According to this website, I'm an "old blogger". Not very flattering. We just realized that we don't know Travis' travel itinerary. He is either at an airport somewhere or in a plane. He's probably on his way to London, I would think. But maybe still in Chicago. We have Tommy's adventure on the bulletin board, Danny and Jenni's phone numbers and location, but not Travis'. Good luck Travis! You are in our thoughts and prayers.
Jak is playing with us tonight. He loves helicoptor videos on line. Unfortunately the sickos that post them have them crashing a lot. I try to stop it before the crash.
Today is Dennis' birthday. I'm thinking we'll have a Rockford Film Festival after Jak is asleep. We heard from Alex today. He was delayed in writing by an earthquake and power outage, but he is fine. I think the outage was in the whole Southeast area....The earthquake was in Taiwan.
Gotta go. Jak wants to push an "o" on the keyboard.
Love, Mom
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
A Very Merry Christmas!!!!!
Dec. 26, 2006
What a wonderful holiday time! We have had so much fun. Today we started out slowly, wanting to relax and especially, to not eat. Well, Danny, Jenni, and Tommy are currently at an art supply store and then are going to cut photo mats. Jak is napping, after playing all day and watching train movies. Travis is at Richard's house, hopefully talking to Agata on skype. Dennis is in the shower after a good work out at the gym and a shopping trip to Costco to buy sushi with Danny. We are celebrating Dennis' birthday. I am finally on the computer and getting very sleepy.
We watched the first two "Rockford Files" in our new Season Two last night. Dennis looked so happy. He has always totally enjoyed that show.
Merry Christmas to all who are far away, to Alex, Agata, Tyler, Grandma and Grandpa, Steve, and all the Washingtonians. (We don't really say that.) Hope you are well and happy. Grandma and G-pa have a ton of snow, and somebody had better be plowing those roads. And we know who!
We're half-way to getting a new grandchild, and are very touched and grateful for that miracle. Soon we will know if it's a boy, or even a girl!
Love, Mom
What a wonderful holiday time! We have had so much fun. Today we started out slowly, wanting to relax and especially, to not eat. Well, Danny, Jenni, and Tommy are currently at an art supply store and then are going to cut photo mats. Jak is napping, after playing all day and watching train movies. Travis is at Richard's house, hopefully talking to Agata on skype. Dennis is in the shower after a good work out at the gym and a shopping trip to Costco to buy sushi with Danny. We are celebrating Dennis' birthday. I am finally on the computer and getting very sleepy.
We watched the first two "Rockford Files" in our new Season Two last night. Dennis looked so happy. He has always totally enjoyed that show.
Merry Christmas to all who are far away, to Alex, Agata, Tyler, Grandma and Grandpa, Steve, and all the Washingtonians. (We don't really say that.) Hope you are well and happy. Grandma and G-pa have a ton of snow, and somebody had better be plowing those roads. And we know who!
We're half-way to getting a new grandchild, and are very touched and grateful for that miracle. Soon we will know if it's a boy, or even a girl!
Love, Mom
Monday, December 18, 2006
Today's News
Dec. 18, 2006
Danny and Jenni are nearing the Utah-Idaho border. Jak talked to me on the phone. It was a great chat. Tommy stayed here today and finished writing a paper. He went to Provo to present it. Travis has been busy taking care of something very special for Agata. Dennis is at the gym. Our next door neighbor, Zak, had back surgery today at Primary Children's Hospital to repair a break in his spine which hasn't healed all year. All went well and he should be home in a few days. He has to take it easy for six months. It snowed a lot yesterday and is quite beautiful, but icy.
The bunny is alive and well. I don't think I have to go back to Costco for the rest of the holidays. (good thing.)
How random is this entry? About as random as my shopping list. We watched "Lavendar Hill Mob" last night. Travis gave it to me for Christmas. I think Alec Guiness is one of my favorite actors of all times. He is so funny.
We got a letter from Alex's mission President. He says that the arrival of all the missionaries was a wonderful miracle. I'm sure that would have been a special flight to be on: probably about thirty missionaries flying into Bangkok at the same time. Mr. Ward's son goes on the 26th
We miss Tyler so much. I hope you remember him in your prayers.
Merry Christmas!
Mom
L
Danny and Jenni are nearing the Utah-Idaho border. Jak talked to me on the phone. It was a great chat. Tommy stayed here today and finished writing a paper. He went to Provo to present it. Travis has been busy taking care of something very special for Agata. Dennis is at the gym. Our next door neighbor, Zak, had back surgery today at Primary Children's Hospital to repair a break in his spine which hasn't healed all year. All went well and he should be home in a few days. He has to take it easy for six months. It snowed a lot yesterday and is quite beautiful, but icy.
The bunny is alive and well. I don't think I have to go back to Costco for the rest of the holidays. (good thing.)
How random is this entry? About as random as my shopping list. We watched "Lavendar Hill Mob" last night. Travis gave it to me for Christmas. I think Alec Guiness is one of my favorite actors of all times. He is so funny.
We got a letter from Alex's mission President. He says that the arrival of all the missionaries was a wonderful miracle. I'm sure that would have been a special flight to be on: probably about thirty missionaries flying into Bangkok at the same time. Mr. Ward's son goes on the 26th
We miss Tyler so much. I hope you remember him in your prayers.
Merry Christmas!
Mom
L
CHRISTMAS WISH
Christmas wish
Christmas wishes do come true.
Entirely.
And it makes you so happy that your heart is about to explode.
Christmas wishes do come true.
Entirely.
And it makes you so happy that your heart is about to explode.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
I Passed!
I think my defense went pretty well. Everyone had positive things to say, and an interesting discussion between computational and experimental researchers was initiated. That was something we'd hoped would happen, so I think it was a success. They sent me out of the room and talked for a few minutes, and then came out and shook my hand and said that I passed!
So now I'm doing a few revisions on the actual thesis document that the committe recommended, and then tomorrow I will go submit the final copy to the library. Pretty exciting to be so close to finishing. Ahhh, I can almost taste it.
Well, thanks for praying for me and we'll see you all soon.
Love,
Danny
So now I'm doing a few revisions on the actual thesis document that the committe recommended, and then tomorrow I will go submit the final copy to the library. Pretty exciting to be so close to finishing. Ahhh, I can almost taste it.
Well, thanks for praying for me and we'll see you all soon.
Love,
Danny
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Good Luck, Danny!
I guess Danny and Jenni made a very good deal on a new car. Congratulations! I'm sure it was stressful. Good luck tomorrow with you defense, Danny. I still wish Jenni could video it. Travis is very busy. I'm sure Tommy is, too. Alex should e-mail tonight. Love you all!
Mom
Mom
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Adventures at work
This is Dennis. We just had a great party with Marty and Brandi and their kids. It was great fun and came with a big surprise; Vaughn and Alma showed up from Canada! (Agata, Vaughn is Jolenes favorite aunt.) They said they are planning a big birthday party for Alma around July 24 and want us all to come, so think about it and see if you can work it into your schedule and practice speaking Canadian, eh!
I have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me at work. We are implementing an "Electronic Work Instruction" system and it is not going as well as planned. We had reported several bugs in the software to the vendor. Rather than just fixing the bugs, they issued a whole new release (or version) of the software. This seems to have fixed the bugs we reported, but has broken several things that used to work. They are trying to fix these things. If they don't, we will have to decide which bugs are the least irritating and choose the version that comes closest to meeting our needs. We have to go live Jan 2, so we are working feverishly to have a working system by then.
I have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me at work. We are implementing an "Electronic Work Instruction" system and it is not going as well as planned. We had reported several bugs in the software to the vendor. Rather than just fixing the bugs, they issued a whole new release (or version) of the software. This seems to have fixed the bugs we reported, but has broken several things that used to work. They are trying to fix these things. If they don't, we will have to decide which bugs are the least irritating and choose the version that comes closest to meeting our needs. We have to go live Jan 2, so we are working feverishly to have a working system by then.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Done?
Famdamily-
Well, classes are officially finished. Thats mainly just a joke, though, as finals are now in full swing and will last until next Friday. Today is 'reading day,' which means classes are cancelled and Im spending my time at work. I think 'reading day' is misnomer; I would love it if my finals left me time to read anything, instead of requiring me to write for pages on end :)
Eek got to get back to work. The Man arrives in the form of a studen with paper in hand...
-tc
Well, classes are officially finished. Thats mainly just a joke, though, as finals are now in full swing and will last until next Friday. Today is 'reading day,' which means classes are cancelled and Im spending my time at work. I think 'reading day' is misnomer; I would love it if my finals left me time to read anything, instead of requiring me to write for pages on end :)
Eek got to get back to work. The Man arrives in the form of a studen with paper in hand...
-tc
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Congratulations and Good Luck, Danny!
I think I did understand the brief paragraph describing and announcing Danny's thesis. Jenni and I were talking today about teaching math to the visual learner. I have enjoyed Danny's description of his project. It seems like a way to make projections and numbers and theories very visual.
I hope all of my kids will get all of the education they want and they can stand (I know it's hard.) I'm very proud that Danny is finishing his Master's Degree this month and has made such a good contribution to the field. I have felt like his experience has been challenging and worthwhile and I admire he and Jenni for all of their hard work.
Congratulations!
Mom
I hope all of my kids will get all of the education they want and they can stand (I know it's hard.) I'm very proud that Danny is finishing his Master's Degree this month and has made such a good contribution to the field. I have felt like his experience has been challenging and worthwhile and I admire he and Jenni for all of their hard work.
Congratulations!
Mom
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
I just thought I'd say hi--it's been a while. I hope you all got the email about Danny's thesis--very cool. He's turning it in to the committee tomorrow which means there is light at the end of the tunnel. Meanwhile I am keeping busy with tutoring and Jak and proof-reading Danny's thesis all hours of the night.
I thought I'd share a little anecdote from a shopping trip today with Jak. Most shopping trips have a story it seems. I have no pride left at our neighborhood Safeway--especially since it's quite small and I'm there all the time and it's always the same workers. Anyway, the system is: I walk the couple blocks to the grocery store with Jak. He usually insists on walking there--today there was even some road construction going on which was very exciting for him--he insisted on touching the truck both times we passed. We also pass a bus stop which he loves--except when he throws a fit because he wants to "ride bus". Anyway--it's taking longer to write this than it actually takes to make the walk. Once at the store I hook a basket on the handles of Jak's little umbrella stroller. So the basket hangs behind his head. One handle of the basket goes over one handle of the stroller and the other handle goes on the other handle. That didn't make sense but you get the idea. It works very well. Anyway, we were just buying stuff and I realized too late that we needed much more than one basket could hold. But, I'm pretty stubborn about that kind of thing and figured I'd make it work. So next thing you know the basket is overflowing in a delicate balance, Jak is holding the cheese and the paper towels are balancing on his head and I have a box of cereal under each arm and the eggs in one hand and I'm trying to navigate the stroller to the check out stand with my remaining hand. I really have no shame, unfortunately. So, we get to the line and I let go of the stroller to put the stuff in my arms on the belt and immediately the stroller, laden with milk, cleaning supplies, boxes of cereal, cans, beans, and my innocent boy with his cheese and paper towels became terribly out of balance and went crashing backwards to the ground. Things were rolling everywhere and Jak, his arms now empty, still strapped in but hanging upside down apparantely unscathed was laughing his head off. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. So I left him there upside down until I gathered everything up onto the belt then calmly picked him up as if this was all very ordinary--nothing to draw attention. Honestly, who am I kidding. The cashier was very kind and just checked my things as if nothing had happened then we loaded all of the bags on the handles--and balancing it much more carefully made our way home.
