Murano and see the master glass blowers at work and at Pompeii we got to see the amphitheater which is in amazingly well-preserved condition. I also stayed in a seaside town called Meta, just outside Sorrento, which made me a forever fan of the southern Italian Almalfi Coast region.

Now that I am home there are things that I find myself appreciating about life here as well. For example: our public toilets come with seats attached and you can find them easily and most come free of charge. Also, while not all American coffee is as good as cappuccino or expresso, it is FAR better than what Italians make when you request a "cafe Americano"!

Things about Italy I will miss include: lemon granita, gelato, canoli, prices that don't require the use of pennies, and the beautiful lilt of spoken Italian (complete with its often hilarious gestures!.
It is great to be home!

So Long, Farewell, Auf-whatchama-callit, Good-bye - and good Riddance!

2011-05-13T18:46:00.000-05:00

Nine days ago, I posted a little note about my gall bladder, and I am relieved to report that the time bomb has been defused and REMOVED from my person. Went in for surgery yesterday morning and by 5pm I was home and recuperating. Amazing how what once was a six-week recovery type major surgery is now done on an outpatient basis!!!

I had the nicest nurse yesterday. Her name was Nancy and she helped me through the process all the way. Ed was there too, but Nancy kept us both calm and assured us that everything was going fine. I had a little trouble with the woozy urpy feelings as I came out from under anesthesia, but Nancy was right there being SO supportive.

Spent today quietly at home. Trying to move about a bit more as evening comes on. It's been a long day. The only downside of this... losing a gall bladder didn't cost me a single ounce on the scale! How unfair is that? LOL Guess that's the way it goes.. you win some, you lose some... and this was one little green balloon I was HAPPY to lose!

Tick, tick, tick

2011-05-04T21:03:00.000-05:00

The human body is a funny thing... and sometimes not so funny. This morning my particular model decided to wake me up rudely as it did 2 years (almost to the day) to a gall bladder attack! Now many of you have shared your stories with me about how this funky little organ has been the bane of your medical existence... and I quite agree. However, I wanted to keep mine as long as it was basically behaving itself. I am torn on this as I anticipate touring Italy this summer and don't want to spend any part of that tour visiting with Italian surgeons and their medical systems. So the question is, to remove or not to remove the ol' gb? I am leaning strongly toward parting with my kranky one. If it can't be nice, then it doesn't deserve to stay with me, right? So tomorrow I go see the folks in ultrasound to get the verdict... keep it or jettison it... time will tell. Feels a bit like I have a wonky little time bomb waiting to pop when I least expect it.

In Need of Spring

2011-03-07T17:40:00.000-06:00

Today the sun came out, for a little while at least. I am finding I REALLY need spring to come soon! I am super tired of cloudy days and relying on caffeine to get me through the day. My students seem the same way... restless, draggy, bored with themselves and me. I am going to have to do something to shake-up the status quo... but that's a whole other post.

Missouri is a tough place to live in between the seasons. It's warm one day and very damp and chilly the next. I shouldn't be complaining, I know. At least we HAVE seasons, unlike those in the South and we don't have eternal winter, like those in the far North. But I LONG for spring. I need to go outside and dig in the dirt and see the flowers come up.

Maybe soon?

Bye-bye Big Box.... Hello Curry!

2011-03-05T21:45:00.000-06:00

Tonight we had an adventure... we found a really good new Thai restaurant IN ST. CHARLES COUNTY! There is a reason for the capital letters here. Generally speaking, St. Charles is NOT known for its diversity of eating establishments. If you want something beyond the standard Italian, Mexican, or Chinese assortments of eateries, you generally have to hop in your car and drive into St. Louis City to find that sort of eating adventure. But tonight... ta-da... we happened upon the Thai Kitchen at the Cave Springs exit in St. Peters and I had some of the best food EVER! All I was really craving was a good Spring Roll... but then I decided to try the Curry! Oh MY! This little international gem of a dining spot is going to become a new favorite, I am certain. Very nice decor, small, wonderful wait staff... and all around GOOD food! I think my taste buds will find many things to entertain them here on future visits.

Now to the bye-bye part of the post. As most of you know, Borders Books is in Chapter 11 and restructuring in hopes of avoiding a total bankruptcy. Well, our local Borders is one of the stores being liquidated. We popped in there tonight and the place looked as if it had been looted! It made me incredibly sad to wander around the shelves where I used to spend hours browsing and see things scattered here and there but most everything gone. Then I started to feel the irony of it all... Remember when Borders or its brother Barnes moved into YOUR neighborhood? Think back... it's been awhile since they became the big boys on the block. They pushed out almost all the little indy-booksellers and edged out all the competition as soon as they rolled into town with their flashy storefronts, cozy chairs, and delectable coffees and goodies. We all ran to them like crazy and the little guys were left behind. Isn't it incredible that the big box boys are being marginalized by something that comes in a little box? Welcome to the next era of books... and small booksellers. Now that we can get anything (practically) that we want on an e-reader; we may find ourselves having to go back to the little bookshops that are left when we want to buy an ACTUAL book! Now, THAT, my friends is irony! Excuse me now, I have a new book on my Kindle that I am dying to get started!

Over the Hills and back Again...

2011-03-01T00:44:00.001-06:00

March is coming in as I write this in the wee hours of the new month. I am wishing I could snatch back some of the wasted minutes from the past two months and make them into something more substantial, but that is not the way life goes.

We have been VERY preoccupied of late, so much is going on in the world, in our school, in our family, and in ourselves! Let's see.... where to start...

Well, the world is in an uproar. Clamor and calls for democracy and self-determination are roiling through the Arab world as I write this. Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and currently Libya are all experiencing change brought about by young, disenfranchised youth in those places who are all interconnected via technology and crying for change. They will get it, and we are all left wondering what the world will feel like once it all shakes out. My students are mostly fretting about whether gas will hit $5 a gallon as a result. Typical American response, sadly. History is happening and we're fretting about our gasoline and whether our favorite Cardinal baseball player has signed his contract agreement... duh!

As far as school goes; big changes are on the horizon there too. We are switching to the intensive 4x4 block schedule next year. For those of you who may not know what that is, our students will take 4 classes per day for 80 minutes per day for an entire semester. Then in the second semester they will take a whole new set of classes. Should be a great way to learn, to be able to focus on something deeply and to have the luxury of TIME to think and process what you are learning. I must admit I am pretty stoked about it. On top of that, we are working toward funding (and recently were awarded a grant that will match those funds) to become a 1to1 school. That will enable us to put an iPad into the hands of every student in our school.... and to substantially change the way we do school in a HUGE way! The future seems to be arriving for us at LHS, and it's really exciting to be there to teach in it!

On the family front... big doings there too. Our family patriarch, Uncle Carl, is recovering from an ordeal with a sinus infection that had everyone believing he may have had a stroke! Honestly! It was a scary week or so til the doctors figured out what was going on. What a blessing Ed's sister and Kate's crew were to him through these days of recuperating! He's on the mend and we hope to see him playing in his vineyard again really soon. Ed turned 57 this past month... on Feb 21st... and Kate hit the big 32! That second event made me feel oddly old this year. Not sure why, but it did.

Perhaps that last thing is the "ourselves" part of this post. I am feeling as if I am approaching a personal crossroads in my life right now. Nothing certain about it yet, just that inner inkling that things are about to shift. A sense of a groundswell coming in life and it is making me vaguely uneasy. I am sure it will all come clear in the weeks ahead, but I know it's out there.

Then again, with spring trying to raise its head, perhaps that's the feeling entirely. The end of winter, or at least the wish for it, always makes me edgey with anticipation....there's no getting around it. I feel the need to slip away from the routine and do something different. What will that be? I haven't a clue and, perhaps, that's the adventure of it all.

Where Crazy Busy Bloggers Go....

2011-01-23T19:55:00.000-06:00

I came up for air tonight... just after grading a whole mountain of papers and celebrating the fact that the Green Bay Packers are headed for the 2011 Super Bowl. When I flipped over to my blog, I was shocked to discover that I hadn't posted since the end of November! What!?! 2 MONTHS ago?? That's crazy!!
But there's no getting around it, I have been running myself in crazy circles all through the holidays.

The best news of all is that our kitchen is totally all mended and it looks lovely! For those of you who are connected on Facebook to me, you can see the photos there and I won't bore you with them all over again. Suffice it to say that Ed and I still walk through the kitchen with a sense of wonder and can't quite bring ourselves to believe that we've been blessed so splendidly by a bad piece of pipe! Ed was right, it was worth the wait and the mess and the inconvenience. We love it and we love puttering around in it together. Today, Sydney and I baked cookies in the new kitchen and had a great time doing it.

The Christmas holidays were WONDERFUL. We were all together.... both girls and their families, Ed's sister, all of us. It was REALLY fun and really relaxing! We did a lot of fun things together like sledding and bowling. We ate and laughed and just had a blast!

And now the second semester has begun and we've yet to have had a full week of classes. Why? SNOW! Last week we got a record snowfall of about 10'' the likes of which we haven't seen since 1982. We've used 2 of our 3 snow days already and each week has been shortened by a day here and a day there every time we turn around. Makes it a little hard to get the gang all focused on the new classes... we are constantly adjusting for "just in case" we have snow. I keep telling myself I will find time to breathe here in the new year. But I will have over a hundred essays in my brief case as of Thursday.... yikes!

Time to take a deep breath.... a deep.... calming... breath. Oh yeah, and Happy New Year! :-)

The Big Dig Continues... Day 18 of no Kitchen Sink... thoughts on Patience

2010-11-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

It's been 19 days since my last post.... and 18 days with no running water or kitchen sink in our kitchen. The kitchen itself remains a "work in progress". I am learning that when dealing with insurance companies and contractors that "hurry up and wait" is the normal way of things. Somewhere in my past I had learned this lesson and then blissfully forgotten it, living as most of us do in that happy haze called insured over-confidence. To make matters worse, the amount of the damage now necessitates involving our mortgage company as a co-signer on some of the checks; thus adding their hoops to jump through and further slowing the process. But new cabinets are ordered and SOMETIME in the coming New Year we will have a kitchen again. It will be a new and improved kitchen so perhaps there is a blessing in the saga of the sluggish pipe that has been ongoing for the entire time we've lived in this house. If I can only be patient....

Here is the original incision made in our kitchen and dining room floor.

More of the Big Dig a.k.a the TRENCH!

Here's what a semi-filled trench looks like.. waiting for the tile man.

This is a FAKE sink... actually, it's our OLD sink sitting in the approx location of where the NEW sink will go. We are hoping this arrives before Christmas, but it would be HIGHLY unlikely for that to actually happen! Meanwhile we are getting VERY adept at dishwashing using that big grey pan set up down the hall in our bathtub! And our knees are getting stronger by the day!

And THIS is the DREAM sink... a shotof the approximate color (but not style) of our new cabinetry and the approximate color of our new counter tops.

The Day of the Impending Jack-Hammer!

2010-11-09T23:21:00.000-06:00

Today was NOT a good day on Norwich Street! We were getting ready to leave when Ed noticed a wet spot at the base of one of the kitchen cabinets. We were certain our dishwasher had done the inevitable and blown a fill valve. So on the way to work we called our favorite appliance guys to come and check on it. I zipped home to make the 1pm appointment only to have the REAL news hit us square in the wallet!
To make a long story short; a troublesome drainpipe that runs UNDER the concrete that is UNDER our ceramic tiled kitchen floor is a goner and is going to have to be replaced! This means a 24 ft run of pipe and tomorrow at 8am a plumber and his crew will be here to attack my only 3 yr. old floor with a jack-hammer!!! I am beyond upset about this. The stupid drain has been an albatross around our necks for 25 years beginning in the first month we lived here back in 1985! But this exceeds all money-pit behavior up until this point. No rescue rooter, no draino... JUST rip the dang thing out! I am SO bummed. So for one more night, our floor looks like it did in 2007 when we got off our knees from laying it... here's a link to a happier time. So good-bye pretty floor, and maybe even my kitchen cabinets! (that's another story to be revealed tomorrow when we find out how much seeping water the things absorbed underneath that we CAN't see!)
AHHHH the joys of home-ownership! They just keep coming!

The Last Day of October

2010-10-31T15:52:00.002-05:00

The end of October is here! Tonight is Halloween and I am sure I'll have more photos to post as we go out with Princess Jasmine (aka Sydney Jameson) tonight. But for today, I just wanted to post this shot of us with the Harrmann gang taken earlier this month when we were there for Rhy's 3rd birthday. It's been a great month, a busy month, and a FUN month. And FINALLY it's starting to feel like fall here in Missouri! Hope all of you had a great October too!

A lovely Fall day!

2010-10-18T20:16:00.000-05:00

Today was a gift, pure and simple! We are at the end of the first quarter at my school, and today was a day off school for "Fall Break"! And what a delightful day it was! I slept an hour longer, got outside for an early morning walk, and got a great deal done around the house to catch up on things! It was SUPER!

A Project Giveaway update: This week's items included a HUGE bag of plastic trash bags off to the recycling bin at my local market, and I took more clothes off to Goodwill as I changed the closets over from Summer to Fall. Sweater weather is here my friends!!! Yahoo! (p.s. - the dog at right is not our pooch, but he's awfully cute in that sweater, don't you think?!)

