Big Sandbox

Last weekend, nephew Brian was so intoxicated by the beauty of the sand and water that he fell over the sand dune cliff.



Maria, Bridget, and Uncle John were dispatched to help him up. I calmly stood by to take photos.



Not to worry - John rescued him and it made for some good photographs.

Look Here People

Sister Mary and niece Tiffany look stunning in red.

Matching Shirts

Years ago, we went on vacation and I had gotten matching turquoise shirts for the whole family so we could easily identify one another. The family gave me a hard time, but we had many fond memories from that trip.

Imagine my excitement last Sunday when there we were wearing our matching MCC shirts and there was a photographer there ready to take our photo! It was exciting except for the fact that Maria wasn't with us. We were thinking of her while it was taken though! Hi Maria!

Photo by K. Reed

Cape Hatteras Misadventure

One day last week when we were at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, John and Maria set out on a small adventure to Cape Hatteras to see the famed lighthouse. As you can see, Maria was quite pleased to see it and pose in front of it.

As John was fiddling with the camera (pulling a Judy), Maria grew tired and began to rest on the lighthouse. Suddenly, it tipped over.

Not to fear. Maria picked it up and put it back in place. No one even noticed.

Oh, and then, on the way back from the Cape, John got a $170 traffic ticket for passing in the right lane. This was the real misadventure.

American Idol Funnies by John

This quote was from John while he was discussing with the girls next week's show-down between the Davids:

"Why archuletting me make a prediction about who's cooking up a big win next week?

Guest Blogger Day: Bridget

I'm helping out my mom today!!! She said i could clean the bathrooms or do her blog...so i chose the blog. Duh. She picked out a couple of pictures of me and my friend Jessica. ( not very good ones though)

What is Truth?

I actually remembered when I woke up yesterday that it was April Fool's Day so I was on guard and it was working out good for me. John told Bridget she could go back to bed because school was cancelled and I quick blurted "April Fool's" because I don't like to see people be disappointed.

Bridget came home from school at 3:35pm and excitedly told me about all the jokes that were made in school that day in the name of April 1. I was amused. The truth is, on this day, watch out or you'll be fooled.

Oh, remember that picture of me eating a donut that was in the Brian Diemer 5K brochure? Today a friend wrote to tell me it is on their website this year. I thought this was pretty cool so I sent the link to John. He called me later in the afternoon to tell me he also saw the picture on a billboard on 68th street on the way to work. I was so excited at the thought of a bigger than life picture of me out there - I don't know why, I just thought it would be funny. He told me it was that billboard by the railroad tracks and I couldn't picture it, so he said it was that one that says April Billboards at the bottom, so I said what side of the road is it on, and he said you see it when you're driving TO school. I was all, why do they like that picture so much??? I still couldn't picture where the billboard was, so he told me it's the one that says www.aprilfools.com. I finally got it.

Cleaning and Shopping and Keeping On

John has been out of town this week, first to Washington DC, then to Arizona, so I have been motivated to do some deep cleaning. I spent about 10 hours on the kitchen cupboards and last night, I organized the 2 junk drawers. Doesn't that sound fun? It was!

I did have a couple of birthday lunches with friends which felt like gifts to me as much as to them, you know? Deep in the recesses of my cupboards, I discovered some jam jars of my friend Lori on her birthday. So I took a cleaning break for a birthday lunch!

It turns out, my friend Cathy loves three-cheese Olga's as much as I do and we only ever eat them with our mothers. What's that all about? So we met at Olga's, and ended up shopping for a hot babe dress (for me) and pants and a bathing suit(for her). Those are the completely hardest things to shop for if you ask me, so it was a good feeling to have succeeded, and it was a plus to have had so much fun doing it. Another bonus: when I got home, Bridget approved of the dress! This is huge.

Note: I never knew I could have a hot babe dress, but I have been told since I am a hot babe, all of my dresses are hot babe dresses. Now that makes sense to me. :)

Everyone Loves a Mime?

John by a fireplace at Calvin College, Feb. 2008

John is probably the funniest person I know even though he says that I am the funniest person I know. People who know him have told me we must have fun all the time. Our kids say I always repeat his jokes to make them funnier - what can I say? I recognize good humor.
Anyhoo, John has a post up about mimes on his blog which he updates once in a great while. Check it out here!

And the winner is...

This morning, the Bridget & I made sure all the names of the people in the 2nd Blogaversary earring give-away thingy were properly accounted for on a slip of paper.