Ahhh, a day in the life of Jenni and Jakson. Unfortunately moments like that are really not that uncommon. I'd like to blame it on having a 2 year old who is getting me into trouble which is what I usually do. Honestly it is often fair--like the other grocery store incident when Jak dumped a whole carton of eggs out on top of all of the groceries which meant we had a huge puddle of shells, yolk, and egg white which was quite scrambled on the ground once it was filtered through all of my groceries. I blamed that on Jak. But, I think more often than not, it really is my own stupidity that gets us into trouble. We are quite a pair walking around this city.
I thought I'd share a little anecdote from a shopping trip today with Jak. Most shopping trips have a story it seems. I have no pride left at our neighborhood Safeway--especially since it's quite small and I'm there all the time and it's always the same workers. Anyway, the system is: I walk the couple blocks to the grocery store with Jak. He usually insists on walking there--today there was even some road construction going on which was very exciting for him--he insisted on touching the truck both times we passed. We also pass a bus stop which he loves--except when he throws a fit because he wants to "ride bus". Anyway--it's taking longer to write this than it actually takes to make the walk. Once at the store I hook a basket on the handles of Jak's little umbrella stroller. So the basket hangs behind his head. One handle of the basket goes over one handle of the stroller and the other handle goes on the other handle. That didn't make sense but you get the idea. It works very well. Anyway, we were just buying stuff and I realized too late that we needed much more than one basket could hold. But, I'm pretty stubborn about that kind of thing and figured I'd make it work. So next thing you know the basket is overflowing in a delicate balance, Jak is holding the cheese and the paper towels are balancing on his head and I have a box of cereal under each arm and the eggs in one hand and I'm trying to navigate the stroller to the check out stand with my remaining hand. I really have no shame, unfortunately. So, we get to the line and I let go of the stroller to put the stuff in my arms on the belt and immediately the stroller, laden with milk, cleaning supplies, boxes of cereal, cans, beans, and my innocent boy with his cheese and paper towels became terribly out of balance and went crashing backwards to the ground. Things were rolling everywhere and Jak, his arms now empty, still strapped in but hanging upside down apparantely unscathed was laughing his head off. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. So I left him there upside down until I gathered everything up onto the belt then calmly picked him up as if this was all very ordinary--nothing to draw attention. Honestly, who am I kidding. The cashier was very kind and just checked my things as if nothing had happened then we loaded all of the bags on the handles--and balancing it much more carefully made our way home.
Ahhh, a day in the life of Jenni and Jakson. Unfortunately moments like that are really not that uncommon. I'd like to blame it on having a 2 year old who is getting me into trouble which is what I usually do. Honestly it is often fair--like the other grocery store incident when Jak dumped a whole carton of eggs out on top of all of the groceries which meant we had a huge puddle of shells, yolk, and egg white which was quite scrambled on the ground once it was filtered through all of my groceries. I blamed that on Jak. But, I think more often than not, it really is my own stupidity that gets us into trouble. We are quite a pair walking around this city.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Dennis' Christmas List
I would like the second season of Rockford Files on DVD. That's it. Other than that, I would like to see all of you, chat with Agata online again, and spend time together. Another German breakfast like Travis did earlier would be good. I agree that a winter weiner roast is in order.
Agata, your English was great. I hope we didn't make you too nervous. We thought you were delightful and look forward to meeting you.
Agata, your English was great. I hope we didn't make you too nervous. We thought you were delightful and look forward to meeting you.
Sakohn Nakhon
Alex should e-mail tomorrow. I have no idea what his internet conditions are like. Well, I guess I do. Sounds like the bathroom was terrible.
Here's a little about Sakhon Nakhon Province. (I love the Thai writing. It's so beautiful. But I can't copy it here.) Sakon Nakhon is one of the north-eastern provines of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau not far from the river Mekong. There is a lake "Nong Han" the biggest natural lake of North-East Thailand. It is a popular resort of the local people. The Phu Phan Mountains delimit the province to the south. (They keep using the word "Khmer" in describing symbols or styles of this province. My Vietnam war past is a little alarmed.) The Phu Thai tribe people living around the town offer an interesting study in ancient customs and traditions, such as the "Wax Castle" festival in October when castles fashioned from was are celebrated (hopefully on a cold day).
The province borders on the Thai-Laotian frontier. It is about 172 meters above sea level.
Sakhon Nakhon existed as a major city in the Khmer Empire of Khotraboon (there's that word again) at the height of its glory in the 12th to the 16th century. (we were busy with the dark ages). Many Khmer shrines and artifacts stand proof to the claim and constitute major attractions of the province.
There's a large resevoir feeding a major ancient city called Nong Han Luang. It was built by a Khmer prince. There's a famous person named Lady Mo who is a heroine of the northest. Apparently several tribes have migrated to the area and keep their own cultural heritage and traditions.
There's a 10th century shrine called the Holy Relic of Choengehum. There are two masters of meditation who put Sakhon Nakhon firmly on the map of Buddhist pilgrimages, Man Bhuridatto and the reverand Fan Acharo. They started the movement for Buddhist to seek their inner selves and an ultimate state of mind that cannot be troubled by worldly happenings. Their are memorials and museums to these monks.
Hideouts and dense forests in the mountains made them an insurgents' stronghold. It was here that the Communist armed struggle started two decades ago. After peace and order was fully restored, a royal palace was built atop Phuphan. The palace has served as the headquarters of Their Majesties the King and the Queen for their yearly visits to the people of the Northeast, normally in November. (Alex is missing everything.) The queen is a great supporter of the Ancient and ethnic textiles of this region. (great souvenirs!)
There is also a Rocket Festival or the Long Boat Procession that various Thai tribes participate in.
Wow! It's hard to believe Alex is in such an exotic place! Hopefully all is going well.
Love, Mom
Here's a little about Sakhon Nakhon Province. (I love the Thai writing. It's so beautiful. But I can't copy it here.) Sakon Nakhon is one of the north-eastern provines of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau not far from the river Mekong. There is a lake "Nong Han" the biggest natural lake of North-East Thailand. It is a popular resort of the local people. The Phu Phan Mountains delimit the province to the south. (They keep using the word "Khmer" in describing symbols or styles of this province. My Vietnam war past is a little alarmed.) The Phu Thai tribe people living around the town offer an interesting study in ancient customs and traditions, such as the "Wax Castle" festival in October when castles fashioned from was are celebrated (hopefully on a cold day).
The province borders on the Thai-Laotian frontier. It is about 172 meters above sea level.
Sakhon Nakhon existed as a major city in the Khmer Empire of Khotraboon (there's that word again) at the height of its glory in the 12th to the 16th century. (we were busy with the dark ages). Many Khmer shrines and artifacts stand proof to the claim and constitute major attractions of the province.
There's a large resevoir feeding a major ancient city called Nong Han Luang. It was built by a Khmer prince. There's a famous person named Lady Mo who is a heroine of the northest. Apparently several tribes have migrated to the area and keep their own cultural heritage and traditions.
There's a 10th century shrine called the Holy Relic of Choengehum. There are two masters of meditation who put Sakhon Nakhon firmly on the map of Buddhist pilgrimages, Man Bhuridatto and the reverand Fan Acharo. They started the movement for Buddhist to seek their inner selves and an ultimate state of mind that cannot be troubled by worldly happenings. Their are memorials and museums to these monks.
Hideouts and dense forests in the mountains made them an insurgents' stronghold. It was here that the Communist armed struggle started two decades ago. After peace and order was fully restored, a royal palace was built atop Phuphan. The palace has served as the headquarters of Their Majesties the King and the Queen for their yearly visits to the people of the Northeast, normally in November. (Alex is missing everything.) The queen is a great supporter of the Ancient and ethnic textiles of this region. (great souvenirs!)
There is also a Rocket Festival or the Long Boat Procession that various Thai tribes participate in.
Wow! It's hard to believe Alex is in such an exotic place! Hopefully all is going well.
Love, Mom
Monday, December 04, 2006
World Peace is all I Want
Hey,
I thought I'd join this trend of posting wish lists online. The problem is, what do you get the man who wants everything?
Well, what I need right now mostly is boring clothes type stuff to transform me from a slouchy grad student into a hip young urban professional. But I won't burden you all with that boring task. I can take care of that. I believe that Christmas is a time for surprising, so I will try not to get too specific in what I want. That way, you still have to sweat a little. HA.
Here's are some general categories of stuff that I'm into right now.
Danny
I thought I'd join this trend of posting wish lists online. The problem is, what do you get the man who wants everything?
Well, what I need right now mostly is boring clothes type stuff to transform me from a slouchy grad student into a hip young urban professional. But I won't burden you all with that boring task. I can take care of that. I believe that Christmas is a time for surprising, so I will try not to get too specific in what I want. That way, you still have to sweat a little. HA.
Here's are some general categories of stuff that I'm into right now.
- Riding bikes. Mountain or road, any bike accessories are cool.
- Backpacking. Any camping gizmos would be great.
- Listening to music. New music is always good.
- Watching movies. Both actual movies and movie suggestions, i.e. a favorites list from one more knowledgeable than myself in fine cinema, would be great.
- Fantasizing about owning a little fixer-upper starter home. Any tools that could be used for home repair when the time comes would be welcome.
Danny
Christmas Time
Hmmm... Around this time the "want" list always seems to meld with the "need" list. What i need is snow gear, like good gloves and socks and maybe boots. But that is lame as i hate snow and most things involving snow, unless its watching snow melt and be replaced with spring flowers and grass.
What i want... maybe some fun picture making stuff, like gift certificates to Roberts or Michaels, or mat board or such. I'm definatley in agreement with travis, in that all the above (below?) mentioned foods are a must and if thats all we have for christmas than it will be a great one. Um... rei gear would be cool, like a shell or good rain jacket, or a titanium pot set. Jenni, a piano lesson would be cool... Books are always nice, and comic books...
Well, thats all i can think of now... Thoughtful, small gifts go a long way, as well
Tommy
What i want... maybe some fun picture making stuff, like gift certificates to Roberts or Michaels, or mat board or such. I'm definatley in agreement with travis, in that all the above (below?) mentioned foods are a must and if thats all we have for christmas than it will be a great one. Um... rei gear would be cool, like a shell or good rain jacket, or a titanium pot set. Jenni, a piano lesson would be cool... Books are always nice, and comic books...
