Thursday, July 20, 2006
I bet it was Dad who stole this cat
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/18/20060718-B3-03.html
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Homecoming, poison ivy, and X-ray vision
Helllllloooooo.... Is there anybody out there? WELCOME HOME, TESSY!!!!
I have poison ivy on my face. By Sunday morning it had gone to my eyelids. The left one was all swelled up. I didn't go to church on Sunday. By Monday I had it in my throat. I went to the doctor and now I'm on the roids, so try not to be too jealous of the toned physique and cute little goatee I will shortly be developing.
I was framing some pictures to hang, and I showed one to Wes. "This is the goods," I said. He looked at it. "What is this, your dad? he asked. "Yup", I said, "but more importantly, look at what he's holding -- that's good blackmail right there, that is!" Wes said, "You mean the rabbit he's holding?"
Dun dun DUN.
I looked closely.
Wes and his stupid Superman X-ray vision. He's right. It IS a rabbit that dad is holding in that picture. And all these years I thought it was a cat. Stupid me. Stupid no more blackmail.
I have poison ivy on my face. By Sunday morning it had gone to my eyelids. The left one was all swelled up. I didn't go to church on Sunday. By Monday I had it in my throat. I went to the doctor and now I'm on the roids, so try not to be too jealous of the toned physique and cute little goatee I will shortly be developing.
I was framing some pictures to hang, and I showed one to Wes. "This is the goods," I said. He looked at it. "What is this, your dad? he asked. "Yup", I said, "but more importantly, look at what he's holding -- that's good blackmail right there, that is!" Wes said, "You mean the rabbit he's holding?"
Dun dun DUN.
I looked closely.
Wes and his stupid Superman X-ray vision. He's right. It IS a rabbit that dad is holding in that picture. And all these years I thought it was a cat. Stupid me. Stupid no more blackmail.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
A Basket of Poo
Today I happened to notice a short story that I wrote exactly a year ago. Although you've seen it before, I thought I would post it for your enjoyment:
*********************
A Basket of Poo
Mr. and Mrs. Smith bought a house. “Look, look,” said Mr. Smith. “It is a nice house.”
“It is a very pretty house,” said Mrs. Smith. “We should have pets to live in this pretty house with us.”
Many pets came to live with Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the pretty house. Some of the pets were big. Some of them were small. All of the pets were stupid.
“Look, look,” said Mrs. Smith. “See our stupid pets. We have a stupid dog, and two stupid cats, and stupid fish.”
Mr. and Mrs. Smith did not know that stupid mice also lived in their house. One day Mrs. Smith came home. There was a mouse in the kitchen.
“Look, look,” screamed Mrs. Smith. “Look, stupid cats. There is a mouse.” The cats did not say anything. They were too stupid.
Another day Mr. Smith said, “Look, look, Mrs. Smith. There is a mouse running around the living room.” Mrs. Smith stood on the couch. “Look, look, Mr. Smith,” she screamed. “Catch the stupid mouse.”
Mr. Smith caught the mouse and put it outside. The next day Mrs. Smith went downstairs to feed the stupid cats. She put her hand in the bag of cat food. She screamed and ran up the stairs.
“Look, look, Mr. Smith!” she said. “There is a mouse in the bag of cat food.” Mr. Smith went downstairs. He was down there for a long time. He did not tell Mrs. Smith what he did with the mouse in the bag of cat food. She did not ask.
After that, Mr. and Mrs. Smith saw many stupid mice. One day Mr. Smith said, “Look, look, Mrs. Smith. Our cats are too stupid to catch mice. We should not have stupid pet mice in our house. We should buy mouse traps.”
“You are right,” said Mrs. Smith. So the next day she bought mouse traps at the store.
Mr. Smith took a mouse trap. He put peanut butter in it. He took it downstairs and put it in the closet next to the bag of cat food. “Look, look, Mrs. Smith,” he said. “I will catch the stupid mouse that likes to eat cat food.”
“Why don’t you look in the closet and see if you can find the mouse nest?” asked Mrs. Smith.
