8 inches, and still coming down

Of course its all over the news, but we're at the tail-end of our first big snow storm of the year. The ice last week was nothing (for us anyway). Tuesday evening we got a couple of inches of snow, though. I was in PA at Olympus America all week and Carmen left early Wednesday AM for MT (we have a dog-sitter now!). Translation: nobody shoveled our driveway! When I got home Thursday night, our entire property was one big skating rink. The snow had half-melted, then froze. The driveway...all 150 feet of it...had 1" thick ice on it. With a 10AM appointment, and an ETA of another storm at 1PM...I had a stressful Friday morning and afternoon trying to clear all the ice off the driveway before the storm hit. I finished around 3:30 just as the snow was starting to build up.

Lesson of the day: Never let the snow melt on the driveway!!

My new snow blower was completely inactive against the ice, so I resorted to salt and a square shovel, yard-type. It actually worked quite well. Shortly I will christen my snow blower for real, and then head out to the mall to do my Christmas shopping!

27 days and counting...

Baby G is almost ready!  Yesterday I had a growth scan, and they estimated the baby's weight to be approx. 7lbs 4oz!!!  If I go to my due date it could gain up to 2 more lbs- yikes!  That makes me scared for the delivery, but people say it's good to have a nice big baby, that they are healthier, eat more, sleep longer, etc.  

This week at work they had a surprise shower for me, which was really nice.  Today we have a prenatal visit with our pediatrician.  Construction continues on our hall closet, it should be done this weekend.  Then we will will be all ready.

We are looking forward to relaxing during the holidays.  Scott's family will come down and it will be fun to see the kids.

painting again

Just after I finished painting my living roo m and hall green and orange a couple of months ago, I now have to return it to "neutral" in order to not offend potential buyers! So I have been taping and painting, up and down the ladder, bending over to the baseboard and I am exhausted tonight. Once I get the taping done it should be easier. I may paint Doug and Carmen's favorite color in their new house - the swatch looks like it would go really well. Can you imagine that doug? I will get a sample and try it before I commit.

So I'm off to rest my body and read.

Oh, I like the idea of freecycle, but I have so much stuff... I took a carload to goodwill today, and my friends came over and claimed some of my stuff I no longer want. It seems like more trouble to post and answer calls.

Really good news though - my new company is paying my moving expenses so I guess that means I don't have to pack! So my getting rid of stuff is mainly necessitated by probably having a smaller place with much less storage space than this big house. It feels really good to unload this stuff!

Walmart?

Before my arguably liberal family starts jumping on the Walmart bandwagon, perhaps we should read some of the reasons why a large number of educated Americans boycott Walmart.

http://walmartwatch.com/

I believe that they are partly responsible for a lot of the problems that we are experiencing in this country. Less than 50% of their employees are covered by their healthcare plan. They are the single largest customer of Chineses made goods, putting Americans out of work.

My biggest problem with them is that they censor the content of CDs, magazines and books. As the worlds largest retailer of media, if Walmart tells you to change your cover art, or your content because they conflict with Walmart's Southern Baptist culture...that's a big problem in my opinion.

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3_2.html

As for me, I can spend a little extra money...and buy somewhere else.

Xmas??

I don't feel very Xmasy this year. When I go out to the stores, it feels wierd, cause there is hardly anyone shopping....makes me think I shouldn't be there...I should be home, not spending my money, saving it just in case....but there sure are some great sales going on.
Ron and I have become intimate with Walmart since we have been buying things there for the house in Pioneer. I keep thinking that I should buy stock in Walmart. It is always packed...I never stepped foot in it until this year...look what I have missed....people (especially in Jackson, where Walmart is THE only store) who look like they just came out of the woods , scruffy beards, beat up clothes, missing teeth, with a slime trail following them as they wander aimlessly about, some of them yelling for their fellow Walmart visitors, and/or screaming at their children who look like orphans....precariously perched on the side of the shopping carts...(dont they know that the little ones can fall and hurt themselves badly?) .... are these people horrified by what could happen in their world due to the stock market and the world economic crisis... They aren't home saving their money...they are at the world's greatest importer of Chinese made items...who knows maybe things will change and USA will start making "things" again and in the future we will have the oppportunity to buy them at the last remaining retail chain, Walmart...guess I should buy some stock!
Mary

Ice. Ice. Baby.

As you probably will see on the news this morning, we're having a bit of an ice storm here in Massachusetts. Power has been off since about midnight. No heat, no lights. Luckily, it's not that cold...only about 33. Also, luckily, our local Starbucks has power!

We have about 3 downed branches this size in our yard. It's pretty impressive how much ice fell off of them. When we drove to Starbucks, we had to take several detours because entire streets are blocked by downed trees.

When we walked out to this branch, I told Carmen that we should make margaritas! (you know...with all the ice.)