Well, thats all i can think of now... Thoughtful, small gifts go a long way, as well
Tommy
What I Didn't Want For Christmas
Last night we took the ice cream out of the freezer. Actually it was vanilla fat free frozen yogurt. It doesn't have all the glues and binders of regular rich and fat ice cream and is usually as hard as a rock. Well, it wasn't. It was soft and melting. It appeared we had freezer failure. So late at night we did a quick assessment. At 10:30 a.m. I was at the appliance store and at 12:30 p.m. they delivered a new freezer and hauled to old one away.
Remember the chest freezer in the garage that shocked you when you opened the lid? (I think Travis and Alex do.) Right before Tommy's mission I was able to replace it with the giant in the garage. Allison B. found them at a natural-food warehouse in Springville. They were closing them out for $100.00. I was so glad to get it even though it was huge. It was really annoying that it quit, but I feel very grateful that at a time when we couldn't have bought a new one, we were able to get that one. I asked the delivery men who came today, if they had ever seen a larger freezer. They said no. So I am annoyed that the old one quit, and very grateful to have gotten it for so little. I'm hoping I can remember the gratitude part as a I drive along State Street (there's a two or three year reconstruction project going on. I think UDot makes these things up to keep working.) and as I shop for Christmas.
Remember the chest freezer in the garage that shocked you when you opened the lid? (I think Travis and Alex do.) Right before Tommy's mission I was able to replace it with the giant in the garage. Allison B. found them at a natural-food warehouse in Springville. They were closing them out for $100.00. I was so glad to get it even though it was huge. It was really annoying that it quit, but I feel very grateful that at a time when we couldn't have bought a new one, we were able to get that one. I asked the delivery men who came today, if they had ever seen a larger freezer. They said no. So I am annoyed that the old one quit, and very grateful to have gotten it for so little. I'm hoping I can remember the gratitude part as a I drive along State Street (there's a two or three year reconstruction project going on. I think UDot makes these things up to keep working.) and as I shop for Christmas.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Thanks
Dziękuję (thank you)
I just wanted to say that I had a great time talking to Currit family on the web cam yesterday even though I sweated because of too much emotion and too much English grammar:)Thank you all for a lovely chat! I'm looking forward to talking to Jenny Danny and Jak!
I just wanted to say that I had a great time talking to Currit family on the web cam yesterday even though I sweated because of too much emotion and too much English grammar:)Thank you all for a lovely chat! I'm looking forward to talking to Jenny Danny and Jak!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Christmas List
Well, besides warm clothes (I know, I know- the traditional Currit wintertime panic- but I could really use a hoodie and a long-sleeved shirt or two!) I don't want much. Sausages, cheese, crackers, kipper snacks, sardines, ginger beer- all the Christmas Day munchies are absolutely necessary. Some quality family time together-Ill miss you guys!!--before I leave- maybe we can go sledding? or a winter weenie roast? Movies or TV show dvds are always nice, I think you guys know what I like- if you want any specific suggestions I have oodles. Anything from the Criterion Collection would make me drool with joy. Blank CDs or DVDs come in handy. Teas of various and interesting flavors (oh and I lost my thermos- a replacement would be nice and cheap) Any presents for Agata would be cool- I could deliver them along with myself :) Foreign language study guides/dictionaries/books of any sort are always appreciated, Polish and French especially, but beginner's stuff in German, Russian, or Spanish would come in handy one day, I bet. I could use a little hygiene travel bag with a zipper. Working webcams and reliable, fast internet connections for the whole family will be necessary to keep in touch as distances increase. Other than that, your warmest (literally, i need the heat) wishes, and good weather on the 26th to avoid any flight problems!
My Ever-Changing, Ever-Growing Xmas List
This will be a list in installments---as I think of things.
I would like computer lessons. How do you do the things you do? How do you use a memory stick? How do I scan and edit and print photos? (I need another lesson). How do you minimize something then get back to it? How do I use the computer as a typewriter and save things only to a memory stick? How do I then get back into stuff? How do you set up a phone chat?
I would like a game night with popcorn.
Notecards, thank-you or generic, handmade or purchased. I go through them pretty fast.
I'll keep thinking.
Mom
I would like computer lessons. How do you do the things you do? How do you use a memory stick? How do I scan and edit and print photos? (I need another lesson). How do you minimize something then get back to it? How do I use the computer as a typewriter and save things only to a memory stick? How do I then get back into stuff? How do you set up a phone chat?
I would like a game night with popcorn.
Notecards, thank-you or generic, handmade or purchased. I go through them pretty fast.
I'll keep thinking.
Mom
first star
waiting for a first star
My favourite part of Christmas in Poland is Christmas Eve (24 December), which is probably more important in our tradition then 25th December.
We have a family dinner together, we start quite early, at about 17. There is this custom which I love- you always put one more plate for an unexpected visitor. If someone poor knockes at your door on Christmas Eve this plate and a place at the table are for him.
I also like thinkig that this plate and this empty chair are for someone that can no longer be with us, like my Grandma or for someone that we would like to be with us but he or she is far away.
There has to be 12 dishes, no meat of course. So we eat pierogi, fish, mushrooms and my grandpa's acid soup which is the next thing that I miss during the whole year. The recipe is quite mysterious, my grandpa's mother learned it from her aunt who came from Lithuania.
We get presents on Christmas Eve in Poland. But there is one condition ( of course besides being a good kid): you have to wait for a first star to appear on the sky,then Santa Claus comes. When I was little it was always my Dad or my uncle who played Santa Claus and they would make us sing and dance.
I love Christmas. And I love these Polish customs, because they make Christmas one of the most touching moments in a year.
My favourite part of Christmas in Poland is Christmas Eve (24 December), which is probably more important in our tradition then 25th December.
We have a family dinner together, we start quite early, at about 17. There is this custom which I love- you always put one more plate for an unexpected visitor. If someone poor knockes at your door on Christmas Eve this plate and a place at the table are for him.
I also like thinkig that this plate and this empty chair are for someone that can no longer be with us, like my Grandma or for someone that we would like to be with us but he or she is far away.
There has to be 12 dishes, no meat of course. So we eat pierogi, fish, mushrooms and my grandpa's acid soup which is the next thing that I miss during the whole year. The recipe is quite mysterious, my grandpa's mother learned it from her aunt who came from Lithuania.
We get presents on Christmas Eve in Poland. But there is one condition ( of course besides being a good kid): you have to wait for a first star to appear on the sky,then Santa Claus comes. When I was little it was always my Dad or my uncle who played Santa Claus and they would make us sing and dance.
I love Christmas. And I love these Polish customs, because they make Christmas one of the most touching moments in a year.
Friday, December 01, 2006
I Miss You All
Compared to last week, this weekend is pretty quiet. I put a wreath on the door and electric candles in the window. I'm still having trouble shopping for Christmas without buying things for myself. I think the problem is I haven't really shopped at all except for missionary stuff for Alex.
I hope everyone got Alex's email. Maybe Travis could forward it to Agata. He is far far away, and enjoying it. It is a little overwhelming that he is in Thailand, but I'm glad he is finally there.
It's really cold here, and we are not enjoying it. Travis, especially in his attempts to see the sun come up and set while waiting for Traxx trains, is not enjoying it. But we are surviving. I have spent the last week feeling very grateful that I am not in the van driving through snow and on ice. I wasn't scared, but now I'm sort of traumatized by it.
What's up with Poland????? 60 degrees??? Is that typical??? I keep having to reorganize my few impressions of Eastern Europe.
When you post your Christmas wish list, maybe you could post your favorite food or tradition or memory of Christmas. Not to distract you from the main purpose, but each year I like to think of what makes Christmas special for me. We have so much. It's almost a pity. I read a book for Book Club called "Little Britches". They had good Christmases. But a pan of fudge and an orange and a new book were very special gifts. One of my favorite Christmases was when Tyler and Danny were very little and we were very broke. We bought them exactly the toys they had asked for and made a promise not to buy anything for each other. Of course we did, but our gifts were small and fun. We had learned that the boys were overwhelmed by too many things, so we didn't worry about needing to have more. Everyone was happy. Then the neighbors came over in our new neighborhood (this isn't that great of a memory). Apparently they travelled from house to house to "see what Santa had brought everyone." We were stunned. We quickly showed them the kids' toys (all three) them got them out of there as fast as we could. We followed them to their house to see what Santa had delivered (a display was set up in each room), then went back home and tried to regroup the best we could. Even my parents didn't do that to us. They were more excited about seeing the kids and giving them presents than worried about what we had given each other.
Well, that was cheery.
Love, Mom
I hope everyone got Alex's email. Maybe Travis could forward it to Agata. He is far far away, and enjoying it. It is a little overwhelming that he is in Thailand, but I'm glad he is finally there.
It's really cold here, and we are not enjoying it. Travis, especially in his attempts to see the sun come up and set while waiting for Traxx trains, is not enjoying it. But we are surviving. I have spent the last week feeling very grateful that I am not in the van driving through snow and on ice. I wasn't scared, but now I'm sort of traumatized by it.
What's up with Poland????? 60 degrees??? Is that typical??? I keep having to reorganize my few impressions of Eastern Europe.
When you post your Christmas wish list, maybe you could post your favorite food or tradition or memory of Christmas. Not to distract you from the main purpose, but each year I like to think of what makes Christmas special for me. We have so much. It's almost a pity. I read a book for Book Club called "Little Britches". They had good Christmases. But a pan of fudge and an orange and a new book were very special gifts. One of my favorite Christmases was when Tyler and Danny were very little and we were very broke. We bought them exactly the toys they had asked for and made a promise not to buy anything for each other. Of course we did, but our gifts were small and fun. We had learned that the boys were overwhelmed by too many things, so we didn't worry about needing to have more. Everyone was happy. Then the neighbors came over in our new neighborhood (this isn't that great of a memory). Apparently they travelled from house to house to "see what Santa had brought everyone." We were stunned. We quickly showed them the kids' toys (all three) them got them out of there as fast as we could. We followed them to their house to see what Santa had delivered (a display was set up in each room), then went back home and tried to regroup the best we could. Even my parents didn't do that to us. They were more excited about seeing the kids and giving them presents than worried about what we had given each other.
Well, that was cheery.
Love, Mom
just a thought
Hey, just a quick suggestion. Since I am not really good at guessing what people want/need for Christmas, I was thinking that if everyone would post their "wish" list on the blog, it would make present buying/making a lot easier. All in favor, say, "Arroooogah!"
Tommy
Tommy
Thursday, November 30, 2006
A Slippery Seattle
Hello all,
Well, the thesis has been occupying way more time lately than I would like to admit, but as my adviser put it today: "You're still in the tunnel, but the light at the end is almost in view". Hmmm, almost encouraging, isn't it?