Busy, busy, and more busy!

2010-10-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here watching the news.... as the last of the 33 miners are coming up from deep under the earth and I am amazed and humbled by their spirit and joy! Not a one has been anything but jubilant and grateful for the experience that they have survived. To a one they come out smiling, cheering, and hugging those they love! It's so uplifting that you just can't stop watching it!

There is absolutely no good excuse for my month-long absence from the blog scene other than that I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the things going on in my day to day teaching life and focusing my efforts on keeping my head about water there. Papers seem to take longer to grade, and each day comes with an endless list of things to do and stuff to stay on top of. I have 45 minutes per day to get the little things that pop up during the day done... and it's never long enough. There, I am finished whining. It's nothing compared to being REALLY buried like those brave guys in Chile, and I am sure that those of you who read this have better things to do than listen to me fuss.

On the upside.... lots of good things going on with us Staude's. We got to spend the past weekend in Michigan helping to celebrate our grandchild Rhylah's 3rd birthday. What a gorgeous weekend it was! We watched Rhy blow out her candles (photos coming soon) and open presents, and it was all so much fun!

Our harvest is complete and the crushing and pressing went very smoothly! The new Niagara and the Seyval are in the bottles and folks are loving them. We are going to bottle the Concord this weekend. So all that is going smoothly and well!

All in all, I have a LOT to be thankful for in our busy month just past... hope you have much the same in yours!

A Weekend of Wine

2010-09-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

We harvested our grapes last weekend so this weekend we found ourselves bottling the 2009 Niagara. What a FINE wine that turned out to be! Very soft and smooth. I really like it and it will probably be my favorite for this year. Primary fermentation wrapped up this week on the whites and they are all in their barrels and on the way to becoming the wines of 2010. Nortons are still to come.. maybe in a week or two.

So what did project Give-Away involve this week? Wine, of course. I met Peggy Rodgers a member of the good people at Agape Ministries in Warrenton. These fine folks supply help and assistance to people in need in Warren County and do a lot of great work for anyone in dire financial straits. They had their annual fundraiser at Bogey Hills this past weekend and we are really proud they invited Rolling Meadows to donate to the cause. Part of the evening included a wine raffle... so we know that at least a dozen folks went home with some of our wines! I also managed to give wine to our neighbors out on Eden Trail. Everyone who tried the new Niagara pronounced it "Delicious!"

Swam in the pool for what may be the last time this summer... nights are getting cooler and the temps are dropping even with the solar blanket! It's down to 74 and if we have more cool weather this week it will go lower. I got in today and it felt good, though it always makes me sad to put it to sleep for the winter! We had SUCH fun in it this year with all the kiddos in town doing their best to be fish!

September - Summer Sighs Away

2010-09-06T21:36:00.000-05:00

Here it is.... September! Oh my!

While we've been at school for 3 weeks now, my grandson Gabe will be starting 3rd grade tomorrow! Does anyone out there remember 3rd grade? I don't, but since I can multiply, I am sure that somewhere along the way, I went to third grade! I don't even have any idea who my teacher was although I know my daughter cares VERY much about who Gabe's teachers are each year. Isn't that funny? The things we as parents deem SO major and life changing, may very well turn out to be something that our kids won't even remember when they get to be our age! (or maybe 3rd grade was so traumatic that I blocked it out!)

So what DO I remember from being 8? I do know that I got a piano in the third grade and I started taking lessons. It was a huge investment for my parents. The instrument was a Baldwin and cost $800 in 1963 - which probably represented a sizable portion of my father's annual salary in those days! The other big event of my 8th year was the arrival of my baby brother whom we adopted in November. He became ours on the same day that JFK was assassinated, a totally surreal conjunction of events that made me one of the few people my age who was NOT in school on the day that happened and hit the news.

Project Give-Away update: This week was spent getting ready for harvest. And the big thing we gave away was about 30 lbs of grapes to the Rhodes/Moody family who came out to the vineyard and shared some delightful time with us on Saturday night. I guess that counts for the project and it was totally fun. Then tonight, I gave BACK a dress that had been Gret's back when she was in high school... no, she's not going to wear it, but she has an interesting need for an old dress from her past.

Pool is still hovering around 78 degrees... and with the nights getting cooler, keeping it warm is becoming a true solar blanket challenge! I don't WANT that part of summer to end! I love the pool!!!

Passing On the Ancestors

2010-08-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we had our family all in town for a big dinner out at the vineyard. While Kate and family were here, I was able to continue my "project". These items were totally special and a lot of fun to give away. Years back, I had an "ancestor wall" in our dining room which consisted of copies of shots of many of the great and great-great grandparents. Kate has added such a wall to her dining room, and I have to say that in her 100+ year-old house it really fits! So this weekend, I asked her if she wanted the 20 or so framed prints that I'd been keeping in a box ever since I redecorated the dining room 3 years ago. Kate gave me an enthusiastic yes and another box of "things" was on its way to a new home. We spent a fun hour or so identifying and labeling the backs of all the shots so that Kate can tell her kids who everyone is when they want to know. Can't wait to see what the shots will look like when she gets them all set up the way she wants to!

Simplifying is Contagious

2010-08-21T12:22:00.001-05:00

I discovered something this week that's sort of interesting. The desire to simplify one's space by letting go off "stuff" is contagious! Iam in the 3rd week of my little project and suddenly my husband is cleaning out his closet! So instead of hauling just MY bags of items to Goodwill, we added a bag of his! He's getting into the whole idea too. In fact, this morning one of the things he mentioned was prefaced with the remark,"When your working on getting your stuff to give away later...." I found myself grinning at that. Now it's a bit "our" project... however, his bags can't count as MY 2 bag target! In this game, it's every pack-rat for himself!!!

Handbag Holdouts

2010-08-18T22:00:00.002-05:00

The Big Pitch or week 2 of Staude Stuff Gone:
Had a lot of fun in the cellar this week. A year and a little more ago, when our kids were temporarily living with us while their house was being finished, we hurriedly stuffed a LOT of things into the classic see-through Rubbermaid containers and stacked them in the basement. Well, a lot of time has passed and I hadn't felt the need to go into those big tubs and resurrect ANY of the items in them. It occurred to me this week that they might be ripe for the pitching as part of my new project. So down into the cellar I went with an eye toward tossing.

One container was chock full of old handbags! What is it about an old purse that makes it almost impossible to pitch? These were some really beat up looking purses but for some bizarre reason I felt compelled to save them! This time, however, my momentum from last week's tossing-out carried me through. Before I knew it, I had 3 bags worth of handbags and other assorted clothing items ready for donation to Goodwill and a 4th bag full of trash! Best result? I now have TWO empty 35 gallon Rubbermaid storage tubs waiting for me to find something ELSE to stash inside them. But for now, I am just going to enjoy having two empty tubs sitting off to one side.
On a separate note, school began this week. I have some really great classes of kids... ranging from 10th to 12th grade. I get to teach ALL the seniors and a nice assortment of some underclassmen as well. The kids seemed as shocked as we teachers were that summer is over already, and they were good as gold today. I always have to laugh at how quiet they are on the first day... it's not a situation that lasts indefinitely. We will get to know one another and they will discover how much noise this old lady can tolerate before she shushes them. But today we were all new, sort of a couple on a first date, checking the other person out to see if they have anything in common. Merry New Year to all my students! (and does anybody need an old purse?)

Eat, Pray, Love... Repeat

2010-08-13T23:09:00.001-05:00

We went to see the latest Julia Roberts film today... "Eat,Pray,Love" based on the bestseller by Elizabeth Gilbert. While not the best film I've seen this year, I admit I enjoyed it and it sparked a lot of conversation on the way home and on into the evening. (I also read the book this week so I could judge the film fairly and not get caught in the reviewers' hype)

We found ourselves talking about things like various paths to spiritual truth, our American tendency to define ourselves by what we do rather than what we are, and our difficulties with letting go, not only of material things (see earlier post on stuff) but of emotional baggage as well. Not bad for spending 2 hrs in a blissfully cool theater on a 100 degree day!

Most of all, I enjoyed seeing Julia onscreen again and realized how very much I had missed her and her work. To me, she epitomzes classic star quality blended with a very disarming geniuneness that always makes me smile. She makes you wish you could be her friend or neighbor. She has the most wonderful laugh that just comes bursting forth with a gusto that causes me to chuckle right along with her! The girl comes close to full out snorting when she laughs and it is so endearing!

So don't listen to the naysayers on this film. Ed and I give it two thumbs up. It's kind of nice to spend a bit over 2 hrs roaming the planet with Julia and enjoying her smile. I may even go and see it again!

My Biggest Fear - An Online Project

2010-08-08T13:35:00.001-05:00

I have been noticing people using blogs of late to accomplish some interesting things. Surely this has been going on for some time now, but it came to my mind most obviously when I went to see Julie and Julia. Here was a young woman finding herself by setting up a cooking project and then blogging about it. Now before you get worried that I am suddenly going to go domestic and start cooking up a storm, never fear! Ed's dominance in the kitchen is TOTALLY secure!

Recently I stumbled across a new favorite blog project, this one is still ongoing and has me fascinated. There is a young 30-something in California who has pledged herself to the task of only spending $1 on 1 outfit per day for an entire year. She sews... and sews with abandon, actually. And so she goes to tag sales and thrift shops and picks up whatever dress or clothing item that $1will buy and then revamps it into something marvelous... or at least something she's willing to wear out in public. Her blog New Dress a Day is SO much fun to follow because she posts before and after photos and a lot of things in between. Try peeking at it the next time you feel like there's nothing in your closet. She also has "theme weeks" where she focuses on one particular type of cast-off clothing... "Bridesmaid Dress" Week was particularly hysterical and she got some really cool clothes out of it!

So what will my project be? Nothing quite so impressive... but nonetheless I think very worthwhile. I have known for a long time that I am a "saver" of things. In fact, I come from a long line of "save it you may one day need it" types. (Ask my kids about their grandma who collected boxes. Yup, just empty boxes!) I live in a house, that by my modest estimate might have 1700 sq. feet of space if you count the 3/4 basement underneath it. Here's where the fear comes in.... I don't want to someday have to have my daughters have to clean out my numerous stashes of "stuff". I caught an episode (actually TWO episodes) on Oprah last week that were focused on the problems faced by folks known as "hoarders"! Now I am not even the teensiest bit close to that horrific issue... in fact, I didn't even know what a hoarder was until about a year ago when I learned that one of my dearest relatives was battling the problem. I had to go look it up and find out what it was. But the TV episodes got me thinking about stuff... in the very literal sense. And all my stuff makes me feel just anxious and heavy. SO, I have made a pact with myself - I am going to try a pitch a minimum of two bags of "STUFF" each week until I can't find anything else to pitch. My ideal would be one bag to trash and one to charity... even better would be TWO to charity and keeping my stuff out of landfills. (Fits my ideal of being green and all that jazz!) When I can, I am going to post a photo of the stuff and tell where it went.... sounds good.... where the stuff is just boring to look at, all you'll get is maybe a photo of something related or prettier to look at.

So here goes.... WEEK ONE of STAUDE STUFF GONE: (ironic isn't it, considering what I named this blog several years ago!?)

This week... the first week of AUGUST: I pitched out ONE full bag of just plain trash out of my office and donated 3 bags to charity. Two of the bags were full of clothes I hadn't worn in over 3 years. The THIRD bag was the fun bag. It went to the library. It was full of computer software that I no longer have a computer to run anymore!!! Does anyone out there need a copy of "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego" for a Mac Classic? Well, go to our Library's book and AV sale next May and you can probably have my old one for $1!!! I filled an ENTIRE bag with out of date software... some of it in its original and UNOPENED packaging! Yikes! And that is the secret to how I got ONE whole empty shelf in one closet in my home; something that feels like a really good start!

Thanks for listening, dear readers, and wish me luck!

Grandma Camp... the Finale!

2010-07-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

You know those pictures of monkeys...see no evil, hear no evil, etc?

Well, this foursome could be called talking, giggling, reading, and contemplating...

I have no IDEA what Asher was thinking about!

I was so proud of Rhylah, she went from a step-hugger to a swimmer in

about 15 minutes! You can see how much fun she's having!

The whole crew decided to tackle Papa at the same time! Whee!

Here's the whole gang: Top step: Gabriel, Leon, and Nathan (boys only!) Middle steps: Sydney and Rhylah. Bottom step: Gretchen, Katrina, and Asher. Come on over, there's room for MORE! We might even have an extra beach towel!

As you can see... water was a central feature of Grandma/Papa Camp 2010! By Thursday night everyone arrived safely home from the National Lutheran Youth Gathering and so after a good night's sleep we were all set for two straight nights of swimming and barbecue. The weather cooperated by being hot and sunny! A great splashy time was had by all!!! Here's the whole gang together, however, it's never possible to get EVERYONE looking at the camera at the same time... this time Syd looked away but in my other shots 2-3 other people were not saying cheese either.

We had so much fun, we think we may do it again next summer! Cheers!

Grandma Camp Days 1, 2, & 3

2010-07-17T15:09:00.003-05:00

We are currently enjoying the gift of a whole week with our grandkids... starting on July 15th with Sydney's arrival and soon to be expanded when her cousins arrive tomorrow for another 5 days of fun. Some of my gal pals on Facebook call this set-up "Grandma Camp" and I LOVE the name! It's really just a week of summertime fun and we do pretty much whatever we want to do! Even if Papa and Grandma need a week to recuperate afterwards it's well worth it. Here's a look at Days 1, 2, and 3.