“You are right,” said Mr. Smith. So he looked in the closet. In the closet were many things. There were baseball gloves and volleyball knee pads and jump ropes. There were knee braces and shin guards and baseball bats. There was also a large basket to put all those things in.
Mr. Smith took the basket out of the closet and looked in it. When he had taken out the baseball gloves and volleyball knee pads and jump ropes and knee braces and shin guards and baseball bats, there were still several large lumps of something left in the basket. It looked like thousands and thousands of tiny somethings that had clumped together into three large piles.
“Look, look, Mrs. Smith,” he said. She came downstairs and looked.
“What is that?” she asked.
“It is a basket of mouse poo,” said Mr. Smith.
Mrs. Smith said a word. She said the word in Dutch.
“That’s right,” said Mr. Smith. “Poo.”
*********************
A Basket of Poo
Mr. and Mrs. Smith bought a house. “Look, look,” said Mr. Smith. “It is a nice house.”
“It is a very pretty house,” said Mrs. Smith. “We should have pets to live in this pretty house with us.”
Many pets came to live with Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the pretty house. Some of the pets were big. Some of them were small. All of the pets were stupid.
“Look, look,” said Mrs. Smith. “See our stupid pets. We have a stupid dog, and two stupid cats, and stupid fish.”
Mr. and Mrs. Smith did not know that stupid mice also lived in their house. One day Mrs. Smith came home. There was a mouse in the kitchen.
“Look, look,” screamed Mrs. Smith. “Look, stupid cats. There is a mouse.” The cats did not say anything. They were too stupid.
Another day Mr. Smith said, “Look, look, Mrs. Smith. There is a mouse running around the living room.” Mrs. Smith stood on the couch. “Look, look, Mr. Smith,” she screamed. “Catch the stupid mouse.”
Mr. Smith caught the mouse and put it outside. The next day Mrs. Smith went downstairs to feed the stupid cats. She put her hand in the bag of cat food. She screamed and ran up the stairs.
“Look, look, Mr. Smith!” she said. “There is a mouse in the bag of cat food.” Mr. Smith went downstairs. He was down there for a long time. He did not tell Mrs. Smith what he did with the mouse in the bag of cat food. She did not ask.
After that, Mr. and Mrs. Smith saw many stupid mice. One day Mr. Smith said, “Look, look, Mrs. Smith. Our cats are too stupid to catch mice. We should not have stupid pet mice in our house. We should buy mouse traps.”
“You are right,” said Mrs. Smith. So the next day she bought mouse traps at the store.
Mr. Smith took a mouse trap. He put peanut butter in it. He took it downstairs and put it in the closet next to the bag of cat food. “Look, look, Mrs. Smith,” he said. “I will catch the stupid mouse that likes to eat cat food.”
“Why don’t you look in the closet and see if you can find the mouse nest?” asked Mrs. Smith.
“You are right,” said Mr. Smith. So he looked in the closet. In the closet were many things. There were baseball gloves and volleyball knee pads and jump ropes. There were knee braces and shin guards and baseball bats. There was also a large basket to put all those things in.
Mr. Smith took the basket out of the closet and looked in it. When he had taken out the baseball gloves and volleyball knee pads and jump ropes and knee braces and shin guards and baseball bats, there were still several large lumps of something left in the basket. It looked like thousands and thousands of tiny somethings that had clumped together into three large piles.
“Look, look, Mrs. Smith,” he said. She came downstairs and looked.
“What is that?” she asked.
“It is a basket of mouse poo,” said Mr. Smith.
Mrs. Smith said a word. She said the word in Dutch.
“That’s right,” said Mr. Smith. “Poo.”
My thoughts
I think that all grownups should get a 3-month summer vacation. With pay.
Teenagers could continue to run Dairy Queens for us, so we'd be able to get our ice cream. And that's all you really need in the summer, right?
Teenagers could continue to run Dairy Queens for us, so we'd be able to get our ice cream. And that's all you really need in the summer, right?
Monday, July 10, 2006
I saw a dead possum this morning
Is that thrilling or what?