I thought I'd take a break from the writing and answer Travis' question of what the weather has been like here lately. One word: funny. This city has no idea how to deal with icy, snowy weather. There are no snow plows or salt trucks to keep the roads working, and so the whole city just shut down for about two and a half days because of about one inch of snow. Cars are sliding all over the place, and people are getting sick of being stuck in traffic and are abandoning their cars. Last time I checked, the city had impounded about 40 abandoned cars. Who would just leave their car? Weird.
Even more entertaining than the fiascos on the road are the sidewalk situations. Again, no ice of other methods of cleaning off snow, so the sidewalks are all pure ice. On my walk to school I usually see about five people completely lose their footing and land right on the old buttocks. It's quite enjoyable.
Thanks for posting all of those thanksgiving pictures, they are great.
Love you all,
Danny the Seattle Snowman
Well, the thesis has been occupying way more time lately than I would like to admit, but as my adviser put it today: "You're still in the tunnel, but the light at the end is almost in view". Hmmm, almost encouraging, isn't it?
I thought I'd take a break from the writing and answer Travis' question of what the weather has been like here lately. One word: funny. This city has no idea how to deal with icy, snowy weather. There are no snow plows or salt trucks to keep the roads working, and so the whole city just shut down for about two and a half days because of about one inch of snow. Cars are sliding all over the place, and people are getting sick of being stuck in traffic and are abandoning their cars. Last time I checked, the city had impounded about 40 abandoned cars. Who would just leave their car? Weird.
Even more entertaining than the fiascos on the road are the sidewalk situations. Again, no ice of other methods of cleaning off snow, so the sidewalks are all pure ice. On my walk to school I usually see about five people completely lose their footing and land right on the old buttocks. It's quite enjoyable.
Thanks for posting all of those thanksgiving pictures, they are great.
Love you all,
Danny the Seattle Snowman
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
This might be the End of Thanksgiving Pictures
Don't do this to your Dad
Jak never got tired of this game
Jo carefully avoiding the camera
Tommy's photo of the gazebo 
And more
Jak and the train
Dennis down the path to the weiner roast
Travis waiting for a chemical reaction 
Tommy giving advice to Travis
Still Posting Pictures
Jak throwing snowball
Papa Herb and Danny sharing stories
Papa Herb
Steve Currit and Grandma on Merritt property
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
More Thanksgiving
Cold night, warm spa
Christmas tree hunt in Blewitt
Steve Currit and hat
Dennis with tractor
Thanksgiving plus one Maple Canyon in September
Don't ever do this to your child
Jak and Danny
Jak and Papa Herb on tractor
Danny in Maple Canyon in September
More Thanksgiving
Travis with mentos and diet coke
Jak in new snow clothes 
Jak smiling for camera, Danny, Dennis, Megan and Ben
Jak's birthday pizza dinner
Monday, November 27, 2006
The day after the longest day
Nov. 27, 2006
Well, we arrived home at about 9:45 p.m. last night. We started to go crazy between Rupert and Burley, Idaho. But we were grateful for the safe travel, good vehicle and good drivers. When we left G-pa and G-ma's ranch, the road down the canyon was ice covered with snow, and it was still snowing. We drove on ice all the way through Wenatchee, then all the way to Tri-Cities, then to the Umatilla bridge where the weather miraculously cleared up for about twenty minutes, then got worse. Dennis didn't change drivers until Boise area. The cars were lined up for miles going West through the Blue Mountains, but our East bound lanes were moving smoothly. It'll take a while to get over that ride. We never slid or stopped really. We constantly passed cars ditched (literally) off the road, backwards. Would I do it again? Yes. But not at night. We didn't see very many snow plows, or really very many police cars. I would get a motel at night.
Jak's birthday was the highlight. He was so charming. After opening one present, he started to take gifts to others to open. We had to convince him to keep opening them himself. He is always sharing things. When he opened a "LIttle Mermaid" book with sound buttons that I gave him, he said "I want this one!" He actually shivered with excitement when he ripped the paper off of his train set. We went upstairs and watched his new "Finding Nemo" video and played with his train set. Jenni has a picture of him sleeping later with his train resting on his chest. Grandma and Grandpa laughed and laughed at him squinting his eyes when pictures are taken. Usually his mouth remains very sober when he is told to smile, and he just sqints his eyes.
Thanks to all the boys and Jenni for making the effort to come. It was a wonderful holiday and adventure. Thanks, Dennis, for the safe and careful driving over those frozen roads.
Alex called from Maryland while I was in Seattle. He got to talk to Danny and Jenni, too. He was beginning a long trip to Thailand with lots of layovers. I can't wait to hear about it. He should email Wednesdays. We figure that is Tuesday night here. I think there might be eighteen hours difference.
Wow! We're home!
Mom
Well, we arrived home at about 9:45 p.m. last night. We started to go crazy between Rupert and Burley, Idaho. But we were grateful for the safe travel, good vehicle and good drivers. When we left G-pa and G-ma's ranch, the road down the canyon was ice covered with snow, and it was still snowing. We drove on ice all the way through Wenatchee, then all the way to Tri-Cities, then to the Umatilla bridge where the weather miraculously cleared up for about twenty minutes, then got worse. Dennis didn't change drivers until Boise area. The cars were lined up for miles going West through the Blue Mountains, but our East bound lanes were moving smoothly. It'll take a while to get over that ride. We never slid or stopped really. We constantly passed cars ditched (literally) off the road, backwards. Would I do it again? Yes. But not at night. We didn't see very many snow plows, or really very many police cars. I would get a motel at night.
Jak's birthday was the highlight. He was so charming. After opening one present, he started to take gifts to others to open. We had to convince him to keep opening them himself. He is always sharing things. When he opened a "LIttle Mermaid" book with sound buttons that I gave him, he said "I want this one!" He actually shivered with excitement when he ripped the paper off of his train set. We went upstairs and watched his new "Finding Nemo" video and played with his train set. Jenni has a picture of him sleeping later with his train resting on his chest. Grandma and Grandpa laughed and laughed at him squinting his eyes when pictures are taken. Usually his mouth remains very sober when he is told to smile, and he just sqints his eyes.
Thanks to all the boys and Jenni for making the effort to come. It was a wonderful holiday and adventure. Thanks, Dennis, for the safe and careful driving over those frozen roads.
Alex called from Maryland while I was in Seattle. He got to talk to Danny and Jenni, too. He was beginning a long trip to Thailand with lots of layovers. I can't wait to hear about it. He should email Wednesdays. We figure that is Tuesday night here. I think there might be eighteen hours difference.
Wow! We're home!
Mom
waiting for.. Christmas
waiting for ... Christmas
hello everyone! so I heard your Thanksgiving was great. I'm a bit jelaous about hot tubs, I've never been in a hot tub, it must be awesome if you can watch the stars at the same time. I'm waiting for some pictures, specially of Jak with his eyes closed, it must be cute!
And I'm waiting for Christmas, there is already a nice decoration all around the city and you can hear Jingle Bells everywhere in supermarkets. I found a really kitsch reindeer made of little light bulbs and I couldn't help falling in love with him. I guess I'll buy it tomorrow. I can't wait this Christmas and especially after- Christmas period.
Big hugs from Poland , extremely hot for a December ( +10C degrees).
hello everyone! so I heard your Thanksgiving was great. I'm a bit jelaous about hot tubs, I've never been in a hot tub, it must be awesome if you can watch the stars at the same time. I'm waiting for some pictures, specially of Jak with his eyes closed, it must be cute!
And I'm waiting for Christmas, there is already a nice decoration all around the city and you can hear Jingle Bells everywhere in supermarkets. I found a really kitsch reindeer made of little light bulbs and I couldn't help falling in love with him. I guess I'll buy it tomorrow. I can't wait this Christmas and especially after- Christmas period.
Big hugs from Poland , extremely hot for a December ( +10C degrees).
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Hallo!
Well well well campers... looks like the time is finally nigh... Thanksgiving! Oh how I embrace thee. And Im even moderately caught up in my school work and set to enjoy a guilt-free relaxin' time. Boy Howdy!
Danny, I appreciate the "look busy" capabilities of the computer as well. For example, currently I am at work. My boss thinks Im working. HA! SUCKER! But really Im earning more than my pay: coming up next is an hour-long session with this writer I've been working with, a Korean student writing a thesis for a Masters of Metallurgy. Danny, I hope in your thesis you occasionally use words normal human beings can understand. I can't even check the grammar on this 120-page monstrosity because I don't have the slightest idea what its talking about or even what 90 percent of the words mean. Im hard pressed to even discern nouns from verbs at times.
Well, enjoy one and all. I forgot my lunch today and am an hungered. Hoping to survive till tonight, and huge turkey rewards to come....
TQC
Danny, I appreciate the "look busy" capabilities of the computer as well. For example, currently I am at work. My boss thinks Im working. HA! SUCKER! But really Im earning more than my pay: coming up next is an hour-long session with this writer I've been working with, a Korean student writing a thesis for a Masters of Metallurgy. Danny, I hope in your thesis you occasionally use words normal human beings can understand. I can't even check the grammar on this 120-page monstrosity because I don't have the slightest idea what its talking about or even what 90 percent of the words mean. Im hard pressed to even discern nouns from verbs at times.
Well, enjoy one and all. I forgot my lunch today and am an hungered. Hoping to survive till tonight, and huge turkey rewards to come....
TQC
Monday, November 20, 2006
I Second That
I just wanted to second Tommy's longing for a good Thanksgiving break. I'm trying to write a darn thesis that, Jenni just informed me, I only have about 10 days left to write. It's thoroughly kickin my butt. In fact at this very moment Jenni and Mom are in the other room watching a movie, and they think I'm working on my thesis. Thank goodness for the internet, or else I really would have to work on it.
Keep it real and we'll see you all soon. Thanks for lending us Mom for a while, it's been fun.
Danny
Keep it real and we'll see you all soon. Thanks for lending us Mom for a while, it's been fun.
Danny
almost there
Hey all-
Its almost Thanksgiving!! Yes! And it couldn't come at a better time. My brain is completely done. I keep forgetting really important things, like big assignments and paying fees and other such things. Being sick, a lot of papers, and other such thingshave got me completely fried... A weekend at Grandma's is just what the doctor ordered. I am looking forward to seeing one and all, as it has been many moons since we have spoken. And to think i once hated thanksgiving... weird.
Saturday i hung out with kyle price and his wife, they set me up with a friend of theirs. It was fun to talk to him again and it made me want to move to salt lake, or maybe just get out of provo...
well, see y'all in a few!
Tommy
Its almost Thanksgiving!! Yes! And it couldn't come at a better time. My brain is completely done. I keep forgetting really important things, like big assignments and paying fees and other such things. Being sick, a lot of papers, and other such thingshave got me completely fried... A weekend at Grandma's is just what the doctor ordered. I am looking forward to seeing one and all, as it has been many moons since we have spoken. And to think i once hated thanksgiving... weird.