Syd arrived on Thursday afternoon... and we started by doing some painting... first time with watercolors is always a fun time!

Next, we moved on to swimming...Syd loves our pool and swims in it at least an hour or two each day she's here. So on day two we did a lot of that since the temps are in the 90+ range here right now.

Today is Day 3 and we headed for the McNair Park Aquatic Center... a great kid's pool just around the corner from our house. Since it was a Saturday, I knew there'd be oodles of kids splashing in the place and Syd would have a blast! We packed our PBJ and some other snacks, grabbed towels and sunscreen and off we went!
Syd LOVED it all! The water slide was the big hit of the day; I think she went down it at LEAST 3 dozen times! It also provided a good start on learning to stand in line and wait for your turn to go... a tricky thing for a two yr old tyke to figure out. Syd is VERY brave and independent and insisted on doing it "all by myself" after only 2 times down with me.

All in all, you can see that we're having a really great time....
here is one tired kid ready to go home for a nap...

Maybe we'll come back for another hour at McNair afterward! This time, if he's really good, we may even bring Papa along!

Blame it on the New Toy

2010-07-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

I've been a very negligent blogger these past couple of months and it's not really my fault...
It's this little thing's fault...

Yup, my husband gave me an iPhone for Mother's Day, and so lately I spend SO much less time on my laptop or desktop, and LOTS more time playing around on this little baby!
Yeah, it's addicting, and wrong to love a little piece of technology so much, but the little critter is SO handy and those apps are SO appealing and free (or almost!)
Eventually, I suppose, I will be cured... about the time I switch from my Kindle to an iPad.... oh don't even SAY it!
Yes, I know I could post onto my blog from the phone, but those little keys take forever... I am a pretty slow texter still... but I am willing to practice! 'Scuse me... gotta go answer a call! :-)

Not Gonna Lie.... Fireworks photography is the BOMB!

2010-07-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

I had a blast last night with my camera.... pun TOTALLY intended! Here are just a few! Enjoy! (The venue was the Riverfest in St. Charles... good show!) You'll have to fill in your own "ooh's & aaah's"!

Our 4th of July girl herself... wearing mom's hat and shoes! Ready to go to the Riverfront!

Holy Boats!!! It's July!

2010-07-02T12:14:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, dear readers, but the month of July always fills me with dread!!! It marks (for me) the beginning of the end, the half way point of summer. Now I want you to know I really love teaching and I work with some awesome teens, but no teacher in her right mind will ever fail to also admit that they dread the 10 months of constant paper-shuffling and grading that comes with the job. So summertime, that blissful time where you can set your own pace, eat a long lunch with a friend, and do whatever you feel like come evening is SUCH an important and much-loved time.
So what have I accomplished thus far in my first half of summer? Sounds like a perfect opening for one of my lists! Here goes:
This summer so far I have:
1. Read a dozen novels of various types.
2. Traveled to Washington DC with Ed for 5 days.
3. Finished knitting a sweater for myself.
4. Gone to see 2 movies (yes,one was "Twilight")
5. Baked brownies or cookie bars at least once per week.
6. Spent at least one full day per week w/ Sydney.
7. Had a zoo trip/picnic day.
8. Cultivated two really decent gardens (at home & vineyard).
9. Gotten up by 7:30 every day but 3.
10. Spent at least one night each week with friends.

So you see... It's been a fine first half!!

After a long absence.... where we've been.

2010-06-28T16:24:00.001-05:00

After a fairly long absence of almost a month, it's about time I show my face here again and explain where I've been. As a "careful" blogger, I don't like to post when I am off on an adventure, however it's always fun to post shots of where I've gone when I get a chance to travel. Most recently our travels kept us in the country and yet not officially in the States. We left on June 7th for the District of Columbia... aka Washington D.C.

This was a special adventure for Ed and I since he had NEVER been there (shocking for a History/Government teacher, isn't it!?) and I hadn't been in the city since a 1 day fly-in visit with my dad back when I was in 8th grade! (too long ago to admit to a date on that one!) So off we went. This adventure was to be a total public transport one once we got off the plane. We decided to use trains, the bus, and our feet to get us everywhere once we landed at Dulles airport. We scored a great hotel just blocks from the Mall (the State Plaza Hotel on 21st and E streets) and we had a blast. For the next several posts I will show you shots from our trip.

Day one: we flew and then got into our hotel. By 2:30 we were on the Mall.... we call this MONUMENT DAY... and boy, did we see them all!!!

First stop, the Vietnam War Memorial. There really aren't words

to describe the way this wall full of names of the fallen impacts

the visitor as you walk down into the trench and are engulfed

by the thousands of names. There were several spots on the

trip where I found myself moved to tears. This was one of them.

One rose of remembrance.....

Next, onto the Mall itself, as you come out of the Vietnam Memorial,

you arrive at the base of the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. Look left and

the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument will the view with the Capitol

in the distance.

One of my heroes...

Ed on the Mall. This history teacher was grinning

all week long!

Next, the Korean War Memorial. This one has a more

human face to it in the larger than life-sized soldiers

hiking through some unknown Korean battlefield.

It captures the essence of youth, duty, courage, and fear... all rolled

into one!

A little further on, we came to the WW2 Memorial.

It is massive in size and full of quotes honoring those

who fought in the Asian and European Theaters of the War.

There is no way to capture it adequately in a single photo.

We walked around the famous Tidal Basin to get to the
Jefferson Memorial. Some shoreline restoration was going

on but it is still quite accessible and impressive. In the spring this

monument is surrounded by the famous Cherry blossoms.

Ed's hero, the big guy T.J. himself!

I captured this shot of the Washington Monument while

standing at the WW2 Memorial. We didn't wait the 2-3 hrs. to go UP the thing

but decided to enjoy it from ground level.

Using a good zoom lens, I captured this shot of

the White House from the Jefferson Memorial! It

got me high enough to look over the fence and see it.

The last stop of the Monument & Mall day was to

stroll past that famous home on Pennsylvania Avenue.

We didn't reserve the tour tickets 4-6 wks. in advance but

instead gawked through the fence like real tourists!

While peeking through the fence, we spotted

a fellow in what looked like a chef's coat

watering the Obama's veggie garden. This was

the famous "green" patch that got a lot of publicity back

when it was planted in the spring. I guess Michelle

doesn't have time to water and pull weeds... that's

funny, I don't have much time for it either at my house!

I keep teasing Ed about this shot... I call it his,
"dream residence" shot.... hmmmm..... you never

know...... :-)

Paddle, Paddle, Kick, Kick.....

2010-06-02T18:11:00.000-05:00

Syd enjoyed her first foray into the pool on June 1st.... especially when Papa took over the floating & "motor boating". I love how she's holding onto his thumbs in this shot so had to post it!

The Joys of Clean and Clutter-free!

2010-06-01T21:27:00.000-05:00

I don't know how you spent your Memorial Day Monday.... hopefully, with family and friends. Ed and I got bit by the "toss-it bug" and went a bit crazy in our garage. (Perfect location for a hot day's work in Missouri, right?) Anyway, we hadn't seen the surface of Ed's work bench in about 8-10 months so we got insanely curious as to whether it was still actually there. We looked and dug and (lo and behold!) we FOUND it! Three to four hours later, we even found vast amounts of the garage FLOOR!

Now I must say, we've never become like those "hoarders" you see on those cable TV shows... we've always been able to get the car into the garage and such. But we tend to let clutter just sit and then it makes us feel like we live in some kind of pre-Martha Stewart sort of cave. I firmly believe that decorating and home magazines put in those photos of rooms and homes to make folks like me feel guilty. No house in those magazines is "real" or really "lived-in". Ed and I have the "lived-in" look down to a science. But just like women who want to look a bit more like those air-brushed beauties in the fashion magazines, we covet a bit of "Better Homes and Gardens" in our house. It's all the same thing!

The mood continued into the first day of June. I attacked a second clutter spot... the kitchen sideboard/desk! Oh what a joy to toss old restaurant menus, gas receipts, and junk mail that had become firmly entrenched and to actually see the nice wood SURFACE of the desk. I even cleaned out the INSIDE and discovered I had enough rolls of tape to last me till Christmas of 2015!

I wish I had before and after shots... but I didn't think to take them.... believe me, the areas circled in yellow on these are new lands... places of clear serenity just daring someone to put down a tool or a piece of junk mail! Stay tuned... who knows what zone I'll be tempted to clear out tomorrow! I must act on this mood while it lasts! The trash man is sure going to be surprised this week!

Memorial Day...Musings

2010-05-30T09:29:00.000-05:00

It's the official first weekend of summer. Known on the calendar as a national holiday, Memorial Day has changed a great deal from its beginnings just after the Civil War. Then is was known as Decoration Day and it was a day designed for Americans to go out and honor the American war dead by decorating their graves. My grandmother and mother always called the day by its original name and I remember taking flats of geraniums and marigolds to the cemetery in Livonia, Michigan where most of my ancestors are buried. We'd pull weeds and put in new flower plantings for most of the morning. Then we'd go home and barbecue in the backyard to complete the day.

I don't do that anymore, largely because I live far away from Michigan and I have no loved ones buried in Missouri. But it struck me today, that no one lives in Michigan that I can think of who will be decorating my grandparents graves today. My mom moved east to Pennsylvania almost 14 years ago now, and I doubt that my brother, who is still in Detroit, does this annual task. But I can pause and think about them and others who have given their lives for our nation.

Then it will be time for some recreation with the living... my family and friends. Perhaps we will swim, or garden, or have a picnic. Summer begins this way, with remembering and recreating, a good combination in many ways. May your Memorial Day weekend be a good one too!

The Things I Wish for Them

2010-05-13T21:47:00.001-05:00

These are just a few of the really neat people I get to spend time with everyday. They are a little over one week from graduation, and I always find myself feeling reflective about the students I have spent time with during this last week of school. Some will leave our school on May 23rd never to be seen again. Others will return to visit or touch base occasionally so that we will know what has become of them. All of them have big dreams for their futures and are excited (and somewhat scared) about the next adventure, college. The photo above was taken on "college T-shirt day" - a special dress day on which seniors could be out of uniform and "advertise" their loyalty to their next school. All in all a really fun day.

So what would I wish for them if I could control the future? There are several things - sounds like a list coming!
1. I would wish that they would hold on to their faith both in God and in their ability to make a difference in the world as Christians.
2. I would wish that they would be able to see beyond the surface of people and problems so that they can look deeply, think deeply, and really be able to love others and solve big issues in our world.
3. I wish that they will be committed to caring about the planet and ALL the people on it.
4. I wish that they will never EVER stop learning and loving to learn.
5. I wish that they will become caring, considerate adults who love their parents and become good parents themselves.
6. I wish that they will always value people and principles more than money and the "stuff" it buys.
7. I wish that they leave America in better shape than their parents' generation did.
8. I wish that they will be leaders in their churches, whatever the denomination may be or become.
9. I wish them joyful homes with loving and committed spouses.
10. I wish them many reasons to smile and fewer reasons to cry.

There... wishes made... and prayers promised to continue for the Class of 2010!

A Girl Has Gotta Have Wheels

2010-05-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

Syd got her first set of wheels yesterday. We noticed her really loving the pedal cars and tricycles at her sitter's house and figured the time was just right for wheels. Scored the cutest little Radio Flyer brand trike at Walmart of all places. Two trips down the sidewalk and the tyke and trike were doing great. She has to work on her steering a bit, but she's motoring for real now!

The 2010 Pink and Purple Radio Flyer Special!

Papa lends a hand with the steering.

Here she goes!

Time to check out what will fit in the "trunk" space.

Lots of treasures, like stones, clover flowers, and Sweetgum tree balls.

Back at it... whee!

On her own and doing fine!

Feeling pretty grown up and proud!

Warm Day + Little Gardener + Hose = Fun!

2010-04-29T20:34:00.002-05:00

I've written already about how much Sydney loves to be out in my garden. She would play outside for hours, digging and puttering about. Today's discovery? The garden hose! The pictures tell the story... but I've added a few captions for fun too!

Ready to start working.... Syd's got the hose in hand!

First. you actually water plants!

Are you sure this is work? This is fun!

Whoa! You can stick your hands in too!

The next thing you know, you're washing your face!

In for dime... in for a dollar! Besides, I won't need a bath tonight if I do this right!

Syd: "Look Gramma, I'm all wet!"

This is what happiness looks like on a 2 yr. old!

Banilla Makes the Day Alright!

2010-04-29T00:04:00.001-05:00

Today was good day that got made even better by some super after school time spent with Sydney. I picked her up at her sitter's house and we went off on an adventure. (Papa was at the farm spraying our grapes.)

First stop... Lyon's Custard for a cone; more specifically a "Banilla cone" because that's what Syd told me was her favorite. Syd polished off her first full-fledged kid cone. She managed not to let a single drip hit the ground (or her shirt)! Throughout the adventure, she kept saying, "Oh Grandma! This is so tasty!" Then she would giggle and keep right on slurping away at it. It took her almost a half an hour to eat a cone, but she did it! (and had the occasional slurp of my strawberry one as well). The other discovery was that Syd thought going to "Lyons" Custard meant we were going to be with some LIONS... as in growls and eats people! So I had to show her that it was a name of a place that just sounded like big cats! Funny!