We were supposed to get about 2 inches of rain last night. Since our yard is a big soupy mess, that sounds about right. It's supposed to stop raining around noon, then warm up a little...but then get down in the teens tonight. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday!

art website finally

Hi all,

So update...I have three of my gilcee prints in a retail store in Sutter Creek (near Pioneer) and will be putting another 5 or 6 in this week with more to follow!

I found someone in Jackson (near Pioneer) to produce the gilcees for me and have one more store in Pioneer wanting to sell my art, and another store (saddlery shop) near Stockton interested. My work might also be exhibited in the Restaurant at the Jackson Rancheria (Indian gambling joint). So I have finally worked on my website which is www.FineArtStudioOnline.com/MaryPauer

and have some more work to do on it.

So how did this all happen?? Don't know but it sure has been easy. I have one piece that I would like to show in Studio Seven in Pleasanton, which is a pretty nice art gallery. I am a bit nervous about sending it off (jpeg via the internet of course) but the worst that can happen is she says No!

On another note, I go to Dr. Larson at UCSF (neurosurgeon) on Wednesday this week to speak again about the Deep Brain Stimulation. Am so uncomfortable, actually in alot of pain sometimes, so it is time to get this done.

If you haven't heard, Chris starts BMW program tomorrow....hoorah! Seven months of full time school so he wont be working part time any longer. Instead of the 280 lbs of books the course usually requires, he will be getting a new lap top from BMW with the books downloaded on it! Lots of homework each nite...but he should be graduating with a job at a dealership!

Kaitlyn is fine, her social life is flourishing. Still not interested in getting drivers permit!

Ron is taking the month of December off starting on Tuesday. Linda is coming on the 25th for a few days and we will take her to see the house.

Got to run!

Love you!

Mary

Giving things away- Freecycle

Have you heard of "freecyle.org"? It is a website that directs you to a local yahoo group that is specific for the area that you live in. They have one for Tempe. People put all sorts of things that they want to give away and therefore keep things out of the landfills.

The other day I offered a pile of 20 or so gift boxes ( you know the ones I keep collecting every year, even though whenever I buy a gift it always comes with a gift box). I posted it on the group and later that afternoon some lady picked them up from my front porch! Awesome! Steve had a pants/press valet that we have moved around the country five times that was a periodic annoyance to me whenever I looked at it. I put it on freecycle and within an hour , I had 12 emails from people who wanted it. ( I started to doubt myself for wanting to get rid of it because it was desired by so many people!)

Anyway it is very easy because you don't have to gather up a big load to take to a drop off spot. If you are inspired to get rid of something, just put it on freecycle and it will be gone.

Good luck on your job interviewing Mom, and keep us posted.

Love,
Anne

I'm excited ! I've interviewed friday on the phone for a job at the Verde Valley Guidance Clinic which looks very promising! It is located in Cottonwood and if I get the job I would live in Sedona, one of my favorite places as you know.

I'm having to overcome my mental and emotional obstacles to pursuing my dream of living in a place like Sedona. At first I was scared to death, waking up with anxiety and telling myself to forget moving, just stay here! Guess I was scared to give up what I have. Now I am not scared but moderately excited. Then there is inertia - I'm contented, like my job, liking my house more and more as I fix it my way. Esp as I look around and think of leaving it. But I think if I stay here I am cutting myself off from the new possibilities that lie in the place I dream of, that I would be settling for the status quo, preparing for old age by playing it safe. And it seems like I am ready for an adventure, and I'm not getting any younger!

I have to consider the possibility I won't get the job, but I think I will and am proceeding like I will .


I am in a quandry about whether to rent or try to sell my house, which I think is my biggest obstacle. (Any advice is welcome.) No matter which I do, I'm purging my house of unnecessary, unloved, or unwanted stuff that, even though I don't consider myself anywhere near a packrat, has accumulated over the years. I am hindered by an emotional/mental obstacle to throwing away good stuff. I got this from Granny I am sure -you know how she is always passing along stuff nobody wants - a very annoying habit that I am also guilty of foisting on my kids! Every time I want to toss something my mind automatically thinks "who can I give this to?". It's amazing how ingrained this is and how gut- wrenching it is to put stuff in a trash bag to either throw away or take to charity. But I am persisting and it does feel goodto lighten up! I even found a place to take "building materials" for recycling - old boards, tiles, drywall, etc that were collecting cobwebs in the garage. I got my guest bathroom updated with new faucets and towel rods.

Next I will try to get a shower stall door replacement for the master bath. If I sell I might get new countertop in the bathroom too.l

I interview in person with DR G on sunday in Cottonwood. Wish me luck!
I will call a realtor to show my some rentals in Sedona while I am up there too.

Just watched PBS special about Dale Chihuly glass artist - there is a special exhibit of his glass throughout the desert botanical garden that I just bought a ticket for -it should be beautiful lit up at night.

The Bright Side...

They say you're always supposed to look at the bright side of things. You know, like the glass is half empty...

Well today, it was really cold out morning when I took the dogs out into the yard for their morning ritual...and I smiled at the fact that frozen dog poo is much less unpleasant to scoop up and discard than regular dog poo.