We finished our winter projects on Saturday. Only about 3 months or so behind schedule, eh? But there is now a bannister in the upstairs hallway along the stairwell, making it much more difficult to fall down the stairs from the side, so that's nice.
We watched 4 movies this weekend:
The new Pirates of the Caribbean
Swingers
The Princess Bride
Hitch
This is what we are forced to do now that we have finished the high-pressure need to work on that particular remodelling project -- relax. It is a strange sensation indeed.
We finished our winter projects on Saturday. Only about 3 months or so behind schedule, eh? But there is now a bannister in the upstairs hallway along the stairwell, making it much more difficult to fall down the stairs from the side, so that's nice.
We watched 4 movies this weekend:
The new Pirates of the Caribbean
Swingers
The Princess Bride
Hitch
This is what we are forced to do now that we have finished the high-pressure need to work on that particular remodelling project -- relax. It is a strange sensation indeed.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Update on Paul Janssen
The latest update from Chuck late Thursday night:
Paul is being kept in an induced coma in order to stop him from fighting the ventilator and other tubes going into and out of his body. The primary problem is his lungs. They were badly bruised in the accident, and he inhaled water while lying unconscious in a ditch. The ventilator and induced coma are to allow his lungs to begin healing. The idea is to gradually bring him out of the coma and encourage his lungs to work by themselves.
He went through a crisis on Wednesday evening. His chest cavity began to fill up with air, and his blood oxygen, pulse and blood pressure readings went down. The doctor (the doctor who was on call that night, who "happened" to be the chief of that department) called in Chuck and Shelley and said, "We are running out of options here." He did, however, say that as a last-ditch effort, they would change the ventilator tube. Chuck and Shelly went back out to the waiting room while that was being done and began to storm Heaven with prayer.
Within a few hours, Paul's vital signs had improved to a point where they were even better than before. Later that morning, the doctor saw Chuck in the hospital cafeteria and told him that he was amazed at Paul's recovery. He confessed that the night before, he had not had much hope of Paul's survival. The doctor recommended that Chuck and Shelley continue to pray, because "we are seeing a real miracle here." The doctor, by the way, is Jewish.
In the meantime, Paul's regular doctor (the one who has been in charge of his case since the accident) had expressed concern that no one had seen Paul move his legs. He told the Janssens he was going to order an MRI to see if there was a blood clot in the spine. Now, that morning, before speaking to the doctor, Chuck had suddenly recalled an old song we used to sing, that goes something like this: "Every place on which your foot shall tread, I have given it to you, I have given it to you..." Chuck was impressed to sing this song over Paul and pray for fulfillment of that promise---this was still before the doctor had expressed concern about Paul's legs. After the doctor talked to them about it, Chuck told Shelley about the song. Shelley's mouth dropped open, and she said, "But the Lord reminded ME about that song this morning, too, and I sang it over Paul!"
They laid hands on Paul's legs and began to pray. Paul moved his left leg back and forth. They ran out to tell a nurse, and she went in and saw Paul's leg move, too. When it was reported to the doctor, his mouth fell open. He cancelled the planned MRI.
So for now, prayer continues to be needed for Paul's lungs to heal. The plan, at this point, is to gradually bring him out of the coma over several days and see if he can breathe on his own.
Paul is being kept in an induced coma in order to stop him from fighting the ventilator and other tubes going into and out of his body. The primary problem is his lungs. They were badly bruised in the accident, and he inhaled water while lying unconscious in a ditch. The ventilator and induced coma are to allow his lungs to begin healing. The idea is to gradually bring him out of the coma and encourage his lungs to work by themselves.
He went through a crisis on Wednesday evening. His chest cavity began to fill up with air, and his blood oxygen, pulse and blood pressure readings went down. The doctor (the doctor who was on call that night, who "happened" to be the chief of that department) called in Chuck and Shelley and said, "We are running out of options here." He did, however, say that as a last-ditch effort, they would change the ventilator tube. Chuck and Shelly went back out to the waiting room while that was being done and began to storm Heaven with prayer.