Saturday i hung out with kyle price and his wife, they set me up with a friend of theirs. It was fun to talk to him again and it made me want to move to salt lake, or maybe just get out of provo...
well, see y'all in a few!
Tommy
Saturday, November 18, 2006
My first meatloaf
Meatloaf
We made a meatloaf with my Mom yesterday. It was delicious. First I thought it was too big for the two of us, but then we enjoyed it so much that I ate some meatloaf sandwiches for my breakfast today and for my lunch and so on and the meatloaf is already gone.
My Mom wanted to ask you for a recipe for a turkey. I only hope there are some mini turkeys that we could buy because if not we will be eating this turkey until Christmas ( well at least then Travis could try some and say if it worked or not).
We made a meatloaf with my Mom yesterday. It was delicious. First I thought it was too big for the two of us, but then we enjoyed it so much that I ate some meatloaf sandwiches for my breakfast today and for my lunch and so on and the meatloaf is already gone.
My Mom wanted to ask you for a recipe for a turkey. I only hope there are some mini turkeys that we could buy because if not we will be eating this turkey until Christmas ( well at least then Travis could try some and say if it worked or not).
Friday, November 17, 2006
Home Alone
Howdy Y'all-
Well I guess Mom's in Seattle right now, hopefully having a good time up there visiting Jak (uh... I mean Danny and Jenni :) and Dad's still in Dallas, should be home tonight; that means Im home alone for a bit. Im going to take advantage of this opportunity to be really wild and write an essay on John Donne. The crazy factor is through the roof!
Im really looking forward to Thanksgiving, it will be most awesome. School's started to catch back up with me after taking it easy for a bit, but hopefully Ill finish most of my more involved projects in time to relax during T-giving weekend, leaving of course the heavy reading I must do- Little House on the Prairie- for the car ride.
I can't believe this nutso semester is almost over; it seemed like it would never end. Here's hoping it goes well for y'all and we slide smoothly right in to the Holiday seasons etc etc
Peace
TQC
Well I guess Mom's in Seattle right now, hopefully having a good time up there visiting Jak (uh... I mean Danny and Jenni :) and Dad's still in Dallas, should be home tonight; that means Im home alone for a bit. Im going to take advantage of this opportunity to be really wild and write an essay on John Donne. The crazy factor is through the roof!
Im really looking forward to Thanksgiving, it will be most awesome. School's started to catch back up with me after taking it easy for a bit, but hopefully Ill finish most of my more involved projects in time to relax during T-giving weekend, leaving of course the heavy reading I must do- Little House on the Prairie- for the car ride.
I can't believe this nutso semester is almost over; it seemed like it would never end. Here's hoping it goes well for y'all and we slide smoothly right in to the Holiday seasons etc etc
Peace
TQC
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Still Ticking
Hello everyone! We are looking forward to our Thanksgiving week. I have had fun the last two days. First of all, we found out news that Alex might be getting his visa soon. Hopefully. Then Tyler called. That was nice. Then I started to feel better after several annoying things. (new paragraph. I know I jump around.) I am really interested in story telling and writing. So when we went visiting teaching this week, I asked the women we visited what their Thanksgiving plans are. I've been around long enough to know that we (women) love Thanksgiving but find it stressful. Everybody sat back and told me a great story. Even today when I went out to lunch with three friends, I asked them to tell me what their Thanksgiving plans were. Some stories were laugh-out-loud funny. The politics involved in juggling obligations and family are amazing. Anyway. It was very enjoyable for me to here my friends talk.
We had a great Sunday with Marty and Brandy, and of course, baby Daniel, and Marty's kids. It was fun. Tommy came up and seem to really appreciate the dinner. He is playing in a big frisbee game tonight. We wanted to go, but didn't. His teams are winning everything. He is going to Las Vegas to play in December. We keep underestimating Dennis' new, longer drive to Clearfield. And it's cold. Grandma called and said that Seattle was going to start a new deluge of storms. Funny. I never thought it would be clear weather. I was planning on being wet.
Everyone drive carefully this next week. I'm sure we will see some storms. I hope Agata is feeling better. I hope Alex calls and tells me he has his visa and his flight. That truly would be something to be thankful for. I'm traveling with two phones: mine and his old one. If one runs out, maybe the other will work.
Thanks each of you for being part of our family!
Mom
We had a great Sunday with Marty and Brandy, and of course, baby Daniel, and Marty's kids. It was fun. Tommy came up and seem to really appreciate the dinner. He is playing in a big frisbee game tonight. We wanted to go, but didn't. His teams are winning everything. He is going to Las Vegas to play in December. We keep underestimating Dennis' new, longer drive to Clearfield. And it's cold. Grandma called and said that Seattle was going to start a new deluge of storms. Funny. I never thought it would be clear weather. I was planning on being wet.
Everyone drive carefully this next week. I'm sure we will see some storms. I hope Agata is feeling better. I hope Alex calls and tells me he has his visa and his flight. That truly would be something to be thankful for. I'm traveling with two phones: mine and his old one. If one runs out, maybe the other will work.
Thanks each of you for being part of our family!
Mom
Leaving for Dallas
I have to go to Dallas for 3 days starting tomorrow. I am not really looking forward to Dallas as I have been there quite a few times and it is not a bad city, but not my favorite either. I am looking forward to the trip for other reasons. Hopefully, we can get a lot of good info that can help us make and informed decision. We have been stalled out on this project for too long trying to get a decision made. The first morning we are presenting what we have done and lessons learned to Rolls Royce, who is thinking of implementing the same system, so we will both present information and have information presented to us.
Jo leaves for Seattle on Friday, before I get back, so I am going to miss her! It will only be till Wednesday, so we will survive. Then it is off to Washington for Thanksgiving! Should be a lot of fun! Agata, are you familiar with Thanksgiving traditions? You probably are, so I won't bore you. We do the traditional thing, except that Papa Herb cooks the turkey outside in a pit he dug in the ground. Kind of like they cook a pig in Hawaii. It is good fun. Plus I will get to see my brothers and sister, which is always fun.
On Saturday, I am going to the BYU football game. My friend Blair Jenkins got tickets and I am going with him. It will be the first game that I have attended this year, so I am looking forward to it.
Jo leaves for Seattle on Friday, before I get back, so I am going to miss her! It will only be till Wednesday, so we will survive. Then it is off to Washington for Thanksgiving! Should be a lot of fun! Agata, are you familiar with Thanksgiving traditions? You probably are, so I won't bore you. We do the traditional thing, except that Papa Herb cooks the turkey outside in a pit he dug in the ground. Kind of like they cook a pig in Hawaii. It is good fun. Plus I will get to see my brothers and sister, which is always fun.
On Saturday, I am going to the BYU football game. My friend Blair Jenkins got tickets and I am going with him. It will be the first game that I have attended this year, so I am looking forward to it.
Friday, November 10, 2006
sick
sick
Hello everyone!I went to see my doctor this morning and she told me to stay at home for another week. To be honest I'm scared, have no idea what to tell them at my work. But the doctor said that if I go out of house I will surely get pneumonia. Great.
Anyway, I send you all good vibrations and it's great to hear from Alex.
Hello everyone!I went to see my doctor this morning and she told me to stay at home for another week. To be honest I'm scared, have no idea what to tell them at my work. But the doctor said that if I go out of house I will surely get pneumonia. Great.
Anyway, I send you all good vibrations and it's great to hear from Alex.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Weather Changes
Check out the rains in the Northwest. I guess Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass got around 13 inches of rain. Danny said that parts of the State are a disaster area. The rains are moving here. They might turn to snow. My goal is to garden all winter whenever possible. (Might as well take advantage of global warming.) It was a beautiful day. Tommy's feeling better, but Travis said Agata is still sick. I hope you can feel better soon! Winter is such a good time to cuddle up and read a book or write. I miss summer so much, I forget the benefits of the dark days. We went to two movies this weekend: The Prestige. Both were very different from each other and very well done. I really enjoyed "The Queen". It was so subtle. (I have always been interested in the monarchy.)
Good luck in all your school projects!
Love, Mom
Good luck in all your school projects!
Love, Mom
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
My Much Awaited Discovery of the Family Blog
Hello team,
Thats right i am officially on the family blog (pause for cheering.) Everything has been pretty mellow here. Danny i feel for when it comes to the rain dealio. it has rained 2 out of every 3 days since i have been here. Definitely makes for .... character... building experiences on the bike. The only really exciting thing since the whole flaming vacuum incident (dont ask.... the story is pretty self-explanatory, vacuum+fire=bad) is that we have a babtism this sunday. we also should have at least 3 investigators with babtismal dates by the end of this week. Very exciting. But besides that nothing much. we have been looking at changing apartments, but probably wont until january (by which time i hope to have switched out my bike for an elephant) so that wont really effect me. No new news on thailand. my mission president called me at 7 in the morning the other day just to tell me that he had no news... so it sounds like i will be in a state of limbo for a while yet. Im lovin it here though, so no big deal. Well til next time
AC
Thats right i am officially on the family blog (pause for cheering.) Everything has been pretty mellow here. Danny i feel for when it comes to the rain dealio. it has rained 2 out of every 3 days since i have been here. Definitely makes for .... character... building experiences on the bike. The only really exciting thing since the whole flaming vacuum incident (dont ask.... the story is pretty self-explanatory, vacuum+fire=bad) is that we have a babtism this sunday. we also should have at least 3 investigators with babtismal dates by the end of this week. Very exciting. But besides that nothing much. we have been looking at changing apartments, but probably wont until january (by which time i hope to have switched out my bike for an elephant) so that wont really effect me. No new news on thailand. my mission president called me at 7 in the morning the other day just to tell me that he had no news... so it sounds like i will be in a state of limbo for a while yet. Im lovin it here though, so no big deal. Well til next time
AC
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Thailand
For Mom and any others interested- I just read about an interesting upcoming forum at the Hinckley Institute of Politics:
U.S. – Thailand Relations
Wed. November 15, 10:45 AM. His Excellency Virasakdi Futrakul, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States.
Maybe we could go and interrogate him on the state of Alex's Visa.
Love love
tQc
Surviving winter
Nov. 7, 2006
Tommy's flu and cold this weekend was impressive. I was worried it might be tonsilitis, but he seems to just have a bad head cold. Travis' blog is especially timely as Uncle Marty showed up last night with a personal flu shot for him. I forgot to tell Travis. Marty mentioned that he might purchase flu vaccine for his hospital and I said, then maybe you could give Travis a flu shot. So Marty and Brandy and Daniel came over last night with said needle. I asked Travis if he wanted it and he offered up his arm. I didn't know until I read his blog how prepared he was.
Baby Daniel is so cute. (Of course. He's a baby. But he's especially fun.) Dennis watched him for a few minutes and said that he reminds him so much of our Danny. They are very similiar. He's very cuddly and entertaining, but has a definite independent streak which reminded us of Danny as a baby. They are coming over Sunday for dinner unless the fierce cold spreads. They don't want it. I don't know. Reading Alice in Wonderland and watching movies sounds kind of nice to me (Enjoy it, Agata, if possible. I hope you feel better soon.)
