California Vistin'

OK, we are back from CA but we had a great time. We got to see lots of family. Mark, Grant (on crutches), Cooper, Kelly and of course Archer. That little guy has got the scream part of life down...I think he will be a sports announcer for some team like the CUBS. Something where screaming happens infrequently. But, I even love the screaming!
His folks are adorable! Coop and Kelly are such amazing parents. Mark is settling into the Grandpa thing with such ease. He reminds me of Pop Rickard pretty often. OK, enough gush. The other photo is with Terry and Sue Todd. Those two are great frineds. Terry is my brother from another Mother. He and I share the same sick sense of humor, a love of diverse kinds of music and 25 years at TJ tormenting eachother with practical jokes. We saw them at their Palm Springs home. What a great trip.

Coast to Coast and in between

The Girls are in Tacoma Washington. Just a bit ago we were in Williamsberg (garden photo) and the Outer Banks.
So, I offer you here a smattering of Lavonne and I at Williamsberg, Lucy's....working on the Garage drive (15 tons of gravel and the cabin) and Pikes Market in Seattle. The "wrong way" sign is specifically for Lavonne who tried to moon the bellcap. We may not be able to return to another Marriot property...or then maybe we will be asked to comeback again (not likely). Oh...and the orange thing is a glass show by Chahulli (spelling?) a crazy eyepatch wearing artist who works with glass.

Cat Video

New York

Well, the girls hit the big Apple and it was less Sex in the City"ish" and more Metamucil in Manhattan like. We had a good time and our room was a block from the site of the Twin Towers. We had a Hudson River view and a view of Ellis Island.More later...but thought you would like the photos. The first few are of us in North Carolina...the second stop on our tour of the East with Shannon working and Lavonne playing. She did notice a Merrill Lynch Bull statue and did a complete colorectal exam to see what was messing up the markets. She also found a sign that prohibited profanity. That was a very quiet place for her.

Big Wind

I know, you saw the title, "big wind" and thought immediately that I had been eating beans. But, oh no, it is not me this time. The wind came in front of a storm while we were trying to land at Omaha. The plane circled for about an hour over Lincoln, NE and then landed in Omaha. The storm blew through with sustained winds of 100 to 115 mph. We lost power but no damage to our house. A few trees in our beautiful neighborhood lost limbs and we lost a few trees. Those who parked their cars under the trees lost them as well. We were blessed with no dammage. So, we did what all good Midwesterners do...we got out the chain saw and helped our neighbors. Then we took off and found a burger king open on the far south west part of the city and bought 25 burgers then brought them back to the neighbors ...as none of us could get into our refrigerators and we only had gas grills to cook on. The burgers were a hit.
We have power back and all is well.
Oh, I did throw in a photo of some of the trip to New Hampshire and Maine. Next up is New York City and Virginia Beach.

Floods

I have been trying to write and not think of it as a "to do " list thing. But, the blog gets neglected when the schedule gets full.
We came home from a great visit with Dad in New Mexico and the rain had been coming down for days. There was 10 inches one week at Steamboat Rock Iowa. All the rivers on the east side of the state were swolen and as we drove up to Steamboat to check on Sharon each river crossing showed a river way out of its banks. Some were 10 or more feet above flood stage. The hotel I stay at in Iowa City is flooded and friends in Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls are up to the second story in flood water.
That makes me think that the tiny irritations I suffer each day are so minor. It helps to put things in perspective. If you wake up breathing you have another day to get it right.

Angels Camp 2008

Angels Camp in Spring is magical. It is made more so by Tiffany, Jesus Marcos and Aunt Betty. We ate more than we should, fed Aunt Betty junk food (always fun) and talked and laughed off at least a part of the injested calories. Ok only a fraction.
JM, the cutie is almost a year old and he is quite the charmer. He does not say much but Dada and "what a gem that Aunt Shan is". I tried to teach him to say Mama but he has a stubborn streak...I wonder wher he gets that?
Mark came up and we had a great time talking about politics and religion (I say this with amazememt as we are such polar opposites...he is such an Hillary fan (she says dripping with sarcasm) and I think Obama might be the man). Still we did have a great visit. Grant came by just in time to give us a hug before we headed out.
Robert, Tiff's hubby is a sweetie. He bought a new truck and had Father Alex bless it.I want him to come here and bless my water heater. Do they do that or is that just a little petty to ask for another year aout of the old beast installed during the Nixon years?