We followed our cones with a stop at the library next door, where we stocked up on Dora books. Then we came home and played in the garden for almost an hour before her daddy arrived to pick her up. We now have a ritual... we come in, put on our "garden clothes" and our garden shoes, put on our sunscreen, put on our sunglasses, and then out we go. Syd spent an hour watering her flowers and moving "soy-il" from one bucket into another.

I am really liking all our new "habits!"

A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Laugh

2010-04-25T17:48:00.001-05:00

We buried our dear uncle/brother-in-law, Jon on Friday morning. It was a very sad yet very hopeful morning. The pastors at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Stevensville shared many words of comfort with all who came, and the honor guards and ceremony provided by the various police departments present reminded us of all the people Jon had served in his career as an officer. We also were able to share in a post-funeral luncheon which gave us time to connect with a lot of family and friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile.

In the afternoon, after the luncheon, we rested for a bit and the kids napped. When dinner hour came, we headed to the local little park where Gabe had baseball practice. What a great thing to do at the end of our day! The kids played, we all cheered like silly fans for everything Gabe did on the field, and as the day ended we felt very grateful to have one another.

Walking to the park, cousins go hand in hand.

Asher is a cutie in his Cardinal cap!

The next generation's major leaguer!

Gabe scoops up a grounder and we all cheered!

Syd liked the teeter totter the best.

Rhy loves slides... in ANY direction!

This is what contentment looks like.

Uncle Leon, Ash, and Syd check out the teeter totters.

My girls, Gretchen and her Syd.

Rhy loves slides!

Asher: "Whee! Catch me Daddy!"

On the Eve of my 55th

2010-04-19T23:33:00.002-05:00

My brother-in-law is now in a coma as he nears the end of this life and is about to move to the next. He was given about 3-5 weeks to live in late March and we are all having to face the truth that the end is near. It's been such a sad time for all of us who love him and we find that there simply aren't words to share what he has meant to us for the past 16 years and what we hope will be his joyous entry into heaven.

Ironically, yesterday was Jon's 77th birthday and tomorrow is my 55th. His near passing has made me feel more than usually reflective about my own day tomorrow. Generally I try to ignore birthdays as much as I can. I say that I am not sensitive about my age, and in terms of being coy or reluctant to admit how old I am that is true. However, tomorrow will be a day with a difference. I suspect it will be the day of Jon's heavenly homecoming, and that will overshadow everything else that happens.

There are many things about Jon that I will miss. I will miss his sense of fun. He has a great love for doing little magic tricks, especially if youngsters are anywhere nearby. It never ceases to amaze me how he can do slights of hand with the littlest of props and have kids oohing and ahhing. I will miss how fiercely loyal he is to family and friends and especially to my sister-in-law, Kathleen. I will miss knowing that he is there to spoil my grandkids in St. Joe when I can't be there. He took to them as if they were his very own and I will be forever grateful to him for that. I also will miss his beautiful art... Jon is a woodcarver, and he makes the most intricate and amazing things out of little chunks of wood. I have a couple of walking sticks he made me and oodles of beautiful wooden kitchen utensils that will make me remember him every time I hold them in my hands.

The thing that hurts and confuses me is that even though we've had "time" to prepare for Jon's leave-taking, we don't feel prepared. We jump when the phone rings, we cling to some hope for a reprieve, and we hate to see him suffer even the slightest lack of personal dignity as these last days play out. It's been confusing and heart-wrenching and yet seems as if this is the way things are meant to be. It's somewhat exhausting to contemplate.

So Godspeed and God Bless you, Jon. You have been a gift to all of us and we hope in some small way we've been as much for you. Our love goes with you, and our hopes of a joyous reunion, in a future mansion where we will all be free of this world and its ills, are sure.

If you can dig, you can garden!

2010-04-13T23:14:00.000-05:00

Syd learned to enjoy soil (yes, she calls it soil (as in "soy'-ill") not dirt) this evening. We were together after school and had stopped to get a few more herbs for the garden. We let her pick out a geranium to plant. Thus began her new love affair with "soy-ill". For almost 2 hours she sat on a stone happily moving dirt from one spot to another. It was fascinating to sit there and listen to her singing happily to herself while moving dirt. We should ALL be so contented! Our little garden buddy is well on her way to a lifelong love of digging!

Herbs & Closet Turn Overs

2010-04-09T23:14:00.000-05:00

I am presently on spring break. Yes, it's that rare thing that we teachers somewhat live for this time of year. Be jealous of me only if you would be willing to grade papers from 6-10pm virtually every evening of the school term cycle.

In any case, owing to travels and other "must do's" of the time away from school, today was the first day (and likely the only day) that I was allowed to "sleep in". I lollygagged about in my pj's until the ripe old hour of 10 a.m. It was wonderful. Then I decided I must get something worthwhile accomplished, so I decided to change over my closet from winter to spring. This is the annual sorting, pulling out, and packing away of clothes that I won't bother to look at again until the weather chills down round about next October. It always makes me feel good to do it. I pack the sweaters away with their cedar blocks, and change out my winter jammies for my spring/summer ones etc.

As many of you know, I've lost a good deal of weight in the last year and a half so each seasonal turnover lately has involved pitching clothes that are too big or baggy and stating to myself, "Life is too short to wear baggy or ill-fitting clothes." and then off those go to the Thrift Store. That makes me feel pretty great too! So today, I did a good deal of that.

Then it was off to run a few errands and we wound up at the plant market buying the herbs for the upcoming summer. I love planting them, even if I rarely cook with them. Ed does such amazing things with a little basil, sage, and thyme! So I help him grow those... and he cooks us things... it's a good deal all around. All in all, a wonderful day of moving from winter to spring!

Eggs, Bunnies, and a Cute Little Huntress

2010-04-05T11:18:00.001-05:00

Had a beautiful Easter Sunday here in Missouri... after church the hunt for eggs began. As in the past, the grown-ups had as much fun as the little-uns!

"Merry Easter"(as Syd said to folks on her way into church this a.m.) He is Risen, Indeed!

Loss, Gain, Faith and Hope

2010-03-28T12:25:00.000-05:00

"For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." -Phil. 1:21

Have had a very faith-challenging week. Our family is wrapping itself around one member, a dear brother-in-law/uncle/friend, who is facing the news that the cancer is winning and that the days before his heavenly homecoming are few in number. It was shocking and yet not, heart-wrenching and yet hopeful, and certainly a week filled with prayers and tears. So we hug one another a lot these days, and find our source of solace and bravery in the promises of God and the love we share with one another. The time we have has suddenly become even more precious as we are even more aware of how swiftly it passes. In the middle of all the things that don't seem to make sense right now, one thing is rock-solid clear for us... God is good, His love is ever sure, and He is faithful in his promises to all of us. However deep the hurt, he holds us close; and however fearful the journey, the doorway to heaven is but a step away from all of us so we are always near to God and to each other even when it feels like this separation to come is huge chasm. Keep Jon, Kathy, and all of us close in prayer in the days ahead. It helps us to know our friends are near in prayer.

Cutest Tots on the Lot!

2010-03-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

Had to upload a stolen shot of my two of grandkids up in Michigan! They were on the playground this past week with their mum and had a blast. Personally, I think they are the cutest little tykes around and since I am the most doting grandma in Missouri, I had to share a shot or two with my online pals!

A Few Words About St. Patrick

2010-03-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying that saints and their stories have always fascinated me. I know, not a very Lutheran thing to be fascinated by, but there it is. When our travels have taken us to some of the ancient cathedrals in places like Rome, Florence, Canterbury, and Dublin, I am drawn to the artwork and sculptures depicting the saints. I am impressed by how their stories are designed to uplift us and give us hope.

So today is, of course, all about St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. I proudly donned my orange (being of the Protestant persuasion) and wished my fellow Lutherans a happy St. Patrick's day. Sadly, very few have ANY clue about the guy. A few knew he had something to do with snakes... and Ireland... and wearing green? Nah! For most Americans this day is about green beer, pinching folks not wearing green, and a meal of corned beef and cabbage.

So I am proud to say that I have been to St. Patrick's Cathedral... both in New York City and in Dublin, Ireland. I have seen the place where he is supposed to have baptized people and I have read the things about him that the Irish people admire. The guy was amazing. He was tireless and determined to bring the Christian faith to the "pagan" folks of the Emerald Isle. So here's to you St. Patrick! We could use more guys like him today.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin... and the stone found under the cathedral in the 1800's thought to go back to when St. Patrick led worship on this site long ago!

Things to Be Thankful for...

2010-03-11T18:29:00.001-06:00

Today was a better than average day. The sun was out and shining brightly, and we didn't get severe weather last night. So today's post is just a gratitude list:

On this day, I am grateful for:
1. The fact that both Ed and I are healthy enough to give blood like we did today. Doing that always feels so good and is such a small way to make a difference.
2. The "photobooth" application on my Mac... Syd was an absolute hoot tonight as she took photo after photo of she and I... giggles galore.
3. My student teacher... yes, I have one for the next 8 weeks. Amber Schwartz hails from Greeley, CO and I can already see signs of her talent.
4. My fellow English department colleagues... Stevan and Rachel.... they are the best! (and give me hope that one day I'll be able to retire!)
5. My seniors who are hanging in there and battling back senioritis. Hang tough, kiddos! You'll get there!
6. The fact that we have a President who refuses to give up on what needs to be done... I am praying for you Barack, and today I wrote my Republican congressman and begged him to stop being such a nincompoop about health care. Health care is NOT like buying groceries, or clothes... you can't cut corners if you are critically ill or just go without! WHY can't somebody in the Republican Congress help communicate that to their fellow members. If an old fart like me can 'get it' - you'd think those professional politicos could!
7. My hubby who makes me tea in the morning and dinner each night... love you sweetie!

Lion, Lamb? March Came In.... where did Feb. Go???

2010-03-10T23:01:00.000-06:00

March is here, and I can't quite believe it. February whisked in and out so quickly one scarcely had time to notice it all. But March is here and it came in quite nicely, almost congenially. We are not yet counting the days until Spring Break at school, but the natives are noticeably restless.

The weatherman has gifted us with a couple of spring-like days to tease our hearts into believing that it won't snow anymore, when in reality, we know how fickle the Missouri weather can be. I am praying we have no late winter/early spring freezes. A repeat of the freeze of 2007 would be a bad thing for the vineyard... especially since it hit 70 degrees today.

Big weekend ahead... the grandkids are coming to visit us. Kate and her dad are running in the St. Pat's Day race on Saturday. I've decided to forego the 5 miler this year... 3 miles is plenty for me! I felt pretty good at 3 miles but totally whanked at 5 last year. So the kidlets and I will stand by and watch and cheer for them as the race about downtown. Should be fun!

March came in like a Lamb... and here's hoping the lamb sticks around!

Another Special Day!

2010-02-24T20:17:00.000-06:00

My baby girl turned 31 today... wow! She is an amazing woman and her father and I are SO very proud of her. Hard to believe she arrived during a blizzard in 1979 in Grand Rapids, MI. After giving us a scare and showing up 7 weeks early, she proved herself to be a very scrappy 5#4oz. bundle of joy! (Imagine Katrina at about the size of your basic small bag of flour!)

This morning we called her on iChat and got to watch her open her gift from us... and it made us SO happy to see her onscreen if not actually in person. So here's to you, Katrina! May your next 31 years be as wonderful, exciting, and blessed as your first 31!

Happy Birthday, Dear Papa!

2010-02-23T09:31:00.001-06:00

There are A LOT of candles on the flaming German Chocolate confection! (also, please disregard my finger on the lens in the first few seconds... got a new camera and didn't know where best to hold it right away!- I'll get better at it. I promise.)

"When I Have Fears"

2010-02-19T11:57:00.000-06:00

Taught a rather profound poem to my ever earnest seniors this week. This crowd is the AP bunch, the highly motivated ones who plan on building bridges and perfecting cures and doing things that we can only imagine and all by their 30th birthdays.

Well, there was this fellow John Keats, I tell them, and he had watched and nursed his brother through the traumatic illness that was tuberculosis in the 1700's - and he saw his brother die. And by his own 28th birthday, John knew he himself had contracted the illness.. and that his days were numbered. And his response? He wrote a sonnet about it.....

When I have fears that I may cease to be,

before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain....

Beautiful stuff, really, and John came to a startling conclusion. That fame and love, and things temporal really don't matter all that much in the long haul. That what matters is contemplation of the "big" ideas... like life and death and mortality and immortality.
And today... in amazing clarity... my kids' faces lit up and they got it. They made a connection with our friend Keats, a guy who never saw the backside of his 31st birthday. And it was amazing!

This is why I teach.

Love is in the Air

2010-02-14T14:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
We're sitting here in the family room, watching the snow fly and the Olympics on television. Very cozy and very relaxing.

Had a special treat for Valentine's Day this year... Sydney came to spend the night last night and the morning with us today. Her parents were supposed to go for a night on the town... but it didn't work out that way. Gretchen caught a bug and it made thoughts of going out something for another time. However, our Syd date remained a go and we had a blast. She's so much fun these days. Our big entertainment of last night was going grocery shopping. She LOVES to push the mini-carts that they have at our local IGA... we go "hunting" for things and then we track down Papa with the big cart and dump our treasures into it. She gets all excited at the idea of hunting for cheese and counting out oranges! You'd think we were at an amusement park!