A little while later, I went upstairs and crawled back into bed with Carmen. "It's SO cold," she said. Yeah, but if it was warm, I'd be out riding my bike instead of snuggling with you. "True-dat," she said.

Later it started drizzling, raining, snowing, raining, sleating, etc. I didn't feel so positive about that, but it did give us a great opportunity to put up our Xmas tree...

Update from Scott & Alice

Hi everyone-
Scott's Grandfather passed away last Sunday, and we went to Albany on Tuesday night for the Service on Wednesday. It was a really nice service, with so many people, but of course really sad even though he had a long happy life. Scott's Grandmother is still alive. I wish I had known them earlier, they seem like amazing people- nuturing and fun-loving. They had a large loving family- four biological children, three adopted children, and took care of several foster children over the years.
On a lighter note, today we had a party at the house with about 25 friends and 4 kids, a non-shower, I guess you'd call it. It was so nice to see everyone and celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby G. We had a great time. We had everyone write name suggestions & put them in a vase, since we are still stumped.
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and visiting with Scott's family & with Doug, Carmen & Carmen's parents. I am really excited to play some mexican train if I can stay awake:)
Only 7 more weeks until the baby comes, give or take. We are getting ready little by little. By the way, we are registered for a few things at BabiesRus, if anyone asks.
Love to you all.

I agree with a Republican

I saw Mitt Romney on the Today Show this morning and I liked what he said about the Big 3. He said that giving them the money would ensure their demise. Instead this is an opportunity to help them shed costs and restructure giving them the chance to be competitive and survive. They need new labor agreements to get the labor costs in line with their competition and the retiree burden needs to be reduced. He wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times on Wednesday about it. I agree with the republican view on this issue.

Free Cars for 1 million tax payers

I have an idea. Instead of giving $25B to the Big 3 so that they can keep making cars that no one wants...why don't we give $25,000 to 1 million taxpayers with the contingency that they buy a Ford, GM or Chrysler vehicle. I think the return on investment for the American people would be better. Most of us will get abolutely nothing, which is what we're going to get with the bailout. The lucky few, if you could call them that, will get new cars.

How do you decide who gets them? Lottery. All taxpayers with income less than ____ are automatically entered to win. The amount could be like $100,000 or so. We could even spread it out over a few years, to keep them on life support as long as possible...

I've been compromised

My credit card was compromised today. Someone got the number and charged hundreds of dollars at some porn site. Miraculously, Chase caught it and denied the charges. New cards are en route. Apparently no damage done. This leaves me with 2 questions:
1. How does this not happen more often? With all the people that actually see my credit card number during the dozens of transactions per month...
2. How in the world did they catch this so quickly? What kind of clairvoyent algorithms do they use to figure this stuff out in real-time?

This is the second time this has happened to me, and at least the 3rd or 4th time that Fraud Protection has called with questions like: "Mr Kennedy, did you charge $347 to ILUST4YOUNGBLONDS.COM today?" or "Mr Kennedy, did you purchase $57 at Chevron in Homestead Florida yesterday and $32 at Applebees in Boise Idaho today?" uh....no to the blondes...but don't tell anyone that I ate at Applebees...okay.

I'm just glad that there's some really smart programmers out that that are working on the side of goodness and justice...because otherwise the hackers and thiefs would have their way with us and we'd all be broke. Of course, we still have the politicians doing their best trying to give away our hard-earned tax dollars to the Big Three...because they simply can't make cars that people actually want to buy...but their existence is vital to our national security...therefore we must keep them on life support so that they can continue to loose market share to the Japanese...who arguably make much better cars trucks and SUVS...and wait for them go bankrupt when nobody notices...or when the economy is doing better so that nobody cares. And they accused Obama of being a socialist. Now that both parties worked together to socialize banking and they're well on their way to socializing the US auto industry...the GOP is going to have to find a new bad name to call him.

As for me, I'm going to just going to bury my head in the sand and continue being a good American...by spending as much money as possible...as soon as I get my new piece of plastic.

San Francisco Adventure

Sunday we went to San Francisco for the day. We took Bart over and then we rode the cable car
over to Fisherman's Wharf. It was a beautiful day there with sun and 75 degree temperatures! We ate fresh Dungeness Crab. Kendall gave fifty cents to a street musician playing a dulcimer. She said that when she grows up she wants to play an instrument so that people will give her money!
At Pier 39, we visited the aquarium and enjoyed seeing a fringe group of the Stanford marching band performing. It was a fun adventure of public transportation and seeing the sights in San Francisco.

I experienced a little winter while driving home from Flag - the skies turned from blue to gray and the temperature dropped from 60 to 38 in a couple of hours. As soon as I started driving out of town flurries started, then heavy snow which stuck to the windshield and road. Since I was headed downhill, within 30 minutes it was rain and after I climbed out of the Verde Valley, the sun was again shining and it was clear at home.