We enlisted Edward as a not-so-enthusiastic, neutral party to hold the pink hat and Bridget pulled out the winner's name...

... it was Marianna! The model for the underwear party! And it just so happens we will be seeing her next week at her son Trey's wedding. Congratulations, Mar.

What Living Free in NH Looks Like

Is it Art, Social Commentary, or Photo Essay? I think he's trying to tell us that life in New Hamphire is more dream-worthy than that in California because for one, you have ice fishing. But what do I know? Or that song comes to mind, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things, doesn't belong..." Or did you notice that there are three different species of fish? This photo is such a conversation piece! I could frame it and put it on my wall next to the sad little blue man.

Note: These fish were all caught from under the ice and eaten and not photoshopped onto the above picture. And yes, Uncle Alan is taking credit for the catch.

Spittin' Images

On the MyHeritage site you can submit a picture of a kid along with pictures of the parents to see who he/she looks more like. I did this during Thanksgiving vacation. First picture, Bridget tilts the scale toward her mother, me. I agree, she has pretty much always looked like me though I sometimes see a bit of John in her.



The next picture, Maria tilts the scale toward John. I'll go there as Maria is pretty much the splitting image of John's sister.


Now things get dicier. Edward, who has always been a male version of his mother, me, actually tilted the scale to John. It's ok, they're both male. Must be John's goatee that attracts the needle.


I tried new pictures of Edward & me and this must be more accurate.


I tried another one of BeeBop, and it went to John! What?


Now this next one is more like it. Maria looks equally like us both. I think that pictures capture different facets of the face at different moments in time and so can look like different facets of the parents face at any given time. That is my theory.

Body Double

This past holiday weekend, I've had a little time to explore the MyHeritage.com sight which can analyze a picture of your face and tell you who you look like. I blogged about this last year, but to review, I looked the most like Jacki O.



They now have a feature which allows you to see how you morph into someone else:



So now when people are staring at me trying to think of who it is I remind them of, I can say, well, I do have a 78% likeness to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I just need a brunette hair-do and oh, a string of pearls which I do have.

I tried a different picture of an older 45 year old version of me and now they say I look like the ever-perky Katie Couric. I think the mouth is really off on this one!



It's kind of fun. You should try it.

The Leaves have not Left Yet

Today in my neighborhood

I was reading something Jerry Seinfeld said about the first joke of his that got a laugh. It was about lefties - and I was interested since my mom, John and Bridget are all lefties. He was talking about how left handedness and left things are associated with the negative - like 2 left feet, or you go to a party and nobody is there, where did everybody go? They left.

So sorry Mom, John, Bridget, when the leaves fall, that means they left. Too bad.

The Origins of Leo, or Dumb Moments in My Life

http://xkcd.com

The other day when Edward & I were walking in front of Ford's Presidential Museum downtown, we saw a kitty on the banks of the Grand River. It was very cute, we started saying stupid things and it reminded us of this comic.

Last night, the girls were talking about how we ended up getting our kitty. As they recalled, Bridget was probably 4 years old and in pre-school. I took her to the pet store, and she said so wistfully, I wish I had a bunny. Who could resist?

I said, without thinking, How about a kitty? It seemed more exciting to me than a stinky bunny in a cage. So we ended up getting a free cat who was born in a barn. The girls wondered aloud how different our life would be without Leo, and they concluded that there would probably be less stupid moments.



Oh well, he has given us something to do together even if it is to be stupid.

Mud

Edward, Pioneer Classic, 2007

This morning, I left work for awhile to watch Edward's first official XC race of the year with my trusty camera in hand. I was so excited after he ran by and I turned fully clothed in workwear to run to the one mile marker. I slipped and fell in the mud in front of what felt like thousands of parents! My work clothes and camera were covered with mud, but of course I carried on like I was normal. "Oh really, it was nothing"

I think that's why this model falling on the runway makes me laugh every time I see it. I relate to each little stumble. Been there, done that! Got the t-shirt!

The Never Ending Benefits of Caffeine

When I hear of a new perk about caffeine, I'm quick to latch on so I have yet one more excuse to drink coffee. In the past, I have endured numerous caffeine withdrawals for various reasons such as pregnancy or acid reflux. But the other day, Carol came into the office and gave me the best excuse so far - women who drink caffeine hold on to their memories longer! I gave her a "high 5"! It must be true - I think of the old ladies I know who had good memories and one thing is for sure - they were remembering to drink their coffee.