The neatest thing happened last night... an elderly gentleman walked up to Syd and said, "You are such a good helper! I am getting my own granddaughter from China this week... This is for you!" and he handed her a Dollar! Syd, having no idea what money is, just looked at it and handed it to me and we did our "thank-you's" and he moved on into the store. It struck me as he walked away, how much we take for granted... and made me savor the moment even more.

So here's to a day set aside to love the ones who are precious to us, both near and far. It's commercial, perhaps, and perhaps a tad silly... but it's also and excuse to celebrate love.... hugs to all of you!

You get an Inch... You Slide a MILE!

2010-02-06T14:16:00.001-06:00

Syd came over to play on the sled this morning. Our next door neighbor has a modest hill in his yard that has become the "orientation to sledding" hill for the newest generation of intrepid snowbunnies! (It seems like yesterday this was Gret and Katrina! In fact, we think our sled might be close to 30 years old!) Here's a collection of shots of all the fun a little snow can bring!

Why Women Love Jane Austen's Works

2010-01-31T21:28:00.000-06:00

Spent a delicious evening watching Emma on PBS Masterpiece Theater and tweeting on Twitter with other Austen lovers across the country. It's quite a popular version, and considering how many women were by-passing the Grammy awards to watch it made it all the more enjoyable.

So what is it exactly about Jane Austen's works that draws us in? A few thoughts....

It's all about the films. Austen's books make such awesome movies! Especially if done by anyone remotely connected to the BBC.
It's all about the clothes! We all want the dresses!
It's all about Knightly vs. Darcy.... or maybe it's not, we'll just take BOTH of them!!!
It's all about understatement - sultry looks across ballrooms, the chance to hold a girl's gloved hand, observed decorum abounds... and we love that! Nothing blatant, nothing insulting, just manners!
It's all about the gorgeous houses.... even the poor live in quaint little cottagey type abodes. Yeah, we know, there's not an abundance of indoor plumbing, but hey... we can forget that if the wallpaper in the ballrooms is pretty.
It's all about Colin Firth... say what you will... he IS Mr. Darcy... and everyone else is compared to his standard.
It's all about being able to boo and hiss at the nasty people.... and there's quite a list... Mr. Elton, Frank Churchhill, Mr. Wickham.... boo boo boo!
It's all about the humor... subtle, witty, verbally sharp... it makes you giggle every time, even when you know the line that's coming up next!
It's about the happy endings... you know the protagonists will discover the love of their life by the end as will quite a few of the other characters.
It's all about LOVE.... and who ever has enough romance in this modern fast-paced crazy world we live in!

So find a PBS station near you and tune in. After Emma is over, there are going to be two more excellent productions - Persuasion and Northanger Abbey... don't miss out!

Happy Birthday, Dearest Gabriel!

2010-01-24T13:56:00.000-06:00

To our Grandson Gabriel

on the Occasion of His 8th Birthday

Today we celebrate the day

You joined our family

You've given smiles and love away

and made us laugh with glee.

Today we can't believe how fast

the last eight years have flown.

It seems like we just blinked our eyes

and now you're halfway grown!

God bless you always, Gabriel,

with blessings from above

This poem is just a gift to tell

You just how much you're loved!

with love from Grandma & Papa

January 24, 2010

I Think... therefore I Knit

2010-01-23T12:55:00.000-06:00

I haven't said too much about my knitting as of late... but I've been doing a lot of it lately. Somehow, no matter how hectic life gets, knitting centers me and helps me relax. Some folks maintain there is a meditative or zen-like aspect of knitting and even go so far as suggest that it lowers blood pressure and protects the brain from things like Alzheimer's (I hope!)

So today, I switched on PBS (my favorite channel) and what is on? A KNITTING SHOW MARATHON on the Create Channel (9.4 here in St.Lou) and I thought, Huzzah!!!! I also popped a DVD into my recorder and tried my first attempt at recording directly from the television. (hoped THAT comes out!) I am getting inspired by all the ideas I am seeing and the hardest thing is not to immediately stop grading papers (which is what I SHOULD do) and start knitting (which is what I WANT to do)!

Anyway... I have been busy making some cute things lately.... I think I posted my wrist warmers a few posts back.. but here's my latest... a cabled hat. It's cozy and I could make it in one night!

Stuff I Will Never "Get"

2010-01-19T23:48:00.006-06:00

This is more of a list and a response to the events of yesterday and today. If it seems a tad "rant-ish" feel free to pass on reading this one, but I just had to write these down, if only for myself.

There is a growing list of things I don't "get" as I become older. Maybe it's senility on my part, but somehow the logic escapes me on some of this stuff and I just wonder if I'm the only one who sees the world this way. (very likely... oh well...)

Here goes:
Stuff I Don't "Get" - Part One

1. Folks who make comments about M.L.King day as if it's somehow a huge personal insult to them that America chooses to celebrate coming through the Civil Rights movement with just a bit more dignity, fairness, and justice for others. Frankly, I don't get anyone who fails to see that for over 2 centuries our nation tolerated injustice based solely upon the color of man's skin (and that there are those who would tolerate seeing that continue into the present); and that to celebrate the life of someone who made us "wake up and smell the racist coffee" is not a bad thing to do and might even inspire us to do better than we are. So I guess I don't "get" stubborn and persistent racism.

2. Folks who can say, "Oh well, Haiti is so poor, that even if we help them, it won't come close to fixing their problems... it's more like pouring money down a toilet!" Yup, heard that one this week... can't believe I heard it (and from whom) but bleeding heart (liberal) Christian that I feel I must be, I can't escape that time Jesus said, "Whenever you did it for the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me." - so I guess I will continue to flush $ away... thus, I don't get self-righteous selfishness.

3. Reactions to the Republican win in Massachusetts today as being a slap to our President and a way to block health care reform. (I guess this is technically TWO things) Personally, I don't see why anybody would want to root for the "big business" conglomerate that is the American Health Insurance system. Their stocks shot through the roof today on the news from Massachusetts... (cha-ching!) can you hear them counting their profits already? Why are we so willing to believe that big business wants to treat us well, but that our government does not? Why are so many people excitedly hoping to see our President be a failure? Something is wrong with how angry everyone gets about all of the above... and I don't get it. 30 million people have nowhere to go if they get sick and most of us are one or two paychecks from being in serious financial trouble if WE become that sick person... yet we continue to bet on the notion that our big business and their lobbyists will work for US. Hah! Not likely! I'd rather bet on a guy I elected and can un-elect being made to work for me than my insurance company which can jack my rates without even asking me or tell me I am suddenly uninsurable if I become seriously ill. I don't get it.

4. Finally, on a lighter note, I don't get why grown men paint "family cars" to look like hopped up roadsters... this was one I saw in the parking lot at Petsmart tonight. A chap in his obvious late-30's pulls up in a PT Cruiser with flame detailing all around the wheel hubs and on the hood. It looked so totally stupid that I laughed out loud. Let's face it, it was NOT a roadster, a race car, or anything close! It's a PT CRUISER... they cruise; they don't race. (but maybe he sits inside it going "vroom vroom" as he heads to Petsmart... I dunno)

So there's my list.. for this week... will probably be adding more as time passes. Thanks, fellow readers, if you managed to put up with this old lady and her ramblings.

Doing the Best You Can

2010-01-16T12:50:00.002-06:00

As most Americans, I've been watching the news from Haiti with sadness and concern. It's almost impossible to imagine a country so devastated and also with so few resources to cope with the losses.
On the flipside, I have been so heartened by the response of my students to the disaster! They got together the very next day to plan what they wanted to do to help and put their first stage of the plan into operation last night.
Ed and I work with the Key Club at our school. For those who might not know, Key Club is a high school branch of Kiwanis Clubs International, and the youth involved work to do service and benefit community charities, particularly those involving children. Our kids decided that phase one was to raise money for Haiti as quickly as possible. They started last night with a "Change War" Challenge. We had a home basketball game scheduled vs. St. Dominic, a conference rival and fellow Christian (Catholic) high school. The challenge went on during all three of the home games with results announced at each game interval (half times and between). We had a standing room only crowd show up and the fans were VERY generous. They gave their pocket change at the gate, concession stands, and when the cheer squad went up into the stands to the tune of over $700! Lutheran High won the challenge... but Haiti won the night! And the kids felt like it was possible to get others involved in making a difference! A good thing all the way around. (LHS did lose the varsity game, but that's not the best story of the night...) Next week, the faculty/student donation drive! I'll keep you posted!

A Busy Busy Day

2010-01-11T23:36:00.004-06:00

Back at school today after the long snowday weekend of 4 days off. If the kids could be any more lethargic, I don't know how. Suffice it to say that only teenagers can act exhausted after 4 days of no schedule! I think they must stay up extra late and really go nocturnal when they're off school. I could be wrong, but it's my hunch.

On the up side, I got a great deal done today, especially with yearbook and that felt good. We're at the 50 page mark at present which means that almost 1/2 the book is finished. I wish I could relax and just not worry about the book as much as I do. I know my kids are working on it, but sometimes I feel like we drift around quite a bit.

Today's big news was Mark McGwire finally admitted to steriod use while he was at the height of his homerun career.... not that anyone really doubted that, but he's gone all apologetic on the TV - almost crying about it now... 5 years after he blatantly lied to Congress and the fans. I don't particularly feel like he deserves a lot of sympathy at the moment. I am also fairly disappointed that the Cardinals have hired him as a coach for their young players. I don't care if he can hit a ball to Mars, he's shown he lacks ethical decision-making skills; what's to keep him from being a bad influence on younger players in the league.

It's Cold Enough to.....

2010-01-09T19:34:00.003-06:00

FREEZE BEER!
My dad used to laugh when he said it, but today we proved it's possible. Ed usually keeps his beer in the garage in the winter in order to save space in the fridge. This afternoon when he brought one in and poured it, icy lumps came out and floated like foam on the top... FROZEN BEER slushy is what he got! (In case you're curious, he still drank it; one doesn't waste good beer, frozen or otherwise!)

The Day I Flew Down the Hall

2010-01-08T19:15:00.004-06:00

In all the hoopla over getting snow, I forgot to mention my strange adventure of this past Wednesday. Every year, our Physics students study aerodynamics and pneumatic principals. Part of this involves sailing down the hallway in the "air powered flying saucer" a.k.a. the "flying car" or hovercraft. Usually, I manage to get out there to watch and snap photos for yearbook. This year, however, the teacher Mr. Linn turned to me and said, "So do you want to try it?" If you know me at all you know what my answer was.
I am proud to say I went nearly 60 ft before I settled softly onto the floor.

The "car" rides on a its own little pillow of air provided by a repurposed vaccuum cleaner running in reverse. It is SO much fun as well as being a rather silly way to learn science. SO I have seen the future and ridden in the air car, which may not be up to the standard of The Jetsons yet... but one can dream!

Epiphany gift? SNOWDAY!

2010-01-07T16:25:00.004-06:00

Last night the snow began falling about 6pm and this morning we awoke to our first snowday of the season. What a gift!
Now don't be thinking that we had a TON of snow... if you want to see true snowday justifiable amounts click on my daughter Kate's blog in my sidebar and THERE you will see snow! If we got anything like that here in St. Louis we'd be off school for a WEEK! However, we got about 3 inches and it was VERY cold and windy which made it a challenge for Missouri road crews; thus we got a snowday. Here is the view of our backyard taken from the dining room window.

Although the day always goes faster than the typical workday, we got a huge amount of stuff done in our home. First we took down the Christmas Tree, then we rearranged the living room (something we've both wanted to do for awhile but hadn't realized we both wanted to!). Now the next two photos will only be meaningful to folks who've been in our living room recently, but since most of you are the people who read this, that will be okay. The piano has officially escaped from the deep corner at the far end of the room, and it REALLY changes the look of the room!
Chas, however, is not sure he likes all the furniture being moved and was a really whiney pain in the pahtoot all day. Greyhounds do not like change. Next, I cleaned and reorganized my china closet (sorry, no photos of that), and then I sat and watched the snow blow past the window while I sipped hot coffee and Ed made soup (another snowday tradition around here). Ahhhh! Good day!

These are the new wristwarmers that I finished last night. I never realized how much warmer you are when your wrists are cozy! I am definitely going to make more of these and some for my daughters and friends as well. I guess it makes sense if running cool water on your wrists cools you off in the summer, then warming them should work to make you cozier in the winter.

Ed, "Soupman", Staude - flavor of the day: roasted cabbage/vegie soup...

made our whole house smell wonderful all day long!

Two by Two

2010-01-05T20:35:00.001-06:00

Marriage is on my mind in this post...
On Dec. 29th 2009, Ed and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. We chose to remember the day by going out to dinner with all our kids and grandkids. The place? Frankie Tocco's restaurant on Jefferson and Main St. in St. Charles.... one of our favorite eateries and a place where families are always welcomed warmly. So there we were, all ten of us, and I looked up and down the table feeling really thankful for all the people we've been blessed with in our lives.
My girls are both married to great guys and you can tell by these shots that they have great "personalities" and senses of humor... that is something Ed and I have found to be an integral component in our marriage... an ability to laugh and find humor in the day-to-day things that life brings. So here's to married life, our daughters, their hubbies, and laughter that binds us all together!