I enjoyed my overnight in Flag - Darlene has an adorable old house right downtown so we walked to restaurants and even for shopping. I'd never experienced Flag from the perspective of a resident - it is really a cool place and I would even consider living there but not particularly attracted to it though. What does attract me is red rock and desert! I saw a picture of Terry Tempest Williams (author) seated outside her Castle Valley (isn't that a cool name?) UT home (outside of Moab) which included spires of red rock and I was immediately envious and had to look it up on the web. She is coming to Changing Hands Thursday so maybe I can talk to her. One of these days I hope to fulfill this dream of living in such a place.

I'm watching less TV these days because I got rid of my cable recorder. More reading, more listening to radio and music. I still catch Oprah most nights.

Hooray - I did several hours of filing, purging, tossing in my office and it feels so good to have all that done! Now I can just shred and file as things come in, thereby avoiding such a back log. I'm learning to make it easier = moving the files that I need to the spot where I go through my mail (laundry room), instead of creating a pile in the laundry room or on my desk to be sorted some months down the road.

That sure was a lot of leaves Doug!

Halloween

Kendall was Dorothy for Halloween this year. She had a lot of fun trick or treating. Rosie went as Toto. As you all heard, I painstakingly sewed this costume (with help from Mary and phone consultations with Mom). I think it turned out pretty good despite the fact that I had to sew her into the dress for her first costume party on Tuesday. It was just like an episode of "Project Runway" as I rushed to finish her dress in time. You can't even see the blood stains on the sleeve bands from my pricked fingers. If I start now, maybe I can finish next year's costume without as much stress.

Love,

Anne

Leaves, leaves and more leaves

Yesterday I spent 3 hours mowing the leaves and dumping them in the woods. (I love having a compost pile in my backyard!) Today...it looks just like it did BEFORE I started! I see another couple hours of yard work today. Yippee.

2 Hours In Line We'll Never Forget

The lines were a block and a half long and as diverse as one can imagine- what a great place to witness history and the best time to start a family.
Love and Hope- Scott & Alice

Dawn of a New Day

Carmen and I stayed up to watch Obama's acceptance speech. It was inspirational...to say the least. It's still a bit surreal. I too, have never been so emotionally vested in an election. I don't think the nation has ever been so emotionally vested. I don't recall a similar level of celebration by millions across the country for any previous President. I certainly don't recall caring this much in the past, other than being really, really disappointed that this country re-elected W.

McCain was relatively gracious. His crowd was disappointing, though...with their boos. McCain should have scolded them. I would have liked to have seen an apology from him as well. After running such a dishonorable campaign, I hope that he slips into obscurity and retires soon.

It's the dawn of a new day. We have a new President, and he has a lot of work to do to rebuild our economy and rebuild respect in the international community.

I feel like I am sitting on pins and needles over this election - I have never felt so invested emotionally in an election. It's hard to believe the whole thing will be over by tonight! And probably no one will read the blog for days...

I love the picture of Alice and the blanket and seeing her big belly - more excitement there and the unknown there too -in just two months we'll have another little being in our family and we'll finally know what it is!

I'm at work and a patient didn't show up so I had time to talk to Anne, who is getting everyone ready to go to Disneyland for a few days.

We had fun making Rosie the little vest. Rosie seemed to enjoy the fittings and rolling around in the fabric as we were sewing. She is so adorable.

I am impressed with Anne's willingness to tackle sewing, especially with something as challenging as the Dorothy outfit for Kendall's Halloween costume. It was fun having her call me for a consultation every few hours! Sewing can be tedious and frustrating, but fun too when you like the finished product. I am enjoying sewing and knitting more these days, after many years of not really doing either one. In a way I feel like I've returned to myself, as needlework was such an important part of my young life until I went to nursing school, started working, and pretty much stopped making things.

I had my yard all cleaned up and everything is trimmed way back (remember the rats?) and surprisingly it doesn't look too scalped and bare. Julio seems to have a good sense of design the way he can trim an out of control bush down to two sticks and have it look good. Sort of a zen approach. Anyway, I am very relieved because I have decided to hire Julio for monthly maintenance so I never have to have yardwork hanging over my head again.

My next project( and then I hope to have no more unpleasant projects), is to eliminate all my unncessary papers , statements, etc from my filing. The barrage of paper related to investments is ridiculous. The town of Tempe is having a Shred- a -thon coming up in two weeks and I am using that as my target date to rid my office of all unnecessary old papers with my social security number and privacy information on them. I can take it all to the shred a thon and get rid of it all at once! Yeay! I will feel so much lighter when that is done and my office will be once again under control. Now its under piles of papers.

The weather is lovely - in the mid 80s during the day, 60s at night.

I will be going to Flagstaff saturday (brrr) to see my friend Darlene NP who moved there a month ago for a job. That will be nice to go up there, and fun to see her. I'll have a chance to break in those winter clothes before going to NY in January for the birth.

Hopefully we'll be talking about President Obama after today!