Within a few hours, Paul's vital signs had improved to a point where they were even better than before. Later that morning, the doctor saw Chuck in the hospital cafeteria and told him that he was amazed at Paul's recovery. He confessed that the night before, he had not had much hope of Paul's survival. The doctor recommended that Chuck and Shelley continue to pray, because "we are seeing a real miracle here." The doctor, by the way, is Jewish.
In the meantime, Paul's regular doctor (the one who has been in charge of his case since the accident) had expressed concern that no one had seen Paul move his legs. He told the Janssens he was going to order an MRI to see if there was a blood clot in the spine. Now, that morning, before speaking to the doctor, Chuck had suddenly recalled an old song we used to sing, that goes something like this: "Every place on which your foot shall tread, I have given it to you, I have given it to you..." Chuck was impressed to sing this song over Paul and pray for fulfillment of that promise---this was still before the doctor had expressed concern about Paul's legs. After the doctor talked to them about it, Chuck told Shelley about the song. Shelley's mouth dropped open, and she said, "But the Lord reminded ME about that song this morning, too, and I sang it over Paul!"
They laid hands on Paul's legs and began to pray. Paul moved his left leg back and forth. They ran out to tell a nurse, and she went in and saw Paul's leg move, too. When it was reported to the doctor, his mouth fell open. He cancelled the planned MRI.
So for now, prayer continues to be needed for Paul's lungs to heal. The plan, at this point, is to gradually bring him out of the coma over several days and see if he can breathe on his own.
Monday, July 03, 2006
a few photos
sorry, right now i'm too tired to explain in detail these photos. the one of me and naoki was taken my last night at Helan's house. notice the short hair. Naoki gave me his baseball hat from his Japanese team, that's what I'm wearing. and the other two photos are from Ingrid's homestay, it's a really nice house, lots of old and antique stuff...i'll explain it later. just thought you might like to have a peek at it. okay, nitey nite for me! enjoy the 4th of July.
Friday, June 30, 2006
no photo yet
sorry, haven't gotten around to taking a photo of my hair. but i did go to a hair stylist and get it fixed up. it's not bad now, but a little too short for my taste. jamie summed it up pretty well the other day. i came downstairs early in the morning, having just been forcibly woken up by my alarm. he said "steph! look at your hair!" i said "what does it look like?" he said "it looks...tired!"
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
More on mice
So at lunchtime today I decided to fetch something from the downstairs freezer. I opened the basement door, and had to stand stock-still to take in the little tableau before me:
At the bottom of the stairs were two cat food dishes, from which our two indoor cats, Bert and Ernie, are served their ridiculously expensive meals (they’re on a special diet thanks to Ernie throwing the cat equivalent of a kidney stone last year).
Directly in front of one of the dishes sat Ernie.
In one of the dishes sat a mouse, nibbling away at the tidbits left behind after the cats’ morning buffet.
Ernie was boredly observing the mouse – not as if he were stalking it, not even as if he found the mouse particularly interesting – certainly not as if he intended to do anything about it – and the mouse continued to eat.
Ernie could literally have stretched out his neck to snap up a mouthful of mouse, but he chose not to.
Apparently our cats are taking their diet way too seriously.
Guess what Wes will be doing when he gets home tonight?
At the bottom of the stairs were two cat food dishes, from which our two indoor cats, Bert and Ernie, are served their ridiculously expensive meals (they’re on a special diet thanks to Ernie throwing the cat equivalent of a kidney stone last year).
Directly in front of one of the dishes sat Ernie.
In one of the dishes sat a mouse, nibbling away at the tidbits left behind after the cats’ morning buffet.
Ernie was boredly observing the mouse – not as if he were stalking it, not even as if he found the mouse particularly interesting – certainly not as if he intended to do anything about it – and the mouse continued to eat.
Ernie could literally have stretched out his neck to snap up a mouthful of mouse, but he chose not to.
Apparently our cats are taking their diet way too seriously.
Guess what Wes will be doing when he gets home tonight?