So here is one more fountain-of-youth-type benefit: The other day, I was at the store with the girls and I mentioned how I needed some new foundation. We went over to the make-up area and found something called "Age-Rewind." I thought it sounded hopeful. The girls thought it sounded fun. One of its ingredients is caffeine! It sounded good to me so I'm trying it. We'll see.

Sophisticated Palates

This week, Maria is gone on vacation with a friend and Edward is at Cross Country Camp. Bridget, being the youngest, loves to have people around, so she had her friend Jessica sleep over last night. This afternoon, I was reading to them about how the new hot lunch program at school takes into account the more sophisticated taste palates of middle schoolers.

Salutations

I was talking to a friend of mine after church Sunday and somehow this conversation innocently came up:

Me: I was Salutatorian of my class. That means I was second, you know?
Heather: I know, I was Valedictorian.

This was so funny. The greatest thing, I have found, about being the Salutatorian is that you can say, I was the Salutatorian of my class.


Me with the Principal, 1981

Numb3rs

Last week at work, I was given some different responsibilities that are in line with my "skill set" and I am excited about this. Our new executive director said he heard that I had an aptitude with numbers. Actually, it's more than an aptitude, it's more like a relationship with numbers. I love them all, they're like my little friends with their properties and their good looks. I like to watch them find their place in spreadsheets.

So Sharon & I started talking about some of the financial worksheets and soon I said something like, it doesn't even seem like money anymore. (I don't mean to suggest that we don't make any of our decisions at work without being good stewards of our resources.) This reminded me of when I was in my first week of actuarial training in my new job after college. My boss at the time was explaining accrued liabilities and present value of benefits and temporary annuity factors all to come up with a contribution amount, and I said naively, And is that money? I remember many times sitting in my cubicle playing with my little number friends to put these contribution amounts together and often times, when I saw the number that I would finally come up with, it would be a moment of instant recognition - "Hey, I know you!"- because it was a number of such beautiful properties or patterns like 123,321 or it rolled off the tongue like 88,878 and I knew I would then be able to call the accountant or CFO with this beautiful news.

Galileo said that mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe. I think it is our way of understanding or describing or explaining the order He has created out of the chaos which existed before creation. It's just another way to see beauty in the world He has made.

Me & Mr. Teddy

When we were at Camp Conger a few weeks ago for the family reunion, HRH the Queen Mother had me pose with these new additions to camp. A local sculptor donated some time to the camp and carved these bears in an old fallen log. I'm thinking they will make quite an impression on the kids who come to camp there.

More Clouds in Space

Most of the time, I'm the spaced out one. . .
Today after work, I was going on my walk and talking to John on the cell phone. We were talking about someone we wanted to call to invite over and John had their phone number. So I asked him for it, and then he asked me if I had my cell phone. That's because I sound really real on the phone, you know.

High Tea

Tea with the Queen Mother is always exciting!

Unzipped in the Twilight Zone

This morning, I woke up at about 4:30am, but managed to get back to sleep before my usual 6:30am wake-up time. I don't set my alarm, I just wake up from all the commotion going on in the house. So I was enjoying this time of dream-filled sleep, when suddenly, my co-worker Sharon was there in my dream as real as can be zipping up her pants as she was getting ready for work and she said, "Why didn't you tell me I was unzipped?" I immediately woke up and it was 6:37am. Yes, I felt weird about dreaming that, but oh well. Maybe one of the psychologists at work can tell me the meaning of that some day.

Meanwhile, I was glad to be up because I had lunches to make, kids to get off to school, and myself ready for work. When I arrived at work just before 8am, I said to Sharon, "You woke me up this morning. Thanks." She was of course puzzled, so I explained my dream about the unzipped pants and how I immediately woke up. She had this look of instant recognition and said that at that time, she was actually looking at herself in the mirror and noticing she was unzipped. I retold this story at least twice during the day and each time, she piped in, "I swear it's true."

What a weird thing to have ESP about.


Sharon with her Taco Bell dog last summer

My New Exercise Routine

A friend of mine at work told me about this exercise routine to build muscle strength in the arms and shoulders. It seems so easy, so I thought I'd blog about it. The article suggested doing it three days a week. It should fit in with my daily walking routine wonderfully.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, then relax. Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then 50-lb potato sacks. Eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each