Obama Fever

Hi everyone-
As the election gets closer, we can really feel the energy and the support for Obama here in NY. It's all very exciting!
Scott will be shooting tomorrow night at the Daily Show with John Stewart. I may go to friends to watch the election coverage.
We had our birthing class yesterday, which was very informative. Now that there's no hiding the fact that I'm REALLY pregnant (this thing is huge), a lot of our neighbors in the building are noticing. The ones with kids are especially excited for us and it's nice to know that there are so many other families and feel that sense of community. I am feeling really good in general, more energetic.
Speaking of the baby, check out the beautiful blankie that Patricia knitted for him/ her...it is so soft and cozy I have been using it myself!

A dog day afternoon

Mom was in town this weekend. We all attended Granny's 88th birthday party yesterday. It was a great success!

Today, Mom and Kendall & I went to a Dog Show that was in town at the fairgrounds. We watched the dogs being blow dried and primped for the show. The hairdos on the poodles were the most interesting! Inspired by the many booths of dog accessories, Mom and I came home and sewed this cute flannel vest for Rosie! It is just the beginning. We have many ideas for embellishments and fancier duds! Maybe I will make a halloween costume.

Anne

Hmmm, finally figured this out!

Wow, it's taken me a long time to get logged onto this Blog. This is neat and look forward to seeing everyone's posts now! Thanks Alice of resending the link to me.

Getting ready for the 88th birthday party for Granny in a couple of days. Hope I remember everything I have to do~I didn't send those of you not able to attend the party the invitation that I made for it. I put a picture of Granny with her mother, taken when Granny was one year old, on the front of the card. Granny had won a "beauty contest" and the prize was money. Her mother who was desperately poor at the time, elected to spend mom's prize earnings on the photograph. I think Granny feels sad when she looks at the picture and thinks of the sacrifices that her mom made to raise her children. For those of you who don't know, Granny's father basically abandoned his family and was killed in a train wreck when my mom was young. He worked for the railroad. So Granny's mom made bread and rolls for a living during the depression in order to support her kids. And she made Great Rolls, I remember smelling the dough as it was rising , although it always smelled better then it tasted at that point! I have lots of fond memories of my grandmother. She was always loving and she had the softest whitest skin. Kind of like bread dough!

So I have been speaking almost daily now with Granny. She said that Grandpa sleeps most of the time and doesn't do much else. He doesn't read anymore and I don't think he gets on the computer much anymore. I suggested that she play some classical music since he used to love to listen to it. I think Granny is lonely, doesn't have much conversation now with Grandpa.

Our house in Pioneer is pretty much furnished now. Ron went up there last Thursday and spent four nights there. Some of his friends were there for a couple of those nights. It snowed there, just a flurry that didn't stick, but an introduction of what is to come in a couple of months. It is so gorgeous there. We both think that it could be a place that we could spend some major time after Ron retires. It is definitely far from the maddening crowd. Our house is quite literally on the edge of the last fairly large town (5,000 in Pioneer) on Rte 88 prior to getting to the next major town which is South Lake Tahoe. And Rte 88 has some of the most gorgeous scenery in California!

Kids are doing well. Waiting for Kaityn's first progress report from school. Hoping she gets a B average so she can finally get her driver's permit.

Chris's last day of WYO tech is tomorrow. Fourteen straight months of school since he graduated from Cal High. I am so proud of how well his has done . He has been invited to interview for the BMW school. He is a little concerned that he might end up having to work for a dealer in Kansas, which he thinks would be a fate worse then death, but admits that he doesn't really know how the whole process works. He would be happy staying in California and I suggested that he imagines that is just what will happen!

Ron's work is stressful and he comes home with a headache every night. I am hoping that the lab will have an early retirement buyout soon that he will be able to take advantage of. If that were to happen, we would stick around San Ramon til Kaitlyn graduates in 2010 but I am certain that Ron would be up enjoying the lakes and hiking in the Sierras often until 2010.

Looking forward to hearing from everyone!

Love,

Mary

Oh, will try to upload the picture I used for the invitation! It worked!

My Big Belly

Well, baby G is getting bigger every day!  There is lots of kicking and punching going on in there.  I have been feeling much better in general, although I still have some bad days.  I have been going swimming which feels wonderful and helps me sleep better, and I found a wonderful woman who does prenatal massage through someone in my yoga class.  We spent time with our friends Sarah & Andrew this weekend, who have a 7 week old baby girl, Daphne.  It made us very excited to see our baby!

Check out our cat Sushi in the background- she has no idea how much her world is about to change!

The Journey

I went to an experience called "The Journey" at the Montessori School. It is designed for parents to experience school from a child's point of view. It was friday night for two hours and Saturday from 8:30-1:00. We spent time in each classroom as students going through the evolution from the Toddler , Primary, Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, through Middle School.
It was so cool! The Montessori Method is fascinating and the basis is that children learn through a tactile experience. So, instead of memorizing times tables and numbers, they are physically multiplying using beads and other concrete materials. They move from the concrete to the abstract. It was fun to do the math exercises. If I had learned math this way, I may not have had to repeat basic math three times in college! When I moved into the upper elementary room I had to have a refresher from the teacher on how to do a long division problem. I think I need to go back to 5th grade! Anyway, it was great fun and brought back to me how much fun it can be to learn and the sense of accomplishment that comes from that.