Happy New Year! (and a warning!)

2010-01-03T19:27:00.002-06:00

I am going to try something a bit different in this New Year... I am going to try to post at least 3 times per week - with or without photos... just to make my blog more of a journal of the year as well as merely the highlights. We'll see how it goes, life does tend to get bizarre and busy so I may not be able to pull it off...

First post of 2010.... When Snuggies Attack! Both Katrina and Gretchen received the infamous (and it appears devious) warming devices for Christmas. Gret's is blue and on New Year's Eve it attempted to consume my grandson Gabriel. The happy news is that he survived the attack and went on to stay awake until midnight! All Snuggie owners beware! The things are sneaky!!!

Jingle Jingle Jingle!

2009-12-27T17:07:00.002-06:00

Here's wishing everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

We had a wonderful time this Christmas... lots of great food, great times with family, and even a smidgin' of the white stuff to cover the brown turf of Missouri to make the holiday pretty! Cannot complain about a single thing and we still have a week of our holiday break to go.

My best gift was the Kindle that Ed got me! As an avid reader, I know it will help me further feed my addiction to books! I already have 5 lined up waiting on it for me to read! More photos to come soon... check back in a day or two, my Michigan grandkids arrive tomorrow and I want to put ALL of their pics on my blog!

Pre-Holiday Blessings & My Girls: a Mama's Joy.

2009-12-19T08:57:00.005-06:00

It has been an incredibly exciting week for us! Well, actually more for our kids which as those of you who are parents know makes it equally exciting for the parents! Our daughters have had major blessings come their way and it has left us all so excited, happy, and (of course) proud that we feel like we got our Christmas gifts early this year. So if you don't mind, I'd like to share.

Our eldest daughter, Gretchen, was surprised by a HUGE promotion at her company, Concordia Publishing House. She has been made the Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications for the company. Just slightly less than 2 years ago she began working at CPH so this is a great vote of confidence by her company in her abilities to do what she does for them! The job comes with some obvious new benefits (a bigger desk chair among them, we hear) and wider responsibilities, but she has a great team of folks working with her so we know she will be wonderful at her expanded role for CPH!

Next, our younger daughter, Katrina, has been quietly working on her first novel throughout the past year. In August she informed the family that she was going to "go for it" and seek getting it published. This week saw exciting developments in that adventure... she has a literary agent now working for her! Her book got some great feedback from several agencies but she has now chosen a very prominent New York based firm to work with her in marketing her novel. So in the new year we could actually get to see her work in stores with a cover on it! This is a dream come true for her and is especially exciting to both of us who have taught her English over the years and seen her talent and voice develop! Now, don't ask me the million dollar question as to what the book's about or if I liked it, because in typical Katrina-fashion she's been very quiet and private about it. None of us in the family have had the privilege to read it yet... but are told that once it "has a cover" we'll get a chance to read it. All I know is that it's Young-Adult Fiction genre and involves the great lakes plus the mythical creatures of mermaids... (not certain how many). My students are waiting with baited breath for a chance to read one of their fellow LHS alumni in print. So stay tuned in the New Year for more about my girls!

Come Ye Thankful People Come... They Came!

2009-11-28T12:33:00.003-06:00

Come, ye thankful people, come....
Raise the song of harvest home,

All be safely gathered in....
Ere the winter storms begin.

God, Our Maker, doth provide...
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God's own Temple come...
Raise the song of Harvest Home!

A Good Use of Leaves

2009-11-08T20:31:00.004-06:00

I am not a fan of leaf raking... that said, there is ONE sort of leaf raking I AM a HUGE fan of... it's the sort of raking that leads to photos such as these. Enjoy these, and then go find a toddler tyke or several of them and RAKE up some fun!

Syd shows real potential as a leaf raker!

She buried herself this deep without ANY help from her grandma!
Like I said, she has GREAT potential as a leaf lover and raker!

Happy Halloween and then some!

2009-11-02T19:50:00.006-06:00

Halloween was this past weekend and we got to enjoy watching our grandkids celebrate it. While we didn't get to see Kate's threesome in person, she kept us posted via her blog which we watched throughout the process of pumpkin shopping, carving, costumes and the like.

The Harrmann gang of three is ready to score some candy!

Rhylah contemplates her next stop!

Here in Missouri we tagged along with Sydney a.k.a. Tinkerbell as she experienced her first real Halloween. (really can't count last year when she didn't get to yell trick-or-treat or anything similar!) She had a blast! You could see from the bounce in her step and the excited squeals that she just KNEW this was a special night.

Can you tell Syd's just a LITTLE excited?

An extra treat was having Leon's mom in town from Colorado for the weekend. So the two grannies got to go larking about the neighborhood with their own little Disney character leading the way. It was wonderful fun!

As we set out you can see the bonfire is ready and we ended the evening with white chili and pumpkin bread by the fireside. Yum! Here goes Carol and Gretchen (dressed as a cat and Mama Tink ... yours truly did not go in character garb, didn't know it was expected of a granny!)

Oh, and while I was at it, I FINALLY got a shot of Gret and Leon's new house in
its ALL FINISHED version... pretty, huh?

Harvest: Nortons, Friends, Tractors and FUN!

2009-10-04T21:50:00.004-05:00

The final weekend of harvest was this weekend... and we hauled 60 lugs of Nortons off the 11 rows in the vineyard. (that's 2,100 lbs for those of you who don't think in lugs). Thanks to some help from great friends and neighbors we had them all off the vine and crushed by 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. It was a windy and cool day.. more like November than October, but the fun of talking and laughing in the vineyard made the work go quickly.

Our daughter Gretchen and granddaughter Sydney spent the weekend out at the farm with us too. That made for some sweet photos too! Enjoy... oh, and maybe sip a glass of wine while you do it.

Sydney discusses her theories of how the tractor works.

Sydney and I took a walk in the meadow. Notice our matching
grey hoodies... it was definitely hoodie weather!

That's a million dollar grin on that girl!
Norton grapes going into the crusher.

Here's how they look coming out of the crusher... or the squisher as one of our neighbor's kids calls it.

Life in Two Places - and Love from a Toddler

2009-09-13T16:53:00.004-05:00

Having a rather strange week this week... it's fermentation time out at the vineyard, so we're commuting in to school from there... and checking on the house every so often. Fortunately we have great neighbors who keep a watchful eye on things for us.. but it feels weird to have your life split between two places. The 45 minute commute each a.m. is not so bad... I get a lot of papers graded or napping done, depending on how tired I am. By the way, we're offline at the vineyard which explains why I am not on here as much lately.

As the wine simmers (yes, it actually bubbles as it ferments) it smells very yeasty - sort of like when you mix bread dough. Things are going well so far and next year's vintages should be good ones.

Our kids are now in ensconced in their new home. We stopped over to see them last night and Sydney let out a whoop and a squeal as we came in the door... and then she dashed into our arms grinning like crazy. It felt SO amazing to be loved that much by a little person! Gret said she's been asking for us each morning but seeing her last night so happy just made my heart go all mushy!

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting...

2009-09-09T00:36:00.003-05:00

After an entire summer of smooth sailing on their new home build, our kids are hanging in "loan limbo" and dealing with closing hassles. NOT fun, not at all! And NONE of it is any of their fault which is even MORE frustrating.

Last Thursday's originally scheduled closing was bumped back to today due to a computer snafu at the Lender's office. Today they appeared to have all the ducks in line and signed on the dotted lines but got no keys until their checks all were wired from the the Title Company to the Lender... the clock ticked, it continued to tick, and the end of the working day arrived... but no confirmation of the final wire of money. SO.... maybe tomorrow will be the big day... a week late and on an inconvenient date for almost everyone involved, but at least by this time tomorrow they may have the keys in their hands!

What a dismal way to experience the uncomfortable truth that there are times when NOTHING is within your realm of control... and house closings appear to be one of those times!

Meanwhile, our nest remains joyously (if somewhat frustratedly) full... the chicks want to fly but they need a place to land!

Sunflowers and other Goldens

2009-08-23T23:43:00.002-05:00

We've had a gorgeous weekend of unseasonably cool weather here. It's been so wonderful to have the windows open and sleep to songs of the crickets floating in on the breeze! Yesterday we headed off to the vineyard and spent a lovely day bottling wine, visiting with our customers who more and more seem like friends, and walking the dogs. We had Bailey with us as his family is in Colorado, and the dog was in doggie paradise.
We roamed around the fields and he sniffed EVERYTHING his nose could find to sniff. He romped and bounced and just had a marvelous time! It was so joyous that it made you think, he's been waiting in the house for days and days to do something like this... it was just delightful to watch him. After he got his fill of sniffing and such, he laid down in the grass, where I was able to do a photoshoot of him. I got some really awesome shots of our grandpuppy. (Chas told me he wasn't jealous since he's always getting his photo taken.) So what you see here is one happy canine... watching the sunset from the front lawn of his family's vineyard. Contentment!

Fun with Friends Who will Work for Wine!

2009-08-13T19:27:00.004-05:00

Spent a delight weekend just past with good friends from Ft. Wayne. We were together earlier this summer in Indiana to celebrate their daughter's wedding and decided we had to get together again before the summer was over. That weekend coincided with the bottling of our 2008 Seyval out at Rolling Meadows! We spent the day filling, corking, labeling and sealing the new vintage into its bottles and then we had a really nice lunch provided by Gret and Leon who came out to the vineyard to enjoy the afternoon. Two customers made the day an all around success! This new wine is a winner... but sharing it with old friends made it even better!

Less than a month to go!

2009-08-10T00:02:00.003-05:00

Front view.

They have set the date... Sept. 3rd... and by that date the kids will have their new home. Here's a photo update on how things are going. It's really pretty! We love it and are SO happy for them.

Living room fireplace.

Looking from the kitchen entry area toward the sunroom and the living room.

Sitting on the almost finished stairway.

A Summer Sunday with Girls in Blue

2009-08-02T14:19:00.004-05:00

Sydney and Rhylah peek around the tree looking for grandma.
(that's our secret method for getting them to stay together for a photo!)

Today is the final day of Michigan grandkids' visit... and we are sure going to miss them. After church this morning, we went outside to have Uncle Nate get some shots of the two in the dresses I made them. The results were lots of silly shots where one girl would walk away or poke the other with a twig found in the grass. But thanks to Nathan, I was able to have a few that were real gems!!! (some other time I'll post the outtakes too!) Here's to the last Sunday of summer vacation. I go back to school and preps for Aug. 12th tomorrow!

Don't you just love girls in ponytails?

Blue ribbons, blue dress, BLUE EYES! Rhy is a stunner!

I snapped this one of Gret and Syd as we were wrapping up the shoot. Too cute!

Baseball in St. Lou! - the Kid Version

2009-08-01T13:58:00.004-05:00

Baseball and summer meet at a classic spot... St. Louis! We took the grandkids to a Cardinal game last night. First ever for Rhy, first since infancy for Ash, and first for Gabe since he became a true fan of the game! We had the best time! Rode down on the Metrolink, fun going.. very crowded returning.. but all part of the grand adventure!

Food such as hotdogs, juice boxes, and of course, COTTON CANDY, was consumed by all present... well, I am not sure Papa ate any cotton candy. The Cards cooperated by beating the Houston Astros 4-3.

Gabriel kept score throughout the entire game and his dreams of playing in the "big leagues" got even bigger as he watched Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel, and Yadier Molina do their stuff. His eyes were HUGE the whole evening.

No one got crabby, no one complained, no one got lost- not even grandma! We were all up very late but came home happy! What a fun time!

Funniest/most ironic moment? Less than 5 minutes after Papa took the boys on a bathroom expedition, a Cardinal hit the only Home Run of the game which always triggers fireworks and great whooping from the fans. Our boys.. well, let's just say they only "heard" it from the facilities. Good thing the Cards won so we (or some of us) got to see fireworks twice!

Dream big, little man!

Time for a little Magic!

2009-07-29T15:39:00.005-05:00

Ash is all business while working in the water area!

The whole Harrmann gang interacts with an exhibit
based on their favorite book, Goodnight Moon!

Today's adventure involved the Magic House a fabulous place of exploration and adventure in Kirkwood, MO. The place is simply amazing... kids can explore science, careers, imagination, and creativity and so much more. It is one of the most popular places to take kids in St. Louis. We even ran into 3 of our students chaperoning a group of kids from St. Charles while we were there! Asher was in his element, virtually EVERYTHING was geared for the 3-5 set, although we found plenty for Gabriel and Rhylah to explore and enjoy as well.

Rhylah is absolutely entranced by the fish...she'd have stayed right here all morning if we'd let her.

Rhylah loved the fish, the tot lot, and water toys. Ash did it all (as you can see from the photos)
Gabe found anything that involved climbing to be totally cool.The place was packed with kids, but everyone got along quite nicely, taking turns and smiling with joy at one another. I don't think I heard even one kid crying the whole time I was there... although Ed says he may have seen a couple.

Ash tried out his car repair skills.....

... and his construction engineering skills.....

... and his cobbler skills! I think he has potential in all three!