Saturday, June 24, 2006
thine hair shall be chopped...
ying cut my hair this evening. i was terrified the whole time. i won't go into details...it looks okay. i'm just not going to think about it, maybe on monday i will sneak down to the hair salon and ask them to clean it up for me without making it look too noticeable that they did anything. i think mom would like the style, it's just kinda messily done. anyway..........only one week left in this homestay, then i'll be with some friends for a week, then Uluru, then home! i'll put a couple photos on here of my new hair when i get a chance.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Kra-KOOM!
So we all know that I'm going to a chiropractor, right? Well, I've been going to a chiropractor for the past week or two. This week I've spent three hours on what they call a 'decompression table' designed to seperate my vertebrae, but what amounts to a medieval rack. Because I'm just starting this therapy, I'm required to spend the rest of my evening on my back, usually watching movies on the couch so my vertebrae don't reset (tough life, I know).
ANYWAY... Yesterday a nasty storm blew through Delaware, and on my way home from the doctor's office I saw a half-dozen branches blown off the trees, and power was out on the main road through town. Every time a galer like this hits, I'm afraid that the trees just south of our house will blow over. That didn't happen, but something else did.
I was flat on my back (watching Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, check you're local listings), when she asked me to come outside and see something. We walked to the back of the property, where she showed me that the largest remaining tree on our land had been split down to the trunk, and a large strip of moss had been turned black.
Looks like lightning, but since we weren't there when it happened, it's hard to tell.
When I was growing up, something similar happened to a tree in my parent's yard, where my family could see it. Lightening struck a tree and scored it in a spiral like the thread of a screw, then jumped to another tree with the same root system and shot up it like a bottle rocket. At least one of the trees died. I don't know what that means for the tree in our backyard.
In other news... I've formally and officially gotten Carrie addicted to Lost. Our local library carries a lot of DVDs of TV shows by season. I reserved the set at the beginning of April, and it just came in last week.
Once I got her to sit still for an hour, we ended up watching 17 episodes over the course of 2 days. She's so hooked she actually chose to watch a couple of episodes over working on the stairwell.
ANYWAY... Yesterday a nasty storm blew through Delaware, and on my way home from the doctor's office I saw a half-dozen branches blown off the trees, and power was out on the main road through town. Every time a galer like this hits, I'm afraid that the trees just south of our house will blow over. That didn't happen, but something else did.
I was flat on my back (watching Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, check you're local listings), when she asked me to come outside and see something. We walked to the back of the property, where she showed me that the largest remaining tree on our land had been split down to the trunk, and a large strip of moss had been turned black.
Looks like lightning, but since we weren't there when it happened, it's hard to tell.
When I was growing up, something similar happened to a tree in my parent's yard, where my family could see it. Lightening struck a tree and scored it in a spiral like the thread of a screw, then jumped to another tree with the same root system and shot up it like a bottle rocket. At least one of the trees died. I don't know what that means for the tree in our backyard.
In other news... I've formally and officially gotten Carrie addicted to Lost. Our local library carries a lot of DVDs of TV shows by season. I reserved the set at the beginning of April, and it just came in last week.
Once I got her to sit still for an hour, we ended up watching 17 episodes over the course of 2 days. She's so hooked she actually chose to watch a couple of episodes over working on the stairwell.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Kiss Me, I'm an Uncle!
So, among the other things my parents talked about as they were at our house for lunch yesterday, we learned that my brother has a 12 year old daughter he didn't know about. Dan was slapped with a paternity suit earlier in the year, and he took the test to fight it.
You can figure out how that turned out.
Her name is Taylor, but we don't know too much about her. We believe she is living in Kentucky with relatives. Her mother is unmarried, and we think that she has 3-4 other kids, each with possibly different fathers. Beyond that, we don't have much more info on her. Not even a photo.
Dan's going to have to pay child support, but in return he does get visitation rights. It's doubtful he'll pursue it, but my parents would at least like to meet their first grandchild, even if they know that they won't have much of an influence in her life.
You can figure out how that turned out.
Her name is Taylor, but we don't know too much about her. We believe she is living in Kentucky with relatives. Her mother is unmarried, and we think that she has 3-4 other kids, each with possibly different fathers. Beyond that, we don't have much more info on her. Not even a photo.