Dennis had to go to Magna last night to fix their computer system. They had struggled with it all day. He flew over in his super Corolla and swooped in and fixed it. Unfortunately he missed our appointment with Martineaus for Mexican food. So Travis and I tried the new All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet in Draper.(This is the town that didn't want a D.I.) It was crowded. We saw some real Chinese friends of ours there (Nan Chung's family) which was an encouraging sign. It was very busy and had tons of dishes. Several kinds of potstickers. It was fun and a good place to visit and eat. They also had a sushi bar, but we decided that Sushi is just strange with all-you-can-eat Chinese deepfried with various sauces.
I get to go to Seattle early for Thanksgiving. I hope to do some Christmas shopping, at least think about it, but I usually end up cancelling shopping for funner things. It will be so good to see Danny, Jenni, and Jak. Dennis promises me that they will absolutely make it to Grandma's to meet me there no matter what the weather. I doubted that, but he said the road up through Idaho would miss all the passes if the weather is bad. (Is that the lonely secondary road that people get lost on????)
Hopefully Danny has sent Alex an invitation to the blog. I'm sure he will enjoy reading all of your comments. I just set up a bigger table downstairs under the extra computer and put about 100 of Travis' school books on it. He is writing several papers and learning Polish at the same time. I hope you all are doing well with school projects. ( I think Travis is discovery the line between preparing and publishing, too, Danny. ) I'm sure your are busy. Good luck!
I voted today for the first time on an electronic voting maching. I enjoyed not voting for races I hadn't studied, and correcting votes when I wanted to change them. Our machines printed a hard copy of the ballot and stored them. I listened to a show that said without a hard copy the machines were easy to bug. It was fun.
Enough. Time to eat.
Love, Mom
Tommy's flu and cold this weekend was impressive. I was worried it might be tonsilitis, but he seems to just have a bad head cold. Travis' blog is especially timely as Uncle Marty showed up last night with a personal flu shot for him. I forgot to tell Travis. Marty mentioned that he might purchase flu vaccine for his hospital and I said, then maybe you could give Travis a flu shot. So Marty and Brandy and Daniel came over last night with said needle. I asked Travis if he wanted it and he offered up his arm. I didn't know until I read his blog how prepared he was.
Baby Daniel is so cute. (Of course. He's a baby. But he's especially fun.) Dennis watched him for a few minutes and said that he reminds him so much of our Danny. They are very similiar. He's very cuddly and entertaining, but has a definite independent streak which reminded us of Danny as a baby. They are coming over Sunday for dinner unless the fierce cold spreads. They don't want it. I don't know. Reading Alice in Wonderland and watching movies sounds kind of nice to me (Enjoy it, Agata, if possible. I hope you feel better soon.)
Dennis had to go to Magna last night to fix their computer system. They had struggled with it all day. He flew over in his super Corolla and swooped in and fixed it. Unfortunately he missed our appointment with Martineaus for Mexican food. So Travis and I tried the new All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet in Draper.(This is the town that didn't want a D.I.) It was crowded. We saw some real Chinese friends of ours there (Nan Chung's family) which was an encouraging sign. It was very busy and had tons of dishes. Several kinds of potstickers. It was fun and a good place to visit and eat. They also had a sushi bar, but we decided that Sushi is just strange with all-you-can-eat Chinese deepfried with various sauces.
I get to go to Seattle early for Thanksgiving. I hope to do some Christmas shopping, at least think about it, but I usually end up cancelling shopping for funner things. It will be so good to see Danny, Jenni, and Jak. Dennis promises me that they will absolutely make it to Grandma's to meet me there no matter what the weather. I doubted that, but he said the road up through Idaho would miss all the passes if the weather is bad. (Is that the lonely secondary road that people get lost on????)
Hopefully Danny has sent Alex an invitation to the blog. I'm sure he will enjoy reading all of your comments. I just set up a bigger table downstairs under the extra computer and put about 100 of Travis' school books on it. He is writing several papers and learning Polish at the same time. I hope you all are doing well with school projects. ( I think Travis is discovery the line between preparing and publishing, too, Danny. ) I'm sure your are busy. Good luck!
I voted today for the first time on an electronic voting maching. I enjoyed not voting for races I hadn't studied, and correcting votes when I wanted to change them. Our machines printed a hard copy of the ballot and stored them. I listened to a show that said without a hard copy the machines were easy to bug. It was fun.
Enough. Time to eat.
Love, Mom
I still exist
Hello all.
I thought I'd let you know that I am still here, even though my presence on the blog hasn't been felt for a while now. The man's got me to the grindstone pretty good up here. I'm starting to panic a little as the days keep on ticking by and the end of the quarter approaches when I'm supposed to have completed my thesis. Things are going pretty well with it, but the problem is that I'm a perfectionist and in software development that can drive one crazy. The list of features to add and improvements to make to the program that I'm developing is neverending. So, if I can just tell myself that it's good enough and write a dang thesis about it, all will be well.
Other than that, it rains a lot. Yep. Lots of rain.
Love you all
Danny
I thought I'd let you know that I am still here, even though my presence on the blog hasn't been felt for a while now. The man's got me to the grindstone pretty good up here. I'm starting to panic a little as the days keep on ticking by and the end of the quarter approaches when I'm supposed to have completed my thesis. Things are going pretty well with it, but the problem is that I'm a perfectionist and in software development that can drive one crazy. The list of features to add and improvements to make to the program that I'm developing is neverending. So, if I can just tell myself that it's good enough and write a dang thesis about it, all will be well.
Other than that, it rains a lot. Yep. Lots of rain.
Love you all
Danny
Monday, November 06, 2006
Batten down the hatches
Well it seems everyone's getting sick. And that's downright rude, I hope they know. Some of us have sensitive immune systems, and wont be able to last long under the exposure to your nasty microbes. But I suppose its not your fault, so Ill pardon you this once. Tommy's been sneezing through I cold I dont want any of, but I guess his misery makes up for the faux pas of potentially spreading it around. Agata's got some weird flu (I still think its Asian Bird Flu, or maybe Somalian Lizard flu, or somesuch), which sounds absolutely horrible- fevers in the 103 range for a couple of days now, the poor thing; luckily, the Atlantic's playing defense for me against that one but Im not counting on anything.
A flu now for me would be most ineptly timed; Im just starting to see the light at the end of my various tunnels, and, finding myself in the rather unexpectedly good position of having (perhaps) finished (what I hope to be) the bulk of my research for this semester already, can start relaxing and concentrating on the thousand things Ive neglected, such as personal hygiene and social activities. Disease could foil this all however and plunge me back into the abyss. Im trying all I can to hold on but don't know how long I can last.
Best Luck to you All
TC
A flu now for me would be most ineptly timed; Im just starting to see the light at the end of my various tunnels, and, finding myself in the rather unexpectedly good position of having (perhaps) finished (what I hope to be) the bulk of my research for this semester already, can start relaxing and concentrating on the thousand things Ive neglected, such as personal hygiene and social activities. Disease could foil this all however and plunge me back into the abyss. Im trying all I can to hold on but don't know how long I can last.
Best Luck to you All
TC
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Agata's happy update
Agata's update
uuffffff, I passed my GRE yesterday. Travis says that my score is absolutely sufficent. I am so so glad. On the other hand it's so weird, I got up this morning and I thought: I have to study and then I realised that finaly I can have some rest. So my plans for today : I'll be watching films and knitting.
see you
uuffffff, I passed my GRE yesterday. Travis says that my score is absolutely sufficent. I am so so glad. On the other hand it's so weird, I got up this morning and I thought: I have to study and then I realised that finaly I can have some rest. So my plans for today : I'll be watching films and knitting.
see you
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
More from Dennis
Some one just sent me this link:
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28013
It contains pictures of the Escalante during the rainstorm. Tom, look at this. I don't feel so bad about opting out of going backpacking there! There is no way it would have been safe! On the other hand, what pictures Tommy could have taken!
My life at work is hectic. They canceled my trip to San Diego, which is OK with me. If it had been a trip to Seattle, I would have been upset. We stuck at a point of management indecision and it is really annoying. I can't really make any progress until we get a firm direction set and they keep waffling.
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28013
It contains pictures of the Escalante during the rainstorm. Tom, look at this. I don't feel so bad about opting out of going backpacking there! There is no way it would have been safe! On the other hand, what pictures Tommy could have taken!
My life at work is hectic. They canceled my trip to San Diego, which is OK with me. If it had been a trip to Seattle, I would have been upset. We stuck at a point of management indecision and it is really annoying. I can't really make any progress until we get a firm direction set and they keep waffling.
Monday, October 30, 2006
October 30, 2006
Tommy's feet are a mess. He wore new cleats and played four frisbee games. I thought he seemed exhausted and worn yesterday, and then he took off his shoes and socks. I hope they heal by next Saturday. Why do so many people say that Autumn is their favorite season? It's so melancholy but wonderful. I liked Agata's expression "an Autumn spleen". I think I know exactly what that means. Halloween is tomorrow, then it's a short time until Thanksgiving, and too little time until Christmas. I remember one Thanksgiving we had when we rented a cabin at Fishlake. We took a frozen smoked turkey from the grocery store and some other stuff. Dad pulled the boys behind the van on snow sleds. The cabin had a big fire place. I remember that as a good time. The boys slept upstairs in a loft bedroom.
Sunset Magazine did a big color photo section on Zion's Canyon (we forgot to show Tommy this yesterday). They took a photo of the canyon from the very place Tommy took a photo then did a double page spread on it. Tommy's is better. The angle is more interesting and the layers of canyons disappear into more haze (it's all clear and focused in the Sunset photo.) I hope he or Travis can put that photo on the blog for you all to see.
We changed off of daylight savings time yesterday. I don't usually wear a watch (too much dishwater) so I think I look at the light outside a lot to tell what time it is, especially to wake up. Anyway, I don't like the change. I can't convince myself to play. I have to let it creep up on me. Is there such a thing in Europe as daylight savings time? I think all days are four hours long anyway.
Alex should e-mail on Wednesday morning. Hope all is well with him. Travis is on his way home, in the dark. I'm going to post this now as internet is disconnecting.
Love, Mom
Tommy's feet are a mess. He wore new cleats and played four frisbee games. I thought he seemed exhausted and worn yesterday, and then he took off his shoes and socks. I hope they heal by next Saturday. Why do so many people say that Autumn is their favorite season? It's so melancholy but wonderful. I liked Agata's expression "an Autumn spleen". I think I know exactly what that means. Halloween is tomorrow, then it's a short time until Thanksgiving, and too little time until Christmas. I remember one Thanksgiving we had when we rented a cabin at Fishlake. We took a frozen smoked turkey from the grocery store and some other stuff. Dad pulled the boys behind the van on snow sleds. The cabin had a big fire place. I remember that as a good time. The boys slept upstairs in a loft bedroom.