The hardest part of going to the Magic House is getting your kids to leave... ours left quite politely. We followed the visit with Happy Meals and the day was complete. Then home for naps... ahh... sleeping munchkins, every mom's (and grandmom's) secret joy!

The boys climb off the 3 story tall beanstalk, high five their mom, and head for lunch!

Indiana Jones and the Queeny Park Temple of Doom

2009-07-27T22:01:00.004-05:00

Indiana Harrmann.... the boy was totally on an adventure!

I have a photo of Katrina at age 6 in EXACTLY this spot back in 1985... wow, was it
weird to shoot this one 24 years later!

My grandsons got in touch with their "inner Indiana" today at Queeny Park. We packed up the kids and a picnic and headed to the park shortly after the rush hour was over. They had a blast. Even with being prepared for how fun the park was, the first word out of Gabe's mouth as we pulled up was, "WHOA!"

They romped about pretending for the better part of an hour and a half. (with frequent water and snack breaks in between). We frequently heard snatches of the Indiana Jones theme or Pirates of the Carribean being hummed as they crawled up "mountains" and in an out of tunnels in their quests of adventure!

Then when it was time to go, we brought 2 little people home to take a LONG nap while big brother floated in the pool to his heart's content. Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all!

Rhylah obviously enjoys red grapes!

Here are the boys "up on top"....

And here is what they were up on top of! (that's them way in the distance and small!)

Tea for Two

2009-07-26T22:03:00.002-05:00

I am certain there are very few things cuter than my grandkids... particularly my granddaughters who have just reached the tea party stage. Today they conducted a joint tea ceremony in my sunroom and what fun it was!

I have also included some adorable shots of Rhylah who took to the pool like a fish on the very first day she arrived in town! Way to swim, Rhy!

The Build Continues

2009-07-19T15:54:00.004-05:00

My kids have been too busy to post much on their new home...so I will share with you what's up on it lately! It now has a roof and inside walls are studded in. By the time I post this they will have finished the electrical and plumbing and already begun the wall board. Things are rolling along nicely.

Exterior view.

This was shot from the kitchen toward the great room. The fireplace is gas.

This was shot from one end of the master suite looking toward the master bath and hallway entrance to the room.

This is the view out Syd's bedroom closet window. It's the little window just over the porch portico on the first photo. It gives you an idea of what the other houses on their court look like!

A Bit 'o Boston

2009-07-09T12:13:00.008-05:00

Sunnyside - Home of author Washington Irving
Nestled along the Hudson River and was quite peaceful until the state of New York ran a train track through his front yard right along the riverbank! Is no one safe from progress?!? No photos were allowed inside, but it was
very lovely and well preservered with lots of Irving family momento

It dawned on me yesterday as I was sorting through some photos shot this summer that I never completed my postings on my June East Coast adventures. I went on and on about New York City but never about Boston. Hoping to correct that oversight, I thought about my post and then I learned yesterday that the Boston area has only had 3 sunny days since Memorial Weekend. Well, Gretchen and I caught 2 of them. The sunshine was gorgeous while we were there. So here is my adventure part TWO!

On our way out of NYC (June 5) we threaded a path through the Hudson River Valley and stopped in the tiny town of Tarrytown, home of author Washington Irving. Now most think of him only as the guy who wrote the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip vanWinkle", myself included. We learned that he was a diplomat, a man who compiled the first detailed life account of Abraham Lincoln, and that he remained a bachelor all his life while supporting his mildly impoverished relatives. We visited his estate along the Hudson River called "Sunnyside" and it was quite the place. We had a private tour and it was delightful. Just about everything in the house is original to the family and I highly recommend any literary buffs to see it!

The next day, June 6th, found us zipping up into Massachusetts in our rental car. We asked the Tomtom to plot us a scenic route as we were in no huge rush and also decided to avoid toll roads. We decided to loop a path that would take us through the historic city of Concord, home of many famous authors and birthplace of the American Revolution.

What a unique city, or rather still a town. We roamed streets once the paths of the ilk of Emerson, Alcott, Hawthorne, and Thoreau and imagined ourselves seeing them around just about every turn. Our luncheon spot was the historic Concord Inn, a dining spot on a crossroads that's been in continuous operation since 1715. (That's about as a far back and old as you can find things in America!)The lobster rolls there are delicious and hit the spot!We visited the historic Old North Bridge where the "shots heard round the world" were fired by the Minutemen and we found the homes and burials sites of all the aforementioned authors.

The Colonial Inn... serving travelers continuously since 1715!

Me relaxing on the idyllic Old North Bridge... it's quite scenic and peaceful - very unlike it was the night Paul Revere made his famous ride! I was surprised how secluded the spot was for such an historic moment!

Here's the bridge in its entirety, the statue in the distance is of a Minuteman. Here is where the opening shots of what would become the American Revolution were fired.

Okay, this is NOT a famous rock wall, but instead more of a typical New England rock wall. I envision myself using it from here on out every time I teach Frost's poem "Mending Wall" to my students. You know it... "something there is that doesn't love a wall".... and "good fences make good neighbors..".

Orchard House, home of the Alcotts... Louisa May and her sisters! I got to walk all the way round it. It looks like one of the "Little Women" could pop out the green front door at any moment! And their nearby neighbors, the Hawthornes would have them in for tea... I just know it!

Louisa and all her family are buried in Sleepy Hollow cemetery... not the Irving version, the Concord version. Story has it that these authors had a spot in the cemetery grounds where they would meet to talk and discuss ideas and that later, they arranged for all of them to be buried in the spot. Within 10 yards of each other you have the Alcotts, the Emersons, the Thoreaus, and some of the Hawthornes! Amazing to think of them all here in the "hotbed town" for literary greatness! Louisa's stone struck me for its total simplicity, not a tall marker or elaborate carved sculpture, just a white stone in the ground near to her mom and dad and sisters.

Here's Henry David Thoreau's final spot in his family group area. Just his first name on his stone, the family marker is adjacent to it. People leave him tokens here... and I found the Obama button to be a delight. I think Henry would approve of it right along with the karma beads, the pens, and the pine cones!

It was a wonderful day full of literature and history. The crowning point for me was our final spot... Walden Pond. Long a fan of Henry David Thoreau, I just had to see it. Believe it or not, there's a public swimming beach there now and on this sunny day in Massachusetts it was being well used!

This is a replica of Thoreau's Walden Pond cottage. It's built to the exact specifications set out in his book but not quite on the exact location of the original. It's smaller than a one car garage but quite cozy. The bronze of him nearby sets you to wondering how better off we'd all be if we had a cottage to run away to and the luxury of jobs that would enable you to do it!

And at last, Walden Pond, it was much larger than I expected. Really, in Missouri, it would be Walden LAKE! Very pretty and tranquil for the most part... if you count out the public bathing beach immediately to the side of where I was standing as I shot this. I will leave out a shot of that, it's more inspiring with out the tourists in the shot!

Tomorrow's post: Boston!

How it's Coming Along...

2009-07-07T15:17:00.003-05:00

There's a house being built this summer and we've had some exciting progress in the past couple of weeks. Actually, it's a good bit further along than this photo shows; it even has a roof already on it with shingles and such and the front door is on. But this is one of my photos, and Gretchen and Leon will probably be posting their own on their blog site, so I don't want to "steal their thunder". Anyway, it's cool to see it finally becoming a reality. Right now, they say it's "on schedule" which means that just shortly after school begins our nest will be empty again and the Jamesons will be occupying their new "nest". Exciting, isn't it?

Ya gotta eat!

2009-07-06T17:27:00.006-05:00

Syd with her mommy; all grins for the Fourth of July!

A little flag-waving fun with daddy!

Red velvet cupcakes with patriotic decorations! See our wiki for the recipe.

Our family LOVES food! In fact, I would have to say that food is one of the very best things we do! We even have our own family wiki site with loads of our favorite recipes on it. On July 4th, we outdid ourselves with food... we even had red, white, and blue cocktails! So here are a few shots of us and some of our latest "creations". Bon appetit!

One of Ed's recent Italian creations... Italian Sausages grilled and served with Orzo Prima Vera.

And the finale.... the Rocket Bomb Pop Cocktail! Happy Birthday America!

Crayon Fun

2009-06-29T12:31:00.004-05:00

Syd got some really cool "beginner" crayons this past weekend... and I just had to post a few shots of her enjoying them! Sort of a cross between art tools and the ol' Weebles we used to have years ago. Neato!

June Brides & Old Friends

2009-06-23T15:49:00.003-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. Alex Yoder... much happiness and God's blessings on your life together!

We had the honor and joy this past weekend to travel to Ft. Wayne, Indiana for a celebration of the wedding of the youngest daughter of our longtime friends, Cindy & Greg Tieman. Their daughter Lindsey became Mrs. Alex Yoder in a loving early evening ceremony. We also got to see the grandkids and other family members of Cindy & Greg which made this as much a reunion as a wedding for us! It was a great weekend... and I just had to post the cute shots of the couple, two of their grandkids, and our best buddies in the Hoosier State, Cindy & Greg. Much happiness to everyone!

Seth Tieman, Grandson of Cindy & Greg, in his ring bearer outfit!

Granddaughter Brianna served as the cutest flower girl (and princess).
She spent a lot of her time twirling in this pretty dress!

Mother and Father of the Bride, Cindy & Greg Tieman,
good friends and officially empty nesters!

Paddle, Paddle, Kick, Kick! (a.k.a. Tot Swimming 101)

2009-06-17T22:41:00.008-05:00

Asher came for a special "solo visit" this week and he's been SUCH a big boy. He's enjoyed playing in the pool, entertaining his cousin Sydney, and having fun with his Papa and I. He was very brave about traveling on the "long ride" to St. Louis and only asked "Are we there yet" about 50 times. (secret tip: A roll of your very own Lifesavers candy makes a 3 year old forget how long the ride has been!) We have been having so much fun that we are sure gonna miss the little man when his daddy picks him up to go home to Michigan tomorrow! This is one adventure we will have to repeat because it was a blast!

This is a significant day because Ash is TOUCHING bottom in the shallow end of the pool! A first for him. The switch to the arm swimmies helped him achieve this. The ol' "magic coat" makes him too buoyant to reach the ground!

Look at me! I am touching my toes to the ground! YAY!

Syd is getting braver by the day about swimming and having Ash here
to show her the way it's done has been a BIG help!

Sydney loves to splash!

Happy girl bobbing along in her floating ring!

When not doing their best to become fish, the cousins spend time playing
the piano and watching Sesame Street on PBS!

A Weekend of Grandkid Fun

2009-06-17T22:23:00.004-05:00

We have no doubt that we have the cutest grandbabies on the planet!
Here we are with all 10 of our eyes open at the same time!

Last weekend we got to go up to St. Joe, Michigan to romp with the grandkids for a couple of days... yahoo! It's ALWAYS a good weekend when you get to do that! Photos follow....

Rhylah is perched on a breezy bench high above Lake Michigan. Pretty girl!

Katie and Rhy... sweet as can be... both blonde and blue-eyed!

St. Joe has all these crazy animal statues scattered around town this summer, they just BEG to be photographed; when they aren't eating children's heads, that is!

Ash is his Papa's buddy... he was in high spirits on this outing!

A sweet shot of Katrina with her baby boy Asher, sitting on a cannon in Riverview Park.

Ash is one cool dude... give the kid a hat and a fire escape and look out GQ!

The whole Harrmann gang!
Left to right, Nathan with Rhylah (20 mos), Gabriel (7), Asher(3) and Katrina.

A Small Bite of the Big Apple (East Coast Adventure continued)

2009-06-11T12:22:00.005-05:00

The Manhattan skyline shot from the Staten Island Ferry... a classic!

New York City conjures up so many images in the mind. We have seen it in countless films and television shows. We have watched the ball drop in Times Square since we were old enough to stay up til' midnight on Dec. 31st. For me, I have always imagined it as a crossroads of the world, a place where every kind of person on the planet must pass through at least once. And in that respect, New York City did not disappoint me. Within minutes of arriving there, I heard at least 20 languages fly past my ears, saw signs for at least a dozen different cuisines, and saw hundreds of faces that all looked like they came from as far from my Midwest experience as possible! It was a total delight to have my imaginings be reality! Gretchen and I caught the "first off-peak" (cheaper) train into town and had a MARVELOUS day! Hope you enjoy of my photos! (and yes, we did see all this and MORE in ONE DAY!)

The Staten Island Ferry is the best deal in town, a free ride past Ellis Island and Lady Liberty! This was our first pick of the day. We went to the tip of lower Manhattan and hopped aboard! What a fun start! This shot of a returning ferry was taken from our outbound ferry.

Ellis Island... a place with unique connections to millions of Americans. Now a museum, a tour guide giving his spiel on our ferry ride said that 2 out of every 5 Americans living today has an ancestor who passed through Ellis. Pretty remarkable since the place hasn't been used for decades and in light of how immigration has changed throughout the years.

There she is! Warning here, I got a bit infatuated with this gal; took quite a number of shots of her.
Thank you Nikon for making my wonderful zoom lens!

Looks just like the shot in my history book as a kid!