Kendall is loving the school and we notice big differences in her already. She comes home very engaged and usually embarks on some project that she creates in her mind, such as making a book, doing an experiment or tracing an outline of her body on a big piece of paper and then coloring it in with clothes etc. Before, she spent most of her time playing with her barbies or watching a movie. Her mind seems more stimulated and creative.

Talk to you all soon!
Anne

I just finished (I hope) all the painting I am doing in the entry hall and living room. I am pleased with the results. I'd add a picture but I don't want to take the time, and I think I am seeing you all in the next two weeks and can show you on my camera.



Had a walk and breakfast with Elaine at Wildflower. We shared a nine grain bagel and a fruit. I've had to watch my diet since the reunion and subsequent weeks of binging a couple of weeks ago. The food combining diet - what a godsend to know about that - it works every time to lose a few pounds. The worst part is I can't have any chips. My goal: to fit into my winter pants for my trip to boston next week. I think I am there.

Had the 5 trees removed from the yard - the front yard looks so much better without those half dead queen palms. Had to remove the side yard trees that were just too much. Besides, I saw a RAT the other day and I have to have it (them!) trapped. They like trees and I didn't know they like lush vegetation, and make nests there. After the rats (I even hate to say the word) are trapped, I will have my shrubs trimmed. so you New Yorkers aren't the only ones to have rats!have rats in the desert too.

Alice you are really getting big! I can't wait to see you Friday and feel baby G move!

I thought Sarah was a "talking head " in the debate. Not sure what that means, but it's as if she rehearsed certain things and kept hammering away at them without answering the questions. I thought Joe did a great job. I like Barack, but why couldn't we nominate someone like Joe who has tons of experience? Or Hilary for that matter? why do we have to chose people based on their charisma and sex appeal basically? I'm concerned about the American people not being critical thinkers, voting with their emotions and not their intellect.

Enough for tonight....

What a difference a day makes

On Wednesday I shot cops in Tampa busting a crack house, numerous traffic stops, and a couple prostitution stings (yes, I was wearing a bullet proof vest). On Thursday I shot pop-star Katy Perry for MTV in New York (didn't need a vest for that one)…

Bailout & Palin

I honestly have no idea whether today's developments on the Banking Bailout are good or bad for us "common" Americans. Yeah, my portfolio just lost 5% in one day, but I'm just not smart enough to know whether the Bailout was good or bad for the long-term outlook of this country. Lou Dobbs is practically throwing a party on CNN because it got rejected. I'm just glad that I don't have to make that decision. I feel sorry for America though, if McCain and Palin get elected...because I think she's even less prepared than I am to make that kind of complex and global-reaching decision...
My thoughts.
Doug

Scott & Alice

Scott & I had a busy weekend. We checked out the new Ikea in Brooklyn (it's great), ate some really good meals with friends, went to the farmer's market, etc.
We are still researching the washer dryer. These things are so complicated when you live in a 1920's building...it's not like we can just go out and buy one & hook it up. We had another guy come over tonight who's estimate was much lower, but it's all dependent on whether we have enough wattage for an electric, ventless dryer.
I went for a routine doctor's appt today, everything is good with the baby. We are signed up for childbirthing class in November. My belly is getting a lot bigger and people give me their seat on the subway now.
The nights are cooling off and I am loving the cooler weather since I feel pretty hot these days.

It's getting cold here in Beaufort...the annual boat race was today. It was so windy and cold... I can only imagine what it felt like on the boats! I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting just working and trying to keep up in school! I did go buy a couch and a love seat on Thursday. One of the local furniture stores was going out of business so I took advantage of that. Oh, Dad I thought of you since all their area rugs were on sale as well ;)

Fall is the time for planting...

so they say around here...so our big dirt hill in the front yard is getting a facelift. We spent $200 in new plants yesterday, which is about enough to fill the lower slopes with color. Daylillies, chrysamthamums,...and a whole bunch of other things that I can neither pronounce nor spell.

Only got about half of the planted before we ran out of steam. By the end of the day, it will be finished.

We need to finds some bushes and some ground cover to prevent erosion. We are also going to need more plants for filler in between...but we're well on our way.

We're hoping for a very colorful spring!

Another Article

Here is an article on Cindy McCain in which I found fascinating:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/15/080915fa_fact_levy

It is pretty in-depth and doesn't cast the greatest light on either of the McCains.

C.O.L.D.

We bought a cord of firewood yesterday. $350. I'm not sure that this will be a positive Return on Investment. Natural gas may actually be cheaper!

One cord may last through the winter. Not sure. It's supposed to be in the 30's tonight...so we may have our first fire real soon!

Attn Book Lovers!