Sunset Magazine did a big color photo section on Zion's Canyon (we forgot to show Tommy this yesterday). They took a photo of the canyon from the very place Tommy took a photo then did a double page spread on it. Tommy's is better. The angle is more interesting and the layers of canyons disappear into more haze (it's all clear and focused in the Sunset photo.) I hope he or Travis can put that photo on the blog for you all to see.
We changed off of daylight savings time yesterday. I don't usually wear a watch (too much dishwater) so I think I look at the light outside a lot to tell what time it is, especially to wake up. Anyway, I don't like the change. I can't convince myself to play. I have to let it creep up on me. Is there such a thing in Europe as daylight savings time? I think all days are four hours long anyway.
Alex should e-mail on Wednesday morning. Hope all is well with him. Travis is on his way home, in the dark. I'm going to post this now as internet is disconnecting.
Love, Mom
Saturday, October 28, 2006
hello one and all!
Thought i'd write a little somethin somethin. Today i played four frisbee games: three city league and one intermural. we one two of the city league games and our intermural one, so it was a great day. good way to spend a saturday. Mom and Dad were going to come down, but the day was just too crazy and i didn't know exactly where i was going to be. well, school is still going on, i am getting ready to apply to my program, so we will see how it goes. the deadline isn't until jan 22, so i have a little while. i have been talking to a lot of local photographers, and am getting really interested in that, also, but it is something i can definately do on my own... this one guy makes $12,000 a wedding, but i don't think i could do weddings, as they bore me.
anyway talk to you later
Thought i'd write a little somethin somethin. Today i played four frisbee games: three city league and one intermural. we one two of the city league games and our intermural one, so it was a great day. good way to spend a saturday. Mom and Dad were going to come down, but the day was just too crazy and i didn't know exactly where i was going to be. well, school is still going on, i am getting ready to apply to my program, so we will see how it goes. the deadline isn't until jan 22, so i have a little while. i have been talking to a lot of local photographers, and am getting really interested in that, also, but it is something i can definately do on my own... this one guy makes $12,000 a wedding, but i don't think i could do weddings, as they bore me.
anyway talk to you later
Friday, October 27, 2006
lost
Lost
Reading, learning, sleeping , teaching, reading, learning, sleeping, teaching - like a magic spell, my life of routine, my pleasant boring life ( Tommy, you are noy the only one to complain about not much excitement in life:). I think an autumn spleen captured me today. I'm a bit lost, this French guy called me yesterday to ask if I wanted to work for him - well, bad timing, I already have my work at school and how can I abandon it starting from the next week? I don't know what to do, he's going to call me in an hour to tell me how much would I earn working for him. Bizarre, just when I started to organize my life here, voila - it turns upside down. I hate making decissions if I'm not 100% sure, I don't like choosing, it always takes a month to decide and then I think about it for another month questionning the rightness of my choice.
I'm taking my GRE this Thursday, hope my score will be sufficent.
We are cooking Mom Currit's meatloaf this weekend, I'll let you know if it worked.
Thank you so much for your help with kids' stories. Unfortunately my pupils can hardly count to ten so far, so I think I overestimated their comprehension level a bit. But I'll start reading stories to them soon. At least I hope so. Today we are going to sing I'm a little teapot.
do zobaczenia (see you)
Reading, learning, sleeping , teaching, reading, learning, sleeping, teaching - like a magic spell, my life of routine, my pleasant boring life ( Tommy, you are noy the only one to complain about not much excitement in life:). I think an autumn spleen captured me today. I'm a bit lost, this French guy called me yesterday to ask if I wanted to work for him - well, bad timing, I already have my work at school and how can I abandon it starting from the next week? I don't know what to do, he's going to call me in an hour to tell me how much would I earn working for him. Bizarre, just when I started to organize my life here, voila - it turns upside down. I hate making decissions if I'm not 100% sure, I don't like choosing, it always takes a month to decide and then I think about it for another month questionning the rightness of my choice.
I'm taking my GRE this Thursday, hope my score will be sufficent.
We are cooking Mom Currit's meatloaf this weekend, I'll let you know if it worked.
Thank you so much for your help with kids' stories. Unfortunately my pupils can hardly count to ten so far, so I think I overestimated their comprehension level a bit. But I'll start reading stories to them soon. At least I hope so. Today we are going to sing I'm a little teapot.
do zobaczenia (see you)
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Mama Update
I'm feeling the same way. Time to blog. I think it's natural with winter weather here and school work piling up, to be very busy and possibly overwhelmed. I'm very much enjoying things around here. There has been a lot of time to write, which has been very precious to me. Dennis and I share the same church calling (we are young adult leaders) and that is proving to be fun. Sometimes we just get laughing about it late at night when we should be sleeping. We are always putting on events and that makes for some interesting experiences. I would like to find some art classes. That isn't proving to be easy. Don't you think children and moms and people from all walks of life might like art classes without going to university? The home remodeling is proving to be expensive and somewhat boring but needs to get done. And I think it will be so nice when it is done.
I just read a good book. It took me about a month and a half. It's called "Born to Rule" about the granddaughters of Queen Victoria of England and their roles in modern European history. I learned so much. It was fascinating. I would like to find an equally interesting book to read next.
Mr. Ward from Alta High calls a lot. His son, Todd, is in the MTC preparing to go on a mission to Thailand. Mr. Ward is worried about the visa situation. It's fun to talk to him. It still could be a long wait for visas. Let's hope not.
All is well here. Travis is good company. We can't get him to play too much lately, but sometimes he is so tired of studying, he'll watch a movie with us. Tommy is busy at school. Hopefully we'll see him this weekend. He has frisbee games on Saturday.
Jak is so fun to talk with on the phone. He knows animal sounds and names and seems to understand that there is a real person on the other end of the phone.
Well, take care all of you. We love you a lot.
Mom
I just read a good book. It took me about a month and a half. It's called "Born to Rule" about the granddaughters of Queen Victoria of England and their roles in modern European history. I learned so much. It was fascinating. I would like to find an equally interesting book to read next.
Mr. Ward from Alta High calls a lot. His son, Todd, is in the MTC preparing to go on a mission to Thailand. Mr. Ward is worried about the visa situation. It's fun to talk to him. It still could be a long wait for visas. Let's hope not.
All is well here. Travis is good company. We can't get him to play too much lately, but sometimes he is so tired of studying, he'll watch a movie with us. Tommy is busy at school. Hopefully we'll see him this weekend. He has frisbee games on Saturday.
Jak is so fun to talk with on the phone. He knows animal sounds and names and seems to understand that there is a real person on the other end of the phone.
Well, take care all of you. We love you a lot.
Mom
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
My week
This next week will be really busy for me. On Monday, I have a group of people coming in from out of town to install a software system. They will be here Monday and Tuesday, then I fly to San Diego for Wed thru Friday and come home kind of late Friday night. This will be my first business trip in almost a year, so I have lucked out. At least this trip is to San Diego and not Minnesota.
The project that I will be working on Monday and Tuesday is kind of interesting. We are building the fuselage of a small jet called Javelin (you can look it up on internet). It is sort of like a little jet fighter plane. I can't see any useful purpose for it, so I think it is just for rich people to have fun with. The software is designed to manage 3-D (Catia) data. Our system will be hooked up to theirs so that everyone will see the latest models to aid in concurrent engineering. There are a lot of security concerns that we are still ironing out, but I think it will work.
The project that I will be working on Monday and Tuesday is kind of interesting. We are building the fuselage of a small jet called Javelin (you can look it up on internet). It is sort of like a little jet fighter plane. I can't see any useful purpose for it, so I think it is just for rich people to have fun with. The software is designed to manage 3-D (Catia) data. Our system will be hooked up to theirs so that everyone will see the latest models to aid in concurrent engineering. There are a lot of security concerns that we are still ironing out, but I think it will work.
Hiya
Hello,
Well, I thought Id give a shout out since no one else was writing anything. Im trucking along like normal, busy as a woodpecker. My research is coming along, slowly but surely, thanks to the marvelous aide of my lovely research assistant Agata. Ive been missing a lot of class to try to make time to get it done but still have loads to do. The other parts of my application are falling in place; Ive even got the dreaded Letters of Reccomendation mostly taken care of. Im almost 99 percent decided now that Ill be applying to the History and not the Eastern European Studies program at UW; the funding (though still scarce, ugh) is more available and it would in fact give me more opportunities, as I could take all the same courses and work with the same professors as the other program with the added ability to branch out into Western europe or other parts of the world. I won't know where I get accepted until March or so, a wait which Im not looking forward to. Agata, on the other hand, has received the good news that she should know her placement around December/January.
Other than that, I have little to say, as my time is spent almost entirely chained to books. I hope to attend a conference today on Hell and Its Afterlife sponsored by the Humanities center, should be fun. Ive been struck by the urge to go see a film as I realize that I have not been out to the movies since coming home from France. Tommy and I discussed going to Prestige soon; there is also a Pedro Almodovar film festival winding up this week that I would love to catch.
Love to all and to all a good night (and happy halloween-season! must be fun with Jak, eh?)
TQC
Well, I thought Id give a shout out since no one else was writing anything. Im trucking along like normal, busy as a woodpecker. My research is coming along, slowly but surely, thanks to the marvelous aide of my lovely research assistant Agata. Ive been missing a lot of class to try to make time to get it done but still have loads to do. The other parts of my application are falling in place; Ive even got the dreaded Letters of Reccomendation mostly taken care of. Im almost 99 percent decided now that Ill be applying to the History and not the Eastern European Studies program at UW; the funding (though still scarce, ugh) is more available and it would in fact give me more opportunities, as I could take all the same courses and work with the same professors as the other program with the added ability to branch out into Western europe or other parts of the world. I won't know where I get accepted until March or so, a wait which Im not looking forward to. Agata, on the other hand, has received the good news that she should know her placement around December/January.
Other than that, I have little to say, as my time is spent almost entirely chained to books. I hope to attend a conference today on Hell and Its Afterlife sponsored by the Humanities center, should be fun. Ive been struck by the urge to go see a film as I realize that I have not been out to the movies since coming home from France. Tommy and I discussed going to Prestige soon; there is also a Pedro Almodovar film festival winding up this week that I would love to catch.
Love to all and to all a good night (and happy halloween-season! must be fun with Jak, eh?)
TQC
Friday, October 20, 2006
my new job and my new hero
Teaching children
So it looks like it's a good time for new jobs as I 've got one too. I'm a teacher at a school of foreign languages and they gave me one group of small children ( 7-8 years old) and 2 other groups of adults. They are all beginners so it's quite easy, although working with kids demands patience. So much patience. There is one girl and three boys in my group, one of them has a pemanent need to go to the toilet, the second one usually draws on his hands instead using his excercise book and the last one screams. If I'm not looking they start a pencil fight. Besides , they are really cute.