"Bring me your tired, your poor, your humble masses yearning to breath free....
I life my lamp beside the golden door!" -Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus"

This enormous open space filled with cranes and bordered by skyscrapers was where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center stood. Ground Zero is not open to the public for viewing anymore, but it is a place of intense rebuilding. Even so, I got the chills as I walked the several blocks past this area. Life continues and Americans are nothing if not resilient. The "Freedom Tower" and 9-11 Memorial are being constructed here. May they be able to stand as a tribute and NOT as a target.

Keep walking north and you pass through Soho and end up in Greenwich Village. For a child of the 60's and early 70's, this was like a visit to Mecca! Really quaint and TRENDY neighborhoods grace this area now. Lots of wonderful shopping and restaurants. It bustles and yet it's got quiet spots as well.

Classic row of Greenwich brownstones! Love it! Could sit on the steps and sip a.m. coffee.
Ever seen "You've Got Mail"? Meg Ryan lived in a place like this!

We arrived at Washington Square Park after a visit to the famous Magnolia Bakery home of the best cupcakes in NYC. We each had a box with 2 cupcakes in it (curious? $2.50 for a cupcake! - we need to catch up on this trend in St. Louis!) Sat here for almost an hour watching a film being made and watching the nannies walking their assorted charges in the park.

Another view of Washington Square Park. It's mid-day on a Thursday... and the place is hopping!

Looks just like the Arch de Triumphe in Paris... or one of the early scenes of "When Harry Met Sally". Note the Empire State Building framed in the arch (along with my lovely daughter)... some snazzy city planning at work there!

Carnegie Hall! We're now at the lower west corner of Central Park. When I return to NYC, I will attend
a concert here. (Notice I said WHEN, not IF!)

Being the quintessential tourists, we HAD to take the carriage ride in and around Central Park. Our driver, Umet, was a delightful fellow from Turkey. He took our photo midway through the drive! What a gorgeous park! The only one that rivals it in size is our own Forest Park in St. Louis.. however, this park was BUSTLING! Interesting that it includes a zoo, an art museum, a carousel, a skating rink... all sounds a LOT like home. However, it has a much less "controlled" or managed feel to it... more woodsy and rocky, very beautiful, cool, and shady!

Another shot of the big lake in the park and the surrounding city. Beautiful!

That's all for today... tune in next time for the Hudson River Valley collection!

East Coast Adventure - Part One

2009-06-10T12:52:00.005-05:00

I had a tremendous opportunity to travel with my daughter Gretchen during the first week of June. We went to New York City and Boston together. It was our first "girl-cation" together. She was on business for Concordia Publishing, and I was able to "tag along". What a fantastic 5 days we shared! We began in New York City and ended in Boston with lots of super sights to see in between. So for the next few posts, I'll share some of our adventures! We made many memories of great food, great fun, and two great cities!

This is New York's Grand Central Terminal. It is a busy place 24/7. We arrived here by train from our hotel.

Since both Gret and I are English teachers and bookworms, our first stop was the giant reading room at the New York Public Library. Actually, it's practically next door to Grand Central, so we aren't quite the nerds we appear to be! (well, yeah, we are!)

Strolling up Fifth Avenue... we come upon Saks 5th Ave. and its neighbor, St. Patrick's Cathedral.

You guessed it, instead of going into Saks, we went into the Cathedral! Again lots of people coming and going. We stopped, lit a candle, and said a prayer of thanks for Uncle Jon's successful surgery that morning!

All "Today Show" fans know this site - we're at Rockefeller Center! An open air dining area sits where the ice rink is in the winter.

Ever watch Tom Hank's in "Big"? Here we are at our favorite store... F.A.O. Schwarz.
And yes, grandkidlets, I got something for you there!

It's now about 9pm but Times Square is bright like daytime! This was taken without a flash! If you look up above the red Toshiba sign near the top, you can see the ball and the "2009" from New Year's Eve.

That's it for today... more tomorrow my friends!

Pooltime!

2009-06-01T21:12:00.003-05:00

Summertime is Pool Time and relaxing on the deck! Sydney enjoys toddling around the garden and eating snacks under the umbrella. We spent a lot of our Sunday just enjoying the day. Sydney already knows to grab her "magic coat" (aka her lifejacket) as she heads out the back door. Here she models one of her new swimsuits.

Counting, crating, and closing...

2009-05-27T22:40:00.004-05:00

This is the week after graduation at LHS. That means the faculty is busy with "end of the year stuff" to accomplish before summer can officially get underway. Today was busy with an interesting variety of things... first the exhilarating activity of the annual inventory. This is when I get to count my chairs, desks, and (believe it or not) the clock on my classroom wall... all for insurance purposes. I am sure you will all be relieved to know that I still have the same trashcans (yes, we count those too!) and clock with which I began the year. It's an all too familiar drill... and now I can report it is finished.

Next, I had to box up (oh, and COUNT them too) my books in my classroom and figure out what needs to be ordered for fall. I was pleased to be able to save my department a bit of cash as my books were in really good shape and even with shifting numbers, I will have plenty for fall. Next year all LHS students must complete 4 years (instead of 3) of English in order to graduate. Most do this already, but the state has made it mandatory and, thus, so have we. This means full classes for next year and I will teacher only senior level courses next year. So the crating was completed and the room was starting to look pretty "ship shape".

Finally, the exciting event... I put the wrap on the yearbook and shipped the final pages to the publisher at 6:06 pm tonight! I did my annual "dance of joy" in the hallway... and, as usual, no one was there to see it except Ed who is not as impressed with my hilarious gyrations as he once was. I did a repeat performance of it for Sydney when I arrived at home. She was much more appreciative of my efforts as she was sitting in her bathtub when I did it and decided to accompany my joyful whoops and crazy boogie with some serious splashing of her own. Gret was between us at the time and got nicely drenched as a result! MORE fun! So the yearbook is "put to bed" - adviser speak for "I am done editing this puppy, AT LAST!" One fact to note, we had a 93% hit rate... the highest ever! To those of you who are yearbook speak newbies, this means that 93% of our students have MORE than just their school portrait in the book tagged with their name in the caption. I am certain the format the staff chose is the reason for this because we did sort of a "journaling" approach to the YB this year. It's very cool and I am excited about what the reaction of the student body will be to it.

So a good day of "counting, crating, and closing" out the past school year... bring on some summer! (Now, if only this crazy rain we've been having would stop...)

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3.....

2009-05-20T08:47:00.005-05:00

It's that jolly time of year again... FINAL EXAMS!
At present, I am sitting in a room filled with students all hunkered over the tool of torture I have devised for them. Today's topic: Mythology! Then they hand them in and they get their revenge... I sit here for 4 hours grading all the papers. There HAS to be a better way, right? Wrong! But by Friday, I will be ready to celebrate Summer! Come back for updates!
Now, see if YOU know:
1. Which Greek goddess was the twin of Apollo?
2. Who was the ugliest Greek god? ... He was lame and deformed when his mother threw him to the earth in disgust (goddesses aren't generally good moms!)
3. Which goddess is known as the protector of marriage and married women? (hint: she's the same goddess who did the damage in #2 above!)
4. Which goddess arose from her father's head fully grown and wearing her battle armor?

If you respond in the comments section I will grade your work too and give you a score. :-)
Answers coming tomorrow! Tune in!

It's time for a Rendezvous: Lewis & Clark Style!

2009-05-17T15:03:00.006-05:00

It's Festival time in St. Charles! May means it's the LEWIS & CLARK RENDEZVOUS!

What a gorgeous, sunny morning greeted us today! Perfect weather to head outside...and down to the riverfront we went. There we found the Lewis and Clark Rendezvous well underway. This is an annual St. Charles festival celebrating the stop made here by those intrepid explorers before they made the trek of their lives starting in 18-oh-something or other. It's a big deal and attracts re-enactment types from all across the country. They had a chilly night in the 40's to camp out in last night, but awoke to a gloriously sunny day today. Sydney was most fascinated by all the colorful clothes and the music. We had fun watching her discover her shadow and also her efforts at trying to push her stroller from down below!

Little Girls and Pretty Flowers

2009-05-09T21:27:00.005-05:00

We have some new excitement at our house. Sydney has come to live with us along with her mommy and daddy (we let her bring them along). There's a great reason for all this excitement; Gretchen and Leon are building a new home. They were equally blessed in that their former home sold quickly and that means they are nesting in with us through the summer. As grandparents, we're ecstatic!

Last weekend was the weekend of the big move and everything sailed smoothly. So now, while we are still shuffling a few things around here and there, we are no longer empty nesters for the next few months. What fun it's already been to wake up to see see Syd having breakfast in the mornings and to get to read to her whenever we want to. She's been busy playing outside and seems to think nothing much about all the big changes. I guess when you're little, as long as you have the people who love you all around, the rest of the world is perfect too. There's a lesson in that...right?

What follows are some of the iris and columbines that are blooming all over my garden Enjoy!

Tea Parties, Toddlers, and Time on the Beach

2009-04-27T21:47:00.004-05:00

Me and my baby girl, Katrina!

Rhy is so cute... this is her caught by surprise face!

Ash up a tree!

Rhy follows mommy down the beach.

Time for tea!

This past weekend we were able to spend a lovely long weekend with the family in the North. We drove up to St. Joseph, Michigan for some wonderful time with all the Harrmanns, particularly our 3 grandkids, Gabriel, Asher, and Rhylah. It was fun in so many ways just to hang out, enjoy watching the kids play, and to catch up with one another. The kids are changing so much and each time we see them we are amazed at how much bigger they have gotten. Gabe is into baseball now, Asher is teaching Rhylah all sorts of new skills like an ideal big brother, and Rhy is getting into playing pretend. The tea set we got her this weekend kept her busy making imaginary beverages for all of us the entire time we were there. So cute! It was a PERFECT weekend!

One Year from Free Coffee!

2009-04-22T23:40:00.002-05:00

I celebrated my 54th birthday on Monday, and the funniest thing anyone said to me was my mom's reminding me that I have only a year to go before I am eligible to get free coffee at McDonald's! I had to laugh at that because besides being a Burger King fan, I am generally not the type that gets all whooped up about freebies. But I guess there will be some "perks" to being 55 in another year. Ed has yet to take advantage of this exciting aspect of his age, and I imagine a certain southern location will likely freeze over before he does, but it's fun to joke about it.

My birthday was excellent... the following things happened on it: (or almost on it!)

1. No one did anything lame or disgusting on the news front. Being born on 4/20 sets you up to have nasty events take place (Columbine, drugfests, etc) on your day.

2. I got a lovely grandmother bracelet from my kids with the grandkids' birthstones on it. Very pretty!

3. I went out with my family to dinner... Fratelli's was wonderful; everyone should eat a canolli on their special day!

4. I found out my mom loves "Dancing with the Stars" almost as much as I do, and we laughed and talked together long distance while we watched it.

5. I didn't feel like I'd gotten any older.

6. I got a ton of greetings from Facebook friends which made me feel very much loved.

7. Today I ran 1.5 miles on the track.... something I know a lot of 54 yr. old women couldn't/wouldn't do.

8. I still haven't joined AARP!

9. My Publications staff kiddos surprised me with a birthday cookie/cake today... delicious and so nice of them! Thanks Elaine, you're a doll!

10. My school week has been going really fast this week for some reason... which is not a bad thing when you teach mostly seniors.

"Can You Come Out and Play?"

2009-04-17T15:41:00.005-05:00

Here we are by the famous "Phil the Gorilla" Statue.. a St. Louis Zoo photo landmark!

The motto of our own St. Louis Zoo is "Can You Come Out and Play?" and believe me, EVERY kid in St. Louis was taking that to heart today! We had a classic St. Louis area spring day today. Sunny, light breeze, 74 degrees... PERFECTION! So off we headed for the zoo. It was a veritable stroller convention, but everyone was so mellow and just loving being outside that it was the MOST fun! Everyone was grinning, making sure all the "little people" in the crowd could see, taking turns, it looked like a toddler manners workshop or something along those lines. Loads of grammies and papas were strolling about with tots in tow. Syd LOVED it.

Once inside, we got her the obligatory Zoo Safari hat and off we went! She watched people as much as she watched animals. We saw: seals, prairie dogs, monkeys, giraffes, camels, gazelles, and all the birds we could find (since her daddy doesn't enjoy birds... we saved the bigger slow moving critters for when she takes HIM to the zoo next time!). She saw a peacock spread his tail, saw ducks and pelicans swim, and a giant hornbill hop! She got very good at watching for movement, and after that, anything that moved had her undivided attention. So in answer to the zoo's question, "Can you come out and play?" - our answer is a resounding, "YES!"

Sydney is totally "in the moment" on a snack break! Watching people and seal lions at the
same time as having a good animal cracker! YUM!

We are looking at Toucans, the "Fruit Loops" birds! Syd got SO excited by their bright colorful bills.

Papa can always be counted on to give you a boost to see better.

Yeah, I know she's showing way too much cookie in this shot,

but she was having such a great time that I had to share it!
Oh, and yes- she left her safari hat on the whole time!

All you need for fun is a WHEE-lbarrow!

2009-04-15T20:56:00.003-05:00

In the world of toddlers, there's not much better than a "Papa-powered" fun ride. Check out Syd as she discovers the fun of one-wheeled vehicles... namely her Papa's wheelbarrow! She kept very still but squealed "whee" all away around the yard! It is a ride that I am sure she'll enjoy repeats of throughout the coming summer!

There's nothing like being a wheelbarrow princess!