I am reading a great book, Unaccustomed Earth, by Jumpha Lahiri. She wrote The Namesake.
Her new book is short stories, and I am loving it.

It's raining...AGAIN.

I wish that I would have kept track of the number of days that it's rained since we've been here. I'm fairly certain that it has rained more than half of the days. Last weekend, Hanna blew through town. My neighbor has a rain guage. We got 5-1/2 inches! This weekend, the tail of Ike, plus a storm that was coming anyway.

Nothing but rain!

We had neighbors over for dinner Friday night for the first time. They are 34, no kids and of similar values to us (liberal!). He's a software programmer and likes my kind of beer, she's a 2nd grade teacher and a vegetarian. Nice people. They stayed until mid-night. I thought I was going to have to ask them to leave....

They're probably the only people in the hood that we can really be friends with. Everyone else has 3 or 4 kids, or is a lot older than us. We found out that the people on the corner that have 4 kids are "home schoolers". I guess we won't be inviting them to our next Martini Party. The house that we almost bought around the corner is changing hands this week, though, so there's a chance there...

We're still shopping for rugs for the LR and DR. We think we found one for the LR at Crate & Barrel. It's so hard to find rugs. Everytime Carmen finds one that she likes in a catalog, or on-line, we discover that it's only available in 5x8 or something. I guess I shouldn't complain, because it has delayed a large sum of money from flying out of my checking account!

Interesting article by Gloria Steinem on Palin

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,7915118.story

thoughts from Patricia

It is so great to read everyone's contribution.

Doug and Carmen I can't wait to see your new home!

Anne and Steve - I'm so excited to hear that Kendall is learning and excited about her school. It sounds fantastic.

Today I am in Kearny - the air is fragrant with that post - rain desert scent and the sky is pure blue with lots of white puffy clouds. I love driving through the mountains to get here. My day is going well and some people have canceled and I will get out early. Hooray!

Had book club on Monday - we had read "Call of the Wild" by Jack London - a classic which I'd never read. Dog lovers would particularly appreciate it, and everyone in my club loved the book. I found it interesting and I liked it ok. We also read LIttle Men by Louisa May Alcott, which only one person liked, I wouldn't recommend. It was very simplistic.

Last night stopped by my friend's who is house sitting again to return something , and we drank white wine and ate on the Tuscan-style patio and had another nice visit. She cooked another fabulous meal of fish and roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and spinach all in the same pan.

Over the weekend I saw Mamma Mia - a light, feel - good movie with lots of great Abba music and some not so great. Good dancing . I loved the movie though - recommend it .

I accomplished a lot of painting over the weekend. (hours and hours of it) There is still more to do, but it is looking really good. My challenge is taping and painting the parts that are near the ceiling, and there are some areas I just cannot reach. I will ask a tall young man I know to help me out (Kathy's son Gavin) Even though it is a LOT of work I am inspired to do more because it came out so well. I was having second thoughts about the orange wall, but now with more green walls around it it is looking wonderful.

Read Water for Elephants which is pretty good. Very interesting about the circus back in the 30's.

That 's all for now!

Where's Scott?

Ohh the glamorous life of a fashion photographer.... completely ridiculous, but still somewhat entertaining.

Hi From Doug & Carmen

Hi All,

What fun it will be to keep in touch and see what everyone has been up to! As Doug probably mentioned, we have been very busy getting settled in the new house. He has spent the last two days organizing and cleaning the garage. My car can finally fit in there. Doug, on the other hand has chosen to park in the driveway and let his bikes hang in the garage. We will see what happens once winter comes....

We are enjoying our new home and have not had time to watch any movies, so no reviews from us this week. Our new furniture was just delivered this week, so we have just started watching TV again. Football season is upon us and Doug was excited to watch some games today, but I haven't seen him in the house all day.

The dogs have finally settled down and I think they understand now that we aer here for good. They have been chasing chipmunks and enjoying the nice weather.

My sister and her family came out for about 4 days so I finally had a chance to go into Boston and explore a little. Still a lot to see and hopefully will make it into the city again when our October and November visitors come!

Yesterday, we drove to Ikea. It was about 40 minutes away and we drove an extra 5 miles past that to have Chipotle. We miss having good Mexican food! Anyway, Ikea was CRAZY! Doug had only been there once before in Tempe and told me never to take him there again. As we approached Ikea, traffic was really backed up. There were police directing traffic and everything. I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't going to be a good day! Fortunately, all turned out well and we found some great window coverings that were pretty cheap as well as some other items. He went from saying he would never go back to next time we come here, we are coming on a weekday!

Hi from Anne, Steve & Kendall

This is fun! I have the morning to myself as Steve is golfing and Kendall spent the night with her friend Daniel last night. We had our supper club last night which was really fun. Tonight we are going to John & Kristi's for their monthly family dinner with friends. We have had a busy weekend. I am trying to get caught up around the house and get settled into a new routine with Kendall's school schedule.