Dan's going to have to pay child support, but in return he does get visitation rights. It's doubtful he'll pursue it, but my parents would at least like to meet their first grandchild, even if they know that they won't have much of an influence in her life.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes
This is how we get dressed in the morning now:
We get up, shower, brush, do whatever we have to do, and put on some sort of undergarments.
We pick out our clothes for work for the day, walk out to the end of the scaffolding that has been filling up our stairwell since Friday, and hang them on the end of said scaffolding.
(At this point I usually like to take my shoes and toss them over the end of the scaffolding in such a way as to maximize the scaring of the allegedly starving animals congregated at the bottom of the steps. (There are usually 5 (animals, not steps) at the moment, as we are dog-sitting for Drew and Lesley.))
Then we climb over (which scares the willies out of me, hanging 5 feet above the nearest step) or through (which requires one to do the limbo -- twice) the scaffolding, to get downstairs.
Then we can simply pick up our work clothes and get dressed downstairs!
Handy, aye?
We get up, shower, brush, do whatever we have to do, and put on some sort of undergarments.
We pick out our clothes for work for the day, walk out to the end of the scaffolding that has been filling up our stairwell since Friday, and hang them on the end of said scaffolding.
(At this point I usually like to take my shoes and toss them over the end of the scaffolding in such a way as to maximize the scaring of the allegedly starving animals congregated at the bottom of the steps. (There are usually 5 (animals, not steps) at the moment, as we are dog-sitting for Drew and Lesley.))
Then we climb over (which scares the willies out of me, hanging 5 feet above the nearest step) or through (which requires one to do the limbo -- twice) the scaffolding, to get downstairs.
Then we can simply pick up our work clothes and get dressed downstairs!
Handy, aye?
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Running
I have some exciting news. As some of you may know, I joined Curves about 3 weeks ago and have been working out regularly 3 to 4 times a week. I am feeling great and I really like it there. Anyway, I decided today that I really need to get myself in shape as well - not just lose weight - for soccer. (The team had there first game on Monday night for the Wooster league that they are in for the summer and just kicking balls with the girls and showing some of them proper techniques made me winded and tired.) So today, a day that I do not work out at Curves, I got up and ran before Mike left for work. I ran a whole mile without stopping at all. I was so proud of myself. I know for some of you this might seem silly and trivial, but for me it is a milestone. I have walked many miles for workouts, and walked/ran many miles, but it has been years since I have been able to run the whole mile without stopping. So I think Curves must be doing a lot for my stamina as well as losing weight and toning my muscles. It took me 13 minutes to run it and I could probably walk it just as fast if not faster, but walking never seems to get my heart rate up as much and I don't feel as good about doing it when I walk. Anyway, my next goal will be to get the mile down to 10 minutes which is about as fast as I ran it even when I was playing soccer in high school.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
James's first birthday
We would like to have a birthday party for James on Saturday, June 17th starting at about 1:00 and going til whenever. It will be kind of an open house with games and food and that kind of stuff. I know some of you are busy with house and yard work so if you can't come it is okay - or if you come late that is okay too. We are inviting lots of people including extended family so there might be people you'd like to see.
Monday, May 22, 2006
i don't understand this stupid blog. i'm trying to add a photo to my profile. i finally figured out how/where to go to add my photo to my profile, but it says the url is wrong, even though i just copied and pasted it from here. and it keeps saying something about i have to click on some "template" tab when i log in in order to change my links. where in heck is the template tab?? and why are there 2 separate sites, one to edit posts and another with the actual blog? and how do i get back to that original edit post site? i don't think i've ever gotten so worked up over something before. the blogger help is almost completely unhelpful, and the way this whole thing works is ridiculous. it's not good for my health to use this blog. i hate this stupid thing. i hate it, i hate it, i hate it!!! now i know how old people feel.
vacation
here are just a few photos from the trip. we had such a wonderful time. i couldn't ask for a better vacation.
james got his first tooth! it came in last tuesday. he is also doing the army crawl very well. he is quite speedy. no new words yet, but he was talking up a storm all week.
Friday, May 19, 2006
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