I just wanted to tell: Mrs Currit you are my new hero. I have no idea how you've managed to bring up all those wonderful boys and stay alive.
But anyway I really enjoy my job and I would like to ask any of you what were your favourite stories for children when you were young. Maybe you know some cute easy books in English which I could use for my lessons. That would be great of you to give me an advice.
So it looks like it's a good time for new jobs as I 've got one too. I'm a teacher at a school of foreign languages and they gave me one group of small children ( 7-8 years old) and 2 other groups of adults. They are all beginners so it's quite easy, although working with kids demands patience. So much patience. There is one girl and three boys in my group, one of them has a pemanent need to go to the toilet, the second one usually draws on his hands instead using his excercise book and the last one screams. If I'm not looking they start a pencil fight. Besides , they are really cute.
I just wanted to tell: Mrs Currit you are my new hero. I have no idea how you've managed to bring up all those wonderful boys and stay alive.
But anyway I really enjoy my job and I would like to ask any of you what were your favourite stories for children when you were young. Maybe you know some cute easy books in English which I could use for my lessons. That would be great of you to give me an advice.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Thanks, Agata, for sharing your family blog with us. I really enjoyed it. You are related to beautiful people. And Jenni, it's always fun to read your messages. I remember the tiredness. It's not too bad of a memory. I don't know if I ever would have experienced how intense the need for sleep could be, or how you can drink it up like a glass of cold water when you're very thirsty, without pregnancy. It's annoying, but I've seen worse symptoms of early pregnancy in others since. Just about the time you build your whole life around the need to sleep, the need almost disappears. I miss seeing you and helping. (how could I help? Casseroles. Don't you hate to cook at night?) Well, my brother has invited us to La Caille tonight. They owe him a lot for taking care of their animals (they have a mini-zoo on the grounds.). My plan is to skip the rolls, salad, punch, anything ordinary, and to head right for the escargot and lobster. Mostly it will be fun to see Brandy and Daniel. I hope he's smiling tonight. He so doesn't look like a baby girl. She dresses him a lot in brown and orange, not your typical baby colors, but they really suit him. Thanks everybody for making my day a little brighter and fun. This blog is good for a smile.
I'm ready a good book : Born to Rule. It's about five grand-daughters of Queen Victoria who became Queens of European nations and dealt with the terrors of WW I and WW II. It's been a great way to piece modern history together.
I'm ready a good book : Born to Rule. It's about five grand-daughters of Queen Victoria who became Queens of European nations and dealt with the terrors of WW I and WW II. It's been a great way to piece modern history together.
My New Job
This is Jenni. It's been a while since I blogged anything so I figured it was about time. I love reading everything, I just get lazy when it comes to writing. Anyway, I got a new job! Or rather, a job--since I didn't really have a job before. Anyway, I've really wanted to do more tutoring this year so I was looking around to advertise and found someone up the street doing tutoring in a little office. I emailed her and it turned out she was looking for another tutor who could do the math and sciences since she does the language arts. Voila! So now I work with her which is really nice for me because she helps find people for me tutor and I can use her office. These were the main things holding me back because I didn't want to have people coming in our apartment that I didn't know and I don't like doing all the advertising either. So, it works out well. We want to take advantage of this last semester when Danny is so flexible. It is kind of a convenient option because I will be doing most of the work during Jak's naptime so Danny will come home and do homework while I ride my bike to the office. I'm excited do something to keep up a little on my skills and I especially want to get more teaching experience to see if education is something I want to pursue. I really like watching people begin to understand and enjoy learning. I already have about 7 hours a week of both math and history so it should be a fun mix. I'll let you know how it goes
The biggest variable right now is if I have enough energy. I am currently spending 10-15 hours/day sleeping because this baby making drains my energy. I'm still a little nauseous, but mostly just tired. I'm counting on it getting better within a couple weeks.
Jak is doing great--he's talking like a madman. If anyone is bored and wants to call Jak--he's a talker on the phone and will tell you what all the animals say and he'll tell you about his books etc. We think it is pretty cute. He had a great conversation the other day with Dennis and Jo complete with rooster calls and pig snorts. He told us he wants to be a soccer ball for halloween so if anyone has a good idea of how to do that let me know.
I guess that's most of the news from Seattle.
Later.
The biggest variable right now is if I have enough energy. I am currently spending 10-15 hours/day sleeping because this baby making drains my energy. I'm still a little nauseous, but mostly just tired. I'm counting on it getting better within a couple weeks.
Jak is doing great--he's talking like a madman. If anyone is bored and wants to call Jak--he's a talker on the phone and will tell you what all the animals say and he'll tell you about his books etc. We think it is pretty cute. He had a great conversation the other day with Dennis and Jo complete with rooster calls and pig snorts. He told us he wants to be a soccer ball for halloween so if anyone has a good idea of how to do that let me know.
I guess that's most of the news from Seattle.
Later.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Family album 2
Family album explanations
And yes, you should probably look it starting from the earliest post which is at the end, then it's more logical.
And yes, you should probably look it starting from the earliest post which is at the end, then it's more logical.
Currit Family
Family album
if you want to see a nice Polish family, check out this blog:
www.polishfamily.blogspot.com Enjoy!
if you want to see a nice Polish family, check out this blog:
www.polishfamily.blogspot.com Enjoy!
Monday, October 16, 2006
Dennis Update
This is just to confirm that I am still alive, but not doing much exciting. I had a great time going to Zion and Kolob canyons with Travis and Tom. They were very kind and waited for me when we hiked.
I still go to work everyday and somedays are quite challenging. I am lucky that I have a job that I enjoy (for the most part). It seems strange that I am less than 10 years away from retiring.
I still go to work everyday and somedays are quite challenging. I am lucky that I have a job that I enjoy (for the most part). It seems strange that I am less than 10 years away from retiring.
ANOTHER MEATLOAF
This meatloaf recipe only takes one pound of ground beef, which might be easier for college people. It tasted delicious, but didn't slice as well out of the oven. When it cooled, it sliced beautifully. Meatloaf makes good sandwiches.
BEST-EVER MEAT LOAF
2 slices rye or whole wheat bread
2 slices white bread
3/4 cup cold water
1 pound ground beef
1/2 of a onion (medium sized) finely chopped (about l/2 cup)
few sprigs of parsley chopped (or dried parsley)
1 tsp. of salt
dash of pepper
1 egg slightly beaten
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Break up the bread and soak in the cold water (3/4 cup, see above). Squeeze out some of the water if bread seems too wet, and combine it with the meat. Blend thoroughly then add onion, parley, salt, pepper, egg and cheese. Shape into loaf pan. Bake for 1/2 hour. Pour off any excess grease. Spread on meatloaf topping (see other recipe). Bake another 20 minutes.
This makes a smaller meatloaf in the same size loaf pan.
BEST-EVER MEAT LOAF
2 slices rye or whole wheat bread
2 slices white bread
3/4 cup cold water
1 pound ground beef
1/2 of a onion (medium sized) finely chopped (about l/2 cup)
few sprigs of parsley chopped (or dried parsley)
1 tsp. of salt
dash of pepper
1 egg slightly beaten
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Break up the bread and soak in the cold water (3/4 cup, see above). Squeeze out some of the water if bread seems too wet, and combine it with the meat. Blend thoroughly then add onion, parley, salt, pepper, egg and cheese. Shape into loaf pan. Bake for 1/2 hour. Pour off any excess grease. Spread on meatloaf topping (see other recipe). Bake another 20 minutes.
This makes a smaller meatloaf in the same size loaf pan.
Meatloaf
Here's Travis' favorite meatloaf recipe. I tried one from "The Mormon Family Cookbook" yesterday that was delicious but didn't slice very well. Travis said this is the one that tastes like meatloaf should to him.
Tasty Meatloaf (this recipe is usually on the dried soup mix box)
1 envelope dried onion soup mix (like Lipton's)
2 lbs. ground beef
1-1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine as above (squish with clean hands in a bowl). In a large baking pan, shape into a loaf. (I just use a regular breadpan. It isn't especially large.) Bake 1/2 hour. Pour off any extra grease. Add special meatloaf topping and cook for l/2 hour more. (you might want to put a cookie sheet under loaf pan in oven. Let sit for about 10 minutes before you try to cut slices.
Meatloaf topping:
3 tbls. brown sugar
l/4 cup catsup
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. dry mustard
It doesn't taste like meatloaf to us without the topping. Meatloaf is basically pate', which is kind of interesting. It's a very basic pate'. Or maybe it's a big meatball in a loaf pan.
I can't think of anything to blog, so here's the recipe for everyone. It's raining here and snowing in the mountains. We have a garden full of Orange Warty Things.(that is the name.) Apparently they are good to eat. We will find out.
No news from Alex. He should email tomorrow.
Aren't the Zion's and Kolob pictures beautiful? The rest are just as beautiful. We projected them on the wall at Martineau's house. It was fun. Shirley (who has M.S.) will not be able to hike there in this life, so she especially enjoyed it. I'm so glad I can get into places like that. I want to go!
Hawaii had an earthquake. All airlines are down. No flights. Good thing Danny flew out a week ago.
Check out the new Nobel Prize Winner from Bangladesh (I think) who developed micro-economics. Talk about hope and good works!
Tasty Meatloaf (this recipe is usually on the dried soup mix box)
1 envelope dried onion soup mix (like Lipton's)
2 lbs. ground beef
1-1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine as above (squish with clean hands in a bowl). In a large baking pan, shape into a loaf. (I just use a regular breadpan. It isn't especially large.) Bake 1/2 hour. Pour off any extra grease. Add special meatloaf topping and cook for l/2 hour more. (you might want to put a cookie sheet under loaf pan in oven. Let sit for about 10 minutes before you try to cut slices.
Meatloaf topping:
3 tbls. brown sugar
l/4 cup catsup
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. dry mustard
It doesn't taste like meatloaf to us without the topping. Meatloaf is basically pate', which is kind of interesting. It's a very basic pate'. Or maybe it's a big meatball in a loaf pan.
I can't think of anything to blog, so here's the recipe for everyone. It's raining here and snowing in the mountains. We have a garden full of Orange Warty Things.(that is the name.) Apparently they are good to eat. We will find out.
No news from Alex. He should email tomorrow.
Aren't the Zion's and Kolob pictures beautiful? The rest are just as beautiful. We projected them on the wall at Martineau's house. It was fun. Shirley (who has M.S.) will not be able to hike there in this life, so she especially enjoyed it. I'm so glad I can get into places like that. I want to go!
Hawaii had an earthquake. All airlines are down. No flights. Good thing Danny flew out a week ago.
Check out the new Nobel Prize Winner from Bangladesh (I think) who developed micro-economics. Talk about hope and good works!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Zions Photos
Well, it looks like my original attempt didnt work, so you got the more before the original. Anywho, these are photos of our Zion's trip of a bit ago. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)