Kendall is loving her school. She is very engaged and when I pick her up from school she has stories to tell and songs to sing that she has learned. We went to a parent information night on Thursday. We spent time in her classroom with her teachers and learned a little bit about the Montessori method. I am very fascinated by it. I am planning to attend an event called "The Journey" in which you go and experience the school as your child does. It is a friday night for two hours and saturday morning for four hours. Parents receive a typical lesson and work with the classroom materials. We will spend time in the Primary, Lower Elementary, and Middle School classrooms to see the evolution learning the Montessori way.
I am impressed with the social graces and decorum that is taught and practiced in the classroom. The second night after school Kendall asked me what she could do to help me make dinner. Then the other night Steve and I were having dinner and Kendall asked if she could get us some water to drink. She is developing some thoughts around being helpful and serving others, after just 5 days of school. Yea!

Regarding Alice's post... maybe Scott could tell me who the designers are from the Project Runway Fashion Show. I have been following the show.

Regarding Trudy's Post: I too am very concerned after watching Sara Palin address the Republican convention. I think we were all to quick to get excited about the choice. After hearing her speak, I was very impressed with her. Maybe the Republicans were very smart about their strategy. I hope the democrats can keep up their momemtum and get the issues out and have some good debates.

We watched the movie 21 on friday night. I fell asleep and Steve watched all of it and told me it was just ok. That is our movie review for the week.

Talk to you all later.

Scott, Alice & Baby G

It is so fun to know what everyone is up to! We are having a lot of rain today, I guess the hurricane is moving north. Scott & I are both doing better. I caught his cold, but we are both on the mend. I had a super busy week at work, trying to finish last-minute deadlines before quilt market. Yesterday I had a prenatal massage which was wonderful...this woman was recommended by someone in my yoga class. I haven't been that relaxed in months, I actually fell asleep.
Scott is busy shooting fashion week, some of the more well-known designers he's shooting are Zac Posen, Betsey Johnson & Nanette Lepore...he's also shooting the Project Runway fashion show.
I took Sushi to the vet today, and tomorrow I'm going to a housewarming at my friend Scotty's place. He was hit by a car in February and has been in hospitals ever since. He is paralyzed from the sternum down. He is moving into Rachel's building, which is a newer building and has wheelchair access. So tomorrow is a pretty big day. There is also a RISD alumni bienniel show opening that Rachel & I are going to tomorrow.
Today we had an architect come over to consult on our laundry closet. He was recommended by our next door neighbors, who are doing a gut renovation. It's going to be a little complicated, but it's doable. It involves running a gas line from the kitchen through the ceiling for the dryer, running plumbing from the bathroom, and running ventilation to the outside through our bedroom ceiling! He can also take out most of the wall and the door, put in sliding doors, and we can totally re-design all the shelving in the closet for maximum efficiency. So we won't just be putting in a washer/dryer, it will be like a dreamy laundry center, perhaps a fold-out folding table or ironing board. Plus loads of room for extra kid stuff.
That's our news, hope it's not too boring!

Update from Ken & Trudy

Alice, thanks so much for creating this blog!

Ken and I will be busy this weekend getting ready for our camping trip which begins on Wednesday, 9/10. We are planning to head north for a change and maybe camp along the coast somewhere. September is the best month for being on the coast - sunny and warm...usually no fog. My nose is just recovering from the high altitude - it will be good to be at sea level.

Scott and Alice - how are you two feeling?

I know what you mean Patricia about Republicans - right now it looks as though the Palin move is working. Fortunately there are some debates coming up and I think Obama will do well. The thing that drives me a bit nuts is depending on how the president works with the vice-president, it may not mean a hill of beans who the vice-president is as long as the president is still alive.

We watched 'The Bank Job' last night - very good and entertaining movie (DVD). Bit hard to follow in the very beginning but it makes sense after awhile.

I don't know what else to say - had a great time at the reunion - and I'll get the pictures to you soon! I promise!!

Love,
Trudy

yeay, a blog!

Good idea to have a blog! I would like it if people would just share a little bit about their day as well as their thoughts about this or that. Sort of like we're having a daily phone conversation.

Thanks for getting this started Alice - I love your photos.

I'm afraid Sarah Palin is winning people over! She's very appealing! I'm afraid because I want Democrats in the white house.

I had a good week - spent one dinner with Elaine at Z Tejas and had yummy nachos and margarita. And last night a friend Sage had 5 women over for dinner at a huge house in Mesa belonging to a cardiologist, which she is house sitting. We saw how the other half lives. It was quite grand to look at but I was glad to come home to my more modest and simple dwelling. My friend cooked fantastic orange roughey and roasted vegetables, making me want to go buy some and do the same. We were able to sit on the patio after dinner as the weather has been cooling off a little. It was really nice.

Today I am tackling and hoping to finish my paint job in the entry hall.

Steve, Anne & Kendall at Angora Lake

Baby G

Here's Baby G's first portrait, for those of you who haven't seen it (Carmen).

testing this blog

Welcome to the Kendall Family Blog, where we can all keep in touch!